A/N: This was for Valentine's Day and it's late, I know :( I wanted to take my time with it, though. (Dat rhyme doe :o) Better late than never, amirite? :D *cricket noises* Ok… Well, I hope you enjoy nonetheless. ^_-
"Katsuya!" Honda's voice sounded from behind as Katsuya walked down a hallway of his workplace and soon after, was met with a pat on the shoulder. "Happy Valentine's Day! I got you something." Honda was grinning as he said this and Katsuya couldn't help, but sheepishly smile back.
"Oh, you didn't have to," Katsuya politely tried to reason, but Honda remained unwavered.
"Don't worry about it," he said with a smile, "I wanted to do something for you." His words of assurance had no effect on Katsuya, who bit his lip uncomfortably, reluctant to accept. With a frown, Honda added, "just as a friendly gesture."
Friendly gesture. That phrase stung Katsuya and he didn't want Honda to say it, but at the same time, he felt as if it was better off that he said it. After all, they had already agreed to a mutual friendship. Well, it was more like Katsuya agreed and Honda just went along with it because he cared. With a nod, Katsuya accepted Honda's gift, a neatly wrapped box.
Honda gave him an expectant look as he opened the box and Katsuya gasped in amazement upon seeing the contents within. Chocolate, quite a bit of it and it looked rather expensive too. Do "friends" really have to go that far? "H-Honda, this is…" Katsuya stuttered.
"Do you like it?" Honda asked, giving him an inquisitive, yet hopeful look.
Katsuya didn't respond. He didn't know what to say. This was just too much. Honda tried so hard to please him and he was just a jerk in response. Katsuya thought he was doing the right thing by just staying as friends, but nothing felt good about it. He did love Honda. He wanted to be with him and Honda wanted to be with him too, so what was the problem? Katsuya felt pathetic, unworthy. "I-I'm sorry…" He finally finished, then fled the scene, placing a hand over his face so Honda didn't see the tears running down his cheeks.
"Katsuya, wait!" Honda called after him, but it was too late. He was already gone.
Katsuya sat sobbing in the corner of a darkened, empty room, the closest room that he could find. The chocolates Honda gave him, he grasped the box tightly and pressed it against his cheek as he wept. I'm not good enough for Honda. I just drag him down. He's better off without me. These thoughts plagued Katsuya's mind, which made the young man cry even more than before. In doing that, though, he unfortunately caught the attention of the one person he didn't want to see right now.
"Katsuya…?" Honda's voice resonated from the other side of the door and, without waiting for a response, he let himself in. His gaze instantly fell upon Katsuya and he rushed to his side. "Are you ok?" He inquired. His voice was laced with concern.
Wiping away his tears, Katsuya smiled at Honda. "I'm ok, Honda…" He muttered quietly so that Honda didn't hear the shaking of his voice. But he wasn't ok. He was distraught and he wanted Honda to comfort him, though he knew that that would be odd coming from him.
Honda raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced, then, as if reading Katsuya's mind, he hugged his friend close.
This sudden action made Katsuya's eyes widen in surprise, and then he was crying again, crying into Honda's chest. Regardless, he was thankful for Honda's comfort when he was too afraid to ask for it himself. "I'm sorry…" He whimpered, his voice muffled, "I've been such a jerk to you even though you've been so sweet to me."
"A jerk?" Honda repeated with a frown, "that's nonsense. If that's what you were going for, then I'm afraid I haven't noticed."
Katsuya looked up at him and shook his head frantically. "N-No, I…" His voice trailed off as Honda gave him a gentle smile.
"I'm kidding, of course." With a heave, Honda hoisted Katsuya onto his lap and put a hand on his shoulder to help him calm down. This seemed to work as Katsuya wiped away his tears, sniffled once or twice, then ceased his crying completely. "Now that you're feeling better, can you tell me what's wrong?"
Katsuya opened his mouth, as if he wanted to blurt out everything to Honda, but he instantly shut it, taking another moment to think over his choice of words. "I'm sorry, Honda…" He said softly, "I just don't want to be a burden to you."
"Why would you think that you're a burden to me?" Honda questioned with a frown.
Staring down at his hands in his lap, Katsuya replied with, "because...I can never do anything right. I feel like I'm just dragging you down, that I'm a bother, but you're too sweet to realize that." Honda flinched at his berating words and he opened his mouth to deny it, but Katsuya continued before Honda could do so. "Honda… I do love you… I just didn't want you to love me back." This confession appalled Honda, but he didn't interrupt him. Katsuya crossed his arms across his chest, shuddering softly as he felt a sudden cold chill. "How could you love someone like me? Someone so pathetic and disappointing? I've been such a jerk to you too. I disregarded your feelings because I thought it was for the best. I'm so insensitive."
"Katsuya!" Honda shouted at him, causing the other man to flinch in surprise. He could take no more of this talk from Katsuya. He was wrong. "That's not true! Why would you ever think that?!" Katsuya stared at him blankly, then averted his eyes and blushed, seeming ashamed of himself. That wasn't the reaction Honda wanted from Katsuya and he calmed down, allowing his expression to soften. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout," he apologized, "but you're wrong to think that you're pathetic and disappointing. We both have flaws. I can be really insensitive at times too, but that doesn't matter. What matters is if we're willing to look past them." Lifting Katsuya's chin up with his finger so that the two we're face to face, Honda smiled and added, "I love you enough to look past any flaws that you may have no matter what it may be."
Katsuya stared at him in shock for a brief moment, then broke down into tears once again at his encouraging words, but this time, they were tears of joy. Flinging his arms around Honda's neck and hugging him tightly, he exclaimed, "I love you, Honda! I don't care about your flaws either!" Honda smiled and lightly patted him on the back. As Katsuya pulled away from him, his hands still placed firmly on Honda's shoulders, he smiled back. "After work today, let's go shopping together," he said, "I want to get you something nice to make up for what you got me."
"You don't have to…" Honda replied, but Katsuya silenced him.
"Don't worry about it. I want to do something for you." He winked at Honda and Honda laughed softly.
"If you insist…" He said, leaning in to kiss Katsuya, to which Katsuya gladly accepted.
A/N: D'awww! So damn cute~ I need to punch a wall to regain my...oh, wait...