Archive of Our Own

When Kojiro and Kaoru first started dating, Kaoru made it extremely clear he didn’t want many people to know about their relationship.

“It’s not because I’m embarrassed of you, don’t forget we still work in the same building, so I’d like to keep some modicum of professionalism between us in our work environment,” he reasoned. Kojiro was completely fine with it and the two kept their new status a secret from their coworkers. Of course, this never stopped people from having their suspicions about something changing between the two former enemies, but nothing had come out to confirm those thoughts. For the vast majority though, they assumed the two had made some sort of amends and could at least tolerate being in the same room as each other. 

On a random day in July, while Kojiro had his arm swung over Kaoru’s shoulder, the pink-haired man asked about his partner’s tattoo.

“I told you I got it with my ex-girlfriend at the time, right? We originally got them with the intent to symbolize our relationship, but once we broke up, I gave it a new meaning: a new phase of my life. I was still young, but I was kind of forcing a preconceived notion on myself of what my future would look like. I had big dreams of playing professionally abroad, and I thought by this time I’d be living it up, and by some chance, maybe the relationship I had with her would grow into something more. Obviously, it didn’t work out,” he said with a shake of his head, “but I like to think everything turned out for the better. All of this is to say I realized that my future doesn’t need to be concrete to be happy or successful, and did I necessarily need her in my life to be happy. Despite the initial meaning, I’m happy I got the tattoo.”

“That’s surprisingly well put for a meathead like you.”

The topic of this particular ex wouldn’t come up again until a month later when Kojiro heard a voice call out his name at the school. The voice belonged to a woman with long brown curly hair, tawny skin, and almond-shaped eyes. 

(An extremely pretty woman to most people, but just an average person in the love-stricken eyes of Kojiro Nanjo.)

“Dominique?”

“Yeah,” she said with a breathless smile, “never in a million years did I think I’d run into you here of all places. You work here?”

“Yup, I ended up injuring my knee so going pro didn’t work out, but I’m one of the gym teachers, and I also coach boys’ basketball.”

“Aw, I’m sorry to hear about the injury, I know how dedicated you were back then, but I’m happy to hear you were able to find a new calling.”

“Eh, it’s okay, life works out in mysterious ways. What about you? What do you teach?”

“I’m teaching Spanish, and I’m also coaching the cheerleading team,” she chirped, “so we might be seeing a lot more of each other.”

“Congrats on the job,” he exclaimed, “I think you’ll fit right in with the rest of us.”

“Thanks… you know we should definitely get together outside of work and catch up sometime,” she offered.

“Maybe,” he said dismissively, “I’d have to check my schedule.”

“Oh that’s fine, just let me know,” she said as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. 

“I hate to cut this short, but I sort of a meeting scheduled…like right now soー”

“Oh, I’m sorry I’ll let you go now!” Kojiro apologized once more as he quickly rushed past. 

(Kojiro never looked back, but if he had, he would’ve noticed a pair of brown eyes following him with a smirk that only boded misfortune from there on out.)

________

Dominique Johnson was a woman who was used to getting what she wanted. 

When someone looked the way she did, it was only natural for her to garner attention; people either wanted to be her friend or they were aiming to get into her pants, that’s just how things worked. She was no stranger to breaking hearts, but when it came to Kojiro, she had to admit, he was her one regret. She thought she could give up her flirtatious ways for the boy with green hair and a promising basketball career, but alas, when she received the letter that she was accepted to a college overseas, she broke it off with him. Sure, Kojiro suggested trying to preserve the relationship through phone calls and texts, but she knew deep down it would never work. Rather than gradually ignoring him, she figured she’d break things off, you know, to spare him the future heartbreak of losing someone as great as her.  

But now that she saw him after all this time, her mind was regretting that decision.

His face was still the same, but it had clearly matured over the years. Though he had no facial hair, she could clearly see he had grown his hair out as seen through the unruly strands pulled into a small ponytail. As much as she wanted to focus on his face, she was definitely distracted by his broad chest and muscular arms. God, what she would do to be pressed up against himー

Focus , her mind urged as she was pulled to the present where she was talking to one of the other Spanish teachers.

“ーand for events that involve food, Kojiro, one of the gym teachers usually goes all outー”

“Kojiro?” Dominique questioned.

“Yeah, one of the other coachesーoh my gosh, I’m so dumb, I forgot you’re one of them too, you’ve probably met him already, haven’t you?”

Dominique smirked, “I’m actually quite familiar with him…we dated back in high school.”

Ms.Fontina gasped, “Wow, I never would’ve guessed. What was he like back then? And what happened between you guys, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“ I ran into him earlier, and from what I could tell, he hadn’t changed much. And in terms of our relationship, I couldn’t be chained down and I didn’t want to hurt him, so I broke things off,” Dominique casually mentioned.

“How’d he react when he saw you?” 

“We just had a normal conversation, but there was definitely a look in his eye like he was sad.”

“Oh my gosh, do you think he still has feelings for you after all this time?” Ms.Fontina gasped.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, we got pretty serious to the point where we even have matching tattoos.” Dominique pushed up her sleeve to reveal a moon tattoo in the same abstract style as Kojiro’s. “We’re already connected through our tattoos, maybe we’re connected by fate, you know, ending up at the same school and all.”

Ms.Fontina eagerly nodded her head, “everyone has definitely been interested in him at some point, but it would be so romantic if it turned out you were the one meant for him all along. I’ll be rooting for you!”

“That’s so sweet of you to say, I hope it all works out in the end.”

(Spoiler alert: it didn’t.)

About a week later, Kojiro finally sought her out. “Hey, are you free on Saturday at 7? Thought this would be the perfect time to catch up and celebrate your new job here.”

She smiled breezily, as she knew he would come to find her eventually, and said, “Yes, I’m completely free. Just message me the details,” she ended with a wink.

Kojiro must’ve been distracted with his phone since he didn’t respond to it like he used to, but she quickly recovered by putting on a smile again by the time he looked up.

“Perfect, just put your number in, and I’ll tell you we’re meeting.” She frowned for a second realizing he no longer had her number. He probably deleted it so he could get over me , she reasoned.

She typed it in and the man was off again. Though this was only their second meeting in such a short period of time, she got a vague feeling he’d rather be somewhere else. Of course, she ignored the feeling, because who wouldn’t be excited to go on a date with her? 

__________

Kaoru was well aware that Kojiro had run into his ex-girlfriend. It was the first thing that came out of his mouth when he came to talk to Kaoru after school. All Kaoru said was “huh, small world” and kept the conversation going. What else was he supposed to do, agonize over a woman who had been out of Kojiro’s life for 10 years and had only been brought up in conversation twice? No thank you, Kaoru had much better things to do. This sentiment carried through as Kojiro grabbed his keys while Kaoru sat on the couch working on a lesson plan.

“Hey, I’m going out with the other coaches to welcome Dominique to the school. Don’t wait up for me.”

“Where are you going,” Kaoru asked as he typed rapidly.

“You know the bar a few miles away that works with the local brewery? You know I’m not really a beer guy, but it was a centralized location for everyone,” he summed up with a shrug of his shoulders.

Kaoru looked up from his laptop for a moment, “Nice, can you get me some of their pretzel bites? I’ll pay you back.”

“I’ll get them, don’t worry about paying me back, but uh…is there anything else you need to say before I head out?”

“No? Is there something I need to say?” Kaoru questioned.

Kojiro paused for a moment before walking over to the couch and leaned forward over the back, “Don’t people usually get upset when their partners go somewhere with their ex? I figured you’d have something to say about it, maybe pin me against a wall and declare that I’m yours,” he said dramatically. 

Kaoru rolled his eyes in exasperation and playfully shoved Kojiro, “God, you’re such a dork. It should go without even saying, but obviously be careful. I’m fairly confident that we’re both secure in this relationship and I trust that you wouldn’t do anything you’d come to regret in the morning. I’ve never met her, so I don't know what she’s like or what her current intentions are towards you. I also understand that you both have a history together, and if by some chance you realize you’d like to explore that further, I trust that you’d be the one to tell me.” He ended his declaration with a tender kiss on the cheek.

Kojiro gently brought his hand to his cheek as if he were memorizing the feeling, he smiled softly as the affectionate look in his eyes grew. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Plenty. Now get going before they start the festivities without you.”

“Alright, I’m heading out,” he announced once more. But right before he closed the door, Kaoru called out to him.

“Oh, and Kojiro?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t forget those pretzel bites or you're sleeping on the couch.”

“Noted.”

__________

To say the “date” was a flop would be an understatement.

Dominique had a plan to seduce the Kojiro with a pair of her most form-fitting jeans and equally fitted top; it was a plan that usually went off without a hitch and lead to her waking up pleasantly sore the next day. The plan had quickly gone out the window when she arrived at the bar at a table with 9 other people merrily chatting away. Her eyebrow had twitched in irritation as she plastered a fake smile on her face. Once her presence was noticed, she had at least hoped she’d sit next to Kojiro, but no, of course not. Instead, she was stuck between the weird old golf coach and the other basketball coach named Okra, or something like that.

Things only went downhill from there. Kojiro barely looked at her all night, the weird golf coach started drunkenly hitting on her and ended up spilling a whole pint of beer in her lap. The female volleyball coach attempted to follow her to the bathroom to help her clean up, but by that point, the damage had been done. She politely excused herself saying she had a fun time, but should probably go home. On the bright side, Kojiro at least offered to walk her to her car.

Okay, I misunderstood when he asked me out to drinks, but maybe I can save the night while we’re alone, she thought. Before she could even suggest him accompanying her further, he quickly bid her good night and returned to the bar.

Maybe he was just embarrassed to be alone with me after all this time, she reasoned once more. She stuck with this train of thought as she rolled a cart of textbooks down the hallway the following Monday. As she pushed, one of the wheels decided to make a sharp right and caused a few textbooks to fall to the floor. She groaned in frustration as she bent down to pick up a book but was surprised when she saw an unfamiliar large pale hand also reaching for it. Her eyes traveled from the hand, up a lavender-clad arm, and eventually to a beautiful slender face framed by pink hair.

“Here, let me help you,” the person declared in a smooth voice. She froze for a moment, still caught off guard by their looks, before quickly picking up two more books, and putting them in their rightful place on the cart.

“Tーthank you,” she stuttered, “Uhm, I don’t think we’ve met before?”

“We most likely haven’t. My classroom is on the other side of the building, I was just visiting someone a few doors down.”

“Oh, and who would that be? I’m new to the school so I’m not familiar with a lot of people yet,” she said as she twirled a strand of her hair.

“Carla Eayae in room 2031, she teaches a few English literature courses.”

“Ah yes, I’ve met her, she’s really nice. What about you, what do you teach?” 

“I mostly teach 2D, 3D, and one AP art class.”

“Wow, that’s so interesting. I’ve always been bad at drawing, maybe I could stop by and you can teach me,” she suggested. Fate might’ve been pushing her toward Kojiro, but there’s no harm in window shopping, right?

“We’ll see,” they seemed to grit out. They’ve probably never talked to someone as pretty as me before , she thought, they’re probably nervous.

“Oh, where are my manners? I never introduced myself, I’m Dominique Johnson, and you are?”

Their eyes seemed to flash with recognition for a second before their face returned to a neutral resting face, “...Kaoru Sakurayashiki but the kids usually call me Mr.Yashiki.”

“Well Kaoru ,” she purred, “I hope we see a lot more of each other.”

“...Sure,” he said after a moment, “well if your textbooks are secure, I’ll be taking my leave.” 

As he walked away, Dominique’s eyes ran over his lean figure, and made a silent vow to forget windowshopping, she was ready for a test ride.

Thus began her chase.

For the first time in her life, Dominique was the one pursuing someone rather than someone pursuing her. She tried to talk to the man at any chance she got; after staff meetings, during school events, and sporadic trips across the building with the excuse of “being in the neighborhood.” Really, it was quite exhausting, but she couldn’t stop now with a target so close in sight. About a week before the semester started, she made her way to the art room with an air of confidence. She knocked on the man’s open door to find him moving a few pieces of furniture around the classroom.

“One second,” he urged as he shifted a table closer to his desk. After a moment of screeching, he wiped off any residue from his hands and brought his attention to the woman in the doorway, “how can I help you?”

“Wow, someone’s a lot stronger than they look,” she joked.

“What can I say, I’m a man with many secrets,” he said blandly.

“Hm, secrets you say?” She questioned with a sly tilt of her head, “You don’t seem to do a particularly good job of hiding them,” she said as she stepped a bit closer to him.

“Oh, what secret do you think I’m trying to hide?” 

“I know how you feel about me Kaoru.”

“Huh?” His golden eyes seemed to flash in confusion, but Dominique simply pushed on.

“You don’t have to pretend, it’s pretty obvious, I get it though. It’s hard to talk to attractive people sometimes.”

“Ms.Johnson I don’t thinkー”

“I’m just gonna make this easier on the both of us: I think you and I would look great together, let’s go out sometime,” she concluded with a self-assured smile.

Kaoru stepped back, “Ms.Johnson, there seems to be a big misunderstanding, I have absolutely no interest in you.”

She scoffed dismissively, “Oh come on, there’s no need to lie. I’ve seen the way you look at me.”

“I wasn’t looking at you in any sort of way, I was merely being polite, besides… you’re not exactly my type.”

Her face flushed in a combination of anger and embarrassment. “What do you mean I’m not your type?” She angrily gritted out.

Suddenly there was a knock at the doorway.

“Hey, sorry am I interrupting something?” Kojiro questioned as he sauntered into the room noting the tense mood.

“Uh, no,” Kaoru coughed, “did you need something?”

Kojiro glanced between the two again before his eyes slowly settled onto Kaoru, “I just came to return the supplies you loaned me. Fun fact, the varsity team may be great basketball players, but they can’t draw for shit.” Kaoru cracked a small smile at the joke, gaining some relief from the eyes that seemed to be burning him. 

“You could’ve kept them in your office, you never know when one of your players might finally drop that ridiculous sport for something more refined.”

“Oh, please, as if I’d ever lose a player to the arts.”

“You are aware that Miya’s taking my intermediate 2D class, right?” Kaoru deadpanned.

Kojiro’s eyes widened, “...I in fact did not know that. That little twerp betrayed me. You’d think you know a kid after all this time,” he said with a shake of his head.

“What can I say, the kid has good taste,” Kaoru shrugged.

“Yeah, sure he does,” he said sarcastically with an eye roll. Despite the tone, Kaoru caught the mushy look in Kojiro’s eyes and which caused the art teacher to blush lightly in embarrassment. “Well, sorry to bother you guys, I’ve gotta get back to the team and make a certain someone run laps.” He waved to the two teachers and left. Once his footsteps could no longer be heard, Kaoru turned to Dominique and saw an odd sight.

Her face, which had once been flushed in embarrassment now appeared to be as cool as a cucumber, and there seemed to be a growing smirk. Kaoru had a sudden feeling that his current predicament was about to go on for a bit longer.

“Oh, I see what’s going on.”

“And what would that be?”

“You’re interested in Kojiro. And while I can agree that you have good taste, I hate to break it to you, but you don’t have a single chance with him.”

Despite the overwhelming urge to laugh, he managed to maintain a straight face, “what gives you the impression that I have no chance?” 

She folded her arms and seemed to puff out her chest, “You might not know this, but Kojiro and I have a history together. Things might not have worked out back then, but the fact that he and I are working at the same school 10 years later is practically fate. I tried to give you a chance, to go against that fate, but I guess we just weren’t meant to be. This is all a sign from the universe that Kojiro and I are meant to be together, and I plan on making that a reality soon.” She huffed and placed a hand on his shoulder, “I hope there won’t be any hard feelings between us,” she pouted.

Kaoru was silent. At this point, he could’ve easily revealed his relationship to the woman, but with him being the utter menace he is, he decided to simply nod his head in false resignation. “Hm, okay. Hope it works out between the two of you.”

“...that's it?” She questioned, in shock by how easily he appeared to give up.

“Yup, like you said, I have no chance,” he snorted out. Dominique’s perfectly manicured eyebrow raised in question, but she didn’t say anything else. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I still have some work to do.” He sat down at his desk and started typing away as the woman slowly walked out the door.

Once he was sure she was long gone, he paused his typing to look at what he’d written; utter gibberish. It was a bunch of keyboarding smashing in an attempt to look busy in order to urge the woman to leave. He took a deep breath and pinched his nose as he finally took a moment to truly absorb the absurdity of the conversation he just had. Some might feel a bit bad about the inevitable humiliation Dominique was about to endure, but Kaoru knew she’d be okay in the long run.

But boy, oh boy, did he wish he could be there for the big reveal.

__________

As Dominique walked out, she was s bit shocked by this new revelation. She saw the way Kaoru interacted with Kojiro, and while she’d heard from other people that the two of them didn’t get along, that obviously wasn’t the case. They were at least friendly enough with each other to borrow things from each other, but there was no way it was anything more than that on Kojiro’s end at least. It was impossible to not notice his body language change the minute Kojiro set foot in the room, his body was slightly angled towards the gym teacher, signaling his full attention; shoulders that were once tensed fell into a slightly more relaxed position. And even though she could only see his profile, she could see the way his eyes seemed to soften at the other man. 

With a reaction like that, she expected a bigger reaction from the man when she declared her fated partnership with Kojiro. It was almost like he knew something she didn’t…

It doesn’t matter, she thought with a shake of her head, he can put on a brave face all he wants, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s pining over a man who’s not even into guys. 

Dominique retreated to her classroom to make her plan of action for the following day. The first step was to obviously pick out a cute, but functional outfit; her plan was to ask him out once practice had concluded for the both of them. She didn’t know if he was the type to immediately leave once the gym had been cleaned up, so she was determined to make a beeline for the main gym as soon as the last mat was put away. She finally decided on a pair of flattering yoga pants and an old collegiate shirt, functional enough to not get in the way of practice and casually stylish to the point where no one would ask any questions. 

Part two of her plan took place the day of and required some outside help. After talking things over with Ms.Fontina, the blonde woman enthusiastically agreed to distract Oka so the two of them could talk uninterrupted. On her way to the main gym, Dominique passed the two and acknowledged them with a friendly nod of her head; she, in turn, received a wave from Oka and a subtle thumbs up from Ms.Fontina. Before she turned the corner to the gym, she caught sight of her reflection in a window and fluffed her hair before entering.

Kojiro looked like he was about to head out through the other set of doors when Dominique called out to him, “Hey, Kojiro, you got a minute?”

He paused for a moment in consideration before answering, “Yeah, sure, what’s up?”

“I just wanted to talk to you,” she said as she walked over to the bleachers. She sat down and patted the spot beside her, Kojiro slowly made his way over and took a seat a bit farther away from her than she liked.

“Did you need something?”

“What? Do I always have to need something when it comes to you?” She teased.

“Not at all, I just figured you’re a busy person, so I figured you’d be here on some sort of mission.”

“Hm, well, in that case, I guess you could say I’m here on a mission.”

Kojiro tilted his head in question as she moved a bit closer. “Kojiro…I know I made a mistake when I let you go all those years ago. I was young and wanted to explore other options, and while it was fun at the time, it never compared to what I had with you,” she said with a demure flutter of her eyelashes, “Seeing you after all this time apart made me realize that there’s still something between us, something we both left unresolved because were scared of what it could become. So…Kojiro, what do you say? Should we give this another shot?”

Kojiro’s was slightly open with shock.

Of course, he’s shocked, I’m giving him the chance of the lifetime, why wouldn’t heー

“Dominique…” he started off slowly, “you… you’re a great person, and I’ll admit I was in love with you back then, but… things have changed.”

“What?” She gawked.

“I don’t love you that way anymore, plus,” he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck with a small smile, “I’m already in a pretty great relationship.”

She sighed, “Okay fine, tell me, what does she have that I don’t?”

(A diー)

“An amazing personality.”

“Wow, how specific,” she scoffed, “is this mythical girlfriend even real? You don’t have to lie to get me to chase after you.”

“Well if we’re being honest here, I really don’t have a girlfriend, but I’m still dating someone.”

“Okay, if they’re not your girlfriend, but you’re dating them, then who are they?” She smirked thinking she caught onto his “lie”.

Dominique could’ve sworn she heard him mutter something about someone killing him under his breath before his cheeks turned pink. “You’ve already met Kaoru.”

Silence.

“You’reーyou’re gay?”

“Well, if you want to be technical about it, I’m bisexual.” 

“Great that makes it so much better,” she spits out venomously.

“Look, I’m sorry if you thoughtー”

“Nope, there’s no point in apologizing, because I’m the dumb one,” she sighed.

“I wouldn’t call someone who graduated with honors and studied abroad dumb,” Kojiro joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

She huffed out a bitter laugh, “I might be smart when it comes to academics, but clearly not when it comes to matters of the heart… uh sorry, for just assuming things would be the same after all this time.”

“Hey, it’s okay, you didn’t know, actually most of the staff don’t know.”

“Ah, I see… well, if you’re worried about me saying anything, I promise I won’t. It’s not my business to tell.”

“Thanks,” Kojiro said with a grateful smile.

“Well…I think I should go.” She stood from her place on the bleachers and started to walk off. Before she made it completely out the door, Kojiro called out to her one more time.

“Hey, you gonna be okay?”

She smirked, “Oh Kojiro, that’s sweet and all, but I know I’m not gonna be single for long. Have a nice day.” 

As her footsteps disappeared on his right side, another set of footsteps approached him on his left and sat down next to him.

“Well that was certainly an interesting way to end the day,” Kaoru supplied to fill the silence.

“Were you there the whole time?”

“Only for the end of it.”

Kojiro hesitated for a moment, “...Is it okay that I told her about us? I know you wanted to keep things private but I thought she at least deserved to know.”

Kaoru shifted a bit closer to his partner before taking his hand and looking into his eye. “I promise I’m not mad. She was going find out sooner or later with how she pursed you… well us,” he muttered the last part.

“Come again?”

“She… may have tried to ask me out on Monday.”

“Wait, wasn’t that when I dropped off your markers?” Kojiro inquired.

“Yes, I obviously told her I wasn’t interested and after you left, she just assumed I had some unrequited love for you,” Kaoru said with a roll of his eyes.

“You know you could’ve just told her together and saved us both from embarrassing ourselves?”

“Eh, some people need to be humbled a bit.” Kaoru playfully bumped shoulders their shoulders together. Kojiro attempted to remain stoic but was quickly overwhelmed with laughter, by the end of his laughing fit, he wiped away a few tears and tenderly rubbed his fingers over Kaoru’s knuckles.

“Well, at least she has good taste.”

__________

By the time the new school year started, most of the staff knew about Kojiro and Kaoru. Everyone was quite supportive, if not a little surprised. Alas, there were a few people who had to accept that the two hottest bachelors of the school were officially off the market, but they all could agree they looked great together. 

As for Dominique, she ended up with the female volleyball coach a few weeks later, much to Kojiro’s surprise. 

(Well, she did say she wouldn’t stay single for long.)

Huh…life truly does work in mysterious ways.