Working Hours

Summary. Gokudera didn't know what to do with the new worker. Office!AU, one-shot, 6959.

Disclaimer. Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is not mine.

Rating. PG-13

Warnings. 6959 pairing, un-beta'd, some language.

A/N. because there needs to be more of this pairing DD:

The first time Gokudera noticed, it was because someone else brought it to his attention. The random gift-giving and tie-straightening which he'd taken for granted must have looked pretty strange in the eyes of someone else, he figured.

Not to mention the cheek kissing.

Perhaps it was because they were both Italian and had naturally gravitated towards someone who spoke the same language, or perhaps it was something else entirely, but by the fourth month Gokudera had been working at the Vongola Enterprises Japanese branch, he and Mukuro had become inseparable, walking together everywhere and sharing jokes in Italian.

At first, Gokudera had taken a while to adapt. He'd been shipped off straight from the main branch after finishing his training, and was grouchy at being sent to a foreign country. Never mind he spoke the language.

Suffice to say, the first two months were a disaster. He yelled and screamed at pretty much everyone that wasn't his superior (Sawada Tsunayoshi, who would someday come to own the company and was the most kindhearted man Gokudera had ever met, bless his little soul), and generally disrupted the work.

It was around then that Mukuro's group came to them. They'd come from the Vindice Corporation, a group well-known for being excessively strict with its employees, and had surprisingly come with fully backed credentials.

Instantly, Gokudera had latched on to them: they could understand Italian. He was rudely woken from his little fantasy, however, when Joushima Ken lashed back at him angrily.

The resulting argument is still talked about today as a battle of titans, using everything from explosives to animal aspects. Honestly. As if that were even possible.

Anyway, Gokudera made sure to steer clear from their path from then on. At least, he thought he did. Rokudo Mukuro, the member for which they all had the highest regard, had been placed high in the corporate ladder – directly below Gokudera, as a matter of fact, a post given to only five others besides the man.

After the first disastrous few days sharing an office with Hibari (Gokudera did not want to know how they had managed to throw the computer out the window, or why either of them took weapons to work), Mukuro began to switch from office to office like a nomad, never staying in one place for long.

He surprisingly got along with everyone.

Chrome shared some sort of strange understanding with him (Gokudera suspected they were long lost cousins or something) and usually took him out for tea. His lackeys accompanied them. However, he could not stay with her long as her she was usually out of the country.

So he was sent to a new office. Ryohei managed some sort of living standard with the man: Mukuro could be as creepy as he liked, as long as Ryohei could scream his head off. While this may have seemed fine to the duo, Ryohei's office neighbors were soon seeing Gokudera with complaints about deafness and "extremely scary men", not to mention "the images and sounds that are imprinted in our brains now". The blue-haired man had to be moved again.

Gokudera left him with their youngest member, Lambo, in the hopes of teaching the boy something. He quickly regretted that decision when the raven came crying to him one afternoon about "scary men and their strange eyes, and I've had these dreams, Gokudera-san, I swear they're real".

Yamamoto was the next candidate, and Gokudera felt sure he got a checkmate. At least until the baseball fan came to work late on day, absolutely disheveled, his excuse being "I went to a party with Mukuro last night, haha, and there was this silver-haired guy like you, and he taught me sword fighting" and Gokudera didn't want to know more.

Having no other choice, Gokudera moved Mukuro in with himself, as he refused to send the man to Tsuna. God knows what he'd do to the boss.

So that is how the two found themselves, early in the morning, Gokudera typing away at record speed while Mukuro looked out the window.

There was no other sound but the incessant pressing of keys.

A week into this and Gokudera figured things were fine. At least until he entered his office and found it coated in bright yellow.

"MUKURO!"

After a decidedly embarrassing meeting with his boss, explaining the sudden, ah – loss, of his office, he and Mukuro were transferred to a small cubicle while his office was restored to working order. Or they finished Mukuro's, whichever came first.

These were painful days for Gokudera: the enclosed space was much smaller, which meant more contact with the blue-haired freak, something he desperately wanted to avoid because the man brought unwanted feelings and memories from home.

Mukuro did not seem to understand the other's mental messages (or he chose to ignore them), and instead used up all the time to find an embarrassing situation to place each other in. Such as when Tsuna walked into them after Mukuro had pushed the other of his chair. The boss had rushed out with a blush and an "I'll come back later!" before quickly running back and reminding them not to frolic in the office with his best superior voice.

Gokudera had bowed profusely. Mukuro was not impressed.

Some more weeks like this, and Gokudera had become sufficiently used to close contact with the other, even aimless chatter, to recognize him as a companion of sorts. It was around this time that the mutual tie-straightening before important meetings first began. The gifts came sometime later, randomly placed on his desk, at first thoughtful cups of coffee before escalating into things such as clothes.

And the cheek kissing came even later, something they both unearthed from their old home as a greeting.

The one who mentioned it to Gokudera, making him realize what he was doing, was a Millefiore Incorporated worker named Irie Shouichi. The man had then grinned, as if the two had some mutual secret that must be kept hush-hush, before meaningfully glancing at a duo some feet away: a blond and an albino.

Gokudera decidedly ignored what this could mean.

When Gokudera hit the six month mark of working in Japan, his fellow employees threw him a party for his half-year (and for not killing or physically injuring anyone in the process – not too badly, anyway).

He was surprised and pleased, and he enjoyed the festivities. When his boss congratulated him, he practically beamed. Yamamoto had brought his silver-haired sword teacher, who turned out to be an employee at another branch of the Vongola: the Varia, located in Italy, who were currently on vacation (they were always on vacation, Gokudera knew for a fact nothing ever got done in that branch). This man in turn brought his boss (who was getting too chummy with Tsuna, his mind growled) and some blond who kept tripping up, but was attempting small talk with Hibari (the man clearly had a death wish).

As the party ended, and everyone headed home, Gokudera headed off to his car. When he saw a tuft of blue hair walking towards the bus stop, alone, he called him and offered a ride.

"That your place?"

"Yeah, thanks for the ride,"

"Mhm,"

As Gokudera waited for the light to change so he could properly drop Mukuro off at his door, he tapped his fingers against the steering wheel to the music absentmindedly. If the other noticed, he didn't comment, but there was a bit of a chuckle.

Once the light changed and they moved forward, the red car stopped in front of the apartment complex. For a while, they were engulfed in an awkward silence. Mukuro finally leaned in as if to give him their usual parting, before he suddenly darted and placed a quick nip on his lips.

"Oh," Gokudera said, intelligently, green eyes blinking as months of denial vanished in a second.

Mukuro then slowly walked out of the car, chuckling all the way, smirk set in place and eyes glittering.

Gokudera could not leave the car fast enough. When he caught up to the other outside of his apartment's door, there was only one thought running through his mind: I'm going to regret this…so going to – oh, my…OH! "Mukuro, we shouldn't…fuck, you – oh!"

On Monday, the office was greeted with no Gokudera or Mukuro. The two had both called in sick. So had a variety of people, actually, leaving Ryohei and Chrome alone in the office.

Needless to say, the two took the day off and no work was accomplished.

Gokudera would have scowled.

Argh, cannot write Gokudera to save my life. Need practice, damn it.

I've got no idea if I got characterization right, constructive criticism on that front much appreciated.

EDIT (June 25th, 2011) : Fixed the divisions.