Chapter Text
(Adachi)
The first week was absolute hell.
The nice guy act lasted about 10 minutes before Dojima started screaming his head off at me and ordering me to do every little thing for him, as if he were the king and I were the servant. ‘Get me coffee!’ ‘Run this to the copier!’ “File this!’ Seriously.. I graduated top of my class for this? Talk about a shit turnout.
By the end of my first week I’ve begun to get used to the verbal- and sometimes physical - abuse from my senior. The guy hits me if I get his coffee wrong! What?!
Dojima comes up to me after the first week, but I don’t look up at him from my paperwork- that I actually wasn’t working on, just staring at- because I’m petty and I want to have him be the one to initiate the conversation first. I’m not stooping down to your level. I’m better than you.
He stands there for a few seconds like an idiot, before angrily clearing his throat. When I still don’t look up, he yells at me. “ Adachi!”
I pretend to be startled, whipping my head up to him, my eyes widened in surprise. When I arrived, I decided I would play the bumbling, idiot rookie. Why? It would give me something to do. I obviously can’t show everyone who I really am. People don’t appreciate bluntness.
“O-Oh! Sir! I’m sorry, what do you need?” I flash him a big, goofy smile that stretches from ear to ear. Like some big dumb dog.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go out for some drinks after work. We were originally going to take you out, but that was the night you got sick.” He huffs, like it was my fault I got sick.
“Oh, uhm.. Sure! Why not, hehe?” I blink at him, still grinning. Jeez, my mouth hurts. Why couldn’t I choose a different facade to front? Cold and stoic.. Smart and quiet! Brave and loud! Anything else!!
“We’re leaving after work. The guys and Seto are coming.” He grunts, taking his seat at his desk in front of mine, leaning back in his chair and propping up his feet on the desk. Gross. Completely unsanitary. For heavens sake, he eats there! Now he has his germy, slimy feet up there!
“Oh.. so it’s.. like a party?” I pretend to perk up, blinking up at him a few times. I find it helps feign innocence and cluelessness- like a lost puppy. I never lose eye contact with him, ever.
He nods, pinching the bridge of his nose. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look energized. He always looks so tired and fed up with everything. “Yeah, I guess. A party. Behave yourself, though. I don’t want to have to drag you home and have you acting like an idiot when you’re drunk. This is a work party- our superiors will be there as well.”
What the funniest thing about this situation is, is that he ended up being the one having to be dragged home, he was the one acting a fool.
When we got to the bar, pretty much everyone was already there, and we were a tad late. Dojima insisted we finished our pile of paperwork before leaving.
Dojima guided me to a table in the back, near everyone else but giving us space to not be crowded by them. It’s quite nice. The bar isn’t so bad, either- for a hick town. I have to suppress a scowl beginning to form on my lips. Dumb and harmless, Tohru. Gotta remember, you’re dumb and harmless.
The bartender walks around, gathering the orders of everyone, before she comes to us in the back. “Oh, a newcomer, huh? Welcome to Inaba.” She claps me on the shoulder, and I give a meek smile. It took everything in me not to snap at her, telling her “don’t touch me!” . I just kept my mouth shut.
“Aha, thank you.. ehm..-“ I’m cut off by Dojima, ordering a set of beers for us to share. The woman scribbles it down in a little notepad, before scurrying off to go make everyone their drinks.
I’m not quite sure what to do after that. Do I talk to him? What would I even talk to him about? He’s not exactly the talkative guy.. whenever I try to ask him things at work, I always receive a grunt as if that’s an actual answer.
I decide against talking, and instead just stay silent, glancing around at the area around me like it’s even remotely interesting. It’s really not. The bright blue lights in the place are extremely gaudy, and the decorations are ugly and worn. I’m assuming this place has been here for quite awhile, and they just never replaced the old furniture out of pure laziness or not having enough money.
Dojima and I sit in uncomfortable silence until our beers are being carried to us. The moment they’re set down on our table on a tray, he starts laying them down- he gulps one glass into his mouth and immediately goes to drink another.
I can’t but help be kind of impressed, as sad as it is. When he finishes his second glass and I’ve only just started on my first, he lets out a big sigh. “Hoo! That hit the spot!” He laughs, slapping the table obnoxiously. “Cmon, you’re so slow!”
I suppress the huge urge to roll my eyes so hard that I tumble away like a tumbleweed from the force. “I’m taking my time, sir. I don’t wanna be shitfaced tonight..”
He huffs as he starts swallowing his third glass, and the rest of the night continues in the same manner, except that he starts talking.. a lot. About things I don’t particularly care about or need to know. Stuff about his daughter, his dead wife, his drinking problems, the whole damn deal. I learned more about him in 20 minutes while drunk than I have over an entire week together.
“I’m working night and day to find the damn guy who ran her over.. I’ll find ‘em.. just you wait ‘n see!” He’s being extremely loud, and I want to plug my ears in response. But of course I can’t. Dumb and harmless.
“Oh, well.. I’m sure you’ll find him, sir! Just keep at it. Whatever happens in the dark always comes out in the light, ya know?” I try my best to seem optimistic, when really, I know he’ll never find that guy. He hasn’t been able to before, so why would he be able to now? People like him really piss me off.
I really couldn’t give less of a shit about anyone here. About anything here.
The night very slowly goes on, with Dojima being completely shitfaced, me a bit tipsy, and our other coworkers.. I don’t really know, a lot of them left hours ago.
I take a glance at the clock on the wall near the entrance, and noticing how late it is, decide it’s finally time to wrap this party up.
I heave a sigh, getting up and brushing my jacket off. “Alright, Dojima-San- it’s time for us to go home. You need help..?” I ask, hoping he doesn’t and would just go home all by himself without trouble.
He gives a slow laugh, rubbing his eyes. “I- I’ll be fiiine , Adachi.. HIC- I don’ need no help.. ” He slowly tries to slide out of the booth, but ends up just falling on the floor with a big oomph! I have to literally bite the inside of my cheek to not burst out laughing at the sight. Dojima, this hard boiled, tough detective- laying on the ground of the bar because he drank too fucking much.
Since he can’t see my face right now, I finally let loose the eye roll that was bounding to come out since I stepped foot in this shitty joint. I crouch down, wrap his arm around my shoulders, and heave him up.
“Alright.. I’m walking you home.” I look up at him to examine his face, and it’s red and sleepy and urgh.. He looks like such a child. He’s got this dumb grin too, for some reason. Like a big ol’ puppy.
“Mmmkay..” he yawns, leaning his weight on me more. While I may be a bit smaller than he is, and much thinner, I’m quite strong for my size so it’s no issue. I slowly guide him out of the bar, and head to his place with help from him to direct me.
On our slow walk there, he hiccups a few times and yawns again. “Y’know, Adachi.. yer.. a good kid.. hic..! Yer not so bad..” he grumbles, a little embarrassed to admit it. I know as soon as he’s sober he’ll be berating me again, ordering me to do every little thing he wants me to. Tch. Two-faced dickwad.
“Oh, thank you, sir. It’s appreciated.” I flash him a big, wry smile. Dumb and harmless. Dumb and harmless. Dumb an harmle-
“Why didja come to Inaba, Adachi..?” He yawns again, almost interrupting his sentence. I almost freeze in place, but I keep my composure and keep guiding him.
“Oh, well, ya know.. I.. made a big mess up in an investigation and I got demoted. That’s really all there is to it, haha!” I nervously rub the back of my neck with my free hand, a nervous tic I’ve developed since I was a young kid. My dad always hated it, called it irritating.
I have to repress the large sigh building in my chest at the thought of Tokyo, of home, of dad. I try to not think about it as much as I can.
If I ignore it all, it can’t come back to hurt me.
“But what was the mistaaaake?” Dojima giggles like a child, thinking his slurring is hilarious. He snorts a little. How annoying.
“Well, I made a wrong call. Said to do something that was a bad choice. Let’s leave it at that, yeah?” I look up at him with tired eyes. I just wanna go home and lay down. Too much action for a day.. way more than I prefer.
“Hmph.. fine.. fiiiine- HIC!” He bursts out laughing, and I just shake my head. This fucking idiot!
We finally make it to his house, and I stop with him in front of the doors. The lights inside are off.. no wonder, it’s 12:30 fucking AM!
“Here ya go, sir. Go ahead.” I move to take his arm off of my shoulders, but he sits still and slightly hugs me tighter.
Before I can question him, he looks down at me and sighs. “Can you help me get into bed..? I’m real dizzy..”
What are you, 5?
“Oh.. sure, sir, of course.” I quickly get out before I can say anything else. The quicker I get him in bed, the quicker I can leave!
He unlocks the door with his key, and we step inside, kicking off our shoes. Well, it’s more I kicked off my shoes and helped him take his off.
I keep his arm around me while he helps guide me to where his bedroom is. It’s up the stairs, and at the very back of the hall. I open the door for him, and lead him to his large futon. One large enough for two people to sleep in. Must’ve been for his wife and him. I plop him down on it, and heave a large sigh of relief. Jeez, my shoulders hurt.. he’s a huge man baby..
He slowly lays his back down against the futon, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. His hands are shaky and it takes him about 30 seconds to get the first button. By that point I’m fed up, and lean down to help him. He slightly jolts when I kneel down and start unbuttoning his shirt for him, but he lets me. He stays silent and watches as I do it.
When I’m done unbuttoning his shirt, I push it off of his shoulders for him. I can’t help but take a small glance at his body- his shoulders are large and broad, and so is his chest. He’s quite fit for an old man.. his chest has a lot of hair on it, and so do his arms. I can see his happy trail from under his belly button going down to under his slacks.
I quickly whip my eyes away from it, feeling my face start to get hot. I was just curious, that’s why I was looking. Guys do that all the time, when they’re nude. Take peeks at each other. Out of pure curiosity. It’s not a gay thing!
When I look back up at his face, he’s leaning back in bed with his eyes closed, but one eye is slightly open, watching me.
I bite my lip, and decide to just get it over with. I trail my hands down to undo his belt, slowly pulling it out of its loops, and letting it fall to the floor behind me. I unbutton and unzip his pants, slightly pulling down. This is.. weird. I’ve never done this for someone before. But it’s not in a weird way , this is normal, and I’m just helping him because he’s over the top drunk.
Nothing weird here.
I pull his slacks down, him slightly raising his hips to help. I feel my heart start to pick up its pace because I know his.. junk is sitting right there in his dark red, striped boxers- and I’m curious - and I know I shouldn’t look.
I put all his clothes in a neat pile, setting it to the side on the floor. While I’m bent down and doing that, I glance up, and feel my face burn.
His.. bulge , is.. ehm.. well, it’s certainly not small..
Tohru! Stop it! No! Not going there!
Curiosity, that’s all it is. Nothing wrong with that.
I lean over him to pull his sheets and blankets over him so he can sleep comfortably, but as I lean over him, I feel.. it brush my leg and I let out a small squeak of surprise. Dear god .
His eyes are half lidded and looking at me tiredly now, and he lets out a low, rumbling chuckle.
“I- I’m sorry, sir!” I frantically get out, before he waves a dismissive hand.
“It’s fine, Adachi.. Thank you. Get yourself home safe, yeah?” He yawns, rolling over to face the wall.
I nod, even though he can’t see. I stand. “Of course, sir.. goodnight.” I make my way out of his room, slowly close his door to make the least amount of noise possible, tiptoe down the stairs, and start the trek to my apartment.
I inhale the fresh, cold air and close my eyes.
I want to go back home.