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sambart93 · 5 years

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2018.10.26 and 29 Teito Tantei Kitan Zigomar [Review]

Official Website here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4

CAST and CHARACTERS

Hiroya as Z (Zigomar / Jigoma) Hattori Takeo as Mikasa Yumenosuke (Private Detective) Ebihara Yuka as Mutou Yuuko (Kidnapped by Zigoma) Hanaoka Meika as Hanasaki Mayuko (Mikasa's Assistant) Kadono Sho as Kitamiko Saburo (Chief Policeman) Tanaka Hiroki as Sumi Arata (Newbie Policeman) Oda Toshiki as Hira Tarou (Journalist)

Adachi Yuna as Tokage (meaning 'lizard' - Phantom Theif) Sawada Maria as Ando Ayako (Opera Singer)

Umehara Saeri as Aikawa Tamako (Tetsujiro's Girlfriend/Wife) Kuroki Kiko as Doi Shiori (Adopted Sister?) Tatsuya Yuu as Kobayashi Tetsujiro (Saved by Mikasa. Admires Mikasa.)

Working For Zigomar:

Hinagata Ui as Tsukishiro Tei Ogura Eriko as Sunaga Tokiko

Working for Fukiya:

Maruyama Raiden* as Gondawara Kouzou Odagiri Masayo as Harukara Meiko Souji Masato as Hitomi Hirosuke Kamidochi Kanki as Naoki Osamu

Terumi as Fukiya Kiyoshi

W Cast:

Kai Chiaru / Oota Saki as Saito Kanoko (Yuuko's Maid) Ashikaga Itaru / Oda Shunpei as Mifune Saburo (Powerful Politician, Yuuko's Husband) Ihara Yu / Umeda Shohei as Tsujioka Fumisuke (Works for Zigomar)

*DAMN that's a REALLY good name!

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: My expectations for ASSH are always high and they ALWAYS met! They always make such amazing stages that are pleasing in so many ways! This stage was just as high quality as their previous ones; great in-depth amazing story with characters that you just want to know personally and in-depth - seriously, every single one of them I got very attached and/or interested in ! -, the darkness and the themes of the story was great, they always have a message that leaves you thinking, the costumes were well made and the theme was super interesting; and as per usual I was left wanting more, wanting another installment! I loved the messaged for this play which was very much 'how do we decide whether a character is good or bad?' because every character in this stage is flawed, every character in this has their reasons as to why their actions are justified, each character has a charming point that makes you believe their motives are the right ones. I just love that ASSH always poses such questions in their stages and has these types of characters. In true ASSH style, it is not a happy ending. They keep it partially raw and real and dark! The characters that stood out to me the most were obviously Zigomar and Mikasa, but I also got super invested in Hanasaki, Hirosuke, Naoki, Gonda and Kitamiko! I wanted to know so much more about them and their character scenes and arcs are great. Espeically for Gonda and Hirosuke; their arcs were GOLD. I was so invested and so affected by their storylines. I really hope we get a next installment, especially with the random mind-blowing reveal we get at the end of the play, and I am sure they'll find a way to kind of 'undo' what happens at the end so they can make a second stage out of this. It seriously deserves one and I seriously want one! Thank you ASSH for consistently producing and giving me great, solid stages! Rating: 9/10

SPOILER REVIEW

I have no idea where to start with this, as per bloody usual, but I shall try!

Aesthetics

First I loved the visuals of this stage; I love how the stage looked, I loved the costumes (and how all of them except Zigoma had words on parts of their costumes which were lines from the script); I loved the ending where letters dropped from the ceiling and onto the floor; it was very visually appealing. Although ONE actress did have boots on and at the beginning they were not equal length and OCD me found it very annoying xD but she soon fixed them by the next time she came back on stage.

Story

The Main Plot is: A guy who calls himself Zigoma is running around killing politicians and the police force want to know why and want to stop him before he kills anymore. Also during his first political kill, the kidnaps the wife of the politician and a private detective has been hired to find and save this now-widow. But what is unveiled is so much more...

This show actually had two versions; the Detectives Side and the Bad Guys Side which means there should be a scene change or two between the two shows.

I really enjoyed the story; I loved the discussion and themes of ‘who is right?’ and ‘Is everyone’s individual motive justifiable?’. And we had the mystery of ‘who is Zigoma?’ and ‘why is he doing it?’ and ‘why does he do it?’ which gave some really great punches and revelations. Also the plot twists and the shocker ending were just perfect! I did not see some of them coming and that ending really was a great cherry on the top of the cake! But I won’t spoil it too much right now.

One question/theme that runs throughout the play is whether Zigoma’s motives are justifiable or not. And we get to one part of the play where Mikasa comments ‘I think he’s just doing it for fun. Just because he can.’ but later one Zigoma expresses his desire to change the political climate, to change those in power, almost like a Guy Fawkes (info here) type of character. But then right at the end, when all hope for Zigoma escaping is gone, he cracks. He starts to laugh insanely and then yells at Mikasa ‘you were right! You saw right through me! All along I was doing it just because it’s fun!’. This somewhat internally breaks Mikasa because he didn’t want to be right; he wanted a more logical reason as to why Zigoma did what he did. It’s such a good moment and it really makes the audience think: was Zigoma lying in this moment of insanity? Was he killing off politicians because they were simply shitty, corrupt politicians? Or was he really just doing it because he could? Also, it makes you think, if he was doing it because those in power were corrupt, doesn’t that then make him a hero and not a villain? This theme really messed with my brain and really made me think and I LOVED IT!

There is another scene in the play, that also makes you question Zigoma’s motives. Right at the beginning there is the very first murder of a politician (Mifune Saburo) which everyone thinks Zigoma did because the body discovered was covered in a towel that had the mark ‘Z’ on it. But then at about the mid-point of the story, we learn that in fact the maid of the house had killed the politician because he was not only abusing his wife but was also raping the maid, and she has finally had enough and killed him. However, that night Zigoma had actually come with the intention of killing him anyway so he tells the maid to tell everyone ‘this was my kill!’ and so left the flag on the body. We also find out later that the reason why Zigoma kidnapped Mifune’s wife (Mutou Yuuko) after the murder, is because they actually were original betrothed to each other before she got forced into her marriage with Mifune, which is just like ‘he saved her?! he protected her?! He still loves her?!’ so again, it creates all these questions and such in your brain that you just have to think through and make a decision on. Also once Yuuko realises who Zigoma is, she takes his side completely and helps him out, so she too still has feelings for him! Just waaaahhh?! But then in another twist of fate, right at the end he kills her anyway!! To which I was like ‘waaaahhh?!’ even more!

I adore the ending so much; not the fact that everyone dies at the end, but how it’s visually shown. They die due to a bomb going off, destroying the building they’re in (again, very Guy Fawkes like!), and just as they all drop dead, letters from the ceiling fall down onto their bodies, and the flags at the back of the stage drop down too. I absolutely loved this visual touch! It was amazing and beautiful.

Another plot twist that had me like ‘HOLY HELL! WHAT?!’ was at the very last scene. But first, some back story: the very first scene of the stage is the actor for Hira Tarou, explaining the backstory and setting of the story. Then IN the story, we meet Tarou who is a very good journalist who just happens to know that Mikasa and co. are trying to stop Zigoma. Because Tarou has some inside sources, they let him join their adventure and story. So we don’t really suspect him for the most part, but we do have one moment in the play where Mikasa asks ‘how do you know all this (secret) stuff?’ and Tarou simply replies ‘well I have informants in the police’ and they just brush it off. But right at the very end, when everyone else is dead, on the floor, on the stage, Tarou comes to the center to finish the narration of the story; he reveals (right at the end!!) that he is in fact Edogawa Ranpo, shuts the book in his hand, black out, stage finishes. I was like ‘wait... he’s.... EDOGAWA RANPO!?!?’ again, MIND BLOWN! I did not see that coming at all! And it was such a good, juicy and powerful reveal! It was so good!

Characters

I really liked how everyone got involved in the main story, and I loved all the different ‘factions’ within the story too! We had about six different groups within the story. We had the Detective and his sidekick alongside the police; Zigoma and his posse of followers; bystanders who get super nosey in the Detective’s business; A trio friendship between Meiko, Hirosuke and Naoki; An ambitious opera singer and a Phantom Thief who somehow get caught up in it all without meaning to; Kiyoshi and his clan of servants. I think those are the six main groups. So you can see the big dynamic difference between some and the similarities between others.

The richness and depth of these characters you get from them even though we barely spend two hours with them on stage is just amazing. I fell for some characters so quickly and so hard! I was completely invested in every single one of them! I seriously don’t understand how ASSH consistently makes big casts, but still manages to make every character so rich and different! I don’t understand how we haven’t had a mass crossover of character traits yet in any of their stages! It is just amazing! Characters that I automatically loved just because I love the actors were: Zigoma and Arata. Characters who completely won my heart over throughout the play were: Tokage, Hirosuke, Mikasa, Kitamiko and Hanasaki! I loved all the characters to be honest but the MVP, the one who I ended up completely loving and rooting for and took a lot of my attention was Hirosuke! I don’t know why; maybe because he was visually pleasing, but also his character development was so great! I also loved his relationship with some of the characters! Just... I need to go into spoilers to flail about this boy! So are you ready?

So the main story with Hirosuke is that he and his two close/best friends (Meiko and Naoki) decided to work for Fukiya so that they could have a better and less poor life. But it turns out Fukiya is the worst, and Fukiya orders Meiko and Hirosuke to murder Naoki because he discovers that Naoki is trying to trick and betray him. So while Meiko begs him not to kill Naoki, Hirosuke does it anyway. This obviously breaks his heart and tears him apart. Later on we see Meiko asking Hirosuke to stop following Fukiya, to leave with her and it get away from all this but Hirosuke follows orders, ‘this is for the better’ and shoots her dead. This obviously destroys him too and after killing her. I loved seeing the internal struggle that he had within himself; does he follow his boss? does he follow his heart? does he follow his friends? does he put power over friendship first. I love how we see it eat him from the inside! And that is why he is my favourite! I also love the little scene he has with Tokage at the beginning; she’s the phantom thief who’s being stealing things for Fukiya, but she has never shown her face - she always has him at gun point or knife point, forcing him to look the other way and never see her face. And the beginning of this play, he says ‘just once, could I see your face?’, but it’s not until right at the very end when all the characters have gathered together, that he finally gets to see her, and you can see how happy he is! I love the friendship/slight-romance we have between these two.

Relating to those three, there is a butler, Gondawara, who works alongside Hirosuke and Meiko, and also tries to protect them (and others) many times. I absolutely adored him. He had such a short role but I love how he protected Saito Kanoko and then persuades her to eventually tell the truth about Mifune’s death. He was also the one who stood in the way of Hirosuke and Tei, trying to get Hirosuke to come to his senses and giving him a chance to run away but this ultimately leads to Gonda’s death. He was such a sweet character and I’m so sad he died, and so quickly too!

Gonda’s death is thanks to Tei who has a short but very interesting story line! The girl is addicted to Opium. And once on the opium, she becomes absolutely obsessed with killing. So much so that she attacked and killed Gonda. The cops also try to stop her by shooting her in the leg but because of the drugs, she doesn’t feel it and instead just starts dragging herself across the floor. She finally drags herself back to Zigoma and her crew, but Zigoma deems her insane and that she has lost the real reason why they are killing people, so Zigoma kills her.

Of course, I can’t talk about the characters without talking about our young, new detective Arata, who also goes by the nickname of ‘Suspender-kun’ because he always wears suspenders! He was adorable! He was a fresh, raring to go new detective and I absolutely loved his relationship with his boss, Saburo! They were such a hilarious comedy duo! And Hiroki/Arata on his own did a damn good job being funny and hilarious too! Also Saburo himself was hilarious as a solo artist!

Let me tell you about their ridiculousness: In the very first scene where they introduce themselves, Saburo is completely over the top and takes off his jacket and just drops it on the floor, then later on Arata throws it back to him but he lets it drop. The timing was absolutely perfect and was absolutely hilarious! Another scene is when Arata decides he’s going to seriously help and Saburo finally calls him ‘Arata’ instead of ‘suspender-kun’, so he gets really happy and really dramatic and holds himself against a wall, and Saburo comes over and comments ‘you idiot’ before slapping him on the butt xD

Another character I enjoyed was the Tantei’s assistant: Hanasaki Mayuko. She was an adorable dork!! I absolutely adored her! And she really shone during her adlibbed comedy scenes! Not only did she get the crowd laughing, but even Mikasa’s actor Hattori was having a hard time keeping a straight face at times xD She was so cute and funny and sweet and adorable! I really liked her! One scene that stood out to me for her: Hanasaki and the Youkan (a thick, jellied Japanese dessert made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar)! Kanoko brings Youkan to the detective as a thanks for saving her and for all their hard work on trying to find Yuuko. But turns out Hanasaki LOVES youkan so she tries to eat all of it through various ways, either offering to Mikasa (who she knows will say no), and quickly trying to eat another piece straight after. But because of this, natural comedy came out where she was trying to say her lines while her mouth was full of food xD also trying to be like ‘oh Mikasa doesn’t like youkan. DO YOU? No you don’t! Didn’t think so! More for me!!’ which was so cute.

Speaking of Mikasa, about part-way through the play, there’s a flashback-slash-fever dream where Mikasa is talking to Zigoma, and Zigoma is like ‘what’s the real reason you became a private detective instead of a policemen? You know deep down the real reason why!’ so that makes me think maybe his father had died on the job and that’s why he became a mysterious private detective instead? Or was his father corrupt as well as the police force at the time? So many questions!

One plot twist that I really enjoyed was the reveal that Tokage and Ando Ayako were actually sisters!! When Ayako starts yelling ‘Onee-san // Big Sister’ at one point, I was like “OMG THEY ARE SISTERS?!?!?!’. I totally didn’t see it coming! Especially because, for most of the play Ayako is horrible towards Tokage and is very cold, almost as if they had never met and just got off on the wrong foot straight away! But later on we learn that they do care for each other and they had to pretend not to know each other, in case Tokage ever got caught because she didn’t want to endanger her little sister. I was MIND BLOWN.

There is another twist where Aikawa actually betrays everyone and was working for Zigoma the whole time. Unfortunately I had already cottoned on a few scenes before hand that she was secretly in on it. I don’t know how I knew but I just felt like ‘there must be some other reason why this family of three are in the story’ and there are scenes where she’s left to protect Shioro at time, and Shiori is DUMB AS FUCK, so I wouldn’t put it past Shiori to not notice what Aikawa was up to and too dumb to realise when Aikawa had gone off to plot or make something. So I naturally figured either Shiori was pretending to be this dumb, stupid sister, or Aikawa was a secret mastermind or Tesujiro was pretending to admire Mikasa so he could set him up. I knew something was going on with those three.

Other Notable Moments/Scenes

In true ASSH style we had the whole cast dancing during the opening song. Luckily, Hiroki on the far left when the dance opening song starts.

There is a slow motion fighting scene which I thought was so cool!!! I really enjoyed the slow-mo moment. Also we got live singing! Ando Ayako’s actress Sawada Maria actually sang the opera songs live to us and she also sings the ending song live which is amazing! Her voice is very, very good!!

I really loved how Saburo and Mikasa decide to team up at the end even though they had some differences throughout the play, but for the greater good (!) they team up in the finale!

Some things that specifically happened during my First Show (Detective Version):

I was first row and on the very last seat to the left. The gap between my feet and the stage was practically 0.1cm! So I was super duper close to all the actors! Which was for the most part absolutely terrifying (especially during the fight scenes). However, it did have it’s good moment which I will list right here: towards the end of the show, Hiroki gets into a fight which causes him to get thrown and pinned against a wall. That wall was RIGHT in front of me and my head was at the perfect level for Hiroki’s waist, which means that his butt was right in front of me!!!! Also he smelt really nice xD another moment was the final showdown between Tantei Mikasa and Zigoma, they were fighting and again, they slammed against the wall right next to me!! I was parts freaking out and parts overwhelmed and overjoyed xD

We had a double curtain call, and the ending aisatsu was by Hanasaki who was totally cute and she got very shy and couldn’t remember what she wanted to say. But everyone was giggling at her adorableness xD She was stood next to Hiroki and they were both so cute alongside each other!

Of course it was filming day!! When do I never go on filming day?! xD I am ALWAYS at filming day!!! xD

Second Show (Bad Guy Version):

I went to the senshuuraku (the finale) of this show! They really went all out on the comedy in this final show! Hiroki got hit so hard by Saburo that he started laughing to the side of the stage. Then later Saburo went to pull and release his suspenders and pretended to it the first time, but on the second time he actually let go and it was really hard. Hiroki was rubbing his chest in pain.

Maybe I just didn’t notice in the first show but I feel like in this show, the three people working for Zigoma got their moment of explaining what they wanted and why they joined Zigoma. Maybe this was the scene especially created for this version of the show, or maybe I just missed it the first time round. But I loved getting to know where they came from, their backgrounds and why they joined him.

Another Higawari (daily change) was Gonda saying an Acrostic Poem for Ji-Go-Ma. In the second show, he got a huge round of applause after his Ji-Go-Ma poem because it was just too funny and very good. Unfortunately, I do no remember it *cries*

I also noticed in this second show that there is a moment where Arata and Hanasaki fall in love for a moment after she accidentally touches his arm and that motivates him to help Mikasa on his case some more xD

While in the first show we had Saburo just complete miss catching his jacket through his own lack of calculations, this time it was through Hiroki’s fault; Saburo couldn’t reach far enough to grab his jacket from Hiroki’s throw, it was hilarious.

Another higawari is when Saburo is trying to talk to Arata but Arata get’s super angry straight away: Saburo: Let’s go brat. Arata: *super angry* What did you say?!?! Saburo: Let’s go you brat! Arata: *calms down* Ohh I didn’t hear you! Saburo: *shock* IS THAT WHY YOU GOT MAD?! The scene ends with Hiroki asking Saburo to slap his arm, and they did this wave with their arms before walking off stage xD

In both shows, when Zigoma first appears in front of Yuuko in her house before kidnapping her, he walks in with brandy in a brandy glass and drinks it. In every other show the glass has been half full so it was easy for him to drink. BUT, in this final show Zigoma walked on stage with a GLASS FULL of brandy, and it took him a while to finish it. It was obvious who’d seen the show before because we were the ones cracking up as soon as he walked on stage! So as you can tell, they really went all out on the comedy in this final show! It wasn’t being filmed, they might as well do ridiculous shit and have fun xD

Just before the youkan scene, Hanasaki is in the kitchen making a mess, but then walks on stage and she uses a crashing noise to her advantage. She kept replaying the crash music as Mikasa tried to talk. She tried so hard to get Mikasa’s actor to burst out in laughter but didn’t work; we (the audience) were all dying though.

It was a triple curtain call where we got an announcement for the next stage (the next installment of KimiSaga - review here)!! In March!!! I was (and am!) so excited!!

GOODS

And that’s everything! Sorry it took so damn long to get these reviews out (and I’m still a shit ton behind!) but bare with me xD

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epic-potato-crisp · 6 years

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“A first time for everything” - Ajin Secret Santa 2017

This is my contribution for this year’s Ajin event. To no-one’s surprise, dear

@jamestaylor50 is my giftee. :D I hope you enjoy! Warning: Very sappy. Proceed at own caution.

Merry Christmas!

Title: A first time for everything

Pairing: Tosaki/Izumi

Genres: Romance, Fluff

Fun Fact: Japan has IKEA

Tosaki thinks he might be hallucinating when the first sight that greets him at the hideout is one he never thought he’d see in this place.

“A tree.” he mutters. Not even an artificial one, the thing sitting right into the middle of what is usually used as their conference room seems to be a genuine pine tree. It’s been fastened into a pot underneath. Christmas balls in silver and golden have been hung on the branches, and there are fairy lights ranking themselves around the trunk. A few pine needles have already dropped down and are scattered around the pot’s base. To top off this curiosity, there are presents underneath.

Tosaki clears his throat. “Shimomura!” he calls into the back of the house, but there is no response.

He kneels down to examine the four parcels sitting underneath the tree.

One must be from Shimomura, he thinks and sighs, before pulling out his own present for her and inconspicuously sliding it under the tree.

The others, if it wasn’t apparent from the writing on the name tags already, are from Nagai, Nakano and Ogura. And those three too, were to receive their own presents.

Shimomura had taken the initiative of gifting their youngest and their American team member for Christmas. Tosaki had gone along, with a lot of showcased begrudging and complaints, just so that no-one could possibly pin him as someone who had gone soft over the years. In the end, they found some passable goods, so it was not as bad as it could have been, Tosaki thoughts.

Ogura had taken his gift with him to the States, visiting his family over the holidays.

Nagai and Nakano were to spend Christmas Eve at the Nagai’s house, and Tosaki still vividly remembered the thunderstruck look on Kei’s face when they informed him that it would be for the best if he could take Nakano home for his family’s celebration. He could have stayed with them but after all, neither Tosaki nor Shimomura had ever really celebrated the occasion before and they wanted Nakano to experience a proper Christmas Eve for what was likely going to be his very first celebration in years, as well. New Years, the four of them would celebrate together – again, it had been Shimomura’s i

“It’s just going to be boring and uncomfortable.” Nagai had grumbled, “I don’t see why he has to come. My mum’s going to complain about current politics and nag us to display the proper etiquette of a good member of society, and all that. I can’t guarantee she won’t make any backhand remarks about Ajin, either.”

“If it really is terrible, we can still pick you up.” Shimomura had offered, reaching out to softly pat his head.

Miraculously, Nagai didn’t pull away. “Fine.” he had sighed.

Nakano’s excitement at the prospect of having a REAL CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION had been gargantuan from the second he had been informed. Although being a little nervous to intrude on Kei’s family celebration, he had immediately taken off to purchase gifts, including those for Kei’s mother and sister. And said excitement persisted up until today. Shimomura had received no less than five pictures already, most of which were selfies with Eriko (she was home for the occasion and seemed to be in good spirits) and one into which a beleaguered Kei had been dragged as well. Despite all his complaints, Tosaki can see the smile tugging at the corner of his mouths and with a relief that was completely unwarranted for, he notes that his two certainly-not-charges are also spending a joyful day. Not that it matters to him, naturally.

He startles when he hears the sound of keys further down the long hallway and starts making his way towards the front door.

“Good evening.” Shimomura greets him, teeth slightly chattering. Her face is tinted by a reddish hue, snow falling down from her gloves as she takes them off, before proceeding with her hat and scarf.

“Let me help you with that.” Tosaki offers, and she throws him a smile, stretching out her arms as he helps getting her getting out of her coat.

“Did you get everything you needed?” he asks, glancing over at the two large shopping bags at her side.

“Yes.” she confirms, “More than enough for Christmas dinner and to last us for the next few days.”

“We’re having a Christmas dinner?” He raises an eyebrow.

She appears just as confused, and before she can lift the two bags again, which appear quite heavy at first sight and make him wonder how on earth she carried them all this way, even from the car, he picks them up himself.

“Of course we’re having Christmas dinner.” he says, rolling his eyes, “How could I even ask?”

There’s a humorous glint in her dark eyes. “I’m not planning on poisoning you, Tosaki-san.”

“Really?” he jabs back, going along with her banter, “I thought you planned on finding out if I was an Ajin once for all.”

Shimomura shakes her head. “There’s no need.” she says, softly, “I like you best as as a human.” she says, “That’s more than perfect to me, Yuu.”

It takes a few seconds for her words to sink in. As a blush lightens up Shimomura’s cheeks and she raises her eyes up to him in a light panic, he realizes that she did call him what she thought he did.

Before he can even attempt to assuage her, the name is fine, don’t worry about it, we’re not at work currently so I don’t mind, Shimomura, she had already taken off with a yelp off “I’ll be quick.” Into the direction of the nearest bathroom.

Tosaki sighs, ponders his life, and then takes the grocery bags to the kitchen.

With everything sorted into the fridge and hours to prepare dinner yet, he settles back into their excuse for a living room, sinking onto their newly acquired couch.

“We don’t need a couch. This is a hideout for secret operations.” He had deadpanned, attempting to stare down Nakano and Nagai before they could carry the monstrosity inside.

“Yeah, we do.” Nakano had argued, only a yelled “hey!” from Nagai preventing him from letting go off the piece of furniture in favor of gesturing, “IKEA had a sale, you know?” He was beaming. Tosaki didn’t know what there was to beam about. “ And with just the chairs.” Nakano continued, “Man, it’s not comfortable at all. If we’re going to be here longer, might as well have one. You know, for watching the news. Or movie marathons.”

“We are not having any-“

“Oh, did you boys buy a couch?” Shimomura appears right behind him, and to his demise she appears to be rather thrilled at the purchase, “Thank you for thinking ahead. I wanted to get one all this time, and just never found the right occasion.”

Good that this is settled.” Nagai huffs, straining his arms under the weight of the couch, “Can we just carry it inside now?”

And so, the hideout came to have a couch.

It’s not too bad of an idea, Tosaki admit reluctantly, settling against the pliant cushions, definitely the more comfortable alternative to any of their sturdy chairs.

There’s the sound of steps coming down the stairs, and he finds himself straightening up.

A few seconds later, Shimomura’s standing in the doorway, rubbing her upper arm subconciousy, apparently just as loss with the situation as he is.

“Tosaki-san?”

“Oh…Shimomura.” He isn’t used to seeing her a in a red cardigan, black jeans and black wooly socks, and yet, as much as her usual office look suits her, he can’t deny that it is quite a pleasant sight.

“Matcha?” he asks, gesturing to the two steaming cups he placed on the small glassy table in front of their couch.

“Oh, yes.” she says, surprise evident in her tone, “Thank you. That’s the best after those temperatures outside.”

She takes a seat next to him, glancing over and yet seeming unable to look him in the eye.

Working together all this time, they had spent time like this in close proximity before, so under any circumstances, her behavior would have seemed odd.

But it isn’t.

Today is the first time she called him by his first name, after all. The first time any of them used first names, at all.

“Yuu is fine.” he says, quietly, and she startles, almost spilling her tea when he does.

He takes a deep breath, then, carefully, her breathing slowing audibly as he does, wraps his hand around hers to both offer comfort and steady the cup.

“Yuu is fine.” he repeats, as though she had missed it the first time he said it. Undeniably, he knows she heard every word.

Shimomura’s face turns scarlet and she lowers her eyes to the table.

“I-is it really?” she stammers, and he finds himself nodding.

He clears his throat, a sudden emergence of nervousness in his stomach making it hard for him to speak.

“Yes. And speaking of things that are fine…” he starts, carefully choosing each word, “what about Izumi? Is that – also fine?”

He’s most certainly glad he’s steadying the cup, for otherwise, they would have had to part with the only good china they left at the hide-out in that very moment.

His assistant whips around, staring at him wide-eyed.

“It most certainly is.” she chokes, “S-Sir.”

“Yuu.” He corrects her, unable to hold back a smirk as her face turns aflame the instant the syllable leaves his lips.

“Y-yuu.” She mumbles, heaving her shoulders and only then, meeting his eyes once again.

“Yuu.” She repeats. Then, with a self-conscious laugh, “I could get used to this.

He clears his throat. “Please do.” he says.

“Of course.” She lowers the cup which causes him to temporarily let go off her hands, and he wonders if she was not yet comfortable with the gesture, only to feel the same hand suspiciously resting himself on top his palm the very next second.

“I see.” he states, and hesitates for a moment before he gives his response.

A smile brightens up her face as he links their fingers together.

“Merry Christmas… Izumi.”

16 notes · View notes