Coat West, Part-Time

Title: Part-Time [Sho, Hikaru]
Rating/Warnings: PG (no, seriously). Unless smoking makes it PG-13.
Summary: Sho theorizes that Hikaru just hasn’t found the right part-time job yet.
AN: I’ve recently been informed that Sho may possibly go to Hikaru’s school and also be his senpai. I have one word to say about this: asldgjldgjaglajag. And so, have some fic. I have no idea if this is how Hikaru got into Coat West, but I’m really hoping so.

Part-Time

It’s two minutes until the class is over, but the droning professor shows no sign of ending his lecture any time soon. Hikaru shoots longing glances at the clock while he scribbles notes frantically, knowing half of them will be illegible and that he will have to bribe a classmate into sharing again.

Five minutes later, the professor finally notices the time and ambles off the podium; Hikaru collapses to the desktop. He massages his cramping hand and looks ruefully over his notes, wondering if next semester he ought to take speed-writing. Then he lets his eyes slip shut, thinking that he’ll just rest for a moment.

He hasn’t picked his head up yet when there is a thump on the table, and he opens his eyes to find his vision obscured by a pair of designer-distressed jeans, form-fitted to one of the nicest asses Hikaru has the pleasure of knowing.

“Yo,” says the owner of the jeans, voice a low rumble of amusement. “Gonna sleep your whole break away?”

“Hi, Sho-senpai,” Hikaru sighs, lifting his head up enough to prop his chin on his hands. Sho is a year ahead of Hikaru, but they have some of the same classes, and sometimes they smoke or get food together after class.

“Come have a cigarette with me,” Sho says, standing up and stretching. Hikaru heaves a sigh and tries not to be too obvious about the way he’s staring at the stripe of his senpai’s belly as Sho’s shirt rides up.

“Can’t,” he says forlornly as Sho lowers his arms and his shirt slips back down. “I don’t have any cigarettes with me today.”

“You can have one of mine,” Sho offers casually, and then he stands there with his hand on his hip, expectant, until Hikaru gets up and follows along behind like a dutiful kouhai. “Forget yours?”

“Can’t afford them this week,” Hikaru explains, gaze locked on where his fingers are fiddling with his shoulder bag. “Just paid tuition and rent. I think I might have to quit smoking. In fact, next month I might have to quit eating too.”

Sho chuckles, sympathetic, and they pause as they reach the sunlight outside and Sho lights two cigarettes before handing one over. “Thought about a part-time job?”

“I’ve had them.” Hikaru’s shoulders slump even lower. “They never seem to work out.”

Sho is watching him when Hikaru looks up, waiting for him to go on, and suddenly it all comes spilling out of Hikaru, every failed part-time job he’s had for the last six months, from the ramen shop he set on fire, to the house painting job where he learned he was colorblind, to the disastrous afternoon he worked at a pet shop.

“In the end we could only find thirty-seven of the hamsters,” he finally finishes. He glances over at Sho, who is slumped against the brick wall of the building, clutching his stomach from laughing. “It’s not funny.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Sho waves a hand, ashes falling from his cigarette, but it still takes him a few minutes to actually stop snickering.

They smoke in silence for a little longer, until Hikaru is drawing in the last few puffs, trying to make them last and wondering when he’ll have money for extravagances like cigarettes again.

“Maybe,” Sho says, startling Hikaru out of his brood, “you just haven’t found the right part-time job yet.”

Hikaru rolls his eyes. “I’m not sure how many other kinds of jobs there can be.”

“You haven’t tried mine yet,” Sho says, and Hikaru blinks.

He hadn’t know that Sho had a job. Sometimes Sho comes to classes with heavy eyelids and a stiff walk, but Hikaru has always assumed that Sho just enjoys a rather intense social life.

He hesitates before voicing that opinion about a senpai out loud.

“I didn’t know you worked,” he says, diplomatically. Then he blinks again, wondering if Sho is actually offering him a job introduction or not. He can’t be, Hikaru thinks, not after the hamster story. “Ah, but I wouldn’t want to trouble you, Sho-senpai.”

“Sho-kun is fine,” Sho says distractedly while he stubs the butt of his cigarette out and examines Hikaru closely, eyes traveling up and down until Hikaru has to suppress a shiver. “And it’s no trouble. Did you say you did some modeling?”

“A little…” Hikaru admits, not really understanding what Sho is getting at.

“Mm, good.” Sho nods, firm, as if it’s all been settled. “I’m going in to work this afternoon. Do you have some time?”

Hikaru has barely said yes before Sho is getting out his phone and thumbing a number, and then he puts his phone to his ear and gives Hikaru an easy grin while he waits for an answer.

“Ah, Nagi-kun!” he says. “I’m bringing someone to meet you today, is it okay? Yeah, it’s for work…”

Sho hasn’t said exactly what he does, Hikaru realizes suddenly as he drops the butt of his cigarette and grinds it out with the heel of his boot. But if Sho-senpai does it, it must be okay, Hikaru reasons. Sho-kun is pretty cool, after all. He wonders what it pays, and takes another look at Sho’s designer jeans.

He’s startled when Sho snaps a picture with his phone, but Sho doesn’t bother to elaborate as he thumbs a mail and sends it off, presumably with Hikaru’s picture. Hikaru hopes his hair looks okay and that he didn’t make a retarded face.

“All set!” Sho announces as he flips his phone shut and sticks it in his pocket. He gives Hikaru a smile that seems a bit sharper than usual at the edges. “I think you’ll really like Nagi-kun. I work with him a lot.”

Hikaru bobs his head in a bow and murmurs, “Please take care of me, Sho-se…” He corrects himself, “Sho-kun.”

“Don’t worry,” Sho slings an arm around Hikaru’s shoulder as he holds open the door for them to go back to class, “you’ll probably be dropping the honorific altogether soon enough.”

Starting to get an idea of what this part-time job might entail, Hikaru shoots Sho a narrow-eyed look, but Sho doesn’t elaborate further, and he slaps Hikaru on the back cheerfully when they reach the classroom before returning to his own seat.

None of Hikaru’s notes for the afternoon class are legible.