Kicking Against the Goad: Chapter 10
Author's Note: Oh god guys, here we are at the end. Man, this story was so fun to write and reading your reviews has been super great. As promised I have some art I'm going to try to link to (if you have trouble getting it to work, just let me know).
This is by sarawalterart on tumblr. It's freakin' amazing and you should all check it out! And if you have tumblr you should totally reblog/like/tell them what a fantastic job they did! sarawalterart (dottumblr) .com (backslash) post (backslash) 161251796803 (backslash) heres-my-contribution-for-hxhbb17-based-on
And of course, our last fun fact! Last chapter Gon made mention to Killua being in his lap earlier in the day. That is actually a direct reference to a scene I cut out because I felt it was shoe-horned in. That being said I'm gonna post it as a separate fic in a couple of days! I also might post some more oneshots based in this universe.
Anyway, on with the final chapter! Thank you guys for reading!
The walk to the school library was a quiet and tense one.
Kurapika was silently stewing in his own anger.
Once again instead of taking the simple route of confessing his feelings, Leorio had sidestepped and done something stupid and selfish. But what was new?
At the moment they were sitting at the table in the far corner of the library that they typically inhabited during midterms week. However, unlike then, there were no books piled high, and Leorio's fidgeting wasn't caused by drinking too much coffee.
The two boys had been sitting across from each other in complete silence for almost 20 seconds and already Leorio looked uncomfortable and ready to start blabbering. Kurapika was waiting for it. He was eager to see how Leorio would try to save himself.
"So are we going to do something about Killua?" Leorio finally asked as he leaned over the table. "Don't get me wrong, I think Gon's great, but Killua's never dated anyone, and I'm worried they're moving too fast."
"Hm, and I wonder who's responsible for that?" Kurapika mused as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.
Leorio winced as he slid back in his seat, as though sensing that it wasn't a good idea to be too close to Kurapika at the moment.
"You're mad," Leorio said. It looked like there was something else that he wanted to add to the observation, but that he couldn't quite figure out what.
Kurapika rolled his eyes.
"Why would I be mad, Leorio?" Kurapika asked, completely stone faced.
There was no way in hell Kurapika wasn't going to make him spell it out.
"Okay, it's not what it looks like," Leorio tried.
"Then what is it?" Kurapika asked.
"It's-It's… They're just exclusively flirting," Leorio said, explaining absolutely nothing.
Kurapika blinked as he processed the term 'exclusively flirting.' He considered asking about it, but decided that it really didn't matter.
"And how did that happen?" Kurapika asked.
"Exactly how Killua told you it did!" Leorio yelled, looking frustrated until the librarian on duty shushed him. Then he just looked like he was pouting.
It only irritated Kurapika further.
"Well, excuse me for asking. I just can't believe you had the foresight to introduce Gon to Killua. That's a match I wouldn't have anticipated working well," Kurapika said, once again offering Leorio the chance to come clean.
"Yeah, well, it just made sense to introduce my new friend to my old friend," Leorio said as he pushed his small glasses up his nose.
"Right, and then Killua, who's gone out of his way to avoid romantic situations since we met him, ended up 'exclusively flirting' with Gon."
"Right."
"After knowing him for one day."
"That's correct."
"And none of that had anything to do with me telling you that I was going to ask Gon out?"
"…I had already forgotten about that."
"Damn it, Leorio!" Kurapika finally snapped, slamming his hands down on the table. "You set them up on purpose!"
"Why would I do that?" Leorio yelled, getting defensive at the accusation.
From across the room, the librarian once again shushed them.
Kurapika lowered his voice to a hiss, "I don't know Leorio, why would you?"
"Look, I get that you're upset that Gon chose Killua over you, but you don't need to take it out on me," Leorio said stubbornly.
Kurapika thought if it was possible for blood to actually boil, his would melt its way out of his skin.
"I'm not upset that Gon 'chose' Killua, I'm upset that you went out of your way to make sure that he did," Kurapika said, his voice raising in pitch.
"I didn't do anything!" Leorio whisper yelled.
"Oh, really? And if I were to ask Killua, he would corroborate your story?" Kurapika asked, knowing that if it came down to it, Killua would tell the truth.
Leorio seemed to know that too, as he instantly went quiet.
"Well?" Kurapika asked, knowing that he finally had Leorio where he wanted him.
"Well—well, you don't even like Gon!" Leorio accused, pointing a finger into Kurapika's face.
Kurapika scoffed. "How would you know?"
"Because if you actually liked him you'd be sad, instead of just mad at me," Leorio argued angrily.
"Maybe I'm too angry at you to express my sadness," Kurapika suggested darkly.
"Or maybe you never felt that way and you were just saying that you did to bother me!" Leorio said as he stood up and leaned over the table to yell in Kurapika's face.
Kurapika didn't flinch even as Leorio came so close to his face that it was impossible to look at him without going cross-eyed.
"And why would me wanting to ask Gon out bother you?" Kurapika asked, a small smirk appearing on his face.
Leorio sputtered before finally sitting back down in his chair and crossing his arms.
"Just admit it, Leorio. You set them up," Kurapika demanded.
"Well, maybe I did, but you lied to me," Leorio said as though the two things equaled out. "And why did you do that, huh? Why pretend you like someone else?"
Kurapika considered Leorio's word choice. Someone else. Because they both knew there was no one else. That even when Kurapika was screaming at Leorio or ignoring his phone calls, that he was only interested in him.
Still, there was no way Kurapika was going to admit that. At least not before Leorio admitted his feelings first.
"Are you implying there's someone I like currently?" Kurapika asked boldly, daring Leorio to say what they both knew, while at the same time threatening him with a glare.
"Maybe I am. And maybe you should just ask out that person instead of playing so many games,"
At Leorio's words it felt like a switch had gone off in Kurapika's head. He should stop playing games? Oh, because Leorio hadn't recruited their best friend to sabotage his lie.
"Well, maybe that person should stop being a complete Neanderthal and ask me out," Kurapika snapped.
"Why should he?" Leorio asked too loudly, earning their third shush from the on duty librarian.
"Because I'm growing tired of these games, and if he is too, then maybe he should do something about it," Kurapika reasoned.
"Do you even realize how stubborn you are? You're basically saying the same thing that I am!"
"Then I guess I'm as stubborn as he is!" Kurapika snapped.
"I could never be as stubborn as you! No one could be!" Leorio shouted.
Leorio's shout was the last one needed to summon the librarian to the side of their table.
"I think maybe your conversation would be better suited somewhere else. Anywhere else, really," the librarian, Mr. Satotz, suggested in a kind voice that didn't match his words.
Kurapika and Leorio gathered their things quickly and without argument, the way they always had when getting kicked out of the school library or the public library. They were never picky about which library they got kicked out of.
As they walked through the library door, Leorio was grumbling as Kurapika was smiling, a victory in sight that Leorio hadn't noticed yet.
"So much for not getting kicked out of the library so much this year, huh?" Leorio asked, looking down at Kurapika. It was then that he noticed the blond's small smile. "What's got you in such a good mood? Aren't you going to blame me for getting us kicked out?"
Kurapika hummed. "While, I do feel as though you're more at fault than I am, I would much rather concentrate on what you were saying before we got kicked out."
Leorio's eyebrows scrunched together as though he was trying to remember exactly what he had said. Luckily, that wasn't necessary. Kurapika remembered perfectly.
"You said that you could never be as stubborn as I was, but I believe it was perfectly clear that I was calling the person who likes me stubborn. Are you saying that's you?" Kurapika asked arrogantly.
Leorio froze, coming to a stop in the middle of the school hallway. It brought Kurapika more joy than he could have ever anticipated.
"I—we were talking about the person you like," Leorio tried.
Kurapika wasn't having it.
"Yes, in the sense that they are one in the same, but you are the one who admitted to it," Kurapika said, unwilling to budge.
Finally after staring at Kurapika for a long moment Leorio let out a loud curse that would have landed him a detention had a teacher been around to hear it.
"Ugh, I kept from being the one to confess for a year!" Leorio yelled, hands gripping his hair.
"Mm, it was admirable," Kurapika said, the smirk on his face transforming into a smile.
"Fine, damn it, you win," Leorio relented. "I like you. Go out with me Saturday, and stop being mad at me."
"All right," Kurapika agreed simply.
"All right?" Leorio asked, squinting at Kurapika with skepticism. "That's it? You're not going to make me beg? You're not going to gloat?"
"Oh, Leorio, we've been at this for a year, what's the point?" Kurapika asked before smirking in his direction. "Besides, the fact that it took me a year to get you to ask me out is more of an embarrassment than an accomplishment. I'd never gloat about it."
Leorio's facial features squeezed together in his anger, a look that Kurapika had always found ridiculous but at some point had also come to find endearing.
"You know, comments like that are why it took me a year to ask you to be my boyfriend," Leorio said, somehow mastering sounding irritated and hopeful. As if Kurapika would turn him down.
"But you did ask," Kurapika pointed out as he leaned against the wall, in no hurry to move since they were alone in the hallway, with all the students in class or at lunch. "And I did say yes."
Leorio smiled, a look of contentment on his face that was matched in the tone of his next words. "Just shut up and kiss me already."
Kurapika wasted no time in grabbing the collar of Leorio's button down shirt and pulling him down to kissing height. The kiss that followed was hot and eager, the kind of kiss that could only be expected after a year of unresolved sexual tension.
Things were so good.
"You know, the office supply room is empty. We could probably make out in there until lunch is over," Kurapika suggested.
"Fuck yes."
And they were only going to get better.