<span style="color: #BFFFFF">"We're going to Seoul?"</span>Naruhiko's salad almost fell out of his hand, as he, wide-eyed, stared at Ishida. His very eyes seemed to sparkle at that sentence. The orange-haired editor nodded softly, wiping his leather gloves into one of the tissues, in a stack placed on the table, with grace that wouldn't be unbefitting of a 19th century's nobleman.<span style="color: #FFBF80">"Off course you are! I wouldn't lie to you, Izumi-kun. Eight days and you can say 'Bye bye Japan, hello South Korea!'"</span>he joked, tilting his head to the side.<br/>He perked up a little at Hinata's question, but then just waved his hand at it.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FFBF80">"There's an anime convention there, and Izumi-kun will be presenting as a guest speaker."</span>he explained calmly.<br/>Naruhiko's jaw dropped, an expression of interest turning into that of horror. Oh, no! Even Hinata's glance wasn't exactly... Welcoming and warm... Dammit. This was going to be tough...<br/><span style="color: #BFFFFF">"I see... Guest speaker, haha... Yeah, guest speaker..."</span>he masked his horror with a nervous laugh, reaching up into his hair and redoing the low ponytail, binding his dark purple hair.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FFBF80">"Well, you have pre-picked a few hotels to choose from, but after all, the final choice is on you..."</span>Ishida responded to her question, lavishly crossing one leg over the other as his eyes roamed across the premises of the restaurant. That started a debate of logistics and official matters before he knew it - a debate through which Naruhiko managed to finish his salad, and even stuff the two sweet potatoes into his mouth, to start emptying the box of dried fruit.<br/><br/>----<br/><br/><span style="color: #FFBF80">"Izumi-kun has a badge, Tachibana-san. We can request one from the secretary today and it'll be ready for you when you get back from Seoul."</span>Ishida proclaimed before the back entrance with a proud smile, pulling his own employee badge out and flashing it in front of the sensor. Naruhiko nodded ferociously.<span style="color: #BFFFFF">"Should be in my wallet! Wait... Lemme check..."</span><br/>He dug a wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans, but before he would have the time to open it and start looking through its contents - obviously numerous, taking into account the width of the wallet - until someone's call got his attention. His head sprang up from the wallet, to meet with the gaze of Kinuye's bright green eyes.<span style="color: #BFBFFF">"Welcome back!"</span>she smiled softly at them.<br/><br/>He replied with a short wave of his own to her greeting.<span style="color: #BFFFFF">"Mornin', Iijima-chan!"</span>he called out to her, a smile of his own stretching across his lips.<br/><span style="color: #FFBF80">"Iijima-chan!"</span>Ishida grinned widely at her, by far besting Naruhiko, and made a step forth to welcome the girl.<span style="color: #FFBF80">"I thought you weren't working today?"</span>he asked, a spark of curiosity coloring the tone of his voice.<br/><span style="color: #BFBFFF">"Oh! We-well, I, um, I'd heard.. I just wanted to see if there was anything I could help with!"</span>Kinuye, fiddling with her fingers, did her best to avoid looking at Ishida's unnervingly wide smile.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FFBF80">"Ah! Tachibana-san, let me introduce you to one of our interns! Iijima-chan attends Hitotsubashi University and works with us full time over the breaks."</span>the manager remembered only then, pointing a finger up.<br/>Kinuye, blushing a little, looked down once more.<span style="color: #BFBFFF">"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tachibana-san! My name is Iijima Kinuye. I place myself in your care."</span>she spoke shyly.<br/><span style="color: #FFBF80">"Tachibana-san will be Izumi-kun's new personal assistant!"</span>Ishida remarked, growing a little bit impatient. Kinuye seemed to be quite fond of Naruhiko, or at least so it seemed... He wondered what will happen when she finds out about Hinata taking the job of his closest subordinate...<br/><br/><span style="color: #BFBFFF">"O-oh! Izumi-sensei's..."</span>Kinuye scanned Hinata's figure with her cautious gaze, taking in every detail, to proceed to ran her hands down her short miniskirt, and turn her gaze to the young guy.<span style="color: #BFBFFF">"personal assistant?"</span><br/><span style="color: #BFFFFF">"Yep! My very own personal assistant!"</span>Naruhiko stepped in, patting Hinata on the back softly, and showing Kinuye his widest, cheeriest smile. The student's cheeks flushed soft rosy as she nodded.<br/><span style="color: #BFBFFF">"I wish I could work as a personal assistant one day..."</span>she admitted shyly, a hint of dreaminess in her voice, still holding one hand in the other, but her gaze was glued to the mangaka.<span style="color: #BFBFFF">"It must be a beautiful work. You're lucky, Tachibana-san."</span><br/><span style="color: #FFBF80">"And a pretty well-paid one, too."</span>Ishida broke into the conversation, winking with a mischievous smirk on his thin lips.<span style="color: #FFBF80">"Off course you can help, Iijima-chan. We need to get this over before the evening comes, that is, if you two don't want to sleep on a few volumes of Naruto or Shingeki no Kyojin!"</span>he laughed, taking the lead once more.<br/><br/>But truth be told, Naruhiko felt unnerved around Kinuye. As the quartet of their steps echoed in the corridor, he couldn't help but feel uneasy, stuck between two women - one clingy, and one strict. Somehow, he ended up sticking closer and closer to Hinata by every moment, nearly tripping over and falling onto her at one moment, having ignored Ishida's explanations for the most part. That was, before Kinuye's hands clenched around his shoulder and pulled him back, getting a surprised gasp as a reply.<span style="color: #BFBFFF">"Careful, Izumi-sensei..."</span>she warned him.<br/><br/>Naruhiko nodded.<span style="color: #BFFFFF"> "Yep... I'm sorry, Tachibana san! Just sorta drifted away and didn't notice-"</span>before he'd finish, Ishida's hand, raised above his head, interrupted him.<span style="color: #FFBF80">"All you sort - pay attention here! This is the office where you submit the scripts, if you go three doors to the right, you find the reports' office."</span>he warned them.