Slowly stepping inside after Hinata and Kinuye - who was<span style="font-style: italic">still</span>uncomfortably close - Naruhiko's smile didn't have the time to disappear as he entered the office, Ishida noiselessly sliding inside after him. It was a large, airy premise, filled with desks and chairs, standing in two rows against each other in three sections of the office, seemingly overloaded with desktop computers just as well as personal laptops and print-outs. To top it off, it offered such a beautiful view at the (always crowded) streets of Ginza, like a labyrinth of asphalt running and weaving at the feet of the tall buildings. Five of the editors - one could even call them resident, considering how much time they spent in that office - nearly immediately stopped working to welcome them.<br/><br/>A bunch of people surrounded him. He exchanged greetings with them, turning from one side to the other to keep at least a small idea of what was going on. Naturally, they were curious - Hinata was a new face, Kinuye was supposed to be out of work, and today wasn't the day to give in chapters for him, either.<br/>"Izumi-sensei! Would you like to see the next Shonen Jump issue?" one of the men asked him. He nodded, smiling.<span style="color: #BFFFFF">"Sure, gladly... I guess you can show it to Tachibana-san just as well- oh wait, no need. Looks like she already found one for herself!"</span>He browsed through the magazine, handed to him, while keeping an eye on Hinata and noticing she took up one of the issues from the desks.<br/><br/>He immediately recognized the red figure at the front. Off course he did, it came from his own pen! Sachi, the Nekomata from Thousand Blades of Seika Mashita, enthusiastically pointing her fist up at the sky while the other hand rested on the hilt of the katana near her waist. A smile stretched through his lips as he saw it.<span style="color: #BFFFFF">"That's Sachi! This is awesome!"</span>he exclaimed, excitement glimmering in his eyes.<br/>"She's popular among the fans." the editor agreed. It wasn't that much of a surprise, taken into account Sachi was a Neko girl, and a rather pretty and kickass one at that, too.<br/>"When's the next chapter coming, anyway?" someone else, who must have approached him from the back during the moment while he gave all his attention to the magazine, questioned him. He turned around, giving them a surprised look at first, and then shrugging.<br/><span style="color: #BFFFFF">"No clue. I've gotta go to Seoul soon so... By the way, can you show Tachibana-san around? She's my new assistant and she's here for the first time..."</span><br/>"No worries! Okuda-sensei is already with her." he was assured.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FFFF40">"What are you looking at? Are you new here? A new editor?"</span>a small girl, eyes hidden behind the thick lens of plastic-framed glasses, stepped to Hinata from the back, almost instinctively noticing that she was looking at her manga's page. She moved the glasses further up her nose, hand quickly flashing up to sweep her bangs aside.<br/>But without giving her a chance to speak, Ishida, who walked just as noiselessly as ever, answered that question instead of her.<span style="color: #FFBF80">"Oh, hello, Okuda-san! No, Tachibana-san is Izumi-kun's new assistant. We're just doing an office tour."</span>he explained to the girl.<br/><br/>Sadatake drew back, curiously scanning Hinata's figure and clothes.<span style="color: #FFFF40">"He got an assistant? Whoa..."</span>she muttered, grinning mischievously.<span style="color: #FFFF40">"Someone finally realized that he's one hundred per-cent of an airhead."</span>giggling, she, clutching the scripts in her arms, and made her way past the two.<br/>Ishida chuckled softly, taking a look at what Hinata was looking at on the screen.<br/><span style="color: #FFFF40">"Who you met right now was Okuda Sadatake-san, one of our most famous mangakas... And that's Okuda-san's manga, Aida's Crown. I think she noticed you looking at it."</span>he explained briefly, nodding at the computer screen.<br/><br/>Naruhiko paled a little at the sight of the girl, with her light lavender hair pulled to a loose and messy bun atop her head (good lord, did<span style="font-style: italic">all</span>mangakas look like they just climbed out of bed?). She wasn't the best person to guide Hinata around! But as he was pondering, Sadatke walked all the way to him, snatching the magazine from his hands, and stepping onto her tiptoes to be able to look into his eyes at a little less of an angle.<br/><span style="color: #FFFF40">"Congrats on getting an assistant."</span>she hissed, smirking evilly.<br/><span style="color: #BFFFFF">"Huh? Ah... Thanks,"</span>Naruhiko, thrown off by her sudden approach, took a step back to put a little bit of distance between them.<br/><span style="color: #FFFF40">"Hopefully you're not going to get lost anymore."</span>she teased him, showing him the array of white teeth in her mouth.<br/><span style="color: #BFBFFF">"That's not a very polite thing to say, Okuda-sensei."</span>Kinuye, who was till then keeping quiet, stepped between them, glaring at Sadatake darkly.<br/>The shorter girl shrugged.<span style="color: #FFFF40">"It's true, though."</span><br/>Kinuye's eyes narrowed.<span style="color: #BFBFFF">"That changes nothing." </span>she replied coldly.<br/><span style="color: #BFFFFF">"Well-"</span>Naruhiko attempted to break the ominous air of an argument incoming, but found himself interrupted - and effectively silenced - by Sadatake.<br/><span style="color: #FFFF40">"Am I supposed to lie, then?"</span>she put her hands on her hips.<br/><span style="color: #BFBFFF">"No. Say nothing."</span>Kinuye was blank both in face and tone as she proclaimed it.<br/><span style="color: #BFFFFF">"I-"</span>he tried to stand up for himself once more, but was dragged away by Kinuye.<br/><br/><span style="color: #BFBFFF">"Let's go, Izumi-sensei."</span>she nudged him forwards, away from Sadatake.<br/><br/>And Naruhiko, most of all in this whole wide world, wanted to disappear from its surface right here and now.