#;I won't be without you (fightingdreamcrs; kotetsu & izumo)

[daybreakrising]

@fightingdreamcrs​ asked:  SPOTS TO KISS + [35] Kotetsu & Izumo | Meme | 35: a kiss on the space between shoulder blades.

Sunlight streamed through the crack in the curtains across the bedroom window, which just so happened to fall right across the pillow where Kotetsu had opted to bury his face. Izumo’s doing, obviously. It wasn’t him who’d failed to close them properly last night. Of course not. Groaning, he attempted to bury his face even further into the sanctuary of his pillow, whilst he debated whether or not Izumo would allow him to steal back the blankets to block out the sun for at least another hour.

Probably not.

He no longer felt the chill of morning air on exposed skin, at least not as strongly as he had when they’d first started sharing a bed. When your partner routinely steals all the blankets in the middle of the night - which he absolutely believed was what happened and wouldn’t hear otherwise - you quickly got used to it. 

He did, however, feel the sudden warmth as sleep-warm skin pressed snugly to his own. His lips were already curving into a smile against the pillow as he felt the tickle of hair upon his back, fingertips lightly skimming along one arm. He gave a soft murmur of sound in response as lips were pressed to his back, right at the spot between his shoulder blades. It was quickly followed by another, and another, slowly inching higher until Izumo could nuzzle against the back of his neck.

“If you want me to get out of bed,” Kotetsu told him, voice muffled by the pillow, “that is not the way to go about it.”

[daybreakrising]

@fightingdreamcrs​ sent: "Is that my shirt?" for Kotetsu from Izumo | SEND “IS THAT MY SHIRT?” FOR YOUR MUSE FINDING MINE IN YOUR MUSE’S SHIRT

Only Izumo would be able to tell.

There was a faint mark on the sleeve, a faded patch that was the result of a splash of bleach - a casualty of one of Izumo’s deep cleans of the apartment. It was small, barely noticeable unless you knew it was there, but of course, Izumo knew. 

Kotetsu brushed his hand over the sleeve, covering the mark briefly as he ducked his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “It might be.” He murmured, sliding his gaze along to his partner, sitting beside him at the desk. He leaned over, resting a hand on Izumo’s shoulder as he lightly tapped at a small tear near one of the scroll pouches on Izumo’s flak jacket.

“Is that my jacket?”

[daybreakrising]

@fightingdreamcrs​ asked: five times kissed [izumo & kotetsu] from this meme

Under a cut bc these will all get long.

ONE

He wasn't in love with his best friend.

Sure, they had an incredibly close bond that, to him, seemed entirely different to other friendship pairings he witnessed amongst their peers. But that was just who they were. They'd been friends since they were kids, they'd grown up together, trained together, fought together. They were a team, both as shinobi and as people.

They were just friends.

Right?

Well, there was only one real way to find out. He wasn't shy. He wasn't scared. They'd laugh about it afterwards because nothing – nothing – could ruin their friendship. He was certain that there was nothing that would cause Izumo to hate him.

He was sat in their usual spot, a book in his hands, no doubt some means of training or study. He was always a hard worker, his Izumo. His Izumo. It didn't take him long to join him on the bench, pluck the book from his hands, and silence his protest with a kiss.

What he'd expected to happen was… well, nothing. That it would just feel like kissing his friend. Instead, he felt his heart skip in his chest and an unfamiliar fizzy warmth in the pit of his stomach. Uh oh.

Turns out, he was in love with his best friend.

TWO

"Don't drop your guard, Iz!" Kotetsu grinned, materialising at his friend's back and delivering a swift, sweeping kick, aiming to knock him off balance. He almost succeeded, too, but Izumo was too damned quick-thinking. An artful dodge, and he was poised to strike or defend a few paces away. Damnit.

They both charged at once, kunai and shuriken flashing, deflecting. It was nothing more than a distraction, intended to shift the focus of the mind, but neither of them would fall for that trick. They'd been sparring together for too many years – they could read each other's movements perfectly.

If they ended up facing each other in the upcoming final stage of the Chunin exams, it could very well be a long battle.

In the end, Izumo managed to get in a lucky – although almost certainly well-calculated – strike, and Kotetsu found himself on his back in the grass, pinned in place by his friend. Izumo smiled above him, pleased with his victory. Well, he couldn't have that.

He hooked a leg over one of Izumo's, managed to get a hand in the hair at the back of his neck, and leaned up to press their lips together. It worked like a charm. Thrown entirely by his unexpected action, Izumo loosened his grip enough for Kotetsu to promptly reverse their positions. Now he was the one grinning down at the loser.

For about thirty seconds, before hands clutched at his collar and dragged him in for another kiss.

THREE

It seemed like forever since the last time they'd had a decent break. It felt like it was just one thing after another with no give, no time to take a step back and piece yourself back together before the next disaster struck. Up until now, their breaks had been snatches of time scattered here and there, just enough to recover from injury or exhaustion, but not enough to truly relax and unwind.

Now, they had a week. A week. Of course, if a situation called for extra hands that would be cut short, but Kotetsu liked to think positive.

Content and full after the lunch they'd just shared together, Kotetsu slung his arm around Izumo's shoulders as they walked the streets of Konoha. He was already thinking of how they'd spend the rest of their day, running through the various possibilities and knowing that his ever-studious partner would likely want to do some reading along the way.

"Kotetsu…"

He turned to Izumo so swiftly the other man had no time to pull back to a safe distance, their noses bumping together with the close proximity of their faces. Kotetsu's lips lifted into a grin as the faintest hint of colour rose to his partner's cheeks.

He couldn't stop himself even if he wanted to. He pressed a kiss to each flushed cheek, and a final one to the tip of his nose. "Hm?" Izumo blinked at him once, twice, and then his eyes filled with warmth and a smile graced his features.

"…Nothing."

FOUR

Some days, sitting on the gates of Konoha was a wild ride, with plenty of excitement or activity to keep the mind from wandering. Others, it was a total drag. They'd seen off a couple of teams heading out on various missions, but beyond that, no one had come and gone and there was absolutely nothing happening.

Needless to say, Kotetsu was bored.

He paced behind the desk at the gate, restless, until Izumo shot him a glare, finally looking up from the clipboard he had been avidly studying for the past ten minutes. He stopped, instead dropping onto his chair with a deliberately drawn out whine.

"You should be focusing on the job, Kotetsu."

"Oh, come on, Iz, nothing's happening…" He rested a hand upon his partner's knee, smiling when Izumo didn't immediately brush him off. His fingertips traced idle patterns through the cloth of his trousers, and he caught the fleeting lift at the corner of Izumo's lips. "Hey, I know how we can pass a couple of minutes…"

The fact that Izumo didn't put up much resistance when he slid into his lap and drew him into a deep, lengthy kiss told Kotetsu that, despite all appearances, Izumo had been just as bored as he was.

FIVE

They packed up their gear in silence, nothing but the sound of tools clinking together and clasps being buckled filling the air around them. They were both avoiding talking about what lay ahead of them, but they would have to face it eventually.

Kotetsu set aside the pouch he'd been packing with a sigh. They had faced battle, war, before this, but he knew this was something else entirely. There was always the risk of death on any mission, but this time, the odds were highly stacked against them. There was every chance that one or both of them would not make it back to Konoha.

He glanced across to the man who had been at his side since childhood, the man who had helped him discover who he was, who had been his support through every bump in the road of life. He loved him. Loved him more than he could have ever thought it possible to love a single person. Izumo was his life, his partner, his friend, his other – and better – half. He knew if he lost him, it would destroy him.

His arms encircled Izumo's waist from behind, no words uttered as he simply held him tight, his face buried in the hair at the back of his neck. When Izumo turned in his arms to face him, when hands lifted to guide his head up, framed his face, Kotetsu sank into the kiss offered to him like a drowning man finally breathing air once again.

He poured every ounce of his love into that kiss, knowing it could be their last. If the worst should happen, his only solace had to be that Izumo would know just how much he meant to him before the end.