Commission: The Thing About Love: JapanXReader

"Hey, there's a party tonight," a girl told Kiku.

"Oh, werr… I-I don't think-"

"Come on!" the girl whined.

She clung to his arm. Kiku's face turned pink. You growled under your breath. She was breaking one of Kiku's personal rules. You simply didn't cling to him. His personal space was practically holy to him. One did not simply break Kiku's personal rules and get away with it. He was your best friend ever since he came over as a transfer student from Japan. You had taken a shine to the smaller boy, as in a crush, but you refused to allow others to tread on him. So you began weaving your way through the hallway traffic. The sheer mass of students in the hallway reminded you of the clogged arteries of a fat man's heart, where the students were the blood cells because there were students standing there, while others fought their way through.

"Don't be such a party pooper! If you don't show up it won't be nearly as fun!"

You watched with hawk-like eyes. You wondered if Kiku was relenting. He had never shown any interest in going to a party before, but you knew Kiku. He would probably start hyperventilating at the sight of what the students would do at parties like that – under-aged drinking, sexual dancing, and of course, drugs. The girl was one of the popular kids, known for throwing radical parties that normally had to get the police involved in order to break it up and restore peace to the neighborhood. These parties only took place when her parents weren't in town so they never found out about it. It was a right shame, that was.

"Who is going to be there?" Kiku asked.

Your eyes widened. He was relenting! He couldn't relent! She would eat him alive. The girl he was talking to was known as a player. She cheated on her boyfriend. Her boyfriend cheated on her. They both knew it but continued to date regardless. She wanted to use Kiku to cheat again. Your sweet, innocent Kiku was in danger of the harpie sinking her claws into him. And the boys that she tended to cheat with had a strange way of ending up beaten up. You weren't about to let that happen. You loved Kiku too much to let that happen. Alfred was always telling you to make a move on Kiku, because the exchange student wouldn't make one on you, but you were too afraid. You suppose he was right for once about someone else trying to snatch Kiku up.

Besides, that girl had a tendency to make a big deal about her guests coming out to have fun with them but she then ignored certain guests in favor of others. It wasn't going to be any different with Kiku. She would string him along, get her use out of him and then feed him to the sharks – the sharks being her boyfriend. But you made it to his side, glowering at the girl. She cringed back, as if your unpopularity were contagious. You put your hand on Kiku's shoulder, protectively as you glowered at er.

"Kiku…"

"Oh!" Kiku cried in surprise, "___________, um, herro!"

You smiled. His accent was adorable. But, you pushed that thought aside for the moment. The urge to hug him tightly rose in your chest too but you took a deep breath and stayed calm. Arthur would be proud of you – Keep Calm and Carry On. You just wanted to punch the girl into next week for harassing Kiku, but then that would scare him. He knew you weren't a violent person but you never attacked someone without a reason. Like when someone was physically pushing Lili around, you jumped in with teeth gnashing and fists flying. Her brother thanked you profusely but you just did what you had to.

"Come on Kiku. We have to head back home," you reminded him.

"Ah, right…"

As the two of you walked away, you couldn't resist the urge to give the popular girl a smug smirk over your shoulder. The look purely said, 'He chose me over you, what now?' The look she gave you in return for your smug smirk was as black as death itself but you didn't care. You would burst into flames from the force of her look before you let her do anything to hurt Kiku. This was your best friend. No one was forcing him into a situation he didn't want. He was just too shy to say no to anyone. It was what he called, sensing the mood and refraining from speaking. That was just how Kiku was and while you knew when to be quiet, you knew when to speak out too. No one would walk all over your friend when you had any say about it.

-=-=-=-=-

You walked side by side with Kiku, a frown on your face. Alfred had been right. Someone tried to take Kiku from you, but if you made a move, you could lose him forever. Jealousy was eating away at your heart. Would Kiku have gone with her, knowing she was just trying to use him? Did he like someone who wasn't you? Would you even be able to let him go, knowing he was happy with someone who was not you? However, when you got to your house you just stopped. You made no moves to walk up to your doorstep. You just stared down the street, too lost in your thoughts. You jerked out of them when Kiku waved a hand in front of your face.

"Are you okay, ____________-san?" Kiku questioned.

"A-Ah, oh, um… yes… Fine…"

Kiku stared at you. He didn't believe your lies, not for one second. You would have to try better than that in order to trick him. He knew you just as well as you knew him. However, he had an odd, contemplative look on his face, as if he were considering greatly on what to make for dinner that night. But that wasn't it. There was something different about the way he held himself and he knew that you knew. Instead he seemed to steel himself for something, as if he were marching off to battle. You opened your mouth to say something but he cleared his throat shyly. Since when has Kiku been shy around you? His best friend? Something was up and you wanted to know what it was that worried him. Did he know about your crush? If he found out your friendship was over.

"May I do something rearry quickry?" Kiku questioned.

You nodded, signaling that you were fine with whatever he felt that he had to do. You would let Kiku do anything that he felt that he had to, aside from hurting himself or ending his own life. He was his own person and you encouraged him to stand up for himself and be more assertive. Alfred tended to push him around a lot. Kiku stepped closer to you than you thought he ever would, especially since he was a huge fan of personal space, continually complaining about Western Cultures and how strange they were and how much he had to get to used to. You stared at Kiku, uncertain of what to make of this new development. Your mind was sent reeling when his hands touched either side of your face, slowly guiding you until you were at face level with him. You swallowed thickly, staring straight into his eyes, unable to read his expression for once.

"You can berate me arr you wish," Kiku said, "But please do not hate me. However, if you must hate me, prease at reast arrow me to keep this one memory."

"Wha-"

His lips were on yours. Your eyes widened. Kiku! He was kissing you! Your mind simply couldn't process this so you just stood and stared, wide eyed as he kissed you gently, and not asking for permission to enter your mouth, just his lips on yours as chaste as any first kiss should be. You'd be struck by lightning before you denied that you felt sparks when you kissed. You didn't know what to do. Kiku pulled away when you didn't kiss back. He pulled back slowly, but continued to keep his hands on either side of your face. He was looking up at you with a pleading expression. Now you felt like you were going to cry as well. He expected rejection. He was so concerned for your wishes that he assumed that he was not a part of them himself. He thought you loved someone else and thought you would be burdened if told of what happened.

"I…" she stammered, "I just-"

"Let me, at least in my memories, feel as if you also…"

You were left speechless for once in your life. You had heard of true love. You read romance novels as a teenager. You even attended high school like anyone else. All they were, amounted to one thing, stories of unrealistic teen romances that always ended with the girl getting the guy she liked. There were happy marriages and happily ever afters, through unrealistic struggles, conflicts, emotional battles, and the challenges of raising a family and married life. But you knew, too well, that love was a double-edge sword. Love didn't always work like that, but as you stared at Kiku, you wanted to believe it could.

It was as dangerous as it was wonderful. You had seen love turn boys into drooling monkeys and kicked dogs. It could instantly turn girls into crumbling piles of tears and begging and screaming for their boyfriends to take them back and make them whole again, make them 'easy'. You had watched people fawn over their current squeeze like he or she was their entire world. You watched your happily ever after vanish time and time again on the dating scene, but Kiku had always been there, no matter what, even the moments where he should have been saying 'I told you so'. You didn't want this to happen again.

You knew what love did to people. You knew how girls put up with boys who treated them like dirt and scum beneath their feet. You knew how boys wasted their time, money and lives supporting their girlfriends with gifts and compliments. You had seen them. Even in happy marriages and true loves one spouse would do anything to please the other, or followed them around like lovesick puppies. It was like a new form of control except it wasn't forced. One spouse was perfectly willing to do anything to please their lover. They obeyed without question, worked, suffered and gave their 'love' everything from time to money to business to their lives. People fell into the habit of sacrificing to feel this 'love' all because they relied on someone else to make them happy. You had wanted nothing part of it. The dependency on another to be happy was the main thing she wanted to avoid.

But with Kiku, you weren't afraid. He wouldn't hurt you – ever.

So you pulled him in for another kiss, mumbling 'I love you' against his lips.