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Naturally, he had assumed that when he and Ashiwara-san moved in together, it would be a simple process of one person packing up their belongings and moving into the other one's apartment. (In fact, he had planned on this; Ashiwara-san's apartment is bigger and nicer, and he remembers a conversation in which Ashiwara-san had declared he was never moving out this place, ever, because it was perfect in every way.) But Ashiwara-san wants to go apartment hunting, which is fine by Kouji, because it never hurts to look around.
He had found his current apartment through a realtor that Morishita-sensei and Shirakawa-san had suggested; the realtor is located conveniently near the Ki'in, which is probably why they were so quick to recommend him. After all, Kouji is pretty sure that Morishita-sensei lives, breathes, eats, and sleeps go, but Shirakawa-san is engaged and goes bowling on the weekends. But they had both found their dream houses through this man, and while Kouji's current apartment isn't what he had originally wanted, it was nice and airy and reasonably priced. With two incomes (and Ashiwara-san has been winning a few tournaments, here and there), they should be able to find something that, individually, would be impossible.
So, he stops by the realtor on his way home from a morning match (against Waya, whom Kouji beat by 1.5 moku because of sheer stupidity on Waya's part during yose) to look at a few floor plans and see about pricing. Ashiwara-san has something to do with Touya Akira, which leaves Kouji to his own devices for the initial hunting stage.
The window of the realtor is plastered with floor plans, and he stops and starts looking. He knows that the realtor will notice him any minute (the bottom of the window is clear of any obstruction, so the people inside will be able to see if someone stops), so he starts to make a few mental notes about sizes and prices. There are a few decently sized 1LDK apartments that cost a little more than his 1LK, which he supposes makes sense.
Then he starts looking at the two room apartments, and his stomach drops. Clearly, it's been a while since he's gone apartment hunting, because he doesn't actually recall the prices of a 2LK being practically double his little 1LK apartment. He's about to turn around, already mentally prepared to talk Ashiwara-san into just keeping one of their apartments, which they can afford, when the realtor pops his head out, sales smile in place.
For a second, Kouji considers ignoring him and taking off, but that would be cowardly. He takes a deep breath and offers the man a small smile, which the realtor takes as encouragement. "Are you looking for something in particular?"
"Yeah," Kouji says, gesturing towards the wall of vacancies. "An apartment."
The realtor clearly doesn't understand sarcasm, or perhaps he's immune to it by now, because his smile doesn't falter and his eyes light up. "Why don't you come in and tell me what you're looking for." It's not really a question, so Kouji nods. The realtor holds the door open for him.
***
"That's a lot of places," Ashiwara-san says. They are at Kouji's; they had agreed to meet there for dinner earlier, and Ashiwara-san was already there when Kouji had gotten home. His coffee table is littered in papers that the realtor had thrust upon him as he was leaving, and he has ten appointments - ten - to check out apartments for the next three days. Ashiwara-san is peering over each floor plan as though they are kifu, and he's trying to puzzle out a particularly brilliant move. "And some of them are quite pricey."
Kouji knows. In fact, at least a third of the apartments they're supposed to look at (because he is not going alone; besides, Ashiwara-san is going to be living there, too, so he needs to look at them as well) are well out of their established price range. They could afford them, if they really, really liked the place, but Kouji doesn't really think that any of those places are going to be so amazing that they're willing to pay for it. He could be wrong, but he doesn't think he is. Ashiwara-san is fairly frugal with money, and while Kouji isn't a spendthrift, he knows how to stay within his means.
"We don't have to look at those," Kouji says, leaning back against the couch. "The realtor just shoved them at me."
Ashiwara-san places a floor plan on the table and leans back next to him. Kouji wraps an arm around Ashiwara-san's shoulders, and Ashiwara-san snuggles against him, placing one hand on Kouji's stomach. "It would be rude since the appointments are already made," Ashiwara-san points out, drawing patterns on the fabric of Kouji's shirt with his finger. "It never hurts to look."
He can't argue with that – even though he has been trying to since the appointments were made – so he says nothing. He's full and it's getting late and Ashiwara-san is warm. "Well," he says after a moment, "we'll see some of them tomorrow."
"It's getting late," Ashiwara-san yawns. "I should be getting home."
"You could stay here," Kouji suggests. He doesn't want Ashiwara-san to leave, and the first place they're supposed to look at in the morning is pretty close by, anyway. "I could lend you something in the morning."
Ashiwara-san smiles. "Then we should get ready for bed."
Kouji nods.