Golden Era (Book 2)

47. New Love

To avoid unwanted sightings the next day, Ayuna took a cab to Hikari at the crack of dawn. Bounding into the student council office, she was surprised to find Noa's office door wide open. Against her night-owl tendencies, she was buzzing with energy. At seven a.m., she was in a pressed uniform and her hair was curled to take on the day. 

Expelling a sigh of relief, Ayuna was comforted to see her friend so readily bounce back from family drama. In the past, it would've taken Noa days of self-destructive behaviors before recovering. It was a sign of maturity, Ayuna guessed.

Giving her door a few light raps, Ayuna greeted, "Good morning."

Her knocking practically sent Noa jumping out of her skin. Placing a hand over her heart, she reproached, "Ayuna! Don't creep up on me like that!"

"Creep up? Didn't you hear me stomp up the stairs?"

"I'm busy, can't you tell?"

Head tilted, Ayuna watched Noa fidget with her files. "Did something happen while I was gone?"

"I'll be the one asking for updates," deflected Noa. "What happened with the business meeting in Osaka? Do we have a new partner or not?"

"We do. Our generous new partner will be helping us secure Utsubo."

"His name's Shiraishi Kuranosuke, right?" asked Noa. "Atobe told me he's some bigwig at the Ministry of Tourism or something..."

Eyebrow arched, Ayuna asked, "You spoke with Atobe while I was gone?"

"Ah, about that..."

"Wait a minute... What happened to 'that-pompous-ass-from-Doutsu'? Since when did you start addressing him by name?"

"W-Well," stuttered Noa, "I figured if we're all going to work together, we should probably keep it civil, as you suggested."

Watching her with obvious amusement, Ayuna said, "I see... You're warming up to him, aren't you?"

"Something like that," Noa muttered. Seizing the moment to redirect the conversation, she demanded, "Enough about me—where were you last night? The meeting in Osaka shouldn't have taken more than a couple of hours! And what happened to updating me on your whereabouts?"

Before Ayuna could explain, Noa wagged a finger, "Nuh-uh, don't even try to make up an excuse: I know you didn't come home last night, and that didn't happen because of some freak accident or train malfunction in Osaka..." Trailing off, Noa sidled up to her friend with a sly grin, "Just say it—where did you spend the night?"

Shooting her a reproachful look, Ayuna grumbled, "Please don't act like you weren't tracking my GPS signal. You'd have called for a rescue team if you weren't keeping surveillance."

Unable to stifle laughter any longer, Noa chortled, "Man, am I glad I was too hungover to accompany you! I would've become the third-wheel!" Elbowing Ayuna once on the side, she wriggled her eyebrows, "So, how was it?"

"How was what?"

"C'mon, it's me! There's no need to act innocent!"

"But I'm not..." Suddenly realizing her friend's insinuations, heat rushed to Ayuna's face. "It's not what you think! Nothing happened!"

"Right," Noa snorted, "Am I really supposed to believe that you and Fuji Shuusuke just had a spontaneous sleepover—"

Clapping a hand over Noa's mouth, Ayuna's eyes darted around the annex to make sure there weren't any early arrivals. Thankfully, the building was vacant this early in the morning.