Chapter 1
'Nick, where are my papers?' a fat man yelled from the other side of the large office. People were busy scampering inside, all with grim and busy faces. Angry yells resounded across the halls from inside the hectic room.
'I placed them on your table,' she yelled back. Nicole Stuart was assistant editor for the popular Élan magazine, and was currently having a chaotic schedule due to the delay of its December edition.
Frustrated, she ran a hand over her short blond hair and walked briskly over to the fat guy. 'Dean if you're not going to stop, I'll be forced to resign before the end of this year,' she warned him, her eyes burning. 'The delay is not my fault! If you hadn't left the pictures of Cameron Diaz in the public toilet, the magazine would've been out by the end of November!'
'I never thought that much people had a crush on Cameron Diaz!' he retorted. 'Besides, I had a bad case of constipation that day.'
'Oh that is so right,' she snapped. 'Because if you do you wouldn't be leaving those pictures there now would you? For all we know someone would be selling them to cheap stores! Do you know one picture of that lady is worth $ 50,000!' She rolled her eyes and flailed her arms in the air in exasperation. 'Personally I do not get the point of bringing those pictures in a public toilet.'
Dean seemed to shrink in size as the whole room gasped. 'Well I had no one to hold them outside the cubicle,' he stammered.
Whispers erupted. *sweatdrops appearing one by one…*
'Public toilet?'
'That's embarrassing…'
'I heard there are 10 pictures of Cameron Diaz in that envelope…so that's half a million…'
'Goddamn…'
Nicole went on, ignoring the murmurs in the room. 'How irresponsible can you get?" she cried out. 'For god's sake!' Annoyed, she let out a high- pitched scream.
Immediately, the whole room silenced itself. All eyes were on her, startled.
'Uh…Nick, I think you should come over here for a second…well…you have mail from a friend,' Heather Davidson, one of the staff said suddenly, breaking the silence.
Soon the room was bursting with energy again.
Sighing, Nicole walked back to her desk and grabbed the letter from Heather's hand.
*
Imagine Rukawa and Sendoh in business suits at the 30th floor of a building in the middle of Tokyo.
'When will you leave?' Sendoh Akira asked Rukawa Kaede one winter morning. They held positions in the same sports company dealing with recruitments of new basketball players for a brewing national league.
'Two days,' Rukawa replied, not taking his small eyes from the basketball game flashing in the TV screen, which he was tasked to critique. That was his job. Criticize players. Something he was so good especially with Sakuragi Hanamichi.
'Hmm…London is a bit far away,' Sendoh said thoughtfully. 'Tell me, what are you planning to do there?'
'Nothing.'
Rukawa could not remember how exactly he landed on the same company with Sendoh. As far as Rukawa was concerned, the company ran after him and begged him to work at that company. And to think they were too desperate that they moved the company near Rukawa's house so he would not have any trouble going back and forth from work [because the company researched too much and found out he usually slept on the way…]
He graduated from Business Management in Seikei University a year ago. He was forced to take that course for his wealthy father ran a business and insisted Rukawa be his heir. Rukawa, a good son he was, accepted the offer [also because of the fact Seikei University compromised a scholarship for him, ticket to the national games and a trip to London after 5 years].
Then one morning, while Rukawa was in the middle of his precious sleep, he stumbled over several boxes that stood on his usual way to his desk. It turned out Sendoh was assigned a very peculiar job which meant he would be sharing the same room as Rukawa. His job---waking Rukawa up.
Well they lived peacefully despite former disputes in their high school years. They practiced basketball by throwing crumpled papers into the trash bin located behind the office door. In fact they were so caught up with it, that Sendoh installed an improvised hoop above the mouth of the trash bin.
Anyway…the point of it all, they became close friends. That is, if anyone dares believe it.
'It's the scholarship thing isn't it?' Sendoh asked, spinning himself in his turnable chair.
'Sort of,' Rukawa replied. Lamely, Sendoh tossed him a crumpled paper, which in turn Rukawa threw into the bin. It was simply Sendoh's way of keeping Rukawa awake. Often Sendoh would see Rukawa asleep in his desk, and his only waking-up pill was basketball.
'Then what is it?' Sendoh pressed. He ran his hand through his gelled hair, and it ended up stuck in the middle of his tresses. He overdid his gel this morning. Frantically he tried to pull it off, standing up from his chair while scowling at his hair.
Rukawa ignored him. 'Baka yarou…' he muttered under his breath.
'Oh by the way Rukawa-kun,' Sendoh said, sitting back on his revolving chair. 'The company told me to go with you to London,' he announced, with that same old smile.
'Nandato?' Rukawa could not believe his ears. He peered at Sendoh behind his long bangs with his kitsune eyes. 'Kimi wa kirenai…'
'Doushite?' Sendoh challenged.
'Datte…' Rukawa's voice trailed off. He could not remember himself losing his calm over some pointless business of his. Somehow this trip to London seemed a little too messy even for his indifference.
He could not bear think what will happen next…if Sendoh found out…
'Nick, where are my papers?' a fat man yelled from the other side of the large office. People were busy scampering inside, all with grim and busy faces. Angry yells resounded across the halls from inside the hectic room.
'I placed them on your table,' she yelled back. Nicole Stuart was assistant editor for the popular Élan magazine, and was currently having a chaotic schedule due to the delay of its December edition.
Frustrated, she ran a hand over her short blond hair and walked briskly over to the fat guy. 'Dean if you're not going to stop, I'll be forced to resign before the end of this year,' she warned him, her eyes burning. 'The delay is not my fault! If you hadn't left the pictures of Cameron Diaz in the public toilet, the magazine would've been out by the end of November!'
'I never thought that much people had a crush on Cameron Diaz!' he retorted. 'Besides, I had a bad case of constipation that day.'
'Oh that is so right,' she snapped. 'Because if you do you wouldn't be leaving those pictures there now would you? For all we know someone would be selling them to cheap stores! Do you know one picture of that lady is worth $ 50,000!' She rolled her eyes and flailed her arms in the air in exasperation. 'Personally I do not get the point of bringing those pictures in a public toilet.'
Dean seemed to shrink in size as the whole room gasped. 'Well I had no one to hold them outside the cubicle,' he stammered.
Whispers erupted. *sweatdrops appearing one by one…*
'Public toilet?'
'That's embarrassing…'
'I heard there are 10 pictures of Cameron Diaz in that envelope…so that's half a million…'
'Goddamn…'
Nicole went on, ignoring the murmurs in the room. 'How irresponsible can you get?" she cried out. 'For god's sake!' Annoyed, she let out a high- pitched scream.
Immediately, the whole room silenced itself. All eyes were on her, startled.
'Uh…Nick, I think you should come over here for a second…well…you have mail from a friend,' Heather Davidson, one of the staff said suddenly, breaking the silence.
Soon the room was bursting with energy again.
Sighing, Nicole walked back to her desk and grabbed the letter from Heather's hand.
*
Imagine Rukawa and Sendoh in business suits at the 30th floor of a building in the middle of Tokyo.
'When will you leave?' Sendoh Akira asked Rukawa Kaede one winter morning. They held positions in the same sports company dealing with recruitments of new basketball players for a brewing national league.
'Two days,' Rukawa replied, not taking his small eyes from the basketball game flashing in the TV screen, which he was tasked to critique. That was his job. Criticize players. Something he was so good especially with Sakuragi Hanamichi.
'Hmm…London is a bit far away,' Sendoh said thoughtfully. 'Tell me, what are you planning to do there?'
'Nothing.'
Rukawa could not remember how exactly he landed on the same company with Sendoh. As far as Rukawa was concerned, the company ran after him and begged him to work at that company. And to think they were too desperate that they moved the company near Rukawa's house so he would not have any trouble going back and forth from work [because the company researched too much and found out he usually slept on the way…]
He graduated from Business Management in Seikei University a year ago. He was forced to take that course for his wealthy father ran a business and insisted Rukawa be his heir. Rukawa, a good son he was, accepted the offer [also because of the fact Seikei University compromised a scholarship for him, ticket to the national games and a trip to London after 5 years].
Then one morning, while Rukawa was in the middle of his precious sleep, he stumbled over several boxes that stood on his usual way to his desk. It turned out Sendoh was assigned a very peculiar job which meant he would be sharing the same room as Rukawa. His job---waking Rukawa up.
Well they lived peacefully despite former disputes in their high school years. They practiced basketball by throwing crumpled papers into the trash bin located behind the office door. In fact they were so caught up with it, that Sendoh installed an improvised hoop above the mouth of the trash bin.
Anyway…the point of it all, they became close friends. That is, if anyone dares believe it.
'It's the scholarship thing isn't it?' Sendoh asked, spinning himself in his turnable chair.
'Sort of,' Rukawa replied. Lamely, Sendoh tossed him a crumpled paper, which in turn Rukawa threw into the bin. It was simply Sendoh's way of keeping Rukawa awake. Often Sendoh would see Rukawa asleep in his desk, and his only waking-up pill was basketball.
'Then what is it?' Sendoh pressed. He ran his hand through his gelled hair, and it ended up stuck in the middle of his tresses. He overdid his gel this morning. Frantically he tried to pull it off, standing up from his chair while scowling at his hair.
Rukawa ignored him. 'Baka yarou…' he muttered under his breath.
'Oh by the way Rukawa-kun,' Sendoh said, sitting back on his revolving chair. 'The company told me to go with you to London,' he announced, with that same old smile.
'Nandato?' Rukawa could not believe his ears. He peered at Sendoh behind his long bangs with his kitsune eyes. 'Kimi wa kirenai…'
'Doushite?' Sendoh challenged.
'Datte…' Rukawa's voice trailed off. He could not remember himself losing his calm over some pointless business of his. Somehow this trip to London seemed a little too messy even for his indifference.
He could not bear think what will happen next…if Sendoh found out…