25 I'll Keep That In Mind

"I can't believe Hijiri is our shachou's son." Koko's shoulders slumped as he leaned against his seat after their manager and new member left. "He has an incredible genes running through his system then." He shook his head in despair then turned to look at Natsume. "Sorry man, your background couldn't match his."

Natsume glowered at his corn-haired friend. "I don't give a damn even if he's Obama's son."

Koko furrowed his brows. "But Obama's black and Hijiri—" Koko immediately gulped and closed his mouth when Natsume shot him a menacing glare. "So umm," he looked at the two figures getting inside the elevator on the other side of the floor. "Where do you guys think they're going?"

Kitsu, who had his head laid down on the table, heaved a heavy sigh. "I don't care where they're going. I'm still surprised to see Hijiri here. What are the odds, huh." He paused, realizing something. "Does that mean we're gonna see him a lot in a day? Both at AA and here too?" He groaned. "He's not even my girlfriend and I have to see his face every single days? Man, this sucks!" He kicked his foot under the table in frustration.

Yuu laughed. "You see our faces everyday so does that mean we're your girlfriends? Man, can you be any more greedier?"

Kitsu held up his face from the table and scowled at Yuu who was sitting in front of him. "You know what I meant, Tobita." His scowl deepened when he saw Yuu grinned cheekily at him.

"They just went to the lobby," Ruka suddenly said. He had his body turned around and now peering by the glass corridor behind his seat. "Oh?" He paused, raising his brows. "Hijiri's there." He placed his chin on top of the glass rail and stared down in such a relax and calm manner like the silver haired lad had not magically disappeared and appeared down there in just a second. Koko on the other hand, couldn't believe it. He rushed to the glass corridor to have a look. "Didn't he went the other way just now? How can he be there so quick?" He furrowed his brows. "What, does he have some kind of teleportation power?" And he sounded so dissatisfied too.

Kitsu rolled his eyes at his friend's stupidly-out-of-the-world statement and joined him by the glass. He looked down as well. Ellys Emerys was pacing back and forth now and it looked like something was bothering her head so bad. The rest of the guys had now joined the squad, watching whatever their eyes could see. Even Natsume and Yuu. Yuu's eyes were straining. He was so curious. If he could, he would stretch his neck to listen what they're talking.

Natsume, well, he watched just for the sake of just watching. He's not particularly interested in Ellys Emerys. Heck he didn't want to know anything about her at all. He only wished to be acquaintance with her in the line of work only. Sure back then she bothered him because, because of her that Eye Candy couldn't properly debut—not that they really couldn't but so far, out of so many offers, YE made the best one and yet the only thing that stood in their way was Ellys Emery's participation.

But now that she already materialize in the real life and participating in the group too, and they could finally continue their plan in realizing their dream so that just it. He won't bother much about anything else. Not why she hid her face or why she's wearing a mask. She's joining the group and they're one step ahead to debut so that's what all mattered now. He didn't even care how she looked under the mask. But then, his eyes bulged out when he saw Hijiri pulled up her mask. His I-don't-really-care façade came crumbling down just as fast.

"Holy shit!" He heard Kitsu muttered. "Hijiri just pulled up her mask!"

"How the hell did he do that?!" Koko was close to shrieking now. He was that surprised.

Ruka was chuckling next to him. "I have to admit, I'm truly amazed with Hijiri's skills. Because coincidentally, he knows both Ellys Emerys and," he emphasized, "Mikan Sakura as well. The boy had amazing skills." The corner of his mouth curled up into a grin.

"Is it because he's the son of somebody's important that he knows all the people that seemed to matter? I mean, he has the connection too," Kitsu mumbled to himself and pondering, still looking down, watching.

"I don't think so. Queen Elizabeth matters to me but I'm certain he didn't know her." Koko frowned when everybody ignored what he just said. "You guys are mean. Do you know that?"

"Yeah yeah, sorry that it's in our genes." Kitsu waved a hand dismissively. Koko had wanted to demur but then Kitsu slapped a hand on his mouth to stop him from talking. "Oh shush Kokoroyome, we're still watching, man. You're disturbing."

Koko rolled his eyes and Kitsu's unfair treatment towards him. He pushed his friend's hand away and smacked the back of his head but Kitsu was so focus in what he's watching, he didn't even flinch at the hit. Now, Koko's amazed.

Natsume watched intently as Youichi mentioning something to Persona and then soon after, taking the elevator, Persona had left them to themselves. Now they were just the two of them. They were talking again. Then Hijiri pulled back down the mask and now had his arms on her shoulders, face slowly nearing. Natsume was strangely uncomfortable with the sight he's seeing right now. His stomach suddenly didn't feel good. It was slowly twisting in a torturous way like someone had grilled his organs inside.

"Natsume, I don't think they're just acquaintance," Ruka suddenly stated. When Natsume didn't reply, Ruka turned to look at him, only when he saw Natsume's face he grew worried. "Are you okay, man?"

"Yeah," he answered shortly. Ruka was not buying it though. He shook his head, indicating that he knew he's not but Natsume just shrugged him off.

"I dare say, they are acquaintance or probably more than that but she certainly didn't expect to see Hijiri here. That explains why she hid her face just now. We all saw it," Yuu spoke up, finally making a small conclusion he had been thinking about. "But now, I'm curious as to why she needed to speak personally with Persona-san."

Kitsu gave a small pat on Yuu's back. "Yuu, you're not on Detective Conan. This is not a mystery you gotta solve. Your gotta lower down your curiosity. It's gonna be the death of you someday."

"Ah shoot!" Koko turned around and began scrambling for his seat. "Our manager-san is coming!"

They all quickly got back to their seats and pretended to be flipping pages, totally acting like they had not watched anything that's not in their business. Just before Persona arrived, Koko suddenly snorted. "We're just like a bunch of fickle girls—"

Kitsu slapped a hand over Koko's mouth and shushed him down just as Persona reached their table. He sent a warning look to the corn-haired lad sitting next to him.

"So, anything amiss with the contract?" Persona had asked after he returned to his seat. And he acted so casually too. The guys sat there uncomfortably like they're hiding the biggest secret of the day that they had actually witnessed something that's completely none of their business.

"Anything you wish to add in the contract? We can discuss about it." Persona said again.

Yuu shifted in his seat in uneasiness. His mind was more interested in something else right now rather than having his face buried in the contenst of the contract. But he needed to read the contract though; in case there's some important matter they should know about like, if the company had set a few rules that they shouldn't break and such. He turned to look at Ruka who was sitting next to him, for a helping hand. Yuu furrowed his brows.

"Ruka, how many of those had you have?" He asked, one finger pointed towards the plate on the table. He just noticed his blonde kaichou was munching on something continuously.

Ruka picked up another piece from the plate and tossed it inside his mouth. "Uhmm, quite a few. Why?" He replied while chewing. He really liked the scrumptious taste.

Yuu sweat dropped. This ain't good, he thought. "You might wanna stop now." He pulled the plate away towards the other side of the table, out of Ruka's reach. "It's dairy."

Instinctively Ruka stopped chewing. He blinked and turned to look at Natsume, whom at that time, was looking down at the contract but had a huge smirk on his face. Ruka forcefully gulped the half-chewed leftover inside his mouth, down his throat. "Damn it, Natsume," he hissed while glaring. Yuu heard another curse came out from Ruka before he pushed his chair back and stood up with a very sour looking face. "Already?" Yuu asked worriedly. He thought he had heard a very disturbing growl escaping from Ruka's stomach.

"Yeah," Ruka answered, scowling. He had a hand over his stomach and his forehead was creasing. "Excuse me," he bowed his head towards Persona. Walking behind Natsume's seat, he deliberately elbowed the back of Natsume's head with the same arm that was holding his stomach. And he did it with such force too.

Rubbing his sore head after a mild curse escaped from his lips, Natsume chuckled at the sight of his best friend scurried towards the washroom, like a crab running for its house. He heard a sigh before Yuu spoke directly to him. "You should have told him, Natsume." Yuu shook his head at his raven haired friend, dispirited by his choice of ways toying with Ruka. "How many did he have?"

"Nine," Natsume answered with a very satisfying smirk. He counted the moment Ruka took the first piece. Yuu had thought the same. Koko looked at the plate of cheese cubes infront of him. "Bet he's gonna be awhile inside the toilet. Nine pieces are more than his tummy could normally take."

At that time, Mikan had finally returned. She took her seat back silently and opened back the contract infront of her, acting like all was well. Persona silently sent a thankful prayer to the god—and Youichi too for whatever he did that make her changed her mind—that she had returned. If not, he had to bawl his eyes out looking for another bet to win inside the company—not that he would really bawl his eyes out because his image won't allow it. Mikan rolled her eyes behind the mask when she saw Persona's small smile and she knew exactly what it meant. She just mentally shrugged it off and continued flipping the pages though she read nothing of it.

The guys stared curiously at her. Yuu was dying to ask her questions. At the end, he just sighed, hating himself for it. Kitsu cleared his throat, wanting to clear up the silent atmosphere that suddenly came. "Ah, manager-san," he began. "Kaichou—I mean, Ruka, can't eat dairy food. He'll get upset stomach if he does. Thought you should know."

Persona nodded his head, mentally jotting it down inside his mind and as a reminder to properly noted in down in papers later. So that's what it was all about just now. Though he had to admit that his mind was somewhere else just now—personally on Mikan's case since she suddenly said she won't do it—but he partially paid attention of the conversation that his kouhais were having, which was a good thing that they brought the topic up. "I'll be taking care of your meals during your schedule. Good thing you're reminding me of it. So Ruka Nogi can't eat dairy food. I'll remember that. How bout the rest of you?"

"Uhmmm," Kitsu tapped his chin, pondering and trying to remember what his friends couldn't eat. "Yuu hates vegetables but he eats carrots." When he saw Person quirked his brows, Kitsu explained, "Oh Yuu's eyesight are perfect for both eyes. That's not his real glasses." Yuu smiled sheepishly at the mention. Bet he had to explain later why he wore glasses when he didn't need to.

"Kokoroyome eats everything but he hates wasabi and mackerel," Kitsu continued.

"I'll get bloated face if I eat mackerel," Koko added with a sigh.

He pointed to his chest, "I'm allergic to seafood. And Natsume," Kitsu smirked, pointing one finger to the glaring Natsume, whom clearly didn't like what Kitsu's about to tell, "Natsume can't stand spicy food and onions. He'll get teary-eyed and red face."

Mikan mentally snickered when she heard Natsume's part. Though she's surprised that behind the appearances of good-looking men, the guys had a lot of weaknesses and needed a lot of extra loving care and attention too. But Natsume, his was just like a little kid's! Now that's major. Though she would love to see his face when that happened. Supposed she should sneak in a bunch of blended chilies in his food later on, Mikan grinned mischievously inside her mind.

"Milk," Mikan muttered, not lifting her face from the contract. She bet Persona already knew that but she's going with the current flow of conversation right now.

Persona smirked. He remembered Mikan bawled her eyes out, refusing to drink it when she was small. Mikan still hates milk to this day huh. No wonder she's not growing any taller.

"Oh? Same as Ruka?" Koko cut in excitedly, trying to make a conversation.

"I just hate the taste," she answered flatly, giving Koko a sideway-cold glare before returning to her contract. "You're noisy."

And Koko just sat silently after that, with his mouth clamped shut. Kitsu felt like laughing while holding his stomach, rolling on the floor, looking at the mute Koko. Now they had another person who's able to shut Koko up with just one glare, beside Natsume.

For the rest of the discussion, Persona informed them about the schedule they're likely to have starting tomorrow and the things that they should get done quickly—that is, after they had signed the contract; if they signed. But looking at how things go, most definitely they would sign the contract. After all, they finally got Ellys Emerys to join them. Ruka too soon returned to the table, face looking flushed. Again, he elbowed Natsume on his head when he attempted to walk behind him towards his seat. "You're so persistent in cracking my head open, huh Nogi," Natsume growled, rubbing his head. His crimson eyes followed Ruka's movement.

"Imagine having a cramp ass sitting on that toilet seat for half an hour straight, dumbass," Ruka hissed, finally settling down on his seat. "Yeah, thanks for nothing, Hyuuga."

"Quit bitching like a girl," Natsume added under his breath. He suddenly let out a curse after that before turning to glare at Ruka who was now sitting beside him. "Ah gomen. I forgot I have long legs," Ruka mumbled with a very gratifying smirk, staring down at the now open contract before him. Natsume scowled at his friend's childish excuse of stepping his foot on purpose, before deciding to just shrug it off.

Mikan continuously flipped the pages of the contract with a dull face. She saw long lines of paragraphs over paragraphs and she silently groaned. She had to read all these? And there were like, thirty pages of these! She's gonna get cross-eyed if she read it words by words. She felt her phone vibrated inside her back pocket. Fishing it out, she saw Hotaru's name on the screen. She quickly answered it.

"Yeah?" Damn she's bored.

"How much longer are you gonna be there?" It sounded as though Hotaru was more bored though.

"Don't know. Why?"

"We're here." Mikan heard Hotaru temporarily paused, presumably looking around the room before speaking again.

Mikan immediately shut the contract closed. "Already?" That was fast. Mikan thought she had heard Luna's voice complaining at the back on the other line.

"Yeah. So don't make me wait too long for you." Hotaru paused before adding with a lower voice that sounded like a real warning. "For real, Mikan Sakura, don't make me wait for you if you're not giving me any crabs." Hotaru hanged up and the line went dead.

Grabbing for whoever's pen she saw on the table, she opened the last page of the contract and scribbled her handwriting at the bottom of the page. Snapping it shut again, she pushed the contract towards Persona. "I'm done."

Yuu looked at her astonishingly. Did she just sign the contract without looking through each of the content? Did he just see it right? Is the woman crazy? Yuu glanced at his friends and they were all pretty much had the same look on their faces too.

"You're not gonna read them one by one?" Persona had asked as he took the contract.

Mikan shrugged. "I trust you." Persona smirked at the statement and nodded his head. "I'll call you if there's anything more to discuss."

Mikan nodded her head and stood up. "Then I'll take my leave." She bowed her head. "Thank you for today. I'll be under your care from now on." She then faced the guys—the parasites whom now became her team members—and bowed her head once more. "I'm looking forward in working with you guys. Please take care of me from now on." Another one last bow before finally making her exit.

"Should we just sign too?" Koko proposed the same idea as Mikan finally left them. Yuu was totally opposing. "No, we need to read them first." Always thinking of the precautions first, this one guy.

"But they're too long! And I can't read them anymore without feeling dizzy," Koko's kicking up a fuss.

"No matter," Persona cut in, "You can bring them home to revise them. I can have it back by tomorrow."

"Why didn't you tell us that beforeeeee," Kitsu whined, "I won't have to stare at the small words for so long! I even had to reread them a few times because I couldn't understand the first time." Kitsu sighed. "Ano, manager-san, I really hate troublesome stuff."

Persona fought the urge to form a small smile at the boy's revelation as he forced to keep a straight face. "I'll keep that in mind too."

"Then, we'll be taking our leave too," Ruka announced after closing the contract. The rest of the guys followed. "We'll give you a respond by tomorrow," Ruka informed with his usual warm smile. "Rest assured, you'll have them signed, that's for sure."

XXXXXX

"Ah crap." Natsume turned around to look at Ruka who was rummaging in his pocket for something. "What?" he asked his blonde best friend.

Ruka tossed him the folder containing his contract. "Sorry man, you go ahead. I just remembered I left my phone and watch at the washroom. No wonder my pocket felt empty."

Natsume nodded his head and clamped Ruka's file together with his with his one hand. "I'll let the rest of the guys know. We'll pick you up at the front lobby."

"Yeah sure. I won't be long." He turned around and headed for the washroom he recently visited just an hour ago.

Five minutes later, he found himself staring back and forth between two doors infront of him. Both had a gold plate with 'waiting longue' on each one of them. Both looked alike, only difference is the door on the left labeled as 'waiting longue I' and on the right was 'waiting longue II'. Now he stood there, totally puzzled. He couldn't remember which door he went in before. He remembered asking for direction to the other washroom available close by since the first one he went to at the fifth floor was under construction. The employee he talked to, gave him the direction to the waiting longue one floor below since there's a washroom available inside. He was in a rush, it was as though his ass was on fire, so he just opened the first door he saw when he reached the said direction. Now, which door was it the first one he saw and opened? He scratched his head out of habit, still baffled.

Well, he supposed he should just opened whichever door first and look inside. There's no harm, ain't it? If it's wrong, he would just have to go and check the other door after that. Ruka shrugged. 'That would work I guess,' he thought as he grabbed for the doorknob with the gold plate labeled 'waiting longue I'.

He pushed the door opened, eyes looking ahead.

Five seconds later, he found himself pulling the door closed.

He blinked rapidly.

Ruka furrowed his brows. Now he wondered if what he saw just now was just his mind playing games.

TBC.