Chapter Text
He felt ridiculous, he knew he looked ridiculous, sitting like this in front of a computer screen. How he’d let Amane talk him into this was still a mystery, through the greatest part of that was how he even thought for a moment it’d work.
She’d come to him with an unusually smug look on her face, no doubt an influence from that uncle of hers, a slip of paper between her fingers. At first she played coy, challenging him to guess what it was, but honestly Hajime was at a loss as to where to even start. Guessing games were never his forte and Amane’s social life and culture knowledge expanded with leaps and bounds. He was much more the homebody, preferring not to know what the next greatest “thing” was.
After several (failed) attempts at guessing, plus one or two jokes, Amane’s mood appeared to temper. Her lips pressed together in a thin line, and she looked Hajime square in the eyes as she extended out her hand. “It’s from Mr. Kenzaki.” He didn’t want to believe it, he didn’t think he could believe it. Before he could open his mouth to say anything, Amane tilted her hand back to raise the paper up. “I actually took this from Koutaro, so let’s keep it a secret between the two of us.”
Keeping Koutaro in the dark about everything was actually something Hajime was good at, not to mention actively enjoyed. Holding his hand out towards her, Hajime waited for the paper to be deposited. When it wasn’t, he raised an eyebrow. “Well? Aren’t you going to let me see?” If this was another part of the game he was in no mood for it. Just hearing Kenzaki’s name had set off a small buzzer in his ears and the noise was only threatening to grow louder. Perhaps it was actually his heartbeat that he heard, a fast thud rather than a buzz, but it mattered little.
“First things first,” Amane let her mouth move back into the coy smile, and Hajime swore he’d smack Koutaro the next time he saw him. “We need to get your account set up.”
So here he was, sitting alone in the cafe after hours. Amane had lent him her laptop, telling him just to make sure it was plugged in before he went to bed. She’d helpfully included the charger and cord with the delivery, mentioning he could plug it in if the battery ran low, but Hajime gently assured her he doubted the conversation would continue that long. Honestly, Hajime didn’t know if the conversation would happen at all.
The buzzing was back, along with the drum line composed of his heart and his nerves. What if this was a mistake? What if just seeing one another like this, even far away, would ruin everything? Kenzaki had left to protect everyone, to save him, and now Hajime was risking it for a selfish moment. Part of him laughed bitterly, knowing that Kenzaki would probably be proud.
He was being a selfish person. A selfish human.
Whatever thoughts he had were quickly interrupted by a beep on the screen, startling him and directing his full attention back to the computer. It was he was online, whatever that meant, and Hajime felt his breath catch in his throat. This was ridiculous, getting so excited over just the chance to see him again. To hear his voice. This was going to be a huge mistake and he would regret it and he needed to close the laptop and -
The sound of music filled the air as a notice popped up. Incoming call, it said, connect with video? He had a choice, red or green. The ringing stopped with a single click.
And the very first thought he had was he hadn’t aged at all. It was like looking at him back then, those long years ago. The words he wanted to say caught in his mouth, never really making it past his lips except in muted exhales. This was it. He was looking at him.
Maybe he had a ridiculous look on his face. Hajime didn’t know why, or even care why because all of his doubts and fears disappeared the moment he heard the soft and nostalgic laugh come from the tiny laptop speakers. The buzzing stopped and the drum roll faded. All he could hear was the laugh, the warmth behind it, and one more thing.
“Hajime.”