It's the evening before you get a text from Fuji.
"Dinner?" it says, and you rub your eyes groggily from your nap. "With Sae."
You narrow your eyes. "I thought you were in Yokohama," you mutter, typing the response.
An immediate ding alerts you to a reply and you see an upside-down smiling emoji. The three dots for a typing response comes up again before you see his next text. "We're going to Kawamura's sushi."
You purse your lips, knowing you could never stay mad at your two best friends. "Alright," you respond, grabbing a nearby sweater to change out of your pajamas. "I'll meet you there."
It takes you less than twenty minutes to meet them at the restaurant. The older Kawamura has already mostly retired, but you make eye contact with the younger Kawamura at the sushi counter and smile politely.
"Ah, Michi," he bows quickly. "Fuji and Saeki-san are in the back. Miwako-san will be back in a second to show you to their table."
"Oh don't worry about it," you smile at him. "I'm sure I can find them on my own. Thank you."
He smiles again and returns his focus to the sushi in front of him. You slip into the bustling restaurant and towards the tables in the back, where you find Fuji and Saeki have already sat down and ordered drinks.
"Oh?" you raise an amused eyebrow at the beer at the table. "Already?"
Saeki grins. "Don't worry, Lita-hime. We just got started," he winks and Fuji grins back at you.
A waiter flutters by and you place your order with her before turning to the two grinning males in front of you.
"What?" you narrow your eyes.
"How was your day?" Saeki asks, absolutely the least subtle of the group.
Your eyes narrow again. "Good," you answer briefly. "How was Yokohama?"
"Oh, don't give us that," Saeki rolls his eyes. "You know exactly what we're asking about."
"I don't," you sip your beer. "Nothing happened. Tezuka drove me home and I woke up to a text from you two crazy people, and here I am."
"Pity," you know Fuji is grinning as he reaches over for his dedicated plate of wasabi sushi.
"You two are crazy," you roll your eyes. "There's nothing going on between me and Tezuka. We're friends."
"No, Lita, you are crazy if that's what you think," Saeki shakes his head. "Even I can tell the man is enamored by you, and I haven't even seen him in three years."
Your heart skips a beat at his comment but you wave him off, trying to quash any false hope before it can really derail itself within your long-time friendship with Tezuka. "Agree to disagree," you purse your lips. "Anyways, how is Keiko-chan?"
Saeki leans back in his seat and crosses his arms. "Hmm, we broke up a few months ago."
"Oh," you blink and look at Fuji, who also shrugs. "I'm sorry. I had no idea."
Saeki shrugs. "It wasn't a big deal. We just weren't right for each other."
"You can't keep using that excuse every time, Sae," you roll your eyes.
"Yes, pray tell," Fuji leans forward. "What exactly does your type seem to be, Sae?"
You can tell the conversation has adequately shifted away from you as the focus and onto the man from Chiba. You take another sip of your beer and relax, watching the animated brunette recount his latest love adventure.
You wake up the next morning to your phone going off. You groan and swipe blindly at the bright screen.
"Hello?" you answer, groggily.
"Hello," you recognize Saeki's voice on the other end. "This is your morning wake-up call."
"What?" you try to rub the sleepiness from your eyes.
You hear his chuckle from the other end. "I'm downstairs. You said you'd be down to keep me company today while Fuji is running some work errands today."
"I … did," you vaguely remember this conversation last night. "Did we agree on a meet-up time?" you glance at the clock and see that is much too early.
"Nope," Saeki pops the 'p' at the end at you get the distinct feeling he is amused at your tone. "Surprise!"
You sigh. "Alright, well you might as well come up then," you unlock your front door. "I'll need a second."
By the time he makes it upstairs, you've gotten your hair somewhat under control and are brushing your teeth. You see him plop down on your couch and roll your eyes.
"Make yourself at home," you mutter through your toothpaste.
He grins. "Cute pajamas."
You spit out your toothpaste. "I hate you."
His grin widens and he pulls out his phone to scroll through something. You roll your eyes and disappear back into your bedroom to change quickly. It only takes a quick second before you lead him back out of your apartment.
"Alright, Sae, what did you want to do today?"
Despite all the shit that you give Saeki, you do genuinely enjoy spending time with your best friend. His relaxed, carefree nature reminds you of your family cat that you grew up with, which does make you giggle a little. Saeki looks up from the back of the book he's reading to give you a questioning look.
"Nothing," you smile and place the book you were glancing at down. "Are you going to get that?"
He hums and turns his attention back to the book. However, before he can answer, you hear your name being called from across the small bookstore.
"Lita-sempai!"
The two of you turn to see two of the younger general surgery residents you recognize from the hospital approaching. "Lita-sempai!" they greet, both bowing politely.
"Hi," you greet. "What a coincidence!"
"Yeah!" One of them, who you recognize is Chiharu-chan, giggles. "We didn't expect to see you here on a date, sempai!"
This makes Saeki cackle and you roll your eyes. "Don't go spreading rumors about this," you shake your head. "This is Saeki Kojirou, one of my friends from school."
"Nice to meet you, Saeki-san," the quieter one, Rika-chan, bows and introduces herself and her friend. She then nudges her friend, who also bows quickly. "We didn't mean to bother the two of you. We just wanted to say hi."
"It's not a bother," Saeki grins. "In fact, we're about to get lunch. Did you want to join?"
"Oh we couldn't -" Rika is swiftly drowned out by Chiharu, who pumps her hand into the air. "Yes! Absolutely!" The two girls turn to you expectantly.
You shoot Saeki a look and he grins back. "Be a good sempai," he nudges you and you roll your eyes.
"Yeah, of course you're welcome to join," you sigh and smile gently. "And get Takashi-kun from around the corner over there. We can all see him hovering."
"Yes!" Chiharu immediately scampers away to drag the third young male from the next aisle in the bookstore over. "Thank you, Lita-sempai!"
Lunch is fine. You do enjoy the company of the trio of general surgery residents – they're still pretty young interns but you know they are hardworking, and you always have a soft spot for the amount of hours they're spending at the hospital, so you are genuinely glad to see them having a nice day off. Saeki, in classic fashion, has the attention of all three fully captured as he recounts another crazy childhood story.
"No way!" this time even the shyer Takashi is excited. "I can't believe you dyed your hair silver because you lost that bet!"
"For three years," you roll your eyes. "What was it, all of middle school?"
Saeki winks at you. "My fan club loved it."
You groan as Chiharu squeals. "Oh, I bet!" she responds, starry-eyed.
"Oh, tell us about Lita-sempai when she was younger!" Rika smiles, and you get a hint of concealed amusement.
"Oh?" Saeki's eyes gleam and you glare at him.
"I have dirt on you," you remind him, taking a sip of your drink.
"Welp," Saeki throws his arms up in mock-defeat. "You heard her. My hands are tied."
"Noooooo," Chiharu leans back and pouts. "I bet you have all the deets of the guys Lita-sempai dated."
Your jaw drops as Rika nudges her friend. "That's not polite," she whispers.
"Oh?" Saeki glances at you mischievously. "Well there was this one guy…"
You narrow your eyes at him, and all three interns lean forward, eagerly hanging onto his next words.
"There was this one guy in middle school who was very popular. Super attractive. And everyone thought they were dating," Saeki looks like he's about to burst out laughing as you rub your temples, convinced that this lunch was definitely a terrible idea and wondering how you might be able to get away with murdering Saeki with or without Fuji's help. "But he ended up leaving for Germany before anything happened."
"No!" Chiharu gasps. "Is he in Germany now?"
"No," Saeki grins. "He's back in Japan. Tokyo, even."
Chiharu's jaw drops as she turns to you. "Are you seeing him now?" she asks, completely oblivious to the glare that you're sending Saeki and Rika's mildly affronted look at her boldness.
"No, I'm not," you answer simply. "That was a long time ago."
"They're 'friends' now," Saeki grins and this time you do kick him.
The waiter helpfully chooses this time to stop by the table. "We'll take the check please," you smile tightly at him and he nods and disappears.
"Anyways, that's it for today, folks," Saeki claps his hands and gets up to head to the counter.
"Oh, I got this one," you stand up after him.
"Nah," he grins. "I invited them," he nods to the three intern who are watching you guys with wide eyes. "I'll get it."
You feel a small smile creep up to your lips. "Okay," you acquiesce and sit back down. "Thanks, Sae."
The three pairs of eyes follow Saeki to the counter and then trail back to you.
"What?" you ask, taking another sip of your water.
"Is Saeki-san dating anyone?" Chiharu asks bluntly, and you choke on the sip of your water.
"I -," you cough a couple times to clear your throat. "No, he's not," you reply after a second.
"Oh man, I wish my boyfriend was as cool as he is," Chiharu is watching Saeki at the counter with stars in her eyes.
"You don't have a boyfriend," Rika rolls her eyes and you see Hotaru stiffen up a little bit. It makes you smile and you hide it behind your napkin, filing this reaction in a folder for later.
"Shall we?" Saeki leans against the back of the booth and you get up to join him. "See you guys later!" he waves and the three interns quickly bow as the two of you head off.
"They seem cute," Saeki grins as he follows you out of the small restaurant.
"You say that about everyone who falls for your charm," you laugh, rolling your eyes.
He shrugs. "What can I say? I'm a charming man," he pretends to flip his hair and it makes you laugh again.
"And a gossip," you roll your eyes again.
"Oh, you don't mind me spreading some little pesky rumors around, do you?" he grins and you know it's literally impossible to stay mad at the man.
"No, no," you wave your hand dismissively and he chuckles. "I would expect nothing less."