Kamiko's POV

Kamiko: "I'm so nervous.." I mumbled to myself, staring up at the tall building that was standing before me.

During my time at my part time job, I have received a call asking if I can start my first day today since the one who I will be assisting will be in.. Luckily, they told me I didn't need to formally dress up today.. There was no way I would have time to quickly get back to my apartment and here within an hour.... Hope this blue dress isn't that informal........

Kamiko: "I should probably bring a change of clothes to my part time work at the orphanage, change there, and come here by subway.." I nodded to myself.

Sounds like a plan... I just hope he isn't the very VERY strict kind of person...

With that prayer in mind, I straightened my posture and walked inside.

/ / /

Katsuro: "So you're Kamiko Inari, yes?" The man, Katsuro, asked as he looked me up and down with a smirk.

Kamiko: "Yes." I replied as confidently as I could, trying so hard not to grimace at the way he was looking at me.

Satoshi: "Please don't be so nervous, Miss. Inari, you'll be fine." The few years younger looking man, Satoshi, smiled kindly at me. "The man who you'll be assisting is a very strict but a very kind, hard worker. You see, he was recently promoted to a much higher and well deserved rank. But that means that he'll have much more work to be done. He agrees that an assistant will be helpful for running errands that he won't have time for. Everything you have on your resume is perfect for this job! Would you still want this job? It's part time for now, but depending on if you like it and what he thinks of you, it can turn into a full time job. Sound good?"

Kamiko: "Sounds wonderful! Thank you so much!" I said gratefully, making a slight bow.

Katsuro: "Or..." He stands up, walking until he stops in front of me. "You can be my assistant. Do that and maybe you can get a bonus..." He whispers, reaching a hand out towards me.

Satoshi: "Hey Katsuro! What are you doing--?!"

Kamiko: "U-um!"

(KNOCK KNOCK!)

Katsuro: "Tch," He then backs away, frowning. "Who is it?"

(CLICK)

???: "You called for me didn't you?"

Kamiko: "Huh?"

I turned around to see a man in a black suit and yellow tie standing by the doorway, back against the door frame, crossed arms. He looked to be in his late 20s.. A slight frown was plastered on his face, eyes boring onto the man who'd tried to touch me.

Satoshi: "Of course! Sorry about that, Yanase.. We were actually going to send Miss. Inari up but I guess you beat us to it.. Haha.." Satoshi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Mr. Yanase: "That's alright.. I needed to deliver some files on this floor anyways.." He shrugs, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Satoshi: "Oh I see.. Do you think you can give Miss. Inari a small basic tour while you're heading back upstairs?"

Katsuro: "Heh, if not.. I can show her around."

Kamiko: "!" NO!

Mr. Yanase looked unfazed as he said..

Mr. Yanase: "... Hmph.. That won't be necessary; I'll take care of things from here. Please excuse us.."

That was when he turned his eyes towards me, hand out. With a warm smile he asked..

Mr. Yanase: "Shall we start our tour, Miss. Inari?"

/ / /

(DING)

Mr. Yanase: "..."

Kamiko: "..."

Oh my god.. This feels so awkward for some reason.. I thought as we stepped into the elevator. I sighed to myself as I leaned against the wall farthest the doors. Mr. Yanase reached out and pressed the button to the highest level then stood next to me a half an arm's distance. The doors slowly closed, and all you can hear are the soft dings as we passed each level.

Kamiko: It's so quiet.. Should I say something? "Umm.."

Mr. Yanase: "Miss. Inari.."

Kamiko: "Y-yes?!"

Mr. Yanase: "Pff.. Don't be so stiff.." He chuckles. "It's pretty obvious.."

Kamiko: "S-sorry..." I mumbled, turning my gaze towards the ground.

Mr. Yanase: ".. Well, never mind that.. Are you alright? I'm sorry I couldn't get there in time. I kinda forgot how much of a pervert that Katsuro is.. He's always making the women uncomfortable with his pervertedness.. I sure am lucky that I'm fit.. So me having to run to where you were wasn't a problem."

Kamiko: "Huh?"

Was he worried or something?

Kamiko: "That's okay! He didn't do anything..... Weird.. Yet.." I said, shuddering slightly.

Mr. Yanase: "Phew, that's good then. Men like him you should stay away from.. Makes me wonder how he even got a job in this building.." He mumbles, an annoyed look on his face as he crossed his arms. "You should always be careful though. It'll be bad karma to hit on innocent women like you. But don't worry about that THAT much.. If he bothers you, just let me know."

Kamiko: "Huh? Let you know?"

Mr. Yanase: "Yeah, I mean.. We're going to be working together from now on so let me know if any pervert tries something with you. I'm responsible for you."

Kamiko: "Wait.. You're the man who I'll be assisting?!"

At that, Mr. Yanase looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

Mr. Yanase: "Of course.. Pff... Did you not even know who you'd be working for? That's funny." He covers his mouth with his right hand, shoulder shaking.

Kamiko: "T-that's not funny! I didn't know, they never told me!" I became flustered, and quickly turned away from him.

He's still laughing.. I can't believe it..

Mr. Yanase: "Haha, sorry about that.." He says from behind me. "Hey..."

I felt a hand on my shoulder and slowly turned around.

Mr. Yanase: "I'm sorry about that.. It's not your fault that you wouldn't know these things. You're new here after all. Remember, if you need any help or if someone harasses you, please let me know and I'll take care of it."

Kamiko: "Thank you, Mr. Yanase!" I beamed, flashing a shy smile just as the elevator doors opened. Mr. Yanase nods with a smile, holding the door open as he gestured with his eyes for me to walk out first.

Mr. Yanase: "Today is actually my first day after being promoted so I unfortunately do not have a finalized schedule at the moment.. So for now, we'll just play by ear, alright?"

Kamiko: "Alright." I nodded, following as he continued walking a little ways ahead of me.

Mr. Yanase: "Once I get everything set up, then we can get started." He stopped in front of this one door, an ID card in hand. "You'll need an ID card to swipe here and a PIN that only you and I will know. We can set that up today... As of now, only you and I should be the only ones that are able to go into this office. I don't trust others to come in here without permission.. Basically, I don't want someone to steal stuff or accidentally disorganize the important files.. It'd be a pain to deal with.." He sighs at that. A faint beep was heard and then a click. "Pretty cool huh?" He smiles as he holds the door open for me.

Kamiko: "Thank you." I walked in, unable to hold in my gasp at how big the office was.

It's beautiful! I can't believe it'll only be just us using this huge office room!

Mr. Yanase: "I couldn't believe it either when the higher ups showed me this room." He said with a chuckle as he took off his outer suit jacket, draping it nicely on the back of his chair. "That will be your desk," He gestured with his hand. "Near mine. You'll do things like answer calls when I'm too busy, get me food or coffee when I ask, deliver files or packages to others and vice versa, assist me in meetings to take notes, and/or bring in and serve the guests' refreshments.. Maybe that's a little too much.." He says worriedly, looking off to the side. "You probably regret signing up for this kind of work huh.. Miss. Inari? I wouldn't blame you."

Kamiko: "No! Of course not! It sounds like a lot right now, but I accept this challenge." I said confidently to which Mr. Yanase smiled.

Mr. Yanase: "Glad to hear that. I promise I'll try to take it as slow as possible. This is new to me too but I know at one point, things will get rough and so hectic that I would want to give up. That will be where you also come in. Lash at me to keep working if you need to. Be my motivation." He chuckled. "That being said.. Let's work hard, Miss. Inari."

Kamiko: "Hai!"

/ / /

Riki's POV

Riki: "That concludes our mission meeting.." I said, earning nods from the others.

Boss: "Sounds great as always, Riki."

Hiro: "Mhm!"

Takuto: "What Beardy said.."

Boss: "Takkun.. TT^TT"

Kenshi: "Yeah! Sorry you had to come back here early to give the meeting, Riki.."

Riki: "That's okay.. You didn't know you had to be at the station early tomorrow morning while the mission is tomorrow night, starting right after you come back.. Will you be okay?"

Kenshi: "Yeah! Moving around constantly helps me stay fit you know! I'll be fine! Besides, it's been a long while since we went on a mission."

Riki: "Yeah.. You're right." I agreed.

I hope Miss. Inari didn't get suspicious on why I had to leave early.. What kind of excuse was, 'I have a meeting to go to, not work related!' God, that was pathetic.. It was on the spot and my brain wasn't working with me at that time.. Which was very weird mind you.

Hiro: "Yoo-hoo! Rikkun!"

Riki: "Huh? What?" I blinked, looking at the others who were staring at me curiously as if I was some object. Like, please don't! I don't swing that way! >.< .

Hiro: "Seriously?"

Kenshi: "You were spacing out.. Something wrong?"

Takuto: "Work related?"

Riki: "You're very good at guessing Takuto." I said, earning a shrug.

Hiro: "What about it..?"

Riki: "Well.. I got promoted and got a new office today. Which was why I had to leave unexpectedly in the afternoon.."

Hiro: "Ooh! Did you take a picture?!"

Riki: "Yeah lots," I pulled out my phone, searching for the pictures I have taken a few hours ago. "Here it is," I handed Hiro my phone. He takes it and stares at them with wide eyes.

Hiro: "No way Rikkun! That's your office?!"

Riki: "Yup," I nodded, slipping my phone back into my pocket after everyone had a look at it. "I couldn't believe it either. To think that even that whole floor in that building belongs to me!"

Kenshi: "That's amazing!"

Takuto: "Congrats."

Boss: "Haha, as expected from someone like Riki. Congratulations! Aright! Here's to Riki's promotion! Cheers!"

All: "Cheers!"

Boss: "Hahh.. Luckily I closed LRN early today.."

Hiro: "Hm? Did you already know about the promotion, Boss?"

Boss: "Of course I did! Riki called me a few hours ago, talking to me about it and I decided to close early for a celebration!"

Riki: "Haha, thanks Boss... Phew... You guys won't believe it.." I said, leaning back against the counters, beer in hand. "The whole day was spent organizing and moving my stuff to the top floor.. It was a pain.."

Takuto: "Even with the elevators?"

Riki: "Of course! You would still have to move it from the elevator TO the office room.. I have to move not only boxes and boxes of files, but also my personal belongings. Mind you, I was in that same office room ever since I started working there.."

Hiro: "Wow.. Why didn't you call us to help you? I'd rather be there than here."

Boss: "Hiro!!!! 😭😭😭"

Hiro: "Hehe! Just kidding, Boss! 😅 But we still could've helped when the bar wasn't THAT busy.."

Riki: "I didn't want to bother you guys.. Besides, I'm pretty sure Le Renard Noir was too hectic to be able to leave even for a second today.. Anyways, my assistant offered to help."

Kenshi: "No way! You have an assistant now?"

Riki: "They suggested that I should have one with the work I'm going to get from now on. And I agreed. She'll do stuff like accepting calls, making appointments for me, buy me food if I'm too busy to, write emails, etc."

Boss: "Woah woah! Backtrack!! You didn't tell me that your assistant is a 'she'!"

Riki: "I didn't? Oh.. Well.. Yeah.. My assistant is a she. She's very nice. She kinda sticks out as the one who won't back down from challenges. I like those types." I said, starting to take a sip of beer.

Hiro: "Oh ho ho!~ Looks like Rikkun is falling in love with his assistant! Interesting!~"

(PPFFFFFF)

Riki: "(cough) (cough!!) W-what?! No I'm not!" I choked, feeling my face burn up.

Kenshi: "Yikes! You okay Riki?" Being the older type of brother he is, gently starts patting my back.

Hiro: "Anything could happen no?" He says, casually shrugging.

Riki: "Highly unlikely...." I sighed with an eye roll. "Anyways, thanks Kenshi."

Kenshi: "No problem!"

Boss: "You know Kenshi; you really do act like an older brother!"

Kenshi: "Really? I wouldn't know, taking care of everyone seems like a second nature to me.. Though it would be nice if I had a younger sibling or something! Preferably a girl.. Because I know I'd go crazy and interrogate the heck out of the one she'll want to marry. Plus, I wanna protect her."

Riki: "So you'll be the overprotective type.." I said.

Kenshi: "Yeah.. You're like that with your sister, Ibuki, aren't you Riki?" He asked with his usual smile.

Riki: "Huh? Yeah of course.. Hiro?"

Hiro: "Mhm! I'm protective of Seiko despite us being the same age. Guess we're all the protective type huh.. Too bad you don't have a little sister Kenny!~"

Takuto: "Who would want one? They're a pain in the ass.."

Boss: "Now now Takuto.. You wouldn't say that if you had one right?"

Takuto: "Who knows? I'll never know would I?"

Hiro: "We're getting off topic!" Turning towards me with a smirk he asked, "So what's her name? I would like to meet her to see if she's right for you!~"

Riki: I sighed in defeat, "Hahh.. Her name is---"

(RING) (RING)

Riki: "Shit, that's my phone." I mumbled in relief as I hurriedly grabbed my phone.

Hiro: "Awe! I didn't hear what Rikkun said!" Hiro pouted, crossing his arms as Boss went over to console him.

Hahh.. Idiots... I shook my head with a smile, turning back towards my phone, swiping accept call.

Riki: "Hello?"

Inari: "Mr. Yanase, it's Inari."

Riki: "Oh yes, is something the matter? Were you able to get your ID yet?" I asked, feeling everyone's curious eyes on me.

Inari: "Just received it now, I have to test it out to make sure it works.."

Riki: "Oh yeah, you should probably do that.. Should you start working tomorrow and arrive there before I do, you would be able to get into the office.. I'm sorry I had to leave early Miss. I-" I started, but stopped when I noticed the look of interest from the guys.

Inari: "..You're still concerned about that? I told you I was fine with it," I heard her giggle, "You have to do what you have to do, it's not my business until you say it is.. The ID card worked by the way."

Riki: "T-thanks. I'm glad it worked. I take it the PIN worked too?"

Inari: "Mhm! In the office now, still looking the same as we'd left it."

Riki: "Haha, that's good then! How long as you gonna stay there?"

Inari: "Not long, just wanted to make sure I have everything before I go."

Riki: "Oh alright then. Don't forget to lock up afterwards and I'll see you tomorrow? If you're starting tomorrow?"

Inari: "Oh yes! I was just told to start tomorrow, if that's okay."

Riki: "Yeah, that's fine. Hopefully we can get started on some things. I'll see you tomorrow then.."

Inari: "Alright, see you tomorrow Mr. Yanase.."

Riki: "See you tomorrow, good night."

Inari: "Hehe, night."

I hung up and raised an eyebrow at the guys.

Riki: "What is it?"

Hiro: "Hmm.. Judging by the words you were using and the tone you'd used while talking... I'd say you were.. Talking to your assistant!~"

Riki: "What?! How did you come to that conclusion?!"

Hiro: "Heh, am I wrong?"

Riki: "......."

Kenshi: "And the great and popular Riki Yanase is rendered speechless! Haha!"

Riki: "S-shut up!"

Kenshi: "Ouch."

Boss: "You purposely didn't say her name knowing we were here.. Didn't you?"

Hiro: "Don't worry Rikkun! It's not like we were gonna steal her away or something!~"

Riki: "Ugh.. She's just my assistant, noting romantic!"

Takuto: "Gotta admit,"

Takuto smirked in my direction.

Takuto: "You sure looked happy whilst talking to her."

Riki: "... I did?"

Kenshi: "I agree."

Hiro: "Same!"

Boss: "Yup, I would think so too."

Riki: "Did I really? I just act how I normally act."

Kenshi: "Yeah.. But there's something different.. Slightly.. But we noticed it."

Riki: ".. Maybe it's from what I said a little earlier?"

Boss: "What you said earlier?"

Riki: "She's doesn't back down from challenges.. Some of the other women I've met usually gives up or something. But.. She seems like the one who would take things on her own. Not having people do it for her."

Takuto: "And you said you like those types didn't you?"

Riki: "Y-yeah.. I guess so."

Hiro: "Woo! It's gettin' a little steamy in here!! So when are we gonna meet her, Rikkun?!~"

Riki: "Huh..?"

Hiro: "Seriously? Did you really think you can hide her from us forever or something? I wanna see who's the one who has captured your attention! Instead of the woman coming onto you, you're going on to her! It's interesting, isn't it?"

Hiro smirks at me as well as the others.

Riki: "I'm telling you, it's not like that.."

Hiro: "Hmm... Sure, whatever you say Rikkun!"

All: "Whatever you say.."

Riki: "Ugh.. You guys...."

I mumbled in disbelief at their idiotic behavior. I'm tired..

Riki: "Hahh.. Anyways.. I got work tomorrow, so I'm gonna stay here tonight.. I'm too tired to drive home."

Boss: "Alright, go ahead."

Riki: "Kay.. Night guys."

All: "Night!"

Already making my way upstairs, I've missed what Hiro said to the others whilst flashing his usual playful smirk.

Hiro: "Hey guys? They say curiosity kills the cat.. But I'm a little too interested about this assistant Rikkun talks about.. Soooooo... I have a plan on how we can meet his assistant. If you're interested, meet here tomorrow around noon."

All: "We're in~"

Hehe X3 End of chapter three!!! So what did you think? :3

~KohanaAyame