Saguru was turning over the choice of continuing grading for the weekend (ugh) or doing his laundry—and really both things needed done; it was his own fault for making such a long test and for leaving his laundry go for so long—when there was a knock on his door. Kuroba was out—had left earlier that morning with Takumi, presumably to get breakfast—Mum hadn't left any messages about visiting, and while Hiroto did know where he lived, they hadn't discussed another date beyond the fact that they were both amenable to the idea of there being a second date.

The knock came again, this time accompanied by Kuroba's voice. "I know you're in there, Hakuba. You're always home on Saturday mornings."

Saguru rolled his eyes and levered himself out of his chair. "A bit presumptuous of you," Saguru said as he unlocked his door. On the other side was Kuroba, a mildly alarming grin on his face with Takumi at his side. "I might have been busy."

"Hakuba," Kuroba said, going mock serious. "I tell you this as a friend, but you are almost never busy."

"I have tests to grade and laundry to do," Saguru countered.

"You always have something to grade. I always have some project to work on. Takumi always has homework. You need to have some fun sometimes too."

"Do I?" Saguru asked drily. He glanced at Takumi, but Takumi's smile was inching toward Kuroba's level of enthusiasm, which didn't bode well. "What's going on?"

"We're headed out," Kuroba said, slinging one arm around Takumi's shoulders. "Want to come with us?"

"Doing what?" he asked. With Kuroba smiling like that, it had to be something terrifying.

"We haven't picked yet," Takumi said at the same time Kuroba said, "Family bonding."

He looked between the two of them and took a half-step back inside. "I wouldn't want to intrude…"

"Hakuba," Kuroba said, reaching out to catch Saguru's wrist before he could shut himself back in his apartment again. "It's an invitation. You're not intruding if we're inviting you along. It'll be fun."

He opened his mouth to say no, more out of habit than anything else, and thought of what Mum would say if she knew he'd turned down an outing from someone he actually did consider a friend. Then Saguru looked at two expectant, excited faces and felt any resolve he had to lock himself in the apartment to finish grading crumble the rest of the way. "Fine. Let me get my shoes." He pretended he didn't see Takumi and Kuroba exchange a thumbs up behind him. How did dragging Saguru along on an outing fit into Kuroba and Takumi's family bonding time? Furthermore, when had Takumi reached the point of voluntarily wanting Saguru's company?

….there was probably no deeper meaning in this than just inviting a friend on an outing and Saguru needed to learn not to over analyze these sorts of things. His shoes and cane were together, and after putting on his shoes and gathering up his wallet, he gave the pile of things he still had to do a long look. It would still be there later unfortunately, but he supposed that a year ago he had managed to balance work and a life outside it, so it wouldn't kill him to try to do so again.

Kuroba made a show of checking his watch as Saguru locked up his apartment door and Saguru flashed back to high school and how Saguru had always been the one checking the time then. He'd been obsessed with punctuality most of his life, but the pocket watch he'd carried was among the things left in boxes at his parents' home. Odd that only now did he find himself missing it.

"Well?" he said as both Kurobas stood watching him. "Where are we going?"

"We haven't picked yet," Takumi said again. He bounced on the balls of his feet and led the way down the stairs, slowing his pace enough that Saguru could keep up even though Takumi seemed too full of energy. "You see, we have this thing that we do where we pick a random thing to do in the area, and a random restaurant."

Kuroba pulled out his cell phone. "Random restaurant generator," he said, pulling up and app. "It takes your location and gives a random restaurant in the area."

"We've tried some different things that way. Foreign food."

"Sketchy holes in the wall."

"Some places we probably shouldn't have gone to in street clothes," Takumi said grinning. "And Tou-san made a random activity generator that works by combining random things that you can do in a certain mile radius and cross referencing events going on at the moment. So we've gotten things like 'go for a walk at the park' before and then things like, 'attend folk music event at two o'clock.'"

"The only rule is that there's no take backs," Kuroba said, twirling his phone as he walked down the stairs backwards.

Takumi snickered. "To this day, that rule is the only reason Tou-san has ever stepped foot in the Sumida aquarium."

Saguru laughed as Kuroba shuddered. He could imagine how badly Kuroba must have handled that with his ichthyophobia.

"You laugh," Kuroba grumbled, "but you should have seen Takumi's expression the year we had to go to the doll festival."

"Fear of dolls?" Saguru asked.

"I'm not afraid of them," Takumi said. He waved a hand vaguely. "They're just… Okay, so Shiemi had some really creepy dolls when she was little and used to think it was funny to turn them all facing me whenever I slept over so I'd wake up to these glass eyes all staring at me."

Kuroba laughed and skipped away when Takumi swatted at him.

"I can find a fish if I need to!" Takumi threatened halfheartedly. "And it's not dolls in general, it's just a lot of dolls all in one place, staring in the same direction that's really creepy is all."

"Pony up, Hakuba," Kuroba teased. "What can't you stand? You know our weaknesses."

"And give you the opportunity to exploit mine?" Saguru said. "Never."

Takumi laughed and Kuroba pouted. Saguru hid a smile already feeling better about the outing.

"In the spirit of fairness though, I dislike mushrooms if they are cooked into something."

"Hmm, not a phobia, but I can work with that." If Saguru found mushrooms in any of his food, he'd know who to blame. Thankfully mushrooms were something that generally could be picked off a dish. Kuroba finally turned right way around pulling up the random activity generator on his phone. "So, gentlemen, where are we headed?"

"Have Hakuba-sensei pick," Takumi said, "since he's the one we invited along. You can just press the button. Or maybe you have something in mind?"

"What do you even do for fun anyway?" Kuroba asked curiously. "Besides read mystery novels."

"I don't really," Saguru sighed, picking up his pace to walk alongside Kuroba. His cane tapped regularly against the concrete as he plucked the phone from Kuroba's hands. The generator looked simple enough to use, and even had a few limiters based around time, distance, and cost.

"Not now, clearly," Kuroba said, letting Saguru have his phone. "But you must have done something for fun over the years."

"Theatre," Saguru said absently. He tamped down on bittersweet memories of watching Mel on stage or going out together to see new performances by less known play writes. "And conventions."

"Mystery conventions?" Kuroba guessed.

"Sometimes. There was an annual Holmes convention in England, and I sometimes attended Holmes Society meetings. But I also enjoyed biochemistry conferences. It was good to keep up in the field."

"Biochemistry?" Takumi asked. As a literature club member he knew about Saguru's interest in all things Sherlock Holmes, but Saguru supposed he didn't really talk about his other interests.

"I majored in teaching and biochemistry with dual minors in criminology and psychology." He tapped in a distance restriction of within three stops on a train either direction—hopefully that would be reasonable in restricting excess walking—and added a reasonable cost cap. "I taught chemistry after I graduated for most of my adult life, but I never really lost touch with the current research until this last year."

"What the heck are you doing teaching English then?" Takumi sputtered.

Saguru glanced away from the phone to meet his wide-eyed curiosity. "There is always a need for English teachers. I merely needed an escape from England and teaching in Japan was the first idea that panned out." Curiosity sparkled in Takumi's eyes, but Saguru turned back to the phone like he didn't see the questions forming on Takumi's tongue.

"You're such an over achiever," Kuroba sighed, cutting in easily. "Two majors and minors? Really? But then, you already were working an international job in high school, so…"

Saguru rolled his eyes. Saguru was the overachiever? Kuroba was the one who had spent almost two decades living a dual life and building up skills necessary for both of them as well as keeping track of far more fields of knowledge than Saguru bothered to pay attention to. Between the two of them, Kuroba was the remarkable one; he just didn't have the credentials on paper to show it. "I can just press the button then?" he asked, showing Kuroba the restricted parameters he'd entered.

"Yup." Kuroba grinned. "Then the program does the hard work for you."

"I'm sure it's a wonderful bit of programming," Saguru said, pressing the button. A blue and white hourglass filled the screen for several seconds and then it cleared.

"What is it?" Takumi asked, leaning around Saguru to look. He snickered. "Really?"

"What?" Kuroba grabbed his phone back. "You know, I'm not sure if it's good luck or bad that out of all the possibilities that could have come up, you got karaoke."

Takumi kept snickering. "You can't get more stereotypical of a group activity than karaoke! I thought for sure we'd get something weird like, like tea ceremony classes or how to yodel."

"Have either of those things happened?" Saguru asked. He wasn't quite sure whether to feel resigned or amused about karaoke.

"No, but we did have a dance class once, and then there was the sumi-e painting…"

"We took a trip to Tohou Tower once. It was just like grade school field trips all over again," Kuroba added. "So you can get at least as stereotypical as karaoke."

"Well," Takumi said, "the phone has spoken. Karaoke it is."

"Is anywhere even open yet?" Saguru wondered. Kuroba already seemed to have a direction in mind since he was heading toward the train station. Saguru followed along after him. It was like some force had decided that he was going to live a day of the typical high school life he had never bothered to participate in when he actually was high school age. "I thought karaoke was something that was done in the evenings."

"It's after eleven," Kuroba said. "Most places don't open until around lunch, and then stay open late at night. Don't worry, I know just the place…"

o*o

Kuroba did know a place, and from the familiar greeting at the front desk, he came there somewhat frequently. Well, that or he knew the greeter, but given the evidence of how comfortably Kuroba moved through the building and the desk greeter hadn't strayed from the restrictions of polite interaction however familiar and genuinely glad to see Kuroba she had been, Saguru was betting on the former.

"We can get something to drink," Kuroba said, passing around a menu when they got to the karaoke booth. The room had comfortable couches, a shelf with song lists, and an interactive monitor that had connecting microphones. "Trust me, if you sing a couple songs you'll want something to drink."

"How frequently do you go out singing?" Saguru asked, sitting on the edge of one of the couches. It was good to sit as there had been more walking than he had hoped to reach the place.

"From time to time." Kuroba waved a hand, and now Saguru was wondering if he came to the karaoke place alone to do vocal exercises or something or if it was with coworkers. "Here, you can enter your drink order on the screen…"

Takumi slouched on the couch across from Saguru and Kuroba, looking around. "This place is nicer than the ones I've been to."

"It's a bit more expensive than some of them, but it's got better refreshments too." Kuroba put in his drink order.

"I've actually never done this before," Saguru said, picking lemonade to drink rather than the flashier soft drinks or mixed drinks the menu highlighted.

"Never?" Takumi leaned forward to enter his order into the machine. "Not even in high school?"

"I never spent time with classmates outside of school when I was in Japan, and in England there isn't as much interest in karaoke."

"Well," Kuroba drawled, leaning over the table to snag one of the volumes of song listings. "You know that means you have to sing something first."

"Must I?" Saguru sighed. The novelty was wearing off quickly as it sank in that yes, he would have to participate.

"Those are the rules," Takumi said. He was paging through a list, looking for songs that he knew, and so Saguru took a list from Kuroba.

It had been years since he actively listened to music in Japanese. He's always been more of a fan of instrumental pieces to vocal, and his musical tastes beyond that were heavily influenced by Mum's preference for 1960's British rock groups. He could remember some music his father had used to listen to, and there were some pop groups that Saguru had been exposed to in high school, but those were both a long time ago. "It would be nice if there were more songs in English."

"There's a section in the back," Kuroba said, pointing it out, "but it depends on what you're looking for. It's a weird mix of what they have as far as foreign music goes."

Saguru flipped to it, scanning through a mix of songs—a good number from the eighties. He caught sight of a section of Beatles music, and even if it wasn't his favorite group, he was guaranteed to know the words for just about any song they'd written. He pointed to one at random. "I'll sing that."

"So you're into the Beatles." Kuroba grinned. "We're just playing up stereotypes today aren't we?"

"Mum loves them and I grew up listening to her play their records," Saguru said primly. "Don't judge." It also helped that a great deal of their lyrics were repetitive and simple to remember and he was less likely to fumble a phrase with them.

Kuroba put the song on, and Saguru sang through 'Here Comes the Sun' passably enough. It fit his vocal range comfortably and while he was sure that he had given a less than ideal performance, he at least had not embarrassed himself. And if Mum asked any time in the next few weeks, he would have two things to mention that would please her as it was one of her favorite songs. Saguru set the microphone back in its holder, thoroughly relieved that his required participation had been fulfilled.

"Huh." Both Kuroba and his son had their heads tilted in an eerie reflection of each other as they studied Saguru. "You actually sing pretty well," Kuroba said.

"Thank you?" Saguru said. Thankfully the arrival of drinks meant that any other comments Kuroba might have said were swept aside in favor of sugary beverages.

"Me next," Takumi said, already inputting his song.

In the next twenty minutes, Saguru learned that both Kuroba and Takumi had decent singing voices. Kuroba had a much wider vocal range than the average singer—no surprise there—but either had poor taste in music (quite possible) or was making choices to get a reaction from Takumi (the more likely reason). From what Saguru gathered, all the song choices were from some anime or another, happy, and invariably accompanied by videos of cheerful looking school girls. Takumi's taste ran more with the current JPOP or songs from the last few years.

"I'm embarrassed to know you," Takumi said as Kuroba put on yet another cheerful anime song. "Why are all the songs from comedy series?"

"Half of your songs are love songs," Kuroba countered as the music started up. He put on a sing-songy falsetto voice to fit the music as the display played clips of anime accompanied by the song's lyrics.

While Saguru had no real desire to participate more, he had to admit that it was amusing to watch as the music choices got progressively odder, and then downright random as Kuroba or Takumi chose songs for each other and they were put on the spot trying to figure out the lyrics and melody. They both made an effort to make Saguru feel involved, occasionally throwing comments his way or leaving moments where he could add comments of his own. Eventually the two of them wound down, hungry stomachs calling for an end of singing.

Kuroba thrust the microphone into Saguru's hands. "Finish with you since you started?" he asked, giving Saguru the option to refuse if he wanted.

Both Kuroba and Takumi had been ridiculous. They wouldn't mind even if he did sound a bit foolish. Saguru took the mic and pulled Takumi's catalogue closer. A few songs back, he'd recognized one of the pop songs on the page.

"You listen to boy bands?" Takumi asked.

"Not at all," Saguru said. "But my other neighbor occasionally will play new songs they have taken a liking to on repeat and they do like boy bands." Listen to the same song on repeat long enough and the words would filter into his memory whether he was actively paying attention or not.

"Why didn't you just start with one of those songs?"

"I don't actually like the songs. And," Saguru shrugged, "I don't know the groups or titles of most of the songs but this one was on the radio while I was at the grocery store the other day and they mentioned the song title and group." He hummed with the intro to make sure he was on key, before the lyrics started. Halfway into the second round of the chorus, Kuroba's hand snaked into the corner of Saguru's vision and snatched up the other microphone, harmonizing with Saguru. For a moment, his singing faltered, his own surprised laughter catching him off guard. Kuroba grinned and winked, waving a hand at the monitor and they finished the song together.

Takumi clapped slowly, mock serious. "It's official. Now I don't know either of you."

"Hmm," Kuroba said, reaching over the table to sling an arm awkwardly around Takumi's neck. "Maybe we should all three sing a song. I think I can find something suitably embarrassing to have you sing it with us—"

"Let's not," Saguru said. He set the microphone he had used back in its place as Takumi tried to squirm free beside him. "I believe getting lunch was mentioned?"

Kuroba released Takumi with a smile. Takumi fall backwards onto his own couch with a squawk. "One surprise lunch location coming up," Kuroba said, his phone appearing in his hands from seemingly nowhere. "Hakuba, if you'd do the honors~!"

Saguru rolled his eyes and pressed the button. Takumi sat up, straightening his hair and clothing as they all leaned in to see the result.

"And we've got an okonomiyaki place!" Kuroba announced.

"Perfect, something I know I'll like," Takumi said. "Nothing against that one Cambodian restaurant, it's just we had no idea what the menu said let alone what we ordered."

"Please tell me you've at least had okonomiyaki before," Kuroba said to Saguru.

"Of course I've had okonomiyaki," Saguru said, feeling a bit offended. One didn't need to have a prolific social life to have had popular Japanese foods. It might have been the better part of a decade since he'd had any, but Saguru had traveled Japan plenty and had more than enough time in his younger years to sample a range of things.

"Good, because otherwise I'd have to wonder what you did while you were in Japan all those years ago."

"You're well aware what I was doing in Japan back then," Saguru said, about as close as he would get to mentioning Kid with Takumi present.

"Ah," Kuroba said with a mournful nod, "right, you were busy stalking and accusing innocent high school students of felonies."

Saguru sputtered, mortified to find his face warming with a blush. "I was not stalking—You—for goodness sake, I came to Japan to investigate—!"

"But Hakuba, I've met your mother, and she agrees that—"

Saguru tossed one of the flimsy paper napkins that had come with their drinks at Kuroba's face as he laughed. From the side, Takumi watched with an odd smile on his face that prickled at Saguru's instincts, but when he turned for a closer look, Takumi was rolling his eyes and grabbing Kuroba's phone from him to get the address for the restaurant.

"Can we go?" he asked. "My stomach feels like it's trying to digest itself."

"Lead the way," Kuroba said.

o*o

Takumi did the navigating, glued to Kuroba's phone and leading them down side streets that—according to him—were the fastest way to get there. Saguru didn't mind the frequent turns; some of the streets were far more scenic than the main roads full of traffic and people and signs vying for attention. Kuroba filled the trip with stories about coworkers and the ridiculous things he had witnessed people doing at the museum this week. The air was hot and humid, being the rainy season, but thankfully the sky was clear, and while warm, it wasn't oppressively so. The restaurant had some sort of citrus tree out in front, and was a more traditionally styled wooden building that stood out among the concrete structures around it. The building was fairly small, but they were fortunate enough to arrive during a lull and got a table.

The only downside, Saguru discovered once they had entered, was that the grills were set in low tables with cushions to sit on rather than chairs. Saguru eyed them with resignation. The walking had been surprisingly kind on his knee but trying to sit traditionally would probably leave it locked up and aching.

Kuroba noticed the look and raised an eyebrow in question. Saguru shrugged. He could manage provided he wasn't expected to sit properly. When they sat, Saguru kept his bad leg to one side, putting his weight on his good one. Kuroba sat next to him and Takumi across from Kuroba.

When their waitress took their order—a twenty-something young woman Saguru bet worked part time while going to college—Takumi conjured a paper flower and a smile for her and Saguru was reminded of a much younger Kuroba when he was trying to regain Aoko's favor.

Takumi noticed Saguru watching when the waitress walked away with a shy smile and blushed. "What?" he mumbled.

"Nothing," Saguru said, politely looking away.

Kuroba snorted. "I told you he was a flirt."

"Hmm." This was the first Saguru had seen of the behavior. Unlike how Kuroba had acted at Takumi's age, Takumi didn't flirt with his female classmates at all. Nor had he done anything earlier in the day. Saguru wondered if he only acted that way when he was with Kuroba, and if so, why? Interesting.

Kuroba elbowed Saguru. Saguru elbowed back without thinking and then felt embarrassingly like he was back in high school. "What?" he snapped.

"You're thinking too hard." Kuroba tapped his eyebrows, mimicking Saguru's serious expression. "You're supposed to be having fun, not gathering wrinkles."

Saguru thought that logic worked a lot better when you were not almost thirty-five. He already had developing wrinkles setting in along well used facial expressions.

"Ah, the eyebrow is back." Kuroba grinned. "I guess you'll just get wrinkles on one side of your forehead with that."

The eyebrow in question lifted a fraction higher. Saguru wasn't being judgmental, he was being skeptical of Kuroba's priorities and lines of thought.

"You know you both have wrinkles, right?" Takumi cut in, earlier embarrassment transformed into a bland expression. "You're getting old."

"Ouch," Kuroba sighed. "I'm still young for a dad."

"Not that young," Takumi said bluntly. "Watch, you'll be finding grey hairs in a few years."

"I hope not."

"Why, Kuroba, you'd think that you'd want to get grey hair early," Saguru said. "That means you're more likely to keep your hair."

Kuroba frowned. "Well. Lucky you because I think your gray is creeping up from your sideburns."

Saguru snorted. It wasn't, not yet at least. But his father and grandparents on both sides had kept their hair, so he wasn't worried in the least on that account. "Check back in a few years, I'm the same age as you are."

Takumi was making an odd face again, and Saguru opened his mouth to ask what was on his mind, but was derailed again by the arrival of their batter and toppings. He noted that Takumi's bowl had slightly more meat in it compared to the other bowls. She smiled and left them to do their cooking to their preferences.

Kuroba prepped the grill as they stirred their ingredients together. "So, I know Takumi likes his under cooked so the cabbage is still crunchy and the beef is a bit pink, but I'm betting you're a well-browned kind of guy."

"I have to wonder what process you're coming to this conclusion from."

"Well, considering how you take your toast," Kuroba said—and when on earth had he learned Saguru's toast habits? Saguru had not had much toast since returning to Japan—as he finished oiling the grill with a flick of his wrist, "and how when you packed lunches in school anything fried or grilled would be darker…"

"And what are your preferences?"

Kuroba stirred his okonomiyaki ingredients before pouring the mixture onto the grill. "Golden brown of course," he said. "Not overdone, not under done, the perfect ratio of crisp and soft."

"He likes things cooked but hates if it starts tasting burnt," Takumi translated. He had spread his batter out into a circle, staring as the edges started to crisp up as if it would make it cook faster. His stomach rumbled audibly.

Saguru hid a smile, remembering being a teenager and how much food he had consumed during growth spurts. He poured his pork okonomiyaki onto the griddle, savoring the smell of cooking onion, cabbage and meat as the pancakes sizzled. This was probably something he could make in his home if he bothered to get the ingredients, Saguru reflected. He still was not much of a cook, but he had been able to manage regular pancakes in the past, so maybe finding a mix for the batter and he could indulge in okonomiyaki in the future. Or perhaps not, as Saguru knew he was fairly lazy and anything that required much prep work often never got made even if he knew how.

Across the table, Takumi's eyes narrowed and he flipped his okonomiyaki. It sizzled, its cooked side only a little brown at the edges. Saguru made to poke at his own, having never been good at guessing when things were ready to flip, but Kuroba caught his wrist.

"Uh uh, nope, you don't touch it before it's ready. That's the rule."

"How on earth is anyone supposed to tell when it's ready if they don't touch it?" Saguru muttered.

"Practice," Kuroba said, watching his meal intently. "And the edges. Edges get darker faster, so the center is always going to be a bit lighter than them, and you go off that." Kuroba flipped his neatly, the cooked side a perfect golden brown. "See?"

Saguru frowned at him.

Kuroba shrugged. "Besides, you poured yours last." Takumi flipped his again and reached for the condiments to add on top, heavy handed on the mayonnaise as he added a little bit of everything before cutting into it. It was still a bit gooey in the center and Saguru cringed a bit at the thought of consuming a bite of raw batter.

Kuroba nudged his arm. "And yours should be good to flip just abooooout, now." Kuroba flipped it before Saguru could reach to do so and Kuroba's timing had been just about perfect. It was dark golden brown without being burnt. "There you go. I am a master at this."

Takumi snorted around a mouthful, having to take a drink of water to keep from choking. "You can cook in a pan, but help us all if you try to bake."

Kuroba flipped his and a few minutes later flipped Saguru's okonomiyaki, now cooked through, and Saguru ate his, adding toppings sparingly. It was good, better than he remembered them being.

"This is good," Takumi said, echoing Saguru's thoughts as he finished off his meal. "We'll have to remember this place."

"It's worth a second visit," Kuroba agreed. He finished his last bite as well, placing his chopsticks to the side before standing up. "Excuse me for a second, bathroom," he said, leaving Saguru and Takumi alone.

Takumi pushed around bits of green onion and bonito flakes left on his empty plate. Saguru rubbed his leg as he resettled, thinking back to the strange smiles he'd noticed several times so far today.

"It's strange, isn't it," he said, "having someone else along."

Takumi shrugged. "A little. It's not the first time someone's joined us."

"I doubt it helps that I am your teacher," Saguru said carefully.

Takumi smiled a little, glancing up and then back at his plate. "Yeah, that is a little weird but it's more…" He shrugged. "It's different seeing Tou-san with someone he considers a friend. I don't… He has some friends from work, but I don't think I've ever seen him relax around them."

Saguru had grown up with Mum, who was very social and had had friends around regularly. He had never had trouble with seeing her interact with people differently, but to imagine his father laughing or joking with someone that wasn't his mother? He could understand how there could be disconnect.

"It's not a bad thing," Takumi continued. "I guess I can see a bit what he must've been like when he was my age though."

"He's kinder than he was back then," putting words to a realization that he'd had a while back. "I'm not sure he was as in tune with boundaries back then, or if so, that he cared as much when he crossed them."

"Yeah, well, he grew up," Takumi said like Saguru's observation was a given.

Saguru chuckled. Perhaps it was a given. Saguru wasn't as prideful and arrogant as he once was either.

"Oh yeah," Takumi sat straighter. "How's your leg? The walking wasn't too bad on you was it?"

Saguru hid his surprise. "It's a bit stiff, but no worse than it gets after a day of teaching." Standing might actually be worse than walking for his knee, it was sitting for the restaurant that had it aching and sending pins and needles to his toes. He shifted again. "Thank you for asking."

Takumi shrugged and looked away. "Wouldn't want you to regret coming with us."

"It's been nice," Saguru said sincerely. It had been especially enjoyable to see Kuroba and Takumi interact.

"Well. Good. Maybe you can do something like this with us again sometime."

"I'd like that."

"Thanks for being Tou-san's friend," Takumi muttered before standing up as Kuroba returned from the direction of the bathroom. "So," he said louder and clearly for Kuroba's ears. "We're paying for Hakuba-sensei, okay?"

"What?" Saguru protested.

"Already covered," Kuroba said, holding up a receipt, and Saguru wondered when he had managed to pay their bill when he had gone to the bathroom.

"Kuroba, I can pay for my own meal," Saguru sighed, levering himself to his feet. Kuroba caught his elbow and steadied him for the second it took to get his leg to work properly and his cane in place.

"You can pay next time," Kuroba said. "This time I insist."

Saguru pursed his lips. He fully intended to find a way to slip Kuroba the money for his meal later. That would probably be futile, and lead to Kuroba reverse pickpocketing it right back into his wallet, but he did have principles. And next time? How convenient that he envisioned a next time. (Saguru knew with all likelihood there would be many next times. It left him feeling a bit flustered for some reason.) "Next time," Saguru said like a warning.

Kuroba ignored his tone and grinned sunnily. It wasn't a genuine smile like some of his earlier ones, and Saguru wondered when he'd started being able to tell the difference.

The walk back was quieter, perhaps from the food settled in their stomachs, or maybe due to a shift in tone that Saguru hadn't noticed occurring. He and Kuroba walked side by side this time with Takumi trailing after them, catching up on phone messages and perhaps playing a cell phone game.

"This was fun," Saguru said as they got closer to their apartment building.

Kuroba grinned, this smile once more genuine. "Better than laundry and grading papers?"

"I still have to do those," Saguru said, feeling a lot less dread about the task than he had this morning despite having let it sit, "but yes. Much nicer than work and chores. Despite what you think, I do enjoy leisure activities."

"And that's why you never do them?" Kuroba shot back.

Saguru huffed. Reading the weekly literature club novel was a leisure activity. As were the conversations with Kuroba throughout the week, and, he supposed, the conversations with Mum. And lately with Hiroto… Well, it wasn't exactly leisure time, but Saguru had been exchanging text messages with Hiroto more frequently than he had with anyone, really. He had always been someone who preferred phone conversations to text messages, but Hiroto's preference was the opposite, and Saguru found that he enjoyed receiving a few texts here and there throughout his day.

Which, now that he thought of it… Saguru pulled out his phone, and sure enough, there was a message.

Working on a Saturday kind of sucks, but at least the coffee's good, the message said. It was accompanied by a picture of a steaming coffee mug with "Caffeinate Now, Sleep Later" printed on the side. Saguru had to smile at the picture.

Kuroba leaned over and glanced at Saguru's phone. "From that guy you mentioned?" he asked.

"Ah, yes." Saguru backed out of the message self-consciously.

"Coffee drinker, hmm?"

"Yes?" Was that supposed to be important?

"Planning another date?"

"I haven't asked," Saguru said. He glanced at Takumi, but whatever he was playing on his cell phone seemed to have his complete attention. It felt distinctly strange to be discussing his potential romantic life in public, and with Kuroba at that. And yet it wouldn't have felt odd at all if it were only the two of them talking at one of their apartments over tea. "I still wouldn't mind a second date."

"If he texts you like that all the time, he's probably interested and just waiting for you to show interest back," Kuroba said.

"I am aware." Saguru wasn't that socially inept. In truth, he wasn't sure why he was hesitating. It wasn't because he thought Hiroto wanted more than Saguru was willing to give; they both weren't interested in a serious relationship. He couldn't say he was romantically attracted to Hiroto much at all, but as he had said to Kuroba before, it was nice to exchange in casual intimate gestures even if there were no deep emotions behind them.

"Well if you aren't taking initiative and he isn't taking initiative…" Kuroba tried to steal Saguru's phone with an exaggerated gesture.

Saguru tucked it back in his pocket. "It's fine, Kuroba." It was nice that Kuroba was being…well, to be frank, he was being far more supportive than Saguru ever would have expected, but Saguru could handle his relationships on his own just fine.

"Okay, I'll stay out of it," Kuroba said with a shrug.

"I appreciate the sentiment behind the offer, if not the offer itself."

Kuroba hummed with a shrug. They turned down their street and were quiet for a few more minutes before Kuroba said, "Thanks for going with us. I know spontaneous isn't really your thing."

"It was fun," Saguru repeated. "A bit of spontaneity is probably good for me."

Kuroba laughed.

They parted ways at their front doors, Kuroba and Takumi heading to their apartment to fill the rest of their day and Saguru to complete the tasks that he had set aside in the sake of social interaction. Despite the hours of grading papers he had, Saguru found a small smile on his face the rest of the day.

o*O*o

AN:

Kaito knows the karaoke place cuz he's been there with coworkers. He's also been there himself multiple times in disguise for voice practice, only one time he got drunk by himself when he was dressed as a woman. He forgot to modify his voice, and one of the people at the desk recognized it, so to this day, there are members of the staff who think he's a professional cross dresser. Goodness knows what they thought about Takumi and Saguru. Saguru sings Beatles because apparently if you do karaoke in japan and someone realizes you're British, you will end up singing the Beatles at some point. The boy band is because it's amusing. I'm not sure what he sings, but the first thing that came to mind was actually kpop due to a friend in high school loving Super Junior. At least one song Kaito sings is the opening for Azumanga Daioh. Imagine Takumi's horrified look.

There's a bout 3-4 extras that belong around this point; would people rather I space them out or just have a bunch of content all at once?