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Usaida sniffled as he settled his plastic water bottle down beside his futon. He wriggled beneath his comforter trying to find warmth and fished out his phone in the process to check the time. His red phone showed 4:11 AM and he sighed, I’m sorry Ryu-chan…
Winter had begun, Usaida knew, but last night had been only a cool breezy night so after he had a nice warm bath to relieve the stresses of toddler supervising — though Usaida usually drowsed off with Midori-chan and left the kids to their Ranger Five antics or “kitchen cooking”, still, it was tiring y’know? — he crawled into his futon and under his comforter wearing nothing but his boxers and slept like a baby wrapped in a pleasant mix of winter cold and futon warm.
Then he woke up. And it was just cold. His body felt like a furnace and yet he was shivering. He popped a pill to relieve his runny nose and throbbing headache and applied a heating pad on his forehead. Ahh, he grimaced internally, I’m gonna have to leave it to Ryu-chan today. Guess I’m not getting paid.
Ah! An idea popped into his mind, or rather, a certain someone did.
The phone rang twice and a familiar voice answered curtly, “Good morning, Morinomiya Estate.”
Usaida had to stifle a giggle at his friend’s formality, “Eh, Saikawa-san, up so early? Well, 'course you’d be—”
“Usaida-sama, my waistline is twenty-five inches and my favorite color is black.”
“Eh? What am I s’posed to do with that?”
“New underwear.”
Usaida burst out in a fit of giggles that ultimately ended up in him coughing and sniffling.
“Usaida-sama, you seem to have caught a cold.”
“Yeah,” he sniffled, “I shouldn’t’ve slept naked last night after my bath.”
There was a pause at the other end of the line, “I could have provided you warmth last night, Usaida-sama.”
Usaida felt his cheeks heat up, if that was possible considering his cold, “E-Eh? I mean—”
“I’m sorry. That was just a joke.” For all the formal politeness Saikawa continues to show, Usaida didn’t miss the mirth in his voice and a slow smile crept up Usaida’s face.
“Well, it is winter now so if the offer still stands, Saikawa-san…”
Usaida heard an abrupt ahem at the other line and, “Do you want me naked as well, Usaida-sama?”
Oh my God, Usaida thought, never in a million years did he think he’d be having a conversation with the green-haired secretary like this, “It’d be warmer that way, y’know? Winter n’ all.”
“Hm,” Saikawa hummed and Usaida was sure that that was a hidden chuckle, he liked to think that, “Would you like my services during or after your cold, Usaida-sama?”
“Hm, maybe after," at the mention of services and cold, Usaida realized he didn’t call Saikawa to talk about being naked under the sheets with him so he rerouted the conversation, "but, uh, Saikawa-san, about my cold…”
“Yes?”
“I was wonderin’ if you could… fill in for me maybe at the daycare? Ryuu-chan has classes and I don’t know anyone else who could… But, I mean, if you’re busy it’s totally… cool.” Smooth, Usaida thought, after all the mild flirting they just did.
“It’s okay, Usaida-sama, I can fill in for your place. Although I’m not as adept as you and Ryuuichi-sama, I will try my best.”
“What? Hey, you’ll get the hang of it! Taka-kun will definitely try to wrestle you a bit, and Takuma-kun and Kazuma-kun will probably do the same thing,” He smiled to himself, “Kirin-chan will probably cook today, but she’s fine as long as you talk to her and pretend to eat her food, Kotaro-kun, I mean you probably already know him, and Midori-chan is a crawler and she’ll try to put anything in her mouth so, uh,” Hold on, Usaida thought, I’m talking a lot.
Usaida kept talking about the kids but he realized, he’s been with those kids for a while now and just interacting with them has become second nature. Will they even miss me? Usaida wondered, Nah, they probably won’t. He concluded with a smile.
“If they don’t behave, just tell them they’ll get taken away by monsters, though Taka-kun will probably say he’s gonna kill those monsters.” Usaida finished with a short laugh.
Saikawa chuckled in reply and Usaida realized how smooth the deepness of Saikawa's voice was.
Wait, what the hell am I thinking?
"I have actually found a helpful source material, Usaida-sama, a book titled 'Now That You're a Mommy' for Midori-chan."
"A book..? Ah, y-yeah, that'd be helpful."
"Should I bring more toys to the daycare, Usaida-sama?"
"Nah, it's all good, the daycare is full of them. You can always ask Ryuu-chan or the teachers for help." Usaida tried to repress the thought of Saikawa with kiddie toys, "and Saikawa-san, you don't have to call me 'sama', y'know?"
"I would like to show you my utmost respect, Usaida-sama…"
Usaida internally shrugged as Saikawa continued to explain, baby steps, he thought “Well, anyway, thanks! I definitely owe you one, Saikawa-san, I’ll tell Ryuu-chan too.”
“You 'owe me one'?"
"Yeah, of course!" Usaida sniffled a bit, feeling his nose run again, "This is a big help, Saikawa-san!"
"Perhaps," a short pause, "we could share a drink together after you get well?"
Usaida blinked. He put the back of his hand underneath his chin to check his heat, he was just having a cold, Is Saikawa-san actually asking me out for a drink? "A drink? Together?"
"Yes. Being naked under the sheets with you may be too fast for me, I'm afraid." The secretary replied even added a small fake sigh.
Usaida giggled (without coughing this time though he did have to snivel a bit), "Heh, you're right. Okay, a drink then. Thanks again, Saikawa-san!"
"Yes, get well soon, Usaida-san."
The phone call ended and Usaida laid on his back staring at the ceiling, He called me Usaida-san.