Chapter 5:
The Little War between the Boss and the Crossdresser
'Just…finish…this…last…page…,' Shizuka repeated in her mind after yawning for the fourteenth time in the past two hours. 'I've gotten used to working for Kaiba Corp.' She yawned once more and shifted her eyes onto the computer screen before. 'But this office just keeps getting weirder and weirder.' Shizuka typed as she remembered the meeting she had attended the other day.
"We need a new strategy!" Kuguro, the Marketing Director, exclaimed though it failed to lighten up the room. Sakataki continued to play with his pen. Kyoko started folding her notepad paper into origami. Jin continued to stare at the table with his cheek resting on his knuckles. Kaito had made three drawings of himself: one himself as a husky muscular man, another in a RPG costume, and the other was holding a sword in one hand and a gun on the other while attempting to slay the Kuguro-like dragon. Seto was twirling his pen almost wondering why Kuguro hasn't been fired yet. And there was little Shizuka, who was sleeping half-way through Kuguro's presentation.
"Com'on! Look alive, people!" Kuguro yelled making everyone jolt up, except for Shizuka. Seto eyed her after this little wake-up call. Luckily, Sakataki caught this and nudged Shizuka till she was able to wake up.
"Huh? Wha?" Shizuka mumbled wondering why Sakataki was pushing his elbow on her forearm.
"Shizuko!"
"Hai!" Shizuka stood abruptly causing her chair to fall back. Everyone fell silent after that action.
"You don't have to act like that, Shizuko." Seto smirked, "You're no longer in elementary school."
Shizuka sat back down almost ashamed of what happened. She couldn't help it. She learned to respect others, and to fear when the teacher, in this case Kuguro, sounds firm.
"We need a new strategy to sell more merchandise. The graph is going lower and lower instead of higher and higher."
"And what do you expect us to do about that?" Sakataki asked dropping his pen onto the table.
"Excuse me? Except you to do? Expect you to do?" Kuguro's voice rose. He made his way behind Sakataki, who shifted his eyes side to side in a what-the-hell-is-he-going-to-do-to-me way. "You, my dear Sakataki," He started in an eerie voice, and then grew angry, "are the best of the best! In fact, ALL OF YOU are the best of the best! Kaiba-sama, the most handsome and rich Kaiba-sama, only hires the best in his team. Thus and therefore, you should know what to do! Not run around like head-less chickens." He finished with a loud closing sentence. He faced Sakataki and said in a sick-psycho-killer tone, "That's what I expect from you." He walked away from Sakataki.
"Ass wipe," Sakataki mumbled remembering what he said about everyone else then Seto.
"Com'on, people." Kuguro grunted, "Think of a way to bring sales up."
"Look around, Kuguro," Seto grunted; tired of hearing his Marketing Director's voice, "What stands out in this meeting room."
Kuguro paused and took a minute to do so. It was a light shade of painted beige on the wall. The table in which the meetings took place was made of mahogany or cider, either way it was pretty. The carpeting was a complex color scheme of gray, blue, black, and white. The large glass windows opposite of the place he was standing was covered half-way thanks to the matching shades. Kuguro took a wild guess, "It's a pretty meeting room?"
Seto grunted as he started to massage his temples, "I'm starting to wonder why you're the one bitching." He grunted once more before standing up and taking the attention Kuguro received from everyone else. "The main difference in this meeting is the members itself. The only reason why we would probably disregard this information is because there's a female."
Shizuka's back stiffened after hearing because there's a female. 'Oh dear God.'
Seto could help but laugh to himself seeing Shizuka's diverted attention. Her pupils shrank. Her back stiffened. She seemed breathless. And she was sweating. Ah, seeing her sweat made Seto wanted to laugh even more. He continued as he walked around, taunting Shizuka of the secret that she's been hiding from the rest of the class.
"She helps us get organize. She's here everyday too. She does the same work as you and me, probably even harder because she recently studies. She may seem a little lost most of the time, but I think she understands every well of what's going on." By the time he finished he was almost near the fidgeting, sweating, almost beet red, Shizuka.
"Then so, we must fully understand that she is present here with us. She is an important member of our staff after all," Seto smirked. He swooped his head next to Shizuka's shoulder and said, "Am I right, Shizuko?"
"H—h-hai…" Shizuka managed to let out. Seto allowed a slick smile upon his face and continued to move around the table.
"So, in conclusion, she will have the answer to our little problem."
'Ah, man,' Shizuka choked, 'That's it, and I'm done for.'
"So all heads, please rely on—"
'It was nice why it lasted.'
"—Kyoko."
'Kyoko?'
Kyoko finished her little origami masterpiece. "Usagi-chan!" She squealed holding the paper folded rabbit. Instead of 'congrats' or 'make us proud', there was a sarcastic: "yay…"
"That's the spirit!" Kuguro exclaimed covering this true feeling about the situation. (1)
'He meant Kyoko,' Shizuka's twitched as her mind said the sentence aloud, 'He—Kaiba Seto—meant…Kyoko. Ha-ha.' He laughed robotically in her head, "He—meant—Kyoko. Ha…ha… ah…' Shizuka's head came to a total shut down and fainted. The weight of Shizuka's body brought the back of the chair down causing it to fall on the floor. All heads turned towards Shizuka, who was now on the floor with swirls for eyes. In a small war against Seto, for this round, she had lost.
Shizuka shook her head and wailed, "And I can't believe I fainted."
"An unexpected one especially," a voice came from the door. Shizuka turned to see Seto crossing his arms, leaning on the door frame of Shizuka's office. "Nice to see you're functioning today. Why did you faint again?"
Shizuka turned her gaze away from Seto as she continued to type on the computer, "I've said it before and I'll say it again," Shizuka sighed, "I was dehydrated. I didn't have any water nearby. And I didn't know that we were allowed to bring a bottle of water along with us in meetings."
"Is that the reason why you were sweating bullets when we went to the rescheduled meeting?" Seto smirked to himself.
Shizuka had a faint blush on her cheeks for having the thought of Seto noticing things of that sort about her. "I guess…"
"Hmmm…" Seto replied. 'This is getting old…' Seto thought to himself. He knew this Shizuko was Shizuka. Even the name was a dead give away. Shizuka Kawai, Shizuko Kanone. Come on…
"Shizuko," Seto said with a deep tone, "I need you to be here early tomorrow. Kyoko will be off because of exams."
"Do you want me to call Mikuni of the support department? She was the back up secretary for Kyoko last time—"
"—no!" Seto yelled firmly. "That girl has the most absurd laugh I've ever heard. Instead of doing the paperwork, she talks on that damn phone and yaks like no tomorrow."
"So, I'm needed tomorrow in Kyoko's office?" Shizuka asked for confirmation.
Seto gave her a nod in reply as he left the office. "Don't overwork yourself, kid. You should get home before it gets too dark."
"Okay, arigatou, Kaiba-san." Shizuka made a small inhale-exhale session. "Okay, I'll just have to take Kyoko's desk for a day. It couldn't be that bad…right?" Shizuka asked herself with a small raise of her brow. "Hmm…"
Shizuka swiveled her chair to the opposite table behind her. She reached for the phone and dialed Sakataki's extension. 'I hope he's still in…'
"Moshi, moshi?"
"Sakataki, thank God you didn't leave yet."
"Well, I was about to…"
"Iie, matte! I have a favor to ask of you."
"Sure, chief. What is it?"
"Kyoko has an exam tomorrow; can you come in early to show me exactly how she's supposed to do her job?"
"Wasn't Mikuni supposed to do that?"
"Hai," Shizuka scratched the back of her head, "Demo…Kaiba doesn't want her to handle the phone."
"Oh, right, Support Department…" Sakataki sighed remembering he was first assigned to that part of the company. He was only one of the sixteen guys in that department. The rest were all females, chatty females, very chatty females. "Sure, chief. I'll be in early. You can count on me. Go home already, I bet your girlfriend is waiting for you." Sakataki taunted.
"Oyasumi." Shizuka laughed before hanging up the phone. She took a deep breath and relaxed herself to bring herself in a calm atmosphere. She glanced at the clock on the opposite wall from her. 18:27 flashed in a bright crimson. 'I guess I better get home, anyway.'
Shizuka closed up all the programs on her computer and did the appropriate procedure to turn off the machinery. She turned towards the phone again and dialed the number to Jin's beeper. She made a messaged that read GOING HOME. THANKS FOR YOUR HARDWORK.
Shizuka placed all the necessities into her backpack before making one last final check around the room. She had gotten all the paperwork she needed for tomorrow's big day, the reports she had to organized, and the important stock changes. Yup, she was fully prepared.
Shizuka exited the Kaiba Corp building as herself without any trace of Shizuko on her. She looked up into the neon colored lights that read KC and sighed. 'It is gonna be a long day ahead of me tomorrow…' She sighed as she took one big stretch of her arms. 'I might as well go home and take that long bubble bath I've been dying for.'
RIIING!
Shizuka turned to her bag after hearing the first two seconds of her ring tone. As she reached into her bag for the device, she thought to herself, 'Who would be calling me now? I guess it might be Nii-chan. He tends to worry if I don't make it home on time.' She finally found the smooth texture of the cover and pulled it out. "Moshi, moshi?" Shizuka answered.
"Shizuko-kun?"
Shizuka almost panic hearing her alter ego's name. Who the hell would be calling Shizuko at this hour? No one's in the building. It's after business hours. Who the hell could be calling Shizuko? Shizuka cleared her voice for a Shizuko impression, "Excuse me, who am I speaking to?"
"It's me, Anzu."
'Oh, it's just Anzu-san,' Shizuka made a sigh of relief. Her eyes widened when her head repeated the name, 'Anzu-san?' She took another breather before she laughed a bit in a Shizuko manner, "Anzu-san, sorry about that. I had a tough day at work. That's all."
"Oh, I'm glad that you are okay. I was starting to worry."
"Worry?" Shizuka made a small laugh, "Worry about what?" In that sentence Shizuko shifted her eyes hoping Anzu doesn't get suspicious because she didn't know what to be worry about.
"You were supposed to meet my house, right? Today's Friday."
"Today's…Friday…" Shizuka repeated slowly in order for her mind to comprehend this important piece of information, otherwise Anzu wouldn't have mentioned it. 'Friday…Friday…oh, no…' It suddenly snapped. She had promised Anzu that date. That date with Shizuko. Damn you, Shizuko. "Oh, hai. I almost forgot." Shizuka said with a little chuckle. 'There goes my bubble bath…' Shizuka cried to herself. "I just got out of work. I'm heading home to fresh up. Then I'll be there in about half an hour depending on the traffic in the tram."
"Okay, Shizuko-kun, I'll wait for you then. Ja!"
"Ja," Shizuka made a small smile before pressing the END button. The idea of canceling the date was a tempting idea. After all, there was a lot to be done tomorrow. But she couldn't cancel it now. She was probably waiting all week for that date. It wouldn't be fair at all. 'She's a nice person,' Shizuka sighed, 'She doesn't deserve to be unhappy.'
"What the hell are you doing here, Shizuko?"
Shizuka turned to see the CEO after he had locked the door of the office building. He was still in his attire since she had seen him earlier. "I was about to take the tram home."
"Tram? I thought you would wa—," He paused, "Oh, right, you live that man."
Shizuka obviously couldn't take any insult about her brother from anyone. Yet, Seto was her boss and if she were to defend her brother so dearly, suspicion would rise. All she could do was bit her tongue, "If you're referring to Jounouchi, hai, I live with that man…and his sister too."
Seto grew silent for a moment before his limo appeared. "See you tomorrow, Kaiba-san." Shizuka sighed as she turned to make her way towards the tram station.
Seto looked at Shizuka advance towards the street opposite from him. He sighed knowing he was going to regret this one day, "Come 'ere, kid." Shizuka turned to Seto with a raise of her brow. "Get in the car." He said once more as a command. Shizuka gulped silently. She shifted her gaze to left and right before crossing the street again to where Seto stood.
Facing him, she said, "Arigatou."
"Just get in the car." He commanded as Shizuka did as she was told. It took him a good five minutes before he could sit with her. Her phrase of appreciation caught him off guard resulting in a soft shade of red that he left through his cheeks.
They've arrived in front of the tenant which looked pretty much like a hurricane came through it, twice. Seto's eyes widened slightly. Some of the windows appeared broken, with their shades torn. He heard some inaudible yelling inside the building, hoping never to be heard again. The fire escape on the side didn't seem safe, not because of the sight of the rusted railings, but the number of missing stairs as well. He found it more surprising that Shizuka and Jounouchi referred this dump as home.
After seeing the tenant through the window, he couldn't help but ask Shizuka, "This is where you live?"
"Hai, is there a problem with where I'm staying?"
"And you manage to live?"
"I'm insisting that wasn't a compliment." Shizuka sighed as she opened the door nearest to her. She stepped out into the street only a few meters away from the door to the tenant.
"You're right," Seto grunted, "It wasn't…" Seto watched as Shizuka turned the lock of the door to allow her passage. Seto almost took the liberty of telling driver to go, but he didn't. He stared at Shizuka for a moment or two and thought of the incident she reminded him about an hour ago. He loved seeing her sweat and panic under pressure when she was caught between being herself and Shizuko. He couldn't help but chuckle silently to himself, thinking of a plot to get her to do it again. He laughed silently before he stepped out of the car and called for Shizuka's alter ego.
Shizuka turned to face to see Seto's face, which sent small chills down her spine. He brought her home, nothing's wrong about that. But is there a reason why Mr. I'm-a-friggin'-God-kneel-before-me has to follow her. "Is there a problem, Kaiba-san?"
"Could you do me a favor by calling you're ex for me?"
Shizuka nearly choked from her own spit, "Excuse me?" Her eyes widened a bit, "You want to see Shizuka?"
"It is important that I may speak with her." Seto said in a serious tone which could be also taken seductively.
Shizuka panicked a bit. How the hell could she get herself out of this one? "A—a—ano…she…she…hmmm…she might…" Shizuka voice trailed as a bit of sweat started to trail, "…not be….there? Hai! She might not be there." Shizuka mentally patted herself on the back. Thinking of such a simple explanation could make him withdraw—
"Okay, I'll just wait for her return." Seto followed Shizuka into the tenant. After climbing the first three stairs, Shizuka stopped and thought back he said. Only one word came to her mind.
WHAT?
She turned her heal to just stare at him with her brow raised in suspicion. "You'll wait?"
"Why not? Is it illegal for me to wait for a girl in her apartment?" Seto asked with a small smile, which looked too much like a smirk.
Shizuka could feel her cheeks grow red but she tried to control it. "Wouldn't your driver become impatient?"
"Answering a question with another question would be considered impolite, Shizuko." Seto smiled again with the same expression. Shizuka turned immediately before showing him that she, as Shizuko, was blushing in front of a guy. "Do as you please," is all she could muster up. She marched up the stairs to her floor leaving the smirking Seto to follow.
When Shizuka opened her front door, she was relieved to see that her brother's house slippers were still there. She didn't need her brother to nag about Seto following her upstairs to their apartment, again.
"Are you going to invite me in or not?" Seto asked growing a bit impatient.
Shizuka moved to the side allowing her visitor to walk in. When he walked passed her, Shizuka rolled her eyes after seeing Seto's this-dump-is-where-she-lives? face. She had to get him out as quickly as possible.
He saw the couch before and took the chance to sit down on it.
"I'm going to see if Shizuka's around here somewhere," Shizuka turned abrupt to go in search for "herself".
"I thought Shizuka wasn't here." Seto commented causing Shizuka to take a paused.
'Crap,' Shizuka cursed. 'Com'on, Shizuka, get your smart brain working!' She turned abruptly to face Seto with her eyes shifting around the room to help her explain, "I think she's home now because…her…house slippers…weren't in the front. So, it's obvious that she's around somewhere." Oh yes, she had to pat herself on the back for that excuse.
"I guess that explains why there were only two pairs of house slippers," Seto thought aloud, remembering Shizuka stopped his entry to look at the damn things. "Can you please look for her then?" Seto asked with a hint of impatience in his voice.
"Ha-hai!" Shizuka nodded and walked into the hallway of the apartment where the bedrooms are located. She took the left turn towards her room and locked it shut, just in case Seto decides to wonder around. 'Crap! What am I going to do? I need to be at Anzu's in…' She took a quick glance at a clock, 'Fifteen minutes! I can get changed in five minutes. And if I leave right away, I can make it there in ten. It works out. …But Kaiba's in the apartment.' Shizuka slapped herself on the head. 'Nice job, genius.' She kept mentally bashing herself to find an idea. She turned to her side to see her bathrobe and the towel she used for her shower this morning. She made a smile from ear to ear. 'Shizuka, you are one lucky gal.'
Seto waited impatiently for Shizuko's…or Shizuka's return. He didn't like to wait for things to happen. He was used to the quick-question-quick-answer lifestyle. But this was worth his wait. He found it highly amusing that Shizuka goes to great lengths to keep her job, including living a double life. But he knew how to keep things interesting. This way he knew what was expected. But when Shizuka…or Shizuko came back from the hall way, Seto's eye widened a bit not expecting this type of outcome.
Shizuka came out of the hall with her plain, white bathrobe over her body. Her short hair was hidden with a small towel wrapped around her head. With an added effect, she splashed some water on her face, neck, and on her legs. Seto could help but stare at her. It was effective, yes, but a bit risky for Shizuka's type of character. He took a chance, "Shizuka?"
"Hai?" Shizuka smiled sweetly, trying to hide the faint blush she had after hearing her name being asked in that tone. Yet, she could bring herself to respond, "Is there a reason why you are here?"
Seto regained consciousness, 'She's good.' He smirked to himself, "I wanted to ask of you a favor."
"A favor, Kaiba-san?" Shizuka questioned. Before Seto could respond, "But I'm sorry, I have to be out of here in about fifteen minutes. I wish we could talk more, but I don't have any time. Tell Shizuko, he'll just tell me the details later. Ja!" She said all in one breath before pushing Seto out the door. After a few brief seconds, Seto couldn't help but smirk at the display that just happened. "She won this round." He laughed to himself as he made his way downstairs to his limo that awaited him outside.
Inside, Shizuka stared outside the window for him to leave. "Com'on, Kaiba, get in that damn limo." Shizuka repeated under her breath. He finally made a sigh of relief when he finally got into the limo and drove off. She removed her bathrobe to reveal already worn brown, cotton, heathered t-shirt. She reached for the straight jeans with a small boot cut at the calf with random patches of a variety of blue shades that was set next to the hall. She zipped and buttoned it on. Next she grabbed the closest light jacket she could get her hands on and looked at herself in the mirror. 'It's funny that Mai buys Onii-chan all these clothes, and he still hasn't worn them.' Shizuka sighed feeling a little small in them.
"Ah! I'm late," She reminded herself about that date she had to go to.
Once in the limo, Seto took no hesitation to take out his cell phone to call his most trusted advisor that surely wasn't a girl.
"Moshi-moshi?"
"Mokuba, I need to ask you for your advice."
"Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere," Mokuba sat down with a heavy sigh.
"That party Kaiba Corp is invited to," He started. Seto received an agreeing sound, "That says how many seats will be reserved?"
"I believe two, aniki. (2)," Mokuba sighed once more.
"I need to attend this party to get some sponsors for the company. And I need Shizuko there."
"You want to bring Shizuko there? But I think people would find it strange that you have brought him there instead of a girl as your eye candy."
"That's why I'm asking you for help." Seto sighed, "You might have guessed, Shizuko is Shizuka under all that clothing she would refer to as a costume."
"Really?" Mokuba questioned, "Now that I think about it, he did look a lot like her."
"So, should I invite Shizuko or Shizuka?"
"You want Shizuko there because you need him to get sponsors. And Shizuka would be there because he would be the eye candy you need?"
"Hai…" Seto said with a hint that it was really the case.
It has been years since he had last seen her. She was a naïve teenager then. She followed everything that her brother and his friends did. No matter how silly or kind acts they were. But the only thing he could remember about her was her innocent eyes. They were enticing spools of a unique color mixture of red and brown (3). And deep within them he was able to see that type of purity she processed. That type of purity he wanted to steal.
Those eyes were possibly one of the features she processed to make his attracted to her. Her beauty itself was able to win him over. She often wore clothes that hid those features and pretended that she wasn't sexy enough to show it off. But that type of shyness and timidity was want Seto called a worth capture.
"Seto? Seto?" Mokuba called with a little whistle at the end, "Earth to Seto? Do you read?"
"Lost my train of thought, sorry." Seto replied after 30 seconds of silence.
"So what are you going to do?"
Seto sat silently for the rest of the ride home.
The next morning, Shizuka left the apartment quite early to get ahead start on work. On the tram ride to work, Shizuka watched the lights flicker on her eyes as the tram continued to make its way to the busiest part of Domino. Her mind started to ponder on what had happened yesterday.
"Shizuko," Seto said with a deep tone, "I need you to be here early tomorrow. Kyoko will be off because of exams."
"Do you want me to call Mikuni of the support department? She was the back up secretary for Kyoko last time—"
"—no!" Seto yelled firmly. "That girl has the most absurd laugh I've ever heard. Instead of doing the paperwork, she talks on that damn phone and yaks like no tomorrow."
"So, I'm needed tomorrow in Kyoko's office?" Shizuka asked for confirmation.
Seto gave her a nod in reply as he left the office. "Don't overwork yourself, kid. You should get home before it gets too dark."
"Okay, arigatou, Kaiba-san." Shizuka made a small inhale-exhale session.
'But would be stuck in his office the whole day,' Shizuka's trance was interrupted by her thoughts and a small bump that caused the whole place to rattle. 'He wouldn't really hear the girl talking. But then again, my office is right next to him. If she is a talker like he says, Kaiba couldn't have heard unless she yells—'
Her thoughts were interrupted once more to hear that the tram has stopped as doors opened. She arose from her seat and walked out of the tram as it slowly closed its doors and accelerated its way down the tracks.
'Oh man, who can forget that date with Anzu-san?' Shizuka sighed once more making her way away from the tram station.
"Ah! Shizuko-kun!" Anzu's voice squealed as she opened the door to her home. "I'll be right back. I'll just inform my grandmother that I'm leaving." She smiled sweetly before treating inside.
Shizuka swallowed hard. It was obvious that Anzu enjoyed her—ah, I mean—Shizuko's company. It was really written all over her face.
Anzu stepped out of the door frame and closed the door behind her. She looked at Shizuka's face and sensed a bit of sadness. "Are you okay, Shizuko-kun?"
Shizuka turned her gaze towards Anzu. She laughed a bit and made a small smile, "Oh, gomen ne. I didn't mean to worry you. I'm fine really. Shall we be on our way?" Shizuka asked as she raised her arm to signal Anzu to thread her arm in. Anzu smiled as she did so. 'He's too nice for his own good.' Anzu thought to herself seeing Shizuka's warm smile.
A honk from a taxi snapped Shizuka from her thoughts. She looked at her surroundings. There was a crowd of people around her. She looked forward and saw the traffic light change color. She sighed in realization of what she was supposed to be doing.
Shizuka and Anzu walked side by side without any connection of arms or hands. Shizuka looked at the right as they walked down a lane at a local park with her hands in her pocket. Whereas Anzu crossed her arms and looked at the other direction. The sun had set and they were blanketed by the stars, navy blue sky, and the fresh, cold, night air.
Sensing the shiver that Anzu made, Shizuka took off her jacket and rested it on Anzu's shoulders. Anzu felt this sense of chivalry and looked towards Shizuka, who retreated back to the pose she was in before, with a little blush on her cheeks.
"You seemed cold," was all Shizuka could say.
Anzu smiled to herself before setting her eyes back on the path. She spotted a bench nearby and suggested to sit there for the remaining time.
"Hey, kid! Watch it!" Shizuka heard a driver yell before turning the corner. She cursed to herself. She had to watch out where she was going when these flashbacks were taking place.
"Have you been to this park before?" Anzu asked, trying to make small talk.
"Uhmm…not really." Shizuka answered knowing that Shizuko hasn't been here.
"It's really nice at night. That's when all the natural beauty comes out." Anzu sighed appreciating around her.
"I see…" Shizuka replied watching the lake before them glisten thanks to the reflection of the full moon. "Did you enjoy the restaurant?"
"Oh," Anzu nodded without hesitation. "Where did you find that restaurant?"
"I was walking around with my bodyguard and we stumbled there. Nice place, isn't it?"
"It really was." Anzu smiled then eyed the same reflection the lake had on the moon as Shizuko did. "And the moon is really beautiful tonight." Anzu laughed a bit. "Its funny things are really pretty just for the nighttime."
"Have you been to the park before?" Shizuka asked with a little curiosity. "After all, you were the one who took me here."
"I've taken my dates to the park before, if that's what you meant." Anzu said with a small laugh, "But I've never got to bring any during the nighttime. There wasn't anyone I liked as much." This comment made Shizuka blush a bit as she suddenly turn towards Anzu who was blushing as well. "Shizuko-kun…I …I really like you. And I want to know if we could continue seeing each other like this. You know, as boyfriend and girlfriend."
Shizuka had a loss of words. She never had anyone taken her seriously like this before. Yeah, Otogi and Honda had always showered her with sweet compliments and gifts but never like this. And this is a girl! Shizuka doesn't have anything against girls liking girls, but she had never thought it would happen to her…
Waa-woo-waa-woo-waa-woo!
Shizuka's thoughts snapped once more seeing the ambulance race down the lane before Kaiba Corp's office building. Her eyes followed the car race in Godspeed to help save a person's life. Shizuka gulped to herself taking that as a bad omen and that today would be bad.
"Shizuko-kun…can we continue dating each other?"
A very bad day…
"I don't think it's the right time." Shizuka said with some remorse. "I still want Shizuka to be by my side. When I'm ready, you'll be the first one, I promise." She smiled even though she knew all of it was basically a lie.
Expecting a puddle of tears from the poor girl's face, Shizuka was shocked to see that she didn't show any signs of a tear. Anzu made another small smile, "Daijoubou. I'll stand by your side anyway. One day, I hope you can return my feelings."
Taking it so nicely, Shizuka warmly smiled and nodded to show that she agreed.
"Ano…Shizuko-kun." Anzu turned her gaze while her cheeks started to glow a bit. "Can I ask of you to do one favor for me?"
"Ha-hai," Shizuka nodded, it was the least she could do.
Shizuka sighed as the elevator whizzed it way up. Shizuka made a small sour face remembering the request. It quickly dissolved as the elevators made a soft ding sound. It opened to reveal the floor where her office was located.
Shizuka wished that she hadn't done so. Anzu slowly turned her head to face hers. Her eyes seemed bashful as it closed slowly. Shizuka's widened in realization that Anzu intended to kiss Shizuko. She retreated as Anzu approached closer. Shizuka nervously placed her hands on Anzu's shoulder to stop her from advancing any further. "I-I…I don't kiss on the first date, sorry."
Sakataki was there, as promised. He had explained the process just as any other day at the company would be. Shizuka was remotely surprised that as a secretary, there was more to just answering calls, and filing papers. There was also the fact that everyone depended on them to arrange appoints at appropriate times, get a source of information quickly, and almost being classified as a personal bitch slave to your boss.
"You're okay, right? No confusion whatsoever?" Sakataki asked with his eyebrow raised a bit.
Shizuka nodded, as she swung her body along with the swivel chair. "I got it down. Arigatou, Sakataki. I'll call if there's a problem." He made a small nod before retreating back to his office. Shizuka made a strong sigh before looking around Kyoko's office. There were random pictures of anime characters that ranged to magazine cut-outs to print-outs. On one side, there was a picture that they had taken all together. Shizuka seemed to be the normal one of the bunch, smiling. Kyoko bent over a little with her shoulder covering a portion of Shizuka's shoulder, one hand around Shizuka's shoulder and the other making a peace sign. Sakataki was next to her with hands in his pockets, sighing for the fact that Kyoko wanted a picture. Jin was on the other side looking smug as usual. Kaito looked like his jolly self yet still keeping his masculinity in line. She had to smile looking at it. It was funny to think she actually considered these people friends.
10:00 AM
It was officially business hours. It was only about two hours since Sakataki made his quick 1-2-3 lessons to Shizuka on Kyoko's secretary job. But after one hour of easy-going work, all the papers suddenly flooded in her office like they were sent constantly by messenger birds. Random people she hasn't met came to her and asked questions she didn't have an immediate answer to.
Is Kaiba-san available for Thursday lunch?
Can Kaiba-san attend a meeting in Belgium in two weeks?
Where are the reports on Kaiba-san last meeting?
Why is this company meeting my Kaiba-san today?
After the sudden rush was over, Shizuka was able to slow things down a bit while looking for the papers the others had requested for.
Hey, Shizuko?
"What?" Shizuka asked in raged. Her vision fixed on Sakataki's hair while the rest of him hid behind the wall that was considered part of the entrance to Kyoko's office. She made a small release of air as she made a small chuckle, "Sorry about that—"
"—Oh, no—no need to apologize, chief." He said approaching her from his hiding place with a hand gesture saying 'it doesn't matter'. "We all become like that some point in our lives," He gave a reassuring smile, "I think. Anyway, I wanted to ask you for that report."
"Report? You have to ask you to be a bit specific."
"The report," Sakataki said simply with Shizuka's eyebrow raised as a result. "You know, the report I gave you to make sure that Kaiba has it for his next meeting? I forgot to make a copy of it for you."
"Oh, right, right…" Shizuka exclaimed as she pointed to Sakataki repeatedly to make a 'shame-shame motion'. Shizuka looked around the desk and realized she already had mountains of papers. She flipped through the papers trying to find that report Sakataki was talking about. "Hold on. I'll get it…eventually…" Shizuka finished the sentence in a mumbled tone. Sakataki continued to stood there waiting for his boss.
"You have no idea where it is, do you?" Shizuka heard Sakataki's view twitch after he spoke that sentence.
Shizuka hesitated, "…no…and that's a bad thing, right?" Sakataki's eyes narrowed whereas Shizuka made a small sweatdrop while scratching the back of her neck.
He sighed, "I'll try to find another copy in the records." He made a turn towards his office.
"Ari—"
"But try to find that document!" Sakataki scolded.
Shizuka sighed as her hands went to work. And ring from the phone came on. Shizuka faced the device and saw her extension led lights blink. Shizuka's eyes made a questionable look knowing that no one really knew that she was in the office today. She picked up the phone and balanced it on her shoulder. Her ear caught the receiver end where as her chin caught the other.
"Kaiba Corporations," Shizuka said with a tone that said hurry up, I've got work to do while rummaging through the papers.
"Nice to hear that you're optimistic," Shizuka heard Seto's sarcastic voice.
"Is there anything I can do?" Shizuka secretly wished she didn't have to ask that question. She was busy enough as it is.
"Actually, there is," Shizuka couldn't tell that Seto was watching her from his office through the blinds.
"I'm kind of busy, Kaiba-san, is it possible you can—"
"You see," Seto continued despite of Shizuka's request to delay it. "There is a party I must attend to gain more sponsors—"
"—and you need me to go?" Shizuka guessed while her hands rummaged through the piles of paper. "I guess I—"
"Don't flatter yourself, kid." Seto eyes Shizuka through the blinds. "Actually, I need you to convince someone I had in mind to accompany me."
"Oh, okay, I understand." Shizuka sighed, "I'll try my best to convince Kyoko to accompany you."
"She's not what I had in mind." Seto grunted after having the idea of Kyoko go. "Actually, I want you to convince your ex-girlfriend, Shizuka—"
"Shizuka?" Shizuka stopped her actions in a loud thud. Her eyes widened with the thought.
"Oh, good, you understand. Thanks, kid." And with that Seto hanged up leaving the wide-eyed Shizuka to her own misery.
"Shizuko, did you find those papers?" Sakataki called as he approached the shocked worker. He walked into the little office labeled as Kyoko's. He's eyes widened in a frightened way seeing Shizuka's pale face reaction. The phone that was once rested on her shoulder, slid and landed on the floor. "I'll come back in another time." He nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll come back."
Sakataki turned and left Shizuka alone.
Seto had won this round, thus he has won this war.
(1) Of course from Sakataki's comment, Kuguro wanted to be the one in charge of this project.
(2) I haven't seen the anime in Japanese. Thus, I'll just refer Mokuba saying aniki. After all, he's older now. He can't keep calling his older brother nii-chan forever. People would question his masculinity. (laughs).
(3) I've been looking around for screencaps/fanart to make sure I have the right eye color, but I've found multiple colors. So, I decided to mix it all together.
Heyyllos! I keep screwing up on these things, don't I? I promised an update and what do I do? I screw it over, again. (groans) You don't know how guiltily I feel. If it helps, I never forgot my faithful reviewers. Everyday, I thought of you and prayed that pitchforks and torches and booby-traps weren't set up at my home. (laughs) Anyway, I already have an end to this in mind, and—no—it is not going to be soon. I planned on having it between chapters 15-20; a standard story, I'd say. And the ending's gonna be a good one too, I hope. So thanks for reading!