Title: Only Customer
Rating: G
Fandom: Tokyo Xanadu
Relationship: Takahata Shio/Tokisaka Kou
Wordcount: 500
Short summary: Shougo (OC) finds out the source of Tokisaka's delicious lunches.
Shougo had always wondered how fellow detective Tokisaka would bring such wonderful-smelling food for lunch, especially during periods when everyone at the office was working 12-hour days. One day, Shougo finally had to ask about the source of the food (some of which Tokisaka generously shared with him). Tokisaka smiled and just invited Shougo to join him for dinner.
Shougo was not expecting to be led to a soba shop in the quaint, old shopping street in the Morimiya suburb. After all, lunch today had been katsu curry. He had thought, perhaps, that Tokisaka had a girlfriend who was responsible for the food. Not only was the person responsible not a girl, but a tall, brawny blonde-haired man who could have easily passed as a professional athlete or a member of the police force.
“Yo, Tokisaka. Good timing. I just finished these for you and your coworker, Kato-san.” The blonde man placed two steaming hot bowls of beef ramen in front of Shougo and Tokisaka. Shougo’s mouth was already watering from the smell alone.
“Thanks, Shio-sempai!” Tokisaka turned to Shougo. “It’s okay right?”
“Smells amazing,” Shougo replied. “Thank you…?”
“Takahata Shio.”
Shougo wasn’t even able to introduce himself before Takahata had to return to his duties. Turning to Tokisaka, he asked, “Your sempai?”
Tokisaka nodded. “Yeah. He was the year above me at Morimiya High School.”
Shougo felt himself drawn to Takahata’s movements. Takahata easily carried three boxes in one hand while dodging incoming customers as he made his way out of the restaurant. “…He doesn’t just do this for any underclassman, right?” Takahata looked too busy to be serving just anyone.
Tokisaka scratched his chin. “Uh, stuff happened and we became good friends.”
“I see…” Shougo knew that “stuff happened” was code for something major that Tokisaka wasn’t going to elaborate on. That was fine; everyone had his or her own things they didn’t want to share.
The food had been truly delicious. When Shougo offered his compliments to Takahata (he had just returned from deliveries to check on them) Takahata grinned. “Good to know. Tokisaka is my only real customer.”
“Shio-sempai just helps out here, but he’s not an official worker,” Tokisaka explained. “He used to live here during high school.”
Shougo was intrigued but stayed silent. There was probably a lot of history and he wasn’t sure if either Tokisaka or Takahata would want to share it with him. Instead he watched Tokisaka and Takahata interact. The way they conversed…something about it was very irritating. He could only stand so much listening to people try so hard to accommodate each other on every little thing. When Shougo received a call, he used it as his excuse to leave. Shougo had just gotten on the train when things clicked. He was irritated because Tokisaka and Takahata were clearly…more than friends, to say the least. He wasn’t sure and he really didn’t care, so long as Tokisaka kept offering some of his lunch to share on those hectic days.