Work Text:
The movie ended somewhere around midnight. Denji lost track of the conversation somewhere around the halfway point. Yoshida had laughed, which made focusing on anything else significantly harder. Just once. A real laugh, too. Not that annoying little smirk-laugh he did when he was making fun of someone. An actual laugh. Denji had spent the rest of the movie waiting for it to happen again.
At first, he had tried to keep watching the movie. He really had. Unfortunately, the movie had become significantly less interesting the second Yoshida laughed. Every time something remotely funny happened on screen, Denji found himself glancing sideways out of pure instinct. Nothing. Yoshida just sat there watching like a normal person.
The guy laughed once, and then apparently decided that was enough for the entire evening. Denji hated him.
About ten minutes later, a joke landed somewhere in the theatre. A few people snickered. Denji immediately looked over, but Yoshida noticed him. Denji snapped his gaze back to the screen.
A minute later, he looked again. Yoshida was still watching the movie.
Another few minutes passed. Denji looked over a third time. This time Yoshida caught him. Without looking away from the screen, he lifted an eyebrow. Denji spent the next thirty seconds pretending to be extremely interested in a subplot he no longer understood.
It didn't happen again. Of course it didn't. Yoshida was evil.
"You missed the ending."
Denji blinked. The credits were already rolling across the screen.
"Huh?"
Yoshida stood and stretched. "I said you missed the ending."
"No I didn't."
"You absolutely did."
"I was watching."
"You spent twenty minutes staring at me."
Denji nearly tripped over his own feet getting up. "What?!"
Yoshida looked completely unbothered. "You did."
"I was not staring at you."
"You were."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
Denji pointed at him accusingly. "You're making stuff up."
Yoshida shrugged. "Maybe."
"Then what happened at the end?"
Yoshida looked delighted, which was never a good sign.
"No," he said. "What happened at the end?"
"Yeah."
"The part you definitely watched?"
"Shut up."
"The part you paid very close attention to?"
"Shut up."
Yoshida laughed, the sound brief and quiet, more amusement slipping through than a real laugh. Still, Denji's brain short-circuited. The bastard was beaming. Denji hated him. Probably. Okay, maybe not.
Outside, the streets were mostly empty, lit only by convenience store signs and the occasional passing car. The air had that quiet feeling cities sometimes got after midnight, when most of the world had already gone home. By the time they reached the station, the last train was crowded enough that they ended up standing near the doors. Denji grabbed one of the overhead rails while Yoshida somehow managed to look perfectly comfortable despite being packed shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers. He looked annoyingly relaxed, like he hadn't just casually destroyed Denji's ability to think for the rest of the evening.
The train jerked suddenly as it pulled away from the station. Denji stumbled forward and barely had time to register his impending collision with an elderly businessman before a hand closed around his wrist and steadied him.
"Careful."
"Oh."
Yoshida didn't let go immediately. Neither of them said anything. Then, after a second too long to be completely normal, Yoshida released him and looked away as though nothing had happened.
The rest of the ride felt strange in a way Denji couldn't quite put a name to, leaving him stubbornly focused on the view outside the window because looking literally anywhere else carried the very real risk of accidentally looking at Yoshida.
Unfortunately, the window wasn't helping much either. Every now and then the glass reflected the inside of the train back at him. Every now and then he caught a glimpse of Yoshida standing beside him. At one point, Yoshida rubbed one eye and yawned. Denji immediately looked away.
A few seconds later, he looked back. Yoshida looked tired, stripped of his usual polish and reduced to something quietly, unexpectedly human. His hair was messier than usual from spending two hours in a movie theatre seat. His jacket sleeve had ridden up slightly. He looked less like the weirdly competent guy who always seemed five steps ahead of everyone else and more like a university student who had stayed out later than intended.
For some reason, that felt unfair. Denji returned his attention to the window.
A few minutes later, his phone buzzed.
Yoshida [12:14 AM]:
for the record i wasnt making it up
Denji glanced up. Yoshida was standing barely a foot away, looking down at his own phone.
Denji [12:14 AM]:
you could have just said that out loud
Yoshida [12:14 AM]:
this is funnier
Denji [12:15 AM]:
i hate you
Yoshida [12:15 AM]:
sure
Denji [12:15 AM]:
seriously we're literally standing right here
Yoshida [12:15 AM]:
and yet you're texting back
Denji [12:15 AM]:
...
Yoshida [12:15 AM]:
exactly
Denji stared at the message for a moment. Then, before he could think better of it, he typed:
Denji [12:16 AM]:
your laugh is nice
There. Whatever. He hit send immediately before his brain could catch up and stop him. Across from him, Yoshida looked genuinely caught off guard for the first time all evening. Then his phone buzzed.
Yoshida [12:17 AM]:
wow
that sounded painfully sincere
Denji [12:17 AM]:
shut up
Yoshida [12:18 AM]:
thanks
The train continued rattling through the dark.
After a moment, Denji looked up. Yoshida was smiling. It was small and a little crooked, almost embarrassed. For some reason, seeing that expression made something in Denji's chest feel strange.
When their stop finally arrived, they got off together. Neither of them immediately started heading home. They simply stood there for a moment in the nearly empty station while the train disappeared into the darkness beyond the platform.
Eventually, Yoshida shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Same time next week?"
Denji snorted. "For a movie?"
"No."
"For what, then?"
Yoshida considered the question for a second. "Hanging out, I guess."
Denji stared at him. Yoshida looked vaguely annoyed. "Don't make me say it twice."
A grin spread across Denji's face before he could stop it.
"Yeah."
Yoshida rolled his eyes. "You're unbearable."
"You're asking to hang out with me again?"
"Unfortunately."
They started walking, neither of them in any particular hurry. Their shoulders bumped once, then again a few minutes later. Neither bothered moving away. The station lights gradually faded behind them as they headed down the quiet street, and for once, neither of them seemed especially eager to get anywhere else.