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Being in love with your boss isn't something anyone just admits.
To say Yano and Sekiguchi were close would be an understatement, the two had an unmatched bond, having worked together for well over a year or so now. The two had the utmost respect for one another, and for Sekiguchi, that respect went a little further than one would expect for a bodyguard.
He can't remember what exactly it was about Yano that originally made him fall in love, as far as he's concerned everything about Yano is perfect. The way Yano goes out of his way to compliment him every day makes his heart flutter, his sly smiles and spiked hair are so cute as well. Even from the day they first started to work together, Sekiguchi could see all these great aspects of him, feeling as though he finds a new trait to love every day.
"Yano is so cool..." He chuckled to himself while on the phone late at night with his younger sister. Even when technically not working he still found his boss occupying most of his thoughts, telling his family about him, although with some little lies here and there about the nature of their relationship of course. Just a normal bodyguard for a normal rapper as far as they knew.
However, Sekiguchi wanted nothing more than to be more than a mere bodyguard to Yano. He wanted to be his lover, he wanted to be everything Yano could ever want and more, something irreplaceable.
Yet he couldn't bring himself to admit it directly. Sekiguchi was brave and strong, yes, but anyone can become a coward when faced with even the slightest possibility of rejection. Sekiguchi thought over every possible outcome a million times in his head, all the different ways he could go about confessing and all the different ways yano could respond.
Sekiguchi sighed and looked up from his laptop at Yano, he was dancing by himself with headphones on, in his own little world. The two were currently in Yano's cramped apartment, mostly due to today being a less professional meeting day if this can even be called a meeting. Admittedly this was more of them just hanging out, bouncing between different topics at random for what to do later in the week.
Yano paused his dance and reached for the small tin of candy on the table Sekiguchi was sitting at, popping it open and immediately being met with disappointment. It was empty from the last time he went to get a piece.
"Hmph." Yano simply made an annoyed face at this, shaking the tin as if he hadn't just found out there was nothing inside. It was Sekiguchi who was more upset by this.
"W-What?!" He closed his laptop and started to get up, "out already? Are there any more in your cabinets?" Before he could get a proper response in Sekiguchi went into the kitchen area to try and find other types of candy.
"Oh no problem, no worries. Any guy like me can just wait 'til later, not like we're in a hurry escaping a snow flurry."
Halfway through that verse Sekiguchi however, did become worried after opening a cabinet to see it was almost completely barren. He opened more and even the fridge and they were all empty save for some cobwebs. He had only a few stray instant meals and chips strewn about in his cabinets, no candy anywhere.
Looking back at Yano, Sekiguchi could see him very obviously trying and hide the embarrassment that would come from a situation like this.
"Yano... Do you want to go shopping?" Sekiguchi tried his best to sound nonjudgmental, he'd hate to accidentally make Yano upset especially in his own home. "You don't Have to worry, I need to go shopping too, my house is practically the same." He laughed. It was mostly true, even if not as shocking as the state of Yano's kitchen.
Yano didn't respond, looking like he was thinking really hard about if he should.
"... I saw that there's a convenience store within walking distance that sells that one type of cherry candy you told me you're too embarrassed to buy for yourself."
"What is this blackmail? Using my own rhymes against me when I'm just out for some caramel... Ice cold." Yano jokingly snapped back, not being able to hide the surprise that Sekiguchi actually did remember that tidbit from over a month back. "However I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sold." He smiled and moved past Sekiguchi to go grab his jacket.
The walk was only ten minutes to get to the store, Sekiguchi asked if Yano was going to walk in with him but Yano said he didn't want to be seen rummaging through the shelves. Sekiguchi went in as Yano loitered outside with his headphones on, turning the music up loud enough for other people to hear.
While hanging out outside a small group walked up to the store as well. The group of three taller men also stood idly around in the parking lot, making routine glances over in Yano's direction, who kept a steady glare on them after noticing.
This wasn't the first time Sekiguchi went shopping with Yano, or more specifically shopping for Yano. Sekiguchi knows what Yano usually likes to eat, which was mostly junk food and candy, however, Sekiguchi also knew what kind of actually healthy foods Yano would jump at the chance to eat. Before he even stepped into the store Sekiguchi already knew he'd make them both stop by an actual grocery store to get some fresh meat and vegetables for him to cook later, after he satisfies Yano's sweet tooth of course.
Sekiguchi knows what kind of sweets Yano enjoys, his favorite being those Sakuma drops, Sekiguchi has seen Yano go through hundreds of those candy tins without even thinking. Probably would need an entire bag of just those for a single week. Yano enjoyed chocolates but to a lesser extent, an occasional sweet as opposed to the constant of fruit.
Chocolates... Sekiguchi briefly thought about if he should make Yano some homemade sweets for next Valentine's Day before getting too embarrassed and immediately throwing that thought away.
The specific type of candy Yano considered too embarrassing to buy for himself was a specific type of candy usually marketed toward small children. Yano wasn't insecure about his height at all but did occasionally get defensive over his naturally young looks, and buying something specifically aimed toward kids would probably confuse those stupid enough to think about disrespecting Yano.
Sekiguchi wondered if Yano would be offended by Sekiguchi thinking he was cute. Hopefully not, Sekiguchi doesn't think Yano is cute in the way some idiotic old person would, but maybe just in case he should avoid the word for any future love confession daydreams.
... Sekiguchi needed to clear his head. Can't be getting embarrassed by his own thoughts in public, let alone in a public place his boss is right outside of. No normal guy just walks into a convenience store and gets himself blushing over his thoughts in the candy aisles. Especially not a guy as old as Sekiguchi.
Breathing in and out, counting to himself just under his breath. Sekiguchi got all the candies together and started to step toward the counter before stopping. He wondered if he should get something to drink for the both of them as well.
Sekiguchi thought of himself as having pretty simple tastes when it came to food and drinks, and while he had practically memorized Yano's tastes in food he had trouble figuring out what kind of drinks Yano enjoyed.
He's seen Yano drinking alcohol plenty of times, but he could never tell if it was a social thing or if he actually enjoyed the taste of booze. A safe bet would be getting something sweeter but those usually come with caffeine which feels like something he should ask before getting Yano. Sekiguchi has heard plenty about his trouble sleeping at night and would hate to accidentally make it worse for even a day.
Sekiguchi decided just to get some bottled tea and a soda, he liked both so he figured he'd just offer them both to Yano and learn which one he'd prefer that way.
The cashier was a young college-age girl who didn't even attempt to hide her confusion, blatantly asking him while giggling, "Why is a big tough guy like you buying all this candy?"
"Shut it." Sekiguchi didn't have time for pointless chit-chat. He didn't even notice the look of slight fear spread across the lady's face as she mumbled an apology, "ah, could I get change for this?"
"Oh! Uh-uhh yeah, I'll get that for you right away." Sekiguchi now completely oblivious to why she's getting so worked up now. After everything he purchased was all set he exited the convenience store, barely able to contain a smile on his face.
"Mr. Yano, I got the–"
THUMP
THUD
As soon as Sekiguchi properly exited the store and focused on the parking lot he saw Yano get punched in the face. The impact pushed him hard enough that he immediately fell onto the pavement below. He could hear one of the other two men begin to laugh.
Sekiguchi stopped thinking, dropping the groceries without care and immediately running towards the man who threw the punch in the first place. With only a feeling of pure rage, he threw a punch at the man, hitting him hard in the face and sending him onto the concrete himself.
The punk barely had time to process what had happened, looking disoriented around as his nose bled from the impact. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn't think clearly enough to say anything to the much larger man who just attacked him.
Sekiguchi turned his head just enough to see the other two guys, both looking on in absolute terror as to them Sekiguchi showed up out of literally nowhere to attack the much smaller trio of men. Sekiguchi didn't even have to speak before one of them panicked and ran away, the other following suit after Sekiguchi cracked his knuckles, prepared to throw another punch.
Sekiguchi laughed slightly at how easy that was, turning to the man slowly trying to get off the ground. "Well? Get the fuck out of here!" The man made a pathetic noise and ran off after the two he came with. Sekiguchi just stared off in the direction they ran, making sure those bastards didn't try and return in a half-assed attempt to continue the fight.
Once his adrenaline lowered he sighed and looked over to Yano, a worried look on his face. Yano was relatively unharmed, with only a few scratches on him from hitting the pavement and a small area above his eye that already seemed to be bruising.
The injuries were small but just looking at them filled Sekiguchi with a specific type of rage. Rage towards the fuckers that thought for even a second that action would end up in their favor and rage at himself for even accidentally allowing something like this to happen.
Yano stood up and looked awkwardly away from Sekiguchi, "Let's just go home." Sekiguchi quietly picked up the dropped groceries and followed Yano as the two walk back to the apartment in silence. As Yano unlocked his door Sekiguchi muttered a weak "I'm sorry..."
"Don't be," Yano stepped inside, offering Sekiguchi to enter again as well. "Besides, I didn't realize until it was too late how outmatched I was."
"Y-Yano..."
"I was being dumb and got hurt, don't beat yourself up over it."
The two sat around the table for a while awkwardly, neither wanting to look at the other out of embarrassment.
"... Yano, I'm your bodyguard, I'm supposed to protect you."
"You're supposed to protect me from actual threats, not me picking a fight in a damn parking lot because I got too cocky."
"Don't say that! I want to protect you no matter what!" The two made brief eye contact, with Sekiguchi now looking at Yano intensely. "Yano... I hate seeing you get hurt, you don't deserve to get hurt."
Sekiguchi knew he shouldn't think about stuff like this but he thought back to the little information he knew about Yano's past. Thinking about the awful sight he saw when he accidentally saw Yano shirtless once. It filled him with rage, angry at the bastard who hurt him and angry at himself for not helping, even if he couldn't have been able to do anything about it considering how long ago it was.
Yano stared at the bandage on his hand from one of the scrapes he got earlier. Yano wasn't a mind reader but he could tell what Sekiguchi was thinking.
"Sekiguchi –"
"Yano... I really care about you, you know?" They locked eyes for a moment before Sekiguchi quickly looked away. "I care about you not just as your bodyguard... Not just because it's my job but because I respect you heavily as a person." Sekiguchi fidgeted with his shirt sleeve, clearly struggling to find the words he was looking for.
Yano understands perfectly and begins to laugh.
"W-What are you laughing about?" Sekiguchi asked with an obviously flustered tone.
"It's just funny, all this is. You punch a guy in the face and then that suddenly makes you decide to ask me out."
Sekiguchi's face went completely red. "That- That's not what I'm saying! I mean I- I like you just as a friend! You're my boss!" Yano just laughed even harder.
"Your face says it all, honestly. Don't worry I ain't mad at you or anything, it's nice really."
Sekiguchi just sat looking at Yano now with a look of complete embarrassment on his face.
"... This wasn't how it was supposed to go..." He took off his sunglasses and shook his head in disbelief at all of this.
"How was it supposed to go?"
"I- I don't know, but not like this... I wanted to get a whole proper confession prepared." Yano started giggling.
"What were you going to bring me a bouquet and chocolates?"
"... Not a bouquet but I did consider chocolate." Yano burst out laughing as Sekiguchi's embarrassment grew.
"Now I want to hear all about your fancy lovebird plans, I would have never known a big guy like you would be such a Casanova!"
"... Yano."
"Hm?"
"... You didn't say... If you feel the same or not."
"Ha! What do you think?"
Sekiguchi just lowered his head in shame, assuming the worst.
"Pff, come on." Yano got up and walked over to hug Sekiguchi, "here's a proper answer for you." He kissed the other man on the cheek.
In the end, while Sekiguchi never could admit it directly to Yano, but did end up indirectly admitting it