Ibaraki Incident
Things had been getting worse, what with getting locked in the laundry room and the nasty letter from those in the administrative faction of the Ibaraki Library. Nonomiya and Inoue had explained that it was always like this, except it was worse right now because of Kasahara. So of course Kasahara felt bad, and isolated herself from the other defense members of the Ibaraki Defense Force.
It all had been bad, but this! Oh, this was the worst so far! Here she had hung her laundry out to dry and she had come out to find Nonomiya and Inoue studying her fatigues, which were dripping with a dark wet substance. The two timid defense force members tried to apologize and defend themselves against a potentially furious Kasahara.
Kasahara wasn't mad, at least not at her new friends. She quietly and somberly told them to leave, and folded up her dirtied fatigues.
It wasn't until she encountered Instructor Dojo near the library later that night that she finally broke down.
"Hey, you." That familiar, comforting voice that she loved floated from the shadows. Dojo emerged into the light of a street lamp. "What are you doing at this hour?"
Kasahara turned to face him, her expression telling her whole story. Dojo's own expression softened. Kasahara quickly explained the issue with the laundry, and Dojo guided her along. They would go to a Laundromat and finish the laundry there.
As the laundry was washed, Kasahara told Dojo pretty much everything. For a while, the sergeant was quiet, watching as Kasahara folded her arms on the table in the small Laundromat and put her head on them. "I normally meet people like you," Dojo said finally. "I've kind of forgotten about the existence of those spiteful people."
"If I were in this environment, and if I were one of the majority, I would do the same as well." Kasahara lifted her head to convey this to Dojo.
"You wouldn't."
Kasahara sat up, turning to face her superior officer. "You don't know that for sure, do you?"
"I know," was his simple reply. "I've observed you up until now." He opened his mouth to say more, but stopped when he saw her hand. The knuckles were red and scraped from when Kasahara had punched the wall in frustration at the administrative faction's cruel teasing words. "How did this happen?" he asked, taking her wrist so he could look at it better.
"It hurts!" Kasahara pulled her hand away, cradling it against her chest with her undamaged hand.
Dojo's expression became one of sorrow. "I'm sorry…" he said. Kasahara remained turned away, but she could hear the emotion in his voice. He cared for her, and she knew it. Despite how close they were, she wasn't about to let him treat her differently. They were on a mission, after all. There was no time for this!
"I'm sorry," she said eventually in a quiet voice. "Please, treat me as you always do…"
Dojo looked rather stunned for a moment. Then he covered it up and put a comforting hand on her head. After another moment, he moved his hand so that his arm was wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her close so her head was resting against his chest.
Kasahara gasped slightly in surprise, but accepted the embrace with a teary smile. This was what she needed all along: a simple hug. "Kasahara, you must know I'm on your side," Dojo murmured gently. "I can't help you fix this, but I can give you encouragement." He kissed her gently on the top of her head.
She stiffened at the unexpected kiss. "But…but, sir!"
"Listen, Kasahara, you can solve this problem. I know you can. And don't you worry. Everything will be fine." He kissed her head again.
Kasahara realized he was right and relaxed once more, enjoying his warmth, the steady beat of his heart, the way his chest rose and fell slightly as he breathed. She sniffled and closed her eyes, relishing in this moment of comfort before the storm that they both knew would come soon.
Author's Note: So I wrote this almost a year ago. I had a dream of a mysterious yet wonderful man telling me everything would be okay, which kinda fit at the time, as I was going through a rough patch in my life. Things are still rough, but not as much. I wanted to remember the dream, and so Iku took my place, and Dojo took the mysterious man's place.
In case you all didn't get the memo, this is going to be a dump of drabbles for Library War. It's not going to be frequent, but I'll post what I have anyway.
Thanks so much for all the reviews for the previous chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the other one!
