Summary: I saw Policeman Kaki and I decided that today would be dorks fighting for one (1) oblivious adorable boi. Feat. Pikachu who is done with this already. For @catsubun / @beriskara because she needs cute.
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Kaki is being awful nice, Satoshi thinks as he locks up the Centre for the evening, the other boy trying very hard to hold a conversation with him. Kaki was a new Police-hopeful that had been assigned to Pallet Town, and Satoshi - as he always would - had greeted the newcomer with open arms.
“Thanks for keeping an eye on me,” Satoshi smiles at Kaki, hefting his bag with Pikachu inside, the little mouse giving a tiny squeak, before going back to sleep. “You really didn’t have to,” He says, walking down the street towards the Pokemart.
“Someone should,” Kaki says modestly, scratching a finger against his cheek as they draw nearer. Satoshi gets his keys out, and Kaki blinks. “You work here too?“ He’s curious, but Satoshi doesn’t notice the frown on his face, intent on unlocking the door.
“Mmh? No, but Shigeru does. This is one of the bigger Pokemarts, and he’s left alone most of the time to close up, so I lend him a hand - the Centre doesn’t take nearly as much work, so I generally get done about an hour or two before him.” He misses the look on Kaki’s face, opening the door. “Do... you want to join us? I’m sure Shigeru would really like the help - customers can be a little mean.”
Kaki, meanwhile, is staring at the mess on the floor from spilled product.
“Only a little?” He questions incredulously. “If this was outside, I’d have to arrest someone for vandalism.” Kaki says to Satoshi, disbelieving.
“You could arrest them inside, but the Jenny clan doesn’t usually patrol inside of a building. We’re supposed to have security for that.” A third voice makes Kaki jump, and he meets eyes with a boy just slightly taller than him, a crooked smirk on his face and an attitude that makes Kaki itch to pull his handcuffs out and arrest him. He strides past Kaki and pulls Satoshi into a hug, kissing his cheek in greeting, much to Kaki’s nonverbal but noticeable irritation. “They never do, since the customer can do whatever the hell they want.” Satoshi is beaming, bright cheeked and soft pink flush over his skin at the open affection as he looks up at Shigeru with an adoring smile.
Kaki’s stomach does a flip, and after Shigeru has let Satoshi know what he should be okay with doing, the two are left alone. Shigeru draws up close, fingertip pressing against his chest, cocky smirk firmly in place as he gives Kaki a look.
“Let’s make something clear hon.” Shigeru smiles, and it’s not at all nice. “Don’t think you have any chance with my Satoshi.” He pulls back, pats Kaki on the head, and walks away, cool as one might please, leaving Kaki furiously scowling after him. Satoshi putters back, arms full of cleaning supplies, when he looks between them. Shigeru is undeterred, still smiling warmly at Satoshi, but Kaki doesn’t have the chance to pull his expression into line after that infuriating brat’s words. He sighs, gives them both a look.
“Are you two fighting already?” He complains good-naturedly. Shigeru raises an eyebrow.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Shigeru says with a smile, pulling the objects out of Satoshi’s hands and planting a kiss to the top of a head. “Thanks for finding these for me Sato-chan.” Satoshi turns a pleased pink, and Kaki has to bite a growl from escaping his throat. “I should have the displays cleaned up in about ten minutes, and then all that’s left is... eugh. The food section.” He pulls a face, and Satoshi pats his arm gently.
“I can at least mop up the mess,” He offers. “I’m used to it, I work at the Centre, remember?“ Shigeru shakes his head.
“No, no, you know how it goes. I need to stop being so squeamish. Just fix up the displays, and if you want, you can spend some time with your friend. I’ll finish up here.” Shigeru offers it out, and Kaki manages to unweld his jaw long enough to speak himself.
“I don’t mind staying - there must be something I can do.” Shigeru eyes him, before giving Satoshi a significant look that he feels he missed out on.
“You any good at cleanliness codes?” He gives a slight shake of the head. “You’ll have to be up to date with it before I can let you clean up anything or fix the displays.” He sounds apologetic, but when Satoshi’s head swivels his way to give a reassuring pat to his arm, Shigeru lets himself smirk at Kaki in challenge.
His right brow twitches. Oh, so that’s how he wanted to play it.
Since then, Kaki had been a nigh-constant presence in their afternoon visits, stealing Satoshi away after work before Shigeru could get even two words in. He’d also brought himself up to speed on the codes, and since he got off even earlier than both of them thanks to the labor laws, he would help Satoshi close up for the evening at the Centre, doing his best to make up for the lost time.
But no matter what he did, Satoshi seemed glued to Shigeru, their shared history a hurdle for him to overcome, and Shigeru’s familiarity with him had done more to endear Satoshi to him than Kaki could imagine. He’s finishing up a display when he overhears them, and he wanders a little closer.
“Shige-kun, you don’t seem to like Kaki much,” Satoshi is sweeping debris while Shigeru is wiping down each shelf, getting rid of stray chips or broken bits of packaging from where customers had tried to steal stuff.
“Mmh? He’s nice enough, but I think he’s the one who doesn’t like me. I mean, I’ve barely seen you in the last couple of weeks, and I’m starting to miss having my cheerful partner around.” Satoshi’s quiet for a while, and the sound of the broom is all he hears.
“I hadn’t noticed,” Satoshi admits shyly. “I didn’t mean to leave you out of so much Shige-kun.” The other boy laughs softly, and though Kaki can’t see it, he’s sure Shigeru is shaking his head.
“It’s fine Sato-chan, you should be having fun with your friends. But come visit sometime, would you? Eevee is starting to pine for you, and I never made good on that promise to help you learn how to cook that one meal you really liked because of the blackout.” Satoshi’s breath hitches, and Kaki desperately wants to know what that was all about. What blackout? He mechanically moves back to the display, and finally, Satoshi speaks up again.
“Y-yeah. I’d like that.” He hears a soft puttering of feet, and he finishes the display as Satoshi comes around the corner. Satoshi eyes the display, and he immediately checks it for flaws. He can’t see any... “Kaki, I’m going to stay with Shige-kun tonight, so you shouldn’t wait up for me,” he says with a smile. Kaki gives a stiff nod.
“Yeah. Have fun.” Kaki notices how Satoshi’s smile dims, and he realizes belatedly how the tone of his words comes out. Dammit. “Argh... I mean - I just, really like spending time with you,” He blurts out, and that seems to do something, making the smile reappear at full strength.
“I like spending time with you too! But I’ve been ignoring Shige-kun a lot, and that’s a bit unfair to him.” Frankly, Kaki didn’t care what was unfair to Shigeru, but he knows better than to say so to Satoshi’s face. Satoshi’s smile dims slightly again, and he curses internally because he’d done something wrong again. Shigeru comes around the corner, before glancing at both of them. It takes him less than a second of glancing between them to realize the issue, and Shigeru immediately plasters on a smile that looks so effortless that Kaki envies it.
“Is something wrong?” Shigeru asks in that cool tone of his, and Satoshi nods a little. Shigeru hums slightly, before hugging Satoshi with an arm. “If you’d like Sato-chan, you can head home, I’ll take a raincheck on what we were discussing earlier.” He says the words lightly, but Satoshi shakes his vigorously.
“I want to spend time with you.” He insists, before giving Kaki a slightly disappointed look. “I’ll see you around Kaki,” He doesn’t quite tell Kaki to leave, but he knows that tone well enough. He hated seeing Satoshi’s smile turn so dim, and this time it was his fault. He makes his goodbyes, and he can see Shigeru giving him a frown, which only incenses him more.
He doesn’t see Satoshi for a few days after that, the boy obliquely avoiding him to a point that Satoshi had left the center before his usual visits. Shigeru he sees more of, but he doesn’t seem too pleased to see him either, which is a surprise given how smug he’d been at having Satoshi to himself.
Kaki is doing another patrol when at last he sees Satoshi, the boy carrying groceries up the hill to his home. Satoshi trips, and it’s instinct that makes him immediately lunge and catch Satoshi before he or his things fall to the ground. Pikachu, perched on Satoshi’s shoulder, is a lost cause, falling off of his human with a squeak.
Satoshi looks grateful for all of two seconds, before realizing who it is and his smile turns into a scowl. The boy yanks himself away, and Kaki gives him an apologetic look. Pikachu gives a quiet ‘chaaa of hello, but doesn’t do anything to help him fix the mess he’d made.
“Satoshi - I’m sorry,” He stutters over his words, and if anything, that seems to make the boy angrier at him.
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” The boy says stiffly. “Shigeru at least apologized for being a jerk about wanting to keep me to himself,” Satoshi’s head is held high, and Kaki realizes that he’s staring at Satoshi in disbelief, which he snaps out of, though it doesn’t do anything but irritate the cute boy. “You should be apologizing to Shigeru for how you treated him. He’s my friend too, and the way you two are acting is just stupid.” He turns on his heel and stomps off cutely, skirt fluttering in the wind. Pikachu rubs against his leg briefly, before chasing after his human. Kaki heaves a sigh, and an amused voice drifts up to him from behind.
“Well, that’s you told, hm?” Shigeru sounds amused, the teenager carrying his own groceries in hand. “Don’t mind Sato-chan. Give him another week and I’m sure he’ll forgive you without the need to apologize to me. He doesn’t hold grudges very long.” The boy doesn’t seem to care about getting an apology at all, and Kaki eyes him suspiciously. “What?” Shigeru doesn’t look pleased at the scrutiny, and hefts his bag up higher.
“What’s your angle?” He says suspiciously, and Shigeru sighs, rolling his eyes.
“I want to date Sato-chan. I’d have thought that was obvious. Thanks to the stunt you pulled, He’s just barely talking to me again, and that’s annoying. I’ve been trying to get Satoshi to go out with me for months, and then you show up.” Shigeru shakes his head, annoyed. “He’s very cute, but the lovable idiot is dense as a rock.” Kaki can’t help the snort that leaves his throat, because that sounds exactly like Satoshi. “All that aside - I’m sorry.” Kaki jerks back, surprised. “And don’t think I’m doing this because Sato-chan told me to. I’m not good at handling threats to what I consider mine. And you are most definitely a threat. I can’t say I’m not going to still be a pain in your ass, but I won’t be quite so mean in the future. Just don’t expect me to make it easy for you to woo Sato-chan.” The boy hefts his groceries higher up on his hip, and he smirks. “Who knows, maybe having a rival for his affection will be fun. Just don’t expect to win, loser.”
Kaki’s lips pull into a faint scowl, but there is something there, a hint of amusement on his face. “Now you’re the one dreaming too big,” Kaki says with a huff. “I’ll win Satoshi back before you can even dream of it.” Shigeru’s lips curl into a proper smile, and he chuckles.
“That’s the spirit.” Shigeru says the words in open amusement. “Later loser. I’ll let Sato-chan know you apologized in your own bastardly way,” He laughs. “That’ll put us on even footing, but don’t expect mercy from me after this - Sato-chan is mine.” The teenager saunters off, and Kaki gives a half-hearted scowl, before grinning himself.
At least things wouldn’t be boring.