UPDATE: I realized a couple people commented on the "Aigoo"; I decided to remove those because I realize that's really off when it comes to a fic that takes place in Japan.
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"Woah! Someone's famous!" Kyoko exclaimed as she sorted through boxes of presents that were left at the corner of Haru's hotel room. Haru shrugged and gave her best friend a modest grin; she was very flattered that her old neighbors would go out of their way to buy goodbye gifts as a result of her moving. They couldn't help it; Haru had known them her entire life. Her old neighborhood was very friendly and welcoming; they easily formed bonds with each other, enabling them to become very close.
"Most of my neighbors gave these to me and my mom." Haru replied; then pouted. She was becoming wistful, "I'm starting to miss them all over again…"
Kyoko continued looking through all the presents, fascinated at each and every one of them. Different gifts such as perfumes, bags, goody bags, and clothes were individually wrapped. Haru slightly twitched her lips, not surprised at all by Kyoko's total entanglement with her gifts. The orange haired often got carried away easily; Haru always had to snap her back to reality.
"Ahh! Is this really Masaki Matsuhima's Cherry fragrance?!" Kyoko exclaimed, holding a small bottle of perfume above her. Haru immediately saw this and snatched it out of her friend's hands.
"Are you already unwrapping them?" Haru exclaimed, "When my mom comes home we can do that!"
"Sorry Haru-chan! I wish I had neighbors as friendly as yours." Kyoko carefully closed the miniature gift box as Haru placed the bottle of perfume back into it. She looked at her best friend's slightly annoyed stare; she knew Haru wasn't very patient. In fact she was the opposite, "Ah, yes! We came here to talk about the housewarming party!"
Haru dramatically nodded her head, giving her an obvious 'let's get to it then' expression.
"…So Yuni-chan, Hana, Chrome-chan, and I-pin-chan are the firsts on this list." Kyoko began, grabbing a sheet of note paper and pencil that sat beside Haru.
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"Hibari-sama, these are documents from the housekeeping department…for the new transfers. They would like you to personally verify their employment…to make their resumes more credible."
The very same purple suited man from the elevator sat behind a desk, which was neatly and precisely stacked with papers. In front of him, there was a laptop he typed in as the other man spoke. The one in the purple suit, rather known as Hibari-sama, continued to type as he quickly glanced at paperwork next to him. At the front most part of his desk, there was a nametag written, Junior Chairman – Hibari Kyoya.
The man holding the stack of papers nervously waited for Hibari to reply to him; he had to keep his calm intact. He knew the Junior Chairman was frightening. If he screwed up and brought out his bad side, he could easily have him fired. As good as the pay came, that was one of the downsides of being a Vongola Hotel employee.
"Put them on my other desk." Hibari finally replied, slightly nodding his head towards a smaller desk that was a few feet away from him. The man nodded and bowed; when he was about to lay the papers on the desk, Hibari interrupted him.
"Place them horizontal against the books closest to the lamp."
The man nodded his head again, not surprised by that specific command. He rotated the stack of papers until they were parallel towards the same books. He respectfully bowed and left the room.
Another man came into the room just after that one left. Hibari frowned, annoyed by the sudden intrusion.
"What do you want, Kukasabe?"
"Ah, it's about the recruitment for your possible assistant."
Hibari raised his eyebrows, immediately diverting his attention away from his laptop.
"They have picked the future candidates for the position."
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The next day…
"WHAT!" Haru almost yelled; her mother covered her ears from her daughter's naturally squeaky voice. The brunette held onto an unopened letter, her hands trembling as she gripped it tightly. Her large brown eyes were bigger than ever as she stared down at it; she was itching to open it.
"Keep it down! You don't have to scream."
"Sorry." The brunette quietly said, eyes glued onto the letter, "…Oh man, this is good news to hear after a long day of work."
After two days of signing the form for her application; she had finally received feedback on whether she scored the job of becoming the Chairman's assistant or not. She tore the edges of the envelope, sliding her finger down to open the glued down fold. She slowly pulled a folded sheet of paper; her mom scooted closer to her, she was just as excited as Haru was.
She unfolded the paper; her heart rate was beating quicker, her nerves were getting to her. She didn't know why this was making her so antsy all of a sudden; it was just a job. Jobs were hard to find in this day and age; being accepted to come in for an interview was a huge feat nowadays.
"Come on Haru, open it up."
Haru gritted her teeth and snapped the paper open.
Her mouth was wide ajar.
"…Dear Haru Miura." Haru held onto the paper, her hands were shaking even more, "We- We are here to inform you…that you have been one of the applicants selected to join us for an interview- Hahi, they accepted my application!"
"Oh my goodness!" Her mother yelled, snatching the paper from Haru, she quickly skimmed the letter and squealed. She held onto Haru hands and they both jumped up and down in complete glee. It was a challenge for either of them to upgrade to a better job, so with this happening it was possible Haru could earn a better income.
"How much do they pay? Does it say anywhere?" Haru held onto the edge of the paper, skimming through every paragraph, "…I can't find it- ahh! It doesn't matter, they'll probably tell me during the interview!"
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Haru gulped one shot of sake as she sat across her friends; Kyoko, I-pin, and Yuni. The four were celebrating Haru's very, very recent acceptance for her possible new job at a bar. Haru insisted this was too much because she technically hadn't scored the job yet. However, Kyoko insisted, she was glad her best friend would possibly get a better means of income to make her and her mom's life easier.
"Hahi! How should I look for this particular interview?!" Haru exclaimed, pouring herself another shot of sake. This was one of the important things she forgot. She was applying as an employee to the Vongola Hotel; she knew it was a very luxurious place which meant she had to look her best. Luckily, her interviews at her previous jobs were much laid back and entry level-ish. However, this time she wasn't sure she would be as lucky.
"This is where I come in…" Yuni spoke up, pulling the shot away from Haru. She assumed the brunette had a little bit too much to drink. Out of the four, Yuni had the most expertise in fashion. Unlike Haru, she always dressed her best, making sure her appearance was polished for any occasion. She had a naturally composed appearance; her long raven black hair was tied down to a neat ponytail, every strand of hair pulled back out of her face. Haru, on the other hand, had unruly brown hair that was always tied back into a messy up do, strands sticking out here and there.
"Advice, advice!" Haru urged.
"This is Vongola Hotel you're applying to."
Haru nodded.
"…Which means, you have to look your best, your upmost best. They accepted you for a reason because of your good resume, now they need to see if you look the part."
"I think she knows that Yuni-san…" I-pin spoke up.
"Haru-chan isn't exactly a fashionista! She's quite the opposite!" Kyoko teased, giving Haru a bantering pat on the shoulder. Her best friend scowled at her in return.
"Anyways, your hair. You need to make it neat. They'll reject you on the spot with hair like that." Yuni continued, she nervously rotated her drink around, "Ahh…I feel so bad being so blunt about this. You need to wear business casual. Maybe a dress shirt with a coat and a business skirt."
"My interview is next week on Wednesday." Haru nodded, noting that it was Thursday, "This gives me enough time to practice."
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Tuesday night…
"Relax Haru-san! We're only going to cut four…maybe five inches off!" I-pin teased, causing Haru to uncomfortably squirm in her seat. Kyoko and Yuni tried their best to keep straight faces so they wouldn't annoy Haru any further.
The brunette looked at her reflection at the large mirror she sat in front of. She saw her long frizzy locks of brown hair; her unruly brunette hair went a few inches down her shoulders. Ever since middle school, her hair had always been this long and she had kept it that way, but insisted on keeping it in a ponytail, refusing to change her signature hairstyle. She didn't know if she could chop it off so suddenly. However, her long hair was getting hard to maintain. It didn't help that she barely took care of it; only washing it and leaving it to air-dry without brushing or lathering any hair lotion in.
Haru flipped her hair behind her, "Just cut it above my shoulders!"
Kyoko's eyes widened, absolute surprise in her hazel eyes, "Are you sure, Haru-chan?"
She knew her best friend very well, so well that she knew Haru would refuse any sort of drastic change done like that to her hair.
"Yes! I've kept the same hairstyle for 7 years! It's time I've changed it!" The brunette scoffed, running her fingers through her locks.
"Okay then, here goes." Yuni said, grabbing a pair of scissors and brush from her dresser Haru sat in front of. She brushed through Haru's hair before snapping the scissors a few times. Haru gulped and closed her eyes; she didn't want to witness her own hair being cut.
"Come on Yuni-chan just cut it…"
Haru's knees buckled as her arms tensed in her seat.
Snap!
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Thursday morning.
Haru eyed herself in the full length mirror of her hotel room. For once, she looked…mature. Her new shoulder length hair gave her a more sophisticated look, it was perfectly straight, no frizz in sight. She wore a black business skirt and white satin top dress, curtesy of Yuni. She really knew her fashion. Haru smiled to herself, closely eyeing her reflection and occasionally making a cartoonish pose.
Haru leaned closer to the mirror, making sure her makeup was fully intact. She wore a layer of milky foundation with slight red blush on her cheeks. She had smoky brown eye shadow added onto her eyelid with crisp and sharp eyeliner. Long tresses of fake eyelashes were glued on top of her real ones. For once, she looked sharp.
"Are you ready, Haru?"
She saw her mom come out of the bathroom, she was fully dressed as well, getting ready for another day of work.
"Yes I am." The brunette nodded, "I'm kind of nervous though…"
"You've done plenty of interviews in your lifetime so you'll ace this one." Her mom replied, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "Your friend did a great job, you look great."
"Thank you." Haru replied. She cleared her throat and let out a long breath, she was becoming more and more antsy by the minute. She wouldn't let that hinder her from the interview.
"What happened to the house party? Aren't you going to do that?"
"We decided we would wait after whether I get the job or not. Right now, my focus is on this." Haru replied.
"Ah, that makes sense."
Haru quickly nodded her head, staring down at her reflection. She clenched her fists and brought them up.
"…Haru-chan, fighting!"
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"Good morning!"
Haru bowed in front of the interview conductor who sat behind a desk. She quickly looked around the room her individual interview was going to take place in. It was a small office-like area with a desk with a couple chairs in front of it. She glanced at the person in front of her; the person taking her interview was a man who looked to be in his fifties.
"Haru Miura?" He replied.
"Yes, it's nice to meet you!" Haru grinned. She had to show this man her most eager but professional look; she had to keep her head up and look confident. That was one of the many clues she knew when it came to acing an interview. Next step was to shake the hands of the interviewer. With years of experience, Haru was able to glue these steps into her head.
Haru extended her arm towards the man; he clasped his hand over hers and shook it. Haru returned the favor by giving him a firm handshake.
Next step, take a seat.
Haru sat down, neatly placing her purse on the seat next to her.
"We received your application and resume. So far, we're very impressed by your multitude of work experience."
Haru's eyes lit up. She had to keep a calm composure; she didn't want to freak out from that compliment in front of him.
"Thank you." She simply replied.
"You've had jobs that required you to work with various clients over the years."
Haru smiled; this was a chance where she could boast about her skills.
"Yes, that has allowed me to improve my professional interactions with other people." She replied, "Communicating and working with costumers is my expertise."
The man glanced at a paper and nodded, "Judging from your previous jobs, I can see that."
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A quick thirty minutes passed with Haru finishing her interview. She bowed to the conductor once again before leaving the room.
"Hahi! I think I aced it!" Haru grinned to herself as she happily skipped to the elevator. She nearly stumbled from her three inch heels, "Hahi!"
The brunette aggravatingly slipped off her heels and carried them along with her before running off to the elevator. Even after all those years, her clumsiness never left her. She closed the elevator, thankful she was alone so she could recollect herself without looking like an idiot in front of everyone.
"...1500 yen an hour. That's such an upgrade from cashiering." Haru stared at another sheet of paper which noted the wages. A new surge of excitement came through her; she would be able to make bigger bucks if she scored the job. She, at first, was apprehensive about the whole assistant thing, but the money was what drove her the most. She was good with people, maybe the job wouldn't be so distressing after all.
"I'm going to be rich desu! I can finally save enough for college…!"
Haru stopped in her tracks. She realized that she wasn't the only one selected for an interview, which meant that they were going to choose one out of the several people that were selected. The brunette squeaked and grimaced, placing her palms on her cheeks. A new wave of panic was coursing through her.
"Hahi! What if I don't get the job…"She muttered, pacing through the elevator, "What am I going to do…what am I going to do…?"
Ding!
"…What am I going to-"
Haru snapped out of it, when she saw the same suited guy, the very same one who almost so rudely kicked her out of the elevator. She froze, her brown eyes wide, looking like a deer caught in headlights. He gave Haru a quick stare, causing the brunette to slightly flinch under his gaze. Another man, taller, with a pompadour hairstyle followed him. Haru glanced at the elevator buttons and saw that it had only reached to the fifth floor; she nearly cursed under her breath.
"You again." Haru muttered as the elevator doors closed. She pressed the number three again so the elevator could stop at her floor. She just had to meet him in elevators.
"Kukasabe, I want you to finish the double sided documents by tonight so I can Xerox them." Hibari said, completely ignoring Haru. He pressed the number one button on the elevator. The brunette gritted her teeth; was this asswipe going to ignore her now? At least he wasn't going to try to kick her out of the elevator again. She must have gotten to him.
"Yes, Kyo-san." The pompadoured man replied.
"Same goes with the international documents."
"Of course."
Ding!
The elevator stopped at the third floor.
"Excuse me." Haru quietly said, zooming past them.
Hibari gave her a long stare from behind, finally noticing her drastic change of appearance, before the elevator doors closed on him and Kukasabe.
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Two days later…
"Don't call again, not when I'm in the middle of my paperwork." Hibari slammed the phone onto the phone holder. He leaned back on his chair, eyeing the neat stack of paper that sat on his desk. He nearly forgot what he was supposed to be doing at the moment; his best friend always had the nerve to interrupt him. An air of frustration came about and never left him.
"Was that Takeshi-san?" Kukasabe said, standing at the entrance of the office. He was familiar with Hibari's frequent hanging up of the phone; it was always because of one reason. His overly casual friend would call him at the most inappropriate times; he wondered how such a serious like Hibari could be friends with a laidback and lighthearted person like him.
Hibari nodded; he rubbed at his temples.
"You look stressed."
"My workload has been twice as much since my old assistant left."
"You'll be getting a new one soon to help you, so don't worry. I'll help as much as I can for now." Kukasabe replied, "Your father will return to the hotel in a few days' time…once your new assistant has been picked."
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Wednesday…
"Seriously Haru-chan!" Kyoko exclaimed; her best friend was never going to calm down. Haru was still jittery from the news given yesterday. She was going to meet the Junior Chairman…
…she was going to work as their assistant.
"Do I look okay?!" Haru exclaimed; she kept straightening her outfit, flattening every crease and wrinkle she could find. She didn't want to be fired on the spot for looking too unkempt; her chances of earning 1500 yen an hour would go to shambles, "If I look bad, they probably won't take me!"
"They chose you out of the other accepted interviewees for a reason." Kyoko replied, pulling down her white dress shirt, "…You should be thanking Yuni for lending you these outfits."
Haru tched, "I already did…and don't worry I'll buy my own since I'll be needing them."
The brunette combed her hands through her new shoulder length hair, examining herself for the 100th time in the mirror.
"You look great! Stop worrying. You'll win them over with your business-savvy social skills."
"I hope so."
"It's a wonder you can put on such a confident mask when you're super nervous deep down." Kyoko laughed, causing Haru to slump her head down in embarrassment.
"Thanks for making me feel better, Kyoko-chan." Haru sighed, "…I really hope the chairman is an easygoing type of person."
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"Kyouya are you ready to introduce yourself to your new assistant?"
"Yes." Hibari replied. He was, in fact, ready to get a huge workload off of him.
The junior chairman comfortably sat on one of the lobby's sofas; across from him sat his father and Kusakabe. Hibari kept his gaze alert, trying to look out for who could possibly be the personal assistant. He hoped it would be someone who would obey every one of his commands without hesitation or backfire. His old assistant was incredibly feeble and nervous under his calculating aura, which drove her to quit. He hoped his new assistant would put up with him a hundred percent.
Hibari kept his arms crossed, staring at the groups of people who were walking to their appropriate destination in the lobby. Someone in the crowd was going to have to walk towards them and declare themselves as his new assistant. He impatiently tapped his foot, frowning as he glared daggers at the crowds; they were taking longer than anticipated.
"What if I decide I don't like them?" Hibari spoke up, glancing at his father. He didn't want to put up with any incompetence.
"They chose the one best fit for the position." His father replied, "I won't allow you to fire them."
The junior chairman shot his father a glare before facing the ground. His father was the only person that could control him; it drove Hibari nuts.
"Good morning, Hibari-sama, Hibari-san."
Their attention was brought to a man in a dress suit; he stood across from the seated Hibari and Kusakabe.
"Your new assistant is here."
Hibari's eyes widened when he saw a familiar face. A young woman with short brunette hair stood a few feet behind the man. Her face was just as shocked. She couldn't move anymore; Haru felt like she was going to burrow somewhere in complete embarrassment.
"Haru Miura, I would like you to meet the Junior Chairman. He will be the one you will be assisting." The suited man said, motioning towards Hibari.
"What…?" Haru muttered under her breath, her eyes unable to close.
