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This was not how Hiiro expected this evening to go.
Granted, he didn’t know what he expected. But it was definitely not this.
Things had been… exhausting. To say the least.
But as things started to get smoothed out, and the game disease became more treatable easily - Hiiro found himself most likely to just think.
And if he was thinking, he found his thoughts more prone to just… wandering around.
He was still busy, obviously. The life of a surgeon was never without stress and difficulties, but it was still a different challenge from literally having to fight the viruses with his own hands and a sword.
Blades were blades, sure, but there was still a difference between a sword and a scalpel, even if Hiiro was proficient with both.
So. His thoughts were wandering around. And when he was thinking, he was starting to get ideas, and he wasn’t sure how to deal with them.
He found himself wondering more and more about Taiga and his old-new clinic. He always had his little clinic, ever since he left CR, when he lost his license. Now, it didn’t change much, but it was official.
So that was something.
More than something.
Was Taiga doing alright?
He was aware he didn’t even have a nurse anymore. Or intern. Or whatever Saiba Nico’s job title was.
He wondered if he was alright.
Clearly a professional concern.
Obviously.
Hiiro wasn’t that great at fooling himself, but he kept trying anyway.
It was easy to think that this was the case, instead of acknowledging what really was occupying his mind.
But that didn’t mean that he was going to think about it a lot.
Then Saiba Nico actually called Hiiro.
“Hey. So. I have made a program for you for tomorrow.”
“...for me? Are you sure you wanted to call me?”
“Well, duh. Who else?” Nico rolled her eyes. “Anyway. You need to drag Taiga outside.”
“...Taiga? Is there something wrong with Taiga?”
Hiiro’s heart jumped up to his throat.
Was he once again just… not noticing?
“Not really. He’s just being a repressed shut-in. So nothing unusual,” Nico shrugged. “So you need to make sure he goes outside and has a little fun. There’s a little attraction opening in the neighborhood. I booked you two tickets. I’ll send it over, and make sure Taiga goes there as well. Make sure he has fun and doesn’t turn away~”
“Wait–”
“It’s super important. Trust me. You two are gonna have so much fun.”
“But–”
“Gotta go. Time zones and shit. I’ve gotta pass out soon. Remember, don’t miss it, I’ll tell Taiga to get his ass there as well, and you better drag him inside, or I’ll go across the ocean to beat you up.”
And with that, she hung up.
And Hiiro sighed, leaning back.
“If you do that, you might as well take Taiga outside yourself…”
But of course by that time, there was no response.
Not that Saiba Nico would let him get a word in otherwise.
But he got the tickets from her through email, just as she promised.
It seemed like a haunted village attraction.
Interesting choice, to say the least.
But why not?
So, the next day, he went to the meeting spot that Saiba Nico wrote in the mail, and just waited.
And he felt… stupid.
Unreasonably stupid.
Taiga probably wouldn’t even show up, and then what? He just made a fool of himself.
…even waiting here, he was making a fool of himself.
He was overdressed, he got a few weird looks from people, but… truth to be told, Hiiro usually wore his suits to most places he went to.
And this entire situation was already way too uncomfortable, he really didn’t need to dress uncomfortably as well, did he?
No he didn’t.
…or maybe he should have.
Was it too late to go home and change?
Definitely. Definitely too late.
…what was he even doing?
“...you?”
Hearing Taiga’s voice shook Hiiro out from his thoughts suddenly.
Well, at least Taiga didn’t really change his usual outfit either.
But probably his boots and usual outfit was way more fitting for something like this than Hiiro’s suit was.
Hiiro was really overdressed.
“Who did you expect?”
“I didn’t know who to expect. I half-expected Nico to have crossed the ocean and for her to be sitting here. Whatever this is.”
“Saiba Nico sent me here. She told me I need to make sure you move out from your clinic at times. She did threaten to cross the ocean and beat me up if I fail, so if you are looking for an excuse…”
He was giving Taiga an easy out.
He knew that.
But if he really just came because he thought it might be Nico here, then maybe Hiiro didn’t want to be here either in the first place.
Taiga snorted.
“Whatever. I already closed up for today, and I have no patients. Once I’m here, let’s do… what are we here to do in the first place?”
“Ah… it’s a haunted attraction, I believe. She just sent me the ticke— what?”
The effect on Taiga was immediate, as he recoiled, eyes widening, and he clenched his jaw.
“What did you just say?” Taiga hissed, and Hiiro was quite frankly, confused.
“...a haunted attraction? I said Saiba Nico sent the tickets for me, I assumed you’d know.”
Taiga’s entire body seemed tense up - his teeth obviously clenched, and his eyes were darting around.
Something was… off.
“...what’s wrong.”
“Nothing,” Taiga snapped, and suddenly moved, grabbing Hiiro’s arm. “Let’s get this thing over with, then.”
This was absolutely not how Hiiro expected this to go. Maybe he had imagined this evening going better.
Maybe even holding Taiga’s hand, making fun of the attraction together.
After all, the last zombie they had seen was definitely different from these dressed-up actors, right?
…now he sounded like a smitten schoolgirl even in his mind.
But truth to be told, he… didn’t know how to do this.
With Saki, she took the initiative, and she was his first serious relationship - and she just sat down next to Hiiro, and she was the one who didn’t let him slip away.
How was he supposed to reach out to Taiga?
So maybe Saiba Nico’s interference was an opening, he figured. Something to move on from. Maybe step by step.
And it immediately went wrong.
Hiiro really thought there was nothing he couldn’t cut, but turns out, awkward silences might have been an exception from this rule.
Seeing as he didn’t… expect… Taiga to react the way he did.
The attraction wasn’t really a big deal - it was just a walk in a forest area, visiting some buildings and fake shrines set up, where actors were waiting to scare them. Full of ambient music and recordings of screams and stuff.
Not a big deal. Kind of cheap, actually.
He didn’t get why Saiba Nico would have sent them here—
Until Taiga jumped from the first scare, and jumped immediately behind Hiiro, grasping at his shoulders.
Hiiro froze. Taiga’s fingers dug into his shoulders.
He wanted to ask many questions, but the words refused to form in his brain from what was happening.
“...what are you waiting for?” Taiga hissed, but his whole body was trembling, and even his voice didn’t have that much power. “Keep going.”
“...you are the one who stopped.”
Hiiro couldn’t help but smile a little.
“You know, you are taller than me. Can’t exactly hide behind me.”
“Shut up. Let’s just keep going.”
Oh this explained why Nico Saiba sent him these tickets.
“Don’t worry, Dr Hanaya,” Hiiro teased him a little. “I occasionally moonlight as a knight, you know. I’ll keep you safe.”
“Playing with your gashats doesn’t count as being a knight. Shut up.”
The rest of the walk through the haunted path was very much the same. Taiga was frazzled, jumpy, and kept clinging to Hiiro, seemingly stuck between trying to drag Hiiro to go faster and not wanting to run into the next scare too quickly.
He really… didn’t know how to deal with it, as amusing as it was to see Taiga’s wide eyes jump from place to place, not knowing what to expect, his nerves obviously in shambles.
He figured the intern would have held his hand and tried to ease his worries. The coroner probably would have done something that he thought was super smooth, or something like that. Poppy Pipopapo… probably would have been clutching his hands, just as terrified.
What was Hiiro supposed to do?
So he just let Taiga cling into him and push him through the path.
And he might have missed whatever chance was there.
Well…
…well.
Once they were outside, and finished, Taiga immediately bolted from Hiiro’s side, disappearing around the nearby buildings, his feet clearly wobbly from the fright. Hiiro said a thank you to the staff there, and he hurried after him.
If he was already gone, then—
Suddenly he was grabbed by the collar of his suit, and next thing he knew, Hiiro was pressed up against a wall.
Taiga’s face was still pale, but his expression was clearly angry, which was undercut by the fact that he was still trembling.
“One word. One word about this to anyone. And I’ll shoot you.”
It was so bizarre, and Hiiro shouldn’t have laughed - but he couldn’t help but snort a little.
“First of all, if my gashats don’t count as being a knight, your gashats don’t count as having a real gun either. So. You can’t shoot me - you don’t have a gun.”
“That you know of.”
“Secondly,” Hiiro continued - and he quickly realized he forgot what he was about to say. Maybe it had something to do with Taiga’s hands still gripping him, and almost leaning by his body. But he had started to talk now, he couldn’t back down. “No you won’t.”
That wasn’t the best followup.
Taiga didn’t say anything, and his eyes dropped, looking over Hiiro, almost like he was also realizing their position.
Then his eyes met Hiiro’s again, he opened his mouth - but there were no words coming.
Taiga’s eyes dropped again, and it looked like he was looking at Hiiro’s lips—
Then the moment was gone, and Taiga pushed himself away from Hiiro, and walked off, obviously still shaky.
Hiiro let out a long, ragged breath.
He was supposed to do something. He was sure of it. Say something, do something, anything, but his body just wasn’t moving.
His phone rang, and he answered absentmindedly.
“...the fact that you are answering this tells me that I didn’t interrupt a makeout session between you two. Seriously?”
“...is that why you sent the tickets?”
“Well, duh,” Hiiro could practically hear Nico rolling her eyes. “But apparently it was too much of a tall order for you two repressed assholes.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do?”
“How do you even function?! You had a relationship before, did you not? Is Taiga still around?”
“...probably not that far.”
“Then stop talking with me and go after him!”
She hung up, and Hiiro just stared at the phone for a few moments.
Somehow he stopped having any questions about how she managed to crack open the hard shell that Taiga had hidden himself into.
So Hiiro pocketed the phone, and darted off into the direction where Taiga disappeared to.
He was probably going back to his clinic.
Definitely.
He caught him around and underpass, and he was nearing the bottom of the stairs, and Hiiro just wasn’t thinking, not really, when he grabbed Taiga and—
He lost his balance, crashing into Taiga, making the two of them take a tumble down the last few steps.
…well that was familiar.
“What the—”
Hiiro landed on top of Taiga, and he pushed himself up, trying to ignore how he was now basically straddling him. Part of him expected Taiga to push him off, but instead Taiga just stared up at him, eyes widened.
“Saiba Nico called me again.”
Hiiro was out of breath, and Taiga’s eyes narrowed.
“Did she now.”
“She called both of us repressed assholes.”
“I’m going to kick her a—”
“She is probably right,” Hiiro continued, his hands grasping onto Taiga’s scarf. “I kept trying to think of what to say to you, what to do - and whenever I arrived at an idea, the opportunity seemed to have passed already.”
“And so now what?”
“So… I’ll just stop asking myself what to do.”
So he did.
Which meant he leaned forward, and just kissed Taiga.
No more questions, no more asking himself what to do, just kissing him - and judging from the furious way Taiga kissed him back, his hands grabbing onto Hiiro, pulling him down even further, it seemed like the right thing to do.
Well. They’d have to get up from the ground. He was sure of that.
But it didn’t seem like Taiga was willing to let him go, so what was Hiiro supposed to do about it?