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The next morning you checked your email and saw something from Bouncing Ball Corp about your interview. It was nothing much but it was along the lines of, "We're very excited to have the possible opportunity of having you join our team."
You didn't respond, assuming it was an automated email they probably sent out. You were a little nervous about the interview though, you hadn't interviewed for a job in a while. You didn't need to, of course, you had a well-paying secure job. That you loved.
Still, with everything Ayaka left you, you didn't necessarily have to work, but you thought it would be a good idea for the long run. You didn't wanna have to depend on her money to get you by. It was a different story when you were working for her.
Your anxiety had been high with the idea of an interview. You were grateful to Hiroaki for the hook-up, but what if you still didn't get it? You also wondered why the hell he had a connection to anyone at a company called 'Bouncing Ball Corp'. You weren't even familiar with the company. At that thought, you decided why not look up exactly what the hell it was.
Just a simple search of the company's name and you quickly discovered it was a company that made...sports balls. Wow. That wasn't what you were expecting, to be honest you thought it was going to be..well a company that made those bouncing yoga balls. You know, the ones pregnant people use for some reason unbeknownst to you.
Since you already had Google opened you decided to look more into who tan the company. You found out the CEO was fairly young—close your your age, which caught your attention. Kenma Kozume was a famous YouTuber, and stock trader that much you already knew.
You saw him once in a headphone ad, assuming now they must've been gaming headphones since he was a gaming channel. It made sense in your head. The rest of the board members were people who were much older than the Kenma guy. No one stuck out as you scrolled through the list of members until you saw a familiar face.
Crazy to think he was the CEO of a company along with other things at such a young age.
A beautiful woman, with light brown hair, and dark eyes. Miyuki Nakamura, your neighbor's ex-girlfriend. What business did she have being on the board of a sports ball company? You clicked on her name which was blue and underlined meaning it was linked to another page. The page it took you to was sort of an "About Me" page.
There was basic intonation about who she was and another section about why she was on board. That section was entirely i quotes meaning they were her words, so you read them.
"Growing up I was really into sports. I joined as many after-school sports as I could in middle school and it was a great opportunity for me. Kept me busy and physically active, so with being a board member here I like to think I'm helping the next generation find something they enjoy doing."
You didn't know a thing about this girl and you didn't personally know her. But she didn't seem like the sports-playing type, which was a flawed assumption to make just because she was a model. Your negative intrusive thoughts always got the better of you. So you closed the tab and decided you'd watch some TV before getting ready for your interview.
And you had a lot of time until then. So you browsed on Netflix for a long movie and you chose La La Land starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. It was currently 9:30 a.m. and the movie was 2 hours long so by the time you'd finish you could watch at least 3 more long movies. Maybe the Titanic.
Not long into the movie, you begin to think of yourself as Mia and Sakusa as Sebastian. Only because you thought you were similar to the two of them personality-wise. Sakusa seemed to be cold towards you and you were quite the opposite towards him. Quickly though you realized you didn't want an ending like Sebastian and Mia, if there was ever a real beginning that is.
About an hour and a half in you paused the movie to use the bathroom and as soon as you stood up there was a knock on your door. You groaned out loud, probably loud enough for the person on the other side to hear. Nonetheless, you sucked it up and walked to the door, and whipped it open not even sure who you were expecting to see on the other side.
But definitely not Sakusa.
"Oh," you mumbled upon realizing who you had angrily pulled open the door for. "Hi, uh how can I help you?" Mentally you yelled at yourself because you sounded like a retail worker. "Hi, I just wanted to come over and let you know that my teammates will be over at around 7." The dark-haired male stopped. You furrowed your brows "You're telling me because..." you drew out, waiting for his reply.
"Oh right, I just wanted to tell you because they might be rowdy like last time and there will be more than the of us. I'm sorry, but they all kind of decided to come to my place. I had no say whatsoever."
He explained, and you noticed he sounded slightly embarrassed but before you could say anything he added. "But we're only gonna be here for maybe an hour before we leave."
"It's okay, I'm gonna be gone before then actually, I have a job interview." You watched as Sakusa's eyes widened, you thought that would be the end of your conversation but he opened his mouth to continue it. "Where if you don't mind me asking?"
"Bouncing Ball Corp, as an assistant--or receptionist. I'm not totally sure, I was kind of given the job opportunity and I've been confused about the whole thing." He nodded along with what you were saying as if he understood your struggle. "Are you taking a train?" You nodded in response, confused as to why he cared.
"I can give you a ride if you want so you don't have to sit on a cramped train ride to Kyoto for an hour." The volleyball player offered and he broke eye contact briefly. You had to admit that watching a grown man get visibly embarrassed while talking to you almost made you smile. "That's nice of you to offer but I couldn't possibly. Like you said, you have plans with your friends, and driving me there would kind of ruin that for you."
The corners of his lips turned upwards ever so slightly and you heard what sounded like a chuckle leave his voice. "That's kind of the point, it gives me an excuse to not have them over."
Oh!
You felt funny inside for more than one reason. You stood there with your insanely attractive neighbor who was offering to give you a ride in his probably nice car. He's using you as an excuse to avoid his friends. Meaning he'd rather be with you-- who he barely knew, over his teammates. Which either meant he really didn't like them or he really liked you. Or at least enough to wanna be around you.
