jollmaster

[the-mononoke-facade]

Waaaaaaait if I'm understanding this setup right it might have some major implications for how Kusu moves through the world holy shit

[ayalaatreides]

Nanbaka Fic: Drop That Penny!

Chapter 2! Continued from Chapter 1! Enjoy!

Summary: Momoko's secret is out, but what is Hajime going to do with this new information? Will social awkwardness ruin it all???

Chapter 1: Kind of Embarrassing Pairing: Momoko Hyakushiki/Hajime Sugoroku Rating: General Audiences Characters: Momoko, Hajime, Mitsuru, with a Jyugo guest appearance.

Momoko stared in open-mouthed shock, one hand outstretched towards the door that had just slammed shut. He… he just ran away again!

She put her palms to her face and let out a pitiful wail. "What just happened?! It was going so well!" she whimpered behind her fingers.

Of course Hajime would get scared off eventually! Clearly, she'd done something wrong, again, but she didn't even know what it was this time! She slumped in her chair and listlessly rested her head in one hand as she picked up her chopsticks and fiddled with the rice on her plate. Her eyes landed on her other hand, the one that had brushed against his for one glorious, heart-stopping second.

Wait, what if he saw how I reacted? What if he realized…? Momoko's eyes widened in horror. But if he realized how I feel, and he ran away again, then… "Oh, nooo!" she cried, burying her face in her palms again. What a complete disaster!

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Dealing with a Warden who hated him was easy enough; all he had to do was keep his head down and work hard. Hajime Sugoroku found himself utterly at a loss for how to proceed with a Momoko Hyakushiki who liked him.

The Warden. The head of Nanba Prison, his superior officer. She, apparently, was harboring a crush on him.

Well, at least the Dog's jealousy and animosity made sense all of a sudden. If the Warden had been pining away all this time, then she'd probably never even noticed Kenshirou's own longing gazes. Which was kind of sadly ironic for Kenshirou, but not really Hajime's problem.

All this was going through Hajime's mind as he sat at his desk, going through the paperwork he hadn't had time to finish before going to dinner with the Warden.

Everything had a routine when it came to filling out reports.

Paperwork was calming.

Orderly.

No unexpected events.

Unlike a certain revelation he'd had earlier that night.

The click of the doorknob made Hajime jump in his chair. He hurriedly steadied himself and shuffled his papers. Seitarou walked into the room, registering some surprise that Hajime was still there. He inquired, "Ah, sir, did anything important come up at the meeting with the Warden? I understood you were taking the night off for the dinner."

Hajime forced himself to remain impassive as he shook his head. "It was uneventful, but the Warden had to take a call from the Ministry of Justice, so we ended a bit early. I decided to catch up before I go to bed." He frowned. "Actually, why are you here? Did Prisoner 1315 try to escape again?"

Seitarou shook his head. "No, it's Prisoner 1399. He's convinced himself he has to hide outside his cell to complete his ninja training. I was going to find Deputy Supervisor Yamato, but you're here..."

"And he won't go back in his cell," sighed Hajime. "All right; let's go sort this out."

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Hajime was usually very, very focused. There wasn't much that could distract him from his work. However, he'd never had to deal with a superior officer wanting to date him before. Here he was, in his office the day after that dinner, and he still couldn't pay attention. He'd actually made mistakes, plural, on his paperwork. He'd even had to get a new form for one report write-up, since the first form had so much white-out on it.

"This is absurd," he muttered, shoving the paperwork away. So, the Warden had some sort of crush on him, so what? Why did that mean that he couldn't focus all of a sudden? He wasn't some sappy schoolboy- even when he'd been an actual schoolboy, he'd never been the sappy kind. So what the hell was wrong with him all of a sudden? It wasn't as if he was looking for a girlfriend and was actually considering this as a potential opportunity. "I'm almost thirty, I'm too old to be fidgeting over shit like this," he grumbled.

He hadn't really dated since he was a teenager. Once he'd decided to get serious about a career as a correctional officer, he'd put all that aside to stay focused. It had been surprisingly easy to stay single all this time; he was fine on his own, generally speaking, and he always had been. Plus, most women seemed to find him off-putting. They'd approach him and then leave shortly after he started talking to them. Maybe he looked too mean. Maybe he was too brusque. Regardless, it had never bothered him much. Most of those women hadn't really had anything in common with him, anyway. The one time he'd tried to date again, in his early 20s, the woman in question had cited his "workaholic" tendencies as the reason why she was breaking up with him. It'd stung, but he'd respected her honesty- why should two people stay together if they couldn't keep up with each other's lives? It wouldn't be fair of him to expect a woman to put up with his admittedly aggressive ambitions, and it wouldn't be fair of her to expect him to be less ambitious, even if it did make him a workaholic.

I've heard that one, too. The Warden's words from the night before popped back into his mind. Now that he was thinking about it, he supposed that was something they did have in common. The thought, oddly, made him even more jittery.

He got up and went to the break room. Maybe the short walk and a cup of green tea would calm him down and get him back to normal. A few minutes later, he sank onto the break room couch with a sigh, sipping from a steaming cup of tea as he waited for the liquid to cool some more. He felt himself uncoiling a bit as the warmth from the tea began to suffuse within him.

As he sipped his tea, he realized what the source of his problem was: it had never occurred to him that the Warden was… a person, really. He wasn't one to question his colleagues' personal lives, generally speaking, and even less so when that colleague was both his superior officer and utterly terrifying and out for his blood (or so he'd thought). Obviously she was a person, but he'd never stopped to wonder what she did with her free time, what she was like off-duty- or what kind of people, if any, she was interested in. As it turned out, the answer to that last one was "Hajime Sugoroku", and that was the kicker. He'd never even considered that the Warden might have romantic inclinations sometimes, and it would never have occurred to him in a million years that those feelings might be aimed at himself.

And that was why the dinner last night had been so surprising. He'd actually been enjoying her company, if he was being totally honest with himself. Sure, it had been weird at first, but at a certain point he'd felt… comfortable. And it was because he'd been spending time with the Warden as a person, rather than his superior officer. He'd gotten to meet Momoko, rather than Warden Hyakushiki, and it had been actually pretty nice- in fact, it was probably the nicest social interaction he'd had in years.

"Guess there's nothing wrong with a friendly, casual dinner once in a while," Hajime said grudgingly. A friendly and casual dinner, with a colleague… who was also his superior officer… who was also a woman with a crush on him… a very tall and striking woman with an imposing bearing and a piercing stare, and those were admirable traits in a superior officer... but she also had those traits as a person… a person with feelings… a single person with feelings specifically for himself...

She did have kind of a cute smile, too.

He groaned harshly and buried his face in his palms. "This is so ridiculous. This is childish," he muttered into his hands.

It was rather good fortune that nobody entered the room in the five or ten minutes Hajime had to himself. Just as he was bracing himself to go back to his paperwork and its slew of mistakes, his radio went off with a call from a very, very lost Deputy Supervisor. Hajime practically bolted out the door of the break room, glad for the distraction.

After he'd sent Yamato on his way, a slight movement in the shadows caught his eye, and he barked, "Prisoner Number 15, get out of there. I'll be taking you back to your cell."

A muted sigh echoed down the hallway, and Jyugo stepped out into the light. "That was faster than usual."

"I was paying closer attention this time," Hajime retorted.

Jyugo reluctantly fell into step with Hajime after a moment of enduring Hajime's expectant stare, and they began their walk along the twisting path that led back to Cell 13, Hajime having made sure he kept Jyugo's uniform firmly in hand so the prisoner wouldn't run off on the return journey.

"Hey, Hajime, are you in a worse mood than usual?" Jyugo asked out of nowhere. Hajime's grip tightened on the collar of his jumpsuit as he tried not to visibly jump at the sudden question.

"Why do you think that?!" Hajime growled. Jyugo just shrugged.

"Uno always says I have a good sense about people," he remarked.

"Number 11, huh?" Hajime muttered. "Makes me question his sense about people if he actually thinks that."

"Does it have something to do with that dinner invitation from the Warden?" Jyugo asked.

Hajime stopped dead in his tracks and whirled the cheeky brat around, bringing him face to face.

"How the hell do you know about that?!" he snapped.

"It was noisy in my cell last night so I went to the break room for a nap. Your office was unlocked- usually that doesn't make a difference to me, but I normally stay out of there, just as a courtesy," Jyugo told him.

"Courtesy?!" Hajime echoed, outraged.

"Yeah. Well, I saw that invite on your desk and-"

"Keep your nose in your own business where it belongs!" Hajime ordered. With that, he hoisted Jyugo up by his collar and carried him all the way back to his cell, suspended in the air like a misbehaving pup.

After he'd tossed the thrashing, whining brat into his cell, Hajime retreated to his office to finish up that paperwork- only to remember he hadn't procured a fresh copy of the last form he'd messed up beyond repair. He threw his hands up in the air and shook his head in dismay. This entire day had been an absolute waste of productive working hours. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll be in the right frame of mind to do this properly, he decided. But not before locking up that invitation. Once it was safely stowed away, he stepped out again and headed towards the officer's mess hall. It was almost dinnertime, anyway.

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"Hey, Hajime, was that dinner meeting a date with the Warden?"

Hajime bit back a startled yell as he stepped into his office, only to find Jyugo sitting at his desk with Kuu curled around the back of his neck.

"What the hell, Number 15?!" he roared. "I was gone for less than an hour!" This was getting absurd; he'd just stepped away for dinner and this was what he'd come back to?

"Yeah, well, I told the other guys what happened and they think you had a date with the Warden," Jyugo remarked. He stood up and walked right over, holding his wrists out docilely. Kuu, having jumped off Jyugo's shoulders when he stood up, padded over to a corner of the room and began licking his paws daintily. Hajime eyed the prisoner suspiciously.

"You came all the way over here just to give up? Just like that, huh?" he said warily.

"I was gonna go to sleep, but those guys thought you might need a pep talk," Jyugo said with a shrug. He held his arms out even further and flapped his fingers slightly, like he was telling Hajime to get on with it.

"What do you mean, pep talk?" Hajime growled. He wasted no time in grabbing his cuffs and securing the wayward prisoner's wrists. If this kid really was going to let himself be caught and returned to his cell so obediently, Hajime wasn't about to let the opportunity go to waste.

"Ow! Those are tight," Jyugo muttered as the cuffs closed around his wrists.

"Shut up, we both know you'll loosen them anyway," Hajime snapped. He pointed sternly at the door and marched Jyugo out into the hallway. "Now, why the hell do you think you're going to give me a pep talk?"

Jyugo heaved an aggravated sigh and explained, "You came and gave me a pep talk after the tournament, remember?"

"You're an idiot," Hajime told him briskly. "That 'pep talk' was because you were just shutting down and giving up, rather than dealing with your problems head-on."

"Maybe," Jyugo muttered, sulking a little at the frank assessment. "But you're not being much better than that right now, are you?"

"I'm absolutely dying to see where you're going with this," Hajime said dryly, teeth gritted over his indignation. This kid had quite the brave streak, trying to discuss his supervising officer's personal life.

Jyugo proceeded to keep talking, apparently immune to the sarcasm. "Uno reckons you had a date with the Warden but you're not gonna go for it because, uhh- oh, right, he says you have a stick up your butt."

"Oh, does he?" Hajime ground out through gritted teeth.

"Nico thinks so too, because he read a manga like that once," Jyugo rambled on. "It was something like, the queen's bodyguard denies his love for her because he thinks-"

"Your cellmates have some interesting opinions about my personal life," Hajime interrupted pointedly.

"Anyway, like I said, you're the one who told me I wasn't selfish enough. You said I should want something for myself; shouldn't you take your own advice too?" Jyugo said. "Otherwise you really shouldn't lecture people, right?"

Hajime opened his mouth to tell the brat off, but… damn, did the kid have a point there? "I think I'm pretty well positioned to be lecturing a kid who's been a prisoner most of his life," Hajime retorted, but it sounded weak even to himself.

Jyugo just turned and lifted an eyebrow to Hajime. Hajime supposed he could call it a small favor that after that last final riposte from the brat, he kept blissfully silent the rest of the way to Cell 13 - until they were mere steps away from the cell door, where Jyugo just had to pipe up one more time.

"Also, Rock reckons it'd make life easier for us if you had a girlfriend because it might calm you down-"

Hajime bristled. "Get in there!" he snapped, hurling the damn kid into his cell. Neither he nor his cellmates had anything to say after Hajime slammed the cell door shut and rammed the bolt home.

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"That brat has a hell of a rude mouth on him!" Hajime fumed as he returned to his office. No other inmate in the prison would've dared to speak so casually to him. He was going to have to put his foot down and be stricter from now on, and remind Seitarou and Yamato to be on their toes more around those four characters in Cell 13, in particular.

Hajime began busying himself processing the paperwork in his "in" tray, thankful that he hadn't had to reach for the white-out at all, that his pens weren't going dry at an inconvenient time, and his signature stamps were crisp and clear each time he thwacked the wooden cylinder against the page.

The routine quickly lulled his mind, and his thoughts wandered back to his dinner with the Warden. It had gone pretty well until that strange incident with the magazine; come to think of it, the Warden hadn't sent any memos regarding anything in the last day or so, so that could be good - or bad. What did her silence on the subject mean? Was she angry that he'd run out on their dinner? Was she embarrassed?

If she wasn't mad about it, though, then maybe, if Hajime was being honest with himself… it might be nice to try again. He surprised himself with the thought; he'd been so sure that he was past the desire for companionship. That he didn't need it or want it.

You said I should want something for myself; shouldn't you take your own advice too?

Prisoner Number fifteen's words went through his mind, unbidden.

But then-no, it was absurd! Warden Hyakushiki was his boss, and it wouldn't be appropriate. It couldn't work out.

Or could it?

It was hardly the first or last time in human history such a relationship had begun. They were the same age and Momoko clearly wasn't the type to take advantage of her authority over him; if she was going to, surely she'd have done it already. The lack of memos from her office suggested he probably wasn't going to get fired for running off. She was too young and too driven to let such professional discourtesy happen… which is exactly how he'd have handled it if he'd been in her place. They really were alike, after all.

And wasn't that, mused Hajime, at least one definition of companionship? Knowing each other's nature, especially the parts normally kept hidden from everybody else? After all, nobody exactly knew just what was going on in the Warden's head when she cast her flat looks at the guards and supervisors around her; even Hajime was only just starting to get an inkling of the truth, but that was more than anyone else at Nanba probably had.

Hajime reached automatically for the "in" tray, only to jerk in surprise as his hand hit the plastic bottom. He looked at the time and realized it was long past due for him to have a break. There was just one last thing to take care of before he went for yet another cup of coffee. Grabbing up a piece of paper and a pen, he crafted a carefully-worded request to the Warden. Strictly business, that was all, but his heart was pounding embarrassingly fast as he wrote. Which was ridiculous. He just had some reports to deliver - they did need to discuss any number of prison-related issues, after all.

Although it wouldn't hurt to try and gauge her mood after the disastrous end to that dinner. He should at least figure out if she resented him… for professional reasons.

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Momoko was pretty proud of herself; right from the start, she'd always made it a priority to not let her feelings get in the way of professionalism. As much as she utterly adored Hajime Sugoroku, the last thing she wanted was to let her emotions undo all the effort she'd poured into getting this far in her career. Not to mention, she'd just die of shame if he ever felt pressured because of her. She was well aware of how it could look in his eyes, with her being in a position of authority over him. And so she'd spent all this time walking a razor-thin line to hide her emotions and keep her wild daydreams separate from mundane reality. Even when dining with him, aside from that one slip-up at the end, she'd carefully kept a safe distance between her emotions and the polite detachment of a professional working relationship.

But oh, never before had it been so incredibly difficult! It had been two days since that dinner, with zero contact between herself and her dear Hajime. Of course, it wasn't as if they'd had regular contact before this- their duties had always dictated the few but precious moments she got to spend in his company. But now, the silence was glaring and agonizing. Was he angry, now that he knew how she felt? Was he appalled at her inappropriate feelings? Or had she misinterpreted his reaction entirely and he still didn't know? She had no idea, and that was the worst part.

And so, when a missive arrived from Building 13, she was practically shaking as she dismissed the messenger and waited impatiently for him to shut the door on his way out- and she tore the envelope open in her haste to get at its contents.

"He… wants to meet with me!" she gasped. Granted, it was just a request for a normal meeting about prison business, but it was still a chance to see him! Maybe there'd be some sign in his behavior to reassure her that he didn't hate her now.

Forcing composure upon herself, pulled up her scheduler and set the meeting for first thing the next morning, then she reached for a blank piece of paper and a pen to write out a response acknowledging receipt of the meeting request and the time. She deposited it in her "out" tray, then tried to push her anticipation aside as she reached for her daily paperwork.

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The next morning, Warden Momoko Hyakushiki took extra care in front of her mirror: her uniform buttons were all polished, her suit and pants utterly free of any stray lint, and her cap set firmly on her head. She'd also taken extra time brushing her hair after her shower, making sure no strands fell out of place.

She tugged her uniform jacket down just a bit, then nodded to herself as she turned to leave her quarters: she was ready to see Hajime Sugoroku. She was even proud of herself for not drifting off mentally during her trip to her office (even if she had momentarily wondered what it would be like to touch his ungloved hand).

In her office, Momoko sat ramrod straight as she awaited Hajime's arrival. It was, in fact, just a minute shy of nine in the morning; he was quite punctual, and as her watch ticked over to nine precisely, the door alert signalled that he was present.

Hajime stepped into her office (as usual, her heart leaped) and, apparently all-business, stepped forward to greet her. "Warden. I believe we have some business to discuss."

Momoko briefly stood, hoping she didn't look as nervous as she felt, and gestured to a chair. "Let's begin."

As she sat down, she studied Hajime's face, scrutinizing his features closely for any hint as to the workings of his mind while he flipped through his reports. His expression was so flat, she couldn't tell a thing! She clasped her hands on her desk, trying not to fidget. What if they went through this whole meeting without even acknowledging that the dinner had happened? Was she going to have to confront disappointment once more?

With the last report done, Hajime stood and bowed graciously. "Thank you for your patience, Warden. I'll… take my leave now."

"Of course, thank you for presenting your reports," Momoko replied, her heart sinking. Was that really it? He was going to leave without even talking about it? But at the same time… had he hesitated for just a second there?

Hajime inclined his head politely and turned towards the door, walking slowly away from her desk- only to stop short halfway to the door.

Momoko, sure he could hear the sudden thud of her heart against her ribcage, said, "Is there anything else, Supervisor?"

He huffed slightly and shifted his weight. "Well…"

Momoko sat forward, palms sweating inside her gloves. "Yes, Supervisor?" She wasn't sure if she ought to be excited… or worried!

Hajime actually scratched the back of his neck at that point and now Momoko could hardly sit still. He never fidgeted like that, not in her presence! "It's kind of embarrassing, actually," he muttered. Without turning around, he added, "I forgot to thank you for hosting me at dinner the other night."

"O-oh. Well, the evening did end somewhat suddenly," Momoko said, her foot bouncing under her desk.

"Right… I wanted to apologize for that, too," Hajime said. Momoko was glad he wasn't looking her way; she was leaning forward so far that her hair was brushing her desk's edge. "Uh, I hope I'm not overstepping, or- or misinterpreting, but… the dinner was… pleasant. It was nice. I realized that I don't really know you that well, so, uh- Perhaps if… we were to have a second dinner?"

"A-a second dinner?" Momoko echoed, heart pounding in her ears. Inwardly she chanted, please please please let this really be happening, please please please...

Hajime glanced back at her, not quite making eye contact. "Yeah. To… get to know each other better."

"I see," Momoko said, and her voice had hit an embarrassingly high pitch. He could definitely see how red her face was. Could he tell that her clasped hands were shaking on her desk?

"Well?" Hajime prompted, and now his face was red too, and Momoko honestly thought she might cry.

"Y-yes, we could- certainly- yes," Momoko agreed, her composure breaking and a wide smile spreading over her face.

"Good. Thanks. I'll go now." Hajime bolted out the door.

Momoko counted down from ten, and then buried her face in her hands and let out the loudest squeal of delight she'd yet uttered since she first laid eyes on Hajime Sugoroku.

This time, dinner would be perfect!