"Hey Kanan!" A blonde-haired woman donning a pantsuit walked into the breakroom before pouring herself a cup of lukewarm coffee. "Did you catch today's headline?"

"No." The blue-haired woman wearing similar attire didn't even look up from her phone. "What is it now?"

"Okay, picture this: The Imperial Palace, a prized heirloom stolen in the thick of night." Mari struck a dramatic pose as her coworker gave off a deadpan expression. "The crystalline princess has struck again!"

"They're still pushing that nonsense huh."

Mari dropped the act, chuckling as she took a sip from her mug. "It's not nonsense, Kanan. It's simply the news!"

"Okay, think about it like this." Kanan put away her phone as she got up from the room's couch. "You're telling me a ninja snuck into the most guarded building in Japan, managed to steal a prized heirloom of the Imperial Family, and didn't even get seen?"

"Ninjas aren't meant to get seen, silly. Plus, that's how Asahi Shimbun reported it."

"You really need to stop believing everything you read. This narrative of a crystalline princess is probably an inside job by the media to cover up all the scandals going on in the Diet."

"Inside job? The media? Scandals?" The blonde gently elbowed her stoic blue-haired coworker with a grin. "You sure you came to work sober?"

"I'm serious, Mari. A mystical ninja pulling off almost impossible heists? It makes great fiction for sure, but that's all it is."

"You really are a buzzkill."

"What are you two talking about?"

The two coworkers both turned their heads to see a young, black-haired woman dressed in a simple white dress, a gray pencil skirt, and black heels.

"Dia, just the woman I wanted to see!" Mari pointed at Kanan melodramatically. "Tell this hardhead over here that the crystalline princess is real!"

"The crystalline princess…?"

"Y'know." Kanan butted in with a displeased face. "The ninja that robbed the Imperial Palace."

"Oh? Uhh…" Dia cleared her throat with her fist. "I've been too busy with work to even know anything about that."

"Really? Huh. Now that I think about it… I don't remember you ever even requesting time off."

"Well that's Dia for you!" The blonde playfully patted the black-haired woman's back. "Without this one keeping tabs on everything, this place would've been bankrupt ages ago."

"I'm glad you think that highly of me and my abilities, Mari-san."

"Don't sweat it! But uh, you should really use some of that vaca time. Makes it easier for the company to explain when audit season comes around."

"Mari's right on this one." Kanan let out a smile as she sat back down on the couch. "If anyone here deserves some time to relax, it's definitely gotta be you."

"Well." Dia gave a gentle nod to her fellow coworkers. "I will definitely give it some consideration."

"For sure! Oh, while I have you here by the way, are you coming to the Culture Day Party?"

"Huh?" The blue-haired woman's eyebrows rose. "What Culture Day Party?"

"Truth be told actually..." Dia gave a punctual response "I will be in Kyoto for a limited art exhibit at that time."

"Hey, good on you for celebrating the arts like that! I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun!"

"It will definitely be something to remember." The black-haired woman let out a smile before stepping back towards the door. "Well, I do believe I should start heading back to document review. We all have an important week ahead of us after all."

"Best of luck to the both of you. Let's all work hard!"

Dia nearly tripped over herself as she left the breakroom, leaving the two frenemy coworkers to themselves again.

"Heh." Mari took another sip of her coffee. "What a dork…"

"At least that dork can do her job."

"Pssh, look who's talking. I only ever see you calm as a seal sitting in this room!"

"Fine, fine." Kanan got up from her seat before walking past the blonde. "You better head back too, y'know."

"After I finish my coffee, honey."

The blue-haired woman rolled her eyes before letting out a grin that even set the blonde off guard.

"I'll see you at the party, Mari."