Sharing is (eventually) caring
Apr. 19th, 2023 07:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
learashiTitle: Sharing is (eventually) caring
Pairings: Sakuraiba, Matsumiya
Genres: AU, slice of life, office au, enemies to more
Rating: G
Summary: Sho and Aiba share a desk and switch between the office and working from home, so they are never there at the same time. They both get frustrated with how the other one organises the shared space and tell each other that through notes.
Annoyed by the problems that Aiba causes him, Sho can’t wait to finally meet him and tell him what he thinks about him. But when they do meet, Sho doesn’t expect Aiba to look… like this.
"Look at this! Just look!" Sho slapped a piece of paper on Nino's desk and stabbed at it with his finger.
"Another note?' Nino drawled. He didn't need to look up from his phone screen to guess what Sho was ranting about.
Sho scowled and puffed out his cheeks. "Why aren't you ever interested in what I have to say?"
Jun leaned over Nino’s shoulder and slid the piece of paper closer. He gave it a cursory glance and shrugged. "That’s because we've seen it all before. Thank goodness you two will finally meet at the company picnic next month. You can sort things out between you and stop interrupting our work."
"Ooh, Matsumoto-san, I love it when you sound all business-like," Nino cooed sarcastically at his boyfriend.
Jun gave him one of his trademarked glares, which bounced harmlessly off Nino, who had been impervious to Jun’s rage long before they’d even kissed for the first time.
Seeing that he was getting nowhere with his friends, Sho grabbed the note and scribbled a pithy response before dumping it back in the middle of his shared workspace.
There were advantages and disadvantages to partially working from home, Sho had realised about a week after he began the arrangement.
It was refreshing to not have to spend an hour each way crammed onto public transport, along with a few thousand people each morning. And working in a pair of sweatpants and a faded t-shirt was definitely more comfortable than strangling himself with a tie each morning when getting dressed.
Unfortunately, Sho also found his workaholic tendencies came to the fore, and he would often still be at his computer long after midnight. After pulling an all-nighter, it was actually quite relaxing to go to the office and go out for a meal with Nino and Jun after finishing work at a reasonable time.
Jun was almost as bad as Sho when it came to working long hours and was actually more of a perfectionist. Fortunately, Nino was there to make sure that they got out of the office at a reasonable hour. Despite spending large portions of his working day playing games on his phone, Nino always got his work done on time. And when Nino was ready to leave for the day, he made sure that Jun and Sho were ready to leave with him. Jun, because he was his boyfriend, and Sho, because he was always happy to pay for the drinks.
##
Aiba hummed along with the music as he rode the elevator up to the office. He adjusted his black-framed glasses on his nose and snapped a quick selfie of his face reflected in the mirrored wall. Not because he was vain, but because he couldn’t remember whether he’d brushed his hair before leaving his apartment.
Working from home part-time meant that he had plenty of time to tend to his pets, a very cute duo of golden hamsters named Jo and Hassun. Golden hamsters are usually solitary animals that don't like to share their space, but these two had bonded at the pet store and were inseparable. Even though Jo sometimes pretended to not like all of the affection Hassun showed him. Hassun had a cute face and plump little butt, while Jo was surprisingly athletic for a hamster, and spent quite a lot of time playing with a ball on the floor of their luxurious cage when he wasn’t snuggling with Hassun.
It was a little lonely though since his roommate Ohno was rarely at home, and even when he was, he wasn’t exactly a man of many words. At the office, Aiba could always rely on Nino and Jun to keep him entertained with their bickering. It was obvious that they loved each other, but displayed it in the strangest of ways.
In fact, Aiba’s life was just about perfect. The only thing which dimmed the sunshine of his days was the fact that he appeared to be sharing his workspace with the most annoying person ever. They’d never met, and Aiba was definitely in no hurry to change things.
As always, the desk was covered in crumbs and other mysterious blobs of spilled food. There were coffee rings on the desk blotter and Aiba’s photograph of Jo and Hassun had been placed face down. He picked it up and brushed cake crumbs off Hassun’s nose before putting it back where it belonged.
There was a slip of paper sitting in the middle of the desk in a position where it was impossible to miss. Despite the grease stain in the corner, the words were still legible.
A ball with a bell inside rolled off the desk onto the floor and I spilled coffee on my suit jacket when I stepped on it and slipped. Please be more careful next time.
In the desk drawer where Aiba kept his supplies, he found the green and red striped ball which he’d purchased as a gift for Jo-hamster’s birthday. He’d wondered what had happened to it, and now he’d realised that he must’ve left it behind when last in the office.
There was something about the tone of the note which got under his skin, as always. Aiba could feel the smugness radiating through the piece of paper which he screwed up and tossed in the bin.
##
“Why was he so worried about a mark on his jacket? I mean, with the way he covers the desk with bits of food, I would think that it’s a regular occurrence,” Aiba grumbled.
Jun refilled Aiba’s glass with beer and nodded sympathetically. “Sho-kun once dropped a piece of sushi down my collar when he leaned over my shoulder to look at a spreadsheet.”
“Give him a break, you two. He often eats at his desk because he works too hard to have time to have a proper lunch,” Nino said in Sho’s defence.
“That’s not what you said when he dropped mayonnaise on your phone screen and you had to restart an entire level,” Jun pointed out. “But you’re right, Sho is actually a really nice guy. Just reserve judgement until you meet him in person.”
“Hmmm, I’m not convinced,” Aiba replied cautiously. “And I’m not even sure that I’m going to the picnic. Hassun and Jo have a vet appointment on that day.”
“We all know that it doesn’t take all day to trim hamsters' nails, even when there are eight feet involved,” Nino said. “You’ll have plenty of time to make it after the boys have had their appointment.”
Jun refilled Aiba’s glass and looked at him with his best wide-eyed gaze. “Don’t you want to spend time with us?”
Nino piled on the guilt with a pout. “I thought we were friends.”
Even though Aiba knew he was being played, it was still impossible to resist the two pairs of exaggeratedly sad eyes being aimed at him. “Fine! You win. I’ll come. But you’d better make sure that you keep that Sakurai guy well away from me.”
##
Sorry to interrupt your work, Sakurai-san, but did you happen to see a bag of sunflower seeds? I think I might have left them on the desk. My hamsters Jo and Hassun will be forever grateful if you find them since they are one of their favourite treats.
“Pet food!!!!” Sho frantically pulled the empty wrapper out of the bin to check. “Euuughh blech yuck!!!”
Jun dashed over and stared at Sho in confusion. He was closely followed by Nino who wore an evil grin as he asked, “Something the matter, Sho-chan?”
“Pet food! I ate pet food!” Sho shrieked. “I’m going to die.”
Jun snatched the plastic bag out of Sho’s hand while Nino leaned on Sho’s desk behind him and laughed. Jun poked Nino to make him quiet and examined the package. “This doesn’t say that it isn’t for human consumption. It just says it contains sunflower seeds. I’ve seen similar packages in the health food store I shop at.”
“Where did you even find it? The vending machine certainly doesn’t sell anything remotely healthy. Thank goodness.” Nino said, earning himself a glare from Jun, who was always trying, without success, to improve his diet.
Sho stopped wiping his tongue with his handkerchief, and replied, “They were on the desk. I thought that Jun-kun had left them there for me since my idea of what constitutes a tasty snack seems to disgust him.”
“I’m not disgusted,” Jun protested, “I’m only worried about your health.”
“There, there.” Nino patted Jun’s shoulder reassuringly. “We all know that you have our best interests at heart, even if you are a little too obsessed with food which has had all of the fun extracted from it.”
“No fun?” Jun narrowed his eyes dangerously.
Sho hastily intervened. “No fun is probably the wrong choice of words. It’s just that it’s hard for us mere mortals to understand the difference between five different kinds of room-temperature water.”
“And even harder to understand why plain water can be so damn expensive,” Nino grumbled.
“ANYWAY,” Jun interrupted. “What makes you think that you ate pet food?”
“Another one of those notes from Aiba-san.” Sho dangled the offending piece of paper in front of Jun’s face. Somehow the fact that the page was pale green and had a border of tiny scampering squirrels made it even more irritating.
Jun snatched the slip away from his face so that he could read it properly. "This doesn't say anything about pet food. Only that they are the boys' favourite treat. And to be fair, he didn’t deliberately feed them to you."
"So you say, but I don't trust that guy," Sho mumbled.
##
His coffee tasted particularly good, and the sun was shining as Aiba made his way through the entrance to the office building. The company picnic was only a week away, and it looked as if the weather was going to continue to be fine and hot. Unfortunately.
Jun and Nino were adamant that he should meet Sakurai and sort out their differences, but Aiba wasn't so sure that it was such a great idea. It felt like the note war between them had heated up since Sakurai had greedily eaten Jo and Hassun’s treats. Nino had reenacted Sho’s freak out about eating pet food for him. And while Aiba had laughed because Nino was always hilarious, he found it quite insulting that Sho thought that he would feed the boys food not fit for human consumption.
If pressed, Aiba had to admit that Sakurai's work was impeccable. Unlike his desk-sharing skills. Only yesterday Aiba’s computer mouse had become stuck to the desk in what appeared to be a blob of congealed sweet and sour sauce.
##
The hamster photograph was facing upwards again as Sho took a seat at his shared desk. He hated to admit it, but the two pairs of beady little eyes on them kind of freaked him out. They were definitely cute little critters, but whenever he ate at his desk it felt as if they were judging his food choices from behind their prettily decorated frame. He had more than enough judgy faces aimed at him by Jun on the days he needed a hit of fat or sugar to get him through the afternoon.
It had been quite a surprise to hear the rumour floating around the office that their latest contract had been awarded due to the fact that the CEO of the company had apparently admired Aiba-san. It was slightly galling for Sho to have spent hours on meticulously prepared spreadsheets and graphs only to hear that Aiba had celebrated the deal over dinner with the notoriously bad-tempered and difficult client.
It was great for business, but Sho couldn’t help feeling slightly jealous. This Aiba must be some kind of miracle worker, or was he using other means to gain success? Jun and Nino had said that Aiba and the CEO had bonded while sharing photographs of their pets. If it turned out that Aiba-san was unfairly using underhanded ways to get ahead at work then Sho wanted nothing to do with him.
##
"I'm not sure about that shirt, Sho-chan." Nino circled around Sho and examined his outfit with a critical eye.
Jun frowned and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He tilted his head to view Sho from a different angle. What he saw made him close his eyes to block out the painful sight. "Why the camouflage pattern? Are you hoping that Aiba-chan won't be able to see you?"
"What’s wrong with it?" Sho pulled the front of his shirt out and almost went cross-eyed trying to see if there was a button missing or something.
"Nothing, if worn by itself…" Jun tried to be tactful. "But when paired with camouflage patterned cargo shorts, it might be a teeny bit too much."
Nino, on the other hand, told Sho exactly what he thought of his outfit. "You look like you're on your way to a fancy dress party, dressed as a vintage G.I. Joe doll on summer vacation."
Sho couldn’t see the problem and decided that he needed to defend himself. "These cargo shorts are really practical." He patted a bulging pocket. "I've got my phone and wallet in here. Plus the salesman said they're fashionable right now."
"Working on commission, was he?" Nino drawled.
Jun poked Nino between the shoulder blades. "Don't be mean. Sho can't help that he has the fashion sense of a blind chicken."
While Nino snorted with laughter and high-fived Jun, who was giggling uncontrollably, Sho huffed and hitched up his shorts.
Jun wiped his eyes and tried to help Sho. "Do you have a t-shirt on under that? Because if you unbutton the shirt the solid colour will break up the camouflage pattern a bit."
After spending the morning catching up on the extra work Aiba had created thanks to the new contract, Sho had been late getting ready for the picnic. And after hastily working his way through most of the contents of his wardrobe without being able to decide what to wear, Sho had been flustered enough to throw on the next things to come to hand. He couldn’t quite remember what he had on beneath the overshirt, but it definitely didn't have a camouflage pattern.
Nino and Jun watched Sho unbutton his shirt with a mixture of horror and amusement.
"Khaki! Nino cackled, while Jun buried his face in his hands.
"It's not like it matters anyway," Sho pouted. "It's only a company picnic."
"But it's your first time meeting Aiba," Jun reminded him. "Don't you want to make a good impression?"
"Not particularly." Sho frowned and crossed his arms defensively. "I think he has bigger fish to fry."
"What do you mean?" Jun had no idea what Sho was talking about. He looked at Nino, who shrugged.
"It seems to me that he's only interested in people who can advance his career, and I'm definitely not someone who can do that."
Nino was just as confused as Jun as to why Sho seemed to have ramped up his dislike of Aiba when they still hadn't even met. "Huh?"
Even as the words came out of his mouth, Sho felt petty. But somehow he couldn't help himself. "Since I'm no CEO, I doubt that I am of any use to Aiba-san."
"Sho, that's unfair! Aiba isn't…" Jun's defence of Aiba ended abruptly.
There was a sudden clattering directly behind them as a stack of folding chairs collapsed in a messy avalanche.
##
Aiba didn't mean to eavesdrop on the conversation, and he wished that he hadn’t heard Sho’s doubts about his motives.
It was only because he'd been stopped in his tracks at the sight of the handsome man chatting animatedly with Jun and Nino.
Although at first, it wasn't his looks that had grabbed Aiba’s attention. It was the camouflage on camouflage clothing. But beneath the cargo shorts with bulging pockets, there was a very shapely pair of legs, which immediately distracted him from the questionable clothing.
When the figure turned around, Aiba noticed a pair of intelligent round eyes, fine cheekbones and plump heart-shaped lips. His libido gave him a poke and his eyes widened at the pleasurable view.
This was Sakurai-san? The slob? The clothes fit Aiba’s mental picture of the man, but his looks were definitely unexpected. When Nino had described Aiba’s deskmate as an idol, it had been Aiba’s assumption that he was being sarcastic.
The embers of desire were effectively snuffed out by Sho's words which cast doubts on Aiba’s ethics and work methods.
In an unconscious attempt to distance himself from Sho’s suspicions Aiba took a step back right into the stack of chairs waiting to be placed around the picnic tables.
As the pile collapsed in a noisy heap Aiba made a hasty exit before his three colleagues realised what he had overheard.
##
After walking a circuit around the park to calm himself, Aiba ended up back at the messy scattering of chairs. He smiled as he saw Nino and Jun looking cute in casual summer clothes. "Can I help?"
"About time Aiba-chan. My back isn't made for this kind of work," Nino grumbled from where he sat on one of the chairs.
"You picked up one chair." Jun wiped the sweat from his brow and glared at his boyfriend. "The one you're sitting on right now."
"You'd better help Jun before he blows a gasket," Nino said. "Or perhaps you'd like to help out Sho," he added with an eyebrow wiggle.
Jun leaned on a chair and looked over to where Sho was standing as still as a statue. "Finally you two get to meet. Sho? Come and say hello to your deskmate."
There was no response from Sho because his brain felt as if its hard drive was malfunctioning. This was Aiba Masaki? His deskmate? Parent to two hamsters? This godlike vision? With perfect hair, almond-shaped eyes, a slender figure and a contagious smile? How did he manage to look as if he’d just stepped off a catwalk while wearing knee-length shorts and a t-shirt decorated with the logo of an edgy local band?
Sho's traitorous heart knocked insistently on his chest wall in an attempt to attract his attention. His brain finally rebooted and quelled his excitement as it reminded him that he suspected that this Aiba-san was operating in a morally grey fashion to gain favour at work.
"Good morning, Aiba-san. I am pleased to meet you," Sho said formally.
"Good morning, Sakurai-san. I am pleased to meet you also," Aiba replied stiffly.
There was an uncomfortable silence as they faced each other but avoided eye contact.
Sho folded his arms and looked down at the ground. "Thank you for your hard work."
"That’s mighty formal talk coming from someone who has eighty percent of their body covered in camouflage clothing." The unexplained tension made Nino attempt to lighten the mood.
Jun stepped over to Sho and took hold of his elbow. "I need some help. Over there. Now."
Before Sho could reply, Jun dragged him away behind a large maple tree. "What’s wrong with you? I've seen icebergs that are warmer than you right now. Why are you acting like this towards Aiba-chan?"
Sho felt like a heel, but he had put in too many hours at work to allow Aiba to breeze along on his charms. He quashed the nagging voice in the back of his mind which told him that he was being unreasonable and that nobody with a sunny smile like Aiba's could be a bad person. "The new account. I don't approve of the way Aiba-san landed that account. Flirting shouldn't count for more than hard work."
Jun’s eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes narrowed dangerously.
Sho cringed and attempted to escape to a safe distance, but Jun’s grip on his elbow kept him anchored in the danger zone.
Jun’s eyes flashed angrily, but when he spoke his words were eerily calm. "Aiba didn't bring in the new account. That was Nino."
The world tilted slightly on its axis and Sho was grateful for Jun’s hand on his arm, even though Jun’s grip was tight enough to hurt. "What?"
"The day before Aiba had dinner with the CEO, Nino had already won the contract, using the excellent proposal put together by Aiba the day before." Jun released Sho and looked across to where Aiba was doing Nino’s bidding. "The CEO originally invited Nino to dinner, but since Nino is practically a hermit and sucks at making small talk, he sent Aiba in his place."
"Oh," Sho felt the same size as the tiny black ant which was currently walking across the toe of his shoe. It was preferable to watch it than to see the disdain which was surely in Jun’s eyes right then.
"Indeed," Jun replied coldly. "Aiba was simply doing Nino a favour."
Since Sho’s wish for a random sinkhole to open up beneath his feet didn't materialise, he was forced to face the reality of his own jealousy and stupidity. He pointed to his chin. "You can punch me right here."
"I think if anyone is going to be doing any punching, it should be Aiba," Nino said loudly, way too close to Sho’s ear.
"Aaaarrgghhh!" Sho almost leapt out of his skin. He hadn’t heard Nino approaching due to the thudding in his head, which was probably the sound of his brain attempting to escape from his idiocy.
"Having a heart attack is not going to get you out of this." Nino poked Sho. "At least not before you apologise to Aiba-chan."
"Um, no punching necessary." Aiba had reluctantly trailed along after Nino, and only just arrived as Nino spoke. He was confused, but he definitely didn't want anybody to punch anyone else. By the bits of conversation he'd overheard just now between Sho and Jun, it seemed as if there had been some sort of misunderstanding. But it still hurt. A lot. He wasn’t ready to forgive Sho any time soon, but he didn't want to ruin the day for everyone. He decided that the best thing to do was to ignore the situation altogether. "What else can I do to help before everyone else arrives?"
Sho couldn’t believe that Aiba was letting him off the hook so easily. The knot in his stomach loosened slightly, but he could still feel where Jun’s fingers had been as a reminder of his stupidity. It would be better for everyone if he went home right now to work on a grovelling letter of apology to leave for Aiba in the office on Monday.
"We need more ice. Why don't you and Sho-chan go and buy some?" Nino asked with an 'innocent' smile.
The last thing that Aiba wanted was to be alone with Sho right now, or so he thought, but his traitorous tongue apparently had other ideas. "Sure thing. I saw a convenience store not too far away."
Since he was busy thinking about how to word his apology, it took Sho a moment to notice that everyone was looking at him expectantly. Jun, in particular, had an expression on his face that sent a chill up Sho's spine. Although he had no idea what had been said, Sho decided that it was safer to simply agree. "Great."
Jun handed over a credit card. "The boss gave me this to use for any extras. We probably need about four bags."
"Bags?" I wonder what they're waffling about, Sho wondered vaguely. He couldn’t take his eyes off Aiba. The man was stunning. Sho knew that he had ruined his chances with Aiba, but couldn't help thinking about what might have been.
Nino gave him a puzzled look. "I suppose you could try carrying it in your bare hands but you might have frostbite by the time you get it back here."
"Frostbite?" The fog in Sho’s mind dissolved but was replaced by fresh confusion. "What are we talking about again?"
Nino rolled his eyes and wondered when Sho had become such an idiot. He followed Sho’s eye line over to where Aiba and Jun had moved away to check out the coolers, and it all became clear. "Ice. You and Aiba are going to buy ice. Together. Alone. Together."
"How can we be alone, if we're together?"
"Humble apologies to the grammar police," Nino’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You're missing the point. This is your chance to make it up to Aiba for acting like a jealous fool."
Sho's cheeks burned with shame. "I'm not sure that will be possible."
"It's easy. Just turn on your Sakurai charms," Nino advised. "They don't work on me, but Aiba is definitely the susceptible type."
##
From the glances Aiba managed to direct out of the corner of his eye, Sho had a perfect profile. Which made sense really, since the rest of the man was also perfect. From his bouncy butt to his neatly cut, glossy hair with a sexy undercut on the right side, Aiba could find no fault.
Pity the same couldn’t be said for Sho’s dress sense, or for his misguided opinion of Aiba’s character. Aiba shook his head to erase any thoughts about Sho’s hotness. It's not like he needed anyone anyway. He had the boys at home to keep him company. Admittedly, they weren't great at making conversation, but they were always happy to see him when he came home from work and would greet him with a happy chirrup.
As they headed across the park, Sho wondered what Aiba was thinking about. The fond smile on Aiba’s face was definitely not there because of him. There were so many things he wanted to say to Aiba and do to make up for his disrespect. But the words wouldn't form, and the walk to the store was completed in frosty silence.
The store was quite big, and they had to trawl up the aisles to find the freezer containing the bags of ice.
A middle-aged lady was handing out samples of a new brand of mini spicy sausages, and Sho eagerly shoved two into his mouth and chewed happily. His cheeks bulged and his eyes sparkled. He gave her a dazzling smile. "I will definitely buy some of these on my next grocery run."
Since he wanted to get this trip over with as soon as possible, Aiba didn't stop to try one of the samples, but the vision of Sho looking cute with his stuffed cheeks remained imprinted in his brain.
As they walked past a large display of chocolates and other sweets, Aiba slowed down. There were treasures to be found in these small stores. They often carried limited edition or seasonal versions of his favourite treats. "Ooh! Honeydew melon-flavoured Kit-Kat!"
The expression of glee on Aiba’s face, caused Sho’s heart to do silly things. "Do you like chocolate?"
The joy was replaced by caution, as Aiba turned to Sho and replied, "Yes. My roommate Ohno and I have formed a two-person sweets club. We take turns finding new treats we haven't tried before."
Sho found the idea intriguing. He was a great fan of food in any form. "That sounds really interesting."
Aiba looked sad. "Recently, Ohno's been away for work a lot, so I've kind of been trying to eat healthily."
"Jun been on your back?"
Aiba met Sho’s eyes for the first time and smiled. "He's really scary when he starts talking about kale."
Sho laughed and clapped his hands with glee. "Kale is one of the healthiest foods. It should be a component of your daily breakfast green smoothie." His imitation of Jun wasn't perfect, but it was good enough to draw a giggle out of Aiba.
Aiba was horrified that Sho was worming his way under his skin so easily. The fact that Sho appeared to be funny, as well as handsome, made it hard to maintain his feelings of anger. He decided that it would be best to try and maintain a safe distance, just as soon as this errand was over.
##
To Sho’s dismay, after the slight thaw in Aiba’s attitude towards him, the rest of their errand was completed in an atmosphere almost as cold as the bags of ice they'd lugged back to the park.
Aiba’s smile remained imprinted in Sho’s brain, and the five-kilo bags of ice felt like feathers in his hands. How could he have shared a desk with Aiba for so long without the slightest inkling of how hot he actually was? Of course, since all he'd had to go on was the photograph of two hamsters, and the odd chocolate wrapper, he couldn’t really expect to know better.
It was hard to ignore the veins which stood out on Sho’s forearms as he carried the ice, but Aiba tried. Really, really, tried. Without success. He was weak to guys who were strong, and also apparently to guys who reminded him of his hamsters. He shook his head to dispel the memory of Sho’s cheeks stuffed with food.
Nino and Jun were nowhere in sight when they reached the canvas gazebo which shaded the cooling boxes from the sun. There were two chairs set up close together next to a small table that held a bag of potato chips and two plastic beer glasses. The whole arrangement, including the lack of co-workers, was obviously part of their attempt to get Aiba and Sho to settle their differences.
"They're not exactly subtle, are they?" Sho was secretly thankful for their interference, but he was smart enough to not let Aiba see how happy he was to spend more time together.
"Nino doesn't know the meaning of the word." Aiba expected this of Nino. He was surprised that Jun seemed just as keen for him to get along with Sho. It made him think that Sho was a better person than he'd seen so far. Maybe. He decided to carry on with their mission and not think about it. "Let's get this ice in the coolers. There's nothing worse than warm beer."
Rather than the usual metal ring holding the top of the bags closed, the ice was completely sealed. As Sho tugged at the seam at the top of one of the bags, Aiba pulled a small folding knife out of his pocket. The blade turned out to be rather blunt, and he cursed Ohno under his breath for not sharpening it after borrowing it for his last camping trip.
Not to be defeated, Aiba hacked at the tough plastic. It stubbornly denied him the opportunity to prove to Sho that he had valuable skills.
Sho couldn’t take it as he watched Aiba struggle to cut the bag open. "Let me help."
"I'm perfectly capable of doing it by myself," Aiba replied defiantly. "Ow!"
Aiba looked down helplessly as blood dripped from the palm of his hand onto the grass. He wasn't usually this clumsy. Somehow Sakurai’s dark eyes were having an unexpected effect on him.
"So stubborn." Sho didn’t have a handkerchief, but he found a packet of tissues in his pocket. He folded several together and grabbed Aiba’s hand. He pressed them firmly against Aiba’s palm and apologised when Aiba winced. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"You could’ve fooled me," Aiba snapped. "You doubted my work ethic and abilities. I helped Nino to win that account because of my creative ideas. Not because the client was attracted to me. Although I don't even know why you would think that in the first place." He pushed his glasses up his nose and scowled. "I'm not elegant like Jun, or cute like Nino, or handsome like you."
For a moment Sho feared that he might swallow his own tongue. He inadvertently squeezed Aiba’s hand, making him yelp. After loosening his grip, he asked, "You think I’m handsome? And by the way, have you never looked at yourself in a mirror? You're gorgeous."
Aiba blushed and looked down to where Sho’s hand was gripping his lightly before he remembered that he was angry with him. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "I noticed that you didn't apologise for dismissing my work."
Sho wanted to smack himself for his bad temper, and for doubting Aiba’s ability because of jealousy. "I'm sorry Aiba-san. I was out of line when I said that. I don't know you well enough to be so judgemental."
"It's funny really. We spend so much time in the same space, but never at the same time," Aiba replied. "It’s hard to get to know someone you never see or talk to. Apart from the notes you leave me. Many notes."
"Ah. The notes." Sho nodded. "You also leave me many, many, notes."
The trace of a smile flickered across Aiba’s face as he remembered some of the notes which had passed between them. "I still can't believe that you ate Jo and Hassun’s seeds. They were so disappointed."
"They were disappointed? I thought I was going to die!" Sho complained.
"Because of a few sunflower seeds?"
"Not just a few. I ate the whole bag full." Sho realised that this was not a good thing, but something about Aiba made him want to tell him everything.
Aiba’s eyes grew wide and he looked at Sho with astonishment. "The whole bag? Not even my Hassun could eat that many, and he loves those seeds almost as much as he loves my other hamster, Jo-chan."
"Your hamsters are really important to you, aren't they?" Sho had never had a pet of his own, but it sounded nice to have someone to come home to. Even if they were small and furry.
"Apart from Nino, Jun, and Ohno, I don't have a lot of friends here. They're all back home in Chiba."
The gloomy expression on Aiba’s face, made Sho feel as if the sun had gone behind a cloud. He knew exactly how Aiba felt. Actually, he probably was even worse off. He didn't have cute pets or even a roommate for company. "I know what you mean. Living in a big city can be really lonely."
As he checked the cut on Aiba’s hand, Sho was struck by the realisation that this was the only physical contact that he'd had with anyone for weeks. (The pervert who'd squeezed his ass one morning about a week ago on a packed train definitely didn't count.)
"You too?" Aiba felt his heart thawing. Somehow, it was reassuring to know that he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. It didn't fit with the mental picture that he'd created of Sho, and he began to wonder if their problems had stemmed from a genuine misunderstanding.
"I apologise for what I said earlier. It was foolish of me to doubt you, and your abilities. If you can forgive me, I would like us to be friends." Sho held his breath as he waited for Aiba’s response.
Aiba could read the sincerity in Sho’s eyes, and feel the nervous sweat on Sho's palm where it still cradled his injured hand. "Apology accepted. You can make it up to me by plying me with beer at this picnic if it ever begins."
It wasn't in Aiba’s nature to hold a grudge, so even if he hadn't fancied Sho rotten, he would still have given the same answer. He had to admit though, that he would rather be more than just friends.
"Thank you. I'm so relieved." Sho wanted to do a happy dance and get to know Aiba better at the picnic, but Aiba’s hand was still a concern. "This cut looks deep. I'll text Jun to ask him to come and have a look. I think that you might need a stitch or two."
"Really? Are you sure?" Aiba swallowed hard and tried to will the cut to stop bleeding. If there was something that Aiba hated, it was hospitals. When he was younger, he had a problem with his lungs and was a regular visitor to the paediatric ward. Even now the thought of walking through those doors made him shiver.
The apprehension on Aiba’s face was clear to Sho. Sho immediately grasped the opportunity to help him out and hopefully redeem himself in Aiba’s eyes. "I'm afraid so. But I'm more than happy to keep you company. That is if you don't mind."
"That would be great. But what about the picnic?" Aiba didn't want to ruin the day for everyone.
"Jun will pack you a lunch box." Nino walked towards them across the grass, unfolding a brown paper shopping bag.
The way that Nino always popped up out of the blue regularly freaked Sho out. The man seemed to have either weird spidey senses or some sort of all-seeing surveillance system. It was easy to picture Nino as a ninja in a previous existence, happily committing murder for Jun, his Lord and master.
Jun looked at Aiba’s hand and winced. It looked painful. "I agree with Sho. You need to get someone to take a look at that. I will put a couple of drinks in there too. It can be a long wait at the E.D."
While Sho and Jun packed up the food, Nino sidled over to Aiba and spoke quietly. "That’s one way to get some alone time with Sho, but I wouldn't recommend doing it on a regular basis. You've only got a limited amount of blood to give up for the cause."
"It's not like that." Aiba twiddled with the wad of tissues covering his wound. "But we have agreed to be friends."
"Friends. Suuuuure," Nino drawled. "Veeery smooth."
"It's not like that," Aiba protested while wishing that it was.
##
Sitting in the waiting room at the emergency department of their local hospital was not Sho’s ideal location for a potential first date, but he was determined to use the time to get to know Aiba better. And also to distract him from their surroundings. It was clear that Aiba was nervous about being in a hospital situation. "Aiba-san, earlier you said that you come from Chiba. Is that where your family lives?"
"Yes," Aiba replied proudly. "My parents run the best Chinese restaurant in Japan there."
Sho laughed. Aiba looked so cute, making it impossible to resist teasing him. "The best in Japan? Really?"
"You're only laughing because you haven't tasted their spring rolls yet." Aiba pulled a series of photos up on his phone and showed them to Sho. "My Dad's mapo tofu has to be tasted to be believed. You should try it someday."
Sho leaned close to Aiba and smiled. "Well, maybe I will."
"Well, maybe you should," Aiba bumped shoulders with Sho and grinned.
Sho steeled himself to take a risk and invite himself to visit the restaurant with Aiba when a nurse came and called Aiba away to be treated. Foiled.
##
Aiba was already numb before the local anaesthetic was injected into the palm of his hand. It was hard to get his head around the attraction he felt towards Sho, but even harder to understand that it was (perhaps) reciprocated. How had they slipped seamlessly from dislike and distrust to almost flirting?
His phone pinged with a message from Jun, and he earned a glare from the doctor stitching his hand when he went to pick it up and read it. Since Aiba was more afraid of Jun than someone he would never see again, he picked it up anyway.
Jun: Are you two friends yet? Did you discover that he’s not the bad guy that you think he is?
Aiba: I admit that he’s not all bad
Nino: You’re blushing right now aren’t you?
Jun: Nino! Get out of this conversation
Nino: Nope! I am in this LINE group and I am going to make sure that you get those two idiots together just like we discussed
Jun: Very subtle I don’t think
Aiba: You discussed Sho and I???????? OMG
Jun: We have talked about the fact that we think that you two are perfect for each other yes
Nino:You would be the perfect person to loosen Sho up he needs a good boinking
Jun: Nino if you don’t leave this conversation right now you won't be getting any boinking for a veeeeeery long time
Nino: Fine but before I go I just want to say that Aiba and Sho together as a couple would make the world a happier place and that you owe me sex tonight.
Jun: As much as it pains me to say it, Nino is right. You and Sho were meant to be. I know you got off on the wrong foot with each other but I think that you could make each other very happy. You just need to give each other a chance. And now if you will excuse me I am off to give Nino a big kiss.
Nino: Not sex????
Jun: I am choosing to ignore that. Good luck Aiba!!!!
Aiba giggled and the doctor gave him an odd look. Apparently, they'd never seen anyone so happy to have three stitches in their hand.
To be honest, Aiba wasn't feeling any pain, and it wasn’t just because of the anaesthetic.
##
Sho’s heart skipped a beat when Aiba emerged from the treatment room wearing a dreamy expression. Aiba was so handsome, and the crisp white bandage on his hand lent him an air of vulnerability which triggered Sho's protective instincts.
Their eyes met and the usual noises of a busy hospital and the busy staff members dashing back and forth faded into a background blur. For the first time, Aiba looked at him without distrust or anger, and Sho melted.
Sho wanted to offer Aiba the world, but all he had close to hand was a paper bag filled with snacks and a bunch of flowers which he’d hastily purchased at the gift shop. He thrust the flowers at Aiba. "Sorry for being an idiot. Please forgive me."
Aiba laughed as he examined the bouquet of white and pale pink roses. There was a small pink bear attached to the side wearing a tiara and a sash that read 'It's a Girl!'
"It was all they had. Let me get rid of that." Sho tried to snatch the bear away, but Aiba held the bouquet out of reach.
"Don't you dare," Aiba protested with a twinkle in his eyes. "I'm keeping this forever, as a memento.”
Momentarily rendered speechless, Sho could only nod and look on admiringly as Aiba rubbed the soft fluffy bear against his cheek.
“Why don’t we find somewhere nice to eat that food you’ve been carrying around with you?” Aiba asked.
“Are you sure that you don’t want to go back to the picnic?” Sho really didn’t want to ask, but he felt that he should.
“And waste the food that Jun prepared?” Aiba widened his eyes in mock fear. “Do you want to die?”
“No! Especially not right now when we are finally…!” Sho hastily stopped talking and then blushed furiously.
“Agreed,” Aiba said softly and looked almost as pink.
##
Two days after the picnic, Aiba caught himself whistling on the bus on the way to work.
Apparently, other people had heard him too. An elderly lady smiled and handed him a wrapped candy. He mirrored her smile and happily popped the sweet into his mouth.
At the time he'd been sure of their connection, but now that the weekend was over and the working week was upon them, he wondered if Sho was having second thoughts.
Nino pounced before the elevator doors were fully open. "What did you two get up to before you finally joined us back at the picnic?"
"Who? What?" Aiba stumbled slightly as Nino grabbed him by the end of his tie. It was way too early in the morning to try and figure out what Nino was so agitated about.
"Sho! You two looked very cosy when you finally came back from the hospital."
Aiba ducked his head and blushed, but he was determined to keep his private life out of Nino's hands for as long as possible. There were some things that should remain private, no matter how insistent Nino might be. He tried to put Nino off with the blandest response possible. "We settled our differences. I hope we can work amiably together."
"I think he is aiming for something more romantic." Nino fluttered his eyelashes and smirked.
"As if you know anything about romance," Jun snorted. He ignored Nino's protests and took Aiba by the elbow. "I think that Sho left something on your desk for you."
Aiba’s heart sank as he allowed Jun to drag him into the office. Perhaps he'd been mistaken about Sho after all. "Not another note?"
"Something much better," Jun said with a flourish.
Aiba jerked to a halt and blinked rapidly as he tried to make sense of the sight in front of him.
The desk was barely visible beneath a glittering mountain of Kit-Kat chocolates which were mounded up in the shape of a huge heart.
Nino leaned around Aiba and snapped a photo with his phone. "I need to get a photo of this so I can torture Sho with it later."
"Leave Sho alone. There's nothing wrong with being romantic." Jun snatched the phone out of Nino's hand and slipped it into his pocket. "You should try it sometime."
Nino made a kissy face at Jun and waggled his eyebrows. "What about last night when we were in bed together?"
"That was athletic, rather than romantic." Jun tried to look stern but failed dismally.
Aiba stuck his fingers in his ears. "La la la la, I'm not listening. Please spare me any gory details about what you two get up to in the bedroom."
"I have video footage if my description isn't to your liking," Nino generously offered.
"You what?!" Jun yanked Nino's phone out of his pocket and scowled. "I'm off to erase every file on this thing."
"Noooo," Nino wailed and tried to snatch the phone back. But Jun held it above his head, just out of his reach. "There's some truly magnificent footage on there."
"There's more?!!" Jun's eyebrows sky-rocketed towards his hairline.
"Look! Sho’s here!" Nino pointed behind Jun.
When Jun turned to look, he lowered his arm slightly and Nino jumped up, snatched the phone and bolted from the room. As he ran past Sho he called out, "Hi Sho! Bye Sho!"
"Get back here!" Jun raced after him. He screeched to a halt as he drew level with Sho. "Hi Sho. I have some figures I'd like you to check when I get back from killing Nino."
Sho wondered what he'd walked into. With Jun and Nino, anything was possible. "Um…sure."
After Jun zoomed off in pursuit of his errant boyfriend, Sho became acutely aware that he was alone with Aiba, who was looking even more handsome than he had at the picnic. "Good morning, Aiba-san."
Aiba felt embarrassingly fluttery as Sho bestowed a gleaming smile upon him. "Chocolate," he blurted overly loudly. "Did you? They're from you?"
"It is. I did. They are." Sho laughed and answered each one of Aiba’s questions in turn.
"But why?" Aiba picked up one of the chocolates and admired the pink wrapper.
"Because usually all I leave you are notes. This time I wanted to leave you something nice."
"Sakura flavour. The sneaky choice to worm your way into my brain." Aiba unwrapped one and breathed the sweet scent of chocolate. "But absolutely unnecessary."
"Oh." Sho died a little inside. Apparently, he'd been wrong about the spark between them.
Aiba snapped off one of the chocolate fingers and offered one to Sho. "You look adorable when you pout."
"Oh?" The part of Sho which had wilted at Aiba’s earlier words perked up.
"Even though I enjoy your pout, there's no need for it." Aiba was thrilled by the power he apparently had over Sho. "I said that it was unnecessary because I already like you. There's no need to woo me."
"I disagree." Sho’s pout deepened as he accepted the piece of chocolate. "I'm a fantastic wooer. I am the wooiest wooer to ever exist, and I would appreciate the opportunity to continue with my wooing plan."
Aiba tried hard not to giggle. "In that case, please continue. I would hate to interfere with a good wooing."
"Is that a euphemism for something?" Nino suddenly piped up from the doorway. His hair was mussed, but he had his phone back in his hand.
"Not everyone is as smutty as you." Jun straightened his rumpled clothes as he followed Nino into the room. His pink cheeks and flushed lips explained how Nino had managed to take his phone back. He looked at Sho and Aiba, who were wearing matching amused expressions. "Sorry for interrupting you guys. Why don't you go and grab some lunch together?"
Aiba checked his watch and grinned. "Ten o'clock already? No wonder I'm famished."
"But didn't you want me to look at some figures?" Sho hated himself for asking, but his workaholic side forced him to ask the question.
"I said that I wanted you to check them after I killed Nino, and as you can see, he's still breathing, at least for the moment."
Sho’s romantic side did a happy dance. "In that case. Shall we?"
Aiba slipped his hand into Sho’s and nodded. Due to the frisson of excitement which flowed through him as their fingers met, he was temporarily unable to form words.
"Perhaps we could stop off along the way, and buy some sunflower seeds." Sho led Aiba towards the door. "I still owe your boys for the ones that I ate."
"Then you should definitely go home with me tonight, so you can give them to Hassun and Jo yourself," Aiba replied, throwing subtlety to the wind.
"That would be wonderful." Sho floated the rest of the way out of the office. He felt that if not for Aiba acting as an anchor, he would bump his head on the ceiling.
Pairings: Sakuraiba, Matsumiya
Genres: AU, slice of life, office au, enemies to more
Rating: G
Summary: Sho and Aiba share a desk and switch between the office and working from home, so they are never there at the same time. They both get frustrated with how the other one organises the shared space and tell each other that through notes.
Annoyed by the problems that Aiba causes him, Sho can’t wait to finally meet him and tell him what he thinks about him. But when they do meet, Sho doesn’t expect Aiba to look… like this.
"Look at this! Just look!" Sho slapped a piece of paper on Nino's desk and stabbed at it with his finger.
"Another note?' Nino drawled. He didn't need to look up from his phone screen to guess what Sho was ranting about.
Sho scowled and puffed out his cheeks. "Why aren't you ever interested in what I have to say?"
Jun leaned over Nino’s shoulder and slid the piece of paper closer. He gave it a cursory glance and shrugged. "That’s because we've seen it all before. Thank goodness you two will finally meet at the company picnic next month. You can sort things out between you and stop interrupting our work."
"Ooh, Matsumoto-san, I love it when you sound all business-like," Nino cooed sarcastically at his boyfriend.
Jun gave him one of his trademarked glares, which bounced harmlessly off Nino, who had been impervious to Jun’s rage long before they’d even kissed for the first time.
Seeing that he was getting nowhere with his friends, Sho grabbed the note and scribbled a pithy response before dumping it back in the middle of his shared workspace.
There were advantages and disadvantages to partially working from home, Sho had realised about a week after he began the arrangement.
It was refreshing to not have to spend an hour each way crammed onto public transport, along with a few thousand people each morning. And working in a pair of sweatpants and a faded t-shirt was definitely more comfortable than strangling himself with a tie each morning when getting dressed.
Unfortunately, Sho also found his workaholic tendencies came to the fore, and he would often still be at his computer long after midnight. After pulling an all-nighter, it was actually quite relaxing to go to the office and go out for a meal with Nino and Jun after finishing work at a reasonable time.
Jun was almost as bad as Sho when it came to working long hours and was actually more of a perfectionist. Fortunately, Nino was there to make sure that they got out of the office at a reasonable hour. Despite spending large portions of his working day playing games on his phone, Nino always got his work done on time. And when Nino was ready to leave for the day, he made sure that Jun and Sho were ready to leave with him. Jun, because he was his boyfriend, and Sho, because he was always happy to pay for the drinks.
##
Aiba hummed along with the music as he rode the elevator up to the office. He adjusted his black-framed glasses on his nose and snapped a quick selfie of his face reflected in the mirrored wall. Not because he was vain, but because he couldn’t remember whether he’d brushed his hair before leaving his apartment.
Working from home part-time meant that he had plenty of time to tend to his pets, a very cute duo of golden hamsters named Jo and Hassun. Golden hamsters are usually solitary animals that don't like to share their space, but these two had bonded at the pet store and were inseparable. Even though Jo sometimes pretended to not like all of the affection Hassun showed him. Hassun had a cute face and plump little butt, while Jo was surprisingly athletic for a hamster, and spent quite a lot of time playing with a ball on the floor of their luxurious cage when he wasn’t snuggling with Hassun.
It was a little lonely though since his roommate Ohno was rarely at home, and even when he was, he wasn’t exactly a man of many words. At the office, Aiba could always rely on Nino and Jun to keep him entertained with their bickering. It was obvious that they loved each other, but displayed it in the strangest of ways.
In fact, Aiba’s life was just about perfect. The only thing which dimmed the sunshine of his days was the fact that he appeared to be sharing his workspace with the most annoying person ever. They’d never met, and Aiba was definitely in no hurry to change things.
As always, the desk was covered in crumbs and other mysterious blobs of spilled food. There were coffee rings on the desk blotter and Aiba’s photograph of Jo and Hassun had been placed face down. He picked it up and brushed cake crumbs off Hassun’s nose before putting it back where it belonged.
There was a slip of paper sitting in the middle of the desk in a position where it was impossible to miss. Despite the grease stain in the corner, the words were still legible.
A ball with a bell inside rolled off the desk onto the floor and I spilled coffee on my suit jacket when I stepped on it and slipped. Please be more careful next time.
In the desk drawer where Aiba kept his supplies, he found the green and red striped ball which he’d purchased as a gift for Jo-hamster’s birthday. He’d wondered what had happened to it, and now he’d realised that he must’ve left it behind when last in the office.
There was something about the tone of the note which got under his skin, as always. Aiba could feel the smugness radiating through the piece of paper which he screwed up and tossed in the bin.
##
“Why was he so worried about a mark on his jacket? I mean, with the way he covers the desk with bits of food, I would think that it’s a regular occurrence,” Aiba grumbled.
Jun refilled Aiba’s glass with beer and nodded sympathetically. “Sho-kun once dropped a piece of sushi down my collar when he leaned over my shoulder to look at a spreadsheet.”
“Give him a break, you two. He often eats at his desk because he works too hard to have time to have a proper lunch,” Nino said in Sho’s defence.
“That’s not what you said when he dropped mayonnaise on your phone screen and you had to restart an entire level,” Jun pointed out. “But you’re right, Sho is actually a really nice guy. Just reserve judgement until you meet him in person.”
“Hmmm, I’m not convinced,” Aiba replied cautiously. “And I’m not even sure that I’m going to the picnic. Hassun and Jo have a vet appointment on that day.”
“We all know that it doesn’t take all day to trim hamsters' nails, even when there are eight feet involved,” Nino said. “You’ll have plenty of time to make it after the boys have had their appointment.”
Jun refilled Aiba’s glass and looked at him with his best wide-eyed gaze. “Don’t you want to spend time with us?”
Nino piled on the guilt with a pout. “I thought we were friends.”
Even though Aiba knew he was being played, it was still impossible to resist the two pairs of exaggeratedly sad eyes being aimed at him. “Fine! You win. I’ll come. But you’d better make sure that you keep that Sakurai guy well away from me.”
##
Sorry to interrupt your work, Sakurai-san, but did you happen to see a bag of sunflower seeds? I think I might have left them on the desk. My hamsters Jo and Hassun will be forever grateful if you find them since they are one of their favourite treats.
“Pet food!!!!” Sho frantically pulled the empty wrapper out of the bin to check. “Euuughh blech yuck!!!”
Jun dashed over and stared at Sho in confusion. He was closely followed by Nino who wore an evil grin as he asked, “Something the matter, Sho-chan?”
“Pet food! I ate pet food!” Sho shrieked. “I’m going to die.”
Jun snatched the plastic bag out of Sho’s hand while Nino leaned on Sho’s desk behind him and laughed. Jun poked Nino to make him quiet and examined the package. “This doesn’t say that it isn’t for human consumption. It just says it contains sunflower seeds. I’ve seen similar packages in the health food store I shop at.”
“Where did you even find it? The vending machine certainly doesn’t sell anything remotely healthy. Thank goodness.” Nino said, earning himself a glare from Jun, who was always trying, without success, to improve his diet.
Sho stopped wiping his tongue with his handkerchief, and replied, “They were on the desk. I thought that Jun-kun had left them there for me since my idea of what constitutes a tasty snack seems to disgust him.”
“I’m not disgusted,” Jun protested, “I’m only worried about your health.”
“There, there.” Nino patted Jun’s shoulder reassuringly. “We all know that you have our best interests at heart, even if you are a little too obsessed with food which has had all of the fun extracted from it.”
“No fun?” Jun narrowed his eyes dangerously.
Sho hastily intervened. “No fun is probably the wrong choice of words. It’s just that it’s hard for us mere mortals to understand the difference between five different kinds of room-temperature water.”
“And even harder to understand why plain water can be so damn expensive,” Nino grumbled.
“ANYWAY,” Jun interrupted. “What makes you think that you ate pet food?”
“Another one of those notes from Aiba-san.” Sho dangled the offending piece of paper in front of Jun’s face. Somehow the fact that the page was pale green and had a border of tiny scampering squirrels made it even more irritating.
Jun snatched the slip away from his face so that he could read it properly. "This doesn't say anything about pet food. Only that they are the boys' favourite treat. And to be fair, he didn’t deliberately feed them to you."
"So you say, but I don't trust that guy," Sho mumbled.
##
His coffee tasted particularly good, and the sun was shining as Aiba made his way through the entrance to the office building. The company picnic was only a week away, and it looked as if the weather was going to continue to be fine and hot. Unfortunately.
Jun and Nino were adamant that he should meet Sakurai and sort out their differences, but Aiba wasn't so sure that it was such a great idea. It felt like the note war between them had heated up since Sakurai had greedily eaten Jo and Hassun’s treats. Nino had reenacted Sho’s freak out about eating pet food for him. And while Aiba had laughed because Nino was always hilarious, he found it quite insulting that Sho thought that he would feed the boys food not fit for human consumption.
If pressed, Aiba had to admit that Sakurai's work was impeccable. Unlike his desk-sharing skills. Only yesterday Aiba’s computer mouse had become stuck to the desk in what appeared to be a blob of congealed sweet and sour sauce.
##
The hamster photograph was facing upwards again as Sho took a seat at his shared desk. He hated to admit it, but the two pairs of beady little eyes on them kind of freaked him out. They were definitely cute little critters, but whenever he ate at his desk it felt as if they were judging his food choices from behind their prettily decorated frame. He had more than enough judgy faces aimed at him by Jun on the days he needed a hit of fat or sugar to get him through the afternoon.
It had been quite a surprise to hear the rumour floating around the office that their latest contract had been awarded due to the fact that the CEO of the company had apparently admired Aiba-san. It was slightly galling for Sho to have spent hours on meticulously prepared spreadsheets and graphs only to hear that Aiba had celebrated the deal over dinner with the notoriously bad-tempered and difficult client.
It was great for business, but Sho couldn’t help feeling slightly jealous. This Aiba must be some kind of miracle worker, or was he using other means to gain success? Jun and Nino had said that Aiba and the CEO had bonded while sharing photographs of their pets. If it turned out that Aiba-san was unfairly using underhanded ways to get ahead at work then Sho wanted nothing to do with him.
##
"I'm not sure about that shirt, Sho-chan." Nino circled around Sho and examined his outfit with a critical eye.
Jun frowned and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He tilted his head to view Sho from a different angle. What he saw made him close his eyes to block out the painful sight. "Why the camouflage pattern? Are you hoping that Aiba-chan won't be able to see you?"
"What’s wrong with it?" Sho pulled the front of his shirt out and almost went cross-eyed trying to see if there was a button missing or something.
"Nothing, if worn by itself…" Jun tried to be tactful. "But when paired with camouflage patterned cargo shorts, it might be a teeny bit too much."
Nino, on the other hand, told Sho exactly what he thought of his outfit. "You look like you're on your way to a fancy dress party, dressed as a vintage G.I. Joe doll on summer vacation."
Sho couldn’t see the problem and decided that he needed to defend himself. "These cargo shorts are really practical." He patted a bulging pocket. "I've got my phone and wallet in here. Plus the salesman said they're fashionable right now."
"Working on commission, was he?" Nino drawled.
Jun poked Nino between the shoulder blades. "Don't be mean. Sho can't help that he has the fashion sense of a blind chicken."
While Nino snorted with laughter and high-fived Jun, who was giggling uncontrollably, Sho huffed and hitched up his shorts.
Jun wiped his eyes and tried to help Sho. "Do you have a t-shirt on under that? Because if you unbutton the shirt the solid colour will break up the camouflage pattern a bit."
After spending the morning catching up on the extra work Aiba had created thanks to the new contract, Sho had been late getting ready for the picnic. And after hastily working his way through most of the contents of his wardrobe without being able to decide what to wear, Sho had been flustered enough to throw on the next things to come to hand. He couldn’t quite remember what he had on beneath the overshirt, but it definitely didn't have a camouflage pattern.
Nino and Jun watched Sho unbutton his shirt with a mixture of horror and amusement.
"Khaki! Nino cackled, while Jun buried his face in his hands.
"It's not like it matters anyway," Sho pouted. "It's only a company picnic."
"But it's your first time meeting Aiba," Jun reminded him. "Don't you want to make a good impression?"
"Not particularly." Sho frowned and crossed his arms defensively. "I think he has bigger fish to fry."
"What do you mean?" Jun had no idea what Sho was talking about. He looked at Nino, who shrugged.
"It seems to me that he's only interested in people who can advance his career, and I'm definitely not someone who can do that."
Nino was just as confused as Jun as to why Sho seemed to have ramped up his dislike of Aiba when they still hadn't even met. "Huh?"
Even as the words came out of his mouth, Sho felt petty. But somehow he couldn't help himself. "Since I'm no CEO, I doubt that I am of any use to Aiba-san."
"Sho, that's unfair! Aiba isn't…" Jun's defence of Aiba ended abruptly.
There was a sudden clattering directly behind them as a stack of folding chairs collapsed in a messy avalanche.
##
Aiba didn't mean to eavesdrop on the conversation, and he wished that he hadn’t heard Sho’s doubts about his motives.
It was only because he'd been stopped in his tracks at the sight of the handsome man chatting animatedly with Jun and Nino.
Although at first, it wasn't his looks that had grabbed Aiba’s attention. It was the camouflage on camouflage clothing. But beneath the cargo shorts with bulging pockets, there was a very shapely pair of legs, which immediately distracted him from the questionable clothing.
When the figure turned around, Aiba noticed a pair of intelligent round eyes, fine cheekbones and plump heart-shaped lips. His libido gave him a poke and his eyes widened at the pleasurable view.
This was Sakurai-san? The slob? The clothes fit Aiba’s mental picture of the man, but his looks were definitely unexpected. When Nino had described Aiba’s deskmate as an idol, it had been Aiba’s assumption that he was being sarcastic.
The embers of desire were effectively snuffed out by Sho's words which cast doubts on Aiba’s ethics and work methods.
In an unconscious attempt to distance himself from Sho’s suspicions Aiba took a step back right into the stack of chairs waiting to be placed around the picnic tables.
As the pile collapsed in a noisy heap Aiba made a hasty exit before his three colleagues realised what he had overheard.
##
After walking a circuit around the park to calm himself, Aiba ended up back at the messy scattering of chairs. He smiled as he saw Nino and Jun looking cute in casual summer clothes. "Can I help?"
"About time Aiba-chan. My back isn't made for this kind of work," Nino grumbled from where he sat on one of the chairs.
"You picked up one chair." Jun wiped the sweat from his brow and glared at his boyfriend. "The one you're sitting on right now."
"You'd better help Jun before he blows a gasket," Nino said. "Or perhaps you'd like to help out Sho," he added with an eyebrow wiggle.
Jun leaned on a chair and looked over to where Sho was standing as still as a statue. "Finally you two get to meet. Sho? Come and say hello to your deskmate."
There was no response from Sho because his brain felt as if its hard drive was malfunctioning. This was Aiba Masaki? His deskmate? Parent to two hamsters? This godlike vision? With perfect hair, almond-shaped eyes, a slender figure and a contagious smile? How did he manage to look as if he’d just stepped off a catwalk while wearing knee-length shorts and a t-shirt decorated with the logo of an edgy local band?
Sho's traitorous heart knocked insistently on his chest wall in an attempt to attract his attention. His brain finally rebooted and quelled his excitement as it reminded him that he suspected that this Aiba-san was operating in a morally grey fashion to gain favour at work.
"Good morning, Aiba-san. I am pleased to meet you," Sho said formally.
"Good morning, Sakurai-san. I am pleased to meet you also," Aiba replied stiffly.
There was an uncomfortable silence as they faced each other but avoided eye contact.
Sho folded his arms and looked down at the ground. "Thank you for your hard work."
"That’s mighty formal talk coming from someone who has eighty percent of their body covered in camouflage clothing." The unexplained tension made Nino attempt to lighten the mood.
Jun stepped over to Sho and took hold of his elbow. "I need some help. Over there. Now."
Before Sho could reply, Jun dragged him away behind a large maple tree. "What’s wrong with you? I've seen icebergs that are warmer than you right now. Why are you acting like this towards Aiba-chan?"
Sho felt like a heel, but he had put in too many hours at work to allow Aiba to breeze along on his charms. He quashed the nagging voice in the back of his mind which told him that he was being unreasonable and that nobody with a sunny smile like Aiba's could be a bad person. "The new account. I don't approve of the way Aiba-san landed that account. Flirting shouldn't count for more than hard work."
Jun’s eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes narrowed dangerously.
Sho cringed and attempted to escape to a safe distance, but Jun’s grip on his elbow kept him anchored in the danger zone.
Jun’s eyes flashed angrily, but when he spoke his words were eerily calm. "Aiba didn't bring in the new account. That was Nino."
The world tilted slightly on its axis and Sho was grateful for Jun’s hand on his arm, even though Jun’s grip was tight enough to hurt. "What?"
"The day before Aiba had dinner with the CEO, Nino had already won the contract, using the excellent proposal put together by Aiba the day before." Jun released Sho and looked across to where Aiba was doing Nino’s bidding. "The CEO originally invited Nino to dinner, but since Nino is practically a hermit and sucks at making small talk, he sent Aiba in his place."
"Oh," Sho felt the same size as the tiny black ant which was currently walking across the toe of his shoe. It was preferable to watch it than to see the disdain which was surely in Jun’s eyes right then.
"Indeed," Jun replied coldly. "Aiba was simply doing Nino a favour."
Since Sho’s wish for a random sinkhole to open up beneath his feet didn't materialise, he was forced to face the reality of his own jealousy and stupidity. He pointed to his chin. "You can punch me right here."
"I think if anyone is going to be doing any punching, it should be Aiba," Nino said loudly, way too close to Sho’s ear.
"Aaaarrgghhh!" Sho almost leapt out of his skin. He hadn’t heard Nino approaching due to the thudding in his head, which was probably the sound of his brain attempting to escape from his idiocy.
"Having a heart attack is not going to get you out of this." Nino poked Sho. "At least not before you apologise to Aiba-chan."
"Um, no punching necessary." Aiba had reluctantly trailed along after Nino, and only just arrived as Nino spoke. He was confused, but he definitely didn't want anybody to punch anyone else. By the bits of conversation he'd overheard just now between Sho and Jun, it seemed as if there had been some sort of misunderstanding. But it still hurt. A lot. He wasn’t ready to forgive Sho any time soon, but he didn't want to ruin the day for everyone. He decided that the best thing to do was to ignore the situation altogether. "What else can I do to help before everyone else arrives?"
Sho couldn’t believe that Aiba was letting him off the hook so easily. The knot in his stomach loosened slightly, but he could still feel where Jun’s fingers had been as a reminder of his stupidity. It would be better for everyone if he went home right now to work on a grovelling letter of apology to leave for Aiba in the office on Monday.
"We need more ice. Why don't you and Sho-chan go and buy some?" Nino asked with an 'innocent' smile.
The last thing that Aiba wanted was to be alone with Sho right now, or so he thought, but his traitorous tongue apparently had other ideas. "Sure thing. I saw a convenience store not too far away."
Since he was busy thinking about how to word his apology, it took Sho a moment to notice that everyone was looking at him expectantly. Jun, in particular, had an expression on his face that sent a chill up Sho's spine. Although he had no idea what had been said, Sho decided that it was safer to simply agree. "Great."
Jun handed over a credit card. "The boss gave me this to use for any extras. We probably need about four bags."
"Bags?" I wonder what they're waffling about, Sho wondered vaguely. He couldn’t take his eyes off Aiba. The man was stunning. Sho knew that he had ruined his chances with Aiba, but couldn't help thinking about what might have been.
Nino gave him a puzzled look. "I suppose you could try carrying it in your bare hands but you might have frostbite by the time you get it back here."
"Frostbite?" The fog in Sho’s mind dissolved but was replaced by fresh confusion. "What are we talking about again?"
Nino rolled his eyes and wondered when Sho had become such an idiot. He followed Sho’s eye line over to where Aiba and Jun had moved away to check out the coolers, and it all became clear. "Ice. You and Aiba are going to buy ice. Together. Alone. Together."
"How can we be alone, if we're together?"
"Humble apologies to the grammar police," Nino’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You're missing the point. This is your chance to make it up to Aiba for acting like a jealous fool."
Sho's cheeks burned with shame. "I'm not sure that will be possible."
"It's easy. Just turn on your Sakurai charms," Nino advised. "They don't work on me, but Aiba is definitely the susceptible type."
##
From the glances Aiba managed to direct out of the corner of his eye, Sho had a perfect profile. Which made sense really, since the rest of the man was also perfect. From his bouncy butt to his neatly cut, glossy hair with a sexy undercut on the right side, Aiba could find no fault.
Pity the same couldn’t be said for Sho’s dress sense, or for his misguided opinion of Aiba’s character. Aiba shook his head to erase any thoughts about Sho’s hotness. It's not like he needed anyone anyway. He had the boys at home to keep him company. Admittedly, they weren't great at making conversation, but they were always happy to see him when he came home from work and would greet him with a happy chirrup.
As they headed across the park, Sho wondered what Aiba was thinking about. The fond smile on Aiba’s face was definitely not there because of him. There were so many things he wanted to say to Aiba and do to make up for his disrespect. But the words wouldn't form, and the walk to the store was completed in frosty silence.
The store was quite big, and they had to trawl up the aisles to find the freezer containing the bags of ice.
A middle-aged lady was handing out samples of a new brand of mini spicy sausages, and Sho eagerly shoved two into his mouth and chewed happily. His cheeks bulged and his eyes sparkled. He gave her a dazzling smile. "I will definitely buy some of these on my next grocery run."
Since he wanted to get this trip over with as soon as possible, Aiba didn't stop to try one of the samples, but the vision of Sho looking cute with his stuffed cheeks remained imprinted in his brain.
As they walked past a large display of chocolates and other sweets, Aiba slowed down. There were treasures to be found in these small stores. They often carried limited edition or seasonal versions of his favourite treats. "Ooh! Honeydew melon-flavoured Kit-Kat!"
The expression of glee on Aiba’s face, caused Sho’s heart to do silly things. "Do you like chocolate?"
The joy was replaced by caution, as Aiba turned to Sho and replied, "Yes. My roommate Ohno and I have formed a two-person sweets club. We take turns finding new treats we haven't tried before."
Sho found the idea intriguing. He was a great fan of food in any form. "That sounds really interesting."
Aiba looked sad. "Recently, Ohno's been away for work a lot, so I've kind of been trying to eat healthily."
"Jun been on your back?"
Aiba met Sho’s eyes for the first time and smiled. "He's really scary when he starts talking about kale."
Sho laughed and clapped his hands with glee. "Kale is one of the healthiest foods. It should be a component of your daily breakfast green smoothie." His imitation of Jun wasn't perfect, but it was good enough to draw a giggle out of Aiba.
Aiba was horrified that Sho was worming his way under his skin so easily. The fact that Sho appeared to be funny, as well as handsome, made it hard to maintain his feelings of anger. He decided that it would be best to try and maintain a safe distance, just as soon as this errand was over.
##
To Sho’s dismay, after the slight thaw in Aiba’s attitude towards him, the rest of their errand was completed in an atmosphere almost as cold as the bags of ice they'd lugged back to the park.
Aiba’s smile remained imprinted in Sho’s brain, and the five-kilo bags of ice felt like feathers in his hands. How could he have shared a desk with Aiba for so long without the slightest inkling of how hot he actually was? Of course, since all he'd had to go on was the photograph of two hamsters, and the odd chocolate wrapper, he couldn’t really expect to know better.
It was hard to ignore the veins which stood out on Sho’s forearms as he carried the ice, but Aiba tried. Really, really, tried. Without success. He was weak to guys who were strong, and also apparently to guys who reminded him of his hamsters. He shook his head to dispel the memory of Sho’s cheeks stuffed with food.
Nino and Jun were nowhere in sight when they reached the canvas gazebo which shaded the cooling boxes from the sun. There were two chairs set up close together next to a small table that held a bag of potato chips and two plastic beer glasses. The whole arrangement, including the lack of co-workers, was obviously part of their attempt to get Aiba and Sho to settle their differences.
"They're not exactly subtle, are they?" Sho was secretly thankful for their interference, but he was smart enough to not let Aiba see how happy he was to spend more time together.
"Nino doesn't know the meaning of the word." Aiba expected this of Nino. He was surprised that Jun seemed just as keen for him to get along with Sho. It made him think that Sho was a better person than he'd seen so far. Maybe. He decided to carry on with their mission and not think about it. "Let's get this ice in the coolers. There's nothing worse than warm beer."
Rather than the usual metal ring holding the top of the bags closed, the ice was completely sealed. As Sho tugged at the seam at the top of one of the bags, Aiba pulled a small folding knife out of his pocket. The blade turned out to be rather blunt, and he cursed Ohno under his breath for not sharpening it after borrowing it for his last camping trip.
Not to be defeated, Aiba hacked at the tough plastic. It stubbornly denied him the opportunity to prove to Sho that he had valuable skills.
Sho couldn’t take it as he watched Aiba struggle to cut the bag open. "Let me help."
"I'm perfectly capable of doing it by myself," Aiba replied defiantly. "Ow!"
Aiba looked down helplessly as blood dripped from the palm of his hand onto the grass. He wasn't usually this clumsy. Somehow Sakurai’s dark eyes were having an unexpected effect on him.
"So stubborn." Sho didn’t have a handkerchief, but he found a packet of tissues in his pocket. He folded several together and grabbed Aiba’s hand. He pressed them firmly against Aiba’s palm and apologised when Aiba winced. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"You could’ve fooled me," Aiba snapped. "You doubted my work ethic and abilities. I helped Nino to win that account because of my creative ideas. Not because the client was attracted to me. Although I don't even know why you would think that in the first place." He pushed his glasses up his nose and scowled. "I'm not elegant like Jun, or cute like Nino, or handsome like you."
For a moment Sho feared that he might swallow his own tongue. He inadvertently squeezed Aiba’s hand, making him yelp. After loosening his grip, he asked, "You think I’m handsome? And by the way, have you never looked at yourself in a mirror? You're gorgeous."
Aiba blushed and looked down to where Sho’s hand was gripping his lightly before he remembered that he was angry with him. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "I noticed that you didn't apologise for dismissing my work."
Sho wanted to smack himself for his bad temper, and for doubting Aiba’s ability because of jealousy. "I'm sorry Aiba-san. I was out of line when I said that. I don't know you well enough to be so judgemental."
"It's funny really. We spend so much time in the same space, but never at the same time," Aiba replied. "It’s hard to get to know someone you never see or talk to. Apart from the notes you leave me. Many notes."
"Ah. The notes." Sho nodded. "You also leave me many, many, notes."
The trace of a smile flickered across Aiba’s face as he remembered some of the notes which had passed between them. "I still can't believe that you ate Jo and Hassun’s seeds. They were so disappointed."
"They were disappointed? I thought I was going to die!" Sho complained.
"Because of a few sunflower seeds?"
"Not just a few. I ate the whole bag full." Sho realised that this was not a good thing, but something about Aiba made him want to tell him everything.
Aiba’s eyes grew wide and he looked at Sho with astonishment. "The whole bag? Not even my Hassun could eat that many, and he loves those seeds almost as much as he loves my other hamster, Jo-chan."
"Your hamsters are really important to you, aren't they?" Sho had never had a pet of his own, but it sounded nice to have someone to come home to. Even if they were small and furry.
"Apart from Nino, Jun, and Ohno, I don't have a lot of friends here. They're all back home in Chiba."
The gloomy expression on Aiba’s face, made Sho feel as if the sun had gone behind a cloud. He knew exactly how Aiba felt. Actually, he probably was even worse off. He didn't have cute pets or even a roommate for company. "I know what you mean. Living in a big city can be really lonely."
As he checked the cut on Aiba’s hand, Sho was struck by the realisation that this was the only physical contact that he'd had with anyone for weeks. (The pervert who'd squeezed his ass one morning about a week ago on a packed train definitely didn't count.)
"You too?" Aiba felt his heart thawing. Somehow, it was reassuring to know that he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. It didn't fit with the mental picture that he'd created of Sho, and he began to wonder if their problems had stemmed from a genuine misunderstanding.
"I apologise for what I said earlier. It was foolish of me to doubt you, and your abilities. If you can forgive me, I would like us to be friends." Sho held his breath as he waited for Aiba’s response.
Aiba could read the sincerity in Sho’s eyes, and feel the nervous sweat on Sho's palm where it still cradled his injured hand. "Apology accepted. You can make it up to me by plying me with beer at this picnic if it ever begins."
It wasn't in Aiba’s nature to hold a grudge, so even if he hadn't fancied Sho rotten, he would still have given the same answer. He had to admit though, that he would rather be more than just friends.
"Thank you. I'm so relieved." Sho wanted to do a happy dance and get to know Aiba better at the picnic, but Aiba’s hand was still a concern. "This cut looks deep. I'll text Jun to ask him to come and have a look. I think that you might need a stitch or two."
"Really? Are you sure?" Aiba swallowed hard and tried to will the cut to stop bleeding. If there was something that Aiba hated, it was hospitals. When he was younger, he had a problem with his lungs and was a regular visitor to the paediatric ward. Even now the thought of walking through those doors made him shiver.
The apprehension on Aiba’s face was clear to Sho. Sho immediately grasped the opportunity to help him out and hopefully redeem himself in Aiba’s eyes. "I'm afraid so. But I'm more than happy to keep you company. That is if you don't mind."
"That would be great. But what about the picnic?" Aiba didn't want to ruin the day for everyone.
"Jun will pack you a lunch box." Nino walked towards them across the grass, unfolding a brown paper shopping bag.
The way that Nino always popped up out of the blue regularly freaked Sho out. The man seemed to have either weird spidey senses or some sort of all-seeing surveillance system. It was easy to picture Nino as a ninja in a previous existence, happily committing murder for Jun, his Lord and master.
Jun looked at Aiba’s hand and winced. It looked painful. "I agree with Sho. You need to get someone to take a look at that. I will put a couple of drinks in there too. It can be a long wait at the E.D."
While Sho and Jun packed up the food, Nino sidled over to Aiba and spoke quietly. "That’s one way to get some alone time with Sho, but I wouldn't recommend doing it on a regular basis. You've only got a limited amount of blood to give up for the cause."
"It's not like that." Aiba twiddled with the wad of tissues covering his wound. "But we have agreed to be friends."
"Friends. Suuuuure," Nino drawled. "Veeery smooth."
"It's not like that," Aiba protested while wishing that it was.
##
Sitting in the waiting room at the emergency department of their local hospital was not Sho’s ideal location for a potential first date, but he was determined to use the time to get to know Aiba better. And also to distract him from their surroundings. It was clear that Aiba was nervous about being in a hospital situation. "Aiba-san, earlier you said that you come from Chiba. Is that where your family lives?"
"Yes," Aiba replied proudly. "My parents run the best Chinese restaurant in Japan there."
Sho laughed. Aiba looked so cute, making it impossible to resist teasing him. "The best in Japan? Really?"
"You're only laughing because you haven't tasted their spring rolls yet." Aiba pulled a series of photos up on his phone and showed them to Sho. "My Dad's mapo tofu has to be tasted to be believed. You should try it someday."
Sho leaned close to Aiba and smiled. "Well, maybe I will."
"Well, maybe you should," Aiba bumped shoulders with Sho and grinned.
Sho steeled himself to take a risk and invite himself to visit the restaurant with Aiba when a nurse came and called Aiba away to be treated. Foiled.
##
Aiba was already numb before the local anaesthetic was injected into the palm of his hand. It was hard to get his head around the attraction he felt towards Sho, but even harder to understand that it was (perhaps) reciprocated. How had they slipped seamlessly from dislike and distrust to almost flirting?
His phone pinged with a message from Jun, and he earned a glare from the doctor stitching his hand when he went to pick it up and read it. Since Aiba was more afraid of Jun than someone he would never see again, he picked it up anyway.
Jun: Are you two friends yet? Did you discover that he’s not the bad guy that you think he is?
Aiba: I admit that he’s not all bad
Nino: You’re blushing right now aren’t you?
Jun: Nino! Get out of this conversation
Nino: Nope! I am in this LINE group and I am going to make sure that you get those two idiots together just like we discussed
Jun: Very subtle I don’t think
Aiba: You discussed Sho and I???????? OMG
Jun: We have talked about the fact that we think that you two are perfect for each other yes
Nino:You would be the perfect person to loosen Sho up he needs a good boinking
Jun: Nino if you don’t leave this conversation right now you won't be getting any boinking for a veeeeeery long time
Nino: Fine but before I go I just want to say that Aiba and Sho together as a couple would make the world a happier place and that you owe me sex tonight.
Jun: As much as it pains me to say it, Nino is right. You and Sho were meant to be. I know you got off on the wrong foot with each other but I think that you could make each other very happy. You just need to give each other a chance. And now if you will excuse me I am off to give Nino a big kiss.
Nino: Not sex????
Jun: I am choosing to ignore that. Good luck Aiba!!!!
Aiba giggled and the doctor gave him an odd look. Apparently, they'd never seen anyone so happy to have three stitches in their hand.
To be honest, Aiba wasn't feeling any pain, and it wasn’t just because of the anaesthetic.
##
Sho’s heart skipped a beat when Aiba emerged from the treatment room wearing a dreamy expression. Aiba was so handsome, and the crisp white bandage on his hand lent him an air of vulnerability which triggered Sho's protective instincts.
Their eyes met and the usual noises of a busy hospital and the busy staff members dashing back and forth faded into a background blur. For the first time, Aiba looked at him without distrust or anger, and Sho melted.
Sho wanted to offer Aiba the world, but all he had close to hand was a paper bag filled with snacks and a bunch of flowers which he’d hastily purchased at the gift shop. He thrust the flowers at Aiba. "Sorry for being an idiot. Please forgive me."
Aiba laughed as he examined the bouquet of white and pale pink roses. There was a small pink bear attached to the side wearing a tiara and a sash that read 'It's a Girl!'
"It was all they had. Let me get rid of that." Sho tried to snatch the bear away, but Aiba held the bouquet out of reach.
"Don't you dare," Aiba protested with a twinkle in his eyes. "I'm keeping this forever, as a memento.”
Momentarily rendered speechless, Sho could only nod and look on admiringly as Aiba rubbed the soft fluffy bear against his cheek.
“Why don’t we find somewhere nice to eat that food you’ve been carrying around with you?” Aiba asked.
“Are you sure that you don’t want to go back to the picnic?” Sho really didn’t want to ask, but he felt that he should.
“And waste the food that Jun prepared?” Aiba widened his eyes in mock fear. “Do you want to die?”
“No! Especially not right now when we are finally…!” Sho hastily stopped talking and then blushed furiously.
“Agreed,” Aiba said softly and looked almost as pink.
##
Two days after the picnic, Aiba caught himself whistling on the bus on the way to work.
Apparently, other people had heard him too. An elderly lady smiled and handed him a wrapped candy. He mirrored her smile and happily popped the sweet into his mouth.
At the time he'd been sure of their connection, but now that the weekend was over and the working week was upon them, he wondered if Sho was having second thoughts.
Nino pounced before the elevator doors were fully open. "What did you two get up to before you finally joined us back at the picnic?"
"Who? What?" Aiba stumbled slightly as Nino grabbed him by the end of his tie. It was way too early in the morning to try and figure out what Nino was so agitated about.
"Sho! You two looked very cosy when you finally came back from the hospital."
Aiba ducked his head and blushed, but he was determined to keep his private life out of Nino's hands for as long as possible. There were some things that should remain private, no matter how insistent Nino might be. He tried to put Nino off with the blandest response possible. "We settled our differences. I hope we can work amiably together."
"I think he is aiming for something more romantic." Nino fluttered his eyelashes and smirked.
"As if you know anything about romance," Jun snorted. He ignored Nino's protests and took Aiba by the elbow. "I think that Sho left something on your desk for you."
Aiba’s heart sank as he allowed Jun to drag him into the office. Perhaps he'd been mistaken about Sho after all. "Not another note?"
"Something much better," Jun said with a flourish.
Aiba jerked to a halt and blinked rapidly as he tried to make sense of the sight in front of him.
The desk was barely visible beneath a glittering mountain of Kit-Kat chocolates which were mounded up in the shape of a huge heart.
Nino leaned around Aiba and snapped a photo with his phone. "I need to get a photo of this so I can torture Sho with it later."
"Leave Sho alone. There's nothing wrong with being romantic." Jun snatched the phone out of Nino's hand and slipped it into his pocket. "You should try it sometime."
Nino made a kissy face at Jun and waggled his eyebrows. "What about last night when we were in bed together?"
"That was athletic, rather than romantic." Jun tried to look stern but failed dismally.
Aiba stuck his fingers in his ears. "La la la la, I'm not listening. Please spare me any gory details about what you two get up to in the bedroom."
"I have video footage if my description isn't to your liking," Nino generously offered.
"You what?!" Jun yanked Nino's phone out of his pocket and scowled. "I'm off to erase every file on this thing."
"Noooo," Nino wailed and tried to snatch the phone back. But Jun held it above his head, just out of his reach. "There's some truly magnificent footage on there."
"There's more?!!" Jun's eyebrows sky-rocketed towards his hairline.
"Look! Sho’s here!" Nino pointed behind Jun.
When Jun turned to look, he lowered his arm slightly and Nino jumped up, snatched the phone and bolted from the room. As he ran past Sho he called out, "Hi Sho! Bye Sho!"
"Get back here!" Jun raced after him. He screeched to a halt as he drew level with Sho. "Hi Sho. I have some figures I'd like you to check when I get back from killing Nino."
Sho wondered what he'd walked into. With Jun and Nino, anything was possible. "Um…sure."
After Jun zoomed off in pursuit of his errant boyfriend, Sho became acutely aware that he was alone with Aiba, who was looking even more handsome than he had at the picnic. "Good morning, Aiba-san."
Aiba felt embarrassingly fluttery as Sho bestowed a gleaming smile upon him. "Chocolate," he blurted overly loudly. "Did you? They're from you?"
"It is. I did. They are." Sho laughed and answered each one of Aiba’s questions in turn.
"But why?" Aiba picked up one of the chocolates and admired the pink wrapper.
"Because usually all I leave you are notes. This time I wanted to leave you something nice."
"Sakura flavour. The sneaky choice to worm your way into my brain." Aiba unwrapped one and breathed the sweet scent of chocolate. "But absolutely unnecessary."
"Oh." Sho died a little inside. Apparently, he'd been wrong about the spark between them.
Aiba snapped off one of the chocolate fingers and offered one to Sho. "You look adorable when you pout."
"Oh?" The part of Sho which had wilted at Aiba’s earlier words perked up.
"Even though I enjoy your pout, there's no need for it." Aiba was thrilled by the power he apparently had over Sho. "I said that it was unnecessary because I already like you. There's no need to woo me."
"I disagree." Sho’s pout deepened as he accepted the piece of chocolate. "I'm a fantastic wooer. I am the wooiest wooer to ever exist, and I would appreciate the opportunity to continue with my wooing plan."
Aiba tried hard not to giggle. "In that case, please continue. I would hate to interfere with a good wooing."
"Is that a euphemism for something?" Nino suddenly piped up from the doorway. His hair was mussed, but he had his phone back in his hand.
"Not everyone is as smutty as you." Jun straightened his rumpled clothes as he followed Nino into the room. His pink cheeks and flushed lips explained how Nino had managed to take his phone back. He looked at Sho and Aiba, who were wearing matching amused expressions. "Sorry for interrupting you guys. Why don't you go and grab some lunch together?"
Aiba checked his watch and grinned. "Ten o'clock already? No wonder I'm famished."
"But didn't you want me to look at some figures?" Sho hated himself for asking, but his workaholic side forced him to ask the question.
"I said that I wanted you to check them after I killed Nino, and as you can see, he's still breathing, at least for the moment."
Sho’s romantic side did a happy dance. "In that case. Shall we?"
Aiba slipped his hand into Sho’s and nodded. Due to the frisson of excitement which flowed through him as their fingers met, he was temporarily unable to form words.
"Perhaps we could stop off along the way, and buy some sunflower seeds." Sho led Aiba towards the door. "I still owe your boys for the ones that I ate."
"Then you should definitely go home with me tonight, so you can give them to Hassun and Jo yourself," Aiba replied, throwing subtlety to the wind.
"That would be wonderful." Sho floated the rest of the way out of the office. He felt that if not for Aiba acting as an anchor, he would bump his head on the ceiling.
