[ A/N: do people even read these? lmao. welcome back to this shitstorm of a story. i was reading over all the old comments and it really inspired me to update this. hopefully im not too rusty, and you all haven't given up on me yet. ]

"Froy, I have a feeling Ichihoshi doesn't like me." You suddenly spoke up after quite some time of silence. You were at your desk in your office while Froy was laying on the couch, tossing a soccer ball in the air and catching it afterward. Froy just wanted to keep you company while you worked, even if it was in silence - but he would admit, the silence was killing him a little. So, he was glad you finally said something (he was afraid to speak up and interrupt you. It was better you spoke up rather than him).

"Huh? What makes you think that? Did he say something to you?" The boy stopped playing with his ball. He sat up and looked over at you with worried eyes.

"I don't know. It's just the way he talked to me the other day. He seemed upset with me or something." You responded, earning a laugh from Froy - which made you frown.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to laugh at you." He chuckled, but your expression didn't change, and he felt guilty for that. "Mitsuru is just like that. Ever since the accident, he didn't know how to express his emotions properly. He just seems kinda cold. . . Even when he's not trying to be. He'll warm up to you though, I promise." Froy explained.

"Accident?" You were granted another question with his explanation.

"His younger brother died in a car crash. His parents, too. . . That's how he ended up here." Froy's demeanor went serious for a moment there, and so did yours.

"I see. . ." Your gaze fell back down to your documents. "That must have been hard for him. I'll try to talk to him more, maybe I can be some sort of support for him."

"You're always trying to help people, huh?" Froy smirked a little, which you thought was a little uncalled for. Why smirk?

"What's wrong with that?" You raised your head to look at him.

"My brother and I know more about you than you think."

You felt the pressure rising for some reason.

"You tried to help Nosaka Yuuma too." Froy placed his ball down and got up from his seat to walk over to your desk. "Someone like him. Someone like him doesn't deserve your help."

"What are you talking about!?" You jolted up from your seat. For some reason, he struck a nerve in you. You realized you raised your voice by accident, and you flushed red. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to yell. . . Froy, I don't know how you know any of this, but I don't want you to bring it up ever again. Nosaka is a friend of mine, I won't stand for anyone insulting him. What he did to me wasn't valid but I've long forgiven him for it. Let it be water under the bridge."

You had no idea what kind of bone Froy had to pick with Nosaka, but it wasn't any good and you wanted no part of it. Nosaka knows what he did wrong now, thanks to you - so there was no point in making him any more miserable than he already was. Besides, he was supposed to be undergoing surgery any time soon, he didn't need any more curses or ill thoughts directed towards him. He had to survive this. . .

"[Y/n], you're too kind." Froy sighed. "That's why I have to protect you."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. The both of you looked over and paused for a moment.

"Come in!" You called out.

Bernard had entered the room along with a woman, who looked strikingly familiar to him and Froy. You guess it was either his aunt or mother, but you couldn't guess why she was here.

"Mom?" Froy shifted his body to face her completely. The woman who he referred to as 'mom', smiled at him. Upon closer inspection, she was very beautiful, but her eyes were a little intimidating. That couldn't be said about you at all.

"[Y/n], this is our mother. She is the head of the Orion Foundation. She's the one who accepted my request to hire you." Bernard and his mother entered the office properly, and he closed the door behind himself. The woman's heels clicked against the ground as she approached you, that same warm smile on her face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my dear." She took both of your hands in her own. "My name is Irina, I wish I had gotten the time sooner to come to see you, but unfortunately my hands were full at the time. I hope you can forgive me."

Her voice was so gentle, and her hands were so warm. She made you think of how different your mother was from her. It almost made you want to tear up. . . You realized you never really had a proper parental figure aside from Jin. But he was more like an older brother.

"Th-that's okay. I understand you were busy, I'm not upset at all. It's so nice to meet you. . . But, I thought Bernard was the head of the Orion Foundation?" Your [e/c] eyes shifted to Bernard, who shook his head.

"I must have made a mistake. My mother was the one who created this company in honor of my father - her husband, who died." Bernard cleared things up for you.

"Oh, I see. I'm so sorry to hear about your father. . . And your husband." You didn't really know how to respond to something like that.

"That's quite alright, [Y/n]. I'm sure he would have been very happy to have met you today as well. Please continue the good work, I have high expectations of you." Irina stroked at your hair just once before retracting her hands.

"I'll work my hardest." You smiled back at her.

"She is so lovely. You had a wonderful decision, Bernard." Irina brought a hand to the pearl necklace around her neck. It must have been extremely expensive. "Froy, don't bother her too much, okay?"

"I don't bother her." Froy responded duly. "She likes my company." He said this so proudly, you had to laugh.

"Well, it's been a treat to speak with you today. I will come by again another time, but you're very welcome to call me or visit my office any time you wish. Perhaps he was chat over some tea. How does that sound, [Y/n]?" Irina's gaze fixated on you.

"That sounds great, I'd love to. I'll come by when I get the chance, thank you." You bowed your head in the utmost respect for this woman.

"Perfect. I shall see you then." With that, Irina had left the room.

She was such an elegant woman, you felt like nothing in comparison You suddenly strived o be as ethereal as she was.

"We won't keep you back from your work, Froy, let's go." Bernard wouldn't take no for an answer. He practically dragged his brother out of your office.

At that, you plopped back down in your seat, and continued your research. . . Pausing for a second, you suddenly typed in Nosaka Yuuma in the search bar before staring at it for a while. You sighed, before backspacing everything.