A huge noise echoed through the floor as the three large, 8-centimeter-thick, overflowing binders were dropped on Hana's desk.
Immediately, the young woman looked up at the person who had almost thrown the pile of documents: Kobayashi Shinsuke.
"Chief Kobayashi?" She said with doubt while staring at him.
"Make me a report synthesizing the main points for tomorrow," he ordered with frowned brows, his big voice momentarily silencing the surroundings.
"O... Okay!" She replied with surprise, forcing a slight smile.
Promptly, her superior with the threatening aura walked away to return to his own space, and immediately, Yuuto leaned towards her desk.
"Hey... It's only 10 o'clock on a Monday morning..." He whispered sharply with concern. "So what the hell did you do over the weekend to make him even more pissed at you?!"
Hana was rather confused, too. What was wrong with Chief Kobayashi, for him to be so virulent?
He had already sent her about thirty e-mails to process and given her other documents of which he wanted a summary. And now, a bunch more data.
"This is really weird," Mari said thoughtfully as she leaned in to Hana in turn, "Did something happen between you two?"
"N...No, that's just it," Hana replied, "I was supposed to talk to him on Friday night, but I didn't even see him..."
Yuuto shook his head slightly, looking reproachful.
"Maybe he's pissed because he couldn't talk to you..." He surmised.
"What, just for that?" Mari was astonished.
She seemed to think for a moment, before changing her mind.
"No, wait... Maybe you're right, after all." Mari worried. "He's already flipped out because you came back from vacation and wore beach shoes and shorts to the office..."
"That, he had it coming," intervened Ren without even glancing at them. "But let me remind you that what started it all was the moment Yamamoto-san started taking off his shirt."
"Hey, I was hot, and when I took off my jacket, everything went off with it. Okay?" Protested Yuuto.
"Still, it was a logical consequence to your actions," Ren resumed as he started to get up from his chair. "Kobayashi-san never acts without a reason, unlike someone I know who just does what he wants."
Ouch. Things were starting to heat up, in Hana's eyes.
Nevertheless... Ren was right. If Chief Kobayashi was acting like this, it was because she had done something wrong.
But what was it?
What could she have done wrong this weekend, or rather, this Friday night?
Was it because she hadn't waited long enough to talk to him?
No, come to think of it, she had at one point lost consciousness, before waking up at home.
A colleague had brought her back to her apartment because she had drunk too much.
Immediately, she began to feel anxious.
No, she had not drunk too much. This guy, Kubo Touma, had given her a drink without her knowledge.
But even if he had, nothing had apparently happened, and the young colleague she had met that morning had volunteered to take her home.
Nothing had happened, right?
No matter how much she thought about it, she still had a big doubt.
Had she just slept, or had 'Nana' appeared again?
Nothing seemed to suggest that the other woman had shown up.
The apartment was tidy, nothing was lying around, and the door was properly closed, a sign that she must have had a moment of clarity to close the locks.
But... what if Nana did show up?
Had she made a mess? Done anything embarrassing? Or worse, mug people?
No. No. No. No. No.
She hadn't done anything embarrassing to Chief Kobayashi, by any chance?
"Is everything okay, Hana-chan?" Mari asked with a worried look.
"Ah yes, everything's fine!" Hana exclaimed, a little surprised.
Mari frowned, a sign that she didn't fully believe the young woman's words.
Perhaps Hana's face still betrayed too much anxiety, so she quickly began to smile in an attempt to reassure her colleague.
"I'm fine, really," Hana insisted.
For now, it would be fine.
Even with extra work, it didn't matter. As long as she could stay close to this man.
Just... She had just to make sure nothing happened that night. And the only person who knew more than her about the situation was Utagawa Takao.
Being the person who had brought her home, he must have known if anything had happened.
At the same time, Shinsuke was forcefully typing on his computer keyboard with a very irritated look.
"So you... When you're pissed, you don't do it halfway..." Saizo sighed.
"Shut up..." Shinsuke immediately replied without even glancing at him.
He continued to furiously type an e-mail, his eyes glued to his screen.
"What happened to that good resolution to discuss things with Shinohara-san?" Saizo asked calmly as he clicked his computer mouse limply.
"Forgotten. Revoked. Whatever you want, past tense." Replied Shinsuke.
"I know you couldn't see her Friday night as planned to explain yourself," Saizo conceded, "but it's also our fault for arriving so late. She must have had enough and gone home."
Shinsuke just grunted something incomprehensible before continuing to type the last paragraph of a - very - long e-mail.
Saizo couldn't understand.
How could he, at the same time?
He hadn't seen what Shinsuke had seen that night.
At first, they had arrived late because of Human Resources, but also because of their new Director, who had preferred to introduce himself to them at the end of the last day of the week, rather than having the decency to wait until Monday morning.
Then, as soon as he arrived, this guy had left them to go and get something he had forgotten.
Saizo had quickly settled down at a table with people he knew, but Shinsuke, him, had long sought the young woman.
He had to explain himself with Shinohara Hana, in order to definitively rule out any misunderstanding.
At least, it was what was planned.
But quickly, he had wondered if the young woman might still be outside, given that colleagues of hers had said they had seen her leave only a few minutes earlier. Thus, there was a chance that she hadn't really left yet.
However, he was not at all expecting to witness what he had seen that evening, right outside the restaurant entrance.
This woman had suddenly become violent, and had thrown an impressive punch at Kubo.
If some passers-by had been shocked or surprised, it was not the case of Shinsuke.
Seeing the young woman's behavior, the only thing that had animated him at the time... Was anger.
This woman had made a fool of him!
A misunderstanding? There had never been any.
Shinohara Hana, and the crazy woman from the bar who had attacked him, were one and the same.
Boiling inside, and while the young woman was dragged away by another man, he had then made a decision.
"Shinohara Hana... I'm going to make your life such a living hell that by the end of the week, you'll come whining to quit."