Chapter Text
It was only 8:30 in the morning, but Daichi already felt a migraine coming. As soon as he had stepped into his office, there were stacks of papers piled on top of his cluttered desk. He slowly set his backpack down on the floor and then proceeded to take ahold of the first stack of papers. His eyes glazed over the typed material, and he instantly regretted coming in to work today.
With a sigh, he set down the papers on his desk and walked out of the office, heading over to the pantry room.
Let’s just get some coffee first he thought. Daichi knew that he needed to cut down on his caffeine consumption, but it was hard to break old habits. He would just have to listen to his doctor nag to him once again, listening to him ramble about the dangers of caffeine for his already high blood pressure level.
He walked into the pantry room when he noticed a familiar face sipping her coffee. Daichi gave her a warm smile.
“Shimizu. You’re here early as usual,” he greeted as she nodded.
“I can say the same for you,” said Shimizu in her usual low voice. She adjusted her glasses. “You really should take a vacation. You’re here too often.”
Daichi laughed. “I know. There’s still so much to do though. I’ll probably take a break when work slows down a bit.”
“You know better than anyone that work here never slows down,” scoffed Shimizu, handing a fresh cup of coffee to Daichi that she had just poured. He gratefully received the hot beverage.
“I can’t just take a leave of vacation so suddenly. It wouldn’t be right. You guys can’t handle all this. I don’t want you to have that burden,” said Daichi with a smile. “A break is so tempting, but it’s my responsibility to help out when necessary.”
“No one can stop you,” sighed Shimizu. She gave her co-worker a concerned look. “Well, at least try not to work overtime. I swear, you’re at work more than you are at home.”
“What can I say, I’m married to my job,” admitted Daichi. “But hey, I can say the same for you.” He grinned at Shimizu who could only smile in return.
The door creaked opened as another person entered the room.
“Good morning!” the voice chirped.
“Good morning Suga-san,” responded Shimizu.
“Morning,” added Daichi with a wave. He pointed at his watch on his left hand. “You came so early today.”
Sugawara winked. “I had to talk with some people.”
“What for?” asked Daichi. He then realized the reason. “Oh right!” He snapped his fingers. “You got it approved?”
Shimizu stood there in confusion. “You needed something approved?”
“Ah! I guess I never told you Shimizu, but I recently finished a script for a web drama series,” explained Sugawara. “I was in London at the time the idea came to me. You know, web dramas are all the rage these days.”
“You started a script when you were in London?” asked Shimizu with her perfectly arched eyebrows raised.
“I’m telling you, the idea just came into my head, and before you know it, I’m on a roll,” replied Sugawara, his eyes practically shining. “Of course, I had Tsukishima help out. He wasn’t too pleased with that, but oh well!” He had a satisfied smile on his face.
Daichi could just imagine the scenario in his head. Tsukishima probably had an annoyed expression when Sugawara excitedly brought up his oh so amazing original story idea. The two had recently gone on a trip to London to attend a scriptwriter’s guild conference. It was a nice excuse for the two writers to relax and sightsee since they had just finished with their latest TV drama series. It must have irritated Tsukishima to suddenly start a new project so quickly though. However, Daichi knew very well that no one could stop Sugawara when he was on a roll. Daichi found that respectable about Sugawara thought. He liked people that were passionate about their work, and it was clear to see that Sugawara was destined to be a writer. He was one of the best writers in the company. Many of his works were highly praised by critics, and directors were always eager to work with him. Daichi knew that even Tsukishima tolerated Sugawara’s crazy antics because he was just that amazing.
“You have a director in mind for the web series?” questioned Shimizu. “I think a lot of the directors in the company are already working on other projects.”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that too,” chimed in Daichi. “Unless you wanted to branch out to other directors-“
Sugawara suddenly put his arms over his friends’ shoulders, almost knocking over their cups of coffee that was in their hands. Surprised, Daichi and Shimizu exchanged glances at each other.
“Um…Suga-san?” asked Shimizu.
“You guys have to fully support me on this,” whispered Sugawara. “Promise me?”
“Of course we’ll support you, you’re the company’s best writer,” replied Daichi, still unable to comprehend why Suga was acting like this. “Are you worried about getting a director? Don’t worry about it. I mean, even if the director is not from our company, there won’t be any opposition. The higher ups give you guys a lot of freedom with your projects so-“
“I want Kageyama to be the director,” confessed Sugawara.
Daichi and Shimizu were silent. The only sound that could be heard was the noise of the clock in the room, indicating the seconds passing by this very moment.
Daichi took a deep breath and was the first to break the quietness. “Suga….maybe I heard wrong. Please do correct me if I did, but did you say-“
Sugawara let go of his arms that were pressing down on his friends’ shoulders and lifted his face so they could see him clearly. The expression on Suga’s face frightened Daichi. He knew this face. It wasn’t an expression that he saw often on Suga’s usual calm composed face, but the rare times that Sugawara looked like right now, Daichi knew there was nothing stopping him.
“Are you telling me right now that you want Kageyama Tobio to be your director?” asked Shimizu with a sharp voice. Daichi recognized this tone as Shimizu’s professional voice, not a voice she used to talk comfortably with her close friends like she had done a couple minutes ago.
All traces of casualness was now no longer in the room. The atmosphere had dramatically changed. Daichi knew the reason all too well. In this very moment at this very time, the three of them were not talking as friends. They were talking as ambitious, cut throat beasts.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t change your character, but I guess I was hoping for too much,” said Sugawara quietly. He looked at Shimizu and Daichi with a bittersweet smile. “I underestimated you guys too much, I apologize. I forgot that I’m not the only one passionate about my work.” He bowed his head. “Shimizu-san, Sawaramura-san. I will hand in an official report later, but I want you two to know beforehand that I intend to have Kageyama Tobio as the main director in my new web series drama.” He lifted his head and gave a determined glare.
Daichi hated this tension in the room. To make matters worse, the migraine that had faded when he was happily talking to his friends was now upon him again. He silently swore. Suga was right. All of them were too invested in their work. Call it mere devotion, passion, or just obsession, there was no way they could escape this cursed reality-even if they were close friends.
Daichi cleared his throat and looked at Sugawara directly. “Sugawara-san,” he started. “It seems that you were able to get your new project approved, something that I wish to congratulate you. It is admirable to see that you are always ready and prepared for another piece of work. However…” Daichi stopped there suddenly and sighed. He honestly did not want to continue but he knew Suga had to hear this sooner or later. “However, I cannot assure you that the company will allow you the freedom of letting Kageyama Tobio to be your main director for your new series.”
“Are you rejecting my request then?” Asked Sugawara, his voice quiet but firm.
“Unfortunately, yes,” replied Shimizu stoically. “If you insist though, we will have to go with the company’s procedure, but I do not recommend that.”
“We can try finding other directors,” said Daichi, trying not to hurt Suga’s feelings. “Like I said, they don’t have to be within our company, but-“
“Please let the others know then,” interrupted Sugawara briskly. “If there is no simple way for my request to be received, I will gladly go through with the company’s strict procedure. I will expect to see you all in a meeting soon. Thank you for your time.” He bowed once again and then he left the room, closing the door with a loud noise.
Shimizu took another sip of her coffee. Daichi gulped down his lukewarm coffee and crumpled the paper cup in his hand, squeezing it tight. His head hurt so bad, damn migraine. He tossed the paper cup into the garbage can, and harshly massaged his temple, trying to calm himself down although he knew it was futile. After about a minute of silence, he turned to look at Shimizu with a wry smile.
“On second thought, maybe I should go on vacation.”
Shimizu gave a small smile. She crumpled her cup and then threw it in the garbage as well.
“It’s too late for that now.”