Lovers Again

Summary: Kaito and Len have their first real argument as a couple. Upset, Len leaves, and runs back to his old home. A few days later, Kaito sees Len in another's arms, and wonders if their small argument has driven him away… KaitoxLen

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Kaito pulled his scarf closer around his head, burying his face up to the bridge of his nose. It was late out, and in the middle of winter – hence, it was freezing. He wished he'd grabbed a warmer jacket when he left the apartment. He was hungry, to boot – he'd warm something up when he got back to the apartment.

Even though Len was a minor, he'd moved in with Kaito the first chance he'd gotten. Kaito was a little unnerved about living with a sixteen-year-old—the neighbors would be appalled if they found out Len's real age—but he thought that the blonde was worth every second of it. Of course, he hadn't yet done something unforgivable – their dating thus far had been completely platonic, and that was enough for Kaito. After all, what kind of lover forced themselves on their significant other?

Kaito glanced at the clock on the wall as he entered his apartment building. It was nearly 1 AM. He guessed his late night walk after his last performance went longer than planned. Len was probably asleep by now.

He slipped upstairs, and opened the door quietly, slipping his shoes off. Len was a light sleeper – he didn't want to wake him up. He set his shoes down on the rug.

"Where have you been?" a sleepy voice questioned.

Kaito looked up in surprise as his younger lover looked at him expectantly. The blonde had curled up in a makeshift bed (that actually looked more like a nest, truth be told) that had been set up on the living room floor.

"Len," he greeted. "It's late. You should be asleep."

"Where were you?" Len questioned again, pushing the covers off of him. Len had changed out of his normal clothing, and had traded it in for a plain white T-shirt and boxers – his usual sleeping clothes.

Kaito shrugged. "I went on a walk."

Kaito could tell from Len's expression that he wasn't buying it. His eyebrows furrowed. Len was upset. But what would the blonde have to be mad about?

"Miku called," Len mentioned off-handedly, though Kaito could tell that the fact was bothering him.

Kaito blinked in surprise. Why would Miku be calling? "She did? What about?"

"To ask if I'd seen you," Len stated, gazing up at his elder angrily. "Why are you so late?"

"Like I said," Kaito repeated, "I went for a walk."

Len bit his lip, and looked away. He was getting more and more upset the further this conversation dragged on.

"Len," Kaito said gently, "we can talk in the morning. It's obvious you're upset—"

"Of course I'm upset!" Len snapped. The bedclothes that had been half-covering the blonde flew off him. "You have no idea what today is, do you!?" he snapped.

Kaito jumped. "Len?" Len's sky-shaded eyes were in tears now. Kaito hated it when he cried. He took a step towards the blonde. The blonde shook his head, and stalked away from the blue-haired elder, his legs stiff with repressed anger.

Kaito could only stand in place as Len stalked to the other end of the apartment, disappearing into his room. There was a quiet commotion, and then Len came out again. He'd thrown on a pair of jeans, and had a backpack over his shoulder. "Len, where are you going?" Kaito asked, confused.

"Home!" Len yelled, refusing to look at him. He tramped past the blue-haired vocalist, and opened the door.

"Len!" Kaito grabbed onto his wrist. "Where are you—"

"It's our anniversary!" Len cried, yanking his wrist out of Kaito's grip. "Well, yesterday was, anyways!" Len snapped, gesturing angrily at the clock.

Kaito froze. Len had tears streaming down his face.

"I hate you, Kaito-nii," Len whispered. He turned and ran out of the apartment, slamming the door in Kaito's face.

Kaito was beyond shock. He had to go sit down. He somehow managed to walk over to the kitchen, and sit down at the table.

What he found made him feel even worse.

The table was set, and dinner dished up. Len's had apparently been picked at – but none of it eaten. It was Kaito's favorite (well, other than sweets) – yakisoba. He felt a pang. Len had obviously been planning dinner for a while now – they normally lived off of Ramen noodles and the occasional take-out meal.

Feeling terrible, Kaito put the food into the fridge. They could warm it up when Len got back – of course he'd come back, right?

Kaito ran his hands through his blue locks. Len would probably go to his sister's to calm down, and be back tomorrow afternoon. He left the kitchen, no longer feeling hungry.

The bedroom was aglow with soft candlelight, and a bottle of lotion lay innocently next to the bed. Kaito gulped, struggling with tears of his own.

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Kaito rested his forehead on his hands, exhausted. He was sitting outside his favorite café. Meiko was across from him, enjoying some fancy kind of Italian Soda. Some kind of sundae – Meiko had ordered it for him – lay untouched in front of him.

"Kaito, what's up with you?" Meiko asked, downing the remnants of her fix, and then promptly ordering a second one. "You're not the type to leave ice cream untouched – especially when someone else is treating," she stated pointedly.

Kaito was quit for a moment, and stuck a spoon into the mound of frozen dairy goodness. Right now, he just didn't feel like it. He hadn't eaten since lunch the day before, and it was nearing dinnertime. "Just not hungry."

"Something happen with Len last night?" Meiko asked, worried. At first, she'd never thought that Len and Kaito would last – after all, the age difference was a big enough reason. But Kaito loved that kid unconditionally. Eventually, she found herself from being a skeptic to one of their strongest supporters.

"I guess you could say that," Kaito sighed. "It was our anniversary. I completely forgot about it," Kaito admitted. "Len stayed awake until I got there."

"When did you get home? Ten?"

"One AM," Kaito owned up.

Meiko took the news in stride. "No wonder. So you got into a spat with Len, and now all of a sudden you're not eating?"

"He left," Kaito said bluntly.

Meiko choked on her pop. "He what?"

Kaito glared up at her pointedly. "You're being sympathetic."

"It's just—this is Len we're talking about!" she exclaimed. "He's like a lovesick puppy when it comes to you!"

"He wasn't always that way," Kaito pointed out.

Meiko waved his words away with a wild gesture. "Kaito, listen to yourself! You know that Len's changed – for the better – since he began seeing you!"

"He deserves better," Kaito said, poking at the ice cream again. By now, the ice cream and the chocolate syrup were practically perfectly blended into some kind of chocolate-milkshake-like soup. "After all. I forgot all about it – we'd been together for two years."

"Talking about it in past tense already?" Meiko demanded. "Kaito, damnit, get a hold of yourself!"

Meiko brought an arm back and smacked Kaito on the back of the head several times. Kaito took the beating without a complaint. That was also unlike him.

"Damn it all, Kaito! Go and get your lover back!" Meiko growled, standing up. Her chair fell back. "You love Len, don't you?" she challenged. "Or was it just some kind of game to you?"

Kaito watched, eyes wide with shock, as the fiery-tempered girl glared at him angrily, continuing her tirade. "Len's like a little brother to me! Don't you dare break his heart and then abandon the whole prospect because he's being difficult! Go and apologize, make it up to him, do something!"

The red-clad girl turned on her heel, left an amount of money that covered their bill three times over, and left the café, fuming.

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Three days. Three hellish days had passed. Kaito had gone to Rin's house, just to have the usually cooperative, pleasant blonde girl literally kick him to the curb, yelling at him that Len wasn't there, and that she'd never forgive him for hurting her beloved little brother like that.

Miku had likewise treated him, slamming the door in his face. Even if she thought Len used to be a bit of a playboy, she could tell he was serious about Kaito. She'd never seen Len cry – until he'd shown up at Rin's house after leaving Kaito. All she knew was that he'd left Rin's house the next morning.

No one Kaito had contacted had any clue where Len had run off. Rin, Miku, and Gakupo all refused to answer his calls. Meiko was the only one on his side in this problem.

Kaito sighed, and leaned back. It was lightly drizzling out. The park was otherwise peaceful, and Kaito could see a few people pass by him, covered by umbrellas of varying colors.

Then the sound reached him. He shot up. He turned towards it, and was on his feet before he knew it. He couldn't even feel his feet hit the ground as he sprinted towards it.

"The first miracle was that you were born,

The second miracle was the time we spent together…"

Kaito slipped as he rounded a corner tightly, just barely catching himself from a nasty fall. He was breathing heavily. Kaito saw his beloved blonde angel again, half hidden in the shrubs of a clearing. His heart soared.

Len's eyes were closed, and his mouth open, notes falling from his lips like they were from the chords of an angel's harp. Kaito started forward, but stopped when someone appeared in front of Len, stepping out from behind the wall of hedges. Len's voice cut off as the other pulled him into an embrace.

Kaito recognized the long violet hair, and if any doubt remained in his mind, it was erased when Gakupo spoke. "You're getting better every day, Len."

Len smiled up at the purple-haired male. "You really think so?" he asked. "That's great to hear, especially coming from you."

Gakupo chuckled. "Your voice is still young. It'll be a while before you can fully harness it – after all, it still has some deepening to do yet. Once you're fully grown, we can see how good you can really get."

Kaito felt his hands ball up into fists at that. Just because Len's voice hadn't deepened, that was a means for criticism? Kaito loved Len's voice the way it was. He didn't much care for Gakupo's comments.

Len smiled quietly up at Gakupo. "Thanks, nii-san. I hope you'll be there when that day comes."

Kaito felt the knife that had been shoved into his heart four days ago shove deeper, and, like a festering wound, ache even worse.

Gakupo let a hand trace Len's cheek. Oblivious, Len looked up at him curiously. Kaito wondered briefly if Len had moved on - he was young, after all; perhaps Kaito had just been his "first love", a sort of "puppy love"? Or maybe he'd driven Len away with his idiotic actions.

Gakupo leaned forward.

At that instant, Kaito raced forward. "Len!"

Len jumped, and turned towards the sound.

Gakupo turned, looking at Kaito with a small amount of annoyance. "Kaito, what are you doing here?" the purple-haired teen asked.

"I…" Len looked at Kaito expectantly. Kaito could almost swear that he even saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes, if but for a second. Kaito braced himself. "Len… Len is mine!" he declared, grabbing Len's wrist. "I don't let you touch him!"

Gakupo stared at him for a few moments, his gaze unreadable and intimidating.

Kaito put an arm in front of Len, stepping half in front of the younger boy. Len blinked in confusion, and whispered his name.

Gakupo smiled once. "Well. Meiko was right. You just needed a push."

"Wh-what?" Kaito stammered. Len mirrored his astonishment, but said nothing.

"I've been busy. Sorry that I didn't reply to your calls. But Meiko got a hold of me, and asked me to help you see what you were missing out on. After all, Kaito," Gakupo chuckled, "you're a very lucky person to have Len at your side. Don't mess things up." The purple-haired samurai gave them a small smile and a two-fingered salute, and walked off.

Len glanced over at Kaito. Kaito simply stared at him. "Len… I—"

"I'm still mad," Len cut him off.

"…I deserve nothing less," Kaito sighed, admitting defeat. "And I'll understand if you want to leave me."

"Who said anything about that?" Len asked, turning and looked at him face-on. "Idiot! I may be mad, but I love you!"

"But… but you said…" Kaito stammered, his cheeks flaming up.

"Idiot," Len stated, getting up on his tip-toes to look Kaito straight in the face. "We all say things we don't mean when we're angry!"

Kaito fumbled to try and find words.

Len sighed. "Idiot. Don't try to explain yourself. You're forgiven, since you're—"

Kaito leaned forward, capturing Len's lips. The blonde turned a bright red. When the blue-haired elder pulled away, the younger boy was at loss for words. "Since I'm a hopeless idiot," Kaito stated, completing Len's sentence. "I'll try to be better."

"I was about to say… since you're my idiot," Len amended, putting his arms around Kaito's neck, leaning his forehead against Kaito's. "By the way. I'm betting that dinner I made is still in the fridge. How about we go home and eat together, hm?" he smiled brightly. "We can move the celebration of our anniversary to tonight."

Kaito put an arm around Len's shoulders, bringing his scarf with him. Len wrapped it around his neck out of habit – they often walked together like this. "That sounds just fine with me."