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The world has seemingly come to a consensus. Kenny Omega is a good man now. He’s atoned for his sins and molded himself into a better man. There is very little of the Cleaner still in him, if there’s anything left at all.
As he looks at the man curled up beside him on the bed, he knows that’s a lie. He's still just as tainted as before.
If someone had told him even a year ago that he would love Will Ospreay more than anyone else in the world, he would have laughed in their face. Will was an enemy, a nasty broken mirror whose glass cut his skin. There was very little about him to love.
But then Will followed his footsteps again, pulling away from Callis. He'd been beaten and humiliated in the same way as Kenny himself, and by the very same man. He went from a petulant child to something of a comrade in Kenny's mind.
No love had blossomed then, but maybe some lust had. Who can blame him? Will is pretty.
Then Will had come groveling. He’d needed help with the family, so much so that he'd gone to one of his worst enemies. He’d gone to Kenny, tears in his eyes and a genuine plea on his lips.
Kenny is pretty sure he would have folded right then and there. Will is so beautiful when he's all sad and desperate. The tears make his eyes sparkle like little gems.
But Callis hadn't given him the opportunity. They'd been jumped before they could even finish the conversation. He has to hand it to Don, normally he's a very smart man, but that decision had been one of his worst.
Any doubts he'd had about Will died the moment he felt the kid laying on his chest, trying to protect Kenny even as they were both beaten. He could feel the exact moment their heartbeats synced up.
Lust curdled into obsession. Will Ospreay was going to be his.
There had been formalities, of course, he had an image to upkeep, but formalities was all they really were. Just enough faux hesitation so people didn't see just how much he needed Will. Just enough that he wouldn't scare away Will himself.
Training alongside Will was exhilarating. The boy had been hesitant at first, maybe afraid Kenny was going to try and hurt him. Kenny couldn't blame him, they've hurt each other in so many ways he's lost count after all.
But Kenny meant him no harm then. Quite the opposite in fact. Now he wants to protect Will, to keep him tucked all safe and secure, far away from Don. And in order to do that, he needed to convince Will his intentions were good.
Thankfully, Will had eventually come around, and that's when their teamwork began to flourish. Fighting Will had always been a treat, and fighting alongside him had been no different. Kenny's own influence on his moveset was obvious, and it made it altogether quite easy to coordinate moves. The ebb and flow of any good tag team had been there since nearly day one of their training. Being with Will was the most natural thing in the world.
He'd taken care then to never come on too strong, to not let Will know the depths of his feelings. He couldn't risk scaring him away that early. Sure there had been times he really wanted to, times where Will lay sprawled across his body, heart beating fast, and Kenny would have loved nothing more than to thrust his hips up, to get some of the wonderful friction from Will's thigh.
But Kenny is nothing if not patient, so he bided his time. The right moment would come.
And come it did, the night before their big match.
They'd been training in the hotel gym, more to burn off nerves than actually gain. Kenny had been about to call it a night, head back to his room to find a shitty amateur porn with a cute blonde guy, when something in Will's face stopped him.
“Are you alright?” Kenny had asked, sitting beside Will on the weight bench.
Will had been quiet for so long that Kenny had assumed he just was going to answer. Then his shoulder had begun to gently shake, and Kenny realized he was crying. He had frozen for a long moment, then reached out and gently placed an arm over his shoulder.
“I hate him so much,” Will hiccuped. Kenny opened his mouth to ask who, but Will beat him to it. “Kyle. That fucking bastard, I hate him.”
Kenny had tugged him closer then, and Will buried his face in Kenny's shirt. Kenny had to fight the urge to sniff his hair. That had not been the time.
“I loved him. I thought he loved me.” Will hiccuped, and a cold weight settled in his chest.
He'd always suspected Will and Kyle were more than friends, but getting confirmation like that had lit the fire of rage in his chest.
Kyle didn't deserve Will. Kyle never deserved Will.
Then, when Will had raised his head to look at Kenny, he had taken his chance. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Wills. They had been salty with his tears, but that had just made the kiss better. He will always remember Will's soft gasp, the seconds before he returned the kiss, then Will's hands gripping his shirt, dragging him closer to deepen the kiss.
“We're going to beat them,” Kenny had said once they broke apart, “I promise you Will, we're going to beat them.”
And he had. They won their match at Grand Slam. Somehow, miraculously, they worked together well enough to take down two of Don's best guys. He had taken great joy from smashing Kyle Fletcher into the mat repeatedly. Never let anyone tell you Kenny is not a jealous man.
Will is his now. Kyle can go choke on it.
The night after the match was the first night they slept together. It had been everything he had ever wanted. Will was so beautiful underneath him, red and flushed and making sounds Kenny had never heard out of him before.
That might have been the moment Kenny fell in love.
Things then had been good. Even as Will got involved with Hangman and Swerve, even as Kenny went to war with Okada once again, they still had each other. He could hold Will close and kiss him and everything would be okay.
Then Forbidden Door happened.
Suddenly Will was in the hospital. Suddenly Kenny was alone. Alone and full of rage.
He went after The Bucks, and soon that spiraled into being involved with Don Callis again. He didn't care. They hurt Will. They hurt his boyfriend, and he was going to rain hellfire down on them.
He saw the exact moment Callis started getting his hooks in Matt and Nick. He knew how that poison worked, had felt it happen to himself. He knew how this was going to end.
And maybe he thought they deserved some of it for how they hurt Will. He went back and forth on that decision a lot, whether or not to help them.
Then Will gave him permission to forgive The Bucks, because Will is a better person than he is. He knew Callis too, knew how convincing he could be, knew what would happen if they were pulled in. They hurt Will. If he wanted them exiled forever, Kenny would have done it. But Will is kind, and Will is good, and Will told him to forgive them, so he did.
He will admit he had missed The Bucks. They were fun to be around and they understood Kenny a lot more than most. They obviously weren't Will, but they made him feel less alone in his absence.
The rest of the year had been beyond great, friends back by his side and hot boyfriend in his bed. He wishes Will was healthy enough to join him, obviously, but he saw how hard he was working to rehab, to be better. It was just a matter of time.
And maybe he didn't love the idea of Will being in danger again. Maybe a part of him likes knowing exactly where Will is, knows nobody else can touch him.
And now they're here, holed up together in their hotel in Japan. Will’s not clear and Kenny’s still under observation but they're there for diplomatic reasons, showing respect to one of the legends of their industry.
The lights outside the curtains are a pretty blur in the late night. He can faintly hear the sound of people in the city outside, mixing with the sound of the hotel air conditioner. It's honestly quite peaceful.
Japan is still a bit odd for both of them, unfinished business and legacies they're not sure they want anymore. The gap between the Kenny and Will of New Japan and the Kenny and Will of AEW is miles wide.
It must be worse for Will. He's still got unfinished business here, a faction he used to run.
He wonders how the United Empire would feel, seeing their once fierce leader acting gentle as a lamb at his side. How they would react if they could hear the noises he makes under him.
For a moment the thought brings him a sense of satisfaction.
Then his heart sinks.
Will is going to get involved with them again, involved in New Japan business once again. Sooner or later, his old friends are going to find out. Maybe Will won’t tell them everything, but he will tell them enough.
They'll try to tear them apart, to convince Will to leave him. They won't ever accept this relationship. They will take Will away from him.
“I'll kill them,” he mutters aloud.
“Who are we killing?” Will mumbles.
Kenny freezes. Will’s awake. How long has he been awake?
Then slides down so he's laying beside Will again. He presses his back to Will's chest, wrapping his arms tightly around the younger man. He presses a kiss to the space behind the other man's ear as he tries to think of a reply.
“Anyone who tries to take you from me,” he says eventually.
And maybe he's being misleading, making him think he's just talking about Callis and his goons or the Death Riders, but Will would be angry if he knew who Kenny was really talking about. What he doesn’t know can't hurt him.
“Of course,” Will says, voice still so small and sleepy. He burrows his head deeper into the pillows, tugging until Kenny's arms tighten around him even more. “We’ll kill them together. You and me.”
And Kenny knows he's an awful person for how that makes him feel, but he can't bring himself to care when Will is so warm and soft.