Title: Anxiety Band
Author: Capella Morningside
Theme: #39 - Hair Tie
Pairing: Tohma Seguchi/Sakano
Genre: Fluff
Rating: G
Words: 960
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't make money from it. I don't own the mascot mentioned either.
Summary: Sometimes, Sakano has odd ways of coping with stress.

It wasn't his fault. Really. Anyone could easily get distracted in the same situation. This was how he assured himself.

It had started off simply. Bad Luck had been surprisingly efficient for the day and a set of tasks that normally would have taken ten hours only took six. K, most likely against better judgment, had given them the rest of the day off. Shuichi had, as expected, ran home immediately to give Yuki Eiri an extra four hours of torture in his day, and the other two had lingered about, practicing individually until they got bored of it and left.

Sakano was like a puppy sometimes. He was in constant need of attention and the assurance that he was needed and appreciated in order to keep him happy. He'd lap up any praise he could get from anyone. And additionally, with no guidance and no orders, he was completely lost. The man had come upstairs to tell Seguchi the events that had just transpired, and bashfully asked if he was allowed to go home as well. And though he'd been told that he could, an hour and a half later he remained, busying himself with miniscule and sometimes inane tasks around the president's office.

Back to the distraction, Sakano hadn't really been one at first. Unsatisfied with sitting idly on the office couch, he was darting back and forth, making idle conversation with his superior. Somehow they'd gotten on a topic about something (what the topic was, or how they reached it, Tohma had forgotten) that Sakano was apparently very interested in, and during the man's near-incessant narration, the blonde noticed something strange. Bright red flashed out from underneath the charcoal gray of Sakano's sleeve as he reached up to get something from a higher shelf.

At first, Tohma thought it was a bracelet of some kind. When he achieved a second glance, he managed to get a closer look. Red, with gold threads weaved into it and a golden clasp; most distinctly a woman's elastic hair tie. Mika had several like it, in varying colors. Had Sakano found a girlfriend?

He had to interrupt Sakano's verbal tirade to ask about it.

"Oh, this?" the nervous man lowered his head, hiding a quick blush of shame. "I-it's nothing, Shachou. You wouldn't be interested in that."

"On the contrary, I would." Tohma folded his hands on his desk. The statement was quiet, subtle, just enough to make the poor man give in immediately.

"Don't-t... don't take it the wrong way or anything..." The dark-haired man said almost in a whisper. "It's f-for... um..."

Prompting. "Yes?"

"Er..."

A reassuring, boyish smile from the older man, tilting his head innocently. "Go on, Sakano-san."

"A-a-anxiety." A sigh. "For... anxiety."

"Anxiety?" Tohma echoed, a curious tone in his voice.

Sakano nodded, fumbling with the red-and-white striped stirrer in his coffee cup, shifting his weight, feeling the questioning aqua orbs fixated on him and daring not to return the gaze. "Wh-when I think I might overreact... I pull on it. Kind of calming... r-really."

A chuckle. "Doesn't exactly match, does it?"

"It was the cheapest box..." he nearly whined in response.

The president's hands found the side of his desk, pulling himself up from his chair he assured, "Relax, Sakano-san. I'm not poking fun at you."

"I-I know," the younger lied. At the sound of a drawer being opened, his dark eyes finally ventured to look up, observing quietly as Tohma sorted through the top desk drawer.

"Here," the man said at length, removing and setting an object on the edge of his desk: a brown cube made of some smooth, shiny cloth. "You can have that. I rarely use it."

"Thank-k you, Shachou," Sakano stuttered, before even touching the object. Cautiously, he picked it up with the use of two fingers, looking over its surfaces, and giving a little jump in fear when he revealed that one of the surfaces had a face, if could even be called that: two beady black eyes and a wide, red mouth with triangle-shaped teeth. After the initial shock, he couldn't help think he'd seen it before somewhere.

"It's Domo-kun," the blonde answered before the question was even asked, obviously reading the confusion in the other's face. "I got it last time I visited the NHK building, for free. It's a little stress toy. You squeeze it to calm yourself."

With a soft smile, Sakano gave a light squeeze to the semblance of NHK's mascot. He'd have to wonder later if the scent of the president's cologne had rubbed off on the object at all, but for now, he was content just having it nearby.

He was brought back to his senses by the sound of the drawer shutting rather abruptly, and the ever-smiling president looking him right in the face. "Now please, why don't you go home and get some rest. Surely, you must be tired, even on such a short day."

"Um... a-alright," the producer barely managed to say, lowering his head to look at the floor again. "If y-you insist, Seguchi-san. See you t-tomorrow." And with a final bow to his employer, he turned on his heel and slowly exited the room.

"Remember what I said about getting some rest, Sakano-san!" came a call from behind him, and he only managed to get out a quick 'of course' before the door shut behind him.

On the way down the hall, Sakano remembered the little angry-looking cube in his hand. Cupping it in his palms, he looked left, then right, then behind him. Going back to his thought of the cologne possibly rubbing off, he raised it to his nose, taking a deep inhale; and he smiled.

It had.

Author has nothing to say, so author will now express her love of cheese crackers of all varieties, except Ritz Chips.