Chapter 10

Kisa had gotten used to Yukina showing up when he worked in the evening. His shift ended at seven, and he'd be there by seven-ten even though Jump Art Gallery was across Bunkyo- about a twenty minute ride, and that didn't account for it being a busy time for commuters and just general travel. Kisa never asked how he made it over so quickly, mostly because he felt the need to act like he didn't care.

Ichinose, of course, liked to make constant commentary about it, not really caring when Kisa told her that they always ended up going to one of their apartments and having sex. It was a half lie at best, considering they did end up having sex- after dinner, usually, sometimes housework was involved. But in the end, Kisa still didn't consider himself in a relationship. Relationships implied codependency and routine, and Kisa in no way missed Yukina on the days they didn't get together.

He did find, however, that he and Yukina got together just enough that he found himself ignoring the men who flirted with him and asked if he was doing anything after his shift.

It was during one of Yukina's evening visits that the owner of Jump Art Gallery came wandering in. Kirishima Zen showed up every once in a while, enough to be a familiar face but not enough to have a regular order. He tried to be at least civil with Takano-san, because Kirishima had been with Yokozawa Takafumi for three years, and Yokozawa had been Takano-san's best friend since their college days.

When Kirishima walked in, though, he didn't simply take a seat at the bar and strike up a conversation with Takano-san as he usually did. Instead, he saw Yukina sitting over in a corner drawing and made a beeline for him.

"So this is where you always run off to," Kirishima said with a wry smile.

"Good evening, Kirishima-san," Yukina said, brightening. "I didn't know you came in here."

At that point, Mino came over with a sandwich and coffee, and as he set them down, Kirishima said, "So who here has been stealing you away several times a week?"

At that point, Kisa emerged from the kitchen with another customer's order. When he looked up, Mino was pointing at him, as well as Takano-san at the bar and Ichinose, who'd heard Kirishima's question and stepped out of the kitchen just to do so.

"What?" Kisa asked. When no one said anything, he just shook his head and delivered the cake to the teenage girl who was giggling as he smiled at her. "Enjoy!" He employed his most sparkly aura and she giggled even harder, seeming to forget that it was the cake she was supposed to be there for, not the cute waiter.

Of course, no matter how good the food and drinks were, the main reason a lot of the teenage girls came back was because of the good-looking staff. Everyone knew it, and Takano-san tended to use that fact to his full advantage.

As Kisa walked by again, Kirishima said, "I suppose I can't blame you. He's a cute kid."

Kisa pointedly ignored him, but Yukina smiled and said, "He's, um, not a kid."

"Oh?" Kirishima asked, sounding only mildly interested.

As they continued talking, Kisa went back into the kitchen. He didn't have any new customers, so he didn't necessarily have to be out there. He eyed Yukina and Kirishima as the door closed behind him, and he shook his head.

Ichinose was in there, actually working for once. Someone had ordered one of her specialty parfaits, and so she was putting it together with glee. When Kisa came in, though, she immediately looked up at him and said, "How's your boyfriend, Kisa-san?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Kisa said, sounding more tired than anything. He slumped down on the stool Ichinose usually sat on, glancing around. Chiaki wasn't working right then so it was Ichinose and Mutou in the kitchen. Mutou smiled at him but didn't say anything. Kisa was thankful that at least one of the cooks at the café knew when to stay quiet.

Ichinose just rose an eyebrow, looking interested. As she finished putting the parfait together, she pushed it aside for a second and said, "You didn't tell that to Kirishima-san, I noticed."

Kisa ducked his head. He wasn't sure why he hadn't told Kirishima that it wasn't like that between him and Yukina, he just hadn't. He should've known that his lack of effort would be rewarded by Ichinose picking at him and analyzing everything he did or did not do. Ichinose left the kitchen with the order, though. She wasn't a waiter, but when someone ordered one of her creations, she liked to bring it out to the customer herself so she could see the look on their face when they saw it in person.

Kisa sighed and slumped on the stool, just plain tired. When he looked up, though, Mutou was staring at him. "What?" he asked.

A smile came over Mutou's face, and she went back to putting away what was left of the bread. "Nothing, Kisa-san."

When Kisa's shift ended at eight o'clock, his stomach was growling fiercely. He thought about getting a sandwich from the café before he headed out, but he'd had to pay his bills the previous day and until his next paycheck, he was living on about three-thousand yen. It, unfortunately, looked like he'd be having ramen noodles for the next few days.

"Kisa-san!" Yukina said, and Kisa remembered that he'd stayed there the entire time, just drawing and nursing a second cup of coffee. As soon as he saw Kisa emerge from the bathroom, dressed in his street clothes, he stood up. He'd apparently already paid his bill. Just as he walked up to Kisa, Kisa's stomach decided to be a traitor and growl. "Would you like to get something to eat?"

"…that would be nice," Kisa muttered. He reached into his bag just to check his wallet, but sure enough, he only came up with a couple of bills and some coins. He frowned. "Or not."

Yukina smiled and, putting an arm around his shoulders so he could direct him out, said, "I'll pay today, Kisa-san."

"I'm not a charity case, you know," he said, frowning at the hand on his shoulder. He could hear Ichinose snickering in the background even though she was supposed to be in the kitchen, but he decided to ignore it.

Yukina removed his arm once they were out of the café, though. They started walking along, Yukina oblivious and Kisa ignoring the stares they were getting from passing girls. Kisa was used to that part of being around Yukina by then. He was a good-looking guy, and the happy, sparkly aura he tended to emanate whenever Kisa saw him probably didn't help to fend people off.

"What would you like to eat, Kisa-san?" Yukina asked, looking all around. Since they were in a more commercial district, there were other restaurants besides Emerald Café around, and they pretty much had their pick of whatever they wanted.

Kisa ducked his head. "Whatever. You're paying, you know what I like to eat." Kisa didn't even think about that because it was true. They mostly made meals themselves, but Yukina had learned over the past few weeks what Kisa liked eating the most.

So Kisa didn't really see what he had with Yukina as a relationship, but it was nice to have someone around who knew what he liked, and that included a lot more than food. Having sex so much with one person also helped the other person know how to do things. And maybe that was why he ignored other guys. He was spoiled now and kind of flinched when he imagined being with a guy as he would be just a few weeks ago, the often hurried sex where the person didn't care if Kisa got off or not.

Kisa glanced over at Yukina out of the corner of his eye, thinking. He supposed it did look like they were together. Yukina never denied it. But then he shook his head. He had never had a proper relationship in his life, and he wasn't going to start considering it now that he was in his mid-thirties. You can't, after all, teach an old dog new tricks.

xxx

They ended up getting sushi and bringing it back to Kisa's apartment. Even though Kisa had told Yukina he didn't care what he ate that night, he was kind of secretly hoping for something greasy. The most unhealthy thing about his supper was the overly-salty soy sauce, which he double and triple-dipped his sushi in just to spite Yukina, who'd been going on about being healthy. Kisa didn't care about being healthy. If he did, he wouldn't still be at the job that had him keeping such weird hours and irregular sleeping patterns. He wasn't young anymore, after all, and it took a bigger toll on his body than if he were a teenager.

"Do you want some tea, Kisa-san? I think there's still some left from the last time we went shopping," Yukina said. He stood up since he was finished with his own sushi and went to put his dish in the sink.

Kisa just glared down at his almost-finished dinner. Yukina took that as a no, and instead of putting on tea for himself, he padded over to Kisa and leaned down. Kisa murmured happily as Yukina kissed him, moving his arms to wrap around Yukina's shoulder and pull him along towards the bedroom. They ended up tripping over each other's legs, and despite himself, Kisa broke the kiss and started laughing when they hit the floor. He was on bottom so he'd taken the most force, and he winced as he sat up. His back was a little sore.

"Are you okay, Kisa-san?" Yukina asked, concerned. Kisa just nodded, small laughs still erupting from him in bursts. Once Yukina was sure Kisa wasn't hurt, he leaned back down and started kissing him again. Kisa pushed his tongue into Yukina's mouth, stroking Yukina's and pulling a soft moan of pleasure for his efforts.

Yukina muttered something against Kisa's lips. Kisa didn't quite catch it, but one of the words sounded suspiciously like 'love.' Kisa paused, pulling his tongue back in his own mouth.

He considered asking Yukina what he had said. Just the word 'love' could freak him out, it seemed. But then he decided he was just hearing things. He was still in the habit of looking for any excuse to get rid of a guy, after all.

"Yukina…" Kisa said, pulling fully away and putting his hand over Yukina's mouth when the man tried to connect for another kiss. "I think I just want to go to bed."

Yukina smiled. "Alright, Kisa-san." He leaned forward and gave Kisa a gentle kiss before saying, "I should probably go home now anyway, before the subways close down for the night."

Kisa nodded in agreement, resisting the urge to tell Yukina that he didn't need to go home. Maybe, he mused as he sat there on the floor watching Yukina put on his shoes, he was getting to used to having him around. That could, of course, be easily remedied.