[Kyosuke POV]

The door to Akira’s office slammed shut as he thrusted my body forward and released me from his grip.

“Sit down.”

I begrudgingly heeded his demand, plopping myself down upon the soft gray chair in front of his sleek white desk. A dejected sigh escaped my breath as I stretched out, crossing a leg over the other and passed casual glances around the room.

It was a nice office to say the least. Windowed all around with a corner view and a nice shot of the Tokyo skyline despite only being buildings. The shared wall with the conference room was home to an array of shelves filled with ornamental books in a brazen attempt to appear intellectual. I know for a fact this joker hasn’t read any of them.

“Why must you always make a scene at the start of the week?”

Akira sighed and slumped on his desk burying his face in his hands.

“Because it’s on my list of essential responsibilities.”

Angered veins began to sprout upon the Manager’s forehead.

“Oi, remember who got you this job?”

My eye twitched.

“I think your memory is a bit faulty, old man. You’re the one who begged me to work here, remember?”

A quick image of the event in question popped in my mind. We were out to dinner and I had just announced a job offer I received to work for Sapporo Breweries and his subsequent promotion at Mikihara. It was a wonderful opportunity. Great pay, nice location, and advancement opportunities. Of course, Akira starts to freak out that I’d be moving away and tried to negotiate me to reconsider.

(“Please you can’t leave. Come work for me instead! I need you”)

Akira’s fist slammed into the table.

“I’m only one year older than you!”

That’s the part he’s upset about?

Well at least he didn’t deny everything else.

We had met a few days after I started at Tokyo University. I was still mulling over my breakup from my high school girlfriend and wanted to join a circle to take my mind off of it. Akira swooped in and stopped me from making what might have been a big mistake. He told me his story of bouncing around from circle to circle with no really good experiences or prospects for an entire year and found it was much easier getting to know others in your classes and field of study.

I trusted him and he took me under his wing. I can’t say I had a bad time. We had a lot of fun together and he always had my back when I needed him. Now that I think about it, it’s probably the reason why I gave up that good job and came to work for him instead.

“I think you’re just too wound up.”

Akira sighed pulling himself off his desk and leaned back a bit while crossing his arms.

“Get yourself a girlfriend already and take it out on her instead of riling up other departments.”

A bolt of lightning cracked in my conscious. That was a sore subject and I hadn’t been able to nor wanted to talk about but I guess now is a better time than any.

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“You don’t think I’ve been trying?!”

I leaned forward sinking my fingers into the chair’s armrest.

“Girls today are different than the ones we went to in college. They’ve got much more selective and have a lot of defenses up!”

Akira raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

I immediately dug into my pocket, pulled out my phone and tapped one of the popular dating apps I’ve been using. The private messages section blared before me and I thrusted the disappointing image in his face.

“Just look at all of them. I can’t even get passed the initial greeting! None of them have ever agreed to meet with me!”

Akira slowly flicked through the array of messages in my inbox. I could see his expression dimming as they went along. At least he didn’t quietly read them out loud. I have heard enough to have them all memorized by this point.

*I don’t date playboys, sorry!*

*You’re cute but you kinda look like someone who’d cheat on me. No thanks.”

*Handsome guys are never loyal. I’m looking for something more serious.*

After letting out a sigh, Akira hand the phone back to me.

“Who would have thought your looks would be such a detriment?”

I shook my head. Tears welled in the corner of my eyes.

“It’s not my fault. I was born this way.”

“Why don’t you lower your standards a bit? We had no problem getting women while we were at the university?”

My head snapped up and eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

“Those girls were less willing to commit than we were. I stopped going to those mixers after the second one, remember?”

I leaned back into the chair and folded my arms across my chest.

“Besides, I want something serious too. Is that a crime?”

Akira shook his head and sighed.

“Well, your romantic issues aside, you need to act better when working with Abukara. Go apologize to her for what happened today.”

“APOLOGIZE?!”

I snapped up out of my seat.

“You want me to apologize to her?!”

He simply closed his eyes and nodded completely unaffected by my inferno of rage brewing within these walls.

“And make it public. I want her whole team to hear it as well. Set a good example.”

The blood in my veins boiled. I was trembling in sheer anger.

How dare he take the side of that devil?! After everything we’ve been through together! No, this isn’t the Akira I once knew. Clearly, he’s been possessed.

I sat back down and clapped my hands in a prayer stance.

“God, please remove this demonic spirit inhabiting my friend.”

“Oi! Don’t try to conduct and exorcism on me!”

I scoffed, clicking my tongue and looking away.

“Then don’t ask me to do crazy things.”

Akira sighed again.

“Look, I can’t have the leads of two of my departments constantly butting heads against each other on display for everyone to see.”

I took a deep breath and continued to avert my gaze.

“Then tell her to back off and let me work the way I want.”

Akira sighed one more time. I’m starting to think this poor guy isn’t getting enough sleep.

“I can’t do that. Frankly, the company owes a lot to you two. Ever since you both came on board, profits have been up and there’s even talk of expansion.”

As nice as that was to hear, it still didn’t solve my current predicament.

“But I’m the one busting my butt out there making these deals!”

“I can’t give you all of the credit. You and Abukara were hired on the exact same day and even promoted at the same time.”

“Because she’s been riding on my coattail.”

I crossed my arms and huffed. Honestly, I don’t know why I was still being so defiant. The thought of giving that woman any credit for my work really bothered me that much.

Akira shook his head.

“I don’t get it. You guys got along great in the beginning. I remember how excited you were after you met. You came running to me about the cute new marketing girl that you hope gets hired.”

The mere mention of that ancient incident made my entire body convulse.

“Don’t remind me. It was the first temptation of the devil.”

Akira slumped in his chair and let out a dejected sigh.

“She’s not that bad. She’s a model employee even.”

My head snapped at him with a scowl.

Did he really give the demon a compliment?! How could see what I’m seeing. I thought we were friends?!

I clenched my hands into tight fists and prepared to unload a verbal tirade when I realized that it was pointless to continue. My good friend and boss Akira Oshiro had died and in his place resided a minion of the devil.

I clapped my hands together in prayer once more.

“God, please take good care of my friend’s spirit while his body is inhabited by an evil one.”

“Oi! Don’t kill me off either!”

I sighed and fell back in my chair contemplating everything we had discussed thus far. It was tough hearing something you didn’t want said from someone you trusted but I have to think about my career here as well. I’d be stuck here forever if things continued as they were. No company in their right mind would want to promote a troublemaker.

After taking a deep breath I decided the best move for now was to relent.

“Can I at least wait until the end of the day to do it?”

Akira leaned back and smiled. That bastard is really enjoying this, isn’t he?

“Thank you Kyosuke.”

I stood up and made my way to the door. This stuffy atmosphere was getting too thick for my tastes. Plus, I’m still a little pissed that he’s making me do this.

“Oh, and I’m counting on you to sell this new product. F-Mart has already committed to buying twenty-five thousand units so you’re going to need to bust your ass to sell the next twenty-five.”

Of course he tries to motivate me to do my job after he lectures me. I offered a simple wave without bothering to turn around.

“Right. Right. You can count on me.”

I left his office closing the door calmly before returning to my desk. My subordinates were working diligently and didn’t even turn around when they heard me sit. The quiet atmosphere was growing a little uncomfortable as the minutes passed. Furukawa-san was the first to break the silence. I knew she couldn’t just let me stew in silence.

“Is everything okay senpai?”

I shook my head and sighed.

“Everything’s fine. Sorry for getting you involved earlier.”

“Things would be easier here if you learned to control yourself.”

“I don’t want to hear that from a gaming-maniac”

Makino-san paused his typing for a split second before getting back to work. That one must have stung a little bit. I opened up my inbox and saw a dozen emails from our current clients that required my attention. This will be a good distraction before I have to perform seppuku later on.

Farewell my blissful corporate life.