Chapter Text
When Tooru kills the governor of California, he makes sure that Hajime sees. He looks him in the eye and sends him a kiss.
It’s a smart move, taking California. The next few states come easily enough without much trouble, but Hajime knows that the American people won’t surrender quietly, so Tooru will be busy for a little while.
They see each other again on the battlefield in Texas. Hajime has Tooru backed up against a wall, his sword pressed to his throat but not yet piercing the skin.
“You just can’t leave me alone, can you?” Tooru teases.
“Believe me, I would if I could,” Hajime says.
“Do it, then,” Tooru says. “Kill me.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Hajime says.
“A lot,” Tooru says. “Do you want a comprehensive list? My brothers can send one to you.”
Hajime’s grip on his sword relaxes a little and he frowns. “What? Don’t try to make me feel bad for you.”
“I’m not,” Tooru says.
“Hi,” Hanamaki’s voice buzzes into Hajime’s ear. “We can all hear you blatantly flirting.”
Hajime takes his helmet off with his free hand and drops it to the ground.
Tooru’s smile widens. “Oh, hello.”
“What’s the goal, Tooru?” Hajime asks. “Kill every single world leader and replace them with your own guys?”
“Yes,” Tooru says drily. “Your planet was supposed to be very easy to conquer, that’s why they sent me.”
“Easy?” Hajime didn’t expect Tooru to admit that he was bad at anything.
“I’m not the great warrior you think I am,” Tooru says.
“I don’t think you’re great,” Hajime says. Tooru laughs - hiccups, because of how dusty the air is. “If this planet was supposed to be so easy, why haven’t you conquered it yet?”
“You,” Tooru says, like it should be obvious. “The Power Rangers.”
“What are you talking about?” Hajime says.
Tooru does a little snort laugh that’s so cute it’s annoying. “You have no manners, Iwa-chan.”
“Don’t call me that,” Hajime says.
“If you’re interrogating me, the least you could do is lower your weapon,” Tooru says. “Take me to dinner, maybe.”
“I could end this right now,” Hajime says.
“Go ahead,” Tooru says. He tilts his head up, baring his neck.
Hajime hesitates. Tooru is beautiful, even with that shit eating smirk on his face and a cut on his cheek that’s staining half of his face with blood. His eyes are shining with something that Hajime doesn’t recognize.
Hajime knocks him out with the handle of his sword, tosses him over his shoulder, and takes him back to the ship.
He stands in front of the other Rangers, facing the army that’s descending onto them.
“We have your prince,” he says. “Pull back, or I’ll kill him.”
The soldiers pause, seemingly unsure of what to do. Hajime doesn’t stay to see what they decide, he takes Tooru into the ship and sets him down on a cot in the medical bay.
Suga is at his side in a moment.
“They’ve gone back to their ship,” he says, strapping Tooru’s limbs down. “I’ll run a blood test to see if I can give him a sedative to keep him down.”
“Thank you,” Hajime says quietly.
Suga gives him an unreadable look and then gets to work. Hajime hovers, just watching, as the rest of the rangers join them.
“He’s hot,” Yahaba says, and he is immediately smacked by Kyoutani. “What! Like, objectively, he’s very good looking!”
“You have no tact,” Kyoutani says.
Yahaba frowns. “You don’t even know what that word means.”
“Please shut up,” Hanamaki says to them before coming up next to Hajime. “Hey, man.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” Hajime says. He doesn’t take his eyes off of Tooru. “Whatever you have to say to me, I don’t want to hear it.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Hanamaki says. “I just want to know if you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” Hajime says. Suga finishes what he’s doing and guides Yahaba, Kyoutani, and Daichi out of the room. Hajime sits on the empty cot and Hanamaki stays leaning against the doorframe. “He wasn’t scared.”
“Of what?” Hanamaki asks.
“Dying,” Hajime says. “I had my sword to his throat, I could have killed him, and he wasn’t scared.”
“Probably because he knew that you weren’t going to kill him,” Hanamaki says. “You’re soft. You couldn’t kill a fly, even if you tried.”
“It wasn’t that,” Hajime says. “It almost seemed like he wanted to die. He wanted me to kill him.”
“You can’t run suicide interference for the alien prince that’s trying to take over our planet,” Hanamaki says as gently as he can. “I know you like him, but he’s the enemy. We want him dead too.”
“I asked what was wrong with him and he made a joke about how his brothers have a list,” Hajime continues. “He said he was sent here because it was supposed to be easy. The empire - his family - they don’t think very much of him.”
“Dude,” Hanamaki says. “You are the kindest person in the world, that’s always been your strength, but you can’t help him. This is one thing you can’t fix. I’m sorry.”
“I know,” Hajime says. “I just - I wish things were different.”
Hanamaki doesn’t say anything and leaves.
Tooru wakes up with a start and struggles with his restraints until he sees Hajime, and he relaxes, smiling brightly. “Iwa-chan.”
Hajime rolls his eyes. “Quit smiling like that, idiot, we’ve captured you.”
“I don’t know what you could possibly hope to gain from this,” Tooru says. “I’m not actually that important.”
“You’re their leader,” Hajime says, like that should explain everything.
Tooru snorts. “Barely. They probably don’t even want me back.”
“They haven’t done a thing since we took you,” Hajime says.
“Don’t worry, I have a very capable second in command, he’s a much better leader than I am,” Tooru says. “I’m sure he’s just waiting to get a response from my father on how to continue.”
“Your father,” Hajime says. “The leader of your empire.”
“How astute of you,” Tooru remarks. “Yes, my father is the emperor. He’s a big, mean man, just like you. You two would get along well.”
“You know, I don’t think we would,” Hajime says.
Tooru laughs a little. “You might disagree with him on a few things.”
“Earlier, I asked about your plan and you said it had changed because of me,” Hajime says, trying to get to the point. “Because of the Power Rangers. What did you mean by that?”
“You’ll have to try a little harder than that, Iwa-chan,” Tooru says. “I have no incentive to give you this information.”
Hajime takes a deep breath. “Okay. What do you want?”
“A kiss,” Tooru says immediately. “From you, that is. Not the friend that I punched in the face.”
Hajime can’t stop himself from blushing. He’s thought about it, of course he’s thought about kissing Tooru, Tooru is pretty much the only thing he thinks about, but he never thought it would actually happen. It couldn’t happen, he can’t even begin to explain why it can’t happen.
Here, in this room, with barely a foot of space between them, and no one else, there’s nothing stopping them. Hajime could, if he really wanted to.
“Not happening,” he says. Tooru pouts and looks away. “Choose something else.”
“I’d appreciate it if I could get these chains off,” Tooru says, wiggling his arm in its restraint. “It’s very uncomfortable.”
“I can’t do that either,” Hajime says. “I can’t trust that you won’t hurt me.”
“You should know by now that I would never hurt you,” Tooru says and he sounds so genuine that Hajime almost believes him.
There’s a knock on the wall and they both turn to see Suga standing in the doorway. “Hey. I just wanted to tell you that we’re home.”
“Thanks, Suga,” Hajime says, getting up.
“Where are you going?” Tooru squawks, flailing against his restraints. “Are you leaving me here?”
Suga laughs and Hajime sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.
“I’m going to get you ice cream,” he says. “And when I get back, you’re talking. Got it?”
Tooru calms down, seemingly mollified by the promise of ice cream. “Fine.”
Hajime leaves the medical bay with Suga, who hasn’t stopped grinning.
“He’s cute,” he says.
“Yes, I’ve noticed,” Hajime says roughly. “Just make sure he doesn’t do anything weird or die before I get back.”
“I’ll do my best,” Suga says. “Can you get me some ice cream too or is this a date thing?”
“Don’t tease me, I've already gotten enough from Hanamaki,” Hajime complains.
Suga laughs. “You might as well get ice cream for the whole team. I’ll pay you back later.”
It takes Hajime twenty-five minutes to get ice cream. He knows that everyone on the team likes different kinds of ice cream, so he goes to three different liquor stores to find all of them before going back to the ship and dropping the shopping bags onto the table in the bridge.
“You need any help talking to the guy?” Daichi asks, opening his small carton of ice cream. “Suga and I could try for a bit.”
“No, I got it,” Hajime says. “He’s got a shitty personality, I don’t want to subject you guys to it.”
“He can’t be worse than Yahaba,” Kyoutani grumbles.
“What the fuck? Fuck you,” Yahaba says.
“He’s definitely worse than Yahaba,” Hajime says.
Yahaba sputters a protest and Kyoutani laughs.
Hajime grabs the carton of vanilla ice cream that he got and a plastic spoon and goes back to the medical bay, where Tooru is exactly where he left him.
Tooru smiles and straightens his back and Hajime is floored by how happy he looks. He’s been kidnapped by his enemy and strapped to a cot but he looks like there’s nowhere else in the galaxy he’d rather be.
“You’re too kind,” Tooru says. “You didn’t have to get ice cream for me. I know how great of a luxury it is.”
“Shut up, it was like six hundred yen,” Hajime says.
“That number means nothing to me because I don’t understand how your money works,” Tooru says.
Hajime rolls his eyes and opens the carton, shoving it into Tooru’s lap. “I’m untying one hand. Don’t hit me.”
“Thank you,” Tooru says. He lifts his wrist as soon as it’s free and brings it close to his face to inspect it. “Oh, no, these bruises will be here for days!”
“Not my problem,” Hajime says. He gives Tooru the spoon. “Tell me what your plan is.”
“So pushy, Iwa-chan,” Tooru mumbles. “Fine. As soon as I told my father you were here, he gave me instructions to build a teleporter strong enough to transport the entire military at once.”
“That sounds excessive for just one planet,” Hajime says. “I thought you said you were sent here because it was supposed to be easy.”
“Well, yes, it was supposed to be easy,” Tooru says. “The dominant species on this planet is so weak, both mentally and physically, it was supposed to be so easy that I could have been back home in a week. It was supposed to be so easy that any dimwit with half a brain could have done it, let alone me, it was supposed to be menial work.”
“I don’t understand,” Hajime says. “Why send you to do menial work? You’re a prince.”
“I’m flattered that you think I’m such a good military leader,” Tooru says. “I’m far from it. I’m quite bad, actually. Up until now, nothing I’d done had actually been of consequence to the empire. I just lost battles until my brothers came to clean up my mess. This is the first time that I’m a part of something that actually matters.”
“What made this planet go from menial work to being this important to the empire?” Hajime asks.
“You really don’t get it, do you?” Tooru says. He’s looking at Hajime with wide, amused eyes. “It’s you, Iwa-chan. You are what makes this planet important.”
“I’m just one guy,” Hajime says lamely. “I can’t be that special.”
“Not just you. The Power Rangers, you buffoon,” Tooru explains. “You’re the most powerful force in the galaxy, you’re the only thing strong enough to defeat the empire, and before this, we’d thought you’d disappeared.”
Hajime frowns, because the thought of the rangers taking on an intergalactic empire is laughable. “We’re the only thing strong enough to defeat the empire? Six guys in goofy suits?”
“It used to be five,” Tooru says. “And for the record, I think the suits are very handsome.”
“We’re not that strong,” Hajime says. “We’ve been doing nothing but fighting shitty villains on a game show for the past five years.”
“What show? Galvanax?” Tooru says. “I thought that was cancelled years ago.”
“You know Galvanax?” Hajime asks incredulously.
Tooru laughs. “Of course I do. I loved that show when I was a child. The red ranger was my favorite because of how handsome he was.”
“Oh yeah?” Hajime says, crossing his arms. “Is he still your favorite?”
“Do you even have to ask?” Tooru quips. He’s smiling that brilliant smile that makes Hajime want to melt. “You already know.”
Hajime realizes that he’s smiling himself and has to look away. “Yeah, well…”
Hanamaki shuffles into the doorway and leans into the room to whisper-yell, “Suga said to ask him about the teleporter.”
“What the fuck, are you guys listening?” Hajime says. He goes to the doorway to see Daichi and Suga huddled behind Hanamaki. “Go away!”
“We need to know more about the teleporter, though,” Daichi says. “I promise you can flirt with him later.”
“Leave,” Hajime says, pointing away.
“Iwa-chan, your friends are welcome to talk to me,” Tooru calls out. “It’s time I met them, anyways.”
Hajime sighs loudly and steps aside to let the three of them filter into the room. “Don’t be weird.”
“I’m literally never weird,” Hanamaki says.
“I love aliens!” Suga adds.
“Shut up,” Hajime hisses.
“I’m Sawamura,” Daichi says diplomatically when he reaches Tooru’s cot. “I have a few questions about your interdimensional teleporter.”
Hajime sighs again, even louder, and leans his head back against the wall. This is not a conversation he needs to be a part of.
They manage to get a good amount of information out of Tooru, who doesn’t seem to have a problem with telling them literally anything they want to know. He’s either confident that he’ll win the war no matter what he does or he just genuinely does not care that much for his own empire.
He tells them that the teleporter will take weeks to build because he doesn’t have a lot of men and they have limited resources.
Their options are to stop the teleporter from being built or simply face the empire’s entire military.
Hajime would prefer the former.
Eventually, the others leave, and it’s just Hajime and Tooru in the medical bay again. Tooru is almost done with his ice cream. They sit in silence for a while until he finishes it.
“I’m bored,” he says.
“Tough shit,” Hajime replies.
“You’re so mean to me,” Tooru whines. “What did I ever do to deserve this treatment?”
“Gee, I wonder,” Hajime says.
“You must be bored too,” Tooru says. “You’ve been sitting here with me for hours.”
“I’m fine,” Hajime says, and doesn’t tell Tooru that spending time with him feels like such an Event that he would probably never get bored of it.
“Well, I’m not,” Tooru says. “You could at least put me on a leash and take me for a walk around the forest.”
“I am not putting you on a leash,” Hajime says.
“How else are you going to trust me to walk with you?” Tooru says.
“We don’t have to go on a walk,” Hajime says.
“But I want to,” Tooru says.
Hajime shakes his head. “You are unbelievable. You do know that we didn’t capture you to take you on a vacation with us, right?”
“Everyday is like a vacation when I’m with you,” Tooru says.
“Do you write these ahead of time or do you just come up with them on the spot?” Hajime asks.
“Oh, they just come to me,” Tooru says.
“Sure,” Hajime scoffs. “I’m sure you use the same sob story and seduction technique on every poor bastard who gets in your way.”
“I’m offended that you think my feelings for you are anything but genuine,” Tooru says.
“They can’t be genuine, you barely know me,” Hajime says.
“I know you’re strong,” Tooru says. “I know you’re kind. I know you’re beautiful.”
“Stop,” Hajime says quickly, standing up. “I’ll take you on a walk if you just shut up already.”
“Do you not believe me?” Tooru asks, frowning. “Do you think that you’re not?”
“I think you’re trying to sweet talk me into surrendering, and we both know that’s never going to happen,” Hajime says. He unstraps Tooru’s limbs from the cot and puts handcuffs on him. “Come on.”
Tooru awkwardly gets to his feet and lets Hajime guide him out of the ship. It’s sunny outside and they’re far enough away from the city that there’s no noise pollution. Tooru stops just outside the door and closes his eyes, tilting his head back to feel the warmth.
Hajime absentmindedly thinks that he reminds him of Timothy Green, and then is disgusted with himself for comparing Tooru to Timothy Green and has no idea how the thoughts even came together in his mind.
“Your home is so beautiful,” Tooru says, taking Hajime out of his thoughts. “All the different worlds I’ve been to, and none of them are quite like this.”
Hajime stands next to Tooru and closes down the ship. “Yeah, it’s pretty nice.”
“It’s wonderful,” Tooru says.
An idea pops into Hajime’s head and he puts a hand on Tooru’s shoulder. “Come on, I wanna show you something.”
They walk through the forest and Tooru excitedly points out whenever he sees a plant that he thinks is pretty. Hajime has been here enough times that he’s become used to the sight, the smell, the feeling of the dirt beneath his feet. It’s hard to get excited about something you see everyday, but Tooru makes it feel like he’s seeing it all for the first time again.
The trees are thin and tall, covered in green moss, and most of the wildflowers in the area are purple. Cicadas are screaming at them from every angle.
They finally make it to the top of a hill that overlooks the forest, some farmland, and parts of the city.
“Wow,” Tooru says quietly.
Hajime glances over to see him staring across the valley in awe. “You like it?”
“I love it,” Tooru says. “Does it always look like this?”
“It snows during the winter,” Hajime says. Tooru blinks at him. “Snow. You know what that is, right?”
Tooru shakes his head. “Nope.”
“It’s like frozen water that falls from the sky,” Hajime tries to explain, but he’s not good with words. “It’s white and fluffy and soft and very, very cold. It’s really pretty.”
“I’d love to see it someday,” Tooru says.
“You will,” Hajime says. “I’m sure you will.”
Tooru smiles at Hajime and turns his face to feel the slight breeze that’s passing through. He closes his eyes and Hajime lets himself stare. Tooru is, for Hajime’s lack of words, exquisite. Like, he genuinely cannot come up with any other words.
He looks out at his world, at his home, and everything else just seems horribly inconsequential. This world is far from perfect, he knows that, but it’s his. He has to protect it, and it’s tragic, because he feels the same need to protect Tooru.
Tooru, who is far from fragile but still delicate, in a way, and is so obviously unhappy with where he is.
Tooru, who he should hate but he just can’t.
Hajime takes Tooru to his house because none of them can spend the night watching him on the ship. He becomes comfortable enough to take the handcuffs off because he can’t just bring home a guy in handcuffs and, at this point, he’s pretty sure he can take care of Tooru easily on his own. It’s been months since he’s had the house to himself; his younger sister is out with friends and his parents have gone to a spa, and he's a little pissed that he has to share it with Tooru, but it’s good that his family isn’t home. There’s no one to ask questions when he takes Tooru to his room and makes him sit down on his bed.
“Is this your room?” Tooru asks. “We’re taking this very quickly. I’m usually not like this.”
“You flirted with me the second you met me,” Hajime says.
“You’re special,” Tooru says.
Hajime rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I’m gonna shower, do not leave this room or I swear I will kill you.”
“Ooh, that was scary,” Tooru says, grinning. “Say it again.”
Hajime gives Tooru a look, grabs a change of clothes, and goes to his bathroom. It usually doesn’t take him very long to shower but he goes extra fast this time because he’s anxious about the alien in his room and is back within fifteen minutes, with a towel draped over his head.
Tooru is still sitting on the bed but he found a book that he’s flipping through.
“What’s that?” Hajime asks.
“Romeo and Juliet,” Tooru answers slowly, like he’s not sure how to pronounce it. Hajime nods to let him know that he got it right. “I don’t understand it.”
Hajime sits down on the other end of the bed. “I think a lot of people don’t understand it. It was written a really long time ago, and it’s originally in another language that’s changed a lot.”
“Why do you have it?” Tooru asks.
“We read it in school,” Hajime says.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s alright. It’s better than other books we were forced to read.”
“What’s it about?”
“It’s about two kids from rival families that fall in love,” Hajime says. “They - you know what, I won’t spoil it for you.”
Tooru sits up a little straighter at the unfamiliar word. “Hm? Spoil?”
“It’s like telling you the ending of a story before you’ve finished reading it yourself,” Hajime tells him. “It ruins the satisfaction.”
Tooru nods and looks down at the book before gasping and looking back up at Hajime. “I need to read it all by myself to find out? That’s so mean, Iwa-chan! Just tell me!”
“No, it’s better if you read the whole thing,” Hajime insists.
“But this book is so long and the words are hard to understand, it will take me too long,” Tooru whines. “I’ll have to leave before I even finish it.”
“You can have the book,” Hajime says. “I don’t need it anymore.”
“Tell me!” Tooru says. “Please, Iwa-chan, please, please, please, please, please!”
“If you want to know so bad, read it!” Hajime says.
They’re interrupted by loud knocking on the door and yelling. Tooru looks at Hajime, unsure of what to do.
“Stay here,” Hajime says, getting up. “I’ll be right back.”
He makes his way to the front door and opens it to see his older sister.
“Um,” he says.
“Hajime, where are Mom and Dad?” Maya asks.
“Mom won a two night stay at a spa in bingo,” Hajime says. “Why are you here?”
“Daitan got into another fight and I have to go pick her up from the hospital, I need you to take care of Kenji,” Maya says. She pushes her four year old son into Hajime’s arms. “It’ll be forty-five minutes, an hour at the most. Thank you so much, love you, I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
She’s back in her car and down the road before Hajime can respond.
“Hi,” Kenji says.
“Hi,” Hajime says. He herds Kenji into the living room and tells him to sit on the couch while he goes to get Tooru. “Be normal and don’t say anything about being an evil war criminal alien. We have company.”
Tooru brightens up as Hajime takes him out to the living room, clapping his hands together excitedly. “Oh! A little Iwa-chan!”
“This is my nephew, Kenji,” Hajime says. “My sister is busy so I have to watch him for a little bit. Kenji, this is Tooru.”
“Hi,” Kenji says.
“Hello,” Tooru says.
“The easiest thing to do is just put on some video and give him a snack,” Hajime says. “You’ll probably be bored for a while again. I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Tooru says.
Hajime turns the TV on and goes to the kitchen to get some crackers. When he comes back, Tooru is sitting next to Kenji on the couch.
“You know, there’s a movie for Romeo and Juliet,” he says. He gives a bowl of crackers to Kenji. “It’s a little dark for kids, but there are kid-friendly versions that make it easier to understand. It’ll only be an hour and a half, instead of taking weeks to finish the book.”
“Really?” Tooru says. “Can we watch it? Is that okay?”
“Yeah, of course.” Hajime sits down on the other side of Kenji and grabs the TV remote. “It’s really different from the book though, I still think you should read it.”
He puts the DVD into the system and the menu pops up.
“Gnomeo and Juliet,” Tooru reads, and frowns. “Gnomeo?”
“They’re garden gnomes,” Hajime says. “You know what garden gnomes are?”
“No,” Tooru says.
“They’re little magical guys that white people like to put in their gardens,” Hajime says. “They’re usually just statues.”
“How strange,” Tooru remarks.
They all quiet down as the movie starts and Hajime absentmindedly rests his hand on top of Kenji’s head. The Japanese dub is silly but Kenji wouldn’t be able to read subtitles and Tooru seems to enjoy the Elton John soundtrack. It’s a fun movie, Hajime has seen it a few times because his younger sister loved it when it first came out.
“That’s us,” Tooru says to him when Gnomeo and Juliet meet on the roof of the greenhouse.
“That’s not us,” Hajime says.
“You’re Gnomeo and I’m Juliet,” Tooru says.
“Why am I Gnomeo?” Hajime says.
“Because you’re tough and manly,” Tooru explains. “I’m sweet, and pretty, and very smart, so I’m Juliet.”
Kenji shushes them, so Hajime doesn’t respond, but he glares at Tooru, who grins back at him.
Hajime’s phone buzzes and he pulls it out of his back pocket to open up the Power Rangers’ group chat.
hanamaki: hows it going with the prince
iwaizumi: Fine. We’re watching gnomeo and juliet
iwaizumi: Any word from the empire?
daichi: No. They’re probably just continuing to work on the teleporter and holding off on attacks while we have Tooru.
kyoutani: what the fuck is gnomeo and juliet
“That’s me,” Tooru whispers, when Juliet is lamenting on her pedestal.
“That’s not - shut up,” Hajime whispers back.
“You can’t say shut up,” Kenji says. “You have to say ‘please be quiet.’”
“You’re right, thank you for reminding me,” Hajime says, patting Kenji’s head. He looks at Tooru. “Please be quiet.”
“I’m also Gnomeo, though,” Tooru mumbles, not looking away from the movie.
“You’re not Gnomeo,” Hajime says.
Kenji shushes them again.
They’ve almost finished the movie and Hajime thinks that Tooru might be crying when the doorbell gets spammed. Both Tooru and Kenji are startled and Hajime tells them he’ll be back soon before going to answer it.
“I was supposed to have the house to myself tonight,” Hajime says as his younger sister pushes her way into the house.
“Sorry to ruin your big plans,” Daitan scoffs. “Oh my god, are you watching Gnomeo and Juliet?”
Hajime turns to Maya, intending to ask her what happened, but gets interrupted by Daitan shrieking.
“Who the fuck is this?” she yells, gesturing wildly at Tooru as Hajime and Maya join them in the living room.
“Don’t use that language around Kenji,” Maya snaps, rushing to cover her son’s ears. She looks at Tooru and makes a face. “Who the fuck is this?”
“This is my friend, Tooru,” Hajime says tiredly.
“That is a lie,” Daitan says. “You don’t have friends.”
“I have plenty of friends!” Hajime says.
“Two more Iwa-chans,” Tooru mutters, looking between Daitan and Maya with wide eyes.
“So, what, are you guys, like, a thing?” Daitan asks. “Do you - you know. Do you smooch?”
“No, we don’t smooch,” Hajime says.
“We could smooch,” Tooru says.
“We don’t,” Hajime says.
“Have you had dinner yet?” Maya asks.
“No, we’re watching a movie,” Hajime says.
“I wanna finish the movie,” Kenji complains.
“Alright, I’ll let you finish the movie while I get dinner ready,” Maya says. “Hajime, come help me.”
“I was supposed to have the house to myself tonight,” Hajime repeats to no one in particular.
Daitan sits next to Kenji, where Hajime had been sitting and immediately immerses herself into the movie. Hajime sighs and goes to the kitchen where Maya is getting pots out.
“You don’t have to make dinner for us,” he tells her.
“How could you invite your friend over and not feed him?” Maya says. “Have you lost all of your manners?”
“Well, I was interrupted,” Hajime says. “By you. So I didn’t get the chance to feed him.”
“Nevermind. Help me prepare the vegetables,” Maya says.
“You don’t have to do this, you can just take Daitan and Kenji back to your house, I’ll take care of Tooru,” Hajime says, but he does as he’s told.
“Daitan lives here,” Maya points out.
“She wasn’t supposed to be here tonight. I was supposed to have the house to myself,” Hajime says, feeling like a broken record.
Maya rolls her eyes. “Fine. Only because I don’t want you and your friend to keep her up all night.”
“We’re not going to do anything,” Hajime says.
“Oh, sure, you’re just a couple of grown men having a sleepover?” Maya says.
“Yes!” Hajime says.
They stay quiet as they cook, and Maya prepares each of the plates carefully before giving them to Hajime to take to the table. Daitan, Kenji, and Tooru are waiting for him when he gets there.
“Finished the movie?” he asks.
“Yes,” Tooru says happily. “I liked it very much.”
“I thought you would,” Hajime says. “I still think you should read the book though. It’s really different.”
“The original play is horrible,” Daitan argues. “Gnomeo and Juliet is way better.”
“I like Benny,” Kenji says.
Hajime sits down next to Tooru as Maya runs in from the kitchen and takes her seat next to her son.
“Everybody ready?” she asks.
“Itadakimasu,” Daitan and Kenji say at the same time, clapping their hands together.
Tooru looks at them and then looks to Hajime for an explanation.
“Yeah, we’re ready to eat,” Hajime says. “Thanks for cooking, Maya.”
Daitan immediately digs in and Tooru waits to watch Hajime before picking his spoon up.
“So, Tooru, how did you meet Hajime?” Maya asks conversationally.
“We met in the woods,” Tooru says.
“What?” Daitan says.
“He’s not from around here, he was looking at the trees and stuff, and I ran into him,” Hajime says quickly. “And then we just kept running into each other.”
“That’s nice,” Maya says. “Where are you from?”
“He’s from Fukuoka,” Hajime answers before Tooru can say anything.
“This food is very good,” Tooru says. “I quite like it.”
“Thank you,” Maya says, smiling. “I’m glad you like it.”
The rest of dinner goes smoothly and Hajime manages to answer any questions from his sisters without making them suspicious. Maya makes Daitan and Hajime help her clean up while Kenji talks to Tooru about the garden gnomes.
“Alright, let’s go, kids,” Maya says, lifting her son to hold him against her hip. “You too, Dai-chan, you’re coming with me tonight.”
“I live here,” Daitan says.
“Hajime and his friend will be busy, we owe them some privacy after hijacking their date,” Maya says.
“It’s not a date,” Hajime says.
“Sorry again for intruding, see you later, bye!” Maya says, pushing Daitan out the door.
“Bye-bye!” Kenji yells.
Hajime is left standing in the dining room, staring at the spot where his sister had been only seconds before.
“Your family is lovely,” Tooru says finally.
“I know,” Hajime says. He looks at Tooru, who is sitting at the table, looking only at his hands. “You okay?”
Tooru grins. “Yes, of course!”
“Okay, weirdo,” Hajime says. “Let’s get to bed.”
“Are you scared?” Tooru asks later that night. He’s bundled up on Hajime’s bed and Hajime is on the floor. He tried to convince Hajime that they could share the bed but that wasn’t happening.
“Of what?” Hajime says.
“Me,” Tooru says.
Hajime sits up and looks at Tooru, who is lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. “Why would I be scared of you?”
“I’m, like,” Tooru waves his hand, “evil.”
“You’re not evil, Tooru,” Hajime says. Tooru snorts. “You’re not. I wouldn’t have let you have dinner with my family if I thought you were evil.”
“My purpose here is to kill everyone you love and take away everything you’ve ever known and replace it with my empire,” Tooru says. “My mission is to kill Maya, and Daitan, and Kenji. How can you be so kind to me?”
“I kidnapped you,” Hajime points out.
“You’ve been kinder than anyone who has ever kidnapped me before,” Tooru says. “You let me watch a movie, you made me dinner, you let me sleep in your bed. All that, and for your enemy. I don’t deserve this.”
“You definitely don’t,” Hajime agrees. “But you’re with us now. You don’t have to be our enemy anymore. You can help us.”
“I can’t do it this time,” Tooru says.
“Do what?” Hajime says.
“This,” Tooru says, gesturing between them.
Hajime narrows his eyes at him. “So you do flirt with everyone that gets in your way.”
“No, not that - I can’t show you sympathy because I’ve already done it too much,” Tooru says. “This was my last chance to prove that I’m useful. If I fail, they’ll send me away and I’ll never see you again.”
“This isn’t about me,” Hajime says.
“Just tell me that you hate me,” Tooru says. “It’ll make this a lot easier.”
“I don’t hate you,” Hajime says, and he means it so much it hurts. “And I can tell that you’re a good person. I care about you, Tooru, but I have to do whatever I can to protect my planet.”
“Even if it’s not worth protecting?” Tooru asks. “I’ve been here for weeks. I see what your planet is like, what the people are like. It doesn’t deserve you.”
“Maybe not,” Hajime says. “A lot of people definitely don’t deserve to be protected, but a lot of people do, like my family. They’re worth it, they’re everything to me. As long as there are people worth saving, it’s my job to fight for them.”
If Hanamaki could hear him right now, he’d be rolling on the floor laughing. Hajime doesn’t like saying cheesy shit like this, he usually tries to avoid it. Daichi is the one that gives the Naruto speeches about friendship and courage. He’s shocked by how much he believes what he’s saying.
“I can’t believe you’re not scared,” Tooru says quietly. “My father will kill you. He’ll kill me. There is nothing that he won’t do for power.”
“I’m plenty scared,” Hajime admits. “I’m just not scared of you.”
Tooru puffs out a breath and rolls onto his side, facing away from Hajime. “You should be.”
Hajime wakes up with a start.
Tooru is sleeping in his bed, lightly snoring and drooling a little on the pillow in a way that makes him seem really harmless and kind of cute. He looks so… calm.
Hajime sits on the edge of the bed and Tooru shifts closer, pressing his face against Hajime’s thigh. He’s still drooling, which is gross. The birds outside are causing a racket but Tooru doesn’t seem to mind. The sweater that Hajime gave him to sleep in is rumpled and there are lines on his face because of the way his face was pressed against the pillow, and now Hajime really can’t imagine him trying to take over the planet. He couldn’t be scared of Tooru even if he tried.
“Are you watching me sleep?” Tooru asks, his voice muffled.
“Yeah,” Hajime says. He tries to put some space between them but Tooru grabs him by the waist and tugs him closer, pillowing his head on Hajime’s lap. “Okay. Hi.”
“Warm,” Tooru mumbles.
“Yep.” Hajime gently extracts himself from Tooru’s grip. “We should get up though.”
“No,” Tooru complains. “Don’t wanna go.”
“I know. I don’t want to either,” Hajime says honestly. “But we both have responsibilities. Jobs to do.”
He gets ups and they both start to get dressed, moving around each other with comfortable ease, like they’d been doing this their whole lives. Hajime packs up his futon and stuffs it into his closet.
“I’m hungry,” Tooru says. “Can you get me more ice cream?”
“You can’t have ice cream for breakfast,” Hajime says.
“What can I have for breakfast?” Tooru asks.
“I’ll show you,” Hajime says, opening his door. “Come on.”
He leads Tooru to the kitchen and makes him sit down at the small table in the center of the room.
Hajime is an okay cook. He can manage by himself and he enjoys the dishes that he makes but he’s nowhere near as experienced as his mother or older sister. His mother has always woken up at the crack of dawn, and when they were younger, she would make onigiri for them for breakfast, usually with spam or salmon. He guesses that that’s a good place to start.
There’s no rice ready in the cooker or refrigerator, so he heats up two packs of microwaveable rice and gets to work on cooking the spam.
“What are you making?” Tooru asks curiously, leaning forward in his chair. “Can I see?”
Hajime beckons Tooru and makes space for him at the counter. “This is spam. I’m gonna cook it and then wrap it in the rice.”
Tooru watches with wide eyes as Hajime chops the spam into small squares and puts them on a frying pan on the stove.
“Smells good,” Tooru says.
“Yeah,” Hajime says. “You know how to cook?”
“I don’t cook,” Tooru says, like it should be obvious. “I’m a prince. I have people who cook for me.”
Hajime rolls his eyes. “Right.”
“None are as handsome as Iwa-chan, though,” Tooru teases. He grins and pokes at Hajime, who swats him away.
“Shut up,” Hajime says. “Go sit down before you get burnt.”
“You’re not supposed to say that,” Tooru says, but he does as he’s told. “You’re supposed to say ‘please be quiet.’”
“Do you want me to hit you? I’ll hit you.”
Tooru laughs and holds his hands up in surrender, opting to stay silent as Hajime finishes cooking the spam. He’s about to start rolling the spam into the rice when he remembers that he used to love helping his mom, and he brings the ingredients over to the table.
“Help me,” he says.
Tooru makes a face. “I told you, I don’t cook.”
“It wasn’t a question, dumbass,” Hajime says. He gives Tooru a spoon. “Follow along with what I do.”
Tooru pouts but listens, and soon they have six haphazard little rice balls, three for each of them.
“These are so cute, Iwa-chan,” Tooru says.
“Try it,” Hajime says.
Tooru carefully takes a bite and Hajime watches as he chews. His cheeks go red and he smiles, similar to how he reacted when he first tried ice cream.
“Oh, wow,” he says, covering his mouth with his hand. “That is very good.”
Hajime counts it as a personal victory and grins. “I know.”
Tooru devours the rice balls quickly and Hajime finishes his as well before cleaning up the kitchen and taking Tooru back to the ship.
Tooru loops his arm through Hajime’s as they walk side by side, because Hajime won’t let him hold his hand. A neighbor waves at them and Hajime waves back. He knows what they must look like - a couple of friends, maybe even more than friends, out for a walk in the morning when the air is crisp and it’s not too hot.
He knows that’s what they look like and he wishes it was true.