They met in college.
Well, they didn't necessarily meet face to face, not for almost three months. Kiku always had his groceries delivered. He stayed in his dorm. He read manga online, and studied in a similar manner. He didn't need to leave that room. It was in Autumn that they first spoke to one another.
"Hey!" Alfred hollered, knocking heavily on the dorm room door. "Is anyone in there?!" He glanced down at his little information booklet, and made sure that he was standing at the right room. His bag rested on his back, and an eager smile graced his lips.
Kiku was hesitant to come to the door. No-one visited. And that wasn't the groceries. He cautiously made his way to the door, his thick duvet draped over his shoulders. "Who is it?" he asked through the door, pressing lamely up against it.
"Oh cool, you're a foreigner!" Alfred squeaked, excited. "Where're you from, dude?!"
"Japan," he mumbled weakly, frowning. "Who are you?"
"Oh my god, Japan! Japan is like, one of the coolest countries ever. After America, of course. I love America." Alfred buzzed, swooning over his own country.
"Okay. Who is it?" Kiku tried again.
"Do you like anime? I like anime. Naruto is pretty wicked, but I kinda love Fullmetal Alchemist as well because of all the sweet fighting. Then again, Clannad-"
"Who is it!" huffed Kiku, getting rather impatient with this irritating man on the other side of the door.
Alfred smiled. "Oh! My name's Alfred F. Jones, and I'm your new roommate! Can I come in?" Kiku tensed. Roommate? He didn't want a roommate.
"No. Please go away." He said blankly, locking the door.
"Come on, I'm a totally cool guy." Alfred whined, knocking again when he heard the lock click. "D'you wanna hear more about me, then? I'm sixteen, I love skateboarding, and my favourite band is Fallout Boy."
Sixteen? thought Kiku.
"If you're sixteen, why are you in college?" he asked, a little exasperated.
"Oh, that," Alfred laughed. "I'm kind of a genius. Like, they said prodigy. But that's a funny word. It sounds all weird at the end, see? Digy. Prodigy. It's funny. Hah, digy, digy, digy." And then he laughed.
For a genius, he sure sounds stupid, thought Kiku.
"Okay. Please go away." Kiku mumbled, before returning to his bed. There was silence, and he thought that Alfred had left.
The next morning, his groceries were delivered, and Kiku was to briefly open the door and sign for them. He did so, took his groceries, and hid them away inside.
"Sir, there is someone sleeping outside your room," the deliveryman observed, raising a brow. Kiku groaned softly.
"Leave him be."
This kind of thing continued for a long while, with weeks passing. Alfred had made himself a little camp outside the dorm room, cuddling up under his blanket and going off to lectures and whatnot. It took until the second week of winter for the two of them to talk again.
Kiku spoke first. He had felt the cold even in his heated dorm room, and thought of the silly man who had taken up residence in the hallway outside, which was not heated, and was surely freezing. Winters in America could be quite awful, Kiku had learned. Slowly, he opened the door.
"Mister Alfred?" He asked lamely, looking down at the man huddled underneath a thin blanket. He was clearly shivering. But really, as they had never seen one another before, Kiku was awestruck. This man, Alfred, he was gorgeous. If there was such a thing as love at first sight, Kiku began to believe in it. Even though he could only see Alfred's face, that was enough to convince him. Tanned skin, large blue eyes, such angelic golden hair.. Was he having palpitations?
"Hey," he said shakily, hugging his knees tightly to his chest. "I j-just got back from a lecture."
"Come inside." instructed Kiku, frowning. Alfred got to his feet and practically scrambled into the dorm.
"You're a lot prettier than I thought you'd be," commented Alfred as he huddled up in one of the corners. Kiku had given him one of his warm blankets, and made him a hot chocolate. Kiku frowned a little at the compliment, as he was confused more than anything.
"Okay." He nodded, sitting down. He had bought himself a kotatsu for his dorm, as he could hardly imagine life without one, and was currently sitting with his legs underneath it. "Move out of the corner. Sit with me."
"Oh, dude, is this a kotatsu?!" gasped Alfred, almost spilling his drink as he crawled over and stuck his legs beneath it. "Oh my god, it's so warm!"
"Yes, it's a kotatsu table." Kiku mumbled. Were all Westerners this amazed at such simple things? "It is very warm."
"I feel like Tamaki, cos in that one episode-"
"I am not Kyoya." Kiku interrupted.
"Dude! I freakin' love Ouran!"
They shared a quiet (well, quiet on Kiku's side) conversation about aforementioned High School anime, and after which Kiku decided that he was to let Alfred stay in the dorm. "Bring your things in." He said softly. Alfred seemed a little shocked at the statement, but a giant smile quickly grew on his face.
"You for real?!" gasped Alfred. "This is sweet!" he chirped, grabbing Kiku's hands in his own and giving them a squeeze. "You're the best!" Kiku felt waves of embarrassment and fright wash over him, and he quickly moved his hands away from Alfred's. "Wait a sec, I don't even know your name!"
"Honda Kiku.." he answered weakly, staring at the table and trying to tell his blushing to go away.
"Okie dokie, Honda!" Alfred beamed, standing up and dashing outside to grab his bag.
"I-It's Kiku!" he huffed, watching the American bounce about and drag in his things from the hallway. "Now, you can have that bed-" he cut himself off, watching as Alfred dumped all of his stuff on Kiku's own bed. "N-no, not that one-" He stammered, unable to do anything to stop the rampant American.
"Wait, so if your name's Kiku, why'd you say Honda first?" Alfred asked bluntly, flopping down onto Kiku's bed. Kiku groaned softly.
"You watch anime, surely you know about Eastern name order," he mumbled weakly, slumping where he stood.
"Oh! Duh, silly me," Alfred laughed. Obviously. "Dude, this dorm is so much cooler on the inside."
"It's actually warmer." Mumbled Kiku. Was he starting to regret letting this beautiful man into his dorm? Yes.
"Heh, I meant like cool cool!" Alfred explained, shrugging.
"You just said the same word twice. That doesn't explain." Kiku mumbled wearily.
"Aww, you're so funny," he chuckled, rolling off the bed and practically lunging at Kiku, tackling him into a hug.
They had landed on the floor, with Alfred's arms around his new roommate's back, and his face nuzzling into Kiku's shoulder.
"P-please, get off of me!" squeaked Kiku, frozen where he lay. Alfred didn't even seem to comprehend the request. "Mister Alfred!"
"Nah dude, it's just Alfred," he beamed, practically cuddling the man like he would a lover.
Speaking of lovers, it didn't take very long for the two to become just that. It was when Alfred finally dragged Kiku out of the dorm, actually.
"Kiku, come see a movie with me!" Alfred cried, pulling at his friend's arm as he stood at the door.
"No!" gasped Kiku, trying desperately to stay inside the confines of his dorm. "I will see it when it goes up on the internet!"
"No, that's not it," huffed Alfred, using his incredible strength and tugging Kiku out of the room. They landed up against one another on the floor of the hallway. "I wanna go on a date with you!"
Kiku tensed for two reasons; one, he was currently laying on top of Alfred; two, he was being asked out. Perhaps three reasons; three being that he was being asked out while laying on top of Alfred. "I-" he stammered, cheeks very red.
"Dude, you're totally super cute! Go out with me! Be my boyfriend!" huffed Alfred, cuddling the slight man to his chest, much to Kiku's protest. And then, going even further, he kissed Kiku. Right there. Bang. On the lips. After a moment of silence and being unable to move, Kiku quickly stood, and shuffled backward, slumping against the wall. To say the least, he was terrified. It felt really weird to be out in the hallway, especially after being in his room for so long. He turned the lights on inside, of course, but it was still so bright out here.
"I-I hope you know how embarrassing that was! My first time!" Kiku puffed hotly, hands clenching into weak fists. "You have to take responsibility for that!"
"Wait, what?" laughed Alfred, leaning up and using his elbows to support himself with. "What do you want me to do, marry you?!"
"Yes!" cried Kiku, hiding his face in his hands. "You have to take responsibility! You cannot just do things like that, Alfred!"
Alfred raised a brow in actual surprise. "Why don't we just start with a date?"