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Chapter 21: Misaki Walker

Misaki felt more nervous than she did on the first day of work. She couldn't hide behind Misaki Ayuzawa anymore but instead needed to live up to her new life. Would her coworkers now act like completely people? Misaki wouldn't be surprised if they did.

Dabbing some nude lipstick on, Misaki studied herself in the mirror again. Takumi walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You ready?" he asked.

Misaki swallowed and nodded.

"You can still always change your mind about working," Takumi gently reminded her. "No one's going to be forcing you to do anything."

"I know..." Misaki said, getting up. "You ready?"

"Yup," Takumi said. "I'll pick you up after work?"

"That would be nice," Misaki agreed.

They got into Takumi's car and drove to Tokyo Law firm. Misaki didn't understand why she felt so nervous. She already worked here for a bit.

"Have a good day at work," Takumi said.

"Thanks. You too," Misaki said.

"Kiss?"

Misaki gave Takumi a quick peck on the lips and got out of the car. Her designer pumps clinked against the pavement as she approached the doors. Mr. Gee was personally waiting for her.

"Mrs. Walker!" he exclaimed, shaking her hand. "I hope you are feeling better," he said, nervously.

"I'm perfectly fine," Misaki reassured him. "Sorry for the trouble I caused."

"No no," Mr. Gee said. "It was a mishap on my part. I assure you nothing will happen again, Mrs. Walker."

"Misaki is fine," Misaki told him. "I wish to still work as I did before."

Mr. Gee nodded and showed her to his office.

"Please take a seat," he said. "Would you care for a drink?"

"No thank you."

Mr. Gee wiped his forehead. "I fired Fre," he stated. "I was planning on giving you his position considering you were able to juggle a manager's workload and your own."

"Sir," Misaki said. "I want you to treat me like another employee. I don't wish to receive promotions because of anything else beside my performance."

"Of course!" Mr. Gee said. "I will fairly judge your performance. We could do a test trial. If your work is good then you'll stay a manager if not, we'll work something else out."

"Thank you," Misaki said, smiling. "Another thing I'd like to ask about," she said.

"Please," Mr. Gee said. "I'm all ears."

Misaki cleared her throat. "I think the firm could use a more strict policy and employees should have the right to have a conference if they are unhappy about something. We are a law firm. I think that since we work with the law, we should be fair in our own firm."

Mr. Gee nodded. "Would you and some other people of your choice be willing to draft a new policy? I'll read it over and give you feedback."

Misaki nodded. "I'd love to."

Her performance and skills have to be as big as her name. Misaki Walker is tackling this head on.

Misaki headed back to her new office. The first thing she noticed was the bouquet of red roses on her desk.

A smile lit up her face as she picked up the tiny card. Welcome back

Misaki inhaled the sweet scent. It wasn't a small bouquet either. She counted 24 stems of perfect red roses.

"Thanks Takumi…" she thought to herself.

"How was work?" Takumi asked, trying to hide a smile.

"Manager Walker to you," Misaki said, kicking her shoes off. "I'm doing a test trial now. I still have to prove I deserve the position."

"Ah," Takumi said, nodding. "How did people react…?"

Misaki slid on a pair of sunglasses as Takumi drove out of the parking lot. "Some friends I made were rather shocked when I reintroduced myself. I think only Mira will talk to me now. She said she wasn't that surprised. Apparently anyone who could get Fre fired had to be pretty special."

"You are special," Takumi said.

Misaki laughed. "Oh, thanks for the flowers by the way."

"Flowers…?" Takumi asked. "What flowers?"

Misaki looked at Takumi with a confused look. "You didn't get me flowers? The roses?"

"...No…" Takumi said. "I didn't think of that…" he muttered.

Misaki thought that was odd. "Who got them for me then…?"

"I don't know," Takumi said.

Misaki saw him put his poker face on.

"Are you sure they weren't from you?" Misaki asked when they got home. "You use to get me 24 stems of roses when we were dating."

Takumi paused. "How many did you say there were?"

"Twenty four,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah… why?" Misaki asked. "Is 24 a special number."

Takumi turned around and cornered Misaki against the counter. "Matter of fact it is," he told her. "Twenty four red roses means 'I'm always thinking about you.' They can't be yellow roses or 23 roses. Twenty four red roses is the special number. I use to send you exactly 24 so you would know I'm always thinking of you."

Misaki blushed. "T-that person probably didn't know then," she stammered.

"Uh huh…" Takumi said.

"You're not jealous are you?" Misaki asked.

"I do regret not thinking of the idea myself…" Takumi admitted. "But I'm sure people will understand that Mrs. Walker is mine and only my woman."

Misaki pushed him away. "Nobody's your woman," she muttered. "You don't like to share do you?" she teased.

Takumi smirked. "That's right. I always want Misa Chan's undivided attention all for myself."

Misaki smiled. "And you wanted a family of six…" she muttered.

Takumi chuckled. "I'm sure I'd adjust if it was our children," he said. "Let's have one," he said. "Then I'll show you how nicely I can share with our baby…"

"Stop!" Misaki laughed as Takumi blew down her neck. "Get your hands off me, you pervert!"

"Is that a yes to a baby?"

"No! Stop teasing me or else you'll sleep in the guest room!"

Misaki didn't feel surprised when a crystal vase of roses was sitting on her desk the next morning. She sighed as she sat down in her chair and took the white card.

I won't let anyone beat me for your attention.

Your ever loving husband,

Takumi

Misaki laughed and shook her head. Since her office was bigger than her cubicle, Misaki cleared a space for the vase of flowers.

There was a knock on her door.

"Come in!" Misaki called. "Mira!" Misaki greeted. "Finally, someone who will talk to me."

Mira laughed and walked over. "Well, you are on a whole new level now," Mira reminded Misaki. "Misaki Walker," she said, just saying the name for kicks.

"Please sit down," Misaki said. "It's just a name. I'm still the same person," she added.

"Except now you have status," Mira replied. "Who ever insults Misaki Walker is insulting Mr. Walker."

"Takumi isn't even that scary," Misaki sighed. She touched a soft rose. "He's actually really sweet."

Mira laughed. "I'm sure he treats you a little differently than the rest of us."

Misaki blushed. "I guess... But you still talk to me," she noticed.

"Even though I'm not wealthy or anything, I know what it's like to need someone to talk to. If I didn't stick around, you'd have a pretty empty office."

Misaki smiled. "Thanks Mira."

"Anyways," Mira said, clearing her throat. "I compiled your ideas and the other's into a draft. Look it over for me?"

"Of course," Misaki said, taking the packet. "I'll have it back to you by lunch."

"Alright then," Mira said, getting up. "I shall see you at lunch then. Looks like it will only be you, me and that handsome finance manager."

"Julian?" Misaki asked.

"Yeah him. Did he know of your secret identity?"

"Yeah..." Misaki admitted. "He was my personal trainer. I asked Takumi to get him a few interviews and he impressed the firm."

"Personal trainer huh?" Mira teased. "No wonder why his arms look amazing..."

"Very funny," Misaki said. "See you at lunch."

"Yes dear," Mira said, prancing out.

Misaki finished editing the draft and headed down to lunch. Lunch time was no longer a fight to the death for a seat. As soon as Misaki walked in the room, everyone moved aside in silence. Misaki gave a nervous smile and went to go sit with Julian and Mira.

"Why thanks for gracing us with your presence, Mrs. Walker," Julian teased.

"Shut up, Julian," Misaki hissed and opened up her plastic box with a sandwich.

"I still can't believe you were the only one who knew who Misaki really was," Mira sighed.

Julian shrugged. "I was her personal trainer. I spent every day making her miserable with lunges and pushups."

Mira laughed. "That must have been fun," she noted.

"Oh yes," Misaki said. "Julian had a ton of fun watching me suffer."

"But you are so in shape," Mira said. "Do you even have any body fat?"

"I don't know..." Misaki said, looking herself over. "I must have... I gained some weight during my leave," she noted. "Just sat around and ate all day."

"Good for you," Julian said. "You did look really thin right before the… um... accident..."

"When I fell down the stairs?"

"...Yeah... that..."

"Yeah... You called Tora," Misaki remembered.

"As in Tora Igarashi?" Mira asked.

"Yeah," Misaki said.

"How do you know him?!" Mira asked Julian.

"His wife comes with Misaki to the gym," Julian explained.

Mira was definitely impressed.

"I never got around to asking but did you really have to call Tora? Takumi flew back from England via private jet because he's impulsive like that," Misaki informed him.

Julian shrugged. "I heard the commotion and rushed over with everyone else. I saw Fre Goodman standing at the top of the stairs and you lying at the bottom. For all I knew he could have just killed you."

Misaki sighed. "In broad daylight?"

Julian shrugged again. "I was going to call one of your friends but the only number I had was to Igarashi Corps so I just called that one."

Misaki nodded. "Takumi thought the worst had happened. He was an utter mess-"

Mira laughed. "Your husband is cute," she decided. "Even if he is Mr. Walker."

Misaki couldn't help but laugh. Even though they were the Walkers, Misaki thought they were still pretty ordinary people...

"For someone who lectures me about taking care of myself..." Misaki said, sitting on the arm of Takumi's large swivel chair. "You suck at it too."

Takumi smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"Can't sleep without me...?" he asked, amused.

"I can sleep just fine," Misaki reassured him. "I just don't want you to wear yourself out..."

Takumi patted Misaki's hand.

"Thank you for your concern darling," he said. "Give me 5 minutes and I'll be done."

"Okay," Misaki said, standing up. "I'm watching the time," she warned.

"Of course," Takumi said, smirking.

Misaki sat on the edge of the bed and studied the clock. It was late into the night and Takumi was still working.

Misaki dozed off and she knew Takumi took advantage of that. After a long time did he lie down and wrap his arms around her.

"You're late..." Misaki mumbled, more asleep than awake.

"Shh..." Takumi soothed. "Sleep now, my lady..."

Misaki woke up the next day with a backache. She kept shifting her sitting position at the breakfast table to try and relax her back muscles.

"You okay?" Takumi asked.

"Yeah, fine," Misaki assured him. "I must have slept funny yesterday," she concluded. "My back is killing me."

Takumi's hands rested on her shoulders.

"It must be from sitting so long," Takumi said, massaging her shoulders.

Misaki sighed and relaxed her shoulders. Takumi massaged her shoulders and then gave her a back rub.

"I just feel kind of funny…" Misaki said, watching Takumi wash the dishes after breakfast.

"Do you want to go see a doctor?"

"Not really…" Misaki sighed. "It will probably go away after a few days…"

"We could get a new more firm mattress if it doesn't go away," Takumi told her.

"I thought you didn't like really firm ones,"

"I'm fine as long as your back feels better," Takumi said, shrugging.

Misaki smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. "And people are scared of you…" she teased.

Takumi flicked some water at her. "I am a stern man," he joked in a grave tone.

"Yeah right… you're way too immature to- Takumi!" Misaki exclaimed as Takumi dumped her over his shoulder.

Takumi walked out to their car and set Misaki down.

"I can only let my guard down with you…" he whispered. "I don't have to pretend to be anyone else."

"What are you saying…" Misaki muttered, blushing. "Its not my fault you can't act normal."

Takumi chuckled. "Only you truly know the real me."

"A perverted alien who stalks people and doesn't acknowledge the existence of anyone he doesn't like?"

"Precisely," Takumi said, smirking.

Misaki closed her eyes as Takumi gently pressed his lips to her's. Takumi had a lot of bad habits. Misaki could write a book about all the annoying things he did but somehow he still managed to make her fall in love with him.

"Weird alien…" Misaki thought to herself as she kissed him back.