Shina and I took a taxi to Arisu's company. It didn't take long for us to reach the location. We exited the taxi, paid the fare, and entered the building. Once we entered the main lobby, we were greeted immediately by Shou and Arisu.

 

"Welcome secret prize winners, Hiyori Shina and Ena Haru, to my company. Shou-san and I, Nagisa Arisu, will be your guides for today's event! Before we start," Arisu removes two company badges from her jacket pocket, hands them over to Shina and me, and continues, "These are your visitors' badges. Please keep them on you at all times during our time together."

 

Shina and I clipped the badge to our clothes. After doing so, Arisu and Shou led us to her office which was on the top floor of the company. They guided us to the elevator and when the elevator came, Shina and I were surprised that the elevator was made mostly out of glass. "Wow, a glass elevator. I never thought I would be able to enter one of these." 

 

"Me too," Shina says in awe. Arisu and Shou were smiling at our amazement. "Just wait till we start heading up. The view of the city is stunning." Shou said as the elevator began to move. A moment later, Shina and I were presented with an amazing experience of seeing the cityscape from the rising elevator. Shina and I both exclaimed and gasped at how everything looked from another perspective.

 

A few moments later, we reached Arisu’s office. A young woman with long and sleek brown hair stood up from her desk and approached us. With a clipboard in hand, she greets us with a smile and with a gentle voice, “Good morning Arisu-sama, Shou-sama. May I presume that these two are the secret prize winners Hiyori-san and Ena-san?”

 

“Yes. You are right. Shina-san, Ena-kun, this is my right-hand woman and secretary, Takagi Minase. Minase, do you have today’s agenda printed out?”

 

“Yes, I have. Here, a copy for everyone.” From her clipboard, she hands over a copy of our plans for today.

 

Taking a look at the agenda, I was surprised to see two lists. On the left are plans for Shina and on the right were plans for me. "Huh? We're separated? We're not going to be together?" I asked as I pointed to the paper.

 

"For the first half, you two will be separated. Shou will take care of Hiyori-san and I will be taking care of Ena-kun. After that, Shou and I will switch."

 

What! I'll be with Arisu first?! What am I supposed to do now?

 

I'm surprised that Kousu- I mean Haru is not showing that much reaction that I'll be with him first. For a second-year student still in high school, he's quite mature and can keep his cool. I'm impressed.

 

However…

 

Ahhhh!!!! What am I supposed to do?! How am I supposed to get out of this situation!? Think Haru! Think!!!

 

"With that said, let's get our day started, shall we? As planned, I'll be with Ena-kun first and then Shou and I will switch."

 

"Right. Ms.Hiyori-san please follow me." Shou motions to him to follow. "O-ok. See you later Ena-kun."

 

"Yeah. I’ll see you later.”

 

I was taken by Arisu to the opposite side of the building away from where Shou and Shina went. “Uh, Nagisa-san-“ Just as I was about to say something, Arisu turned around and said with a smile, “Please, call me Arisu. In return, I’ll address you as Haru, ok?”

 

“Eh? Is it alright to address the CEO of the company so casually?”

 

“If I said it's fine then it's fine, right? Besides-," She pauses, turns around, and says with a grin, "I have a feeling that we're going to become good friends after all of this."

 

I made an audible gulp as I didn't know what to say. "I-is that so? What makes you say that?"

 

"Just a hunch. I have a good feeling that you'll become one of my models in the not-so-far future. Anyways, let's hurry to your dressing room. We have a lot of work to do!" Arisu walks around to my back and pushes me forward.

 

We arrived at a small room that was outfitted with various clothes and makeup. In the room was someone who I was well acquainted with when I was working at Radiant Garden. She was my hairdresser and cosmetics artist Akiko Elise. "Ah! Haru-kun! Fancy meeting you here!" Elise says with glee as she runs up and gives me a big hug. She rubs her cheek against mine like a doting sister would when she meets her beloved sibling from school.

 

“E-Elise?! What are you doing here?!”

 

“What am I doing here? Well, this is where I do my internship. You being here makes my day so much better~!”

 

Oh? Does Elise know who Haru is? And just looking at how close they are means that they’ve known each other for some time. I wonder what's their story.

 

“Ow! Are you biting me?! Get off me, Elise!”

 

“I don't want to!”

 

Elise latched onto me and began to bite my cheek. During this entire ordeal, I forgot that Arisu was also in the room with us. “Excuse me for ruining your reunion, but do you two know each other?”

 

“Yes! I’ve known Haru for a while now.” Elise lets go of me to go talk to Arisu. My body loses its strength and falls to the floor. “I thought she would never stop…” I said in a weak voice.

 

“At first, when I met Haru, I thought he was just some creep, but to my surprise underneath that long unkempt hair of his; is such a handsome face that took my breath away. From then on, I’ve wanted to be his exclusive hairdresser whenever he comes to work.”

 

“You two are coworkers?”

 

“Yes, we both work at The Radiant Garden and -!”

 

“Ahem, Elise, that's enough. We shouldn’t talk about that here.” After recovering from Elise’s attack, I intervene to prevent her from revealing my secret.

 

“Oh, right! Sorry Arisu, but I can’t say anymore because it is a workplace secret.”

 

“Is that so, but…” Arisu walks up to me with a smile. As she got close to me, my host senses were telling me that she was up to no good, but to keep my cool and calm appearance, I just stood there and look at her with a curious gaze.

 

Arisu extends her hand towards my face and cups my cheek in her soft hand. Her face got closer and then spoke. “I know who you are Ena Haru-kun or should I say… Kousuke?” Elise and I were speechless at this sudden revelation.

 

How did she know….

Author’s Note: I’ll be alternating between 1st and 3rd person to see which suits this story better. Also, sorry for the lazy writing towards the end of this chapter. I didn’t feel this chapter and decided to just push through it and get to a new chapter. Hopefully the next few chapters are bit more polished.