Dr. Nakamura had deliberately cleared most of his evening schedule again after consultation hours ended. Haru strongly suspected the older surgeon was pretending not to micromanage his mental recovery while very obviously micromanaging his mental recovery which is annoyingly considerate. Eventually hunger made itself known somewhere beneath the anxiety and overthinking. Haru checked the time on his phone before deciding he still had enough free time to eat properly for once instead of surviving on vending machine coffee and nutritional regret. So he stopped at a small restaurant several streets away from the hospital.

Warm light spilled through the windows. Quiet conversations drifted through the air alongside the scent of grilled meat and broth. Nothing fancy. Just comfortable.

Haru ordered a simple meal before settling alone near the back corner of the restaurant. The exhaustion in his shoulders felt heavier now that he had finally stopped moving. While waiting for his food, he scrolled absently through his phone.

Medical articles. Unread messages. One aggressively judgmental reminder from his banking app. Normal things.

Then suddenly—

SMACK.

The sound cracked sharply across the restaurant. Several conversations stopped instantly.

Haru looked up briefly on instinct. Some kind of argument near the opposite side of the restaurant. A woman’s raised voice. Staff beginning to move nervously toward the commotion. Haru frowned faintly before looking back toward his phone again. Not his business. At least… probably not.

Earlier

Kaito had actually been enjoying himself for once. His dinner had arrived warm. The restaurant was quiet. No emotionally devastating conversations. Just a peaceful evening and a bowl of ramen expensive enough to feel slightly insulting.

Then someone slid into the seat across from him uninvited.

Kaito blinked once. A young woman, probably college-aged, smiled brightly at him from across the table. “Your hair is gorgeous,” she announced immediately.

Kaito stared for half a second before offering polite confusion. “...Thank you?”

“What shampoo do you use?”

He almost laughed at the sheer randomness of the question.

The conversation started harmlessly enough after that. Mostly one-sided. The girl chatted easily while Kaito responded with careful politeness between bites of food.

Unfortunately, polite rejection only seemed to encourage her.

“You should give me your number.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Kaito answered gently, “but no thank you.”

“You’re seriously rejecting me?”

“I’m seriously eating dinner.”

That earned a reluctant laugh from her… briefly.

But every refusal after that made the atmosphere sharper. More irritated. More forceful.

Kaito remained calm throughout it, still attempting diplomacy because publicly crushing someone’s ego felt unnecessarily cruel.

Unfortunately, persistence eventually curdled into embarrassment. And embarrassment became anger.

“Oh my god,” she snapped suddenly. “Why are you acting so difficult?”

Kaito set his chopsticks down carefully. “Because I already answered.”

Then— SMACK. The slap landed hard enough to turn his face sideways slightly.

The restaurant went silent. Before Kaito could even fully process what had happened, cold water splashed across his face and shirt. His patience evaporated instantly.

Slowly, he stood.

“I’ll be pressing charges,” he said evenly.

The girl scoffed immediately. “For what?”

“For assault,” Kaito replied. “And disturbing public peace.”

That confidence lasted exactly three seconds. Until Kaito added, “There’s CCTV directly above this table.”

The girl’s expression changed immediately. Panic flickered across her face before transforming almost theatrically into outrage. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” she suddenly shouted loudly. “You were sexually harassing me!”

Kaito froze. Not because he believed it. But because the accusation arrived so fast and so publicly that his brain temporarily stopped functioning.

“What?”

“You kept making disgusting comments!”

Several nearby diners immediately started whispering. Restaurant staff rushed over nervously. The girl’s voice only grew louder.

“I told you to stop touching me!”

Kaito stared at her in complete disbelief. 

Suddenly the atmosphere around him had shifted. Suspicious glances and whispers. Judgment blooming instantly before facts could exist. For once in his life, Kaito genuinely had no idea what to say.

Present

From across the restaurant, Haru finally looked up properly when he heard a familiar voice say, “I never touched you.”

His head snapped upward immediately. Kaito stood near the center of the restaurant soaked from shoulder to chest, wet hair clinging slightly against his face while staff tried unsuccessfully to calm the escalating argument. Haru blinked once in disbelief.

Then slowly stood from his seat.

The girl pointed accusingly toward Kaito again. “He’s lying!”

Kaito looked seconds away from developing an aneurysm.

Haru crossed the restaurant calmly before stopping beside him. “Kaito?”

Kaito turned sharply toward the familiar voice. A genuine relief flashed briefly across his expression. “Haru,” he said flatly. “Excellent timing. I’m apparently a public menace now.”

Haru glanced once at Kaito’s soaked shirt before looking toward the girl. Next, toward the untouched food sitting at Kaito’s table and the water bottle. Then toward the CCTV camera mounted clearly above the dining area.

“…You threw water at him,” Haru observed.

“You are lying!” the girl snapped quickly. “He was harassing me!”

Haru looked back toward Kaito. Kaito looked deeply offended. “You think I willingly approach a strangers during my dinner? I barely had the free time to enjoy MY free time." Kaito spoke dryly.

Despite the tension, Haru nearly laughed. Instead he turned calmly toward the staff member nearby. “The camera recorded the table clearly, right?”

The employee nodded uncertainly. “Y-Yes…”

“Then review it.”

The girl’s face visibly paled.

Haru’s expression remained completely professional and controlled.

“If there was harassment,” Haru continued calmly, “the footage will support her statement.”

The silence that followed felt immediate and heavy. Because suddenly the girl realized someone was no longer reacting emotionally but logically. And logic was much harder to manipulate.

Kaito watched Haru beside him quietly, still dripping water onto the restaurant floor.

“…You know,” Kaito said after a moment, “this may be the least dignified rescue of my career.”

Haru finally glanced toward him properly. Wet hair and ruined shirt. Utter psychological exhaustion radiating from his soul.

And somehow…Haru laughed. A real one. Short and startled, but undeniably genuine.

Kaito stared at him in mild betrayal. “You find my suffering funny?”

“A little,” Haru admitted.