[Fic] N.Y. Publishing Firm - Chapter 2
Title: N.Y. Publishing Firm
Pairing: Gen, Kamenashi / Ueda [Brothers]
Rating: PG
Genre: AU; Comedy / Suggested Romance
Warning: Vulgarities
Summary: Nakamaru has decided to start his own magazine, NxN. With Kamenashi as his secretary, and Koki, Ueda, and Taguchi as his writers, will he be able to pull this off? Will Nakamaru take drastic measures to save his firm if it doesn’t make the mark?
Disclaimer: I don’t own anybody.
Author’s Note: Please take a look at the character list before reading to get a better understanding of their backgrounds!
Chapter 2 - Iriguchi, Deguchi, Taguchi desu!
Knock, knock.
“Hello Miss! Would you like to subscribe to our new magazine, NxN? It has reviews for all the latest baseball games, and some other sports… And a fashion column written by the famous blogger JOKER as well! Not to mention, there is also a column for pet care for pet lovers. As it’s only our first issue, there will still be many other corners like the latest movie reviews, and music hits to be added soon with the next issue. So please support us and get a trial subscription to NxN magazine today for only a price of…” Kazuya gave his 100% in advertising for NxN magazine. Even though promoting wasn’t part of his job scope, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of achievement whenever he showed his sports column to someone.
***
“Nakamaru! You’re finally back, eh? Did you manage to sell anything? Ah, when you were out, my friend Taguchi dropped by for a job interview. He claims that he can design. And if you’re so desperate for models, I think he can fill in that job as well since he always had girls going ‘kyah kyah~’ back in high school,” Koki rolled his eyes as he mentioned that last part. “At any rate, he looks better than you and is waiting over there at the couch. Hey Taguchi, get your ass over, my boss is here!!!”
Nakamaru, all sweaty from the walk around the city to promote his magazine to passer-bys, peered over to the couch to see a handsome face slamming buttons on his PSP, screaming “die!” every few seconds.
“Ah, Nakamaru-san, give me a moment… Let me complete this level first… Yes! I finally did it, woohoo!” Giving a little happy yelp of accomplishment and totally absorbed in his game, Taguchi forgot the presence of his soon-to-be boss. Looking at Taguchi, Nakamaru couldn’t help but shake his head, why does my company attracts all kind of people, except my type?
“Take your time, Taguchi-san. I’ll be at my desk when you’re done, so we can review your qualifications and start our interview.”
***
“How’s your day of promoting on foot, Kazuya?” Koki asked as Kazuya set foot into the office.
“Lucky for you that you do all your advertising online…” muttered the slightly ruffled and exhausted Kazuya. Walking from street to street in the sweltering summer heat wasn’t exactly his favourite hobby. Especially since it did not involve a bat and ball. “Ah! Nakamura-san, you’re back as well? How had sales gone? You look tired, do you need some tea?”
“Need to rest…” Nakamaru said with a sigh as he leaned against his chair. All these years of office work didn’t make him a very fit person. “Not very well I’m afraid. Maybe only 3% of the people I’ve approached signed up for the magazine. Well, that’s better than nothing!”
“Nakamura-san, that’s great! I did slightly better than you though. 90% of the people I’ve asked bought our first copy, and about 20% signed up for a short subscription, though many had strange requests like taking photographs with me, and asking for my signature. It’s okay, we’ll work hard together to make this magazine a success - AH, MOMO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
Kazuya rushed over to his desk and snatched his bat out of the little monkey’s paws. Terrified by the sudden movement, Momo rushed over and huddled near Nakamaru’s chair. Koki had an outburst as well, forbidding Nakamaru from moving his chair for fear it might crush his pet monkey, and blaming Kazuya for being so hostile to his pet. “Momo was just being curious of your smelly bat. Now she’s all frightened, argh!!!”
Kazuya had the strangest expression on him, part annoyance and part something else, before leaving the office with his bat. He even slammed the door behind him too, something which surprised Nakamaru. Kazuya had always seemed harmless enough, no hint of his short temper even when the Giants lost a match. Leaning against the wall tiredly while waiting for the lift, Kazuya sighed. Even though he had nothing against Momo, he was over-protective of his bat. His bat had contained many of his precious memories, each scratch on it familiar, and was too important to be damaged. Koki annoyed him though. Kazuya didn’t understand why that blogger was the only one who did not have to leave the office to advertise their magazine, when even Boss Nakamura was doing so. Thinking of that fuelled his anger. I need to cool off before I return.
“Nakamaru, don’t you dare wheel your chair backwards!” Koki growled as Nakamaru pushed his chair back by a quarter of an inch. It had been hours and the monkey had refused to move from its spot. Desperately needing the toilet and the need showing all over his face, he couldn’t help but notice his potential employee Taguchi standing by a corner and making bad puns out of the situation. He could cry tears at how horrible those puns were.
“Come here Momo~ Come to daddy, I wouldn’t hurt you like big bad Kazuya~”
“Hurry up, Koki! I need the toilet!”
“Shhh, you’ll scare Momo, Nakamaru!”
“Haha, boss, your face looks so funny.”
“Potential boss, I didn’t exactly hire you yet.”
“Oh sure, you will. Koki told me you’re really desperate for a designer!”
***
“Kazuya, you’re back! Where did you go?” asked Nakamaru, rather concerned as he had never seen Kazuya this unhappy before. Kazuya, who had returned with a bag of cut peaches, shoved Koki aside and said in a soft voice, “Momo-chan, I’m really sorry, have a few slices of peach?”
“Momos (peaches) for Momo!” declared Taguchi triumphantly, but was promptly ignored.
Momo, attracted by the sweet fruit, finally released its grip on Nakamaru’s chair and grabbed the slice with her tiny paws. . Kazuya remained still, his hand not even moving back an inch when Momo lunged over so as not to startle the little monkey. Seeing Momo nibbling on Kazuya’s hands though, made Koki feel a sense of betrayal that his precious daughter actually went to Kazuya because of a fruit. On the other hand, Nakamaru ran like the wind for the toilet, disregarding the world and everything at hand, and possibly making his ex-soccer coach proud.
***
“So Taguchi, what makes you think you’re qualified to join the company and what contributions do you think you can make?” Nakamaru questioned Taguchi, following the handbook How to be a Successful Boss: Dealing with your Employees. He decided he will not be a pushover anymore. He tried to maintain eye contact with Taguchi, but shied away when the latter returned with an intense gaze.
To Nakamaru’s surprise, Taguchi gave a perfect answer, and following the guidelines provided in his handbook, Taguchi was the perfect employee not to be missed. Taguchi, on the other hand chuckled in his heart. He owned the exact handbook as he had wanted to set up his very own yakitori shop. This should blow his mind, thought Taguchi. Soon, I’ll be able to get my very own 3 Minute Cooking Column, and perhaps appear on the cover page to gain more popularity! Celebrity- owned restaurants and eateries always reap great profits.
“Joining our company today will be Taguchi-san! Everyone, please welcome our new employee, who will be in-charge of designing our articles, and writing for our new column “3 Minute Cooking with Taguchi-kun!”
“Yay!” Taguchi clapped for himself, while the other two employees remained stonily silent. Koki was stroking Momo’s fur softly to reassure himself of his place in Momo’s heart, while Kazuya just looked like he wanted to go home.
***
The next day…
No tea on the desk? thought Nakamaru to himself as he stepped into office, a situation that had never happened after Kazuya’s employment. In fact, said baseball nut wasn’t even in the office today. Usually, he was the first to turn up and almost the last to leave (he claimed he cannot do OT as he had to cook dinner for his brother). That’s strange, he hasn’t taken any leave of absence before and I’m sure he is not the kind that will forget to call-in if he is sick… It couldn’t have been his quarrel with Koki yesterday right?
“Ha! Petty bitch,” exclaimed Koki as he strutted by Kazuya’s empty desk when he entered the office. “Avoiding work just to avoid me?”
“I don’t think so Koki, I’m pretty sure Kazuya is not that kind of person… You didn’t bring Momo-chan along today for work?”
“I’m afraid that baseball freak might scare her again, so she’ll be staying at home for the time being.” In actual fact, however, Koki was afraid that bringing Momo along might trigger yet another argument and he sure didn’t enjoy yesterday’s unhappiness. He was hoping everything would be fine the next day, everything forgotten, and was now considering if he should call Kazuya to apologise for his shouting at him, and Momo’s action. After all, Koki had seen Kazuya gazing lovingly at his bat in deep thoughts multiple times.
“MORNING, EVERYBODY!” Taguchi chirpped happily as he skipped into the office. “Woah, sure is quiet around here! What a great day, eh? Nakamaru-san, Koki, ohayou~”
Nakamaru sighed. The atmosphere isn’t exactly upbeat today… In fact, it’s terrible. Why can’t he read the atmosphere?
Time crept by slowly and Nakamaru contemplated calling Kazuya for the very first time. After several calls which yielded no reply, Nakamaru decided to give everyone an early lunch break to replenish their energy and enthusiasm, and to be more productive.
“Wow, early lunch breaks! This company sure is great!”
***
After fetching himself a cup of tea which he badly needed, Nakamaru rushed back to the office hastily as he had forgotten to lock the doors when everyone went for lunch, a job usually unnecessary as Kazuya is usually in the office watching matches. Realising his over-reliance on his secretary, he blamed himself when he noticed something was amiss. The door was left wide opened, and stacks of papers spewed messily from his desk. At his secretary desk set a familiar figure behind a laptop screen. Ah, Kazuya is back!
“Kazuya, why were you late today?” Nakamaru asked, unsure if he be using an angry, concerned or relieved tone, now that Kazuya was back in the office. Funny, thought Nakamaru to himself. His laptop isn’t blaring out noisy baseball cheers today, and he is awfully silent.
“I’m not Kazuya…” the person behind the screen replied in a laid back manner. Pushing back his chair, an unfamiliar face emerged. Though Nakamaru had never met this person before, he had a striking resemblance to Kazuya. “I’m just here to pass you Kazuya’s reviews. Nice to meet you, Nakamura-san. My name is Kameda Tatsuya.”
To be continued…
Author's Note 2: Next week will be my examinations, so I wouldn't be updating. Sumimasen! Will update once my examinations are over! ;)
Hope you enjoy reading this chapter!
Pairing: Gen, Kamenashi / Ueda [Brothers]
Rating: PG
Genre: AU; Comedy / Suggested Romance
Warning: Vulgarities
Summary: Nakamaru has decided to start his own magazine, NxN. With Kamenashi as his secretary, and Koki, Ueda, and Taguchi as his writers, will he be able to pull this off? Will Nakamaru take drastic measures to save his firm if it doesn’t make the mark?
Disclaimer: I don’t own anybody.
Author’s Note: Please take a look at the character list before reading to get a better understanding of their backgrounds!
Chapter 2 - Iriguchi, Deguchi, Taguchi desu!
Knock, knock.
“Hello Miss! Would you like to subscribe to our new magazine, NxN? It has reviews for all the latest baseball games, and some other sports… And a fashion column written by the famous blogger JOKER as well! Not to mention, there is also a column for pet care for pet lovers. As it’s only our first issue, there will still be many other corners like the latest movie reviews, and music hits to be added soon with the next issue. So please support us and get a trial subscription to NxN magazine today for only a price of…” Kazuya gave his 100% in advertising for NxN magazine. Even though promoting wasn’t part of his job scope, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of achievement whenever he showed his sports column to someone.
***
“Nakamaru! You’re finally back, eh? Did you manage to sell anything? Ah, when you were out, my friend Taguchi dropped by for a job interview. He claims that he can design. And if you’re so desperate for models, I think he can fill in that job as well since he always had girls going ‘kyah kyah~’ back in high school,” Koki rolled his eyes as he mentioned that last part. “At any rate, he looks better than you and is waiting over there at the couch. Hey Taguchi, get your ass over, my boss is here!!!”
Nakamaru, all sweaty from the walk around the city to promote his magazine to passer-bys, peered over to the couch to see a handsome face slamming buttons on his PSP, screaming “die!” every few seconds.
“Ah, Nakamaru-san, give me a moment… Let me complete this level first… Yes! I finally did it, woohoo!” Giving a little happy yelp of accomplishment and totally absorbed in his game, Taguchi forgot the presence of his soon-to-be boss. Looking at Taguchi, Nakamaru couldn’t help but shake his head, why does my company attracts all kind of people, except my type?
“Take your time, Taguchi-san. I’ll be at my desk when you’re done, so we can review your qualifications and start our interview.”
***
“How’s your day of promoting on foot, Kazuya?” Koki asked as Kazuya set foot into the office.
“Lucky for you that you do all your advertising online…” muttered the slightly ruffled and exhausted Kazuya. Walking from street to street in the sweltering summer heat wasn’t exactly his favourite hobby. Especially since it did not involve a bat and ball. “Ah! Nakamura-san, you’re back as well? How had sales gone? You look tired, do you need some tea?”
“Need to rest…” Nakamaru said with a sigh as he leaned against his chair. All these years of office work didn’t make him a very fit person. “Not very well I’m afraid. Maybe only 3% of the people I’ve approached signed up for the magazine. Well, that’s better than nothing!”
“Nakamura-san, that’s great! I did slightly better than you though. 90% of the people I’ve asked bought our first copy, and about 20% signed up for a short subscription, though many had strange requests like taking photographs with me, and asking for my signature. It’s okay, we’ll work hard together to make this magazine a success - AH, MOMO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
Kazuya rushed over to his desk and snatched his bat out of the little monkey’s paws. Terrified by the sudden movement, Momo rushed over and huddled near Nakamaru’s chair. Koki had an outburst as well, forbidding Nakamaru from moving his chair for fear it might crush his pet monkey, and blaming Kazuya for being so hostile to his pet. “Momo was just being curious of your smelly bat. Now she’s all frightened, argh!!!”
Kazuya had the strangest expression on him, part annoyance and part something else, before leaving the office with his bat. He even slammed the door behind him too, something which surprised Nakamaru. Kazuya had always seemed harmless enough, no hint of his short temper even when the Giants lost a match. Leaning against the wall tiredly while waiting for the lift, Kazuya sighed. Even though he had nothing against Momo, he was over-protective of his bat. His bat had contained many of his precious memories, each scratch on it familiar, and was too important to be damaged. Koki annoyed him though. Kazuya didn’t understand why that blogger was the only one who did not have to leave the office to advertise their magazine, when even Boss Nakamura was doing so. Thinking of that fuelled his anger. I need to cool off before I return.
“Nakamaru, don’t you dare wheel your chair backwards!” Koki growled as Nakamaru pushed his chair back by a quarter of an inch. It had been hours and the monkey had refused to move from its spot. Desperately needing the toilet and the need showing all over his face, he couldn’t help but notice his potential employee Taguchi standing by a corner and making bad puns out of the situation. He could cry tears at how horrible those puns were.
“Come here Momo~ Come to daddy, I wouldn’t hurt you like big bad Kazuya~”
“Hurry up, Koki! I need the toilet!”
“Shhh, you’ll scare Momo, Nakamaru!”
“Haha, boss, your face looks so funny.”
“Potential boss, I didn’t exactly hire you yet.”
“Oh sure, you will. Koki told me you’re really desperate for a designer!”
***
“Kazuya, you’re back! Where did you go?” asked Nakamaru, rather concerned as he had never seen Kazuya this unhappy before. Kazuya, who had returned with a bag of cut peaches, shoved Koki aside and said in a soft voice, “Momo-chan, I’m really sorry, have a few slices of peach?”
“Momos (peaches) for Momo!” declared Taguchi triumphantly, but was promptly ignored.
Momo, attracted by the sweet fruit, finally released its grip on Nakamaru’s chair and grabbed the slice with her tiny paws. . Kazuya remained still, his hand not even moving back an inch when Momo lunged over so as not to startle the little monkey. Seeing Momo nibbling on Kazuya’s hands though, made Koki feel a sense of betrayal that his precious daughter actually went to Kazuya because of a fruit. On the other hand, Nakamaru ran like the wind for the toilet, disregarding the world and everything at hand, and possibly making his ex-soccer coach proud.
***
“So Taguchi, what makes you think you’re qualified to join the company and what contributions do you think you can make?” Nakamaru questioned Taguchi, following the handbook How to be a Successful Boss: Dealing with your Employees. He decided he will not be a pushover anymore. He tried to maintain eye contact with Taguchi, but shied away when the latter returned with an intense gaze.
To Nakamaru’s surprise, Taguchi gave a perfect answer, and following the guidelines provided in his handbook, Taguchi was the perfect employee not to be missed. Taguchi, on the other hand chuckled in his heart. He owned the exact handbook as he had wanted to set up his very own yakitori shop. This should blow his mind, thought Taguchi. Soon, I’ll be able to get my very own 3 Minute Cooking Column, and perhaps appear on the cover page to gain more popularity! Celebrity- owned restaurants and eateries always reap great profits.
“Joining our company today will be Taguchi-san! Everyone, please welcome our new employee, who will be in-charge of designing our articles, and writing for our new column “3 Minute Cooking with Taguchi-kun!”
“Yay!” Taguchi clapped for himself, while the other two employees remained stonily silent. Koki was stroking Momo’s fur softly to reassure himself of his place in Momo’s heart, while Kazuya just looked like he wanted to go home.
***
The next day…
No tea on the desk? thought Nakamaru to himself as he stepped into office, a situation that had never happened after Kazuya’s employment. In fact, said baseball nut wasn’t even in the office today. Usually, he was the first to turn up and almost the last to leave (he claimed he cannot do OT as he had to cook dinner for his brother). That’s strange, he hasn’t taken any leave of absence before and I’m sure he is not the kind that will forget to call-in if he is sick… It couldn’t have been his quarrel with Koki yesterday right?
“Ha! Petty bitch,” exclaimed Koki as he strutted by Kazuya’s empty desk when he entered the office. “Avoiding work just to avoid me?”
“I don’t think so Koki, I’m pretty sure Kazuya is not that kind of person… You didn’t bring Momo-chan along today for work?”
“I’m afraid that baseball freak might scare her again, so she’ll be staying at home for the time being.” In actual fact, however, Koki was afraid that bringing Momo along might trigger yet another argument and he sure didn’t enjoy yesterday’s unhappiness. He was hoping everything would be fine the next day, everything forgotten, and was now considering if he should call Kazuya to apologise for his shouting at him, and Momo’s action. After all, Koki had seen Kazuya gazing lovingly at his bat in deep thoughts multiple times.
“MORNING, EVERYBODY!” Taguchi chirpped happily as he skipped into the office. “Woah, sure is quiet around here! What a great day, eh? Nakamaru-san, Koki, ohayou~”
Nakamaru sighed. The atmosphere isn’t exactly upbeat today… In fact, it’s terrible. Why can’t he read the atmosphere?
Time crept by slowly and Nakamaru contemplated calling Kazuya for the very first time. After several calls which yielded no reply, Nakamaru decided to give everyone an early lunch break to replenish their energy and enthusiasm, and to be more productive.
“Wow, early lunch breaks! This company sure is great!”
***
After fetching himself a cup of tea which he badly needed, Nakamaru rushed back to the office hastily as he had forgotten to lock the doors when everyone went for lunch, a job usually unnecessary as Kazuya is usually in the office watching matches. Realising his over-reliance on his secretary, he blamed himself when he noticed something was amiss. The door was left wide opened, and stacks of papers spewed messily from his desk. At his secretary desk set a familiar figure behind a laptop screen. Ah, Kazuya is back!
“Kazuya, why were you late today?” Nakamaru asked, unsure if he be using an angry, concerned or relieved tone, now that Kazuya was back in the office. Funny, thought Nakamaru to himself. His laptop isn’t blaring out noisy baseball cheers today, and he is awfully silent.
“I’m not Kazuya…” the person behind the screen replied in a laid back manner. Pushing back his chair, an unfamiliar face emerged. Though Nakamaru had never met this person before, he had a striking resemblance to Kazuya. “I’m just here to pass you Kazuya’s reviews. Nice to meet you, Nakamura-san. My name is Kameda Tatsuya.”
To be continued…
Author's Note 2: Next week will be my examinations, so I wouldn't be updating. Sumimasen! Will update once my examinations are over! ;)
Hope you enjoy reading this chapter!