Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction ❯ The List ❯ The List Ch. 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Of course he had been irritated to find an entry in his to-do list that he hadn't written himself. Tatsumi was normally left out of the office's daily little pranks, not concerning himself as long as they kept everyone relaxed and didn't hinder productivity. This was an intrusion into his function in the office, and, by its content, into his personal life as well-he would have the head of whoever had presumed to add to his list.

Unfortunately, dignity prevented him from challenging anyone with an accusation unless he was sure of the culprit. He knew who wouldn't have done it: Kurosaki, entirely respectful; Terazuma, habitually keeping as far from the office's petty gags as possible; Konoe or the Gushoshin-no; Watari himself…while he was certainly capable of inflicting ridiculous ploys on others in the name of science, Tatsumi knew him to be far more direct in personal matters. Had Watari any interest, he would most likely make a straightforward, discreet approach.

At least, that was how Tatsumi thought of the man. Who knew how he would act while pursuing a romantic affair? In the nearly thirty years they'd worked together, Tatsumi had never known him to do so, actually…

He'd never thought of that before.

But flattering as the thought was, Watari was not a suspect. That left Wakaba, Tsuzuki, and the visiting Hokkaido pair. The former two had been in the staff room behind stacks of paperwork when last he'd seen them, though they had taken a moment to smile and chat guiltlessly, and he hadn't seen the latter pair all day, though presumably they were chasing Kurosaki, also missing, around the Meifu.

"Alright, turn off your computer. I'll take a look at the hard drive."

Tatsumi spun to face his door. Oh, right. He had asked the resident computer expert to check over his office machine-files had started to go missing recently, and unpleasant grinding noises suggested that the machine was either dying or transforming into a belt sander.

As Watari strode in purposefully, rolling the sleeves of his labcoat, Tatsumi stood up a little too abruptly, sending his chair spinning a meter to the left and earning a suspicious glance from Watari. Stilling and sitting in his vacated chair, the scientist removed the ancient machine's monitor and began unfastening the outer cover, Tatsumi watching dexterous fingers move almost lovingly over the computer's inner components as he worked. He didn't want to draw attention as the thought of those fingers bore heat to his cheeks, so of course he chose that moment to clear his throat.

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

A few minutes more passed in silence.

"This hard drive is coming out of its tracks. If you want to keep using the computer, and I'd say it'll last another year at most at its age, I'd suggest you back up all your files and let me replace the drive."

"Ah. I see. Do you have another one on hand?"

"Yes. It'll take a few hours to transfer your data to the server, and then I can switch them."

"How long exactly? I can't do this week's payroll without that computer."

"With the data transferred, you can access it from another computer. It will take until the end of the day to complete the repair work." Watari didn't look up from the computer, reminding Tatsumi how driven he was when involved in his specialty. Like the secretary himself, he knew many things but lived for one field. Someone that single-minded would be more direct. Of course.

At Tatsumi's continued silence and distracted look Watari added, "The Gushoshin might be able to lend you one of the library's laptops for the afternoon."

"Thank you. I'll see about that immediately." He turned and exited abruptly, leaving Watari to stare at his back.

Nearly one hundred years of keeping a crisply laundered suit and rimmed spectacles a cool barrier between inner and outer circumstances had not prepared him for sudden dissatisfaction with both.