Title: Denial
By: Mardahin
Pairing: gen
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Written in response to a prompt for "Valentine's Day" when I was poking about for inspiration.
Summary: Valentine's Day had never been Toshiko's favourite holiday.

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Valentine's Day had never been Toshiko's favourite holiday.

It was always awkward. Even as a child, her family had moved too often for her to have consistent friends with whom to exchange Valentines with, and it had served as a reminder that books were far kinder than other children. Even when she was in university, her relationships never lasted long enough to make the 'day of love' relevant. Instead, if she happened to be dating when February came around, the unspoken implications and guessing games meant that she was never in the relationship for long after Valentine's Day. When she'd worked as a consultant to Torchwood One, she'd often spent the day thinking up polite ways to explain to one of the new lab techs that yes, she was single, and no, he was far too young for her. When she'd transferred to Cardiff, she'd resolved to keep her head down after New Year's until late February, and that approach served her well. She wasn't alone in that; none of her co-workers had long-term or serious relationships. Even Owen and Suzie had lasted all of three weeks before Suzie had fallen in love with the glove and that particular arrangement went out the window.

It was just as well, really.

Toshiko's family might be British according to their passports, but their heritage was still Japanese. She had cousins in Japan who came out to visit a few times a year. There had been whispered comments about her status as a Christmas cake - an old maid - ever since she had turned thirty. Explaining that her job wasn't conducive to dating just led to asking about her work hours, and how she worked herself too hard, and Maki from church had a son who was a banker who was properly deferential to his mother, why didn't Toshiko invite him over for boxing day? The only man Tosh had ever seriously considered dating after transfer to Cardiff was Owen, and she had just enough of a self-preservation instinct to keep her mouth shut on that account. Especially after what had happened with Suzie.

Somewhere between her second and third year in Cardiff, something changed. That year, Toshiko spent Valentine's Day with one eye on her coding work and one eye on everyone else. There was a kind of morbid fascination in watching her co-workers try and fail to pretend that they didn't know what day it was. Try to pretend that they weren't involved in a relationship-that-wasn't-happening, with varying degrees of success. She wasn't sure if they did it for her benefit, or their own peace of mind. In Gwen's case, the former WPC was also trying (and failing) to pretend that she wasn't also involved in a relationship-that-was-happening, at least if the number of ignored calls that bleeped on her mobile were any indication.

Tosh was starting to seriously consider the merits of pursuing a doctorate in psychology, with her dissertation focusing on emotional avoidance and repression techniques of individuals in high stress jobs, with an emphasis on under-the-table sexual relationships, when the rift decided to get into the spirit of the holiday.

It was later concluded that the giant rose which had suddenly appeared in Despenser Gardens had been a prank on the part of the local university students. No one mentioned the...unusual qualities of the rose's fragrance. Apparently mutual embarrassment was more effective than retcon under the right circumstances.

Finis

Note: In Japan, bakeries make beautiful, elaborate cakes for celebrations of Christmas Day (primarily a secular holiday in Japan). The morning after, all of the stale, unsold cakes are marked half-price. Thus, a woman not married by a certain point may be referred to (maliciously) as a Christmas cake - something beautiful that is past its prime and thus must be sold ASAP, at great discount of its original worth.

***