Archive of Our Own

Ever since Chikage moved in to Mankai, he initially couldn't believe how difficult and hassle it was to drag a groggy and half asleep Itaru to work on weekday mornings.

"Chigasaki, get up already or we'll be late." Chikage called in a stern tone.

"...Five more minutes..." Itaru muttered from his bed.

"No. I'm gonna leave you behind if you don't get up in the next twenty seconds."

"You know I have a car too, right?"

"And you know I can steal your keys, right?"

"...Fine, I'm coming." Itaru sighed as he climbed down his bed. "Not only are you unromantic, you're really demanding too."

"Just hurry already."

"Yes, sir~." Itaru replied sarcastically as Chikage left to go to the kitchen.

Twenty minutes later, Itaru entered the lounge all dressed and ready for work, but still kept his eyes and hands on his phone, probably playing one of his games as usual.

"If you're ready, then let's go." Chikage said impassively, which Itaru just nodded to in response. 

Chikage knew full well that Itaru wasn't gonna keep his eyes or hands off his phone, so with a sigh, he grabbed Itaru on the back of his jacket and dragged him out of the dorm. Yep, this was pretty much their morning routine at this point.

"We'll be going." he said aloud.

"Have a nice day, you two!" Izumi replied from the lounge.

Even in the car, Itaru still had his eyes glued to his phone as Chikage drove them to their office with only the news playing from the radio as their background noise.

"Hey, Senpai." Itaru called to him, finally turning his phone off.

"What is it?"

"Why do you always drag me to go to work at the same time as you?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Like, isn't it a pain in the ass to wake me up in the morning and to wait for me to get dressed?"

"...It's a senpai's job to make sure his kohai is disciplined and ready for work."

"Ehh? That's all?"

"Yeah."

"Damn... Just how unromantic can you get?" 

"As long as we don't get in trouble at some point, I don't really care."

"GG."

Even though the two don't usually see each other during work, Chikage always somehow finds Itaru about to go out to a nearby restaurant during lunch break, thus, he sometimes joins him, and even catches him sneaking out to go to the restroom or emergency staircase to grind in whatever games he played in his phone.

"Senpai, don't you still have more stuff to do?" Itaru asked when Chikage caught him by the stairs again.

"I could ask you the same."

"I can finish them in the last hour and a half before we leave, so I'll be fine. What about you, though?"

"I only have about thirty minutes worth of work left to do today." Chikage bragged. 

"Well, good for you then." Itaru huffed. 

Silence fell between them as Itaru turned his attention back to his phone. After a minute or two, he saw Chikage sit next to him from the corner of his eye. 

"Don't you have better things to do than watch me play games here?" Itaru asked with a mix of surprise and smugness in his voice. 

"There isn't much else to do anyway."

"Aww, and here I thought you were actually doing something romantic for once."

"Sure. In your dreams, Chigasaki."

After twenty minutes of Itaru playing and Chikage simply watching, the younger one surprisingly closed his game in favor of starting a conversation with Chikage. 

"So, how's Mankai been for you?" Itaru asked. 

"What's this all of a sudden, huh?"

"Nothing much. We don't always talk so casually, and it's kinda uncomfortable to have someone right beside me watch me play games for a long time."

"...It's fine, I guess."

"Better than your old home?"

"...I don't have a home."

"What..? Mankai is your home at this point."

"It's not, and I don't need one."

"..."

"..."

"If you really don't need one, then why do you seem sad?"

"*sigh* I'm going back to work." Chikage said as he got up and quickly left.

Itaru was usually one that was awfully perceptive, but hardly ever voiced out his thoughts and observations. He always knew Chikage hid a huge chunk of him away from everyone else....actually, "huge" might even be understatement, but this time, he wanted to do whatever he could to get his stubborn senpai to open up, even just a little.

He found himself staring at the door Chikage just left from, and started thinking to himself. 

"Playing hard to get, huh, Senpai..?"

Itaru took a deep sigh before returning to work. He knew Chikage was someone different, someone special compared to almost anyone else he knew, but he just wasn't sure how far those feelings went. Even if he did somehow fall for his senpai, he wouldn't want to confess to someone as impassive and "unromantic" like him.

"Guess it won't hurt to hold off on grinding this afternoon." he thought while sitting back down in front of his desk.

-----------------

"Huh. Finished already, Chigasaki?" Chikage said as he was walking past Itaru's desk to see him glued to his phone.

"Yep. Thought it'd be nice to finish early, so I can focus on my games the rest of the day."

"Of course that's the reason..."

"So how about you? Finished everything yet?"

"Yeah. I just need to give these documents to the secretary, and I'll be done."

"Great, so we can leave early then, right? How about you and I go out for dinner?" Itaru asked in the charming tone he uses in the office.

"What, is this your way of asking me out on a date?" Chikage teased.

"Don't flatter yourself. At least one of us needs to be the romantic one, right?"

"Yeah, right." Chikage huffed sarcastically. 

"And it's not everyday we hang out and talk outside of work too, you know?"

"We literally share a room."

"Doesn't feel like it when you always go out right after dinner."

"I could say the same about you and your games."

"Well, I guess it's all the more reason we should actually take the time to hang out, right, Senpai~?" 

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

"Great, you pick where we should go."

"Why me?"

"Why not? I'm curious what kind of restaurant you'll pick."

"If you insist." Chikage replied with a subtle smirk that went unnoticed by Itaru.

The two excused themselves for the day and took a twenty minute drive to a Thai restaurant not too far from the dorm.

"Have you eaten here before?" Itaru asked as they stepped into the dimly lit, and fancily decorated restaurant. 

"Yeah, just once, though." he replied. "Table for two please." he requested politely to the waitress.

After they sat down, Itaru started to browse through the menu.

"Hmm... Should I-"

"Oh, just let me order. I know which ones are good."

"Wow, hell must've frozen over if you're being this thoughtful of me, huh?"

"Don't get your hopes up, Chigasaki." Chikage retorted.

At first, Itaru thought he was teasing or something when he said to not get his hopes up, but little did he know, he seriously should not have gotten his hopes up at all since everything Chikage ordered was extra spicy. Just looking at the curries, rice, soup, and other side dishes Chikage ordered made him feel like coughing already.

"Damn, I didn't know you were such a sadist when it comes to me..."

"I'm not. These really are good...unless you can't hold your spice tolerance."

"Only a spice alien like you can handle all of these dishes in one go."

"Well, what did you expect, really?"

"GG..."

As Chikage started to fill his plate with small servings of each dish, Itaru hesitantly filled his as well and tried drinking the soup. He immediately coughed and choked slightly from the sudden kick of the spice. He quickly took small sips of his ice-cold water, while Chikage stopped to chuckle quietly to himself.

"Wow, you're really trying to kill your poor kohai here."

"Hmph. You're just weak with spicy food."

"I don't wanna hear that from you..."

Ten minutes later, the waitress brought an order of Pad Thai noodles to their table, much to Itaru's surprise, since it was one of the few dishes in Thai cuisine that wasn't spicy.

"You'd barely be able to eat if I just left you with only spicy food." Chikage said with a teasing smirk.

Itaru almost couldn't believe his ears. Senpai? Being nice to him? He started to wonder what could have triggered this special event.

"Are you just gonna stare at me, or are you gonna eat already?" Chikage said, which snapped Itaru back to his senses.

"I will. I was just amazed with how surprisingly romantic that was."

"Whatever. Just eat up already."

"Aw, you don't need to be shy about it, you know?"

"I'm not shy. I just don't wanna hear you complain if your stomach starts aching later."

"Hmph. Fair point."

They both continued to eat in a comfortable silence while occasionally making small talk about work, Mankai, and even about themselves a little, which kinda surprised Itaru, since Senpai hardly ever shares anything about himself to others, aside from his love for spicy food.

"Are you done eating?" Chikage asked.

"Mhm."

"Alright. I'll go pay."

"Whoa, Senpai's such an angel today..." Itaru commented sarcastically.

"Don't get cocky. I'll go back to being your usual senpai first thing in the morning."

"Oof, GG.."

The car ride back to the dorm was relatively quiet, but Itaru sensed some tension from his senpai, though he decided not to bring it up.

"...Hey, Chigasaki." Chikage called as they reached the dorm.

"Yeah? What's up?"

".....Actually....nevermind."

"Hey, hey. Now I'm curious. Just tell me."

"No, it's pointless anyway."

"You don't know that unless you tell me, though."

".....Maybe later then." Chikage said as he was about to exit the car.

"Nope. You're not leaving unless you tell me now." Itaru retorted as he buckled Chikage's seatbelt back and held on to his side of the door after locking it.

"What are you up to, Chigasaki..?" he asked in an irritated and threatening tone, but Itaru did his best to remain nonchalant about it.

"If you're not gonna tell me now, then you're not gonna tell me tomorrow or any time at all. You know, since you're "going back to being my usual senpai first thing in the morning"."

Chikage eyed Itaru suspiciously before sighing and lowering his head. He knew he could have easily released himself from Itaru's grip and escape, but he didn't want to be violent with his "poor kohai".

"Fine, fine. I guess you're seriously not gonna let me go at all, huh?"

"Mhm."

Chikage sighed once more, even louder than the last, before replying, "I won't say this twice, so you better listen."

Itaru's eyes shone under the dim car lights and his whole body seemed to perk up like a puppy.

"...I..had fun tonight, and...I want to apologize for suddenly walking out on you earlier today."

In that moment, time seemed to have froze for Itaru and he just stared at his usually secretive, mysterious, and deceitful senpai with widened eyes.

"...Why are you staring at me like that..?" Chikage finally asked after a long minute of silence.

"I...just don't know what to say."

"Huh, too stunned for words, I see."

"It's the first time you've ever been open to me, so can you really blame me?"

"Well, don't worry, it's not gonna happen again." Chikage said dismissively as he reached to unlock the door.

All of a sudden, Itaru hugged him over his arms to prevent him from leaving.

"But I like it when you're honest." Itaru whispered. 

"I can't-"

"Because it actually feels like you trust me." he interrupted loudly.

"I can't make myself vulnerable to others..." Chikage replied softly and sadly.

"You can to your family, and who are they? Us. Sorry, as much as I respect your personal reasons and you as my senpai, you can't tell me not to care."

"..."

"Let's continue this talk in our room." Itaru said as he unlocked the doors and got out to go to Chikage's side.

When Chikage stepped out, Itaru immediately grabbed his hand and dragged him inside before he could try running away, though it didn't seem like he was going to do that in the first place.

"We're home~." Itaru chimed as they entered.

"Welcome back, you two!" Sakuya greeted.

"Have you guys had dinner yet?" Izumi asked.

"Yep. Senpai treated me to a dinner date tonight." Itaru said cheerfully.

"That wasn't even a date..." Chikage muttered aloud.

"Anyway, we'll be going to our room now, so if you'll excuse us~." Itaru said with his charming smile, all the while trying to cover his hand that was holding Chikage's. 

Izumi and Sakuya didn't say another word as they watched the two walk away, and waited for them to be out of sight before speaking.

"Do you think something happened between them?" Sakuya asked worriedly.

"I was thinking the same thing..." Izumi replied equally as worried.

"Chikage-san seemed sort of bothered by something..."

"Yeah, let's just hope it's nothing serious."

"Right.."

When they entered their room, they both changed into more comfortable clothes before Itaru plopped down onto the sofa and turned one of his games on.

"So...ready to answer my question from earlier today yet?" he asked without removing his eyes from the TV. 

Chikage took a seat on the other end of the sofa and just watched Itaru play again.

"...It feels strange to have someone who cares so much again."

"..Is that really something weird to you..?"

"My only family was taken away from me, except for Hisoka. I've been on my own ever since."

"Which is why you sought revenge.."

"Yeah..."

"..So basically, you don't want to get too attached to anyone because you don't want a repeat of what happened in the past?"

"...Pretty much, I suppose..."

"..."

"..."

"But you know, this time is different. You're basically living a normal life now, with the same daily routine, and with a family of 20 plus members, one of them still being someone from your old family to boot."

"..."

"..You've probably come to terms with what's happened before, but that's still keeping you from being yourself with us. I mean, just look at me; I'm a mess, but everyone still accepts and cares for me. That's what a family is like."

"..."

"And that's why, though I hate to admit it, I care about you, not just as a family member, or my senpai, I care about you for who you are, as unromantic and cruel you are to me." Itaru continued to ramble as a small smile and blush crept their way onto his face.

Chikage just huffed and smiled to himself while looking at the opposite direction of Itaru.

"You're laughing now? Maybe I rambled for too long..." Itaru said sarcastically and sheepishly at the same time.

"Well, first of all, that sounded surprisingly mature of you." Chikage said, slightly impressed.

"I'm an adult too, you know. Even if I do have the heart of a twelve year old."

"Yeah, yeah.."

"..What else were you gonna say?" Itaru asked hesitantly. 

"Oh, right. That last part..kinda sounded like a confession to me." he replied mischievously. 

"Trying to be romantic now, are you, Senpai?" Itaru said coyly, even though he started to waver on the inside.

"Hey, don't change the topic."

"...Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't."

"Now you're just beating around the bush..."

"How do you feel about me though, Senpai? Would you actually say 'yes' if I said it was?"

"That's foul. Flipping the question to me."

"..."

"Hmm...I wonder. Why don't you ask and see for yourself?"

"..Look who's being foul now.."

Itaru paused his game, which made Chikage turn his attention to him completely. He stared at the screen for a while before sighing and replied,

"Well...sure, it was, I guess.."

"You guess?"

"I did say it was, though." Itaru said as he slowly turned his head away from his senpai to hide the faint blush that formed on his face.

In the next moment, Itaru felt a hand gently cup his cheek, and he turned to see Chikage's face just inches away from his. His eyes showed signs of panic at first, but quickly relaxed his expression, even though his heart felt like it was pounding right out of his chest.

"Do you want to know my answer then?" Chikage whispered sensually, his breath tickling Itaru's lips.

"Um...not really.." Itaru replied awkwardly while averting his gaze.

"Even if you don't want me to, I'll give it to you."

Before the younger could protest, Chikage quickly leaned in and ceased his lips. Itaru tried to resist and push him away until Chikage placed a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him further back onto the sofa.

"S-sen...Mmph..!" Itaru tried to protest, but was cut off when Chikage slipped his tongue into Itaru's mouth the moment his lips made way. 

As Chikage explored as much of his kohai's mouth as he could, Itaru's expression softened into something more lewd and dazed while he gradually grew weak and gave in, putting a hand on his senpai's arm and granting him even more access. Chikage noticed this and gladly obliged, literally sucking the life energy out of him. 

"...Mmh..! Sen..pai..! A-air..!" Itaru muttered breathlessly in between the kiss.

Chikage chuckled to himself for a second before pulling away. As he sat up, they both stared into each other's eyes, barely even blinking, until Itaru finally broke the silence.

"Is that really how you reply to a confession? Jeez, don't you know that-" he rambled until Chikage put a finger on his lips to stop him from talking.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, so shut up unless you want me to force you to." Chikage replied with a smirk and a wink at the end.

Itaru froze for a few seconds and a blush slowly formed on his face after he averted his gaze. 

"I bet that wasn't even your first kiss.." he muttered softly, not intending for Chikage to hear.

"Yeah, but you're the first person I genuinely wanted to kiss." Chikage replied in a cool, but serious tone, which almost made Itaru gag on his own saliva.

"Wh-what..? Damn, the devil must have risen from the flames of hell if you're really serious here..."

"But I am."

"Huh..? Why..? And since when?"

"Well, I guess it's because I'm most relaxed and like myself when I'm with you."

"What about Hisoka?"

"Yeah, I'm comfortable with him too, but he's more like my brother, and literally my partner in crime. Plus...anyway, he's different."

"Huh. And how long have you been keeping this to yourself now?"

"Not sure, honestly. I never planned on telling you, but I guess everything just fell into place today..?" Chikage said distantly. 

"Or did you intentionally set up for this to happen?" Itaru suspected.

"..Who knows, really?"

Silence proceeded to fall between the two as Itaru gradually felt more awkward by the second.

"...Are you going out again tonight?" Itaru asked.

"Nope. Why?"

"Just asking."

"Aw, does Itaru want me to stay with him?"

"..Shut up, Senpai."

"You know you can call me by name outside of work, right?"

"Whatever, Ch-Chi..Chikage-san..." Itaru stuttered out of embarrassment. 

"Pfft."

"Don't laugh. I'm not used to it..!"

"Then get used to it."

Itaru sighed loudly to himself before saving and quitting his game.

"Guess I'll stick to mobile games tonight..." Itaru muttered aloud as he climbed up to his bed.

About five minutes later, Itaru heard the ladder creaking and looked to see Chikage about to lay himself on Itaru's bed, looking as nonchalant as ever, while he started to panic on the inside.

"What are you doing here...?" Itaru asked as dismissively as he could.

"Looking to spend time with my kohai slash boyfriend." Chikage replied, a smirk slowly forming on his face.

Once again, Itaru seemed to have been broken and simply stared at Chikage with unblinking eyes and a red tinge forming on his cheeks.

"What? Don't mind me, so just keep playing."

"M-Mm..."

Twenty minutes later, Itaru could still hardly calm himself down, not with how close Chikage's breath was to his face and neck, and to top it off, he slowly started making more subtle physical contact until it reached a point where he was gently caressing Itaru's waist.

"Senpai, are you just gonna-" 

"I don't know who "Senpai" is." Chikage said blankly, but with a smug expression.

"....Chikage-san, are you just gonna keep touching me until you start fucking me?"

"That's not what I had in mind, but I will if you want me to~."

"Gross. Go to your own bed."

"But I'm already comfortable here."

"Alright, I'll just go back to playing on the TV then." Itaru said, already making his way over the other until he was pulled back down harshly and saw Chikage looming over him in the blink of an eye.

"..You know, now that I think about it, I haven't asked why you like me." Chikage said in a low and smooth tone. 

Itaru remained silent, as if pondering on his answer, and looked towards the wall instead.

"Hey, don't-"

"I guess it's just nice that I finally know you better than before, when all I thought of you was just my cunning, charming, suspicious, and deceitful senpai who was, and is, cruel to me." Itaru answered while still avoiding eye contact.

"Ouch? But you're not wrong."

"Now that I know that same senpai of mine is actually just a self-serving, independent, sometimes carefree, but other times very protective, and slightly immature dork, it feels like I've gotten closer to seeing the real you: the one you refused to let others see or get attached to."

Chikage felt his expression turn into one of shock and simply stared down at Itaru, who was still facing the wall with a faint red tinge on his cheeks. This time, it was his turn to start blushing and feel embarrassed, and before he had the chance to do anything, Itaru had finally decided to look at him. He was surprised to see Chikage's face so flustered that he couldn't help but poke fun at him.

"Wow. I actually made Chikage-san embarrassed. That's another check on my quests list." he teased.

"Whatever..." was all Chikage could say at this point.

"Hmph. I did get to see a new side to you, so I'm glad." Itaru said with a surprisingly soft and gentle smile, one that was completely different from what he puts up in front of his coworkers.

"And this is probably the first time I've seen you smile so purely at someone."

"Well, you can never learn too much about a person, I guess."

Chikage huffed while he and Itaru finally made eye contact again and smiled sweetly at each other. Slowly, Chikage leaned down to kiss him, and Itaru gently placed a hand around Chikage's nape until their lips connected once again. 

Their kiss this time was surprisingly gentle, and though neither of them would ever admit it, they both wished deep down that they could just stay that way for hours.

Without pulling away or opening his eyes, Chikage somehow found Itaru's free hand and intertwined their fingers, which caused Itaru's wrist and cheek to twitch slightly from the sudden sensation.

Chikage used his other hand to carefully smooth back Itaru's hair and gently rub his head, which earned him a soft, satisfied grumble from the younger one.

After several minutes of peppering light and gentle kisses at each other, Chikage finally lifted himself off of Itaru.

"Satisfied already, Chikage-san?" Itaru teased.

"I could ask you the same." he replied with a similar tone.

"Sure, that seems plently for our first night being together."

"Huh. Ok then." he said while getting under the covers and laying himself next to Itaru.

"What, did you want more?"

"Maybe...but I'll save that for another time." Chikage said with a wink at the end.

"Wow, someone's suddenly more romantic ever since making out with me."

"You're imagining things, Itaru."

"Yeah, yeah, sure I am."

With that, Itaru snuggled against Chikage's chest and shut his eyes already.

"It's not even twelve yet. You're not gonna play any more games?" Chikage asked, surprised.

"Hmm.. Too tired... And I'm not really grinding for any events right now anyway..."

"That's a first. Bet you just wanted to stay with me." he teased

"Yeah, yeah... Goodnight.."

"Goodnight, Itaru."

Chikage gently wrapped both arms around Itaru and pulled him a little closer before lightly kissing his head.

"...I'll make you even more tired next time.." Chikage thought before slowly drifting off into sleep too.