Kiku sat alone in the school library, a strained expression on his face. He had been studying for hours and had come no closer to knowing the capital of Every Carribean island, let alone the culture of Iran. He sat in a comfy red chair in the corner, near the manga section, with his text books and homework sheets sprawled out across a table in front of him.
"Why?" Kiku mumbled as he leaned back in his chair, his hands barely covering his small face. These finals next week have been stressing him out for days, and of course, like normal, none of his other friends were even slightly worried about it. Not that he had that many in the first place. There was Feliciano, or Feli for short, who was most likely at the pet store petting the cats like he does every Friday, or annoying Ludwig, which he does even more often. God knows how he pulls A's and B's, probably by making deals with the devil for all Kiku knows. Ludwig was most likely finishing up homework, or getting ready for a football (soccer) game with Gilbert and Elizaveta. Then there was Alfred. Alfred is the captain of the American Football team, and their star quarterback. The EXACT opposite of Kiku. He's insanely social, not nerdy at all (yet pulls straight A's and B's like Feli) and he's very, very sporty. The captain of almost every sports team in the school. Sometimes Kiku wondered how a guy like Alfred even noticed him. Kiku was short, nerdy, antisocial, quiet, and overall basically a geek. While Kiku studies in the library, Alfred is practicing with his football team outside on the field. Oh what he would give to see him right now...
Suddenly, Kiku feels a 'presence' behind him. He slowly turns his head, only to reveal that his wish had come true. Behind him, resting his arms on the back of Kiku's chair was a blonde haired, blue eyed dork, wearing the cutest smile Kiku had ever seen.
"Hey Keeks!" Alfred yelled obnoxiously, drawing the eyes of almost everyone in the library. Kiku was blushing profusely, although Alfred didn't seem to notice.
"Hello Alfred-San" Kiku mumbled quietly, lowkey trying to get Alfred to lower his tone. Alfred was nice and painfully cute, but he could be a bit loud. More than a bit.
"So dude, I need you to come out to the football field. And you, like, need to wear a blindfold." Kiku looked up at Alfred, puzzled, but Alfred said nothing. He only looked back down at Kiku's big brown eyes expectantly, like a puppy begging for food.
"Umm... Okay? But what for?" Kiku asked, tilting his head a bit to the side and arching his eyebrow.
"Well, uhh, I can't tell you that." Alfred responded. It seemed out of sorts for him to act with such uncertainty, it made Kiku a little nervous. "Just come with me?" His ocean blue eyes pleaded. They were the one thing Kiku could never say no to.
"Okay." Kiku said confidently, putting his faith into the 5'10" puppy dog standing just inches from him. Personal space was a huge issue for Kiku, but for some reason, Alfred was the only person in the whole world that he didn't mind being close to.
"Cool!" Alfred bounced over to the front of Kiku's chair, softly grabbed his hands and pulled him up. It seemed to be as easy for Alfred to toss around Kiku as picking up a pillow. When he caught his balance, Kiku looked up to Alfred, an intimidating yet sheltering five inches taller than him. Kiku feels short around mostly everyone and there are only a few people in his grade he's taller than. His family is overall very short, but he's still the shortest boy, and his sister Mei is only a few inches in growth behind him.
As if on cue, Kiku realizes how long he's been staring directly into Alfred's eyes, deep in thought. He looks down, his cheeks turning an alarming shade of red. As if nothing weird at all happened, Alfred reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a blue blindfold with red and white trim, Alfred's favorite colors. He smirks and nods his head to the side, telling Kiku to turn around without speaking. He does, although hesitantly, and gently holds the blindfold up while Alfred ties it behind his head.
"Do I have to put the blindfold on now? Couldn't we wait until we're at least outside?" Kiku asks. He doesn't like not knowing where he's going, even if it is Alfred directing him. There was a long two flights of stairs and an enormous hallway before you could even get outside, then you had to walk behind the bleachers and around a bend to get to the field.
"Nope!" Alfred responds quickly. Kiku doesn't even bother to argue, he knows Alfred probably made up some funny story about why he had to keep on the blindfold.
Alfred set his hands on Kiku's shoulders and Kiku felt something he never had before. A sort-of warming, he would say, of his heart. Alfred gently ushered him forward and Kiku took a few hesitant steps toward the direction Alfred wanted him to go. Even only walking a foot or so forward, it was obvious this wasn't going to work.
"Alfred-San, I can't do this." Kiku said with a thick Japanese accent. Kiku felt Alfred's hands lower from his shoulders as he contemplated what to do.
"Umm..." Alfred wondered. Kiku could hear him walking around him and could imagine cute little Alfred with his hand over his mouth, a puzzled look on his face.
"OH!" Alfred yelled excitedly, a bit closer to him than Kiku had expected. Not even a second later, he felt one of Alfred's arms behind his knees and another on his back. He knew immediately what Alfred was doing. In a matter of three seconds, Alfred scooped up Kiku in his arms and he sat, comfortable although annoyed, in Alfred's arms, cuddled up next to his chest. Kiku could envision everyone in the library staring at the buff star quarterback holding small Kiku bridal style and he could feel his face get warm.
"I'm sure there's a better way-" but before Kiku could even get out one full sentence, Alfred started running. On instinct, Kiku wrapped his arms around Alfred's neck, pulled his feet in, wary of what they might catch on if he didn't, and nuzzled his face, with his eyes shut tight, into Alfred's chest.
"Alfred" Kiku spoke, almost inaudible, for the sound was muffled by Alfred's red jersey, which oddly smelled of paint, and shaken up by his awkward running, "Could you please not run?"
"But I'm excited!" Alfred yelled, his voice not broken at all from his rugged movements. Kiku continued to be thrown around in Alfred's arms, but this was only the beginning. They only just got to the stairs.
Alfred basically flew down the steps, three at a time. Kiku could barely walk down them one at a time without tripping at least once, Alfred must have been a bird to not fall all the way down, especially with Kiku's extra weight. He was terrified.
"Are we almost to the bottom of the stairs?" Kiku asked hopefully, his voice shaking with every jump and landing that Alfred made.
"Almost" Alfred reassured. As he was basically being thrown down the stairs, Kiku took a few seconds to think about what he was going to show him, he was surprised he hadn't thought about it yet. Normally, Kiku would have assumed it was a new way that Alfred inspired teamwork in his football team or a new trick that he learned, but under the circumstances, the bind fold, the time, but mostly the anxiousness that Kiku thought he heard in Alfred's voice, he wasn't so sure. Could it be something more serious?
"Okay Keeks, we're to the bottom of the stairs, you can calm down now." Alfred knocked Kiku out of his daydreaming and he realized that they weren't 'frolicking' as Alfred would call it, down the stairs anymore. They were on solid ground, probably in the hallway leading to the outside. Kiku loosened his grip on Alfred's neck a little, suddenly aware of how tight he was holding on. Although, even down a straight hallway, Alfred managed to somehow make his movement almost as choppy as when they were running down the steps a few seconds earlier.
After what felt like an eternity, and Kiku noticed the faint smell of sweat on Alfred's jersey, Alfred stopped to open the door to behind the bleachers. Kiku heard a soft sigh, then a sweet, musical voice, that was in that moment, blessed upon his ears only.
"I'm gonna put you down for a second so I can prop the door open, okay? Just stay there."
"Okay." Kiku responded, getting more and more anxious by the minute. He heard the door creak open in protest, then the door stopper slide across the floor by Alfred's foot. Alfred practically took one jump over to him, then cradled a small Kiku in his arms once again. Kiku sighed irritably, but still leaned into Alfred, letting his scent envelope him.
"I'm so happy!" Alfred yelled, gingerly but quickly stepping through the metal door and then continuing to his normal pace.
"But, I still don't understand Alfred." Kiku said in response, although there was a bit of excitement in his voice. "Why are you doing this?"
"You'll see!" Kiku could hear him smiling, he didn't even have to see his face to know he was sure. Alfred slowed his pace a little bit to turn a sharp corner, the one that leads to the field. Kiku could hear his heartbeat going out of control, and could feel Alfred's beneath his shirt beating even faster. Why? He had a high stamina and could run for hours before his heart beat as fast as this. Kiku noticed that the ride was a little softer and he couldn't hear Alfred's footsteps anymore, and Kiku speculated that they were on the field. After a few seconds, Alfred stopped, and if not for his strong grip, Kiku would have gone flying. Alfred quickly and delicately set Kiku down, and he felt the strange feeling plastic grass beneath his shoes. It was gonna be a pain later to get all of the black pieces of plastic off his tennis shoes. Alfred shifted him a bit so he would face a different direction, and let out a soft noise of satisfaction.
"Okay Kiku!" Alfred yelled excitedly, "stay here, and I'll tell you when to take off your blindfold." Kiku could hear the soft padding of Alfred running away and he itched to take off his blindfold now. But he would have to wait.
Kiku waited a few excruciating seconds, when he heard Alfred's sweet voice yelling to him from across the field.
"Okay Kiku! Take it off!" Kiku reached up to his eyes and ripped the blindfold off, taking a few strands of hair that were caught in the knot behind his head with it. The first thing Kiku saw was a line of guys, Alfred's football team, with a letter written with care in red paint across each of their bare chests. Kiku immediately dragged his eyes all the way to the left of the line, where he read 'W-I-L-L space, Y-O-U space, G-O space, T-O space, P-R-O-M space, W-I-T-H space, M-E and at the end, was Alfred, taking off his red jersey, and underneath, on his chest, was a question mark.
Kiku stood there, shocked. Right in front of him was the most popular, sweet, school jock, while Kiku was just an awkward, antisocial nerd, obsessed with getting good grades. And here he was, asking him to prom, while the same day he wondered how Alfred even knew him. Kiku looked up at Alfred, his face covered in a gigantic smile, wondering how Kiku would react. Kiku smiled. For the first time in a long time, he smiled, and it was real. A smile you can't hide, a smile you can't put away, one that forces it's way from your mouth to your heart and back again, one that can never end. Alfred ran over to Kiku, somehow getting from the end zone to the fifty-yard line in seconds. Once Alfred got to him, he scooped him up into a huge warming-of-the-heart hug, one only Alfred can give. He stepped back a moment and looked into Kiku's dark brown, chocolate-like eyes.
"Dude, are you crying? I'm sorry." Alfred said, a worrisome yet sort of amused look on his face. Kiku realized his vision was blurry, and he felt warm tears sliding slowly down his cheeks. He reached his hand up to his face and it came away damp. He wasn't just smiling, he was crying too. Not from sadness. Not from dejection or hopelessness. Not from misery. But from happiness. From the simple fact that Alfred loves him, and in that moment he realized that he loves Alfred just as much.