I See Emeralds

Chapter Twenty-Three (Antonio's POV)

"Why are you fighting?" I blurt out my question and end up interrupting whatever tale Francis was telling. I was sort of tuning it out.

"What?" Lovino asks and turns to me. I blink quicker when I see his bright amber eyes.

"Not you. Alfred and Kiku. They're acting distant." I point to the two soulmates who are looking everywhere but at each other. They establish eye contact once and sort of glare at each other before resuming their aimless gaze-wandering.

"Distant? Whatever do you mean?" Kiku hisses. He's in a foul mood, which is highly unusual.

"You two haven't said a word all lunch, not even to each other. I can kind of understand you being quiet, but there's no way would Alfred go this long without talking unless something was wrong," I say.

"You're not as stupid as you look." Kiku rolls his eyes. I decide to ignore the insult. "Yes, I am mad at him. And he's mad at me too."

"What happened?" Gilbert asks. This is really weird. Kiku is never rude and he and Alfred are certainly never on bad terms with each other. They're probably the closest at this table.

"None of your business," Alfred snaps. He mutters something under his breath that I don't catch, but Tino seems to have heard it.

"Busted? What do you mean?" he asks innocently.

"I told you not to mention it!" Kiku exclaims at Alfred, the first time he's directly spoken to him all lunch. Nobody dares interrupt as an argument breaks out.

"I told you that, not the other way around!" Alfred protests.

"Why are we even still sitting next to each other?"

"Why are we even fighting?"

"Because you were stupid!"

"When am I not stupid?"

"You're unbearable!"

"Jeez, what did I do that was so wrong? You were fine at the time!"

"Everything became awkward after that! My parents have been fussing over me nonstop because they found out our dumb secret!" Kiku exclaims. What happened yesterday?

"What do you expect when you give me goo goo eyes every time I'm around?" Alfred scoffs.

"That's what you do, idiot!"

"And you return them!"

"That's only because you're ridiculously attra-never mind. Anyways, my parents will never let this go," Kiku says.

"It's not like they walked in when it happened. Your dad came in when we were doing homework, if you actually remembered anything." That's the first time Alfred has really done anything resembling insulting Kiku. Even then, that wasn't much of an insult considering we all know Kiku has the best memory at this table. Sometimes he likes to show it off a little.

"Yeah, and he and Pa knew what was up right away!" Kiku exclaims. "I'm done talking to you for today." He takes a sip of water and Alfred looks hurt for a split second before he quickly plasters on a fake scowl.

"Fine. Me too!" He crosses his arms and sticks his nose in the air.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Berwald is surprisingly the first one to say something. "What happened?"

Tino gives him a "don't you dare" look a second too late.

"I'm not going to explain it!" Alfred and Kiku insist at the same time. They glare at each other again. Kiku sighs.

"Fine. Yesterday he came over and he ended up getting all smoochy smoochy, then my parents figured out we're soulmates and won't leave me alone about it," he explains. He looks downwards in shame.

"You guys kissed?!" Lovino jumps up. I'm surprised the force of Alfred's sharp glare doesn't paralyze him. Kiku covers his face and nods. After some hesitation, he raises three fingers.

"Three times?!" Francis exclaims. Now Alfred covers his own face to expression.

"Woah! Didn't realize Honda had it in him," Gilbert adds.

"Well, only two were on the lips. One was just on the cheek. And they weren't that long," Alfred mumbles. "Kiku started two of them, so it wasn't even my fault."

"No, the third one was pretty long. And you started the first one, which led to all the others," Kiku counters.

"You said you were fine with it!"

"I am, it's just...well, let's say my parents are overly enthusiastic about my personal life. They don't know about the kisses, thank goodness, but they figured out that we're soulmates," Kiku sighs and rubs his temples.

"Do they know you two are dating?" Tino asks.

"We're not dating," Alfred replies instantly. He and Kiku appear confused at the question.

"You're not?" the rest of us exclaim.

"Wait, all this time you thought we were dating?" Kiku asks and laughs.

"Are you sure you're not? Because every single time I ever look at either of you, you're flirting with each other and usually tuning out the rest of us," Lovino says. Kiku and Alfred exchange confused glances.

"We do?"

"Yes," everyone agrees.

"Shoot, I hadn't even realized..." Alfred says and chuckles. "I guess that makes sense now that I think about it."

"Yeah," Kiku agrees. The table is silent for a minute before Kiku leans in and whispers something in Alfred's ear. Alfred grins.

"Me too. It's okay. I understand." Kiku breathes out in relief and whispers something else.

"We should. I'd like that," Alfred replies happily to whatever it was he said. Now Kiku grins too.

"What are you two so cheery about all of a sudden?" Lovino grunts.

"Oh, nothing." But I can't help but notice that they're holding hands under the table.