Attraction 5: Aged Maturity

"Good evening, Commander."

"Kirihara?" Horai asked with a stunned expression on his face.

"What brings you to my lovely corner of the building? I didn't know you were here. I would have gone to keep you company if I knew," she said sweetly.

He watched, stupefied, as she sat at her desk in her underwear, calmly working. He had come by, thinking she would still be here despite the status of their air conditioning system. Though he was right, he never imagined that his stern and serious Section Chief would do something like strip down to her unmentionables.

She continued to gaze at him with a serene expression on her face and Horai could not understand why she was not feeling the slightest bit embarrassed. She had no clothes on! It wasn't him who was caught in this type of situation and even he was feeling embarrassed. His eyes flickered away from her face for a moment and he cleared his throat before glancing away.

"Kirihara-san, put your clothes on," he demanded, pleased that his voice sounded like it normally did.

"Aww, do I have to?"

"Of course you have to. This is highly inappropriate behaviour. I understand that you believed no one was here... No, I don't understand that. Clothes are meant to be worn, especially when you are at work. I don't care what you were thinking. Put your clothes back on, right now."

Hearing the chair roll, he turned his gaze back towards her to check if she was doing what he had instructed. Unfortunately, she wasn't obeying his commands like she usually did. Her movement away from her desk displayed the rest of her unclothed body as she was making her way towards him; the bottom portion of her body equally inappropriately covered.

His eyes lingered on her legs for a moment before he cleared his throat and glanced away a second time. There was no explanation for her behaviour as she was clearly not the Kirihara he was accustomed to dealing with. Though she had chosen to strip down to practically nothing, it would be rude of him to gawk.

"What are you doing here, sir?" Misaki inquired cordially, purposely putting herself within his line of sight.

"I figured you would still be here, despite the fact that the air conditioning was down. I'm here to send you home. Now pack your things and get going. Clearly, you're not thinking properly," he answered, turning his gaze the other way.

"Thinking properly? I'm always thinking properly."

"I think not," Horai retorted. "Now put your clothes on, pack your things and get on your way home."

"Mm... And if choose not to, what will you do, Commander?"

She smiled and moved to where she was standing in front of him again. When she saw him frowning, she giggled and waited to see what he would do next. The furrows in between his brows deepened; he glanced into her eyes momentarily and glanced back in the other direction.

"Well?" she prodded. "Am I going to be punished if I don't do as you say?"

"Of course! I just haven't thought of an appropriate punishment yet."

"Hm... Then what if I agree, but only on one condition?"

"And what would that condition be?" he asked, glancing at her warily.

"I knew you weren't unreasonable!" she exclaimed excitedly. "I'll do as you say, but only if you help me."

"Help you?"

"Yes, you know... Help me put my clothes on. They're quite uncomfortable which is why I took them off in the first place. If you help me into them and take me home... And then proceed to help me out of them again, once we get to my place..."

"Kirihara-san!" Horai shouted, outraged by her suggestion. "What is wrong with you today? I will do nothing of the sort!"

"You didn't have to yell at me..."

Her lips pursed into a pout and she cast gloomy eyes in his direction. Wetness had started to pool in her eyes and Horai flinched as if he had been slapped. The last thing he had expected to see from her was tears. She sniffled and wiped at her eyes as she stepped closer towards him.

"A - Are you mad at me?" she asked softly, placing her hand on his arm.

She glanced at him pleadingly and he had no idea what he was supposed to say now. Nothing had prepared him for this situation when he had first walked in. He didn't think anyone in their right mind would imagine this sort of situation when it came to Kirihara.

"Are you?" she asked again, lightly squeezing his arm.

"N - No," he managed to reply; terrified that she would actually start bawling her eyes out and tell her father that he had been bullying her. "Even so, you still need to put your clothes on and go home."

"I will, if you help me..." she stated with a small smile, pulling his arm into her embrace and holding it against her chest.

"No. That is absolutely unacceptable behaviour on my part."

She started to pout again and dropped his arm as she went to stand in front of him. When he gazed away, she continued to force him to look at her by following the direction of his eyes. Finally, when she couldn't stand the fact that he was trying to escape, she stepped up towards him and grabbed his face between her hands.

"Oh, that feels quite nice," she giggled, running her hand across his beard.

"Kirihara-san, release me."

"You always were so strict," she complained, not listening to him. "But that's what I like about you. You're not like those younger men - distracted by beautiful women. Always dedicated to your job and facing each task head on. Ne, Commander? Am I not beautiful enough for your taste?"

She moved his head so he was forced to stare at her chest. He looked for a moment, but closed his eyes as he placed his hands over hers and pulled them away from his face. That was quite enough of her soliciting behaviour. She was going to be sent packing, with her clothes on, no question about it - and he would not be the one to be putting them on for her.

Since she didn't struggle against him, his grip on her wrists was light. As a result, he was unprepared for what she did next; she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself into him. This time, when he tried to pry her arms free, she resisted.

"Why won't you listen to me?" she whined. "Am I not good enough for you? I always do my best for you."

"That has nothing to do with the situation. Let go of me."

"Only if..."

"Now what?" he inquired, not expecting a reasonable condition.

"Though you don't feel the same way about me, at least... Just kiss me - once!"

"Absolutely not!" he exclaimed. "What would your father think if he heard of such behaviour?"

"Daddy...? He doesn't have to find out. It can be our little secret..."

Refusing to listen to anymore of her crazy talk, Horai forcefully pulled her arms apart and set her back on the floor. He held her out at arm's length so she couldn't do anything inappropriate again. Even so, her mood had changed abruptly and tears started to pool in her eyes once more.

"I will walk you over to your desk and you will put your clothes back on immediately. I will wait for you outside and walk you down to your car," he added when her lower lip started to tremble.

"You won't help me?"

"Absolutely not."

"Oh okay... But you'll wait for me and walk me to my car?" she asked for clarification.

"I believe that is what I said. I'll give you five minutes to get ready and that's it."

Misaki beamed and nodded enthusiastically before she rushed over towards her desk. Horai could only sigh and shake his head in disbelief. No one would believe him if he told them; even he didn't believe himself and he was right there in the moment. Whatever the case, what he said seemed to please her enough to do as he had instructed.

Heading outside as he had said he would, Horai glanced at his watch to keep track of the time. He was a man of his word and he would only wait five minutes as he had stated. But for once acting like the Kirihara he knew, she was out before the five minutes was up - a big grin on her face.

"Let's go!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Horai gave her a curt nod, but didn't get very far before Misaki grabbed his hand. He turned to give her a hard gaze, but she wasn't fazed by it. Instead, she grinned at him and hugged his arm to her chest. When he tried to tug free, she tightened her grasp on him.

"No. You said you would walk me to my car," Misaki stated.

"I don't believe I said anything about holding your hand."

"But you're not holding my hand. I'm holding yours," she corrected with a giggle. "It's only down to my car. There's nothing to worry about. I wouldn't do anything to hurt your reputation."

Horai's only response was to continue glaring at her, but she didn't let go. Instead, she adamantly shook her head and continued to cling to him. Finally sighing softly, Horai had a distinct feeling that he was dealing with a petulant child, even if she wasn't really one.

The two of them made their way to the elevator and Misaki pressed the call car button. As they were waiting for it to arrive, they didn't speak, but Misaki continued to cast sheep's eyes in his direction. It was making him decidedly uncomfortable as she stared at his face with a lovesick expression on hers.

The elevator arrived moments later and Misaki reluctantly followed him inside. They still did not speak as Horai had no idea what he was doing in this situation. He supposed it could be a lot worse if she continued to throw herself at him. She was attractive in that light, but it wasn't in his nature to take advantage of women and especially not the daughter of his superior officer. Work and pleasure just didn't mix.

For one, the elevator ride seemed like eternity and the other, over too quickly. Horai quickly walked out of it when the door started opening, dragging Misaki with him. When he glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, it was to see that she was still pouting. Even so, he knew that the quicker he got her to her vehicle, the faster he could get out of here and forget that the whole thing even occurred.

They were halfway across the main entrance when Misaki finally put up resistance. She tugged on his arm and his hand brushed against her thigh with all the jostling. He flashed a glare in her direction, but she gave him an innocent gaze like she didn't do that on purpose.

"What is it now, Kirihara?" he asked with the sternest voice he could muster.

"I changed my mind," she replied sweetly.

"About what?"

"You don't have to walk me to my car anymore. It's quite obvious that you don't want to. You're just doing so because you think I'll say something to daddy."

"Don't be ridiculous," he stuttered. "I would never think such a thing."

She arched an eyebrow in his direction and he had the grace to glance away as he was caught in a lie. Inwardly giggling, Misaki took the chance that she had purposely created. While he wasn't looking, she quickly tugged on his arm with all her might, startling him. He stumbled towards her. She grinned as she tiptoed and press her lips against his before releasing him.

"Wh - Wha..."

"It's your punishment for lying, Commander," she answered with a chuckle. "And in the end, I still got what I wanted."

"Kirihara...!" he blustered.

"Don't worry. We were out of sight of the cameras. Your reputation is still intact. Consider it the price you have to pay for me to keep quiet."

She giggled and Horai could only stare at her in disbelief; that she of all people would resort to blackmail. He had no idea what to make of the entire situation. Half the time she had seemed to be ditzy with only one thing on her mind; yet she had completely manipulated him to steal a kiss - something he said he would absolutely not do...

Before he could say anything else, she was already by the entrance of the building. She turned slowly and flashed a cheeky grin in his direction, waving her fingers at him. All he could do was shake his head in response. She giggled, but finally turned to make her way out of the building.

"What the hell...?" Horai finally muttered to himself before turning to head back up to his office.

A/N: Ahaha~ I think we saw a different side of Misaki with this one XD Tears and manipulation since the usual tactic didn't work. Thank goodness... Despite writing it, I would be disturbed if anything happened between them... Yet somehow, it turned out to be kind of long... Longer than the first three.

Anyways, I apologize for the slow update. I've been feeling a lack of motivation towards this chapter - still do. I think the first part was good, yet the ending is bleh. But that's probably just me being harsh on myself (or is it really that terrible?).

Also another note. I'm going to be away next week so there won't be an update. hehe~ I really do like to try to update every week cuz if I don't, it makes me lazy. Already feeling the effects of it kicking in XD