„So... Would you kindly explain the meaning of all this?" asked Kirino while keeping his expression unreadable.
„It's chocolate. For you," politely answered his curly-haired childhood friend. At that moment he was doing three things simultaneously: awkwardly keeping eye contact with Kirino, fidgeting nervously and trying not to faint.
„What a sweet girl you are, giving me chocolates on Valentine's Day," teased the defender.
„Stop that."
Kirino couldn't help but chuckle at the face the offended captain was making.
„Kirino, look: if you think about it deeply enough, Valentine's day isn't for girls to give presents, but for boys to receive them."
„You know pretty well that's not what I mean, right?"
„And what could you possibly mean?..." asked Shindou, trying to make impression of someone who has no idea of what is going on. Unfortunately he did, and he knew very well that Kirino was highly aware of that.
„Don't you have anything else to tell me?"
„For example?"
„Maybe that you just want a kiss, princess."
„Oh, I just remembered what I wanted to tell you. That I want to punch you. Hard."
Once again Kirino couldn't stop himself, but now instead of a light chuckle it was a hearty laugh. He managed to regain his composure after a short outburst and continued in a slightly more playful tone.
„Does that mean that you would rather be a prince?"
„Do you think that two princes can live happily ever after?" unexpectedly asked Shindou.
„If you keep being so awkward and don't tell me your feelings clearly, they never will." Although Kirino was trying to scold his friend, he couldn't stop his expression from softening.
„I can't hide that it would be remarkably easier if you cut teasing me."
„Sorry. So, now I'll keep silent and let you take the spotlight. Happy?"
„If you despise my feelings this much, tell me that straight to my face instead of making fun of me." Shindou was both hurt and annoyed. The stress didn't help him either.
„You have spent enough time with me to know that I would never despise anything that comes from your heart, Shindou," calmly replied Kirino.
The boy to whom the last sentence was addressed felt his body freeze. How could the defender say something like this without even stuttering? If he heard a similar line in a movie he would think of it as cheesy, but getting it from his best friend in real life impressed him more than he would think.
„You are safe to open up to me. I promise to never hurt you," continued Kirino when he saw that Shindou was unable to speak or even move. After waiting for a response a few moments and not getting anything different than panicked looks from the team's captain, it got to him that he is making him feel even more uneasy.
„Shindou," he tried to get his teammate's attention again, „think about it a little more. It's not just about us leaving this building as boyfriends or just friends. It's about our future."
„Don't tell me to think," snapped Shindou. „I have been doing it for so long already, any more and I'll go insane! I have thought of everything. I even calculated my budget in case my parents disinherited me. It's not just a whim, a new wish of a rich kid. I have been struggling for months, I- just please, I-" he said as he desperately tried to keep himself from crying, „-I cannot imagine growing to like anyone more than you. I need you more than you know, I can't bear the thought of not being your favourite. I still am your favourite, right? You said it before, is it still true?"
All it took to get him talking was just scaring him a little.
„Of course you are," softly answered Kirino."And if it's what you want, I'll make sure it stays this way."
„It's not about what I want, but about what we want."
„Can I show you what I want?"
„That would be the best, woul-"
Kirino didn't really wait for his friend to finish talking. Instead he startled him with a tight hug.
At first Shindou didn't really know how should he react. When his mind started working again, he realised that the tears he tried to hold back so desperately made their way down to his chin. He managed to get his trembling hands to move and he gently laid them on defender's back. He wasn't able to control sobbing anymore.
Kirino didn't mind.
With the other boy's warmth slowly radiating onto his whole body Shindou finally felt safe enough to let out all the feelings he kept to himself for so long.
„I love you, Kirino," he whispered, trying his best not to let spasm of cry interrupt his confession. He felt like crawling into a hole would be the best thing to do now, but it got to him that when it came to Kirino, running away isn't the best idea. He just decided to wait for his reaction. Tensed, frightened and more nervous than on piano recitals. He couldn't stop his embrace from strengthening.
„I did never believe that I'm good enough to hear that from someone like you," softly said Kirino.
„What makes you worse than me?" pointed out Shindou, still not being able to quit crying. „If you consider yourself not good enough, then who is? Maybe all these capricious ladies my mother introduces me to? Or crazy stalkers at school?" he said almost in one breath. „Kirino, you are the only one that I'm so comfortable around. Only one I've ever felt this way about."
Suddenly Kirino tightened the hug even more. „I love you so much, Shindou." He laid his head on captain's shoulder. „It hurts."
„What hurts?" asked surprised boy. He didn't know if he should be happy or sad now.
„I have always thought that I'm only qualified to be your friend. That there will come a day when you introduce me to a cute girl that you started dating and I..." To Shindou's surprise, Kirino was almost on the verge of crying.
„You didn't believe that two princes can be happy together?"
„I believed, but I didn't consider myself a prince. The only prince I knew was you, while I was just an ordinary boy that lived in the suburbs," whispered Kirino.
„Then you are the king's lost son," countered Shindou.
Kirino didn't know what to say. He couldn't believe that Shindou still was continuing that princes talk.
„Do you really believe that?" doubtfully asked the defender.
„We feel the same, right? If you weren't a right person for me, I wouldn't fall in love with you after knowing you for so long, don't you think?"
It took a while for Kirino to process what he just heard. His lips formed a small, shy smile as he said softly, „If that's the case, let us live happily ever after." He broke the embrace, and Shindou reluctantly let him go. Instead of moving away, Kirino cupped his friend's cheeks and asked, „May I have the prince's kiss as a proof of what he just said?"
Shindou felt his heart skip a beat. He did think about such a thing happening, but when the time has come, he decided that he would never truly be ready for his first kiss.
„Don't hate me if I'm not good. The prince has never had kissing lessons, you know."
„Remember what I said before? That also means that if it's you, it will always feel good."
With this Kirino made Shindou blush harder than ever.
„And don't forget that it's my first kiss too." Directly after mentioning it, Kirino started to lean forward.
A moment before their lips touched Shindou managed to whisper, „I'm so happy to be your first."
Although the kiss they shared was as delicate and soft as a first kiss could be, they both took a short while to catch their breaths after separating.
„See? It did feel good. At least for me," commented Kirino and smiled brightly at his friend.
„You too? I'm so glad," sighed Shinodu. He relaxed a little and returned the smile.
„Does that mean that we are boyfriends now and I have you all for myself?" playfully asked the defender.
„No," Shindou replied harshly.
Kirino tensed. A lot.
„What do you-"
„Now we are two engaged princes who someday will have to rule the kingdom together!" shouted Shindou in the most charismatic way he could.
Kirino sighed loudly.
„It seems like it will take me a while to make you forget about that analogy..."
Thanks to the events of that day, the two princes lived happily ever after.
THE END
Hereee, late for TakuRan day but it's hereeee
And it feels more RanTaku than TakuRan, but...
Anyway, I hope that you liked my work~
#HowCanAPersonSpend5HoursOnWriting1500WordsFicGodWhyMe
(yeah, fics are not for advertising, but I'll let myself break that rule here.
I mainly draw and rarely write. I have plenty of RanTaku drawings on my tumblr, so feel free to check it out. Link is in my bio~)
Special thankies for Sekami-chan and AhiruSekai who helped me with correcting some mistakes I made~