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Enjin knows his team, alright? He knows their quirks, who they get along with, how they work with others, what makes them tick. So when they start acting different….

He always notices.

Zanka and (Y/N), the two of them started getting. Odd. Around each other. Flitting eyes, twitching fingers, stuttered words, oh yeah. It's all coming together.

Enjin rubs his hands together and laces his fingers as he leans forward where he's sitting in the mess hall. He's gonna get these two together, they went and got crushes, and he gets to be the arbitor of their romance. First things first.

He has a bet to collect from Semiu.

She's not stupid. She purposefully chooses to not think about things, that doesn't make her dumb. In fact, she's quite smart. And observant. She figured it out as soon as she saw Semiu handing money to Enjin. She knew about the bet that Zanka would get a crush, but she's more interested to see if (Y/N) also has a crush.

She has some of Zanka's hair in her room, like every other member of team Akuta. So she goes to collect several strands and sneaks into (Y/N)'s room where they're reading. They glance up and smile as she enters before continuing to read, so she takes that as an invitation to sit behind them on their bed and selects a segment of baby hairs that aren't tied back in anyway.

Withdrawing three of Zanka's blonder hairs, she ties them tight around the base of the baby hairs and begins to braid them together, a tiny little braid that if they wanted it removed they would need to cut it at the base. Riyo is very good at braiding hair.

Once done, Riyo hops up and snags a small compact mirror from her pocketto show (Y/N).

"See? Now you can have some of his hair with you all the time!"

The screams and following pillowfight still has her cheeks aching hours later from how hard she smiled. Safe to say, she was right.

Tomme really likes romance. She loves reading romance books she finds, she enjoys imagining all kinds of little scenarios in her head. So she knows the signs, the cues, the little story beats every romance has, even real life ones. She and (Y/N) share books back and forth, she knows they know the story beats too, the little words not said, feelings unsaid, hands unheld.

She knows she doesn't need to have her keen eye to see Zanka is down bad, and she thinks about talking to (Y/N) about it, and decides not to. From the knowing affectionate gleam in their eye as Zanka stutters over his words again, she doesn't need to say anything. With a small smile and a huff of adoration at her teammates. She's never regretted joining the cleaners, the givers that joins the Cleaners really do cherish everything and everyone around them. They have a different perspective than regular people.

He has to admit to himself at least a little bit that he's hopeless when it comes to anything beyond training and combat. It's a fault of his family, passionate people they may be, they are taught basically from birth to pour all that passion into being good soldiers, generals, Hell Guard. Anything else is simply a distraction, not worth the time, attention, or care. Arranged marriages for the good of the family are the norm, he's never seen his parents be "in love."

So either he is having a heart attack everytime you're around, or he might actually be catching some feelings. Which. Is a very freightening concept. And it's only a concept. Clearly.

The heart attack option sounds better than the love option.

…

Man. He really does need psychiatric help.

He's staring at the ceiling in his room right now, arms crossed behind his head and the Lovely Assistaff propped against the wall on his right. He just needs to breathe and meditate, clear his mind, but every time he does… thoughts of you press in at the edges of his carefully curated mental walls. Glimpses of you fighting on jobs, in the corner of his eye as he eats in the mess hall, passing in the hallways, small tiny moments he lets himself stare a little too long before turning away…

Eventually sleep finds him, but it's restless, seeking the imagined warmth of your hand in his.

The next day is slow, most of team Akuta is at the headquarters, all jobs already taken by teams Child and Eager, so he is at the training grounds stretching as he usually does on off days. Rudo is with him, copying the stretches and trying to learn through observation how to weild bostaff like weapons. Riyo and Enjin as usual are chatting off to the side, giggling at the latest magazine of Too Lily like school girls with their first boy band crushes. He's doing rather well ignoring them and zoning in only on his slow movements, building balance, strength, and discipline.

Off to the side of the training grounds, you pass through for a moment, waving at them all while you carry paperwork for Semiu to Corvus' office.

Zanka's balance wobbles.

Rudo notices.

Oh for fucks sake.

"Uh, Zanka, you okay?" He asks with such genuine worry, and Zanka is about to bite back a response but Riyo cackles and throws a chip his way.

"He's just admiring the goods! He loves when it waves goodbye!" She and Enjin devolve into laughter, and Zanka simply grips the Assistaff tighter as he tries to reign in his murderous intent for his lovely teammates. Rudo's face is incredibly confused, and Zanka grumbles, shaking out his shoulders.

"Ignore them, the hyena's got their hands on some damn laughin' gas. They don' know what they're talkin' 'bout. Just keep focusing on my movements, a'ight? Let's get you fit for battle."

Rudo nods, though his brows furrow with skepticism. They continue working for a good two hours, taking small breaks to drink water and discuss movements, but are otherwise uninterrupted. As they are finishing up, you come out of doors to the court they use for training. Zanka spills the water he was drinking down his throat with how his eyes track your movements, and Rudo stares with big wide eyes at him, who hasn't even noticed he's pouring all his water down his front.

"Hey Zanka!" You nod to the others as you job over, waving mainly to the man in question. Zanka straightens and rubs his face frantically, gulping thickly as though swallowing cement and not water. You simply laugh at him lightly, eyes tracing how the light catches the water on his throat.

Rudo is still staring, glancing back and forth between you and Zanka. His face starts to redden, and he takes a shaky step back. You barely noticed, entranced by Zanka, who's face is reddening actively as embarressment catches up to him.

"No, no way, you two… are you…" He covers his face with his glove clad hands, and turns screaming as he runs, unable to handle the secondhand embarrassment.

"My teammates are kissing!!!"

Zanka's face goes blank in confusion. His eye twitches. In seconds the Lovely Assisstaff is in his hand and he's chasing Rudo, screaming obsceneties and denials at the boy. Riyo throws an arm over your shoulders with a lazy grin.

"Man. He really thinks nobody knows, huh?"