A/N: Just experimenting with a different way to write a story, and a different style as well. This came out much shorter than I had originally imagined, but I don't think I'd have wanted it to be much longer. It's not much, but I hope it's worth reading.

Warnings: Mention of adult content. Nothing graphic.

Pairing: Kouji x Takuya.

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This is how it is.

Takuya means what he says, and he says he loves Kouji. Kouji doesn't say much, but he doesn't have to—actions have always spoken louder than words, and the smile he reserves for Takuya speaks loudest of all.

This is how it happened.

Once there were two boys who hated each other. With time, they assumed a militant friendship, fraught with its arguments and quarrels for the right to lead, quarrels for control. Then that changed, too. Now they are bound by something stronger than time. They still fight. They still quarrel for leadership, when the right situation comes around. In a lot of ways, it's Takuya who's given up all that control, content to rest in the hands of another. But from another perspective, it's Kouji who has truly lost, because in spite of himself, he no longer moves through life alone.

This is where it started.

Kouji knows Takuya doesn't wait for anything. But Kouichi insisted. And since Kouji doesn't wait for anything, either, he kissed Takuya first. Then Takuya wrapped both arms around his neck and asked What took you so long?, and Kouji learned that there are some things Takuya will wait for, after all.

This is who they are.

A fighter, a dreamer, a leader. A shadow, a watcher, a cautious mind. To each other, something else as well—a pair of challengers, of allies, of partners. Two arms tight around a boy who never stops believing, and two sets of eyes burning in tandem, bright enough in each other's presence to outshine even the sun.

Kouji and Takuya.

The names are part of who they are as well. But unlike other things, their names are not always stable. On Takuya's tongue, sometimes 'Kouji' means wait up, or you jerk, or don't give up. From Kouji, sometimes 'Takuya' means come here, or you idiot, or what have you done this time. Sometimes 'Kouji' means please, or kiss me, or don't stop. Sometimes 'Takuya' means I love you. Sometimes 'Kouji' does, too. That's why who they are and what they're called aren't always simple parallels.

This is how it goes.

Some people know, and some people don't. It doesn't matter much. They've been this way for a while now—long enough that kisses aren't always where it stops anymore. Long enough that when it's just the two of them, spending the night in an empty house, they don't get much sleep. Kouji is busy learning what his hands can do, and Takuya is busy telling him, not with his words but with his breathless mouth, with his restless body pressed so tightly into the scattered sheets.

This is how it is.

Once, there were two boys who needed something. Now they don't. Now Takuya says, with his eyes, If you'll hold me, I'll make you smile. And Kouji answers, with his hands, I'll protect you, if you'll make me whole.

So they do.