Thirteen years ago... (Mushverse, open to Go-Busters)

[loveenetronkurorin]

It's nearly eleven. I need to go to bed, but there's just one more report to finish.

I sigh, pat my pocket to check they're there, and start making my weary way towards the fire escape to the roof. I'll take a break first. There's only a skeleton crew around and a few other fools like me, working late when they need to start early in the morning, but I can't exactly light up in here.

Comments

[goldenikemen]

He's so very predictable. I could probably set my watch to him. That is, if I wore a watch.

If we're working this late a shift, or working overtime as we both often do because deep down we hate ourselves, he always takes a cigarette break right now, so that he makes it up onto the roof at exactly 11. I don't think he does it consciously, but he does it every single time.

I carefully tuck my more sensitive designs and reports away, leaving the rest scattered about my work station, and grab my jacket as I head for the roof. It's been relatively warm lately, sure, but I like the way my jacket looks on me. Very dashing.

I fish out my cigarettes from the breast pocket as I walk.

[loveenetronkurorin]

It's a warm, still night. My shirtsleeves are rolled up, tie undone, no jacket to cover the suspenders holding up my pants, and I'm badly in need of a shave. Sakurada-san isn't a stickler for the dress code this late at night. He's probably at home, anyway. He deserves it after the week he's had.

I sit on the edge of the wall, one leg drawn up, the other dangling, and I lean back against the housing for the air recirculator. My match flares briefly in the darkness, and I take the first drag on my cigarette.

It's about now that he usually turns up. I don't know how he knows. I hope he doesn't. I hope he's at home, or snoring in the small bare room here that's his (next to mine).

...but I wouldn't mind seeing him.

[goldenikemen]

My cigarette is already perched between my lips as I open the door to the roof, my zippo in hand, flaring to life with a practiced flick. I inhale that first drag deeply, holding it in my lungs longer than I probably should.

The door shuts behind me and I exhale. Pocketing my lighter and glancing around. I know exactly where he'll be, but I still like to act like I don't. Like I'm surprised to see him here.

"Ah, Kurorin!" I smile lopsidedly at him, wandering over and leaning back against the wall he always perches on. I cross my legs at the ankle, and stretch my free hand behind me to grip the wall, close to where his hip is.

He always looks so good when he's still in his uniform, but all dressed down. All crumpled shirt and rolled up sleeves, lose tie and no jacket. And stubble too; he looks real good with all that late night stubble.

"Long night?"

[loveenetronkurorin]

There he is.

"Jin." I muster a tired scowl at the use of that ridiculous nickname, but also reach out and cover his hand with mine, briefly.

He's wearing that jacket again. He looks good in it, the way it flares over his slim hips. He knows it, too.

"Aren't they all."

[goldenikemen]

I love that scowl, I know he doesn't mean it, he's just putting up a gruff front. He's such a bastard. It's wonderful.

His hand briefly touches mine, it's a small gesture, but a welcome one just the same. We don't do the whole romance thing. Well, not with each other; it's not how this thing between us is wired.

I shift, uncrossing my ankles and then crossing them the other way. In the process I shift closer to Kurorin, so that my arm brushes against him.

"Truer words." Another too deep drag, too long hold. A sighing exhale. I tip my head back, hair falling down my shoulder, and look up at the sky. "You work too hard."

[loveenetronkurorin]

That goddamn smirk of his. Like nothing bothers him, nothing worries him, nothing fazes him.

It's all bullshit. I know we all have to be professional and so on, but fuck. I wish he'd let some actual emotion through more often.

I snort at him, absently taking in the lines of his hair as it drapes over his shoulder. "Says the man who's up here at 11pm with me. What are you working on just now, anyway?"

[goldenikemen]

I keep my head tipped back, but turn my head just far enough that I can give Kurorin a look, smirking around another drag.

"Right now," slow sigh, another drag, this one brief, speaking on the exhale, my voice slightly tight because of it. "Right now I am working on seducing you. And trying to finish this cigarette before you inevitably acquiesce."

[loveenetronkurorin]

That expression.

I sigh, and look away, forced to give him the win of dropping eye contact first. He's making my breathing quicken, and he's barely touched me. I grumble under my breath, undoing the top two buttons of my shirt with my free hand. The collar seems unbearably tight.

His words make my head snap back around. "What do you mean, 'inevitably'?" I demand, before my brain quite takes in the rest of it. "And here? Jin, are you crazy?"

[goldenikemen]

I chuckle softly around a lungful of smoke before exhaling. I don't even need to answer that question, he already knows he's going to give up. Give in. Let me have my way.

Not that he won't enjoy it, I mean, what I have in mind will be pleasant for me, but much more amazing for him.

I rest my hand on his leg, gripping lightly, fingers kneading just slightly at the inward side of his thigh. "It's eleven at night, who the hell else would come up here?"

[blue_pleather]

It's late. I'll be in a lot of trouble if anyone finds out I'm still here, but I want to see sempai.

I came over when I'd finished my homework, but he wasn't around. He's been busy all day. So I've been working with the maintenance crew, helping out where I can and watching them on the job; until most of them went to bed an hour ago. I can't go home till I find sempai, though. I'm sure he wouldn't have gone to bed yet. He never goes to bed until midnight at least.

I can't find sempai on the floor anywhere, so that means he's either having an early night, or is on one of his breaks. I should check the roof.

[kindly ignore the icon, pretend he's 11 mmkay?]

[interpolate]

We have rooms kept for us at the Research Center mostly because it's cheaper than getting a hotel when we're just staying for a night or two. Plus I like it, mostly, I like getting to see what maman et papa do and meeting all the others that work here.

What I don't really like is sleeping in the Research Center. I like my own bed. Etienne has no problem falling asleep at a moment's notice almost anywhere, he doesn't understand the meaning of the word 'discomfort' when there's sleep to be had, but I'm different. I'm a night owl. So sometimes once my parents are asleep and my brother is asleep I like to sneak out and wander around and see things from a different perspective.

We're not the only kids that spend a lot of time at the Center, but we're usually the only ones around this late at night, so when I see Ryuuji in the hall I'm actually a little surprised.

"Ryuu-san?"

Emeric a onze ans et il est si mignon

[blue_pleather]

I spin around when I hear my name, but it's Emeric, "Emi. Isn't it kind of late?" I know, I know, I'm here too. I'm older though, and Emi's still a kid, "you should go home. Do Maman et Papa know you're here?" He's going to argue with me, I know he is. Eti would go all pouty and sniffly and say he was sorry, Emi will stand his ground.

I'll have to see if sempai or someone else will give him a lift home. If we walk, it'll take longer, and he'll be in more trouble.

[interpolate]

"You're one to talk." I inform him solemnly, but with a little grin so he doesn't get upset.

"We're staying here tonight." I explain, stretching my arms behind my head and looking up at him. He's quite tall already, and he acts like he's a lot older than he is.

"What are you still doing here, anyway?"

[blue_pleather]

"I was gonna see sempai. Don't know where he is though. I think he's on a break." I'm not sure I should take Emi up to the roof. He's not as little as Yoko-chan who might blissfully plummet over the edge, but I'm not taking any chances, "you should go to bed. C'mon, Emi. You'll be all sleepy and useless tomorrow."

[interpolate]

"He's probably on the roof." I say knowledgeably. There's only a handful of people who stay at work this late, and Jin-san is Ryuuji's favorite of the engineers anyway, everyone knows that. "We could go find him." I like Jin-san too. He's not like everyone else. Maman says it's because he's a genius. I think I'd like to be a genius too, someday, if it meant I got to be irreverent and still respectable.

"I'll be fine. I can't sleep. I'd rather not be alone."

[blue_pleather]

So I hold hands and we go off in the direction of the stairs that lead up there. I think I should try again to see if he'll go to bed, just in case, "Eti will know you stayed up all night. He'll tell, you know."

And then he and Emi will sulk at each other for days until Eti cries and says sorry or Yoko-chan wants to know why "Eti-Emi" aren't talking to each other so they have to make up.

[interpolate]

He has a point, but I shrug him off and give his arm a little swing. "I'll make him not tell. And even if he does tell, I don't care. Maman et papa won't care either, since we'll probably just be travelling tomorrow."

I grin up at Ryuuji. Sometimes I wish we would just stay in Japan for longer than a few weeks, at most. But usually after a few days I start to miss France, so I guess it's for the best.

[blue_pleather]

I probably shouldn't bother sempai at his desk. His time is valuable, and I don't want to speak out of turn; but I think someone needs to talk to him. He's not setting a good example to any of the little ones, what with the smoking and language and - and other things. What if someone else had seen him up there? Sempai might lose his job.

It's for his own good. I have to say something, "Sempai?"

[goldenikemen]

I reluctantly return to my work, digging out the papers I tucked aside and readying myself for the last homeward stretch of work for the night. I should be out of here by, oh... three am.

Sigh.

Of course that estimation was calculated before Ryuuji wandered over. Maybe I'll just sleep under my desk tonight, wake up after an hour or so and hit a morning shift.

I do smile honestly at him though, I really do like the kid. "Yes, Ryuu-chan?"

[blue_pleather]

And now I feel terrible, because he's smiling and seems happy to see me even though he probably hadn't taken a break all day before now. He must be exhausted. I contemplate the idea of apologising for bothering him; and just leaving. Then I remember the roof.

I've got to talk to him about this. I can do it without being insolent, "... hello. Sempai -" My throat feels unexpectedly thick, and I have to cough sharply to clear it, "please don't smoke and use bad language in front of the little ones. Please try to be more ..."

I'm hit with a sudden flush of shame. I don't want to mention that I'm sure I saw him rearranging Kuroki-san's clothes. I still have time to say something else, but the words were already halfway out of my mouth, "... more discreet."

Good save.

[goldenikemen]

I hear him out, trying not to chuckle at him for sounding like a disapproving parent. Much like my own parents, before I started getting hailed as a genius engineer. Then they backed off. A bit.

Makes me wonder about Ryuuji's family. He never talks about them.

I casually lean back against my desk, fixing him with a lopsided smile. "I was pretty sure having a break with a colleague, at eleven at night, when most everyone else in the building had either gone home or gone to sleep, was exceptionally discreet."

[blue_pleather]

I'm tempted to respond that it's still a public place, where Emi and I walked in on him. That would be rude, and I mustn't disrespect my sempai; "But ... but Emi and I found you. What if we'd been a few moments earlier?" I'm biting down on my lower lip and can't hold his gaze. He must know that I saw him.

[goldenikemen]

I tilt my head, and cross my arms over my chest.

"If you had come up sooner that would have been one thing. But you didn't, so there's no point in worrying about it."

I offer him another smile, this one gentle, and hopefully it will put the poor kid at ease. "No sense worrying about what could have been."

[blue_pleather]

I knew it.

He's got a nice smile. I can almost - almost - see why Kuroki-san likes him so much. That's not a thought I want to entertain, so I banish it from my head, "you have to be careful, sempai. I don't want you to lose your job."

I shift in a little closer to him. Were I a few years younger I would have wanted a hug.

[goldenikemen]

Were he a little younger, I'd probably give him a hug. He's so concerned for his 'sempai', it's actually kind of sweet. In a weird way.

So I reach out and grip his shoulder, treating him as something close to an equal. Or at least something close to an adult.

"I highly doubt, with my skills, I'd get fired, even for something like that. And if I did, I'd have a whole mess of other jobs lined up for me."