Bungou Stray Dogs ~ One-shots

[Fukuzawa xR] Where I Belong

By dint of going round in circles, she finally had to face the facts.

She was bored stiff. She had long since finished her work for today, had even gotten a head start on the next few days, her personal office was glowing like the rest of the room, and the quietness that reigned in the agency, which had satisfied her for a while after the day's running around she had just had, had finally worn her out.

She was content to look out the window at the few lights of the cars, which passed in the street below without her seeing them, knowing that she was on the fourth floor.

Her fingers had been absent-mindedly playing with the same pen for a good five minutes, and the seconds that ticked away on the clock seemed to last for hours.

Everyone else in the agency was long-gone, at least a good two hours if she remembered correctly. But she was still waiting, hoping that the person she was waiting for would finally appear.

The boss of the agency, Fukuzawa Yukichi, stayed as usual to finish his work. And Eiko, as a good girlfriend, was waiting for him so that they could go back home together. But, that night, the 'overtime' lasted much longer than usual.

Even Kunikida had gone home, that was to say.

The young woman finally decided to get up from her chair, when, due to a bad manipulation, her pen previously in her fingers had ended up flying across the room. As expected, sitting too long did not help the state of her poor back, already badly treated by the day she had just spent.

She went around her chair, then her desk, and had to get on all fours to get her favorite pen, the one Ranpo had bought her for an occasion she had forgotten exactly what it was.

The dark-haired man was as attached to her as he was to Fukuzawa, so much so that Eiko was convinced that he considered them both as father and mother. This did not bother her at all, on the contrary.

Ranpo was like a son to her, after all.

Carefully placing the newly recovered pen on her desk, the young woman finally decided to act, instead of waiting indefinitely without doing anything. It was also possible that Yukichi had fallen asleep on his desk, in the middle of the papers he had not finished filling in.

Usually, she let him finish working quietly, but now she did not have the patience for this. She turned off the light in the office of the agency, and went into the corridor that led to her companion's office.

The light that passed under the door was evidence of Fukuzawa's presence inside. When she reached out, the sound of a pen scratching paper could be heard, a sign that he was still wide awake.

And that he still had not finished his work, she deduced with an annoyed pout. Deciding not to knock, the young woman discreetly opened the door, the warm light of the room welcoming her at once.

Yukichi was well and truly there, behind his desk and half hidden by several piles of papers, sliding his pen on an umpteenth report. She knew he had heard her, even though he did not look up to make sure it was her.

He just knew it.

Once the door closed behind her, she silently approached the gray-white-haired man, stopping a few steps away from him, glancing at the various files that gracefully fed the mountains of paper.

He had almost finished, as far as she could see. He only had one pile left, which did not look too complicated to fill out. She could have helped him in his task, but she knew that he preferred to do everything himself.

Besides, she might not be the best person to help him fill in the reports...

Resigned, Eiko decided instead to move forward a little more, her legs almost touching the armrests of the chair on which her boyfriend was sitting. Without anything being said, this one forsook one moment his work, moved back his seat and waited, establishing finally an eye contact with the young woman.

The tiredness was literally read in his eyes. Eiko took the time to deposit a kiss on the forehead of the man, whose tense features relaxed almost at once, only to come to take place on his knees, answering with joy to the silent invitation.

Once her legs passed on each side of those of Fukuzawa, her buttocks well wedged on the knees of this last and her arms surrounding the size of his lover, Yukichi advanced again his chair, replacing it in the position which it occupied previously, and started again to work, his pen scratching again the paper of the reports.

His free hand was now resting on Eiko's waist, the latter not hesitating for a second to snuggle up to Yukichi, enveloped in the familiar and comforting scent of her boyfriend.

Since she was much smaller than him, her face just reached Fukuzawa's shoulder, on which she rested the upper part of her cheek.

Only there, perfectly installed on the knees of the one she loved, she let her eyes close, the force that her arms exerted on Yukichi's waist progressively decreasing as sleep came to seek her.

The hand that was gently caressing her lower back distractedly continued to perform its task, as its owner slowly but surely finished what was left to finish... Hearing the young woman's breathing slow down, a sign that she had arrived in the land of dreams, he risked a glance in her direction, lowering his head, discovering her sleeping face a few centimeters from his, tearing him a soft smile.

When she snuggled up to him like that, she looked like a little cat. And God only knew how much he loved those animals.

Bringing back his hand to chase a lock of hair which had fallen in front of the closed eyes of Eiko, Fukuzawa nevertheless took the time to deposit a kiss on the forehead of this last one, as to repay the one that she had given him a few moments ago.

Now that he was not all alone, the necessary courage to finish what he had to do had returned to him.

The presence of his favorite cat at his side was worth all the energy in the world, after all.

This presence that reminded him where he belonged.