The Powers of Deduction.
“I think,” Hikaru says seriously, looking him straight in the eye. “That I may be in love with you.”
Yabu blinks back, incredulous. “You think a lot of things, Hikaru. Last time I remember, you thought that Doraemon was hell-bent on world domination.”
Hikaru waves this off with a shrug. “It seemed perfectly plausible at the time, so don’t judge me.” He concentrates on Yabu again, eyes unblinking. “And this seems even more plausible.”
Yabu can’t help but flush a little. He’s a teenager so he can blame it on the hormones, their long-drawn friendship, and humor. Lots and lots of humor. “Come on, Hikaru. That has got to be one of the oldest lines in the book.”
“But I’m serious!” Hikaru cries, and Yabu pulls back a little at the sincerity in his voice, the undercurrent of frustration. Hikaru is rarely frustrated with anyone, and Yabu feels bad that he has to be one of the few to draw this out.
“Okay, I’m sorry, I believe you,” he soothes, rubbing the other boy’s back comfortingly (and ending up surprised when Hikaru flinches a little at the contact). He pauses, mid-back-rub. “But this is just you thinking, right? Like a hypothesis?”
“Exactly!” Hikaru declares, clapping one of his hands to Yabu’s shoulder. “Which is why we have to test it out!”
“Test it out?” Yabu frowns. Testing means experiments. And judging by the science experiments he’s carried out in school together with Hikaru, that is not a good thing, unless you like green smoke and violent explosions. “What do you mean, test it out?”
“We do things to see whether the theory holds true or not,” the younger boy explains - slowly, as if he’s talking to a mentally-challenged 3-year-old or Takaki - and flashes a grin at his tall friend. “I’ve already got an idea for one.” When Yabu quirks a questioning eyebrow, his grin just gets wider.
“I’m going to kiss you,” he says, and Yabu nearly chokes on his intake of air.
“You are not going to kiss me!” he sputters, flustered, and Hikaru just looks at him patiently.
“I am too,” Hikaru replies, and in a state of utter Zen, places both hands on Yabu’s shoulders.
“Are not!” Yabu protests again, lets out a feeble meep when Hikaru drags him closer till their bodies meet.
“Are too,” Hikaru announces, and before Yabu can retort he closes the distance and crushes their lips together.
Yabu’s brain freezes. He doesn’t know what to do, can only breathe in Hikaru’s smell and feel Hikaru’s touch and see Hikaru’s face, close up, eyes shut and breathing shallow. He keeps completely still against the other boy’s lips, which open and close gently against his own until he makes an impatient noise and Yabu relents and lets Hikaru slip his tongue into his mouth.
It’s all very strange but all very good as Hikaru nips on his lower lip, tangles their tongues together and kisses him deep and soft and desperate and gentle all at once, makes Yabu sigh a little against his lips and wrap his arms around his neck to draw him even closer. It’s after a while that they both have to break apart for air, each flushed and panting and unable to look into the other’s eyes.
There is a long, contemplative pause before they next speak again, and Yabu breaks the silence by asking, “So, what’s the verdict?”
Hikaru hums a little, taps his chin as he thinks about it. “I’m 53% sure that I’m in love with you.”
Yabu takes this in, not quite sure at how to feel that 53% was more than half the odds, which meant that Hikaru really did quite love him, but it was only 53% and wasn’t much, why wasn’t it 70% or just 88% even, and why is he even happy and disappointed that Hikaru thinks he’s in love with him? “What about the other 47%?”
It is then that Hikaru smirks at him devilishly, slow grin spreading across his features and causing Yabu to shiver a little. He pulls the older boy closer, pressing themselves together once again, and Yabu barely suppresses a gasp when he feels a hand snake its way under his shirt.
“That’s what the next experiment is for, isn’t it, Kou-chan?” And when Yabu looks at him again, sees the dark eyes and the knowing smile and feels the lips pressing themselves to his, he thinks that Hikaru has probably known the outcome of the tests all along.