Hokuto didn't drink very often, and he was reminded of why when doing so for the first time in almost 60 years one rainy night at the pub the staff occasionally went to. The nurse's assistant's lips had been dry, a bit chapped, but oh so soft. The taller man had grabbed his hand with shivering fingers, pulling him a tiny bit closer, as Hokuto's other hand cupped a scarred cheek. He didn't think much after that, his mind a haze of shy kisses and fingers buried in long strands of thick curly hair.

The morning after he awoke in an unfamiliar bed with a killer headache, the sun filtering through the window. His face flushed as he remembered the night, and his heart raced as he realised he had no doubt slept with his subordinate.

Hokuto could hear sounds from the other room, and after pulling on the closest shirt he could find, he wandered over to the open door to peek into what turned out to be the kitchen.

Rasu stood by the stove, dressed in a big black pajama shirt with little white skulls on them, making something that Hokuto didn’t recognise the scent of right away but recognised as something with beans as he got closer. “Soooo…” he spoke, startling the younger spirit, making him squeak.

“M-mister vice princi- um, Hokuto-san, g-good morning!” Rasu instantly lowered his voice when the other flinched at the loud noise; “would you l...like some coffee?”

Giving a thankful nod, he comes to stop next to where Rasu starts pouring him coffee in a pink and sparkly mug with the text “death metal”, that he knew was a secret Santa gift from Shishido two years ago. He tried not to ogle Rasu’s bare legs as the nurse’s assistant plated breakfast for them both and offered him one along with the drink. Seeing as the little kitchen table was full of papers, books and the like, both of them hopped up to sit on the counter, falling into a nervous silence as they ate their beans, rice and vegetables. Usually, Hokuto would eat fish rather than beans, but he was a guest in the house, and besides, a change in pace was nice sometimes.

They didn’t speak again until Hokuto got off the counter, offering to do the dishes, which Rasu accepted after some floundering. It seemed that this finally broke the 'morning after’ awkwardness, and Rasu twirled his unbraided hair between his fingers as he looked at his knees, face going red as a tomato as he opened his mouth. “E...even if you only want this to b...b...be a one night stand, I’m okay with that but I just w...wanted you to know I d...didn’t kiss you j...just because I was d...drunk. I l...like you.” It was a rare moment of such honesty coming from the nurse who was wildly eccentric but often shy that Hokuto was at a loss for a second. It might have been more than a second though, judging by how Rasu was shrinking in on himself after a while like he regretted ever opening his mouth.

But before Rasu could take it back, Hokuto finally got his head out of his ass and replied; “I like you too!” Well that came out louder than he intended. If he didn’t keep it down he’d make the headache worse all on his own, when the coffee was finally starting to make it go away. He’d even made Rasu almost fall off the counter with his sudden outburst, but luckily for them, Hokuto had stepped up to him just in time to secure his seat with his hands on Rasu’s hips.

Both of their faces were furiously red now, and Hokuto could feel the heat of it all the way down his neck. “I mean it. I just, you know, with my being the vice principal and all I didn’t really want to put you in a weird situation.”

Slowly, Rasu’s hands moved to cover his, and pulled them further toward him to encourage him to wrap his arms around his waist. His waist was so tiny, so much taller but feeling fragile in his own arms. “I, um, I’ve liked you for over t...ten years, I think.”

It hit Hokuto how long they’d actually known each other by now. Rasu had been dead for over half a century, and he’d passed the 100-year mark since his death recently. They hadn’t known each other well, only as fellow co-workers, but it had really been a long time, shown by how many years his crush had turned out to be returned without either of them knowing. “Shit, we’ve really been wasting that many years when we could’ve been together the whole time? I’m a moron.”

That made Rasu giggle, and the sound made Hokuto’s stomach fill with butterflies. “Can I kiss you again?” Curls bobbed as the taller man nodded, painted nails lightly scraping his cheeks as they rushed up to run through his hair. “Yes p...please.”

And with all the held back emotions of an entire decade, Hokuto kissed him, the hangover the furthest thing from his mind as long legs wrapped around his waist, and neither of them cared to end the kiss until long after the leftover coffee in the pot was cold.

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