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Minegishi wiped blood from their nose with the back of their hand, grimacing at the dark red smear left behind. The lights in the dreary bathroom flickered every so often, filling the room with a faint yet grating buzz that rang in their already pounding head. Clutching the sides of the sink for a moment, they took a few ragged breaths, trying to collect themselves.
It didn’t matter what happened, whether Minegishi completed their mission unscathed or not, only that they completed it successfully. Suzuki wouldn’t care about the technicalities when he asked for a report, but he would eye their injuries with a cold searing judgement that Minegishi hoped to avoid.
Icy water stung at the cuts on their cheek as they splashed their face a few times. They watched ribbons of blood wash down the drain, grimacing. One of their eyes would probably be ringed in a nasty bruise by morning, they thought ruefully as they poked at the puffy, darkened patch with their fingers carefully, trying not to hiss in pain.
Psychic energy crackled nearby and another aura filled the room, making the back of Minegishi’s neck prickle. They huffed a breath through their nose, blood splattering the dirty porcelain sink.
“I thought I sensed your aura again,” Shimazaki said, voice buttery smooth from behind them. Minegishi glared into the mirror even though he wouldn’t be able to see it. Instead he tucked his hands into the pockets of his leather pants, a smug smile tugging at his lips.
“Get out.” Minegishi’s voice was raspy and weak. They cleared their throat.
Shimazaki teleported away, only to return in seconds with a glass of water. Minegishi hesitated before taking it and draining the glass. The water wasn’t even cold, but they didn’t care.
Neither of them said anything for a minute. They both knew the occupational hazards of working for Claw. Sometimes it meant a fight one could win easily, sometimes not. A win could cost dignity in the form of a broken nose or black eye. Or worse.
“What got you?” Shimazaki asked casually, as if he were asking about dinner.
“Nothing. Leave.”
“Nah, you got your ass kicked,” Shimazaki said, leaning against the wall next to the sink with his arms crossed, deliberately not helping. Not that Minegishi would take that blow to their already wounded pride.
“I did not ,” they said, wiping their still-bleeding nose again and leaving a red smudge across their face and the sleeve of their jacket.
Shimazaki raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t watching them of course, but he seemed to be able to sense something, his expression twitching like a cat hearing a mouse in the walls.
“Just be honest with me,” he said.
Minegishi scoffed, “Oh that’s rich coming from you.”
“Hey, no need to be angry just because you lost to someone.”
Ever since joining Claw Shimazaki had been a thorn in Minegishi’s side with his cockiness, his overall obnoxious attitude. Every time he opened his mouth Minegishi wanted to smack that smug little smile off his pretty face. Cool anger bubbled in their chest, but they had no energy to release it.
“I don’t lose to anyone, Shimazaki,” Minegishi said, though their tone didn’t quite have its usual bite. They glanced around the bathroom. There were no paper towels, not even toilet paper they could use to stop their nose from bleeding. Nobody used this bathroom at headquarters, it was out of the way, at the end of the hall in the deepest level of the basement. Minegishi chose this place to hide their wounds for a reason.
Of course Shimazaki of all people would be the first to find them.
“Really? You don’t lose? Cuz I seem to remember kicking your cute little ass not too long ago,” he said, a playful lilt in his voice that made Minegishi seethe.
“That wasn’t a loss, it was a draw,” they replied curtly.
“Yeah, that I won.”
Minegishi rolled their eyes, “You can’t win a draw, dumbass.”
“Well I did.”
“Just go away,” Minegishi said, “Unless you’re so pathetic that you have nothing better to do than mock a coworker.”
“Nah,” Shimazaki fished into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief, neatly folded like it had just been bought. Or more likely stolen in his case.
He stepped toward them, too close, making Minegishi back up against the cold tile wall.
“Hold still,” Shimazaki said reaching forward with the handkerchief. When Minegishi flinched away, he just moved closer, almost enough so that his body pressed against theirs, placing a hand on top of their head to steady them. He held the handkerchief firmly up to Minegishi’s nose, clearly ignoring the angry noise they made in return.
“You think I can’t sense you bleeding?” he asked. They grumbled, the sound nasally with the handkerchief blocking their nose. Practically pinned against the wall, they had to resign to the fact that Shimazaki was making a mockery of them, treating them in this way. Having these injuries was bad enough, Shimazaki trying to help added a layer of embarrassment they didn’t need.
“Lean forward and breathe through your mouth,” Shimazaki said, voice uncharacteristically soft in a way that made Minegishi’s heartbeat quicken. They jerked away again, but Shimazaki caught them with a hand on their shoulder, pinching the handkerchief against their nose.
“Just let me do this, geez,” Shimazaki said, edging on frustration, “You got beat up.”
Minegishi sighed, not out of relief or even really out of comfort, but just because they had no other way to respond. Shimazaki’s hand moved to the back of their neck, fingers tangling gently in their hair, sending a shock down their spine.
Of all the things Minegishi would say to describe Shimazaki, and they had many things to say, this action, this tenderness, wouldn’t even make the first five things they’d mention. Shimazaki wasn’t exactly known for his care toward others, Minegishi wasn’t even aware he cared about anyone but himself, and they found they liked the surprise.
For a while, Minegishi stayed motionless, surrounded only by the sound of their breathing and the buzz of the fluorescent lights. It wasn’t like Shimazaki to stay silent for so long. They focused on anything but his hands on them, the throb in their head and the ache throughout the rest of their body.
Shimazaki slowly pulled the handkerchief away from their nose. His other hand moved from their neck, fingers almost deliberately brushing their jaw as he pulled back. Minegishi wondered if their dizziness was from blood loss, injury, or Shimazaki. Maybe all three.
Shimazaki unceremoniously dropped the bloody handkerchief in the sink, smiling at them. He was still too close.
“Go clean up,” he said, “I’ll go get the boss off your back.”
Minegishi blinked. They did owe Suzuki a report as soon as possible, not that they were in any shape to do so.
“I… Thanks?” Then they cleared their throat again, “Thank you.”
They weren’t sure they’d ever genuinely thanked Shimazaki for anything before. They’d never felt thankful to him in their life.
“Yeah, yeah.” Shimazaki smiled at them one last time before teleporting away, form dissolving into nothingness.
Finally left alone, Minegishi washed the blood out of the handkerchief, scowling at the stains left on the pale green fabric. They tried to ignore the way their whole body ached, like they’d been in a barrel tumbling down a waterfall.
Even more than just the embarrassment of barely winning what should have been an easy fight-- they were regrettably overconfident-- was the embarrassment of Shimazaki finding out. Minegishi never wants to appear weak in front of anyone, but second to Suzuki, Shimazaki was the worst person who could have found them.
Their skin tingled with the feeling of Shimazaki standing close, hand caressing the back of their neck as he tended to their bloody nose. Of all the things Shimazaki could be, Minegishi wouldn’t have thought that a comforting, caring presence was one of them. It was a farce, Shimazaki had to be mocking him as he’d wiped the blood from their upper lip. After all, he left every fight with barely a scratch on him.
Heart thudding in their chest, Minegishi took one last look in the mirror at their disheveled state, their jacket stained with blood and dirt, their messy lavender hair sticking to their sweaty face and neck. They sighed, pulling the bruised skin around their eye carefully to inspect the damage. It looked ugly, bluish and puffy around a nasty cut that ran across the top of their cheekbone centimeters from their bottom eyelid. It would raise some questions, but they’d seen worse.
With another sigh they picked up their things and left the bathroom. In their own room, they pulled off their jacket and tossed it aside to deal with later. They found some pain medicine and took some, hoping to alleviate at least some of the soreness before they took a shower. The warm water eased some of the pain; they stood under it for what felt like forever before finally getting out and drying themselves off. Now more than ever, they avoided their reflection in the fogged bathroom mirror.
Sitting heavily on the edge of their bed, dressed in pants and a clean undershirt, they felt like their muscles finally gave out from exhaustion and contemplated just lying down and sleeping it off. They had little psychic energy left, little stamina, even staying awake was hard.
A familiar pop of psychic energy filled the room, and Minegishi found themselves face to face with Shimazaki again.
“What do you want now?”
“How are you still like this even when you’ve been beaten up?” Shimazaki asked, moving toward them. Minegishi wanted to stand up and move, but their limbs felt like lead.
They could only watch as Shimazaki knelt in front of them, head tilted up like he were looking them in the eyes.
“Hey,” he said, his voice lowering to a husky tone they’d never heard from him before, one that made them draw in a shaky breath, energy tingling in their chest.
Shimazaki reached toward them, and Minegishi slapped his hand away.
“Hey, don’t push me away.” Shimazaki said, “Lemme help.”
He reached up again and cupped Minegishi’s cheek, thumb brushing over the bruised cut under their eye. Minegishi flinched, even such a soft touch agitating the injury. They didn’t say anything, and they knew their glare would have no effect on him. Truthfully, they weren’t sure they wanted to push Shimazaki away, even when they knew this was quickly snowballing into multiple bad decisions.
Shimazaki leaned closer, his hand on Minegishi’s knee to steady himself. Their noses almost brushed, Shimazaki’s aura dizzying in their foggy mind and their breath mingling in their closeness. For a second Minegishi thought about the mere inches between their lips, about closing that distance, just to find out what it would be like...
They blinked at Shimazaki, lurching their face away from his hand.
“How is this helping?” They snapped.
Shimazaki’s expression faltered.
“Well geez, I thought we were having a moment.”
“We… no, no.” Minegishi said, “there’s no ‘moment’ to have.”
“C’mon, I know it’s not just me,” Shimazaki said, a smirk pulling at his lips.
Minegishi’s face was burning, the pain in their body forgotten and replaced with embarrassment again. Leaning ever closer, Shimazaki’s disarming smile could almost knock Minegishi backwards. They were acutely aware of his hand still on their knee, they could have sworn it was the only thing they could feel other than their own heartbeat.
“We can’t,” Minegishi said weakly.
“Why not?”
“You know damn well why,” Minegishi said. The earnest expression on Shimazaki’s face didn’t budge.
“I don’t care,” he said.
“I’d rather not have Suzuki-”
“He’s a killjoy, and he’s never gonna know. C’mon,” Shimazaki said, voice almost a purr, “I’m bored. I like you. You’re bored. You like me.”
He paused, appraising Minegishi in his own way.
“At least I think so.”
“You’re unbelievable,” Minegishi huffed.
“Your aura goes crazy when I’m around, I know flowers blooming when I sense them,” Shimazaki said, “unless I’m reading this all wrong, you’re kinda obvious.”
Minegishi’s frown deepened, their face blushing pink down to their neck. They wanted to deny it, they really did.
Shimazaki hadn’t moved, still kneeling in front of them, that self-satisfied grin softening back to that tenderness they’d never even known from him until today and Minegishi’s heart sped up as they finally processed what it was Shimazaki just admitted to. They’d spent so much energy pushing him away that it felt strange, sitting here mulling over something they’d only ever considered in a few embarrassing scenarios they constructed in their head.
Without much more thought, Minegishi grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him up into a kiss. For a moment they thought to push him away just as quickly, act like this was a mistake, but Shimazaki brought his hands up to the sides of their neck, the pads of his thumbs running along their jawline. He kissed them back eagerly, in such a way where Minegishi didn’t want to stop, not yet. Instead they let themselves get swept in the moment, forgetting the pain of their injuries as they let elation wash over them, filling their chest with warmth. They loved how Shimazaki laughed against their lips when they wrapped their arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer and toppling back on their bed, Shimazaki on top of them. He ran his tongue over their bottom lip and they opened their mouth, deepening the kiss.
Minegishi pulled away to breathe, lips parted and face flushed. They stared up at Shimazaki in an odd sort of disbelief, a little dumbstruck. Shimazaki’s expression mirrored their own, he looked almost giddy, genuinely happy in a way that did nothing to help Minegishi’s heart. For a moment all they could do was try and slow their breathing, they were more worked up than they would have liked but Shimazaki’s chest rose and fell with theirs, a sort of reassurance.
“This is a bad idea,” they said lowly.
“Yeah,” Shimazaki agreed, leaning down for another kiss.