The sky lit up with multiple colors as loud bangs sounded in accordance with the lights. The colors reflected off of a certain blonde's glasses as he watched with a smile. The man next to him just stared at the flamboyant blonde with his arms crossed. The rest of the guests seemed to enjoy the bright colors in the sky, but he couldn't.

"You always celebrate your Independence Day this way?" the man asked with a gruff voice. His larger brows furrowed as more lights lit up the sky. The younger blonde looked towards the grumpy man and chuckled.

"Yeah! You know, you would have known that if you actually spent these days with me before," was the earnest reply. The other man scoffed.

"How could I?" he mumbled softly as more lights could be seen and booms heard. He clenched his fist. The younger man went back to watching the bright lights in the sky again. There was a big one, followed by a deep boom, which almost made the older blonde jump. He looked into the sky just as the colors faded away. They were beautiful, yes, but he just couldn't see what was so great about them. It was to celebrate that idiot's freedom from him/. He quietly sighed as he walked towards the building close to them.

The younger male noticed this, "Where-"

"I'm getting tired of standing; I'll just rest a bit in there," came the reply before the question was asked and he kept walking. The other blonde watched him go with a concerned look on his face.

"Just leave him," one of the guests said as he walked closer to the younger male. "Just enjoy the fireworks." He crossed his arms as he watched the retreating man's back. The blonde nodded and watched as the finale was about to begin. He stopped smiling, however, as he was wondering what had made the other man act the way he was. He couldn't enjoy the finale at all.

--------

Once the celebration was done, and all the guests had said their goodbyes, the spectacled young man walked towards the building where he last saw his older friend go into. He opened the door softly and looked around. The building was a mess with leftover food and drinks lying around, as well as streamers, balloons, and the excess paper that had once wrapped gifts.

He didn't need to search for the other man for long, since he was in the same room. His head was on a table, arms covering his face. A touch on the shoulder made him jump. He looked up to see his friend's worried face.

"A-ah ... Alfred," he said.

"Arthur ... are you okay?" Alfred asked, a hint of worry in his voice. Arthur clenched his fist again.

"I ... I'm fine. I just got tired." He looked away from the younger blonde as he spoke. Alfred furrowed his brows as he sat down next to Arthur.

"You don't seem fine." Arthur looked quickly at the youth.

"Oh, what do you know!?" the older blonde yelled.

"We've known each other for quite a while, haven't we?" Alfred asked with a stern look on his face. "Don't you think I notice when you're not fine?"

"Well, you failed to notice that I didn't want to be separated from you!"

Alfred blinked and then said, "Huh?"

"Errr ... uh ... no-nothing!" the flustered and blushing Arthur said, waving off his comment.

"Arthur ... Didn't you think it was time for me to stop being your 'little brother' and grow up?" the usually flamboyant and carefree blonde asked. Arthur looked away. He knew that, but ...

"You idiot."

"H-huh? Arth-"

"Do you even know why it was so hard for me!? Do you even care!? Bastard!" Arthur yelled as he stood up. Alfred stood up quickly as well.

"I do care! Why was it!? Tell me!" The older man gritted his teeth.

"Because I love you, dammit! Fucking bastard! Why you!?" he yelled back, finally confessing his feelings. He hung his head as tears threatened to come to his eyes. Alfred, surprised by the sudden love confession - and outburst - couldn't do anything but stand there and stare at the older blonde. That is, until a single tear fell down the other man's cheek. The spectacled blonde reached his hand out and wiped away the tear with his thumb. Arthur's eyes widened as he looked at the other man.

"I'm sorry," Alfred said as he hugged the other blonde. He felt Arthur's shaky breath and the warmth of the tears that fell onto his shoulder. He sighed inwardly, but he wanted to hold the other one forever ...


* * *  O M A K E  * * *

Alfred snickered at his new lover's face. It was currently as red as Feliciano's tomatoes. "What's wrong?" he asked, playfully.

"Bastard, you overdid it ..."

-Five minutes before-

"Sooo ... you love me?" Alfred asked with a sly grin on his face. He was still hugging the other man. Said man's face flushed.

"I-I! I only told you because you asked!"

"I love you, too, Arthur," the younger whispered into his neck. The older man's face flushed even darker.

"R-really ... ?" was all Arthur could muster. It was a low whisper; even Alfred had a hard time hearing it.

"Of course. I love you." A smirk. "I love you, I love you, I love you, I lov-"

"I-idiot, don't say it so much!" Arthur yelled, cupping his hand over the younger's mouth. Alfred took the moment to kiss the palm of the other's hand. Arthur's breath caught, and he took the hand away from the other's mouth.

"Why not? It's the truth. I love you," Alfred said, a smile plastered on his face. He leaned in and placed a small kiss on the other's lips. Arthur's face went from dark pink to red.

"Fucking idiot!"

I was sitting in my usual spot in the Kokuyo building when I heard two familiar voices coming ever so nearer. Ken and Chikusa were arguing again over who stayed to watch over me as the other went to get our food. They tossed a coin and yelled out which side was facing upwards. Usually, Chikusa ends up watching over me, but this time I heard Ken yelling at him.

“Lemme try again! I’ll win this time!”

“You already lost for today. Just watch over her,” Chikusa said so softly I could barely make it out. His voice sounded indifferent, like always.

“I don’t want to be stuck here with her!”

I pulled my knees closer to my chest. I felt sad that Ken didn’t want to stay, but I refused to cry. He would just call me a crybaby.

As the door flew open, I changed my position: sitting with my knees underneath me. I watched as Chikusa walked away and Ken walked over towards the other corner.

We sat in silence for a while. Suddenly, I heard a sound … like something beating on the roof. I listened more carefully and realized that it started to rain outside. The rain started to gradually get louder and louder. I looked over to Ken who was looking at the door as if he was getting worried about Chikusa. I was, too, but I knew I had to keep calm. It was just another storm.

There was a sudden boom of thunder; I jumped. Ken’s head turned to me and our eyes met for a minute. I looked down, breaking our eye contact. There was a gust of cold wind that blew throughout the building; I shivered.

Before I had realized, Ken was walking over to me. I looked up at the sudden motion and opened my mouth to say something. He beat me to it, though.

“Here,” he said, draping his coat around my shoulders. I brought it closer around me as he sat down next to me.

“Ah … Th- … th-thank you,” I said, softly.

He rolled his eyes as he looked the other way, almost as if he was annoyed to be close to me.

There was another roll of thunder. I jumped again. I looked over to the door again, wondering if Chikusa would try to get home in this storm.

All of a sudden, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked at the hand, and back at Ken. His eye twitched as he pulled me closer to him, making my head lay on his shoulder.

“… Ken?”

“What?” He sounded annoyed at me, like always.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I decided against it and sighed. “I- … It’s nothing.”

I saw his eye twitch again as he made an angry face at me. I closed my eyes and tensed my body, readying myself for another one of his angry fits.

But his angry fit never came. I heard him slowly let out the breath he held in. I didn’t open my eyes, but I let my body relax again.

My eyes flew open, however, when I felt his lips on the top of my head. I looked at his equally shocked – and equally blushing – face.

He turned away from me started to mumble to himself, like, “What the hell did I just do”, “why the hell did I do that”, and “that was so out of character for me”.

But he answered the question I was going to ask earlier: “Do you care about me?”


I gave him a little kiss on his cheek back.