Chapter 1: Coffee, Anyone?


AN: And now with chapter 1! :D lol. I'm really enjoying writing this one...maybe it's the humor...haha. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy :D

*SilverWolfMaiden; Shirane is in this chapter...;D...SURPRISE!

Thanks for reading!

~Aria


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"Alright!" Kiame grinned, giving me a huge pat on the shoulder. "I can't believe you actually nailed an interview!"

I grimaced. It'd been long since that call, and once Kiame had heard the good news, she refused to let me sleep-saying I needed to be at my best for today. I don't think these guys wanted to have a potential employee show up grouchy and sleep-deprived, but whatever. I'll just go with it. "We'll just have to see, Kia, I've been to interviews before, remember?"

My sister rolled her eyes as she pushed me into my room, heading straight for my closet. "You need to stop being so negative." She stated, rummaging through my wardrobe. "This may turn out to be a good thing!"

The grimace deepened as I sat down on my bed, watching Kiame. Why did she have to insist on trying to pick out my clothes? Was this some sort of sister thing I'd never heard of?
Ahhh...If only I could sleep...

"Do you have any ideas for what you'll wear?" She called back over her shoulder, tossing a few of my things in the floor.

"No," I mumbled, inwardly groaning at the fact that I'd have to clean all of this stuff up later. "The email just said normal dress clothes. Nothing revealing or obnoxiously bright."

A scoff came from my sister as clothes began to be thrown from my closet. "You have absolutely nothing good in here," She stated, "No wonder you don't have a job!"

Heat began to build in my cheeks. What did she know?
"Do too," I mumbled, lifting up one of the dressier pieces she'd tossed from its hanger. "I have a pencil skirt."

Kiame placed her hands on her hips as she turned back to look at me. "That skirt is so old, Ayame. You can see it's all faded and torn."

I frowned, insulted.

"If you're going to an interview with a company like Akatsuki, you need to wear something nice," She stated, "They're pretty infamous for their business holdings, after all. You want to make a good impression."

And so my nerves returned.
I don't normally get…scared…with thoughts of an interview, but like my sister said; Akatsuki was one of the biggest names in business right now, and somehow I had managed to nail an interview with their boss. I needed to impress.

"Don't worry," She skipped over to the door and tossed my purse at me, grinning. "We'll go and get you something to wear."

Again, my frown deepened. Was she just going to leave my things lying in the floor like that...? "My interview is in like 4 hours, Kiame…"

"We'll just have to be fast then!" She called, already leaving for the stairs.

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I scowled as we left the coffee shop, gazing around at the crowds now forming for lunch hour. I'd tried and tried to get Kiame to back off on the "new wardrobe" idea, at least until I had some more money in my pocket, but she wouldn't listen-thus, here we were. "You ready?" Kia giggled, starting down the sidewalk. At least the coffee might wake me up...

I rolled my eyes and followed after her. "My interview is in like, 3 hours Kia, we need to make this fast. At some point I still need to go home and get ready."

She ignored me as we continued through the crowds, trying to spot a clothing store.
Summers in Michigan were nice; since it was located further north, the weather never really reached over 80 degrees, at least during this time of year. The winter's were cold, but I'd never really minded frosty weather, I enjoyed it, really. Currently, we were somewhere in between comfort and frost, even though it was the middle of July, but I wasn't complaining. "What about here?" Kiame stated, stopping by the window of a store called 'New York.' My wallet visibly twitched as the mannequin's price tags met my eye; $360 for a blouse? "Keep moving." I answered, looking away from the display.

And so Kiame did, but not before she dragged me into the crowd near the entrance, which, I didn't realize, had no respect for a woman with a cup of coffee (not like anyone ever did, but most tried to avoid a potential accident if they could...). With my footing now lost and the grip on the beverage in my hand slipping, I began to brace for the worst; and oh, the worst came.

Apparently the figure directly before me had either not seen me coming (which would have been impossible had they of looked up from their phone) or just didn't care, but there was no escaping it now. In what seemed like a year's worth of time, my coffee slowly fell from my fingers, tossed through the air, and landed in an explosion of cream and sugar on said person's chest.

Initially, I had thought that that would be the worst, but before my poor victim could recuperate (from the scalding beverage now drenching their front), I-also-collided with them; which broke both Kiame's hold on my arm, and the other person's footing. If I were in any other situation, I imagine this little scene looked quite humorous, but, well…this wasn't that situation.

"What do you think you're doing, girl!?" I heard a voice ask, none too pleased.

With great effort, I swallowed my pride and glanced up at my victim-trying to muster the courage to apologize. It was a man, who, by the looks of it, was royally and nobly pissed. I gulped.

He had long black hair, which was parted and pulled into a ponytail-though most still fell into bangs around his face. I imagine he would have had very striking charcoal eyes, be it they weren't twisted into rage and, well…glaring at me. Light tear troughs stood out below the, aforementioned, eyes, though I would venture to say that they'd soften with sleep. "You've ruined my suit." He snapped, glancing down at his clothes.

I flinched. His outfit looked extremely expensive…Tie, blazer, slacks; if he pushed it, I knew there would be no way I could pay him back for the damage my coffee had done. Yeah, I'm sure I could reason with him and find a good dry-cleaning place that would take care of the (now forming) stains; but, well, he didn't really seem like the type to negotiate. "I-I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to…"

"Get off of me," Again with the snappy attitude. It was an accident, didn't this guy understand? "Do you even know who I am?"

With a sudden bout of confidence, I shoved myself up from the hateful man (mentally taking note that the coffee had also managed to stain my white top…(the white top that Kia had forced me to wear….)). "Look, jerk," The man's black eyes widened. I could see my sister violently shaking her head, telling me to just leave it and head on our way-especially before I caused any trouble-but this asshole was asking for it. "I don't really give a fuck who you are or what you do, but next time, why don't you watch where you're going? It's a little too crowded to be strutting around on your cell phone all the time. What happened was an accident, ut you have to admit, it's kind of hard to miss a giant coffee cup hurdling at you."

My confidence began to die as the man stood, his eyes narrowing. "I was making a business transaction with one of the most successful Japanese brokers in Tokyo, girl," He hissed his words, making me flinch. "A transaction that would have made my company well over three million in sales (Crap...). And now, because of you, I have a $6,000 ruined suit (Ohhhhh, double crap), and a deal that could possibly of fallen through, seeing as your coffee made me drop the conference call I was having. So, now, I have to go back to my office and try to sort out the problem that you caused. All because you can't watch where you're going."

Kiame, not wishing to cause any more of a scene than we already had, ran up to my side and locked arms with me, trying to drag me away. "We are terribly sorry sir, next time, I'll have to make sure my sister watches where she's walking."

"See that you do." He snapped as he grabbed his belongings.
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"That arrogant son of a bitch." I hissed, following Kiame to my apartment. Now, not only did I have around an hour or so to get ready, but my shirt and pants were also ruined-and not to mention sticky. I desperately needed a shower…a few drinks wouldn't hurt either. "You'd think he'd never of had an accident before."

"Well, it was your fault," My sister chuckled, sliding out of her driver's seat. "You should have watched where you were going."

I followed her lead and stepped out of the passenger's side, grabbing my bags from the backseat. "You were the one dragging me along." I mumbled, glancing up at my flat. "Technically, it's your fault."

My apartment complex wasn't anything special; it smelled, quite horribly from the stairs anyway, but the rooms and neighbors were kind, especially the landlady. She'd given me quite the deal when I first moved here, and still tried her best to make my rent affordable, even bending the pay-date for me on more than one occasion. I should really thank her sometime…I wonder how she's doing?

"Oh well," She smirked, taking off up the stairs. "At least you met a cute guy today."

I rolled my eyes as Kiame skipped up to my door-ignoring my comment. If you call being an ass cute, well, yeah-that guy was areal cutie. "You need a key to get in, dunce."

"Aya, I can't believe you got all of those dress clothes, and on sale too!" She giggled, patiently waiting for me to open the door. I shook my head at her childishness-I really missed it sometimes. "But I guess many women don't really wear stuff like that…Must be why it was all on clearance..."

Again, I rolled my eyes, disregarding her as I stepped inside. The sooner I got out of these clothes, the better. "Many women have office jobs, Kia."

"Yeah, boring women." Kiame winked, skipping past me.

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I glanced over my reflection in the mirror, not particularly pleased with the person that now stared back at me. Kiame, again, insisted that I try to look my best…thus, again, she insisted on doing my hair…and make-up. (At some point, I really need to learn how to tell my sister no…)

Though I normally wear my hair down, and hate for it to be worn in any other way, Kiame had allowed me a compromise by only putting up half of it; to better frame my face, she said. So, my hair was in some half-up half-down style, with a ponytail in the back and bangs in the front-I guess I could live with that. The make-up, however, I hated.

I seldom wore the "greasepaint" that most women wear, mostly because I hated the way it looked on my skin, and felt on it for that matter-it was suffocating; but, against my better wishes, Kiame had managed to put some on me (managed being the key word). Matching black Eye liner and mascara on the eyes, to bring out the blue apparently, with foundation on the skin and nude on the lips. Personally, I didn't like how it looked, as I thought I would, but Kiame kept promising that it would make a good impression, so I just went with it. At least I could pick out my clothes this time…

Though it was just for an interview, I, again, wanted to leave a lasting impression, and decided on a pair of black slacks and matching blazer, with a white button-up underneath. That should be dressy enough, right?

"You look great, you know." Kia grinned, looking me over.

I sighed and grabbed my materials; resume and folder, pen, pencil, references, along with a copy of my college courses and the email I'd printed from earlier that morning; and made my way to the door (shakily, since Kiame had insisted I wear heels…which, like the other things, I don't do). "I don't feel great…"

"There's nothing to worry about." She opened my way to the stairs and handed me my car keys, pushing me out. Looks like I wouldn't be getting a chance to back out... "You just go and be yourself, that will knock 'em dead!"

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I sighed, closing the door to my car.
Earlier this morning, I'd taken it upon myself to learn more about the Akatsuki company, see what businesses they seemed to divulge stock in, things like that; it looked good to know about your area of interest, right? What I found shocked me; real estate, food, science, banking, manufacturing, health-nothing was off limits for this company. The Akatsuki name was practically on almost everything; and now I understood why.
This headquarters was HUGE; just the main complex had to be twice the size of the Fischer Skyscraper, and a hearty rival to the size of the GM Renaissance Building, maybe even bigger.

Three large towers jutted out into the sky (would I have to ride an elevator all the way to the top…?), with tall black windows shining on all angles. A smaller series of buildings connected the towering three together (in what I assumed to be meeting halls, etc.), making the longer buildings look like some large…modern castle (save for the fact that there was an elegantly written company logo gleaming down the (tallest) middle building).

Again, with a sigh, I grabbed my things and made for the parking garage elevator. If this place was already intimidating, just from outward appearances, what were the employees like…?
Man, what had I gotten myself into..?
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Well, if this building hadn't of been intimidating from a distance, it was up close.

How in the world had I never noticed this company before? It's in the middle of Detroit for crying out loud…Plus it's twice the size of most buildings here, it's practically screaming of importance.

I glanced down at my watch.
2:06.

Was it already that late? Man...I needed to find out where I was going; and with a place this large, it would definitely take awhile.

With a sigh, I made my way through the heavy revolving doors, face-to-face with what appeared to be the entrance hall.
Here, high vaulted ceilings (which I found odd, considering the shape and height) gave way to a modern chandelier which hung down into the very heart of the room. Ivory white walls enclosed the room on all sides, drastically contrasting that of the black tile floor. Keeping with their white theme, matching leather couches lined the East and West of the room, for waiting purposes, I suppose, with elegant glass tables and statues on either side. Against the wall opposite of myself, sat a large metal welcoming desk, with the company logo written in bold silver letters across. It was a very elegant room, but the lack of colour made me feel a little uncomfortable; or maybe it was just my nerves?

"Excuse me, Miss," The woman seated in the center of said desk, who had previously been busy with her computer, glanced up at my approach. "Is there something we can help you with?"

I felt a blush creep up on my cheeks; I could just imagine what I looked like, gawking in the entrance to a major company, dressed like I am…"Ah, yes." I mumbled. Both she and the women sitting on either side of her were remarkably good-looking. She, in particular, had blonde hair-so blonde, it looked as if it were silver, with golden eyes (either contacts or hazel, though I couldn't really tell from this distance). "I'm here for an interview."

"Oh," She smiled happily. "You're Ayame Azikuria, here for the 2:30 interview, correct?"

I nodded, pushing some hair away from my face. I was just talking to a secretary, why was I getting so nervous? "Yes, a woman by the name of Konan called me and asked if I could come in earlier this morning."

The woman clicked a few numbers on her keyboard then looked back up at me. "I have you down right here," She stated, standing. "I'll walk you up to his offices, if you wish?"

"Sounds nice," I answered, following her around the desk.

She nodded and turned down into one of the many hallways leading off from the entrance. It was a long walkway, who's walls led off into different sets of meeting rooms and offices (though we were moving so fast it was hard to tell). "Do you live here in Detroit?" The woman asked, coming to a stop near, what I presumed to be, a set of elevators.

"Yes," I answered, following her inside the nearest one. Definitely elevators then. She punched in a password, to give her access to the floor she needed-I suppose, and then pressed the door shut behind her. "I live just between Ann Arbor and here."

"Interesting," She stated, as the elevator began to move. "I live just outside of Windsor myself."

"Cool," I smiled as the elevator began to pick up speed (man, this thing goes really fast…). The nerves from before were beginning to well up within my stomach. What if this interview turned out like all the others? What would I do? I couldn't keep mooching off of my landlady's kindness, nor could I go back to living with Kiame-she was in school, after all...

"My name's Shirane, by the way." She bowed as the elevator suddenly began to slow, (great...already here...) "It was a pleasure to meet you, Ayame, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

I bowed back, making my way out of the newly opened doors. "Thank you Shirane. It was nice to meet you too..."

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AN: I know nothing really happened in this chapter, but I hope the next one will be just a little bit better...:(...Hopefully I'll get around to updating Fire and Ice too, lol, at least once my college stuff is out of the way. Ahhhh...busy busy busy...

Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter regardless, lol. :D More to come!

SilverWolfMaiden; Hopefully you'll like this one XD lol, I have some humorous ideas for the plot in later chapters, but regardless I'm glad you'll give it a try :D

Happy Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it), if not...uhm...Happy...Week...day...day...lol!

~Aria