Fic: "Recommendation"
Characters: Ennoshita/Tanaka, Sugawara, Narita, etc.
Rating: K+
Summary: Somehow, Ennoshita has the job that he'd walked away from back. Yet Sugawara is milking his subordinate's return for all its worth, as another crow appears. For his part, Ennoshita is done worrying about work and is ready to put some effort into romance… .::EnnoTana::.
Words: 6,796
- ^-^3
Ennoshita Chikara stuffed his hands in his coat pockets while he waited. He thought about sending a text…but, no, he could wait. The bar would be opened in a couple of minutes anyway.
Thinking about it opening, he looked up at the neon sign that would light up and read "The Roost." Jeez, he loved this place. Before, he'd thought of the place as a unique joint where he'd made a lot of friends, one good one in particular. Now, the bar's name and motif made more sense, having learned that its workers and most of its regulars were graduates of Karasuno High School. Ennoshita was a graduate, too, and a funny image entered his mind. The Roost—it was a nest of crows. The image made him smile.
"Oi, you—what're you doing standing out here, smiling like an idiot?"
From anyone else, the comment would've been rude. But Ennoshita saw Tanaka had come from up the street, and Tanaka… Well, Ennoshita could never see Tanaka Ryuunosuke as rude. He was just bashful, was all.
"What?" he grumbled, shifting the paper bag in his arms so he could get his keys.
"Cute hat."
"Shut up." Even with the puffball beanie coming down partway over Tanaka's ears, Ennoshita could see that his ears were red. And probably not from the cold.
Ennoshita followed Tanaka into the restaurant and shed his jacket. "It's rare for me to see you outside of the bar."
"Yeah. Hope you weren't standing out there long. It's cold today."
"We are midway through October."
Tanaka gave him an exasperated look, though it did nothing to discourage Ennoshita's content smile. After all, he had seen a rare sight outside just now. "I know that. But you could've texted. Or called."
"It's all right. My days end promptly nowadays. I arrived two minutes before you returned, honest."
The bartender shrugged and put the bag on the countertop behind the bar counter. "I'll be right back. I've gotta change. Mind watching the place for a minute?"
Ennoshita waved him on. "Sure. Take your time."
Tanaka nodded his thanks and dashed upstairs, to the apartment where he lived.
While he was absent, Ennoshita settled into the corner seat at the bar's counter. It was amazing, he mused. He'd known Tanaka for a month and a half now. He'd gone from unemployed and relatively lonely to enjoying life again. Plus, he was back at work, in better conditions. A lot of things had gone swimmingly for him. If things didn't change much right now, Ennoshita would be utterly fine with the way things currently stood.
"Thanks," Tanaka said when he returned. He was rolling up his sleeves and had his vest and bowtie tucked into the crook of his right elbow. But Ennoshita's eyes dipped involuntarily to the spot of skin at the base of Tanaka's throat.
"You forgot a button."
Tanaka paused, reddened, and hastily did up the rest of his collar. As he donned the tie, Ennoshita was sad to see the sight go. "By the way," the bartender began as he stepped behind the counter, "I wanted to apologize again for earlier in the week."
The businessman waved him off. "Don't sweat it. It was Nishinoya's birthday. He doesn't like me. Why force him to be polite on his day?"
The shaven-haired man frowned. "It's not that he doesn't like you."
"Oh?" Ennoshita's ears perked up. In the beginning, Tanaka's coworker and friend had liked Ennoshita. But then something had shifted, and he'd been cold and rude ever since. It made things awkward for Tanaka whenever Ennoshita visited and Nishinoya worked his part-time shift simultaneously. Tanaka gave him the impression that he knew Nishinoya's reasons, but so far he'd refused to elaborate.
And, apparently, today was no different. Tanaka pursed his lips and shook his head. So. It still wasn't time to be honest with Ennoshita.
The brunet didn't hold it against Tanaka. After all, they'd met second. Tanaka and Nishinoya had been close since high school. Sometimes Ennoshita got jealous and kicked himself. Things could've been so much different if he and his friends had joined the volleyball team in high school… Ennoshita would've known Tanaka sooner, befriended him sooner…everything would've been sooner.
Tanaka cleared his throat, anxious to change the subject. "How was work today?"
"Decent," Ennoshita answered. Though he'd brought some work home with him, he didn't feel like spreading out on the counter like usual. He much preferred to watch Tanaka get to work mixing new concoctions. His eyes followed the bartender as the other man got to work. "I get the feeling Sugawara-san is trying to groom me for that promotion again."
"Just don't fall into that trap again and get discouraged." He pointed at Ennoshita despite holding two bottles with one hand and holding a half-full tumbler by the edges. "You shouldn't quit again, because I don't think it'd be as easy to win it back, your job."
Ennoshita sighed and crossed his arms on the counter, resting his chin on them. "It would be a sign, really. That I'm not meant for that kind of work."
Tanaka frowned. "Hell no! Look at what you accomplished just on the day you returned. You saved the company!"
The businessman's cheeks grew warm, and he looked away from his friend. "You're exaggerating."
"Am I, when your company makes its living on its partnerships with related companies?" He grinned. "But if we're being honest, then yes, I'm exaggerating, and no, you'd have no options if you left Ukai Corp. for good."
Ennoshita, face still red, slid his eyes back to Tanaka. "I could make myself of use to you here," he said slyly.
For what it was worth, Tanaka didn't turn away at Ennoshita's attempt to flirt, though he didn't meet his eyes either. He had his body turned halfway towards Ennoshita, and all of a sudden he became very interested in how vigorously he shook the new drink.
The brunet sighed. "One light Oddball Quick," he ordered.
Tanaka exhaled. "Sounds good. Coming right up!"
- ^-^3
The days moved on like usual. However, Ennoshita had changed his mind. He wasn't fine with the way things currently stood. Sure, work was all right. But between him and Tanaka? Now that work was no longer one of his worries, Ennoshita could dedicate his efforts to figuring out how he and the bartender might work out together. Though he had yet to admit to anyone that he liked Tanaka, he knew that was how he felt. But how did people fall in love and stay in love?
In this area, Ennoshita was a total novice. He'd never been girl-crazy during high school. He'd tried to go on a few dates arranged by friends in university, but no girl had wanted him as more than a friend. After that…love had been pushed into a dark, untouched corner of his mind, and he'd forgotten all about it. Until now. Until Tanaka.
Ennoshita sighed at his desk for the fifth time that day. He wished there was such a thing as a course in romance. That, he could do. He'd always been good at school. Social experiments…not so much.
At the desk behind him, his coworker rolled in his chair over to Ennoshita. "Hey! Why the long face today?" Terushima asked.
"I've…just got something on my mind."
The blond man grinned. "Work getting to you?"
"No."
"It's okay! You can tell your pal Yuuji!"
Ennoshita wasn't sure how appetizing the idea of being "pals" with Terushima sounded. The guy was too full of energy. Like Hinata at The Roost, but with the addition of laziness.
Terushima waved his phone by Ennoshita's face. "You just need one of these, Ennoshita."
He glanced at the screen. "Misaki Hana?"
The bundle of energy beamed and sighed happily. "Yep! Hana-chan! She's my girlfriend."
Internally, Ennoshita wished the woman all the stamina in the world to keep up with someone like Terushima.
"She yells at me and keeps me on task. But she's so great. She listens to all the things I talk about, even the things that don't interest her. And she always carries on conversations with me about such things, even." He didn't deflate, but he calmed down when his eyes skimmed over their text history. "She puts up with me. That's more than I could ask for."
It was so surprising to see Terushima subdued and serious. Yet Ennoshita felt a pang of jealousy. He wondered if he might ever feel that way about someone. Tanaka's yakuza face did come to mind, but Ennoshita returned his attention to his coworker.
"So what do you say?" Terushima's cheeriness had flared up again. "Why don't we find you a girlfriend?"
Ennoshita gave him a dismissive wave. "No, that's—"
"Hana-chan and I have a single friend. She's a really nice girl. I think you two might be good together."
"Terushima, I—"
"So? Just say the word and I can set you up!"
The brunet bit his lip. It hadn't slipped by him that his feelings for Tanaka might explain why he'd never hit it off with a woman before. But how to explain this delicately to…well, someone like Terushima?
"Seriously, I can—"
"Terushima~" came Sugawara's voice from behind them.
Terushima shut up and looked nervously at their boss. He audibly swallowed.
"Care to tell me why you're chitchatting while you've gotten nothing done today?"
"Well… I wouldn't say nothing…"
Sugawara's left eye twitched imperceptibly. Ennoshita only caught it because he saw Sugawara's beauty mark move. "One thing done is not much better than none."
The blond ducked his head. He patted Ennoshita on the back as he scooted away. "Catch ya later, Ennoshita…"
Sugawara gave Ennoshita an inquisitive look, but he didn't pester him. With that, the Terushima nonsense was over.
- ^-^3
A day later, Ennoshita got the idea to observe Sugawara. It made perfect sense, and he'd wished he'd thought about it before Terushima had bothered him.
Sugawara was perfectly happy to work more closely with his subordinate, although he likely believed that this was just Ennoshita becoming more interested in the promotion. "You'd be my right-hand man," he liked to point out.
Ennoshita wasn't thinking about that, though. "Might we have a working lunch?" the brunet suggested.
At first, Sugawara was a tad reluctant. But he quickly warmed up to the idea, and thus began a new tradition of Ennoshita barging in on Sugawara's lunch dates with Sawamura.
Sawamura, for his part, was a good sport—at first. By the fourth "working lunch," however, he waited until Sugawara excused himself to use the restroom and then Karasuno's former volleyball captain turned on Ennoshita. "Okay, what's the big deal?"
The businessman blinked. "Sorry?"
But Sawamura would have none of that. "You, Ennoshita. You work in Suga's office and so see him every day."
"He wants to promote me."
Sawamura gave him a long look. "…bull. You're after something else. Normally you're a very considerate guy. Though Suga and I don't announce ourselves, we're certainly open about our relationship at work. And you're perceptive, as well as considerate. So tell me," he pushed, clasping his hands together and leaning across the table, "what gives?"
Ennoshita weighed the pros and cons of being honest with the production manager. He decided he had nothing to lose, but that didn't make it any less awkward to convey. "Since you insist… I believe I have romantic feelings for a male friend."
"Not Terushima?"
"What? God, no." He paused. "Not that he's a bad guy."
Sawamura nodded. "Yeah, but Suga mentioned Terushima to me the other day. The guy's still as pushy as ever."
Ennoshita quirked an eyebrow. "…you know him?"
"Volleyball, but not Karasuno."
"Ah." The brunet cleared his throat; he wanted to finish this discussion before Sugawara returned. Sugawara—well, he'd proven himself to be a schemer by filing paperwork that had given Ennoshita leave when Ennoshita had quit, so Ennoshita had been able to return to work easily. If that was how Sugawara handled work, Ennoshita wasn't sure he'd want to learn how Sugawara might fiddle with Ennoshita's personal life. "But no, not Terushima."
"All right. So what's the problem?"
"I've never really dated, let alone fallen for another man. Can you blame me for wanting to observe you two? You're very natural together."
It must've been a high compliment, for Sawamura blushed and stared at his water glass. The hubbub of the restaurant did nothing to distract them, and the production manager cleared his throat. "Thank you," he said at last.
"How does it work?" As soon as he said it, Ennoshita inwardly cursed. That sounded really crass.
But his companion knew what he meant. "When it comes to love, think about gender later. Just focus on being happy."
Such a simple answer…
Sugawara returned then. "What'd I miss?" he asked, sitting down.
Sawamura winked conspiratorially at Ennoshita and hooked his hand around Sugawara's neck, pulling him in for a quick smooch. He laughed, Ennoshita snickered, and Sugawara turned horrifically maroon.
"Daichi!"
"To rephrase, Ennoshita," Sawamura said while his lover glared at him and kept slapping his shoulder, "that is how it works."
- ^-^3
"You're a little intense tonight."
"Yeah."
Tanaka paused, put a drink down in front of Ennoshita, and frowned—not that Ennoshita noticed, since he was facing away. "Hey. You're creeping them out, Ennoshita."
Hearing his name snapped him out of his stupor. He turned around, surprised to find Tanaka watching him so intently. "What?"
"Hinata and Kageyama. You've been watching them all evening."
Had he? Ennoshita hadn't meant to be so rude. When he peeked at the redhead and his grumpy partner, he saw them look the other way. Ennoshita bowed his head in apology and faced Tanaka again. "I didn't mean anything by it."
Tanaka gave him a look. "Why were you staring, then?"
As if Ennoshita could tell Tanaka!
In a way, the businessman lucked out, for Nishinoya emerged from the back. He pulled on his jacket. "I'm heading out, Ryuu."
"Ah. Have a good night, Noya-san."
Nishinoya saw Ennoshita slide his eyes around the room again. "Tsk. Sleepy and wandering eyes," he remarked.
"Noya," Tanaka intoned, but the short man left without prompting.
Ennoshita grimaced. He'd grown accustomed to Nishinoya's bullying, but tonight's remark was thoroughly confusing. "Wandering eyes"? What was that supposed to mean?
Tanaka sighed and nudged the drink toward his customer. "You're just observing them, right?" he guessed.
"Pardon?" Ennoshita drank, though his stomach growled quietly.
"Maybe for work. You're observing people."
"Ah…yes." It was better than telling the truth, so the businessman decided to go along with it.
Besides, Tanaka brightened up when Ennoshita "confirmed" the thought. "See? You're just a quirky guy. Just ignore what Nishinoya says. Now, are you hungry? You've barely eaten the pretzels on the counter."
Ennoshita pursed his lips. Just now, the bartender's words sounded more like him trying to convince himself rather than the businessman… But his stomach growled again, and so he let the topic rest. He checked his watch. "I should probably be getting home."
"You never eat a meal here." Tanaka sounded disappointed.
"Your cook just walked out of here."
"Hey, I can cook. After all, Noya-san's only part-time."
Ennoshita gave him a smile. "Tanaka, I'll see you tomorrow." He reached across the counter and nudged the bartender's shoulder encouragingly. "Goodnight."
"Yeah… 'Night."
Seeing Tanaka's beaten-puppy expression made the short train ride home a lonely one. Ennoshita got home and kicked off his shoes, but no sooner had he gotten his jacket off than his phone trilled. It was the bartender.
-Tomorrow night. It's a promise.
The businessman chuckled. With Tanaka, it was always a promise. Unspoken or not, it was becoming crystal clear that Tanaka needed to see Ennoshita just as much as Ennoshita needed to see Tanaka. So it was more than a promise.
It was hope.
- ^-^3
The following day did not present the chance to have another lunch date shared with Sugawara and Sawamura. Instead, Sugawara retrieved Ennoshita from his desk and told him they were going out.
Ennoshita fretted when he found himself alone in a car with his boss driving. "Excuse me, but…does our detour have anything to do with Sawamura-san saying something?"
The sandy-haired man blinked and glance left at his subordinate. "Daichi? Oh, the observation thing?" A mischievous smile graced his features. "He let it slip a couple of days after. Sorry about that."
"It's fine as long as you don't try to help me."
"But I kept your job for you!" he whined.
"Sugawara-san."
His boss pouted. "…fine. But do feel free to come to me about things even not work-related." He winked. "From one crow to another. You're not just my subordinate, Ennoshita. You're my kouhai."
Ignoring Sugawara's big brother attitude, Ennoshita got back on track. "Where are we going?"
"Seeing as you were playing me a bit, regarding the work lunches and the promotion, I thought I'd show you some more of the company. Give you a taste of what I do."
Ennoshita frowned. "You speak as though you're retiring."
Sugawara laughed. "No! Ha, I'm not old, and I'm not looking elsewhere for work. But if you decide to accept the promotion—I meant what I said before, about you being my right-hand man. Think of it as being the vice-president to my president of Marketing for Ukai Corp. Or vice-captain to my captain of Ukai Volleyball Club."
"Sugawara-san, I get it. We both love volleyball. You can stop with the analogies."
"Anyway, when you accept the promotion—"
Ennoshita cleared his throat.
"If you accept it," the sandy-haired man corrected, "you'll be my stand-in as necessary. Plus, should you choose and as long as you stay with the company, you'll be the first choice to replace me the day I retire."
Not a bad deal. "And the hours?" The brunet had to ask. The ridiculous workload and heinous hours were what had made him quit almost two months ago.
Sugawara sighed. "They can be demanding when we're in a crunch. But, you're allowed to choose your schedule."
"How do you mean?"
"As in, most everyone doesn't work Sundays. But we higher-ups get to pick one other day off during the week." He smiled gently. "Daichi and I both chose Thursday. It's nice to break the week in half, you know?"
Honestly, Ennoshita had stopped listening. He…could choose another day off? Better pay was nice, but all he could focus on was The Roost's schedule—which had the bar closed on Mondays. Granted, he was planning quite a bit for a nonexistent future so far with Tanaka, but still. They could spend time together outside of the bar. The idea was almost enough to make Ennoshita accept right on the spot, though he didn't, and he tried to mask his anticipation. Sugawara was a bloodhound about such things.
"Back to the point." Sugawara took them out of the city, and they drove for another ten, twenty minutes. "I'll confess, I didn't bring you only for your sake. There's someone I want you to meet." He paused. "Actually, two people. But the second—you can meet her another time. You'll be working with her if you take the position."
"And the person you want me to meet now?" the brunet queried.
The boss genuinely frowned. It was an odd sight on someone so usually cheery. "He's…an old friend. He's not using his talents to the fullest. I was kind of hoping you might play along with me and act as though I'm training you."
"As if I've already accepted the job."
"Yes. I'm thinking that if he meets someone who's fine with taking an executive job—"
"Wait! I'd be an executive?!"
"Yes, Ennoshita. Consider yourself my lady-in-waiting. Where I go, you go. As I was saying, I'm thinking that if he could make a buddy out of you, it might make the transition for him go easier."
Ennoshita eyed Sugawara as they pulled into the parking lot for a large building which resided only about five minutes outside of the closest residential area. The building looked like a converted factory, and this was confirmed as Sugawara drove up near the entrance and Ennoshita watched trucks come and go.
Inside, the place was vast. Boxes were stacked almost to the ceiling, and forklifts scurried around like worker ants. "We'll go in there," Sugawara said, pointing towards the back.
"Is that the office of this place?" Ennoshita asked as they walked in.
Sugawara shook his head. "No. This is the main inventory warehouse for our company. But our guy doesn't work in the office."
"Ah! Incoming!" a voice yelled at them before they were even half inside.
Sugawara grabbed Ennoshita by the arm and yanked him out of the way. They watched a guy on a forklift speed by, and they followed him. He placed the heavy load at a corner column stack in the back and then turned the forklift off.
The man that stepped down…looked a little…wild? Part of his face was obscured by tinted safety goggles, but he had severe five o'clock shadow. His hair was a bit frizzy, but it was long—reaching halfway down his back. He was also about a good ten centimeters taller than Ennoshita, and his build was bigger and slightly stockier than Ennoshita's, as well. This guy definitely did manual labor.
Sugawara held his hand out, which the man shook, and the two clasped their forearms. "It's been a while, Asahi."
He removed his goggles to reveal an intimidating face that warmed when he smiled. "Suga!" He looked at Ennoshita. "A friend?"
"Ennoshita, meet Azumane Asahi. Asahi, Ennoshita Chikara. Our kouhai," the sandy-haired man added with his usual excitement.
Azumane's eyes widened, but his jaw tensed a bit. "Kouhai, huh…?" He shook Ennoshita's hand. "Well, nice to meet you."
"And you, as well," Ennoshita agreed. He looked around them. "Do you manage the warehouse?"
"Me? Oh, no. I'm just a low-level grunt."
Ennoshita was taken aback. A grunt? Sugawara had given him the impression that Azumane was at least like him—on the track to move on up in the company.
Sugawara must've understood Ennoshita's thoughts. "Now, now, Asahi… You're the senior-most staff person here. You're more than a grunt."
Azumane's expression said he appreciated the positive thinking, but that appreciation didn't reach his eyes. "Suga, grunts provide physical labor. That's what I do. Therefore, I'm a grunt."
The temperature around them dropped a degree or two, and Ennoshita wanted to run. But it struck him: He often ran away when things got tough or complicated. He hadn't joined the volleyball team in high school. He'd quit when he'd been given more work at the company. Now Sugawara had brought him along specifically so he wouldn't run away. Ennoshita had to admit that no one had ever placed such faith in him, so he wanted at least to try. "You've worked here a while?" he asked Azumane.
That did the trick. The two friends turned their attention on him. "Oh…yeah. Almost ten years."
That was surprising. With the way he and Sugawara were so familiar and Sugawara mentioned Ennoshita being their junior, Ennoshita had gotten the idea that maybe Azumane was Sugawara's age. Not so…?
"Oh, he's my and Daichi's age," Sugawara elaborated. "He was the ace for Karasuno, as well."
Now Azumane looked ticked. "Suga…," he warned.
Just then, someone spotted Sugawara and waved him over. The boss excused himself, and Ennoshita and Azumane watched him walk away.
Azumane glanced at Ennoshita. "You were at Karasuno, you say?"
"Yes," the businessman said. "I enjoy volleyball but never joined the team. Too scared of practice," he added with a humble chuckle.
The wild-looking man eased up. "Yeah, it was pretty tough," he agreed. "But we had some good people on the team. People who'd have your back, on and off the court." Azumane frowned, and Ennoshita wondered if he was recalling something unpleasant.
Ennoshita stuck his hands in his pockets and began to walk. "You mentioned you've been here ten years. That's amazing."
Azumane walked with him, also sticking his hands in his pockets, though he didn't look chilly in the least. He wore a short-sleeved black polo compared to Ennoshita's and Sugawara's suits. Ennoshita supposed all the activity kept Azumane warm enough. "I thought about university, but I decided it wasn't for me. So I joined the company right after I graduated from Karasuno."
"Wow… I've heard that Ukai-san coached you guys." Ennoshita paused. He'd heard that from Tanaka, and while Tanaka knew everything, it occurred to Ennoshita that he had yet to mention anything about the others to Sugawara and Sawamura. And something told him it wasn't the best idea to mention them to Azumane, as well…not yet.
"Yeah," Azumane groaned. He undid his ponytail, combed his hair with his fingers, and put it back up in a large, loose bun. "He was brutal, but he could be forgiving. I was lucky he was forgiving enough to offer me a job."
Ennoshita stared at him. "Forgive my rudeness…but is that why you don't think about taking a better position? Ukai-san offered you this job and only this job, so you don't think you can do anything else."
Luckily, Azumane turned out to be a pretty easygoing guy, and he didn't begrudge Ennoshita the insight. "Something like that."
They walked for a while, and Azumane showed him some of the inventory. Azumane was sharp, sharper than he gave himself credit for, because he explained the organizational system to Ennoshita, and Azumane had been the one to develop the system two years ago. Plus, no matter the product, Azumane knew where each and every good was, as well as the pros and cons of each thing made. It made sense now, why Sugawara had brought Ennoshita along. Ennoshita was now witness to Azumane's abilities, and even he wanted the guy to accept the job offer. But, pot calling the kettle black, he knew. He couldn't talk Azumane into it when he himself hadn't given in. Consequently, he told Azumane of Sugawara's plan.
Azumane wasn't surprised. He scratched his cheek. "Suga arranged all this? I'm almost flattered…"
"You should be. I get it now, and I agree with him." Ennoshita met Azumane's gaze head on as their walk slowed to a halt. "Trust yourself, Azumane-san. You can do this."
The taller man frowned. "Tell me that after you give in to Suga," he said with a sigh.
They resumed their walk and wound their way back to meet Sugawara. "Yeah… I suppose I overstepped."
"Not at all." Azumane got his phone out. "I mean it: Tell me after you make your decision. I wouldn't mind talking some more, Ennoshita."
Ennoshita brightened, and the two exchanged info as Sugawara caught up with them. They had to get back to the office, so they parted ways. Azumane didn't seem as upset with Sugawara after speaking to Ennoshita.
"How did you do that?" Sugawara asked on the drive back. "Asahi hasn't warmed up to anyone that much in a long time."
"Really? I spoke honestly with him, is all."
Still, Sugawara seemed bothered. "…did you two talk about work or…?"
What was Sugawara getting at? "Some," Ennoshita replied. "We chatted a little about Karasuno, a little about the promotion. Mostly I let him fill my ear about the stock. That's why I gave him my two cents, that he could do more with the promotion."
"I see."
And yet Sugawara said nothing more about it. The rest of the way, they drove on in silence, and Sugawara didn't even pester him about his own offer. Not once.
- ^-^3
"Nope," Kinoshita said as he, Narita, and Ennoshita ate at their favorite udon shop the following night. "You said it yourself to us, what, a week ago? You're done fretting about work. Fret about you now."
Narita nodded. "So get to the point tonight, Ennoshita—what's on your mind?"
Ennoshita was glad he still had his two best friends. With everything else chaotic, Narita and Kinoshita created some harmony in his life. "All right, then since you won't let me muse about Azumane-san and Sugawara-san…"
They looked at him intently. It was as if they could care less about their connections to Ennoshita's bar and business companions.
"…I've been meaning to ask you. I never did right after it happened, but how did you two…get together?"
To his surprise, Narita groaned and Kinoshita cheered and pumped his fist in the air. "Pay up, Kazu!" the blond said to his lover.
Ennoshita settled them with a look as Narita passed Kinoshita a bill. "You guys bet on me?"
Kinoshita pocketed the money. "Just on what you'd say first. I figured you'd ask us how to go about confessing. Kazuhito thought you'd first tell us that you like Tanaka from The Roost."
The brunet spat out his green tea. "What?! I—!"
Narita glared at Kinoshita, who stuck his tongue out playfully at him. "Come on, Ennoshita. It's been obvious since you first told us about the bar. And last month, when Nishinoya provoked you into begging for your job back? We figured he was jealous of you and Tanaka falling for each other."
"No, I'm sure those two are just friends." They beamed at him. "…what?"
"I love how that's what you say instead of denying your attraction."
Ennoshita's face burned bright red. "You guys are awful friends."
"Yeah, we love you, too." Narita finished his udon. "But we get that all this means a lot to you. It's crazy to think we could've known your bosses, coworkers, bar friends long before this."
Kinoshita gasped. "Oh! Perfect! We should meet them!"
Ennoshita pulled a face. "You can't just walk into my office…"
"No, not them. The Roost crew!"
The brunet gave it some thought. It wasn't the worst idea in the world. And he talked about them often enough to Tanaka so that the bartender wanted to meet them, too. "All right," Ennoshita conceded. "But not tonight. It's late enough as it is."
"Good point," Narita said.
They finished up and went home with the promise to meet at The Roost tomorrow night. At home, Ennoshita heard the trill of his phone:
-Missed you at the bar for a few days. Everything all right?
Ennoshita texted Tanaka back. -Sorry. Busy, and meeting a lot of people.
-Maybe I could cook for you to draw you back. ;P
The businessman laughed. -If you've got vinegared sea pineapple, then sure. He loved that food, but he figured it was fun to tease Tanaka. No way would he have something like that.
The text came a minute later: -EW. But if you insist.
Ennoshita fell into the chair in his living room, cheeks pink. Tanaka Ryuunosuke was some damned charmer, all right.
- ^-^3
Narita was a minute late the evening of the meet. "Sorry," he apologized once he caught up to Ennoshita. "The train was running late."
Ennoshita didn't mind. "Where's Kinoshita?" he asked. It was strange not to see the two of them together.
"Hisashi will join us in a little bit. He has to stay at the department store for an extra hour since someone else is running late for her shift. But can we go in?" He shivered and sneezed. "It feels more like late November than late October tonight."
"Sure." They went downstairs, and the bar was quiet like usual.
Narita was impressed. "This is a pretty cool place. No music? That's a first."
"Yeah." Ennoshita couldn't be bothered to show Narita around. As soon as they'd entered the bar, his eyes had gone directly to Tanaka, and his heart had swelled. Somehow, it just didn't feel right to let a night pass without seeing the bartender.
Tanaka's face had also lit up, then gone subdued upon noticing Narita behind him. Probably he didn't want to forget a new customer despite Ennoshita being around.
"Tanaka!" he said with a wave as they approached the bar counter. "I want to introduce you—"
"Ah!" Hinata yelled.
Ennoshita and Narita turned. Hinata and Kageyama had arrived, and the redhead was pointing at Ennoshita and his friend.
"Hinata, dumbass, don't yell!" Kageyama snapped at him.
Naturally, the commotion brought Nishinoya forward. The door to the backroom flew open, and his eyes went directly to Hinata. "Shouyou! What's wrong?"
"Both of you, tone it down!" Tanaka growled, red-faced.
Clearly Ennoshita was missing something. "Um…?"
But Hinata found his voice and, still pointing at Ennoshita and Narita, he said to Nishinoya, "The boyfriend!"
"Hold on! What?!" Ennoshita exclaimed, and Narita just gaped at the scene playing out.
Nishinoya eyed the newcomer and glared daggers at Ennoshita. "So you finally had the balls to bring him here when Ryuu's been waiting all this time."
"Noya-san!" Tanaka yelped. Ennoshita felt as though someone had just cranked the thermostat up.
"Oi, Yamaguchi… Pass me my phone…"
Tanaka whipped his head around and gave the pair in the back of the restaurant his best yakuza glare. "Tsukishima, don't you dare!"
Luckily the only others in the noisy restaurant were Akiteru-san's younger brother, Tsukishima Kei, and Tsukishima's best friend, Yamaguchi Tadashi. But normally they stayed out of the ruckus the others tended to cause. Tonight, Tsukishima smirked at Tanaka's discomfort. "I'm just going to tell our siblings to come break up your little kerfuffle, Tanaka-san." Across the booth from him, Yamaguchi tried to hide his chuckle behind his hand.
The bartender looked at the others. "ALL RIGHT. Nishinoya, Hinata, Ennoshita, Ennoshita's friend—in back, now. Kageyama! Don't let Tsukishima text my sister!"
Kageyama nodded and diligently made a beeline for Tsukishima, and Ennoshita glimpsed a childish display of keep-away, of which Yamaguchi was too tired to take part, before Tanaka shut the door to the backroom behind him. And though the backroom had been fine with one or two people inside, five certainly pushed the limit of "coziness."
Tanaka crossed his arms in front of his chest, but Nishinoya wouldn't stop giving Ennoshita dirty looks. "All right. Someone say something."
Narita took it all in and timidly raised his hand. When no one jumped on him, he motioned to Hinata. "Ennoshita…that's the guy who was looking at you funny a month ago, in the bookstore."
The businessman opened his mouth to ask what Narita meant, but it came back to him. After a fight—his first—with Tanaka, Ennoshita had gone to Narita and Kinoshita's place and filled them in on all his worries. But when dropping Kinoshita off to work the following day, Ennoshita and Narita had taken a detour at the bookstore. Narita had mentioned Ennoshita being spied on at the time, but Ennoshita hadn't glimpsed the onlooker, nor had he asked Narita for a description.
Hinata looked ready to puke, he was so nervous. "Irk." He covered his mouth.
"Don't puke!" Tanaka and Nishinoya yelled at him.
Hinata took a couple of breaths and managed to calm himself. "S-Sorry… I just… Stressful situations…"
Nishinoya sighed. "It's fine, Shouyou. I'll explain." He shot one more glare at Ennoshita before facing Tanaka. "Ryuu, once you met Ennoshita here, you changed. You were a little happier. I had a feeling…so I liked him in the beginning, too, for your sake."
The bartender looked ready to die on the spot, and Ennoshita wanted to join him. This was not how a confession was supposed to go…!
"Anyway, Shouyou was at the bookstore that day."
"Running an errand for a coworker at the kindergarten!" Hinata interjected.
"And he thought he saw you and Ennoshita together."
"Even Kageyama and I had our suspicions about you two. So did Yacchan."
Ennoshita felt more confused than before. "'Yacchan'?" he echoed.
"Pretty business lady with the star-barrette ponytail," Hinata supplied. Ah. He meant the short blonde woman Ennoshita had seen around who was not Tanaka's sister.
"When Shouyou got a better look and saw it wasn't you with him," Nishinoya continued, "he told me. And I've kept an eye on him ever since." Nishinoya grimaced at Ennoshita.
Poor Narita sighed. "If I may…" He veered away when he saw Tanaka's inscrutable expression. "I think the idea here is that you people think I'm dating Ennoshita."
Hinata's head bobbed up and down, while Nishinoya gave them a "Yeah, and what of it?" stare. Tanaka stared at the ground quietly.
"That's completely not the case." He laughed gently. "I already have a partner. He's just running a bit late. We wanted to meet the people at Ennoshita's new home."
Ennoshita nudged his friend. "I'm not here that often, am I?" But Hinata nodded vigorously in response.
Nishinoya suddenly lost all his steam. He eyed the friends warily. "Then… Ennoshita…you don't have a type?"
"What?"
"When Shouyou described your friend, I thought maybe you had a thing for guys with shaved heads."
Ennoshita shook his head because he couldn't trust his voice right now. Nor could he look at Tanaka.
"And your type isn't grumpy either? 'Cause I saw you looking at Kageyama the other night."
Hinata screeched and Ennoshita found his voice. "No! I was just—observing."
Narita knew exactly what he meant. "Ohh. The observation thing…"
Tanaka picked his head up at last. "What do you mean, 'the observation thing'?"
By now, Nishinoya was friendly again. "Ah. So Ryuu's your only type. Got it!"
Tanaka shoved his friend. "And I told you that he was probably just with a friend." He looked at Narita. "What do you mean by 'the observation thing'?"
"He was watching couples in love—"
Hinata squeaked. "Crap! Are Kageyama and I really that lovey-dovey?"
Nishinoya was smiling. "Getting up the courage, right, Ennoshita? Good for—"
The bartender and the businessman couldn't stand it anymore. "Out, all of you!" they snarled, and Tanaka opened the door for Ennoshita to push them out. Once the door was closed, the noise in the restaurant picked up, and it was as if they'd forgotten all about those two. But the two in question hadn't forgotten.
Ennoshita cleared his throat and tugged on his shirt's collar. "That…could've gone a lot better."
Tanaka collapsed on the stool in front of the liquor shelf and held his head in his hands. "…can we start over? Just—take this from the top?"
The brunet sighed. "Unlikely. All the beans have been spilled." A minute of silence passed between them. "Was that it? Nishinoya hated me because he thought I was a player?"
"Yeah…" Tanaka groaned. "I told him that he didn't know the full story, but even I doubted sometimes… After all, we've only known each other for two months."
Ennoshita nodded, though Tanaka didn't see the motion. "I'm glad you had faith in me."
"Is that what we're calling it these days?"
The businessman leaned again the door and slid against it until he sat on the floor. He listened to the sound of his own breathing for a few moments. "Not just with this. Befriending me, encouraging me with the job hunt. Listening to my stories of work, no matter how drab they may be." He thought back to something Terushima had said. Ennoshita fully understood it now. "You put up with me."
Tanaka finally stared at him. "Put up with…? You're interesting, Ennoshita, trust me. I… I don't know anyone like you, promise." He got up and came and sat beside Ennoshita in front of the door. "Besides, you put up with me, and my thuggish face. Everyone else is scared by it." Yet he sounded proud of that fact.
"Frankly, your face isn't scary. It's cute." Ennoshita smirked to himself and tried to stifle his laughter as Tanaka ducked his head.
"…jerk."
"Now, is that any way to treat a loyal customer?"
Tanaka glared at him and grabbed a jar off the liquor shelf. He opened it and stuck it in Ennoshita's face. "Just be quiet and eat your vinegared sea pineapple."
"You really…?" Honestly, the gesture was quite touching.
"I might not like it, but you do. It makes you happy, doesn't it?"
Ennoshita took a slice and munched on it. Sawamura's words came floating back to him. "Just focus on being happy." So he turned to Tanaka and pecked his lips.
Tanaka gawked at him.
"Sorry. That tasted sour, didn't it?" Ennoshita wanted to kick himself. Go figure that being impulsive wouldn't work for him the one time he needed it.
The bartender looked away. "Yeah," he grumbled. "Make sure it tastes sweet next time."
Ennoshita Chikara laughed. He was really glad things had changed between them. Certifiably glad.
- ^-^3
:3 Yes! More cameos! XD Honestly, Terushima was a random addition, but I think he worked well here. Typing that part up (because all of these fics I've written longhand first 0_0) made me pause, because this could've gone completely differently if Ennoshita had let Terushima set him up…but I didn't want that to happen, and I'm glad things have developed thusly, especially with Nishinoya no longer being a "villain." (Also, Terushima/Misaki because hells yeah.) :D And Asahi… Oh, Asahi. XD We'll see more of him, don't worry, and we'll meet even more of the Haikyuu! cast in the next fic. Asahi has appeared for a reason, other than to be a friend to Ennoshita. …and have I mentioned my love for Narita, Kinoshita, and NariKino? Because THEM. 8D *loves the 2nd-yr trio* Song to set the mood for "Recommendation": "Love Satellite" by Clazziquai. *happy sigh*
So yes. The timeline's now at the end of October, so you'll know what's next if you've been paying attention… ;]
Thanks for reading, and please review! "Promotion," the fourth story in the Birds of a Feather AU, coming soon.
-mew! -w-
