“Isn’t that guy in the NFL?” A girl from behind Mamori’s seat at the café remarked. Mamori turned around to look at the young teen who was gazing dreamily her right.

 

            “Yeah, he’s the quarterback for the Armadillos.” The girl’s friend added.

 

            “Man, I’d love to be with him….” The first girl sighed, her mind still stuck in some imaginary world. Mamori followed the girl’s gaze to take in someone she hadn’t seen since high school: Hiruma Youichi.

 

            After graduation, Hiruma had taken the first plane to America to begin his career in the NFL. Though he kept in contact with most of the Devil Bats via e-mail and the occasional phone call, he had fallen out of direct contact with Mamori when she moved into her college apartment. Mamori hadn’t minded at the time, they had been pretty good friends in high school but the distance physically between them had slowly put distance in their relationship; she hardly even noticed his lack of a presence in her life.

 

            Mamori found herself mildly surprised to see Hiruma in Japan; he was now an American citizen playing in NFL games, his life was there, not here. Physically Hiruma had gotten stronger and the last signs of boyhood had left his frame and his mind. His hair was still its usual bleached blond spiky mess, but it seemed shorter than she remembered. He was wearing a simple green dress shirt and blue jeans. Currently he was sitting at one of the tables, glancing around as if he was looking for something.

 

            Finally Mamori’s curiosity got the best of her and she decided she’d talk to him. Quickly she paid for her drink and picked up her things making it seem as if she was leaving. She walked over to Hiruma and stood beside him, making the high school girls from earlier gasp. Hiruma sensed there was someone standing next to him and turned to look up at the face of Anezaki Mamori.

 

            Though Hiruma had seen some recent pictures of her (courtesy of Sena), he quickly realized they hadn’t really captured what she looked like. Mamori’s body had mostly finished developing in high school, so physically she hadn’t changed much. The way she carried herself and the clothes she chose to wear had clearly marked her mental growth. Mamori had pulled her hair into a tight bun, making her face look sharp and adult-like. She was wearing a light blue blouse with a simple brown jacket she had left open. Her skirt was a pencil skirt, going just past her knees and matching the blouse perfectly. The effect of the attire made her look professional.

 

            “My, my, if it isn’t fucking mother.” Hiruma gave her a bemused smirk as he watched her expression go from one of mild curiosity to mild annoyance.

 

            “You haven’t changed at all.” Mamori huffed. “I suppose there’s no point in talking to someone who won’t bother with calling me by my name.”

 

            “Sit down.” Hiruma invited her, casually waving his hand at the empty chair across from him. “I’ll buy you a drink.”

 

            “I already had one.” Mamori told him simply. “And I’m about to leave, I thought I’d say ‘hi’ before I ran off.”

 

            Hiruma frowned at this development, already there was a hitch in his plans and he had just managed to make matters worse. He had been sloppy falling into old habits, which when added with Mamori’s new level maturity just didn’t add up the way he’d hoped.

 

            “I see.” Hiruma said after a moment of silence. “Well, if you’re busy right now, perhaps we could meet up later?”

 

            “Pardon?” Mamori had not been expecting that.

 

            “I’d like to catch up with you, is there an issue with that?” Hiruma quirked an eyebrow at her. He had managed to get her off balance which was good because it put him back in control of the situation.

 

            “…I don’t know, I’m a busy woman now.” Mamori admitted; her time wasn’t hers to freely give anymore.

 

            “I’m going to be here until the end of the month.” Hiruma told her as he stood up. “Here’s a number you can reach me at, if you can find the time to talk to me.”

 

            Mamori took the business card from Hiruma. He picked up his brief case and began to walk away.

 

            “Where are you going?” Mamori couldn’t help but to ask before he got completely out of ear shot.

 

            “My old stomping grounds.” Hiruma answered her in English, waving his hand once as he disappeared into the crowd. Mamori looked after him, blinking a few times. Hiruma had grown up and gotten more mature it seemed, even if he still did call her names. Glancing down at the card told her that Hiruma was probably staying with Kurita (since it was Kurita’s number on the card).

 

            “High school, huh?” Mamori muttered to herself with a smile. She walked away from the café and headed towards another dull day at work.

 

            Mamori had been hired as a personal secretary for the CEO of one of the biggest companies in Japan. The main reasons she had gotten that job were because of her reputation of keeping Hiruma in check and because of her looks. Her boss often had her at his side for the sake of eye candy, a fact Mamori knew all too well. Though the job paid extremely well, it consumed almost all of her time. The only break she got in her day was to go to the café every morning for a cup of coffee.

 

            Upon arrival at work, Mamori was greeted with an unexpected surprise from her boss, Toshihiro Aki. Toshihiro was a middle-aged man, with a bald head, a heavy build, and a dorky mustache. He was wearing a navy suit today (as opposed to his ridiculously lame grey suit he was much more fond of). He seemed to be smug about something and that never did bode well for Mamori.

 

            “Toshihiro-sama?” Mamori approached her boss wearily.

 

            “Oh! Anezaki-san! What perfect timing you have!” Toshihiro clapped his hands together. “I need your help right away.”

 

            “What is it, sir?” Mamori took a deep breath and steeled herself for a long and painful day.

 

            “Remember that sports player from America I talked about?” Toshihiro waited for the usual ‘yes sir’ before continuing. “He’s in Japan right now and said he’d be willing to negotiate some modeling for us!”

 

            “Really?” Mamori was mildly surprised, usually her boss’s attempts at trying to get Americans into their products failed spectacularly before they could be implemented. Now, Mamori’s ideas to get American interest worked above expectations most of the time, which of course her boss usually wound up taking credit for. This modeling idea hadn’t been hers, nor was she directly involved with it other than making sure Toshihiro showed up for all the right meetings to make it succeeded.

 

            “Yes, we arranged a meeting this afternoon.” Toshihiro was excited.

 

            “Where and when?” Mamori asked, pulling out the PDA she used to keep her boss’s schedule.

 

            “Deimon Private High School around two o’ clock this afternoon.” Toshihiro answered, still having his smug moment.

 

            “…Who is this person?” Mamori asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

 

            “Hiruma Youichi, he plays American Football for the San Antonio Armadillos.” Toshihiro answered, turning to look at Mamori and notice her annoyed expression for the first time. “Do you know him?”

 

            “I went to high school with him, sir.” Mamori answered. “He was a bit of a brat back then, that is all.”

 

            “Oh good! Why don’t you see if you can take lunch with him to soften him up before our meeting?” Toshihiro’s suggestion was predictable. Mamori often flirted with clients and potential business partners before they met with Toshihiro. On a few occasions she had pursued dates with a few of them and in only one case she had took one to bed. Though the tactic made Mamori feel unclean inside, it really did work and make her life in the days that followed easier.

 

            There was a small, suspicious part of her that felt this whole situation was arranged and planned. Meeting up at the café and getting a contact card then coming to work to have two more meetings with him, one was at their high school. She could assume that set of events as purely incidental if it had been anyone but Hiruma Youichi, the master of manipulation.

 

            “I’ll see what I can do, sir.” Mamori answered already making room for the meeting at Deimon this afternoon.

 

            “Oh, he left me a contact number…. I think it’s on my desk.” Toshihiro told her.

 

            “Toshihiro-sama, you have a board meeting downstairs in ten minutes.” Mamori reminded him while she walked into his office to begin reorganizing his desk.

 

            “Ack!” Toshihiro began to rush around and gather up his materials. Mamori ignored him as she searched around and found the note with Hiruma’s number on it. This was a different number, belonging to a cell phone. With a sigh, Mamori picked up the phone and dialed.

 

            It took him two rings to answer.

 

            “Hello?” Hiruma answered his phone talking over the background sounds that were associated with being on a train. Now that Mamori thought about it, it was quickest to take a train from the café to Deimon High School.

 

            “Hello, is this a mister Hiruma Youichi?” Mamori used a slightly different voice and her secretary tone.

 

            “…How’d you get this number?” Hiruma accused her on the other end, having recognized her voice instantly. “I didn’t give you this number!”

 

            Mamori rolled her eyes. “I’m calling on behalf of Toshihiro Aki, Hiruma-san.”

 

            “…So you work for him now, eh?” Hiruma was smirked on the other end, you could hear it in his voice.

 

            “Toshihiro-sama was wondering if you had time for lunch before the meeting.” Mamori kept professional and actively ignored Hiruma’s responses.

 

            “Do you have time for lunch?” Hiruma asked her.

 

            “That’s not the answer to my question.” Mamori reminded him dryly. Mentally she congratulated herself for not letting him get under her skin. “Do you need me to repeat it, Hiruma-san?”

 

            “…I don’t take lunch with rich assholes.” Hiruma told her blandly. “On the other hand, I wouldn’t mind taking lunch with an old friend.”

 

            “The only condition I’d take lunch with you is if you’re willing to take me to Cataluna and pay for it. [1]” Mamori told him, smirking. Cataluna was the most expensive restaurant in Tokyo and had a week-long reservation list. She guessed that he wouldn’t have made plans to incorporate her choice of restaurant into his mind.

 

            “Hmm….” Hiruma smirked again. “You’re at your office right? I’ll pick you up at 12:15.”

 

            That’s when Mamori remembered his threat notebook and his approximate yearly salary. She hung up the phone and sighed loudly, meeting up with Hiruma had not been her intention today.

 

            “Well, did you get him?” Toshihiro asked her as he grabbed his last item.

 

            “I’m going to be leaving at 12:15 for lunch with him.” Mamori answered.

 

            “Good, good!” Toshihiro ran out of the room.

 

            The hours until 12:15 were spent working madly to assure that Toshihiro could operate without her for lunch, much to Mamori’s annoyance. She finished her work at 12:13 and realized that two minutes was not enough time to get to the lobby. She sighed and silently hoped that Hiruma would not be too annoying if she was a little late.

 

            “Anezaki, could you hold on a minute?” Isamu Kamiko, one of the other secretaries at the office, caught Mamori’s attention. “I have a question.”

 

            “Please make it quick, Isamu-chan.” Mamori never showed she was in a hurry, it didn’t look good for her or for the company if she did.

 

            “Does Toshihiro-sama have any free time before the 24^th? People Magazine wants to interview him again.” Isamu asked, her hand ready on her cell phone to call and arrange the interview. Mamori pulled out her PDA again and began to scroll through it. She looked around carefully, trying to find a suitable time.

 

            “How long an interview?” Mamori asked as she continued to look through the dates in the PDA.

 

            “I don’t know, let me ask.” Isamu pulled out her cell phone and dialed. After a long while she finally got a hold of someone who could tell her the details of the interview.

 

            Mamori glanced at the clock, 30 seconds until 12:15.

 

            “They want two hours and a picture.” Isamu answered.

 

            “…The 20^th at 3 pm, here.” Mamori told Isamu.

 

            “Thank you!” Isamsu bowed and proceeded to tell the magazine the when and where of the interview.

 

            When the clock read 12:15 the elevator Mamori had been walking towards dinged and the doors opened. Inside the elevator was Hiruma Youichi, now wearing a pair of black slacks, black dress coat, and a silk red button up shirt. He had undone the first few buttons and untucked the shirt from his pants. The way he carried himself was confident and mischievous.

 

            “Surely you’re not planning on wearing that to Cataluna.” Hiruma commented as he observed that Mamori hadn’t changed clothes since he saw her at the café that morning.

 

            “I don’t see what the problem is.” Mamori answered him. Everyone else in the room was staring at them. The female employees recognized Hiruma as either a professional athlete that he was or as a sexy man with a lot of money. All of the male employees knew that Cataluna was the most expensive restaurant in town and that their boss couldn’t afford to eat there very often, which is why Hiruma’s causal comment about Mamori’s clothes was shocking.

 

            Hiruma set his hand in the elevator doorway before the mechanism could decide to close on him. “I suppose not having a mirror would be make you believe that. Come on, we don’t have much time to get you into something nicer before the reservation.”

 

            “If you insist, Hiruma-san.” Mamori maintained a professional aloofness with Hiruma as she walked past him into the elevator. Hiruma smirked once at the crowd of on lookers and pressed the lobby button. The elevator door promptly shut and the two were whisked down several hundred floors.

 

            “How’d you get this job?” Hiruma asked her after some silence.

 

            “Found it in the ‘help wanted’ ads.” Mamori answered truthfully. “Toshihiro-sama wasn’t nearly this big when I came on.” She made no further move to talk, much to Hiruma’s frustration.

 

            “How long have you had this job?” Hiruma questioned again, hoping to keep some semblance of conversation going.

 

            “Hmm, about six years now.” Mamori had to think about it. She had been looking for work right after college and picked up this job. Her intention was to be a secretary temporarily, then get hired at a pre-school when a job for that popped up. But the pay for this was a lot greater and Toshihiro wouldn’t let her quit.

 

            “What happened to becoming a pre-school teacher?” Hiruma decided he’d ask a riskier question. He knew that Mamori’s dream had been to become a pre-school teacher and he knew that she wasn’t really happy with where she was at this point in her life either.

 

            “I get paid more for this.” It took Mamori a few moments to find a response. She didn’t really like this job and she hated that she was stuck with it more. Having her broken dreams brought up so innocently reminded Mamori of how unhappy she was.

 

            “Ah, I see.” Hiruma could see that Mamori’s mask was cracking, he chose to drop the matter. The elevator arrived at the lobby and the two exited the elevator and then the building. Just outside on the curb was a limonene.

 

            “…Don’t tell me you ordered this.” Mamori gave Hiruma an exasperated look. Hiruma chose not to answer and instead looked at the driver’s door where Tetsuma Jo stepped out. Tetsuma was wearing a black tuxedo and had a small smile on his face.

 

            “Hello.” Testuma greeted them pleasantly.

 

            “Tetsuma-san!” Mamori gasped, having needed a minute to recognize the ex-wide receiver.

 

            “I asked him for a ride.” Hiruam answered her question. Tetsuma opened the back door of the limo and Riku and Kid stepped out. Kid still dressed like he was in an old western movie, except today he was dressed like one of the fine gentlemen instead of one of the gunman. Riku had grown out his hair and had pulled it back into a short pony tail to keep it fairly contained; on top of that the boy had grown another few inches and lost the last of his baby fat. Mamori was familiar with Riku’s appearance, but Hiruma was not.

 

            “You’ve grown.” Hiruma commented, his eyebrows up in mild surprise.

 

            “Heh, it happens.” Riku chuckled. “Heya, Mamo-neechan.”

 

            “It’s good to see you Rikkun.” Mamori laughed. “You look dashing today, what’s the occasion?”

 

            “It’s my birthday.” Kid admitted quietly after a while. “I hope you don’t mind riding with us, where ever you’re headed.”

 

            “Not at all.” Mamori assured them with a smile.

 

            “We’re headed to Kima’s [2].” Hiruma told them. “She doesn’t have anything to wear to Cataluna.”

 

            “…How much money do you make again?” Kid couldn’t help but to ask. Kima’s was the biggest fashion designer in Tokyo.

 

            “It varies a little with the amount of games I win,” Hiruma admitted, “but about eight million US dollars.”

 

            “What do you do with that money?” Riku asked, amazed.

 

            “Most of it rots in the bank.” Hiruma shrugged. “I don’t really have anything to spend it on most of the time.”

 

            “Why don’t you donate some to charity?” Mamori asked Hiruma. She was not surprised to hear that he had a horde of money. Unless Hiruma had a reason to spend money, he just horded it under the premise he might need it later.

 

          “Never know when you’re going to be spending it.” Hiruma smirked at her. “Let’s get going.” Mamori rolled her eyes and followed him into the limo. Kid, Riku and Tetsuma shared looks and got into the limo.

 

_=_=_=_=_

[1]- Cataluna is a province in north eastern Spain. I used to live there so I used that as my inspiration for the restaurant name. This restaurant is completely fictional.

[2]- Kima is a made up Japaenese-sounding name for an equally made-up Japanese fashion line.