Divorced single father Tanihara Shuji owns a candy shop. A well-dressed customer walks in to buy some cheap kids' toys, and it turns out that he is the new local pediatrician, Dr. Saji Takafumi. When Tanihara's water heater fails, Dr. Saji offers to lend him his shower but warns him that he is gay, and so if he is prejudiced he should decline the offer. Tanihara is surprised by how easily Dr. Saji came out of the closet to a stranger and decides to take him up on his offer.
Once at Dr. Saji's house, Tanihara finishes his bath and exits the bathroom. Dr. Saji requests that he use the hair dryer, as he finds wet hair arousing. Tanihara finds himself excited at this news and asks Dr. Saji to seduce him.
Hide And Seek contains examples of:
- Adorably Precocious Child: Tanihara's step-daughter Chisuzu cooks breakfast for him, helps him look after the candy shop, and looks out for Tanihara when he falls ill. She also scolds him regularly for his fashion sense and for slacking off at work. During the beach episode, she speaks very frankly to Dr. Saji about Tanihara and her mother's divorce, throwing Dr. Saji completely off guard.
- Almost Kiss: After they sleep together for the first time, Dr. Saji shows up at the Tanihara shop with the flimsy excuse of returning Tanihara's disposable lighter that he left behind. They almost share a kiss but are interrupted by Tanihara's step-daughter getting home from school.
- Amicable Exes: Tanihara and his ex-wife get along pretty well. Dr. Saji also gets along with his ex, Yukihisa. Neither case goes into detail as to why they broke up.
- Blind Without 'Em: The first time Tanihara tries to seduce Dr. Saji, he pulls his glasses off. Dr. Saji simply asks for his glasses back, stating that he cannot see anything.
- Closet Key: Dr. Saji is the first man Tanihara has ever been interested in. After their first night together, Tanihara tells his childhood friend Ryoumei all about it. He even tells the poor scandalized guy how good it felt to bottom, and that he'll definitely do it again.
- Ethical Slut: Tanihara, if his childhood friend Ryoumei is to be believed. Apparently, he slept around quite a bit before his marriage. He is initially very insistent that his relationship with Dr. Saji is purely physical.
- Extreme Doormat: Dr. Saji's ex-boyfriend Yukihisa shows up out of nowhere, and Dr. Saji lets him crash at his house even though it causes friction with his new love interest, Tanihara. Yukihisa eventually agrees to get out of his hair if he gives him money; Dr. Saji almost does, until Tanihara calls him out on his doormat tendencies and points out that indulging him will only exacerbate the problem.
- In fact, this incident makes Tanihara realize that Dr. Saji has been indulging his own commitment issues by continuing to fool around with him even though he wants a more meaningful relationship. Tanihara then calls off their relationship because he cannot stand Dr. Saji suffering in silence.
- Dr. Saji is also too meek to stand up to his grandfather and tell him that he really wants to take over the Saji Clinic when he retires.
- Friends with Benefits: How the relationship between Tanihara and Dr. Saji begins.
- Gentle Giant: Dr. Saji is very tall and has a severe-looking face, and as a result, children are scared of him. He is actually a shy nice guy, frequently ending up in doormat territory.
- Green-Eyed Epiphany: Tanihara is perfectly happy to think of his relationship with Dr. Saji as a "friends with benefits" situation until he sees Yukihisa kiss him. Once that happens, he finds he can't stop agonizing over it and realizes his feelings for Dr. Saji do run a little deeper after all.
- Insecure Love Interest: Both leads, due to how their previous relationships ended, are insecure because they're afraid that their new partner will lose interest in them.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: Tanihara has long hair, wears big costume jewelry necklaces and a ponytail when he goes out on a date, and makes a habit of cooking in an apron. Even borrows Dr. Saji's housekeeper's frilly apron to make breakfast the morning after their first night together.
- Love Confession: Several weeks after Tanihara breaks up with him, Dr. Saji makes a house call to Tanihara's house on his day off because of a high fever. Ostensibly to set the record straight, he bluntly tells Tanihara that he loves him and wants them to become lovers who belong solely to each other. Tanihara is so surprised that he bolts upright and almost passes out.
- Luminescent Blush: When Dr. Saji brings up an emotional topic, Tanihara's whole face turns red. His step-daughter Chisuzu walks in on one of these conversations and thinks he has a fever because his face is so red.
- Masturbation Means Sexual Frustration: After Tanihara breaks up with Dr. Saji, he can't stop thinking about it, so he tries to distract himself by masturbating.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Dr. Saji's ex-boyfriend Yukihisa shows up out of nowhere and plants a kiss on Dr. Saji. Tanihara happens to witness it and believes that Dr. Saji is juggling both of them.
- Moment Killer: Type 3 (self-inflicted)- The tension is building quite nicely until Tanihara removes Dr. Saji's glasses, effectively blinding him.
- Non-Action Guy: Tanihara has so little faith in his own athletic abilities that he refuses to take Chisuzu to the beach since he cannot swim well enough to help her if she gets into trouble. Dr. Saji is in good shape, so he volunteers to go with them. Once they're at the beach, Tanihara gets exhausted pretty quickly and goes to a beachfront restaurant to drink beer while he watches Dr. Saji teach Chisuzu how to swim. On the way home he complains about being tired, and Chisuzu chides him for talking like an old man.
- Opposites Attract: Dr. Saji outright says that he tends to go for men who are his polar opposite. He has an intimidating appearance and a quiet, straightforward personality, and he is attracted to flashy-looking, sociable men. Tanihara is also interested in Dr. Saji due to his unpredictable reactions.
- Relationship Upgrade: Happens 3 times:
- 1.) Tanihara's "I'll let you seduce me" takes them from acquaintances to friends with benefits.
- 2.) When Dr. Saji comes to Tanihara's house on his day off to take care of him when he is sick, he says for the sake of honesty that he is interested in having a more meaningful relationship. Tanihara agrees to give romance a try.
- 3.) After Tanihara visits Grandfather Saji in the hospital, Dr. Saji asks if he would consider spending the rest of their lives together. Tanihara is shocked and says that sounds too much like a proposal, and Dr. Saji says he would be honored if Tanihara would consider it an official proposal. And immediately demands a response.
- Second Love: Tanihara and Dr. Saji have both experienced love and heartbreak in the past. This is part of why they are able to become such close friends so quickly. However, this also causes them to be very cautious and walk on eggshells around the subject of romance, and this lack of communication causes a situation that nearly ends their relationship. Dr. Saji is so paranoid that Tanihara will lose interest in him that he refuses to take any initiative and lets Tanihara shut down his every effort to pursue a romantic partnership. Tanihara eventually realizes this, and ends things rather abruptly, saying that he can't stand Dr. Saji's suffering face any longer. Meanwhile, Tanihara is confused about his own feelings and frightened by them because he's afraid of experiencing heartbreak again, so he runs away.
- Silly Rabbit, Romance Is for Kids!: After his first marriage ended in divorce, Tanihara ended up with this attitude. Once he begins to acknowledge his feelings for Dr. Saji, he gets a little less cynical, but he is still unable to accept Dr. Saji's proposal outright because he is too scared that it will fall apart too.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Dr. Saji is initially interested in Tanihara because of his looks. However, once they get to know each other better, he begins to fall for him because he admires Tanihara's determination to earn the sweets shop with his own money, free of loans. Ultimately, Tanihara berates Dr. Saji for considering opening his own private clinic and thus abandoning his grandfather's patients. He even visits Grandfather Saji on Takafumi's behalf. Dr. Saji is so touched by how far Tanihara is willing to go to keep the Saji clinic in business after his grandfather retires, he ends up proposing.
- Smoking Is Cool: Tanihara is a chain smoker. After the two sleep together for the first time, Dr. Saji says that he is surprised Tanihara's kisses did not taste like cigarettes, and Tanihara admits that he brushed his teeth first. Dr. Saji then says that next time he would like to taste the cigarettes next time.
- Smoking Is Not Cool: Despite Dr. Saji's interest in it, Tanihara's chain-smoking is also seen as one of his "slovenly" character traits. Lampshaded by the narration: "A useless man who can't stop smoking even when he is sick."
- Stoic Spectacles: Dr. Saji wears glasses and has a stoic disposition.
- Straight Gay: Dr. Saji is a tall, good-looking, stoic pediatrician who also happens to be gay.
- Taking Advantage of Generosity: Yukihisa comes to "visit" his ex-boyfriend, Dr. Saji. Turns out he is hiding out from his sugar daddy because he "borrowed" money from him, then spent it going on vacation with another man. He then asks Dr. Saji for money so he can pay back his sugar daddy.
- Unkempt Beauty: Tanihara usually looks pretty scruffy in his work clothes and apron, but Dr. Saji says he is gorgeous. The first time he sees him dressed up for a date, he can't help but compliment him.
