Witch Hunter Robin Fan Fiction ❯ When All Is Said And Done ❯ II ( Chapter 2 )

II

Sakaki

 

The day was moving slowly. The word boredom flashed through Sakaki's mind in big bright letters with marching ants around it as he sat at his desk. He looked around his desk for something to do. There was a pen and the computer and that was it. He picked the pen up and twirled it in his fingers. Shit. He didn't remember a day more boring than that one. In fact, the days got more boring as they went on. Perhaps that was why. Yeah. That was it. Wonder what Michael's up to.

Sakaki moved around in his chair and looked at Michael. He was staring at Sakaki.

“What?” Sakaki asked. Michael shrugged. His hand was on his mouse and he was turned slightly towards Sakaki, his eyebrows furrowed in what looked like annoyance. That wasn't usual. But what about Michael was? “You're up to something,” Sakaki said. Michael shook his head.

“No,” he said. “It's just that you're ticking me off.” Sakaki's forehead flinched.

“What'd I do?” he asked defensively.

“You're sitting around here like there's nothing to do.” Michael motioned his head towards the large windows to the right of them. Sakaki looked at them, then back at Michael. “At least you can go out there,” Michael said.

“I'm going to tell you something, Michael,” Sakaki said, tapping the pen on his knee. “You're not missing as much as you think you are.”

“Are you kidding me?” Michael asked.

“Oh, wow, you mean like being out there for two minutes before Amon comes a-calling?” Sakaki made a noise. “It's not worth it. The only time I'm not bothered is when I'm actually here and bored. As soon as I sneak out for a little joy ride, here comes you, buzzing me for a hunt. It's not like I'm having any fun out there, anyway. I can't date anybody, and I don't have any friends.” Michael looked down.

“You're right,” he said, and turned back to his computer. “I was out of line.” Sakaki rolled over to him.

“What's eating you?” he asked. Michael sighed.

“You ever notice how useless it is? Working here?”

“We don't have much of a choice,” Sakaki said.

“You have more of a choice than I do.” Sakaki made an irritated noise.

“Let me let you in on a little something,” he said. “You ever read 1984?”

“Yeah, but I don't remember much about it.”

“How about…? Have you seen the Matrix?”

“Yeah, I mean…who hasn't?”

“Imagine me as the main character,” Sakaki said. “Imagine I found out about all the stuff on the whole fake world thing, and then I was set free with all that knowledge. I'd be like…a threat to the STN. I know things, and it's enough that I have contact with people outside the Matrix, but then to cut off contact with the STN altogether? They'd probably hunt me down like they did you, and we both know that that's some scary shit.”

“Avoidable for you at least,” Michael said. Sakaki hung on the back of his chair.

“Yeah,” he said. “You were kinda like Neo, and couldn't get away in time.” Michael sighed.

“It sucks here. I'm hungry.” Sakaki yawned.

“If you…promise not to tell Amon where I went, I'll sneak you in something special.” Michael smirked at Sakaki.

“With an offer like that, how can I refuse?” Sakaki stood up and stretched. Good. Now he had an excuse to get out. Good ol' Michael. Always good for a squeeze. Sakaki paused at that thought, feeling oddly disturbed for thinking it. He shook his head and went towards the elevators, passing Doujima as she walked in.

 

Doujima

 

“And just where are you off to?” she asked. Sakaki stepped into the elevator, turned, smiled and waved at her as the door closed. Brat. Doujima put her hands on her hips and looked around the office. It was empty except for Michael, Kosaka and Hattori. She knew she should have stayed out longer. There was absolutely nothing going on.

She walked over to Michael's desk and folded her arms.

“Where is everyone?” she asked him. He had his headphones on again. She hated it when he had those stupid things on, playing that terrible music. She was surprised he hadn't gone deaf by then. Michael gave her a shrug, not looking up from his computer. Doujima rolled her eyes.

“This is just great,” she said. She went over to Sakaki's chair and sat down. She could feel Michael's eyes on her. She looked at him.

“What?” He pursed his lips slightly and turned his attention back to the computer. Weird kid, always staring rudely at anyone he could get his eyes on. Doujima patted her hair and leaned back in the chair. And where on earth was Miho? She was always around when she wasn't hunting and if Michael didn't know where she was, that meant she wasn't hunting. Doujima snorted on the inside. Probably snuck out some place with Amon. Doujima always thought Karasuma had a thing for him.

She yawned and looked over at Kosaka's station. He was staring at her. Old perv. She rolled closer to Michael, hoping he blocked her from Kosaka's view.

“What?” Michael asked.

“What are you doing?”

“Just playing a game.”

“Oh, really?” She sighed.

“If you're bored, you should just go out,” Michael said. “I'm sure if we need you, we'll be able to reach you.”

“I know, but the chief was complaining about how I don't spend enough time in the office, and…you know how I hate attracting his attention.” Michael patted a stack of ringed binders on the right side of his desk.

“You can look through these if you want. The boss dropped them off this morning, but I'm going to wait until Robin gets a look at them before I mess around with them.”

“Why?”

“They're her favorite kind. But if you're bored, you should go ahead.” Doujima looked away.

“Fantastic,” she said, then reached for a notebook. “Great. Now I can be bored to tears instead of just mildly bored.” Michael chuckled. He had a nice chuckle. For a dork.

“You might find something you're interested in.” Doujima got up and went over to her own computer.

“Right,” she said. “What will it matter, anyway? Amon's acting like a lion on wheels lately. I think he's going through menopause.” Michael smirked.

“I think a midlife crisis is more like it.”

“Same difference.” Doujima flipped open the case files book, then slammed it shut when she heard heels approaching.

 

Karasuma

 

“Miho!” Karasuma looked over to Doujima, who was quickly clacking her way towards the elevators. Instinctively, Karasuma thought that something was wrong.

“What is it?” she asked sternly. Doujima smiled.

“Oh, nothing much,” she said, shrugging widely. “I'm bored, is all. You going on a hunt?”

“No, not at the moment.” Karasuma headed towards the computers. “Good morning, Michael.”

“Morning, Miss Karasuma.” Karasuma turned on her computer. Doujima stayed near the elevators, pouting. That girl. What would they ever do with her?

“Well…I'm going to go get lunch,” Doujima said. “I'll be back soon.”

“Right,” Karasuma said. Doujima stepped into an elevator.

“Who goes to lunch at 9:30 in the morning?” Michael asked.

“Yurika doesn't seem to mind,” Karasuma said. Michael sighed. Karasuma looked at him. He seemed a little down. “Something the matter?” she asked. Michael looked at her and shook his head. His expression was slightly confused, indicating that he wasn't aware of the fact that he was acting out of the ordinary.

“Why?” Karasuma shook her head. She picked up the case book Doujima had taken from the pile.

“What's this?” she asked.

“More work from the boss,” Michael said. “Doujima didn't really start yet.”

“Where are the others?” Michael pointed to the case files. Karasuma smiled shortly, then shook her head slightly.

“I mean Amon and the others.”

“I'm not sure.” That was surprising.

“You're not?”

“Uhn-uhn. I didn't know where you were either until you came in here.”

“I see.” Karasuma opened the case file book and began to search the first one. After a while, she stopped and looked around. Michael was staring at her. “I just wonder where Amon is,” she said.

“I haven't seen him since he came in this morning.”

“You didn't see if he left, huh?”

“No…I don't remember seeing him go.” That was odd. Amon was usually around and here, Karasuma didn't remember seeing him anywhere that morning. She flipped to the next page of the case files, instantly feeling a strange warmth come over her. There were a few flashes in her mind. It took a moment for her to pull her hand away from the page. She looked down. There was a photograph. She sighed, and looked to see if anyone saw it. No one was paying her any attention. She went back to her work.

 

Amon

 

He hoped he wouldn't be that self conscious about it if it ever happened to him, whatever would happen to him. He put his hand on the frame of the window and watched Michael and Karasuma work. He wanted to go out there, but he wasn't having a very good day. Zaizen had just finished yelling at him, and he was fit to strangle the old man if he didn't calm down. Zaizen was a push over, a grade A asshole. Amon could easily hurt him, but he knew what he would be risking if he acted violently. He stared at Michael. In some ways, they were all stuck there. But Michael… Amon didn't know how he could stand it. He wanted him out of there, away from the iron grip of Zaizen and the rest of the creeps they worked for.

……………

kaj