By the time Ryota had gotten over all the teasing the (h/c) haired girl had inflicted on him, he began shaking. As she pushed him out of his office - quite literally - he couldn't stop his legs from trembling. Obviously, it wasn't just about him being socially inept and incredibly dense. He had a lot of anxiousness about meeting people, and though there was some excitement in there, it was mostly his nerves bundling together uncomfortably.

Sitting the green-haired male down, (Y/n) had gone off and practically grabbed an employee and dragged them over. Very confused, the young man she'd taken looked left and right when he found himself in front of his boss's son. He must have thought he was in some kind of trouble, beginning to nearly cry. However, as she gave him a bright smile and reassured him, he felt just a bit better, only for Ryota's cold gaze to make him worried once more.

"Go ahead," the younger girl hummed, patting the green-haired male's head, "Introduce yourself like you normally do."

"Right," the male nodded, clearing his throat before extending his hand politely, "Akiyama! I work as an overseer and project manager in EvoMech for approximately 100 hours every week! My net worth is - "

"Okay! Stop! Way too formal and very strangely business-like. If you approach an employee like that, they'll only reply to you like that, right? What you want is a friendly, casual conversation. Instead of talking about your job and all, why don't you share a fun fact?"

"I plan to live until - "

"That is a morbid fact, not a fun fact. What about what your favorite thing to do is? You never know if you have a common interest with someone."

"I...like to...drink coffee! Yes, coffee is wonderful. Do you...have a common interest in coffee?"

"M-Me?" the employee questioned, looking back and forth between the strangely friendly female and the oddly robotic male, "No, I...prefer tea, actually."

Ryota gave a despondent reaction as if befriending someone who enjoyed tea was completely impossible. He didn't know how to continue the conversation, looking up at the (h/c) haired girl for more tips on how to progress his relationship with the stranger. She smiled to encourage him, letting him relax just a bit, but it wasn't a lot. He was still stiff, both in tone, choice of words, and even in body language. (Y/n) swore if she just pushed him a bit with her pinky, he would have fallen right over.

"So tea's a no-go. But even if you don't like something someone else does, it doesn't mean you can't be friends. Anyway, you're religious about coffee, so why don't we move on to some other interest."

"I-I also enjoy horses. Do you enjoy horses?"

"Sorry...no."

"Then...Then magic tricks! Or...maybe not...it's childish."

The young man was obviously very suspicious of what was happening. After getting dragged away from his workstation and put down in front of two strange people, anyone would be. However, most anyone would also pity Ryota. He was working as hard as he could to try and understand other people. As such, when he brought up something they did have in common, he supposed it was only right to make him feel a bit more validated. There wasn't anything wrong with it, was there?

Pulling out a deck of cards, the young man began to shuffle them, watching closely as the younger male stared with awe. Far from trying to figure out what trick he was going to show him or how it was done, he, instead, just gawked at the cards like a child getting a present. Even when he was told to pick a card, his excitement and wonder only continued to persist. And as the young man shuffled the cards before asking him to find his card, he beamed from ear to ear.

"It's not in here," he frowned, "I can't find it."

The young man then grabbed the deck back before shuffling it again. "Accidentally" letting one of the cards fly out, it landed face up, Ryota's card staring back at him. His mouth dropped to the floor and he held the card tightly, very excited about the trick. Realizing his over-eagerness, he then calmed himself down before handing him back the card. A faint murmur of awe escaped his lips before he thanked him.

"It's not the best trick in the world but - "

"No, I've never seen it before! It was really...uh, well, cool."

"Really? When did you get into magic tricks?"

At once, Ryota perked back up again, forgetting about his embarrassment. Instead, he launched into a tangent about how much he loved the subject, listing his favorite tricks and even a few shows he'd seen. It went smoothly, going back and forth between the two. There were a few hiccups that the male had made, especially when he began talking about something the other male didn't understand, but it wasn't half-bad for his first practice.

(Y/n) felt a great sense of pride at seeing his attempt to branch out to other people. He wasn't antisociable. In fact, he seemed to want to speak to other people just as much as Hotaka did. Just a little push and he was already well on his way to making a friend in his workspace. She smiled as the two even exchanged numbers. Before long, they parted, the young man having to go back to work despite Ryota trying to get him to stay a little longer. Regardless, as he looked back over at the younger girl, he gave a pleased expression.

"You did a good job, Ri-Ri," she murmured, petting his head adoringly, "You made a new friend. I'm proud of you."

Blushing, the green-haired male attempted to disguise it by coughing, turning his head just slightly to the side. She could still see it but pretended not to, wanting to encourage his behavior. Of course, it would make things a lot smoother if he acted the way he wanted to instead of putting on airs, but no one was perfect. Instead, she was hoping there were people like that young man that saw him for the quirky little dork he was.

"Do you want to keep practicing? It would do you some good to try speaking to a girl, too."

"Ah...yes. That sounds like a good idea."

It was definitely rough, to say the least. Ryota had no idea what to do in order to talk to a girl, scaring away at least two before one very patient young woman gave him a chance. With countless corrections, the (h/c) haired girl tried to help as best as she could. He seemed filled with shame whenever she interrupted but she helped him feel not so discouraged. After all, they were only practicing. Once he got better at it, he could have done it all without her help. She would have been proud to see the day.

At the end of their first day of practice, the green-haired male had successfully made acquaintances with one of his male employees and one of his female employees. Both had given their number so he could be in better contact with them, and each time, his face was full of a gentle joy that almost didn't suit him. He wasn't used to it at all but was clearly eager to become fast friends with everyone he could. It was surprising.

At the same time, his social battery had been drained to the point where, once they returned to his office, he collapsed on the sofa. He groaned strenuously for a bit before turning his head over to glance at his phone. With a shy smile, he sighed. Completely satisfied with the way he'd pushed his limits that day, he felt both a sense of exhaustion and great fulfillment for what he'd accomplished. So he looked up at the younger girl, wondering if she had anything more for him.

"You did a good job, Ri-Ri," she grinned, patting his head only for him to swat her away with a disgusted expression, "I think you should work on some conversation topics if you want to have a more flowing talk with someone. I'll see what I can do for next time, but you definitely improved. Good job, okay?"

The male didn't respond, only turning his head on the couch. He balled up a little, bringing his knees closer to his chest, remaining silent. As such, the younger girl's job was finished. She pulled out her phone, looking at some supplementary materials to use for the next class she had with him. Of course, she would need to study them in greater detail later on, but it wasn't bad to get a headstart at looking at them.

"Oh, and I think you should try to make friends with Hotaka. You seem to dislike him, but...he might be the easiest person for you to talk to. He doesn't judge you. He won't get impatient with you. And you know he'd jump at the chance to help you. Don't push yourself or anything, but try it, alright?"

Saying her goodbyes, she made sure her scarf was wrapped tightly around her neck before leaving. Ryota didn't make any move to see her off nor did he move from his spot on the couch. Instead, after thirty minutes, he found Hotaka had entered his room with great urgency. The purple-haired male looked around eagerly for a minute or two before he slumped on the floor and sighed loudly.

"Why didn't anyone tell me she was leaving?" he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, "I wanted to hang out with her...What did you guys do anyway?"

"She'll be back next week."

A look of confusion crossed the younger male's face as he turned to look at the form of his boss. He blinked quite a few times, trying to process what had happened. Had the Ryota Akiyama actually replied to him? And not just for a cup of coffee? Bursting at the seams with absolute joy, the male's smile was bigger than it had been the whole day - and that was saying something. Leaning forward on the floor, he looked forward to what the male would say next.

"Really? That's great! You two hung out a lot today, right? (Y/n)'s really sweet, isn't she?"

"...She's...a pervert."

Ryota mumbled before grabbing the blanket on the other arm of the couch and completely covering himself from head to toe. He refused to be seen, finding it difficult to even speak to the younger male, let alone make his body language match. Really, he wanted to sleep for the rest of the day to recover his energy, but that wasn't an option. As such, he simply laid down for a bit to have enough to continue working.

"What do you mean?" Hotaka hummed, giving a concerned expression, "She's not...that."

"Yes, she is," the older male grumbled, expending more than he had just to talk to his bodyguard, "She uses vulgar words and she teases me...but I guess she's fine."

"So you do think she's nice and friendly!"

"Just go get me some coffee."

"Yeah, 'course! Be right back, boss!"

Ryota groaned, wondering how he was going to get through the rest of the day. Like when he exercised, he felt good for a bit by doing it, but he never wanted to do it again. When their next meeting rolled around, he wasn't so sure he would be fully recovered. Even as the younger male brought him some coffee, it was only partially helpful. Of course, the taste was just as divine as ever, but it was still lingering in the back of his mind that he was bound to embarrass himself in countless other ways. He slammed his face onto the couch cushions, sighing loudly to get rid of all of his worries.

. . .

"Welcome back, my lady," the Yasojiro's main butler smiled gently, opening the car door for her to step out of, "How was your day out?"

"It was interesting, to say the least, but helpful, I think. Thank you, Okura. You make me feel very comfortable. Hey, you deserve a raise, you know. Should I talk to Shota about it?"

"There's no need. I'm already paid more than I can ever spend. I'll just take the thought, miss. Would you like me to have a simple dinner brought up to you? I'm afraid everyone already ate. We weren't sure when you would be back."

"That'd be nice of you. Could you bring an extra bowl of rice for me?"

"Of course."

Truth be told, if there was one thing the younger girl couldn't understand, it was why Okura was still working for Shota. She knew that he had been with the family since the redhead's grandfather and was even good childhood friends with him. However, he clearly disapproved of what the redhead had done. He portrayed extreme guilt about what had happened and he hadn't really recovered from it. Instead, she would often find him staring at the same spot in the foyer where she had found the puddle of blood.

He was in mourning, meaning he knew the person who had been killed, and probably very well. It bothered her that everyone seemed to know who had died. Even the maids and kitchen staff acted strangely around that spot. She heard a few mumbling about the "unfortunate young master" which helped her realize it was a male that had been killed. And judging by the title they seemed to give him, he was from a wealthy family as well. But, why hadn't anyone come looking for him?

Sighing, the (h/c) haired girl walked past the same hallway to get to the main bedroom she slept in. On the way, however, she paused. One of the doors caught her interest; a room she knew was Shota's. His study, where he did most of his work, whether for personal business or for his company. Yet it was the personal business that most intrigued her. It was nearly seven at night, a time she knew he went on a walk around the grounds, so it was vacant. However, she was debating whether she really wanted to go inside.

In the end, her curiosity, as always got the best of her. She knew it was only a matter of time before her luck ran out but she couldn't help it. It was in her nature. Hesitantly, she turned the doorknob, pushing the door open just a bit. That was when she heard the weeping of a woman. Her first reaction was to immediately run away, but a handful of strides later, she paused.

It wasn't Shota that was in his study, but a woman? And she was crying? It did occur to her that he was "cheating" - not that she viewed their relationship as a romantic one - but that didn't seem to line up with his aim. So she snuck back, pushing open the door again to see Narcissa. She was bawling on the floor, curled up into a ball with her back flush up against the wall. Not seeming to notice the (h/c) haired girl's presence, she jumped in surprise when she entered more obviously. Snapping out of it, she stopped her crying before putting on a look of absolute animosity.

"You sneaky little witch," she hissed, "Is it just your hobby to get in the way of other people's jobs? You have no idea what your stupid actions make others go through! Get out!"

"Why should I leave? You're the one in my fiance's study."

"He's only your fiance when it's convenient. Otherwise, you don't even look at him! Is it so hard to feign interest in someone?! Why do you have to make things so hard for other people?! You don't even - "

The woman covered her mouth abruptly, glancing around nervously. There weren't any cameras in the room - at least none that she was aware of. Regardless, it was best to err on the side of caution. As such, she looked to the side before slamming the study door shut, continuing to glare at the girl. The same look was given back to her, both of them on poor terms with the other for various reasons.

Regardless, she stared into the distance for a bit, considering all of her options while she leaned against the wall. She bit down on her thumb as hard as she could, determined to finally pick a side. It was Shota's or (Y/n)'s, and frankly, she despised them both. One held her life in his hands and the other kept testing it simply by being herself. Even if she aligned herself with one, the other was bound to interfere. Why couldn't they have been a normal pair of lovers? It would have solved so many problems, saved so many lives, and freed so many people from the battlefield they called their relationship.

Narcissa didn't know what to do. She and someone she held dear would have no doubt been killed if she sided with the (h/c) haired girl. And should she have chosen to side with Shota, no doubt (Y/n) would continue snooping around, trying to ruin everything. If she should have succeeded, their lives were forfeit anyway. If that were the case, however, the ravenette would have rather spited them both than give either one the satisfaction of winning.

"I will never like you," she declared, walking around the table to open a cabinet aggressively, "I will never even tolerate you. You are a selfish, spoiled, useless girl who knows less than nothing. You prioritize your own curiosity over others' lives and your arrogance knows no bounds."

"My, I'm blushing..."

"I hope that you will destroy yourself in pursuit of useless things, and I hope you will take Yasojiro down with you. If there's one thing you deserve, it's to be with him. So take this. Take this stupid thing, indulge your curiosities, and, when Tria I and die because of it, finally take the hint to leave us alone."

The ravenette threw a book to the floor, slamming the cabinet shut. She took no pride in making the younger girl bend down to grab the journal nor did she give any emotion other than pure rage. Only when (Y/n) reluctantly left - a hesitant look on her face while she did so - did she let out a great puff of air, slumping against the wall. Staring up at the ceiling with dulled eyes, she wondered how many days she had left. In all honesty, she couldn't answer whether she was hoping for less or more, but she knew one thing for certain; she despised (Y/n) and she loathed Shota.