"And so I've been lying ever since."

Damn Seto and his ethereal body. He sighed while against Seto’s neck, but before he knew it, he was tossed back onto his bed and he bounced slightly, a familiar image replaying in his mind; one of his many fantasies that crowded his mind late at night when he couldn’t sleep. The only difference was that Seto had yet to make the face. And yet still, Seto kept a hand over his shoulder and leered over him slightly, gaze bearing into Kano’s own amber irises - curious, cautious, mouth somewhat agape and his entire expression screamed childish confusion.

That was it.

That was the face. Shit. He wanted to kiss that stupid look right off of Seto’s face.

"Am I?" He purred, and while his mind screamed at him to stop, trying in vain to remind him that this was the outcome he had been desperately trying to prevent, he was shaking so badly and his heart beating so hard that his entire body screamed ‘fuck it’ and he grabbed Seto’s shirt firmly with both of his hands. Tugging him down sharply, he kissed that stupid, confused expression right off of Seto’s face.

He had to get it out of his system before he chickened.

And damn. Seto tasted so good - the kiss was chaste, their lips barely touching, but it lasted a good ten seconds before Kano let go and allowed himself to rest against the bed, cheeks alight.

Much more concerning than his almost-fall, however, was Kano’s lips pressed against his, and he froze, not knowing how to respond.  A buzzing shock and confusion coursed through him, holding him still even if he wanted to kiss him back— and did he?  His face flaring bright red, Seto didn’t even get a chance to figure it out before he was released and he jerked up, springing away from the other boy as if he had caught fire.

"Whah— You—" 

Kano had asked a question, but Seto couldn’t string words together to answer.  His jaw worked uselessly, no sound coming out.  What had just happened?

Everything from the past few days fell together in his mind— Kano’s avoidance of him, all of his then-strange actions, his offhand compliments of Seto’s body—.  Perched on the bed, tingling all over and with a baffled look on his face, everything finally started to make sense.  More than that, he remembered his own strange reactions, how hot his face would get, how scrambled and embarrassed he’d felt with Kano in his lap.  

Though he couldn’t put everything into words in his mind just now, one thing was abundantly clear to him— he wanted to kiss Kano back, and it was unfair how quickly he’d pulled away.  Setting his jaw, he spun back towards Kano, his face flushed and his eyes all but glowing.

But as things were as of late, Seto very presence in the room equated to an instant happy third arm, but thankfully Kano was kind of small so it was relatively easy enough to hide. But yet, he watched Seto in silence as the boy seemed to slowly click pieces of information into place - he couldn't rush the other boy, considering it was Seto and any form of rushing would just result in him not understanding it in the least, but moving a little faster before the blood rushed away from his nether regions would have been nice.

After all, it's all fun and games until someone spends too much time deciding on what they fucking want to do. Hurry up, Seto. It was a good thing that Kano's crush was a solid one, and not easily shaken by someone who processed new information at the speed of a tortoise.

Until, finally, Seto responded - he turned back to face Kano and though their faces were equally flushed, Seto seemed energetic and ready to do - something? - to Kano. Considering he shouted that he wanted a re-do, Kano could only assume that it meant that Seto was ready for another kiss. Doing his best to smirk, though his muscles around his lips quivered from wanting to move into other positions (stay shut, mouth.), he sat up on his elbows and wiggled his eyebrows rather suggestively at Seto, the moth balls in his stomach threatening to come up with how stuffy it made him feel.

He felt like he was going to explode.

"S-Stop!" He forced the word out through his laughter, and after several attempts he managed to grab Seto’s forearm and yank at it, though he was not doing a particularly good job of pulling the boy’s hand out of his pants. It was a miracle that Seto had been able to shove it down there in the first place - they were going to need a miracle of equal or greater strength to get it out again.

"T-That tickles!" He squealed, flailing his legs, still trying to pull Seto’s arm out without much success. He didn’t even care if Seto managed to get ahold of his phone - other than there being an absurd amount of pictures of Kano’s junk on there, there wasn’t really anything worth peering at.

He’d forgotten how horrifically ticklish Kano was, and it was hard to keep him still enough with how much he was writhing like that.  Too bad Kano hadn’t put the cellphone somewhere easier to get, like in his shoe or hood.  Although, that pretty much would have defeated the point of putting it in his clothes at all.

After a few minutes of almost wrestling, he managed to get his fingers under the outer edge of the cellphone, and in a few seconds he’d closed his hand around it and started to fish it out.

"Holy shit, Kano," he gasped as his knuckles caught on the rough jean fabric. Who in their right mind wore pants this tight? How did the circulation in his legs still work at all?

"My button," He huffed. He would undo his pants button himself, but his hands were shaking really badly and from how much he was laughing earlier, he no longer had any strength in his arms. Besides, it was Seto's hand that was stuck. So Seto could be the one to take off his pants. Or, rather, would have to be the one to take off his pants.

He couldn't help but keep laughing, squirming with legs flailing as Seto kept trying - and failing - to get the cellphone out of Kano's pants.

Before Seto could undo Kano's button, however, there was suddenly a huge ripping sound and Kano immediately paled - he could feel the rip in his pants running from his butt and down to his leg - probably until mid-thigh.

And these were his only pants that even fit him. The others were all too tight or too dirty.

Shit.

"Seto," No longer ticklish, Kano's voice dipped several octaves as his head slowly swivelled towards the other boy.

GUYS LOOK

IT’S ME AND SETO NEXT

IT’S US

The blond blinked and whined, shuffling in place somewhat while he pouted.

"But Seto," Came the whine,

Mind you...

"Y-Yes, I remember," He finally stuttered out, voice taught and strained as he patted Seto’s back almost empathetically. Sometimes he forgot about how pathetic and emotional Seto could be - and his instantaneous reaction was to swarm the distressed party with hugs and assurances that everything would be okay. And sure, it worked for a number of members in the dan - Mary at the forefront, Momo, Hibiya - hell, even Kido, when she had one of her rare crying sessions, was almost always cheered up by Seto’s innate optimism.

It kind of sucked that it didn’t work quite as well on Kano - especially when Seto was the issue at hand. Almost absent-mindedly, as he rubbed Seto’s back, he could only appreciate the firm, smooth feel of his pectoral and back muscles. Seto really was fit, and had really grown into his body. Tall, firm, muscular, the pinnacle of peak physical condition. He was always moving - carrying people around (read: The Small Four), carrying things around, or working, Seto was always exercising. Always working his muscles.

And it really did show.

Once he was able to catch his breath a bit, Kano began to hum, running both of his hands all down Seto’s back and over his sides and stomach, careful not to tickle the other boy but rough enough to feel the firm muscle underneath.

He’d seen Seto with his shirt off before, but that had been in a more casual setting. 

"You’ve got a lot of muscle on you," He finally murmured after a moment, silently glad for the double purpose of the words as he finally sighed softly and pressed his own face into Seto’s sweaty, muscular neck.

"A lot. Holy shit.”

Although it hardly made sense, he felt filled with a boundless energy, a thrill of delight at the confirmation that Kano remembered how important he was to him.  If Kano remembered and acknowledged it, they could fix whatever was wrong, somehow.  

Entirely certain and enthusiastic about figuring out what was wrong, Seto was distracted by the other boy’s hands travelling across his back and chest.  It didn’t tickle, but he shifted a little anyway, a laugh that sounded almost nervous rising in his throat.  What was Kano doing? And more importantly, why was he doing something weird like that?  Kano’s hands traversed his stomach again and he took in a deep breath, suddenly wondering if pulling him into his lap had been the best choice after all.

"A-ah, it’s just from work," he protested, his hands going to catch the other boy’s wrists.  But once he’d done so, he didn’t actually pull his hands away, just blinking down at his fingers circling Kano’s bony wrists.  No wonder Kano sounded so surprised; when they were children, Kano had been the bigger one, both in height and in his shoulders and arms.  The only exception had been Kano’s hands and feet, which had always been somewhat small and girlish, compared to Seto, who tumbled around like a tiny puppy with over-large paws, back in those days.  Their father had always said he’d grow into them, but he hadn’t really thought about it until now.  Having Kano so close made it a little bit difficult to ignore, though.

Kano’s face pressed unexpectedly against the curve of Seto’s neck, and he almost jumped in surprise.  It broke him out of his reverie, and he easily peeled the boy off of him, tossing him onto his back on the bed.  He wouldn’t be able to think if Kano kept pressing against him like that, and he needed to figure out what was going on.  This had been such a bad idea.

Seto kept a firm hand on Kano’s shoulder, leaning over him and keeping him from sitting up, although it was really his own fault Kano had ended up on on his lap like that.  Whatever thoughtful questions he’d been meaning to ask, however, fled from his mind as he stared down t him, and he gaped uselessly for a second, before blurting,

Damn Seto and his ethereal body. He sighed while against Seto's neck, but before he knew it, he was tossed back onto his bed and he bounced slightly, a familiar image replaying in his mind; one of his many fantasies that crowded his mind late at night when he couldn't sleep. The only difference was that Seto had yet to make the face. And yet still, Seto kept a hand over his shoulder and leered over him slightly, gaze bearing into Kano's own amber irises - curious, cautious, mouth somewhat agape and his entire expression screamed childish confusion.

That was it.

That was the face. Shit. He wanted to kiss that stupid look right off of Seto's face.

"Am I?" He purred, and while his mind screamed at him to stop, trying in vain to remind him that this was the outcome he had been desperately trying to prevent, he was shaking so badly and his heart beating so hard that his entire body screamed 'fuck it' and he grabbed Seto's shirt firmly with both of his hands. Tugging him down sharply, he kissed that stupid, confused expression right off of Seto's face.

He had to get it out of his system before he chickened.

And damn. Seto tasted so good - the kiss was chaste, their lips barely touching, but it lasted a good ten seconds before Kano let go and allowed himself to rest against the bed, cheeks alight.

After all, Kano had begun relying on Seto, as well. Even if the boy didn’t know about most of his struggles, his smile always wiped away at least a bit of Kano’s apprehension and helped the blond to sleep at night. He relied on Seto a lot more than Seto probably realised.

Laughing after a moment of silence, Kano nuzzled Seto’s cheek before he shut his phone and stuffed it down his pants, eyeballing the other challengingly as he forcefully shoved it down there - with some effort - before he winked at Seto mockingly.

"Can’t get it if it’s down there, right?" He joked softly, almost mockingly as he finally relaxed against Seto’s chest with a bit of discomfort. He had no doubt that Seto would do that - the boy would walk straight into Kano’s room at three in the morning to announce that he was going to change Kano’s background picture. He remembered from a dream.

It was just the kind of guy he was - there was very little that Kano wouldn’t put past Seto to do, really. If he said he was going to do it, then he probably would. People who were so brutally honest had a tendency to be like that.

It wasn’t even about the phone background anymore.  Kano had plenty of unflattering pictures of all of them, so it wasn’t really worth it just to delete it.  Honestly, though Seto hadn’t checked, Kano’s previous phone background had probably been just as ridiculous.  No, by now it was about one-upping Kano, and about keeping the atmosphere the light and ridiculous tone that they both needed right now.

"Yeah, will do," he replied to Kano’s offer distractedly, though from how quickly Kano had calmed him down, he knew he’d be going to him in future. It’s not like Seto had that many nightmares though; he definitely didn’t have as many as Mary, and he doubted he had as many as Kano either.

Kano yawned, and Seto knew he had to act fast. Before he went to go take a nap, and before any of the others woke up and came in to see what was going on.  

"S-Stop!" He forced the word out through his laughter, and after several attempts he managed to grab Seto's forearm and yank at it, though he was not doing a particularly good job of pulling the boy's hand out of his pants. It was a miracle that Seto had been able to shove it down there in the first place - they were going to need a miracle of equal or greater strength to get it out again.

"T-That tickles!" He squealed, flailing his legs, still trying to pull Seto's arm out without much success. He didn't even care if Seto managed to get ahold of his phone - other than there being an absurd amount of pictures of Kano's junk on there, there wasn't really anything worth peering at.

He was so stupid, really. He couldn’t even shake some stupidly strong desire for his brother, of all people. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"You really shouldn’t, though," He murmured tensely, softly, a death grip on Seto’s shirt as he wriggled around slightly. At this point, he was practically straddling Seto and it was extremely uncomfortable - to the point where his hips were starting to hurt. 

He felt a tad bit bad for not teasing back - and normally, he would - but he really had neither the energy nor the desire to do so right now. It was already hard to stay focused to maintain his mask, and he knew that if that fell, too, that he would not be able to keep this devilish secret of his hidden from that crush.

"I know. I love you, too." He had no doubts that Seto would take it at face value, and not hear the underlying desperation underneath, but even saying that made things a bit easier on Kano. Those words had been eating at him, and he’d practiced them in the mirror for hours on end but even now they sounded strained and fake.

'You shouldn't', Kano had said, and those words had shaken him to the core.  Kano honestly didn't believe that they should love him, and Seto wished he could show him how totally wrong that was. Of course they were going to love him; he was their friend who'd always been there for them, and they'd needed him so much in the past. It was true that neither of them depended on Kano nearly as much anymore, but that didn't mean that they didn't love him.

"Don’t say that," Seto replied, a soft murmur as he nuzzled him, a slight smile on his face.  "Of course I’m gonna love ya.  You were my first human friend, remember?"  Sometimes he thought Kano must have forgotten how vitally important he was to the two of them, how vitally important he’d always been to Seto, ever since they met.

Kano’s assurance that he loved them as well put Seto at ease though. He had no reason to disbelieve him on that.  Even if he had, he’d probably still believe it, out of pure gullibility, or something more desperate than that.

"Y-Yes, I remember," He finally stuttered out, voice taught and strained as he patted Seto's back almost empathetically. Sometimes he forgot about how pathetic and emotional Seto could be - and his instantaneous reaction was to swarm the distressed party with hugs and assurances that everything would be okay. And sure, it worked for a number of members in the dan - Mary at the forefront, Momo, Hibiya - hell, even Kido, when she had one of her rare crying sessions, was almost always cheered up by Seto's innate optimism.

It kind of sucked that it didn't work quite as well on Kano - especially when Seto was the issue at hand. Almost absent-mindedly, as he rubbed Seto's back, he could only appreciate the firm, smooth feel of his pectoral and back muscles. Seto really was fit, and had really grown into his body. Tall, firm, muscular, the pinnacle of peak physical condition. He was always moving - carrying people around (read: The Small Four), carrying things around, or working, Seto was always exercising. Always working his muscles.

And it really did show.

Once he was able to catch his breath a bit, Kano began to hum, running both of his hands all down Seto's back and over his sides and stomach, careful not to tickle the other boy but rough enough to feel the firm muscle underneath.

He'd seen Seto with his shirt off before, but that had been in a more casual setting. 

"You've got a lot of muscle on you," He finally murmured after a moment, silently glad for the double purpose of the words as he finally sighed softly and pressed his own face into Seto's sweaty, muscular neck.

"A lot. Holy shit."

After a few second, though, Kano did pull his hand away and set it back on his lap lightly - intelligently placed over his crotch - in order for Seto to be able to catch his breath from his laughing fit before Kano replied. In all motions of the word, Kano seemed completely at ease, though if his ability were to be negated it would not be hard to tell that he was extremely tense, his face warm, entire body on fire, really. He was a ball of anxiety currently. That had been such a close call.

After a moment, he heaved a deep sigh, head drooping as though he were falling asleep where he sat before he leaned forward in silence, arms wrapping around Seto’s neck in a gentle hug while his forehead rested on the other boy’s shoulder.

"It’s nothing, okay?" Kano murmured softly, voice much more restrained and deeper - he had to pretend, after all.

That’s right. Nothing at all. Just another dirty little secret.

"So you don’t have to worry about me." He pulled away shortly after to grin at Seto, though the smile seemed strained even through Kano’s ability - the apprehension was making it hard to fake things, even for Kano, but he was doing his best.

"Yaknow that doesn’t work, right? We’re always gonna worry about you," he teased, his voice lighthearted and easy.  It was true though; because of Kano’s nature, Seto and Kido would always be worried about what he might be hiding.  Especially if he was this obvious about it, and especially— Seto squeezed him tightly, his heart thudding— when it worried him this much.

Too focused on the warmth of the other boy in his arms, he didn’t even notice the tear, which was probably a good thing.  If he had, he’d probably have dragged Kano to wherever Kido was by the scruff of his neck and demanded they shower affection on him until he felt better. It didn’t quite work that way for Kano, but Seto couldn’t really understand that.

He was so stupid, really. He couldn't even shake some stupidly strong desire for his brother, of all people. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"You really shouldn't, though," He murmured tensely, softly, a death grip on Seto's shirt as he wriggled around slightly. At this point, he was practically straddling Seto and it was extremely uncomfortable - to the point where his hips were starting to hurt. 

He felt a tad bit bad for not teasing back - and normally, he would - but he really had neither the energy nor the desire to do so right now. It was already hard to stay focused to maintain his mask, and he knew that if that fell, too, that he would not be able to keep this devilish secret of his hidden from that crush.

"I know. I love you, too." He had no doubts that Seto would take it at face value, and not hear the underlying desperation underneath, but even saying that made things a bit easier on Kano. Those words had been eating at him, and he'd practiced them in the mirror for hours on end but even now they sounded strained and fake.

Grinning, Kano reached up after moistening his lips to help pat Seto’s hair down, spinning around slightly on the boy’s lap. It could lie flatter, but there were tufts that stuck out at all angles. Maybe it would have been better if Kano had gone to grab a hairbrush and calmed Seto’s wild hair down that way. He would at least have had more success, most likely.

"H-Hey! No, we can’t! I like it!" Kano whined as he was trapped against Seto and he struggled to break free, writhing and squirming without actually being able to reach before he sighed heavily and slumped against Seto’s chest, a defeated pout playing on his lips as he crossed his arms childishly. It wasn’t fair that Seto was a physical freak of nature. Who was that tall and had arms that long, anyway? If only Kano could grow them out.

It sounded pretty underhanded, which was why Seto had to announce it so honestly like this.  He wasn’t the sort to keep secrets, not even if it was a secret plan to delete an unflattering selfie from the other boy’s phone.  Besides, there would be plenty of time for more selfies in future.

At that thought, another smile sprang onto his face, quieter and more contemplative than his usual one, but there all the same. He still remembered the dream of Kano dying, but he also remembered how Kano how gone out of his way to cheer him up, and the bright and happy memories of them laughing and wrestling for the camera would stay with him too.

After all, Kano had begun relying on Seto, as well. Even if the boy didn't know about most of his struggles, his smile always wiped away at least a bit of Kano's apprehension and helped the blond to sleep at night. He relied on Seto a lot more than Seto probably realised.

Laughing after a moment of silence, Kano nuzzled Seto's cheek before he shut his phone and stuffed it down his pants, eyeballing the other challengingly as he forcefully shoved it down there - with some effort - before he winked at Seto mockingly.

"Can't get it if it's down there, right?" He joked softly, almost mockingly as he finally relaxed against Seto's chest with a bit of discomfort. He had no doubt that Seto would do that - the boy would walk straight into Kano's room at three in the morning to announce that he was going to change Kano's background picture. He remembered from a dream.

It was just the kind of guy he was - there was very little that Kano wouldn't put past Seto to do, really. If he said he was going to do it, then he probably would. People who were so brutally honest had a tendency to be like that.