Thank You Officer Tamura

Face Painting

Daichi didn't make the call. Sure, he was pissed at Endo but he didn't want him to get fired. Instead, he made him go back to the station once the lesson was over, rather than staying for the fair and banned him from doing elementary school visits for a while. Daichi knew that if he made the punishment too harsh, people would suspect something but Endo also needed to be punished for using work hours to rendezvous with someone he'd just met.

He'd told Sara about it when he re-entered the room and they spent the rest of the afternoon killing Endo with intense glares. The other support officer had absolutely no idea what was happening but judging by Endo's nervous sweating and Sawamura's serious look, he knew it was best not to ask.

Endo was really feeling the pressure, he could tell that Sawamura and Kobayashi were already getting along and he had been in the wrong. He spent the entire afternoon trying to avoid their gaze and dreading what punishment he would receive. He was relieved to know that Sawamura never made the call but knowing he wouldn't be able to come see Suga for a while stung a little. Endo was enjoying the flirtatious banter and the kissing but he wasn't sure he could deal with a secret relationship. Honestly, he'd been hoping for a quiet little fling whilst they worked the programme then they could just be friends. There wasn't really a chance of that anymore.

Endo left with the students, head down and a glum look on his face. As he passed Suga, they didn't so much as look as each other but you could have cut the tension with a knife. Now that school was out, the teachers and officers had an hour or so to set up the fair before the students returned with their parents. The kids who couldn't get home and back in that time where making decorations in the art room under the gaze of the support officer and Kaneko.

Daichi offered to help Sara who was heading to the playground to start putting up stalls and the decorations that they already had. When they reached outside, there was already two food stalls up and a few teachers were trying to figure out how to set up the speaker sound system.

"What stall are you on Sara?" Daichi asked, placing a box of paper cups and plates next to the food stalls.

"Face painting!" Sara cheered, doing a little dance. "Last year they had me on food and all the kids looked more like masked wrestlers than anything they were supposed to be."

"Well it makes sense they'd put you on there this year."

"Doesn't it!? Come on, let's stop being so helpful and go set it up."

Sara wrapped her hand around Daichi's wrist and dragged him through a cove of trees to the second, smaller playground round the side of the school. Sara explained that they'd set it up round there so that there was a smaller chance of any of the painters getting knocked in to, which only made sense. Whilst Sara got the paints out and began making individual kits for the three painters that there would be, Daichi set up the table, chairs and laid out a table cloth before pinning example photos to it. They continued setting up, making sure that there were things like water to clean brushes and wipes to fix mistakes, along with the basics. Not long after they'd started, a familiar voice spoke up.

"Daichi, Sara-chan! Didn't think I'd see you together!" A gruff voice exclaimed.

Daichi turned to see Asahi's tall figure moving towards them. He'd clearly been working from home as he was dressed casually, with his hair in a bun and his glasses propped up on his head.

"Asahi-san! You made it; I wasn't sure you'd be free!" Sara yelled, running towards Daichi and jumping with glee.

"I'll always make time for these kids! Besides I haven't done face painting in forever."

Daichi looked between the two, completely confused. He'd never seen Asahi so care-free and relaxed around someone he'd known less that a year. To top that, apparently, he did face painting. It was like Daichi had never even met him. Regardless of his initial confusion, Daichi greeted him and couldn't help but poke fun at the cardigan he had on.