Chapter Four: A Surprising Encounter

    Once the work day had wrapped up, everyone was busy making plans and heading home.

    “It keeps getting dark so early in the day. Makes me kinda sad” noted Nana as she walked through the lobby.

“But that means winter and all the wonderful winter things are coming. Like ice skating!” said Kento.

“Maybe we can get Chinen to come with us” said Kishi joining them.

“Hashtag Yuri on Ice” joked Nana. As the three of them made their way to the outside of the building Kishi quickly noticed something. Stopping the other two, he pointed towards one of the street lights, where two people stood talking. It was Marius and another boy, maybe a couple years older than he, but a few inches shorter.

“Isn’t that Matsushima from the Real Estate branch? I didn’t know he and Marius were close” noted Kishi.

“A little too close for my liking” said Kento with a frown. Nana rolled her eyes, Marius was one of the “baby” members of the company and Kento had pretty much claimed position of being one of his parents, Fuma from the Fashion branch was the other half.

“Aw! They’re holding hands” squealed Nana. Kento whipped his head around and sure enough, Matsushima had one of his hands interlaced with one of Marius’. Kento took out his phone and quickly dialed a number.

“Fuma…some little punk from Real Estate is making the moves on our baby…I don’t care if Mari is almost eighteen…wait…you know the guy…why didn’t you tell me…I’m taking full custody of Marius…”

While Kento bickered with Fuma over who was getting work custody over Marius, Mirai and Umika were settling down in a cozy bar that was near the apartment complex where they both lived.

“So, what’s your Head like?” asked Mirai. Umika looked up from her drink with a smile.

“Chinen is a total brat, slightly hard worker and spends more time sleeping than talking to art dealers and organizing all the events that the art community has. In other words, he’s perfect because he lets me have almost total control over what the branch does and when something goes wrong, he gets the blame. Not that anything really does go wrong with our branch” said Umika.

“He sounds pretty chill. Do you know what the CEO is like?” asked Mirai.

“Well, the CEO and Chinen are, like, childhood friends. They grew up together and are so close that nearly everyone in the company is in a bet that the two are secretly dating each other. Like, most of the suits that Chinen wears are hand-me-downs from the CEO and they have cute nick names for each other. Believe me when I say that our CEO is a really nice guy, but if he hurts you…he has a reason for doing so.”

“Oh, I see. One of those troubled past kinda guys” said Mirai. 

“Kinda like that, but it’s more like troubled relationship past.” Umika leaned in close and whispered the next part. “The CEO was dating the beautiful model, Mariya, but she cheated on him and he ended things. But now it seems she wants him back.”

If Mirai wanted to say something, she couldn’t because at that second, Kamiki came walking in talking with a shorter girl who had a stressed out expression on her face.

“I mean, the wedding is in five months and I…still need to get flowers and favors. WHAT ARE THE BRIDESMAIDS WEARING? I mean, you’re still being my Man of Honor…right?” said the girl.

“OMG! Ai, you need to take a chill pill and relax. You’ve been stressing about this wedding even since Nishii put a ring on it…which was like seven months ago. Yes, I am still your Man of Honor” reassured Kamiki. He then looked around and caught Umika’s eye. With a grin he led Ai over to where they sat.

“So you’re the newbie? Nice to meet you. Kamiki Ryunosuke of the Book branch. Huh, you’re kinda good looking” said Kamiki as he introduced himself to Mirai.

“I am Hashimoto Ai, of the Book branch as well. Pleased to meet you” said Ai as she flashed a small smile.

“It’s a pleasure to be working in the same company as you two” said Mirai brightly. The four of them continued to chat about work and life until Mirai noticed the time.

“I am so sorry, but I must be getting home. There are some things I need to get ready for work tomorrow.”

She said her goodbyes and hurried out onto the busy street. She had a great time chatting and getting to know everyone, but it had been a crazy day and she needed some time to herself to just relax and enjoy a nice bath. As she made her way to her apartment door, a body stumbled into her making her drop her keys.

“Oops! My bad” said a low voice. “Here. Let met get these for you.” A pale hand scooped up her keys and handed them to her. As Mirai raised her head to say her thanks, she found herself blushing because the man in front of here was very good looking. Before she knew what she was saying, she quickly blurted out

“I’m Shida Mirai. Nice to meet you!”

The man’s eye widen slightly as he gave her a smile and held out his hand.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Yamada Ryosuke.”

A/N Sorry about this chapter being short but at least the two have finally met! Things might get a little more complicated from here on but I do hope everyone is enjoying it so far!