Disclaimer: Not mine… dammit!
Archive: By all means, take it. Just drop me a line
Feedback: pretty please
Dedication: This is for me gals. Ye know who ye be.
Pairing: Tatsumi/Tsuzuki friendly.
Rating: PG… I guess
Summary: Tatsumi's POV. Very short.
A/N: Kousei Mydell, this is all your fault. Mclean, this is not your fault but I'm blaming you anyway. (Go read their stories ^^). A thousand thanks to Tessa Marlene for reviewing, pointing out the mistakes and not calling me an idiot. And another thousand thanks Kousei, Cucumber, ABS and Ame-chan. But specially to ABS and Ame-chan 'cause they had no moral obligation ^^
It still gets to me, even after all this time. How can someone so powerful look so vulnerable?
He's sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, one hand on his face, the other one resting on a folded knee. He knows I'm watching him but doesn't look up. I sigh. God! I hate seeing him crying. I've known him for decades, I've seen him hundreds of times and I just can't handle it. Because when he cries, he lets down all his defenses, he drops the kid's disguise and you can see the man.
I walk closer to him and he raises his gaze to meet mine.
"Tsuzuki-san" I say crouching in front of him. His eyes fix on the floor.
"I hate my job" he says quietly. Not knowing what else to do, I nod and take a sit beside him. "I'm fine" he comments as if he knew I was about to ask "I just hate it" I nod again, asking myself why didn't I choose a cleaner spot in the floor to sit. We stay silent for a minute, before he speaks again.
"Thank you" I take off my glasses and turn to look at him. He seems to read my mind again "for being here. It helps" I put my glasses back on and give them a little push with my finger.
"You're welcome" I say standing up. I stretch my arm and wait for him to take it "come on" I urge him "let me buy you a coffee" he takes my hand and I pull him up.
"You're paying?" he asks doubtfully. I nod. Such a wonderful invention it is nodding, isn't it? He gives me a dashing smile "a donut too?" he asks excitedly, jumping like a little boy. I have to bit back a laugh.
"Yes" I answer "but you'll have to clean the office"
"But…" I cock an eyebrow at him "Tatsumi! You're so mean!!"
"You know perfectly well that we are short on budget so we need all the help we can get" We start our way to the coffee shop as I keep talking about the importance of our division, and the lack of funds. But I could've been talking about transvestite ants for the attention he was paying me.
"You're not really making me clean the office, are you?" he asks, interrupting my speech. I stop and cross my arms in front of me. I smile to myself as he starts acting like a 5 year old, sending kicks and punches to the air. He's so good at throwing tantrums.
"I don't wanna clean" he pouts and looks at me. His eyes glistening with unshed tears. I shake my head and once again start talking about the importance of team work. By the time we reach the coffee shop he's wailing like a baby, managing to get the attention of every single living thing in a 3 mile radius. But it's okay, because those tears, I can handle.
FIN