The bell rang. What a disgusting, loud, disturbing sound early in the morning. But contrary to the popular use of this bell, it was no alarm clock. Naruhiko didn't invest in those - he never heard them, anyway. And it wasn't even that early in the morning - eleven in the morning was in no way soon. It was simply the loud, screaming sound of his phone, roaring straight into his ear as he laid on his bed. That was enough to startle him... After all, he did think he accidentally laid on the remote from his TV, and turned on Death Note, which was still stuck in the DVD player. But it was truly just his phone.<br/><br/>In the utter surprise that struck him, finally waking him up after a few hours of deep, well-deserved sleep, he rolled off the bed, trying to kick the covers off, but instead getting more tangled in them, and ended up on the floor with a loud thud. The phone was still ringing in his hand... Whoever was calling him was pretty persistent. Squinting his eyes at the large screen, he discerned the writing that read 'Ishida personal', and picked the call up. Ishida, a quite young employee of the publishing company that printed both Sun Dust, and Thousand Blades of Seika Mashita, called him often, but rarely from his personal phone. That was usually only if a.) something horrible and urgent happened, or b.) something really awesome, but personal happened. He moved the smartphone over to his ear, not caring whether it gets lost in his messy purple hair, or not.<br/><br/>"Mo~rning Izumi-kun!" Ishida's melodic, overly-enthusiastic voice greeted him from the other side. So, it was not the first case - he wouldn't sound so happy. Because if Naruhiko knew how a happy person sounds, this was definitely it. "You definitely won't believe me when I tell you what's going on."<br/>"Morning to you, too..." Naruhiko yawned back, with his free hand rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Yeah? What, are you getting married?" a soft chuckle curved his lips upwards. Ishida laughed, but it was just a short sound.<br/>"No, not yet. But I found you someone interesting to meet!" he exclaimed.<br/>"A what?" it was apparent he didn't seem to get what the talk was about. He got him a what?<br/>"She's a fan and I thought you might be interested, you know, it's unhealthy for young people your age to be alone all the time, and since you don't have a girlfriend, I thought you might be interested, Izumi-kin... Did I wake you up? Because you sound like it. Anyway, her name is Tachibana Hinata, she's your age, and she's beautiful and capable." the corporate worker blurted out at him. How fast could that guy just talk!<br/>"That sounds great.. What sort of beautiful do you mean by beautiful?" he asked, quite eager to find out more.<br/>"Hm... You know, beautiful like Matsumoto Rangiku or Leone. Also, we urgently need you in the main office to meet her. You have an hour, so till then, bye bye, Izumi-kun! Don't be late!"<br/><br/>Naruhiko didn't even have the time to say goodbye, and the phone call ended. For a moment, he blankly stared at the screen, thinking about what Ishida just told him. Then, the realization of the fact that he only has an hour to prepare himself and arrive to the office hit him. Bolting out of the sheets, he darted to the bathroom. Performing all actions - such as brushing his teeth or getting his hair into an acceptable state - at a breakneck speed, he was suddenly very much awake. Time was tight and it was running out! The transport was the main issue, and it was a big issue. He couldn't manage to get there on time, not by public transport or something similar. He needed a car... Finally deciding to call a university friend of his, the phone was in his hand once more as he was pulling his pants on.<br/>"Hey Shihei... I desperately need a drive to Ginza. Desperately! Otherwise I'm a dead man and you're not going to get any more manga..." Replacing the greeting with begging, he struggled to keep the phone near his head and put a shirt on at the same time.<br/>"Hm... That would be a pity, but what do I get in exchange? I gotta drive from Shinjuku to Ikebukuro and from there to Ginza, that's a bit far!" Shihei's mischievous chuckle replied from the other side.<br/>"My eternal gratitude!"<br/>"Nah. I can't buy petrol with that. Hm... The next volume of TBoSM is free for me with a signature!" Shihei laughed.<br/>"You're an asshole, Shihei... You'll have it in the mailbox. Just get here fast." Grabbing his belongings from all the corners of his apartment, Naruhiko frantically hurried to prepare himself for his friend's coming. Shihei drove faster than a devil, and right now, he could definitely not afford to be late, and make a bad impression on this 'interesting girl', and piss Ishida off, and make himself look like a moron!<br/><br/>The car nearly threw him off his feet as it stopped straight on the end of the pavement, braking at a terrifyingly late moment, giving Naruhiko approximately ten seconds to get into the passenger's seat and close the door behind himself, as apparent from the driver's expression. "Throw your stuff to the back!" Shihei instructed him loudly, before stomping onto the gas and letting the car dart forth. Truly, he wasn't giving his friend a moment of time to even put his seat-belt on.<br/>"Just please, be-" there was no time to finish the statement, as at the very moment Naruhiko opened his mouth, the car was like a cannonball already.<br/><br/>Tanaka Shihei was an classmate from his art classes in university - a loud, colorful person with a head full of crazy ideas. Not as fortunate as himself, he didn't find his job in the artistic industry yet, and thus works as a taxi driver for now... Or rather, a daredevil behind the steering wheel.<br/>Naruhiko held for his dear life (or would have, if there was something to hold onto). Riding with Shihei - aptly nicknamed Oni Taxi - at his best was a sure death for anyone without balls (and nerves) of steel. The car went like a bullet through the mesh of the streets, using all sorts of surprising passageways and shortcuts to drive all the way from southern Ikebukuro to Ginza. And the young artist didn't even realize when he got into the expensive shopping district before Shihei parked the car on the edge of some pavement. Trying to breathe deeply and slowly, Naruhiko, with his hands pressed to his chest, simply stared into the space before himself.<br/>"One day, you will crash the car, I'm definitely sure of that." he whimpered, desperately trying to calm himself.<br/>"Afraid of having your genial mangaka brains splattering across the controls, huh?" Shihei bent over the steering wheel, but he received a rather disturbed look from Naruhiko, and pulled himself back, his gaze sliding somewhere away. "Uhh, sorry. Too soon?"<br/>"You never had a sense of empathy to begin with." a sigh escaped the young guy, and he reached through the gap between the seats for his bag. Finally, he has calmed down enough to think about leaving the car.<br/>"Sorry. But a man's gotta be practical... Speaking of that, you better get yo ass out soon, or the cops are gonna come. I shouldn't be stopping here!" Shihei shrugged, in a pretense show of carelessness waving his hand at the matter.<br/>"Oh, I'm sorry! Bye bye, Oni Taxi!" he waved at him, quickly stumbling out of the interior of the car, and finally getting out into the streets.<br/><br/>----<br/><br/>Ishida Hiroaki was a man well-versed in the business of speech and official matters.<br/><br/>He had invited her to the office and made sure she arrived in complete comfort, even had her served tea in antique porcelain. The office in which he let her wait was a rather beautiful one, too - the walls were adorned by beautiful paintings, and in the middle, on the low table from solid wood, stood a small vase with flowers. It resembled a smaller room in a traditional house rather than an office right above a ginormous book store!<br/>Ishida himself was a strange person. Even though his hair was (supposedly dyed to reach that hue) a blinding orange, he was nearly never seen without a crisp white shirt, worn under a perfectly cleaned black suit with a silken tie, and that omnipresent smile on his lips was just plain... Strange. Yet, despite being short and skinny - just something over a meter seventy - he was charming in a way. Sure had a sort of convincing, professional air about himself!<br/><br/>Just as the tea arrived, the vibration of the phone in his pocket warned him of Naruhiko's coming. He stood up, dusting the already way-too-clean suit off, and bowed politely to Hinata. "Excuse me, Tachibana-san, but it appears that I am needed downstairs. I will return shortly - till then, just peek outside the door and ask for tea if you wish to have more served! It looks like your new employer has just arrived!" he assured her cheerfully, his melodic voice echoing off the thin walls of the office, and with steps as silent as the breeze itself exited the place.<br/><br/>----<br/><br/>The orange on a short guy's head acted like a traffic light to Naruhiko. Anyone with a working sight could<span style="font-style: italic">not</span>miss Ishida. He was just too much of an eye-catcher. His hand, even now, at the beginning of summer and despite the heat around gloved, waved to him above the people around, and the young man brisked up, weaving through - and bumping into - the people around, till he almost ran into Ishida himself. The corporate worker bowed to him (quite comical considering the surroundings), and showed him an unnervingly wide smile. "Good morning, Izumi-kun! Did you have a comfortable drive here? It's surprising to finally see you somewhere on time, you know."<br/>"Morning, Ishida-san. Nope - Oni Taxi. The drive was about as comfortable as riding on an actual ogre's shoulders." Naruhiko laughed, following his friend into the premises of the building.<br/>"What a pity... Well, just wait till you meet her, you'll forget soon enough! Beautiful girls are born nowadays, I'm not going to lie, though you should pay more attention to your outside. That T-shirt doesn't go with the shirt you've got on... Just take the shirt off. What's that on it again? Ah, Black Butler. I wish you'd take inspiration from the characters and wear a suit one day, that would be quite amazing." he talked, so casually walking up the stairs at the speed of a typhoon. Naruhiko was just struggling to match up his pace and retain his breath at the same time.<br/><br/>Finally, at the fourth floor, which hosted Ishida's office, he was allowed to take a break.<br/>"Exercise, exercise! Invest in a gym pass, Izumi-kun!" Ishida tapped him on the back, still smiling, but was actually tactful enough to wait. Naruhiko gave him a thumbs-up, signifying that he was still alive enough to go on. "A gym pass? The thing that weighs your wallet down? Why not, that's good exercise." he replied in mirth, smiling just as well, though his was a much kinder, more childish smile than that grin of Ishida's.<br/>"Though, it would be bad to keep a lady waiting, don't you think so? She's in the smaller office. Come on, and remember manners and etiquette. After all, she's going to be with you now till she gets fired, she's your assistant." The last remark somehow just passed Naruhiko's conscience by, unrecorded - at least, till Ishida opened the door to the office, and he sighted Hinata. His jaw dropped.<br/><br/>"Hinata-san, this is Izumi-Tsukatani Naruhiko, your new employer!" he announced proudly, nudging the boy to stumble into the office.