To Maaya, from Meledea ♥
Title: A Good Day
Author: meledea
Recipient: chaineddove
Series: Kobato, Lawful Drug
Characters/Pairing: a bit of Kobato/Fujimoto, established (but only briefly mentioned) Kazahaya/Rikuou, minor hint of Kakei/Saiga
Rating: PG
Author's Notes/Warnings [if any]: I just really hope this doesn’t suck, being only the second time I’ve attempted fanfiction for both of these series! I’m not very good at writing the Lawful Drug boys, so… Enjoy (?) :)
Fujimoto wasn’t having the best of days.
He had taken on a small job at the Green Drugstore for the weekend, stacking shelves and doing inventory while one of the regular employees was away. It wasn’t the most exciting work, but it had to be done and at least he wasn’t being bothered by that guy with the sunglasses anymore - that guy had turned his attentions on the rather depressed-looking and easily provoked young man who was working the counter. Although by the sound of things he wasn’t responding to the teasing as well as he normally did, so Fujimoto was a little worried that the taller man might turn his attentions back on him after all.
But monotonous work and aggravatingly rude people weren’t what made the day so bad. A glum fellow employee who spent most of his time staring into space and sighing while his friend? boyfriend? was away wasn’t what made it so bad. Stacking female toiletries and candy-flavoured contraceptives wasn’t what made it so bad. Telling old women where to find laxatives or adult diapers wasn’t what made it so bad. The giggling school girls who came in and fawned over his unusual hair colour and “bad-boy look” wasn’t what made it so bad… well, actually, that did make the day considerably worse, but it still wasn’t the kicker of the bad day.
The main cause of his bad day was the rain. It wasn’t just any rain, it was cold rain - almost sleet - and the kind of rain that was accompanied by dark clouds and low light that made everything outside look gloomy - the kind of gloom that stole the light from inside buildings and made everything look a bit more grey. And not only that, the weather had snuck up on him, leaving him completely unprepared for the long, wet, cold walk home to his open window and the wet duvet hanging over the railing. He didn’t finish until well after dark, and in this weather the best thing to go home to was a warm bed, and that wasn’t going to happen now. He growled under his breath. Surely the day couldn’t get much worse than this.
Frowning, he crouched to the next shelf just as the tall man walked past, cigarette ash falling onto the cardboard box. Fujimoto’s frown deepened. That guy was just… appallingly rude. He couldn’t even figure out what the guy’s role was in the shop! All he’d seen him do was smoke, grope the boss, and sleep in the back room. Oh, and harass people. And he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out how the guy could wear sunglasses on a day like this!
Flicking the ash off the cardboard, he opened the box of soaps and went to restock the shelf when feet stopped next to him. He looked up at the other employee questioningly.
“Um, hi. It’s… Fujimoto-san isn’t it…?”
“Yeah. Can I help?” He stood up to face him.
“I, uh, I need some change for the till.” The young man’s eyes flicked towards the back room, and then back at Fujimoto. “I just… I really don’t want to deal with Saiga-san again, not right now…”
“You want me to get the change?”
The poor guy looked really embarrassed now. “If you don’t mind?”
“Sure.”
The other boy relaxed, relieved and grateful as he handed Fujimoto the change slip. “Thanks so much! Give this to Kakei-san, he’ll get the change for you. Oh, I’ll finish stocking this for you! Oh… and if Kakei-san asks, just tell him I’m busy with a customer or something?”
Fujimoto nodded and pushed open the door to the back room, reading the change slip. He paused to glance over at the couch, noting without any real surprise that the large man in the sunglasses was sprawled across it, asleep, with a cigarette butt still hanging from the corner of his mouth. He grimaced internally as he handed the slip to the owner.
“Enjoying your day?”
Fujimoto considered his answer seriously before replying. “Not really,” he said honestly, but gestured towards the window at the weather outside.
Kakei-san smiled sympathetically. “Don’t tell me - you left your window open.” Fujimoto was startled at the accuracy of the guess, but had no time to comment before the change was handed to him and the man was talking again. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure your day will get better. Oh, while you’re here, could you make a display for these? We just got them in.” A box was handed to him, and Fujimoto looked from the amused smile that was curving across the owner’s face to the box of condoms he now held. “The cold season always has us selling more of them. More time spent in bed, I suppose.” The grin was just plain evil now. “I’ll also need a sign for the display,” he finished, placing a large pink piece of cardboard, a black marker, and scissors on top of the box. “Have fun now!”
And Fujimoto was waved off back to the shop front. Apparently his day could get worse. Glaring at nobody, he turned and pushed back through the door with his arms full and headed for the front of the shop. But then he heard her, and paused halfway down the isle.
“… very slippery out there! Can you please help?”
The young man at the counter sounded a little perplexed. “I… yeah, sure, but… he’s not your kid, is he? Or brother? I’m sorry, he doesn’t look anything like you.”
There was the sound of a child sniffling, then she spoke again. “Oh, no no no! He’s not my… we’re not related! He just slipped over outside, so I thought I should bring him in here to get fixed up. Isn’t that what you do?”
“… What-“
Fujimoto was moving again. “This isn’t a doctor’s surgery, Hanato-san,” he spoke over the other guy, placing the change next to the till and the box on the floor.
“Fujimoto-san!” She lit up as soon as she saw him, and he flushed a little. He wondered if he could ever get used to that kind of greeting as he knelt next to the kid and looked at the scrapes on his knees and palms.
“Just grazes, nothing too serious kid,” he ruffled the child’s hair with a small smile. “I’ll clean you up, hang on.” He got up and grabbed some plasters and surgical wipes from the shelves.
“Uh… Fujimoto-san…” the shop worker started worriedly.
“Here.” He handed the young man some money from his wallet. “That should cover it, right?”
“Oh, yes, of course, thank you! Hang on I’ll get your change…”
Crouching down next to the kid again, he opened the surgical wipes and motioned for the kid to sit down. Kobato knelt sat on the floor next to them, asking the kid questions to distract him while Fujimoto tended to the scrapes. Just as the last bandaid was being pressed to his palm a woman hurried into the shop, shaking out her umbrella before rushing over to the child.
“Takashi! What happened??” She looked accusingly at the two of them.
Kobato smiled brightly. “Hello! You’re his mother? Your son slipped over on the pavement outside because it was so slippery, so I brought him in here. But he’s fine! You’re fine, aren’t you?” she asked the kid. He nodded at her, and at his mother.
“I’m fine, Mum, see?” he held up his palms to show her the pokémon band-aids. She huffed, helping him up and then ushering him quickly out of the store without so much as a thank you. The kid waved goodbye to Kobato as he vanished into the gloomy grey day.
“Geez, was she rude,” muttered the shop boy.
Kobato blinked, looking a little disappointed, before shaking herself back into a glowing smile which she directed at Fujimoto. He blushed again, and stood up, rubbish in hand. “I have to go wash my hands,” he said before walking away.
Once the rubbish was thrown out, his hands were clean and dry, and the rest of the medical products put in his bag to be taken to the school he wandered back out to the shop front, secretly hoping she hadn’t left. He wasn’t disappointed. He was also unsurprised at what she was doing - talking to the shop boy about why he was so glum. Fujimoto had no idea how she managed to get people talking like this, but he always found himself pretty impressed by it.
“That’s so sad! Will he be back soon?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say. He doesn’t really say much at all at the moment.”
“I’m so sorry, Kazahaya-kun. But from what you’ve said it’s clear that he cares about you a lot, so I’m sure he’ll come back soon and everything will be alright!”
“Thanks, Kobato-chan.”
Fujimoto blinked. First-name basis? Already? Scowling, he turned the corner and walked back over to the counter to pick up the box of condoms. The shop boy took one look at what he was holding and flushed the same bright pink as the poster cardboard, then fled. They both stared after him in surprise.
“That was a strange thing to do.”
“Hm.” He placed the box on the counter and looked at her. “What are you doing out today, anyway Hanato-san? Weather like this isn’t great for a stroll. You’ll catch a cold.”
“Oh? OH! Of course! I came here to see you!”
He blinked again, and tried to stop his mind jumping to conclusions. “… Why?”
“Because when the rain started I had to shut my window, and I noticed yours was open and your duvet was hanging on the railing! So I took it inside for you and hung it up to dry. Oh, and closed the windows! And put towels down on the tatami mat to help it dry out quicker!”
He stared at her smiling face, wide eyed and momentarily at a loss for words. “You… really?”
She nodded enthusiastically.
“But how did you get in there? Isn’t Mihara-san away for the weekend?”
She nodded again. “Yes, so I had to climb across to your railing from mine.”
“You… WHAT?!”
“I had to! Your bedding was getting wet and I couldn’t figure out how else to get in there!”
“In the rain? In this rain? You could have broken your neck, idiot!”
“I’M FINE! Aren’t you even going to say thank you?”
He shut up at that point, letting her comment sink in. She wasn’t smiling anymore, not even a little. She looked angry and upset, and he’d only just noticed that she was drenched as well. He sighed, grabbing an umbrella from the entrance and handing it to her. “You could have gotten hurt, Hanato-san. It’s not worth getting injured or killed just to rescue a duvet from the rain.” She looked at the umbrella, then him, her anger fading. “Now you need to head home and get changed before you really do catch a cold.”
She took the umbrella in her hands like it was the most precious thing in the world. “Thank you, Fujimoto-san,” she murmured. She still wasn’t smiling though, and he hated seeing her upset.
He sighed. “Hey.” She looked at his hand on her arm, and then up into his eyes. “When I get home tonight I’ll cook some ramen for us. You can come over and help me clean up, okay? Just promise me you’ll go home now and get warm and dry, because I don’t want you being sick around the kids tomorrow.”
She nodded, slowly, and smiled a little. “Okay.”
“Good. Now go.” He gave her a gentle push towards the door, a small smile on his face. She smiled a little brighter and then hurried over to the entrance.
“Hanato-san.”
She turned back as he called her name, looking at him questioningly. Smiling a little more, he called out, “Thank you.”
He watched in amazement at the change as she lit up again, a huge smile breaking out across her face and threatening to fill the entire shop. He fought back a grin, and watched her rush outside, shaking his head as she completely forgot to open her umbrella. But then, looking at the sky, it seems she might not have needed it after all - the rain had stopped, and the sky was getting a little lighter. Over in the distance the clouds had broken to let a stream of sunlight through. He wondered fancifully if her smile had done that, because if it had (and he wouldn’t be surprised), then it was because of him.
He let the grin show after all. His day was looking up.
Author: meledea
Recipient: chaineddove
Series: Kobato, Lawful Drug
Characters/Pairing: a bit of Kobato/Fujimoto, established (but only briefly mentioned) Kazahaya/Rikuou, minor hint of Kakei/Saiga
Rating: PG
Author's Notes/Warnings [if any]: I just really hope this doesn’t suck, being only the second time I’ve attempted fanfiction for both of these series! I’m not very good at writing the Lawful Drug boys, so… Enjoy (?) :)
Fujimoto wasn’t having the best of days.
He had taken on a small job at the Green Drugstore for the weekend, stacking shelves and doing inventory while one of the regular employees was away. It wasn’t the most exciting work, but it had to be done and at least he wasn’t being bothered by that guy with the sunglasses anymore - that guy had turned his attentions on the rather depressed-looking and easily provoked young man who was working the counter. Although by the sound of things he wasn’t responding to the teasing as well as he normally did, so Fujimoto was a little worried that the taller man might turn his attentions back on him after all.
But monotonous work and aggravatingly rude people weren’t what made the day so bad. A glum fellow employee who spent most of his time staring into space and sighing while his friend? boyfriend? was away wasn’t what made it so bad. Stacking female toiletries and candy-flavoured contraceptives wasn’t what made it so bad. Telling old women where to find laxatives or adult diapers wasn’t what made it so bad. The giggling school girls who came in and fawned over his unusual hair colour and “bad-boy look” wasn’t what made it so bad… well, actually, that did make the day considerably worse, but it still wasn’t the kicker of the bad day.
The main cause of his bad day was the rain. It wasn’t just any rain, it was cold rain - almost sleet - and the kind of rain that was accompanied by dark clouds and low light that made everything outside look gloomy - the kind of gloom that stole the light from inside buildings and made everything look a bit more grey. And not only that, the weather had snuck up on him, leaving him completely unprepared for the long, wet, cold walk home to his open window and the wet duvet hanging over the railing. He didn’t finish until well after dark, and in this weather the best thing to go home to was a warm bed, and that wasn’t going to happen now. He growled under his breath. Surely the day couldn’t get much worse than this.
Frowning, he crouched to the next shelf just as the tall man walked past, cigarette ash falling onto the cardboard box. Fujimoto’s frown deepened. That guy was just… appallingly rude. He couldn’t even figure out what the guy’s role was in the shop! All he’d seen him do was smoke, grope the boss, and sleep in the back room. Oh, and harass people. And he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out how the guy could wear sunglasses on a day like this!
Flicking the ash off the cardboard, he opened the box of soaps and went to restock the shelf when feet stopped next to him. He looked up at the other employee questioningly.
“Um, hi. It’s… Fujimoto-san isn’t it…?”
“Yeah. Can I help?” He stood up to face him.
“I, uh, I need some change for the till.” The young man’s eyes flicked towards the back room, and then back at Fujimoto. “I just… I really don’t want to deal with Saiga-san again, not right now…”
“You want me to get the change?”
The poor guy looked really embarrassed now. “If you don’t mind?”
“Sure.”
The other boy relaxed, relieved and grateful as he handed Fujimoto the change slip. “Thanks so much! Give this to Kakei-san, he’ll get the change for you. Oh, I’ll finish stocking this for you! Oh… and if Kakei-san asks, just tell him I’m busy with a customer or something?”
Fujimoto nodded and pushed open the door to the back room, reading the change slip. He paused to glance over at the couch, noting without any real surprise that the large man in the sunglasses was sprawled across it, asleep, with a cigarette butt still hanging from the corner of his mouth. He grimaced internally as he handed the slip to the owner.
“Enjoying your day?”
Fujimoto considered his answer seriously before replying. “Not really,” he said honestly, but gestured towards the window at the weather outside.
Kakei-san smiled sympathetically. “Don’t tell me - you left your window open.” Fujimoto was startled at the accuracy of the guess, but had no time to comment before the change was handed to him and the man was talking again. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure your day will get better. Oh, while you’re here, could you make a display for these? We just got them in.” A box was handed to him, and Fujimoto looked from the amused smile that was curving across the owner’s face to the box of condoms he now held. “The cold season always has us selling more of them. More time spent in bed, I suppose.” The grin was just plain evil now. “I’ll also need a sign for the display,” he finished, placing a large pink piece of cardboard, a black marker, and scissors on top of the box. “Have fun now!”
And Fujimoto was waved off back to the shop front. Apparently his day could get worse. Glaring at nobody, he turned and pushed back through the door with his arms full and headed for the front of the shop. But then he heard her, and paused halfway down the isle.
“… very slippery out there! Can you please help?”
The young man at the counter sounded a little perplexed. “I… yeah, sure, but… he’s not your kid, is he? Or brother? I’m sorry, he doesn’t look anything like you.”
There was the sound of a child sniffling, then she spoke again. “Oh, no no no! He’s not my… we’re not related! He just slipped over outside, so I thought I should bring him in here to get fixed up. Isn’t that what you do?”
“… What-“
Fujimoto was moving again. “This isn’t a doctor’s surgery, Hanato-san,” he spoke over the other guy, placing the change next to the till and the box on the floor.
“Fujimoto-san!” She lit up as soon as she saw him, and he flushed a little. He wondered if he could ever get used to that kind of greeting as he knelt next to the kid and looked at the scrapes on his knees and palms.
“Just grazes, nothing too serious kid,” he ruffled the child’s hair with a small smile. “I’ll clean you up, hang on.” He got up and grabbed some plasters and surgical wipes from the shelves.
“Uh… Fujimoto-san…” the shop worker started worriedly.
“Here.” He handed the young man some money from his wallet. “That should cover it, right?”
“Oh, yes, of course, thank you! Hang on I’ll get your change…”
Crouching down next to the kid again, he opened the surgical wipes and motioned for the kid to sit down. Kobato knelt sat on the floor next to them, asking the kid questions to distract him while Fujimoto tended to the scrapes. Just as the last bandaid was being pressed to his palm a woman hurried into the shop, shaking out her umbrella before rushing over to the child.
“Takashi! What happened??” She looked accusingly at the two of them.
Kobato smiled brightly. “Hello! You’re his mother? Your son slipped over on the pavement outside because it was so slippery, so I brought him in here. But he’s fine! You’re fine, aren’t you?” she asked the kid. He nodded at her, and at his mother.
“I’m fine, Mum, see?” he held up his palms to show her the pokémon band-aids. She huffed, helping him up and then ushering him quickly out of the store without so much as a thank you. The kid waved goodbye to Kobato as he vanished into the gloomy grey day.
“Geez, was she rude,” muttered the shop boy.
Kobato blinked, looking a little disappointed, before shaking herself back into a glowing smile which she directed at Fujimoto. He blushed again, and stood up, rubbish in hand. “I have to go wash my hands,” he said before walking away.
Once the rubbish was thrown out, his hands were clean and dry, and the rest of the medical products put in his bag to be taken to the school he wandered back out to the shop front, secretly hoping she hadn’t left. He wasn’t disappointed. He was also unsurprised at what she was doing - talking to the shop boy about why he was so glum. Fujimoto had no idea how she managed to get people talking like this, but he always found himself pretty impressed by it.
“That’s so sad! Will he be back soon?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t say. He doesn’t really say much at all at the moment.”
“I’m so sorry, Kazahaya-kun. But from what you’ve said it’s clear that he cares about you a lot, so I’m sure he’ll come back soon and everything will be alright!”
“Thanks, Kobato-chan.”
Fujimoto blinked. First-name basis? Already? Scowling, he turned the corner and walked back over to the counter to pick up the box of condoms. The shop boy took one look at what he was holding and flushed the same bright pink as the poster cardboard, then fled. They both stared after him in surprise.
“That was a strange thing to do.”
“Hm.” He placed the box on the counter and looked at her. “What are you doing out today, anyway Hanato-san? Weather like this isn’t great for a stroll. You’ll catch a cold.”
“Oh? OH! Of course! I came here to see you!”
He blinked again, and tried to stop his mind jumping to conclusions. “… Why?”
“Because when the rain started I had to shut my window, and I noticed yours was open and your duvet was hanging on the railing! So I took it inside for you and hung it up to dry. Oh, and closed the windows! And put towels down on the tatami mat to help it dry out quicker!”
He stared at her smiling face, wide eyed and momentarily at a loss for words. “You… really?”
She nodded enthusiastically.
“But how did you get in there? Isn’t Mihara-san away for the weekend?”
She nodded again. “Yes, so I had to climb across to your railing from mine.”
“You… WHAT?!”
“I had to! Your bedding was getting wet and I couldn’t figure out how else to get in there!”
“In the rain? In this rain? You could have broken your neck, idiot!”
“I’M FINE! Aren’t you even going to say thank you?”
He shut up at that point, letting her comment sink in. She wasn’t smiling anymore, not even a little. She looked angry and upset, and he’d only just noticed that she was drenched as well. He sighed, grabbing an umbrella from the entrance and handing it to her. “You could have gotten hurt, Hanato-san. It’s not worth getting injured or killed just to rescue a duvet from the rain.” She looked at the umbrella, then him, her anger fading. “Now you need to head home and get changed before you really do catch a cold.”
She took the umbrella in her hands like it was the most precious thing in the world. “Thank you, Fujimoto-san,” she murmured. She still wasn’t smiling though, and he hated seeing her upset.
He sighed. “Hey.” She looked at his hand on her arm, and then up into his eyes. “When I get home tonight I’ll cook some ramen for us. You can come over and help me clean up, okay? Just promise me you’ll go home now and get warm and dry, because I don’t want you being sick around the kids tomorrow.”
She nodded, slowly, and smiled a little. “Okay.”
“Good. Now go.” He gave her a gentle push towards the door, a small smile on his face. She smiled a little brighter and then hurried over to the entrance.
“Hanato-san.”
She turned back as he called her name, looking at him questioningly. Smiling a little more, he called out, “Thank you.”
He watched in amazement at the change as she lit up again, a huge smile breaking out across her face and threatening to fill the entire shop. He fought back a grin, and watched her rush outside, shaking his head as she completely forgot to open her umbrella. But then, looking at the sky, it seems she might not have needed it after all - the rain had stopped, and the sky was getting a little lighter. Over in the distance the clouds had broken to let a stream of sunlight through. He wondered fancifully if her smile had done that, because if it had (and he wouldn’t be surprised), then it was because of him.
He let the grin show after all. His day was looking up.