Akari has a very pretty face.
Hirato has always been aware of this. He looks prettiest, Hirato thinks, when he's absorbed in his work. Something in the way a person's face glows when he's proud of a job well done or focused on a passion is amazing. For this reason, Hirato loves to watch Akari work, doing so under the guise of common routine evaluations. Akari is gruff and demanding while working, but his eyes are alight; he can truly be said to be someone who loves his job. Surrounded by stethoscopes and needles, the doctor seems at home.
But Hirato prefers above all to be there when Akari gets out of a surgery. Akari is a very, very talented doctor. The whole time he has worked on the 2nd ship, he has never lost a patient, no matter how serious the surgery. When he leaves the surgery room after an especially long and difficult surgery, he is often so exhausted that he barely manages to rinse the sweat from his skin before collapsing. At these times, Hirato is the one who finds him, sleeping lightly on the couch outside the captain's office. Why he chooses such a place to give into his exhaustion, Hirato will never know. Perhaps Akari was simply too tired to make it to his room and gave up halfway.
Whatever the case may be, Hirato finds the doctor's sleepy face to be the most beautiful. Akari's light colored hair falls across his closed eyes as he sleeps, chest moving up and down rhythmically beneath a plain white shirt. His eyes open slightly and he wakes as Hirato picks him up. "No sense in sleeping there." Akari is awake only enough to hear Hirato's deep voice, not enough to think, and he lets his eyes close again as he falls back into oblivion. "You're going to end up with bad joints if you do that too often. We can't have our doctor getting arthritis."
When he is placed in his bed, Akari curls up, a pillow in his hands. He doesn't wake this time; he only sighs slightly and mumbles something incoherent in his sleep. Hirato leans down to tuck a strand of hair behind the other man's ear, letting his gloved fingers trail lightly across his cheek. The captain's fingertip touches Akari's lips accidentally, and Hirato finds himself gazing at the curves of Akari's mouth. After a brief moment he makes up his mind and kisses Akari. His nose touches the other man's gently, and he feels Akari breathe in and make a sound of discontent. He pulls away immediately.
The doctor remains sleeping, and Hirato is thankful for this. He casts one last glance at the sleeping man before making his escape.
Akari remembers nothing in the morning but the vague feeling of a kiss, one he assumes to be from a forgotten dream.