YNoMH? (BL)

13

Chapter 13: Both For You (5)

After the broadcast of Monday's show at the beginning of the week, Tatsuki came up to Kei and said, "Excuse me."

"Is there anything wrong?"

There were people milling around the studio, and so Kei had to maintain his elegant "Kunieda Kei" facade. Tatsuki was the usual Tatsuki, but he didn't make any mention of what had happened over the weekend.

"The recording session that I had for my narration job didn't go so well," Tatsuki sighed loudly. "It was my first time working on a serious, introspective type of documentary. The director said that he was looking for a bit of a mismatch between the subject and the narrator, so that was why he had chosen me, but maybe I'm too much of a mismatch. It's also a really long piece, and I couldn't keep it even all the way through... They weren't happy with it and told me to study up and try again. Kuniedsan, do you remember the documentary that you narrated two years ago? The one about restoring Buddhist statues?"

"Hmm, yes, I do."

"Apparently, it's the perfect example of what the director had in mind. I went over to the library to see if I could borrow it, but it was already on loan. I was wondering if you had a copy of the DVD that I could borrow."

"I have a copy," Kei replied. With a gentle smile, he suggested, "Would you like to stop by my place to borrow it?"

"Huh? Is it really ok?"

"Yes. You're running up against a deadline, aren't you? Then you should pick it up as soon as possible."

"Awesome!"

Kei didn't know if they could work out a resolution, but he couldn't let things remain as they were. Even if the DVD was an excuse, Kei would take advantage of the opportunity to talk to Tatsuki in private.

When they called a taxi, Kei preemptively took the front passenger seat and reluctantly took Tatsuki home with him. This was the first time he let anyone into his apartment other than Ushio, and he felt his fingers stiffen up in guilt as he inserted the key. But then he told himself, No, no no, I'm not doing anything wrong. I just need to talk to him and settle things.

"Pardon the intrusion! Oh, hey!! You have all the volumes for Hunter x Hunter! Can I read it?"

Tatsuki showed no sign of nervousness.

"Touch my things and I'll kill you."

"Whoa, what an instant transformation the moment that we're alone."

"Shut up. Sit down on the sofa. Behave and try not to breathe."

"Do you want to kill me off that badly?"

"Of course I do."

Kei searched for the DVD on his media rack and tossed the plastic case like a frisbee towards Tatsuki.

"Whoa, that was close... Um, thanks a lot. When do I need to return it?"

"I don't need it back."

"Really? Lucky me!"

"Hey, move over to the end of the sofa."

Tatsuki shuffled to one corner of the sofa, and Kei sat down on the other end.

"This is kinda unnatural."

"I don't care."

"Is your bedroom over there?"

"Why the hell are you asking!?"

"Oh, I was just curious. Has Tsuzuki-san ever been here before? He probably has... Can I ask how the romance got started between you two?"