Chapter Text
A brown haired girl sat down in front of the camera, smiling. She fixed up her dress and clasped her hands together.
“Today we’re meeting our new boss! I hope that they’re suuuper cute, and way more nicer than the last one! Especially for Fuuta’s sake…”
She placed a hand on her cheek, looking at her side, concerned, then panicked.
“Oh! How could I forget! I haven’t told my boyfriend about this— please give me a minute, I have to make a phone call!”
A red-haired boy was sitting in front of the camera with his arms crossed.
“Unlike others , I’m not getting my hopes up with the new boss.” He furrowed his brows. “Chances are that they’ll be an asshole just like the last one, maybe another useless adult like Kazui or Shidou.”
He mumbled. “Maybe I can get my online friends to do some research…”
An older-looking man looked at the camera, smirking.
“Can’t say I’m not interested in meeting them.” He chuckled awkwardly.
“My wife, she told me to stay positive— she even packed me my favorite lunch.”
The man pulled out a lime green lunchbox and opened it, inside it was some slightly burnt meat.
“I wish Shidou were here, us old men have to stick together during these times. Maybe he’s running late.”
He gave the camera a smile, yet his eyes remained empty.
Now, a brown haired girl with longer hair stared at the camera.
“The new boss? I’m curious too, but I’ll have to agree with Fuuta on this one, it’s not like i have high expectations for them after the last one.”
“But you never know! Maybe they can be a little entertaining. I wonder if they’ll give me a raise?”
She giggled, looking at the camera in a mischievous way.
Es has never been more nervous in their entire life.
A few weeks ago, they sent a job application to the ‘Stanley Milgram paper company,’ the position they were applying to was regional manager of one of the branches, which apparently was free because the old boss quit, weird. Es tried asking about it, but the interviewer just kept avoiding their questions.
Eventually, the curiosity was overpowered by anxiety and nervousness, this was a serious job after all, they had to make a good first impression. Es was often underestimated because of their age, but they were more than that, they’re capable of managing an office just fine.
They sighed as they arrived at the building’s parking lot. The place itself looked pretty normal to them, it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, so maybe things weren’t going to be so bad after all?
… No, they can’t let their guard down, they haven’t even met their employees!
“-ey! Hey! Get on with it, will you?! I’ve got places to be,” yelled an angry looking rabbit with horns— a Jackalope.
Right, they forgot that Jackalope was here with them, he’s the one that drove them there in the first place, actually. (When Es asked how can a rabbit even drive, they were met with a bunch of yelling and insults from Jackalope, so they decided not to make any further comments about it).
“Sorry, I spaced out a little,” said Es, shaking their head and walking towards the entrance. “Thank you for the ride, Mr. Jackalope.”
Jackalope sighed, then spoke in a low voice, “yeah, yeah. I expect exceptional work from you, okay? Remember; you are the boss and they are the employees, understood?” Es nodded.
“Alright then, good luck.”
Es waved goodbye at Jackalope as he drove off, in their mind, it looked like a scene straight out of a cartoon. They chuckled at the thought as they walked inside the almost empty elevator, the only person besides them being a silver haired man, a stoic look on his face.
They never noticed when, but the man was now looking at them somewhat concerned.
“I’m sorry, are you lost? Did you lost your parents?”
…
Huh?????
“Excuse me, what?” Es looked at the man in disbelief. Did Jackalope even tell them about their new boss? Or did they just not have any respect for others at all? Maybe he was a client?
“Did you lost your parents?” The man said again, looking even more concerned than before. He paused before continuing. “If they work here, I can help you find them.”
He crouched down a little as he said that, some horrible attempt at looking more friendly, it seems. Es has never wanted to punch someone more than now, they were not some weak and lost child that needed to be taken care of.
They took a deep breath before speaking. “You… I’m not a child, I’m fifteen years old.” The stood up straight, trying to muster up their most authoritative voice.
The man blinked.
Obviously, he was out of words. Es was sure that he realized his mistake, i mean, who doesn’t know that fifteen was the adult age in some countries?
The man opened his mouth to say something, but the ‘ding!’ sound of the elevator stopped him before he could, Es walked out of the elevator while smirking. ‘That’ll show him.’ They thought.
They walked down the short hallway that led to their new workplace, feeling more confident after that interaction, but the thought of it happening again made them a little nervous.
Damn rabbit. How could he leave them alone on their first day on the job? Not even an office tour? Really?
Es sighed as they opened the door to the office, walking in with their chin up and a calm face. As long as they didn’t show any signs of weakness they were good, they will show these people that they’re no child, that they’re just as qualified as any other person, that—
“Is that a child?”
Are you serious?
A brown haired girl with sunflower earrings stood up from where she was sitting, making a shushing sound as they walked up to Es.
“Fuuta, don’t be rude! They could be a client!”
The boy grumbled something under his breath, going back to what he was doing without paying attention to his surroundings.
The girl was now standing in front of Es, smiling in such a bright way it almost blinded them. Almost.
She got a little closer. “Please excuse him! He’s a little moody, one of our superiors told us that we’ll be meeting our new boss today, so everyone’s a little nervous. Is there anything I can help you with?” Her tone was sweet like honey, not looking even slightly mad despite her co-workers comment.
Es took a deep breath before speaking. “Actually… I’m the new boss that your superior talked about. Sorry for the wait.” They offered a hand to the girl, using polite gestures to look more professional.
The girl looked shocked to hear that. “Oh my! To be so young and a boss, that is so impressive!” She took a few steps behind, giving Es more space to breathe.
“I’m Mahiru Shiina! I’m twenty two years old and I work in costumer service. Please be nice to me, hehe!” She took Es’s hand, shaking it gently. “I’ll help you introduce yourself to everyone!”
“There’s no need for that, I can do that myself, uh…”
Before Es could notice, everyone in the room was looking at their interaction, not making a single sound. Es cleared their throat before speaking.
”My name is Es, it is a pleasure to meet you all. As your superiors told you, I’ll be your new boss. I’m looking forward to working with all of you, thanks.” They bowed their head, then took a look at everyone one by one.
The first one to speak was a man with dark brown hair, he looked like he was the oldest out of all of them.
”Mukuhara Kazui, thirty nine years old. Pleasure to meet you, boss.” He returned the head bow, then sat down again, waiting for his other co-workers to speak while smiling.
‘It seems like he took the initiative for the rest of them.’ Es thought. ‘Maybe because he’s the oldest?’
kazui grinned at the camera.
“I only introduced myself first to stop Fuuta from making any other comments.” He chuckled.
“He started working before our old boss moved branches, so he tends to not measure his words in situations like these. Also, Es seems to be a little nervous after what he said, maybe they get comments about their age often, poor kid.”
Kazui looked at his watch before speaking again.
“Shidou’s still running late, I’m getting kind of worried, he usually doesn’t miss work unless his kids or wife are sick, hopefully nothing bad came up.”
Es now looked at the person closest to Kazui, a young girl who should be around high school age.
”Is it my turn now? Okay!” She stood up from her seat. “Kashiki Yuno. Eighteen years old, i work here as a part time job since im still a high school student. I was born on September second so I’m a Virgo, and my blood type’s O.”
Wow. That was a lot to take in. Es barely registered the amount of information said to them in like, what, five seconds?
’So energetic…’ Thought Es. ‘At least she doesn’t seem problematic.’
Yuno stared at Es, analyzing their reaction. “If you ever need help with something just tell me! I’m the receptionist after all.” She winked.
Es nodded, good. With Yuno here, they won’t get worried about getting lost or having to ask anyone about their positions. Maybe they should ask Yuno a few questions about the workplace later.
Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening, someone walked in.
“Excuse me, everyone. I’m sorry for being late, I found a lost kid on my way here, so I had to tell security about the—“
Es was flabbergasted. ’Is that the man from before?! No, there’s no way…’
Before they could say anything, Mahiru jumped in front of the man and greeted him. “Good morning, Shidou! Did anything happen? Usually you’re not this late— oh! This is Es, our new boss. Es, this is Shidou! He’s a father, so please go easy on him if he’s ever late.”
Mahiru smiled at the both of them, waiting for something to happen. The first one to talk was Shidou.
”My apologies. My name is Kirisaki Shidou, I’m twenty nine years old and i work at Human Resources. It is a pleasure to meet you— again, I apologize for my attitude earlier.”
He kept a stoic face the entire time, making it difficult for Es to guess how he truly felt, that enraged them. The took a small breath to compose themselves. ‘Act professional.’
“Yes. Uhm. Pleasure to meet you... Too.” Really?
Shidou nodded at Es, then walked to his neatly done desk before getting to work.
Mahiru spoke up. “That should be everyone, at least for today. There’s other people who work here too, like Muu and Haruka, but I think that they’re still at school.”
Yuno stood up from her desk with a few documents on her hand, inviting herself to the conversation. “They have specific schedules until summer break, I go to a different school than them, so I’m already on my summer break.” She grinned, her eyes squinting.
“Also… There’s still someone else who hasn’t introduced themselves yet, right, Fuuta?”
An angry looking boy grumbled from his desk. So this was Fuuta, huh?
”Do I have to? They should already know all of us by now, and they already know my name so—“ Mahiru looked at him with a pout.
Fuuta sighed. “Fine. Kajiyama Fuuta, twenty years old. I’m a university student. Can I go back to work now?”
Yuno smirked as she walked back to her desk. ”We all know that you use the computer to play video games instead of working, Fuuta. You don’t fool anyone, at least not me.”
“Hey you—! Don’t— don’t say that in front of our boss!” He pointed at Yuno with an accusing finger.
Kazui chuckled at their interaction. ”My, my, Fuuta. I didn’t expect you of all people to slack off from work like that. You youngsters always spend the entire day in front of a screen, back in my day, my dad would make me run under the burning sun until—“
”Shut up, Kazui! I don’t care about any ‘back-in-my-day’ stories that you feel the need to tell!” Fuuta now pointed at Kazui.
Now Shidou joined the conversation. ”You shouldn’t point at people that way, Kajiyama. In some cultures, these kind of things can be interpreted as—“
“Ahaha… Sorry about that. An old man like me can’t help but—“
”Shut up! Just leave me alone, fuck!”
Fuuta covered his ears before anyone could answer, going back to his computer.
Mahiru looked at Es with a nervous smile. “As you can see, things are a liiitle intense in here, but you’ll love it! Please give us a chance.”
…
Well…
It’s not like they can quit now, especially when this is their first job as a boss. If they quit now, Jackalope would laugh at them, or yell. To be honest, they didn’t even know how his mind worked.
And maybe… This could be a chance for people to start taking them seriously, if people can see that they are capable of managing an office just fine, they’ll stop underestimating them.
“It’s okay, Mahiru. My office is this way, right?” They smiled at her, pointing at a door with their name written in it.
“I’ll be here if any of you have any questions or problems. It is my duty as your boss to look out for you.” They bowed their head again, then walked inside their office.
Es sat down in front of the camera, crossing their legs.
“I see why their old boss left, but… It doesn’t mean that they’re bad.”
They looked through the window that separated the interview room and the office, a faint smile on their mouth. Then, a few seconds later, they looked back at the camera again, fully smiling.
”Maybe one day we’ll see each other as comrades instead of just ‘boss and employee.’”