"Ne, Arata-san, what are we doing here?" Shingyouji looked up at the tall building. It was the sort of tall that started to make his neck hurt.

"Don't ask questions, Shingyouji, and just follow me." Misu said as he rounded the car, walking in constantly confident. Shingyouji wished he could've done the same, but he followed behind quietly and obediently.

He had been surprised, when Misu handed him a suit and said they were going somewhere. In all honesty, he always felt uncomfortable in suits and especially now, he felt self-conscious. It was one of Misu's old ones, hitched up tight around his waist with a belt and he still felt like they were dropping off. The jacket was made for someone of tall stature – not a short first-year. But if Arata-san wanted it…

The high-speed elevator slowed and the doors opened. Misu stepped out, knowing just where he was going. Shingyouji exited second, letting this new environment – this new, tense, business-like atmosphere – settle into him.

"Ah, Saki-senpai?" Shingyouji rose an eyebrow. The third floor head turned just enough for Shingyouji to know he heard him. Gii stood, greeting Misu with a smile and a handshake.

"So…this is your big plan?" Gii whispered, just for Misu's ears to hear.

"What? Jealous I thought of it first?"

"Quite the opposite – thankful you invited me to see how it all plays out." The smiled turned teasing and Misu only glared back.

"Arata." A voice boomed out from the hallway connected to the floor's lobby. A statuesque, tall, and stone-faced man approached them with a twig of a young girl trailing after him. "I see you have arrived."

"Good Morning Father." The exchange between kin was left curt and brief.

"Saki-san, how courteous of you to join us."

"It has been a while, Misu-san."

"And…" The old man's eyes landed on Shingyouji and he felt tiny, poor, and insignificant.

Shingyouji opened his mouth and Misu spoke for him. "This is my partner, Shingyouji."

Shingyouji's own eyes could've fallen out of his head and he could still make them bigger. Had…had Arata-san really just said that?

His father seemed just as surprised. But, with a number of executives behind him, the scene he would like to create would be quite unbecoming. "Very well then. Shall we begin?" A lanky assistant directed the group to a rather spacious conference room.

Shingyouji in his stupor ended at the back and rather far away from Misu as he tried to calm his racing heartbeat. Partners can mean many things. Don't get your hopes up – relax.

The presentation commenced and Misu slouched in his chair just a little, ready to ignore everything the speaker was saying. It was just like any other Partners' meeting he'd been forced to attend since he was thirteen. Dull, drown-out, and disappointing.

But Shingyouji…

"Ano…" Shingyouji stood slowly and everyone's eyes turned to him. A lump formed in his throat and his face flushed bright-red.

"I'm…I'm sorry to be rude, but…you said earlier you've had a 17% success rate, but you just said you'd had a 27% success rate." He fiddled with his hands. "You also said you took this survey, which you have no proof of, in two different places for the exact same results. You opened this presentation by saying you have only three other headquarters – in Chuhan, Bombay, and Malaysia. But you contradicted that by saying the headquarters in Beijing, Paris, and London. You said your company is 200,000 strong and then, that it was 150,000 strong. You asked Misu-san for 17,000 yen, but just now, you asked for 170,000 yen." Shingyouji looked up and met the presenter's eyes. "How much work did you put into this?"

Misu smiled proudly, swinging around in his chair to stare at his dumb-stricken father and the shocked presenter.

"You've done intense work, Haramoto-san. We shall take time to decide on our decision. Shall we reconvene in twenty minutes?" The executive looked about the room for any objection. There was none.

Shingyouji…he hadn't sat down or moved since his speech. As others left the room he felt his cheeks heat up more and more with each glaring person. The last person was Misu and he stood relaxed in front of Shingyouji. Shingyouji wouldn't look up in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Arata-san. I…I guess should've kept quiet."

"Not at all, Shingyouji." Misu lifted his head up with the slightest pressure of his fingertips. "You actually surprised me with how much you were paying attention."

Shingyouji smiled. "Really?" Misu gave him neither positive or negative, but leaned closer – as if he would've kissed him.

"Arata." The door opened and Misu's father stood in the threshold, that sweet, innocent young girl hiding behind him. Misu stood straighter, his hand moving so slowly down to hold Shingyouji's hand. And his father noticed.

His father pulled the young girl forward. "This is Enamori Sanko of the Sentei Corporation."

"Ah, the people who just tried to scam you out of your money." Misu scoffed. At his father's glare, Misu turned his attention to Sanko. "Enamori-san, it's a pleasure to meet you. I doubt you have met my lover, Shingyouji."

Again, that 'not-wide-enough' look crossed Shingyouji – and his father as well. But as he was blubbering like an idiot, Sanko's quiet reserve broke completely. "Really?" She nearly screeched. She stumbled forward, rummaging through her purse for her cell phone. "This is my boyfriend, Eto-kun. Actually…he looked a lot like you, Shingyouji-san! But, you know, he'd never come to a long boring meeting like this, much less pay attention. Misu-san, you're really lucky to have such a devoted boyfriend!"

"Enamori-san!"

Sanko blushed red. She stepped back to her place beside the Enterprise head. But Shingyouji could still see the smile on her face as she stole glances to her open cell phone.

"Would you please excuse us?" Misu pulled Shingyouji along to the elevator. A confident smile pulled across his lips; he knew he left his father without a word to speak of.

On the twenty-second floor, the two of them had quite a descent to the main floor. One where they each took their own half of the cramped space.

"Lucky to have you, am I?" Misu said off-hand. Shingyouji blushed stepping into the wall two or three steps over. Misu smirked. His hand reached out and pushed the red brake button.

"Arata-san…?" His senior approached him, pulling him further and further into the wall.

"Lucky to have you…" Misu caged him in the arms, eyes leaving Shingyouji frozen. "Don't I know it."

Misu gave Shingyouji another one of the breath-taking – literally – kisses he had missed in the time they spent apart. Shingyouji grabbed onto the jacket, trying to meet those passions. Misu pulled those hands off and locked them against the wall above Shingyouji's head, just to bring their bodies closer together.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he twined their fingers together.