there are a few constants in atsushi’s life.
he takes lunch at 12:15 every day no matter if there is a rush or not and eats at the little noodle shop on the corner of the street. takemichi and the rest of his friends come by interchangeably for cuts at least once or week (or just to annoy the shit out of him while he works). the stray cat outside his apartment window who paws and scratches at it every time he comes home begging to be let inside.
he’s not really sure when exactly he noticed you, but it feels like he’s known you forever. it’s as he’s closing the salon, locking the door after he’s shut off all the lights and cleaned up for the night, and you walk by. you must be getting off work, because he notices how tired you look—not in a bad way! just a noticeable one—and the way you always stifle a yawn as you wave at him and say hello.
for a while that’s all it is, a coincidence of you walking by on the sidewalk the same time that he’s closing, a brief nod and hello and goodnight just to be polite. he doesn’t know you, hasn’t the slightest idea of who you are, but he thinks he’d like to.
he gets the opportunity one night when he’s late closing up. he thinks he’s missed you, running late on his schedule so surely you’d be gone and passed by now. but no, as he steps out of the salon doors there you are.
no, literally you’re right there as he hits you with the door.
akkun doesn’t think his cheeks have ever burnt so hot or he’s wanted to be swallowed up by the earth more as he watches you clutch your forehead and your things clatter to the ground. what a way to properly introduce himself, he thinks.
“oh my god, i’m so sorry,” he sputters, instantly dropping down to help retrieve your things.
and the universe must hate him—and you—because you bend at the same time and your foreheads slam together.
the both of you fall back on your asses on the concrete, now both clutching your foreheads, items forgotten in front of you. akkun wants to die on the spot, honestly, and opens his mouth to apologize for knocking you upside the head twice—two times more than he had ever planned to—but before he gets the chance you’re bursting out in laughter.
akkun thought it was just your smile that was contagious, but in that moment he learns that your laugh is too as chuckles of his own bubble out of his throat.
“i‘m really sorry,” he breathes in between giggles, palm still pressed to his head as he looks at you, eyes crinkled and warm.
“it’s fine,” you wave off, shaking your head to try to clear out your jumbled brain. “you really knocked me off my feet, huh?”
there’s a halt inside atsushi’s chest, a screeching in his mind that sends him a little dumb and a whole lot dizzy. because not only are you apparently not mad that he knocked you senseless, but you’re even telling jokes? something he’s almost certain is a half assed pick up line?
yeah, he falls in love on the spot.
things change from then on out. it’s no longer just rushed hellos and polite grins thrown at each other in the late of the night. you wave at atsushi as soon as you round the corner and indulge him in small talk as he locks the door. he waits on you—because yes, he’s started watching for you to see if you’ve passed by the salon yet—just so he can spend those few slim minutes underneath the flickering street lamps.
and he, slowly and carefully, works up the courage for what he finally does tonight.
“hey,” atsushi greets, as soon as you come into his line of sight.
tonight, he was lucky. you were running late again, a good fifteen minutes after the time you normally walk by, and he was banking on that all day because he wanted it to be special. as he fidgets with the two drinks in his hand he starts to question whether or not running to the cafe on the corner was a good idea. he’s not even sure you like this drink. shit, what if you were allergic to something in it?
he’s feeling that whole ‘earth please swallow me up’ sensation again.
“hey,” you smile, but it’s tired and your eyes don’t crinkle up all the way. a long day, akkun knows the feeling. “how was work, atsushi?”
you can’t see it because of how dim the lights are but a flush rises to his cheeks. atsushi, you say, and you have no idea what it does to him. he’s probably the only person who’d find it more flustering to have his crush call him by his real name rather than a stupid childhood nickname. but hearing it from you? it makes his tummy feel funny.
“oh, you know. same old same old,” he shrugs, mirroring your grin. he looks down at his hands out of habit, a nervous little tick, and remembers the drink in his hand. instantly, he holds it out to you, cheeks reddening even more. “here, i got you, uhm..”
“oh!” and your eyes light up in the way akkun absolutely loves as you reach for it without a single ounce of hesitation. “that’s so sweet of you. thank you.”
“it’s no problem, really. just wanted to do something to—for! for you.” atsushi bites his tongue, mentally kicks himself as he stands there on the sidewalk outside his salon, and wishes he had a single ounce of smooth talk in his body.
but suddenly you’re taking a step closer to him and your hand is pressing to his chest and you’re leaning in real close and, oh.
you kiss his cheek, and he thinks he might pass out.
“thank you,” you repeat, taking a sip from it and sending a smile up to him that has his knees going weak and his head floating a mile high. he’s sure there’s hearts in his eyes like some cheesy little cartoon. “i love it.”
“i love you,” akkun mumbles, then freezes, and you laugh as he closes his eyes and sputters over himself. “oh my god no. no i didn’t mean it like that. that’s not what i—oh my god.”
“hey hey, don’t worry about it,” you wave off, and your hand is still on his chest. his heartbeat hammers beneath it as he looks down at you, chewing the edge of his lip. “you’re really cute, atsushi.”
“thank.. you?” he rubs the back of his neck, lips a sheepish tilt.
“you’re welcome.” finally, you drop your hand off his chest and for a second akkun’s heart drops to his feet at that. but then your fingers brush his, and he finds himself looking down nervously right at them. “so, walk with me?”
atsushi’s nodding before he even fully registers your question, eyes following you as you walk past and start heading down the sidewalk. you make it a few steps before looking over your shoulder, head canted to the side as you laugh out a ‘coming?’ to his still little figure. he’s bolting into action so fast he nearly trips over his own feet and you bite your lip to stop the giggle that threatens to bubble out.
it takes a whole three blocks before atsushi even realizes he’s walking the entire opposite direction of his apartment and this most certainly wasn’t what he had planned for tonight.
but when you thank him at your doorstep and lean in to kiss more than just his cheek?
he has no complaints in the slightest.
