Joko winced and rubbed the spot on his head where Shishi had hit him with the rolled up newspaper, a bit peeved off that he didn’t get the warm welcome he was expecting when he walked through the spaceship door. He was about to yell at his leader when he looked up to see the near-deadly look in his eyes and shrinked back, mentally preparing himself for the scolding he knew he was about to get.

“What the hell were you thinking?!!” Joko yelped as he was hit on the same spot by the newspaper, holding his hands up in defense and surrender when Shishi raised the paper again.

“I-it’s not my fault, I swear! The higher up gave me almost no time to prepare for my mission and sent me out as soon as they could! It would’ve taken too much time to tell you guys in person-“

“You couldn’t have told one of us at least?! We’re a team! What if you got hurt on your mission? We wouldn’t have been able to find you!!” Joko winced at the leader’s loud voice, not expecting him to be so upset about the matter.

“I’m sorry-“

“Don’t apologize to me, soldier. Apologize to Keke.” Joko’s ears popped up as he heard his best friend’s name.

“K-keke was worried about me??”

“You know, for a supposed genius, you can be really stupid.” Joko frowned at the statement, tempted to whack the aggressive matoki on the head for questioning his intelligence. 

“Of course he was! You should’ve seen how berserk he went when he found the letter you left him! I never saw him so upset before.” Joko’s ears drooped down, biting his lip as guilt began to consume him. He knew he was a bit of a coward for just leaving Keke a letter, but he knew he wouldn’t have been able to take seeing Keke look upset that he was leaving. Even if he’d tried to deny it, he’s always had a soft spot for the pink matoki. 

“I… I didn’t… Sorry…” Joko hung his head, his eyes starting to water a little as he imagined his precious Keke sad and upset because of him. It was already painful enough being forced to be away from him, but knowing that he hurt Keke…

“Hey now, don’t you cry, too.” Joko’s head shot up as he felt Shishi’s hand on his shoulder. He sniffled a little and wiped a few tears that managed to escape, still a little shocked at the sign of affection that rarely came from the warrior. He saw the corners of Shishi’s eyes crinkle a little as the red bunny smiled, a rare warmth and softness in his irises. 

“Just, tell us face to face next time you’re leaving, okay? Now go, I think Keke’s in your room. If you don’t hurry, he might end up destroying all of your things.” Joko nodded quickly, risking a quick hug before running off to his room. Shishi sighed at his actions but couldn’t stop the small smile from making it’s way onto his face. 

‘I wonder how long it’ll before those two just admit they like each other…’

~~~~~

Joko ran down the long hallway, his footsteps reverberating throughout the metal tunnel. Once he reached the door to his room, he pressed his ear against it, listening to see if he could hear anything being thrown or broken from the inside. When he heard nothing but silence, he frowned a bit, expecting to hear at least some noise. He punched in the code to his room and stood back as the door slid open. He stepped in, his eyes widening as he entered the barely lit room.

It was a total mess; his books strewn everywhere, pieces of food all over the floor, and most of his posters just barely hanging onto the wall. He saw a lump under the blanket on his bed and a bit of pink sticking out and clutched his bag, attempting to calm himself down. He knew that although Keke was usually silent, he once he gets angry, he becomes extremely aggressive. Joko figured he had this coming, considering the fact he left Keke without prior warning, and stepped into the warzone of a room.

He shuffled towards the sleeping figure, careful not to step on any pieces of food, before poking what he assumed was Keke’s head.

“Keke~ Wake up…” Joko frowned when all he received was a grunt in response, and tugged softly on the ear sticking out from the blanket

“Keke.” 

“Five more minutes…” Joko pouted and pulled down the blanket before roughly shaking the pink bunny’s shoulders, yelling at him to wake up. He paused when Keke’s eyes began to peak open, hovering over the other’s face and squishing the other’s cheeks.

“Keke, I’m ho-“

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Joko yelped as he was suddenly smacked hard, and fell back onto the floor. Joko cursed as he rubbed his sore , glaring at the slowly awakening Keke.

“What was that for??!” Keke rubbed his eyes, wiping away the last bits of sleepiness from his eyes, before turning to Joko and giving him an equally harsh glare. 

“We’re soldiers! We’re trained to smack anyone that tries to play with our face when we’re sleeping!” Joko’s lips curled down into a scowl as he stood up, brushing some crumbs off of his legs before turning his gaze back to Keke.

“Yeah, but can’t you even recognize when it’s me?! Jeez, you’re such-” Joko stopped in his tracks, however, when he suddenly noticed the other’s form shaking softly.

“K-keke? Keke, what’s wrong?” Joko just barely dodged the toy rocket that was aimed at him, ducking down again when a book was hurled in his direction from the angry matoki.

“Keke, wait-!”

“How dare you ask me that! You-Ugh!!” Joko saw Keke looking around for more stuff to throw at him, and quickly jumped to hold the other’s wrists, preventing him for getting a hold of any more things.

“Calm down-“

“Don’t you tell me to calm down, Joko! After everything you’ve done to me, how dare you have the gall to ask me what’s wrong!!” Keke struggled in Joko’s grasp, nearly screaming out in frustration when Joko refused to let him go.

“Joko-“

“I’m sorry…” Keke froze as the words passed Joko’s lips. He rarely apologized for his actions. Joko released his hold on the stunned Keke’s wrists and wrapped his arms around the older matoki, holding him close until Keke pushed him away.

“Y-you can’t just say sorry and expect everything to be fine and dandy! Do you have any idea how worried we all were when you suddenly disappeared that morning!”

“I left a note-“

“That note was nothing! You can’t just leave like that without warning us face to face-“

“I had no choice, the higher ups barely even gave me enough time to prepare, I couldn’t waste any time waiting for you guys to wake up so I could tell-“

“But why didn’t you tell me? What was so important about this missions that you couldn’t even tell me, Joko?” Joko bit his lip, looking down as he mumbled a small, “That’s classified information”.

“Is that how much I mean to you? That you’d leave me here by myself without a second thought-“

“Of course I didn’t want to leave you, but it was a solo mission!” 

‘I’d never want to leave you, Keke…’

“But you couldn’t even consult me first?? I could’ve helped you with you mission! What happened to ‘dynamic duo’, or ‘best friends’?? We always do everything together! What if you got hurt on your mission, and-“

“I’m back here, aren’t I? I’m capable of taking care of myself-“

“What if you didn’t come back?! What the hell would I do then, Joko?!!” Joko was taken back when Keke screeched the words at him, Keke’s chest heaving and his form shaking, a few tears starting to pool in the corners of his eyes. Joko felt his gut twist when he saw how red and swollen Keke’s eyes were already, a choked sob nearly escaping him when he saw how big the eyebags under Keke’s eyes were.

“Do you even realize how terrified I was when I couldn’t find you that morning?! And what if you didn’t come back, and I ended up just getting a call from the higher ups saying that you were gone forever?? Do you have any idea what that would’ve done to me?!!” Keke’s voice cracked as he yelled at the yellow bunny, attempting to wipe the tears flowing down his pink cheeks. Joko noticed for the first time Keke clutching onto a piece of cloth, and when he took a closer look, he saw that it was the sweater he always wore when the spaceship was too cold for his liking.

“Keke…” Joko moved to hug the upset matoki, and felt his heart sink when Keke jerked away from his touch.

“Please… please don’t be upset anymore Keke…” Joko felt tears start to build in his own eyes as he watched his best friend sob because of him. He wanted nothing more than to just scoop Keke into his arms and rock him back and forth, whispering comforting words until the other would fall asleep.

“You always do stupid and reckless stuff, but at least I’m there when you do to make sure you stay safe! But this time, you just left without me!! If you got hurt, or even worse, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself!” Keke clutched the sweater close to his chest as if his life depended on it.

“Joko, I can’t imagine what life would be like without you anymore!”

Joko felt his heart skip a beat, his eyes widening at the outburst. He saw Keke move and attempt to slide away from him and wrapped his arms around him, rubbing soothing circles on the sobbing matoki’s back.

“Keke… you are the most precious thing to me in this entire universe…” Keke scoffed at the statement, but Joko didn’t miss how his cheeks turned a dark red. He peppered small kisses on Keke’s ears, something he always did to calm down and soothe the alien. He felt Keke squirm and whine in his hold, but continued to kiss the other’s trembling ears before resting his head on top of his. 

“And I’m sorry for leaving without telling you first… and I promise never to do it again…” Joko kissed Keke’s forehead, smiling when he heard the other giggle softly.

“Do you forgive me?” Keke paused before hitting Joko lightly on the chest.

“Idiot…” Joko frowned before he was pulled into a tight hug, the scowl instantly leaving his face and being replaced with a smile at the touch. He wrapped his arms around Keke, nuzzling his face into the other’s neck and inhaling his scent. He felt those three words he’s been dying to say itching in the back of his throat, but couldn’t bring himself to say it. Instead, he opted for pulling Keke with him back down on the bed and pulling he covers over them. He smelled the pillow, raising an eyebrow when he noticed how much it smelled like Keke already.

“Keke, how long have you been sleeping on my bed…?” Joko chuckled when he heard Keke mumble incoherently into his chest, poking the other’s ear to try to coax him to speak properly.

“Well…?”

“Ever….you…eft”

“What was that?” Joko loved how adorable Keke looked when he was annoyed, and resisted the urge to just kiss those pouty lips.

“Ever since you left, alright??” Keke turned a dark red, attempting to roll out of the bed but held back as Joko wrapped his arms around his waist.

“Heh… never guessed before this that you’d miss me so much… you’re even hugging my sweater-“

“Shut up!” Keke began to shake from embarrassment, when he felt Joko press a small kiss on his cheek.

“Let’s go to sleep, ‘kay?” Keke nodded meekly, and when Joko began to snore, he pressed a small kiss on his lips. 

“I love you…” Keke couldn’t stop the wide grin that formed, and tucked himself under Joko’s chin, missing the smile that made it’s way onto Joko’s lips. 

__________

my brain refuses to work anymore @_______@

for all the matoki anons :3 you guys inspired this fluffy fic :3

and special thanks to fallenxstar for motivating me and talking to me throughout the entire time I was writing this (and many other fics I’ve written in the past) :3 Love you, unnie <3