chuunin_archive | (Fic) Cleaning Up

(Fic) Cleaning Up 2/?
Title: Cleaning Up
Author: Snow Tigra
Pairings: Kiba x Neji
Warnings: AU. Yaoi. Semi horror and general weirdness.
Summary: Neji is perfect, living up to his name in life, even if his station in society is one of the lowest. And then he ends up falling for someone, the most unlikely person in the world, only to discover that his life has no intention of letting him be with anyone. And his life will stop at nothing to stop him.

Chapter 2: Polishing

The top floor of the building, which belonged to the executives of the company, was lavish and expense and stood out in contrast to the rest of the office with its faded gray cubicles and worn fabric chairs on broken wheels. If one had the appropriate key, used to unlock the elevator and access the top floor, then one would see a circular hallway, with a large bar around the central pillar. Clean and ornate, but tame, wallpaper covered the walls and the carpet was a tasteful off white that held little stains. Offices were all large, with four corner offices and one between each, having eight total, one for each person just so lucky to hold such a position.

The center bar was kept fully stocked, with refills every Friday and each office contained the most comfortable and probably the most expensive of furniture available. Nothing but the best for the higher ups in the company, they saw to that.

Neji was the one person below their status who was ever allowed up onto the sacred 5th floor. When he’d first been allowed, he hadn’t even batted an eye at the contrast of extravagance and the floors below. Large corporations made large amounts of money, and it had to go somewhere. Neji wasn’t surprised to see it here on this floor, in fact he expected it.

In spite of himself and his current position, Neji was familiar with rich families and how things were run within. A company, he was sure, acted no different. The head of the family retained the most money and decided how it would trickle down to the ones below him. Of course, no matter how generous the head was, he always kept most of the money, and most heads weren’t generous in the slightest. This one was easily one of those. The trick was just to give the illusion of being generous and that was why, Neji was sure, the fifth floor was off limits. If no one could get to the top floor, well then no one would ever know where all the money actually went, especially since the accountant was one of the few people allowed entrance.

Neji’s job here, like on the other floors, was the polish the dark wood of the bar and keep the walls and carpet in clean shape. This floor was by far the easiest of the five, as it saw the least amount of traffic and most of the people up here didn’t have a chance to make a mess, too busy running to meetings and other such business.

Neji knelt down to polish the side of the bar and the doors to the alcohol cabinet, when one of the main office doors opened and two men stepped out. He didn’t have to stand up to know they were dressed in pristine business suits with slicked back and expensively cut hair. One man was taller than the other, his long brown hair tied back in a pony tail and his sleepy eyes usually looking uninterested with the world. Neji knew this man well, after all, it was his father.

“… I’ll draw up the paperwork for the merger right now and have it on your desk in an hour.” His father’s baritone echoed around the empty room, giving him a sound of grandeur and control. Neji stayed on his knees, out of sight, as he quietly cleaned, very careful not to give himself away as the other man spoke.

“Perfect. I’ll see you then. Have a good day, sir.” The other man, who was as wide as Neji’s father was tall, always had a warming smile and seemed like the least likely person to be in charge of anything. But Chouza Akamichi was vice president of the company and easily set off Neji’s father, complimenting and opposing his every fault. Technically both had the same position in the company; it was just a matter that they handled different departments and were therefore forced to work together every day.

Neji heard his father’s hand slide across the bar. In spite of himself he looked up, waiting to be seen, even if he knew he wouldn’t be.

“Looks freshly polished… is that boy still working here?” The tone of his voice turned sour, a disgusted sound surrounding the word ‘boy’ was easy to discern.

Chouza’s smile leaked readily into his voice as he responded. “Well, he is the most effective cleaning staff we’ve ever hired. After all he does take care of cleaning and repairing everything that could possibly break around here, aside from the servers.”

“I’ve been meaning to speak with you about that. I’m sure you’re well aware that his mother is off with some other man now, and has no intention of suing us anymore. I gave the boy a job out of pity and to keep her mouth shut. I’d like it if he were gone by the end of the week.”

Neji felt himself grow cold and he settled a glare on the cabinet door in front of him.

“Now, sir, you know we can’t just fire someone without a reason. The legal repercussions alone would make it cost us more than anything. Not to mention that right now we actually are saving quite a bit of money since he’s able to do the work of four separate sanitary workers all by himself. It’s not as if he creates trouble around here. I’m sure it would be no trouble to keep him around, you barely notice him.”

“Chouza, I want him gone. I don’t care how you do it, but I do not want to see that bastard child in this office anymore. Cook up some harassment story with that new intern, whatever. I don’t care how you do it, but I want him gone.” That last word was emphasized with the slamming of a door, sharply cracking in the air and silencing any chance Chouza had to protest. Instead the large man returned to his own office quietly, shutting his own door with a soft click, leaving Neji sitting on the floor to sift through what he’d heard.

“He really doesn’t like you, does he?” The soft sniffling voice was beside Neji, belonging to a short but sweet looking girl who had constantly red eyes, looking like she was perpetually on the verge of crying.

“I couldn’t care less. For all I care he can just fall out that huge bay window in his office.” Neji stood up and tossed the polishing rag on the counter, angrily cleaning away his father’s hand print as if it were the most permanent stain.

“But that would be horrible if he died.” The girl sniffled, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand as her hair fell in front of her eyes. Hinata was always quiet, always sniffling and always rubbing her nose and eyes. It was quite possible she was allergic to something, or maybe she just liked rubbing her nose and cheeks. Either way, Neji had noticed her face build up a shine over time, as if she were polishing her skin regularly. She was one of the few people he let talk to him about the situation with his father and he was quite happy that she didn’t bring it up that often. Her voice was always soft and sweet, almost caring in a way, even if she occasionally squeaked without warning, sounding much like a short sneeze.

“No one would miss him. Certainly not my mother anymore.” Neji moved to the next section of the bar, still polishing angrily as Hinata gave a couple squeaky sneezes behind him. In truth he knew quite a few wealthy people would miss his father and the real person who wouldn’t be missed was himself. He was, after all, simply the literal bastard child of his father and a mistress, hired to keep his mother from going public about the relationship. The one thing Neji owned to show his belonging to the rich Hyuga family, was his simple silver necklace with the equal armed cross, which he’d stolen from his father’s belongings when he was a child. And in that truth was the reason Neji held himself to such high standards. He would never be acknowledged as a part of his father’s family, but maybe, if he made himself perfect in every other way, maybe then he could somehow bypass the unfortunate circumstances of his birth.

As a child it had been the thing that kept him out of depression and motivated him in life. Now it was simply habit and repetition. He was a Hyuga, no matter what his father said, so he expected himself to live as such.

Neji frowned, tired of thinking about that part of his life and desperately tried to think of another subject.

“The puppy was cute,” Hinata’s voice chimed in, answering his silent request for a subject change.

Neji snorted. “Dogs are not cute. Dogs are messy and annoying and should not be allowed in a place of work.”

“He was still cute. Maybe you should give this Kiba another chance. After all he did seem like a nice man. He offered to help you clean it up… no one around here does that.” Hinata gave another high pitched sneeze as Neji finished off the counter and cleaned off the rag. More sniffling and wiping of her cheeks and eyes followed as he rinsed out the rag and dropped it in his bucket.

“Maybe… he’s not that bad.” Neji admitted quietly, watching his father’s closed office door. As much as he hated the man, his name tag was crooked on the wall and looked very unprofessional. Neji sighed softly and stepped over, straightening the name plate before wiping off his and other fingerprints.

“Neji, not everyone who works here is like your father.”

Neji smiled a little at that and nodded, depositing the rag back in his bucket as he headed for the elevator. Hinata was right, maybe he should give Kiba one more chance.