When The Truth Collides
The Case of Zero Kiryuu #2
Zero felt happy. So, so happy!
It was the first day of work, and he had already received his paycheck of ¥250,000 for the month. He hasn't even started work yet! Zero daydreamed about the items he would be able to purchase with such a large sum of money. To start off, he would pay his rent in advance, hell, he could purchase a much better apartment already, at the rate he's going!
Next would be a shiny new car. Like the one that handsome brunette had. Vroom vroom.
How about a nice suit? That's definitely essential. Every secretary needs one. Zero nodded his head wisely.
He stalked around the posh boutique, fingering the many suits on display and relishing the velvety feel of the material, alongside with those poised and elegant ladies and gentlemen who held executive city jobs. I'm one of them now, Zero thought blissfully, I'm one of them n –
Zero's eyes blinked open groggily in confusion, and pushed himself up with his arms ungraciously. He was surrounded by his usual mountain of clothes piled atop his bed, and Zero actually felt lost in the maze of clean laundry. It wasn't even a bed anymore. More like a laundry basket. Zero groaned. Way to start the morning.
He noticed that he held onto his old high school jacket in between his fingers. Ah, so that's where the 'velvety feel of the material' in his dream came from. Why the hell is his old uniform on his bed anyway?
Zero conveniently shook off the troublesome thought of cleaning up and yawned magnificently, stretching like a lazy cat before plopping back onto his messy bed.
Ah, life is beautiful.
He has a brilliant apartment, a brilliant life, a brilliant future, a brilliant job which is going to start in half an hour –
Wait. Half an hour?
Zero took a second glance at his digital clock and mentally screamed. It was already 8:31AM! He is so dead!
"Bloody hell! Why didn't the alarm go off?" Zero yelled to no one in particular, rushing with his morning routine frantically around his apartment like a headless chicken on a rampage.
Zero cursed at the uselessness of his alarm clock, knowing full well that the alarm did go off. It was just that he was too much of a deep sleeper to be awakened by a measly alarm. Zero shirked the blame on his dad's deep sleeping genes instead. That old geezer.
Luckily enough for Zero, the past Zero of 16 January 11:59PM had already prepared the work attire on the sofa, ironed and ready to go. No worries there. He would be able to make it to work by hiring a cab. Zero gave the past Zero a pat on the back. Good boy.
He grabbed the usual necessities and rushed out of the apartment, calling out the usual morning greeting to the old lady down the road and hailed a cab easily in the daily morning rush.
"Kuran Corporations," Zero called out to the driver, feeling a small sense of pride welling up in his chest. He is going to do a good job. Fo' sho.
"Woah…"
Zero craned his neck and marveled at the majestic sight of the towering building of glass. This is it. His future. His big, bright future. Gosh. Zero wanted to gush like an excited schoolgirl going on a date with her crush for the first time, but no. Zero is a cool. Slick and cool. Calm and collected. No gushing allowed.
His cell phone beeped cheerily, indicating a new text message. Zero flipped it open and read it.
From: Yuuki (+81-90-2539-5071)
Subject: ZERO-KUN! THIS IS YO
UR FIRST DAY OF WORK! GOOD LUCK! YOU CAN DO IT *(^^)*
Zero smiled at Yuuki's (retarded) adorable antics. The girl didn't even know the difference between the subject and the main text body. That poor thing. Oh well.
He slipped the device back into his pocket and ran a hand through his silver hair, in hopes that it looked as cool as he imagined it would, and walked through the suave automated glass doors. He was greeted by the sight of a massive white hall, professional everything, men and women in expensive formal attire strutting along with their briefcases in hand, entering elevators, exiting elevators, pausing a little to have a tiny chat with their fellow colleagues. Zero felt a little out of place.
The receptionist at the information counter looked up from whatever she was doing (was that the latest Time magazine?) and welcomed him with a sweet smile.
"Good morning, welcome to Kuran Corporations. How may I help you today?" Her clear, sweet voice resounded through the huge mass of space. Zero wondered vaguely if she was the one responsible for announcing the stops at the metro station.
"Good morning…I'm here for the first day of work? The new secretary of…" Zero said uncertainly. Who was he working for anyway? He totally forgot to ask Yuuki for her fiancé's name! He wanted to hit himself but that'll be too embarrassing, especially in the viewing range of these professional aliens.
"Ah, Kiryuu-san, was it?" The receptionist smiled warmly. "We've been waiting for you. Please, follow me. I'll lead you to the director's office."
God, this woman is making him feel uneasy with all her suffocating professionalism. She seems friendly enough though. Zero felt a little at ease and followed the tut tut of her Prada heels as they made their way towards the silver metallic elevator.
Prada-woman pressed the top button while Zero stared in amazement at the command panel of the elevator. A hundred floors? What is this, a hotel?
"I see you're stunned at the number of floors this building has," The receptionist laughed. "I had the same reaction as you on the first day of work!"
"I know, right?" Zero said, awestruck. "Oh, and by the way, what's the director's name? I kind of forgot to ask my friend, hahaha…" Zero scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"His name's Kaname Kuran," She smiled. "Top 50 richest bachelors, as stated on Forbes magazine. He's quite a looker as well! His fiancée must be a really lucky girl."
The both of them shared a brief friendly moment of conversation. She wasn't too bad. Guess she wasn't an alien after all, Zero mused.
The elevator finally reached to a stop and the door swooshed open with a chime.
Zero stepped out of the elevator. "Thank you so much for your guidance so far, Ms…"
"Wakaba. Sayori Wakaba," The receptionist replied with a sweet smile.
"Thank you, Wakaba-san," Zero smiled. "Have a nice day."
The both of them bid farewell, and Sayori took the elevator back to the first floor. Zero examined his new surroundings, taking in the maroon carpeted flooring and the elegant Victorian-style furnishing. It was a splendid sight to behold.
The current level had an adjoining room separated by a manual glass door, and Zero noticed that it was an office, albeit a really huge one. It was practically the size of his apartment, minus the walls.
Who would need an office this big anyway, Zero pondered listlessly.
There was no one in sight at the other side of the glass door. Zero noticed that there was a large mahogany desk located at the top middle part of the room at the other side of the door, complete with a leather swivel chair and a MacBook sitting atop it. There were a number of hard cover files and documents littered around the desk, and a pewter photo frame facing away from Zero's point of view. A huge, magnificent oil painting depicting the city of Paris (judging by the blur outline of the Eiffel Tower) hung on the wall behind the desk.
A 5-seater maroon leather sofa was placed a few meters away from the work desk, with a small round table carved with elaborate details in front of it. Zero pushed open the doors to the adjoining room and entered, feeling a blast of cold air from the air conditioner and shivered a little. This is torture to the planet (and my body)! Zero gritted his teeth.
The sides of the room were full-length glass windows, with the one at his right having a dark maroon curtain pulled over, whereas the other side allows a splendid view of the city. Zero ignored it, having a little fear of heights. They make him somewhat nauseous.
Where is this Kaname Kuran character anyway? Zero frowned. He really doesn't know what to do, and it would be really awkward to sit on the sofa without an invite…
Deciding that observing the painting would be the best choice available, he approached the majestic work of art gingerly and gazed up upon it. The colours match out perfectly, painted with both cool and warm tones. Every stroke of the brush was precise and artistic, and Zero couldn't help but get absorbed into it.
There was something which unnerved Zero a little. Those human figures were beautifully painted, that's for sure, but they had no faces. Not even the slightest hint of the shadows of a nose or an eye. They were simply blank.
Maybe the artist got lazy, Zero thought, Or was this intentional and deemed as an artistic flaw –
"Can I help you?"
Zero whipped around at the sound of a deep baritone voice (that sounded strangely familiar), feeling the blood drain from his face. It made him look even pastier, and that's not cool.
A tall slender man, donning a stylish and crisp white shirt paired with a pair of fitted black suit pants and a half-Windsor knotted necktie with a black blazer thrown over the arm stood by near the glass doors. He (most probably his boss aka Kaname Kuran) had on a suede Hermès fedora hat which covered his face, showing only a sharp nose and thin lips.
Zero gulped as the man – boss – removed his hat and placed it haphazardly on the round table, and Zero's eyes widened in recognition. It was the handsome brunette from before! This is such an annoyingly small world, Zero thought irritatedly.
"Hi, um, g-good morning," Zero spluttered. This was too much of a shock for the poor boy to take. "I'm your new secretary…?"
Kaname frowned and observed the jittery Zero for a moment.
"Secretary? I had one?" He murmured. "Oh, right. Yuuki helped me find one a few days ago. I presume you are Zero Kiryuu? Nice to meet you."
"Ah, yes, nice to meet you too, Kuran-sama." Zero wasn't sure of which honourific to address him, thus settling for the safest respectful bet.
Kaname didn't seem to mind, and Zero breathed a tiny sigh of relief. He had never thought that this would be so stressing!
"Right. Help me sort of these documents," Kaname handed over some papers while gesturing at the loose ones on the desk. "Your office is on the 80th floor."
Zero retrieved the documents and the necessary items with a pretty clueless mindset. Sort these out? How?
"By the way, I'll need them in by five today," Kaname stated nonchalantly while flipping his MacBook open without sparing a glance at Zero. "Have fun."
"Alright…I'll try my best," Zero said uncertainly. God, this is even more awkward than walking in on Shiki screwing a girl up really bad – oops, he did not just reveal that. Never mind, no use crying over spilt milk.
Zero left his boss's office and took the elevator down to the aforementioned floor.
He sounds like a cocky bastard, Zero scowled. What a shame. He was just a looker too!
He wheeled his swivel chair over the long work desk, and thumped the documents his boss handed him earlier that day on the desk, smoothening out the stack.
"Alright, time to get some work done," Zero muttered to himself.
He picked up the first document from the stack and read it through. It looks like a proposal of sorts. Zero glanced at the pile of different coloured hard cover files. Where the hell would this go?
Zero felt panicky all of a sudden. What the – I don't even know what to do! He thought frantically. This is it! He's going to lose this job on the first day of work! Fo' sho!
"Hey man! Watch it with those documents!" An irritated voice called out to Zero, and he jolted, spinning around towards the source of the voice.
A blonde guy stood over Zero's desk, scowling at him with his arms akimbo. He's probably Zero's office mate, judging by the empty work desk next to his own. Zero was vaguely reminded of an irritated, yelping puppy. Why is he comparing people to puppies out of late anyway.
Zero stared up at the scowling man, not knowing what to say. Was he supposed to apologize or something?
"Those documents are pretty darn important to Kaname-sama, you got that?" He scolded bossily.
"Oh, right. I'm sorry, I'll be more careful with them the next time round," Zero replied uncertainly.
"Good. Anyway, nice to meet you. I'm Hanabusa Aido, secretary of the assistant director," Aido reached a hand out towards Zero, and Zero accepted it into a handshake.
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Zero Kiryuu."
"Yeah, I know."
An awkward silence ensued. This guy is making the conversation so hard to flow. How troublesome.
"You look frazzled. Need some help?" Aido offered, peering over Zero's workload and frowning a little.
Zero's eyes lit up. "Yes, please!"
"Alright, fine. I don't have any work left to do anyway," Aido wheeled his swivel chair smoothly next to Zero and plopped down, examining the document Zero currently held in his hands.
"This one's a proposal for the construction of a new shopping mall down the district," Aido pointed out. "Proposals go right here," He gestured towards a red file. "Remember to sort them out chronologically. Kaname-sama's practically OCD about these stuff, so you've got to make sure they are exactly and perfectly in order."
Zero grabbed the nearby post-it and penned down everything Aido had just said.
"Proposals, red," Zero muttered as he jotted it down. Aido nodded his head.
"Right, next. This one's a stock list. They belong to the blue file," Aido continued, picking up the second document from the stack and filing it into the blue hard cover file while Zero took notes.
Aido's impromptu tutoring session lasted for a few hours. Zero was dead beat once everything had been filed, triple-checked (as furiously suggested by Aido) and labeled accordingly.
"I had never imagined that being a secretary would be so tough," Zero confessed after they were finally done, resting his head down on the desk with a thud and groaned.
Aido snorted.
"Did you think you were going to get such a high paycheck while doing a small amount of work? L – O – L."
Zero frowned at him. "Well at least we're done."
"You've still got to hand these up to Kaname-sama personally, though," Aido pointed out. "Not to make you feel sad or anything, but this is actually considered one of the easier jobs of a secretary."
Zero's eyes widened in horror.
"E-Easier jobs? What else do I have to do?"
"They say being a secretary is like being a manservant. You do anything and everything your boss tells you to do," Aido pinched the bridge of his nose. "At least I'm glad that my boss isn't so demanding. He's new too, by the way."
Zero could care less whether or not the assistant director was new. What other torturous jobs awaits him? Zero shuddered.
Aido glanced at his analog watch and scowled.
"I guess I shall take my leave now," Aido stood up and stretched, and walked towards the elevator.
"Bye, and thanks," Zero said, and reached over his desk to collect the fruits of Aido and his hard work.
"Oh and before I forget," Aido called out from inside the elevator, and Zero looked up from whatever he was doing. "Remember to report to Kaname-sama every morning. Wait for him in his office if he's late."
Before Zero could thank Aido for his piece of advice, the elevator doors closed and made its way down the building.
He sighed, grabbing the towering pile of files and took tiny baby-steps towards the elevator, afraid of the impact of huge hard cover files which could ultimately be the cause of his death.
Kaname was in his office, typing away on his MacBook, when Zero knocked on the glass doors (miraculously) and entered.
"Um, Kuran-sama, here are the files and documents you have requested," His voice sounded muffled behind the huge tower of files. Zero can't even make his way around without peering from the side.
"Right. Just leave them here," Kaname gestured towards an empty portion of his work desk without looking up from his job.
Zero walked gingerly towards his boss's work desk and placed them at the gestured portion of the desk, breathing a tiny sigh of relief. He was finally done for the day! Time to get some Ben & Jerry's to celebrate this wonderful –
"You look familiar," Kaname's deep baritone voice broke Zero out of his fantasy of ice-cream castles. "I've definitely seen you around somewhere before…"
Zero didn't know what to say. Why is this office full of awkward conversations?
"Oh, I remember now. You're the boy who worked at some café. Your hair's pretty hard to forget," Kaname frowned. "What's a simple café worker being a secretary anyway? I didn't read your resume; I just accepted Yuuki's recommendation since my parents were pestering me."
Zero was flabbergasted. Did the guy just insult him in a single speech bubble? He felt his blood boil up to his face, not out of embarrassment, but out of anger and injustice for the other decent workers out there making clean money through their hard work.
"Anyway, you can leave now," Kaname waved him off, dismissing him without a second glance.
Zero had enough. He is not going to get pushed around by such cocky bastards.
"So you're trying to say that those who work jobs that pay less than yours are beneath you are not worth your time?" Zero raised his voice, which slowly rises into a crescendo. Oh God, he is going to get fired for this, but Zero doesn't care. This is how he is; he hates injustice to the world and will not let such an asshole put others down.
"At least they are working decent jobs out there! They are people who are trying their best, even though they are not as fortunate as people like you!" He put an extra strong punch to the last 'you', emphasizing it.
Kaname simply stared at the raving Zero, a surprised expression on his usually stoic face, while Zero panted a little after his hissy outbreak. Oh dear, what did he just get himself into? Zero groaned silently, his face tinted a little red from anger and embarrassment.
Whatever, He thought, He definitely deserved that! Definitely!
Zero spun on his heels and stormed away from the office, narrowly missing a willowy blonde man with emerald green eyes who was had just entered the office. Judging from his similar surprised expression, he had probably heard Zero's outburst as well. Extra embarrassment combo! Add five thousand bonus points!
"Sorry," Zero muttered, and entered the elevator, punching the lobby floor with unnecessary vigor.
No, he doesn't care. This was the right thing to do, Zero assured himself as the elevator made its way smoothly down the building. His heart was pumping at an amazing rate, and Zero stormed out of the elevator, exiting the building in a huff and made his way down to the metro station.
He was still in an extremely bad mood throughout the whole train ride, and the sardine-packed peak hour ride wasn't doing much good to him. He wanted so much to shoot himself or that God damn Kaname Kuran in the head.
Zero was so mad, he just had to vent it out to somebody! He flipped open his cell phone and furiously punched the buttons.
To: Shiki (+81-90-8369-1640)
Subject: I AM SO MAD
SHIKI! THIS GUY IS AN ASSHOLE! I would really appreciate it if you would broadcast my message in the photoshoot you're taking now! I HATE HIS GUTS!11!11
Satisfied, Zero hit the 'Send' button and waited for Shiki's reply. None came. He's probably busy (or most likely ignoring him). Zero continued to fume and brood over the day's unfortunate events.
Later that evening, the floor of Zero's apartment was littered with two empty tubs of New York Super Fudge Chunk flavoured Ben & Jerry's, and Zero himself sprawled on the floor lost in a deep slumber, with the television broadcasting a re-run of the second season of Jersey Shore. It was the best show ever to make Zero feel better about himself.
"Wow, Kaname," The blonde raised an amused eyebrow.
Kaname took a gentle sip from his champagne flute containing the finest red wine, imported from Brazil on a special order, with only five bottles on sale worldwide. Suck on that.
"'Wow' indeed," He murmured, his gaze wandering towards the spectacular view through the glass window.
"No one's ever yelled at you that way besides your mum while you were still a kid," The blonde commented, deep in thought. "What a gutsy secretary you have. Is he getting into trouble for this?"
"Oh, better than that," Kaname smirked. "He's definitely feisty. I might just have some fun with him."
"Do remember that you already have a fiancée, Kaname," Ichijou reprimanded. "It wouldn't be a good thing for the company to have a scandal. Investment rates would drop like a bomb."
Kaname pulled a sour face, looking as though he had been forcefully fed with a spoonful of concentrated lemon juice.
"Thanks for reminding me, Ichijou," He said sarcastically, and sighed. "She's a cute girl, but it's annoying how my parents are so bent on us getting married. It's driving me nuts."
He took a larger swig from his wine glass, and reached for the exquisitely designed bottle. "More wine for you, Takuma?"
Ichijou shook his head. "I'm good."
Kaname shrugged and helped himself to more wine, while Ichijou frowned to himself.
Some fun, huh? Ichijou thought, and felt a little jealousy bubble up in his chest. He saw the look in Kaname's eyes while they was discussing about the silver-haired wonder. The look that so clearly said, 'You interest me.'
A/N: Hey friends! It's 11/11/11! Make a wish! ^_^
I had initially planned to post this up on Sunday-ish, but I decided to be a nice person and post it earlier instead. Hahaha! *puts on fake halo* Also, don't you think that this date is so cool? I'll probably be six feet underground the next time this phenomenon occurs again…heh.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It exceeded my word limit by a thousand *_* yes I'm shocked too! The words just kept flowing through, gosh.
Also, I know that I stated in the previous chapter that Ichijou's case will be in the third chapter, but I've got to push it back! I'm so sorry guys ;( Things didn't really turn out the way as initially planned.
Post-scripts for this chapter; In case you guys are wondering why Aido knows so much while Zero is totally clueless even though Aido is pretty new as well, it's due to the fact that Aido started work a few days earlier than Zero, and the ex-secretary had taught him pretty much the basics. And oh yes, most of the previous higher-up positions holders retired at the same time, mutually deciding that change should happen all at once. Yeah, that's pretty much everything to sum up any confusion you guys might get from reading this chapter ;)
And that little crush that Ichijou has on Kaname, don't worry! It'll not last long at all. I just had to put it in there for a more angsty flavour in the Shiki/Ichijou chapters ^_^
I honestly hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed penning it down! OOCness is everywhere, gosh *facepalm*. I really want to thank everyone (and I do mean everyone) for all the views, alerts, favourites and reviews! You guys are just too lovely! ~ I was literally shocked when I opened my mail inbox after, like, a decade, and saw 47 emails from fanfiction net O_O Thank you, everyone! *deep bow*
Anonymous review replies:
Nariko-Kyoko; Thank you, dear! Here's your update! ;)
Fanon; I'm glad you enjoyed it, I hope I didn't disappoint you with this update either! ^_^
Once again, thank you, everyone! & don't forget, reviews are lovely *insert tiny hearts*
xx, Rusty