A/N: This oneshot is the result of an ask sent by PrincessGumballWatterson777 and takes place after Naegiri Week 2019 Day One. Please read and review, and enjoy!

The Ultimate Detective and The Ultimate Hope Gaiden: Toko's Injury!

"Oh no! I'm late I'm late I'm late! Master's gonna kill me!"

Toko rushed out of her room, hastily dressed in her intern uniform as she raced down the hall. Her alarm clock had malfunctioned that morning and thus she had woken up late, forcing her to skip breakfast in order to mitigate her tardiness for the day's Future Foundation meeting.

As she rounded the corner to the stairs, she chanted under beath "Down the stair down the stairs down the stairs! Gotta get Master and the others their coff…AAAAAHHHHHH!" Toko shrieked as she tripped down the first step, tumbling down the staircase as she moaned "OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OWWWWW…"

She groaned as she propped herself up on her hands, a pained expression on her face as she tried to shake off the aches enveloping her muscles.

"Just my luck…falling down the stairs on the day of a meeting. No matter, I need to get up and get to that me…AGH!"

Toko tried to stand up, only for in intense shot of pain to shoot up her right leg, forcing her back to her knees.

"What the hell? It…it hurts! I can't…no…I…I HAVE to get up! If I can't prove my worth to Master and the others as an intern…then I'll never be anything more than a useless writer with a seral killer split personality! I have to get up and get their coffee…so I can be WORTH SOMETHING!"

Toko mustered all of her strength as she gingerly stood up, wincing in pain as she stood on her own two feet. She experimentally put her left foot forward and slid her right foot behind it. Toko winced, but to her relief, the pain was miniscule compared to when she tried to walk with her right foot.

"There…now I can do my job. It stings, but I should be able to move with it. Now, to get everyone's coffee. Left foot forward, right foot slide. Left foot forward, right foot slide." She continued to chant under her breath as she made her way to the staff room.

XXX

"S…sorry I'm late…" Toko shyly stuttered as she peeked through the door, wincing in both physical and emotional pain as she spotted Byakuya's annoyed glare, as well as Kyoko, Makoto, and Hiro's neutral, curious expressions.

Miraculously, she had managed to limp her way to the staff room, make Civet Coffee for everyone, and carry the plate of mugs to the meeting room where the rest of the 14th Division was waiting.

"My a…alarm clock malfu…malfunctioned, so I wo…woke up la…late…"

Makoto frowned empathetically, having been the victim of bad alarm troubles plenty of times.

Meanwhile, Byakuya sighed and complained "We don't have time to entertain your woes. This is the Future Foundation, an organization dedicated to restoring the world to its normal state, not some sitcom-esque office where your job is practically meaningless. We expect you to take your role as our intern seriously."

Toko gulped and nodded "Y…yes, Ma…Master. Here, I brought you your co…coffee…"

She quickly proceeded to hand everyone their coffee, Byakuya wordlessly sipping his beverage and smiling slightly as he admitted "Well, I suppose the quality of your Civet Coffee can excuse your tardiness this once."

Makoto grinned and nodded Yeah, this is delicious, Toko!"

"Indeed…" Kyoko nodded, her eyes focused on Toko's slightly frazzled hair and odd leg posture as she sipped her coffee with a smile.

As Hiro gave a grateful smile while he sipped his coffee, Toko barely restrained her excited squeal, happy that she had made up for her blunder and was useful to everyone. As everyone was distracted by their coffee, Toko took the opportunity to shakily take her seat at the table and click her pen, ready to take minutes for the meeting.

"Alright, let's begin the meeting." Kyoko suggested. "Byakuya, your report please?"

XXX

"Thank you for your report, Makoto. Does anyone have any points of privilege they'd like to make?" Looking around to a silent Division, Kyoko finished "Seeing none, this meeting is adjourned."

Toko finished writing the last of her minutes as everyone else stood up from their chairs. As Toko shakily stood up with the minutes in hand, Hiro went up to her and clapped her on the shoulder.

"Yo! Thanks for the coffee, Tokie! It was…"

"GAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Toko screamed, collapsing on the floor as Hiro's gesture accidentally caused her to put weight on her right leg, intensifying the pain to excruciating levels.

"Toko! Are you alright?!" Makoto exclaimed, kneeling along with Kyoko and Hiro with concerned expressions on their faces.

Toko glared at Hiro and hissed "No, I'm not o…okay! This is y…you fault, you i…idiot Ha…Hagakure!"

"Hey, don't be mean! I was just trying to be nice!"

As Toko opened her mouth to yell, Byakuya commanded "Cease this infantile bickering at once. Toko, just tell us what hurts."

Nodding, Toko whimpered "M…my right l…leg…it's screaming in a…agony…"

Nodding, Byakuya turned to Hiro and commanded "Hagakure, go and fetch Yukizome. Tell her that Toko Fukawa has injured her leg and requires immediate medical attention. It's the least you can do considering you're responsible for her current state."

With a guilty expression on his face, Hiro nodded, standing up and turning around before rushing out while Makoto and Kyoko did their best to comfort Toko while they waited for Hiro and Chisa to return.

XXX

Makoto, Kyoko, Byakuya, and Hiro were gathered around Toko's bed, where the injured intern lay while being tended to by Chisa and Seiko Kimura. Hina stood with her friends, having rushed over when she heard about Toko's injury.

Chisa sighed and stood back, announcing "It's official, sweetie. You have a broken leg. That cast should keep it in place until it heals."

Nodding, Seiko approached and placed a bottle of pills on her dresser and instructed "Take one of those pills every night until your leg heals. They'll dull the pain and aid your leg's bone recovery."

As Seiko bowed her head before walking away, Chisa asked "So, sweetie, how did you break your leg?"

After a moment of silence, Toko muttered in embarrassment "I…fell down the s…stairs on my way to get co…coffee…I must have la…landed on it wr…wrong…"

Kyoko nodded, assuming her thinking pose as she pondered "I see…I thought something might have been wrong, considering your unusually frazzled hair and the way you were sliding your right leg. That was a way to avoid putting weight on it so you could still walk, am I wrong?"

Toko bit her lip, nodding "Y…yeah…that's right…"

Chisa scolded "Dear, why didn't you let the others know you were injured and ask for their help?"

Makoto nodded "Yeah, we would have understood that you were injured, Toko!"

Hina finally chimed in, nodding "Yeah, totally! I know we're in different divisions, but friends stick together, Toko!"

Blushing in embarrassment, Toko admitted "I…I wanted to pr…prove my worth! I…I've always been just the girl who's a serial ki…killer. Every time you tu..turn to me, it's just so sh…she can be u…useful. I just…if I did my job well, then I…I'd actually be use…useful to the division…useful to Ma…Master…"

Everyone else glared at Byakuya, who sighed before Chisa scolded them "You all need to do a better job of encouraging your coworkers to call in sick if they're ill or injured!" Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed "What's done is done. But somebody needs to bring her food and help her to use the bathroom when she needs to."

Byakuya nodded, declaring "Hiro, you'll bring her meals and anything else she asks for. Hina, you'll help her to use the facilities."

"Huh? But why ME?!" Hiro demanded.

Byakuya glared at him and informed him "Isn't it obvious? Her broken leg may be the result of her own misfortune, but you exacerbated it when you clapped her on the shoulder. Of course, we can't have you helping her with the bathroom. That's where Hina comes in."

Hina nodded "Yeah, I'll inform my Division Head that I'll need to use some vacation time until you can recover."

Seeing the others' expectant stares, Hiro sighed, slumping his shoulders as he grumbled "Fine, I'll do it."

Chisa nodded, smiling approvingly as she exclaimed "Excellent! In that case, we should leave so you can get some rest, my rotten little orange!"

Everyone sweatdropped as Chisa hurried outside, Makoto clearing his throat as he smiled and told her "We'll be back tomorrow to see how you're doing. I'll type up and submit your minutes to Chairman Tengan for you. I'll even bring some markers so we can sign your cast!"

A slightly giddy Makoto turned around and left, leaving Toko to turn to Kyoko fearfully as she asked "Aren't you gonna s…stop him?"

With an amused smile, Kyoko shook her head and denied "Once he gets an idea like this into his head, I don't have the heart to deny him. Besides, I'd say we could all use what little bits of childish fun we can get." She turned around and said simply "Goodbye" before exiting the room.

Hina rubbed the back of her head as she told Toko awkwardly "I'll…stay in the dormitories. Just call me if you need me."

As the former Swimmer left, Byakuya and Hiro stood awkwardly in the room for a second until Toko spat "W…what do you w…want? No need for you t…two to stand around a wo…worthless i…intern. I'm sure you have other j…jobs to do…"

Byakuya sighed, grudgingly admitting "…You're not worthless."

Huh?!

Toko looked at Byakuya with disbelief as he awkwardly admitted "You woke up late, that much is true. But you hurried to make up for it by doing your job, even with a broken leg. I…can't deny…that you took your job seriously and…and you put in exemplary effort."

"Ma…Master…"

Toko beamed at him before Byakuya held his hand up and warned "Don't expect me to shower you with praise from now on. Just…I can admit to being wrong. I was wrong…to question your work ethic."

Byakuya turned around and walked away without another word, leaving her and Hiro alone.

Hiro rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and spoke "So…um…I'm sorry for clapping you on the shoulder earlier. I didn't mean to cause you pain, for serious."

After a moment, Toko sighed and nodded "I…I know. I was just…lashing out in pain. S…sorry…"

"Ah, it's all good." Hiro smiled before settling into a rare, serious expression and informing her "I'll uh…bring you dinner tonight, and some water to take your pill. If you need anything, just…just call me, for serious?"

Toko's face was neutral as she nodded silently, not saying another word to him as she tried to settle against her mattress.

"So…see you later tonight…" Hiro mentioned before turning around and finally leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

XXX

"And…done!" Makoto exclaimed, beaming proudly as he removed his marker from Toko's cast, capping it before finally placing it back into the bucket hanging around his other wrist.

Toko looked down at her cast and, while the others were distracted in conversation, allowed a small smile as she looked down at the multicolored signatures written on her leg.

"Get well soon, Toko! We Miss you! -Makoto"

"We hope you have a speedy recovery. -Kyoko"

"Don't push yourself, Toko! You'll be back to getting that Gold Medal of effort in no time! -Hina"

"Yo! Sorry for yesterday. For serious! -Hiro"

"Just focus on your recovery so you can get back to work soon. -Byakuya"

She hid her smile behind the bite of donut she took, Hina having brought a baker's dozen on the pretense that donuts would help cheer her up and boost her recovery.

Everyone…maybe…I'm not worthless after all… Toko thought, allowing a small seed of self-confidence to plant itself in her mind as she reflected on how far her friends went for her in her time of need. Friends…I can't believe it…but I have friends who care about me and consider me worth something. I…I've never had friends before…thank you, everyone…