Chapter Five: Is It Friendship?

“Um…thank you for picking up my keys. Do you live around here?” asked Mirai willing herself not to blush. Ryosuke chuckled. So this is the Marketing’s new assistant? I think I remember her…but high school was so long ago…she’s quite pretty. Is she single? No! Stop thinking something like that. She barely knows you. he thought to himself.

“I live across the street on the top floor, but my sister lives here. I just finished visting with her” said Ryosuke smoothly. Mirai nodded. He must pretty rich. The apartments across the street cost thousands just to rent. He dresses quite nicely too she mentally noted as she eyed his dark suit and striped tie.

“If you don’t mind…would you like to get some coffee tomorrow with me? The company I work for has a really nice cafe in the lobby” said Mirai. There was a pause and Mirai felt her face burn with the passion of a thousand suns. 

“I would love too. Does eight in the morning work for you?” said Ryosuke.

“It’s perfect.”

They said their goodbyes and once inside her apartment, Mirai let out a tiny squeal. OMG he was…so handsome and cute and…no..no. I must not think ahead. It’s just coffee. It’s just a friendly outing. I highly doubt he even works for the same company as I.

Once inside his apartment, Ryosuke sighed and loosen his tie. Running a hand through his dark locks, he ran through the encounter in him head. Shida Mirai…we went to the same high school and she seems so familiar…I’ve met her before. But where? 

“Oh, you’re back? Kinda early for you” said Chinen who was lounging on the sectional in the living room.

“Chii…you have your own apartment…across from mine” pointed out Ryosuke with an amused grin.

“But yours is much more comfortable!” whined Chinen. Ryosuke rolled his eyes as he went into his bedroom and hung up his suit jacket. Changing into a pair of sweats and an old T-shirt, he wander back out to the living room where Chinen was flicking through the TV channels.

“What do you think of Marketing’s new assistant?” asked Chinen. 

“Well…I just ran into her. She seems pretty nice” noted Ryosuke. Chinen raised his eyebrows. After the incident with Mariya, Ryosuke stayed away from girls and rarely talked to them.

“As it turns out, her and Umika used to be kinda friends during their first year of high school. They decided to rekindled their friends tonight” said Chinen carefully as he eyed Ryosuke.

“Really?” 

Chinen knew something was up because Ryosuke wasn’t really paying much mind to what he was saying or doing. His eyes were slightly glazed over and a very faint pink dusted his cheeks. 

“Yamada Ryosuke! Don’t you dare tell me that you went and agreed to some date with her. I swear I’ll call the Marketing Head and have him fire her.”

At that Ryouske snapped his eyes back to Chinen. His voice dropped slightly lower and his eyes had a dangerous glint to them.

“For the record, I am the CEO of the company, you can’t tell  me what I can and cannot do. Also, I have agreed to meet her for coffee in the lobby tomorrow at eight. In the meantime, I need you to find out as much information about her as possible.”

The next morning at exactly eight in the morning, Mirai sat down at a table with Ryosuke and two cups of coffee between the two. Most employees didn’t come in till about nine-thirty and the ones still in college came in at various times.

“So, do you work for this company?” asked Ryosuke even though he knew the answer.

“Yes I do. I am the assistant to the Head of Marketing. His name is Nakajima Kento. I’m new here, but I think I’ll learn to like it here. How about you?”

Ryosuke took a deep breath.

“I also work here…but only part time. My job isn’t too important so I’ll spare you the details.”

Over the course of the next few minutes, Ryosuke learned more and more about Mirai and to his delight, she shared his fondness for strawberries. Around nine, Ryosuke stood up and kindly thanked Mirai for sharing so much with him.

“I hope to see you around” said Mirai happily as she waved him goodbye.

“Maybe you will” answered Ryosuke. After exiting the lobby, he took a sharp turn down a hallway and got into an elevator that only he and a select few had keys to. On the ride up to his office, he pulled up the email that Chinen had sent him. While Chinen worked just fine in the Arts, stalking people and hacking their personal information was what he was best at. How else did they get so many people to side with their company?

The email was simple, but gave good information.

There isn’t much to be said about her but here is what I could find.

She has a younger sister around the same age as yours.

Very tomboy like and isn’t big on being girly.

Attended Horikoshi High School as part of the University Class.

Ryosuke’s eye widen as he read the over the last line. A sudden flashback came over him.

Ryosuke was a first year student in Horikoshi’s Business class which trained the students in the way of making it in the business world. The work was tough and the classes were long. He was on lunch break on the roof, enjoying the cool breeze over his face. It was then that he spotted a girl around his age sitting in a tree. Her hair was cut short, barely touching her shoulders. She was laughing at something her friends had said.

“Mirai! We need to get back. Sensei won’t be happy if we’re late again”

“Coming!” she sang. As she landed gracefully on her feet, her eyes locked on his and he felt a sudden rush of warmth flood his body. She was quite cute and he felt his heart thumping fast against his chest. Mirai, even her name sounded beautiful. Before he could get even more lost in her eyes, she broke eye contact and hurried away. 

Ryosuke laughed. He would have never thought that the girl who stole his heart back in high school would end up working for him. What a small world it really was. As he walked into the office, he knew something was off because all the Heads were gathered.

“She’s back” said Chinen and with that Ryosuke saw nothing but pure red.

A/N Another chapter has arrived! The chapters will be coming kinda fast and there may be a time skip somewhere ;)