"I can't believe that guy!" Nakamura proceeded to complain as she dropped her things on the chair next to hers and let herself dramatically fall into her own chair, stretching her hands behind her back.

"And the reason you are telling me this is..." the man in front of her questioned, looking rather amused at his lunch companion.

"Because Karma is too busy with his girlfriend to listen to my stories!" Rio sighed, letting her head fall on her arms in a "drama queen" fashion.

"So I am simply a substitute," the man concluded rather than asked, smirking slyly.

"Oh, stop being such a downer, Asano! You should be glad that I'm willing to entertain you with my stories!" Nakamura pouted, grabbing the menu and quickly browsing through it.

Asano picked his own menu, covering his expression with it and letting out a small chuckle that he had stifled for a while now. His friendship with Rio Nakamura was still a mystery.

Being in the same class as Karma, Asano was in permanent competition with someone worthy, but this didn't only affect his learning. With time, he and Karma started going for wagers outside the classroom. It was strange, but his relationship with the red-headed wasn't only a competition, but some kind of rivalry friendship, as they came to respect one another and also learn some of their weaknesses. As such, Karma learned that Asano hated strawberry milk ("just one more thing to prove the bastard had worthless taste!" as he claimed) and Asano came to learn that Karma liked to read chemistry articles in his free time ("never thought a man could be so weak to a woman's charms" the former claimed).

Another one of the perks of knowing Karma was getting to know all of the interesting former 3E class members he interacted with. Asano took a special liking to those who scored high on the end of the second term tests, such as Nakamura and Isogai or Kataoka, who were all open enough to give him a second chance (or mock him whenever he lost to Karma, in Rio's case). The other four virtuoses were all rather reluctant at mingling with class E's students at first, but after seeing how their leader gained respect for them, they gave in. As such, Asano's high school years were filled with learning more about his opponent and his friends.

Out of all of them, Asano resonated the most with Nakamura: she was a foul mouth like Karma, and almost as smart as him. Moreover, her resolve to be a diplomat was something he admired and they often discussed topics such as politics and the right way to tackle a sensitive issue, right before jumping into whatever candy trick Rio had planned for someone who annoyed her.

Over the years, they grew as good friends and she started turning to him whenever Karma would be too busy to plot something with her or listen to her rambles. Of course he wasn't the evil trickster in person, but he did provide her with scary ways to take revenge if ever needed and he could keep a calm head on his shoulders.

This time, however, it seemed like she needed love advice. Or at least a way to take revenge on a guy who stood her up.

Asano closed his menu after regaining his composure and looked over to his... Friend. The word sounded weird in his thoughts and even stranger when he tried saying it aloud, like it could choke him. However, it was undeniable that she was a friend. After all, not everyone keeps in touch even when studying overseas and most definitely most acquaintances don't face-time each other just because they are bored. They certainly also don't consider it normal for one of them to be in pyjamas and long messy blond hair when they face-time, and for the other to be having late dinner.

"So, what happened?" he finally asked.

"Huh?" she answered as if he disrupted her train of thoughts. Looking up from the menu, she exclaimed, "Oh. That. Ughh." She grimaced, closing the menu loudly. "Listen to this! Your friend Ren asked me out!" She pointed at Asano, who looked taken aback by her remark.

"Ren did?"

"Yeah! Like what, now that he can't make his way to Kanzaki he tries the remaining options?! And I wasn't even the first one on his list!" she huffed, crossing her arms. "He tried Hayami first! But that was taken, too, so he went to Hinano-chan who turned him flat down and THEN to me," she exclaimed incredulously. "I was FOURTH on his list! Can you BELIEVE him?!" She slammed her hand against the table. "Am I a fourth option?!" she repeated as if it was the most despicable thing on earth.

Asano suppressed a laugh - to think someone would get so worked up because of such a thing. It was well-known that Ren was a womanizer, but it still fazed Rio that she could be so down on his list. Honestly, it fazed Asano too that his friend only placed Nakamura so down on his list. Objectively speaking, she was a girl with many qualities: a high income, fluent English that was mandatory in negotiations, as well as a high persuasive power and a flexible mind that could easily find solutions.

"Well, you know Ren," he tried calming her down. "He's a womanizer. I don't think he ranks you or anything... He's more impulsive and attacks who he sees."

"And he sees me more often than Hinano-chan!" Wrong argument, Asano realised. "So that's not..."

"May I take your order?" the friendly waiter asked, interrupting her comeback.

"Sure." Asano gave him a business smile, internally thanking him for giving him more time to think, while Rio fumed about it.

After they ordered, an awkward silence installed between the two, as Rio lost her angriness and instead weakly asked again, with a sad vibe, "Am I really that bad?"

"Oh, come on, Nakamura, don't be such a downer!" Asano used the same line as she did earlier with a smirk, which did seem to help make her feel better. "You know as well as I do that Ren's not so much about quality as he is about quantity," he added.

"Hey! Are you calling my friends unqualified?" Rio pointed out, but her words were calmer and warmer and she didn't do a good job at hiding her smile, so Asano continued, knowing he was on the right route.

"Not at all, I wouldn't dare. I am merely pointing out that Ren's ranking is of no meaning," he retailed.

"Of course, you are right. But you have to admit that even so, he was a jerk."

"I do not deny that fact," Rio giggled.

"However, you don't know that from me" Asano cautiously added.

"Did you say something about a womanizer? Oh, you meant Maehara, right?" Nakamura trailed off, changing the subject and making Asano snicker at the same time. Yeah, they were probably friends: Asano knew he was a hard person to impress all to well - making him smile was like a contest among his subalterns.

For the rest of the meal, the two didn't bring up Ren anymore and they enjoyed their normal time together: politics, work, catching up and talking about how Asano was bound to be a forever alone because all the women were after his money and none of his secretaries were reliable.

"Don't laugh, Nakamura! This is a serious issue! I need a competent worker to do his job to get my appointments in order and all I get are silly and sloppy women!"

"Because you have a magnet for these kind of people! But I'm sure the almighty Asano can manage on his own?" She smirked.

"Yes of course. But it gives me a headache every time," he sighed.

"And that's why I'm here to heal you~" the blonde laughed. 'Heal' was indeed a good word. Asano enjoyed his time with her and never considered it a waste of time. Moreover, she was always capable of keeping up with his work and let him complain, sometimes even brainstorming ideas for revenge. He could let his guard down around her and still feel safe.

"I wish you were my secretary," he honestly said.

"Now, now! How could I deprive so many women of their wish to get into your pants? I'm not that mean," she laughed it off, but a trail of rose still colored her cheeks.

Lunch was over before either of them could notice and they had to go back to their daily routines.

"What now?" Nakamura asked as they walked together to the underground subway station.

"Meeting with the CEO of a cars' factory," Asano answered bored. He never liked cars to begin with: they made him nauseous.

"There there." The woman patted his arm with petty mixed with a sly smirk. She knew well enough that her friend hated cars - she had pictures from their last trip to the sea where the driver had to pull the car over for Asano to puke. Her and Karma were all over the place taking photos of him. Of course Karma had to erase them because Manami scolded him about being mean to a sick person. no worries: he had time to send her a copy and she saved them, sending them back on his laptop later.

However, she couldn't help but joke, "Fast and furious?"

"Nakamura." Asano turned to her with a mixed expression, half amused and half serious, "You're getting weaker with your comebacks."

"No!" she fake gasped, pointing a thinking finger to her chin. "it must be my Ren-allergy acting up!" she found the diagnosis, pretending to be dead serious. Asano laughed softly, earning himself a strange gaze from Nakamura. "That's rare."

"Must be my being-fourth-on-the-list allergy acting up," he joked. As soon as the words left his mouth, he turned with a worried expression to his fellow, afraid he could have hurt her.

To his surprise, she was smiling. "Glad to see you suffer from it too! We are now officially allergy buddies!" she said, pretending to sneeze.

Asano looked at her in disbelief mixed with fondness. What kind of idiot would put this woman on the fourth place? Objectively speaking, she was smart, funny and could always heal headaches.

"For the record" he started as they made it to the station, where they had to part ways - they were going in opposite directions. "You'd be first on my list." He was looking up and the subway timetable as he talked. That was a subjective point of view, of course.

For a few moments Nakamura remained speechless, and he could feel her staring at him. Finally, she answered, "I never made a list. But I just ran the possibilities through my head and you win by far." She spoke matter-of-factly, turning to find her train on the table as well.

He never expected that. A joke: yes; brushing it off: yes. Accepting the challenge: no.

"Are you free tonight?" he suddenly asked, whipping his head around to see her face.

"Got work until ten," she responded with her usual tone, locking eyes with him.

"Can I pick you up at 10:15?" he said again, adopting his business tone.

"That's not within working hours," she teased, but still nodded. "And for the record," she added as the next train was announced, "you'll have to cure my headache because I have a meeting with a French diplomat next and his accent is killing me!"

And with that, she got onto the train and left, leaving a trace of her perfume and a promise behind.

A fine woman, Asano thought. And despite being subjective, that was a fact for him.

AN: I know Asano/Nakamura is kind of a rare ship, but ever since I read Alcohol and Texted (which you should totally check out!) I kept thinking about how perfect it is! And this was the result:)