Chapter Text
“Quiet day.”
At Aoba's words, Ren looked up from the magazine he'd been idly flipping through.
"Yeah," he agreed. It certainly had been quiet today. No customers had come in since morning, and the phone hadn't rung in well over an hour. There was a part of him that missed being an Allmate and always knowing precisely what time it was, but it was more relaxing to be able to just let time drift by.
"It's nice, though, isn't it?" Aoba added, "For a while there, I thought things might never calm down again!"
"Well, now that those children are in school, they should have less time to make a mess in the store."
Aoba let out a little laugh, "Well, I wasn't thinking about that specifically, but yeah, it's a lot quieter without them around."
Ren smiled slightly, "I think I understand what you mean."
He gently closed the magazine and moved until he was sitting next to Aoba. With a small sigh, he let his head drop onto Aoba's shoulder and hummed happily when Aoba started petting his hair. Even as a human, he still liked being petted.
"Aoba..." he murmured.
"Hmm?"
He had an urge to steal a kiss. He didn't think he should be so daring while they were at work, though. Haga-san was a very kind person, and though he'd been confused when Aoba had tried to explain how Ren had come to have a human body, he'd accepted it readily enough and hired Ren to work at Heibon as well. He probably wouldn't be too surprised if he came into the room and saw Aoba petting Ren's hair, but seeing the two of them kissing might be too much for him to deal with.
Ren shook his head, "Never mind."
The message alert beeped on Aoba's coil and Ren had to fight the habit to say something. He didn't know any sooner than Aoba if there was a message these days, or who it was from. Aoba lifted his wrist to check it, and Ren read over his shoulder. It was from Koujaku. Unsurprising, as Koujaku had always sent Aoba more messages than anyone else. The subject line said 'Good News!'.
'I officially have a salon now!' the message read, 'I'm going out to celebrate this evening. Do you and Ren want to come along?'
"By celebrate, he means drinking, doesn't he?" Ren asked.
"Yeah," Aoba said, "You haven't tried alcohol at all yet. Do you want to go?"
Ren considered it. Aoba had frequently left him at home before when he went out drinking with his friends, and he had seen what a hangover looked like. But then again, Aoba always seemed to be in such a good mood when he came home drunk, it must have been fun enough to make up for the hangovers he would get afterward.
"Yes," he said firmly, "I would like to."
Besides, if he said he wasn't interested in going, Aoba would almost certainly stay home with him. While he did love that Aoba cared so much about him, he didn't want Aoba to neglect his friendships.
Aoba grinned at him, and sent a response back to Koujaku.
"This'll be fun."
Ren hoped so. He was human now, and though he was happy – overjoyed – at the miracle that had been, he still didn't really know how to be human yet. He had once been nothing more than a part of Aoba, but now he was his own person. He loved Aoba, but he knew he needed to have more in his life than just Aoba. It could be gradual, though.
Maybe... 90% Aoba, 10% everything else? That seemed like a ratio he could start with.
~
"Well, give it a try!"
Ren looked at the glass Mizuki had just placed in front of him. Everyone was looking at him. Of the people here, only Aoba, Koujaku, and Mizuki knew the truth about who he was, but the other people who were here to celebrate at least knew that this was the first drink of his life.
Ren picked the glass up and raised it to his mouth, hesitant. He glanced over at Aoba, who gave him a 'go ahead' gesture. He took a deep breath, then put the glass to his lips and took a sip. It was pretty bitter, and burned his tongue. He shuddered a bit in reflex.
"What do you think?" a member of Benishigure asked from behind him.
"Bitter," he said. He took another cautious sip, a little larger this time, and suppressed the shudder. Well, he couldn't say that it tasted good, but it wasn't completely horrible either. "I don't know if I like it."
"Heh, you'll just have to try more, then!" Koujaku said cheerfully. He reached over and ruffled Ren's hair. Ren smiled at him. He appreciated that Koujaku didn't really treat him any differently since he'd become human. Although falling asleep on Koujaku's lap was probably out of the question now that Ren was almost as tall as him.
"I guess so," said Ren, and took a third sip. Some of the attention was drifting away from him, since Ren hadn't really done anything spectacular, and it was a relief. That much direct attention made him very uncomfortable.
"So, your new salon..." Aoba started brightly, "Is that the same place you were looking at last month?"
"Yes," said Koujaku, "I've worked things out with the couple who own the building, they're going to let me pay less in rent for the first year, until I get properly established..."
"Do they know about your fans?" Mizuki asked with a laugh, "You make a fortune!"
Koujaku laughed right back, "Yeah, but it's a lot more expensive to have a shop. I'm going to have to buy a lot of things to get started, and I have to keep track of books... it's going to be way more work than just setting up wherever I want to."
"Perhaps you should hire workers," Ren suggested.
"Ah, that'll make it easier some ways and harder in others," Koujaku said, "I wouldn't be doing everything by myself, but I'd be someone's boss..."
"You already lead Benishigure," Mizuki pointed out, "I have people work for me. It's not really that different."
Koujaku downed the rest of his glass in a single gulp. Ren didn't think he was quite prepared for that yet, though he was getting used to the taste of the alcohol.
"I actually have been thinking about hiring a receptionist at least," Koujaku said, "Maybe someone to clean up, too. The problem is figuring out who to ask. My teammates pretty much all have jobs already. I don't want to hire one of my fans, that's for sure."
Ren laughed, louder than he had intended too. Was that from the drink?
"It's not that funny," Koujaku scowled at him, "Pretty much everyone I might want to work with already has a job."
"How about Clear?" Aoba suggested, "He doesn't seem to have any kind of job, and you get along with him."
Koujaku snorted loudly, "I like Clear just fine, but can you imagine having a guy in a gas mask greeting every customer who walks in?!"
Ren smiled. They had all gotten so used to Clear permanently hiding his face that they sometimes forgot how strange he was to everyone else. He was a good friend, even if he was odd.
Aoba laughed, "I guess not. You could hire him to clean up, though."
"After the store closes, so he can't scare customers away. He probably wouldn't work for me if I told him he had to take his mask off. And that's if I could even find him to ask. He just kind of disappears for days at a time, as far as I can tell... I haven't even seen him in a couple of weeks." Koujaku shrugged, "Well, that's stuff I'll have to figure out as I go! I guess I could just put up a help wanted sign and hope for the best."
He held up his empty glass, "Hey, Mizuki, could you refill this?"
"Sure, sure," Mizuki said, taking the empty glass, "Oh, Ren, do you want another one?"
Ren looked down at his glass, which he had managed to slowly empty while they talked. Huh, he hadn't really noticed. It hadn't felt like he'd taken that many sips... But he was feeling pleasantly warm and relaxed, and he didn't think he'd really had enough to figure out the appeal yet. "Alright," he said.
He accepted the second cup from Mizuki and stayed quiet, but alert to the conversations going on around him, just taking in everyone's words.
“- I never thought you'd find a girlfriend -”
“- Don't laugh! It was really scary, anyone would scream at that part! -”
“- And you could just see their faces go from 'haha!' to 'oh shit!' -”
Ren smiled, and leaned on Aoba's shoulder. This was nice. No wonder Aoba had always enjoyed going out drinking with his friends so much.
"Hey, are you getting drunk already?" Aoba asked affectionately, patting his head.
Ren shook his head, "I don't think so."
"Heh, I think he is," Koujaku said, "Well, it is his first time drinking..."
Aoba pushed him off, but Ren didn't mind. He was feeling pretty good, actually. He smiled at Koujaku, then flopped over onto his shoulder instead.
"Oh, I think we have a cuddly drunk here!" Koujaku teased. He ran his fingers through Ren's hair, scratching lightly as he did. Ren made a happy noise and tried to snuggle in closer, but the bar stool tilted disconcertingly underneath him and he quickly sat up straight.
He looked down, embarrassed, as they laughed at him.
"Maybe I should - " he started.
"Have another drink?" Mizuki cut in, handing him another cup.
"No, I - "
"Oh, come on. You're having fun, aren't you?"
Well, he was. Getting embarrassed for a minute shouldn't be reason to stop. After all, it certainly never seemed to stop Aoba. He nodded hesitantly and accepted the drink.
He finished the third drink much quicker than the first two, and readily accepted a fourth. The taste had stopped bothering him, and the warmth that spread from his stomach outward was very pleasant. He was having trouble keeping his balance on the bar stool, so Koujaku and Aoba shuffled him over to a booth.
"You're a lightweight, huh?" Koujaku asked.
"I feel nice," Ren declared, and hugged him.
"I should have expected that you would be a cuddly drunk," Koujaku ruffled his hair with a warm smile, then sat him on the seat next to Aoba. He didn't feel very balanced, so he leaned against Aoba's shoulder. It was easier than staying upright, and Aoba didn't seem to mind.
"Say, Aoba," Koujaku said, taking the seat across from them.
"Yeah?"
"I don't suppose I could hire you to be my receptionist?" Koujaku asked.
"Nope," Aoba said flatly.
Koujaku laughed, "Ouch! I should have expected it, but still, that was pretty blunt, Aoba."
"We've been friends forever, and that's exactly why I wouldn't want to work for you. Besides, I like working at Heibon. Haga-san is a good boss, and I already know how to do everything."
"Fair enough. Just thought I'd ask."
"I could do it," Ren said, not lifting his head from Aoba's shoulder.
"Eh? But you're working at Heibon, too, aren't you?" Koujaku asked.
Ren shrugged, "Haga-san doesn't need me, he only hired me 'cause he's nice. He's really nice. I've always thought so."
"He is pretty nice, isn't he?" Aoba agreed. He was petting Ren's head again, and Ren missed having a tail to wag. He leaned into Aoba's touch again.
Koujaku laughed, "Tell you what, Ren. I'll ask if you're still interested after you're sober."
"Okay," Ren agreed. He nuzzled into Aoba's shoulder and let the noise drift around him again.
~
He fell asleep on Aoba's shoulder shortly after that conversation. Koujaku and Aoba ended up carrying him home, teasing him all the way, and the next morning he had a terrible headache where all the light was too bright and the sounds were too loud.
"It wouldn't be this bad if you'd drunk the water I tried to give you last night," Aoba scolded him when he finally felt well enough to get out of bed and stagger to the bathroom to wash his face.
"I think I've learned my lesson for next time," Ren said, leaning heavily on the sink. Would he feel better if he soaked his entire head? It might ease the pounding a bit.
"Oh? Next time, huh?" Aoba asked with a chuckle.
"Yes. I had fun last night, even if I feel bad now."
Aoba patted his back, "I'm glad."
Ren splashed a little more water on his face, then straightened up and turned to face his smug-looking lover. He would have been annoyed that Aoba seemed to be amused at his discomfort, but it didn't last long. Aoba was his everything. How could Ren ever be mad at him?
"I'm happy," he said, "Thank you." He leaned forward and kissed Aoba.
"Eww, you have hangover breath," Aoba said when they separated, but he said it with a smile.
"Sorry."
"Brush your teeth and have a shower. I'll go see if I can scrounge up any breakfast."
"Alright," Ren agreed.
The hot shower was soothing, as was the cool tile where he leaned against the wall. Next time he decided to go out with Aoba and his friends, he would be a lot more cautious. He smiled to himself. There would be a next time. He would never be left at home again, unless he wanted to be.
What a nice thought.
~
They weren't scheduled to work at Heibon that day, something that Ren and his persistent hangover were quite grateful for. He wasn't sure that he could handle even a quiet day at work with the way he was feeling. Lying on the couch with his head in Aoba's lap was about his limit. Fortunately, Aoba was happy to indulge him, petting his head idly.
"How are you feeling?" asked Aoba, his voice gentle.
"Better."
Breakfast had helped, and Ren had dutifully drunk all the water Aoba gave him; he still didn't feel good, but he did feel better that he had before.
The door opened and Koujaku's voice called from the entryway, "Aoba, Ren! You two home?"
"We're in the living room," Aoba called back quietly. It was still a little too loud for Ren's over-sensitive ears, but he appreciated the consideration.
"Ah, you're a lucky guy, Ren! I didn't get to lie down with my head in someone's lap during my first hangover."
Ren flinched at Koujaku's voice, covering his ears. "Don't shout!" he whimpered.
"Sorry. Noises are getting to you?" he asked. Ren felt the couch shift, and an extra hand begin to pet his head. He opened his eyes blearily and gave Koujaku a weak smile. Koujaku grinned at him.
"I hope you're not feeling too bad to go out. I want to show off my new place!" He waved a key happily above Ren's head.
Ren wasn't sure he was up to it, but Koujaku looked so excited. Well, at the very least, Aoba could go... Ren would hate for Koujaku to not be able to show off his new salon to his best friend on account of Ren's hangover.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Beni fluttered off of Koujaku's shoulder and landed on Ren's chest, "Ren! If you got too drunk last night to come see our new place today I'll never forgive you!"
Ren smiled at Beni, "Alright, I'll come. The walk will probably help.”
"Exactly!" Beni said, "Mild exercise is good for relieving hangovers. Do you know how many times I've had to remind Koujaku of that? And drink water! Lots of water!"
"Right." Ren remembered giving that exact advice to Aoba more than once when he was an Allmate. Some basic medical advice had been programmed into every Allmate model, but Ren obviously didn't have access to it anymore. Every once in a while, he missed the conveniences of being a machine.
He sat up, relieved that his head didn't throb too painfully when he did, and patted Beni on the head. "Thank you, Beni."
"You're human now, so take care of yourself!" Beni ordered.
Ren nodded, "Yes, I will."
"You'd better!"
"Alright, Beni, I think Ren's got the message," Koujaku said with a laugh, "You don't have to browbeat him, y'know..."
"Humans have a lot more stuff to take care of than Allmates do," Beni said, and flitted back to Koujaku's shoulder, "I'm just reminding him."
"I'm grateful for your concern," Ren said with a smile. Beni had been his best friend when he was a machine, and Ren was making an effort to still be friends with him. Allmates were programmed with only limited emotional ranges, but they did feel things, and Beni's hurt if Ren were to forget about him would be real enough. "Let's go see your salon. I know you're both excited about it."
~
The building was small, but it still gave the impression of being spacious inside, although that may have been at least partially because there was nothing in it. The empty room was echoing a lot, and it was kind of disorienting for Ren, who was still finding ordinary sounds to be just too loud.
"So I'm going to get some mirrors for this wall,” Koujaku said brightly, “I'm going to have two salon chairs, but there's room for four of them, which is good.”
"Two?" Aoba asked, "Aren't you basically only going to be able to work on one girl at a time? You're going to be the only stylist, after all."
"Two," Koujaku confirmed, "I can do certain things with more than one person at a time. For instance, if a girl wants her hair colored, I can start on another customer while she has the dye in... And if things do well enough, I'd like to be able to hire another stylist at some point."
Ren nodded. That made perfect sense to him. Besides, Koujaku knew what he would need and what he was capable of handling. Koujaku didn't seem remotely bothered by Aoba's question, and he pointed towards a door at the back.
"There are bathrooms and a spare room back there, I can use it for storage, and as a place to eat lunch. I need to fix up the bathrooms, though, 'cause they're really cramped and dingy. I want to make sure every part of the building looks good, and women really appreciate it when the bathroom is nice."
Aoba snorted, "I'm pretty sure no woman is going to be coming here to use the bathroom, Koujaku."
"No, but Koujaku is right," Ren said, "If customers are going to see it, it should look nice. I don't think many people would notice if the bathroom was nice as the rest of the shop, but they certainly would if it were dingy or messy."
Aoba looked at him curiously, so Ren elaborated, "Something bad in an otherwise good experience will stick out in a person's memory."
Koujaku grinned at him, "Exactly! You've got an idea of how important the little stuff is. I know I don't have the money to make all the renovations I want to yet, but Hagima's older brother is a plumber, so I can ask it as a favor... pretty much everything else I'll be doing by myself, or maybe with some of my team to help out. I'd like to be able to get this place ready to open by the end of next month."
"Do you guys want to help out?" Beni asked, "It'll basically be a party after the work is done."
"Alright," Ren said. He had enjoyed going out with everyone the night before, after all. He'd just have to be careful not to drink quite as much, or at the very least drink all of the water Aoba gave him.
Koujaku continued describing the plans for his salon, enthusiastically pointing out where he would put furniture, what colors he planned to use (unsurprisingly, there was a lot of red), and what it would cost him to do it. Aoba was kind of bored, Ren could tell, but Ren found it interesting.
"There's a lot of work involved in setting up a business, isn't there?" he asked.
"Yeah," Koujaku said, "I really am going to need to hire employees. I don't think there's any way I could do all of it by myself..." He looked at Ren and smiled, "So I know that you were completely drunk when you offered last night, but I wanted to ask: are you actually interested in working for me?"
"Yes," Ren said, without hesitation. Having his own job would certainly help him define himself as his own person, and Koujaku would certainly understand if Ren took a while to adjust to things.
"That's great!" Beni chirped brightly, "We'll get to hang out more."
"Ren... are you sure?" Aoba asked. He looked surprised, and a little bit hurt.
Ren bit his lip. He certainly didn't want Aoba to think that choosing to work with Koujaku was any kind of rejection. "I enjoy working at Heibon with you," he said, "I always like spending time with you, Aoba. But Haga-san doesn't need me, and I know that he can't really afford to pay me, either."
Aoba still looked a little bit upset, so Ren said, "We'll still spend lots of time together, I promise!"
Aoba stared at him for a moment, then started to laugh. Koujaku was smiling as well.
"Ren is such an earnest guy," he said.
"He is," Aoba agreed, looking at Ren with a fond expression, "Ren, it's alright. I mean, if this is what you really want to do, you don't have to explain yourself to me. Besides..." he reached up and patted Koujaku on the shoulder, "This hippo hairdresser needs all the help he can get."
"Aoba, you're so mean to me..." Koujaku whined.
Aoba just smirked. Ren couldn't help but laugh. Really, it was the little things like this which made him happiest.
"Anyway, it's great that you'll work for me," Koujaku said brightly, dropping his pout fairly quickly, "Ah, I guess I'll need to get an employment contract together for you to sign..."
"That can wait until you're ready for me to start," Ren said, "You already have so much you need to do, especially if you want to be open by next month."
Koujaku grimaced, "Ugh. Yeah. I'm excited, but this is going to be a lot of really hard work."
"You'll have me to help," Ren said. With a smile he added, "Boss."
For some reason, Koujaku's ears went a little pink. Ren thought it was kind of cute.