Pure Matchablossom fluff

The Little Things

Kojiro had many regrets in his life. While the totally obscene tattoo that had ended up on his teenage ass cheek after one drink too many was high up on his list, first place weighed much heavier on his heart; a wrong that he was running out of time to make right.
"You look beautiful," he whispered when he noticed the way Kaoru avoided the mirror. "You've always been gorgeous, my love, but it suits you even more."
He ran his fingers over Kaoru's smooth, newly-shaven head, knowing that he'd accomplished something when Kaoru took a quick glance at his reflection. The ghost of a smile that had haunted his face disappeared, settling a confronting silence over the pair.
"Don't let it get the best of you," he whispered, wiping the tear from Kaoru's cheek.
It, they would say, as if a mere word could ruin an entire world of happiness.
Cancer.
Kaoru was going to...
The love of his life was going to...
No.
Kojiro's heart released a pang of grief that unrelentingly surged throughout his body. He needed to take a breath, had to calm down. Kaoru needed him.
The sound of Kaoru's laugh as they watched some cheesy sitcom was all Kojiro needed to ground him. The former had his head leaning against his husband's shoulder, their hands intertwined and blink intervals becoming steadily longer.
"You tired?" Kojiro whispered, stroking Kaoru's warm cheek. A simple half-nod was all Kojiro needed for him to shift their position, laying back onto the couch and gently pulling his love atop him. Kaoru adjusted himself momentarily to relax, shifting his body so that he was almost entirely collapsed against his lover's sturdy chest, hand propped in a way that allowed him to feel to the rapid beat of Kojiro's heart.
"Langa's hair is longer than mine now..." Kaoru slurred into Kojiro's neck. The latter felt his heart sink once more at the smaller man's attempt to lighten the mood. Ever since his diagnosis, a permanent cloud of nothingness had cast over the pair. Kojiro's normal menacing attitude had taken a recent fraternal toll; as if he were constantly working himself to exhaustion in desperate attempt to make things as easy as possible for Kaoru's last few months.
"You grab the scissors," Kojiro grinned, "I'll knock him out."
Even Kaoru was surprised when a beautiful, genuine smile lit up his own face.
"See," breathed Kojiro, voice soft as he placed a gentle kiss to the other's temple. "Gorgeous."
          A long moment past—long enough that Kojiro was almost certain his love had fallen asleep and was just drifting off into his own land of dreams when—
"Can you read to me?" Came Kaoru's hoarse voice, broken after hours of coughing on end.
There was no hesitation in Kojiro's response: "Of course, love." He picked up the book discarded on the coffee table, managing to hold it with a single hand so that he could trace circles along Kaoru's scalp with his other.
After only a chapter or so, Kaoru began exhaling soft snores as he drifted into well-deserved slumber. Kojiro hummed the melody to Kaoru's favourite song, placing soft kisses to the sleeping man's forehead from where it had settled into the crook of his neck.
         This was Kojiro's greatest regret: not appreciating the small moments; the little things that merged together to make big ones. In a world where going on extravagant adventures and skating to their hearts' content was no longer possible, this was what he looked forward to.
Because the love of his life was going to die.
And there was nothing anyone could do to prevent it.