It was raining in the morning, grey clouds releasing heavy drops so that he had to use the drier instead of the washing lines.
He smiled while folding the warm, crisp laundry, recalling Kanou-san's cool derision at his insistence at hanging the washing by hand in the sunshine, instead of using technology and leaving it to the maid. Of course, he could explain the fond memories of his childhood that domestic tasks brought him, the cherished and much missed feelings of home, of family...the sense of belonging.
And he did.
But Kanou-san would only look at him without comment in that way he always did when he mentioned anything to do with the past or family. Kanou-san's eyes would pierce him with such unguarded intensity that, in a split moment, Ayase thought he glimpsed a hint of sadness amongst flashes of impatience and annoyance. But, of course, sadness was not an emotion associated with Kanou-san, so Ayase told himself he saw wrong, and forgot all thoughts of phantom emotions as he lost himself to Kanou-san's touch, as he always did.
Rapid footsteps sounded in the corridor outside and the door to the laundry was flung open. Ayase turned at the sound to be confronted by the sight of Kanou breathing a little heavily. No words were offered as Kanou zeroed on Ayase and immediately pulled him into his arms. Any questions Ayase might've had was muffled by Kanou's chest, and then he could not even utter anything as Kanou took possession of his lips-no, his mouth, because that was how Kanou kissed, not a gentle tasting of the lips but a ravaging of the mouth. Lips, teeth, tongue.
Everything.
Kanou's hands gripped Ayase's shoulders with a vice not unlike that of a predator trapping its prey. And then just as Ayase began to find himself under the assault, to form some sort of protest, Kanou softened the kiss as abruptly as he began it, as if sensing Ayase's senses return, wanted to destroy them again.
It was this, every time, that proved to be his undoing.
Ayase felt himself unravelling under this softer, almost considerate Kanou-san. The aggressive Kanou intimidated him, made him wish for a more normal life in which the man who owned him played no part, and, God forgive him, even excited him. But it was this Yasashii Kanou, gentle Kanou as Ayase called him in his head, that broke through all defences with a steely insistence wrapped in caresses.
Ayase used to think Kanou was two separate people. The aggressive one who conquered and took without scruples, who left a trail of destruction behind him, and gentle Kanou who soothed the hurts and kissed away tears in the wake of that destruction.
But then Ayase witnessed for himself Kanou at work. Making business deals, rescuing him, collecting debt, and let's not forget, more rescuing him. And he realised that gentle Kanou only existed for him. For Ayase.
It proved that Kanou was not the complete heartless bastard he wanted the world to see, but it also scared Ayase more than aggressive Kanou. Because he felt joy at this exclusive access to the gentle Kanou he knew he should not feel.
"Ah! Kanou-san..." Ayase gasped as Kanou nipped at a sensitive spot on his shoulder, one of many that Kanou had acquainted himself with and used shamelessly to his advantage.
Without realising it, Kanou had already stripped Ayase of the sky blue cardigan with hand stitched angel wings on the back.
Kanou continued his exploration of Ayase's body and trailed his lips along an arm. Butterfly kisses that tickled his skin unbearably but Ayase never wanted to stop. Kanou's lips reached the finger tips and he took time to pay each finger reverence. Running his tongue into the creases between each finger, lips trailing along their length, teeth nipping the fleshy pad of each tip.
"Open your eyes and look at me."
Ayase's eyes snapped open without even noticing that they had drifted shut under Kanou's silky touches.
"Next time you decide to disappear without a word, don't." Kanou's hard gaze were at a direct contrast with the seemingly absent minded kisses he continued to drop on Ayase's fingers, even as his voice remained as toneless as if he were telling Kuba to draw up a contract.
Ayase wanted to say he didn't disappear, he only wanted to do some laundry while Kanou slept, so there would be fresh shirts for Kanou when he woke up.
But something in Kanou's eyes stopped him. A soft, brittle...vulnerability?
Ayase was so shocked he felt numb for an endless moment in time. Unable to even contemplate the possibility of such an emotion in Kanou.
Kanou must've felt his body become stiff, and immediately narrowed his eyes just a fraction. Ayase knew that gesture. Hardly noticeable by anyone unfamiliar to him, but Ayase recognised it for the guarded moment before Kanou attacked when he suspected he was been cheated out of a deal.
No.
He was not another mahjong player at the gambling table or rival loan shark at the conference table. He was Ayase, the only one who could see gentle Kanou.
Ayase reached out the hand Kanou had stopped kissing and layed it against the side of his face.
The move seemed to momentarily stun Kanou as his eyes widened slightly and the look in them turned questioning.
Ayase looked back into those orbs steadily with a confidence he did not feel but a determination that hummed through his body, hoping everything he wished to convey could be said in that one look.
And then it was over, the moment, the look.
But it was the beginning of something else.
Kanou didn't tease this time. Oh, he still worked Ayase up to a feverish pitch until Ayase was quivering while trying to control his need. Except this time he didn't wear the mask of quiet smugness that seemed to Ayase he was proving what he could do to him despite Ayase's best intentions at mental resistance. And Ayase didn't try to control his need. He let it wash through him, over him, trailing after every inch of his skin Kanou touched. Until it became a humming ball of energy that lifted him higher and higher, taking Kanou with him, then shattered in a million pieces all around them.
...
"Penny for your thoughts," Kanou-san's voice rumbled in the silence. Ayase jumped slightly at the question, then felt the reassuring sensation of Kanou-san's large hand settle on his back.
They lay on the laundry room floor, with a makeshift bed made of difference pieces of clothing that smelt of lemon scented detergent and, now, the two of them.
"Oh...I was just thinking..."
"Yes?"
Kanou lifted Ayase's head with a finger and looked into his eyes.
"...that...that the laundry will need to be rewashed."
Kanou gave a sharp bark of laughter that sliced through the silence like cool rain through humid summer air.
Ayase let the sound wash over him and thought it the most wonderful thing he'd ever heard.