ᴬ ᴮˡᵒˢˢᵒᵐ ⁱⁿ ᵐʸ ᴴᵉᵃʳᵗ (ᴬ ᴹᵃᶜʰᵃᴮˡᵒˢˢᵒᵐ ˢᵗᵒʳʸ)

•Chapter 5: Approaching Anxieties•

Kaoru counted down the days until the match. Everyday he practiced his own little moves, and every night he laid in bed at night, overthinking how bad this could go. Even Kojiro could sense all the stress radiating from Kaoru as the days passed. He got a lot more fidgety whenever he visited and fell a lot more. Kojiro wanted to help him and do something about it, but he didn’t really know how. Maybe he just needed to talk. Luckily, Kaoru said he would take a break for the night since Kojiro said he wanted to have an important conversation with him. He wasn’t very nice about it, of course, but when was he ever nice?

As Kojiro was wiping down the counter, he heard the door open and Kaoru walk in. “Welcome Princess.” Kojiro chuckled, throwing his rag in the sink so he could rinse it later. “Call me that again and I’ll snap your neck.” Kaoru grumbled, taking a seat in front of Kojiro across the counter. They both knew he was joking. To anyone else, it would sound like they were about to fight. “We both know you wouldn’t.” Kaoru grit his teeth, glaring at him. “I will walk out of this door and get takeout right now. That I will do without a doubt.” Kojiro chuckled. As much as he knew Kaoru meant that, he knew he would rather stay. “Alright, take a seat. I’ll grab the wine.” Kaoru nodded, grabbing a seat. While Kojiro poured their glasses, he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Lord knows I need it. I'm exhausted.” Kojiro nodded, handing him the first glass. “Just don’t drink too much now.” As much as Kaoru wanted it to be fully a joke, he knew drinking wine had become a bad habit of his. He was like those moms that, once they put their children to bed, sit on the couch, drinking wine and watching adult drama’s.

Kojiro sat down beside him once his glass was filled. “So, you ready to talk.” Somehow, Kaoru knew what this was about. He took a big gulp of wine and nodded. “Alright, be straight with me. What is the main reason you accepted Adam’s request?” Kaoru cleared his voice. “Joe, nothing about me is straight.” He joked, trying to sidetrack Kojiro. It was a fact that he slipped his tongue back in 10th grade. They were joking around after school once when he was drunk. Sadly, Kojiro was sober and remembered everything from that night. He just let a joke about being gay slip. “Kaoru, I'm not joking, be serious with me. As your best friend, I wanna know.” Kaoru sighed, he knew that wouldn’t work. He quickly chugged the rest of his wine in a moment of fear and put his glass down. “I dont wanna talk about it right now alright? Plus, I'm pretty sure I already told you-” “No, you told me a reason, not the main reason.” Kaoru shook his head, pushing his glass towards Kojiro. “Wanna fill er up?” Kojiro wanted to deny it so badly, but he knew how Kaoru got when he drank a lot. Though it was uncommon for anyone to get tipsy over wine, he managed to pull it off. And he would usually get really emotional. That was probably from how little he showed any emotion. As the night went on, they just discussed little things until he had gone through 3 glasses of wine. That's when Kojiro knew he would spill his secrets now. He hated that he wanted to do that, but he really wanted to help and if that was his only way, he would dam sure try.

“Karou, you wanna tell me why you accepted Adam’s offer now?” “You wanna know so bad? Fineeee. I needed a redemption from last time. This time ima beat him, even if it kills me.” Kojiro sighed. He should've guessed. He was embarrassed from last time. So he wanted a redo. “Kaoru, you didn’t need to do that. He cheated the system last time-” “And??? Plus, I'm no chicken, alright? I wasn’t about to deny that request in front of everyone.” He forgot about that detail. That must've been embarrassing for him. What if he would have stepped in. “And like, I feel like I'm going to win this time. I can feel it.” Kojiro shook his head, tucking Kaoru’s bangs behind his ear. “That's the wine talking. You're scared, aren't you?” Kaoru ducked his head down. “Of course n-not. I c-can win, alright?” Yup, he was scared. He always got all stuttery when he was lying.

“I know what you're capable of. You can win, but lately you've been so jittery, I'm scared you might mess up.” Kojiro said, cupping Kaoru cheek in his. He pulled away from Kojiro's touch, gulping whatever wine was left in his cup. “Alright, I'm scared! Are you happy?! Geez, you're so pushy.” Kaoru broke, finally. He shoved his glass away from him and almost off the table. Luckily, Kojiro was able to catch it before it fell. Kaoru flinched, realizing what had happened, burying his face in his hands. Kojiro didn’t know how to respond. He had never reacted like that before. He was always calmer with his responses, even when he was sad. “Kaoru, you've got a week left, there's nothing to be afraid of-” “Don't tell me there's nothing to be afraid of. You don't know him like I do.” Karou interrupted, pointing at Kojiro. It made him freeze in his spot. What was going on with him?

“...” Kojiro remained silent, trying to figure out what to say. He could try to talk some sense into him but that was basically a lost cause, especially in his current state. He could try to comfort him, but he clearly wasn’t in the mood to be told a bunch of lies to help him feel better. He could try and hug him but, again, he did not seem to be in the mood. What else was their? He sighed, turning around and grabbing Kaoru a bottle of water, sliding it in front of him. He decided it would be better to just be silent and wait for him to talk. Kaoru just sat their, staring at the bottle in front of him. He looked like a pouting kid. Normally Kojiro would chuckle, but now he just watched.

“.... Kojiro.” Kaoru finally spoke, not averting his eyes from the bottle. Kojiro hummed. “I… I don't want to talk about this anymore.” He spoke, slamming his hands on the bar and standing up. Kojiro bowed his head. A little was better than nothing. However, he was clearly off balance and struggling to stand. ‘What am I going to do with you?’ Kojiro thought to himself, walking over to him, letting Kaoru lean on him, helping him walk out. “I d-don't need your help, idiot.” Kaoru protested, though he didn’t pull away. He was just being really stubborn, as always. “Let’s get you home, Kaoru. We’ll revisit this in the morning.” Kaoru groaned, leaning his head against Kojiro’s shoulder.
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(Ok, I know this is really clitche, BUT I HAVE A REASON😭 I'm a big fan of angst so obviously when I was sitting alone bored in school, I decided to make a angsty-ish chapter lol Either way, I hope y'all enjoyed💗💅)