During her lunch break, Lyra text Kanda and they continued to converse over text for the entire hour. Usually, Sesshomaru would go out for lunch but decided not to when he noticed she was going towards the staff room. She sat by herself on a small couch in the corner by the window. So, Sesshomaru sat on the opposite side of the large staff room at a table. He poured himself a mug of coffee and sat with his laptop open but he didn't really do any work. His focus was on her. Her posture was proper, her ankles crossed over to one side like a proper lady.

Other staff members in there were surprised to see their boss. But other than a simple greeting, they decided to leave him alone.

Sesshomaru continued to glance at Lyra every now and then. There was a shy smile on her face as she typed away on her phone. Clearly she was texting someone. And whoever that person was, they were making her blush.

'Enjoy the rest of your first day at work. Let me know when you get home safely. I'll pick you up at 7 x'

She smiled a little more upon seeing the little kiss at the end of the text. Sesshomaru couldn't help but feel a little annoyed even though he didn't know what the message read. She then began typing her reply.

'Thank you. I can't wait x'

She hit send and went to put her phone into her bag before her phone dinged again. She pulled it back out again to see another text.

'Me neither x'

Her smile grew again a little more as she finally turned her phone to silent and put it away. She stood up since it was the end of the hour and began to make her exit before she spotted Sesshomaru. He noticed her looking and made himself seem busy as she made her way over.

"I didn't know you were here, sir," she said with a polite smile. "I was expecting for you to go to a café like usual."

He typed something insignificant on his laptop. "It would be a waste of time. I have too much to do," he responded without looking at her.

Lyra noticed his full mug of coffee. "It's gone cold."

He glanced at the mug. He had totally forgotten about it. "I didn't have time." With a deep sigh, he closed his laptop and stood up. "Let us return."

Hokori was really not happy upon seeing Sesshomaru return with Lyra. It only made her dislike her even more. Sesshomaru gave her a simple greeting before entering his office, leaving the two assistants alone again. Lyra sighed as she went back to watching Hokori do her work.

The rest of the day dragged way too much. She never saw Sesshomaru again as he stayed locked up in his office. When it was finally the end of the day, Lyra gave her goodbyes to Sesshomaru and Hokori before leaving.

Hokori was glad to see the back of her. "Did you seriously have to hire her out of everyone?" she frowned once Sesshomaru exited his office.

He looked at her and sighed. "You would be unhappy with anyone. Get over it."

She pouted unhappily. "Why are you speaking to me like that?"

He closed his eyes and breathed out deeply. "I'm sorry. It's been a long day." He opened his eyes again and glanced her way. "Return home safely. I'll come later."

"Fine." She got up and pecked his lips. "Don't be too long."

With a nod, he returned to his office and closed the door. Now he would have to wait until the next day to see her again. 'Having you near me is torture. Being away from you is torture. What am I to do..?'

***

"I can't believe you've only been to McDonald's once in your entire life," Lyra said with surprise as they sat opposite each other in the fast food restaurant.

They were eating exactly what Lyra had ordered. Mocha frappés, apple pies, McFlurrys and fries. It was what she had ordered when Kanda and her went on a date a long time ago. She just didn't remember.

Kanda laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "You need the right people to go with. Unfortunately, the people I know would never step foot in here," he said before eating a fry.

She took a sip of her drink. "So, who did you come with last time?"

His smile softened. "Someone very special to me."

"A lady?" she questioned.

"Yeah..." He sighed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry..."

He shook his head and smiled again. "Don't worry. I don't mind." He looked down at his drink. "We were engaged but she was in love with another man. She didn't want to hurt me so she sacrificed everything to keep me happy. Some things happened and long story short, I let her go."

She reached over the table and placed her hand over his. "I'm so sorry. She sounds like a lovely woman."

He gazed at her hand on his. "She always will be."

Lyra smiled before moving her hand away. Lifting her frappé, she took a long sip of the ice cold drink. Bad idea. Her head began to pain as if it was stuck in a block of ice. She squeezed her eyes shut and put her drink down before holding onto her head.

"Oh no! Brain freeze!"

Kanda's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed some fries before shoving them in her mouth. The heat from the fries calmed the pain and it disappeared after a couple of seconds.

She opened her eyes again with the fries still poking out of her mouth. Kanda burst out laughing at the sight of her, causing her to laugh quietly as well. She chewed the fries and swallowed them before laughing properly.

"That was hilarious," Kanda chuckled, calming his laughter.

"Oh yeah. Laugh at my pain," she pouted playfully.

He smiled. "How about we call it even?"

Before she could ask what he meant, he took a long sip of his drink and was soon hit by brain freeze as well. Lyra reciprocated the heroic act and shoved a few fries into his mouth. She laughed, shaking her head.

"You're so silly," she giggled.

"Hey, I'll take a brain freeze on for you any day," he winked with a smile.

She placed a hand over her heart. "I'm so touched."

Lyra couldn't believe how much she was able to connect with him. Even though he was rich and she was more lower class, it felt so right being with him. Kanda was glad that she was still the Lyra he fell in love with and he hoped that she would finally grow to love him.

Outside, Sesshomaru sat in his car and watched Lyra with that man. He had been stopped at the traffic lights and caught her scent. There she was. Laughing and enjoying her time with some guy. His grip tightened around the steering wheel as he watched her hold his hand and as he leaned over to wipe something from the corner of her lips. Suddenly, the car behind him began honking their horn. He came out of his daze and noticed the light had turned green. Revving his engine, he zoomed off.

***

A week had gone by and Lyra was already handling things on her own. She was a fast learner and so she got to grips with everything really quickly. Sesshomaru was impressed by her skills and naturally had her handle some of the more important tasks.

It was still torturous for him having her so close by for such long periods of time but he felt more in control of his feelings. Sometimes. He would often catch her talking on the phone with that man she was with during breaks in the staff room. They would be making plans or just flirting with each other. And it made his blood boil. He would have to control his anger by leaving the room and assigning her to tasks that would keep her away from his general vicinity.

Hokori still despised her. She felt as though Sesshomaru was favouring Lyra more and grew more jealous and spiteful. However, Sesshomaru would lie and say he was giving her the more difficult tasks because he obviously favoured her. Hokori didn't trust her though, thinking that Lyra had plans to make Sesshomaru her own.

That really wasn't the case though. Lyra was falling for Kanda. He would always make an effort to see her and if he couldn't, he would be sure to call her instead. He was even helping her look for a new place to move into. He offered to help her out financially but she insisted she wanted to do it on her own no matter how long it took. Unfortunately, all the places that were ideal for her to live were all too expensive. So, she decided to work until she could afford it.

Her first week at work had flown by and she couldn't believe it was the weekend already. Whilst she was giving Sesshomaru the final reports for the week, Hokori decided to play a prank on her. It was something she knew would annoy Sesshomaru.

When Lyra returned to her desk, Hokori pretended to grab something out of her bottom draw so that the innocent victim couldn't see her face. Covering her mouth to hold in her laughter, she waited.

Lyra sat down to close everything down for the day before something caught her eye. Her eyes widened as she screamed, shooting up from her seat and sending it flying backwards. Hokori laughed quietly in her hand, making sure to stay hidden. A second later, Sesshomaru jumped out of his office in a panic and assessed the situation. He saw Lyra's eyes glued to something on her desk, her breathing harsh and uneven. He rushed over to see what it was.

"What is this?" he asked, clearly unimpressed.

His heart was still pounding but he quickly became annoyed as he grabbed the fake tarantula beside Lyra's computer monitor. Hokori put on a serious expression and sat up in time to see Sesshomaru glare at Lyra angrily.

"You're screaming over this?! It's fake!"

Lyra jumped as he raised his voice. "I... I d-d-didn't... I-i-it su-surprised me a-and I-"

"Grow up, Lyra!" He threw the plastic spider into the bin before turning to Hokori. "Did you know about this? Who put that there?"

Hokori held her hands up and shook her head innocently. "I have no idea," she lied. "I don't know who could ever do something like that."

"I want you to find out who did this and I want them fired!"

She nodded. "Of course."

Lyra stepped forward, her heart still racing. "S-sir, I... I'm so-sorry I-"

Sesshomaru held his hand up to make her quiet. "This is a professional job and I expect you to be professional. I didn't hire you so you could cause drama. Pull yourself together. This is your first and final warning. Understand?"

She closed her eyes and bowed her head. "Yes, sir."

He breathed out deeply. "Go home and get yourself refreshed by Monday."

"Yes, sir," she repeated.

She quickly grabbed all her things and walked away down the corridor towards the elevator. She sniffed as she tried her hardest to hold back her tears. She could still feel their eyes on her as she entered the elevator but she kept her back to them until the doors closed. She wiped away the tears that spilled down her cheeks before she reached the bottom floor. Finding the reflection on the back of the doors, she made sure it didn't look too obvious that she had been crying. Keeping her head low, she hurried out of the building.

Once she was outside, she was taken by surprise. Kanda was leaning against his car just outside the building. When he saw her, he smiled and pushed himself off the car as he waved. She didn't wave back though and kept her head down again as she made her way down the steps.

Kanda frowned softly upon seeing her face. He could tell she had been crying and once she was standing in front of him, he lifted her head so he could take a closer look.

"Hey, what happened?" he asked in concern.

She shook her head and sniffed again, taking hold of his hand. "I'll tell you later. Can we just get out of here? Please?"

He nodded. "Of course."

He opened the door for her to get in before going around to the driver's side. Before he opened his door, he looked up to the top floor of the building. He knew that's where Sesshomaru was.

Sesshomaru had been witnessing everything from his office window. He witnessed Lyra go straight to the man before getting into his car. And then he made eye contact with the very man himself. He didn't know whether the man could actually see him, but Sesshomaru could definitely see the man. He watched as the man got into his car and drove away.

He couldn't believe he had shouted at her. When he had heard her scream, it was as if his body moved on its own will. His only goal was to save her from whatever danger threatened her. And when he had seen the plastic spider, he became frustrated that it was such a trivial thing. He had thought her life was in danger. The adrenaline and frustration had caused him to unleash his anger out on her. And he regretted it.

"Sesshomaru?" Hokori's voice came before her arms snaked around him from behind. "Let's go home now."

Sesshomaru mentally sighed. "Very well."

***

Kanda and Lyra sat in McDonald's again but Lyra wasn't touching her drink at all. She was still upset about the incident and being yelled at.

"You shouldn't let her get away with it, Lyra."

She shook her head. "Even if I did tell him that Hokori did it, it won't make a difference. I think she and my boss are an item so he's obviously going to side with her."

His eyes widened slightly. "They're a couple?"

"Most likely. I've seen the way she looks at him. I honestly wouldn't be surprised."

"Still," he sighed, "it doesn't give him the right to yell at you that way."

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Monday will be a fresh start." She reached over and held his hand. "And I'm with you now. I want to forget about it."

He smiled and brought her hand to his lips before kissing it. She smiled shyly and blushed as he kept hold of her hand.

"Listen, Lyra. I want to take you out again on a proper date," he told her. "Somewhere special so I can treat you."

"Oh, Kanda. You really don't have to."

He shook his head. "I want to. You truly deserve it."

She smiled softly. "Okay. How about tomorrow night?"

"That's perfect," he smiled, relieved that she had agreed. "Oh, and there's something else..." he said, suddenly growing nervous.

She tilted her head a little. "What is it?"

"Um, I..." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I would, uh... I would really like it if we..."

He still held onto her hand and played with her fingers due to the rising nerves. Lyra knew what he was wanting to ask and placed her other hand over his to assure him. He gazed into her eyes and breathed out softly, feeling his nerves wash away.

"I would really like it if we were more than just friends," he finally said before asking, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Even though she knew it was what he had been trying to say, it still made her heart flutter. Her smile widened as she nodded.

"Yes."