When Hotaka had last seen the younger girl, she had been vibrant, bright, and energetic, as was her typical self. She had even left his boss better than when she had found him. Her impact was incredible, too. The green-haired male had gone around the offices trying to speak to anyone he could find. Granted, he did very poorly and often scared some people, especially since the threat of getting fired was very much there. He also collapsed after speaking to a handful of people, taking a nap, which was very out of character for him. Nonetheless, he was doing better than he had been doing before, not that he was any less grumpy or coffee-addicted.

However, the issue was that she hadn't come by. Either to EvoMech or to Drisless; she was completely absent. For the first day, he was disappointed. He wanted to see how she had managed to get his stubborn boss to listen to her, but the next day, he found himself in a worse mood. Granted, he knew she had more on her plate than school, but the thought that she could have become another victim was at the forefront of his mind.

Usually, he was the one giving even the worst individuals the benefit of the doubt. But when he had directly witnessed a murder, what was he supposed to think? Impatient, unsettled, and unusually frustrated, he tapped his feet impatiently as he stood straight. For a while, he restrained himself from moving as his employer engaged himself in a meeting with other high-profile clientele. Normally, it wasn't an issue for him to stand still for an hour or two, but because he hadn't heard anything from her, his mind was far from tranquil.

Fidgeting with a particular pencil, he did all kinds of things with it to calm his nerves. Spinning it around in his hand, throwing it up in the air, and even placing it to his chest, he took in deep breaths. The more he played with the girl's belonging, the more he felt self-conscious about it. He knew he had stolen it, and clearly, stealing wasn't something he held in high regard. That being said, he continued to question himself on if it was really so bad. If he had just left the pencil there, she wouldn't have come back for it. It was something barely worth a single sich, a cheap pencil to use for a bit. Murmuring to himself, his mind raced a million miles an hour.

"Well, I'll just...give it back to her when I see her next. But...what if something happened? I...Should I just go over there and..."

Oblivious to his surroundings, the purple-haired male hadn't realized the meeting had ended, a very sore male glaring at him. Uncrossing his arms from over his chest, Ryota reached to snag the pencil away, wondering why it was his bodyguard was so distracted. He could have been shot dead thirty minutes prior and Hotaka wouldn't have realized it. Frowning, the male all but flinched as the younger male's eyes snapped up to him. His eyes fixated on the pencil, and before he could even blink, he reached out to grab it back, only for the older male to duck back in surprise.

"Wait, give it back?"

"It's a pencil," the green-haired male stated rather obviously, lifting an eyebrow as he inspected it, "Why were you so distracted today? If someone came in and began stabbing me, would you have even noticed?"

"Yes? Yes, of course! I...Well, it's just I'm a little worried is all. Anyway, can I just have it - "

"I don't care if your mother is dying, Ishikawa. You're here to protect me so do your job. Got it?"

"Yeah, but - "

Rolling his eyes, the older male tossed back the pencil, watching as his bodyguard gave an overly relieved look. There was no reason for him to be so attached to something used for writing. It wasn't evidence for a case, it wasn't a gift - or, if it was, it was a bad one - and, clearly, it wasn't his either. He always used pens, something that drove the older male half up the wall whenever he would make a mistake. Unable to erase it and refusing to buy whiteout, he would simply scribble it out which irritated him to no end. It was ugly.

"Play with it again on your shift and I'll throw it in the trash."

"Yes, sir."

Pocketing the stolen item, the purple-haired male walked briskly behind his employer, reverting his attention back to the job. Truth be told, there weren't many threats posed to the male. Ryota wasn't the son of a wealthy noble, just a wealthy inventor, and he was only the second-born as well. The only threats could be nobles trying to force him into subjugation, but it was rare that some actual threat came his way. Most of the time, it was just accidents. Nonetheless, his father wanted all of his sons protected. That was why Hotaka was hired.

Regardless, he understood it reflected poorly on him when he was fidgeting the entire meeting. Still, what was he supposed to do? The person in more danger than his employer was the (h/c) haired girl. She was the one living with a murderer, trying to get the inside scoop on whatever he was up to. As such, he was very conflicted as to whom he should prioritize. This was especially true as one was a whole lot nicer to him. She smelled better, too. Lighting up red, the male shook his head, trying to erase the thought from his head. How dare he think like that?

"Get out," Ryota snapped, sitting down at his desk with a frown.

"But you said - "

"It's 1:55pm. I don't want you here when she comes. Out."

"Who - (Y/n)? How do you know she's coming?!"

Ryota held a straight face as he took out his phone, facing the screen to the befuddled younger male. He gawked at it for quite some time, his eyes widening and his mouth becoming wider and wider. Sooner or later, he grabbed at it, snatching it out of its owner's hands before holding it at every which angle. He just couldn't believe it. The green-haired male had managed to get his hands on the girl's number. How had he done that?

Curious, the purple-haired male darted his attention to the messages on the screen. Scrolling up, he wanted to know what the two had been talking about. As he did so, his eyes skimmed as quickly as possible to get as much as he could. However, before he could go higher than a dozen or two texts, the phone turned black. Though he attempted to turn the phone back on, the older male just stared at him with a huff before holding his hand out, demanding his property be returned to him.

Immediately, the green-haired male began scrolling on his phone, darting his eyes back up at his bodyguard. It wasn't like the male to invade someone else's private property, but it was fortunate he had the newest model of phone. It was a collaboration between EvoMech and Enkidu, a new company started up by an already very wealthy genius. The results were incredible. As his father worked on the paper-thin contacts that provided a more interactive experience with the device, the genius created top-of-the-line hardware and software for the phone itself.

One of the green-haired male's favorite features about the phone was that there was a safety feature that only allowed the owner of the phone to look at the screen. This made the screen appear black to anyone but the user. Although there was a feature to turn it off to show someone else something, it was only for a minute, something that could be changed at any time in the settings. Either way, seeing the purple-haired male's reaction to that cut-off time was both entertaining and quite pathetic.

"She gave you that?" the younger male gasped, trying to get the phone back, "There's no way."

"It's important to coordinate. She gave it to me to send me information about our meetings and to check up on me. It's no different than having one of our supplier's phone numbers."

"Well, sure, but...do you think - maybe - I could...have the number, too? Just to...coordinate, too."

If there was one thing that Hotaka was not, it was a liar. He could never get the words out of his throat to speak something so far from the truth. Whether it was because of his mentality or his overall perception of good and bad, it wasn't something he could improve on. As long as he had known him, Ryota never heard a good lie out of his mouth. Then again, such occurrences were extremely rare. The only times he had done such a thing was to play along with a game or a prank of some sort.

Many times, this was extremely convenient to the green-haired male. Not only did having a bodyguard that couldn't lie give him peace of mind about his loyalty and dedication, but it also proved useful in avoiding certain things. For example, the previous year when it had been his birthday, his family had been planning a surprise party for him, something Ryota absolutely hated. As such, when Hotaka had lied to him claiming he had to go home early because his father needed to speak to him about a new product, the older male used it to his advantage. He didn't go home that night, and as such, avoided the surprise party altogether.

"You're not my secretary. I don't see why you need it."

"It would just be...for security reasons, you...know?" the purple-haired male claimed, looking down at the ground with great guilt.

"If you want her number, just ask her. It's not my number, so I don't get a say in it. My goodness, you're a child, Ishikawa."

Pushing his fingers together, the younger male felt shame. There was absolutely no reason he needed the girl's number, but wouldn't it have brought so much comfort to him to be able to talk to her whenever he wanted? To make sure she was safe, obviously, was the plan, but there could be other reasons, too. After all, they were friends, so it would be nice to ask about her day or to cheer her up if she needed it. Gazing shyly back up at the older male, he swallowed his nervousness and put on a bright smile.

"Even if I got you an expresso from Rose? With a side of strawberries and whipped cream?"

Ryota stopped in his tracks, giving his bodyguard a very stern look.

"I would sell my soul for a coffee from that stupid cafe. Go get it."

Eager to earn his reward, the purple-haired male set off with a sprint. It definitely wasn't proper to leave his protectee unattended, but there wasn't a lot he could have done either way. If he had remained, he would have been kicked out while he practiced with the (h/c) haired girl. The older male was far too embarrassed about it to let him anywhere near it, something he couldn't quite understand. Still, if his boss told him to, he would stay away.

As quickly as he could, he grabbed the order and ran back inside the building. Though the cafe wasn't too far away, he would have preferred to be near the green-haired male just in case he was needed. Placing the coffee and fruit on the male's desk, Hotaka felt great pride. He waited for an hour until the lesson ended, eagerly awaiting seeing the younger girl. Clearly, she was alive, but he needed to see with his own eyes that she was well, too. It was important she be healthy and without injury.

When the two came into the office, he near pounced on her, holding himself back just barely. Instead, he flashed her a smile, tilting his head to the side out of sheer joy. She was smiling as well, waving at him, but as soon as she came, she left, teasing the green-haired male before she did. While Hotaka would have liked for her to have talked with him as well, there was plenty of time for that later.

Standing in front of the male's desk, he observed as Ryota melted into absolute joy. As he sipped his expresso and munched on strawberries, he couldn't have cared less about the ethics of phone number sharing. He simply handed his phone to the male, letting him see the screen for a minute while he input her number into his phone as well. To the older male's surprise, he was well disciplined the rest of the day, taking special care to protect him. He wasn't so distracted any longer, but Ryota just cared about the coffee.

The two returned to the Akiyama mansion soon enough, the green-haired male going to his room while Hotaka went to his. At that point, he was officially off of work, one of the other bodyguards taking the night shift for him. The first thing he usually would have done was clean his guns, but instead, he took out his phone and hopped on his bed. Cuddling up to his pillow, he held it close to his chest, pressing his cheek against it as well. Nervous, he pulled up the younger girl's contact information on his phone.

Typing it into his messages, he blushed, trying to figure out the perfect text to send first. It was important that he explain who he was and why he had her number when she had never given it to him. Granted, he could have just told her Ryota had done so, but then the older male might have been in trouble. As such, he strained his brain on what exactly to say, finding himself trying out a sentence before completely erasing it and berating himself for it.

"No, that's dumb," he groaned, burying his head into the pillow with embarrassment.

Trying to erase the message, he found himself working up enough courage to finally send a message to her. As soon as he hit the send button, his heart began to beat uncontrollably. It felt constricted as well, his nerves all bundling up inside of the central organ. It felt like an eternity before he got a reply back, all the while he clenched his pillow tightly, fearing she would be upset with him.

Still, when she had replied, saying a simple "hello", he let out a massive exhale of relief. He once again tried to figure out what to say to her, wanting to talk for a bit, granted she wasn't busy already. It felt like he was being pushed aside. Sure, she had no obligation to spend time with him, but that was why he wanted her attention more than others'. There was also the fact that they were partners when it came to finding evidence to convict Shota Yasojiro of his crimes. So he was just asking for a little conversation.

"Did you...have fun...with Ryota today?" he murmured, reading his text out loud to see if it sounded, in any way, weird.

She replied positively, stating that he had been making good progress. There was also the matter of him clearly having practiced in some shape or form before she had gotten there. His relationship with a small handful of his employees was getting much better. Hotaka was glad for that, he really was. Not only did it mean that his boss was becoming happier, but it also meant that he could see the (h/c) haired girl on a semi-regular basis. Waiting for her to show up at school wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do. He always reacted like she had been killed, after all. Hopefully, now that she had his number, she would let him know if she needed help.

"I want to have fun with you, too," the younger male sighed, smothering his face in his pillow with a sudden burst of uncontrollable energy, "This is too hard! I should just say something already!"

Frustrated with himself, the purple-haired male began typing away, trying to get all of his thoughts out of his head. Along with his worries and fears of her being so near danger, he wrote so much of what he wanted to do with her. It would have been nice if she could go to another game of his and cheer for him again and he would have loved to have some kind of study session with her, too. They only shared one or two classes, but it still would have been fun. The two of them could have gotten a yummy drink and some food while doing homework.

Of course, Hotaka realized that typing out an entire essay was bound to scare the younger girl away. He wasn't that clueless. As such, despondently, he deleted it all, trying to come up with some magical way to get what he wanted. It must have taken him far longer than he thought, considering she had sent another message asking him about his day. Hugging his pillow tighter, his eyes softened before feeling another burst of energy begin to swirl around in his chest.

"How nice," he cooed, blushing at the thought of her interest in him, "It was alright...just wish...you could have...been there...at lunch to see...Sitri destroy...all of Kenko's self-esteem."

In return, the male received a laughing emoticon, prompting him to smile wide. He quickly set to work on his next text, trying to tell her all about what she had missed during her absences at school. Of course, there was the stuff that went on between their friend group and the ice skating club - which, at that point, had gotten a little used to (Y/n) being away - but there was also more serious stuff. That was the homework they had gotten assigned. Although most of their assignments were turned in online, it was always good to know what the professor had said about them in person.

Clearly, the younger girl was an academic. She'd been accepted into Drisless primarily because of her grades despite her extracurriculars being very impressive. As such, he figured she would care deeply about her grades and being absent from classes, and he was right. Beginning to express worry about catching up on all the material she had missed, the male felt a pang in his heart. Of course she would be nervous! Panicking, he tried to console her as best as he could, offering to have a catch-up session with her.

She replied with great enthusiasm, sending directions to the place she wanted to meet. He knew it well, being a very popular spot for other university students, so he was excited to get to try it out, especially with the (h/c) haired girl. Typing away with as much speed as he could muster to accept the invitation, he held back an excited squeal before placing his phone down and tackling his pillow. He squeezed it as hard as he possibly could, rolling back and forth on his bed.

Considering how excited he was about it, it was a bit difficult to get some sleep. Knowing this, the male immediately began to plan out as much as he could for it, starting with his outfit. Normally, he wasn't big on fashion nor did he really care, as long as it let him move with ease, but it was important he look good. He couldn't really answer why and he didn't even stop to think about it because the purple-haired male really believed he was just excited to make plans with a friend. How wrong he was.