Self Reflection
This was written after Episode Seventeen, so there are some inaccuracies about Kairi's living situation because I hadn't gotten further when I wrote this!
Kairi realises that Keiichiro needs some help with self reflection. He decides to give him a hand in the only way he knows how. Being a pretty red pest.
Tags: Asaka Keiichiro x Yano Kairi, fluff, Keiichiro is a bit dense.
“I just… I can't pursue two things at once.”
He understood now. The older officer was walking between lines, maybe aware of himself, maybe not. But Kairi understood how to read those lines, he had watched his companions’ expressions, and it didn't seem to quite click for them. It would be up to him then. As he thought it over, it wasn't as annoying of a task as he thought it might be.
Maybe that meant he also had some self reflection to do. He'd do that later.
If Kairi got involved as himself, it might make things uncomfortable. And he was in a unique position of being able to subtly gather information. On the flipside, Keiichiro might more easily be able to wave Lupin Red off, pin it on meaningless taunting.
But maybe it'd make him think, at least. He still needed to do some work before Kairi could swoop in like a true gentleman thief. He could walk it off as Lupin Red, have it not mean anything if it didn't work out. As himself, that might not be the case, and then things would be awkward.
No, he made up his mind. And he just so happened to know one of the paths the man commonly walked.
“Bonjour~”
Lupin Red called from where he was sitting on the railing above. Keiichiro's eyebrows furrowed, watching as he flipped his cape and jumped down to the ground. He landed in front of him expertly, one hand on his hat so he could bow to the officer before him.
Keiichiro took a half step back, and despite the bag in his arm, he took a defensive stance. Lupin Red stared at the ground, he had to be careful here. He was only in his costume, not his full suit. He opted to pitch his voice slightly down, doing his best to disguise his accent as something else. He straightened out, eyeing the visibly annoyed officer.
“I should arrest you where you stand.”
Lupin Red chuckled, he fell back against the bridge railing, catching himself and looking his fellow ‘red’ over. “You could try but I don't think you'll succeed today, mister hotblooded policeman~” He teased, bringing his gun up to tap his own chest thoughtfully. His smirk undeniable.
Keiichiro looked either way and then set his bag of groceries down safely. He reached into his back pocket and pulled his cuffs out. But Lupin Red made no move, arm dropping back down for his side. He was practically taunting the cop, but the masked man knew no other way.
But the officer lowered his hand, eyeing him suspiciously. “Why are you here, Lupin Red, right?” Keiichiro's grip on the cuffs tightened, refusing to take his eyes off the thief. But Lupin Red brought his gun hand up, holding the weapon loosely to put the back of his hand to his head as he swooned.
“You even remembered my identity~”
“You call it out every time you transform.”
Lupin Red opened his eyes again, looking at him from under his hand. “That's not very romantic of you.” The comment made the other man's jaw drop, he was visibly trying to process what was just said to him. “A proper thief must be as charismatic as he is good with theft.” Lupin Red took a stride towards the man.
Keiichiro tensed when the taller man basically wrapped himself around him. He slid one gloved hand from the officer's hip, around his back, and finally on his shoulder as he bodily completed that movement as well. Lupin Red pressed against him from behind, bringing his head down beside the older man's ear.
“You should keep a more open mind, dear detective. Maybe you'd feel more fulfilled?”
The officer pushed his shoulder back, pushing the thief off of him. “What's your game here?” He demanded to know and Lupin Red twirled his gun in his hand. He did absentminded tricks with it as he took up residence on the railing across from where he had been.
“I'm just saying, sir,” Lupin Red put a gloved hand to his chest, tilting his head with a smirk. “A thief like I can see through a thoroughly repressed detective like yourself.” His words seemed to annoy the hotheaded detective and Lupin Red was beginning to reconsider his thoughtful approach. Perhaps the officer did dislike him far too much for this to work.
“What do you know?”
Keiichiro stepped forward, grabbing the other man by the front of his coat. “Oh- well, not much really. You just seem a bit… Stiff?” Lupin Red brought his hand up, fingers trailing underneath the older man's chin. The touch made Keiichiro's eyebrows furrow. “You should loosen up! Maybe be a little more open minded.”
Lupin Red was seriously starting to reconsider how the hell a teenager was supposed to tell a man in his mid twenties that he's probably gay. His own bisexuality was one of the more simple things for him to figure out about himself. The same could most certainly not be said about the hotblooded policeman standing before him.
“You're a thief, what's there to be open minded about it?” Keiichiro questioned, smacking the man's hand off his face. Lupin Red sighed, gripping the older man's wrist, he forced him to let go of his coat.
“I don't care what you think about me,” he clarified, slipping out from underneath him. Keiichiro pivoted, watching him take a few steps backwards. “I'm telling you to think about yourself. Only someone who is running from something would be so stubborn to not examine their feelings.”
“How do you-”
“I'm a thief!” Lupin Red laughed, turning around, his back to the officer. And his smile fell. “I have ears everywhere, officer.” He took his zip device out, pointing it towards the roof. He put a smile on his face as he looked over his shoulder at the other man. “Really, you're quite cute. I'm sure you'll be able to find a handsome man once you get over… All of that.”
“You think I'm gay?!”
But Lupin Red didn't stick around to hear more.
It was a few days before he saw the officer again. Both were busy with their own work. Or well, Kairi was slacking off at work. But when wasn't he slacking off? It was one such day he saw him.
The rain was coming down heavily, and that meant nobody was coming into the restaurant. The rain provided a great excuse for Kairi to sneak away and take a walk, forging an umbrella. He didn't really care. The warm rain felt good on his skin, even when it clung his shirt to his skin. He always liked the rain. The world was always so quiet.
He squinted as water accosted his lashes, trying to be sure. The distant beige long coat was familiar. He picked up his pace, grimacing when he stepped in a puddle. But he had other things to think about instead of too wet socks. Rain was one thing, puddles were another-
“Keii-chan~”
Keiichiro looked up, he was also sans umbrella but looking much more miserable about it. Kairi stopped in front of him, a small section of pathway that was somewhat shielded by a tree. It wasn't fully dry with the force of the rain, but it was at least some cover.
“What are you doing out here in this weather?”
“Ah well~ Quiet day at bistro, you can imagine.” Kairi smiled, rubbing the back of his wet neck. “Got bored once they started discussing closing early or not.” He admitted, watching the officer. Keiichiro nodded in understanding, looking out and around them at the heavy rain hitting the area. “And you~?” He questioned back, reaching out to poke the officer's cheek, much to his bewilderment.
“I was running errands when the rain was lighter.” He looked a bit bashful. Kairi could tell the man hadn't seen the weather warning for the day.
But he gave a nod, letting his arm drop so he was no longer poking him. “The bistro is probably closer, do you want to stop by? Until the rain gets light again.” If it gets lighter.. Kairi offered, earning the officer's glance. He wasn't hard to read but he was certainly overwhelming to read at times.
“You said the bistro might be closing.”
“Oh! Yes, that's true! I live upstairs though so..” Kairi trailed off, hoping his insinuation wasn't too on the raunchy side. That wasn't his intention here. Yet, at least. “That just means I can give you a towel even.” He gave him a cheeky smile.
Keiichiro considered it, letting out a soft sigh as he looked up at the dark grey sky. “I'll take you up on that offer. This subway entrance floods easily..” Kairi could tell he had experience with that. The younger man stepped out from under the cover of the tree and started to walk away. This prompted the other man to quickly follow after him.
They were both drenched by the time they reached the bistro, and Kairi was unsurprised to find the door locked. He reached into his back pocket, pulling his keys out. He swiftly unlocked the door and pushed it open, moving to let Keiichiro inside of the building as well. Most of the lights were off, the chairs put up on the tables. Kairi shut and locked the door, the sound of rain becoming dampened.
“Come with me, Keii-chan~ I'll get us dried in no time!”
Keiichiro just didn't think that meant the man would be pointing a hairdryer at him, pressing the button like the trigger of a gun. His coat and button up had been removed for the sake of his shirt, a towel hung over his shoulders and hair more damp than wet. But Kairi made a point to occasionally blast him with the hairdryer in between drying his own hair.
“I definitely have clothes that fit you, are you sure you don't want something dry?”
“I'm fine, thank you.”
So stuck up and stubborn… Kairi blasted him with the hairdryer again. Keiichiro made a face, turning away slightly from the heat device. He was dripping in Kairi's living room, being attacked by a teenager. He wasn't sure how he ended up in this situation on his day off, but part of him wished he had stayed home.
Kairi eventually finished drying his hair, leaving the living room to put it away in his bathroom. He came back with another towel, yanking the one around Keiichiro's shoulders and throwing the new one on his head. “Hey!” The man raised his voice somewhat, pulling the towel off of his head. Kairi was already gone with the towel. He sighed, using the new towel to continue drying himself off.
Eventually he had to give up though, it took Kairi five minutes sitting down before Keiichiro sighed and resigned himself. “You win, I'll take the clothes. I'd prefer taking the trip home a bit drier than this..” Kairi snorted at the officer's apparent defeat. He followed the young blond down the hall, entering the bathroom to wait while he grabbed some clothes.
Kairi dried up the water on the floor while the officer changed. He was thankful he planned on doing laundry today anyway. Keiichiro entered the living room, clutching his wet clothes. The teenager looked up at him from his knees with a smile. His clothes were a tad bit long but it wasn't really noticeable. He got up from the floor and collected his clothes.
“I'll put these in the dryer.”
“I'm surprised you have one.”
Kairi laughed and nodded, adjusting his grip so he didn't accidentally put the dirty towel on the relatively clean clothes. “The restaurant does technically.” He explained, earning a short nod. “Make yourself comfortable, Keii-chan~ I'll be back.”
It took a few hours before the rain began to somewhat let up. A few hours spent awkwardly watching basketball because it was what was on. Some idle conversation, but nothing as deep as Kairi was hoping. He wanted to see if he had gotten through to the man at all. But Keiichiro wasn't easy to read unless he was blowing a fuse.
They stood downstairs in the main room of the bistro before Kairi remembered. “Oh! Stay here, I'll be right back.” Keiichiro nodded and he quickly ran back upstairs to his apartment.
He came back down pretty quickly and Keiichiro watched him come back up to him. “Here, you should take this.” He held out the rolled umbrella. Keiichiro looked down at it and Kairi moved it forward, insisting without words.
“What if you need it?”
Kairi just smirked at him for a moment.
“Guess you'll have to visit and bring it back, Keii-chan~”
He nodded and took it. “Will do.”
Keiichiro unlocked the door and opened it, the rain was lighter now for sure. Though the sky was still a dark grey. He just hoped the subway wasn't too bad. The last time it rained like this.. He was stopped by the younger man's voice, turning towards him before he fully stepped out of the bistro and under the awning.
Kairi closed the distance between the two, tilting his head slightly down at him. He was smiling as he leaned closer, much to Keiichiro's confusion. The younger man knew this was risky. But two hours of watching sports was clearly a sign that the policeman hadn't been thinking things through since his last interaction with the masked thief.
Keiichiro's eyes widened momentarily when the blond kissed his cheek.
“Be safe.”
He pulled back with a smile. Keiichiro just nodded, stumbling out of the restaurant much to his junior's amusement. He shakily opened up the umbrella, bringing it above his head.
“Have- have a good day.” Keiichiro cleared his throat then took off at a fast pace. Kairi closed and locked the door with an accomplished look.
That certainly got the gears turning.
