Chapter Text
The second time you met him was the also second time you embarrassed yourself around him, and you were by no means any more confident about it.
Rained soaked all through your jacket, almost dampening your skin too. It dripped from your hair to the back of your neck and trailed behind you in cute little puddles that collected from your bunched up umbrella.
And to think that the weather forecast hadn’t foretold any rainy weather…
And yet, here it was.
“Damn it..”
Exhaling deeply, you tap the tip of your umbrella harshly against the mat of the entrance and scoff the base of your heels dry and shake your head disapprovingly.
You’d only moved to the suburbs about a month ago, the much nicer and less.. well underwhelming side of town you’d been used to.
Commuting times were an absolute pain in the ass, but it payed off now that you had a space you could confident call your own.
Multi story apartments and student accommodation were their own hells, and quite frankly they were experiences you weren’t quite keen on reliving any time soon.
The new life you led was like a dream compared to the rough and tumble days of your youth, where there was never enough room or money to get the bare necessities.
It wasn’t until you graduated and permanently moved out of the house you’d never called a home that you’d been able to finally breathe.
And then panic.
But then eventually relax and settle into your newfound independence.
Though of course you’d never been able to afford to lead such a lavish lifestyle if the coincidences that led you here hadn’t.
All it took was the burning down of your terribly managed apartment in your hometown (and an exploitive landlord), the CEO of your old company being convicted for tax evasion (a lot more common than you’d thought), and then also the new department of the next company to take you in being permanently shut down…
… And somehow you’d found yourself transferred to a temp position on a recommendation at one of the largest companies in the entire Kanto region.
Quite literally at their golden guilded doorstep.
In your shoes that doubled as water pitches as they now seemed to overflow with rainwater.
God, how you hated rain.
Ofcourse all your good luck had begun to run out at this point.
See, you had a temper. A very, very bad one.
You could just never seem to keep a cool head about certain things. Certain people. Certain situations.
The few friends you had managed to keep over the years had recently noticed just how secluded— or ‘hyper-independent’ as they liked to call it, you really were.
And though you absolutely adored those girls; there was Utahime.. the absolute angel had been your lifeline for a period of time when just about everybody else had lost their faith in you, and.. yeah actually she was pretty much it actually.
That girl was your absolute best friend and nobody seemed to understand your stubborn nature and sensitivity aswell as she did.
You’d go to any lengths to please her, in a way that nobody else ever could. And you’d hate yourself or anyone who ever made a move to hurt her.
And that was exactly why you hadn’t been able to convince her to not set up a blind date for you.
A friend of a friend, she promised. Totally safe and totally your type of person.
It would be a shame to be independent forever and never know what you’re missing.
Just try one date, a single date…
And so you’d said yes.
And so of course you’d also gone into that date headfirst, ask questions later like a bull at a gate.
Yes, Utahime would have wanted you to at least try and be nice beforehand but that just wasn’t possible for you.
Just one look at the guy and his perfect hairstyle, his perfect cheekbones, his perfect suit and perfect, perfect, perfect.
It had set you off and there was no going back from that point.
If there was one thing you hated among the long list of things you hated about people, it was a self righteous priss.
And God, this man fit the bill to a T.
You had instantly been eager to scare him off and been completely rude based on the assumption you’d never see him again…
…And so of course he had to be the first person you’d see, soaked to the very bone in rainwater and trembling like a leaf in the cold wind, on the very first morning at your new temp job.
Hell, you hadn’t even walked in yet and somehow it was all for naught from the very beginning.
“Seriously..? Are you stalking me?” You snap impatiently, glaring at the tall blonde man stood at the reception desk.
He turned slowly, as if he hadn’t noticed your arrival at all (slim chance!), while pushing his green tinted glasses up with the back of his hand.
A stalker in a fresh pressed suit was a new one, you figured, as you gave him a once over with a tight scowl. Just as good looking as a month ago.
While stepping into the reception area, you watch as he pretends to finally recognise you until your both stood shoulder to shoulder. Face to face.
Putting your card down on the desk with a roll of your eyes, you lean over to see the sign in… until you see his identification card in the receptionist’s hand.
Squinting and tilting your head to read the jumbled letters back to yourself:
“K-E-N-T-O.”
“N-A-N-
“No. I work here.”
-A-M-I”
..
..
“WHAT?!”
You exclaim in horror, wide eyed head snapping to the side and your wet hair slapping against the side of your face.
He… worked here?
“You work here?” You repeat in disbelief, the alarm bells already ringing off in your head.
Your failed date.. worked at your new place of work??
“As in, you work at the same place that I work at?”
Nanami nods slightly and looks back at you with a puzzled expression, golden blonde eyebrows furrowing at the centre of his forehead.
“Yes, I believe that’s what I sai-“
But his sentence is cut off.
Because you begin to laugh, bright at first until it.. wasn’t.
It rang empty and devoid of true joy. Shaking your head with an expression that was impossible to read with your hair hanging low over your face like that.
Your expression darkens in the cover of the hair you’d allowed to finally grow long, hiding behind them to keep the memories that you’d been able to forget about from being read on your face like a bad book.
Well. yes, because of course he did.
Of course.
Of course, ofcourse, of course he worked here too.
What was your luck like?
And to think that you’d finally convinced yourself that the odds had finally come to be in your favour after so many years of misfortune, only for any and all hope to be dashed away at the very sight of this man. In this very moment.
Would this only be the beginning of your terrible nightmare of a life coming back to haunt you?
While smiling weakly over at the receptionist who paled and stared back at you aghast, you suggest in a hollow voice, “Can you just.. sign me in please? I’m already running late, and I’d absolutely hate to keep the head of the department waiting.”
You exhale deeply and casually fix your shoulder bag with barely a flinch. It had begun to pinche at your skin hard and so you wanted to move it, but not because you cared that it hurt.
More so because it was distracting you.
And reminding you of past times and past memories you wouldn’t dare to remember. Or forget.
The painful memories were like lessons to you despite how you hated them, and they reminded you of things you should never ever repeat. And the people you should never become.
The receptionist who had been watching this entire situation quickly nodded and sorted out your name on the system without another word, before pointing out the lift for you to take up.
You nodded in acceptance and Nanami remained at the desk after deciding to let you take his position in the queue, though you didn’t acknowledge that at all.
It was like he was invisible once again.
Like on that date that he had absolutely despised spending time on. With you.
It had only been misunderstanding after misunderstanding that night, almost a month ago now, and though he knew you’d never had any intention on even trying to hear him out..,
It had hurt a lot, to be honest.
But he could tell that there was more to it than a grudge against him.
No, there was much more to this story that you hadn’t revealed, or maybe you never would.
No, you didn’t acknowledge him properly at all.
It wasn’t until you muttered a soft but dejected ‘Thank you’ as you brushed past, clothed arm skimming clothed arm.
It was just enough that he finally caught a glimpse of your face, and a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding finally released from his chest.
You looked troubled and distraught, like a wet cat that had been alone on a sidewalk and knew just how misfortunate its life was and yet had nowhere else to turn.
Nowhere to run but back to the lonely sidewalk.
It was a feeling that hit a little too close to home for Nanami Kento.
He couldn’t allow someone to feel that way for even a moment.
So he abandoned the front desk, much to the dismay of the receptionist.
Quick sharp clicks of a pair of shoes followed you to the elevator door, and just as the doors were about to close around you once more… a hand reached into a bag and stopped just in front of you.
Your eyes lifted up to meet this not-so-unfamiliar stranger, and suddenly it was like the gloom had passed to give way to the glow.
Golden hair, concerned but contended expression. Warm and inviting and dependable, like the rising sun.
He looked…
“Here, you should use a towel. You’ll catch a cold before you even reach your meeting.”
Like exactly everything you hated in the world.
And just enough to break your heart, as many times as they fell into the possession of his arms.
Nanami Kento smiled, actually smiled at you. And for once you knew that you must allow yourself to accept the kind gesture of someone else, even when your trembling fingers moved to doubt the intentions of the man.
He seemed much too put together. Yes, definitely a self important priss.
But also intelligent, and calm, and charming, and kind; totally opposite to your initial assessment of him at the aforementioned date.
Maybe.. maybe you’d gotten it all wrong?
Maybe he hadn’t been the problem, you had.
And maybe you’d been so far from the truth that you’d made a terrible judgement of a total stranger due to your own past experiences and prejudices. Again.
After all, they do say that the oldest scars run the deepest.
You accept the towel and reach to take it before the elevator closes, and as soon as you smile…
“Thank y-“
He’s gone.
It was like he was never there around all.
The silver doors of the elevator shutter closed, and once again you’re stood alone in an empty space going somewhere, and also nowhere you wanted it to lead you.
Next stop, more trouble and misfortune.
And yet the reassuring angel on your shoulder also whispered in your ear that: maybe also, a better place than where you were right now?
You exhale and shake your head, rubbing the towel over your now damp hair to try and smooth out the final flyaways.
Angels, demons, humans. It was all the same. Beings attempting to exert their will on one another.
God, how you hated the idea of ever going on a date ever again. You’d sooner tell Utahime that to her face than agree ever again, even if it did earn you a good scolding…
But the towel.
It smelled a little.. nice. Or maybe even a little more than nice?
Not like a towel smell (if towels could be said to have a distinct smell), and more so a person smell.
Could an unused towel have the smell of a person?
You shake your head and exhale, leaning back against the wall as the elevator speeds upwards and leaving the towel over your head.
Because somehow, in the abandoned space in your heart a warm feeling had begun to flow where it once hadn’t.
How could a single gesture part the darkening clouds and radiate with such an honest and rooted gesture of kindness?
Nanami Kento left you in the elevator alone. He believed that you didn’t need his overbearing presence, you needed a pick-me-up.
He wouldn’t let the wet cat wonder around the building, soaked in rainwater simply because she hadn’t prepared well enough.
Because that smile— the one that he hadn’t ever seen before and yet the very gesture that stirred in his heart like a memory he was used to…?
That was all that he needed to see and so he didn’t make himself stick around any longer and risk making you uncomfortable.
Or worse, get on your bad side.
He’d seen plenty of that on the first date,
He takes two steps up the flight of stairs at a time and smiles to himself when he feels the slightly damp skin behind his ears prickle in the cold.
While Nanami admired your strength and independence, he wondered what had led you to become so far removed from everyone else.
He was very antisocial himself, but he’d have thought that a friend of his friend would have been somewhat acquainted with him by now.
He’d known Utahime for years, the same as you and longer. So why hadn’t he seen you before?
And would he ever see you again?
The pair of you parted once again with no promises of seeing each other again.
Your chest pinched discomfortingly and then the bell rings for your floor, announcing your departure before the doors finally opened.
You noticed that he left with no want or need for an apology.
Absolutely nothing but a gift of kindness that you felt you’d done nothing to deserve.
It was certainly the very opposite of what you deserved.
And yet somehow, as your heels led you towards the first meeting of the day you felt glad that had been able to make you feel a little happier.
Maybe you’d never find a way to return the favour, but in those few moments it was like you’d been on the same wavelength.
You’d understood him and he’d understood you.
And that was impossible to ignore, because it was one of few things you’d ever wanted.
And yet somehow, in your slightly warmer greetings and chatter going on at the meeting, Nanami caught a glimpse of your expression as he turned the corner towards his desk.
And thought:
“She looks more beautiful than the first time I met her.”