"Goddamnit!" - Hozuki x reader • Hoozuki no reitetsu •

• 10 • - "-𝚘𝚠!"

"Man, and just as I thought I was gonna get some proper sleep..."

(Y/n) quickly dosed off, her soft snores echoing off the thin wooden walls.
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The next day was pretty much the same, excluding the lady that appeared during the midnight. And so was the day after that, and the day after that. And with all honesty, it was everything (Y/n)'d expected. Wake up, food, paperwork, errands, food, more paperwork, and sleep. Grueling work that crushed her soul a little bit every time she saw a new cart of scrolls get pushed in, with the occasional conversation with her newfound friends dotted throughout her schedule.

However, today was a little different.

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"You want me to do what now?" (Y/n) cocked her head to the side.

"This is Ichiko, and this is Niko," Hozuki plopped his hands on a pair of twins, one with black hair and the other with white. "Take care of them whilst I round up the monthly reports, and if anything happens to them you're—"

"Yea yea whatever I got it. but remind me, why am I taking care of some kids again?" You deadpanned, looking at the two and crouching down to their height. "And aren't I supposed to be your assistant? Sticking with you and such?"

"Assistants are supposed to help, and you're helping me by doing this. So technically it's your job." He checked his pocket watch and slung his club over his shoulder. "Just do what they want and you'll be fine."

...

And now the three of you were at an arcade, and you weren't complaining, you've always wanted to come to one of these places but never had someone to go with. It was noisier than you'd like, but it was to be expected. She grabbed her wallet and shook out a few coins before handing them to the children.

"Oi, I'm giving you two enough money for about an hour of games. So you'd better not get into any trouble. Got that?" (Y/n) watched as the zashiki warashiki nodded profusely, clearly excited, and ran off to entertain themselves.

She sighed and plopped down on a seat that was painted a disgustingly obnoxious shade of red, finding that she'd actually prefer to take the opportunity for some well needed rest rather than spend money on games. But when she was just about ready to fall asleep, a one-horned demon caught her eye.

...why the fuck is he here?

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(Y/n) rubbed her eyes, thinking that she was hallucinating due to exhaustion. Unfortunately, that was not the case. For some unknown reason, Hozuki was standing in front of a wack-a-mole  game clutching a tacky looking hammer.

Once it started, he skilfully hit every single one of the moles with ease and precision. After obliterating the previous high score and partially breaking the machine, he put down the now worn down hammer and finally noticed (Y/n) watching him in awe. Hozuki tensed up at the sight of her but quickly returned to normal as he walked to the bench she was on and sat down beside her.

"I'm assuming that Ichiko and Niko asked you to bring them here." He attempted to start a conversation.

"Yea, they seemed to be pretty excited to go." (Y/n) shrugged, looking around at all the brightly coloured lights. "Why're you here anyways? I never took you for a guy who liked the arcade atmosphere. And shouldn't you be out collecting reports?"

"I've already completed my task, and I don't particularly enjoy the arcade.  The game I was previously playing is good for training, helps with reaction time and aim."

"Hmm. Everything you do is boring- ow!" Hozuki lightly smacked the top of (Y/n)'s head. "The hell was that for asshole?!"

Hozuki simply sighed and crossed his arms. "I barely even hit you."

"That doesn't deduct from the emotional betrayal that you've just given me!" (Y/n) gasped dramatically.

(Portrayal of the current scene:)
(Don't say jack shit on how the wrist is smaller than your boyfriend's dick. I drew this in like five minutes.)

Hozuki simply shook his head while (Y/n) let out muffled snickers into the sleeve of her yukata.

"Oh right, Karashi wanted me to give you this letter." Hozuki reached into his pocket and took out a folded piece of paper that looked like it was stained with a red substance and handed it to (Y/n).

She opened up the paper and read its contents before folding it back up and returning it to Hozuki, which he promptly put back in his pocket. That dammed old woman! She grit her teeth as her left eye twitched ever so slightly.

"Oi Hozuki, do you have a pen and paper?" (Y/n) fumed.

"Of course." Hozuki grabbed both from his yukata and gave them to (Y/n). "What will you be using them for?"

"To give her a reply." She angrily scribbled onto the paper, afterwards handing it back to him. "Do me a huge favour and give this to her."

"No Karashi I refuse to take on extra volunteer work at Thief Mauler Hell, don't ask me again. Fuck you and have a good day. You rather hate extra work, don't you?" Hozuki raised an eyebrow, putting away the slip of paper.

"It's not just that, she's been asking me to volunteer for countless torture programs ever since I finished my education! Do you know how many centuries it's been? Hell if she wants me to do extra shit, I want to at least get paid for it." (Y/n) punched the bench, being careful not to split it in two. "Damn this I need a break..."

"It's only been about a month and you're already asking for a break? And you have Sunday's off, I think that's about enough." Hozuki narrowed his eyes.

"It's a figure of speech dumbass." (Y/n) cussed.

Even though she explained away her complaints, she really did want to get away from all the paperwork. The sudden change from her lenient thief mauling lifestyle to the hustle and bustle of the heart of hell (in terms of work) has indeed been rough on her. Hozuki probably wouldn't be able to understand why. He'd been in this business since the day he died. So he definitely wasn't the best person to console in.

"Whatever. I'm not dealing with this today, wake me up when the girls are done." (Y/n) closed her eyes, and within seconds, she was already asleep.

What she didn't know was that afterwards, her head fell onto Hozuki's shoulder. who's ears had suddenly turned a much brighter shade of pink.

(1130 words)

A/N: fuck off I know that the shoulder-on-head theme is cliche and all but sometimes you gotta use old tricks. Anyways I hoped you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it.