Work Text:
•••Ring ring•••
•••Ring ring•••
"Hello, This is Saegusa Ibara speaking. I have a deal I'd like to strike with you. I'd like to hear your response directly soon."
--beep--
•••Ring Ring•••
•••Ring Ring•••
"Uwaah, you answered! Anzu-san! I found this totally Love~ly Cafe dessert, can I treat you to it later?"
--beep--
•••Ring Ring•••
•••Ring Ring•••
"A-! Anzu! I can't find Ohii-san now, he wandered off again.. You saw him by the Cafe? Thanks! I'll be there"
--beep--
...
.......
To say Anzu was familiar with peace and quiet, would be, well
It would not be a very accurate statement
Working on proposals, fine tuning them and such. This had become an everyday typical thing for her. Something that, were she to find herself not doing it, she would feel very very wrong
This wasn't a bad thing of course! This was her job, and she very much cherished every moment of being the one to enable all these incredible idols to shine
"Mou~ Anzu-chan can't put her work away for one second? I'm feeling lonely.."
Ah, right
Despite all this, Anzu was in fact not at work right now. She was seated at a Cafe with a fresh sundae in front of her
And seated across from her at the same table, was Arashi Narukami
"I ask you out on a girls date like this, and yet all I'm hearing is boys and more boys..My sweet heart is going to break, Anzu-chaan" Came the additional cries from said knight
Frantically trying to assure the blonde that boys were not the only thing on her mind at the moment, Anzu waves her hands in front of her "Aah I'm sorry Arashi! I have to take all these calls or else-"
Thankfully she was cut off before she could go further, or else she would have gone on forever "Ehe~ I was only joking, Anzu. Of course I do, I call you a lot myself so it only makes sense" Arashi smiled and gave the other her playful wink, allowing Anzu to relax as well
"Still though. To think you get that many calls.. I feel bad for calling you as much as I do now.." the blondes smile saddened just a bit at the guilt
"Nono, please don't worry about it, I like hearing everyones calls. Most of them aren't business related, so they feel like breathes of fresh air to me when I'm surrounded in work" the brunette explained honestly with only a stronger pleasant smile
Unfortunately, that only got Arashis guilt higher "Right, surrounded in work..you know-"
"I'm fine, Arashi, please don't underestimate me, I can handle all the work I take" Anzu cut off the very much expected response. As much as she appreciates the concern, she's heard the speech enough tines by now. She's a very capable producer!
"Mm..Anzu-chan says that but she does overwork herself so much..you know we all worry about you, I don't like seeing you stressed.."
"And I don't like the idea of you guys dealing with an incapable producer whose unfamiliarity could cause problems" Anzu responded strongly
"I know all of your guy's personalities and quirks, I know a good chunk of what your units desire, I know the things that will let all of you look your best. And that's what I want to do."
"So please, Trust me in knowing how to do my job. The last person I want mansplaining from is you, Arashi"
The blonde was admittedly struck silent. It wasn't every day that her worries are received in this way so it took her a moment to register that it was coming from Anzu of all people
But at long last, Arashis smile came back in full force "Ara ara~ there's the spirit I love to see from you. Well, if you're so sure about this, then I won't fight with you on it." She responded to the others earnest speech happily. Her smile getting wider seeing how Anzu perked up at the acceptance
"Now let's dig in before our sweets melt, Tsukasa-chan will probably get mad if he knows we let good sweets go to waste♪"
"Mm!"
♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎♡♥︎
Alas, after her girls date out with Arashi, it was back to office paperwork for the brunette. Back to planning lives and the rest of her typical duties.
Edit this proposal, redirect this one for a more fitting unit, block this spam caller, ignore the knock at the door, sign off this paper, reach for the ne-
Wait
Knock at the door?
"Come in..?" She called out with uncertainty. Unexpected visits weren't the most common, even if they weren't exactly rare either. But most preferred to give her some sort of notice beforehand
She watched as the door opened and in popped a head of blonde hair with bright red eyes trying to locate her "Producer?" Came the ever recognizable voice of Nazuna Nito
"Nito-senpai?" Anzu called out in curiosity. Nito was one of the people who preferred to let her know beforehand if he'd intended on stopping by, so the sudden visit had her curiosity piqued
"Hi Producer" now that he'd made eye contact with her, a chipper smile made it's way on the boys face "Sorry for randomly stopping by, you were all surrounded in work weren't you?"
The producer didn't reply verbally, and instead opted to just half motion to all of the papers on her desk.
"..Ah, bad question, my bad" Nazuna continued awkwardly "well, I don't mean to stay here long. Just came to give you a breath of fresh air for a bit" the older explained. This still left Anzu with questions but she decided not to act on them and entertain this semblance of a break
She motioned for the other to take a seat and watched as he hesitated before instead walking over to her and patting her head. Leading her to look up at him confusedly
"You used to pat us rabits a lot so consider this returning the favor" the other half joked with a bright smile before it softened "you're doing great, Producer. Keep it up, but don't overwork yourself"
The pat continued for a while before the other practically hopped out of the room, waving goodbye as he let Anzu return to her work. Which she nearly mindlessly did, it was routine at this point to immediately focus in work the first moment she could.
Part of her mind was still stuck in Nazunas random visit, and his casual departure as well. It felt very unlike the blonde. But she didn't have the time to ponder over it for long, there was work to be done and Anzu would do such work.
After a good 30 minutes of work, another knock was heard from the door
"Come in" Anzu calls out. And watches as her door opens this time to reveal Tatsumi Kazehaya. Walking in slowly with an apple in hand.
"Hello, Producer-san. I did not mean to interrupt your work, I just came to check up on you" the older man explained his presence, looking around at the amount of papers on the brunettes desk
"Check up on me?" Anzu echoed in slight confusion. It was very, random, especially considering there was no prior warning or any sort of heads up that he would be doing this
"Mhm, I see you're still as healthy as ever" Tatsumi replied with a warm smile. The producers confusion only grew at this, had he expected her to have been ill? What would've made him think so?
Without waiting for a response, the older grabbed the producers hand and placed the apple softly in it "Taking good care of your health is important, take it from a man who has also been in the hospital" he explained "Have this apple, a healthy snack to push you through"
"I, see? Thank you Kazehaya-senpai" Anzu responded, still looking at the other in mild confusion. Expecting him to atleast explain a little bit more why he was here and why he was checking on her
Instead, the teal haired man went "That is all, I wish you good luck with your work, Producer-san" and bowed slightly before turning to leave. His steps just as soft as they had been as he entered.
What?
Anzu looked at the apple in her hand, then at the door, then at the apple, at her work, and then the apple
None of it helped her understand why the man just came and put the apple in her hand
Free apple, I guess? It's not like she can give it back now. So she eats the apple, it's a good apple, as- most apples are.
Well, back to work. More papers and such
It didn't take long before she was burying herself in papers detailing live ideas, edits to such proposals to make them more likely to get through to corporate heads, scheduling a call with Ibara about that deal he'd mentioned earlier and
Noticing a 2nd apple on her desk, this time with a note
What
That had definitely not been there before Tatsumi came in, but she was certain Tatsumi only had one apple with him. Not once did the man pull out another in his short time here
Her eyes focused on the note, moving over to bring her face closer to it and reading it. It was a typical support note cheering her on and apologizing for not being able to say it to her face
Ah, Mayoi had snuck in and left it while Tatsumi was here
Typical ES moment
But still, that made 3 people who have visited her unannounced, All rather close together too. It would be reasonable to start getting suspicious by now, right?
Well, if it hadn't already, the new set of knocks on the door most certainly did
"Come in" She called out from her desk, unaware of the suspicious look she kept on her face. She watched as the next person entered the room
"Sorry for the intrusion" Keito Hasumi spoke, entering the office room "I just wanted to check with you on something"
He looked as if he had more to say, but he paused as he noticed the look of suspicion on Anzus face "Whats with that face, Producer?"
"Are you here to check up on me too?" Anzu responds straightforwardly. She needed to know if Keito too was in on whatever must be going on
She's met with a sigh in response "That wasn't my entire intention, there was legitimate work I wanted to discuss with you. But I suppose you aren't wrong.. I take it I'm not the first?" The green haired idol suggests
"Why are you all doing this?" Anzu asks. It's not as though she's annoyed by them doing this, if anything she's touched, but it's all just too suspicious.
"..I won't be the one to tell you. But I will say that it's better if you don't focus on why everyone did this. There isn't some grand scheme here or anything of the sort, I promise you that." Keito explains "Now, if you aren't too upset, may I return to the topic of work?"
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"Tell me why everyone's been so concerned about me!"
"Now now, calm down producer, the tea I've blended for us both is going cold.."
Anzu sat with the top head of ES himself, Eichi Tenshouin. Having contacted him earlier about having to discuss something with him. He'd expected something more serious or important, seeing as this is Anzu. And was pleasantly surprised to see what this was really about
"Oh, sorry" Anzu apologizes before carefully sipping her tea. Perhaps she was a bit ahead of herself here
"Soo, how's work been treating you?" The blonde inquires about the others well-being "I do hope you haven't been feeling overworked as of late"
"You too??" Anzu looks at him incredulously "That makes 8 people who've all asked me about my health today!"
"Only 8? How sad, I expected much higher numbers.. ah, perhaps many of them assumed the final act was enough" Eichi mulls and theorizes to himself
"Final act..?" Anzu echoes in confusion, unaware of what act the blonde was refering to
"Right, excuse me for just a moment" Eichi requests, picking his phone up and scrolling over to the main hold-hands chatroom. He types a message sent to all the ES idols they're familiar with before setting his phone back down "Do me a favour and check your phone, Producer♪"
Anzu picks her phone up, and is instantly bombarded with too many notifications to keep track of. She tries reading them all as they come, and recognizes many of them as idols she's produced over her time here. So many of the messages including heart emojis of all colours
She takes a second to actually fully read a few of them
From: Nazuna Nito
"💛💛💛 Hearts from Nii-chan! Remember what I told you producer, let yourself relax for a bit!
From: Sora Harukawa
"Sora casts 'Feel good' magic on Anzu!! Anzu must feel happier with Soras magic!"
"Well, did it work producer? Has Sora made you happy? :o"
From: Tetora Nagumo
"Yo Anego!! Youre doin an awesome job! Really grateful for ya an all. Keep rockin!!"
So many more messages of the sort were flooding her messages with every idol she'd come to know. Even those in the P-association were wishing her well
All the affection and care coming from all the messages were enough to overwhelm her and draw a tear or two. Which Eichi picked up on "I'm taking it our little act left an impact, hm?"
Though overwhelmed and practically crying in the affection, Anzu managed a reply "I..It's..I.." Well, she tried atleast. It was just a bit much for her, sadly.
"Fufu..I figured it's been a while since we all came together to show just how much you mean to us all. So I put this together for you. I'd say I hope you enjoyed it, but I have a hunch it's touched your heart well" Eichi mused
"Thank you, Anzu."