Work Text:
“ Kannonzaka ! You missed a section in the paperwork I gave you!” His balding boss slams the paper down on the desk to emphasize how upset he was. His face flushed red with anger. “I expected you to finish! You made me look like a fool when I presented this!”
Doppo cowers a bit, gaze flicking away from his boss. “M-my apologies, I-”
“I don’t want your apologies! They mean NOTHING!” He practically growls in response, “Actions speak louder than words, don’t you know? Show me that you’re sorry instead of using useless words.”
A stack of papers is grabbed from who knows where, being placed firmly in front of him. Doppo’s eyes widened a bit; he was supposed to be going home early tonight for a surprise that Hifumi had been talking about for days now.. there’s no way he’d be getting done on time now.
“You can show me by finishing this tonight.”
There’s a rough pat on his shoulder as his boss walks away. “I’m counting on you, don’t mess this up.”
Doppo takes his phone out as soon as his boss is out of view.
-
“Hifumi..? Yeah, it’s me.”
“I’m going to be home late again tonight.”
“... I’m sorry.”
-
Life can be unfair.
Doppo walks to the train after finally leaving his job. It had taken him late into the night to get everything finished, but he was finally done. His thoughts drift off to Hifumi who had sounded so reassuring when he called..
“ It’s alright, Doppochin~!” he had said, but it wasn’t. It really wasn’t. Doppo had ruined whatever surprise it was that Hifumi had planned. Just like he ruined literally everything else.
The paperwork being incomplete, Hifumi’s surprise being ruined, probably even the fact that his boss was balding! It was all his fault. It's all his fault. All his-
Doppo’s broken out of his negative self-talk as he hears the sound of the train taking off. His grip on his briefcase tightens as he begins to sprint, calling out as if the train would stop for him if he was loud enough.
“WWAIT-!” Doppo reaches out towards the train as he runs, before tripping over his feet and falling hard onto the ground.
As he gets up, dusting himself off, he notices that there’s a small tear in his pant leg. That was more annoying than the stinging sensation he felt on his knee and hands.. This would mean that he’d be inconveniencing Hifumi yet again ! While Doppo had been meaning to learn how to sew, he still wasn’t good enough to make the thread unnoticeable, so he relied on Hifumi when it came to that.
There’s a tightness in his throat as he stares at the tear, hearing the train pick up speed and eventually go out of view. He’d have to catch the next train, which wouldn’t be arriving for some time.
He takes out his phone.
-
“Hifumi, It’s me again.”
“I’m on my way home, but I missed the train, so it’ll be a little longer.”
“..I’m really sorry.”
-
When the next train comes, Doppo is ready for it. He takes a seat next to the window, looking out of it. As the train exits the station, the window shows his reflection back to him, and Doppo takes a moment to look at his features a little closely.
There’s bags under his eyes, a slight frown on his face.. He’d need to change that when he saw Hifumi. He couldn’t have his best friend worrying about him for any reason. The tightness in his throat increases.
Doppo ignores the feeling.
It doesn’t take long for the train to arrive at the destination, and Doppo gets off the train, stepping off carefully. It isn’t until the train takes off that he realizes he forgot his briefcase.
Clenching his teeth, Doppo takes a step forward and heads up the stairs of the station.. There was nothing he could really do about it now. He was pretty sure that was the last train of the night. Hopefully someone kind would place it in the lost and found and he could pick it up there in the morning. For now, it was time to get home to Hifumi.
He walks a little faster at the thought of his roommate. He wanted nothing more than to eat one of Hifumi’s home cooked meals and hear him talk about his day. But of course, things aren’t that easy. Never for him.
The second he exits the train station, he’s hit by raindrops. He takes a few steps forward, thinking nothing of it, until those few raindrops turn into a sudden downpour. Doppo attempts to shield himself by using his jacket, but it doesn’t really do anything but seemingly make him even more drenched. There’s nothing he can do but attempt to run home from here. Thankfully, he could get home with his eyes closed. And he practically has to, since he can barely see anything from how hard it’s raining.
It takes a little longer than usual due to the rain, but he finally.. Finally makes it home. Doppo reaches into his pocket and shakily pulls out the key, turning and opening the door. He takes his shoes off at the door, taking a step forward.
“H-hifumi,” He stutters, “I’m home.”
There’s no response.
He blinks, looking around. “Hifumi..?” Doppo calls again, starting to look through their apartment for any presence of the blonde. At first, he assumes that Hifumi is somewhere doing something, until he can’t find Hifumi ANYWHERE.
The panic sets in.
He starts to frantically look around, checking under places, over places.. Places where Hifumi definitely couldn’t fit. He grabs his phone and sends a string of panicked texts to his number, before finally thinking to call.
One ring.
Two ring.
No answer.
Right as Doppo prepares to call again the door opens.
Hifumi walks through the doorway, putting his umbrella on the hook next to the door. He glances over, seeing Doppo. A slightly teasing grin comes on his face, “Ah, I was going out to pick you up, but looks like I was too late. You’re totally soaked!”
A series of emotions suddenly overwhelm Doppo, and he quickly walks forward, holding Hifumi tightly and burying his face in his chest. Hifumi seems taken aback from the sudden display of emotion and the grin on his face had melted away, but he wraps his arms around Doppo.
“Tough day?”
Doppo nods.
Realizing that he was probably getting Hifumi wet, he pulls away from the hug reluctantly.
“I’ll heat up dinner, you should go take a quick bath in the meantime.”
Doppo silently nods again as he walks up the stairs and heads to the bathroom. It isn’t long before he freshens up and puts on some dry clothes. When he returns, the smell of Hifumi’s food is in the air.
Hifumi makes a small noise when he sees Doppo, pouting a bit. “Doopppooo!!! How many times do I have to tell you that you need to dry your hair!” A warm dry towel is placed on his head while Hifumi slightly-aggressively dries it. It seems he had been expecting this.
Accompanying the smell of food in the air is the slight sound of music playing in the background. Doppo reaches up, moving the towel to the side so he can look at Hifumi. “Were you listening to music?”
“Hm?” Hifumi tilts his head to the side, then realizes what Doppo was talking about, “Oh, yeah! Lately while I cook I’ve been playing some music on a bluetooth speaker that one of my clients gifted me~!”
The song that’s playing is one that doesn’t seem like something Hifumi would listen to; it’s not fast-paced and upbeat like the usual type, instead being a soft song with a sweet sounding violin accompanied by beautiful vocals.
Doppo listens as Hifumi hums along to the song and wonders how many times he had listened to this song. A memory comes back of when they were younger– how they used to share headphones and listen to music together. A soft smile finally comes on his face as he closes his eyes and tries to hum along as well as soon as the chorus comes around again.
Hifumi perks up, grinning, “Doppo? You like this song too?”
“Yeah,” Doppo replies, “It’s really nice.”
Hifumi grabs the now cold towel from Doppo’s hands, his gaze and touch lingering for a moment. Doppo raises an eyebrow at that.
“Something wrong?”
“No, I just got an idea.”
Next thing Doppo knows, he’s being grabbed and guided forward, a sparkle appearing in Hifumi’s bright eyes. He’d surely thought of something.. There was no stopping Hifumi when he made his mind up on something. Dinner being momentarily forgotten and the damp towel being tossed aside without a care, Doppo just allows it to happen.
Hifumi turns off the lights as they walk forward towards the living room space of their apartment. Doppo opens his mouth to speak and questions what was happening, before they stop in the middle of the room and Hifumi snaps his fingers.
The space brightens up, lights being activated. They resembled some of the lights that were at Hifumi’s job; a string of lights that were gathered around the top of the room. Doppo looks around in surprise, blinking.
“When did you do this?” He asks. Doppo knew that Hifumi had always loved to decorate their space, especially around the holidays, but usually he had some help.
“I’ve had a lot of time!” Hifumi giggles in response. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and places it on a nearby table, rewinding the song and playing it from the beginning.
“Hey, about that surprise..” Hifumi reaches forward, grabbing Doppo’s hands and holding them in his. “I won a raffle and got some tickets for a dinner party that’s happening downtown tonight. I was going to take you, but-”
Doppo feels awful. “Oh, oh, Hifumi, I’m so sorry-”
The host shakes his head before Doppo can continue. “Nope! I wasn’t finished! You might not have been up for it after everything.. And I knew the food there wouldn’t be as good as mine, so that’s why I cooked. Oh, and the weather got all yucky! So it would be no fun to go out in the rain. Really, we’d only go so I could dance with you.”
Hifumi’s hands give his a squeeze.
“And we don’t need to do that in some fancy place. We can do that here.”
Doppo pauses.
“So,” Hifumi looks him in the eyes, “Can I have this dance?”
-
They’re slow dancing. At 2-something-AM.
In the middle of their apartment.
Hifumi leads him in the dance and Doppo follows. He’s once again taken back to another memory of the time where Hifumi was learning how to dance and asked Doppo to help him practice. They’d stepped on each other's feet so many times..
Something about it all is rather ridiculous, and Doppo can’t help but sputter a laugh, before those laughs turn into sobs. The dancing abruptly stops and Hifumi quickly lets go.
“D-doppo!? Did something happen? What’s wrong!?”
Doppo shakes his head, trying and failing to wipe his tears away. “I-I just-” He sniffles, trying again to form his words, “Today was so hard. Today was awful. A-and.”
He looks at his roommate, his childhood friend, the person he trusted the most, his Hifumi. “I wanted nothing more than to come home to you.”
He’s pulled in for a hug again, Hifumi’s arms holding him close. How many times had they done this too? Only, this now felt different. “You’re home now. I’m here.”
More tears fall. And he smiles. It’s a wobbly smile that’s accompanied with tears that continue to roll down his cheeks. “I know.”
He swallows.
“I love you, Hifumi.”
The words slip out before he can even process what he said.
Hifumi responds with no hesitation. “I love you too, Doppo.”
Doppo’s heart beats in his chest. He feels his face heat up. “You..do..?”
“I always have.”
They both knew each other well enough to know in what sense they meant. Simple, “I love you’s” Had been said many times before, but never in this way. Doppo’s smile grows as he holds Hifumi a little tighter.
Their relationship would grow at their own pace just as it always had. Not much would change.. But things would be different and they both knew that.
“Can you say it again?”
Doppo wondered if Hifumi was just as excited about their future as he was.
“I love you, Doppo.”
(He was.)