Better

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Shiraume

Ink Burns

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

This is a work of fanfiction, produced according to the principles of transformative fair use as put forward in US copyright law, and abiding by the custom and practice of fan-produced work in Japan, where the source texts were created. No author is in any way affiliated with any of the creators of the source texts, nor with the companies who distribute their products, nor any other rights holder, and these stories were not authorized by either the creators or the producers. Ink Burns is a fan site and the material here is freely provided for the enjoyment of fellow fan-community members; there is no commercial infringement.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 US license at the Ink Burns fanfiction archive (http://alltrees.org/archive/).

Published on 2005-01-06 16:22:16.

Attributions can be made by author's name and a link to the archive.

This ebook edition was published on May 16, 2012 by the Ink Burns fanfiction archive.

Better

Watari takes advantage of the situation. Humor, I-1

The Juuohcho employees frantically threw themselves out of the way as a blond shinigami in lab coat stormed down the corridor, muttering a litany of "funds" and "cut down," with intermittent "Tatsumi," and numerous repetitions of "kill." The look on the man's face was enough to send even Terazuma scurrying for cover.

Watari Yutaka was not a happy man today.

Konoe jumped when the door slammed open and Watari stomped inside. "Where is Tatsumi?" Watari demanded, and Konoe gulped when Watari's smoldering gaze focused on him.

"He left a few minutes ago," Konoe managed to squeak out and Watari narrowed his eyes; there was only one reason why the workaholic would not be at his desk during the office hours: a Tsuzuki-related accident. Watari stalked to Tsuzuki's desk and examined the mess for clues, until a memo on top of the file caught his eyes. The slight frown of concentration changed to a look of understanding, then that of fierce determination, and the next moment, he was gone from the office. Konoe breathed a sigh of relief. They really weren't paying him enough for this job.

Once in Tokyo, it was easy enough to find Tsuzuki -- all one had to do was follow the explosions, really -- and by the same route, Tatsumi, currently talking to Tsuzuki. Watari stopped to compose himself. It would not do to lose his momentum now. He had a mission to accomplish here! Taking a deep breath, Watari opened his mouth to call out, and stopped.

"I'm just warding these mortals from any careless demonic or angelic influences, so the book keeping doesn't get messed up," Tsuzuki was saying. Watari closed his mouth and raised an eyebrow.

"On your own time?" Tatsumi asked, and Watari hid a snicker. His thoughts exactly.

"It seemed like a good thing to do. Preemptive action, and all that," Tsuzuki explained, and Watari frowned, wondering why he hadn't heard anything about this before (though admittedly he had been rather distracted lately, what with the breakthrough in his potions research...). Watari pursed his lips, the gears turning in his head. Now, he was sure there was some way he could use this situation, once he found out more about what was actually going on.

Very quietly, Watari backed up and teleported to the Juuohcho library, grabbing both Gushoshin on his way and locking the door. Some time later, Watari emerged from the library with an unholy gleam in his eyes, and strode down the corridor back to his lab. For the second time in the same day, the Juuohcho employees frantically scrambled out of Watari's way, fearing for their afterlife.

Three days later...

"Watari-san, are you sure this isn't against the rules?" Wakaba asked, nervously looking around to make sure no one was watching.

Watari gestured her closer, smiling widely. "Of course! Now, Wakaba-chan, I have a special today for my favorite girl."

Against her better judgment, Wakaba drew closer, and peered. Half an hour later, Wakaba carefully snuck out of the lab, flushed and smiling. She couldn't wait to talk to Hajime-chan about this!

Back in the lab, Watari, in his intense concentration, did not notice a presence looming behind him until his shadow began to tremble.

"Watari-san."

Watari, recognizing the voice, promptly whirled around to face him. "Tatsumi. Hi."

"Good afternoon. Might I ask what you are doing here?" Tatsumi's voice was pleasantly icy, and Watari swallowed. Ah well, the cat was out of the bag and all. Watari gave him a sunny smile.

"Writing down all the bets. Do you want to place one?"

Tatsumi was silent for a while. "That," Tatsumi said finally, "is definitely against the office protocol."

"But not against the rules," Watari said winningly. "I checked."

"Watari-san."

"I'll give you a sure winner," Watari said brightly. Seeing Tatsumi's cool glare, Watari tried again. "Okay, wanna split the profit 70-30?"

"50-50," Tatsumi said coolly, pushing up his glasses.

"60-40," Watari countered, not giving an inch.

"Deal." Tatsumi shook Watari's hand once, firmly. "Now that's been settled, we have a meeting in five minutes."

"Sure, just give me a minute," Watari said distractedly as he put away the white board.

"Could I ask why?" Tatsumi asked curiously as they walked out of the lab. Watari shrugged, locking the door.

"I need more funds for my research."

Note: "Better" is the accepted alternate spelling for "bettor."