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「Anonymous」Chapter 3
Summary: Aiba Masaki works for a prestigious and severely strict company where flaws lead to imminent dismissal. When a mysterious phone number appears to have stolen Aiba's contact and begins to message him, Aiba must choose if he would rather ignore a stalker or answer to their cry for help, all while he undergoes the task of uncovering their identity.
Chapter 3
‘Why does time never expire?’
‘Good morning. You seem to be lost in thought
quite early.’
‘Long night. You?’
‘I’m good. Too many emails to answer.’
‘Aiba Masaki can take care of it.’
‘I’ll deal with them before lunch.’
‘Just 4 more hours to go.’
‘Do your best.’
‘Can I ask you something?’
‘I’m all ears.’
‘Is us talking this regularly mean I have
to refer to you as anonymous all
the time?’
‘You can call me anything you like.
I don’t mind.’
‘Are you sure? They say I’m pretty good
coming up with nicknames! You wouldn’t
want to risk it, would you?’
‘Hit me with your best shot.’
‘In that case, I won’t hold back!’
‘Hm… what about 4398? Like your email.
Or something shorter, 43? 98?’
‘I’m sure you can think of an actual name.’
‘Well, since you won’t tell me yours, it’s harder
to come up with something that reminds me
of you.’
‘In that case you would have to rely on the things
you do know about me.’
‘Well … I know you’re from the office.’
‘Right.’
‘You like skipping lunch.’
‘Maybe.’
‘You work very hard.’
‘Average.’
‘Meaning you represent over half the people
in the whole building.’
‘Yeah… sorry about that.’
‘I got it!’
‘?’
‘You said you wanted to remain
anonymous, so, why don’t I use that?’
‘Stick with Anonymous?’
‘No. Anon!’
‘Just Anon?’
‘It’s shorter and easier to type.’
‘Do you like it?’
‘Suit yourself.’
‘I think it fits you very well.’
‘Then… how should I call you?’
‘Aiba is okay.’
‘Very well then, Aiba.’
‘What are you having for lunch?’
‘You just can’t stop now, can you?’
Ninomiya arrived at the end of their conversation and silently placed down Aiba’s phone.
“What do you think?” asked Aiba sitting across from him at a table in the café.
Ninomiya sighed with crossed arms. “I think you have a stalker.”
“B-But it’s not that bad, right? I mean… he’s friendly.”
“So, you know it’s a ‘he’?” asked Nino.
“I suppose?”
“You’re just guessing then?”
“We’re… getting to know each other.”
“For what exactly?” Nino shot a fulminating look at the older.
“For nothing! We just talk. There is nothing wrong with that. And… it seemed like they really needed a friend. They even asked nicely, I can’t deny them that…”
“Sure. Let’s be friends with the stranger who stole your contacts and has been following you for who knows how long?”
“It’s not like I’m not worried about it too. It was pretty scary when they first started texting me…”
“Then why are you allowing it? You don’t owe them anything. They helped you because they just wanted your attention.”
“But what if they desperately needed it then? What if they were about to give up on themselves because they couldn’t come up to me in person? What if this was the only way they could face their fear?”
“You’re not their psychologist, Aiba. Again, you don’t owe them anything.”
Aiba sighed, looking down at his phone. “Maybe I’m not… but I want to help. And I was hoping you would too…”
Nino raised a brow at him.
“I want to find out who they are, find their name. Maybe then I could be of some help to them.”
“Help them how?”
“I don’t want them to be so insecure about themselves. They shouldn’t be hiding. No one deserves to be alone like that. As their friend, this is the least I can do for them.”
“I swear, you’re the first person I know who calls their stalker their ‘friend’.”
“Call it whatever you want Nino. Are you going to help me or not?”
The young barista stared at the older questionably, but Aiba knew very well he wouldn’t let him do it alone. “And I’m not getting anything out of this?” Nino asked.
“I’ll pay our meals for a month.”
Ninomiya sighed. He was probably going to regret it later. “Sure… what do you want?”
Aiba smiled knowingly at Nino. “Well, so far, I can’t say I’ve found much. Their email was from a different address than the one they make us use in the company,”
“Obviously. He is erasing his trace.”
“Right. And I checked a few contacts from what I could find in the registry, and none of them matched with their number. I’ve been trying to get them to spill their name, but they’re not giving themselves away that easily. I need to change tactics. That’s why I need you. You see everyone that comes and goes around here and you know many more employees than I do, so…”
“Yeah, I get it. I’ll look around.”
“Thank you.” Aiba drank the last of his coffee as it was about time he returned to the office.
“Someone in particular you want me to watch out for?” Asked Nino before Aiba could go.
He thought about it for a second, remembering what he had seen some days before. But he didn’t want to draw any names yet. It was too soon.
“Anyone from my office.”
~
‘What does one have to do to get some coffee around here?’
‘You read my mind, Anon.’
‘Slow day too?’
‘Busy.’
‘Instant or brewed?’
‘At this point, I can’t even tell the difference.’
‘If you meet me at the break room, I could
make some for you.’
‘I don’t have the energy to laugh.’
‘Not even in this state you let your
guard down?’
‘Sadly.’
‘Dark or milk?’
‘Is this an interrogation?’
‘It’s an innocent question, Anon.
That can’t possibly blow your cover.’
‘…’
‘Milk.’
‘There should be some to spare in the break room.’
‘Do you think the hands of a clock move slower
while you stare at them?’
‘I’m going to make some coffee.’
‘Have a nice trip.’
~
Aiba couldn’t help but smile to himself as he set his phone aside and got up from his chair, simultaneously as the person right next to him. The two looked at each other in surprised.
“Are you…?”
“I was about to get some coffee.”
“Me too…” Jun smiled at the other, a small chuckle escaped his lips.
~
“How are you getting around so far?” asked Aiba as he poured water into the machine.
Jun leaned against the break room’s sink pensively. “Not too different from my previous one, but people seemed to be much reserved around here,”
“That’s just in office hours. We’ve been trapped in here all day so things tend to give out that sort of aura. They try to loosen up occasionally, for events and such…”
Jun observed how Aiba worked the coffee machine expertly until it finally began to pour into the pot.
“Speaking of events, are you… going to tonight’s dinner?” Jun asked as he cleared his throat.
“I always go. It’s nice to get out of the routine.” Masaki served their coffee in separate mugs. “Are you going? I mean, you should. You’re one of the guests of honor.” Masaki handed him his cup.
“Of course. I’ll be there.”
Masaki wet his lips with the hot beverage. “I should probably finish as soon as I can… I still have some things to get ready before tomorrow,” he thought aloud.
“If you want, we could head there later… after you’re done.”
Masaki looked at the younger. “No, it’s okay. I wouldn’t want to make you late. You should go with the rest. I won’t take that long.”
“Actually… I haven’t had the time to get to know anyone. You’re the only one I’ve properly introduced myself to and… It’s kind of hard getting around the rest.”
“You… haven’t met anyone else?”
“Surprisingly, I’m not good with meeting people.” Jun sipped into his cup as his throat was hit with its sudden bitterness, which transformed his whole expression. “Is there any milk?”
“There must be some in the fridge…” Masaki’s voiced turned small. Observing Jun as he searched the milk carton and mixed it into his drink.
It’s just milk, thought Aiba. It was just a preference. A minor coincidence. There was no reason to overthink everything.
“What do you mean you’re not good with people?” Aiba carried on with their conversation, unintentionally digging into his words.
“I find it hard to introduce myself and start off a coherent conversation for the first time with someone. It doesn’t come out as natural.”
“It seemed pretty natural when we met.”
“Yeah, but you… You were different, somehow.” Aiba paused over his drink. “Like… you were very relaxed, you didn’t put pressure on me like others do. You somehow give out your own aura of security.”
Masaki chuckled. “My own aura?”
“You’re… different, but it’s nothing bad. It’s… just right.”
Aiba observed the younger, taking the hot beverage to his lips and savoring its milk-sweetened flavor. It was almost stupid to think he had heard these words before. Still, that this time they would come from a voice and he could hear them aloud didn’t mean a thing. Why would he deprive those words from Jun? They didn’t belong to Anon. Maybe they were right and that was just the impression he gave out to others. Maybe his face screamed a ‘just-right’ kind of guy. So, there was no reason to think it had anything to do with Anon. There was no reason to think about Jun in such a way. Just a minor coincidence.
~
The coffee helped Aiba wake up and realize the work he still had to go through if he wanted to make it to their gathering that night, but his mind kept drifting off to another scenario away from the office, more specifically to their dinner.
More than half of the employees had already agreed to meet there. There would be food and drinks, probably lots of drinking. It was an occasion where people were rarely left behind. Aiba trusted tonight would not be the exception.
This time, when he grabbed his phone, he scrolled over Anon’s chatroom and opened a different one.
‘Nino, you there?’
‘I have a plan.’
It took several minutes for the younger to pick up his phone.
‘This better be good.’
‘We’re having a party tonight.’
‘The whole office is going to be there.’
‘I don’t know if I should feel offended. And you’re not
going to invite!?’
‘Let me finish! ’
‘If it’s an office party, it should be obvious
right? Anon will be there too?’
‘I don’t see why not.’
‘In that case, I need to make sure that
everyone is there.’
‘I’ll keep you posted.’
‘Wait… I don’t get it.
Does this mean I’m not invited?’
~
Aiba looked up from his phone and at the serenity of the office. The employees scattered across the room, each in their own world just inches from each other, murmuring to not disturb he stillness of the afternoon. Hidden behind his monitor, Aiba scanned the office until he found his subject near the entrance. The secretary, Ohno stood in a corner, typing away into his tablet as he listened to a young employee’s concern. Ohno was a slightly smaller man from the average employee, and regardless of his position, he still held a gap of years between him and the director.
Even when he was the only one the employees liked to consult things over with, half of the time, they couldn’t tell if Ohno paid them any attention. To some, it seemed more like Ohno nodded his head out of their conversations in most occasions.
For Aiba, Ohno always seemed like a compromised man who looked for the greater good in the office. He may have been lacking in some aspect but perhaps things like his loss of sleep could be linked with his hard work. He had the background to assume such a post in the office, but it was concerning when Ohno didn’t get their messages across to the director.
Once Ohno had finished typing into his tablet and the young employee had returned to his own cubicle, Ohno headed down to the director’s office by the far side of the floor. As brief as it seemed when he watched Ohno walking past him and after giving him a detailed look, he realized there was no doubt he had seen Ohno Satoshi’s profile before, that afternoon at the café.
Aiba could have sworn he’d noticed the secretary glaring in his direction as he passed by his cubicle, yet his clever hiding skills behind his monitor helped to drift his attention away and, shortly after, Ohno disappeared into the director’s office. Now was his chance.
Jun had taken notice of his cubicle neighbor acting quite on edge before he finally decided on leaving his chair and walking to the other side of the office. Jun’s fingers paused over his keyboard to watch Aiba cross the room and stopping at a far desk where a female sat by. If he remembered correctly, it was the same one who had asked for donations for their dinner.
They exchanged a brief conversation before he saw Aiba returning, and he fixed on his screen before Aiba would notice.
Aiba let out a loud sign as he sat on his chair before reaching for his phone.
“Everything okay?” Jun tried asking him looking as detached from Aiba’s business as he could.
Aiba turned to younger, finding his attention glued to his monitor and his fingers working on his keyboard as if he didn’t have to move an inch to take notice of his movement.
Aiba’s answer was nothing more than a weak chuckle to spare him any made-up explanation that might had made complete nonsense, but still managed to make himself look like an idiot in front of Jun.
To avoid eye contact, Masaki unlocked his phone and opened his recent messages.
‘It’s done. I think everything should work
out just fine.’
‘I have no clue of what you’re talking about but
good for you.’
‘I was making sure everyone was
invited to tonight’s dinner.’
‘Everyone… meaning?’
‘Secretary Ohno.’
‘I totally know who you’re talking about.’
‘Your costumer yesterday.’
‘The creep? Why would you want him there?’
‘I need to look into something.’
‘Anyway, I have to go.’
‘You do you.’
‘P.S.: Why is Matsumoto’s chair so close
to mine all out of a sudden?’
‘Going with your instinct? ’
‘It’s not me, I swear!’
‘Sure thing’
‘Call me when you get to his lap.’
‘NINO!’
~
‘Finally finished for today!’
‘Thank you for your hard work.’
‘I could use a cold beer right about now.’
‘That sounds quite tempting.’
‘I hope there’s enough to go around at
the dinner.’
‘Will you be there?’
‘…’
‘Everyone’s going.’
‘It’ll be impossible to tell who you are.’
‘I promise I won’t try if that’s what you’re
worried about.’
‘I just wanted to know if there was a chance
we could share a drink together.
As my thank you.’
‘In that case, I will make sure to drink with you.’
‘You will?’
‘Thank you!’
~
Masaki sent the message and grabbed his coat to head out the empty office. Jun stood by the elevator, fumbling in his phone which he put away once Aiba came to view. As they had arranged, he waited for Aiba until he finished with his work for the day, hoping they would be of each other’s company for the evening.
~
The room for their gathering may have seemed bigger if there were less people than the ones present by the time Aiba and Jun arrived. Both men were invited to sit by the far side of the table, where there still was some space left for them. Apparently, they had arrived just in time for the food to start being served. The plates took up the entirety of the table by their quantity. As they began to pour drinks into one another’s cups, Aiba looked around the table and all the attendees were perfectly lined up on all his sides. So far, there were no signs of the subject of his interest.
Meanwhile, Jun had begun to pour the first serving of alcohol into Aiba’s cup in a kind gesture. Aiba slightly bowed his head at the younger and returned the favor as he served Jun’s cup. The table was so cramped they both had to squeeze in together to get a spot to place down their drinks, even if their shoulders brushed every now and then. Aiba hoped this wouldn’t last all night as he began to feel a small blush on his cheeks he hoped Jun wouldn’t notice by their proximity. If not, the alcohol was a good excuse to hide it.
Aiba decided to take this as a reminder. If Anon had promised to drink with him tonight, confirming their presence there, while Aiba had promised he would not look for them, why would he still work himself up to find them? The only one he had compromised himself with was Nino, but even he wasn’t putting much care into Aiba’s search. At least Nino pretended to listen, but Aiba was doubtful when it came to rely on him. In any case, it would make Nino even happier if Aiba forgot about the whole deal and just went on with the evening. It was the end of the week, at least he deserved to take it easy for just a moment, eat to his heart’s content and let the rest of the night roll away.
The paper door to their room slid open. Secretary Ohno had arrived.
~
After the toast routine, which in this occasion was headed by Ohno himself with his invitation to enjoy their evening to the fullest, their dinner officially began. After the food was served, the drinks kept coming in, passing from one another until every cup was full, before being emptied right away.
For the first half of their evening, Jun remained seated quite closely to Aiba, enjoying little chatter with the latter as the room got filled with joyful laughter and voices speaking over each other. The night moved slowly and both men limited themselves on nibbling on food. It must have been by the time one of their co-workers had begun their demonstration in the folkloric dances of Hokkaido that Jun had been snatched by a couple of female employees who had begun to hit him with an endless list of questions. By then, it was just Aiba and his drink.
He tried to divert his attention to the main source of entertainment as most of the room laughed drunkenly at their employee’s mispronunciations of their typical songs, but Aiba wouldn’t find this to his enjoyment. His attention diverted somewhere else when he saw his friend and former cubicle neighbor, Kazama Shunsuke drinking at the other side of the table.
For a moment, it may have seemed like a misplacement of some sort, as Kazama didn’t seem to be taking part of the spectacle yet he was present in the premises. He wasn’t specifically drawn to the songs and dances either. He simply drank from his own cup of beer quietly as if the ambience couldn’t reach him. No one paid him much mind as he wasn’t trying to engage in conversation with anyone. He was alone, almost apart, and isolated from everyone else. Everyone, except Aiba, who could see him. But there was no way to get to him, not if he wanted to talk and ask of what happened after the moment he was fired. But it was not at this place and time that this seemed ideal. If he would have wanted to talk to Aiba about it, he would have contacted him before. Besides, he seemed to be quite absorbed in his drinking.
Aiba turned away from this idea to a different scenario at the back of the room. While one side was the life of their party, the opposite side was an empty corner with decorations of flower vases to fill in the empty walls. By that corner of the room he found Ohno. Their solitary secretary, who had seemed to lose his place in the room without the director to boss him around, was giving his back to the rest of the world, sitting on the floor all by himself admiring a single vase of radiant white lilies.
His slumped shoulders gave out a sigh occasionally. In his hand, his glass was almost running empty, yet he wasn’t looking willing to return near the table to refill. At this point, getting on his feet would be walking out the door. But by no means was this what Aiba had planned. He grabbed the nearest bottle before getting up from the table and approaching Ohno at the other side of the room.
Jun reached to his side, signaling Aiba for a way out of the conversation he had been dragged through for a while now, before he realized Aiba had disappeared from his spot. For a second, Jun thought he had lost Aiba to the talks and laughs of the room and he searched for him discretely as to not interrupt his female co-workers endless chatter, until he finally spotted him approaching the secretary by the end of the room.
“May I?” asked Aiba to the older who had a hard time building a reaction to Aiba’s visit.
When Ohno finally raised his sight to whom asked to join them, he could barely return him a nod in approval. Aiba took a spot beside him, setting aside his cup to serve another drink into Ohno’s.
“Thank you for your hard work.” Aiba repeated in protocol.
Ohno said nothing but to signal him to stop pouring.
“Thank you for coming all this way.” Aiba presumed it was only natural to acknowledge his assistance. After all, he had no idea of the kind of work he could be putting off at the moment to be there. “We appreciate you’ve joined us for tonight. I hope it wasn’t of any trouble.”
Ohno nodded, his eyes never meeting with Aiba’s. It was no surprise his words were so hard to come across.
“How are you enjoying the evening, sir?” His words didn’t seem to be put of interest to the one beside him.
Ohno’s gaze contemplated the tatami mat, his finger tracing on the straws, as if he’d forgotten Aiba was addressing him.
“If you’re not comfortable with this sort of gathering, I understand. Perhaps we would have arranged something different if we knew you were coming before hand,” Aiba tried again, this time surprised by a heavy sigh from the other. He waited for the right timing to not make him feel pressured. “Is… everything okay?”
“Say…” Ohno began rather slowly. “Would you… tell me something?” his voice sounded broken, perhaps he already had his proper service of drinks.
“Anything, sir.” Aiba inched closer, allowing his muffled words to reach him.
“Have you ever -hiccup-… been in love?”
Masaki almost choked on his breath. His thoughts froze unable to process the words Ohno spoke. Still Ohno didn’t seem the least shaken nor embarrassed to have said them aloud. Masaki cleared his throat a couple of times before speaking.
“I- I’m sorry… what was that, sir?”
Ohno groaned as he pouted drunkenly. “I’m so pathetic…” Ohno hid his face in his palms. “What gives… he doesn’t even know who I am.”
Aiba’s eyes bulged, not daring to meet eyes with him, afraid he might be witnessing something he was not supposed to hear.
“I can’t go up to him. I can’t talk to him, but then, why do I have to think about him all the time… It’s so tedious. And then when I look, always, he just happens to be there!” The secretary waved his hands drunkenly. “I mean… I’m trying to work! Why can’t he go bother someone else? And then… it’s me who gets scolded. And then there’s that… stupid Sakurai! I don’t get paid enough to be pushed around like this… he is so stupid! Stupid!”
For once Aiba was grateful the director always refused to join in their gatherings.
“It was going okay… I was fine being invisible… so why did I have to talk to him…? Why did I have to blow it? Now he hates me.”
“D-Don’t say that…” Aiba tried stepping in. Not sure of what he was doing himself, he hoped the alcohol in his system would take over. “You don’t know that for sure. There is still a chance that you can be honest about your feelings. But… You should tell them straight and stop avoiding it. If you really like them, you must be honest with yourself. It’s the only way you can truly open up to them about what you feel and, regardless of what their answer might be, I promise you, you will feel so much better. But you can’t let your fear make that decision for you.”
“You think so…?” said Ohno is a small voice.
“I’m positive. So, don’t give yourself a hard time. Who knows what their answer might be? And don’t try deciding for them either. That is completely up to them. But… once your feelings get across, you’ll feel much better.”
There was a faint sound of a sob which Aiba could tell straight away it had come from him. The drunk secretary sniffed repeatedly, his head facing down as to not let his state be shown. He wiped his face with his sleeves, getting rid of any traces that may have proven his crying.
“Thank you…” said Ohno with a drunk and broken voice.
Masaki contemplated the older, still wiping tears from his eyes and downing what remained in his glass before setting it down loudly. Masaki could only begin to wonder what sort of troubles Ohno carried with him each day. With such strict conditions of never showing a hint of feeling or complaint to anyone, his job as the director’s right hand never seemed any more arduous. Like a mask, he wore his indifference as if it was just another part of his suit. But now, as Aiba sat up close to him, he could see the shadows that framed his eyes and the light of his young-looking visage fading away only to be replaced by the trace of countless sleepless nights.
Ohno’s head began rocking, his eyes no longer focused on the wall. Eventually, there was not much of a battle to fight before his head surrendered to sleep and leaned on Aiba’s side, surprising the younger with the new weight in his shoulder. Aiba didn’t bother to shake him off; instead he allowed him the favor. He couldn’t imagine all the things that may have happened today alone for him to be feeling this way and now part of him felt sorry for dragging him to their party.
He’s just another one of us, thought Aiba. Another employee trying to survive, someone who has it rougher than others. And indeed, Ohno had quite some guts to be able to face the director every single day and fulfil every one of his orders without a miss. On the bright side, Aiba was glad he had insisted Mitsushima to extend him the invitation. For other non-selfish reasons, Ohno needed to be there, he needed this night for himself. To drink away his own worries and patch together the pieces of his broken heart.
The liveness of the party had still not faded from the table as the laughter and chatter continued. The two co-workers in the back of the room had captured two pairs of eyes, a pair which watched over them fondly and another to whom the site seemed to be a sore to the eyes.
~
After the evening had begun to wind down, the guests began to slowly disappear, returning to their homes with their families or undertaking their quest to find their next bar. Aiba had returned to the table as his body had started to give up on his drinks. His hand held his cheek as he began to doze off to the decreasing chatter. His eyelids could barely hold themselves open for a second as he noticed a figure approaching him and sitting right beside him on the table.
By then, Aiba’s head surrendered and fell over on the table, refusing to fight against the alcohol and sleepiness. All he could perceive was the sound of a drink being poured into his glass and the clinging of their drinks in a silent toast. His effort to talk came out as an incoherent mumble, catching only but a shadow of the one next to him. The latter’s glass set down on the table loudly, moving away from Masaki’s side and disappearing with everyone else out the door.
A/N: That's the end of Chapter 3! Ohno seems to have a lot to say. And could this mysterious person be who we've been waiting to see? Thanks for reading and see you next chapter! Comments are very much appreciated~
no subject
Can I ask you why, sometimes, Aiba refers to his "stalker" as them? I'm just curious. :)
And I can't wait to know who's anonymous is!
no subject
Aiba uses "them" and "they" as gender neutral pronouns because he is not sure of Anon's gender.
Thanks for reading~!