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It's still late January when the first package arrives, so even after four years of Asami-exposure there are no immediate warning alarms going off in Takaba's head. The package is small and trying fruitlessly to look inconspicuous with its wrapping and the ribbons (in three different shades). It is sitting on Takaba's desk, without a tag -- because they've had a very serious talk about things with Asami's name signed at the bottom showing up on Takaba's desk-- and is causing the female staff to sigh enviously, with little knowing smiles that frankly, Takaba finds unnerving. Also, it's a book -- a photo book that Takaba had been hunting down for months of course, but still, a book and Takaba could totally overlook the danger there, because he's too busy cooing over the fantastic manipulation of the colour spectrum on page thirty-two.



Their first Valentine's Day together is a disaster, with Takaba having to be kidnapped by Asami's men and dragged to the restaurant, sulking unhappily through dinner and then refusing to put out -- at which point Asami had resorted to the leathers and buckles and Takaba had developed more phobias overnight than he knew what to do with.



Two days later there's a package from Europe delivered to Takaba's desk with the morning mail. Three packets of Belgian chocolates that Ayama-san two tables over, recognises immediately and begins to squeal very loudly about, and an ugly postcard of the Viennese skyline. Takaba makes fun of the bad photograph and glares at Asami's badly scribbled/ Don't eat them all by yourself/ and shares. Even the girls from accounting two floors up and tech three floors down--and Takaba can't tell who else, because he stops recognising them after the fifth group--are there, all moaning inappropriately over mouthfuls of chocolate and it's three hours before Takaba realises he's just shared out chocolates from /Asami/, and who knows what type of evil inhibition dissolving drugs could have been in them and he totally doesn't want to be responsible for putting all the male staff in danger of varying degrees of sexual harassment.

But by lunch time it's safe to assume that there are no evil inhibition dissolving drugs in the chocolates -- as evident from the lack of sexual harassment, ignoring that minor incident with Koga, but Takaba has been led to believe she tries to pat everyone's arse at some point-- and it's also late enough to be some absurd hour of the morning in Europe so that Takaba can call Asami and abuse him.

Asami's a little disoriented but still manages to sound smug. "It's four in the morning Takaba."

"What are you doing in Vienna any way? You're not trying to blackmail the Security Council or anything, are you?" Because if there was big news like that going down, Takaba wanted advanced warning so he could prepare for a night in the office. He deserved at least that much for putting up with Asami.

There's more chocolate the next day, delivered by Asami's men and sugar coated fruit flavoured candy the day after.

"Takaba, you really have to stop calling me at four in the morning," Asami says, all smug and bloody amused, too suave for someone who's just been jolted rudely out of sleep.

"No, really, you have to stop this. I have the female staff camping out outside my office door. They're making eyes at me. They might also be offering me sexual favours, but you know, I'm not sure how that works anymore. Out of practice and all..."

There's a thoughtful sort of silence at the other end and Takaba can just imagine Asami working this new, previously overlooked and unintentional consequence into his plans and frowning at the results. It's also a satisfying sort of silence that sounds like/ Ha! Got one over you Asami/, and Takaba enjoys the moment quietly.

Which lasts about eight seconds and then Asami says "Takaba," voice all low and raspy and making Takaba whimper and his knees buckle, "Take care of yourself, Akihito/." Asami also has the audacity -- and incredibly good timing-- to call that night while Takaba is busy /taking care of himself and helps things along whispering the filthiest nonsense ever - totally ever -- down the phone.

The package that arrives the next morning is big and pink and making no efforts to be discreet. It sits there screaming for attention but it's an hour before Takaba gets around to it, and then he's glad that his usual crowd is busy doing, you know actual work and there's no one to witness his blush because there's a ten inch vibrator that Takaba isn't sure he'll ever be able to look at without a certain degree of healthy fear. The note attached says, Be careful. Don't set it past three without me there to supervise and a small have fun in Asami's shocking English scribble.

He yells, "Asami, fuck you, I hate you!" as well as a few unflattering expletives regarding Asami's person into the phone and hangs up, simmering for ten minutes before going back to cropping photos with a vengeance. Obviously word gets out fast because there's no-one giving him knowing smiles or waiting to steal his chocolates.



Their second valentine's day involved another kidnapping orchestrated by Asami, but this time Takaba had been angry, very angry, and not willing to put up with Asami's rather lacking attempts at his own perverted version of romance.

The night ended with Takaba snarling "Who the fuck do you think you are, you bastard," and "I'll do whatever the hell I want and you'll have to kill me to stop me," as well as a "You're lousy lay anyway. My right hand could do a better job-- hell, my left hand could do better!" which might have really upset Asami, because while he wasn't sensitive or courteous, Asami had always assumed that Takaba had been having a good time, whether he admitted to it or not. Takaba stormed out of Asami's apartment with his virtue intact, seething with righteous anger.



Asami waits a sensible two days before sending the next package, wrapped in silver tissue paper with a black ribbon and it's the sombre lack of flamboyance that sets Takaba's stomach fluttering.

This is Asami's idea of an apology. It's a sudden shift from cheeky amusement and cheap sexual innuendo to serious and real, reminding Takaba that they have a history, a solid looming thing that survives arguments, conflicts of professional interest as well as the occasional life threatening situation and comes out intact and sickeningly more incandescent. It's impossible to miss Asami's almost scary proprietary complex, and scarier still is that Takaba might be developing a complex of his own, one that involves asking Asami's men to shoot any remotely attractive person who comes within touching distance of their boss.

"No chocolates today?" Nakamura asks, looking only a little disappointed and putting a cup of steaming tea on Takaba's desk, which is actually really kind because Nakamura is one of those nasty and perfectly put-together women with a scary degree from a scary cut-throat university which she waves threateningly at anyone unfortunate enough to suggest she fetch them papers or a drink. It's a small mercy that she's still susceptible to chocolate because the pretty-boy charm is only going to keep Takaba on her good side for so long and Nakamura makes really, /absurdly/, good tea that he is totally willing to maim -- and maybe, possibly on a bad day, kill for.

"Nope. Just this." He waves the package in front of him, staring at it some more.

"Wow," Nakamura says and invites herself to sit on Takaba's desk. She sips delicately from her cup and say "Looks important. With strings attached." She smiles, lifts an eyebrow and adds "Diamonds?" unhelpfully.

"Oh God." Takaba moans, burying his face in his forearms.

"It's kind of nice though," Nakamura says with a sigh, "To have someone who cares that much." Takaba doesn't even dignify that with a snort. "Also helps that he's been keeping the secretaries up to their gills in good chocolate. You have no idea what it's done for morale around this place." And then she was gone with a cheeky grin. Takaba can see her waving papers at some poor junior admin who looks very, very frightened.

Thankfully, it's not diamonds.

But it is a platinum pen set with little bits of precious stone and a luxurious sort of padded case that looks ridiculously good on Takaba's desk. It even goes with his laptop, which is all kinds of sad.

He answers his phone with an assuring, "I'm still mad at you."

Asami laughs and there's nothing but good humour coming through the line. "Of course you are."

"I threw it out," Takaba says dryly. "In the bin. Box and all. And your latest pathetic attempt at bribery is just damn inconvenient."

"You'll like it. Try it at least," Asami insists and it sounds like he might be smiling.

"No, you don't understand, Asami. I'm going to get/ mugged/. Someone is going to catch me in an alley and stab me for my /pen/. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

"It's a pen, Akihito," and Takaba shivers at the way his name rolls off of Asami's tongue, all drawn out vowels and curves that don't have any place in phonetics or linguistics. "Keep it in your pocket and no one will see. Better yet, consider a change in profession."

Takaba smiles and flips his new pen over his knuckles. "You are so transparent."



Sometime during their third year together, Takaba had stopped being angry -- which didn't mean he stopped being nasty and mean -- and Asami tried to understand --which didn't mean he was very good at it.

For their third Valentine's Day, Takaba decided that a pre-emptive strike was the only way to avoid the inevitable humiliation that the day would no doubt result in. He maxed out his credit card buying an obnoxious and over large pink bear with stupid looking hot pink heart shaped balloons that clashed terribly with the bear's fur and the biggest box of milk chocolates he could find and had then delivered to Asami's office, at Sion.

Takaba was sure that an embarrassment like this would lead to a meltdown on Asami's part. Only, Asami's men didn't show up to kidnap him and Takaba was a little deflated, thinking that maybe Asami had decided the teddy bear wasn't a well formulated and malicious attack on his masculinity and honour.

Two weeks later, Takaba finds himself at Sion, dragged in by Asami's men and soaking wet after running halfway across Tokyo trying to get away from Asami's rivals, who'd got it into their extremely stupid heads to kidnap him. He thinks that dripping on Asami's carpet and ruining it was going to be worth temporary loss of all feeling in his extremities, but then he'd stopped, stunned, because there in the corner of Asami's office, where those ridiculous and rare plants Asami seemed to like so much use to be, sat five feet of pink fur and stuffing with balloons at varying stages of deflation sagging around it.



Asami sends more chocolate, which not only makes him very popular with Takaba's colleagues, but also earns him invitations to all of the office parties.

At lunch Takaba's making an emergency run downstairs to the computers in the print room--because the network has collapsed and those are the only damn computers capable of printing anything with a plausible resolution-- when he sees Inoue sobbing miserably into her bento, blotch-faced and lonely. Nakamura is patting her on the head, looking awkward and unsure. Takaba still has a small box of chocolates left in his draw so he fetches them and manages to stop Inoue from sobbing long enough to explain that she'd been dumped by her idiot boyfriend (who incidentally happens to be one of the technicians who work for an advertising firm, six floors up) and it's close to Valentine's Day and she wouldn't have a date and her parents were expecting grandchildren which she wouldn't be able to deliver without a husband--

Half an hour later Nakamura is still patting Inoue's head and trying, in her own way, to be supportive saying "Really, you shouldn't let their backwards thinking influence you like this. You're strong and independent. You don't have to have a husband to get by."

Takaba's approach was a little more direct, possibly, slightly underhanded. He says "Inoue-san you're too pretty to cry, you're making your eyes red" and "Hey, want me to pretend to be your new boyfriend? Seriously, you can make him jealous." And thinks happily of Asami's face when he gets his daily Report from the men he's got tailing after Takaba.



When the next package appears, Takaba sighs a little forlornly at the plane ticket tucked in with the chocolates and admits that he might be, just a little, in love with Asami who's overbearing and sometimes has Neanderthal tendencies that involve knocking your intended mate unconscious and dragging him to your cave, but is, on the whole, rather awkwardly and stumblingly sweet.

"So. Really, what were you doing here in Vienna anyway?" Takaba asks later with Asami's hands, big and warm spread out over his stomach and Asami's smirking mouth on his throat.

Asami's laughter is warm and honest against Takaba's skin and maybe it's enough to make putting up with Valentine's Day and all the paraphernalia attached, worth it.

______