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Takeru had his hair slicked back over his face instead of letting it fluff about asa fringe. It was that which alerted Kiku that something was wrong instead of the fact that he had a busted lip and a puffy eye.
He was sitting, strangely thuggishly but also petulantly, at the table and his grandmother was patching him up. His grandfather was nowhere to be seen. His grandmother turned around slightly and her eyes warmed when she saw Kiku holding the front door open.
"Come in, come in, don't be a stranger." she said.
Takeru huffed and drummed his fingers on the side of his face.
Kiku knelt down next to his grandmother. She gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll take over, if you like." Kiku offered.
Takeru's grandmother's expression doured but she permitted it. She got up, very slowly, and her joints creaked.
"I'll go put on the kettle." she said.
"Thank you, ma'am." Kiku mumbled.
Kiku knelt down on the spot Takeru's grandmother had been sitting. It was warm and smelt like kindly old lady. Kiku pouted.
"You're too reckless, you know that right." Kiku said and she put a band-aid on a cut on his hand that she noticed.
Takeru, however, seemed oblivious to her small action and she wondered if she ought to alert him, but he seemed too busy keeping words in line. She realised she would feel guilty if she interrupted him. He wasn't the most natural conversationalist after all. He had to work at it in order to overcome the little things which happened in his head. Things that Kiku would never understand and that he could never explain beyond… It's because of the Incident.
"I was, um, told to get out or do homework. Pop told me that. Yeah, Nan's too nice. She'd let me loaf around. Pop's a, uh, hard-ass on me." Takeru said. "So, I chose the latter. Because fuck homework. Fuck the school, fuck the teachers. They're all hard-asses on me as well."
"Still struggling, huh?" Kiku said, sympathetically before her expression crossed. "You made the wrong choice."
"Whatever." Takeru grumbled.
"So, um, are you still having trouble with your memory?" Kiku asked.
"I tried to do notes today. Because I knew you'd be coming but," Takeru scowled darkly with frustration, "but every time I start a line, I just end up writing the same thing because I forget what I was writing before so I start over and then I don't realise the recording isn't paused because I forgot to pause it and I just had to get some aggression out."
"I wish there was more I could do..." Kiku lamented.
"You do enough. Hanging out with a scum bag like me is more than enough." Takeru mumbled.
"You're not a scum bag." Kiku told him.
Takeru glanced at his hand. "Did Nan put that there? When did I get a band-aid?" he asked.
"I should have told you. I put it there." Kiku replied.
"Oh." Takeru said and his gaze drifted. "What were we talking about?"
"It doesn't matter..." Kiku mumbled.
"I wouldn't know." Takeru replied, snappishly.
"Do you remember how you got into the fight?" Kiku asked.
Takeru shook his head. "I just remember how pissed it made me. These blokes... like... they were older than us. I think. Maybe by a year or two. And they were, um, talking about someone? A girl? I dunno. It got me pissed because what if they were talking about you? I can't stand even the thought of that."
Kiku smiled.
Takeru's eyes widened before he scowled again. "Shit. I think they were talking about you?"
"Thanks for defending my honour then." Kiku replied.
"So, you like it when I get into fights for no reason, huh?" Takeru asked.
Kiku turned flustered with reddening cheeks and flailing hands of denial. "Absolutely not, you're twisting my words."
Takeru laughed. "It's fine. I like playing the hero."
"Even when you get a black eye?" Kiku asked.
"Especially because then, it gives me a good reason to sucker a kiss from the heroine because woe is me. I got a black eye and a bloody lip." Takeru said.
"If you think I'm going to kiss you in this sorry state, you've got another thing coming." Kiku pouted.
Takeru laughed. "I know, I know. That only happens in the movies."
"Yeah, it does." Kiku said, playing with the hemline of her skirt, where it fell across her knees. "I still like you a lot though, Takeru."
"You do? I'm glad." Takeru replied, nonchalant but he had a strange, creeping feeling.
He swears that he was only jokingly flirting with her but, he'd be a goddamn liar if he said there wasn't perhaps something beneath such a playful surface. He couldn't look at her directly. She was too bright. Too everything he wasn't. Normal. Takeru's heart pounded
"But," Kiku mumbled but her simple conjunction twisted into Takeru's gut like aknife, "I think I like you in other ways. Not just in the way I liked you when we were kids. I mean, I still like you in that way. That friendly, platonic way. I really value our friendship, Takeru. I really do."
She rambled. She was so cute when she rambled. Takeru's heart continued to pound. He swallowed and very reluctantly, he shifted so he could face her. But still, she was too bright. Even when she was tense and nervous with white knuckles as she fidgeted with her black, peated skirt's hemline.
"I always want to remain friends with you, Takeru." Kiku said. "But, um, I like you. I like-like you."
She put her hand to her mouth. She choked, slightly, and it was obvious she was in an utter state of disbelief. She couldn't believe that she had finally been upfront about her feelings.
A warm rush of emotion when through Takeru's chest. "Pardon?" he said in a cracked voice.
Kiku's eyes widened. "I rambled too much, didn't I?" she asked.
"Yeah, I only remember bits and pieces of what you said." Takeru admitted.
Kiku shuffled in closer and put her hands on Takeru's body. Her touch was like electricity. Takeru stiffened but she couldn't bring herself to make direct eye contact. That was too confrontational.
"Takeru, I will always want to be your friend. But, I harbor romantic feelings for you as well. And – And I'm trying very hard, right now, to act on these feelings." Kiku explained succinctly.
She looked up from the tatami mat and there were tears in her eyes. She held her breath and her heart pounded like a drum in her chest. Her face reddened but, Takeru was very much the same. He looked stunned and breathless. His face was red and not just because of the punch-up he had been in.
"I'd be a useless boyfriend, Kiku." Takeru said.
"Nuh-uh." Kiku replied, childishly sing-song. "I mean, you fight for my honour. And life's never dull with you. And you always catch the biggest fish when we go on trips and, um, I love you. And I think that's the most important thing."
Takeru sat up more properly now. He looked at the band-aid on his hand and back to Kiku.
"I think… I'm the luckiest guy in the town. You're… a one in a million girl, Kiku. You're so sincere and genuine and I really lo-like – like – that about you." Takeru said.
"Takeru," Kiku said sharply, "can you please put me out of my misery? Are you turning me down or not?"
"Kiku? I love you too." Takeru replied.
"Wh-at?" Kiku gasped and her eyes widened, her shoulders squared, and her whole body lifted as euphoria hit her like a gunshot.
Takeru leaned in awkwardly, "Can I, um, kiss you…?" he asked.
Kiku smiled. "Yes, of course you may." She replied, gleefully.
Takeru pecked her lips hesitantly. This was their first kiss. Both, in terms of their relationship which was developing exponentially by the second, and in the scope of their wider lives, too. But, as the kiss continued, Takeru grew more confident. As did Kiku, she kissed back.
Soon, their kiss deepened. Their technique steadily got better or maybe they just accepted how awful it was. Nonetheless, it was sweet and chaste, even with the slight, metallic twang of blood thanks to Takeru's injuries. Though, Kiku's cherry flavoured lip balm did off-set it slightly. Furthermore, neither of them was bold enough to slip in tongue but it still good. Their mouths tingled as they kissed.
Takeru was the one to break it off. He panted. Kiku blushed.
"I really liked that, Takeru." she mumbled.
"I really, really liked that as well." Takeru said.
He then looked around. "Do you have a pen?"
Kiku nodded. She opened her book bag and got out her pencil case. He handed him a red pen.
"Thanks." he replied.
"What do you need it for?" she asked.
"I just want to make sure that I remember that we're dating now. What if I forget later?" he asked.
"Is kissing me really that forgettable?" Kiku asked.
"No, but I'm a useless boyfriend, remember?" Takeru replied.
"Stop calling yourself that. You're very useful. I mean, your taller than me. you always get things off the high shelf." Kiku retorted. She crossed her arms.
Takeru laughed. "I know. But what if I ever become even more forgetful down the road? You know? With, like, old age or something. I want to remember this day forever."
Kiku blushed. "You say really cute things once in a while, Takeru."
Takeru laughed again as he wrote down the date on his forearm. Kiku leaned over and watch as he wrote: Became Kiku's boyfriend today. Then, he circled his writing with decorations such as stars and hearts. He wasn't just cute, he was adorable.
"It's going to wash off, silly." Kiku said.
"I'll write it in my diary later." Takeru said.
"You're keeping a diary?" Kiku asked.
"Well, I'm going to now. My therapist suggested it as a kid, but I wasn't able to keep to it. But I've got good inspiration now."
Kiku blushed again.
"And even if I don't end up keeping it, I'll still be happy to write it down." Takeru continued.
"If only you had this sort of passion towards mathematics or literature." Kiku sighed.
"Small steps?" Takeru replied, mostly in farce, but it amused Kiku nonetheless.