Shelving Matters

What made it more intense for her was that it was him, as she knew it would be if she ever saw him. But she hadn’t prepared herself for seeing him so soon. It was literally the third day. What were the odds of finding him?

Even though she hadn’t seen him as an adult for decades it was never something that she could forget. All the time she spent with him in Sumiko’s world and even Masa’s remained burned in her mind. She feared that she would have forgotten with how much Aya’s world took, but it never did. Seeing him now was only proof of that.

Kasuse leaned in, poking her with his briefcase. “Mizuno? You’re not fainting again?”

She snapped out of her daze and blinked looking back at him. Her eyes darted between Yuki and Kasuse, getting a surprising stunning effect that she didn’t count on happening. All her training should have better prepared her, but being blindsided left her off balance.

“You two look like you just stepped out of a meeting,” Yuki cheerfully said, clearly trying to make up for the awkwardness that Yumi created.

“Not too far off actually. Since you work here, we’re here to see your boss. We’ve got a meeting scheduled shortly. You know a place where we can wait for her?”

“Oh, a meeting?” He tilted his head trying to think if he had heard anything about it. ‘I guess I am just a regular, she probably wouldn’t tell me anything.’ Yuki raised up his hand. “Let me go check for you.”

“Thanks!” Kasuse leaned over to Yumi as Yuki hurried off. “You feeling alright, you look white as a ghost.”

Yumi swallowed trying to recover. With Yuki away, she could feel herself returning. He had stopped making her act like a giddy school girl a long time ago, but seeing the real him must have triggered something in her. It was unexpected, but she could control it. ‘I think it was the shock more than anything...just get it in control, Yumi…’

She brushed her hair back with her hand and looked over at Kasuse. “Yes, sorry about that. The food was having a small disagreement with me, but it seemed to have passed.”

“Well, keep it together until the end of the meeting.”

Yumi smiled back at him, having regained all of her composure now. “I’m doing fine. Just a little bad luck! Nothing to worry about.” She patted him on the arm and started to walk over to Yuki. “We’ve got a bookstore to lock in.”

Gathering by the register, Yuki was talking with another employee quietly while subtly motioning to them. She guessed that they were either the owner for someone more senior than him to verify the accuracy of their statement. ‘I’m guessing he’s just pretending not to know me.’

When they reached the counter, Yuki spoke up a little more. “These two were the ones.”

Bowing a little to them, Yumi greeted them. “I called yesterday, Yumi Mizuno from Minabuchi.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a card and handed it over to Yuki.

Taking it from Yumi, he looked at it for a moment and quickly passed it over to his manager. “I didn’t know anything about it.”

“No, that's fine. They’re expected. Just wait here, I’ll go let Miss Kawamura know her guests have arrived. You can go back to stocking Hayashi.”

“Yes boss!”

“I apologize for that, I should have told everyone about it.”

“That’s fine. Sorry for the confusion.”

Chapter 562 - Shelving Matters

After the polite exchange, they turned around and went into the back to find the manager. It was a brief wait before they were allowed into the back. Through some storage, they found a small office that had been built out from the larger storage room. It was hardly designed for meetings, but it would work for their needs.

It was a tight fit for the three of them, but Yumi and Kasuse talked back and forth with Miss Kawamura over their plans. She knew about Soseki as well, which made things easier. In a matter of ten minutes they had an informal agreement and even a date. Once they got Soseki and his editor to approve for the go ahead, they could start making firm arrangements. Yumi wasn’t fond of all the nebulous discussions, used to acting rather than talking, but it was the world that she lived in right now.

By the early afternoon they were back on the road returning to the office. Kasuse tapped out a message on his phone while Yumi drove, having remembered the way back well enough. Once he finished, he put the phone back. “There we go. Gave them an update. Tomori sounds pleased and mentioned that the editor sent along the final version of the book.”

“Sounds like we’ve got some reading to do.”

“Another late night I swear this job’s going to take a year off me at this rate.”

Yumi laughed a little. “You were enjoying yourself. I heard you talking to the owner.”

“If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right.”

“Damn straight. It’s going to be quite the event for that little shopping center."

“A brilliant idea to go look that up. Can’t believe I didn’t think of it.”

“We’ve still got a lot to do and are going to need the rest of the team to put this together.”

It was a pleasant drive back to the office with Kasuse in good spirits. He managed to keep the fire lit the whole drive back. While she drove, he downloaded the manuscript and started to read it out loud for them. It helped to pass the time and she was surprised by the talent of the young man. Clearly, his winning was no fluke. If he got the right attention she felt that he would go far. Which meant that it relied on them to carry him to as many readers as possible.

Back at the office, Kasuse went straight into work getting everything that they gathered from their trip today. Yumi started to formalize the plan with everyone that she talked to. It was still going to be on the legal department to put together the documents, but she still needed to put it all together for the requests. Like Kasuse said, they had a long night ahead.

It wasn’t until almost eight that she left the office and began her walk to her apartment. About half way on her walk her phone rang. She looked at the number and it did not recognize it, but she answered it anyway. “Hello?”

“I think you picked up some tricks from Saki with a maneuver like that,” said the now familiar voice of Yuki over the phone.

She grinned a little, having passed Yuki two cards when she handed it over to him. Trusting that he would notice, he pocketed the second one without anyone noticing. Since neither of them intended to make a scene with the other in front of strangers, it was the only way that she could get her number to him. “A little sleight of hand comes in handy.”

“I’ll watch my wallet the next time I’m with you.”

She giggled a little happy to hear him again, even though it had only been a few days since the last time. “How are you doing?”

“Pretty good.”

“Working at a bookstore, that’s got to be a dream for you.”

“Guilty. It’s hard not to just stop to read a book. Guess I can thank Aya or whomever for giving me a good job. But Yumi, you’re a PR person?” When he looked at the business card it just said that she was in marketing, but nothing more specific. It looked like a pretty stock card that the company used.

Nodding to him as though he could see her, she answered. “It’s a little more complicated than that. I’m part of some sort of special team that basically gets the worst jobs because something is behind schedule. So they call us in to fix it and get results.”

“So you’re a bigshot,” he teased.

“Feels more like a big doormat, but I guess it serves a purpose, though I’m still not sure what that is right now.” She arrived at her apartment's main door and paused her conversation. Waving the night watch, she entered and grabbed her mail before making it to the elevator. I’m surprised that you’re so close. I’m over in Shinjuku during the day.”

“Yeah, I was guessing that we’d have to take the train to see each other. Anyone else with you?”

“No, it’s only three days so I didn’t count on finding anyone else. So I’m counting myself lucky that I stumbled across you. Guessing then that you haven’t found anyone either?”

“Nope, so far all alone over here, sort of. I have to share a place with a roommate from work.”

“It safe to talk?”

“Yeah it’s fine. I’m out on the balcony right now.”

Pausing again, she fished around for her keys and opened the door. Dropping her purse down on the shelf and hanging up her coat, she walked into her living room. “If you were closer I’d offer you to stay at my place. There’s more room here than I know what to do with.”

“Yeah the commute wouldn’t be fun, but if things stay like this long enough it might be better just to work closely on things.” Yuki took a sip of his tea that he had been warming in his hand for a while. “Oh speaking of which, any leads?”

Yumi sat down on her couch leaning back. “Maybe, there’s someone here that stands out, Miki Tomori. There’s something about her that certainly doesn’t fit right, but I got fooled before, so I’m watching right now and seeing what happens.

“Sounds like a plan. Well if you need a second opinion just let me know.”

“She’s my boss and manager for most of the department. That’s not going to be a casual meeting that I can arrange.”

“Then I’ll be your sounding board.”

“Thanks Yuki.” Since it had been so long that she had a chance for a normal conversation with him that didn’t involve troop movements or betraying someone, she kept the call going. She still had work to do, but she didn’t want to miss the chance. Just hearing his voice gave her some peace of mind.

Half an hour passed quickly before she realized that they had been talking for so long. An alarm from her kitchen told her that she needed to get her food. It was going to have to be the end. A reluctant sigh came from her lips as she stopped their chat. “Dinner’s ready now and I need to get ready for the meeting tomorrow.”

“Alright, Yumi. Have a good night and keep your head clear.”

“Thanks Yuki. For everything.”

“Always.”

She ended the call and got up to get her food. The long day started to come to an end, though she still had quite the night ahead of her with a book to read. She hoped that she could read enough of it before the meeting. She was rather curious about what the author was like.

The night steadily passed as Yumi completely forgot about her main objective and got lost in the book. It was going to be a dangerous road with so much more to balance. Systems and rules kept her apart from Miki and the uncertainty about the woman only continued. She couldn’t afford to ignore her for long.