Work Text:
Rei feels like slamming her head into her keyboard.
Teruya’s been out on a mission for the past month or so, and without him, Kisaragi Foundation is barely bearable. She’s been getting into a ridiculous amount of fights with Tsurugi. Some are tiny spats (“Don’t step on my toes.” “I didn’t step on your toes.” “You did too. And you cut in line for the coffee machine.” “How was I supposed to know you were in line?”), but most of them are a lot worse. Once, on a particularly bad day, she blamed him for what happened to Yuk—to Utsuro. Ever since, he’s been moping around and dogpiling paperwork on her.
So she’s been pulling all-nighters, mixing together coffee and five-hour energy to keep herself awake. It may not be the healthiest method, but it’s the one that she needs in the moment. Besides, the world is a hellhole. It’s not like she’ll live very long anyway, unhealthy coping mechanisms or no.
Dammit. She forgot to submit that form last night. Tsurugi sent her an assholish email telling her to (in politer terms) get it done.
He must really be pissed off.
Whatever. It’s whatever. She just needs to get the fucking work done and wait for Teruya to get back and resolve things.
G-d. She probably wouldn’t have stayed at the Foundation so long without him.
Her current task is going through a request spreadsheet—basically, the communal shopping list. But it’s three am, and she is so fucking tired, and wouldn’t it be nice to close her eyes for just a minu
”Meka-chan!” Teruya calls, knocking on the door of her office. He’s finally back from his mission, and after the formalities with Tsurugi (who’s especially irritable, did he get in another fight with Rei?) he wants nothing more than to get one million years of sleep, but he’d like to check on Rei first.
There’s no response, which is strange. She’s definitely in her office, since it’s not locked, but she usually doesn’t just ignore him. Is she okay? Maybe she’s hurt.
(Images run through Teruya’s mind unbidden—Kiyoka, hanging from the ceiling; Kizuna, a kinfe in her neck; Kanata, burnt and blackened; Kakeru, bloodied on the floor; Haru, still in his formal wear; Yamato, and Mikako’s deafening scream.
What if Rei—
No.
They’re not back there anymore. They’re not.)
He opens the door to see her, alive and well, slumped onto her desk. There’s some red marks on her cheek, likely from it being squished on her laptop keyboard, and she’s drooling a bit out the side of her mouth.
…
Cute.
He carefully picks her up, trying not to wake her, and lays her on the couch.
Then, ignoring the heat rising in his cheeks, he takes off his jacket and lays it on her.
“Sweet dreams, Meka-chan,” he whispers.
Her mouth seems to twitch into a smile.
Maybe he should sit down next to her. Just to make sure she’s okay. Only for a few minu
Tsurugi groans. Where the hell are Rei and Teruya? He shot them a text half an hour ago to meet in his office and they’re still not here.
He looks at the camera feed from Rei’s office.
She’s asleep on the couch, while Teruya is dozing off on the floor.
Geez.