6:00pm

The work day was winding down to an end, and lucky for the CEO of EDEN Games, this was no longer a busy time for the gaming industry. Natsume pushed back from his desk, stretched his arms up above his head, sliding his left hand to his right elbow and giving it a solid crack before releasing a sigh of relief. He reached over to close the computer files that revealed this quarter's numbers for productivity, and gathered up the papers that had everyone's hours for the payroll. He tapped them together on his desk as he got to his feet, and placed a binder clips over the top. He reached over to the back of his chair to grab his black suit jacket, and flipped it over his shoulder before walking over to Ai Nishi, the accountant, who's cubicle was stationed near the entrance and exit of the office area, "Here you go, Miss Nishi," he said, placing the documents in the bin marked "IN", "everything looks good to me, so these files are ready to be added to the accounts"

Miss Nishi quit typing for a moment and looked up from the computer. She pushed her pearl spectacles up on her nose so they aligned with her hazel eyes. Her hair was fashioned in a tight bun, as usual, and she shot him a coy smile, "Thank you, Mr. Asahina," she said, as she grabbed the papers from the caddy, "Wow, a whole week early this time" she teased, spinning her chair slightly to the side to pull up another document on her desktop. Natsume was just sliding his shoulders through his jacket, "Any big plans for the weekend?" she asked, with a slight glint in her eye. They were of similar age, but she more enjoyed tormenting him, than flirting.

With a quick pull of the jacket collar, he lifted his violet eyes to meet her gaze, "Nothing especially important," he said in his monotone voice.

"Always so serious, you need to get out more," she suggested, punching in the numbers for each employee into a spreadsheet, "I hear that there is a big party at Peshana, you know? That bar all those college kids from Meiji go to," she paused and watched his expression, which softened as he turned to her as if to hear more, "I heard it is some girl's birthday, and all her friends were taking her out. Maybe you might meet a nice girl there," she concluded.

Natsume looked at his green and black trainers, lost in thought. Ema goes to Meiji. It's not her birthday, her's is in October. Better make sure to buy her a present. He thought to himself, "Really, Miss Nishi? You know I don't have time for frivolous things like that," he said before grabbing his briefcase from the floor, "But I may swing by, have a good evening, Ai," he said with grin, knowing how much she hated being called by her first name.

With a slight grumble she threw a pen in his direction, which he dodged easily as he rounded a corner, "You too, NATSUME!" she screamed back, but he had already reached the elevator and was out of ear shot.

6:15pm

He soon reached the parkade and was walking to his car when his cell buzzed in his pocket. Probably one of my idiot brothers. He thought, reaching into his jacket to grab the small electronic device. He gasped a little at the subject. Ema. It had only been a few months since she started her first term at Meiji, and they had spent a family summer together in Aiba. But other than that, he had all but ignored his dear Ema. Work really picked up during the end of summer, so he hadn't even had time to take her out to finish those games at the arcade like she wanted. I am such a jerk. Why would she want to talk to me anyway? Okay, Natsu, get out of your head and read the damn message!

He clicked the accept button, Hey Natsume, he could hear her cheery voice in his head, and Natsume couldn't help but smile, My friend Ayuma is having a birthday, so I won't be able to finish playing that level for you. I am so sorry! I know I said I would finish it and you had this big presentation you were working on, but I... he scanned through her long apology with a grin.

"She really is too nice," he said aloud to the empty parkade as he reached the end of her message.

Hope you have a good weekend Ema-

The flame haired man closed his eyes, breathed sharply through his nose and typed out his reply, No worries. Finish your school work first, my stuff can come later. Hope you have fun tonight, if you need anything, give me a call. I'm always here for you. And he signed off with a green heart.

Placing the phone back in his pocket, he unlocked his dark burgundy car and got in.

7:30pm

Ema had just finished her last bit of homework before heading downstairs to the main area of the compound and then into the kitchen to look at the schedule. It was very quiet as dinner was over and done with and most of the guys were off with work. Masaomi had to pull another double shift at the hospital and she hoped he was still getting enough sleep. Ukyo was busy in his room preparing for a trial that was coming up soon. She made sure the kettle was clean and on the counter so when he eventually came down for a cup of cocoa, it would all be reading for him. Kaname, who's name was not on the board anymore, was still off doing more training, and she reminded herself to check his mail like he'd asked her to, and put it under his door. Hikaru had flown to Paris to do more research on his next novel. He had told her it was going to be an exciting addition to his series, and she couldn't wait to read it. Tsubaki and Azusa were over in the United States at an anime convention. That sure was exciting. This was their first time being invited to convention overseas. Natsume, she presumed was busy with work, but he didn't live in the compound anymore, so his name was not even on the board. Louis was also at a pet styling convention, and took Juli along with him. She missed her furry companion, but was happy that he had found a dear friend in her older brother. Iori was also not on the board, as he was continuing his studies at Oxford University. She left herself a note by his name to be sure to check on his forget-me-nots. Subaru was also not on the board. So many missing names. He was still away at Kyushu training for the majors. He promised to send tickets to his first big game. Yuusuke had scarfed down his meal and rushed up to his room so he could get more studying in. They both went to Meiji but were in different classes. He said he had a big test coming up, and didn't want to be distrubed. She smiled to herself, and made sure to stock more pudding in the fridge. His favorite treat. Futo had a concert at the end of the end of the month, so he was spending his time at the studio working on choreography and would not be home for a few more days. She threw a few more bottles of water into the fridge for his eventual arrival. And lastly was Wataru, who on a field trip with his class and would be gone the whole weekend. Ema looked forward to hearing all the stories from her excitable younger brother, and let out a small giggle. That was everyone. All accounted for and taken care of. She took one last look at herself in the foyer mirror, carefully adjusting her knee length sky blue skirt, and fluffy up her white blouse. She pushed her hair behind her ears, which she left down to cover her neck in the cool autumn air, and grabbed her nice black heels and small black clutch before heading out the door. The sun was already set well passed the skyline, but there was still plenty of light to see as she made her way to the train station.