First Day at the Office

“You sure you want to wear that?”, Kuro asked as they left the apartment.

“Hm? You don’t like it?”, Hinako replied innocently.

She had the ninja anime t-shirt on, she had bought.

“I don’t mind… but it is your first official day at the office… so… first impressions and all that.”, Kuro explained himself and scratched his beard.

“So true! That’s exactly why I’m wearing it.”, Hinako retorted with a sly smile.

Kuro shrugged and they went to the elevator.

“Are we running today as well?”, Hinako asked and entered after him.

“No… we ran every day of Golden Week, so I think we can skip today’s cardio… and I don’t want to be late…”

They left the building and headed towards the nearest metro station. Kuro usually had his earphones in when they used public transportation and watched anime or videos while on the train. Hinako watched him do the same today. She still struggled to understand him. Hinako heard about Otakus from her classmates in school and the academy, so she knew what they were, or rather what they were supposed to be. Kuro fit those descriptions often perfectly, but other times he was just normal. The last few days she often thought about Yukiko’s words and got very intrigued. They arrived at their station and got off.

“Do you actually know it?”, Kuro asked suddenly walking next to Hinako.

“What?”, She asked confused.

“The shirt…”

“Oh! Yes of course! I watched some anime when I was little.”

“Hmm… you did?”

“Yeah! But from middle school on, I got too busy with schoolwork and training, that I did not have time for pretty much anything else.”

“I see…”

The rest of the way to the office Kuro was silent and Hinako just followed him. They entered the office and went straight to the main part, where most MDF mages had their offices. It was busier than the last few times and a lot of the people gave them strange looks as they passed them. Kuro did not seem to care. He slowed down in front of a door. The sign next to it read, “Special Operation Command, Mage Yamada.”

“Onwards into the lion’s den, I guess…”, Kuro mumbled and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”, Came the muffled answer from inside.

Kuro opened the door and held it open for Hinako.

“Ah, Adept Homura! Come on i-“, Yamada said but paused as she looked up from her desk and noticed Hinako’s shirt.

Her eyebrows furrowed. Yamada herself wore the MDF uniform suit. She had her long black hair put up neatly.

“Did he make you wear that weird shirt?”, Yamada asked with a glare.

“Huh? Oh no, that is one of mine.”, Hinako replied innocently.

“Oh… sorry, I thought…”

Yamada fidgeted a bit with the pen in her hand.

“If you find this weird you should have seen the things he had me wear at home at night.”, Hinako added with a cheeky smile.

The pen hit the desk at the same time Yamada’s eyes and mouth reached maximum openness.

“At home? At night? Kuro? KURO! Where is that guy?!”, Yamada yelled angrily.

Hinako looked confused to the side and noticed that only she had entered the room. Yamada’s eyes fixated on the door that was slightly open. She swirled her finger around and a small blue, glowing ball appeared above it. Yamada then pointed at the door gap. The ball turned into a blue flash and shot out making a crackling sound. Someone yelped outside the door.

“Get the fuck in here, Otaku!”, Yamada shouted even more aggravated.

“You hit me…”, Kuro complained, appearing in the door and holding his shoulder.

“I hope it did hurt.”

Yamada gave Kuro a stern look as he came in.

“Why is she saying something about you… making her wear something… at night… at home? Explain! NOW!”, demanded Yamada and tapped her finger on the desk.

“That’s… umm… I just gave her the only clothes in her size that I had, so she had something to sleep in.”, Kuro explained nervously.

“Why the fuck is she sleeping with you?!”

“Well… she is not sleeping… with me…”

Kuro turned red and flustered. Hinako decided to remain silent and enjoy the show of Yamada getting angrier by the second and him fidgeting like a small boy, while trying to explain.

“That’s just… fucking great…”, Yamada sighed after Kuro had explained Hinako’s current living situation.

“He hasn’t done… anything strange… to you, has he?”, She added towards Hinako.

“Nope. Not really.”, Hinako replied with an innocent smile.

“Good…”

Yamada turned back towards Kuro and just stared at him for a while.

“If he ever does something, don’t hesitate to tell me and I’ll… reprimand him on the spot.”, Yamada threatened.

“Ah, okay, but I think I’ll be good. I can handle him.”, Hinako replied.

Yamada gave her a strange look.

“Hm… If you think so… I’ll try and find someplace for you to stay, maybe you can stay at one of our safe houses…”, Yamada thought aloud.

“Ah, you don’t need to. I don’t mind my current place and it’s quite convenient, so there is no rush. You’re okay with it too, right Kuro?”, Hinako asked with a cheeky smile.

“Ah… yeah…”, Kuro answered curtly.

Hinako felt the hostile gaze and as she met Yamada’s eyes, she nearly put up a barrier instinctively. But in the next moment all hostility vanished.

“Whatever… Here this is your first assignment.”, Yamada said, switching to a casual tone and sliding a sheet of paper over the desk. Kuro gave it a quick look.

“Seriously?”, He asked furrowing his brows.

“Have fun and don’t forget these.”, Yamada said with a sweet smile, while putting a small cloth bag in front of her on the table.

Kuro sighed, grabbed the bag and turned around.

“Let’s go, kid.”, He said and walked out.

The two women looked at each other for a moment. Hinako noticed that Yamada now looked somewhat relieved.

“Go on… have fun… kid.”, Yamada said, barely containing her enjoyment.