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It was one of those days where his unit was the only people left in the Production, still practicing because of the upcoming live. The choreography was in sync and their notes were impeccable, as his Senpai would say.
Tsubasa was the second to take a shower after dance practice, Teru would shower after him and Kaoru-san was already done and was drying his hair in the lounge of the office. Kaoru-san only stuck around because they agreed to have a meal together before the live in a week. It had become somewhat of a tradition for DRAMATIC STARS to eat out together before important events thanks to Tsubasa always insisting on it, Teru and Kaoru just couldn’t resist his puppy eyes.
The former pilot turned off the water and stepped out of the shower to dry himself when a stinging pain in his wrist reminded him that he shouldn’t use it too much. Kaoru had said that he most likely overstretched his wrist during practice but that it should heal until the live if he kept it as still as possible.
Trying not to use his right hand, he dried himself off only using his left, he didn’t want to hold his unit back or be a bother to them. Kaoru and Teru worked so hard to reach their dreams and Tsubasa already felt like he was slowing them down, he didn’t want to make this worse for them.
When he got to drying his hair is where his problem started. He was left-handed, so you’d think that it shouldn’t be too hard to complete simple daily tasks with his strong hand but for some reason Tsubasa really struggled to keep his grip on the towel while drying his hair. It kept slipping out of his hand because of the friction and the little drying he managed to do, didn’t really seem to help much. He sighed and gave up on that. His hair was short, it would dry on the way to the restaurant. Plus it was summer, so the evening air wouldn’t be cold, Kaoru didn’t have to worry about him possibly catching a cold.
Tsubasa got dressed, careful not to use his injured hand, and put his hair towel around his neck so the water wouldn’t drip on his clothes. He went out into the office and smiled at his two unit members who seemed to be too exhausted from practice to bicker at each other for once.
“Sorry for taking longer, Teru-san. You can go now.” The former lawyer nodded and jumped up from where he was sitting on the couch “I’ll try and be quick! Can’t promise anything though.” He said before heading to the showers Tsubasa just left.
“He won’t be quick.” Kaoru muttered by the window, with his usual stoic look turned away from his unit mates. With the soft sunset lighting that the former surgeon was standing in, they could take some promotional photos, Tsubasa thought. For a magazine perhaps, or maybe as a signature card.
He chuckled and walked over to his Senpai “Well, we’re not in a hurry, are we?”
Kaoru eyed him for a while, probably internally complaining about having better things to do, Tsubasa guessed. “Why is your hair still wet?”
“Oh uh… I couldn’t really manage to dry it with only one hand. Bothersome, huh?” Tsubasa chuckled a bit awkwardly.
Kaoru didn’t say anything for a while as he looked at Tsubasa. The taller one started feeling a little uneasy at that intense stare. Had he managed to upset Kaoru?
“Sit down.” the black haired man simply said and pointed in the direction of the couch.
“H-Huh?” Tsubasa was very much confused and also a little bit scared. Did he really somehow offend Kaoru by not drying his hair?
“I said sit down, Kashiwagi.”
Tsubasa swallowed and hesitantly made his way to the couch that Teru had been sitting on just a few minutes ago. He heard the heels of Kaoru’s shoes with every step he took, confident as always, but he didn’t walk next to him. The surgeon walked behind the couch and stopped behind Tsubasa, who didn’t dare move his head to check what his Senpai was doing. He had no reason to be scared, right? Right?
The towel he had hung around his neck was taken away and the next thing he felt was a soft weight on his head as Kaoru began to dry his hair. The pilot released a small breath, he didn’t knew he was holding, and allowed himself to relax.
With Kaoru gently drying his wet hair, Tsubasa only now realized what a kind gesture that was. If you were to ask the brunette, he’d answer “Kaoru-san is always kind. Well, most of the time he is.” And he did believe what he was saying. The doctor didn’t show that he cared or that he liked someone much, but one could tell from little signs he would give occasionally.
Like taking care when someone got injured. Kaoru claimed it was just a force of habit but whenever he cared for the sick or injured, his eyes would soften just a little bit. It wasn’t just his eyes but also his body language. Whenever kids or animals were nearby, his movements were not as stoic and sharp as they usually would be. The most telling part though was his voice. It happened very rarely but sometimes when it was just the two of them, Kaoru’s voice turned much softer than it was with everyone else. His soft voice and also the soft look he would give Tsubasa sometimes, made his heart beat a little faster every time.
To be fair, he wasn’t sure whether it was just him noticing all of those details or if it was really obvious, but he didn’t really care either way. As long as he got to cherish those little moments, he was happy. But something physical like drying his hair for him was new, Kaoru had always been distant and not very touchy unlike Teru.
“This is just a one-time thing, Kashiwagi.” The pilot heard him say from behind him and Tsubasa felt himself smile widely because that softness was back in his voice. He wanted to see if his eyes were just as soft so he slowly lifted his chin to look up at his Senpai “That’s alright, Kaoru-san. Thank you.”
And there he was, looking down at Tsubasa with just a hint of fondness in his eyes that he doubts anyone else gets to see often. But not just that, Kaoru also let a small smile slip when their eyes met. That expression warmed Tsubasa’s heart to its core and thoughts of wanting to see this type of face from his co-Star more often started to cross his mind.
Before he could look at those blue eyes longer, Kaoru gently pushed his head back down to finish drying his hair. The movement against his hair stopped soon and the now damp towel was placed on a small table besides the couch.
The atmosphere in the Production was serene and calm. The space that was usually loud and filled with people, was now filled by only the two of them. Even though Tsubasa had been scared of Kaoru’s intent at first, now he found sitting there with the black haired behind him incredibly relaxing. He was a little surprised at how content he felt to just be next to his friend with no need to say anything.
Tsubasa was almost sad that his hair was dry now but decided to let it go and cherish the memory. He got up and smiled at the shorter man when they heard the shower go off. Neither of them even realized when Teru had turned it on in the first place. Both of them began to gather their bags and stood by the door while Teru still got dressed when Kaoru spoke up once more, meeting Tsubasa’s eyes.
“For the record, you are not bothersome.”
Kaoru could’ve sworn in that moment, between him saying that and Teru jumping out of the shower seconds later, Tsubasa had never looked more like a happy puppy before.