A/N: Dx Why can't I write anything decent!?!?
Mahh, and I couldn't think of a single thing to write for Kazu's birthday a little while ago, but hopefully this will make up for it. This fic is a belated birthday fic for not only Kazu, but for my lovely Endy-sweety. Known to the fanfiction world as Endless Eclipse and guhh darling I am SO sorry I'm so late. This fic would just NOT come out right and even now I wish it could be better for you. If it does not satisfy I'll do another one, ok? Just let me know!
To the rest of you, TRY to enjoy. Yeah I'm writing but its a total struggle to do so these days, and nothings coming out right to me. If things seem off, at least you'll know why.
Thank you everyone for your patience and understanding. I'll find my footing eventually.
Warnings: As per usual, no matter what I do there's always a grammar issue here and there that I manage to miss. You can point it out of you like to do that kinda thing but I'll prolly be too lazy to go back and fix it, heh. Mmm do not read if you don't like boylove, have a fear of enclosed spaces or don't want to read poorlly written fanfiction. You have been warned.
Bad title is bad.
Disclaimer: As if you didn't already know. Don't make me say it.
I don't wanna hit the submit button! DX! I have a bad feeling about this...
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Air Gear
a fiction by Crimson Vixen
Location
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It's… rather difficult for Kazu to grab the falling book without bending those fluttering pages with what Ikki had not too long ago labeled butter fingers.
...Which is pretty irritating since he wouldn't have dropped the damn book in the first place if it wasn't for him being such a pest; Throwing shit at him in class and then pretending to look out the window when Kazu tries to catch him in the act, nudging his leg under the lunch table with his foot when there are people sitting right next to them, and now especially, Ikki declaring Kazu his partner in their class project without even asking for his consent. Surely, they would have ended up being partners anyway, but just the thought that Ikki would so readily assume was just…
"Pissing me off," Kazu blurts irrationally, hand pulling back at the last second, not wanting to risk bending those wordy pages and instead lets it hit the tile floor below. The smack on the tile makes him cringe regretfully. It would have been so much easier to catch it if he wasn't crammed into such a tiny space - a classroom closet to be exact - with his best friend, who intentionally or unintentionally rubs up against him in the spaceless vicinity and possesses the nerve to actually laugh at him when he tries to squat down to pick up the fallen book.
Don't think he doesn't notice the way Ikki nudges at his cheek with those firm thighs while he's down there either, hinting at things Kazu doesn't even want to humor with a second thought.
When he manages to straighten out his legs and stand, spine of the book grasped tightly in his fingers and lips thinned in a crooked line, he glares at Ikki.
"And we're in here because…"
"It's all about location," Ikki grins, all too happy to provide an answer. Wraps his arms around him – which is easy considering Kazu has little to no room to fight back or push him away – and plants a short kiss on the other boy's lips. "Location…" And another. "Location." And then another, deeper and longer this time.
Kazu takes a moment to shudder viciously, drops the book to the floor again and releases a nervous laugh. He's aware he's quaking against Ikki's all knowing arms, suffocates at the closeness of their already overheated bodies, swallows what he can gather from his dry throat. Even though he's scowling, Kazu's lips start to twitch upwards on the left side.
"Well, I don't like this location."
But pure honesty is doing nothing for him at the moment since Ikki seems to just shrug off the comment, lip of his school jacket slipping down his shoulders a little with the gesture, and he even slightly scoffs at the blonde with one of the most irritating smirks he's ever seen. Because, really, Kazu is having the hardest time finding the point in all this.
Of course, now that he thinks about it, Ikki doesn't always have a reason for the things that he does. He wants to make a guy all flustered and claustrophobic in a closet? Lets get a guy all flustered and claustrophobic in a closet. Simple as that.
And yeah, Kazu concludes when he feels a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck, leave it to Ikki to pull it off so smoothly. Like he's had it planned for a while and it was, up to now, just a game of baiting and catching.
Ikki shifts a little too much in the confined space, knocking over what Kazu assumes to be a broom or mop or something of the sorts. Kazu knows this only because the handle bops him on the head. He curses loudly, finding very little reason to hide his frustration from the crow, who is grinning even wider now. As if this is all funny.
"Lighten up, Butterfingers," he says, grinning. "Humor me."
Kazu's arms are bent, hands clutching at the front of his shirt and fanning it to get a little air in there, breathing from his mouth by now because it was so, damn, hot. Ikki's hands find Kazu's hips and guide the blonde closer to him, not so much minding the heat because it came with the feel of Kazu's skin all slick and touchable.
"No," comes the curt, clearly irritated response. Following this, two hands flatten against Ikki's chest in attempt to push him away, but there is nowhere to push, and Ikki cranes his neck to reach Kazu's lips. Just like everything else, the enclosed area makes it easy. The sound Kazu makes is short-lived, and Ikki's hands are up his shirt and playing in areas they really shouldn't be.
His brows furrow, unsure how to express his current mix of rage and involuntary need. His tongue moves naturally against Ikki's, but he cuts it short because he doesn't want to do this here. Too confined, too hot, too annoying. He can hardly turn around without stumbling over something. But Ikki's hand is still moving, rubbing and pinching places he knows the blonde is sensitive over and Kazu has to bite his lip to suppress a groan. Wills his hand to stay where it is instead of flying to the crow's temple.
"You ass," he says. "Can we please do this somewhere else?"
Wait until he has the patience. Wait until he's in the mood. Wait until they're anywhere but here.
"And here I thought all you wanted to do was start our project. What happened to that? Are you giving into my irresistible charm?" Ikki teases, loving how aggravated Kazu's submission is turning out to be. He gives another rub with his fingers and smirks at the result. "They're hard."
"Sh-Shut up!" Kazu exclaims, skin going even hotter than it already is. Somehow he manages to snake his arm around Ikki and grasp at the door handle. But it only clicks when he goes to turn it, and it keeps clicking every time after that.
"Are, umm…" he starts, temporarily numb and seemingly oblivious to Ikki's touches now that he's found a new dilemma. His expression twists. "Are we locked in?"
"Probably," Ikki mutters between kisses, eyes shut peacefully and not really seeming to grasp the gravity of the situation like Kazu is. The blonde is writhing a little now, trying to grab the knob with both hands, only succeeding in giving the crow one of the most awkward hugs.
"You… You did this on purpose!"
Ikki pulls back a little, enough to meet narrowing blue eyes and a sexily scowling lip. He can't help but to smile; he could watch Kazu's emotions shift all day and never get bored.
"Actually, no," Ikki admits with a soft shrug of the shoulders and a firm tug of the other boy. "Though I'm not going to lie. I kinda dig it."
"You…" Kazu's brows knit low, a severe hint of a growl creeping into his voice, but it is all lost inside of Ikki's mouth as the crow falls forward and crash lands right onto those cursing lips. He sucks Kazu's profanity bone dry, hands trying to keep the guy still because Kazu's squirming, still fussing with the damn door handle as if it'll still open if he tries hard enough.
Ikki keeps touching and feeling around, the clicking of the door handle starts to lessen before it finally stops, and finally Kazu releases a mighty sigh, hands fallings to his sides in defeat. His skin is slick with sweat so he starts to shed some layers, pushing Ikki back so he can do so. His hat drops, his school uniform and the hoody underneath it follow, leaving him with just a sticky white T-shirt and trousers. He makes a groggy sound when there's a little bit of relief to his skin, but it quickly turns into an aggravated groan when Ikki dives in again. New areas of skin are exposed and Ikki is never one to pass up such obvious opportunity. No time to cool down. No time to breathe.
"…Insufferable," Kazu breathes, nearly spits, into Ikki's mess of spikes when the crow attacks his neck like a hungry animal dive bombing it's prey. He lets his head roll back so he can look up into the blank stare of the ceiling. After another minute or so of nipping flesh and trailing fingers, Ikki starts to grasp that while Kazu is trapped and finally submissive under his clutches, he won't be responding to them. The magic quickly dies with this knowledge and the crow wraps up his dirty work, steals a few more tastes of Kazu's stubbornly unresponsive mouth and then pulls away with a condemning look on his face.
The look he gets back, however, is not only that of the apathetic kind, but slightly lethargic. Ikki licks the remains from his lips and shifts his expression from unrequited lust to that of unease. He puts a hand to Kazu's shoulder, steadies the boy even though he really has no place to fall. It's hard not to follow through with a rub of the arm or a loop around the other boy's neck, but he keeps his intentions pure, his hand stays stationary and he meets Kazu's gaze.
"Dude, you alright?"
Ikki isn't going to say that he's sorry, but there is a slightly tiny itty bitty fraction of a chance that he played a hand in Kazu's condition. ...But he isn't saying sorry.
Kazu shakes his head to clear his mind and waves the crow's hand away.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just a little tired. ...It's so fucking hot in here."
As if on cue, a bead of sweat draws a slightly slanted path down the side of Kazu's face, clings to his jaw and then plummets down his neck into his shirt. Ikki eyes it for a second, but only for a second - doesn't let it break his concentration.
"Ah, you're probably just doing it wrong," the crow says, referring to the door and turning towards it to prove his point. But when he wraps his fingers around the knob and tries to turn it, nothing happens. Just a click. Locked in.
With Kazu too tired and too hot to do anything, Ikki digs the idea less and less. And ironically – 'coz it really doesn't make any logical sense – now that he isn't doing anything either, now that he isn't focusing on the way Kazu feels and tastes, the heat is becoming more and more apparent. A wrench in the gears of a good idea.
And since it is after school hours, no one's going to let them out of the closet any time soon. Not until the next day, at least.
Ikki shuffles his feet back a tiny bit, bumping his heel into a bucket, which makes a mop flop around and slap against the wall. He gives his surroundings a glance over and decides that there is no area surrounding them, just a bunch of junk. So how are they going to…
Ikki hears breathing. Feels it bursh past his neck.
"You really are tired," he mentions carefully, very mindful of the way Kazu's blinking is slow and heavy, or how he's leaning his back against whatever's piled behind him, textbook lost somewhere on the floor amongst other crap during all the shuffling. Kazu didn't supply him with an answer, just a glare.
"Kazu, Man, I don't think we'll be getting out of here tonight," he explains. Though really, Ikki is pretty sure he can break the door down if he really wants to. If he tries. But something else comes to mind that seems much more engaging. And Ikki isn't going to pass it up, of course.
He wraps his hands carefully around the back of Kazu's neck and urges him closer. He presses the blonde's head to his shoulder, leaning the slightly shorter boy's weight into him.
"You can just sleep here for the night."
Kazu wants to say something bitter and annoyed because he hears the smile in Ikki's voice, but figures it will get him absolutely no where and accomplish nothing. It's hot and it's crowded, but Ikki is warm and inviting, and his eyes are already closing and comfortable. His head gently rises and falls with Ikki's chest as he breathes, and he relaxes when he feels the crow's arms wrap around him to keep him there, fingers laced and locked at the base of his spine. His muscles relax and he heaves a placid sigh; for this, Ikki will be dead first thing in the morning. He swears it.
Kazu's drowsiness hits him in a strong wave when his face is smothered in Ikki's shirt. It hits him hard and merciless and although he's not the perfect example of comfort, his body finds its way to comfortable blackness and he's sleeping. He doesn't know if Ikki will sleep, or if he intends to; all he really knows is that he doesn't want him to move and he doesn't want the guy to let him go.
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The next days comes so quick that Kazu hardly remembers going to sleep. Feels more like he closed his eyes for five minutes and suddenly there are voices on the other side of the door. His body protests in the form of cramps and a stiff neck, and he doesn't feel too rested but cannot ignore how warm he feels. Not hot or overheated. Just warm. And Ikki is still there, arms still locked at his lower back and holding him in place. The crow's eyes are open but slightly sleep-deprived.
"Well good morning."
In spite of how good Ikki looks right now Kazu scowls.
"You've been awake for a while," He doesn't ask. Tells. Sounding a little groggy.
"You make noises when you sleep."
"What I mean is…" Kazu pauses, takes the time to pretend he isn't blushing, then continues. "You could have gotten me up. Someone can let us out now."
He feels Ikki's hold on him tighten considerably. His look is still playful with the way he flashes his teeth in a sly smirk, but there's something about the way the crow lowers his brows.
"Maybe I don't want to let you go."
A closet isn't a place where Kazu finds the lenience to play romantic with Ikki so he arches back a little and puts some distance between them. He gives an apologetically infuriated glance and doesn't break eye contact as he bangs a fist to the door.
Voices from the other side become a mix of hushing and murmuring. Shadows start to eclipse the light that creeps in from the crack by their feet from the door. Ikki's expression borderlines betrayal but it quickly vanishes when he tries to take one last final chance to kiss the blonde. Can't resist the challange. Gets a high off the risk.
His lips are hungry and teasing when they find Kazu's, tongue running along the ridges of Kazu's unsuspecting teeth. It's not that the jet doesn't like the way Ikki kisses him. It's the idiot's excruciating timing that really throws him through loops. After all, he hears the sound of jingling keys and the click of a door unlocking, and soon the light will flood their hiding place, followed by the eyes of those with no right to judge but the arrogance to do so anyway.
It makes him panic just a little, just enough to make him struggle. The scuffle makes Ikki take a good chomp of his lip and lose his grip. Their legs twist and bump and they're falling. And because the world is such a cruel place and Kazu assumes there are people that need a good laugh and people that just scream to be laughed at, he isn't surprised that they fall into the door just as it's being opened. And while being prepared for such a fall makes it hurt less when he and Ikki tumble out and hit the tile floor, it does nothing for the corkscrews his guts partakes in.
Kazu's back its aching on the floor, his head is spinning and the ceiling is just as mocking at the faces he'd yet to look into. His body is still warm, though, and the whispers are still going, getting louder and accompanied by more giggles as seconds tick by. Only when he tries to take a deep breath does he realize that Ikki's fallen out on top of him and isn't showing any sign of moving. In fact, the crow just rests there, ear against his chest and arms splayed at his sides. Legs still tangled. Still not wanting to let him go.
He can hear the boys speaking into one another's ears. The girls are erupting in fits of giggles and blushes, smiling in a confusing display of approval. Kazu's skin feels like it's just caught fire and he rolls to the side to hoist Ikki off of him. He's been like that for too long, far too long. His heart is pounding – how embarrassing, how embarrassing – because how on earth is he supposed to live this down? It couldn't be a janitor or some other, mildly understanding adult, no. It had to be their peers, people they knew and were forced to grow up with and show their faces to for a few more years.
"Ikki," he hisses darkly. A warning, a plea. Ikki reluctantly but easily rolls off and away and to his feet. Bastard doesn't look ashamed at all. In fact he holds out a hand which Kazu somehow finds himself taking. He swears under his breath as he's pulled upright and tugs his hat lower; he can hear the girls cooing. And good lord is Ikki smiling?
Kazu very angrily finds that he wants to go back into the closet. Locked.
But if Ikki asks him why he's so ruffled right now, he isn't able to say it's because he hears the names he's being called. Or that people are laughing so loud he can't hear himself think or they're pointing fingers at him, at them. He can't, because they aren't.
The girls actually look thrilled when Ikki takes his hand (the jet can only be grateful that Emiri had yet to show her face in class - that would be something he could never handle...) and tugs him several steps away from all those unwavering eyes. The boys are staring but making no comment that Kazu can hear. After all, it isn't just any boy that Kazu's found himself involved with – it's Baby Face. That alone is a curse and a blessing all rolled into one.
Kazu lets that fact serve as a shield as Ikki slips out of his hand but keeps their arms ghosting sleeves, preventing him from falling victim to the things his mind tries to believe everyone is thinking. To his relief and horror, the lot of them don't appear surprised at all. It makes his skin crawl strangely, makes his face burn and his stomach freeze over.
Ikki, always his inadvertent hero in times of needing one and not wanting one to begin with, masks his current expression with something of an offended nature. He glares at the small crowd accusingly, plants one fist on his hip and uses the other to create a point. His finger swoops half the circle and he takes a breath.
"It's about time you punks let us out," he says all too convincingly. The icy feeling in the pit of Kazu's stomach starts to thaw and releases a flock of butterflies in its wake. The fire in his cheeks starts to fade and he's able to lift his chin a little higher when he catches on to just what the crow is doing. "And when I find out who the asshole is that locked that door, I'll personally kick your ass to the curb!"
Those with more timid personalities take a couple shuffles back and away from the crow, looking irrationally guilty at the tone of voice Ikki has so readily adopted while others simply stare, putting together the imaginary pieces of the puzzle Ikki had created on the spot.
"It was damn cramped in there!" Ikki keeps blurting, rotating an arm to loosen up his probably uncramped shoulder. He opens his mouth to say more – probably has it all planned out and scripted in his head now. Rolling with it – but the teacher starts to stutter and trip over her own nervous words at the front of the room. Slowly the crowd starts to split and spread out to their seats, heads turning to steal last minute glimpses and just as the last person turns to leave Ikki briefly slips his hand into Kazu's to give a slight squeeze. For now, it is the closest thing to an apology Kazu knows he is going to get, but somehow, it's enough.
He decides to scramble back to the closet to retrieve his previously shed articles of clothing and find his fallen book, finding that in spite of all his efforts, several of the pages had bent from an open faced landing. Kazu gives a quick blow to clear the dirt and makes it to his seat just as lessons start being stuttered and students dip their heads to sleep. He doesn't plan to sleep but he knows he won't be able to concentrate, either.
As he's slipping on his hat and uniform, Kazu hears the page of a book turning and a classmate already at the stage of light snoring. In such a careless atmosphere, he's able to freely glance back at the closet door and stare a moment; The door has been left slightly ajar and is radiating memories as fresh as the crisp air hurling leaves outside. Just looking at it makes it hard to forget; he swears for just a moment, he can feel Ikki's hand at the small of his back. Blinking, he turns his attention back to his textbook to distract himself, which only proves unsuccessful when he sees the line where the pages crease. Just another reminder, really. Lured into the closet and caught off guard. Dropped his precious book with those god-awful butterfingers right before falling prey to a hungry crow.
It isn't the first time and Kazu knows it isn't the last time, either. Ikki will sooner or later find another place to drag him, find new ways to tease and exasperate and satisfy him, new methods to making him curse and groan and practice saying Ikki's name, and Kazu knows he'll find himself denying how much he loves it but knows himself far too well to believe such lies.
The blonde releases a much needed sigh; softly, so as not to give away the crime that Ikki had so effortlessly covered for them, before turning the page in his book to keep up with the lesson. He notices out of the corner of his eye that Ikki doesn't do the same. The guy isn't even paying attention to the front of the class; he's got his chin cupped in his palm and staring out the window.
Still looking for some sort of distraction, Kazu tries to use his forearm to smooth out the pages a little but it isn't doing a thing. Then he traces the damage with his middle and forefingers, lips starting to twitch fondly.
It was all about location, Ikki had said. Who knows; maybe Ikki is just into that sort of thing… And when he thinks of that, his fingers pause on the crease and the corner of his mouth lifts a fraction higher. He chances one more look back at the closet and wants to force himself to scowl, but such a thing is hard for him to do when really, all he can resort to feeling is anticipation.
That gut feeling fires something up his spine and tells his brain to turn his head back over to Ikki, who is looking right at him now. And Ikki's brows shoot up to his hairline and his dark eyes widen, seemingly able to dive into Kazu's sinful mind and read his guilty thoughts like the nicks on his wheels. He can see the gears turning in the crow's head and then sees something click, just before he's given a toothy grin and the wink of a promise.
