I brought you coffee- A Naegami fic (ENG)

Four

The excuse came pretty fast, as a few days long business trip, an important meeting with other CEOs of the companies linked to the Togami enterprises. Byakuya decided to take Makoto with him with an excuse; it was the perfect chance to get closer.

«Do you really want me to come with you?»

«Yes. I never travel alone, and having you with me would be helpful. You're my secretary after all, you're the one who receives most e-mails and you know I like being updated in real time about any news. You can also see it as a break from the usual routine. You'll accompany me to the meetings, so that you can back me up in case I forget any important details during the discussions.» It was an half-truth. It was true that having Makoto with him would help him during the meetings, there to give him the data to back up his statements; but at the same time Byakuya had already gone to other business trips, always on his own. He had always travelled alone and he had always brought honour to his company. For the most part, this was just a big excuse to convince Makoto to go with him.

«Alright, I'd be happy to come, it seems cool.» Makoto replied with a smile, as usual, starting to book flight and hotel right away.

«Two single bedrooms, right?» Byakuya thought about it. Yes, sharing a bedroom would have been improper, it was best to each have their own room. He nodded and in no time, Makoto had taken care of the whole trip.

They left three days later. They were to meet at the airport at 8 in the morning, to go get checked in and then board their plane by 10. To get to the airport it would have taken Byakuya only about half an hour, his luggage was ready, he only had to get dressed.

He could have got up at 7 with no rush.

But he had been up since 5. Byakuya couldn't sleep, he had never felt that nervous in his whole life and he couldn't understand why. He kept thinking about how soon he would be leaving for his business trip with Makoto, but time was going by so painfully slow. Truth was, he couldn't wait. He would have travelled by plane, sitting next to Makoto; he would have stayed at a hotel, along with Makoto; he would have attended the meetings and gone to the dinners, always along with Makoto. Most times those event were boring, useless, an excuse to get together with important men and pretend to talk about work, just to then organise bleak dinners where you talked about nothing and everyone showed their true shallowness. Truth was, Byakuya hated most of those men he could have probably called "colleagues"; he found them dull, vile even. Miserable people who had obtained what they had without ever working for it, out of sheer luck or by playing dirty. Byakuya felt different, absolutely not part of that group, an outcast. But that didn't upset him. Maybe it wasn't something to be proud of, but he felt like he was better than them. He, at least, had pride in what he did, he was an honest person.

Thinking that Makoto would have to deal with that kind of people and have to interact with them, Byakuya felt sick to his stomach. He was afraid that the other boy would change his mind about him, that their friendship might "crack" because the secretary would start seeing him like a dull, snobbish, and false man. Or, perhaps, it was what the boy had been thinking since the beginning and wasn't showing it out of fear of the possible consequences. After all, Byakuya was his boss. Despite him seeing Makoto as his equal, in the company's hierarchy and perhaps in the social one too, the heir hd a higher status than the brunette and he held a certain power. Maybe Makoto was afraid that Byakuya, if upset, could have fired him on the spot. Truth was that the heir had understood he would have never been able to do something like that. He had come to start perceiving a certain despair within himself, something that from the outside couldn't be seen, but that the felt burdening his soul: he was terrified of not having Makoto in his daily life anymore. Even if Makoto would have showed to hate him, Byakuya would have been so desperate he would have tried to make the boy change his mind and make himself likeable, even just platonically. He hated it, he thought it was a sick behaviour, but he was truly afraid it could happen. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he was so nervous about leaving for the trip; being alone together for such a long time would have tested both of them. Makoto would have seen sides of Byakuya's personality that normally wouldn't have been noticed and vice versa.

He didn't have breakfast, he wouldn't have been able to eat. While in the car, the closer he got to the airport, the more his anxiety grew inside of him, eating him alive.

But it disappeared, just like that, as soon as he saw Makoto from afar, smiling at him and bringing him back down to Earth, helping him think that, maybe, things wouldn't have gone that badly.

«This might be stupid, but I'm really excited. I've travelled this far very few times, even fewer times by plane.» Makoto was looking around himself with the same expression of a kid in a candy shop.

He was examining everything of the plane, commenting in awe the view, how comfortable the seats were (of course business class seats), the snacks and drinks offered there. It was amusing how excited he'd get about such trivial yet extremely new things (for him). His facial expressions were just as excited when they got to the hotel; despite it not being extremely luxurious, in Makoto's eyes it was still far more elegant than any other hotel he had ever stayed at.

Their rooms were at the seventh floor, number sixteen for Makoto and eighteen for Byakuya,

«You have all afternoon to rest. Come knock on my door around 6, we'll go to the little happy hour my other...colleagues organised as a welcome for everyone. If you need me, you know where to find me.»

«Alright. You should rest too, you seem exhausted. You looked bit worried earlier, you know? I don't know if something's bothering you, but if you need help, I'm ready to listen to you.» Makoto offered him a sincere smile, before waving him goodbye and going to his own room.

Yes, something is bothering me, but I can't tell you, not now.

Byakuya sighed, cursing himself for letting his discomfort show to the point of worrying or making makoto suspicious. He eventually decided it was best to sleep it off. After changing himself he set an alarm on his phone before laying down on the comfortable bed and falling asleep almost immediately, exhausted.

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DO NOT HAVE RPS UNDER MY STORIES PLEASE