Check You Out

Libraries are sacred spaces. Full of communal knowledge handed down through the generations, carefully collected and organized for the betterment of society. They're sources of community action, providing resources to others and a refuge from the rest of the world. They engage with children, guide adults, and have a far larger impact on the world than people realize.

Ennoshita Chikara loves libraries, and even more, he loves working at a library.

Hours can be long, and the pay isn't great, but he loves developing programs to instill and drive community engagement. He loves honing his research skills and helping people uncover the right information that they're looking for. He even loves the patrons. Most of the time.

As with any job involving customer service, interacting with the public can be…difficult at best. There are the patrons who try to argue a mere 100 yen late fee, or those who return a book in terrible condition and claim it wasn't them. Then there are those who rearrange the bookshelves because they think it's funny or drop gross things in the book drop. Ennoshita once had to deal with a bag of dog poop that ended up breaking under the weight of too many books. That was a particularly bad day.

But for the most part Ennoshita doesn't let those people get to him. The people who make the job worth it are the university students who trust him to help narrow their source materials, the young mothers who depend on their summer children's programs, and the kids who ask him for book recommendations because, "You have the best taste, Enno-san!"

Getting to know the regular patrons and being an active part of their community is the best part of his job. But lately, there's been one regular in particular that's been drawing his attention more than the others.

He's come in consistently Monday through Friday at around noon for the past month. When he arrives, he's always loud, courtesy of the heavy combat boots he wears and what Ennoshita thinks is his general sense of being. Ten steps into the building, he always whispers an apology like the librarians are just waiting to scold him. (They're not.)

Then he whistles lightly as he peruses the stacks, piling several up in his arms before returning to his usual table. There he grumbles to himself as he pores over the books and takes notes in the spiral bound notebook he carries with him and occasionally hits the books or himself in frustration, groaning loudly in protest of whatever he's reading, and then whispers another apology.

Ennoshita finds it incredibly charming and has no idea why.

Curiosity about this man burns in Ennoshita's gut. He doesn't even know the man's name because the man never checks anything out. Nor does he ask for help or even talk to any of the librarians beyond his little apologies to the general vicinity. Instead, after three hours of arguing under his breath with the books, he ends up rushing out of the building with just as much commotion as he arrives, and when he's gone the library feels a little too quiet and empty in his absence.

All Ennoshita knows about him is that he frequents the mathematics sections, never stays past three, and looks like he could be part of a motorcycle gang. Ennoshita wishes he could just lurk around the stacks for the three hours that the man is in the library and observe him, but he's always too busy for that.

So instead, Ennoshita sighs and watches from afar out the corner of his eye when he can and tries to be fine with the fact that he'll never know this man as more than the library's most handsome patron.

/ / /

"You know, you could just talk to him."

Ennoshita startles. He hadn't realized he'd been leaning so far over the front counter, craning his neck for another glance of the handsome man even after he disappeared down the usual aisle. He straightens up and pulls another book from the stack of returns, then glances over at one of his fellow librarians.

Sawamura Daichi is his favorite coworker. They share a passion for the community aspects of the library and for improving public information literacy. When Ennoshita started at the library a two years ago, Daichi was the one who took Ennoshita under his wing and showed him what a great librarian could do for the community. Unfortunately, Daichi is also a wicked man who lives to tease Ennoshita on the daily.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ennoshita says primly, flipping through the pages to check for any damage.

"Sure," Daichi replies in a tone that says he doesn't believe him.

Ennoshita takes note of the coffee cup next to Daichi's computer where he sits evaluating the library database. More specifically, he takes note of the winking cat face drawn on the cardboard cup sleeve. "You know, you could just ask Kuroo out."

Daichi tries not to react, but Ennoshita detects the slight pursing of his lips and the flex in his jaw. Kuroo Tetsurou is the lead barista at the in-library coffeeshop, and Daichi's had a crush on him for well over six months now. Ennoshita knows Kuroo is interested too, but for some reason the two are preoccupied with this stupid game of cat-and-mouse to see who'll give in and confess first.

"I'm very happy in my flirtationship, thank you very much," Daichi said, taking a pointed sip of his coffee. "You don't even have an acquaintanceship."

Ennoshita grumbles under his breath but has to admit that Daichi is right. There's nothing stopping him from talking to the man. He talks to patrons all the time. But he's never wanted to flirt with a patron before, and while he wouldn't violate librarian-patron relations and do that straight off the bat, he still feels guilty over his underlying intentions.

Luckily, he's saved from having to respond to Daichi by an old woman who wants to check out a cookbook. They chat amiably about food and recipes and learning new things, and then she's on her way. Ennoshita loves his job.

A few hours later, he's walking through the library collecting abandoned books from tables and study carrels when he sees that someone is at the handsome man's table. He gets offended for a second before he reminds himself that nobody has a particular right to any table, and when did he start thinking of it as that man's table? Besides, it's half-past three, so it's not like the man has a claim on the table right now.

It's only when he draws closer that Ennoshita realizes it is the man at the table. He's slumped over the surface, face pressed into the pages of the book underneath him, and he appears to be sound asleep. He really is handsome, Ennoshita thinks as he approaches the table. He's never been this close to him before, but now he can see perfectly the sharp cut of the man's jaw, the prominent cheekbones, and the tidy mohawk that Ennoshita never expected to find as attractive as he does.

The man sighs in his sleep, and Ennoshita smiles. But then he remembers that it's past three, the time the man always leaves, and a conflicted feeling comes over him. Should Ennoshita wake him? Should he leave him alone? Waking him might be the polite thing to do, or would it be creepy that Ennoshita knows he's usually gone by now? Or what if he just didn't have to leave by three today and everything's fine and Ennoshita woke him for no reason? But, the man could be late for something, and if Ennoshita doesn't wake him he could end up even more late.

Ennoshita reaches out and places a hand on the man's shoulder, jostling him slightly. He wishes he could say it was just out of the goodness of his heart, out of a pure desire to help a loyal patron, but really part of him just wanted to touch the man.

"Excuse me?" Ennoshita says softly, shaking him again. "Don't you need to go?"

The man stirs, then blinks his eyes open and looks up at Ennoshita, and his eyes are the loveliest shade of golden brown that Ennoshita's ever seen. They stare at each other for a long moment, Ennoshita's hand still curved around the man's shoulder, and then suddenly the man gasps.

"Shit!" he exclaims, sitting up violently and banging his knees against the underside of the table. Ennoshita's hand falls away as the man claps a hand over his own mouth and whispers, "Shit," again from behind it.

Cute, Ennoshita thinks, but says, "Sorry to startle you, I—"

"What time is it?" the man asks, too loud again but seeming too frantic to care.

"Past three-thirty," Ennoshita responds.

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit, I can't—" The man gets up from his seat and begins slamming the books closed and stacking them on top of each other. "Shit. Fuck. Shit. I'm so late. I'm so fucking late, I—"

"I'll take care of those," Ennoshita says quickly, placing a hand on the next book the man had been about to grab.

"What—are you sure?" the man asks. His eyes are wide and panicked and still so beautiful.

"Yeah, it's what I'm here for," Ennoshita replies with a smile. "And you need to go."

"Fuck, yeah, I do." The man grabs his jacket and throws it on and runs for the main doors of the library.

Ennoshita stands there and watches him go and belatedly realizes that his heart is thudding in his chest.

"Why do you look so happy?" Daichi asks suspiciously when Ennoshita finally returns to the front circulation desk.

"We talked," Ennoshita says.

"No shit," Daichi says in in disbelief, then clamps his mouth shut and glances around to see if any patrons were close enough to hear while Ennoshita chuckles. "Dang, I owe Kuroo ten bucks now."

Ennoshita narrows his eyes at him. "What?"

"I thought it'd be like another month at least," Daichi replies. "He had more faith in you. You should be flattered."

"I'm not flattered that my coworker and his non-boyfriend are betting on my flirting life," Ennoshita retorts. "And why did you tell me to talk to him if you were betting that I wouldn't?"

"Like I said, I have no faith in you," Daichi says with a grin.

Ennoshita resists the urge to chuck a book at him.

/ / /

The next day, Ennoshita watches the clock more attentively than he ever has in his life as it ticks closer to noon, when the man usually shows up. Daichi's noticed, of course, and keeps muttering the time to Ennoshita every time they're near each other.

"11:49," he whispers as he passes Ennoshita on his way to the computer.

"Shut up," Ennoshita hisses back for the hundredth time that day, trying to act like his hands aren't shaking as he unnecessarily wipes down the checkout counter to give himself something to do. He doesn't even need to be at the front desk right now. He should really be working on the reshelves, but he wants to be here for when he man comes in.

Logically, nothing is different. The man will probably come in with his typical bluster and go about his business as usual and then leave three hours later. He won't say anything to anyone, and Ennoshita will be left reminiscing about the few words they'd exchanged and the firm feel of the man's shoulder for the rest of his life like the sad, pitiful little man he is.

But still…he hopes yesterday changed something.

Five minutes later, the front doors slide open and in comes Ennoshita's favorite patron. His boots clomp as he treads across the tiled entryway, the usual "sorry" dropping from his lips when he gets to the carpet. But instead of heading down past the counter toward the class 500 books, he turns and approaches the circulation desk.

"Hi, sorry," he says in an exaggerated whisper, "but I'm looking for—" He comes to a sudden stop when he looks up and meets Ennoshita's gaze. "You!" he exclaims.

"Me?" Ennoshita repeats, and he hates that he can feel a blush coming on already.

"You!" the man says again, somehow even louder this time. "Oh, shit, sorry," he says then, lowering his voice.

"It's fine," Ennoshita tells him with a smile. "We're really not that strict about noise."

"Oh, cool." The man's shoulders sag in relief. "I'm really bad at being quiet."

"I've noticed," Ennoshita replies, and then purses his lips as instant regret washes over him.

The man bites his lip and blushes and shit, Ennoshita is really gone on this man and they haven't even spoken for more than a couple minutes.

"Well, uh, I wanted to say thank you for yesterday," the man continues, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. But those books are just so boring, you know?"

"Math doesn't tend to be the most invigorating subject," Ennoshita agrees. "Are you studying for a class?"

"Oh fuck no." The man wrinkles his nose, and it's so, so cute. "I'm trying to help my kid with school. She's struggling with math, and she's all, 'Papa, can you help me?' And I'm like, 'Sure pumpkin, of course, I'm always here for you,' but then she goes, 'That's not how the teacher does it.' And I looked at her textbook, and apparently they changed the way you do math? I didn't even know they could do that!"

Ennoshita starts laughing softly, and the man takes a break from his tirade to smile at him, and Ennoshita feels his heart squeeze so hard he braces a hand against the counter for support.

"So I'm trying to teach myself so I can teach her, but I only have these few hours between work and school pickup time," he says, "and I guess I was really tired yesterday."

"Was she okay?" Ennoshita asks.

"Oh, yeah, luckily," the man says with relief, leaning against the counter. "The pickup supervisor stayed with her until I got there. She really stuck it to me though, scolded me in front of the teacher and made me buy her ice cream to earn her forgiveness."

"Clever kid."

"She's the best," he said with a loving sigh.

"And your…partner wasn't able to pick her up?" Ennoshita asks. There's no ring on the man's finger, but he seems like the non-traditional type. He could have a girlfriend or a fiancée or a life partner, and Ennoshita would have no clue.

"Oh, no, it's just us. Sometimes my little sister will watch her, but she's in college so she's pretty busy most of the time," the man replies.

"Ah, I see," Ennoshita says, barely holding back the ridiculously big smile twitching on his lips.

"Anyway, I just wanted to thank you," he continues. "I don't know how long I would've slept if you hadn't woken me up."

"Of course," Ennoshita replies. "I know you're usually gone by three, so I was worried when I saw you were still here."

The man smiles widely, and Ennoshita realizes the implications of what he just said.

"Not that I—I'm not trying to be creepy, I just—you're usually so consistent, so—"

"Don't worry about it," the man interrupts with a hearty chuckle, then takes a step away from the desk, and Ennoshita fights to keep a disappointed frown off his face. "Well, I'll let you get back to work. I'll be—well, you know where I'll be."

"Yeah," Ennoshita says weakly.

The man gives a small wave, then turns on his heel and clods through the library toward his usual section. Ennoshita watches him go, his mind racing.

"Wow," Daichi says suddenly, startling him since Ennoshita had forgotten he's been right there the whole time. "You're really bad at this."

Ennoshita's face goes up in flames. "Shut up," he tells Daichi yet again.

"You didn't even get his name," Daichi points out with a laugh, and Ennoshita realizes he's right.

He groans, dragging his hands over his face in frustration, then stalks away from the desk, ignoring Daichi's unnecessarily loud chortling. They're in a library, for god's sake.

/ / /

"How's it going today?"

The man looks up from the Mathematics 101 book and frowns petulantly at him. "Terribly"

Ennoshita laughs and leans against the table.

Despite his inability to flirt, Ennoshita takes pride in the fact that at least he was right about something. Things have changed between him and the handsome man, even if just barely.

Every day this week, the man has stopped by the front desk to chat with Ennoshita for a few minutes before retreating further in to the library. He's started leaving his table earlier than usual, too, so they can talk on his way out. And now, for the first time, Ennoshita has decided to swing by the table to check on him.

"I just don't get it," the man bemoans. "And she keeps asking me why she has to know this when we all carry calculators in our phones now anyway, and I don't even have an answer other than 'You're supposed to.' Which, let me tell you, is not an answer that flies with a nine year old."

"I can imagine," Ennoshita says, laughing again.

The man slumps back in his chair and hangs his head over the back. "I'm a terrible father," he declares.

"I know for a fact that's not true," Ennoshita says, dropping into the empty chair next to the man.

"It is. I'm all she has, and yet I can't even help her with third year elementary math."

"And yet you spend fifteen hours a week in here of your own volition studying so you can do what people get masters degrees to do," Ennoshita says firmly. "I know a lot of people wouldn't put in half as much effort as you are. You're a good dad."

The man lifts his head and blinks at him, looking almost close to tears. Ennoshita marvels at the fact that someone who looks so much like a gangster can simultaneously act so much like a kitten.

"So what are you struggling with?" he asks with a nod at the book.

"Long division," the man mumbles.

"Ah, the classic nemesis," Ennoshita says. He glances over the pages and sees there is definitely a new method being taught, but it seems simple enough. "Oh, I see."

"You understand this shit?" the man asks in amazement.

"I'm a quick learner, and I like knowledge," he says, gesturing around at their surroundings.

The man laughs. "Right. I should've guessed."

"I…I can help you, if you want," Ennoshita says, the idea sparking in his mind. "Like, tutor you."

"What? You'd do that?" he asks eagerly.

"Sure. I tutored like half my volleyball team in high school, and they were dumb as rocks," Ennoshita replies.

"You played volleyball too? Man, no wonder you're so cool," the man says, and Ennoshita blushes. "I was a wing spiker, what about you?"

"The same," Ennoshita says, and when the man's face lights up he adds hurriedly, "I wasn't a starter, though, just a sub. But I was captain in my third year."

"Sick, me too!" the man says excitedly. "Although I was the ace," he adds with a wink.

"I can see that," Ennoshita replies, and his gaze tracks down the man's arms, which for once aren't covered by the man's leather jacket. Mechanic's arms, his mind whispers, because the man had mentioned working at a repair shop downtown.

"Um," the man says, and Ennoshita startles, sitting up straight and blushing feverishly. But the man doesn't appear to have noticed Ennoshita's ogling. His eyes are cast down toward the math book. "Are you sure you have the time to help me? I know you're probably really busy, and I can't afford to pay you."

"Don't worry about any of that. I can spare the time," Ennoshita says. "And besides, helping people is part of my job."

The man looks back up at him, and his smile is blinding. "You're so awesome."

"Nah, not really," Ennoshita says, rubbing the back of his head. "Just a helpful nerd."

They smile at each other, and then Ennoshita spends the next two hours sitting with him going over the math that he's been having trouble with. Ennoshita struggles a bit at first too—it's been quite a few years since he's had to do some of this stuff—but he figures it out quickly enough to explain it. The man's a fast learner, too, once Ennoshita works out exactly how to teach things so he understands it. And once he understands the concept, they work together to make sure he knows how best to explain it to his daughter.

At two forty-five, the man's phone buzzes on the table, and he reaches over to silence it.

"An alarm," he explains sheepishly, "in case I ever fall asleep again."

"That's a good idea," Ennoshita says, and he leans back in his chair. They'd gotten really close while studying, and Ennoshita was keenly aware of the face that the man's knee was still pressed against his leg.

"Ah, I'm so frustrated, I felt like I was really getting it," the man complains as he flips his notebook shut and starts stacking the books.

"If you wanted, you could check these out and study over the weekend, you know," Ennoshita says.

The man's hands still, and his shoulders curve inward, and Ennoshita suddenly realizes he's said something wrong.

"Do you…not have a library card?" Ennoshita asks carefully. "I can get you set up with one. They're free."

"No, it's not that, it's…" The man puts his hands over his face in embarrassment. "I think I owe like ten thousand yen in late fees."

Ennoshita jerks his head up. "What?"

"Yeah, I know, I…I borrowed this book like last year and lost it for months, took me forever to find it, but like I can't afford to pay that much right now, so I—"

Ennoshita starts laughing harder than he has in a very long time, and the man cuts himself off.

"What?" he asks sheepishly.

"That's not…I can promise you don't owe that much," Ennoshita says, and there are tears beginning to gather in the corners of his eyes. "The maximum fee for a late book is 500 yen."

The man stares at him, dumbfounded. "…plus interest?"

That sets Ennoshita off again, and the man shushes him because people have started to stare, and Ennoshita laughs even harder at the irony of that.

"What do you think we are, an insurance agency?" Ennoshita asks. "Late fees are just a method to encourage people to turn their stuff back in. We're not actually trying to make money that way. And we have fine forgiveness programs for people who can't afford it."

"Oh my god," the man says, slumping back in his chair. "I thought for sure if I flashed my card that I'd pop up on a library most wanted list or something."

"No," Ennoshita laughs, wiping his eyes. "No, oh my god. We're a public institution, not debt collectors."

"Well shit," the man says. "I can pay 500 yen no sweat."

"Don't even worry about it," Ennoshita says, still chuckling. "I can just clear it."

"I can't let you do that," he protests.

Ennoshita holds his hands up. "No, no, please. Consider it payment for the best laugh I've had in ages."

"Well, now I just feel like I'm being made fun of," the man says, but he says it with a smile.

Together they clear up the rest of the books, and Ennoshita learns that he's been reshelving them himself this whole time. After another bout of laughter and explaining that book return carts exist so they can track book usage even when they're not taken out, they return to the front circulation desk to check out the main book they'd been working out of.

"Card?" Ennoshita asks, and the man slides it out of the wallet and hands it to him. With a beat of trepidation, he glances down at the library card. "Yamamoto Taketora," he reads aloud. It's a good name, a strong name, and it feels nice on his lips.

"That's me," Yamamoto says, poking himself in the chest with a thumb. "Oh, shit, I guess we never exchanged names. I've been calling you the cute librarian in my head this whole time."

Ennoshita blinks at him as static buzzes in his ears at Yamamoto's words, and he watches with delight as Yamamoto's face slowly morphs into one of horror.

"I—I mean—well—" Yamamoto stammers, his face turning bright red.

"I'm Ennoshita Chikara," he supplies, then adds, "And it's okay, I've been calling you the handsome man in mine."

Yamamoto's mouth opens and closes like a fish, so Ennoshita takes the time to scan the back of the card and load up the system. Sure enough, there's a mere 500 yen late fee sitting in Yamamoto's account, so he quickly clears it and then checks the book out to him.

"Here you go," Ennoshita says, sliding the book back across the counter. "Due back in thirty days. But I'm guessing I'll see you again on Monday?"

"Y-Yeah," Yamamoto says, having apparently regained the ability to speak. "See you Monday."

As usual, Ennoshita watches him go, but once Yamamoto is out of sight Ennoshita slumps bonelessly into the closest chair, hands over his face to hide his blush and his smile.

/ / /

Things continue like that for a month. Every day from noon to three, Yamamoto comes to the library and Ennoshita helps him with math. Even on Tuesdays, which are one of Ennoshita's days off, he still comes in and sits with Yamamoto at their table.

They talk and they study and they flirt as much as they can while still being in public at Ennoshita's place of work, and Ennoshita thinks he's never been happier in his life. Nothing's official between them or been explicitly stated, but Ennoshita doesn't mind. He knows things like this can be tricky when there's an impressionable kid involved, so he's content with being patient. Especially when being patient still means they sit with their shoulders pressed together or hold hands under the table like schoolchildren.

In retrospect, Ennoshita supposes it would've made more sense to offer to directly tutor Yamamoto's daughter, but between their three different schedules Ennoshita probably would've only been able to tutor her on Sundays, and besides, that arrangement would've meant not spending fifteen hours a week flirting with the man of his dreams.

"You're disgusting," Daichi tells him one day.

"What?" Ennoshita asks, affronted at the out-of-nowhere insult.

"Did he text you? Is that why you're looking at your phone all lovesick like?" Daichi asks.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes," Ennoshita says. "He sent me a picture of Keiko's end-of-semester math test. She got an 86, so that's 14 points better than the last semester."

"Nice. And when are you going to ask him out?"

"I'm…working up to it," Ennoshita replies evasively. "And when are you and Kuroo going to give up this game of yours?"

"He will cave first," Daichi says firmly, slapping a fist to his palm in emphasis. "I think one more gym selfie is gonna do it."

Ennoshita rolls his eyes and leaves the front desk to walk the floor. Half an hour later his phone buzzes with another text from Yamamoto, but this one says, Where r u? He's about to text back when another text comes through, this one from Daichi: Come get your man ;)

His heart rate kicks up. Is Yamamoto here? It's five o'clock on a Friday. He should be home with Keiko, not at the library. Is something wrong? Did something happen to Keiko?

He rushes to the front of the library, not caring about the looks he receives from the patrons and coworkers he passes. When he gets to the circulation desk and sees Yamamoto leaning casually against it and chatting with Daichi, he breathes, an actual sigh of relief.

"Tora," he greets, because Yamamoto had given him permission to call him that. It still makes him blush to say it, though.

"Chika," Yamamoto greets in return, and Ennoshita's heart thrums. Yamamoto nods a goodbye at Daichi and walks toward Ennoshita.

"What's up?" Ennoshita asks casually despite his sudden nervousness.

"Keiko passed her test, which, uh, obviously you know cause I texted you," Yamamoto tells him, rubbing the back of his head. "But anyway the teacher pulled her aside to tell her he's proud of how much she's improved. And she even said she's starting to like math."

"That's incredible," Ennoshita replies, smiling widely. "Are you gonna do something to celebrate?"

"Yeah, she's sleeping over at a friend's. I just dropped her off," Yamamoto replies, then squares his shoulder and looks right at him. "Which, you know, makes me a free agent tonight."

"Oh," Ennoshita breathes, and he wishes he was coming off as cool and collected as Yamamoto is, but his heart is racing too fast for him to concentrate on being aloof.

"So I was wondering," Yamamoto continues, "if you'd like to get dinner with me tonight. As a celebratory…date."

A bloom of happiness explodes in Ennoshita's chest, filling him with so much joy that he worries for a moment his ribs just might crack under the pressure. Instead, he smiles so wide it hurts and says, "I would like that very much."

"Oh thank god," Yamamoto says, the confident exterior melting away to reveal the nerves underneath. The tips of his ears are bright red.

Ennoshita laughs and takes a few steps toward him. "Did you honestly think I'd say no?"

"Not really, but this shit's scary, man," Yamamoto whines.

"I know," Ennoshita replies, then reaches out and gently takes Yamamoto's hand. "Do you…want to know what I'm wondering?"

"Yeah," Yamamoto whispers, staring down at his hand cradled in both of Ennoshita's.

"I'm wondering if you'd like to follow me into that study room over there so I can kiss you without my nosy coworker watching," Ennoshita murmurs.

Yamamoto's wide eyes snap up to meet his, and his jaw goes a little slack. "Yes please," he says after a moment of stunned silence.

"Daichi, I'm taking my last fifteen," Ennoshita calls over his shoulder as he pulls Yamamoto by the hand toward the nearest study room. He gets a wolf whistle in return, and without turning around to look he knows Yamamoto's face is absolutely bright red.

"I-Isn't this against the rules?" Yamamoto asks as Ennoshita closes the door and shuts the blinds over the glass pane in it.

"What the bosses don't know won't hurt them," Ennoshita replies, approaching him and placing one hand on Yamamoto's waist and the other on his cheek.

"Wow, I never knew librarians could be such rebels," Yamamoto teases, bringing his arms up around Ennoshita's neck. His fingers play with the short hairs there, and it sends goosebumps along Ennoshita's arms.

"Oh yeah," Ennoshita says, bringing their foreheads together. "I even read banned books."

Yamamoto begins to laugh, but Ennoshita cuts him off by leaning forward to close the short distance between them. His lips are plush but firm as they move against Ennoshita's, and Ennoshita is quite certain it's the best—and hopefully last—first kiss he's ever had.

Written for Day One of the HQ Rarepair AU Week over on Twitter!

I wrote this in a day when I realized two weeks ago that if I wanted to write fics for this AU week that I should probably get started lmao

I've been writing my ass off for this and have five out of seven fics done, and because everything I write is longer than I expect it to be that means I've written almost 30k in two weeks, and that's not counting the fic I got 6.5k into and then scrapped (RIP me), so fingers crossed I keep up this momentum and get everything done on time hahahaha (plz send good vibes)

See y'all tomorrow for the next one!

~Ki

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