He didn't notice anything.

"What's this now?" Shinsuke asked with a wary look on his face. 

He had arrived a little later than usual that Friday morning, and no sooner had he stood in front of his desk than he noticed something suspiciously placed on it. 

"Ah, this?" Saizo wondered as he swiveled in his chair towards his friend. 

"Yes, that." Shinsuke repeated, a little irritated. 

Someone had taken advantage of his absence to put a cup of coffee and a tiny succulent plant in a gray basket on his desk. 

"Hum... A drink and a plant?" Saizo finally replied, thoughtfully. 

"I can see what it is," Shinsuke grumbled. "I want to know what it's doing there."

"If it's sitting on your desk, it must be for you, right?" Saizo smiled. 

Shinsuke huffed loudly, exasperated by the attitude of his colleague and friend. The latter seemed to know something, and was amused to observe the reaction of Shinsuke to this unexpected gift. 

And that annoyed him. 

Because even without Saizo answering him, he was pretty sure he knew who it was from. 

Looking over the partitions, he looked for the young woman who had dared to come and put things on his desk. And to his surprise, his gaze fell on an empty desk. 

"Where did she go again?" He said, annoyed. 

"Who?" Saizo asked mischievously, while straightening himself forward to avoid the murderous look that Shinsuke threw him. 

Oh, this guy definitely knew something. Shinsuke was ready to stake his hand to bet on it. 

He sat down abruptly in his seat, glaring at the cup that said "have a nice day" and at the skinny green plant that would have certainly shaken at his gaze if it could. 

He tapped his fingers on his desk, obviously in the grip of an inner conflict. He had arrived a little late, and a coffee would certainly not hurt. However, knowing that he knew the sender, he was a little reluctant to touch it. 

With a slight smile, Saizo watched his friend doubt. He was very amused by the situation that was unfolding before his eyes. 

Already a few hours earlier, he had been surprised to be approached in this way by the young woman who had just been employed. 

No, he'd been even more surprised to see her walk out of the elevator smiling, after having talked excitedly to another man inside. It seemed that, in the meantime, she'd made another friend.

Then, after having deposited her things in her spot, the young woman had come directly to him, and with a rather determined look, she had asked him a question. 

"Ogawa-san, excuse me for asking this so suddenly, but could you tell me what Chief Kobayashi prefers to drink in the morning?" 

The information networks had worked rather well, and in both directions, as each obviously knew the other's name without having previously spoken to each other. And Saizo thought to himself that things were getting quite interesting. 

"Why do you want to know that, Shinohara-san?" Saizo then replied, his gaze partly muted by the lenses of his glasses. 

The young woman had then slightly clenched her fist, as if to give herself courage, then, looking straight into Saizo's eyes, she had answered:

"I want Chief Kobayashi to have a good day at work."

Whoa. 

This statement had more than surprised Saizo. Luckily he had a good control over his emotions and facial expressions, otherwise he would have burst out laughing at the enormity and innocence of this statement. 

It is thus with an impassive face - where a smile threatened to appear at the corner of his lips - that Saizo quickly resumed the discussion. 

"Do you want Chief Kobayashi to have a good impression of you? Did something happen between you two?" 

At this question, the young woman lost her confidence, suddenly surprised and unsettled. 

This made Saizo realize that he must be on to something. 

However, given the suddenly defensive attitude of the young woman, he knew that he would probably not know more for the moment. He thus decided to defuse the somewhat uncomfortable situation by giving her an opportunity. 

"Tea, with milk and a sugar." Said he, putting his cheek in his hand, after leaning against his desk. 

The young woman did not immediately understand the value of this information, perhaps because she expected a new question from her superior. But, after a few seconds, her face lit up with a big smile. 

"T-Thank you, Ogawa-san!" 

And almost immediately, she left in haste. Surely to go and grab said drink.

There was definitely something between these two. Saizo was sure of it. But what, exactly? He was far too curious to drop the case, and he felt that by helping the young woman a little, he would get more information about what was going on. 

Which, in a sense, had happened. 

For it seemed that Shinsuke had resigned himself for this time, taking in hand the cup of hot drink. 

He brought it to his lips, the smell surprising him a little, then started to take a sip. 

Suddenly, he stopped drinking with a surprised look. 

"That's not coffee..." Shinsuke wondered as he stared at the cup that continued to wish him a good day. 

No, indeed, it wasn't. 

Saizo smiled inwardly at the reaction of his friend, who was in confusion. 

He must have wondered how the young woman could know what he preferred to drink in the morning, and suspiciously glanced at Saizo as he began to drink his tea again. 

Saizo merely gave him a small smile, before concentrating again on his screen. 

"What did the doctor say?" He asked after a few minutes in a whisper, without looking away from his computer. 

Shinsuke pouted, the empty cup already thrown in his trash can, and the little green plant already seemed to have found its place between the pencil jar and stapler. 

"He says it's just my muscles," he replied sullenly. "My muscles, and nothing more."

"Your muscles, huh?" Saizo repeated, deep in thought. 

Shinsuke then quickly massaged his right arm, and Saizo knew he was still in pain, even though he hadn't said anything about it. 

The unannounced visits to the doctor had also become a little more frequent, lately. So he hoped his friend would come to the company party, and relax a bit. 

Throwing a discreet glance to Shinsuke, he saw that the latter had suddenly 

  squinted eyes and frowned eyebrows. 

Looking in the same direction as him, Saizo then saw that, in the meantime they were speaking together, the young Shinohara had come back to her desk. 

Rather interesting reaction... Saizo was really intrigued, now; because his friend seemed totally unaware that the young woman was interested in him. 

He looked again at the young woman smiling shyly while talking to her colleagues in the immediate vicinity, and could not help but smile slightly himself. He had given her just a little push, for the sake of it. But now, it would be up to her to make as much effort as possible to move this cold and insensitive mountain that was Kobayashi Shinsuke.