a) i know nothing about summer except for the little unreliable information based on the mangas i have read and such please dont sue me mother nature

b) this was written for fun a long time ago but then i realized my senpai slash friend's birthday was near so! i was like 'lets wrap this up nice and tidy and give it to her?' and i did and i hope you enjoyed your present for your birthday 2 months ago yui-senpai ahahaaha

c) i have a particular liking for a red faced kirino. is it a kink-maybe. i just like red faced characters a lot.

d) [selflessly promotes writing blog] if you have a tumblr blog go on kensei-lancelot dot tumblr dot com and follow because thats where my stories go first before they get posted here on ffn!

e) thank you for reading and enjoy the story me buds

f) on a later note its also takuran day so why the hell not [happy takuran day to those who has this ship as their otp!]

Summer. He liked summer. The days were hot and the nights were cool. There was a lot of ice-cream and desserts. And summer also meant Kirino would be staying with him in his mansion. The defender's parents would be out of town every time it was summer—travelling from one place to another, a couple still deeply in love with each other after all these years. His own parents? The usual business trips as always.

The doorbell rang and Shindou heard it open, along with a faint, "Ah! Young Master Kirino, you're finally here!" and "I t-thought I already told you not to call me young master a long time ago…!"

The brunet stifled a laugh and closed his book. He purposely told the servants to treat Kirino like a young master during his stay with the intention of embarrassing him. Shindou knew how much he wasn't used to that. A harmless prank, but he knew he'd have to pay for it one way or another.

"I-I can carry it! It's just a duffel bag!" Kirino shouted and this time Shindou couldn't stop himself from laughing. The defender must have heard him because the door to his room burst open and a red faced Kirino glared at him. His duffel bag slung over his shoulder—Shindou took that as a sign the maid wasn't able to take it from him to carry it to his room. "Hey Kirino," the brunet greeted, a grin hung on his face.

"That was so not funny! You know perfectly well I'm not used to people doing things for me!" Kirino scolded him and threw the duffel bag into Shindou's face. Having used to Kirino's habit of throwing things at him when he was mad, Shindou caught the bag easily. But he was surprised by the heavy weight and tumbled backwards onto his bed. Teasing Kirino was his favourite thing to do during the summer. Well, one of the favourite things he liked to do during the summer. He was still laughing when he felt the bed move and he figured that Kirino sat on the edge. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," the brunet apologized after he saw the pout on Kirino's face.

"You have to try harder than that if you want me to accept your apology," he had his arms crossed and his eyebrows were furrowed. Shindou already ceased laughing but he couldn't help smiling. "Then, how about we go to the pool tomorrow?" he suggested. Kirino's face brightened. "I'll take that as a yes," Shindou determined, rolling onto his belly. There was a huff and Kirino dropped next to him with the book he had been reading earlier.

"This one's new. What's it about?" he turned his head to him with questioning eyes and so Shindou told him—the names of the characters and the plotline and the revelations. He knew how much Kirino liked listening to him talk about the books he read, albeit Kirino himself refused to read any books in the first place. He claimed it was too much work and he preferred to listen anyway. Shindou wouldn't admit it, but he liked telling the stories to Kirino too. It was among the many things that they only did with each other.

"You did bring your swimming trunks, right?" Shindou asked with eyebrows raised. He felt the other hit him on the shoulder and he grinned. "Of course I did! What do you think I am?" Kirino huffed. He jumped off the bed and into his futon. They had just watched a movie together—Battle Royale, director's cut edition. Shindou turned the TV off with the remote and he crawled out of his bed to turn the lights off. He and Kirino had joked, who in the movie reminded them of whom in the team.

They both agreed Tsurugi could be Shuuya, Aoi could be the girl he was protecting and Tenma was Shuuya's best friend who died in the earlier parts of the movie. Towards the end of the movie, it turned quite ridiculous though, with the teacher having been shot and then suddenly come back to life just to answer a phone call from his daughter who he hated and then die on the sofa.

He yawned. Tomorrow night it was going to be another movie and then another the night afterwards. He flicked the switch and the room turned dark. "Good night, Kirino," he said as he pulled the covers over him. Tomorrow… they were headed for the pool. Now this was going to be fun.

"Good night, Shindou…"

His eyes fluttered open slowly. The room was still dark, not a ray of sunshine shone through his curtains. Did he wake up earlier than usual? What was the time? Shindou groaned and turned his head to the side. He had to muffle a yelp when he saw Kirino lying next to him on the bed, deep in slumber. What was he doing here?!

The brunet pushed himself up a little, in an attempt to get a clearer view of Kirino in the dark. Kirino didn't stir at all. Maybe he had a nightmare and needed comfort but didn't want to wake Shindou up so he just slept here right next to him? It was possible. But as far as he knew, Kirino wouldn't be shaken up by a simple nightmare—unless it was really, really horrible. He found himself sighing before lying on his bed again. Oh, well. It didn't matter.

Kirino looked so calm in his sleep and his face looked cute too. He realized the defender didn't tie his hair so the long pink strands draped over his shoulder. It was a sight Shindou hadn't seen in a long time and he enjoyed it, finding a smile had graced his face. His hand reached out and his fingers played with Kirino's hair—it was soft and smooth. Shindou brought the hair to his face and kissed it. He relished the sweet smell of Kirino's pink locks.

If only he could do this every day…

When he woke up the next morning, Kirino was gone. And when he said gone, he meant back in the futon. He found this peculiar but decided against asking. Kirino didn't know he knew that he slept in his bed last night—so he'll keep it as his little secret.

Breakfast was chatty. They both wondered where their teammates went for the summer and they made a lot of assumptions based on the years before.

"Do you think Tsurugi and Tenma are spending time together?" Kirino asked with a smile.

"Definitely," Shindou found he was smiling too. "They just got together, after all,"

"It surprised me at first—who would've thought that they were the first to be in a relationship?" Kirino waved his fork in the air, chewing on the pancake. Shindou nodded. He was curious though. Why did Kirino bring up the topic of Tsurugi and Tenma going out?

"Do you think there's going to be more people in a relationship now?"

The brunet's head shot up with his eyebrows raised at the peculiar question. He had thought about that too—he noticed some people had been 'flirting' with each other before, during and after practice. Instead of saying yes, he shrugged and continued his breakfast. "Who knows?"

He groaned and dropped himself onto the sofa, tired. The moment they entered the pool area, Kirino had pushed him into the mass of water. Angered, he chased after him all around and they had a fight with water guns. Now his body ached all over and his head hurt too, since Kirino had purposely closed the door on him when he was about to enter the mansion earlier. He cursed under his breath. It was unusual of Kirino to pull pranks on him nonstop.

"Shindou!" a voice sang and Shindou groaned again, even if he liked listening to that same voice sing.

"Yeah?" he called back, pushing himself up. The door to his walk-in closet opened and a grinning teen popped his head out.

"I want to have an Iron Man marathon!" Kirino waved three DVDs in the air. "Looks like you found my stash of old movies…" Shindou commented, leaning into the sofa. It was plush and the idea of sleeping on it was tempting—but Kirino plopped excitedly next to him, the DVD for Iron Man 1 already in the player. He supposed he could stay up for a few more hours.

"Tony and Pepper look cute together," Kirino commented, throwing more of the popcorn the maids had brought up earlier into his mouth—buttered, just as they both liked it. Shindou merely chocked on the water he had been drinking. Never before had Kirino complimented a pairing in a movie—or any pairing in general, excluding Tsurugi and Tenma but that was because those two were their friends. "Y-Yeah," he replied, eyes turned to the TV again.

There was a sigh from his side. "It must feel great to have someone protect you. Pepper sure is lucky to have Tony—and vice versa…"

Shindou watched the other from the corner of his eye. There was a look on Kirino's face—a longing look and sad eyes. Instantly, Shindou felt something wrench his heart. He frowned, wondering bitterly who Kirino had in mind. The brunet closed his eyes and bit his cheek.

"…Yeah,"

He couldn't sleep that night. He tried to, he really did—but the thought of Kirino being in love hurt him. His forehead was creased as he willed himself to sleep, eyes shut tightly. But the dreadful question of who Kirino was in love with prevented him from doing so.

Just then, his bed moved. Shindou froze immediately, wondering if it was Kirino again. Did he have another nightmare? He was about to open his eyes, to tell Kirino it was okay and he couldn't sleep in the first place, when he heard the other sigh—the same sigh he heard earlier during the movie.

"Shindou…" Kirino whispered in a pained voice. "Why are you such an idiot?"

What? Was he really an idiot? Did the other even know he was awake? Shindou decided to play dumb and pretend he really was asleep—so he said nothing and didn't move at all, only making sure his breathing was even.

He lost functioning of his brain when he felt a pair of lips on his. They were soft and they glide over his smoothly. Shindou opened his eyes for a fraction and was able to make out Kirino's face in the darkness—the pink locks that fell over the other's face and his closed eyes. Everything about his face was so clear, dimly lighted by the moonlight from the window—he could almost make out Kirino's pink cheeks.

He closed his eyes again and used all the willpower he had not to jump up and embrace the other. He wanted to kiss back and see how that felt—if a mere brush of lips felt this good, who knew what would happen if it was a real kiss?

Kirino pulled back and Shindou had to grip his fists under the covers just to make sure he didn't pull the other down again. The defender shuffled carefully away but not too far. Shindou felt him rest on the same spot as yesterday. Did the same thing happen the night before? Was that the reason Shindou woke up so suddenly last night?

"An idiot who can't even take a hint or two… how did I fall in love with you?"

The brunet was dumbfounded. Kirino's weird behaviour so far had been hints? Numerous hints for him to figure out that Kirino was in love with him? Ah, then he truly was an idiot. He found a smile on his face and hoped the other wouldn't see it. What a wonderful euphoria—maybe now he could sleep. But then he realized he still couldn't—this time though, because he anticipated what will come next day and the night that will follow.

"Kirino, let's play the piano today," he suggested with a smile. The other looked up at him with an incredulous expression. "What? But you know I can't play," he reminded, throwing the magazine onto the coffee table. "But I remember I promised to teach you a song or two before," Shindou replied back slyly. He chuckled when the other froze in thought before slapping his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Right before summer holidays started, wasn't it?"

"Yup!" Shindou chirped. Kirino skimmed him from head to toe. "Are you okay? You're awfully cheery this morning," he noted with a worried look. The brunet grinned—oh, the fun he was going to have today. He pulled Kirino off the sofa and to his pristine white piano, purposely not letting go of the other's hand even when he made him sit on the stool. "Don't worry about me," he tried not to chuckle at Kirino's pink cheeks. He had to act oblivious, like everything he did was normal between friends. "We should worry more about what song you want to learn,"

Kirino coughed. "I… I think something easy, like a lullaby would be nice,"

Shindou could see the uneasiness settle in the other and he found amusement in that. He can steal kisses from him in his sleep, but can't handle conscious intimate touches from him? Now this was interesting—really interesting. "A lullaby it is," the brunet held the top of his hands, his fingers overlapping Kirino's fingers and he pressed himself against his back, chin resting on his shoulder. He whispered into the other's ear with a smirk, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star sounds good enough?"

Kirino jumped up immediately, shouting gibberish and staring at him with wide eyes—too surprised and embarrassed to give a proper response, Shindou mused. The brunet made himself look like he was confused by Kirino's reaction and raised his eyebrows—the earlier smirk long gone. "What's wrong?" he asked innocently, though he was still holding the other's hands, only pulling himself back so he could look at him properly. Kirino quickly turned his head away, in a futile attempt to hide his blush. Shindou let a smile form on his lips again when he was sure Kirino couldn't see him. He was really adorable—the red cheeks matched his pink hair.

"It's n-nothing!" Kirino stammered. He realized the defender's body was stiff in anxiety. Suppressing a laugh, he continued with the lesson—teasing Kirino with subtle touches and then pretending like everything was normal. He was pretty sure Kirino didn't remember half of the songs he taught him, his mind too preoccupied with things like, 'Shindou's too close!' or 'God, save me! This is too much!'

"Kirino, open up," he smiled, holding out his spoon—intending to feed the other his dessert. Kirino's face flushed and he looked away, obviously uncomfortable with the shower of affection that was abnormal considering their current relationship. "Come on, it's your favourite ice-cream," the brunet sang.

He saw how his body stiffened. For a moment Shindou thought he had won, and Kirino would turn around and eat the dessert. He thought wrong.

Indeed, he turned around. But instead of consuming the slowly melting delicacy, the defender started on a long string of complains on Shindou's behaviour today—from the piano 'lesson', to the 'accidental' hugs and to dinner.

The brunet kept his tongue, struggling not to show his entertainment. He listened and listened until his complains turned into whining. The string didn't look like it had an end—he had to admit that he enjoyed the sight, mainly because Kirino's face was as red as tomatoes and it was really adorable. Shindou hummed to himself as he scooped up a fresh batch of ice-cream from his cup and licked it.

"—it's just really weird and—"

"Kirino."

"Hm—?!"

It was sweet, cold and quite messy, due to the ice-cream that was in his mouth. His eyes were closed, so he couldn't see Kirino's reaction to the kiss. One hand held the other's chin and the other hand made its way to the defender's back, pulling him closer. Since Kirino had been talking and caught off guard, Shindou was free to roam his mouth, teasing and playing with the other's tongue.

He didn't exactly expect a response, so he was surprised when Kirino wrapped his hands around the brunet's head to deepen the kiss—not like that wasn't a good thing anyway. Whatever happened to the ice-cream, he didn't really care. It was already eaten by Kirino, probably.

They pulled apart and Shindou laughed at Kirino's flustered face.

"S-Shindou! What was that about?!"

"You can steal kisses from me and I can't?" he retorted with a smirk and the defender froze immediately.

"You—?" Kirino's eyes widened.

"I couldn't sleep last night," he explained. Kirino covered his mouth with his hand and let out a yelp. "I heard everything you said," Shindou returned to his seat, wiping his mouth with some tissue. He looked at Kirino with soft eyes and a gentle smile. "Everything that happened today, they were for a reason y'know,"

Kirino's face went redder and he fidgeted with his fingers, shifting in his seat. Shindou turned to his dessert again but before he could continue, the other spoke again.

"Can… Can I have some of that?" he averted his eyes to avoid Shindou's gaze, staring at the ice-cream instead.

Shindou smiled and held up his hand. "Open up, Ran-ma-ru," he sang delightedly, repeating the same words from earlier and liking the sound of the other's first name in his voice.