Summary: Mai wakes up to realize she is very late to her interview with the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters. Desperate for a job, Mai rushes over anyway, and meets Otogi, who does hire her and become her boss.
When Kujaku Mai had fallen asleep the previous night pigging out on ice cream and other unhealthy food products, she had no idea how late her favorite soap operas shows had run. Which was why when she woke to the sounds of her screaming alarm, the clock made contact to the wall before it stopped screaming. She pulled herself upright from her bed, where blankets were not serving their purpose as they were at her feet at the moment.
The blonde released a loud yawn, looking around her room. She eyed the now melted ice cream on her desk, soon laying her eyes on a clock that wasn't shattered to pieces. And she let out a stressed screech. She was supposed to have waken up an hour ago! She had a very important interview with the maker of Dungeon Dice Monsters. She had to look good for this! Flailing, she tried to get herself out of bed, only to find her feet had somehow entangled themselves with her blankets. She did not meet the ground with a pleasant fall. "Shit!"
Quickly, she found a way out of the obstacle, and ran a hand through her frayed hair before speed running to the shower. She got ready quickly, and still managed to make herself look beautiful, because it wasn't that HARD but she wasn't exactly satisfied. Now she had to figure out what to WEAR. Rushed, she settled with a knee length skirt, heels, and a nice, silk blouse. Grabbing her purse, she rushed out of her house, and waved to the nearest taxi.
"This is exactly why I hate giving interviews to people," the oh-so-famous entrepreneur Otogi Ryuuji sighed to himself, looking at his watch. His store was always abundant with business but having him and a few other students working wasn't going to work. He had already had to close the shop three hours early yesterday because of lack of workers.
He walked over to the window, thinking maybe the girl he was interviewing was just a bit down the street. "Damn, still nothing," he groaned, going in the back of the store to his bedroom. Ah,the perks of adding on to your house with a GAME STORE. Fetching his glasses, he sat down at his computer and surfed the internet while he waited. "If she doesn't get here soon, I'll just have to say goodbye to running the Mutous out of town." His deep voice echoed through the room. HORROR MOVIE'd!
When the taxi had arrived, Mai paid the driver kindly, stepped out of the car, and ran to the door as soon as no one was in sight. She took a deep breath, making herself to be calm and steady. She was just a few thirty minutes late. That couldn't look THAT bad. Breathing deeply this time, she opened the door. No one seemed to be inside, and a little worry began to effect her again. He must've given up on me! She swallowed down her fear, however. "Hello?" She called. Mai wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away. She needed this job too much.
Otogi blinked, taking his glasses off. Unless his ears had deceived him, he had thought he heard a female's voice coz it had been so LONG from the game room. He took a double-check in the mirror, making sure he looked fabulous enough to make a good impression on his interviewee.
He stepped into the game store room and looked over at the tall blonde girl. "Ah,you must be Mai," he said with a slight smirk. "Right this way." He led her back to the room where he was just in: where he gave the interviews.
When the man she had been looking for waltzed into the room, Mai was completely ignorant to the matter. After all, this boy was what, around her age? He was way too young to operate any organization like this. She didn't give this much thought. "Ah, yes. I'm Kujaku Mai. Sorry about the delay." She laughed a little. "I hope Mr. Otogi isn't TOO angry." She paused for a second. "What is Mr. Otogi like? If you don't mind my asking..."
"No problem," he said, not turning around. "I have plenty of people who are late to interviews, but hope you're lucky - most people don't get them." He led her to a chair across from the desk he sat down at. "Well..." He paused for effect. "I am Mr. Otogi, so ask away."
Mai blinked, not quite receiving the information she had thought. "Oh-! You're Mr. Otogi-san? but you're so young!" And Otogi was so attractive! She had pictured an old, balding man who loved to spend money. She felt herself flush a bit. She had meant to be as respectful as she could when she met this guy, and she had had no idea who she was talking too! Now, she had already blown that idea. "... Anyway, thanks for excusing me."
He chuckled to himself, moving one of his bangs out of his eye. "I get that a lot... Actually, my father and I both own this store but my father is, uh, 'unsociable,'" he said in the nicest way possible. He looked over his desk of papers and pulled out the application she had filled out. "Well now that we have introductions out of the way, would you mind telling me why you would be a good candidate for an employee?" He flashed her one of his perfect smiles as he pulled out a pen and a clipboard with some paper attached to evaluate her.
Otogi Ryuuji was very nice to look at, and Mai knew not many had beautiful bosses to greet everyday at work. His age seemed to make her a bit more comfortable, however she still knew she had to focus on being a good example of an employee. "I like talking to people, Otogi-san," she said, smirking a bit. Be professional, she reminded herself before continuing. "I guess I believe if they like me, why not trust me to give them what they want?" She winked, growing comfortable once as she engaged herself in conversation.
He snickered at the last thing she said. "Double meaning aside, do you think you know enough about games and gaming to be of help to customers?" He had his pen ready to make bad marks; this was where people usually lost points. She's such a pretty girl; she's not gonna know jackSHIT about games,he thought to himself.
Mai paused for a second. She had read about the game before she had come to the interview, but she had never actually played. It was very popular, and it even rivaled the popularity of Duel Monsters, which was saying quite a lot. Then, she smirked. Why not tell the guy the truth? "Doesn't everyone in this country have some experience with Duel Monsters?" She asked, genuinely surprised. "This might not be the right thing to say, considering you COULD be rivaling with the Duel Monsters game profits at the moment~ But I'm proud to say I'm one of the best duelist in my grade." Another wink was given as she crossed her legs, leaning back into her chair.
"Really?" He leaned back in his chair, amused by her responses. "Yes, my game rivals with Duel Monsters but that doesn't mean we don't sell them!" he said as though it was unheard of before he mentioned it. "I personally was a very good duelist before I found something else to occupy my time. I'll admit I was surprised that you even knew how to play card games. Most people just come in here and expect that if they're good-looking and literate that I'll hire them." He shook his head. "Shame, isn't it? This is a game store, isn't it?" He looked over the few marks he had made on her evaluation and looked back up at her, smiling. "Would you be willing to learn how to play Dungeon Dice Monsters if you were hired? We would need associates, other than me of course, to show newbies the ropes!"
Mai felt herself smile brightly. It really seemed like she was going to get this job! Her life was already starting to look up, and she felt her heart pound quickly with anticipation. "Of course I would!" she answered, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Do people really come in here not knowing how to play?" That kind of defied the whole point of working in a GAME door, as Otogi was saying. "Oh well then. I guess you will just find me annoying in a different way." Smirk. "I'll warn you I probably won't stop until I'm better than you."
"That a fact?" He rubbed his chin in a mock thinking stance. "Well then I guess you'll be in here a lot, won't you?" He winked at her, looking at his papers again. "So Miss Kujaku, when can you start?" Victory!
Mai's eyes practically glowed with excitement. He was hiring her! And she had the fortunate aspect of working in a place where she was guaranteed amusement everyday. "Oh! Anytime, Otogi-san. Tomorrow, tonight~ Your pick!" She was now sitting on the edge of her chair, resting her elbows on her knees. "And I have all the time in the world. I guess you won't be surprised if I spend more time here than anywhere else." She laughed.
He stood up and held out his hand for her to shake. "It'll be a pleasure getting to work with you." He smiled at her, his cheeks turning a rare shade of light pink. "Now if you'll follow me, I can show you around and anything you'll need to know."
Mai nodded promptly, giving his hand a good, firm shake. "I'll be the first to have a young - and if you don't mind my adding - attractive boss around my age in all of Japan~ And the games are a plus." She made a victory V, then rolled her eyes at herself. "It's going to be really fun," she encouraged, following after the other. "Ooo~ This place is much bigger than the game store closer to my home."
He smiled inwardly, quite used to the "attractive" comments. "Yes, my father had the idea of adding on to our home with the game store in the front, the actual bedrooms and everything in the back," he said, as he pointed to the various rooms. "I'll admit that it's one smart thing my Dad did - I never have to leave home!" he laughed. They walked into the front room where the actual store was, still lit up and messy. "As you can see I haven't had time to clean up today, but this," he dragged her behind the counter. "will be the register you work, and... that's really all to know." He shrugged, leaning against the wall. "Of course I'll have to train you in DDM, but other than that I think working the register is all you need to know. And you're in high school, so I'm sure you know how to work one of those. And if not... well. I'll show you. You'll kind of learn where everything's at after a couple of hours, really."
Mai felt herself blush a little. She had never had a job of this nature before, and well - "I might just need to take you up on your offer of showing me the ropes of the register," she admitted. Then, she pounded her fist in the air. "And I'm looking forward to that DDM training!" Pausing, she took a few moments to look around the place. "I know someone who would really enjoy shopping here," she said distantly, with a sad smile. She covered her slip up with a soft laugh, wondering why she even brought that up. Seriously, just how bad could she be at forgetting things?
"Well, it's quite simple really," he said as he showed her what to do with the register. "There's no really strange buttons you have to press, just key in the code and it's pretty self-explanatory from there." He shrugged, not knowing anything else to show her. "Anything else? You start tomorrow."
Mai looked over everything she had to press quickly, storing all that in her memory. Smiling, she nodded. "I don't think so," she noted. Then, she suddenly had many questions. "I'll clock in around... eight? How's that? When did you want to start that DDM training?" She was too excited for her own good. This was going to make her real happy.
"Eight sounds good to me. And since it'll be your first day, I'll be helping you out. I don't want you to be too incompetent," he grinned at her. "And as for the training, we can do that after you clock out. That way no one'll be around." That could be taken SO wrongly.... He sat on the counter and crossed his legs. "I really think you'll be good for the job, Mai." He shook her hand again. He opened his mouth to say something, then paused, remembering something familiar about her. "You don't happen to go to Domino High, do you?"
Mai offered her firm handshake once more, then adjusted her purse over her shoulder. "Thank you. I think you're going to be the coolest boss I'll ever get in my lifetime." She grinned at that. "Domino High?" She asked, blinking. "Don't tell me... you go there too?!"
He laughed, feeling flattered. "Too? Oh,so that's where I had seen you! I knew you looked familiar." He nodded. "Yes, I go there too. I'm a third year (( we're going to assume 3rd year is junior. XD ))."
Mai simply gaped, feeling her jaw drop. "I am too! I'm a third year - Ha! How could we have possibly missed each other? You're the kind of person I'd friend in a heartbeat~" Maybe Mai had been too busy hanging out with her ex OH. *mun is having a lame moment*
"Really?" he laughed, intrigued. "It could be because I have so many girls on me at once that I can never really talk to anyone." He shook his head. "Damn fangirls." WELL EXCUSE ME THAT WE ALL DONT HAVE FANGIRLS. :|
Mai let out some sarcastic laughter, already feeling comfortable enough to leave over and give Otogi's shoulder a little nudge, before standing up straight herself. "Well, I just must have been surrounded by fanboys if we're talking about looks here." Smirkity smirk.
"Oh,har har. It's not as easy as it looks. All these people like 'I wish I was beautiful...' NO THEY DON'T." Pause for effect. "They really don't. Am I right?" TOTALLY OFF SUBJECT'd!
Mai considered Otogi's word, putting a hand to her chin. "Well, I would't know now would I~ I'm never not beautiful." She laughed a little, then flipped her hair dramatically.
He laughed, already liking her sense of humor. "What time is it, anyway?" He looked at his watch. "Oh, Miss Kujaku, you're free to go; the interview was over a while ago."
Mai glanced over at the clock. It was already two in the afternoon. She had been in the place for longer than she had thought! "Oh! Right~ Time seems to slip by real fast here," she noted with a grin. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Otogi-san." She bowed her head almost mockingly, but it was all on good humor.
"So polite!" He bowed to her, feeling as if he just had to. "Right,I'll see you tomorrow. It was really a pleasure, Mai. Yes I realize how many times he's said that."
With a wave and one last smirk, Mai turned her heel and headed out. She looked over the place once she was outside, grinning in excited pleasure. She was going to be working there starting tomorrow! After a few moments, a taxi drove by, and she took it back to her home.
Otogi was really glad that, for once, a total airhead didn't apply. "Damn, she was pretty. Pretty girls aren't supposed to like to game." Smirkity smirkity. He walked back into his room and went back to his business that he was tending to. "Maybe she'll get us some business; Dad knows we need it." He shook his head. "Tomorrow, it begins."
The End