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「Anonymous」Chapter 1
A/N: Finally got around to post this. I've been working on this fanfic for several years believe it or not and I really love what has come out of it, so I'm excited for you to read it! As indicated above, this fanfiction is mystery genre. THE PAIRING WILL NOT BE SPECIFIED IN THE FANFICTION DESCRIPTION, EVER. If you want to know the mystery, you must read. I want you to have fun with it. Thanks! I hope you enjoy! I don't own them, sadly.
Chapter 1
His hand hesitated before turning the door knob. His palms grew sweaty and he worried the sweat would show through his shirt. If not, the big coffee stain over most of his suit would be bad enough.
“You can do this, Masaki. Just tell them all you have and you’ll be fine.”
Aiba Masaki did not expect to wake up that morning and be running late for work, nor did he plan on crashing into one of the employees at the office and getting drenched in the co-worker’s breakfast. All this just in time for his secretary Ohno to let him know the director was evaluating his project that same day.
It had to be a joke, thought Aiba, even laughing at Ohno in disbelief at some point. When the latter didn’t find it amusing in the least, Aiba thought his heart would stop beating all together.
Why, out of all days, would the director decide to see him today? He could have chosen any other day, when he wasn’t hungry, and stained and unprepared. Out of all the days, it had to be the one where he would be most likely to be fired.
And he could see it in the director’s expression when he walked into the conference room. Director Sakurai was accompanied with two other representatives from the accounting management division. Looking as clean, sharp, and well dressed as ever, they were ready to eat him alive.
Aiba couldn’t escape from the looks the gentlemen shot at him, knocking down his securities one by one, or at least what was left of them. He didn’t even have to look up to feel the director’s heavy sighs all the way through his presentation. So much for pretending he knew what he was doing. Instead he was attacked with questions of why his work was incomplete, why was it taking so long, and most of all, why was he making their client wait.
All of the blows came from the accounting managers, none of them from director Sakurai himself. The latter didn’t bother to look at Aiba throughout the meeting. Yet, why would he be surprised? That was just like him, so full of himself, so ignorant. He didn’t care about his employees, he was too busy making himself important.
Even when the torturous meeting was done and the accounting managers and director excused themselves, the director turned away, ignoring Aiba’s farewell and walking out the door without a word.
~
“What an asshole!” Said Nino, perhaps a little too loudly for someone in the middle of their company’s public café, but Aiba had completely surrendered to the mortification, laying his head over table, and urging the earth to swallow him whole. “He’s making a sport out of humiliating his employees! That son of a-“
“He’s the director, Nino. How else do you think he gets people to respect him?” said Aiba.
“Don’t make me laugh. The only thing that guy is getting is his ass kissed. He gets paid to make a show out of his employees and still expects them to follow him around. This is all a big joke, and you’re right in the middle of it.” At this point, Nino had stopped pretending he was cleaning the small coffee table for the fifth time. His manager wouldn’t even notice him.
“Yeah well, that show is my job. And I would have nothing if I lost my spot in it, Nino, so keep it down. The last thing I want is to be caught gossiping about the director.”
“Right. I forgot we could summon the devil…”
“Ah!” Masaki lifted his head when a thought hit him. “If I lose my job, I can’t pay my rent! I’m going to return to my parent’s place! I’ll be cleaning dishes in their restaurant for the rest of my life!” his elbows fell loudly over the table as they held his head.
“If I were you, I’d go back in there and start cleaning my desk right away. It’ll save you some time.”
“Do you think he would notice if I’m gone?”
“I think he would thank you.”
Aiba groaned knowing the young barista was right. Today was not like any ordinary evaluation. Usually it would be Ohno who delivered their presentations to the director before passing them to the accounting managers, but reviewing it themselves over half of the members of the board could only mean they wanted a bloodbath. It wouldn’t be long before they start calling names, sending emails, making calls. The office was going to have a make-over and Aiba might just be one of the first in line to go. It was only a matter of time.
Just like any other expectation in his life, it would be no surprised if he lost this one chance of moving on as well. He had made it far, getting accepted into the advertising company he always wanted to work at, getting promoted to creative department and doing the work he always dreamed of only to discover the devil that lived in the director, Sakurai Sho. The one man who seemed to enjoy seeing his employees fail to impress him, rather than celebrating their success.
Aiba may have seen him as a different person at some point when he first stepped into the office, but as the work rolled in along with the pressure of his rigorousness, he learned just how much avarice lived in the person he was forced to call his director.
And if his stuck-up attitude wasn’t enough, there was always the office rules displayed in their bulletin board as a reminder of how much he liked to control his employees. It included a dress code, strict and limited lunch hours, and prohibited of any sort of romantic involvement inside the office. Masaki always feared each day for whoever broke them, even if accidentally. It was a one-way ticket to humiliation.
~
The elevator stopped on his floor, and out the doors, there was a crowd of his co-workers, all murmuring impatiently, obstructing the way to his desk. What is it now, he thought as he made his way through them. All he asked for was a quiet and eventless afternoon so he could return home in one piece. The director had other plans in mind apparently.
He couldn’t walk any further towards his desk. From between the employees that stood witnessing, he could make out secretary Ohno, the director and his cubicle partner, Kazama Shunsuke.
“Sir, I swear I will contact the client right away. My drafts are ready. I will deliver their contract myself, please-”
“Ohno…” the director calls for his secretary, who steps up to hand Kazama a folded paper. The latter takes it hesitantly, refusing to unfold it once he catches the first lines. “But sir-!”
“I hope to see your desk emptied when I return.”
With those last cutting words, the director made his way through the office. His employees opened a path to his exit towards the elevators, bowing their heads as he passed them by. Only Aiba, who had not caught up with the gesture, catches a glance of the director and the burning hint of his dull eyes. And before he could stop it, it was already too late, the director’s eyes hand landed on him. They looked red of burning anger but felt cold stone to touch. This man who could send flames to his comrades was the man he worked for. That moment, which was smaller than any second, was enough to send a clear message to Aiba. If he left his guard down for even a second, he would be next.
~
Kazama refused to face Aiba, who had offered to help him clean up his things at least a dozen times. His cubicle neighbor and childhood friend decided to keep the words to himself and pack his things as the last order he would follow from the director. And before he knew it, Kazama Shunsuke’s desk was vacant.
It had been enough to witness in a short September day. The clock hadn’t even strike 3:00pm and Aiba had a big urge to get home, down a couple of beers and let it all roll away. Find some peace, before the chaos of the next day would come.
But until then, he had to continue with his job, working on his projects and endorsing his clients plans. It would have been much easier if he’d already received the Shibuya station response for their ad placement. But he couldn’t work miracles, not even if he wanted to. Not even if his boss, the director, asked him to.
Aiba’s phone rang with a notification from his email. He picked up his phone to read the message when he caught a glimpse of the sender and subject of the email.
“Metro Railroad Association…?” He read aloud, before quickly putting his phone down and rebooting his desktop.
Metro Railroad Association was the first email in the list. He did not wait another second to open it and read the content of the email, this one being the legitimate letter he had been waiting to receive this past few days. It contained an apology for their late reply with no excuse of why they’ve bailed on him, as well as an apology for not being able to offer Shibuya station for their ad endorsement spot, for it had already been compromised. Instead, the manager of their station had found an open spot in Yokohama station, which he hoped he could offer to their client and continue with their negotiations. The letter finished expecting to receive a reply before the end of the week and signed off by the manager of the Shibuya station himself.
Aiba fell back on his seat disbelieved that this was the work of his summoning. How was the manager of the Shibuya station replying to him when he had sent those emails to the MRA? As far as he knew, whenever they found they couldn’t carry on with their proposals, the MRA always made sure to send back an email rejecting their ad endorsement in their stations directly. How would this get in the hands of the station manager?
Aiba continue to scroll down the email when he found an additional last message at the bottom. It seemed this mail was forwarded from another address. Someone whose name was only a combination of numbers.
From: 4398@saymail.jp
I hope this could help.
Help? The word repeated in Aiba’s head as he realized, this was not his own doing. It was not his mail they were replying to.
Aiba’s reflex was to turn around. Look around the office and scan over his co-workers’ heads, slightly looking into their monitors to see if anyone had the same latter displayed in it. But everyone seemed submerged in their own world. None of their faces turned towards him, no one payed him any of their attention. There was no reaction he could pick up, no one he could point out. Only the email staring back at him.
~
That afternoon when Aiba finally got home, stripped off his clothes and got rid of the coffee smell from his skin, he grabbed a can of beer and crashed on his sofa. By now, the can of beer in his hand meant something else completely; It was the celebration of his negotiations with his client. He had sent his reply to the Shibuya station manager right away and notified his clients of their offer. By the end of the day, his client had already given him the “Ok” to continue with their plans with the Yokohama station.
All of this would have made a big difference if he’d only gotten before his evaluation with the board. Luckily, now he had good news to report to secretary Ohno for their boss first thing in the morning. But still, Aiba couldn’t help but pounder on that one question their boss would be asking him the next morning. How did he get the station manager to contact him?
Aiba was no good with lies, neither did he have much luck with them, but if anything spilled about someone else having to step into his project to keep the negotiation running, Aiba would be looking at a certain scolding from the director. And even he could tell where that would end.
Aiba grabbed his phone. Maybe Ninomiya’s expertise of getting out of trouble with his boss could give him tips on how to avoid his own dismissal. He should still be up at this hour, probably emerged in his video games.
When he unlocks his phone, he finds himself in his email, the letter from the MRA already read and the name of its sender along with it. And he remembered he should probably thank them for saving his job, regardless of the trouble it could bring later. No doubt this someone was from the office. Someone who had stepped out of their own work for his sake. That was enough reason for Aiba to compose a new mail.
Subject: Thank you
Thank you so much. The negotiations are moving on perfectly. I couldn’t have done this without your help.
From: 4398@saymail.jp
Subject: _
I’m glad.
~
The office was just as busy the next morning as the board’s evaluations on their employees continued. Thankfully, Aiba couldn’t inform the director personally about his progress in the project but he trusted he could rely on secretary Ohno to pass on to the director. After the secretary typed his report into his board, the message had taken off, hopefully to not return with any doubtful questions.
Yet the second he turns around from Ohno, an unexpected hit encounters him, crashing on his side and making the other drop all of their belongings.
“I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to get in your way,” the employee who had crashed into Aiba, dropping the boxes blocking his sight, apologized.
“No, please. It was my bad,” Aiba leans down to help him pick up the papers and objects that have scattered on the office floor.
“I wasn’t looking, I should have been more careful,”
“It’s fine. At least it wasn’t coffee.” Aiba joked more to himself than at the man putting away his things. It is not after Aiba hands him over the last pieces of scattered paper that he gets a glimpse of who he addressed.
There is something sophisticated about the way he looks. Something mature yet vibrantly young in him has caught Masaki unprepared. It feels like the fondness of his eyes and the faint smile in his lips felt almost like a warm touch. And he is staring back at him, without a word, just for a brief second, hinting a spark in the way the beauty spots in his lips curl.
“Thank you,” he said, taking the papers from Aiba’s hand, with a hoarse tone that didn’t settle well in Aiba’s stomach.
“No problem…” was all he could mutter before getting back on his feet.
“Again, I’m sorry for the trouble. I think I’m kind of lost and I can’t find who’s in charge around here.”
And you’re better off without him, thought Aiba.
“But, maybe you could tell me…. if there’s a vacant chair with my name I might be missing?” Aiba frowned at the curly, black haired man. “I was just sent here by administration. They said they just found a vacant spot here in the Creative Department and they wanted me to take it. So I had to move in right away.”
And that was how Kazama’s chair was given away, and his presence forgotten.
“I’m… Matsumoto Jun, by the way.”
Aiba cleared his throat to greet his childhood friend’s replacement formally.
“I’m Aiba Masaki.”
“Aiba… I hope we can work well together.” Jun bowed to him a little too excitedly to be moving into that particular office. “Do you happen to know where I can meet with the floor’s director?” he asked.
Is was going to be a long day.
~
Aiba showed Jun to his desk and Jun was pleased to find out he would be neighboring with his first encountered at the office. In the meantime, Aiba referred him to secretary Ohno so he could complete the formalities of his transferring into the office. Jun thanked him profusely for his help before leaving to find the secretary.
Aiba couldn’t turn away as he watched him take off. Somehow, there was something so lively and glowing in him that he hadn’t seen before in that office. It made him wonder, just how long would it take for the director to shut it all away.
Aiba sat back at his desk, submerging himself in his work before getting his hands busy again. Once again, he found himself staring at the interface of his emails. The email sent from 4398@saymail still sat there. Still without a response. Yet Aiba wondered if he even needed to respond to them again. It seemed like things were settled, whatever this meant. There shouldn’t be anything else he was missing, no? Except, things never worked out that way for Aiba Masaki. Because he always wanted to return whatever favors he received, and this was a stranger who had risked his time to help him, he couldn’t let it rest this way. His mails didn’t smell of trouble, so what else could he lose? And because he had pondered on it all night long, Aiba decided to write another email.
Subject: Thank you
If there’s any way I can repay you, please let me know.
~
He returned to his work for a while before Jun had gotten back from talking with secretary Ohno and started to settle himself in his new cubicle. Aiba had to admit, it was distracting watching Jun from the corner of his eye arranging his desk probably just the same way as he had it in his previous work station. And it was even more interesting to see the sort of things he would take out of his box. His pens, all different colors, a selection of books he used for references, his bright purple tape dispenser, the tiniest of bonsai Aiba had ever seen, and more of his folders and notebooks.
Aiba cleared his throat, realizing he was caught stupidly staring at his neighbor’s desk, while his work was left unatended. Something told him work was going to be a little more arduous from now on.
~
Aiba invited Jun along for his lunch break and promised to show him around the office if they made it back on time, which was questionable for Jun who wondered what they could possibly be late for. After talking over a sandwich at the café and receiving quite the stares from Nino at the register, Aiba took Jun for a walk around their floor. It was a quick tour just to review over certain areas of the office like their break room, bathroom, printing room and finally stopping at the bulletin board near the elevators and making him read the rules that were publicly displayed in it.
“They may not seem like a big deal, but I suggest you are very careful with them. The director has a keen eye when it comes to rule breaking. That’s just one of his charms.”
“There’s something I don’t understand yet.” Said Jun contemplating the list. “I keep hearing people say this Sakurai is a terrible guy, but if he’s so terrible, then why do they keep walking on their toes with him. They just let him do whatever he wants.”
“It’s not that simple,” said Aiba. “It’s true not everyone likes him but, it’s because of that that everyone is trying so hard. Rather than hating on him, our job is to impress him. We just want that recognition from the boss for ourselves, so we risk our work trying to do the best we possibly can to make it happen. Yes, he is probably the least liked around this place, but… it’s because of his attitude that we strive to keep working. To prove him wrong.”
At some point in his talk, Jun had turned to look at Aiba without a reason, capturing the fondness in his words and the admiration that reflected in his eyes as he stared at the board. It was the voice of a man who really loved his job.
~
As soon as they sat down at their desks, Aiba’s phone vibrated on his pocket. A new notification had arrived in his email and already knowing it’s sender, Aiba waited no further to start up his computer again. He opened the first message in his inbox and read.
Subject: _
I don’t want to bother you but, perhaps there is something you could do for me.
To: 4398@saymail.jp
Subject: Of course
Just let me know and I’ll do what I can.
He sent the message. Aiba returned to his work, redacting papers, and sending emails as the afternoon rolled away. The office seemed rather peaceful as the evaluations were taking place in the conference room and secretary Ohno wasn’t expecting everyone to hand over reports of their clients for a change. The office seemed quiet. Until Aiba was interrupted by the buzzing of his phone. This time it was a text which he received. From the contacts of an unknown number. It could have been a client trying to contact him, hopefully a representative from the Yokohama station and he was trying to arrange a meeting. But as Aiba read the text in his phone, he slowly remembered the kind of luck that always followed him around.
‘Perhaps we could talk like this for a while?’
A/N: I'm so happy I finally get to share this with you guys, this should be fun! Next chapter will be very soon. Though I must warn you, there have been several blackouts recently and the possibility that I may have no electricity or Internet access is rising more than usual. Still, I will do my best to keep up with the posting (even if that means visiting a fast food restaurant every weekend, I'll do it ( I am determined). Thanks for reading and see you next chapter! Comments are very much appreciated~
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