Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-Hime/Otome…

A/N: not proof/grammar read...

Shizuru and Midori tactfully removed themselves from the crowd slowly oozing out of the sets of double doors leading to the lobby, moving instead towards the stage to meet with Sorata.

"Hey there, Sora-kun! Nice speech you gave up there~" Midori winked playfully as they met the woman at the base of the small set of stairs leading up to the stage.

"Ah, Midori-san. How are the room assignments coming?" The black-haired woman smiled in greeting, black planner loosely held in her hand.

Midori laughed as she patted the bulge in her leather briefcase, gesturing also with a wave to a few papers in her hands. "I think I'm just about finished; I'm having Shizuru help me finalize the contract agreements while they're on the tour."

Sorata held up a hand to suppress a soft giggle. "Why of course, Shizuru-ojousama knows the building as well as I do; she'd be quite bored with my tour."

"Well, even though I am in disguise, I am the intern from the Fujino Corporation; I know where the nearest bathrooms are at least."

Shizuru joked lightly, making the other women laugh as the last of the interns made their way out of the conference room.

"I suppose I should head out into the lobby; we have quite a few places to visit before they meet the shuttle." Sorata sighed softly as she adjusted her planner and a few loose papers. "Ah, Shizuru-ojousama, after you finish helping Midori-san with the contract agreements, would you mind coming by my desk? I wanted to go over office arrangements with you."

Shizuru smiled. "I would be glad to; I had to stop by my office before heading home tonight anyways."

"Great! I will see you later then, Viola-san, Midori-san!" Sorata waved cheerfully as she briskly strode towards the large cluster of interns milling about in the lobby.

"Have fun~" Midori called as she waved the woman off.

"Well, now that they've left, why don't we head out into the lobby and finish up these contract agreements?"

"Why of course, Midori-san. Please lead the way~"

The pair shared a laugh as they exited the double doors of the conference room.

Sorata slowly made her way through the crowd to the set of double elevators. She took a deep breath to calm herself before projecting her voice across the lobby.

"If you would please settle down," she paused, waiting for silence to wash over the group. She smiled once she had gotten their attention.

"I appreciate your attention. Now, if you would please follow me, we will be taking the elevators up to the 10th floor. Once you get off the elevator, please remain in the area immediately in front of you until the rest of the group arrives. I will accompany the last group up. Please do not wander off; I can assure you that the 10th floor as well as any floor of this building is quite expansive."

Sorata smiled politely as she watched the interns board onto the elevators, watching them ascend idly before glancing over at the last group of interns.

Ah. She looked at them attentively as they made their way towards the elevator doors, scanning her memory for their names.

…If memory serves me right, this group has some of the bigger names...I think ojou-sama mentioned that she was a part of the student council with these people. And… Her gaze drifted to a cluster of three others, all wearing similarly-styled attire. …the Kruger Conglomerate…I believe. I saw ojou-sama chatting amiably with them earlier…hmm~m.

She smiled politely as the elevator returned to the first floor, opening with a soft ding! Sorata's thoughts quickly processed into her rudimentary office arrangements as she mentally sketched and rejected some office layouts.

She gestured with a polite smile towards in the interior of the elevator. "Shall we join the others?"

A brief silence ensued in the elevator as it began its ascent to the 10th floor. After entertaining her thoughts for a moment, Sorata broke the silence.

"I hope you found the afternoon social an enjoyable event; I hope convocation didn't feel like too much useless information."

Reito smiled warmly at the black-haired woman. "No, not at all. I think we all felt the networking event quite useful; though," he let out a resigned chuckle, "I'm afraid that we were a bit too intimidating to approach." He glanced around at the group, getting a variety of acknowledgements from the former student body government.

Sorata took a quick glance at the nametags of the group, the gears turning quickly in her brain. "Kanzaki-san from the Kanzaki Group, Suzushiro-san is from the Armitage Group, and Kikukawa-san is from the Chrysant Group; all very impressive, indeed."

"As expected, you know which companies we come from, Taka-san." Haruka stated, impressed.

Sorata replied with a smile. "Of course; it is my job to know." Sorata shifted her glance to the quiet trio in the other area of the elevator.

"Are you perhaps acquainted with the interns next to you from the Kruger Conglomerate?"

At this, the group shared a friendly laugh. "Why yes, of course." Reito interjected smoothly. Gesturing to a young woman with spiky black hair sporting two braided sideburns, he clarified the connection.

"Taka-san, this is my little sister Minagi Mikoto from the Miroku Branch of the Kruger Conglomerate." The girl bowed politely, a cat-like grin on her face as she broke the bow and grabbed onto her brother.

"Aniue!" [Big brother (very formal/polite)]

He mussed her hair affectionately before continuing. "Our companies have also worked with the Kruger Conglomerate in the past, especially across various branches in which my sister has friends, including the Shinso and Zipang Branches which Kuga-san and Tokiha-san are from."

The two smiled politely but were otherwise silent, the dark-haired letting her thoughts idle while the bright-haired preferred to listen.

Sorata glanced at the rapidly increasing number on the digital display of the elevator. "Well, I hope to slowly get to know you better over the course of this program!" She smiled politely as the elevator arrived at the 10th floor, doors opening to the soft murmur of voices of interns gathered in the vicinity.

She made her way to one side of the hall, taking a deep breath before addressing the group. "Now that we're all here, I'll give you a tour of the 10th floor. If you'll please follow me this way, we'll start by going down the hallway to the left. Now on this tour we'll be familiarizing you with the areas that you will be frequenting the most, including the…"

Sorata's voice carried as she stepped down the hall, the group slowly trailing after her.

"So…" Midori's brows were knit in concentration."….hmmm…." She frowned.

An annoyed hum escaped her lips as she stared at the blueprint of the apartment, hand twitching before swiftly scribbling names onto rooms.

Shizuru, who was rearranging the contract agreements by the apartment number Midori had scrawled during the event, paused to glance at the woman, arching an eyebrow slightly.

"Is something the matter, Midori-san?"

The red-haired woman groaned audibly, head falling onto the wooden table with a solid thunk!

"I'm starting to forget the interns I paired each other with…."

Shizuru smiled as she returned her gaze to her stack of papers, resuming her task. She was almost finished.

"Would you like to switch with me? I'm just about finished sorting these contract agreements. We'll need to sort and separate keys by last name after this, correct? If Midori-san wouldn't mind reading off the last names of the interns in each room, I will write the remaining names in. That way, we can then separate contracts and keys by last name."

Midori smiled. "Shi~zuru~ what would I do without you?"

Shizuru simply smiled politely. "I'm sure Midori-san would manage."

"Hai." Shizuru stated politely as she offered the arranged stack of papers to the red-haired woman, who took it gratefully and walked over to the box of keys; the brunette walking over to the large blueprint of the building and poising herself with a sleek black sharpie.

"Aaaaaalright~, here we go." Midori called out as she looked at the name at the top of the bundle. "Aigawa Kazuto, Room 101…."

"Aigawa…101." Shizuru softly uttered to herself as she elegantly wrote the kanji into the corresponding apartment.

And the pair continued through the pile of papers.

Sorata noticed a visible decrease in the vigor of the group of interns they made their way around the 10th floor and a few floors below and above. Well, can't blame them…I'm feeling pretty tired myself. Well, at least we just have the offices left. She glanced down at her watch as she kept walking.

Hmm, we seem to be doing alright on time. Okay! Let's do this!

She took a soft breath as she stopped in front of the offices, waiting for the lagging end of the group to catch up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I know this has been a long tour, and I commend you on your impressive stamina." She joked lightly, eliciting a few tired chuckles.

"Fortunately, this is the final stop on our tour this evening. This is likely going to be the most frequented of the most frequented areas for all of you in this building. This," Sorata paused, gesturing at the double doors behind her, "is where your offices are located.

Several excited whispers rippled through the crowd as murmured in curiosity. "Unfortunately," Sorata continued, "you won't be able to see them until tomorrow morning when office arrangements have been finalized, but I can assure that you will have more than enough time to intimately acquaint yourselves with your offices starting tomorrow." She smiled.

Loose chuckles sluggishly wove through the group, though the woman's sharp ears picked up some hushed whispers and long sighs.

"That means a lot of work, huh…."

"I'm not used to working in an office myself; I used to be in management myself, so I let my secretary handle all of that."

"Yeah, I totally understand! Do you think we'll get a secretary? I mean, that'd make my life so much easier!"

"Haha, I hope so!"

Sorata's eyebrow twitched in mild annoyance, though she maintained her smile. I am most certainly not going to do your work for you…just how old are you?!

…Calm yourself, Sorata. I'm sure they'll be in for some rather fun surprises tomorrow…~

"At any rate, this concludes our tour for the evening. If you'll make your way back down to the lobby on the main floor, you will be asked to pick up your contract agreement and keys for your apartments from the landlady for the apartment complex that you will be living in during this internship. After you have signed your contract agreement and received your keys, a shuttle will be waiting immediately outside to take you to the complex itself."

Sorata took a moment to take a breath before continuing.

"Upon arriving at the apartment complex, you will be greeted by the other landlady of the apartment complex, who will show you to your shared unit. As a policy of this internship, each of you will be sharing an individual unit with another intern. Should any problems or issues arise, please contact the landladies. If you have any questions, please feel free to approach any staff member and ask! I welcome you once again to the Fujino Corporation!"

A patter of polite applause echoed as the interns started to make their way to the elevators down to the lobby, where Shizuru and Midori were finishing rearranging the contracts and keys by last name.

Sorata sighed softly to herself as she leaned against a wall and absentmindedly watched the interns on the 10th floor lessen in clumps.

"I think," Shizuru flipped though the papers rapidly, scanning the documents for alphabetization errors. Her finger held the previous papers as she glanced over the last contract. "…we are all set, Midori-san."

Shizuru set the bundle of papers on the desk with a satisfied smile. The pair looked at the stack in satisfaction, though Shizuru only glanced at it for a moment before neatly rolling up the blueprint with the names written on them. She placed it into the blue poster tube before closing it up securely.

"Thanks again, Shizuru. You really helped me out…I don't think I would've ever finished in time without you." Midori stated sincerely as she stowed the poster tube for the moment.

Shizuru stretched slightly as she had been hunched over while navigating the blueprint. "You are very welcome, Midori-san. I was glad to be of assistance."

The pair glanced up at a sudden increase of chatter as the first clumps of interns came out of the elevators. They shared a laugh as they straightened the pile of papers that had keys paper-clipped to them.

"Looks like we are right on schedule, Viola-san~" Midori winked.

"Indeed…" Shizuru stared off into space absentmindedly as the chatter grew louder.

Shizuru prepared to look through the stack as the first intern approached the desk cautiously when Midori smoothly interrupted her.

"Since they've finished the tour, why don't you head up and go help Sorata? I got it here, don't worry!"

Shizuru made to politely object but she was yet again prevented from doing so.

"I know you still have other things to do. Besides, Yohko would have my head for working you too hard, ne?" The red-haired woman winked as she started thumbing through the stack of papers for the intern's name that had been stated at some time prior.

The brunette smiled appreciatively. "I suppose I will take you up on that offer, thank you. I will see you later tonight then." Shizuru gracefully took her leave, the clack of her heels heading towards the elevators.

"Otsukare~!" [Thanks for your hard work!]

Midori called cheerfully, not bothering to look up as she waved and handed a contract to an intern.

Shizuru smiled politely as she waited for another clump of interns to get off of the elevator before entering by herself, pushing the 10th floor button with some effort.

She sighed softly as she leaned against the wall of the elevator as it ascended. She closed her eyes in blank thoughts, loosely crossing her arms as she made a mental list of things she needed to retrieve from her office. This would be after assisting Sorata-neesama, of course.

She fixed her posture and pose as the elevator slowed, approaching the 10th floor. She politely smiled and maneuvered her way through the crowding clumps of interns remaining, making her way over to where the black-haired woman was leaning against the wall near the double doors to the offices.

She smiled amiably as she made herself as the black-haired woman was, leaning against the wall absentmindedly watching the interns board the elevators.

"Otsukare-sama, Sorata-neesama." [Thank you for your hard work. (more formal)].

Shizuru softly stated after the last group had descended to the lobby.

Sorata sighed softly as she stood up from the wall, shrugging her shoulders to stretch them slightly. "…Indeed…you too, ojou-sama." She smiled playfully as the pair made their way to the double doors. Sorata leaned over towards the scanner, waiting for the authorization to scan the I.D. badge clipped on the lapel of her suit jacket near her breast.

Shizuru couldn't help but chuckle at the woman's tired antics.

Sorata glanced back at her, an embarrassed pout and slight blush dusting her cheeks. She puffed her cheeks cutely as the lock clicked open and she used her free hand to pull the door open, her other hand still holding on to her black planner.

"Shizuru-ojousama~!" She sighed exasperatedly as Shizuru walked into the office, following after her.

"I didn't say a thing, Sorata-neesama…"

"Haaa~…" The two women sighed in pleasure as they sipped two steaming cups of green tea, compliments of the always-filled hot water dispenser from Shizuru's office, which the brunette had taken the liberty of bringing from her old office.

"It really hits the spot, ne? Ojousama…" Sorata sighed contently as she took a grateful sip.

"I must agree~ I daresay I would cease to function completely without my tea…" Shizuru dreamily agreed as she took another blissful sip.

Then the moment of absolute bliss was over. The pair of women reopened their eyes, their gazes falling onto the blueprint of the office area and the several small offices within, as well as the splayed stack of papers with the interns' profiles, pictures included.

They sighed in unison, then looked at each other and laughed softly. Sorata set her mostly-full cup of tea down with a soft chink. "Well, let's get started, shall we?"

"Ojousama," Sorata inquired casually as she started writing names and sticking photos onto office spaces, "do you have any preference for offices near yours?"

Shizuru hummed in thought as she accepted the papers and alphabetized them, pausing a moment in thought. "Could you place the Kruger Conglomerate interns' offices near mine? I have to say I'm rather looking forward to working closely with them."

Sorata smiled as she continued marking the blueprint. "The Kruger Conglomerate, huh? I have to say that I like what I've seen of them too. I think your father will also be pleased with the placement."

"Eeh, Midori-san has arranged for me to room with Kuga Natsuki-san from the Kruger Conglomerate and the adjacent room will also be occupied by the other two Kruger Conglomerate interns, Tokiha Mai-san and Minagi Mikoto-chan."

Sorata whistled softly. "That's impressive. Imagine their surprise, huh?"

Shizuru giggled. "Indeed."

"Oh, oneesama, there are a few people whose offices I would prefer a bit more distant from mine…"

Sorata paused to lean over the blueprint, writing the kanji for another intern on an empty space.

"Oh? Fangirls…and/stalkers? Well I guess they aren't yet, since you're 'Viola-san' for the moment…"

Shizuru smiled affirmatively as she accepted another paper from the black-haired woman.

"It appears as such; some individuals have seemed to trigger my danger alert system from conversation this afternoon."

The black-haired woman hummed in acknowledgement as she continued her task. "I know what you mean, ojousama. I didn't get the best impressions from some of them either… Though I'm sure between the two of us we can work this out!"

"Ookini, Sorata-neesama."

And the pair continued sorting cheerfully.

"…Uugh…..finally do~oone!" Sorata sighed loudly as she rolled the blueprint of the office floor up, storing it in a poster tube similar to that which Shizuru had used earlier.

"…Indeed…" Shizuru agreed as she clipped the stack of papers with a rather large binder clip, setting the stack softly onto the table.

Shizuru glanced at the watch on her wrist, scrutinizing the face for the current time. 9:34PM…

"Ara ara, it has gotten quite late, hasn't it, Sorata-neesama?"

"Eh?" The black-haired woman took a moment to glance at her own watch, eyes widening in surprise.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry, Shizuru-ojousama~!" The black-haired woman wailed as she grabbed the brunette into an apologetic hug.

Shizuru smiled, slightly snuggling into the flustered older woman contently.

"It is alright, Sorata-neesama." Shizuru turned her face upwards to meet Sorata's panicked, almost tearful expression.

"…really…?" The black-haired woman asked in a timid voice, her expression downcast.

"Sorata-neesama is really too cute~" Shizuru smiled to herself as she snuggled into Sorata's chest, sighing contently at the comfort it gave her and had always given her.

Sorata smiled as she felt Shizuru nuzzle a little bit closer and brought a hand to softly stroke the brunette's tawny tresses as she had done many times before.

"…I'm really sorry. And thank you, ojousama."

The pair broke out of their momentary silence as the doors the office clicked open. The pair froze, too tired to hastily break apart yet mildly dreading the notion that an intern would have somehow gotten access to the office.

A pair of heels walked into the office.

Shizuru blinked before relaxing once more. "Ara, Mizuno-neesama, what a pleasant surprise. What are you still doing at the office?"

"Ah, nee-san!" Sorata called out cheerfully as she rested the hand that had been stroking Shizuru's tawny brunette tresses on her shoulder.

The older woman quirked an eyebrow. "Ojou-sama, why are you still here? All of the interns have already left for the evening. Sorata?"

Sorata flinched a little as she relinquished her grasp on Shizuru, who walked over and was pulled into another very comfortable hug.

Mizuno looked affectionately at the brunette who returned the embrace. "Did Sorata give you too much extra work to do?" Though her voice was stern, Shizuru saw a mischievous twinkle in the older woman's eyes.

Shizuru nuzzled pitifully deeper in Mizuno's embrace and sighed dramatically, causing the black-haired woman to panic.

"Oh, Mizuno-neesama, Sorata-neesama made me do all of her work for her. I-I…just…" Shizuru hid her face from Sorata's panicked expression, faking a dramatic sob. Facing away from the black-haired woman, Shizuru stuck out her tongue playfully.

"Sorata…" Mizuno sighed heavily in disappointment.

"B-But I told ojou-sama that she could stop and leave at any time!" Sorata stuttered frantically as she panicked.

A pregnant pause ensued.

Sorata's ears twitched at the sound of a soft giggle. She glanced at her older sister's expression, catching on to the slight curve of her lips.

"Ojou-sama…Nee-san…" She pouted.

The other two women burst out laughing as they broke from their embrace, Mizuno's stoic expression turning into one of warm affection.

Mizuno walked over and patted her younger sister on the head, eliciting another blush and pout. "We were just teasing you, Sorata."

"I'm sorry, Sorata-neesama, but I couldn't resist." Shizuru giggled, walking over to the pouting woman. Shizuru's crimson eyes twinkled playfully.

"I'm really sorry, Sorata-neesama." Shizuru softly stated, softly kissing the black-haired woman's cheek before withdrawing with a cute puppy-dog expression. "…forgive me?"

Hau~! O-Ojousama is t-t-too cute~! Sorata squealed mentally as she struggled to keep her external expression somewhat normal.

Sorata smiled, laughing lightly as she pulled Shizuru in for an unexpected hug, kissing the top of her head softly. "Of course, Shizuru-ojousama."

Mizuno smiled, chuckling. "Well, all jokes aside, it is getting late and we all should be leaving. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Indeed," Shizuru agreed as she broke from Sorata's embrace once more. "I just need to get my bag from my office and I should be heading home. As she stood up, Shizuru yawned, causing the trio to stop for a moment and blink.

"I must be really tired." Shizuru mused to herself and the other women in the room. "We'll drive you home then, Shizuru-ojousama! That's alright, right, Nee-san?"

"Of course. I'd feel much more comfortable if we personally sent you home, Shizuru-ojousama." Mizuno interjected smoothly before Shizuru had a chance to reply.

"Besides," Sorata continued as she continued cleaning up, "the shuttles have stopped running for the evening."

"I don't see any problem with leaving your car here; you can take the shuttle to work tomorrow and then drive home tomorrow evening. We'd really rather not have you driving when you're that sleepy." Mizuno added with a small smile.

Shizuru could only smile appreciatively. "Ookini Mizuno-neesama, Sorata-neesama. I really appreciate it."

"Well then, I will go get my things and return shortly." Shizuru softly stated as she disappeared around the corner.

A/N:

Konban….*looks at clock*….*siiiigh* ohayougozaimasu, YH desu *bows* whoo haven't updated in a little while…I've been in withdrawal for a little while. Had a lot of things overlap and happen right after each other so then after it all I was like an empty shell for a while…finally getting back on my feet…but school is starting soon ;-; boohoo…today I was like 'I'm going to write another chapter of one of my fics' and it turned out to be this one…I had worked on it a little before this but I decided to finish off the chapter today…so yes…thank you thank you thank you for the reviews! Reading them always makes me happy, especially one I saw the other day from someone who said they'd make it a point to read all of my USN fics….domo arigatougozaimasu! *bows*

Shizuru: ara, is that a blush on the author's face….? YH-san~

YH: eh? Ah! No….it's just…

Shizuru: 'it's just….'?

YH: ….*whispers something softly*…

Shizuru: I'm sorry…didn't catch that? *looks at Sorata-neesan inquisitively*

Sorata:…YH-san said, "…it just made me really happy…."

YH:

Sorata:…and YH-san's whole body is heating up...o.o

YH: !

Shizuru: Well, yes I know you didn't say that, but it really is…

YH:….(0/0) d-domo….arigatougozaimasu *bows*

Aaaanyways…enough of my weirdness. But THANK YOU for the reviews! I do read each and every one of them, and they (mostly) make me smile. But wow, I was very flattered by that review…maybe the weirdness is seeping out because I'm suuper tired from cranking this out and it's very late (well early)…well read and/or review if it pleases you? Thanks for stopping by, as always!

Matta ne!

YH