That guy was the junior chairman?

"Do you know who I am?" Haru remembered those exact words he said back at the elevator when they first encountered each other.

No wonder he acted so entitled...

Haru cleared her throat and nervously sat on a sofa opposite of Hibari as his father and Kusakabe moved to the other side. She had to be professional about this. She was no longer a teenager, she wasn't going to start an outburst and yell all sorts of profanities. Judging from her two encounters with this Hibari-san, he wasn't a very nice guy…therefore, her whole work experience could be miserable. However, she couldn't back away. This was 1500 yen per hour; she was going to get paid 700 yen more than her cashiering job.

The brunette kept her eyes shifted away from the other three males, trying her best to avoid eye contact from Hibari who gave her judging stare. Haru pursed her lips; she had to look confident in front of them. That was her whole mantra when it came to scoring jobs. She couldn't falter; she couldn't let Hibari see her falter. She had to show him a thing or two.

She sat upright, placed her hands overtop her lap and crossed her legs together, trying to look as composed as possible. She gave the three a confident smile.

"Good morning." Haru spoke up.

"Good morning, Haru Miura." Hibari's father spoke up, extending his arm for a handshake, "We're very glad to meet you."

Haru willingly reached over and shook his hand, a grin escaping her features.

"Nice to meet you Haru-san." Kusakabe spoke up, shaking her hand as well. Haru nodded and smiled before sitting back in her seat.

She looked over at Hibari who kept his stare glued onto somewhere else, completely ignoring the fact that he had to greet her as well. Haru glared at him; he was absolutely rude…already on the first meeting.

"You'll understand that this is a full time job, Miura-san." Hibari's father said; he handed a small stack of papers towards Haru, "This contains your weekly schedule."

"…Weekly schedule." Haru nodded, examining the paper, she bowed towards him, "Thank you."

A graph on the first page caught her eyes. 8:00 A.M…to 6:00 P.M; five days a week. Haru's eyes widened; those were very long work hours. However, this was 1500 yen each hour, 10 hours every day; this would earn her some serious cash. This meant that she would have to quit her cashiering job; that was no problem, it barely paid much.

"Is it too long?" It's as if they could read her mind.

"No, just fine." Haru smiled, replying to Hibari's father, "I'm always up on my feet; work keeps me awake."

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"We'll be introducing ourselves now." He continued, motioning his hands towards the people he mentioned, "I am Kyoushi Hibari; chairman of the Vongola Hotel. This is my son, Kyouya Hibari, and this is Kusakabe, Hibari's subordinate."

….Subordinate?

Haru almost cringed at that word. Hibari had a subordinate; this clued her in to how spoiled and uppity this guy was. Hibari gave Haru another short firey glance, causing the brunette to slightly twitch under his quick gaze. She gritted her teeth and nearly clenched her fists. It was very hard for people to make her feel uncomfortable, but this guy was doing a great job at it.

After several minutes of discussing the job, Hibari's father spoke up.

"Kyouya, I want you to lead Haru up to your office. Introduce her to the place."

"Of course." Hibari replied, his voice showing slight distaste. How he wished he could be sarcastic about that.

Hibari stood up from the sofa and made his way towards the corridor that led to the elevator; he didn't bother to wait for Haru. Haru gritted her teeth, piling her stacks of papers over top of each other and placing her handbag around her. She quickly bowed to Kusakabe and Hibari's father.

"Son of a…" She muttered, running after Hibari in her heels. He sure was a fast walker, "Wait for me!"

Hibari pressed the elevator button opening it up and went inside. He saw Haru totter in her heels, running inside after him; she leaned over and panted, catching her breath. Hibari looked down at her as if she were some hideous bug to be crushed. Out of all the possible applicants, it had to be this obnoxious, brash girl. He firmly pressed the 9th floor.

The elevator doors closed.

Now that he thought about it, he found himself making too much of a harsh judgment on her; he only encountered her twice and they barely even spoke to each other. He glanced at Haru once more. Judging from her tight lipped expression, she was trying her hardest not to lose her temper. She was trying to keep a professional poise. He couldn't fire her so he had to try his best to keep his cool as well.

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"Oh my…"

Haru's eyes widened at how neat and tranquil Hibari's office was. Everything was orderly and in its place. She looked at one of the bookshelves that lined across the office desk; each book was logically categorized by subject and last name of the author – like a library.

She saw two tiny red sofas parallel to the desk, completely devoid of dust marks or stains. What caught her eye the most was the desk. In front of it had Hibari's name tag on a golden plaster – Kyouya Hibari; Junior Chairman – to be exact. His desk was smooth and shiny, also spotless. Cups of pencils and pens were arranged onto the sides; each color coded. Red pens inside a red cup, black pens inside a black cup, blue pens inside a blue cup, and pencils inside a clear cup, and so on. Two sets of papers were stacked vertically from the farthest cups.

Haru touched the edge of the desk, it was incredibly glossy. How someone managed to keep any place as neat as this, she would never know. It didn't help that she was naturally very disorganized and messy; seeing very clean places baffled her. She absently picked up a pencil and eyed it; it was sharpened to a tee.

"Don't touch anything."

Haru felt the pencil being swiped out of her grip. She turned around and saw Hibari who must have quietly creeped up towards her. She nearly jumped from his sudden appearance.

"S-sorry." Haru muttered.

"As your superior, I'll lay out the major rules for you." Hibari spoke up, carefully placing the pencil inside the correctly color coded cup.

Superior?! Haru nearly scoffed out loud, but instead, she simply nodded.

"Rule #1; don't touch anything unless I tell you to."

This was going to be a long day of…job training? Haru shrugged in her head as she continued to listen to her set of new rules.

"Rule #2; don't pick up any of my phone calls."

"Rule #3; you will do everything as I say or I'll decrease your payment."

Haru grimaced at that particular rule. It was as almost if Hibari could read her mind. The money was her main motive for getting this job in the first place.

"Rule #4; no eating or drinking in my office."

"Not even water-?"

"Rule #5; no talking back to me."

"I was just asking you a question..." Haru pursed her lips, annoyed by Hibari's rude interruption.

"A very stupid one at that." He replied, then continued, "Rule #6; you may only use the extra computer to do anything work related."

The junior chairman pointed to a closed laptop which sat on the smaller desk. Haru bit the inside of her mouth; she was getting angrier and angrier by the minute. She calmly breathed in and out, she didn't want to explode in front of Hibari.

"Rule #7; no loitering around my office before and after hours."

Haru nodded again.

"Rule #8; dress professionally."

"But I am dresse-!"

Hibari shot her another glare, causing the brunette to zip her mouth shut. She wasn't allowed to "talk back to him".

"You dress like an herbivore. You don't work in a second-rate supermarket anymore; you're working in my office now." The chairman said, familiar with Haru's old job on the resume. Haru nodded, even though she was dressed in business casual attire…she guessed it was too casual for Hibari.

She was also quite insulted by his calling of her old workplace as a "second-rate supermarket". That bastard…so rich and up himself that he completely looks down on regular stores.

"Do you have any problems with these rules?"

Yes!

"No." Haru shook her head. She didn't want to let him see the satisfaction of her losing it.

"If you break them multiple times, I'll convince my father to fire you. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Haru replied, forcing herself to give him a fake grin. She felt herself getting nauseous from giving him such a sickly sweet smile.

This wouldn't be bad for 1500 yen an hour, would it? All she had to do was assist him in his large workload and try her best not to get in his way…she could do it well enough. She was very good with people, good enough to fake a professional mask.

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"He's so…so…bigheaded!" Haru exclaimed onto the phone, "His father must have spoiled him rotten and constantly bragged to him that he was going to be the Hotel Ceo… Chairman…of the Vongola Hotel! No wonder he turned out to be so arrogant."

Haru flopped back onto her bed, holding her phone up to her ear. Keeping a cool vibe at work did a number on her. Coming home was where she would yell out all of her frustrations; it was where she could finally return to her normal self.

"At least I'm getting paid well, that I should look forward to."

"All you have to do is suck up to him, maybe he won't be such a pain to deal with." Kyoko's voice was heard from the phone speaker.

"Yeah, you're right. Kill him with kindness!" Haru exclaimed; causing Kyoko to giggle slightly.

"That's the spirit, Haru-chan."

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"…Looks like my housewarming party is going to have to wait." Haru sighed to herself; she looked at her watch; it was 7:55. Working long hours did pay their price. She had to be there by eight sharp, no earlier, no later. The almighty Hibari-san didn't like loiterers.

She glanced down at herself, making sure that she was dressed fine enough. She wore the same outfit Yuni gave to her for the interview. It was much more sophisticated and less casual than the one she wore yesterday. She pressed her palms against her black dress skirt, straightening the fabric while neatly tucking in the stray fabric of the white satin top dress.

She carried her heels as she walked barefoot towards the elevator; she dreaded walking in those pointy shoes, but she had to look as polished as possible.

Once she reached the 9th floor; she looked at her watch. It was 7:59. She ran towards the entrance of Hibari's office. She quickly leaned over and placed on her first heel, securing the straps tight. She hobbled as she tried putting on the other heel; her balance wasn't working with her today.

"Arghh!" Haru groaned, "Come on…"

She must have looked quite silly, hopping up and down like a rabbit to maintain her balance.

"Hahi!" When Haru was about to lean downwards to put her shoe on the easy way, she finally lost her balance and fell backwards. She grimaced, wincing in pain as she landed on her bottom.

Her brown eyes widened.

She saw Hibari standing a couple feet away from her, getting ready to open the door to his office. He wore his usual suit and purple dress shirt, looking refined as usual.

This was how she was going to greet him on the first day of work.

How professional…

Haru immediately slipped her shoe on and stood up, brushing off the dust that accumulated on her. She bowed to Hibari and gave him a grin. Kill him with kindness.

"Good morning Hibari-san."

"I'm not so keen on having such a clumsy assistant. I don't need a spineless herbivore tripping all over my workplace."

Haru gritted her teeth. She then cleared her throat and smiled again. He knew what he was doing; he was trying to get her to a breaking point. She wasn't going to let him do that.

"I don't do drugs, Hibari-san." Haru replied, purposely taking his words the wrong way. If he could make fun of her, why couldn't she?

Hibari ignored her and opened his office. The brunette smiled to herself, feeling proud of her little jibe.

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"Scan all of these forms onto the laptop." Hibari placed a huge stack of papers in front of Haru as she sat at the other desk. The brunette's eyes widened, astounded by the large amount; it at to be at least two inches thick of paper.

"I don't expect you to finish all of these by today." The junior chairman continued. Haru was surprised; she thought he would be the type to make her finish everything. Hibari was human with emotions after all, he wouldn't force her to do never-ending manual-like labor like that.

Hibari sat at his desk before opening his laptop up. He immediately typed away as he stared at the screen. Haru stared at him; this one was a workaholic alright. She glanced at the top of stack of the papers she held onto.

"…Vongola Hotel Sales Pitch." She read to herself, scrutinizing the title of the paper.

She flipped through the stacks, seeing all sorts of graphs.

"Ano, Hibari-san?" Haru spoke up. Hibari stopped typing, his full attention on Haru.

"What?"

"Where's the scanner?"

"Right beside you." He replied, then muttered, "Such an idiot herbivore."

Haru saw a boxy printer like machine beside the laptop she was supposed to work on. She shot Hibari a short glare.

"…So mean." Haru mumbled to herself, opening the scanner and placing the first sheet of paper inside of it.

My first day of work, begins now…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Saturday…

Haru kneeled in front of a grave stone; today was Saturday which meant she had no work today. Besides Sunday, this was the day when she could finally unwind and rest. For the past couple of days; all she did was scan forms while running back and forth to do errands for Hibari. Instead of showing him her overbearing temper, she did all as he said, getting the work done at a breakneck pace. Hibari, however, never complimented her on her work done or at least say anything close to a 'Good job'. She didn't mind though; she assumed that was how Hibari was.

She took in the calm breeze as well as the sights around her. This was refreshing after experiencing never-ending exhaustion for the past two days. She sat on top of a short hill in front of several grave stones; she stared at a particular one, one that was directly in front of her.

"Hello, Dad…" Haru quietly said. She brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, trying to keep the cool breeze from blowing it onto her face.

"I have good news…really good news." She continued, her smile growing, "I got a new job at the best Hotel in Namimori. It pays really well. 1500 yen to be exact. We'll be a little better off now."

She kept on a bright smile, carefully taking in the scenery. From up the hill she had great view all the buildings of Namimori. She would come here at least once every two weeks to visit her father's grave; she would tell him all good news that recently happened. It was relaxing as well. As extroverted and outgoing Haru usually was, she needed a break from everyone now and then.

"I'll work harder than ever this time. I'll make you proud." Haru continued, "I'll make lots of money for mom and I and then I'll finally make it to nursing school!"

The brunette let out a huff; that was a mouthful to say.

She stood up, dusting off the edge of her pants before picking up a bag.

"Ah…these peach buns are going to get all soggy. Mom won't like this at all." Haru frowned as she looked under the plastic bag she carried. She felt the bottom and saw steamy water accumulate under it; she grimaced. Her eyes widened when she heard her phone vibrate in her pocket.

She reached into it and picked it up with her other hand, answering the mobile.

"Mom?" Haru answered, she nodded her head, "…Oh yes. You started already?"

She nodded her head once again.

"Yes, I'll be there. I was just visiting Dad."

Haru pressed a button on her phone, hanging up. She gave her father's grave one more look.

"I'll be back soon. I have a yard sale to get to."

The brunette ran downwards the hill, her bag trailing behind her. Haru was getting ready to sell most of her old furniture from her old home; it would be the first time she'd ever visited it since she and her mom moved out.

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"Hahi! Is that really all of our furniture?" Haru exclaimed. Several tables, a couple bookshelves, a desk, and many chairs were sprawled outside of her previous house. She couldn't believe it; the same furniture they owned for all the years they spent here was leaving them. She sighed. Familiar neighbors surrounded the large crowd of furniture, carefully examining which piece they wanted.

"Haru-san!"

Haru's eyes lit up when she saw her Obaa-chan walk towards her.

"What took you so long to get here?"

"Obaa-chan!" Haru ran up to the elderly woman, giving her a tight hug, "It's been a while."

"It must have been a busy week for you guys."

"It has. I actually managed to score the job as the Chairman's assistant!" Haru exclaimed.

"That's great. How is it?"

"The Junior Chairman is a jerk, but I don't let that get to me. I must maintain my professional face!" Haru replied, giving Obaa-chan a large grin, she peered over the elderly woman, "…Hey, where's my mother?"

"She went inside to move the last of the furniture."

"Oh okay!" Haru replied, then pointed her index finger at her, "Make sure to buy something! We have don't have any use for this furniture!"

The brunette pushed aside some furniture out of her way, before making her way inside the open door of her old house. Obaa-chan smiled and shook her head; she wondered how Haru managed to stay so upbeat and awake most of the time. Even in her heyday, she was nowhere near as frenzied as Haru. However, she knew the young woman had to be hurting somewhere if she acted unusually cheerful. That was Haru's nature; she knew her long enough to make that assumption.

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"Mom-!"

Haru stopped in her tracks once she was inside her house.

It felt so…vacant.

"…Pfft that's obviously what happens when you move all the furniture out." Haru said to herself, then yelled, "Mom, I brought you the peach buns! They're becoming soggy, you have to eat them sometime!"

She peered around the staircase, but saw no sight of her mother. She shaped her lips into a pout.

"Where could she be…? Why would she call me if she wasn't even going to show up?" Haru mumbled to herself. When she was about to climb upstairs, her mother's voice interrupted her.

"Haru!"

Haru turned around and saw her mother with an unfamiliar man. They came inside the kitchen from the living room next door. The man she walked beside looked to be around her mother's age.

"Ah, it's good you came…! Right on time too."

"Eh?" Haru's eyes widened, "Who's…?"

"…This is Nezu-sensei. He's one of the teachers from Namimori Middle School, the same middle school that your best friend Kyoko went to."

Haru closely examined the unfamiliar Nezu-sensei. He had a very bright and collected appearance about him; he looked intimidating but approachable at the same time. It almost baffled Haru. He had neatly combed brown hair with a few tufts of grey in it. He wore thinly framed square glasses that hid his small brown eyes.

"Hello, Nezu-sensei." Haru bowed.

"Good Afternoon, Haru Miura. Your mother has told me a lot about you."

He had a smooth and suave voice for someone his age. Almost too suave. Haru raised her eyebrow at this. She almost cursed herself for being too inquisitive already.

"Ahahahaha…" Haru nervously laughed, a peak of embarrassment creeping up on her.

"I should have told you this earlier." Her mother said, bringing Haru's full attention back.

"Told me what?"

"Me and Nezu-Sensei are dating."

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"I can't believe it! I seriously can't believe it!" Haru cried, pacing back and forth.

She suddenly plopped down onto the bed and placed her head in between her hands. She gave out the most obvious grimace. She wasn't angry, but she was really surprised. Her mother had actually been going out with somebody. She thought that would never happen. Her father had passed away four years ago; her mother had slipped into a deep depression and never fully recovered. She was doing much better, but not as well as she was before her dad died. She didn't think she would be able to go through any drastic change again, let alone date someone else.

"There's never a day when Haru-san is calm…" I-pin sighed.

"She's been like this all morning!" Kyoko added, pitifully staring at Haru who comically rocked back and forth on her bed, "Haru-chan, snap out of it! Jeez…you're being so dramatic."

Haru's bottom lip trembled. She took in a deep breath, then let it out.

"I know, I know. I'm so surprised...like really, really surprised. I know I should be happy for her…but I'm too surprised to be. …Maybe I just need to take in the news and then I'll be happy…yes, that's it-"

Bzzzz! Bzzz!

"Is that mines?!" Haru asked, jumping up from the sudden vibration.

"…I think so. I left my phone at home." I-pin replied.

Haru pulled out her cellphone and answered it.

"Hello?"

"This is Kyoushi Hibari."

"Hahi!" Haru exclaimed; she was not expecting Hibari's father to call her in the middle of the day. She did add him as a contact, but she never expected him to call her. She covered her mouth, embarrassed from her sudden squeak. This was not how she was supposed to sound towards her boss.

"Who is it?" Kyoko whispered; she leaned towards Haru, trying to hear from her cellphone.

Haru covered the mouth piece of her cellphone, "It's Vongola Hotel's Chairman…my boss!"

She uncovered the mouth piece, and cleared her throat, "Hello, Hibari-sama!"

A chuckle came out from the other hand, "You may call me Kyoushi-sama. Hibari-sama seems too formal. We'll be working together frequently in the future, we don't need too many formalities in the way."

Haru slightly laughed; compared to his son, he was a lot more approachable and friendly.

"On Monday…" He began.

"Monday?" Haru urged, waiting for him to continue.

"Kyouya will meet you in the hotel lobby, instead of his office." His father continued, "We'll be holding a small celebration for you at our home. To celebrate your employment with us."

Haru's mouth widened.

"Haru-chan?" She heard Kyoko say.

Haru covered the mouth piece, "The chairman wants me to come to their house!"

"Really?" I-pin asked, she leaned as well. Haru wanted to swat her and Kyoko away; she wondered why they were taking such an interest in this.

Haru frantically nodded her head as she grimaced in anxiety. She uncovered the mouth piece, she kept on a calm and collected expression.

"…Ah, are you sure about that?" She spoke into the phone.

"Yes, the whole family would like to meet you. They're very curious to know about Kyouya's new personal assistant. We did the same with our old assistant."

Haru grimaced again. Was she really going to go to Hibari-san's house? She couldn't reject his offer; it was something he went out of his way to do. She couldn't so rudely throw away his efforts like that, she had to accept.

"Okay, I'll make sure to come." Haru finally said.

"Good, good. Just wear something casual and meet Kyouya at 9:00 instead of 8:00."

"O-okay…! Thank you, Kyoushi-sama!"

Haru immediately hung up.

"Oh my goodness! What am I going to do? What am I going to do?" Haru exclaimed, her finger still pressed on the cellphone button, "This is going to be so awkward…"

"Go, of course!" Kyoko giggled, "It's not going to be that bad! You're making things out to be a lot worse than they seem."

"I don't think Hibari-san would want me at his house. That's the problem!" Haru scoffed.

"Who cares what he thinks though? His father invited you, not him." Kyoko replied.

"You're right. All I have to do is go with the flow. Treat them all politely...try not to look uncomfortable." Haru nodded. She honestly didn't want to go, but it would be nice of her to accept Kyoushi's offer.