Mystery Illness

Author: Trans

Pairing: WatarixTatsumi

Warning: Not really sure yet. Yaoi of course, and hopefully some hanky-panky at some point. A tad of angst never hurts…

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei  although I DO have my very own Watari plushie.

AN: Because I have no semblance of control, I decided to randomly change POV's in chapters too, instead of switching every chapter (trust me, this will result in longer chapters, which we all want.)

Chapter 4

Watari sighed and popped a couple of aspirin to fight the headache he'd had since that morning. As a scientist that spent very little time keeping a proper sleep schedule, and enduring the frustration that was postulating, he was used to such headaches. And said headache was doing nothing to stop the mad grin that had plastered itself to his face since that very same morning.

Whistling to himself, Watari e-mailed his searches' results to Wakaba, and closed down the window. He nearly skipped to the bedroom attached to the back of his lab. "How are you doing girl?" Watari asked as he settled on the edge of the bed. 003 had her face sunken into her shoulders, those big eyes closed in sleep. One blinked open to glance at him. The reproachful look he got for waking her up said it all. "That good huh?"

Stroking her back lovingly, Watari leaned over and gave her head a peck with his lips. "I guess you'll have to stay here then. I'm going out to lunch with Tatsumi." The owl seemed to perk up at the mention of that certain name.

"Hoot! Hoot. Hooooooooot!" Ruffling herself up and attempting to fly to her human's shoulder in the indignation of being left behind for such a crucial date, she failed at making her target. Seeming to blanch in mid flight, she tumbled back to the bedspread with a flop. Watari frowned and scooted the bird back to her nesting spot.

"You're too sick to come along," Watari frowned. He didn't like leaving her, but after finally getting enough courage to ask the secretary to lunch, he wasn't going to cancel now. "I'll bring you something back, and tell you about everything, so you won't be missing a thing," he assured her.

"Hoot," she said forlornly.

"I know. I know. I'm sorry you'll be missing it too, but its not like a real date. It will take me a while to weasel one of those out of him." Patting her head, he soothed her temper. "I'll only be gone for a bit. Get some rest." Waiting until she closed her eyes and appeared to be sleeping again, Watari grabbed his coat and left his lab.

The main office was fairly empty as he made it to Tatsumi's door. Pausing, Watari tapped a short tune onto the door, and then walked in without waiting. Hardly anyone ever so much as knocked.

Tatsumi was sitting at his desk, organizing his papers into separate stacks of progress. Glancing up at Watari's entry, he paused and looked at the clock. "Right on time," he commended, finishing up his task and then standing up. His suit was in impeccable order as usual, all buttons done up, and not a single wrinkle in place. All that was missing was the man's suit jacket, which he pulled off the back of his chair, and put on in smooth motion. Watari sometimes wondered if Tatsumi starched his suits, but upon inspecting the fabric once, he realized the lack of wrinkles had more to do with how stiff the other stood. Tatsumi was not one for hurried movement.

Seeing him stand now, spine straight, and glasses being pushed into place, Watari wondered just what it would take to get Tatsumi to have a mused appearance. The thought was worth dwelling on, but Tatsumi was already waiting for him to respond…apparently he had missed the question while in his ponderings.

"Watari-san?" Tatsumi asked, eying him sternly.

"Sorry!"

"I asked if you had a certain place in mind?" The secretary repeated patiently.

"Ah! Yes, there is a nice little café that you'd like. I'm paying of course!" There was something that momentarily passed over Tatsumi's face. It looked like a battle between his pride and the thought of saving money. Watari decided to fix the problem by adding, "After all I did ask you." Saving money seemed to win out.

"I'll let you lead the way."

(((Insert break)))

Tatsumi wasn't sure what to expect from a man like Watari. He cooked in beakers and flasks, fiddled with recipes (although still attaining results more edible than Tsuzuki's attempts on his best day), and had what most would consider an acquired taste for odd food. It was with a relieved sigh, that Tatsumi evaluated the chosen café to be quaint but normal.

Since that morning, Tatsumi had wondered on his decision to go to lunch with the other, thinking about how much time he'd be wasting, when he should be doing paper work. Still, Watari had a way of getting what he wanted, and lunch was more tolerable than an hour explanation on just why the scientist needed a larger budget. You win some and lose some. Besides, Tatsumi was still conscious about the toll 003's illness was taking on Watari. Making sure he ate a good lunch seemed like an important cost benefit.

After being seated they ordered. Watari radiated the sunshine that was lacking from outside the windows. Apparently ChiJou wasn't having fair weather either. "I'm surprised you actually came. I thought I might have to drag you from your office," Watari said half jokingly and half thoughtful. Tatsumi frowned.

"I agreed to come."

"I know," Watari replied light-heartedly. "Considering how heavy the caseloads have been lately I can imagine you must be drowning in paperwork."

"Unlike a certain someone, I have no problem with paperwork." Tsuzuki was behind in his papers, but it wasn't as bad as it used to get. Hisoka seemed to be able to persuade Tsuzuki into actually getting some work done. "Tsuzuki handed in a report before lunch, half the third page was covered in doodles of deserts."

"I always thought Tsuzuki's reports had character." Watari smiled. "You never yell at me for doodling."

"I think the dry sarcasm is more distracting," Tatsumi said smoothly. Watari had a way with words, that was for sure. He liked to expand on everything with sarcastic side stories, and colorful insight. Truthfully, Watari's doodles didn't look like much more than scribbles.

"You didn't like my last report?" Watari asked with mock hurt in his voice. The waitress came with there food.

Tatsumi took a sip from his drink and raised his eyebrows. "Not many would find a man hanging himself a humorous situation."

"Come now, not many men hang themselves with ladies undergarments either. Besides, the guy was a loon! He killed his entire family, signed off his estate to some housemaid he was probably shagging on the side, and then offed himself." Watari said all this matter of fact, nibbling at the straw of his drink. He only picked at his food.

"Yes, I suppose that lacks a certain dignity," Tatsumi said trying not to smile. Watari could be blunt sometimes, but Tatsumi found the honesty rather endearing. "Eat your food," he reminded.

"Yes, sir," Watari chirped, finally deciding to eat.

They ate for a ten or so minutes before Watari picked up the conversation again. "If you keep sending me on these nutter cases, then you can't expect anything but sheer wit from me."

"I don't pick what cases are in your district Watari-san," Tatsumi reminded him.

"Yeah. Yeah." Watari took another bite and then pushed his plate away, his food only half eaten. Tatsumi tried not to think about what a waste it was, after all, Watari was the one paying.

"Of course, if Terazuma and Tsuzuki decide to break any more of the Shokan division's property, then I could always give them a bit of overtime," Tatsumi said smiling at the thought.

"Yeah, let them deal with the suicidal perverts." Watari sighed, "But you know why the tension has been worse than usual don't you?"

"Hm?" He wasn't one for office gossip, but Watari's was usually pretty accurate, and it helped Tatsumi keep track of what was happening in the office.

"Well, you know Terazuma, as pissy as always and in denial. Wakaba has been bringing the food she usually cooks for him, to Tsuzuki. She told me that she feels Terazuma is under-appreciating her, which of course is true. Doesn't mean he likes it when the guy he hates is getting the attention that 'belongs' to him. I think she really is trying to rouse some jealousy out of him." Watari had a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I said I could always make her a potion if she was really mad with him, but she declined."

Tatsumi coughed. "Why is it that people think their personal lives are reason to disrupt their work."

"Aww. You're just mad about your coffee machine. Besides, just because we don't have personal lives…"

Tatsumi gave him a hard look. "Who ever said I don't have a personal life?" he asked coldly.

Watari raised his eyebrows like it was obvious, but just continued grinning. Tatsumi although offended at the accusation, knew that it was indeed true. But his pride could only suffer so much. "Well consider the situation under reconstruction, after all, we are out to lunch together," Watari pointed out. Tatsumi took a second to go over that in his head, not sure if that helped at all. It implied a certain something.

"If me having a personal life relies on a mad scientist, then I believe I'd rather not have one."

"Was that a joke? Or are you really as mean as Tsuzuki claims?" Watari went into a fit of chuckles, hair spilling free from his ribbon. The orange bow was never capable of containing the curly locks. They were even more unruly today, due to the moisture in the air, giving Watari a distinctly ruffled look. Flushed from laughing, and wild curls flying every which-way, it looked like the blonde had just rolled out of bed. Tatsumi shook his head and swallowed.

"We should be heading back," Tatsumi said glancing at his watch.

Watari peeked at his own and laughed again. "Its called lunch hour, Tatsumi. Its only been forty."

Fixing his glasses, Tatsumi gave him a firm look. "Some of us have reports covered in doodles to decipher, and I was sure that by now you would be anxious to check on 003."

Watari gave pause for a moment, a frown flitting across his face. "You're right." Tatsumi regretted his reminder of the bird's predicament, because Watari seemed to lose most of his gusto.

After paying, they walked outside, and Tatsumi was displeased to find that it had finally begun to rain quite heavily. They teleported back to Meifu, and quickly ascended the buildings steps, already getting soaked. Inside they stopped to ring themselves out. "There is still a little lunch time left, want to come to my lab to dry off? I have towels, and a blow dryer," Watari asked, although the last bit seemed to apply more to himself.

Conceding, Tatsumi followed him, wondering how long it would take for his suit to air dry. He was well aware that Watari's lab also had a washer and dryer, but didn't have anything to change into, so it wasn't much of an option.

"You know I might have some extra clothes if you want to--" Watari was saying as they enter the lab, but he quickly went silent, freezing in his tracks. Tatsumi barely had time to notice this, and stop from walking into him.

"Watari?" Stepping around him to follow his line of vision, he noticed that one of the lab's windows was open wide, letting the rainstorm inside. Already the floor underneath was covered in a large puddle. Sighing, Tatsumi began to walk forward, intent on shutting it. "Really Watari, you should be more careful. Why would you leave a window open on a day like this?"

"I didn't…" Tatsumi stopped and looked over his shoulder. Watari had a faraway look, his eyebrows furrowed. "It couldn't be…" Eyes shooting sideways, Watari sprinted across the lab to the back bedroom. He flung the door open, and clung to the doorframe, just staring inside.

"Watari?" Tatsumi asked more forcefully, walking quickly to the other's side, forgetting about the window. "What's wrong?"

Watari was shaking his head, water-logged curls flying around his face. "No, no, no, no, no."

Tatsumi stepped up so he could see into the room. He couldn't see what was upsetting him. There was nothing inside. "Watari?" he asked, put his hand firmly on his shoulder.

Shrugging the hand off, Watari walked into the room and began to tear the bed apart. "003?!" he called desperately. Giving up on that room, he walked quickly back into the main lab, continuing he search. "003?!"

Tatsumi's eyes widened in disbelief, while watching Watari's frantic search. She was missing?