Tatsumi, Paperwork, and the Coffee Machine

Ah… Another year has gone by… Tatsumi thought to himself as he glanced at the window to admire the snowflakes that fell from the sky, before going back to running through the documents of the last year. It didn't help that one was the most lethal user of shadow magic, for he was still secretary and that gave him the endless task of reviewing the past year's paperwork.

By the time he had reached May's paperwork, Tatsumi was getting slightly tired and sleepy. A glance around the room told him that there wasn't any Tsuzuki to bully into getting him a cup of coffee. Then again, there wasn't anyone to bully into getting him a cup of coffee. Dragging his feet across the room, he found his way to the front of the coffee maker and lifted a hand –

Only to realize he did not know how to use it.

"Fill the grind basket and filter with the coffee powder and slide it into the slot."

Tatsumi, too embarrassed to acknowledge the fact that he didn't know how to use a coffee machine, followed as told and forgot to look up to acknowledge who had came back.

"Set the pot below the grind basket."

Tatsumi looked around at the four different pots with different color tops. Which pot?

As though the stranger could read his mind, they said, "the black one. Then press the lever that says 'start' once."

Tatsumi searched for the lever and found it, along side another row of buttons. He pushed it once.

"Press the button above the sign that says 'lower'."

Tatsumi followed the instructions and succeeded, only to accidentally brush against the 'start' lever again.

"What did you do that for!" The voice shouted as the pot began to whir dangerously and the level of the coffee in the pot rose faster than it should be. The stranger rushed over to Tatsumi's side and pulled the plug out of the socket –

But they were too late. The brewed coffee had splashed out of the pot and all over Tatsumi's finely pressed suit. Both of them stared down at the once white suit that had now turned an ugly shade of brown.

"Aa, Kurosaki-kun."

Hisoka turned a shade of red as he got prepared for a lecture of getting Tatsumi-san's suit 'coffeed'. He lowered his head and grabbed a napkin and held it out for Tatsumi to snatch away in anger. "Tatsumi-san, dozo."

Unexpectedly, Tatsumi didn't snatch but took it graciously, as though splashing coffee on himself was his own fault (which technically was, but Tatsumi is a very strong magic wielder and Hisoka didn't want to end up on the wrong side of him). "Domo. Ano, Kurosaki-kun, what are you doing here? Aren't you at the Christmas party?"

Hisoka looked up to the secretary of his division and shook his head. "Tsuzuki and the others are all drunk and they insist on someone coming back to bring you over."

"Sou. But I've still got quite a bit of paper work to finish up…"

"I'll be helping out with that." Hisoka stated firmly as he cleared up the mess and began to brew a pot of coffee. Tatsumi continued to clean up his suit and headed back to his desk to continue going through the different documents and files. Hisoka filled up two mugs and went over to help out –

Only to step on a puddle of coffee on the floor and slipped, both mugs flying out of his hands and landing right on the stack of documents. Uh oh…

"Ah. That gives me a reason not to go through them," Tatsumi casually remarked at the coffee-soaked pile in front of him and smiled at Hisoka, running shivers down his spine, who was not expecting that from the all stern Tatsumi who usually made life hell for Tsuzuki (by lowering his budget).

"Aa… sou…" Hisoka could only stare down at his senior and the pile of coffee-soaked documents next to him, not daring to make any move just in case he made another mistake and have a full-blown Tatsumi using shadow magic against him.

The sound of a pen scratching against paper and the occasional flipping of paper filled the room as a young teenager watched a grown adult work at his table – until the adult capped his pen and stacked the remaining documents into a neat pile.

"Daijoubu, Kurosaki-kun?" Tatsumi asked, with a concerned tone at the teenager who could only stare back. "I've finished my work already, do you want to go now?"

"Ah? Aa…" Hisoka stammered back and continued to stare at Tatsumi who casually grabbed his coat and put it on, forgetting the earlier accident. He silently followed Tatsumi out of the office as Tatsumi took one long glance at the empty office before locking the door.

"Let's go then, shall we?"

"Hai."

As they walked to the karaoke pub through the streets which were piling with people trying to get to places and snatch up the best sales in town, Hisoka decided to strike a conversation for he was slightly uncomfortable with the silence engulfing them.

"Ano… Tatsumi-san?"

"Hm?"

"Why are the division Christmas parties always on a couple of days after Christmas?"

"Because there are some who like to linger around in order to have a dose of the Christmas spirit, so we have to continue working."

"Sou… Then why don't you ever join in?"

"Paperwork."

"Can I help out next year as well?"

Tatsumi cocked an eyebrow at the teenager, who had spilt coffee all over June's files and cases. "I…"

"Ah, gomen. I forgot about what happened back there – "

"Iie. I suppose you could. I could always do with a helper."

Hisoka held in a smile that played on his lips and merely nodded. He knew how it feels to be alone on one of your special days for he hadn't even received a visit from his parents even on his –

The two shinigami made their way into the karaoke pub deep in town where the rest of the division was half-drunk and singing the night away. Obviously, Tatsumi wasn't very pleased with the venue and the number of bottles of sake on the table.

But what changed his angry mood to a lightened one was the banner that was hung at the back of the room, saying –

'Happy Birthday, Tatsumi!'

"Tatsumi-san!!" Tsuzuki shouted from next to him, clearly forgetting that he had a mic that was switched on right in front of him, increasing the volume of his voice by tons. The whole room winced as he continued to shout.

"Why is your shirt half-white and half-brown?"

Mainey's Notes:

I have absolutely no idea how I managed to get this one-shot done. I find it pretty stupid and pointless, even though I had to do research on how to use a coffee machine… Oh wells. Anyway, Happy Birthday Tatsumi-san!

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