Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction ❯ Mistletoe Conspiracy Plot ❯ part 9 ( Chapter 9 )

Mistletoe Conspiracy Plot

By Mikarin continuation... from part 8

Sorry, it takes so long for me to update. Life gets on the way. I'll do my best to keep up, just not always do things go as you plan. There's more...


(Previously...)

This has been a very long day. He's taken two naps already during the day. He opted instead for a book.

(Let's continue...)

At Wakaba's home, there was quite a commotion. Three giggling girls were hyperactively singing jingles from a CD and massively hacking it to pieces inserting their words as they sang along.

Wakaba had the kitchen in an uproar.

She had been cooking since early morning. More like since Terazuma stopped by with her early Christmas present.

Mixing the plum pudding a little more she recalled this morning...

He was so shy, he wanted her to have it without the onlookers making a fuzz about what he chose to give her. Especially Tsuzuki, who would tease him mercilessly but reap the benefits nonetheless from Terazuma's present.

Terazuma had been walking on eggshells for a few days back from now. She was beginning to have a bad vibe. Hiding away as to not to give himself away. It was making her crazy.

But she simply smiled and dug her heels into the tiles.

...Wakaba retrieved her baking dish and dumped the plum pudding in. Terazuma will love it. This one was exclusively for him; she smiled sweetly to herself satisfied with what promised to be a very successful dish.

Wakaba was a bit worried. Terazuma wouldn't look at her in the eye. He would shy away like he... she wasn't sure how to even finish that thought.

The only one she could conceive having a breakdown was Tsuzuki and Tsuzuki thus far was so genuinely exited now that he's actively trying to get Hisoka to take the next obvious step on their relationship with him for a breakdown.

As an early morning person, she chirped in the kitchen excitedly, as she heard the front door shimmed.

"Morning Hajime-chan. What brings you so early in the morning?" She opened the door wider for her partner to get in.

He mumbled a morning.

The air was nippy. Brrr.

She closed the door trying to take a peek but he turned as he entered preventing her from looking.

"Coffee's brewing and I have muffins in the oven."

"Thanks Kanuki." He was looking down at his shoes. Hmm, just like when he came to deliver her birthday card and pink carnation. He waited on her to guide him to the kitchen---examining the floor.

She served him a cup and a fresh muffin from the batch she planned to take into the office this morning later on.

He sat there for a minute just drinking his coffee until he finally looked at her and pushed a wrapped gift across the table towards her with something unintelligible and a grunt.

"Huh!" Knowing what he meant by now, the hidden meaning of each of his grunts were quite clear. But she played dumb.

Hajime blushed. Just a smidgen, knowing he had to repeat himself. Wakaba mused, that night he delivered her birthday card he was blushing as pink as the carnation attached to the envelope.

"It's your early Christmas present."

"Ah, thank you Hajime-chan. But why so early?"

Yes!

"I thought you might enjoy it before tonight. Open it." His tone had softened just a bit. Usually he was curt and even harsh towards everyone, with the exception of her and Hisoka, who to all intents and purposes Terazuma sort of associated with a girl so he tried to tone down the attitude. Girls were his weakness and if he didn't want to be threaten with a touch of a delicate hand he knew to behave, or else. And grind his teeth if he had to... holding back his temper which usually was unleashed, quite purposely targeted towards Tsuzuki.

Wakaba smiled, one of her endearing smiles.

He was back to staring at his coffee but taking quick glances at her.

Gleee!

Wakaba was beyond herself. She undid the colorful ribbon and started peeling the layers of the paper.

Such nice paper too, Wakaba thought. Hajime really put a lot of thought into it.

As she pulled the paper apart a face came into view.A book.

In awe, she passed her hand over the cover. "Hajime-chan, I love it."

It was a cooking book. "And not just any book..." She breathed out trying to control the tears that threaten to spill,... no, Hajime would definitely not appreciate tears, even if they were out of happiness, he would take it the wrong way. "A Julia Child hard cover."

Wakaba picked the book up with outmost care and embraced it adoringly... Yes, she was happy.

Hajime got started with his muffin, a little hidden smile dancing on his face. Wakaba really loved his present.

"Julia Child is the best. I've never tried any of these before," she pointed to the picture on the jacket's back-cover. She was hugging Julia Child to her chest.

Happy to be a success, Hajime grunted with satisfaction and stuffed as much into his mouth to hide his smile. And immediately Wakaba reached for the basket of fresh-baked muffins and moved them closer to him, indulging him more. "Here, have some more. I'm going to get started on a few new dishes from this book." She squealed sparkly-eyes and running her index finger through the table of contents looking for the desserts.

"Oi, what about work?"

"Its Christmas Hajime-chan. Tatsumi-san will understand, unless he'd rather pay for the food instead of me cooking it?!"

He sat thoughtfully and worked it out in his head. Yup, Tatsumi would rather have her cook. It tasted better, anyway.

Currently, however, Terazuma had been dragged around the library until finally coming across a window. Gushoshin didn't want to invite Kuro-chan. He was a messy kitten.

Tatsumi realized Terazuma needed to literally stick his head out of a window. He couldn't imagine being stuck in the library for nearly all day since he himself could spend days in his office working without realizing it was no longer Monday but Friday. Especially in the days that Tsuzuki was out of the office in assignment. Those were the days he cherished, even if he did miss the noise. He didn't miss the destruction the man could leave in his path.

Ah, window!

Terazuma searched frantically, practically tearing his shirt pocket for his cigarette pack, drawing one out and his lighter. His hand was shaking. It took both his hands holding the lighter tightly for the flame to latch onto the tip of the stick.

And inhale.

...

His whole body exhaled. Muscles relaxed with the first deep drag.

Even Tatsumi relaxed a little just by watching him. His taut shoulders dropped a bit. He could now understand Hisoka a little better. What a relief. He hadn't notice before until now but Terazuma had been making him edgy as well, he was just better at ignoring fidgeting people around him. Tsuzuki was great practice for that. The entire building could collapse all around him and he wouldn't notice, unless it cost the department money from their budget; which usually did, given the demolition demon they owned.

Terazuma was enjoying his smoke. He could feel it travel in and out of his lungs and run through his body like wild fire.

Oh, how he had longed to have it.

He stuck as much as he could out the window. It wasn't a big window, His shoulders would get stuck if he tried to squeeze through it and attempt escape.

That's right. He was thinking again.

He stuck his hand out, cigarette dangling from his fingers.

He had seen in the teen's eyes the restrain he was practicing on not give into his instinct to just bitch-slap him silly. He had been driving himself and everyone else crazy. Even Tatsumi had shown signs of irritation with him at close inspection.

He had all the time in the world to study them. Tatsumi's workaholic ethics were not helping. After fifteen minutes of failed attempts at concentration on his papers had proved that he really needed out before he felt too weak to keep from transforming and Kuro wanted out. The damn shiki couldn't stand him either. Hell, Terazuma couldn't stand himself. If he could crawl out of his own skin he would.

Wonder what Wakaba is up to right now. He mused. Something good he hoped. He hadn't been prepared for the onslaught of Christmas cheer she and her accomplices had unleashed.

He, of all people, should've expected it. The girls were always this hyper come the holidays they deemed 'romantic' and Christmas much like Valentine's were high ranking in the department. Although in his book, Valentine's was always worse. The expectations were high and girls purposely aimed for him because they could and he was helpless to stop them. He got more exercise in that day out of the whole year. Girls from other departments were as competitive as the ones in his office.

I think they have a club.

"Excuse me?"

"Huh?" Hell, he said that out loud. Tatsumi was eyeing him warily.

"The girls from the office and the other departments, haven't you noticed how well organized and uniform their activities seem to be around the mayor holidays? It's like they plan it ahead of time. Christmas, Valentine's, White Day, Golden Week... and whatever else they can think of...."

Tatsumi frowned. As a matter of fact he had noticed. But he had no proof.

"Every year is different but the same." Terazuma grunted in dislike. "It's like they plan it that way."

"Conspiracy?" Tatsumi wondered raising an eyebrow above the rim of his glasses.

"It's like the have a club or call each other... some underground network."

"Too perfect to be organized," Tatsumi immediately rationalized; there wasn't much he didn't know in his department.

"And it's just girls." Terazuma was babbling now.

"Watari is following along." So no, Tatsumi thought, it can't be just girls... and frowned remembering the first attempted attack, his office and later.... He cut off that line of thinking and covered the slight sting of a blush across his cheeks.

"No, not the women in our department."

Tatsumi began to rationalize.

"They can't keep a secret for too long. Something so covert can't stay secret with them knowing about it for such a stretch of time. This has been happening for as long as I've been here." Tatsumi said with enough conviction.

Terazuma nodded in agreement seeing how that could be true. Yuma and Saya would blow up if they had a secret---especially one of their own. Wakaba would've tipped it accidentally by now too. She liked sharing too much.

"Watari thinks like a girl." Terazuma bleeped. "Thinking of sex change potions must have rotted his brain to the point of thinking like the opposite sex."

Tatsumi presumed Terazuma was right. Well... before his mind could wonder any further he broke away. "Back to work." He said more for himself than his young nicotine addict. Those ledgers were not going to magically fill and balance themselves.

Terazuma was finished with his smoke.

Ah! He felt like a new man. For a stretch of five whole minutes until Tatsumi started back through whence they came. Terazuma had much respect for the man but he really needed to learn to relax five minutes a day instead of per year.