Work Text:
Kaburagi peered at his watch, a dog leash in his hand, as he stood by the park entrance while tapping his fingers onto the back of his hand. An eager labrador retriever tied to said leash had been barking and pulling him for a while now, but he just gestured her to stay and be quiet by placing a finger over his lips. She didn't understand, but Kaburagi was too distracted by the blinking and changing number at the very right side of his watch.
'Three, two, one, go,' he said to himself as he heaved a short huff and subconsciously gripped the leash tighter, starting to jog toward the park, the dog happily leading him the way. Kaburagi grinned at his dog, Hikari, who was wagging her tail while half-running. She really loved this place! Kaburagi had taken her to other places—beaches, mountains, snowy fields—but this seemed to be her favorite. Maybe because of how familiar this park was for her, it was the park she frequented the most ever since she'd been a puppy, after all. He still remembered the first time he walked her here, she was a pretty shy dog and had been quiet and a little afraid of people at first, but once she'd arrived at the park, she couldn't stop running! He had to run around chasing her and it tired him so much, but never before in his life had he gone home with such a big beam on his face, an equally tired but happy puppy beside him. It was one of his favorite memory even until now.
Whoops, okay, his thoughts were derailing a bit now! Of course Hikari was important, but he had an equally important business now.
Still being led by his cheerful dog, Kaburagi glanced left and right and sometimes to his back, as if he was looking for something. He peeked to his watch again, okay, it was 4:34 now, usually he would've found him a couple minutes earli—
A familiar gentle tap on Kaburagi's shoulder was all it took to cut his thoughts. Turning his head, a hopeful look and bright smile splashed his face. Yes! He'd been waiting! "Aoyagi-san!"
A blonde man, hair tied into a ponytail, retreated his hand back to his side, an almost silent chuckle escaped his lips. "Good afternoon, Kaburagi," he greeted, his voice quiet and pleasant. Kaburagi really liked it.
"We meet again, huh!" the orange-head said as if it'd been a coincidence, his grin a little too wide. Aoyagi smiled and nodded in response, Kaburagi did as well. "How are my favorite Ume-chan and Boshi-kun?"
"They're great," Aoyagi answered shortly, and as he said that, the two dachshunds connected to the leash in his hand were already circling Kaburagi's legs. The younger responded with a laugh, and Aoyagi smiled fondly. "They're very fond of you."
"Animals tend to like me," Kaburagi said, cheerfully, as he squatted down and got treated with jumps and wet kisses from the two puppies. He laughed and gave them pats and scratches, snuggling his face into theirs. "I love them, too," he added, now lifting one of them while the other barked, asking to be lifted as well. Aoyagi's smile read, 'I can tell.' Kaburagi put the puppies down to the ground and stood back up, and the two quickly began to circle around him again. "Hikari also really likes you! ...Once she's not distracted by the grass," he said while looking at his dog, who was sniffing around the green grass excitedly, seemingly very fascinated like it was her first time seeing it. Aoyagi chuckled.
"Let her know I like her, too."
"She knows, I'm sure." The second Kaburagi said that, Hikari turns his head to her owner and looked up to Aoyagi for a second. Immediately running and wagging her tail, Hikari ran up to the blonde and let out a few loving barks. "See?" he said with a grin.
It was Aoyagi's turn to squat down and gave the retriever pats and strokes, to which she replied with more happy barks and wags on her tail. Kaburagi observed the scene, two puppies still circling around him. Seeing his favorite dog with one of his favorite people made him feel like a blanket was enveloping his heart, warmness started to spread up to his face as he let out a quiet, soft, happy sigh.
After a minute that felt like two seconds, Aoyagi stood back up and flashed a smile at Kaburagi. The younger widened his eyes a little as he quickly threw his gaze to the ground, chuckling nervously. Without saying anything, Aoyagi made a little gesture that he would start walking, and Kaburagi nodded with a chipper smile, tugging Hikari to walk as well.
A few steps later, a comfortable silence blanketed the two as their pets were walking side by side, sometime barking and snuggling into each other. In contrast with Aoyagi, who seemed to prefer quietness while watching the three fooling around with each other, Kaburagi wasn't a big fan of silence, no matter how comfortable it felt. "So! Aoyagi-san," he started, breaking the silence. "How's life?"
The older had to quietly chuckle at the very general question, his smile sent a throb into Kaburagi's heart. "Well, let's see…" He stared at the ground shortly before continuing, "Work is great and everything else is okay." A pause as he smiled to the dogs who were now nuzzling with each other. "I'm rather content."
"That's great to hear!" Kaburagi said, nodding after hearing a satisfactory response. "Hmm? Wait a minute," he suddenly said, the smile on his face was replaced by furrowed eyebrows as he turned his head. "I just realized I have no idea what you do, after talking to you for what, two months?" he let out a nervous, rather guilty laugh, to which the blonde replied with a quiet chuckle. "Sorry! I talk about myself too much! All I remember is that you're in the publishing industry…"
"It's alright," Aoyagi answered, still smiling. "It's interesting to listen to you talk, and I prefer to be quiet as well." His smile and the way Aoyagi said that, for some reason, made Kaburagi feel like his heart was going to burst. He passed his tongue over his lips, grinning just a little too merrily.
"But I wanna know more about you, Aoyagi-san!" he said with a sudden increase in voice and Aoyagi's shoulders jumped a little. "So, what exactly do you do?"
There was a second of pause as Aoyagi tugged some of the loose strands of his hair behind his ears. "Illustrating books," he answered briefly with a small smile. Sparkles immediately filled Kaburagi's eyes, a pleasant surprise expressed in his face.
"Illustrating books?!" he repeated dreamily, excitedly. "That's so cool!" More stars cramped in his round eyes. "What books have you drawn for?! Oh my god you're so cool! Book illustrator!"
It should be no surprise to see Kaburagi's excitement—Aoyagi knew how he had big reactions to practically everything, from things that made him happy to ones that anger him, but still having someone being excited about him made Aoyagi felt a tint of warmness inside his heart. Smiling, he replied, "Mostly children's books. I like drawing animals."
"That's reaaaaally cool!" Kaburagi said, a grin seemingly never going to leave his face, enthusiasm mirroring one for children's. "I'd love to see your drawings!"
Aoyagi's lips curved another small smile. "I sometimes draw here, actually."
"Really?!" Kaburagi's answer was so sudden that he surprised himself. "Can I come watch you draw some time?!"
Aoyagi's eyes widened a little, surprised by the question as subconsciously he tightened his grip on the leashes, but then chuckles were released shortly after. "Of course." He paused as he gazed upon their pets again. "It's just me sitting with a sketchbook, though, there's really nothing to see."
"Still!" Kaburagi said, eagerness hadn't left him. "I really want to see! It'll be so co—whoops," Kaburagi's sentence was cut when he felt the leash in his hand was suddenly pulling him away. Hikari was running toward a lamp post and he was, of course, also dragged toward it. "Hikari!" he tried to protest, but the retriever didn't listen and continued running until she reached her destination. Like owner, like dog, it seemed. Aoyagi laughed at the scene and jogged with his pups toward Hikari and Kaburagi's direction.
They spent the next half an hour walking and talking (well, Kaburagi did almost all the talking, but Aoyagi contributed some comments and chuckles), the three dogs bonding with each other. Kaburagi loved it. It was the moment he waited for every week for the past two months—Saturdays 4:30 pm, give or take a few minutes. He remembered the day it started like it was just yesterday, a frisbee Aoyagi threw got away by the wind and was caught by Hikari instead. Kaburagi didn't know how but somehow it resulted to him waiting for the blonde the next week, and the week after, and the week after, until now. Aoyagi was always on time with his dog walks.
"...And that was what I said about—ohh!" Again, Kaburagi cut himself mid-sentence, in the middle of talking about something at work. Aoyagi noticed that the orange-head was now gazing toward the sky, so he did, too. "That cloud!" Kaburagi pointed up, and Aoyagi followed his index finger questioningly. "It looks like someone I know!"
The blonde tilted his head a little. "Someone you know?"
"Yes—I'm sorry, I just gotta snap the picture real quick," Kaburagi said as he stopped his legs, reaching for his phone, then clicking the camera button two, three times from slightly different angles. "It looks like someone with a curly hair, don't you think?"
Aoyagi smiled amusedly. Now that he mentioned it. "Yes, I think I see it too." It kind of reminded him of his best friend.
"It reminds me of Teshima-san," Kaburagi suddenly said, and Aoyagi had to turn his head in surprise. Did he just say his thought out loud? No, wait, Kaburagi was the one who said it. "Oh! My boss, sorry," the orange-head added, and Aoyagi furrowed his eyebrows.
"Teshima-san?" He blinked his eyes as they slowly started walking again. "Did you say you were working at an architecture company?"
Kaburagi nodded. "Yes!"
The older grew silent for a few seconds. It wasn't unusual for Aoyagi to do that, but still Kaburagi looked at him curiously. He looked kind of… confused? "Could this Teshima-san's full name be Teshima Junta?" Aoyagi suddenly asked.
Kaburagi's eyes widened. "Yes! How did you know?!"
"Ah, as I thought!" Laughs escaped Aoyagi's lips as the confusion on his face changed into an amused chuckle. "Junta is my childhood friend."
Kaburagi almost spun his head when he heard that, his jaw was dropping faster than he could stop. "Really!?" he shouted. Aoyagi usually would cringe a little at Kaburagi's sudden increase in volume, but he was so amused he could only laugh right now. "What are the chances!" Kaburagi beamed, his voice excited. "What a small world!"
"What a small world, indeed!" Aoyagi said, nodding. The blonde was usually calm and quiet, but right now he seemed a little more giggly than usual. Kaburagi was as amused at Aoyagi right now and couldn't help himself from giggling as well. "How is he at work? Is he a good boss?"
It was actually one of the few times that Aoyagi said more than two sentences in a row, and Kaburagi was thrilled to answer them. "Well, he's not the best boss, but I guess I can manage with my skills," he said in a low tone as he looked around, as if he was afraid Teshima would hear him. Both him and Aoyagi chuckled as the younger added, "I'm kidding! He's really good." Two seconds of pause filled the space between them, Aoyagi smiling and Kaburagi sighing with a grin. It was, however, abruptly ended when Kaburagi turned his head to the blonde, a horrified expression on his face. "Please don't tell him that," he said, Aoyagi could almost see the cold sweat on Kaburagi's face. "That I think he's a good boss, I mean."
The blonde's eyes widened for a moment, surprised but then thought it was very like Kaburagi to say that. More amused chuckles followed as he said, smiling, "Don't worry, I won't."
"Kaburagi."
The man being called, currently pondering if he should open his social media account, quickly closed the browser on the screen in front of him as he turned his head at the familiar voice. "I'm working!" he said before Teshima said anything. The black-haired just raised an eyebrow. "A-ah I mean, yes, Teshima-san?"
The boss shrugged it off, thankfully. "I heard you've met Hajime."
Kaburagi had to furrow his eyebrows a little at the question as he tilted his head, wait, which Hajime is this—"Ah! Aoyagi-san!" he almost yelled when he realized that Teshima had to cover one of his ears a little. "Yeah! Funny world we live in huh! Never thought I'd ever accidentally meet your friend!" he said excitedly, his eyes starry. Teshima looked at him for a few moments before a grin curved on his lips.
"So, Kaburagi, the dog-walking guy you can't stop talking about for the last couple of months—" Teshima paused for a mysterious effect. "—Is Hajime?"
"Ye—wait," Kaburagi stopped mid-word. He looked at Teshima with widened eyes, horror and panic filled his eyes. "You didn't tell—"
"I didn't, don't worry," Teshima said with an amused smirk. Oh, thank goodness, Kaburagi let out a relieved sigh. "But you do know that both of you always meet at the exact same time at the exact same place, every week for the past two months?"
Huh? The younger furrowed his eyebrows. "Yeah?"
"You're there, 4:30 pm sharp, and he's always there too?"
"Yea—wait, why did you know that was the time?"
Teshima laughed as he made a waving gesture with his hand, walking away from the Kaburagi's table. "Good luck on your pursuit of love, Kaburagi."
Kaburagi furrowed his eyebrows, watching his boss distancing away. Sometimes his boss could be really confusing, but he was grateful for the good luck, anyway.