aibaexchange | PROMPT #24 by saaurus pt. 1

Title: We Won't

Word Count: 23,000+

Rating: pg-13

Pairing: Aiba Masaki/Sakurai Sho

Tags: enemies to lovers, office au

Summary: As colleagues of the same company, Aiba Masaki and Sakurai Sho are polar opposites. But with the announcement of a special project, these two, who seem completely incompatible, will have to work their way through their differences to succeed.

Prompt #24: Enemies to lovers AU where Aiba and Sho (or Jun) are rivals/enemies who are forced to work together. They can be two idols from different companies, salary-men assigned to the same project, singers working on the same album, a food critic and a chef working together, etc. Maybe they hate each other because of something that happened in their past? Maybe just one hates the other and the other is clueless about it?

Note: I had lots of fun working with this, plus it gave me the opportunity to work with office AU which I love. Hope you like it!

PART 1

Aiba had to blink several times before he could take in the manager's words, despite them being loud and clear. "I'm sorry, sir, I-... don't think I understand."

"Aiba, there is no better way to put this. Your numbers are in the red. Your costumer reviews are not looking up since your last evaluation. I trust you've been working to change that, but I am not seeing the results you need to keep going,” the manager reported. Aiba swallowed hard, unable to admit in front of his boss he hadn't been the most dutiful when it came to his work in the last few weeks. And that heavy feeling of responsibility weighting on him now was not going to change that fact. Already, he knew what was coming next as his chest began to tighten. “Now, I don’t want to take any drastic measures. The company can’t afford to lose anyone at this time, but do consider this as a warning.”

Aiba bowed his head with immeasurable guilt, feeling he was probably the last one deserving of a second chance. Knowing himself, he would just blow it again and lose his job in record time.

“Now, I am proposing to do something different with you,” the manager went on and Aiba couldn't see how this could possibly go right for him. “Instead of waiting for your next evaluation, I want to try getting immediate results. This way I know that I'm making the right decisions in keeping you. I really want you to show me your commitment, Aiba. Would you be willing to?"

"Yes, sir." Aiba responded, already feeling a bit down at the thought, but hoping his manager wouldn’t see through him.

"Good. I don’t mean to delay this any further so I will explain right away. One of our newer clients is looking for a proposal for their new business campaign, and what we need right now is a research team to lay out a projection plan to get started on this project. It won't be anything too big, but I was appointed to nominate a couple of my subordinates for the job. Therefore, starting this week, you’ll be teaming up with Sakurai for this special project.”

“I-I'm... sorry?” Aiba stared at his manager dumbfounded, as if his ears had failed him.

“I want you two to work together for the preliminary proposal we’ll be showing to our client."

“You mean... me and... Sakurai Sho?” Aiba asked to clarify, dreading to know if the manager were truly serious.

“Of course. I had already assigned Sakurai to the job and I wasn't sure who else to nominate, but I'm convinced it will be of great benefit for you to work alongside him. You might learn a thing or two," the manager spoke as if it were his most genius idea, and yet Aiba couldn't help but feel a bad taste in his mouth at the thought. “You'll have this week to prepare a first draft of your presentation and an additional week to make the readjustments for your final proposal. I will be emailing you the details, but the rest is for you and Sakurai to discuss. I trust you can take care of this.”

There were so many things Aiba was capable of doing. He could sit at his desk and do his work for hours until the laboring day was over. He could show himself presentable and comfortable in front of clients even when his mood was the complete opposite of his appearance. He could lie to his boss, assuring him he had been doing his best to better his performance, but asking him to pretend he agreed on the condition of working with Sakurai drew a line in how far Aiba's capabilities could actually go. Aiba wanted to protest, he wanted to throw a tantrum and reject the project if he had the chance, but his only other alternative besides partnering with the most unsociable employee in their office was to lose his job, and he was left with not much of a choice but to agree.

Aiba couldn't exactly say he hated Sakurai. It was more of a dislike or a disagreement with the way he usually dealt with work around the office. It was true Sakurai was one of the most, if not the most diligent employee in their research department. The manager's favoritism towards him was no secret and yet it was his particular discipline and manner of overdoing things what Aiba found most worrying. With a mostly meticulous attitude, Sakurai was most diligent to express his discomfort with other people's approach to getting things done. For Sakurai, there was always a better way to compare statistics, a better way to phrase that argument, a better way to compress those numbers. There was simply no other way to do things but his way.

A good amount of employees agreed that keeping up with Sakurai's demands was more than just hard. When it came to working on conjoined projects, being paired up with Sakurai was something to fear. On the contrary, the higher ups considered any chance to work alongside Sakurai most beneficial, knowing their work would be in the most part successful. It didn't help that Sakurai's physical appearance made him stand out among neighboring departments and granted him some unnecessary and unwanted attention. Aiba knew people usually tried to take advantage of Sakurai’s genius. But considering he'd never been of person, there was nothing that indicated it was going to be any easier for Aiba with their "special project." In fact, considering their manager had decided to assign just the two of them, Aiba had started to expect the worst.

The manager's nomination of Sakurai for the project didn't come as a surprise to anyone, but doubt arose in the office when Aiba's name followed as his partner. Aiba felt his coworkers’ eyes follow him from all directions, some filled with judgment, some with sympathy (which he appreciated), and a good amount with some sort of twisted jealousy that was easier for Aiba to just ignore. Aiba wondered if anyone had stopped to think about how unfair his circumstances were. Not only did he need to complete the project successfully to secure his job for at least another several months, but the fact that he also had to put up with Sakurai's demands on his own was uncalled for. As familiar as he was with Sakurai's style of work, Aiba couldn't help but feel nervous of the circumstances and how everything could go wrong.

"Just give it a day or two, you'll see he won't get off my back," Aiba leaned his head on his crossed arms over the reception counter as he conveyed to Ohno his tragedy. "He'll hang me in the office and keep me like a punching bag."

"I'm sure he'll go easy on you." His friend Ohno tried to be the voice of reason.

"I doubt the word 'easy' is even in his vocabulary." Aiba pouted, his misery getting the best of him.

"Maybe, if you proved to him that you care about the job just as much as him, he would put some trust in you."

“No, no, no! I do not want to do that. Trust me, the moment he feels like his authority is being challenged, the last thing he'll do is thank me for it."

"There's no such thing, Aiba. Besides, you both share the same position."

"I doubt that is how he sees it though. I don't think the manager talks to anyone in the whole department as much as him. They even share lunch at times! I’m telling you, he may not have any distinctive title, but with the way Sakurai gets treated by the manager, there might be things that are already taken for granted between them. Who knows?"

Ohno sighed, unable to follow Aiba's running thoughts. Not knowing how else to reassure his friend, Ohno left him to his own whirlpool of worries. "Just give him a chance. You never know if you might be wrong about someone."

"I know I shouldn't be quick to judge but..." Aiba leaned closer over the reception counter to whisper. "I really don’t like him."

Ohno could only smile to Aiba, hoping he would take away something from the experience of working with someone so different from himself rather than closing off to the possibility of ever trying.

DAY 1

Aiba received the memo from the manager on the instructions for the special project. He shouldn't have been surprised of how long and detailed they were so he took the morning to go over the requirements for the research he would need to conduct. Just as he had begun to wonder where Sakurai was, in hopes that they could go over the instructions together, the subject of his thoughts seemed to magically materialize before him.

His dark suit almost cast a shadow on Aiba, startling him when he suddenly approached him from behind at his desk. With his usual sharp and professional look, Sakurai's presence seemed stern, and if Aiba didn't know better, purposely intimidating. Refusing to waste any time, Sakurai skipped over all greetings and other polite pleasantries to extend a piece of printed paper for Aiba to take. Aiba accepted it hesitantly, not sure what he was taking from the other by the lack of explanation that his impassive stare refused to give out.

"I was informed you were assigned for the project too. I expect we can work well together." Sakurai said, his words dry, making it impossible to tell if they were truly genuine. Aiba returned the favor nonetheless.

"Same her-" Before Aiba could even finish, Sakurai was already retreating to return to his own desk, perhaps feeling Aiba's response would not be worth waiting for.

Aiba decided to let it slide and so he found himself studying the paper Sakurai had handed him. A list of chores and materials were displayed in columns, followed by instructions divided into hours in the rows of a table. It was all so detailed to the very last minute that Aiba had no choice but to find himself confused.

"Excuse me, Sakurai," Now it was Aiba's turn to approach Sakurai's desk, clearly interrupting his work, which the latter didn't seem to appreciate much. Yet it was crucial for Aiba to know. "What is this?" Aiba showed him the paper he’d just handed him.

"Those are your tasks for today. I fixed them into your schedule so you can get your work done on time. You can manage them as you please, as long as you finish them by the end of the day and you can forward it to me before I go."

"Seriously...?" Aiba intended for his words to come out more as a quiet sigh, but he had yet to learn of Sakurai's sharp hearing.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Sakurai's brow rose and Aiba froze.

"I- I don't know I... I thought it seemed a little... unreasonable." Aiba regretted his words at the same time that they came out of his mouth.

"Where exactly?"

Not expecting him to ask for specifics, Aiba realized he had backed himself into a corner. Nervously, he looked at the paper to spot the very first thing he could point out. “Well... you see, here... you put ‘Layout for Presentation’ in a 26 minutes time slot. Not even half an hour?"

"So you don't want those extra 4 minutes to start on the survey statistics?"

Aiba stared at him perplexed, waiting for the slightest indication that he was only kidding, but Sakurai's expression only showed questions and some level of confusion to what Aiba was asking. "I think what I'm trying to say is,” Aiba spoke carefully. “This is... unrealistic. It’ll take me much more than that to do any of these tasks."

Sakurai's eyes scanned Aiba from head to toe and sighed deeply at whatever he found, his eyes shutting to resist the urge to roll them. All too calmly, Sakurai's attention was fixed back on the work on his desktop monitor. "It wouldn't be unrealistic if you didn't waste so much time on your phone as you do."

Aiba stared at him blankly, wondering if he had already forgotten he was still standing there where could hear him perfectly, or if Sakurai just happened to speak his thoughts out loud. Whichever the case, Aiba was taken aback.

"You still have to do all those tasks for today, otherwise we'll be behind schedule.”

“I-“

“The manager assigned you on this project himself,” Sakurai interrupted him. “I'm sure you can take care of it."

Aiba was ready to make his next retort to Sakurai, who already seemed to have moved on from their conversation, but he stopped himself. There was no use in getting worked up by something of this nature, no matter how much he wanted to knock Sakurai off his high horse, he needed to be the better person. And, following Ohno's advice, Aiba excused himself silently from Sakurai's side to return to his own desk, willing to demonstrate to Sakurai he could take care of his job just as much as him.

DAY 2

Aiba turned up at the office that morning dragging his feet. He'd found it hard to get sleep the previous night even though he was exhausted. He set his things down and decided to make himself a cup of coffee before he had to look at any work. That’s when Sakurai decided to walk past his desk, dumping the new schedule on Aiba’s keyboard. Aiba stared at it, wondering just how serious Sakurai was about this, that there was no other formal greeting of good morning before he was being forced into work already. Aiba asked himself if he should prioritize his coffee or if it was best to get it out of the way and see what sort of tasks awaited him for today. He decided to do the most unwanted thing first and looked over the schedule, noticing his tasks had only increased in number but not at all in time limit.

"Sakurai," Aiba called him back across the office and Sakurai had no choice but to retrace his steps back to Aiba's cubicle, not surprised that Aiba had something to say today as well.

“Yes?”

"How come I have so many tasks this time?"

Sho frowned at him. "Were you expecting to work less today?"

"No, it's not-"

"I'm only trying to balance out the work, shouldn't that be fair enough?" Sho said, trying to make it seem like Aiba was in the wrong for asking.

"Well you don't have as many tasks as I do in your column, how is that fair?" Aiba interjected, not knowing where his boldness had come out from, but he decided to roll with it.

Still, Sakurai didn't seem to heed to his arguments. "The written part of the research report takes time. I need to make sure I'm using reliable resources and sometimes some field work is required to verify it."

"If there's field work involved, shouldn't we be doing it together?" Aiba inquired.

"There's no need," Sakurai answered him simply, and the tone of his voice made Aiba feel denied of his own work. "Besides it might slow us down. If we divide it this way, it'll prove more beneficial. I just need to do about 45% of that research today and the same amount tomorrow so that we can balance out the rest of the work in the following days. Meanwhile, I need you to take care of preparing the presentation with the data I'll be sending to you, that is, if you allow me to begin with my work."

As expected, Aiba understood the hints Sakurai's words were giving off and decided he would say no more. He simply didn't have the energy to complain at the moment and he apologized for taking up Sakurai's time once again. Of course, Sakurai would have the last word and he went back to his desk, perhaps feeling slightly satisfied. But Aiba couldn't even begin to care about who lead the argument. There was yet to be a single spark of energy in his body for him to actually mind.

Once he returned to his desk with his warm cup of coffee, he could actually start to concern himself with Sakurai's demands for the day. He reviewed them one at a time, each one more tedious than the last, but if it was all he needed to do to get it over with for the day, he would do it. As long as he did everything that was on his side of the list and didn't have to bother Sakurai with any other time-wasting inquire, perhaps the week could go by before he knew it.

DAY 3

Aiba had yet to learn of the consequences of wishing too hard for something, but in fact, he had truly underestimated Sakurai's capacity (or talent) to frustrate him each day more. His daily tasks were becoming each more demanding than the last, to a point where Aiba was barely able to sit still and let someone who wasn't even his superior overwork him.

"Can you believe this? He is trying to manage my hours. He even took minutes off my lunch break! He seriously thinks I'm going to do everything he says." Ohno chuckled across the reception counter, but Aiba had missed the joke. "What? What is it? I'm being serious!"

"Well when you think about it, it's sort of... odd." Ohno commented with a smile on his lips.

"What is?"

"Just the fact that he keeps making schedules for you every day. It seems considerate of him."

"Considerate? Have you seen this thing?" Aiba waved the paper in front of Ohno’s face. "There's at least 12 things he wants me to do before lunch. There isn't even half of that on his column. He's trying to take advantage of me for sure."

"That's so unlike you, to be bothered by these things.” Ohno mused. "You would usually work things out at your own pace and just work extra hours to get the job done. So, what is it about now that's so hard for you to do?"

"I don't know...” Aiba pouted. “Sakurai gets on my nerves."

"Ah, so it's Sakurai after all." Ohno smiled knowingly.

"I already told you, I never really liked him. He usually treats others like they’re inferior to him. I’ll always remember that time he singled you out for misusing the fax machine and all our faxes never getting through.”

"Well... that was my mistake."

“He yelled at you as if he were the boss! I couldn't stand it. Also that time he caught you sleeping at work and reported you. You got scolded by HR pretty badly."

"Are these instances all about me?”

"Point is, I don’t want to get trampled by someone like him. I would be doing him a favor.”

“You could always tell the manager if he is being unfair.”

“I don't know, I don't want to drag him into this. I just want to be treated equally. He doesn’t need to act as if he is in charge of everyone.”

“Then be honest and talk to him.”

Aiba sighed sharply. “I would be lucky if I can get him to hear me out for once.”

Aiba returned to his work, Sakurai had already began to send glares his way as he kept chatting with Ohno by the reception desk. Knowing Sakurai must have been keeping track of how much time he'd spend not doing his work only encouraged Aiba to take up an extra minute before he actually got to his desk, just for the sake of not pleasing Sakurai. Once he got to work, he could imagine Sakurai relaxing and finding some relief in seeing Aiba continue with his duties, if only sitting at his desk meant that Aiba was working at all.

It was almost too easy to predict what Sakurai was thinking of him at any given moment, and in no time, Aiba had made it his distraction to guess what new annoyance he was thinking of right now. After a while, Aiba saw most of his morning had been spent and decided to get to work, making sure it was not at all in the way Sakurai expected him to.

Later that day, once Aiba had found a steady pace into his work, he approached Sakurai with a newly printed document he'd just finished, and handed it over to him for revision.

“You’re an hour behind schedule.” Sakurai didn’t even thank him for delivering the document to him personally.

Aiba was about to continue working in his own way when he thought of a further solution to make his time at Sakurai’s cubicle worthwhile.

“Can I ask you something?” Sakurai glared at him from the corner of his eyes, not giving a clear response whether he wanted to hear what he was about to say or not. His lack of words allowed Aiba to continue. “Wouldn’t it be more productive to get the work done on our own instead of having to produce schedules every day to meet with laboring hours?”

“No need. I do them at home to not take up time in the office.” Sakurai's attention never left his desktop.

Aiba blinked twice. “So you never sleep, is that it?”

“I’m selective with my hours.”

“Is work really all you think of?”

“Why do you ask?” Sakurai spun in his chair to face Aiba, thinking of no reason for Aiba to be questioning him at all.

“Well... I've heard taking your work home from the office is bad for you. Especially considering that it’s something so... unnecessary.”

“I don’t expect you to understand.” Sho turned back to his work, his keyboard clacking loudly.

Aiba's left eye twitched. He really pleaded for something to stop his impulse, but nothing really came to prevent the words from escaping. “That you don’t have a life?”

Sho sighed for perhaps the eleventh time that morning, his work stopped altogether and his chair spun a perfect 90 degrees towards Aiba. “That there are more important things to do rather than losing time with meaningless chit-chat. So instead of lingering at the reception I suggest you start focusing on your work. You should get started on those reports too. I had to fix them last time because of your previous refusal to follow the schedule.”

Aiba scoffed in disbelief at the other’s relentless attitude. He was always trying to have the upper hand over him and Aiba couldn’t do anything but walk away, allowing Sakurai the satisfaction of yet another won argument. Aiba fought the urge to crumble the schedule and toss it on Sakurai’s desk. But if he wanted to prove to Sakurai he could manage his work all on his own, he had to control those sudden impulses to contradict him. If only Sakurai were capable of staying out of his business, he wouldn’t keep having this problem.

DAY 4

Aiba was not looking forward to continue working on the special project, unable to keep up with Sakurai’s expectancy of perfection. Strongly, he wished the week would just skip ahead to any other time when he didn’t have to see Sakurai come up to his desk and dump on him another godforsaken schedule he would be forced to complete by the end of the day.

When Sakurai inevitably turned up at his desk that morning, for a brief silent second, they exchanged looks. Each not wanting to be the first to express a "good morning" to the other, they let their fed up gestures speak for themselves. After sharing a moment of unspoken annoyance at the sight of one another, Sakurai placed the new schedule sheet on Aiba's keyboard and went away without a word.

Aiba sighed profoundly daring to look at the schedule and seeing that his table of tasks was just as full as any other day. An incoming headache began to creep in and his hands held up his head, pressing on his temples, not even caring that the schedule’s paper crumbled in his grip. He tried to relax. He knew better than to stress first thing in the morning and perhaps getting to work right away would help him feel less of the pressure that was to be ensured on him later. That is, if only he didn’t have something to talk over with Sakurai at any point during the day.

“This won’t do,” Sakurai dumped the papers in front of Aiba with little decorum, making them land heavily over Aiba’s desk, startling the younger man. “I suggest you redo it right away."

Aiba looked at the documents with red marks all over and then up at Sakurai. “Should I prioritize this or all the other hundred things you had me do for today?”

Sho was about to argue when his words stopped on his tongue. His thoughts took a step back before letting his first reaction take over. He shut his eyes, appeasing that impulsive energy from escaping, and instead, he said calmly and slowly. “Do as you please, Aiba, and get it done.”

“I thought we were following your orders.” Aiba responded before Sakurai could even turn away, so he heard the younger man's sulking words clearly. Aiba wasn't sure why he'd let the words come out like that nor why he didn't try to stop himself. For a good moment Aiba had just given up on trying to pretend he was okay with anything and just the way Sakurai had placed the papers on his desk was enough to set him off.

“Excuse me?” Sakurai was disconcerted with Aiba's tone. "If you have a problem, I suggest you first calm down, and when you think you're ready to talk, you may direct any concern you may have to me." Sakurai spoke in a moderated volume trying not to bring too much attention upon themselves as they were in the middle of the office.

"I do have a concern, can I report it now?" Aiba inquired, unbothered by his own tone of voice or who may hear what from their conversation. Sakurai was unable to give any clear response as he still didn't understand where the other's worked-up and angry feelings were coming from. "I have a problem with you acting like you're supposed to be my boss when you're clearly not. In fact we are doing this together because we both have the same job, so I don't see why you should have any authority over me. So I would like to ask if you would stop looking down on me."

Sakurai paused, trying to stay collected regardless, insisting on maintaining a neutralized tone of voice. "Listen... I wouldn't have to do any of this if I were sure we could afford to waste time, but that is not our current situation. All I'm asking right now is that you evaluate your work carefully so we wouldn't have to go through any setbacks."

“I don’t even understand what else you expect me to do!”

“I expect you to do your work! I don't have time to take care of every single one of your mistakes.”

“You only call them mistakes because it wasn’t done the way you wanted them to be.”

“All I'm saying is that if you had put the slightest effort into listening to me, you would have had this finished by the time you were supposed to. “

“There’s no ‘time’ by which I was supposed to do anything! You’re the one who’s putting all these restraints and due dates on me. I am perfectly capable of doing it on my own if you would stop depending on the time by which it gets done.”

“I am trying to make good use of work hours. I only do it because you seem to forget the office isn’t your personal social gathering.”

“Well I’m sorry I can’t be as asocial as you. I like to not think about work every once in a while.”

“Every once in a while is an understatement for you.”

“Why do you even care? I don’t go on watching what you do all day. You don’t need to supervise me! You're not the boss of me nor of anyone else here.”

Sakurai fell silent, suddenly his sharp remarks had stopped trying to come out altogether and he allowed Aiba's words to resound within the vibrant atmosphere of the office, lingering along with the clatter of keyboard and the wiring of fax machines. "You're right, I'm not," Sakurai said and it made Aiba look back up at him wondering if he was finally admitting his defeat. "So stop acting like you need to be supervised at all."

Aiba thought he'd never heard a more bland excuse and it shocked him to know Sakurai had considered their conversation over.

"If you’ll excuse me, I want to go back to work. Some of us still have a sense of responsibility." He said, turning around before he heard Aiba's voice once again.

“As if it would kill you to be more sympathetic.”

Momentarily, his words had stopped Sakurai in place, not because he had been triggered by them like before, but because he thought he was starting to understand why Aiba was so impossible to satisfy. “We don’t need to get along. We just need to work.” Sakurai said, walking away, unwilling to hear another word from Aiba.

DAY 5

"... can't even imagine what you're going through." The voice that came from the employee lounge made Aiba stop before passing through the door, feeling he was about to walk in into a private conversation. He waited just a little to know he wasn’t interrupting anything. "I mean, everyone heard how he talked back to you yesterday. He's got some attitude, that Aiba. I didn't think he had it in him." Masaki's attention sharpened at the mention of his name from who seemed to be his coworker Ninomiya.

Ninomiya was one of the few employees who kept a good reputation around the office for their work, and only for that fact Aiba knew he and Sakurai got along quite well, so there was a good probability he knew who he was speaking to.

"Me neither." Sakurai's voice came from the room, proving all of Aiba's suspicions.

"Are you going to report him to the manager?" Ninomiya said with some eagerness.

"If I do that now, we'll never get the work done."

"Then, when it's over, you should go up to the manager and tell him about how much of a pain in the ass he's been to you. I mean, he's surely going to screw you over in his finally report too. You shouldn't let him get away with it."

"If that were the case, I'm sure the manager would be able to tell from my report alone."

"Isn't it sort of unfair the way the manager just set you up like that and now you're the one who has to deal with someone so difficult?"

"I've really thought about it, and if I can't deal with this myself now, how am I supposed to handle it if I get the promotion?"

Aiba was momentarily lost, this being the first time he heard of Sakurai’s promotion, and he gradually began to realize what was going on.

"So the manager's been testing you all this time." Ninomiya went on.

"Yes, and that also means that if he messes things up, it will also be on me."

"The manager sure knows what he is doing. I mean... seeing how you've been tormenting Aiba, I have to admit, it's kind of fun to watch. I sort of feel bad for the guy."

"You make it sound as if I was doing it on purpose."

"It wouldn't be so bad if you were. He should know better," Ninomiya lightly chuckled. "So... would you fire him once they promoted you to manager?"

Ninomiya's words plunged the employee lounge into silence, gaining no immediate response from Sakurai, but his lack of words was enough for Aiba to determine he'd heard enough. His eavesdropping was long overdue and he didn't feel like he wanted to listen to the end of their conversation anymore. A rush of anger was overtaking him, but it was not the kind that would let him defend himself. Abandoning the idea to step into the lounge room, Aiba retreated, without giving out any sort of indication than he had been there.

When Sakurai opened the door to the bathroom, he thought he'd heard the faint sound of a sniffle, but it all became quiet when he noticed that his presence startled Aiba and made him turn away from the mirrors above the sinks, giving him his back.

Sakurai remained surprised himself, not quite understanding what he was walking into. He was unable to determine what may have shaken the other, for him to refuse to show his face to him at all. But just the cold silence that spread around him and the noticeable mess of tissues by the sink were enough indicators for Sakurai.

"What's wrong?" Sakurai demanded to know, his words not sounding soothing at all. In fact, they were the last thing Aiba wanted to come through that door in that precise moment.

"Nothing is wrong." Aiba answered with some trouble, fighting back something, but Sakurai couldn't really tell what.

"Then what happened?" Sakurai insisted regardless, unable to comprehend what was so implicitly displayed before him.

"I said it's nothing," Aiba snapped back unintentionally, but he truly didn't know how else to make Sakurai understand. "What do you want?" he asked, this time more collected than before.

Sakurai looked at him strangely, unable to recognize the other. Something was missing in Aiba's voice that Sakurai hadn't noticed had been there before until now. He had no idea how to deal with any of this other than pretend he believed Aiba's words.

"I was looking for you. I needed you to take care of those resources so I can proceed with the research."

"I know, I'll... do it right away, just... give me a minute, okay?" Aiba managed to sound much less choked this time and he was able to fool the other just for a second.

Now was the time Sakurai would usually complain he'd given Aiba enough time to do what he was supposed to do, but he knew enough to acknowledge this was probably not the right time to argue with him.

"You got one minute."

"That's what I just said." Aiba murmured back and Sakurai hesitated at the door because of the tone of his words, doing their best to provoke him, before he decided to let it go and walk out. None of it was worth his agitation. Then again, why did he feel his chest tighten so suddenly? It was as if he were unable to look at Aiba's back like that, seeing him treat him like a menace, and in return making Sakurai uncomfortable in his presence. And yet he didn't understand why he had to be the one to have this whole thing turned against him, why he had to be the one to get treated like he was in the wrong. It was completely unfair. Sakurai couldn't stand him.

Sakurai remained watchful the moment Aiba came back into the office, not much thinking about the work he still owed him, but to witness the state in which the other would return. But what he saw then turned all of his previous issues into mere anger once again.

Aiba walked right back into his cubicle without the need to call any attention upon himself, walking past everyone without raising questions about his sudden absence, nor did any part of him give out any indication of what had transcended in the bathroom. Aiba simply sat at his desk and resumed with his work as if nothing had happened at all. Momentarily, a coworker approached him to show him something and they talked for a little before their chatter provoked a blissful smile out of Aiba, erasing any sort of trace of what Sakurai had witnessed before.

Sakurai suddenly felt like a complete fool, embarrassed by having let the other deceive him in such way, and for making him feel the least bit responsible for it.

FINAL DAY

Aiba thought he wouldn't get to see the day he could finally say he would put it all behind him. The time had come for their preliminary evaluation. The work had been done, and with it, all the damage that had come along. Aiba made sure to prepare himself the night before, but he couldn't help but feel terribly nervous. He was barely able to eat a proper lunch before he had to go into the conference room with Sakurai and set up the presentation.

After going over their details with the least interaction as possible, they retreated back to the office, continuing the rest of the day as usual until it was time for the manager to call them in. And even right before going in, the two of them refused to direct a single word towards each other, focusing solely on their own part of the presentation and trying to seem indifferent about the other along the way.

Sakurai was the one to close up the presentation, but even when they reached that last slide, they couldn't seem to relax. They braced themselves awaiting their manager's comments which seemed to be delayed with each passing second.

The manager certainly took his time to review the notes he'd taken and after gathering his thoughts, he seemed to have a clear response.

"I must admit... I'm lost," said their manager. Unprepared by his initial reaction, both employees reacted confused. "Looking properly at your work, it feels like I'm seeing two very different points of view and fairly, I can't follow any of it. Did you two work on this together at all?"

They both hesitated over their words, exchanging brief looks, undecided of who was going to take over to answer the manager. "We... executed our individual work starting off from the proposed plan." Sakurai stepped up first.

"I noticed that much, but somehow it felt like both of you were set on completely different goals. Your points didn't correlate, in fact they overlapped with one another and I couldn't make much sense of it. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can work with this. Frankly, I am quite disappointed with what I've seen today."

Sakurai's breathing was cut and Aiba could tell this was the first time he'd heard such words directed at him.

"I wanted you to work together, not to give me two individual ideas. I just need one good and concise proposal. That's all I'm asking for. Can you do that in the following week? That's as much time as I can give you for your final presentation. You will have to present something to the client and it certainly won't be this. Can I have your word that you will work on this together this time?"

"Yes sir, of course." Aiba responded firmly, seeing that Sakurai was no longer able to.

"Then prove it," the manager got up from his seat, ready to leave. "I don't want to see this again."

"Absolutely. We will do our best." Aiba bowed reassuringly, even if he didn't know exactly how he was going to do any of the things he promised, he still needed to look strong as always in front of the manager. Especially now that the words bounced off Sakurai's ears and he was unable to recover himself after hearing them.

Just after staring at them briefly, the manager walked out and left the two employees in the middle of the conference room with hard feelings they couldn't seem to resolve.

Aiba had just finished putting away all the useless stuff that was left of their presentation when he found Sakurai right outside, sitting on a chair of the waiting hall, right in the middle of his state of denial. Sakurai was still unable to say a word, but Aiba couldn't leave without knowing what their next plan was. Just like before, they didn't have all the time in the world to waste before they had to present their proposal to the client and Sakurai's lack of capacity to come up with an immediate plan was quite worrisome for Aiba. Suddenly, all the schedules he'd prepared before for them didn't seem like such a bad idea.

Aiba sat down himself, leaving a chair between them, not knowing where to start or exactly how to encourage Sakurai who was probably having a meltdown right next to him. Sakurai covered his face in frustration as he stared at some empty spot on the floor. Aiba sighed, sinking deeper into the chair, realizing how the whole situation just sucked.

"Is this seriously the first time you've ever gotten a bad evaluation?" Aiba had to ask, slightly feeling that Sakurai was overreacting with each new sigh.

"I've never felt so humiliated." He spoke with a crushed spirit, still quite shaken with disbelief.

"This is my every day you know," Aiba mentioned. "Even when I tell myself I'll do something right, I can't always force myself to find that willpower to do my best in everything. It's exhausting. It’s not easy to be perfect. I certainly don't know how you do it."

"You're probably right," Sakurai said, sighing deeply as he laid back on the chair. "I can’t always tell when I'm going too far. Usually I think if it's not killing me then I can keep doing it. But I'm not so sure anymore if this is any way of making things work." Aiba couldn't help but stare at him, feeling like he was no longer talking to a coworker. He wondered where this Sakurai had been all along. "I was so stressed about the due date for this project... I may have sabotaged myself."

"I think we both did." Aiba admitted.

"You were trying to get a good performance review, weren’t you? This might be looking worse for you."

Aiba straightened in his chair. "You knew about that?" he asked, a little embarrassed.

Sakurai gazed at him with a subtle apologetic look in his tired eyes. "The manager doesn't seem to know when to shut up."

Initially, Aiba thought he would be more bothered that the manager would rely any of his private information about his performance to anyone, but he realized there was no use in being mad at Sakurai for it now. "You were offered a promotion by him weren't you? Is that why he put you to work with me?”

It was Sakurai's turn to seem confused. "You heard about that?"

"I might have overheard you talking with Ninomiya before."

Sakurai didn't look too proud of this himself and Aiba knew he must have realized Aiba had heard the rest of their conversation as well. "Don't take it personally, I was quite against it myself. I don't think any job should be treated with anything else than professionalism, and certainly not for the purpose of some selfish evaluation."

"Well at least one of us tried.”

"No, I don't think I actually did. This got us nowhere... I shouldn't have been so harsh to begin with."

Aiba was surprised the more he began to see Sakurai's real attitude show itself. "So you just became self-aware?"

"I'm sorry." Sakurai said earnestly, and even though he couldn't face the other as he said it, Aiba realized he was really trying his best at that moment.

"Me too." Aiba responded, trying to transmit that same feeling that was so hard to admit. "I can't believe we have to do this all over again."

"I think the point is that we do it differently." Sakurai said, beginning to sound like his own self once again, but this time Aiba was only glad he didn't let himself be discouraged.

"Yeah, that might work."