Ship: nijimura shuuzou / akashi seijuurou Fandom: kuroko no basuke Major tags: none Other tags: none Square: speed dating Word count: 1144
***
Nijimura only goes because he miscalculates the outcome of last week's game and loses a bet to Haizaki. It figures that Haizaki would choose the most embarrassing punishment possible and make Nijimura attend the company mixer. Nijimura has been at the Tokyo Tribune for a year. Yet, his disdain for small talk and refusal to interact with people outside of the sports department ensured that he only knew a handful of people. It doesn't help that the big boss upstairs managed to buy out three other competing new sources in the time Nijimura has been here, and now the entire building belongs to the Akashi Conglomerate.
Well, at least Nijimura only needs to sit through ten rounds of speed dating. That had been Haizaki's condition when he gleefully signed Nijimura's name up with HR. Maybe if Nijimura scowls hard enough, people will naturally avoid his table.
He has no such luck, Nijimura learns as the organizer explains the procedures. Everyone here is dressed to the nines, whereas Nijimura is wearing a distilled version of his work clothes. Tanaka had spilled coffee all over Nijimura's table this morning, thus making Nijimura change out of his dress shirt and into an L.A. Laker's shirt. He already knows Nanami-chan in HR will be annoyed with him for showing up like this.
His first victim is a pretty brunette from accounting. "I like foreign movies," she says softly. "Have you seen any interesting ones lately?"
"Batman v. Superman," Nijimura replies lamely, which causes her to smile thinly back at him in a way that only confirms his shitty taste.
This becomes a pattern. He meets a handful of people from other departments who were either coerced into participating by their managers, or here to actually find true love. He endures small talk with the former and grins apologetically at the disappointment radiating off the latter. There's a disproportionate ratio of men to women here, which gives Nijimura a break to chat with a few male coworkers.
Nijimura is ready to bail when a pretty redhead slips into the seat in front of him. He's pale and lovely, with a sharp jaw line and calculating eyes. Nijimura has never met him before. He's sure he would've remembered otherwise.
"Do you like basketball?" His new companion asks. Around them, chatter continues to fill the room.
"Eh, yeah," Nijimura says slowly. "I played through high school."
The redhead smiles slowly. He's not wearing a standard lanyard with an ID card. "What position?"
"Power forward."
"I suspected as much. I played point guard, myself."
Nijimura raises an eyebrow. "Have you played any games lately?"
"Sure," the redhead says. "Although I don't have much time lately. I enjoy watching it more these days."
Nijimura leans in. "Which teams are you following?"
Pretty Redhead drums long, smooth fingers on the table top. "You can say I'm invested in a handful of NBA teams. Currently, I'm following the Cleveland Cavaliers for-"
"Aomine Daiki!" Nijimura cuts in. "Sorry for interrupting, but that guy is crazy good. You know, I interviewed him once when he was still in the junior J-leagues. He's a total bum but mind boggling on the court. That kind of footwork and dribbling is just unprecedented."
This makes Pretty Redhead nod. "Yes, I can imagine. I'm also following The New York Knicks. They recently drafted a Japanese player too, and I find him quite interesting."
"Ah," Nijimura says awkwardly. He never knows how to broach this topic, and no one in his department even knows. "Himuro, right? Actually, I'm friends with him."
Pretty Redhead tilts his head. His eyes are unreadable, but there's still a sliver of a smirk on his face. "How so?"
"We were classmates back in LA. I only went to school there for a few years, but we hit it off pretty well. We used to play together, in high school."
"You must be quite good, then." Pretty Redhead brings a hand to his chin. Either Nijimura is imagining it, or the redhead is flirting with him?
Nijimura rubs the back of his head. "Nah, I'm okay. Haven't played in years. Tatsuya is the real genius. He still sends me tickets sometimes, but I can't just hop on a plane to New York, you know?"
"Why not?"
Nijimura laughs. "First of all, the vacation policy at Akashi Corp sucks. My department head is a slave driver. I barely had time to go see my kid brother's graduation. Why, do you want to use my tickets instead? You can have them."
Pretty Redhead is opening his mouth when harried-looking Nanami-chan approaches their table.
"I didn't know you would be attending, Akashi-sama!" Nanami-chan says as she bows at... fuck. He's not old enough to be Akashi Masomi, so he must be the rumored prodigal son. According to rumor mills, he'd recently returned from studying abroad in England.
Nijimura doesn't need an inside scoop to know he's screwed.
"It's no problem," Akashi Seijuurou says easily. He reaches over the table and flips over the ID card hanging from Nijimura's lanyard. "I was just having a very nice chat with Shuuzou-san."
Nanami-chan gives Nijimura a look of exasperation. "Akashi-sama, Nijimura-kun is the best writer in the sports department at the Tribune. He's quite efficient and popular."
"Is that so?" Akashi says thoughtfully.
Nijimura keeps his mouth shut, for he knows Nanami-chan is trying to save his ass. He's going to owe her so many drinks after this.
"Yes," Nanami-chan says. "In fact, Chief-Yamashita wants to move Nijimura-kun into another department, but his department head refuses to let Nijimura-kun go."
"I already knew that," Akashi says smoothly, which is a feat because even Nijimura didn't know that. "Yamashita-san has mentioned it to me."
"What? Was this a secret interview?" Nijimura demands before his brain can catch up with his mouth. Around them, people are starting to stare. "Was this a test?"
Nanami-chan, perhaps deeming Nijimura a lost cause at this point, sighs and goes off to speak to someone else. This leaves Nijimura to stew in his self-imposed misery.
"Just fire me now," Nijimura mumbles as he leans back into his seat. "Give me the mercy kill. Let me be free so I can be jobless and go see my friend play in the NBA."
Akashi's laughter is soft but resounding. "The vacation policy is something I am looking into revamping with the head of HR. I only remembered your name from a brief chat I had with Yamashita-san. I didn't know who you were until Nanami-san interrupted us."
"Oh," Nijimura says.
"Actually," Akashi continues. There’s a hint of something else in his voice. "I was hoping you'd invite me to the game with you."
"Oh," Nijimura says again as recognition dawns. "Yeah. I, eh, I guess I can make that happen."
Akashi’s smile is small but genuine. "I look forward to it."
FILL: TEAM KAGEYAMA TOBIO/OIKAWA TOORU, A1, G
Fandom: kuroko no basuke
Major tags: none
Other tags: none
Square: speed dating
Word count: 1144
***
Nijimura only goes because he miscalculates the outcome of last week's game and loses a bet to Haizaki. It figures that Haizaki would choose the most embarrassing punishment possible and make Nijimura attend the company mixer. Nijimura has been at the Tokyo Tribune for a year. Yet, his disdain for small talk and refusal to interact with people outside of the sports department ensured that he only knew a handful of people. It doesn't help that the big boss upstairs managed to buy out three other competing new sources in the time Nijimura has been here, and now the entire building belongs to the Akashi Conglomerate.
Well, at least Nijimura only needs to sit through ten rounds of speed dating. That had been Haizaki's condition when he gleefully signed Nijimura's name up with HR. Maybe if Nijimura scowls hard enough, people will naturally avoid his table.
He has no such luck, Nijimura learns as the organizer explains the procedures. Everyone here is dressed to the nines, whereas Nijimura is wearing a distilled version of his work clothes. Tanaka had spilled coffee all over Nijimura's table this morning, thus making Nijimura change out of his dress shirt and into an L.A. Laker's shirt. He already knows Nanami-chan in HR will be annoyed with him for showing up like this.
His first victim is a pretty brunette from accounting. "I like foreign movies," she says softly. "Have you seen any interesting ones lately?"
"Batman v. Superman," Nijimura replies lamely, which causes her to smile thinly back at him in a way that only confirms his shitty taste.
This becomes a pattern. He meets a handful of people from other departments who were either coerced into participating by their managers, or here to actually find true love. He endures small talk with the former and grins apologetically at the disappointment radiating off the latter. There's a disproportionate ratio of men to women here, which gives Nijimura a break to chat with a few male coworkers.
Nijimura is ready to bail when a pretty redhead slips into the seat in front of him. He's pale and lovely, with a sharp jaw line and calculating eyes. Nijimura has never met him before. He's sure he would've remembered otherwise.
"Do you like basketball?" His new companion asks. Around them, chatter continues to fill the room.
"Eh, yeah," Nijimura says slowly. "I played through high school."
The redhead smiles slowly. He's not wearing a standard lanyard with an ID card. "What position?"
"Power forward."
"I suspected as much. I played point guard, myself."
Nijimura raises an eyebrow. "Have you played any games lately?"
"Sure," the redhead says. "Although I don't have much time lately. I enjoy watching it more these days."
Nijimura leans in. "Which teams are you following?"
Pretty Redhead drums long, smooth fingers on the table top. "You can say I'm invested in a handful of NBA teams. Currently, I'm following the Cleveland Cavaliers for-"
"Aomine Daiki!" Nijimura cuts in. "Sorry for interrupting, but that guy is crazy good. You know, I interviewed him once when he was still in the junior J-leagues. He's a total bum but mind boggling on the court. That kind of footwork and dribbling is just unprecedented."
This makes Pretty Redhead nod. "Yes, I can imagine. I'm also following The New York Knicks. They recently drafted a Japanese player too, and I find him quite interesting."
"Ah," Nijimura says awkwardly. He never knows how to broach this topic, and no one in his department even knows. "Himuro, right? Actually, I'm friends with him."
Pretty Redhead tilts his head. His eyes are unreadable, but there's still a sliver of a smirk on his face. "How so?"
"We were classmates back in LA. I only went to school there for a few years, but we hit it off pretty well. We used to play together, in high school."
"You must be quite good, then." Pretty Redhead brings a hand to his chin. Either Nijimura is imagining it, or the redhead is flirting with him?
Nijimura rubs the back of his head. "Nah, I'm okay. Haven't played in years. Tatsuya is the real genius. He still sends me tickets sometimes, but I can't just hop on a plane to New York, you know?"
"Why not?"
Nijimura laughs. "First of all, the vacation policy at Akashi Corp sucks. My department head is a slave driver. I barely had time to go see my kid brother's graduation. Why, do you want to use my tickets instead? You can have them."
Pretty Redhead is opening his mouth when harried-looking Nanami-chan approaches their table.
"I didn't know you would be attending, Akashi-sama!" Nanami-chan says as she bows at... fuck. He's not old enough to be Akashi Masomi, so he must be the rumored prodigal son. According to rumor mills, he'd recently returned from studying abroad in England.
Nijimura doesn't need an inside scoop to know he's screwed.
"It's no problem," Akashi Seijuurou says easily. He reaches over the table and flips over the ID card hanging from Nijimura's lanyard. "I was just having a very nice chat with Shuuzou-san."
Nanami-chan gives Nijimura a look of exasperation. "Akashi-sama, Nijimura-kun is the best writer in the sports department at the Tribune. He's quite efficient and popular."
"Is that so?" Akashi says thoughtfully.
Nijimura keeps his mouth shut, for he knows Nanami-chan is trying to save his ass. He's going to owe her so many drinks after this.
"Yes," Nanami-chan says. "In fact, Chief-Yamashita wants to move Nijimura-kun into another department, but his department head refuses to let Nijimura-kun go."
"I already knew that," Akashi says smoothly, which is a feat because even Nijimura didn't know that. "Yamashita-san has mentioned it to me."
"What? Was this a secret interview?" Nijimura demands before his brain can catch up with his mouth. Around them, people are starting to stare. "Was this a test?"
Nanami-chan, perhaps deeming Nijimura a lost cause at this point, sighs and goes off to speak to someone else. This leaves Nijimura to stew in his self-imposed misery.
"Just fire me now," Nijimura mumbles as he leans back into his seat. "Give me the mercy kill. Let me be free so I can be jobless and go see my friend play in the NBA."
Akashi's laughter is soft but resounding. "The vacation policy is something I am looking into revamping with the head of HR. I only remembered your name from a brief chat I had with Yamashita-san. I didn't know who you were until Nanami-san interrupted us."
"Oh," Nijimura says.
"Actually," Akashi continues. There’s a hint of something else in his voice. "I was hoping you'd invite me to the game with you."
"Oh," Nijimura says again as recognition dawns. "Yeah. I, eh, I guess I can make that happen."
Akashi’s smile is small but genuine. "I look forward to it."