Part 2

It was dark by the time the members of the Emerald editing department got to the restaurant Takano had reserved for them that evening. Just as Kisa had been dreading, Yukina was standing out there, waiting for them. Of course he was there before they were; he was punctual to the point of annoyance, because it made Kisa feel guilty when he was late to meeting him because of work or sleeping-in.

Kisa may have been the first to spot him, but he let Takano do introductions. "Guys, this is Yukina Kou, from the shoujo department of Marimo. You may already know him."

Yukina smiled and bowed. "Well, Kisa-san and I already know each other," he said. When he saw the look on Kisa's face, he added, "That is, Yokozawa-san introduced us a while back." The introductions went normally after that, but as they all headed into the restaurant, Takano was eying Kisa like he suspected something. Takano had always been the observant kind, though, at least as far as Kisa could tell. It just gave him more things to hold over his underlings' heads when it came time to get them to work.

Yukina ended up sitting between Ritsu and Takano, because Ritsu refused to sit next to his boss and Kisa wasn't going to insist he sit beside him. They did end up across from each other, though. Luckily for Kisa, the smiles that Yukina sent his way seemed to be seen by his coworkers as simply being friendly.

Even though Takano had been the one to invite Yukina out and say they needed to make nice, he ended up hardly talking to him at all. Ritsu, on the other hand, seemed to feel compelled to.

"So how old are you, Yukina-san?" he asked with a smile once they had all ordered.

"Ah, I'm twenty-one. I'm still in college."

"Really? Where?"

"T University for the Arts," Yukina said, glancing at the mug of beer Takano had ordered for him. He'd ordered alcohol for everyone, actually, but Yukina wasn't touching his. If Kisa had wanted to reveal his connection to Yukina early, he would have told Takano that Yukina really didn't drink. He couldn't recall a time in which he'd been drinking and Yukina had also partaken. "I major in oil painting. I hope I can live off my paintings one day."

"Oh, that's nice," Ritsu said with a genuine smile on his face. "I don't know much about painting, though…"

"You don't draw, Onodera-san?" Yukina asked. When Ritsu shook his head, he went on. "I would have thought you would, because of your job and all."

"Well…" Ritsu shrugged, picking up his mug of beer. Kisa knew from stories from Takano that he was a bad drunk, so he was hoping he wouldn't drink more than that. "I worked with literature first, and they kind of… threw me in here. I can apply screen tones and things like that, but drawing was never something I got into."

"Ah, Kisa-san told me about that," he said. When Ritsu glanced between them, he added, "Ah, we… talk, sometimes. You know, dinner."

Kisa sighed in relief and leaned back in his chair. Yukina really was trying hard to not let them know about their relationship, but it wasn't working. Yukina was a pretty horrible actor. However, it seemed to be enough for Ritsu, because he turned to Takano-san and jumped into a conversation about his living conditions. Apparently, Ritsu's apartment was extremely messy, and Takano didn't approve.

"Are you all right, Kisa-san?" Yukina asked. He was looking at Kisa with concern, and Kisa sighed and shook his head. "If you're not feeling well, I can bring you home…"

"No, just…" He glanced at his coworkers. None of them were paying attention to him. "I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

It wasn't until he'd gotten to the bathroom and was leaning over the sink that he realized Yukina had followed him. He jumped in surprise when he saw the man enter as he looked up at the mirror. "Yukina, this is a one-person bathroom…"

"I know, Kisa-san," he said. He pushed the door closed, but it was left open just slightly, not that he noticed. Then he walked over and wrapped his arms around Kisa from behind. "Are you sure you're all right, Kisa-san?"

"I am!" Kisa said, trying to push Yukina away and failing. Then he ducked his head. "None of my coworkers know I'm gay."

Yukina tightened his grip around Kisa's body, and it just made Kisa's heart go faster. "You don't have to tell them about us if you don't want to, Kisa-san," he said. "But… I thought that kind of thing didn't matter to you…"

"It doesn't!" Kisa turned around to face Yukina, and he gulped when he realized just how close they were. "I just… feel weird about it…"

"About being with me?" Yukina was trying to hide his emotions, but Kisa caught the hurt look in his eyes.

"Ngh." Kisa shook his head, thinking how unfair it was that Yukina could so easily manipulate him. "Not being with you. Just… I don't just randomly tell someone I'm gay. Is all."

Yukina smiled and leaned down, capturing Kisa's lips. "It's all right, Kisa-san," he said. "You don't have to tell them if you don't want to. We can just have a nice dinner and go home."

Kisa sighed into the kiss, smiling despite himself. Yukina hadn't moved in with him, but he still referred to Kisa's apartment as home. He supposed it was another one of those things that he did without thinking. He did a lot of things without thinking that made Kisa blush and wonder what he did to deserve such a man. Not that he'd ever say that out loud.

Just as Yukina was deepening the kiss, poking his tongue out to push past Kisa's lips, the door opened. By that point, Yukina had his arms wrapped around Kisa's waist and Kisa had his arms wrapped around Yukina's shoulders.

"Sorry I didn't realize-" It was Ritsu, and when he actually looked in at what he's interrupted, he went pale. "I-I'll just leave you to this…" The door closed properly this time, and Kisa went pale.

"Kisa-san? Are you all right?" Yukina asked, not bothered in the least at having been caught.

All Kisa could do was shake his head.