Specks of Light

Part One. Chapter 6: Working Day

After having taken a shower and eaten breakfast, Yuu felt ready to get to work. As Ijuuin's assistant crew took their seats in the drawing room, Yuu started to get the ink ready for sensei. "Good morning, Yanase- san" one of the assistants greeted. "Good morning" Yuu answered without much thought. In all honesty, Yuu wasn't even sure of the guy's name. "I heard you'll start working with Fujino- sensei next month" the guy commented as Yuu laid three ink jars on sensei's desk. "Yes, I already have two weeks scheduled with him" Yuu answered casually "I work with Fujino- sensei too. He got interested in your abilities after another assistant told him about you" the guy said with a little smile. "Another assistant? Who?" Yanase asked quite confused, Fujino- sensei had told him that he heard about his skills from other authors. "I don't know her name but she said she worked with you" the assistant answered taking a seat. Yuu knew a lot of female assistants, so he had no idea who could this guy be talking about. As he saw Ijuuin- sensei entering the room, he picked the pages he had to work on deciding he was probably just overthinking about his new job with Fujino- sensei.

He took a seat, feeling quite uncomfortable, very much expected from what he had done just hours before everyone arrived. Picking up his pen, he started to work on the backgrounds Ijuuin had asked him to do. It was true that working with Kyo was usually calmer than working with Yoshino, but today everyone seemed to be particularly quiet. The only sound echoing in the drawing room was made by the pens as they were pressed against the paper. As they all worked, Yuu kept checking on sensei. It had happened many times in the past that Ijuuin had had a breakdown right in the middle of work.

Inconveniently enough, Yuu was never around whenever that happened, so he often got calls from one of sensei's assistants urging him to come help them. As soon as Yuu arrived, Ijuuin completely recovered and got to work. He had tried to talk about those breakdowns with sensei, but he always seemed to avoid the questions. Today, however, Kyo seemed to be in a good mood, he was drawing very quickly and the pages were being done quite fast. Yuu turned to look at him and a little smile formed in his lips, he wasn't gonna say it aloud...but truth was he really admired Ijuuin- sensei. He worked with many Mangaka, but Ijuuin was definitely above all of them. The way he could always deliver an interesting chapter without deviating from the manga's main plot, despite his doubts was impressive. Of course Yuu felt his own opinion had a lot of bias, but he still felt a rush of pride whenever he saw Kyo working like he was now. Suddenly, sensei averted his gaze and lifted his head up, before Yuu could react to their eyes locking in one another's, Ijuuin smiled and wink his left eye making Yuu's face turn completely red.

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The whole day Yuu and Ijuuin had been doing exactly what shouldn't be done at work: exchange smiles, gazes and some flirty gestures. Despite their obvious distraction, they had been able to complete the scheduled work and had even covered a part of the work scheduled for next week. Ijuuin's team had worked really efficiently today and that was probably the reason why they hadn't noticed Yuu's and Kyo's flirting games.

"Thank you for your work. See you next week" Ijuuin told the assistants as they left the apartment. "Good Bye sensei. See you next month at Fujino- sensei's, Yanase- san" the guy he had spoken with earlier said "Thank you for your work. I'll see you then" Yuu replied coldly. It was somehow strange, but whenever his new job with Fujino- sensei was brought up, Yuu felt a little uncomfortable. It was probably because he had never really met Fujino- sensei before and he was still unsure why it had been the author calling him instead of Kirishima- san as it was customary.

Yuu started to get his desk clean, closing every ink jar he had used when he suddenly felt sensei's arms wrapping around his waist from behind. "I loved today's work session" Kyo said tightening his arms around Yuu's waist. They had been acting like teenagers the whole day, and while Yuu didn't particularly hated that fact, he definitely didn't want Ijuuin to be speaking about it. His cheeks started to blush as he felt Ijuuin pressing his body closer. "Yanase- kun, I'm sorry. I should've told you earlier about the trip to France" Kyo whispered softly, his voice clearly reflected how exhausted he felt. Yuu and the assistants had plenty of work, but there was no denying that when it came to drawing a manga, the author always had the hardest job. Despite his years of experience, Ijuuin always seemed to be extremely tired after every work session. "Where will you be staying while you're in Paris?" Yuu asked with a serious voice. He didn't want to talk about the trip, but there were a couple of things he wanted to know. "At a hotel but..." Kyo answered with a tone of hesitation. "But what?" Yuu questioned with a cold tone. "It's possible that I might stay or hang out a few days with Kaoruko- san" Ijuuin said letting go of Yuu's waist, apparently anticipating what was about to come.

Yuu turned around in disbelief,  trying not to fully lose his cool, he spoke "You're joking, right?" he said taking a deep breath. "She is the one who invited me to Paris in the first place, right after Takahashi- kun rejected me" Kyo answered looking right into Yuu's eyes. "You are going to Paris to hang out with the cousin of Usami- san?! The very same one who cornered you with other two people so you gave up on Misaki- kun?! What is wrong with you?!" Yuu said raising his voice, two days in a row, Ijuuin had managed to really make him upset. "It's not like I am gonna be with her all the time" Kyo commented with a calm tone "I don't care! That is not the point!" Yuu replied setting one hand on his face softly massaging his eyebrows "I am leaving. Good work today" he said picking up his bag. "Yanase- kun, please don't leave" Ijuuin told him with the same calm tone he had been using all along. "I haven't gone to my place in five days" Yanase quickly answered getting out of the drawing room. 

As expected, he was followed by Ijuuin- sensei "Wait!" he said grabbing Yuu's wrist. "Let go!" Yuu protested shaking his hand but sensei didn't let go of him. "Look, I am upset, alright? You can't expect me to be okay with this, specially since you have been hiding it for almost a year" he explained with a very menacing tone that surprised Yuu himself. Sure, he had a very strong personality, but making him this upset definitely was no easy task. "Let go. I just don't want to see you right now!" Yuu finished. He saw Ijuuin's eyes widening at his comment as he immediately released his wrist allowing him to walk forward.

Yuu knew he had hurt sensei with his comment and while he hadn't meant to be that blunt, his anger had spoken faster than his better judgement. Maybe that is exactly what Ijuuin deserved for what he had done, with that thought in mind, he quickly put his shoes on "Please text me when you arrive home" Ijuuin said in a low voice approaching the genkan "Okay" Yuu replied coldly. Without looking back, he quickly left the building and headed home.