A/N: Despite having kikuro as my main OTP, I keep writing akakuro... so I present a short cheesy fic of kikuro written while I was half asleep at midnight. Enjoy.

Warning: super cheesy, not betaed.

Two Cowards, One Love

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In their second year of high school, the cowardly boy, after getting countless of lectures from the fearsome older brother figure about love and regret, confesses his feelings to his first true friend, self-proclaimed best friend and true love, the icy boy. He did it with all his heart and honesty and placed all of his unspoken hopes into three simple (were they really that simple? a few words that hold so much power) words, waiting for the icy boy's reply.

Silence overtakes the atmosphere and he, the cowardly boy, seeing that the icy boy wasn't about to speak anytime soon, had felt extremely ashamed, causing him to apologize multiple times like he had done something wrong and abruptly turned away like he had been splashed with extremely cold water. He was hurt, yes, but could he blame his love for being shell-shocked being confessed to by a fellow male?

What he doesn't expect is the icy boy to give him acceptance with a rather bold and daring action — pulling him down by tugging his tie and a chaste kiss pressed on his lips. It wasn't a passionate or sexual kiss, but it was conveyed with sincere intentions and feelings.

For the first time, the icy boy's pale face that seemed to be made from the most expensive glass (according to the coward himself) and always so blank (yet beautiful), is dusted with a shade of light pink, slowly turning into the color of red.

Hesitance flit into those cold eyes, then replaced with determination and a glimmer of hope. "If this isn't a joke..." the icy boy says slowly and the cowardly boy almost laughs, because he knew how bad the icy boy was when it came to jokes. "I... think that it might work, if I try."

So, they did. The cowardly boy was obviously shocked at first, though it was quickly replaced with happiness as he smiled brightly like an idiot — an idiot in love and also to-be-loved — and hugged the icy boy really tightly, as if afraid that this was all just a fleeting dream that he would not remember when he would wake up. Luckily for him, it was reality and he knew that every time a day passed and he would have to cross out a number on the calendar.

Since that day, the two always ate breakfast together, the cowardly boy always waited for the icy boy to come out of his home, walked to the train station together and on rare occasions, they even held hands, intertwining fingers together. It was like a piece of heaven separated itself from the sky and landed on earth to form this picture perfect relationship.

Maybe it didn't seem like a functional relationship to others, since it seemed one-sided in another's eyes; how the coward always gave his all in loving while the icy boy did not give a single effort. In actuality, the icy boy did his way of loving the coward in their own privacy.

He was still unused to doing acts of intimacy, obvious as it was with the hesitant pecks on the cheek, awkwardly-placed hugs, fingers that lacked confidence when carding the coward's hair while his own lap was used as a pillow and the occasional light pats on the head, so the coward didn't want to force him. He already knew the smaller icy boy was trying his best and it was already more than perfect.

Every day was like walking in a sweet dream of being together with each other. Milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and eventually months passed by.

One day, the coward decides to swallow his nervousness and asks a question. It isn't a question to ask for his lover's (oh, how giddy he felt when he could finally call the shorter icy male that term) hand in marriage (even if the coward wants to marry, he knew both of them weren't ready), but a question that he has thought endlessly when the icy male accepted his confession.

He starts it off as casual as he could. He didn't want to look like a nervous wreck in front of them one he loves and most of all, accidentally making a fool of himself.

"On that day I confessed to you, I was actually really nervous!" He exclaims cheerily, his mind already showing glimpses of what transpired then.

"I thought you were going to reject me," he says the word like he's been burned, thoughtm he carries on without missing a beat. "But surprisingly, you accepted. I was really happy.. but I wondered why did you accept." Faced with a blank stare, the coward could see his lover's eyes glimmered with hesitance and distress.

The coward fumbled and his hands moved into a flurry of incomprehensible gestures. "I-it's not like I doubt you or anything, but you... back then," he speaks, softer than usual and his expression softens as well. "You always ignored me."

He needed to say this. "In second year of high school," He starts it with the voice that should only be used when saying a secret, "I already fell in love with you."

"I only realized it when you left after Nationals," he says this part bitterly and it was filled with remorse. "I was scared that I lost you because I was being a coward about it when I found out about my own feelings."

"It also took me another one and a half years to finally confess to you and it was all thanks to someone from my club. I really am a coward. So uncool, right?"

He looks down onto his lap to avoid eye contact. The coward didn't want to make this awkward and he knew that the icy boy would now hate him-

The icy boy opens his mouth to speak, successfully breaking the coward's jumbled thoughts to focus right now.

"I was a coward too." He says unexpectedly and the coward (or were there were two cowards now?) is unsure what to say.

The icy boy, who proclaimed himself as a coward continues with his words. He seems reluctant to say them, but he knows he needs to say them. If they were going to be together, one of the other would have to know sooner or later.

"I was scared." said the icy boy. "If I let you closer than you should, I was scared that all my bottled up feelings would be let out and you would be disgusted at me." he confesses his helplessness, his voice already on the verge of cracking.

"Then you wouldn't be my friend anymore and I would have to let you go," blank eyes grow duller while imagining the possible scenario, "I wouldn't be able to stop you because it would be my fault. I'm sorry if I made you misunderstood my actions, Kise-kun. Actually, I..."

"I've loved you for a long time, even before you confessed to me. That's why I was so shocked on the day you did so. I was... happy."

The coward was definitely in high spirits and the light blush on his face indicated that he was pleased. To know that before all of this happiness, the two actually shared the same emotions left him being dizzy from the excitement.

"Kurokocchi... Was it... during our second year as well? That you started loving me?"

"No, it was during first year." He says this honestly.

Then Kise laughs. "I guess we're both cowards then."

Kuroko goes closer to hug Kise and the icy facade melted away into a warm smile. It may have not seem much but to the cowardly boy, it was enough to light up Tokyo at night.

They were both just cowards in love.

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To know that your feelings were never unrequited and always shared was the best.

Time continues to tick and even if a full year hasn't passed since they were together, they were sure that they would be able to make up the lost days of denial and fear by spending it with each other.

After all, they were just two cowards in love who finally faced their nightmares head on and put a stop to their cowardice.

For the two cowards who shared one love, they had all the time in the world to enjoy, so as long as they were together forever.