Shinsuke massaged his right arm for a long time, his numb and aching muscles unconsciously tensing up.
It was bound to rain later this evening. He was always in pain, as soon as the humidity in the air became too much.
Saizo took advantage of this slight moment of relaxation to slide on the desk of his friend and superior a chocolate cereal bar.
The afternoon was already well underway, the sound of more than forty computer keyboards being frantically typed creating a uniform and undisturbed background. The smell of tea, coffee, and pastries filled the air and tickled the stomachs of those who were still a little hungry.
"Chief Kobayashi, I've finished the quotations you assigned me," said a dark-haired man, handing Shinsuke a bundle of documents.
Shinsuke turned to him as he swiveled in his seat, not even standing up.
"And what do you want me to do with it?" He asked annoyed. "I told you to send this directly to the Accounting Department after getting the clients' approval."
"But... don't you want to check if what I did is correct?" Asked the employee, a little disconcerted.
Shinsuke winced, and clenched his right fist, which he let rest on his desk. He was in a bad mood, and it wasn't going to help that someone was coming to bother him for the smallest thing.
"Hey, I'm not going to repeat myself, Hinokawa." Shinsuke replied curtly. "I don't have time to check up on each of you to make sure you're doing your job, damn it! It's your responsibility to do a proper job from the start!"
"Y... Yes Chief." Hinokawa replied fearfully, while looking slightly downcast.
The employee retreated to his own desk, without saying a word.
" You still haven't assigned tutors for the new internship employees this year," Saizo remarked. "So it's only natural that they come to you whenever they have doubts."
"That'll be the first thing I'll do tomorrow morning when I come to the office," Shinsuke grumbled.
He had had something else on his mind since this morning; in addition to what he already had to do as part of his duties.
Namely, the one called Shinohara Hana.
She was getting on his nerves, without even having done anything yet that would allow him to shout at her. For one simple reason: what she had done to him the day before.
But each time he had tried to approach the subject, in a roundabout way, she had always answered something other than what he had hoped. And the lunch break had not been enough for him to calm down enough.
If talking about it directly and without any detours was the only way to get an apology from the young woman, it wasn't going to be easy.
And come to think of it, he could very well punish her thanks to his superior position.
He smiled wickedly, and began to write an email.
However, it took less than a minute before he had to get angry again.
"I told you I needed those statistics by four o'clock this afternoon!" Shinsuke exploded. He slapped the palm of his hand on his desk before adding, "So then, why am I still waiting for them, half an hour after the deadline I gave you?!"
"I... I'm sorry..." Another employee stammered, his head down and his gaze focused on the floor.
"You don't understand the basic principle of a deadline, do you?" Shinsuke continued. "The work I'm asking you to do must be turned in BEFORE, not after!"
Hana, for her part, was reassured to be hidden by the gray plastic screens forming the cubicles of each employee. It was a hell of a storm brewing at the other end of the room; the kind no one wanted to endure. The deep, clear voice thundered loudly, and she even heard sheets of paper flying.
But she certainly wouldn't risk a glance to see what expression Chief Kobayashi had. It was a war zone there, and she'd rather avoid getting hit by stray bullets on her first day.
"No... I understand..." justified the employee who was receiving all the anger of his superior.
"If you understand, why can't you meet the deadline I set for you?! Or at least keep me informed of any delays? " Shinsuke grumbled. "Don't you know how basic interactions work at work? It must be nice, not doing your damn job, and still getting your paycheck at the end of the month!"
A heavy silence fell over the entire floor, and the distinct rustling of clothes left Hana mentally envisioning that the employee had bowed forward in apology.
Then the surrounding sounds returned with force, as if nothing had happened.
"Wah, here we go again..." Yuuto finally whispered, rubbing his arms as if he was cold.
Hana's senior coworker had said this with such weariness that she concluded that this sort of thing was commonplace in their department. She leaned back slightly to see Yuuto beyond the gray partition, and asked him in a whisper if Chief Kobayashi was always like this.
"When we said he wasn't smiling... let's just say we sort of understated the situation..." Yuuto admitted with a grimace.
Then, leaning back towards Hana - perhaps to be more discreet, or on the contrary to make what he was going to say more dramatic - he put his hand in front of his mouth, and whispered.
"He tends to belittle people so much when he gets serious, you can almost see them sinking in the ground," he explained. "In the end, it's all about throwing flowers considering how he buries you."
Hana flinched, wearing a confused expression with furrowed brows. That was a bit harsh as wording, wasn't it? It wasn't that bad, was it?
But already, Yuuto was bent over his computer again, typing frantically on his keyboard, leaving Hana not being able to ask him anything else.
The more she pondered it, the more she thought about Chief Kobayashi's attitude, during that first day. He had been unpleasant, aggressive even, and even angry at times.
He seemed to be a very hard person with others, even for superficial and unimportant things. She hadn't seen much of him, but even the few precious minutes she had been able to observe or interact with him - up close or from afar - had revealed a man with a tired, constantly tense face.
He had been thoughtful, though, during their short discussion in the stairwell. Even if his approach had been somewhat frightening at first. She had expected anything with that door opening, except to find the person who occupied her thoughts standing right in front of her.
And once the surprise effect had passed, he had advanced in an almost threatening way towards her; before finally expressing concern about her.
At least, if that's what it was. He had looked petty and sometimes even angry when he had made these remarks. Which didn't really match his words. Unless he was actually trying to send another message. But in that case, what message?
Hana was a little confused by all these different elements coexisting with each other to define a single person. Everything seemed to contradict the image she had of him. As if he had become a completely different person than the one she had known before today.
But if everything she saw and heard contradicted what she already knew, there was only one possibility: to keep observing him, day after day.
If she watched him every day, maybe she could know.
Maybe she could find out why he had changed so much.
However, she didn't suspect for a moment the scrutinizing gaze pointed at her from the other end of the floor.
"Say Mariko-san, who's that?" Asked a woman with very long brown hair, and a graceful face.
"Ah, Chiho-san, you're just arriving now?" Said the woman named Mariko.
Hosoda Chiho nodded.
"My appointment was delayed, and with the crowd outside, it was hell to get back," she said. "So, who the hell is that?" Chiho reiterated.
"You mean that girl over there?" Mariko asked, pointing to the middle of the room. "She's one of the new interns for our floor. Shin....? Err... Shinohara-san, if I remember correctly?"
Chiho raised a questioning eyebrow. As if the name bothered her.
"Shi. No. Ha. Ra." She repeated while emphasizing each syllable of the name that was foreign to her.
Yet, looking at the girl's face, Chiho thought she had seen her somewhere before, and it annoyed her greatly.
She clicked her tongue in annoyance and crossed her arms.
"She won't stay here long..."