New Line von Xanderionas ================================================================================ Kapitel 10: Chapter 10 ---------------------- Yagami kicked away from her workspace as Aoba entered the cubicle, nobody else in the office apart from her and Mozuku, who slept on Rin’s empty chair and yawned intermittently. “Morning, Yagami. You’re already up?” “Morning. Yeah, I thought I get an early start, so I woke up before Rin and left for the office.” “You woke before Rin?” Aoba exclaimed in panic, “Did you hit your head or something?” “Oi.” she retorted, slightly irked by her reputation, ”I can wake up just fine by myself if I want to, you know. Waking early doesn’t require much effort.” “For you, I would assume the opposite.” “What was that?” she asked, Aoba having tried to be quiet with her comment but failing spectacularly. “N-nothing! I’ll get back to my work! Good to have you, Yagami!” She narrowed her eyes as Aoba rushed to sit down and boot up her PC, deliberately avoiding eye contact. Yagami let it be however, giving a sigh and returning to her own workload. The weekend had been awkward through and through, beginning with her entering her apartment on Friday to see Rin asleep over the kitchen table, a wrapped meal beside her. She had woken up as Yagami hung up her coat, immediately beginning to question her where she had gone off to for so long. Fending her off had taken an immense effort, the eventual reveal that she had spent time with Anders not pleasing in the least for her. Eventually, however, she gave up, retreating with a sullen expression while Yagami restrained herself from groaning. She didn’t want to lash out accidentally against Rin, the person who had been her support from the beginning. It wasn’t fair to exclude her either, but Yagami needed time to sort her own thoughts out. Rin had barely come by during the whole weekend after that, checking on her to make sure she was eating and ensuring her laundry didn’t pile up. Their time spent together had been awkward, even disturbing. It was unsettling for Yagami, who usually never let things get between her and Rin. Right now however, she sensed a sort of gap forming between them. It was one she instinctively feared, one she was afraid of since the time she was bullied. It hadn’t even begun to form then and there, rather from the moment she had met Anders. She couldn’t think of making him part of the problem however, him having shown nothing other than kindness and genuine concern for her own problems. Thus, she resolved herself on Sunday that to begin bridging the gap that had formed, she would take herself a bit more seriously. As the hour passed in the office, more of the team appeared, each one surprised by Yagami’s early presence. Said person however ignored them for the most part, letting her mind work full-time on finishing her own job. Eventually, as the clock loomed dangerously close to ‘late’, Rin popped through the sliding doors, asking into the cubicle: “Aoba? Is Kou...?” She paused as she saw Yagami seated at her desk, her mouth folding open slightly before she closed it shut. She swiftly navigated through the team to her, halting before her and exclaiming: “There you are! I’ve been worried sick! You never picked up your phone either. What are you doing here so early?” Yagami smiled warmly, thankful for the first frank conversation between them since a few days ago. It had been the right choice to leave her phone off. “I woke up myself and went to work here earlier today. I didn’t want to wake you so I left by myself.” “You went by yourself?” “Yeah. I thought that I should try to be a bit more serious with myself these days. After all, I can’t have you worry about me all the time, can I? Your coffee is standing there, just the way you like it.” She pointed to the steaming mug on Rin’s table, said person gazing at her in wonder as the team glanced back at them. “What’s up with you, Kou? Doing all this...did something happen?” Yagami bit her tongue, unsure if she had the willpower to pull through with what she wanted to say. As she thoughts back to her farewell with Anders, however, she felt newfound resolution. She picked a random stack of papers from her desk and grabbed Rin’s wrist. “I’m fine. Let’s go to the conference room, I need to show you what Fuba sent us for corrections.” It was a bold-faced lie and everyone knew it. Yet Yagami didn’t care as she half-pulled, half-dragged Rin into the conference room, closing the door behind them. As Yagami seated herself on the nearest chair, Rin following her example, she put the papers down and clasped her hands together. “Rin, can you listen to me for a bit?” A fine line of concern formed on Rin’s brow, nodding without saying a word. Thankful for her attention, Yagami tried to put her thoughts in order while speaking: “Since a few days ago, I’ve been worried. Worried about you and me. We hadn’t been talking as we always do and we keep brushing it off like it’s nothing big. I don’t like it. And I know you don’t like it.” She glanced up to see Rin’s face fraught with emotion. “I don’t know why it’s like this. I don’t know what I or anybody did to make it like this. But I want you to know, I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to lose the person closest to me. You’ve been there so often for me, I don’t know what I would do without you. So please, if there’s anything you are worried about, then tell me what it is so we can talk.” It was a huge loss of weight off Yagami’s shoulders, who rarely spoke so frank. Rin’s eyes welled with tears as one slid down her cheek, before she shot forward and embraced Yagami tightly. They took some time to calm down, Rin releasing herself from Yagami and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Luckily for her, Rin had forgotten to put on makeup this morning, avoiding the telltale streaks that would otherwise have shown. It was clear however that she was genuinely grateful. “Thank you Kou. I’ve been so worried these last few weeks. Since you began that stupid competition, I’ve been unable to get a grasp on you.” “On me?” Yagami asked, surprised. “Yes. I don’t know what you were doing in that bar or what you discussed with Anders last week. But every time you talked about him, I felt like you grew a little bit more distant with me. As if you were beginning to not want me around.” “Are you stupid? Did I not just…?” “Yes and I’m thankful. But the truth is also, I’ve been acting like a child for a long time. I get jealous easily when you begin getting close with others and I dislike it when others come to see you without me. Anders was right, I was being ‘intrusive’.” “Don’t take what he said so seriously. He had good intentions.” “I know, and that scares me.” “What?” Yagami uttered. Rin let her one hand play with the hem of her skirt while she continued: “I only met him once, but I’ve been in contact with Fuba since then as well. Whenever we talk and she explains something about him, the clearer it is that he is a good person with good intentions. His reputation at his workplace is near perfect. There’s not a single person who doubts Anders’ capability and kindness.” Yagami thought back to the people she met in Anders’ branch, finding herself agreeing fully. “But at the same time, that kindness is dangerous. He evidently cares for you more than a usual business partner; else he wouldn’t have gone so far to prepare the partnership papers in a few days. It might just be his kind nature, but I feared that he would eventually try to drag you away from me.” Now Yagami was the shocked one, placing her hand on Rin’s knee while talking: “That’s ridiculous! I don’t want that and neither does Anders. Remember when you got so mad with him at the cafe?” Rin glanced up in surprise, nodding her head slightly. “He was the one who suggested that we go eat ice cream afterwards to cheer you up. He even guessed your favorite flavor correctly.” Rin raised an eyebrow, but the sullen look on her face didn’t change. “Then he frightens me even more.” “Why, Rin? Why would you be worried about him when he’s such a good person?” The look Rin had showed she reached her limit, her face burning red as she avoided Yagami’s gaze. “I’m sorry, Kou. But I’m not sure myself. Every time I hear about him or what you did with him, I get more and more frightened. I’m afraid of what will happen if you keep getting to know Anders. I know we are in the middle of a partnership right now, so that can’t be helped. But please, don’t forget me.” Without warning, Rin began to tremble, the sight horribly disconcerting to Yagami. Acting on instinct, she grabbed Rin’s hands tightly, who gasped in response. “Rin listen to me.” she said with full seriousness, Rin meekly nodding,” you are my closest friend, nobody else. My parents never showed me more than a fragment of the support you gave me during my time at school and at the company. No matter what happens, I will never forget you or what you did. So, stop saying stupid stuff like that, alright? Just because I happen to get to know one or two more people, it won’t mean that things will change for the worse.” Rin’s eyes threatened to rain tears again, yet she managed to hold them back. They remained silent for a while, before Rin took a deep breath and uttered: “Thank you, Kou. For being so honest and confronting this with me.” Even though she should be relieved, a hint of unease still existed within Yagami. The reasons for it were a mixture of known and unknown factors. One that stood out the most however was that she was keeping secrets. “Rin, there’s one thing about me and Anders you should know.” Rin's expression had a shadow of worry in it, but she didn’t interrupt. “When he helped me into the taxi, I found I was finally able to draw again like before thanks to him. I wanted to thank him for that and I... kissed him on the cheek.” Rin’s eyes grew wide, before settling into resignation. “So there had been something between you two.” “You knew?” Yagami asked surprised. “No Kou. I’m a woman before your friend. I could tell that something had been going on before I even got to see Anders. Now that I know for sure however…” Her mood threatened to turn depressed again for whatever reason. Yagami was determined however to not let that happen. “Rin, I wasn’t done. I did that to thank him, not for any other reason. You said it yourself, I can’t contain myself when I’m drunk. There was nothing more to it. He thinks so as well.” It was as if Rin had just showered after a mud bath. Her eyes lit up in delight as she produced the biggest smile Yagami had ever seen on her in recent weeks. Rin moved to say something, only for her phone to ring out, causing both to jump. Answering the call on speaker, Futaba’s voice rang out: “Rin, you there?" “Fuba.” Rin’s voice uttered with relief, “I’m here. So is Kou.” “That makes things easier. Listen, there’s something you need to do. All of you.” Raising an eyebrow at the loaded tone, Yagami inquired: “Fuba, your tone makes me think there’s something serious to this.” “Yeah, there is.” Futaba’s tone was dangerously neutral, Yagami sensing restrained anger in it, “Ten minutes ago, our office was cyber-hacked by an unknown group. I need you to unplug every single computer in your office now.” “What?” Rin asked understandably, “Fuba, what…” “Don’t stall Rin.” she cut off, “Go and unplug every single computer. Get your tech guys to secure all your servers and hard drives. Go!” The last word had been yelled, the authority in it reminding the two women that their junior had truly grown up. Rin and Yagami ran for the door, bursting into the hallway. Rin went to inform Hazuki while Yagami headed to the Character team and yelled: “Everyone! No questions asked, turn your computers off along with any others you can find! Unplug every device we have here! Double time!” Luckily, she held enough command in her voice to have her orders carried out right away, only afterwards being bombarded with questions that she ignored to rush to the Programming team. Ahagon’s inquisitive eyes probed her besides Nene’s confused ones. “And what is this ruckus in the morning? We…” “If you want anything left of the Programming Department then unplug your computers. This instant.” No more words were exchanged as both women stared each other down, before Ahagon reached down and ripped out her extension cord in one fell movement, doing the same for Nene’s, who gave a shocked squeak. “The code, Umiko!” “Code can be rewritten. Do the same for the other computers Sakura. Now!” As Ahagon barked her orders, Nene rushed to fulfill them. Yagami heard her name being called and turned to find Hazuki running towards her, looking considerably distraught. “Yagami! How is work going on unplugging?” “We have Ahagon and Aoba’s group working on it! What about the server room?” “I already called the technicians to shut them all down, along with the other offices. Problem is, we’re missing half our numbers because of the morning time. We need more people…. Yagami?” Hazuki called after her as Yagami rushed down the hallway to the staircase, at the bottom of which laid the server room. She practically flew down the flights and crashed through the half-open door at the end, the room she entered buzzing with activity. A trio of people in blue jumpsuits were on their way to shut the rows of servers down, looking at her in surprise. Yagami wasted no time on pleasantries, barking in a commanding tone: “What do I have to do to unplug the servers? Quick!” One of the trio stepped forwards while the rest continued, him providing rapid fire explanations on what steps to take. Yagami followed them to the letter, their combined efforts allowing them to shut down all the servers within ten minutes. As the buzz of electricity faded, Yagami thanked the technicians and headed for the cubicle floor. The moment she entered it, an avalanche of voices assaulted her, coming from nearly every employee in the company. Grimacing at the clamor, she tried to get them to quiet down but failed until the sound of a gun cocking echoed in the room. Everybody fell silent almost immediately as Ahagon looked over the commotion with a dissatisfied expression. “If you all would quieten down so that normal words could be understood. Now, Art Director, what is the meaning of this sudden panic? I have a lot of work to catch up on.” The response that was expected never came, instead being replaced by Hazuki’s strangely serious tone in the background: “Let me take over here, Ahagon.” Ahagon’s eyes narrowed as the group split to let Hazuki and Rin through, the phone still on in Rin’s hand. “I will forgive you this time. Explain yourself.” “Certainly. Rin, put Futaba on speaker again please.” Rin obliged, moving up beside Yagami and raising the phone so that Futaba’s voice could be heard by everyone: “Hello everyone. I am Futaba Uchimaki, assistant manager of Kerzo Marketing. The panic that you all recently went through was ordered by me as a safeguard to prevent any harm to your company.” Murmurs began to erupt in the crowd, only to be silenced by Ahagon’s gun again. “About half an hour earlier this morning, our branch suffered a serious cyber-attack by an unknown assailant. Our main systems were largely wiped out, along with our firewall and encryption protection. The vast majority of our plans for the upcoming Sakura Festival were included in the attack.” The co workers fell into shocked whispers, panic audible in some. Futaba pressed on, her voice becoming more authoritative: “We are not at a complete loss however. Our backup servers, which are separate from our main network, have been kept safe and therefore will allow us to recover. As you are all aware, we are currently in a partnership where data transfer has been made between our servers and yours. Therefore, I wanted to try and prevent you all from becoming dragged into our problems if the chance existed. I apologise for any disturbance this has caused. Please accept my sincere gratitude for having listened to my selfish request.” Silence reigned in the room, Yagami and Rin giving the phone deeply impressed looks, Rin’s morphing into that of pride. Hazuki was the first to speak up, her voice stern: “Futaba, do not concern yourself over that. I personally am more concerned with the state of your branch. Is there any knowledge regarding where the attack came from?” “That is currently not known. I must apologise as well in advance, for unless your systems were afflicted as well we cannot simply hand over information as this is now a police case. While we have our suspicions, we cannot act on them while no conclusive facts have been made. Therefore, we will keep you informed on whether we are progressing but without the details. Again, I apologise for the inconvenience.” “No matter Futaba. Everybody, from now on I will instate a few days of holiday for you all. The technicians will go around the office and perform security inspections of the servers and individual computers to ensure no data was targeted. Once we can be sure that nothing was damaged externally, we will slowly begin our normal work schedules again. For now, however, you are all dismissed.” Nobody raised a counterargument, nearly everyone giving a farewell before gathering their things and shuffling out of the office. Yagami wasn’t surprised to see Aoba’s group remain behind, along with Ahagon and Nene. Once the rest had left, Hazuki gave a deep sigh. “This certainly is a troublesome matter. Our release date for the game will have to be delayed for another month at this rate.” Yagami swore she heard Futaba’s bow reach the floor before the phone on her end as she spoke: “I’m sorry for all this, Yagi, Rin, everyone. We want to get things in order as soon as possible so that nobody needs to suffer extensively from this.” “Uchimaki.” Ahagon interrupted her. “Y-yes?” Futaba’s hesitation was understandable as she had never spoken or met Ahagon before. “What can you say about the targeted systems? I know this is a police matter, but perhaps there’s some preliminary clue to the perpetrators.” Everyone gazed at Ahagon in wonder, Nene’s being filled with an odd mix of awe and pride. Futaba took a moment to briefly converse with someone else on her end before continuing: “The police have arrived so I will be brief. The project plans for the Sakura Festival were the first files to be attacked. Hence, I believe this to be an attack from another party that seeked to sabotage us. But this is only my speculation.” Shock made its rounds in the group, Yagami sensing a cold shower run down her back as she contemplated the situation. “What about Anders? Is he doing something about this?” Rin mentioned, making Yagami give her a confused look. “The police are outside my office, I must go. I hope you can recover from this serious disturbance to your own work. Farewell for now.” Futaba hung up, the tone echoing loudly in the empty floor. As everyone stared at the phone, Hazuki snapped her fingers: “Umiko, Aoba, everyone, I think it best if you leave as well now. This is a matter for me and Futaba. You all try to make the most of this holiday. I’m sorry for all the work we’ve disrupted you from.” Aoba and the rest immediately tried to argue a counterpoint, only to fall silent as Hazuki’s eyes gained a rare steely glint to them. They all moved to pick up their things and leave, giving inquisitive looks as Rin and Yagami stayed behind with Hazuki. Mozuku came up to the trio and purred loudly, Hazuki picking him up and stroking his fur in an attempt, from Yagami’s perspective, to calm her nerves. Rin was the first of the three to speak up: “This is terrible, Hazuki. Just who could have…?” “There’s nothing one can gather right now, Rin. For now, we should try and cover our own backs. It may be that the police come to us and decide to ask questions. Worst case scenario, we may become suspects in the matter.” Yagami’s eyes grew wide. “That’s ridiculous!” she exclaimed, Hazuki’s eyes scanning her before sighing. “It’s what may happen. After all, for all we know their most recent exchange of data could have been with us. Therefore, we are the first suspects to have smuggled something to corrupt their data. If our systems show to have been untouched, it may just prove to be a detriment to us. I’m just listing off possibilities, but they are in no way unfounded.” “Still! The only thing we exchanged directly with their servers was through the thumb stick Anders brought. How should that have carried over anything dangerous when we used it for the whole week without trouble?” “I don’t know, Yagami. But we need to be prepared for the worst. I will take up talks with the police before they make their own deductions and come here. Rin, Yagami, you two should go and try and find something to spend your time with. I will call on you when we have any progress on this matter.” “Are you sure, Hazuki?” Rin asked contemplatively, only to give a surprised look as Hazuki smiled deviously. “I didn’t become the director of this company with merely good looks. Leave this to me. Now go, enjoy your holiday.” No cheer was to be found as the two of them went to gather their belongings, Hazuki already on the phone with somebody. It was at moments like this that they were reminded that, despite her shortcomings, Hazuki knew when to take charge. Once they stood outside the building, Aoba and the others having left for home, Rin gave a concerned sigh. “I hope Fuba’s alright. She seemed in control, but there must be dreadful pressure on her now.” Yagami nodded, proud of how her junior had handled it but still worried. An idea lit up in her mind. “Hey Rin, how about you go see her?” “See her? But she’s in the middle of being questioned by the police. Should we really…?” “If anybody you should go. Fuba might be grown up but she’s still our junior. She’d appreciate the support.” “You’re her senior as well, you know.” “You and me both know that she always looked up to you the most. You’re her best support in this situation.” “You sure Kou?” Yagami bumped her shoulder with her own, giving a playful smile. “Come on now, our cute junior’s in trouble and you decide to leave her alone? That’s cold Rin. I got here safely, I can go back safely as well.” Rin slumped her shoulders in defeat. “You should try being proactive like this more often Kou.” “That was a special one-time offer. Don’t let it go to waste.” “Alright, I get it.” Rin retorted with a chuckle while pulling out her car keys, “But be careful when going home, ok?” “Sure thing, Mom.” A final giggle between the two of them before Rin departed for her car, Yagami being the only one left at the building entrance. Sensing a cold wind pass by her, she shuffled deeper into her coat and began to walk to the train station. She barely made the first corner though when her phone buzzed to say she had a message. Surprised, she turned the screen on to find the sender being Anders. She opened the message and read: - Please tell me you didn’t get hit like we did. Smiling to herself, she typed back: - We’re fine for now. Fuba called us as soon as it happened. Haven’t found any signs of tampering yet. He texted a relieved emoticon, before moving onto proper text: - Thank the heavens. I’m going to wring the neck of whoever decided to mess with us like this. If it weren’t for what happened during the conference, I’d have been there by now to sort it out. She raised an eyebrow as she reached the train station, scanning her card and moving to the appropriate track. - What happened? - The worst thing imaginable. One of the higher-ups suffered a heart attack right as the final talks were underway. It’s developed into a funeral service. That means I won’t be able to return until the day of the festival. - But that’s in four days. Are you sure you’ll make it? - Believe me, I’ll be there. That’s not the big problem though. - What? She was genuinely stumped that he would brush the death of a senior off as not a ‘big problem’. The answer he gave however was clear enough: - The one who passed away is my old benefactor. The one who helped me rise up at first in the company. My branch was under his direct jurisdiction. With him now gone however, a replacement was needed to take over. And they found one ‘very’ willing applicant. None other than Takamura himself. Her mind flashed back to the toad-like man and his aggressive tone, giving a small shudder as she entered her train and seated herself. - That’s not good, is it? - It means I will have a very fun time here, fending him off while trying to remain on top of the investigation over the attack. In any case, I hope you really didn’t get touched. - We’ll be fine, relax. You should worry about your own problems. Hazuki said something about us being a possible suspect because of the stick you gave me but I think it’s ridiculous. His answer was strangely delayed, making her wonder if something had happened on his end before the text came: - Yagami, I promise you. Whatever happens from now on, you and your company will be safe. This is an internal problem. You played no role in this. His frankness made her blush slightly, quickly answering: - You don’t have to be so serious about it. Relax a bit. - I’ll do that when the matter with the attack’s been settled. I’ve got to go, I’m needed. - Got it. Good luck on your end. - Thanks. And Yagami? - Yeah? - Take care. Now she genuinely blushed, closing the phone and looking out through the window to calm her mind. She hadn’t expected the sudden consideration, though she appreciated it. Her thoughts returned to her talk with Rin and what she said about her kiss being merely out of politeness. A dangerous thought suddenly crept into her mind, one that she wasn’t sure she wanted to think too much about. Maybe there had been more to it.   Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)