Work Text:
The idea of 'turning to former terrorists that tried to take over the world' isn't something that's high on Joseph's list of things he enjoys doing. However, the idea of 'not getting fired or worse' sits rather high on that list, which is where the idea of contacting former Claw member Hatori Nozomu comes from.
It sits in Joseph's head for a day, making him burn through cigarettes like the nicotine they contain is oxygen. His tiny office becomes nothing but smoke, and when one of his co-workers opens the door to ask him a question, the wave of stale cigarettes knocks him flat on his back.
That's when Joseph decides to just bite the bullet and contact the man.
Reluctantly, Joseph opens his window and lets the smoke all drift out the window. The scent is somewhat soothing, and it saves him burning through another packet if he holes himself up with it.
A fresh breeze comes in, sending the smoke swirling through the air. It'd be pretty if Joseph wasn't so used to it. Instead, he opens his laptop and begins connecting to the Government's Network. There's hundreds of security firewalls to go through and it takes him a good five minutes to get through, even with all his usernames and passwords saved. Is that good security? No. Does Joseph care? No.
As the final password box is filled and Joseph has access to the files he needs, his phone rings. It doesn't play his normal ringtone, which is the stock standard that comes with all phones. Instead, it begins to play the theme song for 'Wan-Wan's Wonderful Week', the last show Joseph had watched.
He hadn't told anyone he watched it.
Joseph picks up the phone, holding onto it as the cheery tune of Wan-Wan fills his office. The caller id is blank, and considering his phone never even had the theme song downloaded, he is growing concerned. Pressing the 'call accept' button, he raises it slowly to his ear, holding it there for a moment before speaking. "Hello?"
"Hello Joseph." The voice on the end of the line is new to him. He cannot place it at all. "I saw you were looking for me."
The connection is made instantly. "Hatori."
"Hatori-san," comes the correction, voice flat and unamused. It sounds like he's in the middle of something, the faint sound of a keyboard clattering away in the background. "If you're going to talk to me, be polite, Mister Joseph from the Government."
Joseph had never met Hatori. In his mind, knowing that the Super Five consisted of four strong espers and their I.T guy, he had expected Hatori to be somewhat more nervous about talking to someone who could kick his ass. Apparently he had been wrong.
Sighing through his nose, Joseph sums up some words, voice slightly strained. "Hatori-san," he begins, making sure to use the honorific, "how did you know I was-"
"I'm a tech wizard." As his bored voice comes through the phone, Joseph's computer screen flickers. The search bar slowly empties, the kanji composing Hatori's name deleting itself. When the bar is empty, the whole screen goes dark, then flickers to life again, displaying a young man. His hair is short and spiky, glasses thick and reflective so Joseph can't get a good look at his eyes. He's wearing a sweater, and as Joseph leans in to get a better look, the picture moves, a hand slowly moving out of the screen and gripping onto the side of the monitor.
Immediately Joseph lunges for a cigarette, phone between his ear and his shoulder as he puts the stick in his mouth and fills his chest with heavy smoke, ready to wrap it around the invader when-
"You're so easy to scare." The voice comes from the phone and the monitor as the other hand comes through, using the edge of the monitor as leverage for the figure to lift itself through the screen. "Honestly, I thought the Government hired more hardened folks than you." There's a smile on their face, and Joseph's body tenses, breath slowly leaving his mouth, encasing him in a cloud of smoke. "Hatori-san?"
"The one and only." Hatori rests his chin in his palms, only his upper half leaving the screen. "Am I just a hologram or is this really me? Well, that's not important right now." There's a sly smile on his face, and Joseph realizes that he's at a disadvantage here. "What is important is the fact you're looking for me. So." Hatori shifts, resting his chin in his left hand while he looks idly at the nails on his other. "What do you want?"
Slowly, Joseph takes the phone from his shoulder and looks at it, not sure whether to speak into the microphone or straight to the apparition before him. He settles for placing the phone back to his ear, holding the cigarette between the fingers of his free hand. "I need help with my phone."
A look of surprise settles onto Hatori's face, and the glare of his glasses vanishes, exposing his eyes. They're a dark brown, and they watch Joseph carefully. "Something tells me you're not after simple troubleshooting."
"My phone's full of important Government stuff. It's locked down pretty hard. The specifics don't matter." He takes a deep breath of nicotine and blows it out through his nose, trying to focus. He has to win Hatori over here while also explaining his case. "Something is accessing those files. They've been opened, edited, moved around, and all while I'm off the network."
The bored look that Hatori had settled back into suddenly leaves. He's at full attention, head no longer resting on his hands. He uses his arms to prop himself up, trying to pull himself a little further through the screen to try and see Joseph's phone. "I can't tell what the problem is from here. You'll have to come visit. Whatever's going on, I can't find it from remote access; it's probably smart enough to hide from me."
"It's alive?" Joseph asks with confusion.
"I'm alive," Hatori answers, his image wavering for a moment. "And if someone came in here right now, I can assure you, they would not find me." He's still smiling, and it makes Joseph just the slightest bit uncomfortable. "Oh, by the way, I didn't know you liked Wan-Wan. Good choice, by the way."
Joseph's patience snaps. The smoke that had been drifting around him and that had yet to be blown out the window now becomes sharp and rigid, no longer smoothly floating around. It encircles Hatori, wrapping around his arms, wrists, and neck. "How long have you been watching me?"
"Since Claw collapsed and you took Suzuki into custody."
Three years. Hatori had been watching him for three whole years. Joseph's grip on his phone tightens, threatening to crush it, or at least crack the screen a little. "You've been watching me for that long?" Joseph grits his teeth in anger. He should have noticed. There were hundreds of times he should have noticed he was being watched and yet.
And yet.
"Watched, listened, the whole thing." The amusement is gone from Hatori's face as the glare fills his glasses again. "I had to make sure you weren't coming for me. You weren't the only person I kept tabs on."
The confession does nothing to settle Joseph's nerves. "You..."
Hatori shifts, hand phasing through some smoke. "I wanted to protect myself and mine." He cocks his head to the side. "I'm sure you have friends you'd like to protect."
Joseph glares harshly at Hatori. "No."
"Oh?" There's that cocky smile again. "What about Miguel? You actually liked him. Enough to keep messaging him through your proxy account on Mobbook. I also saw that you're in contact with Reigen Arataka. Keeping track of Kageyama Shigeo are we? After what happened in Seasoning City that day, I don't blame you. He's also Serizawa's boss, isn't he? Making sure my co-worker isn't off committing war crimes behind the scenes? So diligent. I'm surprised you find the time between being written up for inappropriate conduct with Suzuki and trying to sort out your divorce-"
The laptop slams shut with such force, it's a surprise it doesn't go through the table. Joseph's hands are both on top, holding down the lid like it'll open back up without warning. His phone is wedged between his hand and the laptop lid, while his cigarette drops a chunk of ash onto his hand, burning his skin.
He doesn't notice it. Every single word that had come out of Hatori's mouth was true. All of it. Joseph had been careful with his personal life, and although matters like his divorce and the fact he'd been written up for something had been in the system, the details hadn't been digitized.
Hatori really was watching him.
Underneath his hand, his phone chimes with an incoming message. There's no contact name, but Joseph knows who it is. Letting out a deep breath, he snubs his cigarette on his desk and opens the text message, finding it blank. "What..."
His phone screen flickers for a moment before a small avatar of Hatori appears, unrolling a map. Two points are highlighted, and it doesn't take Joseph long to realize it's his exact location, and where Hatori wants him to go. "Piece of shit."
Still, it's all he's got to go off, so he swallows his pride, tucks a whole carton of cigarettes into his shirt pocket, and heads out the door.
There is remarkably little chatter from Hatori as Joseph follows the map. Sometimes the avatar will seem to tease him, or will rotate the map in an attempt to disorient him, but other than that, he's rather tame. It feels odd in a sense, like something has silenced him.
Still, Joseph drinks in the silence, trying to calm his nerves. He's still rattled from earlier, having all of his sins laid before him. He tries very hard to keep his private life separate from work, and Hatori is the first person to have breached that gap.
He stops on his journey to get something to eat, and Hatori's little icon merely waits, not even offering a smart joke about Joseph's shitty MobDonalds order. It's a complete reversal from before, and now there's the slightest bit of worry. After all, if Hatori has access to all the Government's information, and now he's not answering, it's entirely possible that someone's gotten to him first.
Finishing his meal, Joseph tosses the remains in the bin and gets back on his journey, glancing at the map Hatori has left him. His avatar is gone now, but the map still remains. It's about a ten minute jog to the building Hatori has marked.
Joseph curses the fact he's just eaten and begins his walk, trying to take as many shortcuts as he can. The map on his phone fluctuates a bit, his route changing across multiple streets until it settles again, this time taking advantage of side-streets and alleyways. "Why didn't you do this before?" Joseph asks aloud, raising an eyebrow at the new route.
A small destination marker pops up on the new route, along with a simple message that says 'get bandages'. It makes the warm afternoon air go cold, and the center of his bones freeze with a chill he rarely knows.
Joseph picks up the pace, and makes sure to grab as many medical supplies as he can carry.
The building Hatori has marked is anything but suspicious. It's a set of apartments with twenty-five floors, and as Joseph enters the lobby, he finds it just like any other apartment complex. There's mailboxes, an elevator, and stairs that stretch all the way to the top floor.
"Now where?" Joseph grumbles, trying to find a list of names he can potentially buzz on an intercom. His phone has no response, leaving him to wander idly around the lobby for a moment, inspecting every corner of the place and causing the young lady who comes down from the elevator to give him a wide berth.
After a few minutes, his phone buzzes. The map is gone, replaced with a simple text message. "Floor 18. Hurry up."
The message makes Joseph freeze for a moment. Something must be wrong. Pocketing his phone, Joseph leaps into the stairwell, not trusting the elevator. He's a decent runner, and he makes it up the stairs in less than a minute, which he thinks is a new record. If there's one thing the Government keeps him around for, it's the fact he's quick on his feet.
As he exits the stairwell onto the eighteenth floor, Joseph comes to a halt. There's three different apartments up here, and he's got no clue which one it is. "Damn it Hatori," he curses, fingers itching for a cigarette.
"Hatori-san," chimes his phone with something akin to irritation. "Apartment two," it continues.
Joseph quickly scans the doors, finding the apartment to his right. It seems remarkably plain from the outside, with no signs of decoration or anything that might make it stand out. It's interesting, Joseph thinks, considering he has a small wreath hanging from his apartment door from Christmas that he hasn't been bothered to take down.
Still, he makes his way over, gripping the handle. It's unlocked, and with the slightest twist, the door opens, letting Joseph slip inside. It's dark in the entryway, and it gets darker as Joseph closes the door behind him. He at least has the decency to remove his shoes. "I'm here, Hatori-san. Mind getting a damn light on?"
"Get it yourself!" Hatori hisses from somewhere in the apartment. Joseph sighs, scanning the small entranceway for a lightswitch. There's one right beside the door, and he quickly flicks it, watching as the apartment seems to light up.
As the space becomes visible, Joseph can see just how much crap Hatori has hoarded. Every inch of wall space is covered in posters of anime girls or characters from video games. Some of them Joseph recognizes from advertisements, but most of them mean nothing to him. Everything that has a flat surface is covered by figures of cute girls in varying poses, going from cutesy to sexy and back again depending where you look.
"Nice collection," Joseph comments as he steps in, wanting to seem polite. Hatori doesn't answer, leaving Joseph to poke his head into the few rooms the apartment has. It's probably the largest apartment on the floor, with a kitchen and dining space separated from the main living area.
Every single room has some kind of anime merchandise plastered around it, and it only gets denser as Joseph turns the corner and finds a half-opened door that leads to the bathroom. "Hatori-san?"
"In here." There's a slight echo that confirms he's in the bathroom. "Did you bring bandages?"
"Yeah," Joseph answers, pushing open the bathroom door. "Why do you..."
Joseph's voice trails off as he stands in the doorway, eyes wide with surprise. "Wh-"
"Ah, admiring your handiwork?" Hatori asks. He's currently shirtless, and his pants are pulled down to his knees, leaving his dark blue boxers on display. Just above the waistband of his boxers is a sharp, deep cut that stretches all the way around Hatori's body, only slightly shallower at his sides. The skin around the area is discoloured, a lovely blend of purple and brown.
"How did..." The bag drops from Joseph's hand as he leans back into the hallway, scanning the area for any signs of intrusion. "Did someone jump you?"
Hatori scoffs. "This is you. Don't you remember slamming that laptop shut?"
Joseph blinks. "How did that-"
"I was physically in your office, idiot." Removing his glasses, Hatori rubs at his face and tries to calm himself down. "I know I was making some joke about being a hologram but come on." He snatches the plastic bag from Joseph's hand and begins digging around in it. "This is what I get for trying to be civil."
"Civil?" Joseph asks, leaning against the door frame. "You came into my office and aired all my dirty laundry as a threat."
"You came looking for me," Hatori answers. "What did you expect?"
Arguing isn't going to get them anywhere, so Joseph lets the topic drop. Instead, he looks at Hatori's wounds. "Not going to a hospital? It'd be better for you."
"And go back into the public system I tried to scrape myself out of? I'll pass." There's clear irritation in Hatori's voice as he tries not to move too much. Each motion opens his slightly clotted wounds, and it's starting to annoy him. "There's a lot of data that gets put into the system, and it takes longer than I'd like to find it."
As Hatori explains himself, he fumbles in trying to patch himself up. Joseph watches with amusement that soon turns to pity, and maybe even guilt. He still wants Hatori on his side after all.
"Mind if I smoke?" Joseph asks.
"If a single tendril of that stuff touches my posters, you can take your Government information and shove it." He's holding some padding against one of his wounds, and Joseph only sighs as he retrieves and lights his cigarette. "Asshole..."
"Here." Joseph steps in and takes the bandages away from Hatori. "You'll need to stitch it shut before you start bandaging." His cigarette smoke sticks close to him, controlled well enough that even the exhaust fan in the bathroom doesn't disturb it. "How's your pain tolerance?"
"Not enough." Hatori grabs one of his bathroom towels and shoves it in his mouth while Joseph roots around in the first aid kit. He's surprised to actually find a kit for stitches, but considering this is Seasoning City and Hatori's friends are the more rough-and-tumble kinds of folks, it makes sense.
Wasting no time, Joseph begins to sew. Hatori groans and hisses into the towel as Joseph moves, moves clean and precise. He does his best to get it over and done with as fast as he can, but it still isn't fast enough for Hatori who whines into the towel.
With his back tended to, Joseph gives Hatori a moment to breathe. He takes a deep drag of his cigarette as Hatori removes the towel from his mouth and spits into the sink, grumbling.
"Can I sue for assault?" Hatori mumbles as he turns on the tap, cupping his hands under the water.
Joseph snorts. "I'll countersue for stalking," he answers, watching as Hatori tries to clean himself up. "Ready for the front?"
Hatori holds out his hand. "Give me your phone."
Reaching into his pocket, Joseph hands it over, watching as Hatori cradles it carefully in his hands. "You alright there? Never seen a phone before have we?"
"If you're going to be a bitch about this, I'll read you the transcript from your last meeting with your former wife." There is no joking tone in Hatori's voice as he looks at Joseph's phone, taking in all the details he can before pouring himself into it. He grabs the towel and places it back in his mouth. "Mmph."
With the sign from Hatori, Joseph begins sewing again, making sure to be careful as he works. Above him, he can sense Hatori's aura, now powerful and sharp. It crackles like static electricity, dancing between the trails of smoke that surround Joseph carefully. It tickles somewhat, but Joseph makes sure to keep focused, working on getting Hatori's injuries tended to.
The cuts are deep, but not enough that it'll kill him. A good course of antibiotics and bedrest for a decent amount of time will have Hatori on the mend, or so Joseph thinks. He's not a medically inclined person, and most times he's gotten roughed up by a job, the Government gave him a healing esper to get him back to work. "You know any healers?" Joseph asks as he finishes the last stitch, making sure to tie it off neatly.
"Shou's got one," Hatori answers, towel removed from his mouth now the stitches are done. His attention focused primarily on Joseph's phone. "Might help if I ask nicely."
The conversation dies down for a minute as Joseph puts the needle and thread aside to be disinfected. He reaches for a facewasher, making sure to dampen it before gingerly wiping it across the fresh stitches in order to clean up any blood that's gotten in the way. "Are you still in contact with your comrades?"
"Some," Hatori answers, distracted. "Shibata and Serizawa mainly. Shimazaki is still off the grid, and Minegishi wants some space."
"You make it sound like a bad breakup," Joseph says as he places some sterilized padding against the stitches.
Hatori hums. "We're just giving it time."
Joseph's jaw falls slack for a moment. "I'm surprised."
"All of us were dating." Hatori talks about it like he's talking about the weather. "After Claw fell, we all stopped talking for a bit, but then we got back together. Serizawa's boss is rather relaxed about it, considering the amount of anxiety he gets when Serizawa isn't in the office."
"Snoop through his computer did you?"
"No," Hatori answers, aura fluctuating for a moment as he redirects his power to check out the actual electronics of the phone. "Just listened to his laptop microphone. He chats about it with someone named 'Ekubo' but he refuses to talk to Serizawa about it."
Joseph merely grunts in acknowledgment, making sure the padding is in place on Hatori's front and sides. "Hold this," he instructs, waiting for Hatori to set the phone down and awkwardly try to keep the padding from falling off. Once he's sure that Hatori isn't going to drop it, he moves to the back, making sure to get the padding in place. "You need to stop being so creepy."
"You call it being creepy, but it's how I protect myself." He chances taking a hand off the padding in order to hand Joseph a roll of bandages. "Everyone else can fight. Shimazaki could read people. Minegishi had plants coming out of every single crack in HQ. Serizawa could cleave a man in half with his umbrella, and Shibata doesn't need an explanation."
"I can attest to Serizawa," Joseph answers bitterly as he begins wrapping the bandage around Hatori's waist, making sure to keep it nice and even.
Hatori helps him keep the bandages neat around the front. "They can solve all their problems with violence. What do I have? I tried learning to fight, I really did, and it did nothing for me. The boss kicked my ass when he saw me with a punching bag. Shibata had to help pull me out of a wall."
"Why'd he do that?" Joseph asks, curious about why Suzuki would hurt his upper echelon. They can't do much if they're dead, and they had to be worth something if he'd held them at a higher standard than the rest of Claw.
Weakly, Hatori laughs. "He didn't want me wasting my talents."
Hearing that makes Joseph frown. It's not good etiquette feeling pity for former terrorists, but he's not great at being a Government man. He's just there because he's good at running and his smoke ability is extremely versatile. "You could start again. I mean, he's not exactly going to kick your ass this time. He's behind bars."
"I know, I've seen him. He looks so sad." There's a soft laugh as Hatori speaks. "He deserves it. His wife is happier without him."
"Spying again?" Joseph asks, finishing the roll of bandages and neatly tucking it in before reaching for another.
Hatori shakes his head. "I just know."
"Uh-huh..." Joseph trails off, turning his attention back to the bandaging. "Find anything in my phone?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, it's got something in there. It's smart, keeps moving around. It doesn't erase its tracks, but it's quick and it keeps diving into encrypted files." Hatori shows Joseph the phone which is currently displaying a changelog of sorts. There are mere fractions of a millisecond between an unknown user accessing the files, and Hatori following suit.
Joseph grunts. "In Japanese? Or English?"
"Americans," Hatori sighs, rolling his eyes. "Think of it like those old cartoons. The virus opens the front door and slams it shut. By the time I open the front door, it already opens the back door and slips out. Basically, I'm chasing it around your files. If they weren't encrypted, then I'd be able to catch up."
"And how do we do that?" Joseph finishes with the second bandage and tucks it in. It's enough for now, and Hatori will need more bandages later when he ends up changing the padding. "I'm not exactly great with phones."
Hatori laughs dryly. "I noticed, mister default-ringtone-man."
"Mister Joseph," comes the reply with the slightest quirk of the lips.
Hatori just scowls. "Help me back to my room. I'll get it off there. After that, you're going to do what *I* ask you to do, understand?"
Joseph nods. "Understood, Hatori-san."
Getting Hatori back to his room takes some effort. Each step is slow, pulling on freshly stitched skin. Hatori hisses in pain and the lights overhead flicker in response. In the kitchen, his microwave beeps and hums while the television turns on and changes channels, filling the apartment with incomprehensible noise.
"You get pretty agitated, don't you," Joseph says, propping Hatori against the bathroom doorway as he tries to figure out which way leads to the bedroom.
"Yeah well I don't think you were too peachy after Serizawa kicked your ass, so shut up." Hatori braces himself against the doorway, leaning into the hall and pointing to the right. There's a soft click, and the door that Hatori is pointing at swings open a crack.
Joseph laughs. "You lock your bedroom door?"
"If I'm getting robbed, they are not taking my computers. I can get shit manufactured years after it's out of print, but my computers mean the world to me." There's no joking tone in Hatori's voice, which takes some of the wind out of Joseph's sails. The guy's oddly serious all things considered.
"What about your computers is so valuable?" Joseph asks, helping Hatori stand upright. Together they take slow steps towards the bedroom, pausing only when Hatori needs to change where his arm is slung over Joseph's shoulders. "You can build as many as you like, right?"
"Mm." There's no real reply as they cross the border from hallway to bedroom. Joseph helps Hatori lower himself into his office chair before taking a step back to assess the space.
There's less anime merchandise in here, which is a sharp opposite to what Joseph had expected. There is a shrine to Hatsune Miku in one corner of the room, contrasted in colour by the shrine dedicated to Kyoko Sakura. All across the other walls are posters and shelves with girls, but Hatori's desk is surprisingly void of anime merchandise.
Instead, the small desk is covered in monitors, stacked in a two-by-three style. Each one displays a log of scrolling information that Joseph can't even attempt to comprehend. Two computer towers sit on the desk, whirring away, and there are two different keyboards plugged in, alongside a mouse that glows in several different colours. Joseph looks at it all with a raised eyebrow. "Quite the setup."
"Yeah," Hatori rasps, trying to get comfortable in his chair without hurting himself. "It does what it needs to." There's some shifting as Hatori slowly slides into his seat, hissing at his new stitches. "It needs to be decent to handle ESP."
"Oh?" Joseph watches as Hatori sets the phone down and reaches into a nearby drawer for a cable. "Overly confident in your powers, are we?"
Hatori plugs the cable into the phone, reaching over to the computer slowly in hopes of not pulling at his wounds. "Have you tried to think slowly? It doesn't work all that well, does it?"
Joseph hums in acknowledgement, knowing that he's been defeated. "Mind if I sit?"
"Keep your smoke off the bed, would you?" Hatori replies, plugging the phone into the computer. All the windows of scrolling information vanish, and Hatori takes a sharp breath in through his teeth. "It's time."
"You gonna be alright?" Joseph sits on the bed, smoke coalescing in his hand. It drifts idly between his fingers, and he notes that he really needs to tap the ash off his cigarette.
"If I start to spasm, give me a slap." Turning away from the computer, Hatori faces Joseph with a serious expression. He removes his glasses and tosses them onto the bed. There's about a foot of space between the two of them now, and Joseph can see how not-entirely-there Hatori is. "My computer can't send data outward without me guiding it, it can only download files, so the virus is contained here. I can always try again."
"Planning not to succeed?" Joseph asks, leaning back and getting comfortable.
Hatori doesn't flinch under the accusation. "I want you to leave me and my friends alone by any means."
Surprise crosses Joseph's face but he masks it easily under an impassive gaze as Hatori places his hands in his lap neatly. His aura starts in his hands and slowly spreads across his body, a gold that flickers to green and red in parts. It's entrancing, and Joseph finds himself taken with how strongly it shines in the gloom of the room.
The six monitors flash white for a moment before fading to black. It catches Joseph's attention, and he watches as each screen slowly flickers back to life, folders opening and closing at rapid speed as programs boot up across all the screens. Internet browsers, image folders, games, they all start and abruptly end, all the while Hatori sits in his chair with a look of extreme focus.
His eyes are closed and his brow is furrowed, face scrunched up in thought as his body trembles with effort. Joseph alternates his gaze, swapping between Hatori and the screens. "Does this count as a spasm?" he asks aloud, only to receive no reply.
The folders keep opening for a good ten minutes, all the while Hatori stays in place, the shaking in his body becoming more frequent and pronounced. It's not a full-on fit yet, but Joseph knows that if he's not finished soon, it will be.
"Hatori-san," Joseph begins as he pulls a small canister from his pocket to put his cigarette in. "Are you-"
Hatori stands bolt upright, giving no regard for his wounds. His eyes are wide and unseeing, and his aura fluctuates in colour, losing its golden tint and becoming more red. Joseph curses, canister cast aside as he stands and grasps Hatori's shoulders. "Hey! Hatori-san! Snap out of it! Hey!"
He raises his hand and strikes Hatori across the face, and yet nothing happens. Folders continue opening and closing on the computer screens, and Joseph frantically turns his gaze back and forth between Hatori and the chaos unfolding. "Come on, wake up!" He slaps Hatori again, only to receive nothing. If he doesn't wake Hatori up soon, then either he's going to end up dead or severely wounded, and that does nothing for their negotiations, or future uses of Hatori's powers. "Hatori, damn it, wake up!"
Joseph raises a hand to strike again when Hatori's own hands move, slowly rising to cup Joseph's face. They settle on his cheeks and Joseph locks up, stunned by the uncharacteristic movement. "Hatori, what-"
Everything that was open on the computer suddenly closes, the glow in the room becoming significantly darker. Only the top middle screen is on, displaying a smaller, pixelated version of Hatori holding a bag of garbage. It dances back and forth, almost distracting Joseph from the hands on his face.
He's drawn back to it as the fingers curl and trace his jawline. Hatori is looking at him, exhausted and pale. His eyes are still distant, but he's more there than he was a second ago. "It's Hatori-san," he says, exhausted. "And you owe me so much. So much..."
Hatori begins to trail off, and Joseph quickly eases him down onto the bed. His bandages are starting to turn red and Joseph quickly moves into the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit. "You're something," he comments.
"Amazing, that's what," Hatori mumbles before passing out. His body goes limp against the bed, and Joseph sighs as he begins undoing the bandages.
Hatori wakes hours later, exhausted. His head hurts, and his body feels like lead. "What..."
"You're awake?" Joseph's voice comes from somewhere nearby, and Hatori barely manages to tilt his head, catching sight of the man sitting on the end of the bed. "That's good. I thought you'd died."
"No," Hatori manages to answer. "I'm sore though."
Joseph laughs. "No wonder. I had to redo your stitches. You standing up like that wasn't a great move."
"I... stood up?" Awkwardly, Hatori tries to push himself up, only to collapse back into the bed. "I remember going through the files in search of the virus. I ended up catching it, but it tried to knock us both out. Y'know how it goes... Like when you're dying so you try and take your attacker with you?"
Having been on both sides of that fight, Joseph nods. "Scared me when you didn't respond to being hit."
"Oh I felt it." Hatori slowly shifts, and Joseph helps him roll onto his back. "But I was too close to the virus to bail. Turns out that it was from someone in your organization actually. They're a mole from Canada trying to siphon information on the Esper Division. They thought you'd be the best target. It's fine though, they didn't manage to transmit anything useful. You caught it before anything happened."
Well that was surprising. "Oh. Well, thanks for that."
Hatori smiles. "Now get the fuck out of my house. You've caused me more than enough problems."
He was right. Standing, Joseph places his hands in his pockets. "I'll make sure the information about you and your colleagues are wiped from the system. I'll also contact Shou about his healing esper. Tell them it's contract work or something."
"They do owe me a favour," comes Hatori's answer.
"Save the favour for when you're at fault," Joseph answers as he leaves the room. Hatori calls something after him but he doesn't notice, having already pocketed his phone while the man was asleep.
He's out of the apartment and back on the street where the sun is looming on the horizon. Hatori had been out for a good few hours.
Going to light a cigarette, Joseph's phone rings shrilly, stopping him mid-motion. The theme song to Wan-Wan is playing again, and as he takes the phone out and raises it to his ear, he prepares himself. "Hatori-san."
"If you need help with your computer or phone or something, then come by again," is all Hatori says before hanging up. Joseph looks at his phone for a moment before pocketing it and lighting up. The nicotine is soothing, and he lets the smoke surround him like a force field, keeping away any and all threats.
Well, Joseph thinks to himself, he is due for a phone upgrade soon.