DanganChat & One-shots

Office Romance Part 4

Hina and Makoto stood in front of each other, focused on the other with fists raised to their chests. "Ready?" Hina smirked.

Makoto grimaced, "I guess?"

"I'll go easy on you, I promise!" She lunged forward.

Hand-to-hand combat was a staple in Future Foundation training. It was mandatory for all members to have some form of offensive and defensive training, especially those without a talent that was combat based. However, Makoto wasn't the strongest candidate for offense.

He caught Hina's arm, managing to redirect for the first punch, but neglected her legs. Her knee collided with his stomach and she gently pushed him backward.

Makoto coughed but managed to bounce back easily and land a hit on Hina's shoulder. He heard Hiro cheering from the observation deck. The two continued to spar until Hina was out of breath and Makoto was flat on his back, once again.

"Hey, you've...gotten better," Hina said huffed.

"Doesn't feel that way," Makoto groaned, pushing himself off of the floor. He glanced up and noticed Byakuya watching him.

"Swap places with Hina," Kyoko told Byakuya. She went over to the intercom and told Hina to come up and Makoto to stay.

"I have no need for unnecessary physical sport," Byakuya rolled his eyes.

Kyoko tossed a glare over her shoulder at him, "Training is mandatory. Deal with it."

"What, is he worried that he'll lose?" Makoto smirked. He wasn't one for shit-talking, but when it came to Byakuya, it felt deserved. "Or are you scared of confronting me?"

The others heard Hina laugh as she rejoined them in the observation room. "Come on, he's nine inches shorter than you, what can he do?" Hiro said.

"Uh, prime height for hitting below the belt?" Hina scoffed with a grin.

Byakuya was already annoyed with Makoto's comments, but Hina and Hiro's commentary wasn't helping either. And seeing the dumb smirk on Makoto's face sent a flinching thread of anger through his core.

When Byakuya finally made his way into the training chamber, his attention was immediately locked on Makoto. "What's the source of your newfound confidence?"

Makoto shrugged, "Figured you would be more likely to come down here if I made it sound like a challenge."

"Do you take me for an idiot?"

Makoto smirked again, "You're here now, aren't you?" He returned to a similar position he stood in while fighting Hina. He watched Byakuya follow suit and was briefly distracted by how his t-shirt gripped his upper arm.

Byakuya took that brief moment to swing first, already landing his first hit on Makoto's chest. He smirked as Makoto staggered backward. "Not as cocky now, are we?"

Makoto side-stepped out of line from Byakuya's next attack, managing to get a jab at his side. They both looked at each other and knew this was only the warm-up.

The others watched the two guys lunge, kick and hit each other for a few minutes and soon realized that things were escalating quickly. "Should we break them up?" Hiro asked, looking worriedly at Kyoko.

"No, let them get it out of their systems. Besides, I've never seen Byakuya actually put effort into physical labor like this."

They were at a stalemate; both men were catching their breath, staring each other down. "This feels a bit more personal than I meant it to be," Makoto said.

Byakuya scoffed, "I had a hunch that this was more than a simple challenge."

"Simple, huh? You look a little worse for wear for a simple challenge."

Byakuya could feel his split lip, blood tainting his mouth. Makoto didn't look much better, either. Dirt smudged his face and arms, along with several scratches and scrapes across his arms. He wouldn't openly admit it, but Makoto was somehow even more attractive in this place. His eyes scanned every inch of Makoto's body.

As Byakuya had done earlier, Makoto took the same moment of distraction to lunge forward to land the final hit. Except that Byakuya latched onto Makoto's arm and pushed him to the ground. "Nice try."

Makoto's arm was pinned behind him. He could feel the weight of Byakuya's body on his back. He wouldn't be able to escape with sheer force, due to the height and weight difference. Byakuya was definitely stronger than Makoto had anticipated. Makoto looked as far back as he could, "Thought you were preoccupied thinking about something else for a second there. Like you noticed earlier."

Byakuya's grip released ever so slightly, "What?"

Makoto rolled into the side of his body that was pinned and managed to push Byakuya onto the ground. He reached for both of Byakuya's wrists and pinned them to the floor and pressed his legs against Byakuya's thighs. "You noticed that I was distracted."

"What of it?" Makoto didn't know if Byakuya's face was red from the training or from embarrassment. Maybe both from the current position they were in.

"You smirked. Why?"

"Seriously? Because you let your guard down!" Byakuya forced himself a bit further to overpower Makoto.

"Should we call it now?" Hiro asked. Hina and Kyoko shushed him.

Makoto coughed as he was pinned on his back again, "You noticed I was distracted by you. That's why you smirked, I think."

"Shut up," Byakuya said, hovering over Makoto this time.

"If I told you that I was distracted by how you look in the clothes you're wearing, what would you think then?"

"Shut up!" Byakuya blurted. He then realized how they must have looked from above and immediately released Makoto to stand up. "Just forget what happened back then, would you?"

"Your threats don't work on me anymore," Makoto sighed as he brushed the dirt off of his legs. "I think you're just afraid of accepting-!"

"Don't say another word, Naegi!" Byakuya thrust a finger in Makoto's face.

Makoto nodded, "Okay. You're bleeding by the way," he said, pointing to Byakuya's face as he walked around Byakuya and left the chamber.

Byakuya had split his lip open more when he yelled. As he brought his fingers away from his mouth, his fingertips were dyed red.