Work Text:
You sat at your desk, sifting through papers with a sigh. You used to not do much of anything, besides go to work, eat, maybe sleep, and shop on occasion.
Of course, you had interests, and when you could spare time, hobbies, but work pretty much ruled your life. There was a time when you tried to take up scrap-booking, but you had nothing significant to write about. You even tried origami, because you don’t need an interesting life for that, but you always ran out of paper to print things for work.
No matter how hard you tried, work had always gotten in the way or had been the cause as to why you couldn’t do things.
You even considered quitting your job, but you knew you would never have the confidence or security to do so. That was, until it was the cause of you meeting a certain tall blonde.
( Flashback )
You got to work and clocked in just in time for your shift, but you had some time before some serious paperwork needed to be done.
You went to the break room, opened the door and dug in your small backpack for a snack (you luckily always kept some on-hand for times such as these). You made yourself a cup of coffee and fixed it how you liked it before taking a quick glance across the room for a place to sit.
As you looked, you noticed there was already a man sitting closer to the wall by himself. You had seen him a few times before, casually going about his day and sitting at his desk, but never close enough for small talk.
Figuring it was too late to leave, considering you couldn’t have beverages in the hallways due to some of your co-workers having accidents one too many times, you chose a seat at another table not too far away.
After sitting your things down, there was a silence you thought was awkward, so you spoke up, “Work’s been pretty rough, eh? Because of this PSA with Sugoi Systems, there’s been piles of paperwork everywhere for the past two and a half weeks.”
It took him a minute to respond, giving you a subtle, annoyed glare, but answered, “Yes, it has been documents left and right. Now, I should get going.”
Your face rose to a slightly shocked expression when he grabbed his coat and threw away his drink. Then, he left without another word. When the door was shut, your eyes rested back at their usual place and your mouth closed.
“Not a talker?” you thought, “Okay then.”
( Flashback End )
As unbelievable as it may seem, that small, insignificant interaction made an entirely new relationship.
In the span of a couple months, multiple conversations were held between the two of you. Some of them were more personal than others, but they got you two closer. You learned his name (Kento Nanami), his birthday (July 3rd), and his favorite food (bread). You had even gone with him on your first date in years.
( Flashback )
You sat down at the table of a quite expensive restaurant. Nanami was already there, in a different suit than usual. He wore an all black suit with another weird tie. The tie was gray, matching the suit nicely, but had small loaves of bread printed in lines across it. His hair was slicked back, and he kept his stoic expression, as always.
You wore a blue button up, much lighter than his usual one, with a black blazer on top. You wore matching pants, and multiple silver rings to make your hands look nice.
“Well, you look very nice this evening,” you complimented.
He looked you up and down, for no more than a second, and replied, “As do you. Do you like the choice of restaurant?”
You smiled at him, “Yes I do, also very nice.”
There wasn’t much talk about anything other than food options until after the meals arrived, and you had to admit, the food was almost as stunning as the man himself.
Finishing up, you two paid for your own meals and exited the place. There was a park nearby that Nanami wanted to take you to, and you held hands for the first time on the way there. You had seen all the cherry blossoms here before, but with Nanami with you, it felt like you were seeing them for the first time.
This may have been the first date, but after this experience, you didn’t feel alone anymore, you didn’t feel helpless or trapped, you were happy.
The moon reflected over the pond, shining back into your wondered eyes. No words were exchanged, but you both knew you were having a good time. You understood Nanami kept to himself a lot, so you didn’t bother him.
After a bit of walking, you came upon a small, wooden bridge. Nanami on the left and yourself on the right, you rested your clasped hands on the railing. Water lilies were spread across the pond, and small, pink and white flowers sat atop them. Stars littered the sky, and you could pick out a few of the constellations.
“How beautiful,” you admired, as you both turned to each other.
Gazing into your eyes, much softer than the first glance he ever gave you, he agreed, “Yes, indeed.”
You took this opportunity to study his eyes more as well. They were a deep brown, complementing his blonde hair. They were darker towards the middle, and got lighter as the color edged away from their pupils.
You decided to speak up, “Funny how cliché all of this is, wouldn’t you say?”
“Did you not enjoy our date?” he quickly questioned.
You sputtered, “N-no, no. I mean- yes, of course, I’m not trying to say it wasn’t ni-”
“Relax, Ito, I was only joking,” he slightly laughed.
“Wow,” you rolled your eyes, leaning on the railing after letting his hand go, “the closed-off Nanami can joke?”
“It worked on you, did it not?”
“Hmph-”
Once you finished seeing the sights, you headed off back to your cars. Nanami walked with you, opening your door for you to tell you one last thing. You stood next to your car, but not yet getting in to listen to him.
“Have a good night. Our date was wonderful, and I hope we can go out again sometime.”
You were surprised that he said that, it didn’t match his usual self, but you loved it, “Of course, Nanami. This has been really great and I hope we can go out soon.”
“Call me, Kento.”
“And me, Rei.”
( Flashback End )
There were so many things about Kento that you would’ve never known, had you two never talked or went out. He was perfect to you. You loved all the small things you learned about him that he didn’t have to tell you, such as; his favorite food being bread, the way he picked his ties, his only superstition, and the small things he would do with his hands when he got deep into thought, that he didn’t even notice.
Certain things tugged on your heartstrings as you two got closer; when he had business trips to go on without you, when you had to lie about your relationship at work, and when you had to go home alone. It reminded you of another memory, a promise you two had shared.
( Flashback )
You were at the park in the daytime, leaning on his shoulder as you both looked at the flower beds across the small, concrete pathway.
“Hey, Kento?”
“Hm?”
“Do you remember our first date?”
“Of course, how could I forget?”
“That was so great, we should recreate it.”
“Just tell me the date and time.”
“What about tomorrow night?”
“Alright, I’ll pick you up. I’m sure it will be just as great as the first.”
“Kento?”
“Yes?”
“Did I ever tell you how much I’ve needed you all this time?”
“No, but I know we’ve both been better after that day.”
“I know too, we’ve always been alone…”
“Alone, together.”
( Flashback End )
You held him so close to your heart. Compared to your life before, it was so much more vibrant, more meaningful. That’s what he gave your life, meaning. You couldn’t stand the few days he didn’t show up for work, they were lonely, just like before. But, he always came back.
Until… he didn’t.
( Flashback )
You panicked. Your heart squeezed itself. You hyperventilated. It was the worst day ever. He hadn’t been back in a month. You had been working, just trying to get through yet another day without him, when it hit you how long he had actually been gone. No one talked about him anymore, he was no longer relevant at work.
You had rushed out of your office, promoted with Kento out of the cubicle that you used to use, and to one of your co-workers.
“Where’s Nanami? Where did he go? What happened to him? Is he okay?” you asked, stumbling on a million questions at once.
They looked at you confused, “You didn’t hear? I figured you would’ve known by now.”
Your eyes were wide, but you tried to stay more composed than you were in your office, “What? What is it?”
They responded, “Just go to the boss, they can tell you.”
You speed-walked to the boss’s office, not asking any questions. You stopped at their door, flattening your pants and coat before knocking and walking in.
“Excuse me, I wanted to know what happened to Nanami. Do you know?”
“I do, he abruptly quit 3 weeks ago,” they paused a second, an upset look on their face, “Did you need to reach him for something?”
“I- um, n-no. Thank you, I’ll get back to work.”
“Yes, great job.”
You didn’t know what to think. Your face and mind went blank. He just left? You couldn’t think of a reason why. Especially without telling you. You tried to keep a normal walking speed to your office, where you sat the rest of the day, not knowing.
( Flashback End )
No matter how close he was to you, it didn’t change the fact he wasn’t coming back. He probably never thought about you again. You couldn’t look at the workplace you two had shared anymore, so a month after that day, you put in your two weeks.
Heartbreak is more of a motivator than boredom.
You now had a job as a receptionist, it was much more interesting than your job before. There was drama every week, you had a few friends, something you could never say about your life before all of this. Everything had just gotten easier and back to a better normal.
But, just as you were sitting at your desk, sifting through papers with a sigh, a tall, blonde man walked through the hotel doors.