Title: Like Tomorrow Doesn't Exist
Featuring: Kota Ibushi/Kenny Omega
Disclaimer: Mild slash, but nothing explicit.
Summary: "The art of love is largely the art of persistence." (Albert Ellis)
Kota Ibushi groaned loudly as the apartment door swung open, revealing an overly-excited blond with an armful of various medicines, water, sports drinks, and ice packs.
"What the hell, Kenny?" Ibushi asked asked, closing his eyes...although he couldn't quite keep himself from smiling.
Kenny Omega feigned shock as he let his keys, the supplies, and his custom Street Fighter bag fall onto the nearest table in a heap. He observed the room with a critical eye: it was extremely clean, almost too clean, which meant that Kota wasn't following the doctors orders to simply rest.
"Is that any way to greet your on-call nurse and the love of your life?" he asked, unpacking the supplies dutifully.
Kota cracked one eye open to give Kenny a skeptical glance. "On-call nurse? I told you on the phone that I was fine... Doc said I just needed to rest and drink some water...That's literally it."
He sat up carefully to better examine the collection of items on the table.
"Kenny...I'm not dying, you know. Just dehydrated."
"I know...but you have to take care of yourself! You're getting older..."
"I'll kill you."
The blond gaijin walked over to the bed, and placed a finger on Kota's lips to shush him. "Hey, hey, I'm here to help. Don't be a pain in the ass, or I'll give you a suppository to return the favor."
"...You wouldn't."
"I would."
With a bright smile, Kenny all but bounced over to grab a few bottles of sports drinks and water, settling in on the side of the bed as he handed one to Kota.
Ibushi took it with a grateful smile, dropping the "I'm-actually-not-sick" act long enough to finish the whole bottle and place it on the bedside table.
"I really am feeling better," he offered, smiling softly as he watched Kenny fiddle with the remote that controlled the room's temperature. "I felt like it was a fever before, but everything's not as hot now, so I guess that's a sign of improvement."
Kota leaned back on his arms, tilting his head to the side.
"Besides all that, I felt instantly better knowing that you would be coming home soon."
Kenny looked up from the remote to smile, and Kota was struck by just how angelic his dear Golden Lover was. His blue eyes never failed to shine when he was happy; and the man was positively beaming right now.
But there was a certain measure of sadness in his face as well.
Kota carefully took the controller out of his hands and placed it on the table near the empty bottle. He reached over and grabbed Kenny's chin, gently forcing the gaijin to look at him.
"Kenny, I heard happened at the US show...and I'm sorry."
Omega's face fell a little bit at that, gaze suddenly off to the side.
"It'll be fine," he attempted, unconvincingly. "It's nothing that we can't handle..."
He looked into Kota's eyes, and saw a mixture of patience and compassion. For a moment, he considered brushing it off, but...
All at once, Kenny, too, decided to drop the "I'm-fine" act, and leaned into Kota's arms, letting his head come to rest on the comfortable cotton of Ibushi's pajama shirt.
"Actually...I have no idea how this is going to turn out. I...believe in my heart that things will be okay in the end, but...it's fucking chaos right now."
Kenny sighed, closing his eyes, remembering every detail. The match, the Bucks, Cody, the win...and then the attack, the pain, and the beginning of something that could never be undone.
It was all a big mess in his head, and in his heart, and he didn't quite know what to do with it.
The only stable constant in his life right now was Kota.
But with the G1 and their match quickly approaching...
"I'm a little bit scared," Kenny laughed, nervously, vaguely. "I didn't realize Tama was so disgusted by me. And, honestly, I think I lost control of the whole Bullet Club thing a long time ago. But on the bright side, Cody and I might be okay..."
He felt Kota stiffen suddenly at the mention of the American Nightmare, and Kenny kicked himself mentally.
It's too soon.
"But that's still a long road too," he amended quickly, sitting up, and studying Kota's face carefully. "Whatever is going on with the Bullet Club...I promise that it will always come second in my heart, if not third, honestly."
"Yeah..."
Kota's response was somewhat distant, as his still slightly-fevered mind replayed the events of the last several months.
He wrestled, as always, with wanting to ask Kenny to leave the Bullet Club for good, while also respecting his need to be a part of that group (for reasons that Kota wasn't sure he fully understood). As far as he was concerned, the Bullet Club as a group had served to only hurt Kenny over the years, in increasingly deep and painful ways.
When would enough be enough? When would Kenny finally just take his friends and get the hell out of there?
Kota blinked, shaking his head as he came back to the present; and it was agony to see the concerned look on Kenny's face.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help," the Golden Star said softly, taking Kenny's hand in his own. "But, seriously. Fuck those guys."
Kenny managed a small smile at that, although it was clear that something else was bothering him. Something more anxiety-inducing than being put in front of the Bullet Club Firing Squad.
And, if he had three guesses, Kota was certain that he could get it right in one.
"Kenny...about the G1..."
Now Kenny's spine went straight as he sat up, full of tension and worry. "Kota, I don't-"
"I hate it."
Kenny gave Kota a puzzled look, but kept quiet, waiting for him to continue.
"I absolutely hate that I have to fight you. It feels too...dangerous. Too soon. We've only just gotten back together. But, I guess we have to do it, huh? One more big test for us..."
Kenny was nodding vigorously the whole time Kota spoke. He had been feeling anxious and upset, too, about their upcoming match, but wasn't sure if it was okay to say what he was feeling out loud.
As the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, he had to always look confident and unruffled. He had to, at the very least, give the appearance of having things under control. Overall, he had to look like nothing he faced could rattle him, or shake his self-confidence.
All of which made him feel like shit for wanting to scream "I THINK I MIGHT DIE!" every time someone asked him about his upcoming match with the man he loved more than anyone and anything.
But Kota was always honest, and never cared about what other people thought. Kenny was thankful for that, especially in moments like this when honesty was the only good option.
"I hate it too," he agreed quietly. "I'm scared it will hurt us...in more ways than one." He locked eyes with Kota, who was giving him a steady look.
"I swear, Ibu-tan, I'm not going to let anything get between us this time. Not that fucking belt, not this damn match, not the Bullet Club...Nothing."
He put his hands on the sides of Kota's face, and placed a light kiss on his lips.
"I promise."
Kota smiled, accepting the kiss and returning it with one of his own. He wasn't a vain person, but he could never get tired of Kenny's reactions to him: part worship, part rival, part all-consuming-desire.
It was like being in love with a typhoon.
Getting to know Kenny all over again was something of an adventure, too; the gaijin had changed a lot over the years they'd been apart. There was a new depth and earnestness to him that hadn't there before. A new cautiousness that reared it's head when he was faced with a challenge.
Too much suffering, Kota had realized not long after they reunited. It broke his heart, and steeled his resolve.
You'll never suffer alone again.
Distracted as he was with his thoughts, Kota hadn't even realized that he was still kissing Kenny. The blond was swooning, held in place by Ibushi's strong arms, his own hands gripping the Golden Star's biceps.
Kota released him with a smile, watching with no small degree of pleasure as Kenny very slowly came back to reality.
"You're...still too damn warm," Kenny said in a rush, as he pulled away from Kota, face flushed a bright pink color. "And you're distracting me! You really need to drink more water and lay back down."
Kota laughed and shook his head. 'Changing the subject so abruptly...Same Kenny in some ways, I guess.'
Though Ibushi knew that there was much more to be said, he decided to play along. After all, Kenny had just gotten back from another overseas tour, and they had a lot of catching up to do.
"Ugh, you're right, Kenny-tan...I feel a little dizzy..."
He flopped back dramatically onto the pillows, drawing a startled laugh from his friend and lover as he went to grab a few more water bottles.
"I keep having a fever dream...I'm in the ring...and I'm strangling a beautiful, blond man with amazing eyes..."
Kenny paled considerably. "Hey! That's not funny!" he protested, heart doing flips in his chest. Kota's sadistic side was coming out. That always meant trouble of the best and worst kinds.
"He's really, really pretty, though, and a part of me feels..." The Golden Star placed a hand on his own forehead head, staring forward as if he was in a dream.
"It just makes me want to hurt him more, but in a different way, and I think he's enjoying it... I mean, he didn't like the choking part, so I have to switch tactics and—"
"Okay, okay, you win!" Kenny interrupted, blushing bright red again. "I won't bother you about having fucking heat stroke, or whatever! Idiot!"
Kota full-on laughed at that, sitting up to grab another water bottle and Kenny in the same motion.
"It's dehydration, and I love you," he snickered, earning himself a grand eye-roll and a kiss on the cheek.
"I love you too; but please don't kill me, you absolute psycho."
"No promises, Kenny-tan..." Kota answered in a creepy sing-song voice that made Kenny shiver, batting his long eyelashes
"Can you just go to sleep!? Now you're making me feel like I need to lie down..."
The two men shared a laugh, both wistfully looking over at the calendar.
The G1 Climax was starting soon. In a few days, they'd be fighting...and in a few weeks, they'd be fighting each other, one-on-one, with nowhere to hide.
But that was later.
Right now, Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega had each other...and that was more amazing than anything they could have ever wished for.
They'd worry about everything else tomorrow.
A/N: In a recent interview, Kota actually did say that he hated that he had to fight Kenny in the G1. Which is interesting because...does that mean he didn't want to fight him for the title?! I have so many questions! It's going to be an amazing and painful G1...