'I really screwed up, haven't I...' Kento thought morosely, his hands barely supporting his drooping head. His neck was aching horribly, mostly from being bent for so long. He hadn't raised his eyes for some time now. An hour, two. He wasn't sure."I know you, Kento. You're not happy unless you're in a fight." Sage scowled, arms crossed. Kento was incredulous. "WHAT?!"
He didn't want his friends to see him like that anymore. It was funny for the first week or so, but now it was getting depressing. Was that all anyone ever thought about him? Was he just a human bulldozer? How useful was he, really?
"I'm a useless human being. Apparently, my only purpose is to beat stuff up. Besides keeping people company, I have no use." Kento muttered. He bit down hard on his bottom lip. Pain was good; it was a feeling.
"Kento of Hardrock, I am sorry to disappoint you once again, but you'll never get it through your thick skull that your brute force is nothing to me.." Dais, Warlord of Illusion snorted. Kento shrugged. 'Hey, it's all I got.' Kento thought.
It wasn't as if he was brain dead, or anything. No, he wasn't as smart as Rowen. He wasn't going to be anytime soon, either. So more often than not, his options were always physical. That's all he really knew. Arguing never got anyone anywhere, but a swift punch to the gut and the problem's solved. But, that wasn't good enough anymore. Even his muscle was losing its attraction.
"Like Ryo needs help from someone as rock-headed as you are, Kento." Cye shook his head, his upper lip curling slightly in a poorly hidden snarl.
That stung. At the time, Ryo was in serious need of help. It seemed like he was trying to fight all by himself, and his body wasn't capable of handling stress like that. All Kento wanted to do was offer whatever he could. Unfortunately, it seemed all he had to offer wasn't what anybody wanted.
"God...my head is throbbing." Kento sighed. He knew what was going to happen. Somehow, someone was going to notice he wasn't there and they'd decide they really needed to play Street Fighter, or something like that, so they'd crawl upstairs, walk into his room and drag him downstairs to play a game he didn't even like. Would it really be too hard for anyone to ever take a frocking moment of their time and possibly notice the games Kento ever played of his own free will were always RPGS?? Then again, that would never fit the cookie-cutter image he was always thrown into. It's not as if there was any strategy to the fighting genre, all you had to do was mash at the buttons and you might get some kinda combo no one would be able to remember how to do again later. That was perfect for his image.
The last thing Kento wanted right now was to be bothered, so he stood and shut his door. The damn lock had been broken a couple weeks ago, after Cye tried playing a practical joke. Breaking the door down wasn't exactly what Cye thought Kento would do, but...Kento didn't know how to pick a lock. Cye was going to pay for a new one anyway, so it didn't matter.
Kento felt weak; light-headed. He grasped the door handle for a time, trying to regain control of his mind. He yawned and stretched his neck back, resting his head on his closed door. He lazily raised his hand and flicked off his light. Too tired to walk back to his bed, he slid down and sat in a heap at his door. Well, this was a way of keeping people out.
"...What a hot dog...dumb ox...stupid boy."
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the white noise in his room. No one was talking, but he could hear everything everyone ever said about him. None of it was good...no compliments, just jokes...so much laughing, but all of it was directed at him. It wasn't a good, funny laugh.
"Heh...I wonder if I've finally snapped. I heard people do that after a while. They just stop caring one day and they go nuts. Hmmm, maybe I've gone crazy. Well, won't that be fun?" Kento smiled, but a tightening in his chest was starting to choke him. He slowly opened his eyes and looked down at his chest. He was mildly surprised to see he had brought up his knees and he was squeezing them tightly to himself. He shut his eyes again. Sleep was creeping closer, but a muffled sound from out in the hall was refusing him even that momentary escape. "What the hell." He growled.
"Kento?" Damn, Cye.
"I'm in my room. What do you want?" Kento scowled. He heard shifting feet and a light knock on his door.
"I've got something I have to tell you, Kento. Can I come in?" Cye asked. Kento rolled his eyes.
"How am I supposed to stop you? You broke my door, remember?" Kento smirked. He crawled onto his knees, turned and opened the door. Cye was blinking in surprise, a mix of amusement and confusion on his countenance.
"What are you doing down there?" He asked, smiling. Kento shrugged. Cye kneeled so he could look at Kento face-to-face. That look of humor was still in his eyes a few moments longer, but it was quickly quenched and replaced with an expression of embarrassment. Kento sighed, more than just a little put out. Why couldn't he be let alone when he really needed to be?
"Cye, what do you want? I was busy." Kento lied. Cye looked hurt and he frowned.
"Oh. I didn't mean to bother you." He turned his gaze away, but made no move to stand. Kento raised an eyebrow, expectant.
"...well? What did you want? You had something to say, say it." Cye bit his lip and scowled. He was silent for a moment. Kento was still waiting, though growing a little impatient.
"Can we get up off your floor? I'd like to talk to you, but not like this." Kento sighed, irritated, but stood anyway. He held out a hand and pulled Cye up as well. He sidestepped Cye for a moment to close his door.
"Okay, what did you have to-" Kento began, turning to face Cye again, but was cut off mid-sentence. Cye had captured Kento's lips with his own, gently pushing him back into the door. Kento's eyes were wide, shocked beyond belief. They stayed in that position for only a couple of seconds before Kento pushed Cye away. "What the hell are you doing?!" He shouted, though his voice was barely an octave above a whisper. Cye stepped back quickly, as if he just touched a white-hot stove.
"God, I'm...sorry...sorry, Kento." Cye muttered. He practically collapsed to the floor, burying his face into his hands. Kento could see Cye's cheeks were turning a bright red. He was more than simply taken aback. He could still feel the pressure of Cye's lips on him.
Kento stood a moment, contemplating what he should do next. It suddenly dawned on him that his best friend had just kissed him, but was now losing control, his shoulders shaking. Kento blinked away all other thoughts and quickly dropped to his knees, placing a hand on Cye's back.
"Whoa...whoa, hold on. It wasn't that bad, dude." Kento tried a smile, but all Cye did was shake his head. 'How the hell do I deal with this??' He thought.
"I s-shouldn't h-have. I'm s-s-sorry." Cye stammered. Kento scowled. He had to pry Cye's hands away from his face, but he sort of got him to finally look at him again.
"Cye, that's bull, and you know it. You're not sorry, you wouldn't have done it otherwise." Kento said. Cye tried to cover his face again, but Kento slapped his hands away. "Stop that. You don't have any reason to do that!" Cye squeezed his eyes shut. "Damnit, will you look at me?!" That got Cye's attention. He slowly raised his eyes to meet Kento's.
"Look, I'm r-really s-sorry, I guess. I mean, I did mean to do that, I just wasn't thinking, or anything." Cye babbled. Kento rubbed his forehead.
"Slow up, will you? I don't understand you. At all." He sighed. Cye blinked. "Okay, from the top, what the hell are you talking about?"
"Ummm."
"Let's make this easy. You just kissed me. Mind explaining that?" Cye blushed deeply. Kento raised an eyebrow.
"Well...um. That. You see, I've been trying to do that for a while now." Cye began. Kento tilted his head. "You remember when I locked myself into your room? I was thinking about doing it then. I was just gonna wait for you. I didn't want the other guys asking embarrassing questions, so I hid in here. I only locked the door moments before you broke it down. I guess I had second thoughts." Cye said sheepishly, pulling his earlobe. Kento frowned.
"Okay...but, that doesn't really explain why you did it. Why did you kiss me?" Kento asked. Cye bit his lip.
"I thought it might be obvious...honestly, I didn't want to have to explain that." He said, fiddling with his fingers. Kento smirked.
"So sorry if I'm making this difficult for you. You do realize that if you don't explain, things between you and me are gonna get pretty awkward?" Cye grimaced.
"We can't just forget this ever happened?" He asked. Kento snorted and shook his head. "All right then. Look, Kento, this is gonna sound like something right outta left field, but.I, um, really like you. I mean, really like you. Please don't make me say that any other way, I don't think I can." This time, Kento blushed.
"Dude. You're right. That came outta no where, man." Cye half smiled and shrugged. The two sat in silence, looking at each other, both full of questions. Kento went first.
"Can I ask why?" Kento asked. Cye blinked.
"I don't know, Kento. You mean, why do I like you? Enough even to make me want to kiss you?" Kento nodded. "I'm not sure. Maybe cause you're you, ya know?" Kento frowned.
"No. I don't. Do you?" He asked. Cye looked confused.
"Huh?" Cye asked. Kento bit his lip, and sighed.
"Cye, I don't know who I am. Not like everyone else does. Do you know who I am?" He asked. Cye was completely baffled.
"Kento, you're...you're my best friend. You help me put things into perspective. Without you, my mind would only be a one-way road. You keep Sage in check, and you're always the first to encourage Ryo when he's not sure. Kento, you bring a sense of unreality to the group, and we all need that desperately." Kento slowly nodded. He shifted so he was now sitting on his knees. In what seemed to be one fluid motion, Kento tilted Cye's head back a little and he softly placed his lips against Cye's. Cye's eyes went wide this time, but he didn't want to move. He didn't want to push Kento away. What he did want, however, was to know what in the world was going through Kento's mind. He hated to do this, but he pressed a hand lightly against Kento's chest. He pulled back, a little breathless, and smiled.
"Something wrong?" Kento asked. Cye looked at him disbelieving, his mouth slightly agape.
"Nooo...but, um, what was that for?" He asked, stunned. Kento grinned, genuinely happy for the first time in a while.
"Cye, you have no idea what you said, and that's okay, but it was the best thing you'd ever said to me." Cye furrowed his brows. Kento laughed. "Don't worry about it. Maybe I'll explain it some rainy day." Cye shrugged. He let his eyes wander for a moment, but they returned their gaze at Kento.
"So. Um," Cye began. Kento laughed again. He shifted and pulled Cye into a hug, kissing him soundly.
