"Do not touch me."

Frowning, Alfred moved his chubby little hands to touch at his playmate's cheeks, instead of his head, where he had previously been touching.

"Do not touch me!" Kiku repeated, although he made no physical attempt to stop Alfred. "Do not!" These phrases seemed to be the few things he would say to others, probably the most useful ones for kindergarten, too.

The other child just pouted his plump cheeks and toddled forward, falling forward and onto Kiku in something of a clumsy bear hug.

"Kiku!" he chirped, much to the other boy's discontent.

"Do not touch me, Alfred!" Kiku whined, voice raised for once. It wasn't too long before a carer came over and separated them, making sure to remind Alfred about personal space.

"Come on, you don't remember that?"

"Of course not. I would've been too young to remember anything that far back."

Alfred rolled his eyes, scoffing a little to himself. "You're no fun, Kikster." With that, he gave his friend and classmate a nudge.

"Please don't touch me. And you know that my name is Kiku." He replied, shuffling a bit over in case Alfred tried to repeat that action.

"Never stopped being your catchphrase, did it?" The American smirked.

It was the last few days of school for the year, and the two were sitting together for lunch break. Alfred was quite the intellectual and had been put forward a year; he never shared classes with Kiku, his best friend, because of this. Their time together at school had to be shared at lunch breaks, and before and after school. It was never enough for Alfred, though, as he did harbor warm feelings for the boy he'd grown up beside.

"Hey Kiku, do you have plans for New Year's eve?" questioned Alfred, turning to his friend with a smile. He, himself, was supposed to be going and spending the day with his grandfather who would be visiting, but figured that he could sneak he and Kiku away from his family.

"New Year's?.. Uh, iie, But Yao did mention something about possibly seeing fireworks." He nodded, smiling a little.

"Why doesn't he do that with his, y'know, boyfriend?" scoffed Alfred. "Poor Ivan."

"Yes, well, he also cares greatly about his brothers and sisters," Kiku added. "Perhaps even more so than Ivan."

"Anyway, you and me should totally hang out on New Year's and watch the fireworks!" Alfred chirped, giving his friend a thumbs-up.

"How did you get put up a grade with grammar like that?" he tutted, and put his hands together in his lap. "You and I should hang out on New Year's and watch the fireworks."

"Really? Awesome!" the boy cheered, causing a moment of confusion for Kiku.

"Wait, you misunderstand, I was just correcting you-"

"Can't wait!" Alfred hummed, throwing an arm around the back of Kiku's neck and beaming a bright smile.

"Hm, fine. But please refrain from touching me." He nodded awkwardly, trying to move out of Alfred's hold.

The days slipped by, and it was Christmas before they knew it. Alfred paid Kiku a visit, giving him a neon-blue cake as a present. Seeing as Kiku was wary of and refused to eat it, Alfred did a makeshift drawing of a superhero on a napkin, and gave that instead. In return, he received the new DVD of an anime that he'd taken quite a lot of interest in. It was a bit bloody for Kiku's liking, and the whole idea of titans devouring people made him feel a tad ill. Together, they laughed, played video games, and ate until they were stuffed. They both deemed it a day well spent.

It seemed like time slowed just to frustrate Alfred; each day appeared to be dragged out as he waited for December thirty. It was a grueling wait, but at long last, it was the final day of the year. Alfred's grandfather was a rowdy guy; he smoked a lot and was missing a tooth here or there. He went by 'Al', and most of the time, his attitude intimidated Alfred.

"Kiku, are you on your way yet?" Alfred whined into the receiver of his phone. "Al's trying to hit on the neighbors."

"You said I could come at six, so I'll be there at five-forty. I assume that's okay?" Kiku's formality would have driven Alfred mad if he hadn't been in love with the boy.

"Sure, Kikster," he chuckled, imagining the other's cute face as he spoke.

"It's Kiku."

Kiku hung up, and Alfred just sighed contently to himself. He could never hear enough of that voice. He glanced to the clock in his room, and almost jumped. It was currently five-twenty.. Shit, he only had twenty minutes to get ready! He mentally scolded himself for not preparing earlier.

First, he had a speedy shower, forgetting to dry his hair properly – he was much too engulfed in other things and thoughts. He put on fresh clothes, ones that he didn't think Kiku had seen him in yet, and brushed his teeth. He now sat in his room, waiting for the time to pass. As the minute-hand inched around to five-thirty-eight, it finally dawned on Alfred that his hair was still dripping wet. He fretted even more as he heard the doorbell from downstairs. Matthew was out getting groceries, and his mom had gone off to show Al the park- Shit, shit, shit. He was the only one home.

He ran to the bathroom and switched on the hairdryer, holding it around his head in a frantic effort to dry his hair. As the doorbell sounded again, he turned off the device, not having a chance to look in the mirror, and made a dash downstairs.

"Kiku!" He cheered as he opened the door, throwing his arms around his friend in hug.

"You seem excitable," Kiku mused, tensing in Alfred's hold. "No touching-.. Goodness, what happened to you?"

"Huh?" Alfred stepped back and motioned for Kiku to step inside. "What, do I look more stunningly handsome than normal?" With that, he winked.

"You look like you put your finger in an electric socket, either that, or you have extreme bed hair."

"Ack, shit-" he cursed, madly patting down his incredibly messy hair. It stuck back up again, to no surprise. "Damn it, I was going to try and be cool!"

"You already are cool," retorted Kiku, taking off his shoes and putting them by the door. "I don't really think that's something you need to try and do."

Alfred felt his cheeks turn a little pink, and he laughed quietly to himself. "Yeah, well."

Alfred and Kiku made themselves busy by listening to music and chatting about everything and nothing. This kind of discussion always ended with smiles and laughter, and it was just pleasant in general. Alfred's mother and brother returned, and dinner was made. The two headed downstairs and joined everyone at the table.

Kiku murmured an 'itadakimasu', and began to eat. Alfred made his eating as orderly and slow as possible. He didn't want to appear a pig to Kiku, after all! The meal was finished rather quickly, and together, they headed up to the roof.

"Let's play truth or dare," hummed Alfred, sitting upon the shingled rooftop. "To pass the time. We still have ages until midnight."

"This never ends well," Kiku scoffed, but shrugged. "But sure."

"Well, pick! Truth or Dare, Kikster-"

"Kiku."

"Truth or Dare, Kiku!"

"Truth." Kiku sat beside his companion, smiling ever so slightly.

"You never pick dare," whined Alfred, but thought up a truth question anyway. "Uh, Kiku, what do you think of me?" Wow, that wasn't even subtle. Alfred told himself off for being so blunt.

"Odd question, I thought you knew. You're my best friend, my nakama." He hummed, watching the last minutes of the sunset.

"Right.." the boy laughed slightly, nodding.

"Well, since you never pick it, I pick dare." Alfred puffed, still mulling over Kiku's previous answer in his mind.

Kiku nodded, and glanced upward in thought. "I dare you to shout out an insult to Arthur's cooking."

"You don't make it hard on me, do you?" Alfred chuckled, standing up. Forgetting that Arthur lived in one of houses that neighbored his own, he hollered out an 'Arthur's biscuits are absolute shit!' over the rooftops.

A moment passed of the two laughing. Alfred's laughter was stopped as a small stone struck his back. "Ow," he whined, turning to see where the pebble had come from.

"Shut your bloody mouth!" cried Arthur, who had moved out to the yard of his own home. "I swear to god, one day you're going to fall off the roof and break your back-"

Kiku shuffled forward and peeped over the edge of the roof to greet Arthur.

"Konnichiwa," he hummed, smiling a little.

"Er, hello," Arthur mumbled, disgruntled. Upon the sight of the Japanese boy, he realized what Alfred was probably trying to do, and he quietened up. "Happy New Year's." he muttered, before shuffling back inside.

"He seems cheery," giggled Alfred, sitting back down again.

At least an hour passed, and Alfred and Kiku ended up shuffling closer for warmth as the night brought in the cold.

"The fireworks are going to be awesome," beamed Alfred, practically buzzing with excitement.

"Certainly." Kiku glanced up to the sky for a moment, which confused the other boy. "It's going to rain.."

Alfred extended a palm upward, and frowned as he felt a raindrop fall on it. "Well, we should probably head back inside.." he pouted, getting hesitantly to his feet. "Don't want you to catch a cold or something from being in the rain." Kiku agreed, and they headed back inside, and then to Alfred's room.

After a few more hours of staring at the clock and willing time to go faster, it came close to midnight. Five minutes until, to be precise. They sat at the window, eagerly awaiting the fireworks. By now, it had stopped raining, but the two were much too comfortable and warm to consider going up to the roof again.

"It's almost 2014," Alfred laughed quietly, giving Kiku a little nudge to the shoulder.

"Amazing, isn't it? But please don't touch me." The boy smiled slightly, raising a brow.

"Actually, Kikster.." mumbled Alfred. "Can I touch you just this once? 'Cos it's New Year's eve?.."

He had been planning this for a long time, and he was starting to wonder if he had the nerve to go through with it.

"Fine, but just this once." Kiku conceded, sighing and bowing his head slightly. Alfred hesitated for the next few minutes, going to move, but freezing up. "What, have you changed your mind?"

"No, I'm just.. I'm waiting!" He stammered, nodding with determination.

A crack outside caused Alfred to jump. The fireworks had started! Now, Alfred took hold of Kiku's shoulder, leant in, and pressed his lips firmly against those of his friend.

It was a pleasant surprise that Kiku didn't push him away, as Alfred had expected. Slowly, Alfred pulled back, cheeks red, and absolutely embarrassed. "Uh, sorry," he mumbled.

"My first kiss," whispered Kiku, shuffling backward and touching his lips with one hand.

"I'm sorry and I understand if you hate me now-" Alfred stuttered, fiddling anxiously with his hands.

"Feliciano told me you had a crush on me last year," the boy mused quietly, glancing out the window to watch the fireworks. "Rumors spread pretty quickly at school, don't they?"

"You mean you knew-.." Alfred whimpered, burying his face in his hands. He tensed at the feel of Kiku lamely trying to move his hands away from his head.

"Don't hide your eyes, you should watch the fireworks." He smiled. "We did wait up all night."

"Yeah, but-"

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Kiku laughed quietly, running a hand through his hair.

"Am I really just a best friend to you?" squeaked Alfred, not really feeling like talking about the fireworks. Kiku was silent, and that quiet terrified him. Finally, the fireworks came to their beautiful crescendo, and the sky was dark once again.

Now, Kiku turned to Alfred, and tilted his head to the side a touch. "I don't really know how to express it, but I've liked you in a certain way for quite a while." He mused softly, silky voice soft against the silence of the room.

"Really?-.. Kikster, I don't know what to say- .. Are we boyfriends or something now?.. I don't know-.. "

"You can say that your boyfriend is Kiku. Not 'Kikster'." The other teased, winking.

"I think my heart's gonna explode," Alfred wheezed, rubbing the back of his neck .

"Uh, can I touch you now?"

To this, Kiku extended one hand.

"Please do."