Department Chief Dia Kurosawa was not a happy woman, and she made sure everyone in the office knew it.
"These forms are filled out improperly! Redo them by hand!"
"This draft is terrible! I want a second design on my desk before the end of the day!"
"We've only got two more days until this quarter ends and we've only exceeded our sales quota by 3 percent! We are not resting until we hit 5 percent!"
Her reign of terror was legendary in the various company departments, and she was often used as a crucible to test the mettle of new hires or as punishment to employees on probation.
As she finished chewing out a woman who accidentally mistook one store location for another, an unfortunate technician then notified her that an unexpected glitch would require an immediate two hours of server maintenance. Dia reacted as well as everyone expected.
"Unacceptable!" she roared as she hurled a stress ball across the room.
The various paper pushers and company drones ducked to safety as the projectile sailed away, and for a few moments it seemed like they would all escape this latest outburst of Kurosawa rage unharmed.
But then Yoshiko turned the corner, coming face to face with the flying ball of deformed rubber. She squealed as it struck her right between the eyes, the office intern going down like a sack of bricks as the papers she was carrying scattered to the winds.
Thankfully, while her boss was being a raging lunatic, her coworkers were much more helpful.
"Hey Yoshiko-chan, are you okay?" asked You as the blunette sat up.
"I just got hit in the face, what do you think?" she moaned, rubbing her latest bruise gingerly. Yoshiko sighed and began to pick up her dropped papers, Chika and You bending down to help. "Well, at least it wasn't a stapler this time," she said.
"That's the spirit! Just keep up that positive attitude and you'll be fine," smiled Chika encouragingly.
"Don't worry, this will all blow over soon," added You as the three of them finished collecting the papers.
Yoshiko accepted the forms with a nod. "Thanks. Is she always this bad at the end of the quarter?"
You shook her head. "She's definitely worse than usual, but it's never been this bad."
"Really? Then what the heck is going on?"
Her coworkers exchanged a glance. "Well you see," said Chika, "You know the big office party we're having next week?"
"What about it?"
"The chief's upset that Ruby-chan doesn't have anyone to go with, so she's not-so-subtly hinting for someone to step up," explained You. Beside her, Chika nodded in agreement.
"Are you serious?!" exclaimed the blunette, "She's upset because Ruby doesn't have a date?!" She shook her head in disbelief. "I get that she's overprotective of her, but she should really stay out her sister's life."
Chika and You stared at her solemnly. "Yoshiko-chan," intoned Chika, "I know you've only been here for a couple months, but trust us when we say you should never, EVER, tell the chief that."
A new voice joined the conversation, sending chills up their spines. "Never tell the chief what?" asked Dia menacingly.
All three of the office drones jumped, Yoshiko only just barely managing not to spill her papers again.
"Nothing, Chief Kurosawa, absolutely nothing! You look great today, did you do something with your hair? Wear new lipstick? Get a nose job? Not that you need one!" babbled Chika.
A stern glare silenced the ginger. "If the three of you have time to talk," she said, "Then you aren't working hard enough!" The three flinched again, but nodded fearfully. Dia turned to leave, but stopped. "Also!" she decided. "One of you take Ruby to the party," she commanded.
"Of course, chief! I will gladly take your sister to the party!" blurted Chika fearfully.
The ravenette leaned in close to Chika and hissed out, "Don't tell me. Ask her."
"Y-Yes chief!"
Chika took a single step towards the redhead before Dia placed a hand on her shoulder and held her in place. "Never mind," said Dia severely, "It is clear that you are completely unfit to accompany her." She turned her glare to You.
The brunette nodded with trepidation as she scampered over to where Ruby was currently feeding the office's pet turtle.
"Hey Ruby-chan! Wanna go to the office party with me?"
Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "I thought you were going with Chika-chan?"
"Oh! Uh... I am, but... well, about that..."
"So you plan on two-timing with my sister as the other woman?" growled Dia from behind her.
"AHHHH!" cried You as she leapt a meter into the air.
Dia glared at her scornfully. "It appears you are also unworthy of my precious sister's attention. Now get back to work!"
"Yes ma'am!" saluted You before she dashed away.
Ruby just frowned at her sister in disapproval.
When You returned to Chika and Yoshiko, she let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Thank god that's over with," she breathed. "I thought I was going to die!"
"It's a good thing the chief has such unrealistically high standards for Ruby-chan's date," agreed Chika. "Still, there's still one of us she hasn't coerced yet."
Chika and You aimed pointed stares at the blunette.
Yoshiko scoffed in response. "Like she'd expect anything from the intern," she dismissed. "There's no way it'll happen."
"I don't know about that," said Chika, "If she asked me, then she's definitely getting desperate..."
Yoshiko simply sighed and shook her head in mute disagreement while You practically spun a verbal essay to convince Chika that she was amazing.
But the trio soon broke up to return to work, as dictated by their chief. As Yoshiko returned to her desk, she spared a glance to where the Kurosawa siblings were still talking. Ruby was doubtlessly trying to convince Dia to stop scaring their coworkers, while Dia was doubtlessly trying to convince Ruby that everything was all for her benefit.
For an instant, Yoshiko thought she saw Dia glance her way out of the corner of her eye, but when she blinked the moment was over.
The blunette rolled her eyes. There was no way that would ever happen. Yoshiko already had a reputation for being weird, and Dia had scolded her for improper work and behavior many times over the past couple months.
She was sure Dia would much rather have Ruby go alone than go with her.
Still, it's not as if Yoshiko was disinterested. The cute redhead was always a kind listener and more than willing to play along with Yoshiko's antics. If the opportunity ever arose... well, it wouldn't. Yoshiko just wasn't that lucky.
Five minutes later, Yoshiko found herself sitting in Dia's personal office, the department chief glaring into her eyes as she leaned over her desk.
Yoshiko fidgeted.
Dia hadn't said anything for the past three and a half minutes.
Eventually, the ravenette sighed in resignation.
"Yoshiko-san."
"Yes ma'am!"
"Are you going with anyone to the office party next week?"
"No ma'am!"
"...That answer better change by the end of the day. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am!"
"Good. Now get out of my office."
As soon as she stepped out of Dia's personal space and back onto the office floor, Yoshiko suddenly found herself tackled by the younger Kurosawa as Ruby latched onto her with a hug.
"I'm sorry Yoshiko-chan! Please forget anything onee-chan said to you! You don't have to force yourself to do anything you don't want to do!" cried the redhead.
"Wha-?! Ruby? Slow down, what are you talking about?"
Ruby sniffed. "Onee-chan told you to ask me to the party next week, didn't she?"
"Not specifically though I got the implication. But I understand if you don't want to go with me."
"Well, it's not that," said the redhead as she untangled herself from Yoshiko. "Actually, it's the opposite," she confessed, she looking to the floor in embarrassment.
"...what?"
"I may have mentioned to onee-chan that I wanted you to go with me, but I was too nervous to ask. She promised she wouldn't say anything but then she dragged you into her office and-"
"Hold up," interrupted Yoshiko, "You want to go with me? Like, really?"
Ruby nodded.
A light blush adorned Yoshiko's face. "...Okay," she accepted softly. "I'll go with you."
As the blunette's words sunk in, a bright smile blossomed over Ruby's face and she grasped Yoshiko's hands in her own. "Then it's a date," she declared.
Yoshiko nodded with a matching smile and chirped an acknowledgement, and the two stared adoringly into each others' eyes.
Sadly, the moment ended all too soon as a coworker called for Ruby to look something over. They parted ways in good spirits, and Yoshiko's eyes couldn't help but focus on the redhead's hips as they swung mesmerizingly. When she was out of sight, Yoshiko sighed happily and turned to go to her desk.
...Only to walk straight into Dia. The chief's arms were crossed and she wore a frigid expression.
Yoshiko gulped.
"Tsushima. My office. Now."
This time, instead of making Yoshiko wallow in dread, Dia got straight to the point.
"I don't know what my sister sees in you, but whatever it is she seems to like it very much. So make her happy. That said, if you break her heart, I will break your spine. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am!"
"Good. Now get back to work."
As the door to Dia's office closed behind her, Yoshiko let out a sigh of relief. Sure she'd been scared half to death, but now she had a date, and maybe even a future girlfriend!
Maybe her luck was finally starting to look up.
With that final happy thought, she walked back to her desk to continue working.
...and promptly faceplanted as she tripped over the stress ball from earlier.