Chapter one

Hiking helped Tezuka forget.

Back home, the paperwork on his desk and the rigid expectations of his father waited for him, but nothing waited for him here. There was only the mountains, the breeze, and the slow drizzle of rain.

The top was in sight, a few more metres would do it, which was good - as the light was slowly diminishing as the sun set behind him. He'd have to settle down for the night; he had enough food for one more meal, but tomorrow morning he would have to go fishing.

Just as he reached the top, and threw his arms over the ledge to pull himself up, a flash blinded his vision, and he faltered. His vision still obscured, Tezuka heard someone say, "I'm sorry, do you need a hand?", he looked up to see a young man looking down at him apologetically, holding a camera.

"That's not necessary," Tezuka replied, pulling himself up. Once at the top, he looked back to look at the sunset. The man appeared at his side, and started taking more pictures.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Hn."

Tezuka glanced briefly at the man, before moving away from the ledge, and dumping his hiking bag onto the ground. He began to take his sleeping bag out of it, ready to set up for the night. It's not going to rain tonight, he thought, deciding he wouldn't need to set up his tent.

Tezuka pulled out his tin of beans, and set about building a fire for the night, which would serve the dual purpose of warming him and cooking his food. Collecting branches and foliage, he heard the man ask from behind him, "building a fire?"

Tezuka nodded, pulling some stones together to surround the firewood he had collected.

"Would you mind if I shared?" the man added. "I'll be staying here too," he said, gesturing to his duffel bag. Tezuka stared at the small bag, much, much smaller than his own. Beside it was a camera bag, half open.

The man was waiting for an answer, so Tezuka nodded in reply.

Tezuka sat at his brushwood, rubbing his sticks together to try and create a spark. The man regarded him with half open lids. Slowly, he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it open, and raised an eyebrow at Tezuka. Tezuka merely shook his head in reply, and the man smiled, putting it away.

"I'm Fuji."

Tezuka glanced up at him. "Tezuka."

Atobe sat at his desk, typing irritably into the computer. He didn't like working on the weekend, but this needed to be in by the end of the day, and he only trusted himself to do it.

"Jiroh, pass the Echizen files."

Silence.

"Jiroh?" Atobe turned his head to see his sleeping assistant slumped over his desk. "See, this is why I'm getting another assistant."

"…wha?"

"Just go back to sleep," Atobe mumbled, glancing across at the files on the other side of Jiroh's desk. Sighing, he picked up his phone, and dialed for the secretary.

"Yes, Atobe-sama?"

"Can you come in here please?"

"In one second, the first applicant for the new assistant vacancy is here, sir."

Atobe blinked. "That was today? What day is it?"

"Monday, sir."

"What?" How had he lost a day? "Fine, fine, send him up."

"Right away, sir."

Placing the phone down, he glanced back at the files tetchily. Perhaps he could will them toward them…? There was no way he was walking on a Monday.

As he thought this, the door opened, and a tall, broad man stood in the doorway.

"Ah, yes… applicant. Pass me those files," Atobe said, pointing to the papers on Jiroh's desk.

The tall man glanced at the sleeping Jiroh, and took the files out from underneath him, passing them across to Atobe. "…These files?"

"Yes," Atobe said, grabbing at them. "Right. Why are you here? Oh, right, the vacancy." He held out his hand expectantly, and the man glanced at it, before placing his CV there.

Atobe looked at the CV, and then glanced over the top of it at the man in front of him. "Sanada?"

"Yes, Atobe-san."

Tezuka sat before the fire, waiting for his beans to cook, as he glanced over the top with barely concealed anger to see Fuji sitting there, eating a packet of crisps. The crunching was getting on his last nerve, and he was getting hungry, and you don't eat crisps in the wild. He glared at the beans, just about beginning to heat up.

Fuji held out the packet. "Crisp?"

"I'm fine."

Silence reigned for another minute, as Fuji continued eating, and Tezuka poked his beans with a stick. Fuji finished eating, and Tezuka looked up at him, thinking to himself that he'd better not litter. Fuji, however, just put the empty packet back into his bag, and retrieved a pack of cigarettes. Pulling one out, he held it over the fire to light it, and placed it into his mouth. He held the pack out toward Tezuka.

Tezuka glared back at him. "I'm fine," he repeated, and watched as Fuji put his packet away.

Fuji blew out a puff of smoke, and looked at Tezuka. "So what brings you here?" Tezuka glanced up at him. "I'm here to take photographs," Fuji continued, nodding at his camera. "The sunrise is meant to be beautiful from here."

"It is," Tezuka replied, and was silent for a moment, before adding, "I like to hike."

Fuji nodded. "Do you usually go alone?"

Tezuka looked up. "Always."

Fuji smiled. "Sorry for disturbing your solitude."

"It's okay."

It went quiet again, and Fuji twiddled with his lit cigarette. "So what d'you do? When you're not hiking up mountains, I mean."

Tezuka smiled slightly at that, but tried to hide it. "I'm an accountant."

"Hn," Fuji said, opening his eyes to stare at him with a piercing gaze. "That doesn't suit you."

Tezuka looked surprised for a moment, and replied, "Most people say it does."

Fuji smiled. "You don't seem like the sort of person who'd be content sitting in an office all day."

Tezuka thought about this for a moment. "What about you?"

"I'm a photographer for a magazine," Fuji answered. "I take pictures of celebrities."

Tezuka paused, contemplating this. "That doesn't suit you."

"No," Fuji smirked slightly to himself. "No it doesn't."

Atobe glanced over the CV. There was no experience in office work. There were no recommendations from previous employees. There was nothing Atobe could work with, and this was a complete and utter waste of his time. About to throw the man out, a single sentence caught his eye on the page, listed under 'hobbies and interests'. 'Tango and Salsa, and classical music'. Atobe looked at it for a moment, before looking back at Sanada.

"You like salsa, tango and classical music?" he asked him.

Sanada nodded, and asked in reply, "do you?"

Nodding absently, Atobe stared at the page, thinking of all the interviews he'd have to do. And how many of them would have the same interests as him? Very few, he was sure. He didn't have time for interviews anyway; he had to get this file sorted.

"Fine, fine, you're hired. I'll get you a desk tomorrow," Atobe said. "Jiroh will explain to you -" He glanced over at the sleeping Jiroh. He looked back at Sanada. "Wake him."

Stiffly, Sanada moved over to Jiroh, and pushed him slightly.

Atobe looked at him. "That," he pointed, "is pathetic."

Sanada glared at him, and shoved Jiroh once more, this time harder. Jiroh fell off his chair, and landed with a thud on the floor. Atobe smiled, "much better."

He looked down at the now awake - and thoroughly disgruntled - Jiroh. "Show Sanada the ropes. And tell the secretary to cancel all other interviews."

Jiroh nodded, and looked toward Sanada. "Tell the secretary to -"

"No, Jiroh, he is not your assistant, he is my other assistant," Atobe said to him. "Now be gone, I need to get started on these."

Dodging through the bustling airport, the boy reached the animal control sector that the lady at the check-in had pointed out to him. The cat in the basket he carried meowed loudly, and the boy hushed it.

It continued to meow, and the boy mumbled, "It's only for a few hours," which was an obvious lie, as the flight from New York to Tokyo was at least ten hours. Giving his flight details to the attending, he heard them echoed with the announcement that informed him his flight was due to leave in 20 minutes. He said his farewells to Karupin, his cat, and headed toward the departure gate, ready to finally return to Japan.