Adored [Free!] [KnB]

6

Makoto stood in the doorway of the back room of the cat cafe, blocking Kagami's exit.  Today their shift had been in the middle of the afternoon and they were already done and about to leave.  "Kagami."  Makoto put his hands on his hips, looking up at the redhead, "You can't just leave yet."

Kagami stared back at Makoto, these kind of actions certainly were uncommon for him.  He slung his messenger bag over one shoulder, waiting for Makoto to move.  "Why not?"

"Because you still haven't told me about last night," Makoto insisted.

"I told you that it went well."  Makoto looked back at Kagami with as straight a face as he could muster.  He wasn't going to let Kagami get away with telling him nothing.  Kagami finally broke into a sigh, "It was sort of a trial for another job, okay?"

Makoto's eyes widened, "Are you going to quit working here?"  Kagami was increasingly becoming his best friend, he didn't want him to leave.

Kagami shook his head, "No, I like it here.  This is just something I'm going to do additionally.  I can tell you more in a week."

"Is that when you start?"  Makoto relaxed, letting his arms drop to his sides.

"Technically," Kagami paused, not looking at Makoto as he said, "I started yesterday..."  Makoto stared at him, he couldn't imagine what kind of work Kagami had been up to last night.  Before Makoto could say anything about it, Kagami said, "Look, I'm really not up for talking about this right now.  I can tell you more tomorrow or something."

"Kagami..." Makoto stepped closer to his friend, resting a hand on Kagami's arm.  Kagami's gaze was dropped and his shoulders slightly sagged.  "What's wrong?"

Kagami shook his head, "Nothing."  He stood up straighter, inadvertently knocking off Makoto's hand.  "Just a long day."

"I'm your friend, you can always talk to me," Makoto was genuinely worried about his friend.  He wasn't sure if it was something last night or today that happened that put Kagami in such a down mood.  All he knew was that when Kagami left yesterday, he was in quite a good mood.

Kagami nodded, "I'll tell you later, I swear.  But I just want to be alone right now."  He took a step past Makoto and Makoto made no move to stop him.  He watched him leave the cafe, waiting at the bus stop outside.

Makoto quickly gathered his own things, leaving the cat cafe too.  Kagami was still sitting on the bench at the bus stop and something about the scene made Makoto hang back.  He could see something glistening on the corners of Kagami's eyes and if he wasn't mistaken, they were tears.  Makoto knew that Kagami had a thick skin, but underneath all that, he had a soft heart that no one gave him enough credit for.  He seriously wondered what had happened that could make Kagami cry.