let's work on it! part 20 | the last one
Title: let's work on it! part 20/20
Author: yuaelt
Pairing: generally ryoda
Rating: overall PG-13...14?
Genre: romance, comedy, a bit of everything
Disclaimer: not mine
Summary: The time has come for all this mess to get sorted out. However, for now nothing looks like about to be cleared. Will there be a happy ending? This time, at last, is for Tatsuya to act true to his feelings... whatever they really are.
part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | part 12 | part 13 | part 14 | part 15 | part 16 | part 17 | part 18 | part 19
Theme song: SURVIVAL FUTURE by PUSHIM. I know, PUSHIM already appeared once but this song just fits like no other. It was in my mind as last-chapter-theme before I have even written it.
Hello, it's Tatsuya who's quite certain that cold November night was the first and the last time he ever had Russian booze.
I didn't know how Ryo got to my office, but my bigger problem was that I didn't know if he really was there. I was still pretty tipsy when I woke up to his shout, and I had troubles determining if he was a part of reality, or maybe the remnants of the dream I just had.
I had a weird dream about him, and then it was weird that he was there when it was supposedly not a dream anymore. I clung to Morita's shoulder and blurted, pointing (or at least trying my best to point) at Ryo:
"Do you see anything?"
Morita nodded and Ryo boiled.
"Is that all you are going to say?!" He kept shouting. "I was treating you like someone special, I was being patient and delicate and what-not, and here I find you going all the way with the first man you met in Aomo..."
"Hey, how come he knows I'm the first one you met?" Morita laughed. "It was supposed to be the guy from IT after all."
"The divorcee on the run?" I got interested, especially that Ryo surprisingly shut up for a moment. He must have been shocked that his words turned out to be true.
"Nah, not Taguchi, the other one. He was there with us, remember?" I got my answer and finally focused my eyesight so that Ryo's silhouette wasn't so blurred anymore.
"We were just warming up" I slurred towards Ryo, but I don't think I sounded plausible. "Since Jun'ichi had to leave me I only tried it with girls. It never worked out well though..."
"Warming up my ass!" Ryo spat the words out with fury as I was looking for my pants. They got tangled terribly with Morita's shirt so it was hard to get them out of the pile.
"Ken told me of that method" Morita was apparently a bit more sober than I was. "Eskimos do that. Because it’s very cold in here."
...or not really. Nevermind. The funny thing was that Ryo got interested in whom do we mean by 'Ken' and when he heard Miyake's name he reacted with even greater anger.
"Are the three of you making fun of me or what?!" If I were sober at that time I'd probably realize how desperate his voice sounded. But I wasn't.
"Ueda-kun, you mentioned Jun'ichi... is that Okada Jun'ichi?"
"Yeah, don't tell me you know him?"
"Sure, he's an old friend. Wanna meet him?"
"I'd love to but..."
"That's enough!" Ryo cut in. "That's more than enough and I'm leaving! I hope you had a good time Tatsuya!"
With these words Ryo hurried out of the office. Morita and me fell asleep immediately after he shut the door.
***
When I woke up again several hours later with a major headache, I thought all that was a silly dream. After all, Aomori is not a place where you just drop in from Tokyo because you had some time on your hands, especially during the terrible storm and in the middle of the night.
When Miyake woke the two of us up we were still undressed in most part (he found that inexplicably funny) and I learnt that all what happened was a joke meant to make me show my 'human side', so I decided not to mention the dream in front of them, I'd only humiliate myself more if I did.
"Was I ever inhuman to you?" I pouted instead and they both laughed.
"Not anymore" Morita answered patting my head. "By the way, do you remember what you have told me? About you being Kimura's son?"
"You mean he's THAT Tat-chan?!" For the first time since I came here I saw Miyake really surprised. "Jun's old flame?!"
"Yeah, I don't quite remember but I think I've heard him mentioning Jun'ichi's name so..." Morita finally managed to get his clothes on. I only nodded, wondering when and how did I mention Jun'ichi.
The only reasonable thing I came up with was that I must have been talking in my sleep. But soon it ceased to be important as Miyake and Morita promised to help me meet my ex-lover. I was a bit afraid what would come of it if my father found out, but they promised to work well on it, as a repayment for getting me fuzzed and naked at work...
I've decided they are really good people, even if their sense of humour is a little odd.
Time was passing, I was busy and there was only one thing I realized after a week or so that felt awkward.
Ryo wasn't calling me anymore.
He used to contact me at least twice a week, and even if our conversations were strange and a bit stiff, they were regular. Did he get tired of them? He was the one doing all the calling, so he had all the rights to. Or maybe he thought he was being a nuisance for me?
I picked up my cell phone on a whim and dialled his number, suddenly wanting to tell him that I appreciated his concern and it meant a lot to me and I didn't want him to forget me just like that, but...
He didn't pick up.
Neither did he after two hours.
Nor for the next three days.
Yes, I tried many times, and I know it was strange for me to do so but I really cared. Just like Morita told me the night we got drunk in the office. I didn't know when and how it started, but I really cared for Ryo.
After a few days I got an e-mail from Kazuya.
From: Kazuya
To: Uebo
Title: Nishikido and others
Hi, I'd rather call you if I could but our new boss doesn't exactly like me so I have to be extra careful, and Ryo is freaking out when he hears your name anyway. It sounds lame but a lot of things have changed since you left (apart from Nishikido being crazy about you), like: Akanishi. Is. Getting. Married. One day he says he picked up a stray dog, then that he has a cousin visiting, next we get to know it's actually a homeless teenager he's sheltering, a week ago it was his girlfriend (GIRLfriend, Tatsuya, mind it!), and this morning he announced he's gonna be a married man, shocking everyone, maybe save for Nishikido who's busy missing you 24/7 and doesn't care. And he's three times a prick he used to be, did you tell him something really bad when he went to Aomori? You should know your job went to Kitayama, while his boyfriend you introduced to us is still a student and therefore just a baito boy replacing Tegoshi, whose lover turned out to be gaijin secret agent (George Kuruuni or something) and they eloped together. Fujigaya is capable, everybody came to like him except Nishikido who purely hates both him and Kitayama, probably because he's jealous that the two have sorted their differences, Kitayama stopped trying to woe the whole floor and there's yet another happy couple Nishikido has to bear at work that doesn't include him and you. By the way Pi told me you were calling Nishikido and he wouldn't pick up, well, I don't know what happened in Aomori and Nishikido won't tell, but me and Pi think he must have taken it very seriously, yet he misses you terribly, that's for sure.
Hope you come visit us by the end of the year.
From Kazu &hearts
Gods, that's what I call an information-packed message! I had minor troubles figuring out who's who but managed to sort it out after reading the mail thrice. And then it struck me.
My dream wasn't a dream.
And about two weeks have passed since it happened!
When I talked to Morita and Miyake I learnt the rest of the story about Ryo coming to Aomori, getting lost, being found by Miyake, and then with his help appearing in my office.
"But why did you let him come here when you knew that I was drunk and most likely butt naked hugging Morita?! Couldn't you make him wait till morning?" I almost cried to them.
"Sorry, I didn't know he meant anything special to you" Miyake answered in an apologizing tone, but then his voice took on a totally different note "but he implied I was a child. I had to teach him a lesson..."
I decided not to explore that any further.
Besides, what I needed most was a way to contact Ryo. I had no other method left than the last resort one. Even if it was dangerous, unreasonable and could bring unpredictable results, I was desperate enough to use it.
I mean I tried calling Takizawa.
"Hello, Product Development division here, how can I help you?" I heard unfamiliar voice and remembered Kazuya's messy mail again. Oh right, new boss. Ain't my life just beautiful?
In case you didn't realize, that was sarcastic.
"Good morning" I said as nicely as I could "Do you by any means know where boss Takizawa is at the moment?"
"He's on a half-year-long business trip to Bali along with the general head of Prodution dept., boss Imai. I am his temporal replacement, my name is Sakurai."
All right, this was gonna be way harder than I thought... but wait... Sakurai? Could it be he was my other cousin's first assistant? That nice and older brother-like guy who looked like he was really slow, but somehow managed to keep Masaki from changing his workplace into a game center?
I was never as close with Masaki as I was with Tsubasa. Actually we weren't close at all, but... Maybe, just maybe I could get some understanding from this Sakurai guy for what I wanted to do. Although I must admit, I would feel much better about it if I were talking to Takki. At least I would know HOW to do it. Well, I took a deep breath, cleared my throat and gave it a try:
"I'm terribly sorry to disturb your work but the truth is there is a matter I'm afraid I can't solve without turning to you about, so if you could spare a few minutes I would be eternally thankful..."
***
"T...Tatsuya?!" Kame squeaked before he sprinted out of my way towards the main room. "Hey everybody, Tatsuya's here!"
I was soon surrounded by my former colleagues, asking dozens of questions about how my work in Aomori was and what I was doing in Tokyo. I was happy they were interested in me, especially that I never expected them to be, but I was looking carefully through the crowd, searching for one certain person.
He wasn't there. When we entered the main office, I couldn't see him anywhere too.
"Where is Nishikido?" I couldn't help asking but nobody cared to answer.
"No guys, I'm serious, I have a business with him" I tried again "I promise we'll go out after work and have a drink, but now I need to find Nishikido!"
"Shouldn't you look for someone else first?" I heard a voice and next thing a face I haven't seen in years showed up from behind Kazuya and Yamashita.
"Masa... I mean, Boss Aiba!" I was stunned to see him there.
"Were you expecting Santa Claus?" He asked politely.
"Actually, I was expecting boss Sakurai" I said as humbly as I could.
"Oh, right" Masaki laughed out loud but it didn't help me lose the tension. I thought the presence of another department boss in our small division was a little fishy. Especially that he was my relative... Masaki however, was still smiling when he pointed to the door in the corner of the main office room.
"That's right, you are supposed to look for Sho first. That's what I meant. He's in there."
"That's... great, thanks" I said and followed him to the boss' room.
Some of Takki's things were still there, but I had troubles recognizing the place anyway. It got so tidy and organized! I noted the desk was brown (I suppose it always was, but with Takki's habit of leaving all the papers on it I never actually got to seeing its bare surface).
"Hi, Ueda" Sakurai stood up to greet me. "I'm a bit busy with Ma... boss Aiba here, so I'm sorry for no proper greeting, but let's just have the paper signed, alright?"
"You don't want to read it?" I was surprised to say the least.
"Actually, with all due respect, we prepared the document for you. You see I was once a subject to identical decision, so we know all the naughty details. Don't we, Masaki?" He sent a meaningful glance to my cousin who rolled his eyes, yet smiled meaningfully.
"Oh c'mon, you'd get a promotion anyway I just helped them decide faster" he said.
My eyes were wandering from one of them to another for a long moment.
"So..." I finally spelled, turning my head to Masaki "...you're not here to stop me and rat on me to my father...?"
There were three long seconds of silence. And then Masaki burst out laughing so hard that he had to sit down.
"No, really..." he managed to say after a while, wiping a tear from a corner of his eye. "You guys are so similar it gives me creeps sometimes. I'm sure you'll realize it one day when either of you matures just enough to actually listen to what the other's saying. Well, but maybe you'd have to ask around a bit first."
"What do you mean?"
"Uncle Kimura and you. You're as clueless about him as he is about you. And yet you two act so similar... no I can't take it anymore!" he started laughing again.
"Pardon him" Sakurai bowed a little and smiled to me "he tends to have laughing streaks like that from time to time, but he doesn't mean anything bad. Anyway, here's the document, I have already stamped it and since Imai's not here Masaki will take care of it at directorial level. We only need your stamp now."
"That's... I'm very thankful to you, I really am but... I have to ask him first."
Was I hallucinating or Sakurai actually hit Masaki's head lightly to stop him from laughing any more?
"Someone's more thoughtful than you have been, Ma-chan" he might have said, although this could have also been my weird imagination. "All right, go and find him, but be quick, we need to leave for a meeting in half an hour."
I've excused myself from the office leaving the weird couple alone and went to search for Ryo. I've asked Kitayama, who was on my former duty now,if Ryo was on sick leave but apparently he wasn't. Fujigaya, who somehow popped out of nowhere as soon as I approached the secretary, said he saw Ryo that morning.
It was way past lunch time so he couldn't be out eating. He wasn't taking part in any conference because no conference was taking place that day. If he was out because of work, someone would know of it.
"I thought I saw him heading towards ladies' toilet" Akanishi said the moment he took his eyes away from The most stylish wedding rings delivered in a week web page.
"That's impossible" Shibutani cut in, "I mean those rings. She may be twenty but she looks sixteen, you can't make her wear something so big. If I were you I'd let the woman choose. Or I'd ask Matsumoto."
So much for helpful colleagues. But I thought ladies' restroom was impossible too.
However, there was one more place I haven't been to yet...
...I have opened the door to cleaning storage carefully and whispered Ryo's name.
"Go away! I don't want to see you!" I heard a voice from the darkness.
Bingo!
I've entered the storage despite his shouting and put my back against the door. If he was going to escape he had to go through me. I didn't bother looking for light switch; I had to do something about Ryo, and do it fast.
"Ryo, please at least listen to me" I asked and he finally shut up. "I'm terribly sorry about what happened in Aomori. I thought you were a dream. Actually I HAD a dream about you right before you came."
"You did?"
"I did." I nodded, forgetting he probably couldn't see me doing so. It seemed to me like he was thinking about something for a moment and maybe he accepted my apology at least for that matter, because he moved to another thing.
"But then you met with your ex boyfriend and you must be living happily ever after with him now, so why bother me!" At the end his voice almost broke. Was he shaking?..
"Ryo..." I sighed "it's true that Morita and Miyake helped me meet Jun'ichi. And it was great to see him again; we had so much to tell to each other..."
"Oh, spare me that!" he hissed.
"Wait! Yes I met him... but I also met his wife."
"Who?"
"His wife. Her name's Yuu. Very nice person if you ask me. And pregnant with their second child. The first is a lovely little girl. He's got a happy family and I'm glad he does. Ours is a closed chapter for years, I just wanted to know he's alright."
For a moment he seemed speechless, but soon he got a grip of himself and attacked again.
"You were naked with another guy!"
"I was dead drunk. They gave me Russian booze as a prank. To make me loose the tension or 'stop acting inhuman' as they chose to phrase it."
I couldn't see his face in the dark but I bet I could hear him laughing silently. I was about to tell him off when I felt something grabbed my wrists and pinned them to the door behind me.
"You better be telling the truth" he whispered right to my ear "because I'm about to believe every word you said about dreaming about me, meeting a MARRIED ex and not having sex in the office with that Morita guy. And you'll face all the consequences."
Before I could think of an answer I felt his lips on mine and, an even bigger shock to me it was, I found myself answering immediately as if I was actually expecting it.
OK, maybe I was.
But just a little bit.
And gods, was he good at it.
When I felt his lips wondering to my neck and his hands starting towards my shirt, I remembered something important. Namely, the time.
"Would you mind accompanying me to Sakurai's office for a minute? There's something I'd like you to know about..."
***
"WHUT?" Ryo almost shouted his lungs out. "You got me transferred to god-forsaken Aomori so I could do a job that two people do at the moment and do it alone? And no pay rise?!"
"Well" Sakurai mumbled, apparently put off a bit by Ryo's violent reaction. "It's Aomori after all. Not close to New York any time soon."
"And in fact" I let myself speak "we're still one stamp away from that transfer. My stamp."
Ryo sent me a glare that would have killed a person if it could.
"That's why I brought you here!" I squeaked. "You're free to decide!"
Ryo only sighed and shook his head.
"Of course I'm going" he said to Sakurai. "That’s my only chance to be together with my boyfriend, isn't it?"
"Your b..." I felt my face turning very deep shade of red. "Who's your boyfriend?!"
Ryo smirked.
"Somebody told me recently that actions speak louder than words. You came all the way here, arranged that stupid transfer no sane person would accept and you're ASKING if I want to go. That's explicit enough for me."
"B...but I really need help for when Morita and Miyake leave and you're responsible and efficient at work!" I started babbling incoherently, with my hands flying around my face that from red was now turning to purple. Not that I could see it but I was sure it did.
"Sure, sure, just stamp the paper; gentlemen here are in a hurry."
I risked a glance at Sakurai and Masaki. The first was smiling politely; the second was rolling on the floor laughing. Not very boss-like. And by no means hurrying to get up and walk away. I actually wished he would.
Sakurai reverted my attention pointing the document on his desk. I looked at Ryo again. Suddenly it felt like I was going to sign a pact with the devil. Gain what you want, but lose your soul to the demon at the same time.
Well...I thought that devil is still going to work under me. Even if I might end up under him on some other occasions...
THE END
***
"Ok then, since it's all done, tonight we're going back to my favourite cleaning storage and pulling an all-nighter there to assure I made a right decision about leaving with you."
"But... I kinda promised the others an after work drink when I was trying to find you..."
"I hate you, Tatsuya."
"I know, I know. We'll work on it."
"..."
"How about I'll stay at your place after that? I sold my old flat already..."
***
NOT REALLY. THEY'VE JUST STARTED.
***
Let's work on it! ends here. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did. Thank you very much to aurislothol for beta-reading and patiently listening to all my complaints about how I have no idea what to write next. Big thanks to raneczka for keeping up with those complaints too :). And finally, thank you to all who read this story :D.
See you in next fic!
***
Author: yuaelt
Pairing: generally ryoda
Rating: overall PG-13...14?
Genre: romance, comedy, a bit of everything
Disclaimer: not mine
Summary: The time has come for all this mess to get sorted out. However, for now nothing looks like about to be cleared. Will there be a happy ending? This time, at last, is for Tatsuya to act true to his feelings... whatever they really are.
part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | part 12 | part 13 | part 14 | part 15 | part 16 | part 17 | part 18 | part 19
Theme song: SURVIVAL FUTURE by PUSHIM. I know, PUSHIM already appeared once but this song just fits like no other. It was in my mind as last-chapter-theme before I have even written it.
Hello, it's Tatsuya who's quite certain that cold November night was the first and the last time he ever had Russian booze.
I didn't know how Ryo got to my office, but my bigger problem was that I didn't know if he really was there. I was still pretty tipsy when I woke up to his shout, and I had troubles determining if he was a part of reality, or maybe the remnants of the dream I just had.
I had a weird dream about him, and then it was weird that he was there when it was supposedly not a dream anymore. I clung to Morita's shoulder and blurted, pointing (or at least trying my best to point) at Ryo:
"Do you see anything?"
Morita nodded and Ryo boiled.
"Is that all you are going to say?!" He kept shouting. "I was treating you like someone special, I was being patient and delicate and what-not, and here I find you going all the way with the first man you met in Aomo..."
"Hey, how come he knows I'm the first one you met?" Morita laughed. "It was supposed to be the guy from IT after all."
"The divorcee on the run?" I got interested, especially that Ryo surprisingly shut up for a moment. He must have been shocked that his words turned out to be true.
"Nah, not Taguchi, the other one. He was there with us, remember?" I got my answer and finally focused my eyesight so that Ryo's silhouette wasn't so blurred anymore.
"We were just warming up" I slurred towards Ryo, but I don't think I sounded plausible. "Since Jun'ichi had to leave me I only tried it with girls. It never worked out well though..."
"Warming up my ass!" Ryo spat the words out with fury as I was looking for my pants. They got tangled terribly with Morita's shirt so it was hard to get them out of the pile.
"Ken told me of that method" Morita was apparently a bit more sober than I was. "Eskimos do that. Because it’s very cold in here."
...or not really. Nevermind. The funny thing was that Ryo got interested in whom do we mean by 'Ken' and when he heard Miyake's name he reacted with even greater anger.
"Are the three of you making fun of me or what?!" If I were sober at that time I'd probably realize how desperate his voice sounded. But I wasn't.
"Ueda-kun, you mentioned Jun'ichi... is that Okada Jun'ichi?"
"Yeah, don't tell me you know him?"
"Sure, he's an old friend. Wanna meet him?"
"I'd love to but..."
"That's enough!" Ryo cut in. "That's more than enough and I'm leaving! I hope you had a good time Tatsuya!"
With these words Ryo hurried out of the office. Morita and me fell asleep immediately after he shut the door.
***
When I woke up again several hours later with a major headache, I thought all that was a silly dream. After all, Aomori is not a place where you just drop in from Tokyo because you had some time on your hands, especially during the terrible storm and in the middle of the night.
When Miyake woke the two of us up we were still undressed in most part (he found that inexplicably funny) and I learnt that all what happened was a joke meant to make me show my 'human side', so I decided not to mention the dream in front of them, I'd only humiliate myself more if I did.
"Was I ever inhuman to you?" I pouted instead and they both laughed.
"Not anymore" Morita answered patting my head. "By the way, do you remember what you have told me? About you being Kimura's son?"
"You mean he's THAT Tat-chan?!" For the first time since I came here I saw Miyake really surprised. "Jun's old flame?!"
"Yeah, I don't quite remember but I think I've heard him mentioning Jun'ichi's name so..." Morita finally managed to get his clothes on. I only nodded, wondering when and how did I mention Jun'ichi.
The only reasonable thing I came up with was that I must have been talking in my sleep. But soon it ceased to be important as Miyake and Morita promised to help me meet my ex-lover. I was a bit afraid what would come of it if my father found out, but they promised to work well on it, as a repayment for getting me fuzzed and naked at work...
I've decided they are really good people, even if their sense of humour is a little odd.
Time was passing, I was busy and there was only one thing I realized after a week or so that felt awkward.
Ryo wasn't calling me anymore.
He used to contact me at least twice a week, and even if our conversations were strange and a bit stiff, they were regular. Did he get tired of them? He was the one doing all the calling, so he had all the rights to. Or maybe he thought he was being a nuisance for me?
I picked up my cell phone on a whim and dialled his number, suddenly wanting to tell him that I appreciated his concern and it meant a lot to me and I didn't want him to forget me just like that, but...
He didn't pick up.
Neither did he after two hours.
Nor for the next three days.
Yes, I tried many times, and I know it was strange for me to do so but I really cared. Just like Morita told me the night we got drunk in the office. I didn't know when and how it started, but I really cared for Ryo.
After a few days I got an e-mail from Kazuya.
From: Kazuya
To: Uebo
Title: Nishikido and others
Hi, I'd rather call you if I could but our new boss doesn't exactly like me so I have to be extra careful, and Ryo is freaking out when he hears your name anyway. It sounds lame but a lot of things have changed since you left (apart from Nishikido being crazy about you), like: Akanishi. Is. Getting. Married. One day he says he picked up a stray dog, then that he has a cousin visiting, next we get to know it's actually a homeless teenager he's sheltering, a week ago it was his girlfriend (GIRLfriend, Tatsuya, mind it!), and this morning he announced he's gonna be a married man, shocking everyone, maybe save for Nishikido who's busy missing you 24/7 and doesn't care. And he's three times a prick he used to be, did you tell him something really bad when he went to Aomori? You should know your job went to Kitayama, while his boyfriend you introduced to us is still a student and therefore just a baito boy replacing Tegoshi, whose lover turned out to be gaijin secret agent (George Kuruuni or something) and they eloped together. Fujigaya is capable, everybody came to like him except Nishikido who purely hates both him and Kitayama, probably because he's jealous that the two have sorted their differences, Kitayama stopped trying to woe the whole floor and there's yet another happy couple Nishikido has to bear at work that doesn't include him and you. By the way Pi told me you were calling Nishikido and he wouldn't pick up, well, I don't know what happened in Aomori and Nishikido won't tell, but me and Pi think he must have taken it very seriously, yet he misses you terribly, that's for sure.
Hope you come visit us by the end of the year.
From Kazu &hearts
Gods, that's what I call an information-packed message! I had minor troubles figuring out who's who but managed to sort it out after reading the mail thrice. And then it struck me.
My dream wasn't a dream.
And about two weeks have passed since it happened!
When I talked to Morita and Miyake I learnt the rest of the story about Ryo coming to Aomori, getting lost, being found by Miyake, and then with his help appearing in my office.
"But why did you let him come here when you knew that I was drunk and most likely butt naked hugging Morita?! Couldn't you make him wait till morning?" I almost cried to them.
"Sorry, I didn't know he meant anything special to you" Miyake answered in an apologizing tone, but then his voice took on a totally different note "but he implied I was a child. I had to teach him a lesson..."
I decided not to explore that any further.
Besides, what I needed most was a way to contact Ryo. I had no other method left than the last resort one. Even if it was dangerous, unreasonable and could bring unpredictable results, I was desperate enough to use it.
I mean I tried calling Takizawa.
"Hello, Product Development division here, how can I help you?" I heard unfamiliar voice and remembered Kazuya's messy mail again. Oh right, new boss. Ain't my life just beautiful?
In case you didn't realize, that was sarcastic.
"Good morning" I said as nicely as I could "Do you by any means know where boss Takizawa is at the moment?"
"He's on a half-year-long business trip to Bali along with the general head of Prodution dept., boss Imai. I am his temporal replacement, my name is Sakurai."
All right, this was gonna be way harder than I thought... but wait... Sakurai? Could it be he was my other cousin's first assistant? That nice and older brother-like guy who looked like he was really slow, but somehow managed to keep Masaki from changing his workplace into a game center?
I was never as close with Masaki as I was with Tsubasa. Actually we weren't close at all, but... Maybe, just maybe I could get some understanding from this Sakurai guy for what I wanted to do. Although I must admit, I would feel much better about it if I were talking to Takki. At least I would know HOW to do it. Well, I took a deep breath, cleared my throat and gave it a try:
"I'm terribly sorry to disturb your work but the truth is there is a matter I'm afraid I can't solve without turning to you about, so if you could spare a few minutes I would be eternally thankful..."
***
"T...Tatsuya?!" Kame squeaked before he sprinted out of my way towards the main room. "Hey everybody, Tatsuya's here!"
I was soon surrounded by my former colleagues, asking dozens of questions about how my work in Aomori was and what I was doing in Tokyo. I was happy they were interested in me, especially that I never expected them to be, but I was looking carefully through the crowd, searching for one certain person.
He wasn't there. When we entered the main office, I couldn't see him anywhere too.
"Where is Nishikido?" I couldn't help asking but nobody cared to answer.
"No guys, I'm serious, I have a business with him" I tried again "I promise we'll go out after work and have a drink, but now I need to find Nishikido!"
"Shouldn't you look for someone else first?" I heard a voice and next thing a face I haven't seen in years showed up from behind Kazuya and Yamashita.
"Masa... I mean, Boss Aiba!" I was stunned to see him there.
"Were you expecting Santa Claus?" He asked politely.
"Actually, I was expecting boss Sakurai" I said as humbly as I could.
"Oh, right" Masaki laughed out loud but it didn't help me lose the tension. I thought the presence of another department boss in our small division was a little fishy. Especially that he was my relative... Masaki however, was still smiling when he pointed to the door in the corner of the main office room.
"That's right, you are supposed to look for Sho first. That's what I meant. He's in there."
"That's... great, thanks" I said and followed him to the boss' room.
Some of Takki's things were still there, but I had troubles recognizing the place anyway. It got so tidy and organized! I noted the desk was brown (I suppose it always was, but with Takki's habit of leaving all the papers on it I never actually got to seeing its bare surface).
"Hi, Ueda" Sakurai stood up to greet me. "I'm a bit busy with Ma... boss Aiba here, so I'm sorry for no proper greeting, but let's just have the paper signed, alright?"
"You don't want to read it?" I was surprised to say the least.
"Actually, with all due respect, we prepared the document for you. You see I was once a subject to identical decision, so we know all the naughty details. Don't we, Masaki?" He sent a meaningful glance to my cousin who rolled his eyes, yet smiled meaningfully.
"Oh c'mon, you'd get a promotion anyway I just helped them decide faster" he said.
My eyes were wandering from one of them to another for a long moment.
"So..." I finally spelled, turning my head to Masaki "...you're not here to stop me and rat on me to my father...?"
There were three long seconds of silence. And then Masaki burst out laughing so hard that he had to sit down.
"No, really..." he managed to say after a while, wiping a tear from a corner of his eye. "You guys are so similar it gives me creeps sometimes. I'm sure you'll realize it one day when either of you matures just enough to actually listen to what the other's saying. Well, but maybe you'd have to ask around a bit first."
"What do you mean?"
"Uncle Kimura and you. You're as clueless about him as he is about you. And yet you two act so similar... no I can't take it anymore!" he started laughing again.
"Pardon him" Sakurai bowed a little and smiled to me "he tends to have laughing streaks like that from time to time, but he doesn't mean anything bad. Anyway, here's the document, I have already stamped it and since Imai's not here Masaki will take care of it at directorial level. We only need your stamp now."
"That's... I'm very thankful to you, I really am but... I have to ask him first."
Was I hallucinating or Sakurai actually hit Masaki's head lightly to stop him from laughing any more?
"Someone's more thoughtful than you have been, Ma-chan" he might have said, although this could have also been my weird imagination. "All right, go and find him, but be quick, we need to leave for a meeting in half an hour."
I've excused myself from the office leaving the weird couple alone and went to search for Ryo. I've asked Kitayama, who was on my former duty now,if Ryo was on sick leave but apparently he wasn't. Fujigaya, who somehow popped out of nowhere as soon as I approached the secretary, said he saw Ryo that morning.
It was way past lunch time so he couldn't be out eating. He wasn't taking part in any conference because no conference was taking place that day. If he was out because of work, someone would know of it.
"I thought I saw him heading towards ladies' toilet" Akanishi said the moment he took his eyes away from The most stylish wedding rings delivered in a week web page.
"That's impossible" Shibutani cut in, "I mean those rings. She may be twenty but she looks sixteen, you can't make her wear something so big. If I were you I'd let the woman choose. Or I'd ask Matsumoto."
So much for helpful colleagues. But I thought ladies' restroom was impossible too.
However, there was one more place I haven't been to yet...
...I have opened the door to cleaning storage carefully and whispered Ryo's name.
"Go away! I don't want to see you!" I heard a voice from the darkness.
Bingo!
I've entered the storage despite his shouting and put my back against the door. If he was going to escape he had to go through me. I didn't bother looking for light switch; I had to do something about Ryo, and do it fast.
"Ryo, please at least listen to me" I asked and he finally shut up. "I'm terribly sorry about what happened in Aomori. I thought you were a dream. Actually I HAD a dream about you right before you came."
"You did?"
"I did." I nodded, forgetting he probably couldn't see me doing so. It seemed to me like he was thinking about something for a moment and maybe he accepted my apology at least for that matter, because he moved to another thing.
"But then you met with your ex boyfriend and you must be living happily ever after with him now, so why bother me!" At the end his voice almost broke. Was he shaking?..
"Ryo..." I sighed "it's true that Morita and Miyake helped me meet Jun'ichi. And it was great to see him again; we had so much to tell to each other..."
"Oh, spare me that!" he hissed.
"Wait! Yes I met him... but I also met his wife."
"Who?"
"His wife. Her name's Yuu. Very nice person if you ask me. And pregnant with their second child. The first is a lovely little girl. He's got a happy family and I'm glad he does. Ours is a closed chapter for years, I just wanted to know he's alright."
For a moment he seemed speechless, but soon he got a grip of himself and attacked again.
"You were naked with another guy!"
"I was dead drunk. They gave me Russian booze as a prank. To make me loose the tension or 'stop acting inhuman' as they chose to phrase it."
I couldn't see his face in the dark but I bet I could hear him laughing silently. I was about to tell him off when I felt something grabbed my wrists and pinned them to the door behind me.
"You better be telling the truth" he whispered right to my ear "because I'm about to believe every word you said about dreaming about me, meeting a MARRIED ex and not having sex in the office with that Morita guy. And you'll face all the consequences."
Before I could think of an answer I felt his lips on mine and, an even bigger shock to me it was, I found myself answering immediately as if I was actually expecting it.
OK, maybe I was.
But just a little bit.
And gods, was he good at it.
When I felt his lips wondering to my neck and his hands starting towards my shirt, I remembered something important. Namely, the time.
"Would you mind accompanying me to Sakurai's office for a minute? There's something I'd like you to know about..."
***
"WHUT?" Ryo almost shouted his lungs out. "You got me transferred to god-forsaken Aomori so I could do a job that two people do at the moment and do it alone? And no pay rise?!"
"Well" Sakurai mumbled, apparently put off a bit by Ryo's violent reaction. "It's Aomori after all. Not close to New York any time soon."
"And in fact" I let myself speak "we're still one stamp away from that transfer. My stamp."
Ryo sent me a glare that would have killed a person if it could.
"That's why I brought you here!" I squeaked. "You're free to decide!"
Ryo only sighed and shook his head.
"Of course I'm going" he said to Sakurai. "That’s my only chance to be together with my boyfriend, isn't it?"
"Your b..." I felt my face turning very deep shade of red. "Who's your boyfriend?!"
Ryo smirked.
"Somebody told me recently that actions speak louder than words. You came all the way here, arranged that stupid transfer no sane person would accept and you're ASKING if I want to go. That's explicit enough for me."
"B...but I really need help for when Morita and Miyake leave and you're responsible and efficient at work!" I started babbling incoherently, with my hands flying around my face that from red was now turning to purple. Not that I could see it but I was sure it did.
"Sure, sure, just stamp the paper; gentlemen here are in a hurry."
I risked a glance at Sakurai and Masaki. The first was smiling politely; the second was rolling on the floor laughing. Not very boss-like. And by no means hurrying to get up and walk away. I actually wished he would.
Sakurai reverted my attention pointing the document on his desk. I looked at Ryo again. Suddenly it felt like I was going to sign a pact with the devil. Gain what you want, but lose your soul to the demon at the same time.
Well...I thought that devil is still going to work under me. Even if I might end up under him on some other occasions...
THE END
***
"Ok then, since it's all done, tonight we're going back to my favourite cleaning storage and pulling an all-nighter there to assure I made a right decision about leaving with you."
"But... I kinda promised the others an after work drink when I was trying to find you..."
"I hate you, Tatsuya."
"I know, I know. We'll work on it."
"..."
"How about I'll stay at your place after that? I sold my old flat already..."
***
NOT REALLY. THEY'VE JUST STARTED.
***
Let's work on it! ends here. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did. Thank you very much to aurislothol for beta-reading and patiently listening to all my complaints about how I have no idea what to write next. Big thanks to raneczka for keeping up with those complaints too :). And finally, thank you to all who read this story :D.
See you in next fic!
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