The next day at Aizawa & Partners, something was… different.
Kenji Takahashi—stoic, composed, terminally reserved Kenji—was acting like a man with a delicious little secret.
And that secret had a name.
Yuu Hayama.
It started subtly enough. A brush of fingers as they passed in the hallway. A smile that lingered longer than it should have. But then it escalated.
In the break room, Kenji leaned in under the hum of the fluorescent lights and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to Yuu's cheek, murmuring, "You always smell like vanilla and trouble."
Yuu nearly dropped his coffee.
Later, while waiting for the printer to cough up a client proposal, Kenji's fingers slid into Yuu's hand with casual ease, thumb tracing slow circles on his palm.
At first Yuu tried to play it cool. Tried to chalk it up to… maybe post-trauma affection? Adrenaline? Relief?
But when Kenji caught him in the elevator—empty elevator—and whispered in a low, husky voice, "You have no idea what I dreamed about last night," before ghosting a kiss along Yuu's jawline?
That's when Yuu knew something was up.
After their afternoon check-in meeting, he finally pulled Kenji aside, dragging him into a quiet corner between the stairwell and the archives, where no one could overhear.
"Okay," Yuu said, folding his arms. "What's going on?"
Kenji blinked, all innocent eyes and upturned lips. "What do you mean?"
"You're being…" Yuu waved a hand vaguely, "…this. Flirty. Touchy. Whispering absolute filth in my ear while I'm trying to concentrate."
Kenji gave him a slow smile. "Is it working?"
Yuu narrowed his eyes. "Kenji."
The smile didn't fade, but something gentler slipped into Kenji's expression. He stepped closer and rested his hand lightly on Yuu's hip, voice dropping.
"I was terrified yesterday," he said softly. "And I'm still shaken. But… last night, lying next to you, I felt something I haven't in a long time."
Yuu tilted his head, listening.
Kenji continued, "Safe. Chosen. Wanted. Not because someone needed to control me or fix me. But because you see me—even the broken parts—and still want me."
Yuu's breath hitched slightly.
"I'm not trying to pretend yesterday didn't happen," Kenji said. "I just… I don't want to lose today to it, too. You make me feel alive. And I want to hold onto that."
Yuu stared at him for a long moment, his chest tightening. Then he smiled—small, sincere.
"You're a lot of things, Kenji," he murmured. "But subtle isn't one of them."
Kenji leaned in, lips brushing just beneath Yuu's ear. "Then I'll make it obvious."
Yuu's breath caught. "You're impossible."
"And you like it."
"Unfortunately," Yuu muttered, grinning despite himself.
They stayed in that little corner for another minute, pressed close, heat and heart between them.
And then, reluctantly, they went back to work.
But all day long, Kenji kept stealing touches.
And Yuu kept letting him.