have patience | Kamisato Ayato x Reader

chapter 11 | sappy, not snappy

With aching legs and burning eyes, you stumbled your way through the entrance into the heart of the Kamisato Estate in the middle of the night, in the complete dark.

And no, your eyes were not playing games with you at your expense, your vision had certainly been impaired by the night's natural bleakness that had dutifully planted itself like a curtain upon the atmosphere, falling against any source of light.

Which, in this case, had meant that your taskmaster, the one who turned you into a reluctant steward of his grandiose schemes, had forgotten to switch on any nearby lights or kindle any flames out of a candle's wick.

As a disgruntled groan of frustration slipped past your lips, you remained ever doubtful of all the steps you took throughout the building in pursuit of the aforementioned man's office.

Once you finally reached the door to his office—or, at least, you desperately hoped it was the exact door—you painfully realized your frustrations from earlier had never once ceased, nagging at your logical senses as they only burned stronger and brighter.

It had been awful enough that you currently smelled of dirt and sweat, but to have your line of sight completely disrupted by either Ayato's forgetful mistake or intentional action? To say you had been merely frustrated with him was putting it far too kindly.

Without uttering a singular word, you carefully ran your hand down your shoulder and, though you winced whenever a pine needle prickled through your skin's intricate defenses, you tried your best to mix it in with the mess of sap that had fallen onto your clothing. With the idea from earlier still fresh on your memory, you attempted to form the combined materials into some semblance of a blob.

The pine needles had, rather expectantly, started to adhere to the sap as if it were proper glue, and even with as impossible as it was to mold something fluid into something solid, you were satisfied with the mixture you held carefully in your hands.

With your footsteps placed as delicately as a seamstress' stitches, you approached Ayato's office cautiously. Taking a moment to adjust your eyes to the sudden intrusion of a singular candle's helpful offering of light, you hesitantly tread closer and closer, waiting for the perfect moment.

While the commissioner had his back turned as he sat in his chair, facing his shelves filled to the heavens with parchments and documents, you gently leaned forward, mentally preparing yourself to toss, and—

"I don't believe I'd do that, were I the one standing in your troubled shoes."

As you froze in your spot, Ayato spun around in his chair to face you, noting the bewilderment upon your face. After his eyes roamed over your messy appearance, they widened.

"My, you've been through the wringer, haven't you?"

"Sir, with all due respect, please don't start." you replied, trying your absolute best not to allow any signs of your frustration to show.

"Very well, I'll abide. You did an honorable thing today, and..." he paused, his eyes still focused upon the sap still left upon your shoulders, and he hid his mouth behind his hand in hopes of properly stifling a chuckle. "...it clearly shows."

The sigh you held back earlier finally slipped out, and you remained silent.

"I suppose I can trust it all went rather well?" Ayato spoke again, glancing down at his desk after breaking eye contact.

"Oh, splendidly well." you replied dryly before sitting down in an empty chair, attempting to not wince as the fabric of your pants shifted and brushed against the gash on your knee. "In fact, it went so well that it's why I'm just so jovial over being covered in pine needles, sap, and who knows what else."