Work Text:
“Shima~”
Shima has nothing to do. His legs are starting to go numb from sitting in the same seat for a long time, and his back is beginning to ache, too. I guess I really am getting older, he thought wistfully. Back then, he would come out of long gruelling shifts with enough energy to hit the bar, or go out on his off days. Times sure have changed.
“Shima-chan~”
It’s not all bad, though. His new position allowed him to work in a more close-knit, intimate environment. He had to admit he preferred it to a constantly high-tension, bustling workplace. And he definitely preferred it to sitting at home scanning the job opening pages in newspapers.
“Shima. Bored. Shima. I’m bored. Shima~”
Shima sighs, finally turning to acknowledge the loud, complaining Ibuki sitting next to him. Ibuki has his feet propped up on the dashboard, arms crossed and shoulders hunched like a child.
“Alright, I get it. It’s part of the job, so what do you want me to do about it? Stop complaining already and focus.”
Ibuki pouted at his harsh words.
“Shima-chan is always so cold. Come on, you must be bored as well. Let’s play a game! I spy with my little eye...”
“No. Stop it. We never know when the- Look! They’re here!”
Shima pointed towards the building they were parked in front of, where a small group of businessmen were just about to leave. The man in the middle looked the most suspicious, trying to keep his head down while the men around him looked around, trying to usher him away quickly.
“It’s definitely him. Come on, quickly. And don’t forget the video camera.”
Ibuki was already halfway out of the door, and had to reach back into the car to grab a clearly well-used video camera. “Got it!” he called to Shima, who had started walking quickly towards the group.
“Watanabe-san! We’re with MIU TV, we were hoping you could give us a quick statement on the current state of your company.”
Ibuki rushed to catch up, video camera already on and recording.
“Watanabe-san, is it true that you were using company money for your personal affairs?”
By this time, a small commotion was occurring. Watanabe was doing his best to shield his face from the camera, his subordinates trying to push Shima and Ibuki away and lead Watanabe to a waiting company car.
“Watanabe-san, the luxury penthouse you moved into last week, did you pay for that with your employee’s wages? Do you have no shame?”
Unfortunately for Watanabe’s bodyguards, Ibuki was tall enough to hold the video camera up high, too high for them to reach.
“CEO Watanabe is unavailable for comment at this time.” Insisted one of his subordinates, forcing a smile.
“Watanabe, you paid for your son to win his local election, right?” At that, even Shima turned to look at Ibuki with a shocked expression. While there had been suspicious records found in the company’s documents, there had been no evidence whatsoever of voter manipulation concerning Watanabe’s son so far.
Watanabe stopped in his tracks, his subordinates looking at him with worried expressions. “How dare you! That was all Kaito’s hard work. Don’t bring him into this!”
“So the rest of the allegations are true then?”
“Watanabe-san, please don’t talk to any of these people. Journalists these days, just saying anything to get a reaction. Don’t give them the satisfaction, sir!” The businessmen finally succeeded in getting away from the duo, practically running to the company car and slamming the door shut.
Ibuki stopped recording with a beep, folding the video camera shut. Ignoring the looks from the people around them, he turned to Shima with a big smile.
“That went well, right? That guy hasn’t responded to a single question from any journalists yet! We’re the first! Let’s go back quickly and write an amazing article, this will finally be our big break!”
Shima glared back at him, unimpressed. “Are you being serious? His response didn’t mean anything, since you asked such a baseless question. You really are stupid aren’t you? More than I already thought!” He started walking back to the car, clearly annoyed.
“Shima-chan, that’s so mean!” Ibuki exclaimed, following him like a loyal puppy. “I thought our job is to get good reactions! That’s what we wanted, right?”
Shutting the car door, Shima buckled his seatbelt with a sigh. “A good reaction always makes for good news, especially if we can cause them to become flustered, and say something they didn’t mean to. But you can’t just say things without any evidence! Watanabe’s son winning that election has nothing to do with the case we’re currently covering, so you can’t just make things up!”
“But Shima~”
Shima started the engine, ignoring Ibuki’s whining. “Stop being so childish. We can certainly use some footage from today, but it’s not nearly enough to be properly incriminating. Let’s go back to the office for now, and get Kikyo-san’s opinion.”
Ibuki nodded begrudgingly, settling back in his seat for the drive. “Now we’re just gonna be writing and editing all day? This job is so much more boring than I thought it would be.”
“Well, we’re only journalists,” Shima said matter-of-factly. “It’s even rare we get to cover such a high-profile case. Unlike the big TV stations or news reporters, we only have a tiny bit of airtime, and don’t get invited to as many media-covered events. Even if we take some good footage, it’s unlikely to be used. That’s just how it is.”
“But that’s so unfair!” Ibuki protested. “We’re working just as hard, if not harder! And MIU TV has its own special touch~”
“If you’re talking about our station’s logo, I thought you got over that already.”
“It’s just so cute! It makes me want to make stickers and stick them all over my desk, my house, the office... Maybe we should decorate this car as well?”
Shima rolled his eyes and gripped the steering wheel tighter. “We both know there’s no way Kikyo-san would allow you to do that to company property. Do you even know how to make stickers?”
“I could learn, couldn’t I?” retorted Ibuki. “I’m hurt, Shima-chan. You don’t think I’m capable of, what’s the word, personal growth?”
To that, Shima didn’t even bother to reply.