27 The Girl With The Mask

Kou glared at his manager. The poor lad was a head shorter than him, glasses perched on his straight nose, his hair parted in middle to give off his unusual mixed blood a more definite aura. He sheepishly grinned and scratched the back of his head. Well, he did forget about his kouhai waiting outside the room so clearly he was at fault here.

But the discussion took longer that he had thought. Even if their shachou had previously arranged a prior appointment with YE, it wasn't that easy either to get them to say yes. And the one he had to discuss with just now, was one hell of a stubborn guy. Not to mention he had to wait for that person to make other few calls to rearrange everything.

Good thing all is well now. He finally got the job done exactly like his shachou wanted after all the bargain he had to lay out to them. Time flew by so quickly, he had completely forgotten he had came to YE together with his kouhai.

"You could've told that I'm going to age another 50 years waiting for you outside the room," Kou growled. "If you're going to be this long, I could've waited inside!"

"Ma, ma, Kou-kun," he began. "It was hard to win the bargain with YE, even if shachou had already arranged us a prior appointment with them." But then he smiled and put up a peace sign with his two fingers. "But as always, we somehow got them to agree with the bargain."

Kou sighed, silently felt relief. He guessed his time waiting aimlessly outside the room would be worth the wait after all. YE is considered to be a very big company if compared to his, because compared to other entertainment companies, YE was the longest one in the entertainment field. YE is the top on the seniority list. Any other companies who wish to collaborate with YE, they had to wait in a long line. Though he's surprised that his shachou managed to get an early appointment with YE.

He didn't understand why they wouldn't want to use the singer he teamed up with in his single, together in his music video. And they're under the same company too, which would make things easier and faster to get done. His manager had no problem with the idea that he proposed but this time, his shachou had decided to get involved.

To be honest, he had no idea who would it be. His shachou seemed very desperate in getting his hand on the said person too. That's why he was rushed to YE with his manager after he managed to get a prior appointment with them. He thought he knew pretty much everyone who worked under YE. Why now would that old man wanted him to collaborate with this person so much? Why not before? Though it's true that old man had high hopes for this single of his would make a huge break out, he wondered how much more he would do to achieve that.

"So who is it?" Kou asked. They started walking towards the elevator.

"Hm?" Shin looked up from the screen of his phone. "Who is it what?"

He pushed the button with the arrow pointing down. They waited for the door of the lift to open. "The one that shachou desperately want to the extent that he practically threw us out of the company to rush here." He watched as the lift came down from the above floors.

"To be honest," Shin grinned sheepishly at his kouhai and again, he scratched the back of his head. "I don't really know either." When he saw that Kou nearly bulged his eyes out at him and wanted to call him a baka for it—despite him being older than him—he held out both of his hand to stop him from exploding.

"It was said that the girl has not even debut yet!"

Kou halted his movement and his brows quirked upwards. "What? How is that even possible?" he asked in disbelief. "Then is she really a member of YE?"

"She is. She just came today to sign and finalize the contract, they said. That's why she had not debuted yet. She's the new face they're hiring." He stopped then added with a low murmur, "along with a few bunch of other kids too or so I heard."

But apparently Kou had his mind focused on something else at the moment. "Then how did shachou managed to know about her if she's not yet debuting?"

The door dinged and opened. They stepped inside the empty box. Shin pressed the G button and as the door closed, the lift went down. Shin shrugged his shoulders indicating he didn't know either. "I did ask them to show me her face since she'll be working with us soon but they said they haven't seen her face either."

"Nonsense," Kou scoffed. "If she came here to sign the contract, someone must had seen her already. She must at least pass the entrance door to get inside."

"Aaaah yes," Shin grinned widely, finally getting in the mood of the story, "but the thing is, she came here wearing a mask."

Kou gave a vacant look at his manager as he stared at him in disbelief, as though Shin had just mentioned something stupid. "You're shitting me."

Shin chuckled. "None at all. Other YE staff members also said the same thing." Kou watched as his manager suddenly stopped talking and his eyes somehow looked distant behind his back. Then he suddenly spoke again, "I won't shit on you for the world." He pointed behind Kou's back.

Their lift finally and slowly reaching the first floor and as Kou turned around, through the crystal glass of the elevator, he could see a girl with an odd striking colour stood near the entrance door. Kou felt like his jaw fell right on the floor when he caught the glimpse of the said infamous mask.

"You gotta be kidding me," he murmured to himself. "This is a straight cut out of a manga!" He nearly had his face plastered flat on the glass wall because he was pressing his face so much against it.

Shin pulled Kou by his shirt and sighed. "Kou-kun, you're an idol. Idols don't have their faces plastered on the glass wall like some kids looking at a candy store."

Kou turned around and blinked as his eyes registered the floor they're currently stopping. "Wait, why are we on the first floor? We're not going back yet?" He had not even realized his manager pressed the first floor button. Didn't he press the G button just now? How odd.

Shin shook his head. "Not just yet. I have to pick up her schedule for the shooting. Don't go anywhere far. Just stay around here for awhile." He let go off Kou's shirt and walked out of the elevator, leaving his kouhai behind, heading god knows where for another work.

Kou too, stepped out of the elevator and decided to just hang around by the rail. He won't stay inside the elevator and hold onto it. God knows how long again his manager would take for a mere schedule. He might disturb other people working by holding on to the elevator by himself. He stood there and happened to see the girl again. His interest automatically grew. Why would she wear a mask?

Mikan, on the other hand, finally sighed in relief. She waved her final goodbye as she watched the car disappeared from her sight. Though she hated to resort to blackmailing, Hotaru was right. It worked wonders. Now how should she explain to Hotaru that she kinda use her name a little to sweeten the bargain?

Mikan stood there, pondering hard. Well, she supposed she could just leave it out on purpose. She can't lie, partly because she's a terrible liar but she won't just mention anything regarding it—unless Hotaru decided to be a telepathic shaman and sensed something was off and started questioning her about it, only then she would tell. Using her best friend on Ruka Nogi, not just anyone but Ruka freaking Nogi, Hotaru would cut her hair bald. Mikan shuddered at the thought. She loved her hair so much for it not to be sacrificed.

"What are you doing like an idiot holding your hair?"

Mikan yelped in surprised and turned around. "Hotaru!" she gulped. "H-how long were you there?"

Hotaru narrowed her amethyst eyes at her brunette friend. "Just now. Were you woolgathering again in the middle of this place?"

"Not really," she laughed awkwardly. "Why are you here?"

"I thought of lending you a hand incase your blackmailing doesn't work. Nogi might need a stronger and crueler version." She shrugged. "Just in case."

"I can handle it, Hotaru!" Mikan puffed her cheeks. Why did Hotaru always had to go and watched her back every single time.

"Didn't you hear what I said? I told you, just in case." Mikan narrowed her eyes at her best friend's statement. Hotaru smirked before adding, "partly because sometimes you're unnecessarily soft."

Mikan rolled her eyes, not wanting to counter the words. Supposed she's better of like that than becoming a monster when she's really fucking mad. It's a rare case but she hated herself whenever that happened and she would bury herself in guilt soon after that. Well, probably because she's more distracted with something else now; more like someone.

Mikan chuckled seeing the sight of Luna heading towards them. The sound of her six inches heels thumped on the marbled polished floor echoed as she walked and her strawberry blonde hair bounced correspond to every step she took. The scene slowly registered in her mind on how much attention that Luna's getting right now. People were staring; maybe because she really stood out. Luna's beauty is indeed something to behold after all.

Or maybe because they had not yet seen a pissed off beauty before this day.

"She's certainly mad about something," Mikan muttered, her head bobbing towards Luna's direction behind Hotaru's back.

Hotaru turned around and snickered. She knew what's wrong with the whole view of Luna Koizumi now. "Koizumi hates carrying things if it's not her stuff. Or her purse, to put it bluntly."

Mikan blinked as Luna finally reached their side. "Damn it, Mikan Sakura. I had to carry your stuff out because somebody else is using the room." She shoved the bags towards Mikan.

Mikan took the paper bag gratefully after muttered a thank you but then she narrowed her eyes at her friend. "That's a waiting lounge. Why do you need to get out just because somebody else came? You can just wait together with that person."

"What, did that person bug you?" Hotaru smirked, already figuring out the atmosphere.

Luna glared at Hotaru, mostly because what Hotaru said was right on the mark and now that Hotaru mentioned about it, she suddenly remembered what made her so boiling mad and stormed out of the room. "That old geezer was flirting with me, it was fucking gross. Fucking hell, I'm close to jumping on him and biting his head off!" Luna hissed. "If I didn't get out, he would be dead by now. If not dead, then a trip to the ICU."

Mikan sighed. "Then, where can I change my clothes?" She peeked inside the paper bag.

"Let's go." Hotaru began walking towards the entrance door. "You can change inside the car. It won't be that comfortable but it will do."

Mikan opened her mouth to demur but then Luna quickly cut her off. "I brought Kazuki's car with me. Don't worry about people seeing you naked, Mikan Sakura. Because it's tinted completely dark." She started to walk away, following Hotaru from behind, leaving a still dumbfounded Mikan behind, who soon caught up after them after a few seconds of pondering.

Back on the first floor, just a floor above the lobby, Kou was staring. He couldn't hear but he was watching. The masked-girl perked his interest initially because..well, due for many reasons actually. Firstly, she's the girl his president so insisted on, the one he'd be working with for the music video. Secondly, she had not even debuted yet. Thirdly, her hair colour was so odd. Fourth, she's wearing a mask for god's sake! Even if it's a demi one. For what actually?

Right after he first looked at her, he continuously looking. He couldn't help it; her presence tugged his attention so bad. So while he waited for his manager to finish whatever work he had, he continued watching.

But then a person he happened to recognize had to appear at that moment, making him suddenly confused. It was odd seeing the raven-haired girl in such a place. For work maybe? Well, he knew Hotaru Imai could do many kinds of work. The girl's a machine after all. So maybe it's one of her 'many kinds of work' that brought her here. Editting some videos for YE, perhaps. Then again, would he take the fact that she knew the girl in the mask, as a mere coincidence?

But then when Luna Koizumi came, his mind came into turmoil, making him confused as his frown grown deeper and deeper. No, it's definitely not a coincidence anymore. Okay, maybe if he saw only Hotaru Imai, then he could passed it as a mere coincidence, even it the odds were unexplainable. But with both of them, Hotaru Imai and Luna Koizmi, together at that, it was out of the world that the two of them could be in the same place at the same time without picking on each other; unless Mikan Sakura is with them.

Kou raised his brows in realization. It's really not a coincidence after all. For the years he had known them, Mikan always play the neutral part for those two. Hotaru Imai couldn't be left alone with Luna Koizumi and the same goes for the other way around. But as weird as it is, the three of them were very close to each other. Although, after he heard that Mikan and Hotaru both got kicked out from GA, he assumed Luna would be out of the radar too since she told him she knew nothing. Then, to see them together, Luna and Hotaru right now that is, then that meant…could it be the girl wearing the mask is… Mikan Sakura?

TBC.