I actually got this prompt from Tumblr, here is the link

Mahiru was bored. Really bored. It was no surprise that he was bored actually. He was also feeling a bit lonely. Christmas was coming up and of course, Mahiru had no one to spend it with. The many maids and butlers he has at his disposal do not count in this case (in this era they maids and butlers were actually called peasants but Mahiru didn't like calling them that) . Well...a few of the butlers keep his company and occasionally do talk to him, but they're usually busy with trying to keep up with the housework. Mahiru didn't know what there was to keep up with really. Other than the large mansion he lived in, that was pretty much it. He had no other family members to keep him company or to enjoy christmas with. Like always, Mahiru was bored and alone.

Mahiru slumped back into the seat of the carriage he was riding in, the carriage jumped and shook as it road along the mostly dirt and gravel road, the only thing Mahiru could hear was the clacking of the horses steady hooves against the gravel ground which was covered with only a small amount of ice that the horses were apparently smart enough to avoid. Other than that, the night was completely silent. The stars were shining brightly that night, along with the full moon, which was a rare thing that Mahiru rarely saw on a cold winter night like this. A few clouds were gathering in the sky, threatening to release snow that the nearby children had been getting all excited for. Mahiru sighed, today had been a simple day, tonight was probably going to be a simple night too from the looks of it and how things were progressing right now. Mahiru was feeling strangely sleepier than usual tonight and was becoming a bit impatient at how long the ride back home was taking, although it alway took his long and Mahiru had not complained about it before, tonight was different. Mahiru was very tired. And whenever he was tired, he was always in a grumpy mood.

He groaned as he slumped back even more, almost falling out of the comfy red cushioned seat he was practically leaning into. He grumbled something to himself before heaving a large sigh,

"Sakkuuuyyaaa!"

"Yes master Mahiru?"

"How much longer? And I thought I told you no-"

"Only a few more minutes.", Sakuya said sharply, Mahiru pouted, he hated it when Sakuya ignored him, Sakuya always called him 'Master Mahiru' he just refused to call him anything else, all the other maids and butlers just called him 'Mahiru' but Sakuya was the only one that refused to call him that...always saying something about how he's not allowed to and would get in trouble with his uncle if he ever did. At the thought of his Uncle, Mahiru smiled sadly, his Uncle Tooru was away at sea at the moment and wouldn't be returning for a few more months, Mahiru was getting a bit impatient with waiting for him, he wanted to tell him all about the new friends he had made at school, especially about Tetsu who seemed more like an adult than a 16 year old. Mahiru was never going to understand why Tetsu just apparently grew faster than any other normal humans.

Mahiru's thoughts were shattered when the horses suddenly slipped on some of the ice and the carriage almost tipped over, Mahiru heard a small yelp come from outside, had the carriage hit something? He heard Sakuya mutter a small curse under his breathe and the carriage shifted a little, signifying that Sakuya had gotten up, Mahiru felt his curiosity growing too large to suppress and he sat up in the chair, leaning outside the small little window to see what was going on. What he saw was quite shocking. The carriage had slipped and hit a homeless guy who had been sleeping on the cold gravel ground with only a blue and black coat to keep him warm. It was freezing outside! There was no way that he would be warm with just that on! Mahiru was wearing 3 pairs of pants and shirts yet he could still feel the cold seeping into his bones. Sakuya was leaning down next to man and inspecting his face, which had a large bruise on his cheek. Had the carriage done that? Mahiru looked down at his legs and noticed the bruise there, it was obvious the carriage had done that, but then where had the bruise on his cheek come from? Mahiru stared at the man, examining him thoroughly. From what Mahiru could see, he was pretty skinny, almost too skinny, he was also pretty pale, he had bright red eyes that were squinting down at Sakuya, he seemed a bit uncomfortable with the way Sakuya was touching his face, he was a complete stranger after all.

The man's long - and messy - blue hair fell into his face and stuck up in multiple directions, he was wearing a worn out pair of black shoes, some black slacks and a plain white shirt. Mahiru felt sorry for the man. He was all alone. In the cold. No one deserved to be alone. Even a homeless man. Mahiru sighed, thinking simply, it would just be easier to take the man back to Mahiru's mansion and get him into actual clothing and also help get his wounds patched up before they got infected. And besides, the guilt Mahiru was feeling from accidentally hitting him with the carriage was getting to be a bit too much for him and he hated that feeling.

Mahiru opened the carriage door and walked out into the open, a cold breeze blew and Mahiru shivered, he strolled over to where Sakuya was, crouched down next to the man, Mahiru stood next to Sakuya looking at the man. The man glanced up at him, there was no emotion behind his eyes, nothing at all. Just pure emptiness. Mahiru found it odd. His eyes were a pretty color. Mahiru wondered what it would look like if he smiled. Would his eyes sparkle? Wait. Why was Mahiru thinking about this? He sighed. Sakuya glanced up at Mahiru, he must've seen the look in Mahiru's eyes as he nodded and picked the man up easily, mumbling something about Mahiru being too nice and the man being a little bit too light. Mahiru was kind of surprised at how the man didn't protest at being picked up...was he used to it or something? Mahiru hoped he wasn't. Sakuya strolled back over to the open carriage door and plopped the man down on the comfy seat, the stranger seemed really tense when Mahiru stepped into the carriage and plopped down onto the comfy red cushions. Mahiru smiled warmly at the man, resting a comforting hand on the man's shoulder to which he flinched at,

"It's alright, I'm not gonna do anything to you, I just want to help get your wounds patched up…", Mahiru noticed a few small blood stains on his white t-shirt and he frowned slightly. Mahiru didn't want to make the person more tense than they already were so he didn't do anything. He just stared.

The man shifted uncomfortably, he clearly didn't like Mahiru staring at him. Mahiru sat up straight and smiled again,

"It's alright...just relax…", the man nodded hesitantly. Halfway along the ride, Mahiru noticed the man slumping forward and he carefully stuck his hand under his stomach and rested him back against the seat, the man opened his eyes and drowsily looked over at him, blinking a few times, it was clear to Mahiru that he was really tired. Mahiru sighed and rested the man's head against his shoulder,

"Sleep. It's alright.". The stranger sighed contently, falling asleep fairly quickly, his face seemed to soften as he rested calmly against Mahiru's shoulder,

'He's kind of...odd', Sakuya glanced over his shoulder, looking back at Mahiru, he gave him a small smile before turning his eyes back to the road,

"We will be arriving soon master Mahiru.". Mahiru nodded, at least he probably wasn't gonna be bored for a few hours now.

A few of the maids and butlers gave Mahiru a suspicious look when he walked into the mansion with Sakuya in tow, holding the sleeping man in his arms , but most of the others understood, Mahiru just couldn't stand leaving people who were alone and defenseless...just waiting for someone to come along...someone. Mahiru had Sakuya bring the man into his room, leaving out some clothes and also the medicine box resting there too before he took bowed and took his leave. Mahiru glanced at the peacefully sleeping man. Mahiru kind of didn't want to wake him up. But he needed to have his wounds patched and Mahiru couldn't stand seeing him wearing those dirty clothes and worn out shoes, even if the blue and black coat covered up most of it. Mahiru sighed, he pretty much wanted to just get out of these multiple layers of clothing and so he started to shrug off his multiple shirts and pants. The man decided to finally wake up, he groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing at his eyes and yawning but then he suddenly noticed where he was and his eyes widened with fear, he started to shake. Mahiru quickly rushed out of the bathroom and over to the man, he acted upon impulse, doing what his deceased mother would always do whenever he was frightened beyond his whits.

Mahiru wrapped his arms around the man and hugged him to his chest tightly, running his hand lightly through his hair and whispering sweet words into his ear until the man stopped shaking. A few minutes passed. Then a few hours. 2 hours later and the man had finally seemed to calm down. He stopped shaking and - much to Mahiru's surprise - returned the gesture, he wrapped his arms around Mahiru's back, clutching his white t-shirt. The man sighed contently and he mumbled something quietly,

"Hmm?", he mumbled a little louder this time,

"I-I'm very sorry….", Mahiru hummed again and smiled softly,

"It's alright…", Mahiru slowly let go of the man, he swore that he heard the man quietly whimper, which Mahiru thought was adorable. The man looked around the room, his dull red eyes taking in all the new scenery, Mahiru noticed the dark bags under his eyes in the light, Mahiru was finally able to change into his silk pajamas and he plopped down onto the bed, startling the man who had clearly been lost in his own thoughts. Mahiru smiled softly at him,

"So...my name is Mahiru! That guy that had picked you up earlier was Sakuya! Will you tell me your name?", he nodded hesitantly,

"It's Kuro.", Mahiru raised an eyebrow,

"Kuro? Isn't that japanese for black?", Kuro nodded, he seemed a bit surprised,

"Yeah."

"Uhm...may be a weird question, but how old are you?"

"I'm 16."

"Oh, me too!. Mahiru smiled sheepishly,

"Okay, this is gonna be another odd question, but I'm gonna need you to take off your clothes please….", Kuro's eyes widened and a bright red flush covered his face, Mahiru held his hands up in self defense,

"I-I didn't mean that in...that way, I just wanted to treat your wounds!", Mahiru pointed to the medicine box that was placed next to the clothes Sakuya had brought for him.

Kuro calmed down some and nodded, slowly unbuttoning his white t-shirt and shrugging it off his shoulders the red flush got brighter as he continued. He was practically glowing afterwards. Mahiru breathed a sigh of relief, there were only a few minor scratches on his chest and also his back. After Mahiru finished patching up his wounds, he noticed that Kuro was limping when he had told him to go to the bathroom to change, Mahiru sharply told Kuro to sit back down and let him see his ankle. Now he knew why Kuro hadn't protested when Sakuya picked him up. He had a twisted ankle! Mahiru sighed as he bandaged Kuro's ankle,

"Kuurroooo….", Kuro just averted Mahiru's stern gaze, refusing to look him in the eyes. Kuro sighed,

"How am I supposed to leave now?", Mahiru frowned and glared at Kuro, who shrunk in his gaze,

"Leave? Leave?! There is no way in hell you are leaving with your ankle like this!", Kuro nodded furiously, he looked a it scared and was mumbling something about 'profanity'. Mahiru sighed and put the medicine box back into the bathroom,

"Kuro. You're going to be staying here until Christmas Day. When that time comes, you can decide whether or not you want to leave or stay then...alright? Do we have a deal? Kuro nodded, causing Mahiru to smile softly at him.

"Good!".

Kuro was enjoying his stay at Mahiru's mansion more than he should've been. And it seemed that Mahiru was enjoying it as well. He brought Kuro everywhere he went. Kuro would always happily follow him around, he enjoyed being in Mahiru's presence, it made him feel calm and happy. Mahiru was starting to notice multiple changes in Kuro. For one thing, he actually started smiling. Mahiru found out that Kuro had no family and because of that didn't really have much trust in people anymore. Mahiru also found out the Kuro could be really lazy sometimes. He would just want to sleep all day which Mahiru allowed because Kuro's ankle needed to heal. And Mahiru was also becoming a bit...attached to him. It seemed that Kuro was also starting to become attached to Mahiru. Mahiru noticed how Kuro would lean into his touch whenever he was comforting him after he had just happened to have a nightmare that frightened him deeply. How Kuro would snuggle closer to him in his sleep. How Kuro clung to Mahiru's shirt like a lost puppy whenever they went out around the town again and walked around the mansion. And whenever he did that, Mahiru could never resist the urge to hug him. And cuddle him. And run his hands through his surprisingly soft hair, sometimes getting carried away and doing it in public. He also just couldn't resist teasing him about it either. He just enjoyed seeing Kuro's embarrassed face, his face whenever he smiled at him, the way his eyes sparkled. Just like Mahiru had guessed they would. Mahiru was in love. He was in love with Kuro. He had no idea how to tell him though. He also didn't want Kuro to leave. He really didn't want him to leave.

Well...Mahiru's wish was about to be denied...now wasn't it?

Kuro yawned as he rolled out of bed, noticing the note that was stuck to his forehead, he grumbled to himself and took it off, reading it.

"Good morning Kuro! I had to go run a bunch of errands around town, I would've woken you up but you were sleeping so peacefully and I couldn't bring myself to do it. Anyway, I'll be back soon, you can go anywhere you want inside the mansion, I already told all the maids and butlers so it's alright and if any of them cause you any trouble at all, just tell Sakuya and he'll take care of it! See you soon Kuro!".

Kuro smiled at the note and rested it on the bedside table before standing up, stretching and getting changed.

The day continued on normally. Kuro hung out with a few of the butlers, Sakuya, Tsubaki (who was really weird), Koyuki and some others, those are the 3 he really spoke to for long enough to remember their names. But them….Kuro happened to stumble upon something he probably shouldn't have. Kuro was just wandering around the mansion upstairs, looking for where the library was and feeling disappointed when he wasn't able to find it on his own. That meant he was gonna have to wander around the whole mansion again to find Sakuya and ask him where the library was. There were some really interesting books in Mahiru's library that Kuro had taken a liken to. But then he found a few maids and butlers whispering amongst themselves.

"You know that homeless boy Mahiru brought?"

"Yeah, the kid with the scary red eyes?". Where his eyes really scary?

"Yeah, him! Isn't he just taking advantage of Mahiru?"

"You think so too? There's no way that Mahiru would pick him up off the streets!"

"Yes, Mahiru is a nice, wonderful boy it would be a shame if he were to strip that from him…", they all glanced back at Kuro and sneered. Kuro felt pure fear rush through his body and he ran. He ran. And didn't look back. It was clear that he wasn't welcomed there. It was clear that all the other maids and butlers had thought the same thing. It was clear that Mahiru didn't want him there either. Mahiru. He had just taken pity on him. And here Kuro had though he was special, that he meant something to him. But he was wrong.

Mahiru was very tired. He heaved a large sigh when he stepped into the mansion. Something felt really off. Sakuya had been acting odd on the carriage ride. He was jumpy, he kept stuttering and was also kind of spacy. When Mahiru walked into the mansion, the atmosphere was really tense. Like something dreadful had happened. Mahiru went deep into thought. What would make all the maids and butlers act like this? Kuro? Where was Kuro? Usually Kuro was either sitting on the grande staircase when he came home or sitting at the top of the grande staircase. So. Where. Was. Kuro. Mahiru grabbed Sakuya by the shoulder and whipped him around,

"Where's Kuro?", Sakuya looked away, visibly uncomfortable,

"I don't know, I think he got lost while looking for the library…", Mahiru rolled his eyes,

"And when was that?", Sakuya mumbled to himself,

"What?"

"2 hours ago…". Mahiru forgot how to breathe. His arms went slack on either side of him. Mahiru felt his heart sink. Mahiru couldn't say anything. He just stared at Sakuya like he had just killed someone.

."HELP ME FIND HIM RIGHT NOW!".

Sakuya did help him look. So did the maids and butlers. He didn't care who was helping. He just wanted to find Kuro. He didn't want Kuro to be alone, especially because it had started raining earlier in the week which eventually turned into snow. Kuro must have been freezing. Kuro was going to be on the streets. For Christmas. And Mahiru was gonna end up being alone. Again. Mahiru didn't want that. He didn't want that at all. You know what he wanted, he wanted Kuro back. He wanted his Kuro back. Now. As nighttime fell on Christmas eve, Mahiru still hadn't found Kuro. Mahiru was extremely worried. He stopped walking and just thought. Where would Kuro go? Where would Kuro go? He would go...to the first place that Mahiru met him. He would go back to that place. Mahiru could feel his red puffy eyes stinging again. He didn't want to start crying again. Not again. If he started, he wouldn't be able to stop. Then he would have to run home and have Sakuya help him calm down again. It was too late.

The tears rolled down Mahiru's cheeks, feeling especially cold in the freezing night air. Mahiru continued walking in the direction to where Kuro had first met him. And there he was. Crouched down, covering in an inch of snow. Still wearing the clothes Mahiru had given him. He just refused to change into anything else. And of course he had that black and blue sweater draped over his shoulders. Mahiru ran over to Kuro, the tears still streaming down his face. He pushed all the snow off him and stared at Kuro's unmoving form. No. Please. No. Mahiru shook Kuro furiously. His face was flushed bright pink and he was breathing heavily. Was something wrong with Kuro. Mahiru rested his hand against his forehead and immediately retracted it, Kuro had a fever. Kuro had a fever. Kuro could potentially die. Mahiru scooped Kuro up into his arms and ran as fast as his feet would carry him. He just wanted to get back home. He just wanted to help Kuro. He wanted his Kuro back.

Mahiru stared blankly at Kuro's lifeless form that was resting in his bed. Mahiru felt like he was missing something important. He felt like he was missing a part of himself. When Mahiru had come back to the mansion, Sakuya had immediately rushed to get the town doctor. The doctor told Mahiru bluntly that Kuro had a severe cold and was probably going to die. That's exactly what he said. And Mahiru had just shut down. He didn't eat. He didn't sleep. He didn't speak. He didn't move. He refused to move until Kuro had woken up. He was going to wake up. Because Mahiru wanted him too. He wanted Kuro to wake up. So they could spend the rest of his Christmas with him. Mahiru would sit there for as long as it would take. He wanted to stay with Kuro. Mahiru suddenly remembered something. He remembered a few Christmas carols his mother would sing to him whenever he caught a cold on Christmas ora few days from Christmas. Mahiru quietly sung Christmas Carols. Not sure if Kuro could hear him or not.

Mahiru groaned. Who was shaking him? He cracked one of his eyes open, his vision a bit blurry before focusing on something. Someone. Blue hair. Bright sparkly red eyes. A warm smile. Mahiru's eyes widened and he lunged towards him.

"KURO!", Kuro groaned when he pushed him down against the bed, hugging him like an octopus and kissing his face over and over again, refusing to stop no matter how many times Kuro protested. Eventually Kuro's protests stopped and he just gave into the kissies,

"Kuro...Kuro...Kuro…", Mahiru couldn't stop mumbling his name and he started crying again,

"Mahiru…", his eyes widened as he looked up at Kuro, he said his name, and then he kissed him.

"Mahiru...I'm sorry….", Mahiru smiled and continued to kiss him all over again, mumbling his name occasionally. He just wanted to celebrate. He just wanted to celebrate the Christmas Morning with his love. He just wanted to celebrate his Christmas Miracle. His wish had come true. Kuro hugged Mahiru tightly and they both fell asleep cuddled up next to each other. Thinking simply, Mahiru probably should've warned Sakuya and the other maids/butlers before he decided to pass out on the bed, hugging a half naked Kuro.

.I just want Kuro to feel better.

I really love this fic and I hope you do too (hopefully ^^'). You don't need to leave a review unless you really want to. And I'm sorry if there was some OOC...