I know when I'm not needed.

The large, fully glazed hall on the ground floor of the building owned by Marline Insurance was flooded with light reflecting off the carefully cleaned light grey floor. It was truly blinding to anyone not used to such brightness.

The front desk staff, working in tandem with strategically placed security guards, made sure to brief and screen newcomers before granting them access to the rest of the building. This didn't stop a near-constant stream of employees and contractors from flowing through the security gates; despite the fact that opening them required an access badge.

"Hana-chan! This way! "Mari called, waving her arm so that Hana could spot her more quickly.

The three colleagues were already at the automatic doors leading outside, with Ren staring at a point outside, and Yuuto furiously tapping on the screen of his smartphone ; rotated horizontally. He was most likely playing a game, considering the energy with which he was moving his fingers.

Hana took the opportunity to trot quickly towards them without any effort, and stopped right in front of them.

"Sorry for the wait! "She stammered hurriedly.

Taking the elevator at the peak hour of the half day had proven to be a trial of strength for Hana. The building was equipped with several elevators, and could accommodate up to fifteen, maybe even twenty people inside each one. That didn't stop employees from storming the ones that led directly to the first floor, instead of the ones that stopped on the second floor.

The second floor and the first floor were connected by two escalators for going up, and two more for going down. Hana had compared the facility to a subway station the first time she had come, last month. She had gone to the company's headquarters for her last job interview, and had been able to discover the building and its surroundings.

Everything had then happened quickly: the search for an apartment, the subscription to public transport services, but also the pre-requisite training to be operative from the first day.

So many things, in such a short time... It was so ridiculous. It was as if years and years of life had been squeezed into a single month. She hadn't experienced so many changes in such a short time since last time, five years ago. But for Hana, this time, and five years ago, had one thing in common: it changed her life drastically, without her knowing exactly what the consequences would be.

Even after all this time, she wasn't sure what had changed in her. So it would probably take her the same amount of time to start feeling the effects of this present change in environment. However, as she thought about the locks that still needed to be changed, she had to face the fact that what resulted from this one month was already there.

A little worried, Hana sighed, following Mari, Ren and Yuuto out of the building and into the small square with green spaces. The little group was starting to walk off to the left, when a young man about the same age as Hana, wearing a black suit and a light blue tie, came trotting towards them. Positioning himself in front of them, he effectively cut them off, and forced them to stop.

"Excuse me for intruding," he said breathlessly. "But wouldn't you be from the Financial Section? "

He was seemingly not used to running, and was already out of breath from his run from the other end of the small square.

"More or less," Yuuto replied, "Hasami-san and Shinohara-san are from this section, but Ito-san and I are from the Sales Section. What can we do for you... Huh?"

Having caught his breath, the young man with very short brown hair and dark gray eyes quickly introduced himself.

"Ah, I'm Morimiya Itsuki! I'm an intern at the Financial Section since this morning! "He smiled.

"Oh! Exactly like Hana-chan! " Mari smiled while clasping her two hands in front of her. "What a coincidence! "

"Hana... Chan?" questioned Itsuki.

"Hasami-san is talking about Shinohara-san here," Ren said while nodding towards the young woman. Itsuki followed the direction Ren was gesturing towards, and seemed to understand that the young woman was the one called "Hana-chan".

"Ah, I see! "Itsuki exclaimed.

The young man then suddenly held out a hand towards the young woman, who was surprised by this unexpected gesture.

Perplexed, Hana stared at the hand extended towards her for a moment, before hesitantly taking it in her own hand. Itsuki shook her hand so eagerly that he almost dislocated her shoulder.

"Nice to meet you, Shinohara-san! I hope we can get along! "

He shook his hand for a few more seconds, before finally releasing it, at the same time as Ren walked towards him.

"And so, Morimiya-san, what can we do for you? " Ren asked in a firm tone.

Strangely, Ren seemed to be wary of the newcomer.

"Ah, I wanted to know if the other interns of this year were among you! "Itsuki justified himself. "I'm a bit lost with all this crowd, so I was hoping to get to know some people! "

"I see... " Ren replied while squinting his eyes.

"Maybe you want to join us for lunch, Morimiya-san?" Yuuto offered.

But surprisingly, the young man seemed against this idea, because he immediately raised both his hands, and while taking a step backwards, said:

"Ah, sorry! I've already planned to eat with other interns from several sections and departments! " He apologized. "It's nice of you to offer, but another time maybe! "

The young man ran off again, while waving to them one last time, leaving the four colleagues on the spot.

There was a short silence, as if everyone was analyzing what had just happened. Then Mari turned to Hana.

"Are you sure you want to eat with us, Hana-chan?" Mari asked, concerned. "You could very well go eat with the other interns, particularly since they are your age. "

Hana shook her head negatively.

"No, I'd rather eat with you. " She replied in a slightly hoarse voice.

Besides, it wasn't as if the young man had offered to come and eat with them. He hadn't said anything about it, and had simply gone back to where he had come from; joining a group of about ten people of more or less the same age.

How could she crash a group that was already formed, and to which she had not been invited?

She clearly knew when she was an undesirable.

"Are you sure?" Mari asked one last time.

Mari had obviously sensed the young woman's doubt, and had insisted, just in case Hana changed her mind about her initial answer.

But Hana was determined, and shook her head again with a smile.

"Yes. And I know you three the most, currently... "Hana admitted.

Concerned, Mari looked quickly at Yuuto and Ren, before nodding her head.

"In that case, let's go, Hana-chan! "Said the older woman with a warm smile.

The small group walked back to the restaurant, and Ren, who had stayed behind, looked back quickly at the group Itsuki had joined. He squinted again, as if to focus his gaze on a particular point, and then set off after his three colleagues who were already walking towards the nearby crosswalk.

On the other side of the square, the noisy and growing group of young men and women that Morimiya Itsuki had joined was moving in the opposite direction. Itsuki was doing the same, following the motion, when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Hey Itsuki-kun, who is that over there? " Asked a man barely older than him.

Itsuki turned to the person who had just called out to him while grabbing his shoulder, and immediately recognized the man in question.

"Ah, Kubo-san! "Itsuki pulled himself together. "I didn't think you were going to come with us! "

The man with the back-combed hair and impeccable appearance gave a big smile, and slapped Itsuki's back with the palm of his hand several times.

"I couldn't let my new kid from the Vehicle Department go to his first meal alone with all the other departments! "Kubo Touma smiled. "But tell me, who is that girl with the Crackpot Department? "

Turning Itsuki towards him a little more, Touma pointed to a young woman in the distance surrounded by three people, and crossing the street.

Itsuki didn't pick up on the nickname given to the people occupying the ninth floor, and recognized the people he had met just before.

"Ah, the young lady?" Itsuki quickly recalled. "That's Shinohara Hana. She' apparently an intern from this year, same as me! "

"Oh, she's an intern too?" Touma asked, not that it was really a question. He was rather surprised, even. Then while staring at Hana in the distance, he smiled, "She looks cute! "

Itsuki shrugged. "I... I guess? "

Touma suddenly turned to Itsuki, and patted him on the back again.

"You really don't have any ambition! Don't you? "Touma scolded him.

Then, Touma fixed his eyes again on the young woman, who disappeared at the next street corner.

"Never mind, that' ll be less competition for me. "