Hello! It's been a while since I've last wrote any fanfic (4 years!) . I felt like I've lost touch in writing fiction especially after years of writing reports. Anyway, this is my first attempt at HinawaxMaki from Fire Force. I really love how the two of them have such chemistry and after reading the only fanfic by AHeroAmongVillains, I just had to contribute to the fandom. T_T

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fire Force. Sorry if the characters are a bit OOC/inaccurate.

"Anybody wants some sake?" Obi burst excitedly into the cathedral. The members in the room looked up from their work curiously at their captain who was waving the brown bottle in his hand around like it was some prized possession.

"Are we even allowed to drink during work time?" Shinra gave a disapproving look.

"A small cup is fine. It's not like we'll get drunk over a bit of sake, right? Besides, it might help lift the gloomy atmosphere here."

"Who wouldn't be gloomy with all the paperworks that have to be done?" Arthur cut in.

"And that's why I have this bottle of sake here! We'll need some sake cups..."

"I'll go get the cups!" sister Iris chirped as she made her way to the kitchen. The others started gathering round Obi's table as he placed the bottle on his desk.

"I've never had sake before. Does it taste good?" Maki's eyes followed the bottle from Obi's hands to his desk.

"Seriously? I thought someone of your age should have tried sake at least once."

"Are you calling me old?!" In an instance, Arthur found himself in a chokehold.

The rest sighed at the knight's denseness.

"By the way, where did you get that from?" lieutenant Hinawa asked.

"Remember the bar owner from our previous mission? I met him on the streets and he gave me this to express his gratitude. In my defense, he was really pushy and would not let me go until I accept it so stop looking me like that, lieutenant.

"You know it's in our policy not to accept gifts from clients. We don't want them to think that we'll do them extra favors just for the gifts."

Iris returned with the cups and handed them over to Obi, who already has opened the sake bottle.

"Come on, lieutenant, not everyone has an ulterior motive. For all you know, this guy is just really grateful for what we have done. So just accept his kindness and enjoy your cup of sake." Obi handed Hinawa a sake cup with the transparent liquid sitting inside, which he reluctantly took it.

Soon, all of the members have a cup of sake each and are sipping on their drinks.

"Wait a second," Obi suddenly whirled around and glanced at the younger members in the group, "Aren't you guys underage?"

"Don't you think it's a bit too late to be asking that?" Tamaki retorted as she took another sip, "you don't need to worry though, nobody can get drunk on such small amount of sake."

"Even so, no more sake for you guys." Obi reprimanded as they groaned collectively. "You should have told me earlier that you were underage."

He turned back to refill Hinawa's and Maki's cup.

"Thanks captain, but I shouldn't really be drinking this much. My alcohol tolerance hasn't been very good ever since I joined the military." Maki pulled her cup away before Obi could pour another serving of sake for her.

"It'll be fine, Maki. See, even Hinawa's fine after so many cups of sake, right, lieutenant?" Obi gave said man a slap on the back and refilled his cup.

"W-what?" Hinawa looked as if he has been snapped out of a trance. The faint red hue on his face did not go unnoticed.

"Lieutenant, are you by chance…"

"Drunk?" Maki completed Obi's sentence.

"No, I'm not drunk, captain." Hinawa gulped down his sake in one shot. That did nothing to convince Obi and Maki.

"You should really stop drinking lieutenant." Obi took Hinawa's sake cup away from his hand and placed it down on the desk. Maki stacked her cup on top of Hinawa's.

"Everyone, get back to work after you have finish up your drink!" Obi announced which was shortly followed by more groans, particularly from Shinra and Arthur.

Soon enough, the stack of used cups got higher as each member went back to their respective desks. Iris took the cups and bottle of sake back into the kitchen.

"Lieutenant, are you feeling alright?" Maki asked across her desk. Even though Hinawa was physically in his seat, his mind seemed to be elsewhere.

"Lieutenant!" Maki called again, louder. That got his attention. "Do you need to rest?"

"I'm fine, Maki. I just feel a little… sleepy."

"Take a rest, lieutenant." Obi commanded after overhearing the conversation. Not that he was eavesdropping since it was loud enough for the entire room to hear.

"Lieutenant Hinawa is drunk?" Arthur looked at Hinawa with an amusing glint in his eyes, "never thought alcohol would be the demon's weakness."

That earned a glare from the captain, "get back to work or I'll double your workload. Maki, help the lieutenant up to his room and make sure he gets some rest."

"Yes, sir." Maki stood up and went over to help Hinawa up from his seat.

"Who knew the lieutenant has such low tolerance for alcohol." Obi muttered under his breath as he watched the lieutenant get hoisted away by Maki.

(In Hinawa's room)

"Here you go, lieutenant. You'll feel better after a nap." Maki shifted Hinawa onto his bed and tucked him under his blanket.

"Thanks, Maki." Hinawa groaned out groggily, "It's been really long since I had alcohol."

It was not long before his tired eyes drooped and finally closed.

"Lieutenant?" Maki whispered.

No response.

"That was fast." Maki said to no one in particular, "I should remove his glasses in case he crushes it…"

Maki leant over and placed her fingers on the frames. She had only pulled it slightly when Hinawa's eyes suddenly flew open. A gasp escaped the startled girl who is now frozen in place.

"What are you doing?" his hands reached up and enveloped her hands. Maki released her hold on his glasses as it slowly slid back into position. Everything around her seemed to froze in place as she gazed into his brown eyes.

"I was going to take off your glasses since I thought you were asleep." She felt a chill run down her spine even though there was no reason for her to feel this nervous. Maybe it was the close proximity, or maybe it was the way Hinawa's eyes bore into hers.

Hinawa's right hand was now running along her forearm, causing her skin to tingle every time his fingers brushed past. His hand came to a rest on her biceps and without any warning, he pulled her down, narrowing the distance between their faces down to a few centimetres. Now, there were several occasions where the Lieutenant's face got very close to hers, especially when he was scolding her for playing with fire. But in those cases, Maki was sure the lieutenant did not look at her the same way as he was now. There was something in his eyes that makes her want to close the distance between them but her logical side prevented her from kissing her superior.

"Is that all?"

"A-and maybe pull a prank on you?" Maki joked in hopes to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

"You'll need to be punished then."

"I'm jok-… argh!", Maki closed her eyes as she felt Hinawa flung her to his side. She let out a cry when her back collided with a surface that was surprisingly... soft.

Maki slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She was currently lying on Hinawa's bed (which explained the soft surface) and it did not take long for her to notice the hovering figure above her, his face still dangerously close to hers. One of his arms was above her head while the other was propped up beside her head. His lower body pressed down on hers, preventing her from escaping or even moving. She could feel her pulse sky rocketing.

"Lieutenant?" Maki called out feebly. Hoping it would snap the man out of whatever spell he was under.

"Hmm?"

"You're squashing me." Maki felt his thigh rubbed against hers.

"Look at me Maki." It came out like a command.

Maki obeyed reluctantly as violet met brown shyly.

"Has anyone told you that you have really pretty eyes?"

"Wha- hmrphh." His lips were already on hers before she could response to his statement.

All logic was thrown out the window when Maki felt the lieutenant's lips moved against hers and she began to return with equal fervour. Wanting more, her hands moved to the back of his head, pressing him closer and further deepening the kiss. As if responding to her, Hinawa lowered his body, allowing himself to sink further in. Maki could taste the faint traces of sake on his lips.

It was not long when the adrenaline level started to drop and Maki realized the fact that she was actually kissing her superior. "But he was the one that initiated the kiss… and it felt good. Oh no, what if he remembers everything tomorrow? What if he doesn't remember anything tomorrow? What if this develops even further?"

Luckily for her, she did not have to answer the last question as she felt Hinawa's arms gave way and his head slid down to rest in the crook of her neck and his breath tickling her neck.

"Are you alright, lieutenant?" With much caution, Maki opened her eyes slightly, peeking through the slits of her eyes. Only after sensing no movements did she dared to open her eyes fully. She looked down at the man lying atop her.

"Did he just fall asleep while kissing me?"

Not daring to wake Hinawa up, Maki slowly pulled herself out from underneath him, pausing every time his breath got shallow. It took quite a while but eventually, she freed herself and bolted out of the room.

(Back in the office)

Maki hurriedly sat back in her chair as she tried to calm her pounding chest. The events that transpired previously felt like a slap to her face now. As much as she hoped that the lieutenant does not remember anything, she knew deep down that she wanted him to remember.

"Maki, are you alright?" Obi casted a worried glance over at her, "You've been gone for quite a while."

"A-ah, I'm fine captain. Just had a bit of trouble tucking the lieutenant in bed." It was not a complete lie. Maki prayed that the captain does not pressed any further.

Unfortunately for her, Obi did much more than that. He scrutinised her from head to toe and picked up hints along the way: flushed cheeks, slightly swollen lips and disheveled hair. It was not hard for him to put the pieces together.

"Maki, a moment." Obi gestured her towards the direction of the kitchen. She obediently stood up and walked to the kitchen while he trailed behind her.

"What do you think happened to Maki-neesan?" Shinra asked aloud.

"The demon needs his bedtime story?" Arthur replied, "Maybe one about knights, princesses and dragons."

"That's stupid. From my observations, she was breathing pretty hard so my guess would be she was fighting someone." Vulcan joined in.

"You mean the Lieutenant is able to fight in his sleep?"

"That can't be it. Maybe she saw an infernal and chased after it?"

Iris, Tamaki and Licht who probably had an inkling of what happened, continued working in silence as they listened to the three members' ridiculous hypotheses.

(In the kitchen)

"Maki, did he do anything inappropriate to you?" Obi asked unabashedly. He would not tolerate any inappropriate acts in his company, even if it were between his two most long-serving members.

"N-not exactly…" Maki could not helped but blushed when she recalled the events.

"Let me rephrase that, did he force himself onto you?"

"Well… kind of."

Obi's face turned murderous. Maki, who saw the change, immediately pulled him back before he could storm into the lieutenant's room.

"It's not like that, captain!" Maki half-shouted. Obi stopped in his tracks as he wait for what she had to say.

"You see, there were many times where I could just fight him off and get away. I mean he wasn't really going all out on me and was kind of clumsy from being drunk. I could have easily escaped if I wanted to…"

"...but you did not." The murder on his face subsided. He turned to face Maki and crossed his arms. "And why did you not?"

"I-I think I might have feelings for the lieutenant." It came out as a whisper.

Even though the answer was obvious to Obi, he still could not help but feel surprised.

"I-I mean, I was really shocked at first too. But when he put his face so near to mine and looked at me like that…" she was pretty sure that her face was as red as a tomato by now, "…I might have thoughts of kissing him."

There was a long pause before Obi broke the silence.

"So it was consensual?"

"Yes."

"I guess that's fine then." Obi gave a thoughtful look.

"Really? Even though he's my superior?"

"Maki, the last thing I want is for my members to be miserable. If you're happy about it then I have no qualms."

"Thank you, captain." Maki smiled. Obi gave a lazy grin in response.

"For a second, I thought you guys had sex. But in the end it was just kissing hah!"

"E-even so, it was my first time okay?" Maki snapped back.

"Although, I must say, you have chosen a really difficult person to like. After all, he is quite the loner."

"What do you mean?"

"Who's does Maki like?" a venomous voice came from behind the captain. Obi could feel the dark aura overflowing from the figure behind him. It was not hard to guess who it was.

"You're up, lieutenant! I thought you were still sleeping in your room. What brings you here?" Obi let out a nervous laughter as he stood aside, revealing the brown-haired man.

"I was sleeping in an awkward position and it was getting very uncomfortable."

Obi gave an amused look at Maki. She turned her head away blushing. That earned a weird stare from Hinawa.

"Anyway, I was feeling thirsty after waking up so I thought I'd get a glass of water."

"Ah… I see. Then I'll leave the explanation to Maki then. Please return to work after the both of you have talk things out. The squirts are getting rowdy without the lieutenant around." The Captain gave a pat on the lieutenant's shoulder before walking away, probably back to his desk.

"…"

"… so what was that about?" Hinawa started.

"How much do you remember, lieutenant?" Maki could feel herself clenching her fists.

"I remember drinking sake and getting very sleepy. You helped me into my bed and I fell asleep."

"That was it?" Her nails were now digging into her palms.

"… yeah."

"You don't remember anything that happened after?"

There was a moment of hesitation.

"I did have a strange dream. But I woke up shortly afterwards."

"Does your dream involve the two of us kissing?" Maki took a step towards Hinawa, her violet eyes met his sharply.

"…" Hinawa was silent as he looked back at Maki. He seemed to be struggling with some inner turmoil before finally admitting in defeat, "… yes."

Maki loosened her clenched fists and let out a breath of relief.

"I-it wasn't a dream?" Hinawa stuttered, his eyes widening as the truth hit him.

"No it wasn't."

"So me pulling you into bed…"

"Happened."

"And me kissing you…"

"Happened."

"And you returning the kiss…"

"…yeah."

It was a lot for Hinawa to process. After all, being told that his sinful dream with his underling was in fact real came as a great shock to him. Maki could only look helplessly at him as he digests the pieces of information.

"I can't." Hinawa finally replied after what seemed like a few eternities to Maki. He turned his head, breaking the eye contact.

"You can't what?" Panic started to rise within her.

"Maki, when I first came into Company 8, I told Captain Obi that I would not love another person. Not when we could die any moment. I've sworn to be alone and die alone." He explained, "After all, losing a love one is not something I want my partner to experience."

"So that's what the Captain meant…" Maki smiled painfully. She could not really argue with that line of reasoning as she knows that she would feel the same way. Nevertheless, Maki still felt pretty crushed. "Well then, I guess it's better for us to forget everything and go back to status quo then. That being said, we should go back to work."

Maki was about to step out of the kitchen when Hinawa's hand shot out and grabbed hers.

"No." This time, it was brown meeting violet.

"No?"

"It's not something I can forget, Maki. I'll admit that the reason for having these dreams is because of my growing feelings towards you."

"It's not just once?" Maki exclaimed. Somehow that really made her happy.

"I originally planned to carry this secret to my grave since I was not sure if you would even reciprocate my feelings. But since the feeling is mutual, it'll be as painful as losing a loved one if we keep forcing ourselves to be apart. However, at the same time, I still want to maintain our superior-subordinate relationship."

"Forcing ourselves to be apart would be like making ourselves unhappy intentionally. Especially since the captain has already given his blessings."

Maki and Hinawa stood frozen in their places for a whole minute, looking at each other.

"I have a proposal."

Maki was all ears. She gave a nod, signaling for Hinawa to continue.

"There will be no changes in our relationship status but we will not deny that we have feelings for each other. During work time, we will behave appropriately as what a superior and subordinate should be. If everything works out and our feelings are still mutual after this whole Spontaneous Human Combustion affair, we'll officially be a couple."

"So outside of work time we can ignore the superior-subordinate boundaries?"

"Since our work is twenty-four seven, it'll be hard to find a moment where we are not working."

"That's true…" Maki signed dejectedly. "I guess a cover-up date is out of the question then."

"Well, if that moment ever comes, we'll have to cherish it even more then." Hinawa gave a knowing smile.

"Indeed." Maki smiled back.

(End)

Thanks for reading! This idea came to me one night and I had to spend 3 days just to get it down in words. It's so much easier to do it in my head... Sorry if there's any grammar errors.

Do review if you like it! I hope this inspires more HinawaxMaki fics :3 (Spread the love!) I hope I have the stamina to write a sequel.