Ultimate ???

“…Yeah.” Rantaro’s eyes were hooded, his smile warm as he gazed down into Kurochi’s eyes, “You’re cool, Kurochi.”

It’s said with complete earnest. He moved the ice pack away and tenderly touched his thumb over the swollen apple of his cheek, trailing down ever so slightly into the hollows.

He had…quite the frail look to him. Something about it worried Rantaro, but it wasn’t his place to pry.

“You’re not dizzy, are you?” He went on, propping his forearms on the inside of his thighs, fingers lacing together in thought, “If you need help back to your room, my shoulder’s all yours.

The way Rantaro smiled at him, his earnest tone as he called Kurochi cool, Kurochi had to curl his hands into fists and press his knuckles hard against his legs to keep himself grounded. His heart skipped beats in response. Something rolled over him like a wave, and left his face hot and chest aching with a needy feeling.

Oh… oh no.

Kurochi couldn’t deny his quickened pulse, or the enjoyment he had in Rantaro’s gentle touches. He might not be familiar with the obvious sensations that came with a strong infatuation, but anybody would be able tell if they faceplanted into the ground from how hard they’d gone head over heels for a crush.

“N-no, I’m good, I’m not dizzy,” he said, and to him it sounded like he was speaking way too fast, stumbling over his words in the rush to get them out. And it was only a bit of a lie; for a second he felt light-headed, but that was from the way Rantaro looked at him.

Should he offer to walk him anyway, just for the company? Something about it struck him as inappropriately persistent, and the last thing he wanted to do was come across as someone who didn’t know when to quit. He ran a hand through his hair towards the back of his head sheepishly.

Rantaro comes to save Kurochi after he’s kidnapped.

White Clover: I promise

(Warnings: Kidnapping, short injury descriptions)

“Rantaro! You–. Y-you’re–.”

“Shh, shh, it’s ok. I’m getting you out of here, ok? Hold on.”

Rantaro disappeared from his field of vision. Kurochi bit his lower lip, suppressing the desperate sob that threatened to escape. It didn’t make sense to cry; Rantaro had only moved behind him to untie him. Sure enough, seconds later the bindings around his wrists loosened, and then fell away.

The cold air on his badly chafed wrists, deep red marks that had begun to break the skin from his struggling, relieved him just as much as it hurt. He choked on a whimper, slumping forward.

He sat in the chair for less than a minute following that. As soon as the rope had been untied, Rantaro tucked his arm underneath his knees and lifted. Kurochi sucked in a deep breath in shock and threw his arms around Rantaro’s neck.

“I got you, it’s alright,” he murmured into Kurochi’s ear.

“…Would it? If it ends up completely distracting from the pain…isn’t that just as good? Haha.”

Seeing Kurochi’s cheeks work into such a beautiful, striking blush brought rosen hues quickly to his own face.

“D-Don’t worry, I’ll resist you somehow-” A sheepish, shy smile tugged the corner of his mouth as he tried to keep his eyes off Kurochi’s lips.

“Oh, I guess that’s true too.”

He fidgeted with the end of his shirt, trying not to squirm as his nerves made him restless. Talking about kissing, even as a joke, made him hyper-aware of how close they were, with Rantaro holding the ice to his face.

“I’m sure it will be difficult,” he said, his smile small and a touch self-deprecating. “I mean, it was pretty cool, right? My juggling, I mean. Until I messed up.”

While he felt his skill was bland compared to some of the other abilities he’d seen just in his family, on its own juggling was still pretty cool. Except for the fact that he’d completely failed. That wasn’t so cool.

It’s said with complete earnest. He moved the ice pack away and tenderly touched his thumb over the swollen apple of his cheek, trailing down ever so slightly into the hollows.

He had...quite the frail look to him. Something about it worried Rantaro, but it wasn’t his place to pry.

“…Have it your way-”

God, his cheeks were already burning up.

“-was just going to point out that if I offered to kiss your face better…is anywhere besides your cheek fair game, as long as it’s on your face? According to your logic, that is.”

His pale, easily-flushed skin worked against him here, the joke bringing the heat to his cheeks. He’d thought that whatever the joke was would be good to tease Rantaro with, but he didn’t expect for it to embarrass him as well.

Seeing Kurochi’s cheeks work into such a beautiful, striking blush brought rosen hues quickly to his own face.

Kurochi couldn’t believe what he’d witnessed. The human boy that had come in looked younger than some of the ones who’d stood around his tank. Yet he reprimanded them, sent them out with a smile that hadn’t quite reached his eyes.

Then the others left, and Kurochi was left alone with the newcomer. Even then, he would’ve been suspicious of that display, fearful of some trick to make him lower his guard. But then he’d approached the tank, and apologized so profusely to him that any wariness of humans seemed far away. He found it hard to doubt him, even if he should keep his guard up in this unfamiliar place.

The human’s words met silence as Kurochi watched him, too surprised to answer right away.

Finally, he managed, “I understand you.”

Eyes widened, Kurochi cautiously approached the glass of the tank, his gaze sweeping over the human standing on the other side of it. His voice carried through water with a passive magic inherent to his vocal chords, though it was a little muffled through the glass.

He blinked slowly, his stream of consciousness melting into nothing at the sound of that beautiful voice.

“A-Ah...” Realizing he’d caught himself staring, his lashes fluttered rapidly and he swallowed hard, feeling suddenly dazed.

“...I’m sorry-I haven’t asked yet-is there anything you need? Are you hungry, or...can I make you more comfortable in any way? Please don’t be afraid to let me know or think you’re asking too much, I can get you anything you need short of the moon.”

Then again, if he asked for it with such a pleasing voice? Rantaro might have damn well tried.

“Oh, ha-ha.” Rantaro smirked fondly at Kurochi’s quick wit. “See, now I just want to make a joke to get you back but I might embarrass myself more than you.”

…God, what was he saying? Could he really make a joke like that without his face burning up and betraying that it would be maybe a little more than just that?

His cheeks grew warm just thinking about it.

Kurochi’s grin grew, pleased with himself for the quip. It promised that he’d have more of the same to say, should he see the chance.

“Yeah? What joke?” he prompted, genuinely curious and not minding the idea of poking a little more good fun out of Rantaro. He had no idea what sort of joke he’d have in mind.

God, his cheeks were already burning up.

“I guess that’s what I get for showing off.”

Some heat rose to his face as Rantaro gently ran his thumb over the injured area. Not enough pressure to irritate the sensitive spot, but plenty to bring the temperature behind his cheeks to a low simmer.

A laugh startled out of him at the embarrassing story. The image of a water-logged Rantaro amused him more than it probably should. He tried to look sympathetic, though his smile betrayed him.

“But I mean… I did get my head, since my face is kinda apart of that, you know.”

...God, what was he saying? Could he really make a joke like that without his face burning up and betraying that it would be maybe a little more than just that?

“O-Oh, you’re-”

Rantaro’s waited for his heart to complete its somersault, laughing nervously as he worried a hand through his hair.

“-ah, Kurochi…I don’t know what to say…but ah, that’s not a bad thing-you just, surprised me-”

The darkening blush on his cheeks accounted for the sincerity of his response.

“B-But no, I’m not a playboy. I don’t think I could go for a relationship just for kicks, y’know?” Rantaro’s gaze dropped to Kurochi’s hand, his voice low and soft. “If I fell for someone…I’d want to spend a lot of time on them and make them feel completely, utterly adored from head to toe, inside and out. I’d wanna be in a good enough state of mind myself to be strong and share their worries and ease their burdens and on the inside, I’m…well…”

Rantaro trailed off, somewhat taken off-guard by how honest he’d been about himself.

He’d never really gotten that close to divulging much of his deeper emotions with anyone before. It was honestly somewhat frightening.

“…Sorry, I-here.”

“-Let’s get these done, yeah?”

A placating smile back in place, Rantaro worked diligently on Kurochi’s other hand, until it was the near mirror-image of the other. He tried not to let his thoughts wander, but his fingers slipped as he maneuvered his tools around the hangnail and he knew from experience that the removal hadn’t been quite as clean or painless as he’d intended, he’d known it had to have hurt-

“Oh no, sorry, sorry-”

And what happened next was instinct. Instinct long-neglected, but that protective, elder sibling urge rushing to ease and comfort like he’d done so many times before to the delicate and little hands of any of his beloved sisters-

And he brought Kurochi’s fingers right to his lips.

His eyes widened as he drew back, realizing what he’d done, and he completely froze.

Did he let go of his hand? Keep holding it? He’d almost certainly crossed a boundary-oh, god-

“I’m so sorry-I used to-for my younger sisters, I’d do the same-” He rambled, cheeks completely flushed red, “-it’s not that I see you that way but-I mean, to contextualize-ah, geez-” Rantaro slid a hand over his face, covering his mouth with clear embarrassment.   

@ciphertwin

At first Kurochi couldn’t bear to look Rantaro in the eye after those comments, gaze darting around the room, skittish of seeing something like… like he didn’t know what. Like Rantaro wearing a face that made the backflipping in his heart speed right off the edge of a cliff. Or like Rantaro giving him a negative look for the weird stuff he’d said.

The latter didn’t happen, at least. Soon enough, Kurochi found himself caught up in the genuine admission Rantaro gave him, avoiding eyes sliding into place on Rantaro’s face. As the other stared down at his hand, Kurochi stared up at him. His voice, soft and low, stirred something in Kurochi’s chest. A longing. Longing for something.

It sounded nice, he supposed. Pleasant. Kurochi had never been in a real relationship before, and he thought that if he did have a boyfriend one day then it would be a partner like the one Rantaro described himself to want to be.

Not necessarily Rantaro himself, obviously. Just… the ideal. Yeah. Maybe love and adoration and burden-sharing were the least one could expect from a romantic partner, though. Kurochi wouldn’t know.

“Oh, right, yeah.”

Just like that, Rantaro turned their focus back on what they’d been doing before. He went back to working on Kurochi’s nails, and the bubble in his chest popped as that moment passed.

When he went to remove the hangnail, it stung. If he’d been prepared, he might’ve been able to hide it, but it managed to catch him off guard. Kurochi winced and hissed in pain. Fine, no big deal, it didn’t hurt all that–.

Soft, warm lips pressed to his fingers, and Kurochi’s brain short-circuited.

“Ah?”

A small kiss to his fingers wasn’t a big deal, but at the same time god yes it was. Brain fried, he could only make nonsensical noises, his eyes fixed on Rantaro’s hand holding his.

“It’s–. I… I’m… ah.”

It’d been an accident, right? Somewhere inside he knew that it genuinely had been, but a cynical voice inside him chastised him for a selfish inclination that he didn’t dare dwell on, to put a name to-

“...”

A sense of shocked grief settled in his chest for wanting things he couldn’t and shouldn’t have. He’d thought the inclinations had long died.

With her.

But he couldn’t deny the warmth of Kurochi’s hand in his own.

And at the same time, he had to.

“...If this had to happen-I’m so relieved it happened with you-with someone who understands that elder-sibling instinct, y’know?”

Caring sentence starters

Kurochi winced as the ice came in contact with his skin–the spot on his cheekbone painful and feeling swollen where he’d nailed himself with a ball. A soft whine escaped him before he could stop it. He tried to cover it up with a heavy sigh, leaning into the ice pack.

“I’ve never hit myself in the face before,” he said, feeling the need to over-explain. “Guess there’s a first time for everything, right?”

It was true, though. Even while learning to juggle, he hadn’t hit himself once, although he’d dropped the balls plenty of times. Of course the first time he did would be in front of Rantaro, who he kinda sorta wanted to show off for. A little bit.

“It’s not really that bad…”

In truth, the embarrassment hurt worse than any physical pain he had at the moment.

That’s what he told himself it was, at any rate.

“Hey, you don’t have to be brave around me. I know you’re an older brother too, so the habits die hard, but some of the stuff you juggle with is pretty heavy. I’m just glad you didn’t get your head with that thing.”

Something about Kurochi just brought out an instinct to protect him. If it went beyond the kinship shared by two older brothers...

He wasn’t sure yet.

Rantaro pulled the ice back to check on the swelling, absently trailing a thumb along the slight bruise rising to the surface of his skin and tracing it towards his temple, examining it critically.

“Sure hope it doesn’t spread into a shiner, the skin under the eyes can be kinda sensitive...”

Mermaid Starters

🐬 my muse is a merperson who just got placed in the aquarium where yours works

@pantaro-amami

Kurochi feigned mutism whenever one of the humans came by. They spoke to him, though many of them seemed unsure whether he understood their language. Or if a mermaid really was intelligent enough to pick up on any speech. He knew this because they’d said as much. Right in front of him. As if his lack of speaking meant lack of hearing as well.

It made him shiver with anger, his pride injured in addition to his current anxiety, but he remained silent still. If it made the humans more comfortable speaking in front of him, if it got him more information about his current situation, then he’d do his best to stay quiet.

He was in a holding tank, in an aquarium of some kind, which he gleaned from snatches of conversations between people. His own exhibit–like he was something to show off and gawk at–wasn’t finished yet, so he had some days to figure a way out.

Rantaro had grown up with twelve younger sisters. He wasn’t quick to anger. Out of necessity, maybe, but it also just wasn’t quite his personality to become worked up without a really good reason.

So when the aquarium staff phoned him with the news of their new arrival, obviously over-eager to impress the owner-he was skeptical of its validity.

He wanted to be wrong. He dearly wanted to believe that they hadn’t actually stolen someone from their family and stuffed them into a tank with absolutely no idea what they’d need from an environmental, let alone emotional standpoint.

Standing before the tank with dawning horror, the answer clearly became evident as that he’d had a little too much faith in this particular branch of staff. Or not strict enough guidelines-whatever the reason, guilt ate him alive inside and out, looking at the miserable expression on their prisoner’s face.

“Haha, well if you think so, I guess I’ll believe it. Most people assume I’m something of a playboy or something, so knowing that Ultimate Cryptographer Kurochi thinks I’m not a bad guy?…Maybe I can believe that.”

(At least…maybe a little.)

Cryptographers were in the profession of seeing truth in things, right? Maybe he trusted Kurochi’s intuition a little more than his own.

Rantaro took the cap off a brush after pushing the cuticles back and twisted the chamber until a bead of oil appeared at the brush’s tip, then began stroking it over Kurochi’s nails until they shone with a glossy shine.

“This stuff dries really quickly, and it leaves your nails nice and strong too. Dead sea minerals are really good for this kinda thing.”

Rantaro turned Kurochi’s palm upwards and uncapped the bottle of lotion that came with the set, putting a small drop in his hand and massaging it into Kurochi’s palm, stroking it through his fingers and turning his hand back over to spread his thumbs along the tendons on the back, gentle as ever.

“Alright, one down. That turned out really well.” Rantaro looked over his handiwork, adding under his breath, ‘really, really well’ before reaching for Kurochi’s other hand.

“Ah-you’ve got a bit of a hangnail on your pinky-”

“-would you like me to try and get it off? It might hurt a little but, I swear I’d be gentle.”

@ciphertwin

“I mean, I guess it’s that ruffled, effortlessly handsome look,” he mused aloud, waving his free hand vaguely. Then, realizing what he’d said, he rushed out, “S-so I guess that’s where they get it from, but it’s not–. You’re not–. I mean…”

Wow, great going filter, for failing to catch that embarrassing statement. In the back of his mind he could practically hear Kokichi laughing at him.

“Wh-what I mean is, I don’t see it that way. That you’re a playboy or anything. Are you a playboy?”

And maybe Kurochi should learn to shut up, before he dug his own hole deeper.

He looked down at the work Rantaro had done on his hand, the massage as he put the lotion onto his hand bringing heat to his cheeks. His heart skipped a beat, or maybe two, at Rantaro’s gentle ministrations.

Rantaro’s waited for his heart to complete its somersault, laughing nervously as he worried a hand through his hair.

“-ah, Kurochi...I don’t know what to say...but ah, that’s not a bad thing-you just, surprised me-”

The darkening blush on his cheeks accounted for the sincerity of his response.

“B-But no, I’m not a playboy. I don’t think I could go for a relationship just for kicks, y’know?” Rantaro’s gaze dropped to Kurochi’s hand, his voice low and soft. “If I fell for someone...I’d want to spend a lot of time on them and make them feel completely, utterly adored from head to toe, inside and out. I’d wanna be in a good enough state of mind myself to be strong and share their worries and ease their burdens and on the inside, I’m...well...”

Rantaro trailed off, somewhat taken off-guard by how honest he’d been about himself.

He’d never really gotten that close to divulging much of his deeper emotions with anyone before. It was honestly somewhat frightening.

“...Sorry, I-here.”

“-Let’s get these done, yeah?”

A placating smile back in place, Rantaro worked diligently on Kurochi’s other hand, until it was the near mirror-image of the other. He tried not to let his thoughts wander, but his fingers slipped as he maneuvered his tools around the hangnail and he knew from experience that the removal hadn’t been quite as clean or painless as he’d intended, he’d known it had to have hurt-

“Oh no, sorry, sorry-”

And what happened next was instinct. Instinct long-neglected, but that protective, elder sibling urge rushing to ease and comfort like he’d done so many times before to the delicate and little hands of any of his beloved sisters-

And he brought Kurochi’s fingers right to his lips.

His eyes widened as he drew back, realizing what he’d done, and he completely froze.

Did he let go of his hand? Keep holding it? He’d almost certainly crossed a boundary-oh, god-

“I’m so sorry-I used to-for my younger sisters, I’d do the same-” He rambled, cheeks completely flushed red, “-it’s not that I see you that way but-I mean, to contextualize-ah, geez-” Rantaro slid a hand over his face, covering his mouth with clear embarrassment.   

“Hey, don’t worry. You know what they say: ‘cold hands, warm heart’. Ah, but-”

“-I suppose that doesn’t really bode well for me then, huh?”

Rantaro laughed it off and smoothed his thumb absently over Kurochi’s knuckles, a faint dusting of a blush warming his cheeks before he moved on to filing his nails to a rounded, smooth, even point. As he moved on to buffing their surface, he very gently moved Kurochi’s fingers into a curl so he wouldn’t bump his cuticle or strain his knuckles, then went back over them with the other side of the block to make them shiny.

“This part shouldn’t hurt, you should just feel me pushing, alright? Tell me if it’s too much for you though, yeah?”

He took an angled, rubber-tipped tool and gently began nudging his cuticles back.

“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” he blurted out, referring to the saying. It immediately embarrassed him though, and he dropped his eyes down to his hand in Rantaro’s.

He watched Rantaro draw his thumb across his knuckles, his face warming at what he was sure was an unintentional action. Or at least he didn’t mean it to be affectionate.

As Rantaro worked, he stared at their hands less to avoid the other’s eyes and more out of interest over what he was doing. He’d never done anything to take care of his own nails, nor paid any attention to anyone else who did, and so each step was a new one to him.

Kurochi nodded as Rantaro took the angled tool, to assure him that he’d let him know if it got too much.

(At least...maybe a little.)

Cryptographers were in the profession of seeing truth in things, right? Maybe he trusted Kurochi’s intuition a little more than his own.

Rantaro took the cap off a brush after pushing the cuticles back and twisted the chamber until a bead of oil appeared at the brush’s tip, then began stroking it over Kurochi’s nails until they shone with a glossy shine.

“This stuff dries really quickly, and it leaves your nails nice and strong too. Dead sea minerals are really good for this kinda thing.”

Rantaro turned Kurochi’s palm upwards and uncapped the bottle of lotion that came with the set, putting a small drop in his hand and massaging it into Kurochi’s palm, stroking it through his fingers and turning his hand back over to spread his thumbs along the tendons on the back, gentle as ever.

“Alright, one down. That turned out really well.” Rantaro looked over his handiwork, adding under his breath, ‘really, really well’ before reaching for Kurochi’s other hand.

“Ah-you’ve got a bit of a hangnail on your pinky-”

“-would you like me to try and get it off? It might hurt a little but, I swear I’d be gentle.”