Archive of Our Own

Yokozawa regretted his decision as soon as they arrived.

Kirishima, on the other hand, seemed ecstatic like a child in a candy store.

“It’s a bad idea…”

“Come on, Takafumi, it’s gonna be fun!”

The use of the first name got Kirishima an elbow in the stomach as well as a seat on the opposite side of the room from Yokozawa, between Yasuda -good- and Takano -not good. For his part, Yokozawa ended up on the far end of the couch so his only companion was Yukina -Yokozawa still wondered how the poor student had been dragged into Henmi’s childish plans, though he was pretty sure that the baby-faced guy seated on the other side of Yukina had something to do with it- and the young man’s height reminded him of how ridiculous nine grown men in a karaoke bar must look. However, Yokozawa had to admit that successfully reuniting all of them, especially Hatori and Yasuda and himself , was pretty impressive. Only Mino managed to escape.

Yokozawa had meant to decline Henmi’s proposal, he really had. Then Kirishima had appeared out of nowhere with his shit-eating grin and handsome looks and when he had agreed on his behalf, Yokozawa had found himself unable to object.

He had become weak lately. 

“Whoah, I didn’t know they have so many songs here!”

“Yes, they even have anime theme songs! Ah, I worked on this one!”

“Really?! I loved it so much, you did such a great job!”

Yokozawa’s irritation grew, although he should have called it: of course this airhead Henmi would get along with Onodera, of all people. He sank a little more into the sofa.

“I want to try this one first!” Henmi shouted happily as he grabbed one of the microphones at their disposal.

“It’s a duet, Henmi-san, you’ll need a partner.” Takano stated right before he pushed Onodera from the couch, the young editor almost crashing into Henmi, “I’m sure Onodera will be very happy to sing it with you.”

Happiness was not exactly what shone through his voice, “Takano-san! Please don’t assume things on my behalf! A- And I can’t sing, anyway!”

Takano shrugged, “What’s the problem, Onodera? You should be more grateful to Henmi, he’s a fan of your work after all.”

Did they really need to flirt right here in front of everyone? Onodera grimaced.

“Don’t worry, Onodera-san,” Yukina interrupted with his usual sun-like smile, “It’s a karaoke bar, I’m sure no one here can sing!”

Yokozawa started to wonder if the mic’s cable would be strong enough for strangulation and who would go first -Onodera, Kirishima and Henmi or himself?

It was Henmi who gave him the final blow, “Please, Onodera-san, if I sing alone I will look miserable in front of everyone!” He pleaded with a pout.

Everyone laughed and Onodera finally agreed to take the mic Henmi had been shaking under his nose for the past minute, not without a red face and a death glare in Takano’s direction.

Henmi was about to press play when they heard a knock on the door and Hatori stood up to open it on one of the staff members. The young woman asked if she could bring them anything and an amused grin crossed her features when she saw all of them in the little room, but it promptly disappeared giving way to a commercial smile. Yokozawa felt himself blush, an embarrassment he seemingly shared with his past-rival who looked like he was about to melt and explode at the same time. They ordered some alcohol and she left, and Yokozawa was sure he had heard a giggle as Hatori went back to his seat and Henmi nearly pounced on the play button.

Yokozawa sighed: it was going to be a long evening.

---

The evening had turned into a full night and it was not a pretty sight.

Henmi and Onodera had opened with a horrible love song that they had sung terribly, which wasn’t really a surprise but still, and among the thirty-seven other songs that had been sung after that thirteen were by Henmi alone, four by Kisa, three by Kirishima and two by Onodera. Yukina, Hatori and Yasuda each sang one solo but Takano abstained from it, although he did sang two duets with Onodera -both cheesy love songs that made Kirishima smile at him with what was probably unconditional love and had Yokozawa considering jumping out the window- and another one with Hatori. Kisa had succeeded in dragging Onodera into three duets, then a trio with Henmi first and Kirishima next, and then he sang with Yukina -they had started to suck each other’s face in the middle of it and were making out on the sofa since then- but not before the young art major and the newbie editor had the chance to sing together. The whole Emerald team had joined at some point to try -and fail- to sing along the Power Ranger theme song. Kirishima and Yasuda had then followed with an awful cover of an english song about girls wanting to have buns -or something like that, Yokozawa had been too busy watching Kirishima’s happy face to really get the lyrics.

Of course, all of them had sung off-key.

That is where they were now: everyone was at least a little tipsy, at worst dead drunk, Hatori was taping furiously on his phone, Yukina and Kisa were still kissing right next to Yokozawa, Takano was listening to Onodera’s drunk mumbling while Henmi was drunkenly nodding to everything despite probably not understanding a word, Yasuda had fallen asleep and Kirishima…

“Hey, Yokozawa, you haven’t sung anything tonight.”

...had decided to drop a bomb, apparently.

Henmi immediately jumped on his feet and for a second it seemed like he was sober again but his laborious attempt to deliver a full, coherent sentence was good proof that he was only one step from alcohol poisoning. After a couple of seconds he gave up and simply threw one of the mics on Yokozawa’s lap while giving him the puppy eyes.

Yokozawa may have become weak, but not that weak to indulge Henmi so easily.

It was mostly the alcohol’s doing, as well as a deep desire to distance himself from the lovey-dovey couple next to him -and maybe he wanted just a little to be the reason for Kirishima’s smile- that made him take the device firmly in his hand and stand up. 

“ONE song, then I’m leaving.”

Henmi squealed happily as Yokozawa searched for the remote to select his song. The young salaryman knew that time was of the essence because if any of his colleagues got his hand on it, he would be at his mercy, and he could already feel Kirishima and Takano’s eyes scanning the room enthusiastically.

“Oh, I got the remote!” A shout from the corner of the room made them all turn in one movement.

Kisa, who was still half-way on Yukina’s lap, was rocking the precious object between his two hands, a crazy evil smile covering his childish features.

And to think that Yokozawa thought it could not get worse.

“I think we have to honour the Wild Bear’s very unusual display of social skills,” Kisa giggled viciously, “so it must be a special song just for him. Luckily, I know exactly the perfect one!”

There was no time for objection and as Yukina gave him an apologetic look, Kisa selected the instrument of torture.

“It’s in english, but you work in sales, Yokozawa-san, so you must speak english at least a little, right?”

When Yokozawa recognized it, he cursed the god who made him incapable of turning down a fight. But here he was and it was too late to back down so he rolled up his sleeves and loosened his tie, and he made sure to look directly into Kirishima’s eyes while doing it. He was satisfied by the blush that appeared on the older man’s cheeks. He even saw Yasuda, who had probably been woken up by Kisa and Henmi’s mess, nudge Kirishima’s shoulder with a smirk.

Good, at least Kirishima was tasting his own medicine.

The instrumental began to come out of the speakers in the room. Yokozawa breathed deeply, then he opened his mouth.

“ There are worse things I could do… ”

The room went silent instantly. Onodera’s babbling had stopped and so had Hatori’s angry texting and all the chats and the laughs. Yokozawa tried to ignore it.

“ Than go with a boy or two… ”

They were all looking at him now, he could feel their gaze on the back of his head.

“ Even though the neighborhood thinks I’m trashy, and no good… ”

Fuck! Stay focused, Takafumi!

“ I suppose it could be true, but there are worse things I could do! ”

No movement, no sound, only Yokozawa, standing up in the middle of a karaoke room like an idiot singing a stupid musical tune. 

Courage, it’s almost over.

I could hurt someone like me
Out of spite or jealousy

“ ... I don’t steal and I don’t lie, but I can feel and I can cry! A fact I’ll bet you never knew... ”

Almost.

"..But to cry in front of you..."

There it comes.

“ ...That’s the worst thing I could do. ”

The music slowly died and Yokozawa found himself surrounded by silence. Several seconds passed without anyone saying anything and it was all the time the man needed to gather his things, grab his jacket and reach the door.

“I’m leaving now. Thanks for the invitation Henmi. Good night.” And he was out.

Yokozawa strode the halls as fast as he could without looking like a rabbit running away from the wolves, that is until he heard the sound of a door opening behind him and he practically ran out of the building. The streets were deserted at this hour so he allowed himself to let the deep blush he had repressed until now invade his face. He could not believe what he had done, and in front of all his colleagues no less! Yokozawa prayed that the alcohol in their veins would erase their memory because he was pretty sure none of them would leave him alone after this horrendous display of ridicule. He was screwed.

Then he heard someone shouting “Wait for me, Sinatra!” behind him followed by kick footsteps. Yokozawa picked up the pace as much as he could without blatantly running but the man chasing him had the advantage of longer legs and a way more calm mind at the moment, and so he ended up in a dark back alley with his back against a cold brick wall and a foreign tongue caressing the roof of his mouth. The arms holding him were gentle, he could have gotten rid of them easily; he did not.

Their kiss was interrupted by a group of teens on the other side of the street when one of the girls jokingly yelled at them to ‘get a room’. Both of them giggled softly, like some teenagers caught making out in an empty classroom. Kirishima tightened his embrace around Yokozawa's torso while hiding his face against his neck, gently nuzzling the soft skin of his throat. 

He giggled again, “You never told me you could sing like that.”

The sound Yokozawa made sounded more like a moan than the groan he had intended to release. “I don’t have to tell you everything.” He paused for a second. “You would get bored.”

Kirishima laid kisses all the way to Yokozawa’s mouth, giving the latter a pleasing shiver, before joining their foreheads softly. “With you? Never.”

Yokozawa was aware that his expression was probably disgustingly sweet at the moment but, with the deemed light of the street lamp and Kirishima’s scent all around him, he could not care less.

“Come on, let’s go home!” Kirishima exclaimed, then he leant to whisper in his lover’s ear, “There are other sounds I want to get from you tonight.”

Yokozawa was drunk and definitely in the mood, but it did not mean Kirishima could do everything he pleased and he quickly pushed him away and got back on the main street, Kirishima’s laugh following him. 

Yokozawa stiffened when he felt fingers caressing his palm and intertwining with his but he did not say anything nor tried to get his hand free. He must have been more drunk than he thought.

“I hope you’ll let me hear you sing again, your voice was really sexy back there!”

Yokozawa blushed again but a warm feeling in his chest made him simply squeeze his partner’s hand as they walked along. 

His voice was almost soft when he told Kirishima to go die.