"So, Shinohara-san, how about grabbing lunch with us today?"
Hana looked up to see who had just spoken to her, and found herself looking at a man she had never seen before standing right behind her.
It was only her second day, and she hadn't gotten to know everyone in the company either. That was a given when you were working in such a large structure for such a short time.
But even with that, she still had the faces of everyone working on the ninth floor in her head. And this man, with his medium-length black hair perfectly parted in two equal bangs, and those narrow eyes, was certainly not one of them.
The sudden question had also quickly caught the attention of Mari and Yuuto, who had quickly given the man who had come to interrupt their work a curious look.
"Excuse me?" Hana replied, unsettled.
It was really weird to be called out like that by someone she didn't know. She was not used to this kind of thing.
But this did not discourage the man in front of her.
"Ah, I'm Kubo Touma, from the Vehicles Department! " He quickly introduced himself.
Hana nodded slightly, and he repeated his offer.
"So, would you like to come eat with us this lunch?" He asked with a smile. "We're going to have lunch again with the interns from all the departments, and it seems like I didn't see you among them yesterday."
Oh, so that was it.
Now that she thought about it, this man who was the same age as her - Morimiya, if she remembered correctly - had mentioned this the day before. But she had felt that she didn't really need to go, at the time.
Yet now she was being invited to attend.
It made her happy, but she also preferred to stay with Mari, Yuuto and Ren.
Therefore, she was about to answer, when a deep voice echoed in the floor.
"Shinohara! Now's not the time to be daydreaming!" Chief Kobayashi said without even getting up from his desk.
But even without getting up, Hana could see his annoyed look over the plastic partition. He was really tall, after all.
But Touma was not impressed. Perhaps he was used to not paying attention to Kobayashi's scolding, as an older employee.
"We're just having a quick chat, Chief Kobayashi." he said.
And almost immediately, a sort of uneasiness filled the air.
Hana understood then that this guy had just stepped on a landmine, with his disrespectful attitude.
Because a few seconds later, Kobayashi Shinsuke was standing with his eyebrows so furrowed that there was no doubt. This guy was going to get a first-class earful.
"Hey Kubo, you better get your ass off here and go back to your floor if you don't want to have your pay cut this month!" Shinsuke threatened.
Touma then turned to Chief Kobayashi, and smiled slightly as he squinted his eyes.
"Ah, sorry Chief Kobayashi!" He quickly apologized.
Then, bending down to Hana's level, he said in a whisper:
"You'll tell me your answer by email, won't you?"
Hana didn't have time to say anything back, as Kobayashi shouted again.
"KUBO! SHINOHARA!" Shinsuke shouted from his desk, causing Hana to jump in her chair.
The Vehicle Department employee didn't wait to be more in trouble than he already was, and quickly headed for the elevator to leave the floor as quickly as possible; leaving the young woman alone with an irritated superior.
Ah, why?
This guy could slip away at any time because he was not from this floor, but Hana, she, had to stay until 6 pm tonight.
So why had he pissed off Chief Kobayashi even more, instead of leaving without saying anything?
And why did Chief Kobayashi get so upset? People kept talking to each other all day long. Was he getting so angry at her because of Kubo Touma, or because of some special reason she didn't know about?
"Tch! What a jerk..." Yuuto silently grumbled, so that only Hana, Mari and Ren could hear him. "Shinohara-san, definitely stay away from that guy, okay? He's a real trouble magnet."
For a moment, she had thought he was talking about Chief Kobayashi, but when she saw that Yuuto was shaking his head slightly towards the elevators, she understood that he meant the troublemaker who had come to crash on their floor.
She sighed.
She had only had a small glimpse of this guy, but already, it had been bad news for her. And that was bad enough for her.
Taken by curiosity, Yuuto then glanced at the young woman's screen, which was entirely occupied by an Excel spreadsheet.
"Uwah!" He exclaimed in disgust, while suppressing the volume of his voice so that as few people as possible could hear him. "What's this?!"
Hana was a little surprised by the sudden little scream, but once she came to, felt compelled to explain to the young man what she was doing.
"I'm compiling all the subscriptions and cancellations for the month, with the amount of each contract to calculate the current profit," she explained.
"Seriously? On your first day?" Yuuto was surprised.
Then, as if disturbed by this, he tapped with his foot on the divider under the table between Ren and himself. As a result, Ren looked up, with a strict gaze on Yuuto above the plastic wall. He didn't say a word, but he suspected that his younger colleague hadn't disturbed him for nothing. At least, he hoped so.
"Hey Ito-san, we didn't have this workload when we arrived in the company, right?" Yuuto asked.
Ren raised a doubtful eyebrow. Then without even bothering to answer, lowered his gaze and concentrated again on his work in progress.
Obviously, this kind of question fell into the "being bothered for nothing" category; according to him.
Yuuto grimaced, and then leaned back to catch a glimpse of Mari.
"Hey, Hasami-san?" He said to get her attention.
The older woman then leaned back in her seat as well, positioning herself at Hana's side in the same fashion as Yuuto; like two slightly overzealous bodyguards.
"Take a look at this," Yuuto said, pointing to the computer screen of the new intern.
An intern who, by now, had completely stopped working, and was wondering why she now had two adults leaning over each of her shoulders with a concentrated look aimed at her document.
And after a few seconds, Mari winced.
"Ouch..." She said, as if what she was seeing was painful, just by looking.
She then put her left hand on Hana's shoulder, and shook her head.
"Chief Kobayashi is onto you..." She deduced with a sorry voice. "He asked you to return this to him by when?"
"Tomorrow morning...?" Hana replied hesitantly.
"Ouch..." Yuuto said in turn. "What a piece of..."
But the young man quickly paused, looking suspiciously around and turning his head like a prairie dog on guard.
Then, seeing that the object of his insults was not walking around the floor - like a vulture hovering in the air looking for a new prey - he whispered sharply to complete his sentence.
"What a bastard!" He said in a breath, almost inaudibly.
The insult earned him a few surprised or fearful glances from other employees in the immediate vicinity, but soon tempers calmed.
Mari looked thoughtfully at the spreadsheet, then added with a slightly sad look:
"I'm afraid you'll have to work overtime already, on your second day, Hana-chan..."
"At least she'll be used to it from the start... Yesterday we could leave earlier, but it was still an exception... "Yuuto sighed, before complaining. "Ah... My vacation is nothing but a distant memory now... Pourquoi... POURQUOI?"
Mari had a disgusted expression as she saw her colleague acting like a real brat. This amused Hana a little, and made her regain her composure a little.
"Ah, that's fine," Mari then said as she sat back down at her computer. She took one last look at the young woman beside her, and added with a smile: "Don't stress, and do your best, Hana-chan. Bonus points if you work in a good mood."