log: Sakuno, Tezuka

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Date: May 8, 2008
Rating: G
Summary: Sakuno gets lost (again), and Tezuka walks her back to her desk (again), where Sakuno invites him to tea.



Tezuka had not been working on the latest batch of reports long; the last stack had been handed to him not fifteen minutes ago.  So when he sensed someone hovering near him with another stack of paper (Tezuka was sure he'd gained an extra sensitivity to the proximity of paper simply by working in General Affairs--the amount of paperwork was staggering) he looked up.  "Are those for me, Ryuuzaki-san?" he asked, managing to conceal his dismay.
 
"Um...no." Sakuno juggled her rather large stack of papers, still not used to lugging around such large quantities. She'd been looking for the way back to the liason's offices after having to come out and use the copier in Tezuka's area. For some reason, she just couldn't seem to figure out how to deal with the tempermental one in her office. And she certainly didn't go by the motto that beating on a machine would help any. Still, the evil thing had beeped at her rudely and refused to copy anything, and she really needed to make more of the Ryuhana application and funding request papers.
 
And now, copies made and bundled precariously in her arms, she'd somehow gotten turned around and had been walking in circles back around to Tezuka's office for the past ten minutes. Why did every hallway look the same? Shouldn't there be signs up or helpful arrows leading you back to where you need to go? She honestly didn't know how she kept managing to get lost around the building so much.
 
Sakuno bit her lip and tried not to look sheepish or panic. "So...um...to get back to my office, Tezuka-san...?"

Tezuka was relieved enough to not feel annoyed at Ryuuzaki's inability to find her department.  "The doors are over there," he said, pointing towards the elevator lobby.  He refrained from commenting on her getting lost in an open-plan office, though he certainly wondered how she managed it; that was twice now he'd been approached by her for directions, and it had only been a week since she'd begun working here. 

In any case, at least the papers weren't for him.  They didn't look very safe in her arms, though.  In fact, he suspected they would topple and scatter all over the office if something wasn't done to address the angle they were tilting.  And no one in this department was good at manipulating paper or wind currents.  He sighed inwardly, setting down his pen.  "Allow me."  Without waiting for an answer, he took two-thirds of the stack from Ryuuzaki's arms and set off towards her office, sure she would follow.
 
"Oh but--" Her protest died in her throat as Tezuka pulled the bulk of the papers away and started off without her. She wanted to tell him that she could at least handle the stack, if nothing else, but she respected the older mutant too much to argue. In the past week, Tezuka had been very patient with her, never chastizing her mistakes or rolling his eyes behind her back as she'd already experienced from some of the other office workers.
 
And he was so...so professional. She couldn't help but look up to him. It was exactly the kind of professionalism she was aspiring to.
 
Now, if only she could find her office on her own...
 
"Thank you so much, Tezuka-san", she said a little breathlessly once she'd caught up with him, falling into step with the tall man.  

"Don't mention it," Tezuka said.  He wondered how long it would be before she acclimatized to the office.  In any case, she was new, and the sooner she found her feet, the better.  He'd needed an excuse to step away from his desk, anyway.  The administrative assistants had their own cluster of desks, and Tezuka paused, waiting for Ryuuzaki to lead the way to her own table. 
 
She should really personalize her desk more, Sakuno thought as it took her more than a moment to figure out just which one was hers. Ironically, it was the evil copy machine that clinched it, since she'd left it open with the red light still flashing accusingly at her. "Here", she supplied, dumping her armful as neatly as she could on the desk.
 
Flicking a brief less-than-friendly look at her copy machine, Sakuno turned back to Tezuka with a little bow. "I think I lost count of how many times you've helped me this week, Tezuka-san", she said with a little laugh at herself. "Can I treat you to anything at lunch, maybe? It's only fair..."
 
"It wasn't any trouble," Tezuka said politely.  He felt a little uneasy here--there were a few too many women for his comfort.  The General Affairs section was mostly male, and Tezuka appreciated his corner desk very much not only for the proximity to two windows, but also because that meant he only had two neighbours; one in front and one beside.  "You don't have to do anything for me.  It's the seniors' duty to help their juniors."  At least, up to a certain point.  If Ryuuzaki continued on in this vein for a few more months, Tezuka might change his mind on that, but considering her attitude towards work (of which Tezuka approved), that wasn't likely.
 
"Um...should I be calling you senpai, then?" Sakuno dared just a little bit of teasing. At least she hoped Tezuka took it that way, since she thought he was the sort of person to just tell you outright if he wanted you to be more formal. She gave him a smile to show she wasn't really serious. Maybe he looked a little anxious to leave because of her? She hoped not.

He took her request seriously, and shook his head.  He hoped she wasn't going to call him senpai.  Most of the people in his department were more senior than he was, and the others were likely to pick it up just to tease him.  Once someone started it would be difficult to stop, and Tezuka had no intention of being called senpai constantly.  Senpai denoted seniority and authority, and he was too young for that.  "-san will do, please," he said.
 
"Um...all right then, Tezuka-san", she answered, smile dimming a little. Sakuno guessed she wouldn't be able to joke very much with Tezuka, and this fact had her editing a bit of her naive ambitions to be exactly like him. You couldn't be just like someone else, anyways, right? Still, she could appreciate and like his way of doing work. And he was still kind to her.

Maybe if she could stop going to him for help every other day, they might even be friends.
 
"I promise, I won't bother you for anything else today", she managed to smile again. "Thank you again for your help...are you sure I can't treat you to some tea or anything?"

Declining once was polite, but to decline so many times might offend.  Tezuka sighed inwardly--there was nothing else he could do besides accept, then.  It wasn't as if he disliked Ryuuzaki, but Tezuka held no illusions about his ability to maintain a conversation that did not concern work.  "Coffee would be preferable."  Was he free at lunch?  He had planned to finish some work, but it wasn't urgent, and neither did it require an entire hour.  But did she share the same lunch hour he did?  And would it be better to accept her offer of something for lunch, or was she expecting something else?

When in doubt, one stayed silent, and so Tezuka waited for Ryuuzaki.
 
Sakuno brightened, not noticing his reticence. "Coffee is fine." She didn't really drink coffee, but she could just have a nice cup of tea instead for herself. "As long as it's not bothering you. I noticed that you like to read or finish papers up at lunch."

"Lunch usually takes me only fifteen minutes," Tezuka said.  He wondered what the other administrative assistants were thinking, seeing two of them begin to whisper to each other out of the corner of his eye.  He hoped it wasn't about him and Ryuuzaki.  Though Tezuka didn't care particularly what others thought, he wondered if Ryuuzaki might.  Ryuuzaki-san (the elder) might not forgive him for causing her granddaughter any grief, intentional or not. 
 
"Oh, um...well, that's still long enough for coffee", Sakuno smiled, oblivious to the eyes peering around at them. Her experience dealing with gossip and being the object of it was limited to her time at Ryuhana, and even she would agree that Tomoka and Ryou had kept her shielded a little from it. Especially during the short time she and Ryou had dated. The inevitable whispering around the office would likely sail around her without being noticed.
 
"I don't want to keep you, Tezuka-san. I'll just...meet you at lunch then?" 

There was no escaping it.  Tezuka nodded.  "Aa.  Until then."  Turning, he retreated to the safety of the General Affairs office in as dignified a manner as he could muster.  At least he managed to maintain his composure and walk normally.  He really didn't like being in the midst of all those women.