A/N: - Thank you, Nitant, for being my beacon of light when everything and everyone tries to bring me down. I love you.
Chapter 2: Shuffle
"Is he hot?" Hina asked with eager eyes.
Kae sighed. "He is…intimidating."
"But is he hot?" Hina asked again.
When you're staggering for your dear life, you don't really notice someone's looks. She knew ugly people when she saw them. She knew Akashi Seijuurou wasn't ugly, per say. But judging if he was good-looking hadn't really been on her mind at all.
Kae swivelled away in her study chair. "He makes you anxious."
"You're not," Hina swivelled her chair back to face her, "answering my question."
"There's so much tension…" Kae answered, "It's like choking on your own saliva."
"You know what," Hina raised her palms in the air, "forget it. He probably thinks he's some hot shit with a stick up his arse 24x7."
Kae almost chuckled. "Language."
Hina stuck her tongue out at her in response.
"Do you think he has a girlfriend?" Hina asked, her attention back to Akashi Seijuurou.
"I thought you were done talking about him."
"Tch," Hina tutted.
.
Walking through the building compound, Akashi was in a bad mood. He hadn't been able to choose someone as his new manager yet. He had to pick someone, or it would be a mess soon.
He was surprised to see a change of scenery on the ground floor. A foundation for a statue was being set up in the middle. He was even more surprised to see people standing here and there, probably watching the works come along.
Miyazono Kae was meticulously measuring the wooden scales while standing on a step-ladder.
He was unsure as to what happened, but the next moment was absolute chaos. Some person from the Comms department walked right into the foundation of the statue, staring at his phone with some coffee in his other hand.
Papers flew, the coffee flew, the foundation fell apart, and the man fell as well. The coffee found itself dropped on some blueprints, and the papers were scattered about the floor. Amidst this chaos, stood Miyazono Kae on her step ladder, watching the commotion unfold. Some coffee had splashed on her blouse as well.
If you were someone like Akashi, the sight would make something gnaw at your chest. Everything was a disaster.
There was pin drop silence. Everyone had their eyes glued to the center of the chaos, not a single noise echoed.
Akashi watched as Miyazono Kae stepped down from the ladder. She took one look at the man, then scrutinized her surroundings with a poker face.
A single sound of combustive laughter was heard all across the floor as Miyazono Kae's lips broke out into giggles. One by one, all the poker faces began breaking into smiles and laughter. Everyone was laughing.
"Are you okay?" Miyazono Kae held out her hand to the man.
"I-I'm sorry about your blueprints!" The man, no more anxious because of his idiotic fall, was almost squeaking.
"It's okay, they were duplicates. I always have more than one copy." Kae smiled at him to ease his tension.
Akashi's presence hadn't been noticed by anyone. Everyone's attention got occupied with the commotion as soon as he entered.
Akashi sighed. He didn't know what to make of everything. He truly, didn't know what to make of it. For him, it was starting to seem like Miyazono Kae was the center of all chaos in the world. Annoying was an understatement.
His eyes travelled to the center of her waist, which was stained with coffee.
She turned around, talking to the man, and her back was now visible to Akashi.
He watched her slender form, the way she stood with her poised back while talking. He'd been a basketball athlete, he knew a graceful form when he saw it.
And Miyazono Kae's form was…dignified, to say the least. He took a moment to watch her, as if capturing her form in his memory. It wasn't every day you got to see a beautiful form and stature.
Everyone started going back to their business, as Kae began setting up the foundation all over again. Akashi was leaving too, walking towards the elevator when he stopped abruptly.
Instead, he began taking steps towards the center of the ground floor, just because.
"There's coffee on your shirt," he stated as curtly he could.
Kae looked at her shirt, "Oh, thank you for telling me. I always keep a spare one since I'm an arti-" she stopped as soon as she turned around to see the person.
"S-since I'm an artist." It was a battle that had to be fought. The question of him being good-looking was running adamant within her. This wasn't life-threatening at all! She could do it, she would do it.
"Ohayou, Akashi-san," she stated, her voice without any anxiety for the first time. It was momentous, it was like something shifted in his eyes.
She met his gaze, her eyes gliding across his face. A toned nose with crossbow shaped lips, and sharp cheekbones. He carried a certain sort of aloofness, a novel look of regality.
Kae sucked in her breath. He was as handsome as a man could be.
Put a smile on that aloof face and he was…beautiful.
He nodded, and walked back to the elevator with brisk steps. Her eyes stayed glued to the elevator even as he left.
.
It was real. Her demeanour had shifted. The shift was momentous, a normal person wouldn't notice it. He hadn't pointedly thought about it, but his concerns related to a new manager had almost vanished when he was watching Miyazono Kae.
He had a lot of meetings to handle, and phone calls to answer. It was back to square one. Life was as monotone as a mesh of grey crayons.
There was no end to it. He would keep bearing the Akashi name, flourishing his business, playing shogi, and living a peaceful life. Refreshing things would come along, he'd thought. But he hadn't encountered any on his way to the top yet.
.
"I'm begging you, Itou-san," Mibuchi Reo pleaded on the phone, "His eyes have changed. They're back to the way they used to be before his basketball match with Kuroko!"
"There's nothing to be done, Mibuchi-kun. I do what he asks me to do. He doesn't let his guard down anymore." Itou shook her head.
There was a pause on Reo's end.
"Don't. let him sell the house."
His eyes had changed, ever since Akashi's father had informed him their old house would be put up in auction. It was the last strand of his mother's memories. Reo was hysterical, Sei-chan's Emperor Eye was bad news. When would he be able to meet his kind gaze again?
"Do you actually think I can change his decision?"
She wouldn't tell him, but Itou did try once.
"Please don't sell your house."
Akashi's eyes had narrowed, he walked straight towards her. "Lower your gaze." She did so, fingers shaking a little.
"I don't take orders from you." Akashi intoned.
"It is the last reminder of your memories with your mother," Itou had reasoned, not quite matching his gaze anymore, her voice was almost begging.
"Father doesn't want it anymore. And the memories serve no purpose to me. There's no need for the house."
The real Akashi would have thought over, before firing the manager Reo had scouted. Reo hadn't missed the look of contempt Akashi had given him after firing the manager. Akashi's defeat against Seirin back then had opened the doors back to the good Akashi. Reo knew, that Akashi was just a sweet boy, at heart.
Reo pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, and sighed into the phone. "This is a disaster."
.
Akashi didn't fancy any one of the candidates for the role of his new manager. No one was up to the mark, each one was annoying in some or the other way. He sipped at his noon coffee. Itou knew how to make his coffee just right.
He put aside a few papers, deciding to relish in his coffee first. Walking around his table, he stood next to the full-length windows, opening the blinders. The ground floor veranda was right at the middle of all the wings.
He stared at her for a moment. The woman was diligent in her work, at least. He hadn't seen her take a single break since morning. That was the only plus point he'd noted until now. To put a firm picture to the thought of Miyazono Kae, Akashi thought of her as a hardworking and an honest-to-a-fault person, with a knack for being unpredictable at times.
She'd confidently met his gaze this morning, something she hadn't been able to do their past few meetings. Building up courage to talk to him coherently?
Akashi found it…abuzz…refreshing, in a way.
There was a lot to know about new people who enter your life. Akashi hadn't given much thought to such people, they were merely pawns. Miyazono Kae's unpredictability had put him in a tight spot, mentally. There was a lot to learn, to know, and to give a title to, in her case.
.
Kae was moulding the foundation for the statue. It would take exactly one month for her to bring life to the building. She had tons of stuff on her plate, she couldn't let people fall over her work like today all the time.
Akashi Seijuurou had the status, the money as well as the looks to boast about. Was his 'uptight' personality a result of the amalgamation of all these factors? She wouldn't be surprised if it was.
Abruptly, every stand of hair on the back of her neck stood up. She felt like she was being watched. It was the same feeling of tension she felt around Akashi Seijuurou. She looked around nervously, there was no one looking at her. Just a few people grabbing coffee while chatting up.
She sighed, unable to shake off the feeling of imminent doom tussled into knots in her stomach.
Word Count: 1,670