Chapter 4: Starting the Job

Jeff looks once again at the crumpled piece of paper, making sure he hadn't misread it for about the fiftieth time. The address was the same. 'I was expecting a lot of things, but this, I was not' he says to himself as he looks up at the building. He'd found it without too much trouble, and ten minutes to spare, but that didn't mean he was happy about it. Things started out fine, he'd found out the address was in the business district from a map in Yusuke's place, that made sense, seeing as it was a business. Everything turned for the worse when the cab he'd taken dropped him off. Surrounded by tall, pristine skyscrapers, this building was decidedly not tall or pristine. It reminded Jeff of one of the buildings he'd seen on the wrong side of the tracks back home. It was obviously old, run-down, and made a starch contrast to the other buildings, as if it were clinging to the memory of yesteryear. Jeff sighs chanting inwardly 'Just think about the money, just think about the money.' as he marches inside.

He's surprised once he does, then inside didn't look nearly as bad as the outside. It's not the Hamilton or anything, but it's still pretty nice. White tile floor and polished wooden walls welcome him in, as well as a familiar smiling face behind the front desk. He smiles back and walks up to her, "Hey Botan, I'm here, right on time. So, where am I working and what do I do?"

Botan smiles at him before pulling out a clipboard with a couple pieces of paper on it and a pen. "You have to sign in first. Then you're going up to the fifth floor using those stairs over there. There should be someone up there to help you, if not, just go to the office at the end of the hall, that's Mr. Koenma's. He'll be more then happy to tell you where to go exactly and what to do." she explains as Jeff proceeds to sign in.

He nods and says a short "Thanks.", smiling back at her before heading up the stairs.

He reaches the fifth floor and opens the door, peeking his head into the adjoining hallway. He whistles, this place was deceptively big. In front of him was a hallway with a white tile, almost light blue, floor with a red carpet going down the middle, light green walls with red banners with gold fringe, and a very, very high ceiling. It made you think there was royalty working here or something. He shakes his head and starts down the hallway, the echoes of his footfalls muffled slightly by the carpet. Seeing no one else around, he walks to the end of the hallway, gawking slightly at the tall purple doors that stood before him. 'Geez, this guy doesn't like to show off that he has money.' he thinks sarcastically before knocking lightly on the doors, wanting as little echo as possible.

A few seconds of waiting affords him a quick look around, and he notices a desk nearby, equipped with a phone, file organizers, and not much else. Before he'd been so awed by the size of the doors he hadn't even noticed it. 'Oh well,' he thinks 'might as well still tell him I'm here, there might be some stuff that I need the specifics on'

Further thoughts are interrupted by Koenma's already recognizable, if a bit annoying, voice irritably answering "Who is it?"

Jeff clears his throat, suddenly nervous for some reason, "It's um...," he says, forgetting what his new name was for a moment before it rushes back to him. "its Kei, sir. I'm here to start my job."

A moment of silence before a string of muttered curses can be heard followed by some scurrying around. Jeff cocks an eyebrow but inwardly chuckles 'The guy must be a clutterbug and didn't expect me to be on time.' He holds his head a bit higher, knowing, or at least hoping that this would leave a good impression on his boss, who was apparently used to people being late. He opens the door when he hears Koenma give permission to enter and quickly looks around, inwardly whistling. If this Koenma guy was messy, he did a very good sweep job, the place was immaculate. Jeff walks up to a little ways in front of Koenma's large desk, which, unlike the room itself, was pretty cluttered with papers of every sort imaginable. He could already tell he had his work cut out for him as he regarded the teen that peered at him from behind the desk, hands neatly folded in front of him.

"Good to see that you're on time Kei. Most of the time when I tell someone to be somewhere they arrive at least a half-hour afterwards. Somehow they say it's fashionable to be late." Koenma sighs exasperatedly "It's nice to find someone who knows the value of punctuality."

Jeff smiles, deciding to go for brownie points while he can, "Well, Koenma sir, you were generous enough to give me this job, I figured the least I could do is show up on time."

Koenma smiles "Yes, it was mighty generous of me wasn't it?"

Jeff couldn't believe that he'd found his boss' Achilles' heel so quickly, and stores the little bit of info in his memory for later use before replying "Yes sir, it was. Now, what will you have me do? I am at your complete disposal sir." he says with a smile

He lived to regret those simple words, it wasn't even the end of his first day and he already had learned to be careful what he said around his new boss. Now he's stuck behind a mountain of paperwork that he has little to no hope of even getting partially through today. He hardly even reads what is on each paper, simply stamping it with the official seal that Koenma has given him and tossing it in the 'out' tray. He doesn't even notice the footsteps reverberating against the walls or the figures that are approaching him until they stand directly in front of him and the taller one clears his throat to gain his attention. He barely glances up before stamping another paper and then takes a double take of the two people in front of him.

The taller one is clad in a long dark green trench coat that reaches to below the desk and a baseball cap that looked like it was barely keeping his bright red hair under it. Bright blue eyes laugh down him with a twinkle of mischief and for some reason he thinks of Yusuke when he sees them. The other is a good couple of inches shorter, is dressed a bit more strangely in a blue body suit that looked purposely ripped in some spots to show what Jeff could only think of as fishing net underneath. This man has blue eyes as well but his are cold as ice and stare at him from behind his light green bangs that swoop harshly over one side. Jeff wonders idly why his bangs are light green while the rest of his hair is a light blue before his thoughts are brought to a halt by the speaking of the taller of the two. "Hey there mister, yer' new around here aren't 'cha? We're here to see that there Koenma bloke don'cha know? Can ya' tell 'im that we're here? I'm Jin and this 'ere's Touya." He says with a thick Scottish accent that Jeff's translator could barely make understandable.

Jeff nods and presses the intercom button to tell Koenma that they're here before hearing his boss' reply of "Ack! Is it that time already?! Give me a few minutes!"

Jeff cocks an eyebrow at the machine before sighing and giving the two an apologetic smile "If you could just wait a few moments, he'll be with you momentarily. If you feel like sitting, there are a few chairs over there." He says, nodding to aforementioned chairs before going back to his work. This time though, something was nagging at him 'Jin, Jin, I KNOW that name from somewhere...hmm...I wonder' he thinks as he puts the seal down and looks over at the redheaded man. "Hey," he says, gaining their attention, "would you happen to know a Yusuke Urameshi?" he inquires curiously.

His suspicions are confirmed when Jin's eyes light up and nods eagerly "Aye, he's my own flesh and blood that he is! How do you 'bout Urameshi?"

Jeff smiles "He's a friend of mine. I'm actually staying at his house until I can get a place of my own."

Jin smiles and slaps his knee heartily "Well slap me down and call me Suzy, isn't it just the strangest of t'ings? It musta been fate that we met that it was. How is Urameshi these'a days? Seems ah' haven't seen him in the time of at least three moons' comin' and goin's."

Jeff smiles, glad to take a brief respite from his work to chat, and replies "He's pretty good, a bit on the violent and impulsive side though. Yesterday we were at the arcade downtown with Kuwabara playing the fighting game and I think he nearly broke the joystick off in a particularly close fight." He laughs, remembering at how Yusuke's face had looked when he saw the cracked controller.

Jin laughs as well and Touya smirks "Ya' I see the ol' firecracker hasn't lost any of his pop."

The conversation was unfortunately cut short by Koenma's voice coming over the intercom "Alright, send them in."

Jeff nods to the two giving them the go ahead. They get up and walk to the door, Touya pushing it open and walking in without a second glance but Jin stops and offers his hand to Jeff "It's a pleasure makin' your acquaintance mister. What's yer' name? I have a rule against callin' friends by formalities."

Jeff laughs and takes the hand, giving him a firm shake while saying, "Call me Kei. And the pleasure's all mine, I promise you. Yusuke told me a lot about you, I'm glad to meet you in person. I hope that we see each other again."

Jin smiles and nods "Ah'd say there's a fair chance of that, seein' as ol' pacifier-breath wants me an' Touya to come around this time every day. See you in the morrow Kei. Tell Yusuke that I send him my regards." he says before walking in, hurried by what Jeff assumed was Touya's voice saying "Hurry up out there Jin, I rather not be here all day."

Jeff replies with a quick "I'll be sure to." before the door closes and he goes back to his work. Maybe this job wouldn't be so bad after all if he got to know people like Jin.

A.N. I got my first 2 reviews . This is my first fic so I'm kinda just learning as I go, but I'd like to thank you to for your support! I'll try to update as quickly as possible without letting the story go stale . Well, it's almost 11:30 and I'm bushed. Much love!