Chapter 123: Phase Two Begins

Aoi heart pondered wildly as she felt like her face was burning as if it had caught on fire.

Aoi couldn’t hold back and leaned in for a kiss. As she pulled back her gaze met Reiji as she muttered,"I love you."

"Me too."

Aoi leaned in closer. "Are you just saying that to comfort me?" Her voice sounded filled with hurt.

"I’m not saying this to comfort you. I’m not going to lie, but I have feelings for you too. I mean, who wouldn’t when you’re this cute?" Reiji said, kissing her on the forehead.

Aoi smiled and added, "I feel bad. What about your girlfriend?"

Reiji sighed and remained quiet for a while before saying, "That’s what I’m actually worried about. I tried suppressing this feeling for you, but I know that if I do, I’ll just end up hurting myself. So if she comes, I just hope she can accept it, but I know it won’t be easy."

Aoi remained quiet as she knew that it wouldn’t be easy either. Even she, as a girl, wouldn’t like to see her man fall in love with another woman.

"I just wish I could stop time and enjoy this feeling." Aoi muttered to herself.

She leaned in and buried her head in his chest. She could hear his racing heart. This made her smile.

A racing heart can’t lie.

She continued snuggling in his arms as the music in the background continued playing in a soft, steady tone.

***

Nearly a week had passed since Aoi started working at Kaori’s company as Mayumi’s assistant manager. And today was the day they were finally going to execute the second phase of he plan.

Aoi stood in front of the mirror, adjusting her clothes while staring at her reflection.

"Today..." she muttered.

She had spent the past several days working herself to the bone under Mayumi.

The workload had been ridiculous. But that was exactly what Reiji wanted. The goal wasn’t to destroy the company or cause any serious problems.

They simply needed enough problems to pile up that management would have no choice but to call Kaori ending the vacation abruptly, bringing na back from her vacation earlier than planned.

And after nearly a week of observing the company, Aoi had finally gathered enough information.

She was basically going to intentionally create problems at her workplace just to bring another woman’s girlfriend back home.

Aoi’s lips twitched.

’I’m really doing this...’

She couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. But then she remembered last night. Her cheeks immediately turned red.

"...I guess it’s worth it."

She grabbed her bag and left the apartment.

Meanwhile, Reiji sat comfortably in front of his computer, several screens glowing in front of him.

He cracked his fingers. "Alright. Let the real fun begins."

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the company’s internal systems.

"Let’s see how much chaos we can create without actually breaking anything."

Vel sat beside him, his eyes moving staring at the screen like a six year old. "My Lord what are you doing?"

Reiji glanced at him, "Do you want breakfast?"

Vel immediately nodded, "Yes."

"Then shut up."

"Yes, My Lord."

Reiji smiled faintly before returning his attention to the screen. Today wasn’t about brute force. It wasn’t about destroying anything.

He simply needed to pull a few strings.

Just enough to make one very important woman come home early and if everything went according to plan, Hina would be coming home much sooner than expected.

Reiji moved his fingers across the keyboard, opening several files and documents related to the company.

He had already spent the past few days studying the company’s internal structure, and he had a pretty good idea of where to start.

"This should do," He muttered as he clicked on one of the files.

Aoi’s plan was simple. She would make a few mistakes. Not serious mistakes that could get her fired, but enough to create a chain reaction within the company.

Reiji would then make a few things slightly more complicated from his side. Nothing terrible and nothing that could permanently damage the company but something that could cause Just enough problems to make Mayumi’s already stressful workload unbearable.

He leaned back in his chair, "Let’s begin."

***

Aoi arrived at the company as usual, greeting a few employees along the way before entering the elevator. Everything looked normal, but she couldn’t help feeling a little nervous knowing what she was about to do.

’Today is going to be troublesome.’

The elevator doors opened and Aoi stepped out, only to see Mayumi standing in front of her office.

"Good morning, Aoi," Mayumi greeted with her usual pleasant smile.

"Good morning, Manager Yamada," Aoi replied with a small bow.

"You’re early today," Mayumi said as she adjusted her glasses.

"I always try to be punctual."

"Good. I have something for you."

Aoi’s smile immediately disappeared when Mayumi handed her a thick stack of documents.

"These need to be reviewed before noon."

Aoi stared at the stack in her hands.

There were at least fifty documents.

’Is she serious?’

Mayumi gave her another pleasant smile before turning toward her office. "I’ll leave them to you."

Aoi watched her disappear into the office before looking down at the documents again.

"She really is a demon," she muttered under her breath before heading toward her own office.

The moment she sat down, her earbud activated.

"Good morning," Reiji’s voice suddenly came through.

Aoi nearly jumped out of her chair.

"Reiji?!" she exclaimed before quickly lowering her voice and looking around to make sure nobody had heard her. "What are you doing?"

"Monitoring."

"I know that. But you scared me."

"Sorry."

Aoi sighed and placed the documents on her desk. "Anyway, how’s everything going?"

"Everything is ready on my side. How’s the workload?"

Aoi looked at the mountain of documents sitting in front of her and couldn’t help but sigh again. "Terrible."

"Perfect."

Aoi’s eyebrow twitched. "You sound way too happy."

"I’m just excited."

"About ruining my career?"

"No. About getting Hina home."

Aoi rolled her eyes. "Right."

She picked up the first document and started going through it while listening to Reiji.

"So, what’s my first move?"

"Nothing yet."

Aoi stopped and frowned. "What?"

"Wait until lunch."

"Why?"

"Because you need to make sure Mayumi trusts you first. If you suddenly start making obvious mistakes, she’ll notice."

Aoi nodded in understanding. "Makes sense."

She continued working while Reiji monitored everything from his side.

For the next few hours, nothing unusual happened. Aoi completed her normal duties, answered emails, reviewed documents and dealt with several minor issues that Mayumi threw at her.

By the time lunch was approaching, Aoi was already exhausted.

Then Reiji finally spoke.

"Now."

Aoi’s hand stopped above the keyboard.

"Now what?"

"Open the third folder on your desk."

Aoi did as he instructed and found a document containing a list of upcoming meetings.

"What am I looking for?"

"The second client."

Aoi found the name and immediately understood.

"Change the meeting time?"

"Exactly."

She stared at the document for a few seconds. "Are you sure? Won’t that cause problems?"

"That’s the point."

Aoi sighed. Of course it was.

She carefully changed the meeting time and saved the document.

For several minutes, nothing happened. Then her phone suddenly rang.

Aoi glanced at the screen.

It was someone from another department.

She answered the call, "Hello?"

"Tachibana-san! Did you change the meeting schedule?"

Aoi glanced at the computer screen. "Yes. There was a scheduling conflict, so I moved it."

"But that client was already informed about the original time!"

Aoi froze, "Oh..."

"We have less than an hour before the meeting!"

Aoi rubbed her forehead. "I’ll handle it."

She immediately ended the call and looked at the screen.

Her earbud crackled.

"Don’t laugh," Aoi said.

"I’m not laughing," Reiji replied.

"You’re definitely laughing."

Reiji chuckled before saying, "Relax. I already prepared the solution."

Aoi narrowed her eyes. "You better."

She quickly contacted the client and managed to resolve the issue before the meeting.

It wasn’t a major problem. Nobody was fired, no contract was lost and the company didn’t suddenly collapse but it created confusion and that confusion was exactly what Reiji wanted.

He watched the company’s internal communication channels as the small problem began spreading.

One delayed meeting caused another department to adjust its schedule. That caused a document to be sent late, which then delayed an approval that was needed for another department.

It was a simple chain reaction. Nothing serious. But when several small problems started happening at the same time, the company’s usually smooth operation began becoming noticeably more chaotic.

Reiji leaned back in his chair and smiled.

"Excellent."

Vel, who had been sitting beside him while eating snacks, looked at the screens with his head tilted to the side.

"My Lord, are you sure this is enough to get Miss Hina back?"

Reiji glanced at him before turning back to the screens.

"Eat your food."

He cracked his fingers with a grin.

"Besides I’m just getting started."