Ethereal - Suegiku

3

        "Hey, we're here. Wake up." Tecchou lightly shook his colleagues shoulder, who sighed in response.

"Don't touch me..." He muttered, swatting away the brunette's hand.

"Ah. Sorry."

"Just let me sleep, you asshole." He huffed.

"We've been here for 10 minutes, and you've barely moved since we left. Are you sure you're feeling alright?" The man moved his hand to check Jouno's temperature and he immediately grabbed Tecchou's wrist, threatening to break it.

"What did I just say? And don't tell me you already forgot that you kept me awake until 4 in the morning with that insufferable packing job and voice of yours!"

"I've just been worried about you. You know that." Tecchou said that so casually, Jouno couldn't help but be thrown off. Yes, he knew just how worried his coworker was about his safety, but he didn't expect to hear him admit that so casually.

"I'm fine! Just-" The man couldn't help but notice the brunette's heartbeat, which made it clear just how concerned he was. It was barely noticeable, otherwise. Finally, Jouno sighed in defeat.

"Okay, jeez..." He let out a long sigh and opened the car door, slowly stepping outside.

"Ah, Jouno-san's awake already?" Tachihara looked over at the two men walking in his direction, a little surprised.

"Yeah. You said you were going to go on a walk to get to know the area soon, right?" The brunette seemed to know where he was going with his sentence, and the peppermint haired man didn't seem to like it.

"Yes, why?.."

"Can Jouno go with you? I think it's important for him to get some fresh air at the moment."

Upon hearing this suggestion, the man punched his coworker in the arm.

"Shut up, I'm doing fine!" He seethed. After a moment, however, the man seemed to be reconsidering.

"...You know what? If it means that I can get away from you, then I'll do it." The man huffed and swiftly walked towards the redhead, and Tecchou followed close behind.

"Tachihara, can you make sure he stays safe-" The man was interrupted by Jouno slapping him across the face; hard enough to warrant a sharp inhale from the one watching it unfold.

"Jouno, please stop hurting me."

"Only if you stop embarrassing me, bastard." He sighed in annoyance, walking off. "Tachihara-san, are you coming?"

"Oh, yeah!" He began walking towards his coworker, giving Tecchou a thumbs up. Once the two were a considerable distance away, Teruko walked over to where the brunette was standing.

"Jeez, you've started worrying about him a lot, huh?" She elbowed her subordinate, smiling playfully.

"Yeah. I don't want something like what happened during the vampire incident to happen again." He muttered, incredibly displeased with the memories. At this, the captain smiled even wider.

"Heh. You love him, don't you?"

"What makes you say that?" The brunette asked, beginning to blush at the sudden question.

"Well, it's just like you said! Ever since the vampire incident, you've barely left his side after seeing him so fucked up! It's almost like you decided you'd protect him for the rest of your damn life! Plus..." The girl's voice dropped to a whisper, despite nobody else being around.

"You prioritized him over defeating the cause of the incident itself. Do you have any idea how romantic that sounds on paper? Placing the person you love over the safety of the world?! You have to at least love him on a subconscious level!" Teruko smirked, proud of however she gained some of that information; perhaps from one of the members of the agency.

"Captain, it's not subconscious. I do love him, I was just wondering how you knew." Tecchou's reddened face was more than noticeable at this point, and upon hearing what her subordinate had just admitted, the girl's eyes sparkled. After a moment, she let out a loud squeal.

"I knew it!! Why don't you just tell him that already?! It's so obvious that he feels the same way!"

"Because, he wants nothing to do with me. I don't want to put him in that position."

"Did you not hear what I just said?! Some of the things he says either to you or about you make it so obvious he just wants to be kissed senseless by you already!"

"What- captain-!" A rare flustered expression appeared on the man's face, almost as if he knew that a certain coworker of his heard everything. Upon realizing that, however, he could've sworn his heart stopped; alongside Jouno's.

"Um, Jouno-san? Are you sure you're okay?" Tachihara happened to notice his colleague's incredibly flushed face, curious as to whatever it was that made him so red.

"... Yeah. I'm feeling fine." He muttered, clearly unsure of how to feel. For some strange reason, he felt a little bit happier knowing just how Tecchou saw him. He had to admit, his phrasing was never the best around his colleague, but it seemed he suddenly realized why that was.

Perhaps his poor choice of words, and what people assumed they meant, was exactly what he wanted.

"God damn it..."