Work Text:
Utahime pulled open all the drawers in her cubicle but her search yielded no results. Her stapler has been missing since yesterday. At first she thought she might have misplaced it but Utahime was always meticulous about her work space. Everything had its place and she never left her desk a mess.
Perhaps someone borrowed it after she had gone home last night and forgot to return it. Which is what Utahime wished was the reason it was missing but unfortunately she knew better. Her coworker, Satoru Gojo, who resided in the cubicle a few down from hers, had a habit of pulling office “pranks” on her.
She hated them and didn’t think they were funny. Utahime had reported him to Human Resources several times but they never ended up doing anything about it because Gojo was always careful about cleaning up any proof. Marching down to HR to whine that her coworker had stolen her stapler would make Utahime look more like an immature child than a young professional.
The pranks were harmless but that didn’t make them any less infuriating. They always had Utahime on her guard. She came in early and stayed late so it was rare that her desk was left unguarded around Gojo. Who always turned up late, took at least three lunch breaks, and was nowhere to be seen by the time it was three in the afternoon.
A notification sounded from her computer, startling her. She dropped back into the chair and rolled back to check the screen.
Team Check In meeting starting in 5 minutes
Shit .
Utahime scrambled and grabbed her notepad, printed reports, and a pen. Leaving her cubicle in a disarray, she hurried to the meeting room. She was so frustrated now, she spent too long looking for that damn stapler. While rushing down the hall, Utahime bent the corners of the reports to keep the sheets together for a makeshift staple.
She reached the conference room with a minute to spare. Quickly smoothing her hair back, she grabbed the door handle. Utahime wasn’t the last one to arrive, thankfully. The last one would of course be Satoru Gojo. He sauntered in a few minutes after the meeting time.
“I thought we talked about your lateness, Satoru,” their boss Masamichi Yaga said from the head of the table, not looking up from his notepad.
“Had another meeting run late,” Gojo said cheekily before sliding into the seat across from Utahime.
Gojo caught her eye and winked. Utahime rolled her eyes and kicked him under the table. He flinched but didn’t say anything about it. The rest of their coworkers went around the table and shared their updates. When it got to be Utahime’s turn, she handed over her reports with the folded corners. Masamichi looked at her attempt at keeping the papers together with a furrowed brow.
“Didn’t have a stapler,” Utahime said quietly when she noticed his confusion. Out of the corner of her eye, Gojo’s grin grew wider. She gripped her pen tightly, her knuckles turning white.
Masamichi nodded but didn’t say anything about it. Instead he went over the numbers from her report but Utahime had a hard time focusing. All she could think about was how embarrassing it was to hand him something that haphazardly put together. She rested her head in her hand and stared at Masamichi while he talked, in hopes it was enough to convince everyone there she was paying attention.
Suddenly, something bounced off her cheek and fell on top of her notepad. She snuck a glance at it, it was a crumpled up hot pink sticky note. More annoyance filled Utahime and she was determined to ignore until she felt Gojo nudge her under the table with his foot. With a small sigh, she snatched it up and uncrinkled it when she was sure Masamichi wasn’t looking at her.
I have something of yours
It was written sloppily in blue ink, the same color as the pen Gojo was currently drumming against the table with. Masamichi already told him to knock it off with the distractions. Utahime shoved the note under her writing pad, hiding the evidence. When Masamichi turned his back again, another crumpled up sticky note ball hit her forehead.
I’m willing to make an exchange
Utahime shoved the second note under the notepad with the first. Gojo was staring at her with his usual sneaky grin, his chin in his hand, bouncing his knee energetically. Utahime scowled at him, trying to channel all her displeasure towards him so that maybe he could feel it through the air. She was not interested in playing this game with him. In fact, after work she’ll go buy a new stapler and he can keep the old one.
Finally the meeting ended and Utahime was anxious to get away. She hurriedly scooped up her belongings and rushed to the door. Unfortunately she was too slow and Gojo was blocking her way.
“Move,” she hissed.
“No need to rush, I know you don’t have anything on your calendar until this afternoon,” he replied.
Gojo then intentionally opened the door of the meeting room as slow as he possibly could until Masamichi scolded him for messing around. Now free, Utahime rushed back to her cubicle, needing to get away from him before she yelled at him herself.
Once she was back in her cubicle, she closed all the open drawers and cleaned up the mess from her frantic search. Utahime turned back to her computer and opened her email, ready to move on with her day. Hopefully today went by quickly.
She hardly got through reading one email when she felt Gojo’s presence in her work space. Utahime sighed and turned her chair to face him. He was leaning against the side of the cubicle, his arms crossed.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“You should go to lunch with me,” he said, smiling. “You can get your stapler back and I’ll graciously even pay for you.”
“Keep the stapler,” Utahime snapped.
“So mean, Utahime,” he replied with fake hurt in his voice. “Can’t I take my colleague out to lunch?”
“You listen here.” Utahime jumped out of her seat and poked her finger in his chest. The gesture caused him to straighten up to his full height. “I don’t have time for your nonsense today. Keep the stapler, I don’t give a shit.”
“Touching me at the office,” Gojo observed looking down at her finger pressed to his chest. “Utahime, this could be a sexual harassment case. I might need to go to HR.”
“Get out,” Utahime said, returning to her desk, determined to ignore him.
He seemed to have gotten the message because he retreated to her own cubicle. She worked straight through lunch and by the afternoon rolled around, she had everything she needed to finish done. A new stapler was even ordered and should be arriving in a couple of days. She would just have to make sure she chained it to her desk when it got here.
Utahime gathered up her stuff into her bag to leave for the day at her usual time. As she walked past Gojo’s cubicle she was surprised to see he was still there. Not that he was doing anything productive, he had several shopping tabs open on his screen while he messed around on his phone. He seemed to sense that she had stopped to look at him because he swiveled in his chair to face her. Another annoying smirk drawn on his lips.
Utahime flushed from being caught staring at him and continued walking to the exit with a huff. She made it to the parking lot. Rain was pouring down and she forgot to bring a jacket or umbrella. Her shoes sloshed through the puddles and she rushed to her car. She tossed her bag into the back seat and got into the front. Her shirt was soaked through.
Jamming the keys into the ignition, the engine stuttered and groaned. All the emergency lights turned on at once. Utahime twisted the key again and got the same result. She dropped her head against the steering wheel, wondering what she could’ve done to deserve such a bad day.
There was a knock on her window. Utahime didn’t even have to look to know who was standing there. It was as though her misfortune attracted him so he could arrive and add to it. She lifted her head off of the steering wheel and sure enough, there stood Satoru Gojo. Although he was much drier than her since he had remembered an umbrella and jacket. She cracked open the door since rolling down the windows wouldn’t work with a dead battery.
“What?” she asked, her tone exasperated. His eyes briefly looked down at her soaked through shirt before returning to her face. Cheeks heating, Utahime crossed her arms over her chest.
“Car trouble?”
“Yeah,” Utahime replied, her voice tight. She had half a mind to tell him to leave her alone but a broken down car in the rain left her vulnerable with not a lot of options.
“I can call a tow,” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
“Tows are expensive,” she protested.
“Don’t worry about it.” Gojo raised the phone to his ear and began to talk to someone on the other line.
As annoying as he was, it wasn’t the first time he came to her rescue. She both hated it and was thankful for it. If she was stranded in the middle of nowhere, Gojo would be the first one she would call. Utahime had a suspicion that he was going to pay for the tow no matter how much she protested. He would end up paying it behind her back if he had to.
“It might take an hour for them to get here,” Gojo told her as he hung up the phone. “Lots of accidents with this kind of weather.”
“Thanks,” Utahime grumbled.
“Anything for you,” he said with a wink. Utahime rolled her eyes. “Do you want to wait in my car until they get here?”
Trapped in an enclosed place with Satoru Gojo. Utahime could not think of a worse punishment for her. Perhaps this really was karma getting back at her for something she did. Utahime’s desire to fight had been diminished so she simply nodded and grabbed her bag from the backseat and slid out of the car. Gojo held his umbrella out to shield her from the rain. Not that it mattered now, she was already drenched.
Walking under the same umbrella required Utahime to get close to Gojo. Any closer and he would have his arm wrapped around her. The thought of him holding her made her stomach flip. She shook her head of the thought and focused on the wet pavement in front of her as they made their way to his car.
Gojo’s car was much nicer than her own. Raindrops cascaded off the sleek black vehicle. The windows were tinted and Utahime wondered why he would need his windows to look so dark. Gojo led her to the passenger side and opened the door for her. She felt a little bad about sitting on his leather seat with her clothes soaked through. Only a little, she was still plenty irritated with him from earlier.
The driver’s side door opened and Gojo slipped inside. Utahime held her bag close to her chest in her lap, conscious that he might sneak a glance at her soaked through shirt again. Gojo opened the center console between them and revealed her missing stapler. He held it out to her with a sheepish grin.
“I said keep it. I already ordered a new one.” Utahime didn’t want to see that stupid stapler ever again.
“Yeah well, now I feel bad,” he said, still holding the stapler out to her.
“Why is it in your car?”
“I had to hide it somewhere you couldn’t find it,” he explained.
“I don’t want it anymore,” she huffed.
“Come on, don’t be like. I was only teasing,” he pouted.
“Don’t talk anymore, it’s only going to upset me more.” Utahime hugged her bag tighter to her chest.
Gojo left the stapler sitting on top of the center console and didn’t say anything. Utahime turned her body away from him and stared out the window. Rain trickled down the windows, leaving a stream in its wake. It was nice to sit there and listen to the rain, despite who her company was and the circumstances that led her to this situation. She was almost impressed, she didn’t think Gojo could go this long without speaking.
“I’m sorry, Utahime.” Gojo’s voice was soft. She spoke too soon about him staying quiet.
“I guess it’s fine since you paid for the tow,” she said, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.
“I’ll even give you a ride home.” He grinned, his usual teasing tone slipping back into his voice.
“Just a ride,” she emphasized. “I’m not inviting you in.”
“Of course not.” His grin grew wider. “That’s for after you let me take you out.”
“We’re coworkers,” she hissed. Dating a coworker was the single worst idea anyone could ever have.
“Oh so if we weren’t coworkers, you’d go out with me?”
“Huh? No! Shut up!” Utahime could feel her cheeks grow warmer.
“I’ll quit tomorrow, just say the word.”
“I liked you better when you were quiet,” Utahime muttered.
“Ah but you did like me.” Gojo leaned back in his seat looking victorious.
Utahime refused to engage with him anymore, instead turning to look back out the window. Thankfully, the tow truck soon pulled up. Just as she was about to get out of the car to meet up with the driver, Gojo was quicker and was already opening his door. With his umbrella, he strolled towards the tow truck.
She watched the two men have a conversation and Gojo showed him what was wrong with the car. Utahime had left her keys in the car for the tow driver. Gojo shook the man’s hand and clapped him on the back before hurrying back to his own car. The tow driver hooked her car up to the back of his truck.
Gojo got back into the car, shaking out his umbrella outside before tossing it in the back behind him. The tow truck began to haul her vehicle away. Gojo’s car roared to life when he turned his own keys. Utahime broke her oath of silence for a moment to give him her address and he pulled out of the parking lot, exiting the same way as the tow truck.
“See, all taken care of,” said Gojo. “The guy said you should be able to pick it up tomorrow. I can even give you a ride to the shop if you want.”
“Don’t push it,” Utahime responded before uttering out a quiet thank you.
Utahime peered at Gojo while he drove. He had one hand on the steering wheel and the other was playing with the stapler that still sat in between them. She had to admit, there was something about the way he instantly took care of her that created a surge of affection towards him.
It was a short drive since Utahime lived close by. She hated commuting and would refuse to take a job that would require her to drive more than fifteen minutes. They pulled up into her driveway, the headlights glowing against the garage door.
“Well thanks for the stapler,” Gojo said as Utahime collected her things, her hand on the door handle. “I’ll cherish it forever.”
“I’m glad,” Utahime responded sarcastically, pushing the door opening and feeling the cool raindrops on her skin again.
“See you tomorrow.” Gojo paused. “Or not, I might quit.” Utahime couldn’t help but smile a little.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
Utahime rushed up to her front door and quickly opened it. She kicked off her wet shoes and went to the window next to the door. Pulling back the curtain, she watched him back out and drive off.
When she realized she was still smiling, Utahime shook her head.
What an idiot.