Author PSA of the Day: Don't do what Eiji and Kazuto do at the beginning of the chapter. Things will happen to your stomach, most of which aren't fun. Enjoy!
Smile for You Chapter 3: The Interview
"A soul mate is not found. A soul mate is recognized." – Vironika Tugaleva
"Do you think it's still okay?" Eiji felt his stomach do a flip as he stared down at the shiny round object resting in his lap, his hand hovering over the lose end of foil that made up the ovular package.
"It should be..." Kazuto gave the sachet an experimental poke, "The plastic's still on."
"Yeah, but it was sitting next to that bag filled with I don't even now what."
How the hell has it come to this?
On their way to the interview they'd spotted the dumpster behind the local fast food place.
What was strange or even significant about that? For most people, nothing. It was little more than a dumpster.
But for Eiji and Kazuto? It was, unfortunately, their lunch ticket.
Nothing like feeling like a scavenging crackhead to boost confidence before an interview, Eiji thought as he suppressed the urge to gag on the smell of cold fast food.
"Dumpster food comes with risks dude. If you don't want your half, I'll eat it." Kazuto threatened halfheartedly, leaning back in the old waiting room chair that groaned loudly in protest to the young man's actions, as if it was ready to pay his audacious stretching with a one way trip to a splinter covered floor.
"Nice try Kirigaya, I'm eating. I don't care if it's covered in sand and pig blood at this point, I'm eating."
"Then open it!..."
"I'm trying you f-..." Eiji's fingers finally found purchase, pulling away the film with ease and exposing what lay inside of the foil shell. Disgust didn't even begin to cover how he felt as he gazed down at the bag of what was likely week old french fries and moldy ketchup staring back at him, "Oh..."
"Is that mold, or are they supposed to be green?" Kazuto asked, his nose scrunching, "And I'm guessing that smell is the ketchup?..."
"This is just unholy..."
"Yup." The black haired young man agreed without a moment's hesitation.
Their hushed complaints were soon drowned away as the door to the tiny bland waiting room swung open, revealing several suit clad individuals who walked into the room with an authoritative tone that neither Eiji nor Kazuto could hope to match with week old french fries resting in their laps.
One man in particular soon passed by them, nearly knocking over their fries in the process with his bag as he attempted to shuffle past.
"Oh. Sorry boys." The man mumbled as he passed by, only to stop short as he glanced down at the two, "...Are those dumpster fries?"
Kazuto sighed, "Yup..."
"Right on!... I remember havin' to eat those." The man chuckled, giving a thumbs up, "Nothin' better."
Before Eiji or Kazuto could think to respond to the man's quip however, he suddenly adopted a serious, almost somber expression.
"Hey, hold up... You guys?-..." He trailed off as he slowly held his arm aloft, revealing an out of place metal bracelet that reflected ever so subtly in the harsh light of the room. It was midnight black, with the engraved image of a small floating castle upon it's surface.
Eiji and Kazuto found their respective gazes trailing down to their own wrists where the same bracelets lay, barely visible under the sleeves of their shirts.
Kazuto was the first of the two up speak up, though his voice reached barely above a whisper, "Yup..."
"Shit." The man shook his head with a near inaudible sigh, "You just hold up..."
Kazuto and Eiji could only gaze on quizzically as the man began to rummage through a laptop bag hanging loosely from his waist.
Moments later, much to Eiji and Kazuto's combined surprise, he produced what appeared to be a packet of of cheese spread, "Here. Make your meal a little less deadly."
"Thanks." Kazuto accepted the packet with a relieved smile, "You're a lifesaver."
Kazuto chuckled in appreciation, giving a nod to the man, "You too."
"Don't mention it. Good luck boys." The man gave a nod of his own to the two before turning to rejoin the remainder of the group of suits that had all dispersed around the waiting room in small collections of 2 to 5 individuals
A few seconds of awkward silence passed before Eiji leaned over to Kazuto once the former was sure the kind man was out of earshot.
"Was that?..." Eiji mumbled into the other young man's ear.
"Yeah... I recognize the patches. He's definitely from Academi. And look at the others..." Kazuto's eyes danced around the other men and women in the room, his grimace growing with each person he passed, "Titan's Hand, DynCorp, The Salamanders... We're up against A-Class guys here."
"What the hell was Nezumi thinking sending us up against guys like this?..."
"More importantly, who the hell is it we're supposed to be guarding? Teams like this don't just step outta the shadows for anyone..." Kazuto pointed out.
Eiji has to agree. He was all too aware of the names that Kazuto had listen off. They were Private Security Contractors, and they were no joke. "Whoever this is, we've walked into a lion's den with steak around our necks, and it's all Nezumi's fault..."
"She's doing her best." Kazuto fell silent for a few moments as his gaze locked against the soulless white walls of the room, "Who knows, maybe our experience with 'it' will get us somewhere with this client."
"Or it'll make them think we're unstable psychopaths waiting for an excuse. No way, don't say a word."
"Fine... But you and I both know it'll check the whole 'combat experience required' box without a second thought..."
"Yeah, along with the 'likely to murder client' box..." Eiji shot back before popping a french fry into his mouth.
"Fine. We'll leave it alone, just hand me some ketchup would ya?" Kazuto mumbled.
"It's got someone's hair in it."
"Extra fiber."
"Fair."
"Eiji Nochizawa and Kazuto Kirigaya?" A voice cut above the idle chatter in the room, promoting the two aforementioned young men to pop their heads up like marmots.
In the doorway to the waiting room stood a man in a neatly pressed business suit that left little doubt as to how well off it's wearer was financially. He was rather tall, with shirt brown hair and a well kempt goatee, both of which were staring to grey, though whether that was due to age or stress neither Kazuto or Eiji could be sure.
He gazed down upon the two of them both from behind his thin rimmed spectacles with a face awash with a mix of boredom and fatigue. That look of fatigue was only compounded by the almost comically oversized cup of coffee in his grip. Obviously they weren't the first to be interviewed that day.
"Uh, here?" Eiji finally mumbled as he and Kazuto stood, quickly wrapping up what remained of their lunch.
"You two're up next." The man grumbled, the irritation in his tone clear, "Follow me please."
"So... You two are representing 'The Beaters'?..." The man asked as he took a seat behind a large mahogany desk, propping his chin on folded hands as he watched the two young men sitting before him like a hawk watching it's prey. "Is that right?"
"Yessir."
"Well, I suppose I should introduce myself. Professor Tetsuhiro Shigemura, though I'd prefer just Mister Shigemura."
"Kazuto Kirigaya." The young man in question motioned to his distracted friend, "And this is Eiji Nochizawa."
Both young men nodded along with their names, as if following a script, though Eiji soon found himself diverting from that script as his eyes darted around the office they found themselves in curiosity.
It was rather drab, all things considered. While it was obviously someone's personal office, it was quite clear that the person in question found little value in giving his workspace much personality past the ornate desk that sat in the middle of the room, facing Eiji like some sort of impassable mahogany fortress.
There were quite a few photo frames littering that desk, though each and every one was angled almost perfectly in order to keep their contents out of view of whomever found themselves sitting on the outside of the table.
"Hmm... You two seem... Young." Professor Shigemura's gruff voice jostled Eiji out of his little visual exploration session, prompting his eyes to dart back to the older man who gazed back upon he and Kazuto with suspicion.
"Young, Sir?" He asked cautiously.
"Exactly how old are you two?"
"Oh; I'm 19, Eiji's 20."
"I see..." Mister Shigemura rapped a small stack of papers that lay innocently upon his desk; presumably the resumes the two had dropped off at the receptionist's desk when they had first arrived, "And it says here neither of you have any experience in this field?..."
"That's-... That's correct."
"Alright..." The professor took a moment to enjoy a sip of his coffee, though Eiji suspected it was for little more than dramatic effect on his part, "So then would you mind explaining what possessed you into thinking submitting an application for this position was a good idea?"
Neither Kazuto nor Eiji could produce a more complex response than a small shrug.
"Boys, I hope you can understand why I can't exactly say I've got a lot of faith in your abilities. You've come here with hardly anything to show for yourselves, and you aren't exactly the largest built of individuals, so you don't even have the intimidation factor in your corner."
Eiji and Kazuto glanced at each other. Oh well, they couldn't exactly blame the man for his lack of confidence.
"I get it boys, honestly I do, it's a chance to meet your idols. But don't you think this plan of yours boarders on being a bit pathetic?..."
Eiji raised an eyebrow. Idols? He had been under the impression that he and Kazuto would be guarding-... Well. Now that he thought about it he wasn't actually sure who or what they would be guarding.
"To be fair Mister Shigemura, we don't even know who it is we'll be guarding." Kazuto replied, thankfully vocalizing Eiji's thoughts.
"Are you serious?" The professor sighed, dipping his face into his hands in exasperation, "You didn't even bother to look through the details of the job before you came here?"
"No." Eiji interjected as he shook his head, "Our, uh-... Our coordinator just saw the details on a private security board site and figured it was a good place to start since it was so close."
"Then it's best you don't know who the client is then. Ignorance is bliss." The man readjusted himself in his chair as he took a moment to savor another long sip of coffee, "My bliss perhaps, but bliss none the less. As for the two of you though, I think it's about time for you to-..."
"Hey!" A new voice called out from the entrance to the office, prompting Eiji and Kazuto to whirl around in surprise as the door was suddenly flung open with the force of an angry gorilla.
And that was when he saw her.
She wasn't dressed in the same clothes she had worn on the stage that night. Instead she was donned a casual black and pink tank top with old grey sweatpants, which so heavily contrasted her stage outfit in style it was almost humorous. In fact, as far as Eiji could see, the only thing that remained of her on-stage outfit was her pinkish-red nail polish that almost perfectly matched the eyes gazing down upon the occupants of the room.
Even in this rather harsh light her silvery hair seemed to almost shimmer, with her white locks transitioning more than halfway down into a technicolor rainbow of pinks, blues, and purples.
"We're done practice." The girl exclaimed cheerily as she sauntered into the room with reckless abandon, either completely oblivious or uncaring as to the presence of the baffled Eiji and Kazuto, "Can I go get-..."
"Yuna!"
"Huh?"
A chestnut haired girl charged in seconds afterwards, she herself dressed in casual clothes. She quickly seized Yuna by the shoulders the moment she was through the doorway, though that grip was lost the moment she realized it was too little too late.
"I'm sorry Mister Shigemura! I tried to stop her but-..."
"It's-... It's fine Asuna... The cat's out of the bag either way at this point." Mister Shigemura sighed, tracing the rim of his mug with his finger, "No pun intended."
"Huh? Bag?" Yuna glanced behind to where Kazuto and Eiji sat, both boys looking completely lost as to the situation. "Ohhh! Sorry about that you guys!"
Now let no man or beast say that Eiji didn't have some tact. Sure, he was no gentlemen, but he knew just as well as the next guy when to keep his mouth shut.
Unfortunately Yuna's rather abrupt entrance had put whatever manners he could have claimed to possess in that one moment under lock and key as his voice seemed to escape before his brain could command his mouth to seal.
"...Aren't you that Yuna girl that took it to the back of the head on TV?"
"Yup! That'd be me! Don't worry though, it's healing up!" Yuna twirled around on her foot with grace that seemed ever present, even in such mundane circumstances, and lifted her hair up to expose a small scar resting on her right shoulderblade, marring her otherwise porcelain skin, "See? Just a few more weeks and I'll be good as new!"
"Yuna! Please!..." The professor groaned, catching the girl's attention.
"What's wrong?" The songstress in question asked innocently as she let go of her hair, allowing it to roll down her back, and once more Eiji was graced with a rainbow of colors dancing along the ends of Yuna's hair as it flitted past him, so close he would have sworn she was no more than a few inches from his face.
"You're interrupting the interviews!..."
"I mean... I guess but-... They might end up being the ones guarding us. What's wrong with a little meet'n greet?"
"Because they won't be. This particular interview is over."
"Yup!" Yuna confidently exclaimed as she jammed her thumb against her chest, "Because it's my turn to interview 'em now!"
"What?... Pumpkin-..."
"Hey. So you." Yuna wore a kind smile as she jabbed a manicured ginger towards Eiji, who immediately stood, "Can you me outside in 10 minutes?"
"Uh, sure?..." Eiji glanced over to Mister Shigemura for approval, only to watch as the man merely let out a tired sigh before jabbing his head in the general direction of a small steel door that presumably led outside.
"Just-... Just go. If this is how she plans to entertain herself then fine." Despite his calm tone, Mister Shiemura appeared as if he was about ready to burst a blood vessel, "It'll just give me time to interview the others without another interruption anyhow."
"What should I, uh?-..." Kazuto found himself awkwardly glancing around at the various occupants of the room, "Should I just go to the waiting room or?-.."
"It's fine. Just come with me!..." It was Asuna who volunteered as she gave Kazuto a dismissive wave, "Knowing Yuna, she'd just get annoyed if you showed up with your friend."
Kazuto offered a nod as he pulled himself to his feet, "Sure, if you don't mind-..."
"Not at all, I could use the company. Our other band mate is busy with promotional stuff today, so I don't really have anything to do."
Kazuto felt a smile crawl onto his face, though he suppressed it long enough to turn to his friend, "Hey Eiji, I'll meet you out front later?"
"Alright, see you soon."
With that Asuna and Kazuto wandered out of the room, almost instantly launching into a conversation about something or other as their voices disappeared down the hall.
Once he was sure Kazuto was gone and wouldn't be back, Eiji let out a nervous sigh. Well, guess it was time to face the girl that may very well soon become his employer.
So... Why exactly did it feel as if he was wandering into a meeting with destiny?