Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants of Darkness/ Yami no Matsuei.

Warnings: Tsuzuki/Hisoka, AU, possible OOC, and awful writing.

Happy birthday, Stratagirl!

Famous Words

Sneezing once more into the wrinkled and wet piece of tissue in his hand, Hisoka briefly wondered if his cold could get any worse. It was bad enough that he had to miss school, which meant tons of work to catch up on, but having to miss out on his date with Asato Tsuzuki made the entire situation worse. After weeks of subtle hints and flirts, the man had worked up the courage to ask him on a date. Hisoka, unsurprisingly, accepted the date because secretly he had been hoping for it.

It was more work on Tsuzuki's part, though. Whenever they spent time together, he could tell the man had feelings for him. Fortunately, they fell on the right person. Ever since they had met, Hisoka had wanted to pursue a relationship with the amethyst-eyed man, but never could form the words. They left his head the moment he opened his mouth and instead of talking he remained quiet, thinking in his head about the strain it would put on their friendship if he were wrong about Tsuzuki's feelings.

Courage, empathy, and love- he knew Asato was the one. If anything were to prove him right, the date would have. Sneezing again, Hisoka brought the tissue up to his nose. He cleaned himself up, already too late to sneeze into the tissue, not his sheets.

Throwing away the tissue, he groaned. Why were illnesses to cruel? Why was his body too weak to protect him from the common cold of all things? Picking up another tissue from the box next to his pillow, he sneezed again. It was beyond the point of frustration. As he turned to his side, he could see his bedroom floor. On any other day it would not have mattered, but today, it called his attention simply because it looked like a battlefield; stained tissues looked more like fallen soldiers than germ-infested wipes.

Wincing, he pulled the sheets over his head and covered himself. It was quiet, but not the good kind of quiet. Struggling to breath, he pulled the sheets away from his face. Feeling a slight tingle, he knew another sneeze would come. This time he was ready with the tissue. Sure enough, he sneezed loudly. As he predicted, he caught the mess in the tissue, saving his sheets and himself from an unwanted wetness.

Yet another fallen soldier in the war against mucus fell to the floor. Frowning, Hisoka began to wonder if thinking about war was the right way to go about feeling better. With his condition not improving, he decided war was too negative. He could not think about Asato either unless he wanted to remember the sadness in the man's voice when he called to cancel their date. What was he to do? Being in bed for the whole day, with the exception of bathroom breaks, was driving him mad.

Focusing his eyes on the wall, he sighed. "Damn this sickness," he muttered to himself. Was it him or did the temperature change again? It felt hot now. As he closed his eyes, he pulled the sheets away from most of his body.

Moments later, he began to feel cold again. The change in temperature made him pull the blankets up again. How could he rest when his body did not allow him to feel slightly comfortable? It was horrendous!

Within minutes, he began to forget about the cold. With a silent lullaby, he started to float away to the land of dreams and nightmares. It was peaceful, no sneezing to interrupt him. He was close to it.

"Hisoka!" screeched the idiot who interrupted his trek.

Angry eyes snapped open, looking around hysterically. Grinding his teeth, he restrained himself from shouting. The partially opened door opened fully to reveal Asato Tsuzuki, long-time crush and idiot. His left eye began to twitch at the sight of him.

"Oh, you look horribly sick," he remarked as he sat on his bed without asking for permission. Hisoka's leg was close; he could kick the vile jerk. "I decided to bring our date to you, Hisoka!" In seconds, he lifted the bags he had brought with him and took out several treats. Most the treats were chocolate and candy lovers gave one another for Valentine's Day, which was a day away. It was unlike Tsuzuki to bring so much, especially when he was famous for overstuffing his stomach with sugary delights.

Blinking at the treats, Hisoka could do little else. "Valentine's Day," he muttered. His face was flushed, but not from the thoughtful act. He could feel a sneeze building up.

"Eh? Oh, you mean the candy! Yeah, I thought, you know, since we set a date we might as well celebrate the holiday. That's okay, right?"

The sneeze erupted before he could snatch a tissue. While he sneezed, he swore he heard Tsuzuki yelp. Even if he had not, the man did fall off the bed. "Stupid cold," he cursed as he picked up a tissue and wiped his nose.

"Talk about loud sneezing. I had no idea it was this bad. Have you taken medicine?" Tsuzuki stood up from the floor and moved all the sweets so that they did not bother Hisoka. That or he had changed his mind about sharing the sweets.

"I have taken medicine, Tsuzuki, but some of us take longer to recover. It's not as if I have your immune system," he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. "Maybe you shouldn't have come. It's not too late to leave and find yourself another valentine, you know."

Stomping his foot on the floor, Tsuzuki grunted. "I know why you're doing that! You are just embarrassed that I am seeing you like this. Hisoka, you do not have to be embarrassed. I think your sneezes are cute. You'll get better in no time as long as you rest and take medicine." He offered him a smile as he sat back down on the bed.

Glaring, Hisoka pushed him off the bed. "You're an ass, Tsuzuki. That is not why I am snapping at you. I am sick and I do not want anything except to get better and to sleep! Do you know how difficult it is to sleep when you are constantly sneezing? It's not cute, it's frustrating!"

Tsuzuki gulped. "Oooookay, I think I get it," he replied. Getting to his feet, he pouted. "I just wanted to keep you company and make you feel better. Well, I guess I will leave you alone so you can rest. Uh, feel better, Hisoka."

The brunette man walked to the door, crossed it, and did not look back. Biting his lip, Hisoka held his head down. Clearly, he was going to regret it, but he had to do it. "Tsuzuki!" he called out, loud enough that his ears ached.

Not a second later, the man stood in front of him. It amazed him that Asato was that fast. "Don't go," he said, meeting his eyes. "We should have our date. That was a promised event and we've never broken promises to each other."

Tossing him a chocolate heart, Tsuzuki nodded. "Thank you, Hisoka," he said as he watched his date unwrap the chocolate and eat it. He took a seat next to him, still not asking for permission. "I knew you weren't going to kick me out," he admitted.

"Don't push your luck, you idiot," warned Hisoka with glare. "It's a good thing you have good taste in chocolates. Otherwise you wouldn't have been as lucky." His expression softened as he consumed another piece of sweetness.

"Does this mean we're going to be valentines?"

"We might as well. Spending it together might be better than being alone." Hisoka sneezed, caught off guard. Just as he was about to collect a tissue, he saw Tsuzuki pushing a tissue to his nose.

"Blow," he ordered. Not thinking about it twice, Hisoka did. Afterwards he threw the tissue away. He could have stopped there, but the man picked up every piece of trash on the floor and threw it away as well.

Hiding his smile, Hisoka muttered thanks. Tsuzuki did not have much to offer, nor was he the smartest, and he lacked manners at times. Yet he did not linger on that. When it came down to analyzing his attraction to him, he knew what won him over years ago.

He threw the sheets away from him and stepped out of bed. Tsuzuki took no notice until he was next to him. "Shouldn't you stay in bed? Go on, Hisoka, you need to rest." He tried to get him to move, but Hisoka took hold of his hand.

"Do you really want to be valentines?"

Giving him a tender smile, Tsuzuki nodded. "I wouldn't have asked if I hadn't meant it. To be honest, you are the only one I have wanted to be valentines with ever since we were little. Gah! That probably sounded stupid to you."

"No, not really," he said as he pulled Asato into an awkward embrace.

Asato returned his embrace. "Would I be ruining the moment if I told you I loved you?"

Pulling away from the hug, Hisoka stiffened. Tsuzuki's face contorted, he was in fear. "I love you, too," he whispered.

Hisoka had expected him to ask him to repeat it, but he did not. "Thank you, Hisoka, thank you. That's the best Valentine's Day gift ever."

"Good because I'm broke and have nothing else to offer you." Catching himself, he blushed. "There's no way I'm going to sleep with you yet. I'm not slut, Tsuzuki."

The man looked perplexed. "Uh, yeah, I know you're not. Hisoka, I just told you that I loved you. Why would you think I would force you to have sex with me? Besides if it ever happens, it'll be making love, not having sex."

Hisoka pushed him away. "You're getting ahead of yourself. Let us just finish up the first date, then celebrate Valentine's Day, and then we will go from there. Stop getting your mind in the gutter."

His valentine clutched his head and shook it. "Hisoka, you give me headaches sometimes, but I wouldn't change a thing about you. Mostly because you are scary like this and I know you too well. I hope you can put up with me."

"Why do you say that? I have been putting up with you for years. You are not that bad, you know. A little slow at times, but you make up for that with your other qualities. Besides, you are the one I trust the most. Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without you, but don't let that go to your head." He held out his hand and waited for Tsuzuki to take it. The minute he did, he pulled toward the bed and sat him down on one side while he climbed on and joined him. "Can I ask you two questions?"

"Sure, Hisoka, ask."

"When did you know you loved me? For how long have you felt that way?"

"The second time I saw you. So that's been since I was six," he answered warmly. Hisoka did not doubt his words. He knew he had spoken the truth because he had felt the same for too long.

They leaned into each other and hugged. A waiting kiss pulled them even closer.

End.