Work Text:
Busing himself with work until he wasn't able to think about anything else but his job: that was exactly what Glasses did whenever bits of his personal life came to haunt his mind. Usually it worked, to wholeheartedly succumb to his work, but there were times when nothing seemed to soothe the ache of his heart.
Glasses was familiar with the label of «workaholic», he had been classified as one various times, and as much as he didn't see any fault in being one, the people around him seemed to feel bad for him – as if working hadn't been his choice in the first place.
What the others didn't understand was that Glasses tried to overwork himself on purpose, especially since he had too many things to forget about: his past, his family, his future.
The more tired he was the less he could think, and the more he could be happy, even if briefly.
However, that day he had been forced to step away from his work, his own Boss encouraging him to take a break. Not because he wasn't reliable but simply because they all kept in mind his origins; if not, then why would anyone care?
Sitting alone on a lonely bench, Glasses admired the smoke coming from his lit cigarette. He felt numb, unable to form any sensical thought. Did his Boss seriously think that forcefully sending him home for the day was going to make him feel any better?
"What a pain," Glasses groaned and rubbed his forehead, as if that action could make his thoughts disappear. Surely, if he led a normal life, it wouldn't have been too difficult to indulge in another activity to try and take his mind off things. However, Glasses wasn't like any other demon, and on top of that it wasn't like he had anywhere else to go.
A sigh left his lips, one full of sadness.
"Bad day?"
Suddenly, a familiar voice reached the demon's ears and for a moment – just for a brief fragment of time – he felt like a heavy burden had been lifted up from his shoulders. And yet, as he turned around to face his new interlocutor, Glasses couldn't help but feel a growing pressure inside his chest.
Standing there, staring at him with large eyes full of love and worry, there was Kiku, his dear girlfriend.
He didn't know how she had found him, not that he was worried about that detail at the moment; in truth, Glasses was quite used to seeing his girlfriend randomly appear when he needed her the most - even when he wasn't immediately aware of such desire.
In a sense, it was as if they were connected.
Kiku patiently stared at the demon, not urging him to tell her anything, and Glasses was deeply thankful for that. Still, he didn't want to make her even more worried, so he hummed, not trusting himself enough to use words.
Now that he had seen Kiku, Glasses realized how much he ached to have her by his side.
The demon made some room on the bench to let the girl sit. She seemed to understand what kind of mood he was in - she always understood - and so Kiku did not utter a word.
Out of respect, Glasses pressed the cigarette against the armrest to put it out and throw it back inside the package.
There were going to be more suited times to smoke.
Glasses had lit it up in an attempt to keep his mind off from his thoughts in the first place, but it obviously didn't work. Instead, the demon found that he preferred to share a calm moment of silence with Kiku than the company of a cigarette.
He could feel the girl's gaze on him, exactly how he could feel its intensity on his skin, and yet Glasses kept his eyes glued to the scenery. Not because he was particularly interested in it... oh quite the contrary; in fact, the demon felt suffocated at the sight of the world he grew in.
Glasses bit his lips and inhaled, slowly.
He was trying hard not to think about anything, to clear his mind and just forget about everything. He was really trying his best. And yet, his best wasn't enough to suppress the tension felt.
It was never enough.
At that point, Glasses had started to nervously tap his fingers against the hard metal of the bench, so fast and quickly that it sent vibrations all over to Kiku. If he thought about it logically, he knew that talking with his girlfriend would have made him feel better but the words seemed stuck in his throat.
The comfort he sought was a few inches away from him and yet so unreachable.
His tapping became faster, painful in a sense, and most likely he wouldn't have stopped any time soon if it weren't for Kiku, who decided to take the matter into her hands. She knew that Glasses wasn't ready to talk, from the very moment she stumbled upon her boyfriend never once she had thought of forcing herself in his mind.
Though, it was undeniable that seeing Glasses suffer like that tugged at her heartstrings. Solely for that reason Kiku gently wrapped her boyfriend's restless hand between her fingers, and when he turned around in surprise, the girl undid the ribbon of her uniform.
"Something's the matter...?" Glasses asked, eyes open wide as he observed his girlfriend tie the loosened bow around his finger.
"Red string of fate," Kiku calmly replied while she made a small loop, "so we are always connected."
And sure enough, to prove her sincerity, Kiku tied the other extremity to her own finger.
"Oh...! Wait, I-"
Glasses was beyond stunned, left so speechless that he was completely unable to form any coherent thought. He had been caught off guard, so much that he didn't even notice that the bow was actually blue.
And even if he did, the way his cheeks started to burn was enough to distract him from rationality.
Now that Kiku had Glasses' full attention, she blessed him with one of her smiles, "Whenever you feel like there are no certainties in life, come to find me. I will become your reason to smile."
A wave of emotions hit Glasses like a tornado, leaving him breathless, dazed even, so much that he found himself unable to say anything. He felt incredibly vulnerable, his lips moving emptily to let out incomprehensible words that sounded closer to whimpers. Kiku kept on smiling at him, with the same unchanging affection of before, and as the sight of their fingers connected by that bow – their personal string of fate – Glasses abandoned all bashfulness and uncertainties in favour of following his heart.
Thus, before Kiku could even have the time to react, the demon pulled her between his arms, pouring all of his feelings in that hug.
He was thankful to her, so deeply happy and relieved that he had forgotten all about his insecurities: the ghosts of his past had stopped to haunt him, disappearing in front of the warm understanding that Kiku had shown him.
"I love you," Glasses whispered, heartfelt words he was always too shy to say. However, that day was different... Everything was different. And Kiku welcomed every little change, even as their roles had been reversed for she was the one feeling all shy. Not that it had stopped her from reciprocating the hug with all the love she had to give, the pureness of that moment so profound that she could barely recognize her voice as she murmured, "me too."