Transfer (1)

Just like Takeshi had ordered me to, I went to meet our boss the next day. As usual, I was asked to wait in the reception room, and was then promptly called in. Coming face to face with him again, I was not as shocked by his attire as the first time.
More surprising to me than that were the other people around him. Not only his secretary, who was to be expected, but also Takeshi, and for some reason, Seiko. With this gathering, I started to imagine I had made some kind of mistake and was getting admonished for it.
Regrading me with a cool expression, the boss spoke up. “Mr. Moriya, do you know why I called you here today?”
“For the transfer?” ‘I really hope so.’
“That is correct.” ‘That’s a relieve.’ “You had been assigned to protecting a group, which was due to necessity and opportunity at the time. A transferal to a more specialized duty would normally happen after two more years of regular service. However, this time it was more of an exception due to the injury of an employee. Normally, we would return you to the normal security service. Yet, I would have a different plan in mind.” My insecurity might have been visible, as his next word were spoken in a calm tone to reassure me. “Rest easy, we are not laying you off. But before I come to the main point, I’d like to know how you would evaluate yourself for your recent duties.”
“…” I pondered a bit before giving my answer, although it didn’t change the initial idea of my response. “To be fair, I think I did alright. Although that may be in part due to my charges. If it had been people I wouldn’t get along with as well, the results might have differed.” I really had been grateful that it had been them.
“Not only that, it was also in part due to Take- Mr. Imai, as he provided me with much insight on the finer details of the job. As such, there were many things I had learned. Yet, I am still in a learning phase, and need to gain more experience before I could call myself a proper bodyguard.”
“That is good to hear.” Boss was stroking his chin. “Sadly, self-awareness and reflection are a rarity among the current youth. Still, you might be a bit too harsh on yourself. From what I have heard from your coworkers and your charges, you did an excellent job. So you should accept some praise.”
“Thank you very much.” Hearing it from the boss, who was at the very top of our company, really meant a lot. “Normally, I’d have no qualms assigning you to a similar position or back to regular duty. However, we are transferring you elsewhere.”

Now that was something that sparked my curiosity, as well as some excitement and anxiety. “Another different duty?”
Boss took a moment, to give me a proper reply. “…You might call it that. Cutting to the chase, you are no longer hired as a bodyguard, but a personal assistant, PA for short. I am sure you have heard of the term before.” ‘…What?’
“You see, during my talk with Mr. Imai about your performance until now a few things came up. While it was a period too short to assess your full capabilities, we still came to the conclusion this would suit your skill-set better. By the way, do you know how Ms. Himura introduced you to our company?”
“No.” Taking a quick look at Seiko, she gave me an apologetic look. ‘What did you do?’
“She told us about your martial prowess and personality, which is what made us hire you in the first place. Aside from that, she also gave us an insight into your private life, too.” ‘Is that legal?’ “Within legal confines.” ‘…Okay.’
“Which would be your home-economical capabilities. On your resume, it was written you worked in a kitchen before as a part time job. In fact, a few of our employees had eaten there before, and assured us of the quality of the food. Furthermore, your capabilities in the concerts two days ago gave food for thought.” Boss grinned at his pun. As no one reacted to it, his smile vanished quickly.

Despite the praise, in this case it seemed wrong for me to take glory for anything of that. “I hadn’t done much, just looking after our guest band. And before, managing to help organize, that was just luck with knowing people.”
But boss objected to that. “There is no luck, Mr. Moriya, just hard work. Befriending people is a skill not everyone has. Which is another reason for your actual transfer.” From our more small-talk oriented style of conversation, he resumed in a more serious manner, as it turned to the meat of the matter.
“Changing devisions is nothing new here, it happened before. While you work as a PA with everything considered, you are still officially hired as a bodyguard under security. We have enough people that work in management, and their skills in organizing and filing paperwork eclipses yours.” ‘Ouch.’ “It is the interpersonal connection we wish to utilize.” From there, boss chose to get to a more detailed position. “You know of Ms. Hanekawa, correct?”
“Yes.” ‘How does she come into the picture now… Maybe?’
“We usually assign PAs to our talents in order to take care of some of their affairs, so they can focus on their work with a clear head. Ms. Hanekawa however has not been able to cooperate with the staff previously assigned to her on a proper level, is what has been relayed to me.”
‘I mean, it is her we are talking about. I can get how people focused on humbleness and humility can be put of by some harsher words. Especially in the beginning. But is it really that bad?’ By then, I had stopped to wonder how boss always got the various informations he used, and simply accepted it as a fact that he knew everything. It made work easier.
“Now, as for you, you have already met her while working with RainySunshine, correct?”
“Yes.” ‘If he knows, why ask me in the first place?’
“What do you think of her, as a person?”
‘Seriously?’ “Well, I think she can be rather direct, and doesn’t mince her words, but otherwise, she is a nice person.”
It looked like my answer garnered his interest. “Would you describe her as cold?”
“No. She was outright caring when watching over the idols.”

Takeshi smirked. “Few people would call her that. If they weren’t afraid of retaliation, some might call her ice-queen.”
‘Are we in high-school or something?’ But, some doubt crept into my mind. “How can you be so sure that we get along? And that my capabilities are sufficient?”
“We hired you. Himura recommended you, and I gave my approval. You had the requirements.” Boss gave his clear cut stance.
To win me over for the idea, Takeshi added a bit of detail. “I asked the people around her, and it seems she didn’t complain about you.”
“Is not complaining enough?” ‘Seems like a low bar to clear.’
“In her case, yes.” He gave me a tired nod.
From there, boss took over again. “Since you are on a good understanding with her, and have the necessary skills, we would like you to change duties. Naturally, you can refuse if you want, and there would be no repercussions. But know this, we are certain you can fulfill the job. As a side note, another reason for your transfer of working next to Mr. Imai was a test.”
“Pardon?”
Boss reclined in his office chair. “Actually, the idea came when we hired you. As Ms. Himura referred you, I had a talk with her before. Seeing your resume, as said before, made me think that this job would be a better fit. Now, this short test had confirmed my suspicion. Naturally, before we conducted such things, we needed to make sure that your skills were on par for your initial job, and that our assumptions of your personality aligned with reality.”
‘I had heard that he has an uncanny ability to judge personal, which gave him this position, but seriously. Without even having me met first?’
“We would like an answer by the end of the week. Should you refuse, you will be transfered to normal security duty.” With this, he was done.

The secretary stepped forward, and thankfully did a professional follow-up, summarizing the details.
“As previously mentioned, we are by no means intending of letting you go. While you are still a valuable asset to us in security, we came to the conclusion that this line of work would fit you better. My recommendation would be to unofficially transfer and try out the work. Then, if you notice you would rather continue working with us, the transfer will be annulled. Even if you transfer, you might be called upon helping out when we have a personal shortage for certain events. This is a summed-up version of the content in these files for you.”
She walked to me, and hands me a stack of papers. …It had to be at least 20 pages, if not more. All double printed…
“Please, give it some thought.”
Once she finished, boss took over once more. “Do you have any questions, Mr. Moriya?”
I didn’t need to wreck my brain to come up with one. “How did this matter come to your attention?”
Either boss wasn’t surprised, or he hid it extremely well. “An acquaintance of mine has informed me of the situation, your involvement. To my knowledge you haven’t met him yet, but a mutual friend of ours. His name is Iwagaki. Ring any bells?”
‘The gambling head. …I do not like that I can think it, but somehow, it seems to make some kind of sense to me. Sadly. …I have been here too long for it to become normal.’ I gave a short nod to show a sign of response.
“During a get together, we talked a bit about a few things in our departments, which lined up and resulted in the current proposition. Any other questions?”
“No.”
He nodded satisfiedly. “Then, dismissed.”

I left the room with the two other guests. The first to speak was Seiko.
“Sorry, I have to head back to work. Come to Misato’s later, and we can talk, okay?”
I wanted to say a few things, but it could wait. And it looked like she was actually working for once, so I should cut her some slack “Sure.”
“Nice. See you later. Ah, and see you too, Takeshi.” And she left. Afterwards, the fellow bodyguard turned to me.
“Do you have a moment?” Not waiting for a reply, he started walking. Following him, we arrived at one of the smoking rooms. He took out a pack of cigarettes, and lit one for him. After a long breath, he turned to me. “Are you angry?”
“About what?”
“If I hadn’t told the boss in detail of your work, you might have been able to continue working normally. Well, gone from special work to normal. We burden the young folk with decisions. Usually, the older ones should help decide them.” He had turned sentimental, which was somewhat fitting for his age.
“And that’s why you get rebellious youth wishing to do their own thing. …I don’t see it as a bad thing. It is a path I have to decide for myself. Giving someone an option is never a bad thing. And I think, you did it because you wanted to help me, and not put me in a bad spot.”
“Maybe. But intention and action do not always line up.”
“But I do know you well enough to know what your intentions are. I had not only been watching over the idols with you. You were next to me most of the time, offering me insight. Now, I had also gained some about you.”
He laughed for a short moment. “Kids these days…”
“Not only that, but we both know the boss had basically decided the whole thing ahead of time, so there really wasn’t anything you could have done to be responsible for it.”
As I spoke, Takeshi finished, and we left the smoke filled room. “Sorry to make you accompany me. Since you don’t smoke.”
“Please, don’t worry about it. It is not that I particularly dislike smoking. I just know it can turn into a bad habit, and I want to prevent it from developing.”
“These are some smart words. Try to keep by them.” He checked a clock on the wall for the time. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have a few things to take care of. Look after the girls, will you.”
And so, he wandered off. He could still do this, since I was in this position. But once I took any other, no matter which, this would change. So, I should fulfill this possibly last request.

To do so, I got to the recording aisle. Upon hearing voices audibly, I didn’t bother to check the recording room itself, and turned into the break room.
“Ah, there you are. Was something?” An innocent question.
“Not much… would be a lie. I had a talk with the boss, about my change in position.”
“Oh right. It was just temporary…” It seemed that I hadn’t been the only one who had gotten accustomed to this arrangement, as the faces in front of me turned gloomy.
“But, there is a chance we would still see each-other rather often.” Four expectant and surprised faces stared at me. ‘Well, Hanekawa probably was already informed, so discussing it with them should be alright. Not only that, confiding them in might help me make a choice.’ And so, I explained them my current situation.

“You should totally take it!” Haru gave me an immediate answer, while the others actually thought about it. But, likely due to the encouragement from one individual, all their responses turned to be positive too.
“You get along with her, right? So, working with her should be a good option.” Shizuka bringing an easy to reach, logical argument.
“And, we would still get to meet each-other.” Asumi shared her own sentiment. Which I of course reciprocated.
“…” The only one still sunk in thought was Megumi. So, we naturally turned to her. Once she realized that our gazes were stacked on her, she gave a short cough, and began sharing some details with us.
“Actually, I might know more about the situation than the rest of you. Not that I have the complete picture, of course, but… I know Yuuko’s manager. She is a nice senior who helps me out from time to time.”
“That someone has to help you out.” “Kind of heard to believe.”
A self-deprecating smile later, she continued. “I am not perfect, you know. But back to the matter on hand. From time to time, I heard her complain how the work on her kept stacking up, as she took over parts of a PA’s duties.”
“Why would she need to do that?” Now that it came to a part concerning my potential future job, I had to ask for more details, though I could wager a guess.
“She doesn’t have to. But she cares about her job and about Yuuko, so she wants to assist her. From what I heard, Yuuko herself actually feels bad about putting more work onto her, but senpai just smiles and continues to endure it.”
“That’s…bad.” And made me feel bad.
“Yes, it is. Therefore, having someone we know who is actually capable take over would be good.”
“Still,” Asumi interjected. “That begs the question, what was the problem with or of the previous PAs?”
Megumi shook her head. “I do not know. Have they told you anything Shuuichi?”
“Well…” I did not want to say anything bad here, so I chose to put it into vague terms. “They mentioned it roughly, but I do not want to give incomplete information.”
“Okay…”
“But to think there was something like this, and she hasn’t told us anything about it.”
“No. Not only that, we didn’t even notice.”
A heavy mood descended upon the room.

“But, it will work itself out when Shuuichi takes over. Right?” Asumi tried to cheer everyone up. And it worked. Now, they looked at me.
‘But I didn’t even agree to it yet.’ Is not something I could say in that moment. In reality, the offer seemed good, and I had no real reason to refuse it. Besides self doubt.
Was I really capable of doing this? Until now, I had been told I was capable of it. And I knew I had abilities that would work in favor for such a position. But why? What was that nagging feeling in my head that prevented me form flat out accepting? That is what I was still thinking about.
But another thought had entered my head. I got this position by going with the flow, not really having any strong feelings about it in the beginning. Why not do the same thing again? Accepting it looked like it would make everything move along smoothly.
But was that correct? Taking on the duty of caring for someone, simply due to things looking to go that way? Wouldn’t that be disrespectful towards Hanekawa? …
Moving out of my head back into the real world, uncertain and concerned stares were centered on me. ‘Looks like I had been quiet too long.’

Thinking about what to say to dispel the mood, I got assistance from someone new arriving. “Don’t rush him to the decision. While your positions are pretty much set in stone, directly accepting a transfer like this would cast a bad light onto him, of not giving things enough consideration, or lacking foresight.” Takeshi slapped me on the back, and added in a quieter voice. “Though thinking too long is a bad thing too, and might develop into a habit of over-thinking.”
I would need to think the words over that were meant for me. But before I would turn pensive again, Megumi caught on to his intent. “Then, we better had back to work. Now, did you guys already get down the new routine.”
“Ugh.”
“N-no.”
“Don’t worry, we will, Megu.”
“Yes, but you have to train for it.” With this, she guided them over to the practice rooms. She gave me a wink, and vanished into it with them. ‘I have to thank her later.’
She wasn’t the only one putting people to work, as Takeshi had some tasks for me. “Moving around might help some more blood to get into that brain of yours. And at least it is better than standing around doing nothing while on the clock.”
And so, we headed off too, though it was mostly menial tasks and checks. Still, my thoughts remained hard-stuck for the next few hours.