#minunfics

[marisexmas]

Lie

Shuichi is certainly an interesting person.

I told myself I wasn’t gonna write a saiouma fic but then it... happened anyway. this is actually my first time falling in love with a decently popular/“mainstream” fandom character and pairing so it feels a little weird but... these two just go so well together that I had to do it man!

also wow I’m legit surprised there’s no other saiouma fic with this title. was it too easy? haha

please enjoy!! ;v; (AO3 link)

[marisexmas]

Strange

It was silly, wasn't it? For two souls to fall so hopelessly in love when they could never share their lives with each other? 

an ayaklug (klug/strange klug) fic I typed up recently because this pairing is. Good

it is a pretty angsty affair, but I hope it is enjoyable nonetheless

Read Here (AO3 Link)

[marisexmas]

Tough Love

this here is a platonic cybermatsu fic I’ve had in my drafts for a bit and finished today for cybermatsu day. a nice chance to write for an underrated pairing and also an excuse to write both super-angry and super-caring choromatsu in one fic

please enjoy!

[marisexmas]

I know I hardly ever post actual content here anymore but I finished a nejihika (dawn/thorton) fic yesterday. check it out maybe

[marisexmas]

Life Lesson

Klug takes it upon himself to help Sig learn the material he needs for class, and ends up learning a few new things himself.

---

here it is at long last?? after 3 years of being in the puyo puyo fandom and shipping sigklug?? here now is an actual Fanfic of it

I’ve had this sitting unfinished in my drafts for almost a year but now it is finally Done and I’m glad to be able to post it. it’s PRETTY LONG and I’m sorry but I hope some of you guys enjoy it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Klug was less than pleased when he learned that he'd been chosen to tutor his classmate Sig.

Not that it surprised him in the slightest. Being the top student in Ms. Accord's magic class meant that it often fell to him to tutor other students who were slacking academically. He had to admit, it made him feel proud that his teachers trusted him with such a difficult and important responsibility.

It made him feel proud, but that didn't necessarily mean he enjoyed doing it.

Sig, in particular, was the kind of person he dreaded teaching. The boy was, to put it bluntly, a horrible student. His handwriting was abysmal, his spelling was atrocious, and he struggled to retain even the simplest lessons. (Well... simple in Klug's mind, at least.)

But that was fine... if anyone could turn a horrible student around, it was Klug.

But...

"Mmmm... Nope... Sorry, I don't get it."

It would be a long and arduous challenge for both of them.

"I've explained it to you three times already! What's not to get?"

Klug sighed heavily and plopped his head on the table. They'd been going over the same basic lesson for almost two hours now, and they hadn't made any more progress than before they started.

"Okay, first, you arrange the Puyo like this, got it?" Klug sat up and began to demonstrate the proper procedure yet again. "Next, start reciting the spell you want to cast and set off the chain. Keep your thoughts focused on that spell until the chain is finished, and then... Sig, are you listening? Pay attention!"

Sig had zoned out of the lesson again, focusing instead on a ladybug that had been crawling across the table. He jumped and looked back up as Klug harshly addressed him.

"Eh...? Ah, sorry... I was just watching this little guy..."

He picked the tiny insect up with surprising delicacy, and held it out to show his classmate.

"Look at him, Glasses... isn't he cute?"

Klug stared at the little creature for only a short moment, then sighed again and rubbed his temples.

"Yeah, I guess... now can we get back to the lesson?"

Reluctantly, Sig let the ladybug go, but even after Klug tried to bring their attention back to the lesson, he could see that the other boy wasn't truly focused at all.

That was how their tutoring sessions always seemed to go... No matter how he tried, Klug just could not seem to get the spacey boy to focus on learning. More often than not, he felt as though their meetings were ultimately nothing more than a glorified waste of time, and he began to wonder why he even bothered at all.

However, there was one thing he could gain from this. Sig was the only half-demon in their entire school, and indeed, the only half-demon Klug had ever met or even heard of outside of textbooks. There were almost no written records of people like him, and Klug figured that if he couldn't get Sig to learn anything, he could at least turn this into a learning experience for himself.

So he started keeping his own little scientific research journal. Whenever the two of them got together for their extracurricular lessons, Klug would watch Sig and observe him, and later record all of the tiny peculiarities he noticed that separated Sig from normal human beings. Surely the boy wouldn't mind, and one could only imagine how valuable this study might be to the scientific and magical communities of the future.

As he went about this research, he began to amass a fair amount of interesting data.

 「*The tufts of hair on his head begin twitching erratically whenever he gets excited, though it appears that he can also move them of his own accord. Whether they serve some purpose or are merely for decoration remains to be seen.」

 「*His left hand appears to be his dominant hand, and it is considerably stronger than his right in terms of both physical and magical power. It seems he isn't aware of the difference, as he has broken several of my pencils trying to write left-handed.」

 「*His general senses of touch and taste seem to be significantly dulled compared to those of average human beings, and his threshold for pain is much higher. A natural consequence of this is that he has a much slower reaction time, almost on par with a human who is legally intoxicated.」

However, while this research made for an engaging side project, it did little to remedy the problem at hand...

"Are you kidding me!?"

Sig looked shamefully off to the side as Klug read over the results of his latest test, which was riddled with check marks and had a large, red "35%" written at the top in Ms. Accord's neat, curly handwriting.

"Sorry... I couldn't remember all the stuff..."

"We spent five hours going over these exact questions!" Klug was doing his best not to yell out of frustration, no matter how strong the temptation was. "Is your memory actually that bad?"

Though Sig's overall demeanor remained stoic as ever, the guilt in his expression was obvious.

"Sorry... I'm just not good at learning like Glasses is... My head can't hold all those big words and numbers in it like yours can..."

Klug let out a long sigh and willed himself to calm down. He had to remember that it wasn't Sig he was angry at, only his lack of progress. Honestly, aside from his lackluster academic performance, Sig really wasn't a bad student at all. He was trying, that much was clear... all that he needed was patience.

"It's fine. We still have time to get your grade back up. Just... please try and study harder for next time, alright?"

'Please' was not a standard part of Klug's vocabulary, but it was a word he found himself using more and more often with Sig under his tutelage.

The blue boy's face brightened ever so slightly, and he gave an eager nod.

"'Kay."

And so they kept at it. Even if their progress wasn't immediately evident, Klug remembered that he had to be patient. Results would come in time, even if they didn't come right away.

Klug had successfully tutored many of his classmates before, but for this one special case, he decided to try a different, more experimental approach; in addition to their normal lessons, he began setting aside small chunks of time for them to take breaks from studying and share in simple leisure activities together. He decided on this primarily because he honestly couldn't handle trying to slog through lessons with Sig for five hours straight, but also because he reasoned that perhaps, if he could get to know his mentee a bit better and understand his thinking, he could accommodate their lessons accordingly.

So they spent this leisure time sharing in each of their favorite hobbies. Klug used the time to share with Sig the massive collection of novels, magical texts and other assorted literature that he read for pleasure, thinking that maybe (hopefully) it would encourage his spacey classmate to get into the habit of reading for fun himself. He tried introducing Sig to the books he'd read over and over as a little kid, reading to him from various magic tomes and novels and texts written by his idols, the legendary sages. He could still recall each of them by name: Nero, Severio, Isabella, Dalida, Galatea...

"Mmmm... Nope. I've never heard of any of these guys."

"Are you serious? The sages are some of the most legendary, world-renowned magicians of all time! No self-respecting mage can say they've never heard of them!"

"Oh... I guess I'm not a self-expecting mage, then. Sorry..."

Ignoring the incorrect vocabulary, Klug continued to chastise and press Sig for a good while, trying to get him interested in the literature, but all that he ultimately got in response was a noncommittal shrug.

That was a response he got very frequently... Unlike most of the people who lived in this town, Sig just wasn't a vocal or outwardly emotional person. Frustrating as it was, Klug had to gradually learn to accept that he wouldn't always get a proper answer out of him, and that many of their discussions would be extremely one-sided.

It was when they spent their time doing what Sig liked to do that more of his true character really came to light, and that was when Klug made sure to pay extra special attention.

"Lookit this one, Glasses... Isn't she super pretty?"

Sig held a giant pink moth in his left hand, stroking it affectionately with his right as he held it out for Klug to see and touch.

"Sig, do you know what kind of moth this is?" Klug asked, poking at it absent-mindedly.

A silent head shake was Sig's response.

"Do you even know if it's male or female?"

Another head shake. For as much as the boy loved his bugs, Sig knew surprisingly little about most of them. Normally, this would have annoyed Klug and spurred him into a lecture about properly researching the things that you put so much focus into... but in this case, he found himself calmer and more accepting.

"I think I have a book on moths somewhere... Come on, bring her along and let's look it up."

All in all, their sessions became much more peaceful and much less headache-inducing after he put this new method into practice. Over time, he began to not only tolerate the lessons, but actively look forward to and enjoy them. Sometimes, he began to wonder if he might be enjoying them a little too much...

He wasn't sure why he was doing all this. He'd never given anyone else such special treatment. He wondered if it really was only for the sake of Sig's education, or if there was some other ulterior motive behind it, one that he himself didn't understand yet.

...

He wasn't the only one who'd grown aware of it. Everyone at school was starting to notice how much time the two of them had been spending together recently, and a particular few didn't hesitate to comment on it.

"Well now, I thought you said you hated talking to stupid people... I guess you're softer than you make yourself out to be, hm?"

"Y... you always look like you're having lots of fun tutoring Mr. Sig... I'm happy for you..."

His classmates always made tiny remarks about how close the two of them seemed to be, which, for some reason, drove him up the wall.

"Wow, Klug! You and Sig have been getting along real well lately! That's totally wicked, cause for a while I kinda thought you didn't like being his tutor! Did something cool happen with your lessons?"

Klug hid himself from Amitie's curious, prying eyes, burying his nose in his book to hide his fogged-up glasses and rapidly flushing face.

"... Nothing happened. He's my pupil, and I'm treating him like any decent tutor should. That's all there is to it."

"Saying it like that just makes it even more suspicious! C'mooon, what happened?"

Amitie wouldn't relent, moving closer and closer into his personal bubble until she abruptly backed up, letting out a loud, dramatic gasp.

"No way... could it be? Are you... are you two...!?"

She moved right back into his space, putting her head right by his ear and speaking in a hushed, excited whisper.

"... A-Are you guys... the L-word?"

That was the last straw. Klug slammed his book shut, grabbed his things, and marched indignantly out the classroom door, right past Sig who had just walked in and was now staring after him with a mystified expression.

He'd just spend his time in the library before class, at least until this whole stupid rumor blew over.

Because that was all it was. A stupid rumor.

...

But as time went on, he himself found that harder and harder to believe.

He felt it every day, every morning he woke up and his very first thought was about what he and Sig would learn that day. He felt it every time he looked at the boy's dopey face and his heart started beating faster than a jackrabbit. He felt it every time a group assignment was announced in class and his hand reflexively shot up with Sig's name already on his lips.

Klug may be stubborn, but he definitely wasn't stupid. He knew what this feeling was, and trying to deny it anymore would get him nowhere. The only problem now was that he had no idea what he was going to do with it.

So he didn't do anything.

He ignored the feeling. He suppressed it. He pretended it didn't exist, hoping that perhaps if he went on pretending long enough, it would actually cease to exist altogether.

He started pushing Sig away, too, both physically and emotionally. He made certain that they were always at least an arm's length apart, he refused to discuss anything with Sig other than the lessons or the study materials, and he made a point to never, ever smile at him.

It pained him to see the little looks of confusion and hurt that Sig gave him. He knew that this wasn't fair to the demon boy, who'd done absolutely nothing to deserve it. But he also knew that this was something he had to do for both of their sakes.

He was new to this feeling himself, but he'd seen enough and read enough to know how these things turned out. It would be nothing but a detriment to him and to Sig, and he didn't need it. He didn't want it.

But no matter what he did, it stayed with him.

He still wrote about Sig in his journal occasionally. His journal was the one respite where he thought he would be completely safe. He tried to keep his mind clear and his writing as professional and detached as possible... but despite all of his efforts, the persistent feeling found a way to manifest itself even on paper.

 「*His favorite species of insects seem to be coccinellids, more commonly known as ladybugs. I should try and find a way to attract more of them to the garden so that I can observe and analyze his reaction.」

 「*Though he wears long-sleeved jackets, he never wears heavy clothing even in the winter. When I touch him, his body is always colder than mine, but his left hand is always warm. I wonder if it has something to do with his strange power... I want to observe this curious phenomenon more closely.」

 *It has recently begun to bother me how little emotion he displays outwardly... I'm unsure if it's simply a part of his personality or if his demon heritage might be to blame. But just once, I'd like to see if I can coerce him into giving me a genuine smile-」

The entries ended there. Everything following them was furiously crossed out and riddled with eraser marks.

He stopped writing down any observations about Sig after that.

But their tutoring sessions continued unhindered. If anything, the lessons actually went more smoothly now that they wasted no time on leisurely chatter. Sig seemed a little disheartened at the change in atmosphere, but he never once complained. He simply continued to study as diligently as he could, and although it came slowly, he did begin to show small signs of progress.

They continued like this throughout the semester. Autumn came and went, leading into winter, when the final exams loomed over their heads.

Sig had learned and improved so much since they'd started, and the other students had finally stopped making constant remarks about the two of them. That should have made Klug happy... but it didn't. Instead, he felt more angry and more miserable than ever.

And what angered him the most was that he knew exactly why, but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

...

Sig passed his final exams. It was only by a few points, but he still passed them. And that, of course, meant that their tutoring sessions were no longer necessary.

Klug would be lying if he said he didn't feel immensely accomplished and relieved... but underlying that relief was an even stronger feeling of profound emptiness, as though an integral part of his life had suddenly been ripped away from him.

As he was clearing away all of the old worksheets and textbooks they'd used for the past several months, he found his old research journal lying among the clutter. He wasn't sure what, but something compelled him to take a break from cleaning and quickly look through it again for old times' sake... and as he skimmed over everything, he saw an entry at the end that he was certain hadn't been there before.

He knew right away that he wasn't the one who had written it. This appallingly messy handwriting could only belong to one person. Although the frequent spelling mistakes made it a bit of a challenge to decipher, Klug promptly sat down at his desk and looked over every word.

 「hey mr jurnal. I know youre glasseses jurnal and I dunno if Im alowed to reed you or rite in you but I did aneyway. sorry glasses.

 I red the stuff glasses rote about me and it was nise. so I think maybe Ill rite some stuff about glasses too, sinse he sed I gotta practis my hand riting and I think this is a good chanse to do that.

 things about glasses:

 *hes super super smart. his head can hold alot of smart things in it that mine cant. I think its really admirable (<- thats a word glasses taut me)

 *he likes purpel stuff alot. he wers purpel and he likes it when I bring purpel flowers to his hous so Ill have to pick more for him soon.

 *his name is klug even tho I call him glasses alot. he sed it meens smart and clever so I think its a good name for him.

 *hes meen some times but hes also really nise. he dus nise stuff for me when Im at his hous lerning but also I think maybe he hates me?? I dunno cus he never ansers me when I ask if hes ok, he just gets mad and ses get back to the lessin. I dunno if its cus Im not lerning fast enuf? but watever it is Im sorry about doing it.

 *he likes reeding and I like it when he reeds out loud cus its really nise to lisen to him.

 *even if he hates me I still like him and Im not mad at him for being meen some times. I think hes my favrite teecher Ive ever had. I think he culd maybe be an even better teecher then ms accord witch is saying alot cus ms accord is a super good teecher. and I actshully kinda hope he dusnt hate me cus I like him a hole lot, more then amitie and maybe even more then bugs some times.

 *and he wares glasses. thats why I call him glasses.

 *I ran out of stuff to rite and I think I got enuf practis so Ill stop here.

 -sig

 p. s glasses if you can reed this then hi. how did I do on my hand riting?」

... Klug set the journal down on the table. For a while, he couldn't do anything but stare at the open page, holding his hand over his mouth to keep his rapidly overflowing emotions at bay.

"... That... idiot..."

The guilt after that was too much for him. Now that the exams were over, he needed to apologize and come clean about what he'd been feeling. Though Sig was slow and a bit irritating at times, he at least deserved that much.

If Sig accepted him, that would be nice enough, and if he didn't, they could both put this ugly business behind them and move on with their lives. Either way, it would be fine. That was what Klug told himself.

There were no insects around in the winter that he could catch and use for a present, so he settled for buying a ladybug-shaped pin from a local jewelry shop. It set him back quite a bit on his allowance, and he didn't even know if Sig would appreciate a fake bug or be offended by it. He still wasn't entirely sure how that boy's mind worked... but he was determined to go through with this somehow or another.

Early in the morning, as the two of them walked to school together for their final class of the year, Klug finally worked up the courage to grab Sig by the shoulder and pull him aside. The blue boy turned to him with that same dumb, dopey, endearing expression that made his heart flutter uncomfortably, and he nearly lost his nerve right there, but he steeled himself and pressed on.

"S-Sig," he began awkwardly, clearing his throat once or twice as he attempted to gather his thoughts. "Listen..."

And listen Sig did, hair tufts perking up and mouth open slightly with curiosity. Klug breathed a small, grateful sigh of relief and continued.

"It's nothing important, it's just... well, now that the semester's over and I'm no longer your tutor, I figure I should... I just feel that, uh... that an apology is in order, I guess... yeah..."

Apologies were another thing with which Klug had very little experience. Though he started out with his usual self-assured tone, that grew harder to keep up the longer Sig stood there looking right at him. But the boy said nothing in response, leaving Klug, as usual, to do almost all of the talking.

"I suppose I treated you... a bit unfairly during the latter half of the semester. It was harsh and unnecessary... and I may have given you the impression that I don't care about your happiness or your well-being, w-which couldn't be further from the truth, mind you... so, uh... I thought I would just... you know..."

He trailed off and cast his eyes down to the ground, fumbling with the package that he'd taken out of his schoolbag and was now hiding behind his back. He gripped it tightly as he attempted to piece together in his head exactly what it was he wanted to say... but for once in his life, words completely failed him. At last, he gave up and let out a loud, frustrated sigh as he thrust the package unceremoniously into Sig's hands.

"Here, just take it! I'm sorry I treated you like crap, alright?"

Sig took the package from him, slightly stunned by his outburst, but still not saying a word. He slowly unwrapped it and looked it over for a moment. Inside was the research journal, along with the ladybug pin which Klug had fastened to the front cover. The blue boy continued to stare at the gift with his usual unreadable expression, which, ironically enough, was more unnerving than anything else.

"Y-yeah, I know it's not a real ladybug," Klug hastily stuttered. "You can't find them in the winter, you know, a-and I saw that pin in the jewelry store window and figured it would be the next best thing, right? I-I mean, it doesn't fly or move or anything, but it's pretty to look at, so I tho-"

He never got to finish, because before he could process anything else, a pair of arms had thrown themselves around him and were now holding him tightly.

Klug could only blink in muted surprise, effectively rendered speechless a second time. Sig used that opportunity to press up closer to him, and he spoke up for the first time that entire morning.

"I'm glad..." he whispered, smiling softly into Klug's coat. "I'm glad you don't hate me."

Klug was still too starstruck to give a proper response, and simply gave him a rigid nod instead. Gradually, though, he found it in him to return the gesture, wrapping his arms slowly and mechanically around his classmate and giving him a few stiff pats on the back. They stood there for a while, locked in that awkward embrace, and Klug figured they would stay like that until Sig decided he'd had enough.

Outward displays of affection were one more thing that Klug was not at all skilled with... but as with everything else, he was sure he'd learn quickly with practice.

Sig finally let go and stepped back, holding out his red left hand for Klug to take. And Klug took it, still a bit stiff from embarrassment, but he slowly relaxed and returned to his usual level of unwarranted self-confidence as they started walking again.

"You know, Sig," he said with a small cough, "The school year may be over, but that doesn't mean you can start neglecting your education. If you want to retain what you've learned this year, you need to stay diligent in your studies. Your spelling and your handwriting in particular still need a lot of work, and I highly recommen-"

"I got it, I got it," Sig cut him off, squeezing his hand with surprising gentleness. "You wanna see me again after school, don'tcha?"

Klug turned his head away and silently adjusted his glasses, his entire face flushing red as he gave Sig's giant hand an equally soft squeeze. Inside, he was mentally punching himself for not spitting out the most important thing he'd wanted to say in the first place. But there was plenty of time for that down the road, he concluded, and he was content with that.

For now, this was definitely a good start.

[marisexmas]

Her.

“She saved my life in countless ways… I only wished that I could be the one to save hers.”

—————

heyyyyyyyy friends I emerge from the abyss of the mogeko fandom to bring you guys an old fukawada fic that’s been sitting in my drafts for half a year now. kinda sudden I know, but I wanted to dust it off and put it out there.

please enjoy~

ao3 link

[marisexmas]

Blind

hey you know how I said I wouldn’t write that oso->choro fanfic about choromatsu doing the blind dating thing and oso both supporting and pining for him from the sidelines?

mmmmmmmmmmmm I lied. here it is

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m going out now, Osomatsu nii-san! Take care of yourself, and for the love of God, please try not to destroy the whole house while I’m out!”

You watch your little brother as he hastily slips his shoes on and gets his stuff together at the front door. Despite his little condescending quip, he looks just as joyful and excited as if he’d won the lottery. He stands there, preening and fussing over himself, wearing his best suit and carrying an extremely expensive-looking box of chocolates. Once he’s finished getting himself oriented, he turns back to you with a smile and a wave.

“I’ll probably be back in a few hours. Bye, Nii-san!”

You nod and give him a half-hearted wave back.

“Yeah… see ya.”

He’s practically beaming as he rushes out the door and carelessly slams it behind him. Once silence overtakes the house again, you slump against the wall and let out a huge, heavy sigh.

You hate doing this every time.

You know exactly how this little night of his is going to turn out. It’s gonna be just like every other one he’s gone on. Maybe there’ll be some small variations here and there, but the outcome is always the same.

Just how many blind dates is Choromatsu going to go through before he gets it through his head that this is not how to find love with someone?

When will he get it through his thick, stupid virgin skull that the one who loves him is already standing right in front of his face, and has been literally all his life?

…

About five hours later, you hear him slide the front door open. As you walk over to greet him, you can already see that it turned out just as you’d expected. He smiles at you when he sees you, but his tired, hunched posture and his sluggish movements tell you all you need to know. That fat red slap-mark on his face is a pretty good indicator, too. For formality’s sake, though, you go ahead and ask him anyway.

“So, how did it go?”

He sighs lightly, hugging the crumpled chocolate box to his chest and looking off into the corner.

“We just… didn’t really go well with each other, I guess. Too many things different between us that clash in… unpleasant ways, you know?”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

You instantly feel guilty for being sarcastic to him after he got dumped, again, so you take his hand and lead him into the kitchen.

“Come on, let’s get some ice for your face.”

Silently, you walk to the freezer with him and take out an ice pack, handing it over to him and watching him wince as he presses it up to his ugly red welt. Even now, you can see that he’s still trying his hardest to smile. He’s still trying so hard to believe that this is good for him, that this will help him find someone who will love him unconditionally… and between that and the injury, you’re not sure what pisses you off more.

“It’s okay, Nii-san… don’t worry about me. I’ll be alright. I just have to try again with someone else, you know…?”

Never mind, it’s that. That’s what makes your gut flare up with anger and gives you the urge to tell him off right then and there.

But you don’t. You’re too much of a coward to do that. Instead, you pat him on the back and give him a lopsided smile.

“Yeah… just try and look out for yourself, okay?”

He just smiles and nods like the liar that he is.

……

Not even a week later, he’s at it again. And then again the week after that. And the week after that. And so on, and so forth. It may be a different day, and it may be a different girl, or even a guy here and there, but the outcome is always the same.

He gets a bit better at it as time goes on. He gets to the point where he’s not let down quite as harshly as before. The times where he’s flat-out left standing at his arranged meeting place grow fewer and farther between. Sometimes, if he’s really lucky, he even manages to bring someone back home with him for an hour or so.

One look at any of them and you can tell the relationship is doomed from the start.

The first one’s a kinda creepy, closed-off chick who just stares at everything vacantly and pretty much makes Choromatsu do all the talking for her. You give her two weeks at most. She disappears in a week and a half.

The next one is a loud, airheaded ganguro valley girl who takes selfies every five minutes, takes up all the space immediately around her and seems to literally never stop talking, leaving Choromatsu to sit hunched up next to her and meekly nod at everything she says. She’s gone by the end of that week.

Then there’s a stuffy, strict-looking office lady who has stupid, meticulous rules about everything, constantly snapping at Choromatsu and at you for the most trivial, asinine things. She scoffs loudly when he starts talking about a new Nyaa-chan album he’s getting, and you can practically hear him deflate like a punctured inner tube as he sits back and trails off into silence. You give her three days. She’s gone in two.

As the weeks go by and he keeps throwing himself into relationship after failed relationship, you can see just how much it’s wearing him down. Every time you look into his eyes, you see how listless and vaguely fearful they’ve become, how they rarely shine anymore even when he’s pretending to be happy. You see it in the way he seems to huddle even further into himself than he did before, as if to take up as little space as possible. You hear it in the way he starts apologizing for increasingly stupid and inane things. I’m sorry for eating so loud. I’m sorry for taking a bath without telling anyone. I’m sorry for watching this DVD that is mine on the family TV that I have just as much right to use as anyone else in this house.

It pisses you off. You want so badly to tell him to stop.

You want to tell him to stop changing.

You love him just as he is. You love everything about him, even the things that piss you off a lot of the time. So to see him trying so hard to change who he is, what makes him Choromatsu, to try and please all these strangers who don’t even matter… it makes your blood boil. You hate it.

And what frustrates you more than anything is that you’re too cowardly to tell him so. These feelings of yours aren’t normal… You know that, and he’ll know that too if you say anything. And you also know that the chances of him feeling the same way are slim to none.

You want to make his life better. You want to give him the love that none of these people will, the love that he deserves so much more than they’ve made him think he does. But you know that telling him will only make things harder on him than they already are… it’ll only add more stress and self-doubt to his life that he doesn’t need.

So you don’t tell him. All you can do is stay there by his side, and help him pick himself back up every time he gets knocked down.

You stay with him every time he gets giddy and excited about someone new he’s met on that stupid dating website he uses. You help him pick out suits and buy chocolates and try out a bunch of smelly cologne that probably costs him his entire allowance. You see him off at the front door as he leaves with his heart full of hope, and you’re right there every time he comes back alone, another piece of him gone, another crack in his heart, and more often than not, an excessive amount of alcohol in his system. You hold him as he cries into your shoulder and asks you over and over what he did that made everything go wrong, or if there might be something wrong with him.

You want to make him stop. You want more than anything to quit this stupid hiding game and give him the love that he wants so badly from them. You want to take his tear-stained face in your hands, to kiss those tears away and tell him that he’s beautiful, that he’s a joy to be around, that anyone who can’t see that has no idea what they’re missing and all that good, sappy shit.

You want to tell him that you will give him all the love he deserves, and more. You’ll be more than happy to give him all the love he could ever want.

But you don’t, because you’re still a coward. You just stand there with your mouth firmly shut and let him talk.

… At least you can still give him love in small, subtle ways. You can listen to him when he starts fanboying over his idols and new anime posters and such. You can watch his anime and play his video games with him, and most of the time actually enjoy them more than you thought you would. You can make him a surprise snack now and then, “just ‘cause I felt like it”.

You can do these tiny things to make his day just a little bit brighter, and make him smile after life keeps kicking him into the mud. And maybe, just maybe, you can learn to content yourself with just that.

Every so often, though, as you hold him after another failed date, you try to ever-so-subtly tell him what you think of everything he’s been doing to himself.

“Y’know… have you ever thought that maybe you should quit this whole online dating thing?”

He never answers you. And you never have the courage to say anything more than that.

……

… Then one day, miraculously, he finds a girl who really seems to click with him. For once he comes home happy, and hopeful, and going on and on about how she’s so great and funny and nice and oh my god Nii-san you just have to meet her!

And when you do meet her, you see that he was right. She’s a genuinely nice girl, not too loud but not totally closed off, letting Choromatsu actually get a word in but having plenty to contribute to the conversation herself. She even likes a lot of the same weird idol and otaku crap that he does, and it’s almost too much for you to listen to both of them nerding out about it all at once.

You honestly don’t have an estimate for how long this one will last. Everyone else is convinced that they’re a perfect match, and even you’re starting to believe that your little bro may have finally found exactly what he’s been looking for.

You’re a little relieved… but at the same time, there’s a deep, black, festering pit forming in your stomach.

You’re happy for him, of course… all you really wanted was to see him happy, right? Now he has someone who will treat him properly and make him feel like he matters, and that’s all you asked for, right…?

No. You know very well what this feeling is. It’s a horrible, selfish feeling, but every time you see them happy together, it consumes you and makes you feel physically sick.

You want to support your little brother. You want him to be happy, and now he is. He has someone who truly loves him and appreciates him as he is, rather than trying to change him into the person they want him to be.

… But as the days and weeks go by and they only seem to grow closer and happier with each other, you reach the point where you find yourself actively wishing for something to go horribly wrong. You want them to fail. You want your brother to be miserable and heartbroken again.

You want him to be heartbroken so you can swoop in and make everything better.

You’re a horrible person. Of all the assholes in this world who don’t deserve him, you deserve him the least.

So you stay quiet, as always, and support him with all you’ve got. That’s all you can really do, isn’t it? It’s the only thing you can do to help him achieve the perfect happiness you want him to have, that he’s worked so hard to earn. And you can learn to accept that… You’ll just have to learn to accept that his happiness will never be with you.

That’s why you’re not sure how to feel when it all falls apart again.

He leaves one night to pick her up and bring her home with him… and an hour later, he comes back alone. You greet him at the door as always, and it only takes one look at him for you to understand exactly what happened. The mood from before, from the countless nights you spent consoling him time and time again, hangs heavy in the air.

You open your mouth to welcome him home, but he pushes past you before you can even get the first word out. As you watch him walk into the kitchen, you can hear him fumbling around in the fridge. You stand in the doorway and watch him pull out five cans of beer, cracking one open and taking a long, heavy swig from it, and you know that this night is not going to be pleasant for either of you.

You follow him as he gathers the cans in his arms and moves over to the couch, where he plops himself down and drops them carelessly beside him. Right now, you’re very thankful that everyone else made plans to be out of the house so they could leave him alone with his girlfriend.

You watch him, totally silent, as he sits there and stares off at nothing, taking long drinks from his beer every now and then. He’s gone through two of them and is starting on his third before you can finally bring yourself to say something.

“I told you, bro… it’s not good to put that much faith in people you don’t know.” He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t even turn his head. He just lifts his can and takes a small sip. You wait a bit before trying to speak again.

“I know it hurts, but if you keep going at it like this, you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment-”

He slams his still-mostly-full can on the table, spilling beer all over it, and whips his head up to look at you with an angry glare.

“I get it, okay!? I fucking get it!!”

The loudness and intensity of his response make you flinch, and anything else you were going to say promptly dies in your throat. He, on the other hand, appears far from done.

“I was stupid to think it’d ever work! I know that! I was a fucking idiot to think I’d find anyone who can stand to be around me for more than ten seconds!”

He takes a long, angry swig, nearly choking on it, before going on. You already want to stop him, but you don’t. You know it’s better for him to get this out.

“Well, I’m doing exactly what you said I should! I’m quitting! I’m never going back to that fucking site ever again! I’m never dating anyone ever again! I’m done! I’m fucking done!!”

He drains the rest of his can and tosses it on the ground, throwing himself back on the couch and going silent again, covering his face with his hand. At that point, you can’t just stand there anymore. You walk over to the couch and sit yourself down next to him, staring at him as you try to think of something, anything, to say. But nothing comes, so instead, you cautiously scoot closer to him and lay your hand on his shoulder.

Not even three seconds after you touch him, he throws himself against you and wraps his arms around you tightly. You can feel him shaking like a leaf, you can hear his wet sniffles and tiny, hitching breaths that tell you he’s doing everything he can to hold his sadness in.

“…Why am I never good enough, Nii-san…? Why can’t I ever make it work…?”

His sniffles turn into quivering sobs that grow louder and less coherent as he keeps talking.

“What do I have to do…? I don’t understand… what do I have to do to make someone love me…?”

He buries his face into your shoulder, in the same spot he’s buried it every time before, grips your shirt hard, and finally lets himself completely lose it.

“Why won’t anybody love me, Nii-san!?”

You listen to him as he wails without restraint, in a way you haven’t heard him cry since he was eight years old. It’s loud, it’s ugly, it’s painful, and it almost makes you want to start crying right along with him. Now, more than any other time in your life, you want to grab his face, kiss him with everything you’ve got, and tell him that you love him, that he’s your entire world, and that you’ll do everything in your power to make sure that he never cries like this again.

But you don’t, because you’re a fucking coward.

Instead, you sit there and comfort him in tiny ways, just as always. You rub his back, you stroke his hair, you shush him gently. And through it all, you don’t utter a single word.

You have no right to say anything… because you wished for this to happen.

Gradually, his sobs begin to quiet down into soft, shuddering hiccups, and finally into slow, even breaths. Once you’ve checked and confirmed that he’s completely passed out, you scoop him up and move off of the couch, intending to lay him back down in a position more suitable for sleeping.

But you stop as you look down at his sleeping face, still red and damp with tears. You see his mouth hanging open just slightly, and you realize you have a chance in front of you that you will probably never have again.

Even if he never knows it, you can still show him just how much you love him.

Carefully, while still trying to keep a steady hold on him, you lean your head down and kiss him. You gently pry his lips open with your tongue and run it along the surface of his own. You find at that moment that you’re too scared to go any further… but you’re fine with that. You’re so happy to have gotten to do just this.

Suddenly, you feel him start to stir, and you quickly pull away, fervently praying to yourself that he’s not going to wake up and piece together what you’ve just done to him.

And he doesn’t… He only shifts a bit and starts mumbling something incoherently in his sleep. You start to catch something distinct, though, and you lean in again to hear him better.

“…… rei… ka…”

… Oh. 

Reika. His old girlfriend.

Not you.

All at once, your stomach drops and you feel dizzy, because you finally understand. Any small fragment of hope you might have been holding onto has now been well and truly smashed.

He doesn’t love you. And no matter how many shitty dates and breakups he goes through, he is never going to love you.

… You lay him down on the couch, grab a blanket from the corner of the room, and tuck him in. And the whole time you do it, you’re choking back your own quiet laughter. Or is it crying? You’re not sure anymore.

After you’ve finished, you allow yourself to watch over him for a while. When you decide you’ve had long enough, you give him a give him a quick kiss on the cheek, leave him to sleep, and head downstairs to grab a beer or five for yourself.

He’s not the unlovable one. It’s you.

It’s always been you.

[marisexmas]

Calm Amidst the Storm

A Detective AU osochoro fic because what the Heck you guys? how is it that no one has written a fic based on the calming detective episode?

I don’t profess to know much about forensics or general detectiveing but I hope this fic is enjoyable nonetheless!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2:28 PM.

We were called on to investigate a grisly murder that took place in the middle of the city’s central park. When we arrived at the scene, it was a shock even to our most seasoned officers… a dead body splayed out in the grass, covered with more stab wounds than the investigators could accurately count, as well as several long, jagged cuts. The wounds were still fresh, and the body was still warm, suggesting that the killing had happened very, very recently.

The victim was a young, moderately attractive woman who looked to be in her early 20s… at least, that was the best estimate we could gain from her mutilated corpse. Any means of identification, fingerprints and such, had been meticulously removed, and there was nothing on her person that could immediately be used to identify her. No purse, no wallet, no ID… nothing.

This was a baffling case, and it had everyone on edge. It had taken place in such broad daylight, in such a densely populated area, and yet we had very little evidence and very few leads… Whoever had committed this heinous crime was either extremely cunning or extremely lucky.

I had everyone spread out through the area and search in teams, and a large area around the crime scene was cordoned off to minimize interference from the public. My trusted colleague, Assistant Inspector Todomatsu, was working hard alongside me, and all of my best men were investigating diligently to find the culprit as quickly as possible.

But there was one particular man I was still waiting on… one person I could depend upon to bring us peace and put our looming fears to rest.

The Calming Detective… Osomatsu-kun. He wouldn’t find the culprit for us. He wouldn’t give us any leads. He wouldn’t contribute anything toward the progress of this case whatsoever.

But once he arrived… I knew we’d have no more reason to be afraid.

—-

3:55 PM.

Osomatsu-kun still hadn’t arrived yet.

We’d made absolutely no headway in the case at all. We still had zero leads and almost no evidence to go on, aside from a handful of eyewitness testimonies that all essentially amounted to “I was in the park minding my own business and suddenly there was a dead body there”.

I downed my third coffee that day as I listened to the Assistant Inspector run me through our progress. Or rather, our complete lack of progress. The more I heard from him, the more it made me wish that I had a much more potent drink in my hand.

“We’ve covered about 70% of the search area, but we haven’t come up with anything yet… No one knows anything, and we haven’t found anything that can reasonably be used as a weapon. Nothing that matches up with the wounds on the victim, anyway…”

I sighed deeply and shook my head, and he did the same. This was already getting tiring for both of us, and everyone else was probably feeling it too… Primarily, the poor men who continued to comb the place and come up with nothing for their efforts.

“Dammit,” I muttered to myself, tapping my arm impatiently. “Where are you…? This is no time to be fashionably late…”

Having overheard me, my assistant turned to me incredulously. “Inspector… don’t tell me you’re honestly waiting on him to come help us?”

I gave him a small nod, and a knowing smile.

“But he’s totally useless! He’ll just make all of this even worse!”

I shook my head and sighed good-naturedly. I knew that Todomatsu didn’t exactly hold my trusted colleague in high regard… He’d only seen the Calming Detective in action for one case. He hadn’t gotten the chance to properly understand his unconventional methods.

“I know why you believe that now… but give it time. Trust me, you’ll see.”

At least, he would see, once Osomatsu-kun actually showed his face.

What was taking him so long…?

“If you say so,” Todomatsu shrugged. “But for now, let’s just focus on doing our job, alright?”

Without another word, we dropped the subject and returned to the investigation… but the case was far from the most prominent thing on my mind anymore.

—-

7:15 PM.

We were no further now than when we’d started. Everyone on duty was growing tired and beginning to question the point of continuing. The news of the murder had reached every major station on the air by that point, and public unrest was growing rapidly. Reporters and paparazzi had arrived and were now flanking the crime scene, fiercely competing with each other to get the biggest scoop, eager to serve up their stories about the incompetence of the officers handling the investigation.

Osomatsu-kun was still nowhere to be found.

I refused to give up hope that he would show himself eventually… but my patience was beginning to wear very thin.

“I don’t know what to tell you, honestly,” the assistant inspector said with another shrug and a hefty sigh. “All we’ve got is that the vic’s an attractive woman in her 20’s, and her clothes were pretty form-fitting… there might be good reason to believe that this was a sexually-motivated crime.”

“I know that,” I shot back, slamming my fist on a nearby tree. “But that still doesn’t tell us anything, does it!? I don’t give a damn about the why right now, all I care about is the who!”

Todomatsu flinched and shrank back from me, clearly startled by my outburst. I muttered a curt apology and willed myself to pull it together, but it was getting harder and harder to do on my own.

I needed his help… all of us needed it. The longer we went without him, the more it became obvious just how much everyone needed him.

“So… this Osomatsu-kun,” my assistant spoke up out of the blue. “How do you know him, Inspector? Where did you guys meet?”

I knew that he was using this as a means to distract me from my frustration, and I was all too grateful for it.

“It’s not really a remarkable story,” I replied. “I met him while we were investigating a robbery-turned-murder a few years back. He just… wandered into the crime scene while the investigation was going on. He had no warrant and no authorization to be there, but he was incredibly charming and easy to talk to, and his presence put everyone’s minds at such ease that I decided to let him stay.”

I let out a soft sigh, smiling fondly as the memory of that day came back to me.

“You see… I was in a bit of a bad spot at the time. Our investigations had been going poorly for a while. Most of the cases we handled ended up going completely cold. The public was getting restless, the tabloids were destroying our reputation, and several citizens and higher-ranking officers were out for my head in particular. And to be frank, I… wasn’t handling the pressure well at all.

“I got angrier and more belligerent, shut out my well-meaning friends and colleagues, snapped at my commanding officer, and nearly lost my job. I started taking frequent leaves of absence because it was all just too much to handle. I felt as though I didn’t deserve to have this badge or this job, and I came dangerously close to quitting the force altogether…”

Todomatsu sat and listened to me, silent and wide-eyed with interest. Of course, he had always been captivated by my stories, so I expected no less.

“But the day he walked into that house and tripped over that police tape, all of that changed. Everything else suddenly felt so insignificant. Everyone felt that they could relax and stop taking everything so seriously. It was as if all the troubles I’d been beating myself up over didn’t matter that much anymore. It was the first time in so many ages that I remember truly and genuinely laughing.”

Even now, the mere memory of it elicited a quiet chuckle from me. Even now, the memory of him made me feel calm.

“…But did you ever solve the case?” my assistant asked after a long pause. I turned to him, that fond smile still on my face.

“No.”

He looked completely baffled, but didn’t say anything. It was honestly amusing.

“…But that didn’t matter, because I took my life back that day. All thanks to him.”

Todomatsu stared at me, dumbfounded, looking as though he wanted to say something… but in the end, he only shook his head and stood up, dusting himself off.

“If you say so… Come on, we’ve wasted enough time here. We’ve got work to do.”

Much as I wished not to acknowledge it, I knew he was right. With a resigned sigh, I stood up, fixed my hat, and steeled myself for a very long night…

—-

11:41 PM.

The murderer had struck again.

I watched with dull, tired eyes as the forensics team crowded around the body. It had been dumped in one of the park’s fountains, just outside of our cordoned search area, somehow eluding the detection of both the police and the countless paparazzi swarming around the scene.

The second victim’s body was just as horribly mangled as the first. This time, it was a short, stocky, elderly man, a reporter, throwing my assistant’s previous theory completely out the window. We were back to square one.

He was mocking us. The culprit was deliberately toying with us.

I was at a loss… all I could do was look into the fountain as it ran red with a dead man’s blood. There was no happiness here, nothing to distract me from my fear and frustration. There was no one here to keep me calm.

He wasn’t here to keep me calm.

“Inspector!”

I jolted and turned toward my assistant as he ran up to me, a grim and serious look on his face. It wasn’t the kind of face I wanted to see right now.

“Sir, we need your permission to expand the search,” he said firmly and hastily. “There’s a chance that the killer is still close. If we can search quickly and catch him, then we can-”

I couldn’t focus on his words anymore. They all just started to blend together. Everything was starting to blend together, and all I could focus on was the increasingly hollow feeling of dread that began to take over every part of me.

My body was cold. My mouth was dry. My vision was spotty. Everything became a massive blur of motion and noise, and I could vaguely see my assistant shouting more urgently, shouting something like “Please, I need an answer”, but I couldn’t tell for certain. All I could do was shake my head, and even that felt somehow painful.

“I don’t know, just… I don’t know…”

That was my voice speaking, I was pretty sure. It sounded weak and strangled, but it was my voice… Was I shaking? It felt like I was shaking. What were we going to do? There was a killer on the loose, right under our noses, and we couldn’t find him even though we’d spent hours searching. He could strike again, at any moment, he could kill one of the reporters, he could kill one of the forensics team, he could kill my assistant standing right in front of me, and there was no one to keep us calm, there was no one to bring our minds peace, he wasn’t here to tell us everything would be all right–

“Inspector.”

I jumped as I felt a hand on my shoulder. Everything was clear again, and my assistant was in front of me, his face still serious, but now soft and empathetic.

“With all due respect, Sir… please, just go home. You’re obviously not in any condition to be out here right now.”

I stood there, still trembling slightly. I knew that he was right… shameful as it was, what I needed most right now was to get away from here. I sighed, letting out a long breath I just discovered I’d been holding all this time.

“You’re… you’re right… I’m sorry.”

He gave me a smile, the first I’d seen in several hours, and patted my shoulder.

“I’ll have one of the officers give you a ride. Go home, get some rest, come back when you’ve got it together. I’ll take over here in the meantime, alright?”

I gave him a slow, tired nod.

“Yeah… Thanks, Totty.”

“D-Don’t call me that while I’m on the job! Just get going already!”

I smiled and quietly apologized as he led me out of the park, away from the chaos.

—-

1:31 AM.

After a long and uneventful ride home to my cluttered one-bedroom apartment, I all but collapsed on my bed immediately, throwing my trenchcoat haphazardly on the ground, not even bothering to remove my hat.

And that was where I lay for hours, unmoving as I stared at my ceiling, hand covering my face while I ruminated on everything I’d done that day.

It had been several years since I’d let a case affect me this deeply. Even without his help, I was usually stronger than this. Just what had happened to me out there…?

Even if I rested now… would I really be ready to walk back out there tomorrow?

…

—-

3: 13 AM.

My phone rested on the pillow, right next to my head. I’d just finished with a call from Todomatsu.

There had been another murder, but they’d managed to corner a highly suspicious person before he could flee the scene. They had him locked up in holding now, and they would interrogate him in the morning.

‘We’re finally getting somewhere, Inspector. You can relax and rest easy now.’

I sighed and pulled my hat over my face. It was easy for him to say that, but I was still a long, long way from relaxed. The physical aftereffects of my little episode were still giving me grief. My body ached all over, my throat was still tight, and I still hadn’t quite shaken off the suffocating feeling of impending dread that hung over me. Nonetheless, I closed my eyes, determined to take my assistant’s advice and just try to get some sleep…

… until a loud, earth-shaking crash rocked my entire apartment. I heard the shattering of my windowpane, as well as the entire wall around it, and jolted up immediately, my hat falling from my face. What met my eyes as I looked toward the noise was an enormous mess of rubble, glass, and scattered paperwork… I was only given a moment to look, though, before something jumped out from the chaos and pinned me back down onto the bed.

But I didn’t resist… because I already knew the identity of my ‘assailant’ without even needing to see his face. Only one man in this world was capable of pulling off such a spectacular entrance.

“… Osomatsu-kun.”

He smiled down at me upon hearing his name.

“Hi.”

“… You’re late.”

I was smiling now, too. I couldn’t help it. The man I’d been waiting for all night had finally arrived.

He sat up and rubbed the back of his neck, the way he always does. “Ahh, sorry… I got kinda sidetracked. You see, I saw a cat on my way over there, and it looked so soft and cute that I really wanted to pet it, maybe even catch it and show it to you guys, so I ended up chasing it all over town… and then I kinda got lost, hehe…”

“You ditched the investigation for something like that!?”

I took my hat and whacked him over the head with it. There was no anger or malice in my tone whatsoever. On the contrary, I was trying and failing to stifle my laughter. He was laughing along with me… and once we’d calmed down, he plopped right back down on top of me.

“… So did they find the guy that did it?”

“Maybe… they found a suspect about half an hour ago. He’s in a holding cell right now.”

“Weren’t you supposed to be down there with them?”

I sighed softly and wrapped my arms around him.

“No… I had another episode and my assistant sent me home early.”

“Aah…”

He returned my gesture, and we lay there in silence, wrapped around each other, completely oblivious to the massive property damage he’d just caused.

“… Everything’s fine now though, isn’t it?”

He spoke up out of nowhere. I opened my eyes, not realizing I’d closed them.

“… Hm?”

He was still smiling, as big and bright as ever.

“They caught the guy, right? So everything turned out fine in the end, even without me! Now you’ve just gotta put together enough stuff to prove he did it and then you’ll be all done!”

“But we don’t now for sure that he’s the one who did it yet…”

“Ah, but you don’t know for sure that he isn’t not the one who did it either, riiight?”

He sounded so proud of himself for saying that, I almost felt guilty having to burst his bubble.

“That’s… essentially what I just said, Osomatsu-kun.”

A small ‘oh’ from him, and then a long silence followed… until a fit of laughter erupted from me once again, before I could stop myself. That started him up again, and for a long while, we just sat there on the bed, laughing like fools. Eventually, though, my exhaustion overtook me, and I collapsed back onto my pillow.

“Looks like you overdid it again, Detective,” he said, leaning down to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Hurry up and get some sleep, okay?”

“I’ve told you several times now, it’s Inspector,” I sighed tiredly. “It’s embarrassing when you call me Detective…”

He looked me right in the eyes and gave me another smile.

“Detectiiiive~.”

I pouted at him as he kissed me again. Once again, he had successfully defused the situation, and distracted my mind from all of its cares, just by being his clueless, careless self.

And I was eternally grateful to him for it.

I could certainly understand why my assistant had trouble seeing how calming he truly was, and how reassuring his presence could be… but to me, it was as plain as day.

“Alright, I gotta take off for now. Lots of crime these days that I gotta help fight, you know… But you’ll take my advice and rest up, yeah?”

I gave him a nod, and his smile grew as he patted my shoulder. Then, with a yawn and a stretch, he leapt off my bed, turning around to give me an awkward salute before exiting the same way he’d entered, by leaping through the gaping hole he’d made in my wall. As I closed my eyes and settled in to sleep, I heard him land with a resounding crash in the dumpster below my window, upsetting the neighborhood dogs. Exhausted as I was, it took no time at all for me to pass out completely.

Calming Detective Osomatsu… he’d been exceedingly late this time around, and he’d done extensive damage to my apartment, the expenses for which would almost certainly be coming out of my own pocket.

But, just as always, he’d done his job flawlessly. My fears were now behind me again, and I was perfectly calm.