The Debating Room was one of the fancier ones they had; meant to host international debates and sometimes televised debates or interviews. The majority of the colour in the room was a bright, wooden tone of the panelling, ceiling, desks and viewing benches, finished with hues of dark green in the curtains and seats. For this week's debate, the first half had been filled by a speaker on the topic of neuroscience and what it meant for free will, while the second half was a mock debate between the first and second team to further work out the arguments.
As Tristan looked over his notes and listened to the opposition, he threw a quick glance over the viewing benches. He noted the familiar faces of members who were particularly invested, or those who hoped to make the teams one day amongst outside spectators – but his eye couldn't help but fall on one very out of place Hibiki, who was writing notes while flanked by his bodyguards on either side. Tristan was glad to see him there, the idea of being supported leaving him with a soft, nearly glowing sensation of contentedness. Yet he couldn't help but wonder what he was writing about so intently, and had been for the entirety of the debate.
Tristan realised that he was staring only when Hibiki glanced up from his notes and looked back at him. A slight smile played around his lips, as if amused that he'd caught him in the act. Immediately Tristan's gaze darted back to his notes, pretending that he'd never looked at all.

A second later he felt a soft buzz in his pocket, and although he already feared what it would be, Tristan still discreetly checked his phone under the desk while actively continuing to listen to the arguments made. He unlocked his phone, only to find a single message.

(^_-)-☆

Despite his best efforts to focus on taking notes and summarising the opposition's arguments, he could feel his cheeks get warm. The embarrassment flared red like an ember in his chest, and he wasn't sure if it was because he was getting toyed with, or because a small part of him enjoyed it even if he knew he shouldn't. There was a strange element of having attention paid to him that resonated within him, despite that it wasn’t the right kind of attention.
Is he flirting with me? That can't be… he's just pulling my leg… I'm reading too much into this… he probably didn't mean it that way. There's no reason he'd flirt with me… I'm just overthinking a joke.

The sound of chairs scraping made him realise that he hadn’t even caught the last part of the opposition’s argument, his pen hovering over the paper but not writing. Shite. Knowing he shouldn’t get distracted now of all times, he instead looked at Sam, who was on summarising duty as their closing speaker. In quick writing he jotted down her statements, so he wouldn't miss anything again for later comparisons.
From the corner of his eye he occasionally caught Hibiki looking, but he wasn't sure if it was at him or Sam. He just tried his best to ignore it, sure that he was just imagining things and looking too much into what had been little more than messing about.

Once the opposition had made their own closing arguments, the debate was over, and the “winner” decided on through public vote from the members present. The vote was quick, and in their favour. While Liz and Killian celebrated with a quick fist bump below the desk, Tristan stood up and quickly spoke a few words on the topic before thanking the second team. He caught James, their Prime Minister, bite his lip rather displeased at their loss, but a moment later he too politely applauded.
Afterwards, Tristan prepared his own closing statements to address the audience, recapping very quickly the lessons to be taken from this debate, before thanking them for their time, and to come again the next week for a debate on the impact of economic thinking.

As the hall slowly emptied again, he walked up to Hibiki and raised his hand in a greeting.
“Hey, I'm glad to see you made it.” He said with a rather reserved smile, afraid to somehow appear too excited or eager.
Meanwhile Hibiki laid down his pen and leant on one elbow, his head resting in his hand. His other hand made a quick gesture with two fingers as a greeting, before he smiled too, far more confident than Tristan as if to take the lead and say it was alright.
“I hope you liked today's topic? I saw you write, did you get anything from it?” Tristan asked, a bit more at ease and leaning onto the barrier of the first viewing bench with both hands. Since Hibiki sat one row higher, he had to look up, and he couldn't help but shift his gaze between his bodyguards – one being Kazuya, and the other he hadn't seen before. Their stares made him feel scrutinised, like a little kid being monitored for when he'd inevitably fuck up.
Hibiki simply smiled and nodded, then took his notebook, turned it around and handed it over so he could read. As Tristan took a quick glance at it, he saw that the paper had been divided in two halves; on one side arguments and fragments of what he had said had been penned in, with Hibiki's thoughts written on the other side. His handwriting was surprisingly straight and neat, without a trace of cursive.
A slight smile peeked through on Tristan's face as he took in the opinions, offering him a valuable insight into someone else's thoughts on his speaking. Meanwhile Hibiki typed on his phone, but before he could write a reply, Killian barged into their conversation. The tall med student put both his hands on Tristan's shoulders, causing him to jump up not expecting it. In the moment it took Tristan to recover, Killian had peeked at the notebook.
“What are you fawning over?” He said, reading the first few lines while at the same time squeezing Tristan's shoulders. The latter just squirmed a little from the sensation.
“Ugh, why are you so handsy today?” He complained, “We're divorced.”
“Well, I'm filing for custody then.” Killian said, as he plucked the notebook from Tristan's hands.
“Hey! That's not mine.”
“You’ll have to fight it in court.” Killian said, holding the notebook above his head and far out of reach of Tristan, who still tried to grab it. Instead he was blown off with a grin and a ruffle of his hair, causing him to cross his arms and decide he wasn't invested enough to make a scene out of it.
“Fine, have it then.” He said, rather miffed when Killian did just that, looking through the notes and walking back to share them with Liz and Sam.

Tristan turned around while trying to fix his hair, only to see Hibiki look at him with an amused smile.
“Sorry, he always does that.” He mumbled, apologising for behaviour not his own. Hibiki simply shrugged that it wasn't a big deal, and leant back on one hand, while gesturing with the other for Tristan to come closer. Not sure what he meant, but unable to reject a request, he leant in. He felt Hibiki lightly pluck a few strands he had missed, putting them back into place.
“Er… thanks.” He said, still not sure if he was fine with being that close after getting manhandled by Killian a moment before. Instead he got a soft, yet rather patronising pat on his head, causing him to look up at Hibiki and frown. Hibiki just stuck out his tongue, then finally picked up his phone to show what he had wanted to say before.

'It was very interesting. I thought it would be boring, but it actually gave me a lot to think about.'

The message made Tristan smile again, glad that Hibiki liked it – or at the least considered it productive.
“I like that feeling of knowing I left a little wiser than I came in?” He said with a smile, hoping that Hibiki would get what he meant. The latter nodded and agreed, giving him a grin and a thumbs up, before making a gesture with both his hands as if his brain had gotten bigger.
Kazuya interrupted, leaning in and whispering something to Hibiki in Japanese, while looking over at Killian. Hibiki just blew a raspberry and waved away whatever he had said, to say it was fine.
“I can go and get your book back?” Tristan asked, but Hibiki shrugged him off too then quickly typed on his phone.

'Most of it is written in Japanese, and the rest are boring law class notes. But while they’re distracted, I can give you this'

While Tristan read the message, Hibiki dug through his bag and carefully took out a sealed container with a large slice of green-coloured cake.
“Oh, you didn’t have to?” Tristan said, but Hibiki just waved the container for him to take. Once he did, he quickly typed another message on his phone.

'Eat it before the rude one sees'

“I er… didn’t expect it to be so green?” Tristan said as he pulled the lid off, and saw the bright green layer cake in full, still pristine and untouched. “Is it supposed to be?”
Hibiki nodded, and handed him a silver coloured plastic fork with a slight smile. Although unsure about the colour still, rejecting the gesture worried him even more. So he set aside his trepidation and took the very tip of the cake off with his fork.
His concern had been for nothing, as when he took a bite, he was hit by the soft, nearly creamy sweetness of green tea, and light, fluffy cake.
“Blimey.” He muttered when he had good and well tasted the cake, and he heard a soft chuckle bubble up from Hibiki. He looked up and smiled, glad that at least his surprise was amusing. With a quick gesture Hibiki spurred him on to have the rest.
“All of it?” He asked, and Hibiki immediately nodded.

'I have the rest of the cake at home, so it's all yours.'

“Thank you.” Tristan grinned and nodded back, before taking another, larger bite of cake.

He had just about gotten the third bite in his mouth, when Liz snuck up beside him with a familiar black notebook in her hands.
“Hey Hibiki,” She said with a smile as she reached over to hand the notebook back. “This is yours right?”
Hibiki nodded and took the notebook, just as Killian and Sam came walking up. Sam gave him a gentle smile and a wave, but Killian was already captivated by the cake in Tristan's hands.
“Ooh you made cake? And you didn't tell?” Killian chastised Tristan with a grin, already expecting a bite, but the latter quickly moved the cake away from Killian and pointed at Hibiki.
“I didn't make it, he did. Or maybe he bought it?”
Tristan said, looking at Hibiki for the answer. He made the universal gesture for money, then quickly bowed and held his hands out as if receiving something, to sign he'd indeed bought it.
“Next time you should just ask Tristan to make you some.” Liz said with a smile, causing Tristan to poke the plastic fork in the cake a little.
“Mine is not this good though.” He admitted, unable to help himself from taking another bite now his fork was already in there.
“He can cook really well, as long as you stick to the usual stuff.” Liz continued with a grin, tugging on Tristan's shoulder so he'd turn and face Hibiki. Tristan just smiled a little and shrugged the compliment off.
“I like to bake stuff sometimes, it's relaxing and I get to have good food afterwards.” He explained his hobby, as if it needed any explanation.
“He made Sam birthday cupcakes last year, and she loved them. Didn't you?” Liz asked Sam, not done with showing off Tristan just yet. Sam gave her a look as if asking what she was on about, but then shrugged and somewhat agreed.
“They were fine, yes.” She said, not entirely as invested in Tristan's baking skills as Liz was.
“See, even Sam likes them.” Liz grinned, as Hibiki just watched on and listened with a slight smile, leaning on one elbow.
Meanwhile Tristan noticed a shadow looming over him. When he turned his head, he saw Killian leering at the cake, having snuck up from beside while Liz was talking. Without saying a word he just pricked a piece of cake with his fork and handed it over to Killian as an appeasement offering.
On the other end of the conversation, Hibiki had typed up a message.

‘If you make something I'd love to taste it.’

Hibiki showed him the message with a smile, and he smiled back.
“I'll try when I have the time, I'll probably be very busy?”

Hibiki immediately lifted his hands to say he didn't mean that it had to be anytime soon, nearly apologetic while waving that notion away. Besides him, the other bodyguard seemed to get a little anxious, and he leant in to softly speak to Hibiki.
「Yukimura-sama, I wish to remind you that you are still grounded. Too long and your father won't be happy about it.」
Hibiki sighed and nodded, not in the mood to fight the rules, even if he certainly held a deeper desire for it; but it would disrupt another plan of his. Instead he got up and began to pack his books.
“You have to go already?” Liz asked, a little disappointed, and Hibiki quickly nodded, not happy that he had to leave so soon either.
“What about the container though?” Tristan asked, pointing down at the tupperware in which the half eaten cake now resided. For a second Hibiki stood still, tapping his lips with his index to signify he was thinking. He then quickly typed on his phone.

'Maybe you could walk with to the car? If you don't mind?'

“Oh no, that's quite alright.” Tristan said, not sure why Hibiki had to leave so quickly, but fine with walking with him to return the container. He wanted to ask the plastic fork back as well from Killian, but decided against it when he saw him mindlessly chewing and sucking on it – he figured it served a better purpose by shutting Killian up.
“I'll go grab my things and join you then.” He said, walking back once Hibiki had given him a nod.

Tristan quickly packed up his own writs and pens that still laid on the desk, neatly folding and storing them in his messenger bag. He slung his coat over his shoulders, then strapped his bag over on top. As he joined Hibiki to leave, he gave a fast goodbye to his friends, raising one hand while the other still held the container with the half-eaten cake.
“I'll see you guys tomorrow at the train station.” He said with a grand smile, both excited and a little nervous for his first debate as prime minister.
“Ta!” - “See ya.” - “We'll be there.”