Treat You Better

Chapter 9

"So, what do we do now?"

Kojiro's eyebrows scrunched as he turned the question over in his head for a moment. "Well, sweetheart," He reveled in finally being able to use this nickname sincerely. "what do you think we should do?"

"I'm not sure," He turned to the bedside table to put on his glasses. "That's why I was asking you, gorilla." 

Kojiro chuckled at the teasing remark, relieved. It was small, but it was little things like this that reassured Kojiro he didn't just make a huge mistake. They were still Joe and Cherry, best friends, for forever. 

"Well, if you really wanna know, I've thought about that question for the past 10 years." Kojiro ruffled his hand through Kaoru's long hair, eliciting a groan and a glare from behind his thin glasses. 

Kojiro continued. "For starters, I'll bridal carry you out of bed and make you a delicious breakfast." 

"You'll what- AH!" Kaoru's small yelp was drawn out of him when Kojiro effortlessly swung his legs off the bed and scooped Kaoru up into his arms, bringing him to the kitchen.

He gently laid him down on the couch and planted a kiss on his forehead before he walked to the small kitchen to busy himself with food. As he tied an apron tight around his waist, he knowingly shot a devastatingly handsome look over his shoulder at an entranced Kaoru, causing him to blush and awkwardly look away.

"Kao-ru," Kojiro lulled in a sing-song voice. "We just spent the past hour feverishly making out. You're allowed to look." He punctuated his sentence with a wink. 

"Oh, god," a flustered Kaoru groaned from the couch. "I thought admitting my feelings would make me feel better, but I think in doing so I've just subjected myself to a lifetime of unending flirting. I've willingly become the thirsty gorilla's target." A painful grin spread across his face. 

"Oh come on, pinky, you know you love it."

The two went on in this manner for the next few minutes as Kojiro whipped up a delicious breakfast with incredible speed. They sat down to eat, and Kojiro took on a more serious tone in his voice. "Well, as much as I love making you breakfast and making you blush, you're right. We should discuss what to do now."

Kaoru sighed, as if he was disappointed the rest of his life couldn't be cuddles and kisses with Kojiro. "Well, I don't think it wise to take it public too soon. Especially not at S."

"I agree, but it'll be hard." 

"Why? What do you mean?"

"Well, you just look so cute in your yukata, it'll be hard for me to hold back." Kojiro said with a smirk. 

"You barbarian. Do try." Kaoru said dryly, unimpressed by Kojiro's incessant flirts.

"I'll do my best. But as for the rest, do we really need to change much? You already came to Sia La Luce everyday near close, and we've stayed over at each other's houses plenty of times. We went on romantic 'not-dates' in Paris and to those hot springs. Now I guess they'll just be classified as 'date-dates'." A grin spread across his face just thinking about the notion. 

"Hm," Kaoru paused, then started to snicker, then chuckle, and soon enough he was laughing whole-heartedly at the table. "We really don't need to change much, now do we. God, I can't believe I didn't see it sooner. "

"That's okay, pinky pie. Everyone's a little oblivious sometimes. In fact, I think you should be impressed. 10 years has gotta be some kind of obliviousness record!" He joined Kaoru in laughing, feeling butterflies in his stomach and like his heart was finally whole. 

He loved seeing Kaoru laugh. His eyes shined under his soft, pink lashes and he smiled so big it looked like it might hurt. He didn't laugh like this often, so every time Kojiro was blessed with seeing it, he cherished it. 

"So, is there anyone you do want to tell?" Kaoru questioned. 

Kojiro nodded. "There's one person that comes to mind right away. A little red rocket who needed some love advice a little bit ago. I want to show him my advice is worth its salt. Is that alright with you?"

"You don't mean Reki, do you?"

"Of course I do. He's just like I was at his age. In love with his best friend and doesn't know how to deal. At least he's got a cool adult to help him through."

"Reki and Snow, that's one I could've seen coming." Kaoru replied. "How about after S tonight we go to your restaurant and we can show all of them. Reki, Snow, Shadow, and Miya. I think that they deserve to know. I'm proud to love you, and I think they'll be proud too."

They were, in fact, very proud. After feeding everyone to their liking, Kojiro took Kaoru's hand and stood up, 4 pairs of eyes watching intently. He simply kissed Kaoru's cheek and winked at the group, to which their jaws collectively dropped. There was hugging, fist pumping, high fives (mostly on Kojiro's end) and a few bats over the head with a fan (those, of course, from Kaoru). 

But after that, life went on as usual. Cherry and Joe still came to S every weekend. Kaoru still came to Sia La Luce for some wine most evenings. The "gorillas" and "pinky pies" were still thrown around but slowly more "sweethearts" and "honeys" started to slip in. They moved in together after just 6 months of officially being together, and just a year and a half later they sported matching golden rings on their left hands. 

There was no shortage of kisses, care, and love between the two. And if you ask Kojiro, the decade of build up was well worth the wait.

;)