Title: It's all fair games in Meifu
Author: clueless_psycho
Characters: Castiel, Tatsumi, Tsuzuki, Hisoka, Terazuma, Wakaba, Saya and Yuma, Watari, Muraki, Konoe kacho, Dean Winchester
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none that I can think of except that this is crack.
Spoilers: General for Season 4.
Word Count: 5,537
Disclaimer: Castiel and Dean Winchester belongs to Kripke's, all Yami No Matsuei characters belong to Yoko Matsushita.
A/N: Written for spn_teamfic round 3 challenge: cross-over. I owe the plot and the beta to seraphim_grace *grins*
Summaru: There's a reason why it took Castiel so long to save Dean from perdition. Crossover between Supernatural/Yami No Matsuei (Descendants of Darkness)
Information about Yami no Matsuei can be found here: .org/wiki/Descendants_of_Darkness
Glossary:
Kacho = chief
Manjuu = steamed cake with extra sweet filling
Tako senbei = octopus crackers
---------------------------------
They said cherry blossoms bloom all year round in Meifu and Castiel didn't believe that until he saw them with his own eyes. Still he thought that the sweet aroma hanging thickly in the air was not the scent of the flowers, but then, he could be wrong.
8.45am
No one was in EnmaCho yet except for the security guard behind the front desk, who ignored him completely. He had come too early, he knew that. He looked around to find somewhere he could sit down and wait and he saw a man in brown suit and a pair of glasses so big they hid half of his face enter the lobby. The man noticed him and walked up to him.
"Are you looking for someone?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm here to see Mister Konoe, I have some papers for him to sign, stamp and seal," Castiel answered.
"Castiel, isn't it?" the man asked again, then extended his hand. "Tatsumi Seiichirou. We don't start until nine here. I'll show you where you can wait."
"Thank you," Castiel shook Tatsumi's hand.
"Follow me," Tatsumi said as he was headed for one of the doors on the walls, nodding at the security guard as he walked past him. The security guard nodded back at him.
Tatsumi opened the door, and they entered a big room with desks and chairs, metal file cabinets along one wall, a small pantry at one corner and a photocopier at the other corner. There was a set of sofa near the door but Tatsumi didn't stop there, he walked forward to one desk.
"You can wait here," he said. "This desk is vacant. If you want tea or coffee or just water, help yourself. I don't suggest the coffee, though."
"I don't think I'll need it, I won't be long here, I only need the documents signed," Castiel put his satchel on the desk.
Tatsumi only shrugged.
Castiel took his trench coat off because he thought he'd look funny to wear it inside the office. "How do I know when to meet Mister Konoe?" he asked.
"Just wait," Tatsumi said. He went to the pantry to fix something for himself, then he walked to the neatest desk in the room. He set his cup on the table, sat down and opened a newspaper and Castiel wished that he brought something to read to while away the time. But he didn't expect having to wait.
Luckily, his desk was by the window so he could look out and enjoy the scenery of cherry blossoms for as far as he could see.
8.55am
"Good morning, Tatsumi-san."
Castiel automatically shifted his head and saw a girl entering. The girl couldn't be more than fifteen and she had her long hair in a pair of ponytail. She was carrying a box radiating sweet aroma.
Tatsumi mumbled, "Good morning, Wakaba-chan" without tearing his eyes from the newspaper.
Then the girl turned to Castiel. "Oh hi," she smiled at him. "Are you the new guy?" she asked as she walked straight to Castiel. "They said there would be a new guy but they never told us when he was going to arrive."
"No, no," Castiel got up. "I'm just here to meet Mister Konoe."
Wakaba looked at him with hurt expression. "Ah," she said. "But I'll tell Saya and Yuma anyway. You're so handsome, they'll get angry with me if I don't tell them. Is that Donna Karan?" she pointed at Castiel's satchel.
"What…?"
"Wakaba-chan, please leave him alone," Tatsumi warned her.
Wakaba giggled. Then she put the box on Castiel's desk and opened it and Castiel saw a dozen of warm cinnamon rolls inside, and that was where the sweet aroma came. "Have some cinnamon rolls then," she said. "I pass the bakery every day, so Tsuzuki always asks me to bring some in the morning."
"No, no, no," Castiel shook his head. "I'll be fine, I won't be long here. Besides, they're Tsu…" He really needed to familiarize himself with Japanese names.
"Ah, it's okay," Wakaba said as she went to the pantry. "Tsuzuki always shares. He doesn't mind, really."
Wakaba came back with a cup of green tea on a saucer, however when she put it on Castiel's desk, she lifted the cup from the saucer and used the saucer to put two cinnamon rolls for Castiel. "They're very sweet and go best with unsweetened green tea. Although, if you want coffee…," Wakaba's voice trailed, then she quickly added, "I won't suggest the coffee, really."
Castiel nodded. "Thank you."
Wakaba smiled again and went to her desk finally and Castiel went back to watching cherry blossoms outside the window.
8.59am
A youngman with sour face arrived, grunting "good morning" without looking particularly at anybody but clearly ignoring Wakaba, and went straight to his desk. Wakaba got up from her chair to give him one cinnamon roll without getting a thank you but that didn't seem to dishearten her, then on her way back to her desk, she took time to stop by Castiel's and whispered, "That's Terazuma. He's okay, but he can be scary sometimes. Just so you know."
"Thank you," Castiel said, wondering how could Terazuma be even scarier.
9.00am
"Kyaaaaaaa! He's truly handsome!"
Castiel chuckled as he saw two young women – definitely young women because they looked older than Wakaba, although he couldn't really tell, these Japanese females looked all the same to him and these women were really pretty – entered the room shrieking, faces lit up, and Wakaba got up from her chair again and went to meet them, and at the same time Tatsumi got up from his chair to and called his name. "Castiel-san, can you bring me your papers, please?"
"Tatsumi-san, you cheapskate," one of the young women pouted at Tatsumi. "At least give us a chance to know him a little better."
"He has no time for that," Tatsumi said.
Castiel pulled out the folders from his satchel and brought them to Tatsumi, however, before he could hand them to Tatsumi, the girls were already on his sides, slipping their arms into each of his. "Hi, I'm Yuma," said the girl on the right side, "and that's Saya. What's your name?"
"Hi, nice to meet you," he nodded. "I'm Castiel." He quickly put the folders on Tatsumi's desk. "So I can see Mister Konoe now?"
"I have to check these documents first," Tatsumi said.
Castiel blinked at the information. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" And Saya and Yuma and Wakaba giggled at that.
Tatsumi lifted his face up and looked straight at Castiel. "Because we start at nine here."
"But you could've…"
"Ah, don't mind him," Saya said. "He's like that. Are you really the Angel of Thursday."
"Yes, I…," Castiel tried to speak.
"So, your superior thinks that this is the case of unnatural death," Tatsumi spoke as he flipped the papers carefully. "A Dean Winchester made a deal with the crossroad demons to bring his brother's life back and for that he sold his soul to the devil and the devil has taken his soul last night?"
"Yes," Castiel nodded, trying to pay attention to Tatsumi while Yuma and Saya pestered him, touching his hair and ears and feeling his back and Castiel held back from flinching.
"Where are your wings?" asked Yuma. "Did you fold them and keep them under your suit jacket?"
"No, I…"
"It's his vessel," Saya said, giggling. "He has to be in a human's body to be able to enter Meifu."
"And you think Dean Winchester was not supposed to die?" Tatsumi continued.
"Who's this Dean Winchester?" asked Yuma. "Is he as handsome as you are?"
"No, that's not what I think," Castiel kept his focus on Tatsumi, speaking with one eye on Tatsumi, the other on the clock above the door, which was ticking very slowly to his preference. "I'm ordered to bring these papers here to be signed by Mister Konoe so I can pull him out from Hell," Castiel explained.
"That means that you think he's not supposed to die."
"My superior said that we have plans for him."
"What plans?"
"I don't know. They didn't tell me."
"But you supposed I just have to believe it?" Tatsumi said again and Castiel tried not to heave a sigh.
"Oh, don't be such a prick," Yuma snapped impatiently at Tatsumi. "Just get Konoe Kacho to sign them, will you?"
Tatsumi adjusted his glasses. "You need these documents in triplicate," Tatsumi he said coldly.
"They didn't…," Castiel tried again.
"Terazuma!" Tatsumi called out.
Castiel gave up.
"Relax," Saya said. "You have to take it easy here."
"I… I don't have much time," Castiel gaped, as Terazuma approached Tatzumi, taking a position as far away as possible from Wakaba.
"Non-sense," Saya spoke again. "We have all the time in the world here."
Castiel wanted to mention that they were all dead there, and therefore time was not the essence for them, but he thought that it was rude.
"Copy these twice," Tatsumi shoved Castiel's folders to Terazuma. "Put them back in the same order."
"I'm not stupid," Terazuma grunted again and that made the girls giggle.
"What do I have to do now?" Castiel asked.
"Just wait," Saya answered before Tatsumi could do that, and she pushed Castiel away from Tatsumi's desk. "Hey, is that Donna Karan?" she pointed at Castiel's satchel.
"I'll be in the morning briefing," Tatsumi got up from his chair and looked around the room. "Are Tsuzuki and Watari here?"
"Not yet," answered Wakaba.
"Fine," Tatsumi pushed his glasses up, and told Terazuma, "When Watari and Tsuzuki are here, tell him to go straight to the meeting room. Wakaba-chan, let's go."
He didn't get any answer, but he didn't seem to care and exited the room, followed by Wakaba.
9.33am
"So, this Dean Winchester made a deal with the crossroad demon in order to save his little brother and you're ordered to pull him up from Hell?" asked Saya. She was sitting on Castiel's desk and holding Castiel's right hand and polishing his nails. "And you didn't ask your superior why?"
"No, it's not really something for me to question," Castiel spoke flatly with his eyes fixated on the wall far in front of him because he didn't want to look out of the window and the sound of the photocopy machine whirring made him nervous. Tatsumi hadn't been back from his morning briefing and Saya was giving his fingers a thorough manicure while Yuma – who pulled another chair to sit next to Castiel – was doing things with his hair and a tube that looked suspiciously like hair gel- With glitter.
"I'm thinking," Yuma said with a serious tone but Castiel had a bad feeling about this.
"Last time you thought, you got us in big trouble with Hakushaku-sama," Saya snapped and her voice trembled genuinely at the word "Hakushaku-sama".
Yuma pouted. "No, this time it's serious," she said.
"Okay." Saya put Castiel's hand on the table and reached for the other one and Castiel let her because he didn't know what else to do.
"The kimono we got as a gift from Tsuzuki? The one Souryuu gave him? The red one with gold dragons embroidered all over?" Yuma said.
Saya furrowed her perfectly done brows then nodded. "Yeah. What about it?"
"I think it'll look perfect on him," Yuma jerked her head towards Castiel.
Castiel held his breath while Saya looked at Yuma in a shocked expression. "It's a female kimono, Yuma-chan," she said, and Castiel was glad to know that Saya actually had the brain.
Yuma batted her long eyelashes at Saya. "Yeah, so? I said it's perfect, right?"
For a moment, both women looked at each other, then suddenly, there was a soft sound of explosion from the other side of the building and Castiel jumped in complete surprise.
9.45am
Tatsumi showed up in the room again, looking terribly unhappy which did not look like a good sign for Castiel, however, before anybody could utter any word, Saya and Yuma already screamed in unison, "Kyaaaaaaaaaa, Hisoka-kun looks so cute today!!!"
And they fled Castiel's desk, leaving the manicure set and the gel tube, to get to the teenage boy walking behind Tatsumi. The boy looked to be the same age with Wakaba, was as cute as Wakaba, if not even cuter, and he had very big, green eyes. too beautiful to belong to a boy, and he looked as unhappy as Tatsumi when the girls approached him, he couldn't escape and in a second he was dragged to his desk by Saya and Yuma.
Tatsumi walked back to his desk, followed by a man with white lab coat and long hair, they were arguing but Castiel didn't quite hear them. Meanwhile, there was another man wearing black suit and black raincoat who slipped into his desk next to Castiel's quickly. He smiled at Castiel. "You must be Castiel," he said. "I'm Tsuzuki."
Castiel nodded.
"Do you want some cinnamon rolls?" He held up the box from his desk. "I ask Wakaba-chan to buy them for me every morning. Perfect for breakfast."
"She gave me some already," Castiel jerked his chin towards the pastries on his desk.
"Very well. If you want some more…"
Castiel nodded.
"Oh, please don't mind Tatsumi and Watari, they always argue," Tsuzuki added. "You didn't happen, by any chance, to have drunk any coffee, did you?"
Castiel shook his head. He took it that the man in white lab coat was Watari.
"Good then," Tsuzuki grinned. "I'll take you to a ramen shop in Nagasaki for lunch. Really good."
"I'm sorry, I have to see Mr. Tatsumi," Castiel said as he got up. Whatever Tatsumi was arguing with Watari had ended, and Tatsumi had sat back down on his chair and so Castiel decided that it was time to inquire Tatsumi about the papers again.
His paths crossed with Watari's, who was walking back to his desk and as Watari moved past him, Castiel paused, his body stiffening because he was convinced that he had just gotten felt up. However, Watari continued walking towards his desk as if he hadn't done anything.
"Castiel," Tatsumi said. "Konoe Kacho will see you as soon as the documents are ready in triplicate."
Castiel sighed in relief. "That's good. I really can't wait too long."
"I know. I understand," Tatsumi nodded then he called out at Terazuma. "Terazuma-kun, have you finished with the copying?"
Terazuma, again, grumbled, but he put the folders together and carried them to Tatsumi's desk.
"Very well, thank you," Tatsumi said as he opened the folders on top and flipped the papers.
Terazuma hadn't so much as taking three steps away from Tatsumi's desk, when Tatsumi called him back, "Terazuma-kun, you missed page six."
Castiel's heart sank to his stomach.
Terazuma stopped dead and turned around, looking really scary. "I didn't," he growled.
"You did," Tatsumi calmly closed the folders. "Please. You have to redo it or Castiel-san here has to spend more time than necessary for the documents."
Terazuma snatched the documents carelessly and Castiel almost had a heart attack thinking that the folders would fall and papers scatter on the floor and Terazuma had to pick them up and put them back in order, but they didn't and Terazuma carried them back to the photocopier.
Only to have Hisoka brush past him as the boy made his escape from Saya and Yuma, screaming, "I have work to do!"
And all hells broke loose as Terazuma suddenly turned into a monster. At least for Castiel as he saw the folders and papers flying on the air and landed on the floor in a complete mess.
10.27am
"Sorry about that," Tsuzuki said as he handed Castiel the folders. He had helped Castiel gather the papers together and put them in the folders, however, by the look of them, they didn't seem in the right order. "Usually, it doesn't take Wakaba-chan this long to put Terazuma back to normal. Terazuma is like that. He's rather temperamental."
Castiel nodded. He thought that if he was stuck in this office for very long, he'd be like Terazuma too. "Thanks," he murmured.
"Terazuma will help you put them back in order," Tatsumi said.
"Oh no, that's all right, I'll do it," Castiel said. He didn't think he could handle another surprise in this office anyway. Besides, Terazuma seemed to be still trying to overcome the sudden outburst, he was still sitting at the corner, panting hard with a glass of water in his hand.
"No, it's okay, really," Tatsumi said. "He did it, he has to be responsible. Besides, he still has to redo page six."
Castiel inhaled deeply, struggling to calm down. "I'll put them back in order, then Terazuma can redo page six later," he said.
"Are you sure about that?" Tatsumi asked.
Castiel nodded firmly, wishing that Tatsumi stopped talking so he could start re-arranging the papers.
12.03pm
"Lunch time," Tsuzuki said as he stood next to Castiel's desk. "We have to go now or we won't get a table. It's always packed at lunch time."
Castiel shook his head in despair. "I can't, I'm sorry. I still haven't found page six."
"You're tired. Better get some food. You haven't eaten your cinnamon rolls. It's not good for your health…"
"No, I'm fine. I don't need to eat. I just need to get this done as quickly as possible, because the longer Dean Winchester is in Hell, the…"
"Is this your page six?" A sheet of paper was shoved under Castiel's nose and he gasped in horror because it was full of messy scrawls.
He looked up and saw Watari smiling apologetically at him. "Sorry, I didn't know," he put the paper on the desk, his fingers touching Castiel's. "I found it over there," he jerked his chin towards a random direction. "I thought it was scrap paper. We try to re-use papers as much as possible, using both sides if we can…"
Castiel suddenly had difficulty breathing properly.
"Well, at least you have found your page six," he said as if it was of consolation to Castiel. "You can erase Watari's handwriting later, it's pencil. Now let's have lunch. Terazuma's not here either to help with the copying."
"You could show me how to use the photocopier," Castiel said.
Watari laughed heartily. "Oh, believe me," he put his hand on Castiel's shoulders, then he leaned down and whispered in his ear, "you don't want to know how to operate the photocopier." His warm breath tickled Castiel's ear and Castiel thought that something was terribly wrong.
"I think I'm hungry," he murmured, hoping that he didn't sound too rude.
12.09pm
Like Tsuzuki had told him, the ramen shop was packed during lunch time, however, Tsuzuki seemed to be a regular there that the waiter quickly escorted them to two empty stools at the bar. Tsuzuki ordered for them both, because Castiel had no idea what to have. He tried not to pay attention to his surroundings, somehow the flock of gentlemen in their business suits, eating while chattering about work, depressed him.
The ramen was really delicious, but then, Castiel did not have anything else in comparison. Tsuzuki ate heartily, explaining to Castiel every single piece of what was inside the bowl, as if such information was terribly important for Castiel. Still, he felt good afterwards, stomach full and warm, and he decided that the day couldn't be any worse. The papers were back in order, page six found, and soon he could get Mister Konoe to sign, stamp and seal them and he would be out of there before anything happened to Dean Winchester.
"Now that lunch is over," Tsuzuki said as he paid for the ramen, "now it's time for the most important meal of the day."
Castiel frowned.
Tsuzuki turned his head and grinned at him. "Dessert."
"But it's almost one o'clock," Castiel protested.
Tsuzuki checked his watch thoughtfully. "You're right. We'll just grab and go then, and it's a good thing that we don't have to walk."
12.57pm
The sweetshop was not very big but looked pretty popular, just like the ramen shop, because business was heavy inside the little shop. The thick, sweet aroma inside was even headier then in EnmaCho building that Castiel felt rather suffocated.
It didn't help that Tsuzuki took his time chatting with the woman in apron behind the glass shelves and the woman kept on giving Tsuzuki samples of new recipes. Castiel tried hard to avoid looking at the clock above the door.
"I knew that today is my lucky day," someone spoke behind them, and Castiel swung around while Tsuzuki gritted his teeth. "Muraki."
Muraki, standing taller than Tsuzuki and Castiel, dressed in all white to match his silver hair, smiled widely as he took his glasses off. Castiel noticed how Tsuzuki trembled as if he was in so much fear of the man. If that was the case, then Muraki must be a very evil man, but Castiel couldn't really feel it. He only thought that the only thing in Muraki that looked very scary was his mechanical eye.
"Tsuzuki-san," Muraki spoke, his voice clearly laced with lust. "We really should have coffee together again just like last time. We're in Nagasaki after all."
"I killed you," Tsuzuki blurted. "Touda burned you. You can't be alive."
Castiel turned to look at Tsuzuki, trying to register Tsuzuki's words in his brain.
"You killed me but I didn't die," Muraki took one step forward. Tsuzuki took one step backwards in reaction. "I won't die. I can't die. I have to have you first."
"Go away, you're not real!" Tsuzuki screamed.
"My, my… my Tsuzuki," Muraki lifted his hand and reached out in attempt to touch Tsuzuki's cheek and Castiel wondered if he had to jump in and help Tsuzuki, but he really didn't know what was going on between them and he'd rather not make any mistakes.
However, he didn't have to decide. Tsuzuki slipped away and escaped.
Muraki only smiled wider as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his trench coat and watched Tsuzuki go, then he went away as well.
"That'll be fifteen thousand three hundred and fifty yen," the woman in apron behind the glass shelves told Castiel as she put two shopping bags filled with some boxes of sweets on the shelves. "I add a box of tako senbei as a bonus."
01.07pm
The good news was, he was not too late to be back in EnmaCho, only seven minutes, but then he didn't leave EnmaCho before three past noon anyway, so technically, he was only four minutes late. There were only Tatsumi and Tsuzuki in the room, Tatsumi was reading reports, and Tsuzuki sat quietly at his desk, he looked to be reading a piece of paper but Castiel doubted it.
The bad news was – Castiel took a deep breath as he approached Tsuzuki's desk and put the plastic bags on top.
Tsuzuki forced a smile at him. "Thank you. I completely forgot," he said.
"No problem," Castiel assured him. He wondered if he should tell Tsuzuki now that Tsuzuki owed him fifteen thousand three hundred and fifty yen for the sweets, which he paid using some US dollar bills he found in the wallet inside his pants' pocket. Jimmy Novak's wallet. Good thing the woman in the sweetshops didn't say anything about the foreign banknotes. And now he had to find a way to replace the money because technically it belonged to someone else.
"Here," Tsuzuki rummaged into one of the plastic bags. "I bought this for you." He pulled out a box containing two dozens manjuu – steamed cake - with assorted fillings. "A gift from Japan. You'll like it."
Castiel wanted to mention to Tsuzuki that he paid for the sweets anyway.
"Oh, she gave a box of tako senbei as a bonus," Tsuzuki beamed. "You have to try this too."
Castiel nodded. "Thanks. Maybe later."
He went back to his desk carrying the box of manjuu, Saya's manicure set was still there and so was Yuma's glittery hair gel, and he sat down, scanning the room with his eyes, trying to find what was wrong with the scenery. Then he knew. "Where's Terazuma?" he asked.
"Went to see the doctor after lunch time," Tatsumi answered. "Will be back here around two."
"What?" At that point Castiel didn't really care if he sounded terribly rude.
Tatsumi lifted his face up. "We're close at five. Plenty of time. The documents ready?"
"Yes, except that page six," Castiel said. "Is there anyone else who can help copying page six? It's only one page."
"No worries. Just wait for Terazuma-kun. One page will not take too long to copy in triplicate," Tatsumi assured him.
Indeed, however, Castiel wasn't convinced he could wait another hour for Terazuma to come back and copy page six for him.
The cherry blossoms outside the window didn't look as beautiful as they were this morning suddenly.
And he didn't have anything else to read but the documents in front of him, which was ready in three sets. Almost. Except for page six.
"You sure you don't want to try this tako senbei?" Tsuzuki asked.
Castiel was about to nod but something exploded at another part of the building, startling him.
01.33pm
Page six was finally clean, as clean as he could do with an eraser. Watari seemed to be over-enthusiastic, even in writing, that his scrawls left marks all over the paper. At least they didn't conceal the neatly typed words anymore.
And the tako senbei was good.
Twenty seven minutes wouldn't be much longer now and he contemplated to borrow some newspapers from Tatsumi to while away the time.
01.45pm
"Where's Hisoka-kun?" asked Saya as she sauntered into the room like she owned the place, followed by Yuma.
"We haven't seen him since he escaped this morning," Tatsumi answered. "Have you checked the library?"
"We have… hey, that's our manicure set!" Yuma shouted. "We've been looking for that everywhere."
"And your gel too," said Saya, and as the two women walked towards his desk, Castiel wished for the floor beneath him to open up and swallow him. Saya and Yuma flashed him two sets of one thousand megawatts smile. "Hey, you're still here."
"Yes, yes, I am," Castiel nodded nervously. He knew now why Hisoka risked ditching that day's works to escape the woman. He wanted to escape too.
"I haven't finished with your left hand," Saya said as she perched back on the table and Yuma pulled a chair.
"It's fine, really," Castiel said.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Saya shook her head. "Never leave your work half-done. That's our motto."
Castiel wanted to ask if they actually had some work elsewhere instead of pestering people.
"So, Dean Winchester," Yuma squeezed a dollop of gel onto her palm and it really glittered, "you must have fallen in love with him that you're willing to pull him out of Hell."
Castiel felt his face warm suddenly. "No. I got a command."
"I think you need a hair cut," Yuma said as she slipped her slender fingers into Castiel's hair. "And we have decided that the blue kimono will go better for you than the red one. Hisoka-kun will get the red one."
2.15pm
In total relief, Castiel saw Terazuma enter the room, looking sourer than earlier in the morning, but Castiel didn't care. He only needed page six done then he was out of there. Before Saya and Yuma came back with the blue kimono for him.
"Terazuma-kun, please redo Castiel-san's page six then we're done," Tatsumi reminded him just as he was about to sit down.
Terazuma straightened up and walked towards Castiel. Castiel handed him page six, smiling a thankyou, and Terazuma proceeded to the photocopier. It wouldn't take long to copy page six.
"Coffee, anybody?" asked Watari as he showed up at the door.
"Pass," Tatsumi replied.
"Maybe next time," Tsuzuki said.
"When I get older," Wakaba cheerfully added.
"Castiel-san?" asked Watari, the corner of his lips were pulled into a smirk.
Castiel considered the offer for a while, then, because he thought he wouldn't be long anymore in that office, there should be no harm, so he said, "Okay."
"Very well," said Watari as he was headed for the pantry.
"You shouldn't," whispered Tsuzuki.
"I'm just trying to be polite," Castiel shrugged.
"You don't have to."
Then, as Terazuma took page six and its triplicate copies to Castiel's desk, he bumped into Watari, who was carrying two mugs of coffee from the pantry.
2.49pm
They saved page six and its triplicates with the help of lots of tissues and Yuma's hair dryer, which as a better option than the handdryer in the rest room.
"At least you can still see Dean Winchester's name, his date of birth, place of birth, his parents' names and his brother's name," Saya rambled, then stopped and looked up at Castiel. "He has a brother?"
Castiel nodded slumpily.
"I think we should pay them a visit, once Dean's back from Hell," Yuma giggled.
"Oh yeah, and hey, look, his favourite magazine is…," Saya paused to take a deep breath, "AsianBustyBeauty."
And they all burst into a loud laughter. Except Castiel. Because he didn't get it. But he didn't care. He got everything ready now.
2.55pm
"All good," Tatsumi nodded as he closed the last folders and Castiel wanted to hug and kiss him. Literally. "We can go see Konoe Kacho now."
"Thank you," Castiel hissed.
"Well that's too bad," Watari said. "You should come back here and we'll have a party for you."
"I…," Castiel started.
"Of course you have to come back here," Wakaba said.
"Okay," Castiel nodded. He went to his desk to get his trench coat and satchel. He slipped the manjuu box into the satchel. "Thank you all, for everything."
"Always," Yuma gave him her brightest smile.
"You'll come back for the sweets, I assure you," Tsuzuki joked.
The fifteen thousand three hundred and fifty yen didn't look important anymore suddenly. "I think I will," Castiel smiled.
"Bye," Saya waved at him.
"Bye," he waved back. "Thank you, Terazuma-kun. Sorry for all the trouble today."
Terazuma grunted without looking at him.
Then, he followed Tatsumi out of the room, feeling light headed and happy.
3.01pm
They rode the elevator in silence to the top floor of EnmaCho, where Konoe's office was located. Castiel fidgeted while Tatsumi stood like a rock next to him.
A woman behind a desk greeted them in front of Konoe's office. "Tatsumi-kun, what brought you here today?"
"I have some documents for Kacho to sign, stamp and seal."
The woman rolled her eyes. "You gotta be kidding, Tatsumi-kun. Kacho left early today, he has the archery competition to judge. I have told you that last week."
Castiel almost groaned in frustration.
"Fine," Tatsumi said quickly. "Let me have his pen, stamp and seal and I'll take them to the archery club."
The woman smiled as she pulled a sheet of paper. "I always like a man with strong will. Now you sign here and I want the pen, stamp and seal back at five thirty today. I'll be here. And you better bring me a bottle of Dom Perignon or you won't get your pen, stamp and seal."
Tatsumi signed the paper without even looking.
* * *
"What took you so long?" asked Zachariah as he opened the folders and flipped the papers carefully. He stopped at page six and furrowed his brows at the crumpled, coffee-stained and scrawl-decorated page. But it was signed, stamped and sealed by a a grunting Mr. Konoe who was not happy at having to do it in the middle of judging an archery competition.
"You don't want to know," Castiel replied.
"Is it true that they say cherry blossoms bloom all year round in Meifu?" asked Zachariah.
"Yes, it's true."
"I can't imagine the beauty." Zachariah said again.
Castile had forgotten actually. "You have to go there to see it with your own eyes."
"Next time you go to Meifu," Zachariah closed the folders, "take some pictures, will you?"
"God, no, please," Castiel fell to his knees. "Don't send me back to Meifu."
Zachariah lifted an eyebrow. "Castiel?"
Castiel looked up. Zachariah was staring at him with indescribable expression. "Yes?"
"You have ribbons in your hair," Zachariah pulled something out of his hair, and it was a ribbon and it was pink, "and I think it's glitters on the tip of your wings."
Castiel took a deep breath.
"I heard it's not easy to take off, the glitter I mean, but you have to go now and get Dean Winchester out of Hell."
* * *
Dean Winchester, covering his ears with his hands to protect his eardrums from the high pitched voice from outside the gas station, ducked as the glasses of the windows and TV screen and fridge exploded into tiny shards all over him, around him, blanketing him.
"What the Hell?" he grunted. Someone must be completely pissed off, he decided.
* * *
~end