Hyuuga Corporations had reached an all new success, the kind that Tokyo had yet to see. Business from all around the world wanted to know its secrets, understand the methods used to break into the global economy and continue to thrive. But the Hyuuga Corporations was an unusual business, not that many people knew, and most of success in foreign countries came from its mission: to protect and serve the Alices of the world. To any normal citizen, the Hyuuga Corporations was a communications leader but, to Alices, it was an inlet into the now peaceful Alice Academy. That was why all those hired in Hyuuga Corporations was an Alice so they could understand the importance of what the establishment stood for. And word was spreading within the main building that Mr. Bossman was a part of a board given the task of creating institutions just like Alice Academy in Europe and North America. It was a proud thing to be even a janitor within Hyuuga Corporations, but that didn't mean the employees liked working there. No one ever quit because the pay was great and the hours were even more so. However, all could agree that "Mr. Bossman" was a force to be reckoned with. If one was going to find themselves at the brunt of their anger, they'd choose to stand before the devil himself. After all, it was a far less painful option.
They all called him Mr. Bossman whenever he wasn't present, but when he was before them, they'd call him by his professional title: Hyuuga-san. Natsume Hyuuga, the notorious black cat of Alice Academy. Whether they were foreigners and natives alike knew of Natsume Hyuuga's past. They knew he was used to using brutal force to get what he wanted, and he was used to harboring a cold and unfeeling heart, which was why they cowered in fear whenever he was around. Luckily, Natsume rarely ever roamed around to the different departments. In his stead he had his colleague/friend Ruka Nogi do all the talking to the employees. He was far easier to talk to and he actually cared about the employees' feelings.
"I admit it, he is a lot to handle," Ruka was speaking to a few other employees in the (very luxurious) breakroom once, "But he has his moments."
No one really understood what it was Ruka was talking about. Out of the hundreds that worked in the skyrise, not once had anyone seen a less demeaning Natsume. Oh, many have thought they've seen it, but then Natsume would one way or another make them retract their hopes. The employees were beyond the point of believing that Natsume was a normal human being with feelings of any sore. That is, until a few of them witnessed the most shocking event in the history of shocking events.
It was a busy afternoon and, up on the executive floor, people were either in their offices working away on their computer or groups were holding meetings in the meeting rooms. The meeting rooms were separated by walls of glass but the offices, for confidential reasons were not. Therefore, those who were in meeting rooms were blessed with the rare opportunity of seeing Mr. Bossman out of his normal character. There was a particular meeting room that was occupied by about five strategizing employees, and they all suddenly noticed a young woman happily bouncing down the hall with a large plate in her first thing that anyone noticed about her was her bright red heels that accompanied her beautiful summer dress that was decorated with cherries. Women gasped at this womans natural beauty, because it was obvious there was no makeup involved. Men blushed, questioning whoever they could question in order to find out who this woman was and, more importantly, whether she was taken or not. Her chocolate eyes sparkled to accompany that blinding smile of hers, and her caramel hair flowed effortlessly to the middle of her back.
Who was she here for, almost everyone in that meeting room was silently wondering and boy did their eyes almost pop out of their sockets when, halfway down the hall, she met the person she had most likely come to see: Natsume. It all made sense now. Everyone knew Natsume was married, and everyone questioned what kind of woman his wife was. She had to have been some kind of superhero for being able to tolerate that cold shoulder of Natsume's. And everyone knew that that woman was his wife because, unlike everyone else who ran into Natsume, her smile grew wider when she saw him heading her way.
The double door's to the meeting room was a short distance from the couple, and everyone in the meeting room seemed to lean that way in an attempt to hear the words that were being exchanged. Due to the painfully quiet atmosphere, it didn't take much straining of the ears to catch the exchange. "How did you know I was coming," the woman asked in a bubbly manner albeit a little disappointed now that her surprise had failed.
"Ruka told me you were coming," Natsume replied with the usual indifferent tone. "What are you doing here?"
As the group pretended to work, very aware that they could be seen, a few of the women gasped in horror while a few men recoiled at Natsume's insensitivity. The woman seemed to not have minded as she continued to smile. "Well, I grew bored at home because I went through the entire chores list: the laundry, vacuuming, walking the dogs, groceries–"
"Mikan," Natsume pressed.
"Oh lighten up, will you, I said I was sorry," she sighed, tapping a delicate hand on his shoulder. Meanwhile, the meeting room was filling up with silent prayers for this woman. It was just like Natsume to treat his wife with such hostility, but today was even worse because Natsume had been an a particularly bad mood that morning. "Anyway, I brought some cookies for the team today." At the mention of the word "team," Natsume looked over to the nearby meeting room and narrowed his eyes when he caught a few quickly snapping their heads off in a different direction. They were listening. "Oh, is that the team?" Everyone froze when they heard her nearing, knowing Natsume would be following, and they silently wished her away even though, by the looks of it, the woman seemed pure down to her very soul. But, too late, she was already standing in the doorway saying, "Oh my gosh its so nice to finally meet all of you!"
Natsume took hold of her arm, attempting to usher her away while saying, "Mikan they are busy–"
She pulled her arm away, turning to glare at him, "Stop it. They can take a break."
The bunch had to prevent themselves from dropping their mouths open in absolute shock. She had just talked back to the Natsume Hyuuga and he didn't say a word after that. Instead, he simply followed her in a few steps and watched as she bent over to place the plate of cookies on the table. "A thank you gift for working so hard," she smiled, tucking her hands behind her back. A few men blushed at her smile, but quickly tucked it away when they heard their boss growl. "I know Natsume doesn't give you all much credit but it isn't an easy job to establish an academy in America, which I'm still not quite sure how that all works, but you all know what you're doing. And– Oh my goodness! I forgot to introduce myself!" Natsume sighed, crossing his arms impatiently as his wife bowed respectfully. "My name is Mikan Hyuuga, it is a pleasure to meet you all."
A series of responses came but only one woman who went by the name Kogara-san stood up to actually speak. "Oh… um… thank you for the cookies, Hyuuga-san. You really didn't have to."
"Yes," Natsume spoke up, "you really didn't have to."
His glare intensified when his wife didn't even acknowledge him, even more so when she waved him away and said, "Please ignore him. He's just upset because I slept in and couldn't see him off this morning." She gained satisfaction when a few employees ducked to hide their smiles. "As for the cookies, I know I didn't have to. I wanted to. And, please, call me Mikan." Again with that purifying smile, but it was interrupted with a dramatic gasp once she caught sight of Ruka who was now walking down the hall, eyes fixated on his phone. "Excuse me," she said politely and made a mad dash for him, most likely to scold him for telling Natsume of her surprise.
As for Kogara-san, she sat back down and reached for a cookie. They were fluffed chocolate chip cookies and, when Kogara-san took a bit out of one, she found that they were irresistibly delicious. She looked up to see Natsume making his leave, but she called out to him with one last thing to say. "Wait… uh, Hyuuga-san!" All the others look at her while she was crazy while Natsume sent his "what do you want" glance her way. Kogara-san grew bolder though, because what she said next was meant with absolute sincerity. She smiled softly and looked briefly to Mikan who was now bickering with a chuckling Ruka. "Your wife. She is very wonderful."
And suddenly, the impossible happened, according to the others that is. But not to Kogara-san. Being married to her husband for two years now, she was able to identify a man in love at first glance and, whether he wanted to admit it or not, her boss was deeply in love. Natsume cracked a smile, knowing full well his employees may nearly faint, but he did so anyway and simply said, "I know" before exiting the meeting room to proudly stand next to his lively wife.