songs about toxic people

Ch 1: Sanzu sees you and you see him

Sanzu walks in with as little fanfare as the other Bonten executives had upon arriving about an hour ago. Koko must've looked up, because it's Koko, but aside from the quiet rustling of the heavy door, his arrival doesn't break the relative peace; everyone to their own laptop/phone/wads of cash/whatever you busy yourselves with to pass the time. You don't look up from your laptop screen as you continue your typing, but you listen as he carefully makes his way to the chairman's seat right next to you. From your peripheral vision, you see him pick up the glass of water that was bordering on his side of the table, figured it was yours upon touching—nobody else likes their water warm but you—and moves it towards you. He doesn't do much else but sit back and rest his head on the chair, an almost inaudible sigh escaping through his nose that you're sure nobody else in the room hears. It doesn't take much for you to tell the severity of the guy's hangover (you've both been, after all, working side-by-side for almost ten years now). Not that he's careless enough for it to show beyond these small signs anyway, so it's never cause for concern.

Now you all wait for Manjiro to arrive.

There is once again that slight itching in your throat and, without warning, you cough softly to the back of your hand. You keep your focus on the screen, but you pause just long enough to lightly press on your throat as your eyes flutter close, as if mentally willing it to Stay in there, be quiet. You open your eyes again, intent on picking up where you left off.

Beside you, you feel Sanzu tilt his head slowly—still perched on the headrest—to stare at the side of your face. It's amazing how you don't have to see it happening to know that his eyes are narrowed and it's not 'cause his headache is clouding his vision.

"You still got that shit down your throat?" you hear him speak, a low rumble that's impressively devoid of hangover. Loud enough to get your attention, but quiet and still inaccessible from the others in the room.

You elect to ignore his remark, because nothing good ever comes out of bickering with Sanzu this early in the morning. He has no intention of budging though, it seems, instead keeps his eyes on you and stares. And stares and stares and stares until you're just about to roll your eyes and say something smart back, at which point he sighs—a bit louder this time that even Ran has to look up—feels for his coat and then slack pockets with his long fingers, before fishing out a pack of...lozenges?

Now it's your turn to narrow your eyes because these are the last thing you ever expected Sanzu Haruchiyo to be taking out of his pocket—hungover or not. He slides the blister pack along the table until you feel the cold metallic packaging against your pinky.

"It's the same one you got when we stopped by for gas the other day," he drawls with his eyes closed, and indeed the pack has been rolled where the first two candies used to be. "You left it in my car."

You open your mouth to speak but you end up clearing your throat instead, and when you do manage to talk, your voice comes out raspy: "So you just...carry this around with you for you no reason?"

He quirks one eye open at you, catching that oh so subtle inflection of astonishment in your monotone, and for a moment you think he's gonna say something back but in the end he just shrugs, his chair slowly rotating in your direction. You stare at each other for one second longer before your gaze shifts to the lozenges now in your hand. Something about it makes you think of a school kid stuffing whatever found object in their short pockets—stones, candy wrappers, stolen rubber erasers—only to empty them out at the end of the day. (Or in the sandbox in the afternoon when the bigger kids decide to turn you upside down and inside out.) You find yourself chuckling at the image.

Sanzu instinctively opens both eyes at the rare sound, watches as you take out one candy and pop it in your mouth. There is now that unmistakable amused expression playing on your lips, your eyes once again glued to the screen, and he decides not to ask. Whatever it is, he knows it's silly.