(Originally published in Distracting Drabbles)

"Anything else come up?" Saitou asked as Kouno ended his call.

"Nah," the other man said, relaxing back in the passenger seat of Saitou's car. "Everything's quiet in contractor-land. "We're done for the night."

In the backseat, Hei heaved a quiet sigh of relief. He'd spent the entire day on edge, unsure of how much his co-workers would remember about the details that Misaki had let slip at the bar on Saturday night. The two of them had decided to act as if nothing had happened today, and at the same time stop actively hiding the fact that they were dating.

And to his surprise, everything had been…fine. No one had commented or even seemed to notice when Hei and Misaki arrived at work together in the morning. It seemed a bit silly now, the way they'd spent the past couple of months timing their schedules so that there wasn't even a hint that they might actually be living together. The morning debriefing had passed perfectly normally; so had their training session, report writing, and evening patrols. It was pretty clear by now that they'd all forgotten Saturday night, or else Misaki's words had been less obvious than Hei had feared.

Still, he was glad that the day was finally over and he could relax. And if he and Misaki happened to both leave the office at the same time, well, it was just a coincidence.

"The Chief has that section meeting tonight, right?" Kouno asked.

"Oh, yeah," Hei said. Damn; he'd forgotten about that.

"How about a noodle bowl," Saitou said. "We can try that new place by the ward office; the early dinner special is supposed to be pretty good."

"Look, Saitou, just because a meal is cheap doesn't mean it's good."

"It's all about value - quality for the cost," Saitou countered.

Hei was never sure whether he ought to join in their friendly ribbing or not, but he did enjoy listening; it was almost like actually being included. But now he tuned out the bickering conversation. He could wait around in the office for Misaki to finish with her meeting; there was always paperwork to do. Or he could go home ahead of her and start dinner; he wouldn't even have to pick the lock - he had a key now. He'd been aware of its presence in his pocket all day, light and almost warm.

"Well, Li, you in?" Kouno asked.

"What?" Hei said with a start, his mind already halfway through the preparation for a Vietnamese dish he'd been wanting Misaki to try.

"The new ramen stand; dinner."

"Oh. Uh, I was actually thinking of going home and cooking tonight."

"You can cook any night," Saitou said.

"I guess; but -"

"Come on, Li, you worm your way out of hanging out too many times. If the food turns out to be shit, Saitou'll pay for it."

"Hey, just because it's cheap doesn't mean I'm paying for any freeloaders - I'm not made of money you know!"

Hei bit back a smile. "Yeah; alright." He could eat a little; he'd probably be hungry again by the time Misaki got home, anyway.

The ramen stand was nearly empty of other customers, and there was plenty of room at the bar for the three of them to sit. They placed their orders; then Kouno pulled up a stool on one side of Hei, and Saitou on the other. Hei looked warily between them, feeling suddenly like a cat that had been cornered by a couple of well-meaning but large and fanged dogs.

"Li," Kouno began. "Buddy. Pal. We need to talk."

"Uh…what about?" Out of long and necessary reflex, Hei's situational awareness kicked into full gear. He only had a couple small knives on him - Misaki had vetoed multiple requests for his usual weapons, though she'd eased up on the dress code considerably - and the path to the exit was blocked by Kouno. Hei had sparred with him several times during training; he knew he could take him out, easily, if he had to. Unobtrusively, he let his right hand drift towards his pocket and the switchblade tucked away there.

"Are you really dating the Chief?" Saitou blurted out.

Kouno sighed in exasperation. "Saitou, we were going to go for tact, remember?"

Hei looked at them blankly, surprised by the lack of accusation in Saitou's voice. So, they hadn't forgotten Saturday after all. He didn't particularly want to discuss his and Misaki's relationship with anyone, but if it meant finally being able to get rid of the burden of secrecy they'd both been shouldering for so long…maybe it would be worth it. Still, as soon as the cook set three beers down on the counter, Hei grabbed one and took a large swig to put off having to answer immediately.

"Uh, yeah," he said at last.

"Damn," Kouno said. "I guess we owe Ootsuka an apology."

"Ootsuka?"

Saitou heaved a sigh. "She was sure that you guys were dating; we thought she was crazy."

"I mean," Kouno said, "it was obvious that you had the hots for her -"

Hei blinked. "Wait, it was?"

Saitou laughed, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Li, you have a long way to go before you learn how to lie; clandestine operations like that take a lot of training."

"Huh," Hei said. He took another drink. And he thought that he'd been doing so well at keeping his emotions hidden; he'd never had a problem before, with the Syndicate. Then again, he'd always been someone else with the Syndicate; this was his first ever job where he didn't have to hide.

"Yeah," Kouno continued, "we all knew that you liked her; but we didn't think the Chief had even noticed."

"She doesn't notice things like that," Saitou said, a bit glumly but without a trace of resentment.

"It was the flowers that tipped her off, wasn't it - I mean, they couldn't have been from anyone except for you, right? And then when she didn't murder you for it, I started to think maybe Ootsuka was on to something."

"Well, they were from me," Hei admitted. "But we were already seeing each other then."

"Already? How long?" Saitou demanded. To Hei's surprise, he didn't sound angry or jealous; maybe just a little disappointed. It should have felt like he was being questioned by the police, but strangely, it…didn't. Saitou and Kouno simply sounded interested.

Still, Hei hesitated before answering. It had taken him a while to get used to the fact that he could confide in Misaki, even simple things like when he was in a lackluster mood or had had a disconcerting nightmare. He hadn't expected how, well, nice it was to be able to trust another person like that. He knew that friends and co-workers often shared the same kinds of things - the members of Section Four were particularly close - but he'd never thought that that sort of friendship could apply to himself. Even though Misaki kept telling him that it did.

Maybe it would be worth it, giving it a shot."Officially, about two months, I guess."

Kouno raised his eyebrows. "You've only been with Section Four for three months - damn, you move fast!"

"Wait," Saitou said. "'Officially'?"

"Uh, well, a year ago, before I had to leave the country, we sort of had a brief…thing. She wanted me to apply to Section Four, so when I came back to Tokyo, I did," Hei explained awkwardly. "And it still felt like there was something between us, so, um, we talked, and decided to try a relationship."

"Shit," Kouno said, seemingly impressed. "So how's that going?"

Hei felt the key in his pocket, pressing into the side of his leg. "Uh, pretty good."

"Why didn't either of you say anything?" Saitou asked.

Hei shrugged. "You know Misaki." He didn't miss the widening of their eyes at his use of her name. "She doesn't like to bring personal matters into the office. And she was worried that you all would think she might play favorites if you knew, so. We decided to keep it quiet."

Kouno snorted. "Play favorites? The Chief? Saitou, would you ever expect the Chief to play favorites with anyone?"

Saitou shook his head in disbelief.

"Yeah," Hei said, allowing himself a small smile. "But she worries about things like that."

"Still," Kouno said as their food arrived, "dating the Chief. You've got balls, man."

Hei took a slurping gulp of noodles. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just that she's kind of…" he trailed off, groping for words. "Saitou, how would you describe the Chief?"

Saitou stuffed a spoonful of rice into his mouth. "Intense."

"Exactly! Intense. And you're - well, you're you."

Hei prayed that his face wasn't giving away too much emotion. Her intensity was one of the things he loved best about her. "In the office, sure," he said. "At home she's more…well, she's not as intense."

Kouno pointed his chopsticks at him. "Well, just don't let her boss you around too much. Women like a man who can stand up for himself, trust me."

"Don't listen to him, Li - this guy hasn't had a second date in three years," Saitou jibbed good-naturedly; Kouno flicked a piece of shrimp at him.

"She's not that bossy," Hei said, finishing off his beer. It was true that Misaki was very particular about certain things, but she always apologized if she thought she was being too demanding; and in any case they were never things that Hei had any opinion about either way. "I'm used to taking orders, anyway."

Kouno raised an eyebrow. "Really? Never would have thought you'd be the sort of guy who'd go for someone like that."

"Yeah," Saitou said. "I'd've thought that your type would be more along the lines of, well, someone like Ootsuka. Cute and quiet."

"I bet that's it," Kouno said abruptly. "His last girlfriend was the quiet, submissive type, and this time he wanted to try someone a little different. Right, Li?"

Hei opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Uh," he said at last.

Saitou laughed. "Come on, Li, you hear all about our failures in the dating world - was your last girlfriend sweet, overly emotional?"

Hei hesitated again, but the alcohol and the friendly camaraderie were making him feel a bit braver. "No," he said. "She hardly ever showed any emotion, and when she did, I always just assumed that she was lying in order to something she wanted."

"Damn," Kouno said, "that's a pretty cynical outlook."

"Yeah, I guess. She let me believe for years that she had betrayed me, but I found out eventually that that had just been her way of trying to protect me, and she really did care about me after all. I'm not sure if I forgive her for it, but at least I understand her better now."

Saitou offered him a kindly smile. "Why would you be so surprised to learn that she liked you?"

Hei shrugged, and took a big bite of noodles. "Well, she was a contractor. So, yeah, it was surprising."

He'd swallowed two more mouthfuls before he realized that the other two were staring at him in shock. Then Saitou laughed. "Good one, Li - you almost had me there!"

"Saitou," Kouno said, still staring, "I don't think he's joking."

"Come on - Li? And a contractor?"

"Did you know she was a contractor when you started dating her?"

"Well, we didn't date, exactly. But yeah."

"But where would you even meet a contractor?" Saitou asked. "You said this was years ago; the public didn't know about contractors before last year."

Hei took a deep breath. Misaki had told him, many times, that it would be fine; she was usually right about things (except when it came to herself, of course). He could trust her judgment. "South America," he said. "The Syndicate put her in charge of my squad."

"What were you doing in South America?" Saitou asked at the same time Kouno said, "Wait, you worked for the Syndicate?" They were both staring at him as if he was a total stranger.

Hei focused on his noodle bowl, so that he wouldn't have to meet either of their eyes. "I was in South America because my sister was there; she was one of their deadliest contractors. But she was vulnerable while she payed her price, so…I joined too. To keep her safe."

"Your sister?" Kouno said quietly. "Shit. What happened to her?"

She gave up her physical form and forced her powers on me in order to destroy Heaven's Gate and save my life. "She died protecting me," he said simply, and with a tone that was meant to signal the end of that line of conversation. Still focused on his food, he watched them out of the corner of his eye; they were clearly struggling with his words, but they weren't pulling their weapons on him. He supposed that was a good sign.

"I still have trouble picturing a guy like you working for the Syndicate," Saitou said at last. "What did they have you doing for them?"

"Um, well, during the war it was mostly guerrilla warfare. Striking in the dead of night and fading back into the forest before anyone could catch us, that sort of thing. And acting as a bodyguard for my sister. Then the higher-ups realized that I had a talent for assassination, so after the war it was mostly that, and some espionage-type stuff."

"Espionage-type stuff?" Saitou repeated.

"Yeah - pretending to be a waiter so I could steal Gate artifacts from mob bosses; tracking down foreign government spies in Pandora. Uh, you know."

Saitou was still regarding him skeptically, but Kouno said, "Whoa whoa who - remember Saturday night, when the Chief kept mixing up Li with BK-201?"

Saitou snorted. "She was completed toasted."

"Saitou…" Kouno widened his eyes significantly, and inclined his head in Hei's direction. Saitou caught his meaning, and his jaw sagged open in disbelief.

Hei shifted nervously in his seat. "She told me that she wanted to hire a contractor for Section Four and that I should apply," he said. "And I needed a job. So. I did."

"Hang on," Kouno said, suddenly narrowing his eyes; Hei tensed. "She told us that she wanted to hire a contractor, and we all agreed to it - but she never said anything about it being you."

Hei couldn't stand for them to think that Misaki in any way intentionally misled them. "I asked her not to say anything," he admitted. "She said it would be fine if you all knew, but…I'm not used to people trusting me, once they know what I am. I didn't want to cause any problems."

He poked awkwardly at his empty bowl, wondering if he'd said too much and cursing himself for letting his guard down.

"Well," Kouno said at last. "I mean…"

"I would have refused, if I'd known it was BK-201," Saitou said flatly. "But…well, the Chief obviously trusts you. And I trust her."

Kouno nodded, a bit reluctantly. "Yeah. Anyway, you saved my ass yesterday when that gravity-controller jumped us."

"But the Chief," Saitou said, his manner abruptly turning cold. "You and she - you wouldn't - you wouldn't force her, or -"

"No!" Hei said sharply. "First of all, I wouldn't. And second - this is Misaki we're talking about."

"He has a point, Saitou," Kouno said. "And actually, this whole thing with the Chief is starting to make a lot more sense... Hang on!" He slammed his palm down on the bar; Hei flinched in spite of himself. "If you're BK-201, then there's no way I could have won our sparring match this morning - you were going easy on me, weren't you!"

"Well, yeah," Hei said, staring in confusion at the anger on his co-worker's face. "It's just sparring; I don't want to accidentally hurt anyone."

"Come on, man, the whole point of sparring is to improve the whole team - what if we come up against a contractor who's just as good as you, and we could've been prepared by practicing against you, but we aren't because you've been letting us win this whole time?"

Saitou folded his arms. "That's true, Li - I know that being a team player doesn't come naturally for contractors, but that's part of the job. And I know the Chief has had to remind you of it before. So stop slacking off during training - we depend on you just as much as you depend on us out in the field."

"Alright," Hei said slowly. "But then, when I beat you, no complaining that the mats were too slippery."

"Those mats are slippery!" Kouno protested.

"That's always your excuse, Kouno," Saitou said. "You just don't want to admit when someone gets the better of you."

"Easy for you to say - they don't slip as much when there's more weight on them, so you have an advantage -"

Hei looked down into his bowl and listened to the familiar bickering, a warm feeling spreading in his gut. He should have listened to Misaki sooner; she was always right.