Title: Resolution

By: Ame no Chikara

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Kensei/Hiro

Notes: Fluff! Haha... What a rarity from this fandom. 

Summary: Hiro goes to spend New Years with Kensei and learns about his idol's views on the holiday. Takes place early on in the Early Japan arc, even though they never experienced a New Year there. Yeah. I love the liberties of fanfiction.

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"Happy New Year!" Hiro Nakamura threw his arms up with glee. The sake bottle in his hand nearly collided with the top of the tent, the flimsy structure swaying dangerously in response. Takezo Kensei watched silently as the other man dropped the bottle and ran his hands frantically along the tents interior, searching for signs of imminent collapse. Pleased to find that he hadn't destroyed their sleeping quarters, he stooped down and picked up the bottle, dusting it off gingerly. Nervously, he held the bottle out to Kensei. The man grunted with approval and finished his half-empty gourd of sake before taking the container from Hiro and opening it.

"Pft. New Year." The drunkard mumbled, his eyes gleaming with a sharp glaze, "Just another damn year. Waste of my time, I tell you. Every year, it's always the same. People talk about it like their whole life is going to take a turn for the better, only to realize a little later that it's just the same bloody thing over." He hiccuped and took another hit from the sake before the bottle was ripped away from him. He shrugged and reached behind him, another container of booze waiting for his eager hand. When Hiro grabbed that as well, he had to fight back the urge to punch him. "God dammit, carp, if you're going to bring me booze and take it away from me, just don't bring it."

"Kensei... you were not listening to me. I asked you where Yaeko was. You just kept saying things about-" Hiro bit his tongue back when he noticed his so-called hero had already snatched his sake back and moved to the other corner of the tent. "Kensei..." Hiro whined, taking his glasses out of his kimono and putting them on. The drunk man bending over the bottle on the other side of the tent snapped into focus. Hiro knew at least five hundred things he'd like to see clearly for the first time in a month that were not Takezo Kensei drinking. But, he knew he really didn't have much of a choice. Anymore, that was the only thing he really got to see clearly. "Kensei! Did you even hear what I said?"

"Right- Ya-ek-o." Hiro winced at the way Kensei chopped up her name. It didn't sound Japanese at all. "We had a fight." Swish.Almost half of the new bottle that Hiro had brought was empty now. Pushing up his glasses, he made a mental note to take some of the sake himself next time before giving the bottle directly to Kensei. "Stupid bitch left, crying about her father."

"W-What?!" Hiro's eyes grew to the size of saucers, his mouth ajar in disbelief. Kensei and Yaeko had been progressing so well and nowhe just let her run out on him? Kensei continued to drink, staring intently at the bottle as he flicked his wrist and swirled the clear liquid around in it. "You have to go get her!" He took large bounds to the other side of the tent and shook the sword saint, trying to make him get up. With every tug at Kensei's wrist, another eighth of the bottle of sake went down his throat. Takezo Kensei, it seemed, was not going to budge.

"She can rot for all I care." He said, shooting a dirty look up at Hiro. The Japanese man's eyebrows furrowed and he began to frown deeply. Turning to leave, Hiro was dragged back down to the ground by Kensei. "Oh, no, nobody is going after her. You and I both will be staying right here and enjoying this sake." He threw the now empty bottle at Hiro and frowned contemplatively. "Or, you'll be staying here and enjoying me."

"Kensei, she is your princess. You should not make her angry. You are meant to be together and fall in love. If you let her go away, she will only stay angry at you."

"She is supposed to be falling in love with me. If I listen to your bloody advice all the time, it won't be me she's falling in love with, now will it?" Hiro bit his tongue and looked downwards. As hard as he was trying to fight it, he didn't mind that Yaeko was falling for him instead. "Anyway, let's deal with the problem at hand... this New Year thing-"

"Oh, yes! Great celebration in Japan! Fireworks, parades, and many presents! Everyone is very happy! It is a time for great change in a person and to live a better life!" Hiro beamed unabashedly, and squirmed giddily in his place. He slid his glasses back up his nose as if simply itching for something to do, but unable to find an outlet for his excitement. His drunkard of a companion, however, did not share his overwhelming enthusiasm.

"What does the change of an irrelevant number have to do with my life? Honestly, I found your culture strange when I arrived, but this has to be one of the weirder things about it." Kensei continued to mumble inaudibly into his bottle. "Stupid," "bloody," and "maniac" were the only words that Hiro could make out. He froze stiff when his ranting hero's eyes caught his own. "What are you pouting for?"

It was like Ando always said- "You trying to hide your emotions is like Robin the Boy Wonder pretending he has powers." Nevertheless, he still tried to veil his emotions with a nervous laugh. Kensei's glance burnt a hole right through his charade.

"You don't fool me, carp. You're upset again." Hiro just hung his head slightly, wondering why it he could never keep up his poker face. "I know because those little fish lips of yours pucker out so nicely when you're disappointed. I'm not all too fond of upsetting you, but when I do, thatis a plus." Hiro began to blubber, but Kensei shot him another glance and he quickly bit his lip. "Come on, out with it. What is it this time? What does thislegend say? Does the legendary Takezo Kensei fall head-over-hills in love the New Year and vow to never drink again? Because in that case, I'd," Kensei dropped his sake bottle suddenly, causing Hiro to jump up in alarm. "Ack!" The man's hands shot up to his throat and he began to choke himself before falling over in an overly dramatized death.

"K-Kensei!" Hiro bolted to Kensei's side in alarm and pried the man's hands from his throat. His heart thumped haphazardly in his chest, his mind almost going into overload from the shock. His hands found Kensei's lips and pried them open hurriedly before he leaned in closer to see what could possibly be blocking the other man's throat.

"Go-han. Ooo-ick. Iss-ee, Hi-oh." The expression on Hiro's face sent Kensei into a laughing fit.

"W-What?" Hiro looked with concern at Kensei's now teary eyes, "What is wrong Kensei?" Surely, Hiro was convinced, this hadto be a result of the shock of nearly choking to death. Why else would he be laughing heartily in his face?

"You seriously thought that I was choking?" He began to laugh harder and his head came to rest on Hiro's shoulder, Hiro's face flushing in embarrassment. Sarcasm in English was, quite apparently, something that he still had to master. Fighting down the urge to leave, he dropped his arms back down to his sides. "You're really something, carp." His eyes flashed up at the other man. Suddenly serious, the sword saint cleared his throat. "Honestly, what is the matter?"

"I just thought you could, well..." Hiro began to fidget in Kensei's grasp. He didn't mind being held for brief periods of time, but this... well this was just getting ridiculous. He could practically feel Kensei's warm breath mixing with his own, inviting him to come in closer in the cold of night.

"I could what?" Hiro's eyes snapped up and met the other's. Kensei's eyes were blue, that he had always noticed, but never before had he taken note of the small flecks of brown and green. He was almost afraid of the flickers of emotions and passions that he had caught in those bright colors swimming in Kensei's eyes.

"You could make a great change too. Become a new man! A great warrior!" Hiro froze as stiff as a board. Was that Kensei's thumb making small circles on his arm? How did he end up with his back on the ground? Was that Kensei laying on top of him?!

The scent of booze wafted in and out of his nostrils and he cursed that bottle of sake he just had to bring in order to celebrate the New Year. His hands reached out to push against Kensei's chest, only to be greeted with silky smooth skin, rising and sinking slowly. Hiro's eyes fell to the unthinkable-- Kensei's kimono was falling open in all the right places. If he shifted his leg just an inch, he would be able to see-

"Could I make a change? Every change I would want to make, you would revise so it was exactly what you wanted it to be. It wouldn't be mine." Sharp blue eyes met deep brown fearful orbs. "Do you want to know what I would change?"

Something told Hiro exactly what Kensei would change and it wasn't something he was ready to cope with. Fear gripped at his heart as he snapped his head to the side, looking for some escape. But Kensei calmly reached up and caught Hiro's face. Hiro was lost in Kensei's unyielding eyes in one glance.

"The identity of my princess." The hand on Hiro's cheek pushed his chin upwards, and Hiro reflexively closed his eyes as tight as he could. He could feel their hot breath intermingling, his body temperature skyrocketing as Kensei leaned in closer and closer.

When their lips met, his head began to spin. The kiss was soft and clumsy at first and Hiro wondered if Kensei had just as little experience as he did. His thoughts, which had done everything before to remind him how wrong this was, had long since drowned in the pleasure of Kensei's strong arms holding their bodies together and had fallen at the mercy of the soft caresses of their lips colliding over and over again.

Hiro parted his lips slightly and Kensei took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. A shiver ran up Hiro's spine as Kensei's tongue glided across his. He couldn't help but to lean into it. His fingertips slid slowly through Kensei's coarse blonde hair. He was completely numb now. It was as if everything around them had ceased to exist and the only sound was the constant drum of the other's heart. When Kensei finally broke away, Hiro kept his eyes closed and lips parted, as if waiting for more. His mouth tasted dully of alcohol.

"Come in." The sound of Kensei's voice snapped him out of his stupor and he opened up one eye, only to see that his hero had staggered, yet again, to the other side of the tent. He sat up and watched as Yaeko entered the tent. For once, he was disappointed to see her.

"I was knocking for a while. I was beginning to get worried." Her Japanese was crisp and Hiro knew that he had heard every word correctly, but he was still surprised. How long was he kissing me?

Kensei sort of shrugged it off, rummaging yet again through the tent for alcohol. "Mind your own business. Didn't you say your father need to be changed?" The tent rustled noisily as Yaeko left again in rage. Hiro was about to scold Kensei when the other man blew out the candle.

In the newfound darkness, Hiro could only make out a shadowy figure approaching him. "Kensei? What are you-"

"So, where were we?"

Needless to say, the next morning over breakfast, Kensei begrudgingly announced his resolution to never drink again.

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A/N: I was trying to work on the Death of Innocence:Light, but I hit a roadblock in that and thought of this instead. It's sort of supposed to be a crack fic. I hope you enjoyed it. I just wanted to do a fun little piece of fiction. Haha! Happy New Year everyone! I look forward to your review!