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Kajii never had much free time, with working for the Port Mafia and being a crazed scientist. He spent nearly all of his time — when he wasn’t out on a job, at least — in his lab, working away at countless experiments and studies.
So it made sense that he’d be utterly inexperienced when it came to relationships. Most people tended to avoid him, given his eccentric behavior, and he never cared much anyways.
Though, another member of the Port Mafia ended up taking an interest in his experiments, and they formed somewhat of a bond — mostly Kajii rambling away while they sat and listened.
It wad nice, he thought, to have someone he could talk to about his experiments. Eventually, he’d grown attached, constantly seeking them out and taking the seat beside them whenever Mori called the Port Mafia for meetings.
And, eventually, he’d developed somewhat of a crush. He’d told himself that it was just a bunch of chemicals, and the concept of love itself was stupid, that he’d never pursue a foolish relationship, but he acted even more eccentric than usual around them, if that was even possible, out of giddiness.
Kajii was uncharacteristically quiet today, even with them sat on the lab counter nearby as he went over the results of his previous experiment, when they no doubt caught onto, given how loud he always was.
“Kajii.”
He blinked at the sound of his name, turning to face them with a faint hum. “Yes?” He returned, his hand still wrapped around the microscope and his face barely lifted away from it; only enough to be able to face them.
“You’re acting weird.” They commented, tilting their head slightly as they spoke. Kajii blinked behind his tinted glasses, his lips parting slightly. “I thought I always acted ‘weird’?” He retorted.
“I mean weird for you.” They corrected, tilting their head back up. “You’re too quiet. Even when you’re focused, you can’t stop talking. Is something wrong?” Kajii blinked once again at the concern, his shoulders tensing slightly.
He wasn’t used to people showing concern for him. It was strange.
“Just distracted, I suppose.” He murmured in return, his gaze shifting back to the lens of the microscope. “By what?” They hummed curiously.
“You.” He responded simply, looking through the lens of the stethoscope as he spoke. They blinked over to him in confusion at the reply, remaining silent for a few moments.
“Me?” They repeated in confusion, only for Kajii to nod. “Yes. My heart’s beating so fast, I can barely focus on the experiment.”
Even in his uncharacteristically quiet state, he was still as blunt as ever.
“What?” They uttered in confusion, their eyebrows furrowing slightly in thought. Kajii looked up from the microscope once more, this time releasing it and stepping back.
“Whenever I see you, or in this case just know you’re there, my heart won’t stop beating, and it’s incredibly distracting.” He almost sounded like he was complaining, though he didn’t seem annoyed. He absentmindedly moved to stand in front of where they sat, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses in thought.
They fell silent once again, blinking up to him in a mixture of confusion and surprise. “Is that supposed to be a confession or something?” They asked for confirmation.
“What if it was? Would you be disgusted? Would you never want to be near me again?” Kajii shot back quickly, seeming slightly tense. “Hypothetically, of course.” He added after a beat of silence.
“… No, why would I?” They uttered in confusion, Kajii relaxing the slightest bit in return. “Then what would you do?” He asked in return, ignoring their question. “Hypothetically, what if I said that I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and it was distracting me, even when you’re not in the room? Hypothetically.”
They remained silent for a few moments in confusion. “… I don’t know.” They murmured curiously, earning a slight frown from Kajii. “Hypothetically.” He repeated.
“Hypothetically, I don’t know.” They repeated in turn. “You wouldn’t be disgusted, though?” He asked once again. “No.” They shook their head slightly. “You wouldn’t stop talking to me?” “No.” “ You wouldn’t be weirded out?” “No.”
Kajii himself fell silent this time, seemingly in thought. He silently stared over to them, still sat on the counter.
“Then I can’t.” Kajii spoke up abruptly. “I can’t stop thinking about you. I haven’t gotten nearly as many experiments done as I usually would have because I get so distracted trying to stop thinking about you.” He spoke honestly.
“… So you like me?” They asked after a moment of silence for confirmation. “Yeah. I think so.” He blinked behind his glasses.
Another brief silence fell, Kajii feeling uncharacteristically nervous, though he masked it well.
“Do you like me?” He asked simply in return. “… Yeah.” They responded quietly, glancing off to the side as they spoke. “So can I kiss you then?” He asked abruptly.
It probably would’ve been too sudden for most people, but with how oblivious Kajii was when it came to things like this, it made sense.
“… Yeah.” They nodded slightly, their gaze shifting between Kajii and some random object off to the side.
Kajii stepped forward and connected their lips without a second thought, his eyes instinctively fluttering shut as he did so. It was clear he had no idea what he was doing, his movements awkward despite he himself seeming so sure.
Not knowing how long it was supposed to last, he went to pull away, only to feel them kissing back, quickly resuming the kiss in return.
As it continued, their hands instinctively went to Kajii’s hair, earning a shiver from him, abruptly deepening the kiss in response as his hands found their waist. His movements grew less awkward the longer the kiss went on, though his composure was quickly slipping.
His breathing had grown slightly heavy between kisses, and when they began pulling away for air, a faint whine caught in his throat as he quickly leaned back in.
Eventually though, he reluctantly broke away to allow both of them to breath, panting shakily as he stared down to them from behind his glasses with partly-lidded eyes.
“That was okay, right? I did good?” He asked breathlessly, his hands never leaving their waist. “Yeah. It was good. Really good.” They assured with a slight nod.
Kajii took in a longer, still shaky breath, before abruptly closing the gap between them again.