Chapter1: Lunch Pains
The day after the Kanto Library Force Base thwarted a particularly harsh raid from the MBF, several staff members were still in the hospital and unable to return to work, leaving the members of the Task Force to deal with the paperwork.
Komaki, Dojo, Tezuka, and Kasahara had been sitting in the same office since 08:30 that morning filling out and filing paperwork that went with injured members, damage to books, furniture and other possessions of the Library, legal dealings with the government nationwide and locally, and more, as well as their regular paperwork.
Iku Kasahara's stomach had started rumbling an hour earlier and had grown steadily louder since then even though it was only 11:15. Instructor Dojo had praised Iku for her bravery and good performance the day before so she refused to complain now for fear he would take it all back, but she couldn't help a small groan escaping her lips as she pressed her hand tightly against her empty stomach. Tezuka ignored the noise with a grim look on his face but Komaki turned to her with a friendly smile, "Kasahara, why don't you go for an early lunch, you sound like you could use it."
Blushing Iku supressed her hunger "Thank you instructor Komaki, but I'm fine, I can wait till lunchtime". Right on cue her stomach gave its loudest rumble yet and Komaki chuckled into his hand. Iku moaned again as she turned back to her work, looking at the next question on the form in front of her and consulting a list of office supplies on her desk. Suddenly Dojo stood up and walked briskly towards her, dragging Iku off of her chair by her arm and disclaiming loudly: "Stop being so stubborn, you're distracting all of us and getting nothing done yourself. I'll force feed you if I have to but stop that noise!"
They stormed out of the office and into the hallway that led downstairs and to the cafeteria, halfway down Dojo's grip on Iku's arm loosened and his hand shifted naturally to her hand, though her seemed not to notice. In her perplexity Iku blushed a little but kept pace with her instructor, hoping this moment would never end. At that exact moment her stomach rumbled again, inviting a look from Dojo who noticed their hands clasped together and instantly pulled his hand away. He was in a bad mood again and she dreaded having to be alone with him for lunch.
As was to be expected this early in the day the cafeteria was empty except for a few people having late morning coffee and watching the news. Iku gritted her teeth all through getting food and finding a table and began eating quickly so she could get this over with and back to the protection of Komaki and Tezuka.
"Are you alright Kasahara?" Iku looked up , Dojo was watching her with a concerned look, "I know you got hit hard in the ribs with a riot shield yesterday, did any ribs get broken or did you get bruised bad? Are you in pain?"
The kindness in Dojo's eyes startled Iku and for a moment she forgot all about the piece of fish that was halfway towards her mouth and dropped it from between her chopsticks without noticing. Blushing slightly she replied quietly "I didn't think you'd noticed that, sir. I'm a bit bruised but nothing serious, I can move without too much pain. I just wish others had been as lucky."
"You weren't lucky Kashara, you were being smart and you're tougher than most, give yourself credit where its due!".
Dojo patted Iku on the head and smiled a rare smile before turning back to his lunch. It was then that Iku noticed the piece of fish that had fallen into her lap and left a dark soy sauce stain on her uniform. She ducked under the table and tried to clean the stain up with her napkin so Dojo wouldn't notice, but Dojo looked under the table questioningly, "what are you doing?" In an attempt to distract him she put her hands over the stain and shook her head, trying to sit back up but banging the top of her head on the bottom of the table. she grabbed her head, feeling a bump beginning to rise up already and heard Dojo sigh. Iku realized too late that she had not only revealed the stain, but made the situation worse by drawing so much attention to it. "You're a mess Kasahara, you can't even eat lunch without knocking something over or hurting yourself. You should be more careful! Go change into a new uniform after lunch before we go back to the office I'll wait for you in the communal area so Komaki and Tezuka don't notice you're prolonged absence."
"Yes, sir" Iku replied in a small voice. She shovelled the rest of her food into her mouth in just a few bites, embarrassed about her clumsiness and eager to get away from this terrible scene. It was moments like these when she hated her clumsiness the most, and they always seemed to happen when Dojo was around to witness it. As soon as her plate was empty she dashed out of the cafeteria and towards the room she shared with Shibazaki without saying another word.