Happy rantaku day everyone! For today I'm proud to announce my newest of fics, one that I've been planning on doing for months now. Note that this is going to be a side project from my other fics so you may not see updates from this as often but I hope you enjoy!

Something was up with Shindou. He was acting, how should I put it? Strange, yeah, that's it. He'd been acting strange around his best friend, Kirino Ranmaru. The two boys had been best friends ever since they were kids. They were always there for each other. Shindou thought they'd always be best friends, nothing more, and he was fine with that, until now that is.
After years of burying it away, Shindou couldn't hold it in any longer and finally admit that he had a crush on his pink haired friend. By crush, I mean totally head over heels in love. But Kirino would never return those feelings? Would he?

Of course he would. The whole team knew that Shindou and Kirino had completely fallen for each other, but the boys themselves couldn't seem to come to the same conclusion. They're friends tried to get them to confess multiple times, but every attempt ended with the same result: failure and a very flustered pair of boys. It seemed like they'd never confess.

Until today that is. Shindou heard his phone vibrate on his nightstand for the millionth time, but he didn't pick it up. He heard a knock at the door,
"Takuto-sama! Your mother is wondering if you're alright! May we come in?"
It was one of the maids. He ignored that to.

It all started earlier that day. Shindou and Kirino were sitting in Shindous living room, watching some badly made teen romance movie and laughing at it when Shindous mother came in and announced one of her business partners was coming over for dinner next week. She said that they had a very pretty daughter about his age and that he should start thinking about getting a girlfriend.
Shindou Takuto, of course, was gay. He'd heard the 'when are you going to get a girlfriend' speech from his mother dozens of times. He wanted to tell her that he didn't want a girlfriend and would never want one, but he was afraid. He was an attractive boy from a rich family. Everyone had expectations for him from the moment he was born. He was told that he should get perfect grades, go to a good university, become a doctor or something, and then marry a pretty girl and have children. The only problem is that he didn't want that.
Today he was feeling oddly confident when his mother asked him when he'll get a girlfriend and he immediately said,
"I'll never get a girlfriend the way you're forcing me into it."
"Don't talk back to me, young man," His mother replied, "I'm not forcing you, just reminding you."
Shindous sudden burst of confidence is what set it off. Shindou and his mother had gotten themselves into a small fight about Shindous love life. His mother said that he was 15, he should start thinking about his future family. Shindou said that forced family is the worst type. Kirino watched in shock, Shindou was usually very respectful of his parents, it was very unlike him to act out in front of them. Now that he thought about it, Shindou had been acting pretty strange lately. If the two boys were to touch for some reason, Shindou would get flustered for seemingly no reason at all. He avoided topics like 'what you see in a girl' like the plague. Kirino was pulled from his thoughts when Shindou suddenly screamed,
"Mom you don't get it! I don't want a girlfriend because I'm GAY."
There was a long silence.
Realising what he just said, Shindou gasped and in a panic, ran upstairs to his room. He locked the door behind him and wouldn't let anyone in and didn't respond to any calls or texts. He wanted to hide from the world. Why did he say that? What made him scream his deepest darkest secret all of a sudden?
There was another knock on the door, but it wasn't a maid this time, and it wasn't his mother either.
"Shindou? Are you okay?" Kirino called in, "Come on, if you won't open the door at least answer me!"
Shindou got up and moved towards the door. He moved slowly. Very slowly. His heart raced as he reached for the doorknob. The love of his life, who now knew he was gay, was standing on the other side. Normally he would've easily opened the door for Kirino since he always trusted his best friend, but now it was a hundred times more nerve wracking.
Finally, his hand reached the lock and unlocked the door.
The moment Kirino heard the click the door made as it unlocked, he flung open the door and immediately hugged his friend that was standing on the other side. In shock, Shindou took a few steps back and tumbled on top of his bed, Kirino falling on top of him.
Kirino used his arms to lift himself over Shindou, staring him straight in the eyes. Shindou started to blush. Their faces were mere inches apart and they were in quite the awkward position at the moment. Kirino didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, he just stared at Shindou.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Kirino finally said. He sounded hurt.
"I-I" Shindou stammered. He wasn't sure what to say, "I was…scared."
Kirino lifted himself off of Shindou and moved to sit beside him,
"I thought we were best friends…Did you not trust me?" Kirino asked, staring at his lap.
Shindou felt awful seeing Kirino like that. He didn't mean to hurt his friend, he could just never muster up the courage to tell Kirino is sexuality. There was a long pause before Shindou finally spoke,
"I was afraid that maybe…you wouldn't want to be friends anymore because I'm gay."
Shindou was terrified, but he refused to cry. Not now. He was convinced that Kirino wouldn't want to be friends with him anymore, much less lovers.
Kirino looked up at Shindou with a smile, "Of course I still want to be friends with you, why wouldn't I?" He paused, "Besides, it's not fair that I'm getting upset about this cause I've been hiding something from you to." Kirino paused again, taking a deep breath before looking Shindou in the eye and saying, "Of course I still want to be friends, because I'm gay to."
Shindou couldn't believe his ears. He hadn't blown it. There was still a chance Kirino would like him back. He cut off his own thoughts there. He didn't think that Kirino would like him back. After all, they were just best friends, and nothing more, right?
When Shindou didn't say anything, Kirino did,
"Shindou, is this what's been troubling you?" He asked, moving closer to Shindou, "You've been acting weird lately. You get all tongue tied whenever we touch and you're spacing out during practice."
Shindou shifted in his spot. He didn't know what to say. Kirino had noticed the times where Shindou had slipped up and made even a slight indication that he was in love with the pink haired boy but Shindou was too afraid to explain his own actions.
"I'm worried about you." Kirino continued, "You keep everything bottled up, it's not good for you." He stood up and walked towards the door, closing it and turning the lock before walking back to Shindou, who was sitting up in the middle of his bed. Kirino sat down directly across from him and stared at Shindou,
"And neither of us are leaving this room until you tell me what's bothering you."

They sat there in silence. Kirino stared at Shindou with narrowed eyes and Shindou looked around the room, shuffling awkwardly in his spot. There was absolutely no way he would ever tell Kirino is true feelings.
Shindou suddenly stood up, walking towards the door,
"M-maybe we should go talk to my mom or something…" He said. Shindou Didn't want to talk to his mother at all after his sudden outburst, but anything was better than being trapped by Kirino until he revealed his secret. Before he could get to far, Kirino grabbed his wrist and pulled Shindou back to the bed.
"No." Kirino said, "Neither of us are leaving until you tell me what's wrong." Kirino reiterated. He paused to think before continuing, "Could it be…" Kirino's lips turned into a small smile, "Do you have a crush on someone?"
Shindou froze. His mind was screaming at him to say no but he couldn't manage to say anything for about a minute,
"I-uh-well….of course not." He finally spit out. Kirino got Shindou to sit back down before releasing his wrist.
"So, who is it?" Kirino asked. His voice sounded flat, but it also sounded forced. Like despite his question, he didn't want to know. To be honest, Kirino didn't want to know. Well he did, but what if it wasn't him.
Well that was straightforward… Shindou thought, hearing Kirino's question, but of course he wouldn't answer. There was no way he'd tell Kirino. He was already their friendship was coming to an end before, but he got lucky. He was sure Kirino wouldn't like him anymore if he answered his friend truthfully.

Kirino sighed, "If you can't trust even me with his name a least give me a hint to guess it."
Shindou gulped, "Well, uh, he's really pretty and kind and I can trust him with just about everything" Shindou mentally facepalmed. Shit, he thought, why did I say that last thing! Hopefully I didn't totally give it away.

Kirino placed a finger on his Chin, thinking about who it could be. He thought he knew, but he quickly shoved away that thought. It wasn't possible. There was no way Shindou would actually like him. After all, they were just friends, right? Despite this belief he looked back to Shindou, inching closer to him,
"if you trust him that much, you two seem pretty close. Why don't you just tell him?" Kirino asked.
"Because I'm afraid he won't like me back." Shindou replied, "And I know he doesn't and I'm fine with that."
Kirino slowly moved closer and closer until their knees were touching and Kirino couldn't move any farther without pushing Shindou,
"How are you so sure?" Kirino asked.
Shindou backed up slightly. He knew he was just going to end up a stammering mess if he was that close to Kirino.
"B-because we're just friends. We always have been. It probably won't change."
As Shindou moved, so did Kirino. Kirino could tell the interrogation was making Shindou very nervous and slightly uncomfortable but he needed to know who Shindou had a crush on. He needed to know what they had that he didn't. The answer got clearer to more he pressed on, but he just couldn't believe it.
"You two must have been friends for a while. When did you two meet?" Kirino asked before adding on, "Do I know him?"
Shindou sighed,
"Kirino, just stop this. I know he doesn't like me back so there's no point." Shindou and backed up as far as he could and his back was pressed against the backboard of his bed. Kirino couldn't move forward either, but instead of moving he leaned forward, placing his hands on the bed on either side of Shindous legs,
"Are you sure about that?" Kirino asked. Shindou gave a short nod to which Kirino replied,
"Well, you never really know until you ask. Maybe you should give him a chance." Kirino looked right into Shindou's eyes. His beautiful, beautiful eyes. Kirino continued to keep eye contact as he finally backed away from Shindou and continued,
"If you're really friends, then I'm sure he won't make it awkward if he doesn't feel the same way, but what if he does like you back?" He pondered, "What if he does like you back but since you never told him your feelings, you'd never know."
Shindou didn't reply for a long time. They sat in silence for about three or four minutes before he finally spoke up,
"I can't do that because…im scared."
Kirino hugged Shindou, picking up his friends phone off the nightstand and handing it to Shindou,
"You should tell him. Trust me, you'll feel better when you do." He insisted, "Besides, I'm worried about you, I really am. You've been so…well, distracted." Kirino continued, pulling his hand away from Shindou's phone, "Besides, you deserve to be happy."

Shindou stared at his phone, biting the inside of his lip. It seemed like years had passed when Shindou finally moved. He placed his phone back on his nightstand and stared at his lap,
"I-I don't need to text him…" He paused, wondering if he should continue. He had managed to bring back just a little of the confidence he had before and finished his sentence, "Because he's sitting right in front of me."

Kirino froze, staring at Shindou with wide eyes. He couldn't believe his ears. Shindou just confessed that the person he had a crush on was Kirino.
"Listen Kirino, if you don't want to hang out anymore, I totally get it but-" Shindou was cut off when Kirino suddenly jumped forward and hugged up ,causing him to tumble onto his back, with Kirino on top of him,
"Well, what if he likes you back?" Kirino whispered into Shindou's ear. Kirino held himself up over Shindou, "What if he wants to be more then friends?"
Shindou looked in another direction,
"Kirino, stop teasing me. If you don't like me back you just need to say so."
Kirino sighed, "Are you that doubtful?" he asked, getting up and allowing Shindou to sit up. Kirino picked up a picture of himself and Shindou off Shindou's nightstand. It was a picture of them smiling together after they won holy road.
"I have a crush on someone to." Kirino said, continuing, "Although he can have a bit of a temper, he really does care. Sometimes I wonder how people manage to stay away from him, with those beautiful ember eyes and curly brown hair."
Shindou didn't know how to respond, it couldn't be him. Kirino was describing him almost perfectly but no way Kirino could fall in love with someone like him, after all saying he had 'a bit' of a temper was quite the understatement.
Kirino placed his hands on top of Shindou's as he spoke, "Maybe you could forget about those doubts for a little while," Kirino offered, "Maybe you could even get rid of them completely if you…" He trailed off, taking a deep breath in, "If you maybe went on a date with me."
Shindou decided to take a chance and took Kirino's hand in his own,
"Well, as you said before, maybe I should give my crush a chance."
Kirino gave a large grin, "So…You'll go out with me?" His eyes brightened as he looked at Shindou. Kirino already knew the answer, he just wanted to hear Shindou say it out loud.
Shindou nodded in reply,
"Of course."