Oh, boy. More fic.
Title: 5 Mistakes Abe Takaya Didn't Actually Make (3/5)
Fandom: Oofuri
Characters: Abe/Mihashi, Tajima/Hanai, Momokan
Rating: PG-13 for the depraved world of hosting
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Notes: Still for shikishi. Still totally unbeta'd. :|
Abe stumbles into his apartment at six in the morning to find his answering machine beeping with the light blinking red. The first message is from his mother, her weekly phone call telling him to stop shaming their family and to come home. The second is his younger brother, telling him to quit his sleazy job and go back to university before their parents die of heartache. The third is from Haruna-san, but Abe deletes it before the last syllable of his name gets out. The fourth is from Mihashi, the wimpy new busboy at the club.
“A-Abe-san, you left your cell phone at the club. I-if you want, I can drop it off at your apartment b-before school. C-call me back if you want to. Um. Bye.”
Abe stares at the answering machine until it registers that Mihashi hadn’t left his number and then contemplates who to call. His best bet is Momokan, but his boss is the scariest woman Abe has ever met; he decides not to risk it and calls Hanai instead.
“You’d better have a damn good reason for calling.”
Abe laughs. He’s been told it’s a creepy laugh. He doesn’t really care. “What would your regulars say if they heard you talking like that?”
“You’re not a customer. You’re a pain in my ass. Now what do you want, Abe?”
Abe doesn’t waste time. The sooner he can call Mihashi, the sooner he can get to sleep. “Do you have Mihashi’s number?”
Hanai doesn’t. Tajima does. Abe can hear him being impossibly energetic in the background and is once again weirded out by the fact that they live together. It also gives new meaning to Hanai’s annoyance at being bothered, and Abe hangs up as soon as he gets the number.
Mihashi picks up on the first ring. It makes Abe wonder if he sat there, staring at his phone and waiting. He almost wants to ask Mihashi what he would have done if Abe hadn’t called, but Mihashi would probably take five minutes to stutter through an answer and what Abe really wants is to sleep.
“H-hello?”
“Mihashi. It’s Abe. There’s no need to drop it off in the morning.” Abe doesn’t say that it’s because he plans on sleeping until late afternoon. “Just come to work a few minutes early and give it to me then.”
“O-okay, Abe-san. S-see you tomorrow.”
God, the kid’s personality is annoying. Abe rolls his eyes and hangs up.
It’s a good thing he wasn’t hired to be friendly, he thinks the next day, phone safely in his pocket and Mihashi safely on the other side of the club. No, half of the customers who choose him do it because of his glare and the other half because of some tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold-fantasy; Abe could care less about their reasons, just that he’s the third most popular host at the club, right after Tajima, who is the epitome of what a host should be, and Hanai, who is so squeaky clean the ladies who choose him can pretend they’re on a real date and not at a host club at all.
Then Momokan demands that everyone line up in front of her and Mihashi is no longer safely on the other side of the club. “Okay, everybody. Because Izumi is stupid and waited until half an hour before opening to tell me he was too sick to come in today, I don’t have time to call any replacement hosts in. So we’re going to have to use one of the waiters or busboys. Who here can pull off innocent?”
A few of the more ambitious waiters raise their hands; Mihashi just shakes and tries to hide and run away at the same time. Momokan notices, and stares at him. Mihashi starts crying. Momokan grins. Mihashi starts bawling. Abe understands the urge-Momokan’s grin is a frightening one.
“Abe!”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“I think we have a high school uniform in back that will fit Mihashi. Go with him and have him try it on.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Rest of you, back to work!”
Mihashi looks surprisingly good in the all-black uniform. It’s young, but it suits him, the way it used to suit Tajima before he dropped boyishness for a more pronounced sexuality. Abe thinks personally that it suits Mihashi better, not that he’d say it. Except maybe to Tajima.
It’s not that Abe is a mean person. It’s just that people from work are people he sees at work, and he doesn’t want the trouble of having to be more than one person at once. He reminds himself of this as Mihashi trembles and weeps in front of him.
He wants to brush Mihashi off with a simple, “You’ll do fine,” and leave him on his own. Instead he thinks about the women who would eat Mihashi alive and says, “Just follow my lead.” Then he tells Momokan that Mihashi will be staying with him for the evening. Momokan okays it, but reminds him that working as a team means the night’s sales are split between the both of them. Abe doesn’t mind. There was a reason Momokan chose Mihashi after all. He’s sure his half won’t be too much less than his usual solo sales.
Mihashi is still shaking. Abe sighs, and he swears Mihashi jumps. As Mihashi’s eyes dart from side to side, Abe wonders what made him think he could work in a host club in the first place. He’s lucky; Momokan’s club is not like other places and nobody comes here expecting anything more than conversation. He wonders suddenly if this is what’s bothering Mihashi and tells him not to worry, nobody at Momokan’s expects him to have sex with the customers, and in fact, Momokan has a rule against it. Mihashi pales, and Abe realizes that instead of helping he has just added something else for Mihashi to worry about.
Abe takes a deep breath. “If we’re going to be working together tonight, you need to tell me what’s wrong.”
Mihashi just nods at him, eyes huge, and Abe resists the urge to take him by the shoulders and shake him. Instead Abe takes another breath and forces himself to wait patiently. Mihashi grows increasingly more agitated. Abe doesn’t understand why, but opening is in ten minutes and he still doesn’t know what’s wrong with Mihashi-it’s starting to make him agitated himself.
Mihashi opens his mouth, and Abe waits. And waits some more. It takes forever for Mihashi to speak. “I-I don’t w-want to be a burden to Abe-san!” is what he finally confesses.
Abe tries not to roll his eyes. “Just do what I say and you won’t be. Now try smiling. The customers will be here soon.”
Mihashi grabs the sides of his face and pulls. Abe begins to suspect that it’s going to be a very, very long night.
It starts off that way. Abe has to lean over and whisper instructions into Mihashi’s ear, but for some reason that flusters Mihashi and makes it so it takes five tries for Mihashi to tell the nice ladies his name. Thankfully, they don’t seem to mind. Mihashi’s next mistake is pointing to the cheapest thing on the menu when they ask him what his favorite alcohol is-Abe can feel the night’s earnings dwindling away, but then Mihashi confesses haltingly that he’s never tried anything else and every one of them buys their favorite drink for Mihashi to try, and Mihashi’s expressions are so fantastic it is soon decided that he needs to try everything offered at the club. And so the night goes on, the women cooing at Mihashi slumping redly against Abe’s shoulder, everyone getting progressively drunker, Mihashi most of all.
By the end of the night, Abe is pretty sure they’ve set an all-time record for alcohol sales. Abe, feeling benevolent with the night’s success, takes Mihashi home with him when the club closes, because Mihashi is too drunk to tell Abe where he lives, and definitely too drunk to get wherever that is by himself. Mihashi passes out on Abe’s bed as soon as Abe gets him inside. He’s cute, asleep like that in a high school uniform, and Abe lets himself think it because he’s drunk, before passing out next to him.
The next day, Momokan decides that Mihashi is ready to be hosting on his own. Abe looks over to see Mihashi looking like he’s about to faint, and also like he really wants to say something.
“What is it?”
Mihashi’s mouth opens and closes a few times. Abe thinks he looks a lot like a bird. He waits, and thinks he’s getting better at the patience thing. It’s either that or Mihashi has learned to speak up faster; it doesn’t feel like an eternity has passed by the time Mihashi finally gets out what he’d been wanting to say:
“I-I want to stay with Abe-san!”
Abe shrugs, finding he doesn’t mind. He says so. Momokan doesn’t mind either.
Mihashi’s eyes sparkle. “I think Abe-san is amazing!”
Abe doesn’t blush. He reminds himself of this and then runs to the bathroom to splash water on his face lest his reputation be ruined.
Later, when one of the customers comments that putting Abe and Mihashi together was the best idea the club ever had, Abe lets Mihashi do the blushing. He feels Mihashi tremble beside him and notices half the women at their table appear to be swooning. Abe smirks. Tajima and Hanai are going down.
Part 4
Fandom: Oofuri
Characters: Abe/Mihashi, Tajima/Hanai, Momokan
Rating: PG-13 for the depraved world of hosting
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Notes: Still for shikishi. Still totally unbeta'd. :|
Abe stumbles into his apartment at six in the morning to find his answering machine beeping with the light blinking red. The first message is from his mother, her weekly phone call telling him to stop shaming their family and to come home. The second is his younger brother, telling him to quit his sleazy job and go back to university before their parents die of heartache. The third is from Haruna-san, but Abe deletes it before the last syllable of his name gets out. The fourth is from Mihashi, the wimpy new busboy at the club.
“A-Abe-san, you left your cell phone at the club. I-if you want, I can drop it off at your apartment b-before school. C-call me back if you want to. Um. Bye.”
Abe stares at the answering machine until it registers that Mihashi hadn’t left his number and then contemplates who to call. His best bet is Momokan, but his boss is the scariest woman Abe has ever met; he decides not to risk it and calls Hanai instead.
“You’d better have a damn good reason for calling.”
Abe laughs. He’s been told it’s a creepy laugh. He doesn’t really care. “What would your regulars say if they heard you talking like that?”
“You’re not a customer. You’re a pain in my ass. Now what do you want, Abe?”
Abe doesn’t waste time. The sooner he can call Mihashi, the sooner he can get to sleep. “Do you have Mihashi’s number?”
Hanai doesn’t. Tajima does. Abe can hear him being impossibly energetic in the background and is once again weirded out by the fact that they live together. It also gives new meaning to Hanai’s annoyance at being bothered, and Abe hangs up as soon as he gets the number.
Mihashi picks up on the first ring. It makes Abe wonder if he sat there, staring at his phone and waiting. He almost wants to ask Mihashi what he would have done if Abe hadn’t called, but Mihashi would probably take five minutes to stutter through an answer and what Abe really wants is to sleep.
“H-hello?”
“Mihashi. It’s Abe. There’s no need to drop it off in the morning.” Abe doesn’t say that it’s because he plans on sleeping until late afternoon. “Just come to work a few minutes early and give it to me then.”
“O-okay, Abe-san. S-see you tomorrow.”
God, the kid’s personality is annoying. Abe rolls his eyes and hangs up.
It’s a good thing he wasn’t hired to be friendly, he thinks the next day, phone safely in his pocket and Mihashi safely on the other side of the club. No, half of the customers who choose him do it because of his glare and the other half because of some tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold-fantasy; Abe could care less about their reasons, just that he’s the third most popular host at the club, right after Tajima, who is the epitome of what a host should be, and Hanai, who is so squeaky clean the ladies who choose him can pretend they’re on a real date and not at a host club at all.
Then Momokan demands that everyone line up in front of her and Mihashi is no longer safely on the other side of the club. “Okay, everybody. Because Izumi is stupid and waited until half an hour before opening to tell me he was too sick to come in today, I don’t have time to call any replacement hosts in. So we’re going to have to use one of the waiters or busboys. Who here can pull off innocent?”
A few of the more ambitious waiters raise their hands; Mihashi just shakes and tries to hide and run away at the same time. Momokan notices, and stares at him. Mihashi starts crying. Momokan grins. Mihashi starts bawling. Abe understands the urge-Momokan’s grin is a frightening one.
“Abe!”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“I think we have a high school uniform in back that will fit Mihashi. Go with him and have him try it on.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Rest of you, back to work!”
Mihashi looks surprisingly good in the all-black uniform. It’s young, but it suits him, the way it used to suit Tajima before he dropped boyishness for a more pronounced sexuality. Abe thinks personally that it suits Mihashi better, not that he’d say it. Except maybe to Tajima.
It’s not that Abe is a mean person. It’s just that people from work are people he sees at work, and he doesn’t want the trouble of having to be more than one person at once. He reminds himself of this as Mihashi trembles and weeps in front of him.
He wants to brush Mihashi off with a simple, “You’ll do fine,” and leave him on his own. Instead he thinks about the women who would eat Mihashi alive and says, “Just follow my lead.” Then he tells Momokan that Mihashi will be staying with him for the evening. Momokan okays it, but reminds him that working as a team means the night’s sales are split between the both of them. Abe doesn’t mind. There was a reason Momokan chose Mihashi after all. He’s sure his half won’t be too much less than his usual solo sales.
Mihashi is still shaking. Abe sighs, and he swears Mihashi jumps. As Mihashi’s eyes dart from side to side, Abe wonders what made him think he could work in a host club in the first place. He’s lucky; Momokan’s club is not like other places and nobody comes here expecting anything more than conversation. He wonders suddenly if this is what’s bothering Mihashi and tells him not to worry, nobody at Momokan’s expects him to have sex with the customers, and in fact, Momokan has a rule against it. Mihashi pales, and Abe realizes that instead of helping he has just added something else for Mihashi to worry about.
Abe takes a deep breath. “If we’re going to be working together tonight, you need to tell me what’s wrong.”
Mihashi just nods at him, eyes huge, and Abe resists the urge to take him by the shoulders and shake him. Instead Abe takes another breath and forces himself to wait patiently. Mihashi grows increasingly more agitated. Abe doesn’t understand why, but opening is in ten minutes and he still doesn’t know what’s wrong with Mihashi-it’s starting to make him agitated himself.
Mihashi opens his mouth, and Abe waits. And waits some more. It takes forever for Mihashi to speak. “I-I don’t w-want to be a burden to Abe-san!” is what he finally confesses.
Abe tries not to roll his eyes. “Just do what I say and you won’t be. Now try smiling. The customers will be here soon.”
Mihashi grabs the sides of his face and pulls. Abe begins to suspect that it’s going to be a very, very long night.
It starts off that way. Abe has to lean over and whisper instructions into Mihashi’s ear, but for some reason that flusters Mihashi and makes it so it takes five tries for Mihashi to tell the nice ladies his name. Thankfully, they don’t seem to mind. Mihashi’s next mistake is pointing to the cheapest thing on the menu when they ask him what his favorite alcohol is-Abe can feel the night’s earnings dwindling away, but then Mihashi confesses haltingly that he’s never tried anything else and every one of them buys their favorite drink for Mihashi to try, and Mihashi’s expressions are so fantastic it is soon decided that he needs to try everything offered at the club. And so the night goes on, the women cooing at Mihashi slumping redly against Abe’s shoulder, everyone getting progressively drunker, Mihashi most of all.
By the end of the night, Abe is pretty sure they’ve set an all-time record for alcohol sales. Abe, feeling benevolent with the night’s success, takes Mihashi home with him when the club closes, because Mihashi is too drunk to tell Abe where he lives, and definitely too drunk to get wherever that is by himself. Mihashi passes out on Abe’s bed as soon as Abe gets him inside. He’s cute, asleep like that in a high school uniform, and Abe lets himself think it because he’s drunk, before passing out next to him.
The next day, Momokan decides that Mihashi is ready to be hosting on his own. Abe looks over to see Mihashi looking like he’s about to faint, and also like he really wants to say something.
“What is it?”
Mihashi’s mouth opens and closes a few times. Abe thinks he looks a lot like a bird. He waits, and thinks he’s getting better at the patience thing. It’s either that or Mihashi has learned to speak up faster; it doesn’t feel like an eternity has passed by the time Mihashi finally gets out what he’d been wanting to say:
“I-I want to stay with Abe-san!”
Abe shrugs, finding he doesn’t mind. He says so. Momokan doesn’t mind either.
Mihashi’s eyes sparkle. “I think Abe-san is amazing!”
Abe doesn’t blush. He reminds himself of this and then runs to the bathroom to splash water on his face lest his reputation be ruined.
Later, when one of the customers comments that putting Abe and Mihashi together was the best idea the club ever had, Abe lets Mihashi do the blushing. He feels Mihashi tremble beside him and notices half the women at their table appear to be swooning. Abe smirks. Tajima and Hanai are going down.
Part 4