Leave Me Breathless     by Hikari-chan

Disclaimer: Any character you recognize belongs to their respective owner.

AN: Another chapter before Christmas. I´m certainly churning these out faster than I thought I would. ^^ Maybe I´ll even get another one in before the new year comes around! LOL!

Eartha: Agreed. ^^ I make the excuse that he had it set up long ago, and he couldn´t change it once the apartment was done and built in. Then again, I suppose if he was so rich, he could. =D Whatever.

Bunny-Butler: I´ll keep that in mind. Thank you. I just thought it´d spice things up if Usagi and Relena got into a verbal disagreement, shall we say? ^_~

Angellus Lee: I´m flattered. ^^;;;; You´ll be seeing more of those attitudes.

Lilaclight: ROFL. May use your line somewhere in the story? The one about Heero taking Usagi as his secretary just for the banter?

the Desert Fox: You just gave me another good line. ^^ And you never know, maybe they will get married. *shrug*

Archangela: Minako´s not quite as subtle as Usagi is, though you can be sure that Relena will appear more often.

Angelight: I have a good reason for being on hiatus. =P Last year of high school explain anything? I suppose since Usagi´s petite, she´s short, but I wouldn´t say unbearably so. Why do I hate Relena? *sigh* Please, let´s not get me started. I really did try to like her. After the first couple episodes, I gave up. She drove me insane and episodes 24 and 25 were the best. For what reason? Guess.

Chibi Shamps: *hugs* It´s been awhile. ^^ I always thought that part of the plot of a romance should include the process of falling in love, though it´s pretty obvious Heero´s interested, if anything. ^_~ Do I really only have 2 fics that include Relena? ^^;;; Guess that shows how much I appreciate her, doesn´t it? *sarcasm* LOL. I need to label my fics. Read with care, they may be unhealthy and cause the side effect of addiction.

Everyone else: Thanks so much for your reviews! They mean a lot to me. And do feel free to criticize. That´s how my writing gets better. Not that the compliments aren´t wonderful. ^_~

Warnings: OOC-ness galore, AU.

On with the story. . . .

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Chapter 4 – Job Interviews

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The morning sun hit her closed eyes merciless with its rays, and Usagi, who gave a groan and tried to burrow deeper into her covers, only got a shock when she heard the loud cries coming from outside the bedroom. Warily, she opened her eyes to see the unfamiliar mess in the room where she slept, her mind faintly registering that she wasn´t in her own room at home. She supposed it would take a little while for her to get used to it. For the past couple of days, Minako and Rei had taken her all over Tokyo, showing her all kinds of sights, malls, and restaurants. It was enough to make one´s head spin. Plus, Minako´s definition of ‘getting home early´ seemed to mean they´ll get home sometime before one in the morning, which was enough to make Usagi cry over her lost sleep.

All of a sudden, the door slammed open from being pushed roughly from the outside. "I´m going to be so late!!" came the loud cry from Minako as she dashed into the room and snatched up a random purse.

"Good morning to you too," Usagi greeted, clearly amused, as she watched her sister´s usual morning routine.

"Oh, you´re awake, Usa," Minako said, finally noticing that she was no longer talking to herself.

"You´d make a good alarm clock if you weren´t always late yourself," Usagi joked, tossing the covers aside to glance at the clock. It read 10 o´clock in the morning, which caused Usagi to blink a few times.

"You just haven´t adjusted to city life yet," Minako answered the unasked question. "You´re not used to staying up so late every night for three days and having to get up early for work anyway."

"So I´ll learn to live on less sleep?" Usagi asked. "Isn´t it unhealthy? I´m surprised people don´t fall asleep standing up."

Minako laughed, pulling on her trendy violet windbreaker and pulling on a pair of black platform shoes. "We run on lack of sleep," she supplied with a wink. "I have to be at a photo shoot in ten minutes, so I need to leave. If you need anything, talk to Rei. . . or look up Mr. Yuy." With another laugh at the look on Usagi´s face, she dashed out of the apartment, the door slamming shut behind her.

Usagi shook her head in disbelief. She had danced once with the man, and bantered with him. Now, her sister was acting as though there was something going on between them. It reminded her of the reason she hadn´t gotten a boyfriend in high school. Of course, the habit of fending off the male population, at least as potential boyfriends, had become so routine that she had continued to do so through university. It helped that she had taken what high school kids called "nerd courses." She barely had time to finish her homework, have fun with her friends, and still get enough sleep, which might as well be a hobby of hers.

Suddenly, Usagi noticed that the smell of pancakes was in the air, and grinning, she hurried to brush her teeth and wash her face before bouncing out to the kitchen, where Rei, who was already neatly dressed in jeans and a simple white blouse, sat reading the front page news.

"Good morning!" Usagi greeted her new friend.

Rei looked up with a smile at Usagi´s pajamas and messy hair. "Good morning," she replied. "Breakfast is over by the microwave. Do you want something to drink? Coffee?"

Usagi wrinkled her nose as she grabbed the plate of pancakes. "I´m not fond of the taste of coffee," she answered. "Do you something else? Milk?"

"We have two percent milk in the fridge, for coffee," Rei laughed. "You´re not going to find too much healthy food here. We don´t eat in too often because of work and Minako´s ‘gatherings´. I run on coffee and Minako runs on adrenaline, so you´ll find plenty of both."

Usagi smiled as she took a seat across from Rei. She picked up the classified sections as she scanned the ads. "Don´t you have to go to work, Rei?" she questioned absentmindedly.

"I quit my old job the day you came," Rei answered truthfully, "and my job interview is today. Speaking of which, I´m sorry Usagi. I promised Minako that I´d introduce you into the company, but seeing as I´ve already quit, I don´t think that´s possible anymore."

Usagi waved a hand in dismissal. "I don´t want to get a job just because you work there. I want to be recognized for what I can do, not who I know," she replied with a grin, glancing up momentarily at Rei, which made the other woman smile.

A few minutes later, Usagi asked Rei for a pen to circle the jobs she may be interested in, then turned to the older woman, who was already washing the dishes. "Rei, do you have any idea why a company as prestigious as Aegis Electronics would advertise in the classifieds? I mean, I thought they´d have people banging down their doors looking for a job," she commented.

"Maybe no one in the company can actually stand their asshole of a boss," Rei muttered, remembering that she had asked that very question when she went into the company for her interview.

Usagi laughed. "Yes, I´ve heard that many bosses of such big companies are a pain to deal with. My best friend Hotaru worked part time for a branch of a large grocery store back home, and she said that her supervisor always had a stick up his ass, so she can´t imagine what the boss was like." She looked thoughtful as she mused aloud, "He was probably some ugly elderly man. I don´t suppose you can get up to such a position early in your life anyways."

Rei made a face at the sink. If Heero Yuy was an ugly elderly man, then maybe she could have tolerated him. At least he´d have a family he´d have to care about and he wouldn´t be so arrogant, his face plastered on every popular magazine in Tokyo.

"I think I´ll try for this job at Aegis," Usagi´s voice broke Rei´s train of thought. "It´s not what I graduated with, but maybe I´ll be able to get into the research department, even if I don´t get chosen for the secretarial job."

Rei´s eyes widened as she hurried from the sink to Usagi´s side, quickly scanning the ad that Usagi had circled. It was clearly and obviously the job she had quit only a few days ago. Rei almost burst out laughing right then and there. Fate certainly had a way of working things out. If anything, she´d bet that Usagi was meant to get into Aegis.

"I´m sure you´ll be great for it," Rei commented, smiling.

"Thanks, Rei," Usagi replied. "I hope the interview will be alright. Ah, do you know any place that´s up for rent around here?"

Rei frowned slightly. "Why do you want to know?"

Usagi smiled apologetically. "It´s not that I don´t love living with you and Minako," she began, "but I don´t think I can live the rest of my adult life with my sister as my roommate. I have no closet; I have no dresser space; the bathroom is pretty much unavailable to me, and I have to wade through a sea of make-up. It´d just be nice to have my own apartment."

"Well, I can´t say I´m happy you´re going to leave," Rei replied, sitting back and crossing her arms, "but I can understand where you´re coming from. I don´t live in the same room as Minako, so I at least have some personal space. But if you live on your own, you´ll have to pay your own rent and all that."

"I´m only looking for a small place," Usagi responded. "And I have a bit of money with me. At least enough for a couple of months."

Rei nodded. "Well, you can try the building down the block. They have mostly one-bedroom apartments. I remember looking at those before Minako and I both decided that we´ll get a big one and share," she informed the younger woman. "Or, if you really get stuck, look in here." She picked up the classifieds and waved them in Usagi´s face.

"I don´t know Tokyo well enough to know where some of these buildings are," Usagi answered, smiling sheepishly.

"I´ll tell you what. Phone Aegis and arrange an interview time sometime today. You grab your resume and those necessary documents and I´ll grab mine. My interview´s in the afternoon, so we´ll go apartment hunting, have lunch, then I´m off to Mr. Winner´s office, and you go to Aegis," Rei decided, her tone firm.

"Yes, Ma´am," Usagi mock saluted Rei as she stood up, earning her a glare from the raven-haired beauty. "Would you like fries with that?"

~*~*~*~*~

It was a couple hours after a hearty lunch that Usagi found it - the perfect apartment. It was small, yes, but it was also cozy and quaint, at least, in her opinion. The building was only three blocks from the Aegis company headquarters, which would be awfully convenient if she really did get the job. It was a little further from Minako and Rei´s place, but Usagi supposed she´d have to sacrifice that little tidbit.

The varnished oak door led into a small foyer, which opened to her right into a small kitchen, already equipped with a white stove and refrigerator. There was no space for a dining table, but there was a counter, which faced the den. The den itself was also connected to the foyer, via the front, and was big enough for placing a couch and an armchair, as well as a television set and some audio equipment. It also led the single bedroom and bathroom to the right and straight out onto a balcony to the front, which faced the busy Tokyo streets. The décor of the apartment was done in a soft peach colour, giving it a homey effect as opposed to her sister´s apartment´s elegance.

With Rei there to do the financial talk, it only took minutes to ensure that Usagi would pay a reasonable amount of rent and that the agreement terms were clear. In that short amount of time, Usagi earned a newfound respect for her sister´s housemate. Rei was efficient, firm, and to the point when it came to dealing with contracts and business, and it was something Usagi admired very much. She made a mental note to ask Rei where she learnt to be so good at that.

When Usagi walked out of that apartment building, she had paid the first month of rent and could move in the very next day, which she planned to do whether or not she got the job at Aegis. She really couldn´t live off her sister and her friend for another couple of months. Plus, she had already paid for her own apartment´s rent, so why not move in earlier and make the best of it?

"Usagi," Rei´s voice interrupted her train of thought. "Do you think you can make it to the Aegis building yourself? The talk took longer than I thought, and I have to catch the next train to the studio if I want to make it on time to the interview."

Usagi grinned. "I´ll be fine. You´ve already done so much for me today," she thanked. "If I get lost, I´ll ask for instructions."

"Don´t worry. Everyone knows where that building is," Rei replied dryly. She glanced at her watch and gave Usagi a wave goodbye. "I´ll see tonight."

Usagi nodded, watching her friend rush through the crowded city streets to the subway station. She looked up and around, then spotted the tall navy blue building that seemed to give off a metallic shine in the afternoon sun. A giant logo of Aegis Electronics glared at her from the side of the building, making her shake her head in amusement. At this rate, she wasn´t going to need instructions. Walking quickly, she headed in the direction of the building, pushing through the crowds.

It was strange. Pushing would normally be rude, but no one seemed to care in the busy streets of Tokyo. And for someone of Usagi´s size, if she didn´t make an effort to get to where she wanted, she´d be swept away in the tides of people.

Usagi finally reached the handsome building, which had a large sign above the revolving front doors that read "Aegis Electronics" in silver calligraphy. She couldn´t help but feel intimidated already. Giving a soft sigh and drawing strength from Minako and Rei´s self-confidence, Usagi managed to walk in the building and up to the front desk.

"Excuse me," she started, making the woman behind the desk look up at her. "I have an appointment for a job interview."

The woman smiled amicably at her, her blue eyes obviously sizing Usagi up, as though she was deciding whether or not the petite woman in front of her spoke the truth. She gave a brief nod and checked a black appointment book on her large mahogany desk, her boyishly cut black hair shaking a little with the movement.

"Miss Usagi Aino?" she guessed, looking up to see Usagi nodding. "Please follow me. My name is Lucrezia Noin."

"It´s nice to meet you, Miss Noin," Usagi replied politely.

The other woman stood up, signaling Usagi to follow her.

~*~*~*~*~

Rei looked down at the piece of paper on which Minako had hastily scribbled the office´s address. The letters were mingled together in a series of loops that was Minako´s signature handwriting, making it hard to read. Luckily, Rei had looked it up herself in the phonebook before she left the house.

Taking a deep breath, Rei walked into the building, which, as compared to Aegis Headquarters, looked considerably less impressive – and considerably less intimidating. The atmosphere, as Rei noted once she got a good look around the busy lobby, was definitely less formal and more welcoming.

She walked up to a desk, where a woman was busily chatting with a man who looked familiar. She waited until the woman noticed her presence, giving her a bright smile which reminded her of Minako´s "photo-shoot smile."

"May I help you?" she asked.

"Hey!" the man suddenly interrupted their conversation, his violet eyes lighting up. "You´re the girl from last night´s party! The one who threatened to throw the contents of the punch bowl in my face!"

Rei, surprised, turned to scrutinize the man, and instantly, she recognized him. "Mr. Maxwell," she greeted him with as much politeness as possible.

"Rei Hino, right?" the braided man continued.

The woman behind the desk coughed, reminding both of them that she was still there. "Duo," she started, giving him a meaningful look, "I think you should stop harassing the lady now."

Duo grinned, "If you want to talk verbal harassment, you need to meet this girl I saw last night," he informed. "She insulted Relena Peacecraft thoroughly and looked completely innocent while doing it. Then, she managed to lure away her date from right under her nose. A nice knock in the head to bring Relena back to Earth from her fantasy world."

Rei startled. Turning to Duo, she asked, "You wouldn´t be talking about Usagi Aino, would you?"

"Hey! How did you know?" Duo returned, surprised.

"She´s my best friend´s sister," Rei answered with a shrug. "And just in case it slipped your mind, I was there last night."

Duo smiled sheepishly, but before he could get more information on the young woman who caught his eye, a blond haired man walked out from the elevator and walked up to the conversing trio.

"There you are!" he shouted, then proceeded to give Duo a look. "Do you know you´re late for the filming of the Sports Drink ad?"

Duo looked at the clock, then practically ran from the desk on which he was perched, leaving the blond man shaking his head. "Sometimes I wonder how he managed to become popular with the acting industry," he muttered to himself, gently rubbing his temple. Giving a sigh, he turned to the woman behind the desk. "Hilde, has a woman named Rei Hino arrived? Minako said that she was very punctual, but she should have been here three minutes ago."

Rei mentally berated herself. What was she thinking? Talking to strangers and acquaintances when she should have been looking for her soon-to-be boss.

The woman named Hilde smiled, then gestured to Rei. "She´s right here, Mr. Winner," Hilde informed her boss. "And she´s been here for the last five minutes, but Duo kept talking about this girl he met last night, who happened to be a friend of Miss Hino´s, so she was sidetracked by us."

Rei was surprised, very surprised. In the business world that she was familiar with, very few people would be nice enough to say such a thing. In fact, Hilde was in a position to say something horrible about her, but she had opted to place the blame on herself and Duo.

"I see," the blond man said with a smile. He turned to Rei and extended his hand. "I´m Quatre Winner, and you must be Miss Rei Hino. Welcome to our humble abode."

Rei decided she immediately liked this man, whose warm blue-green eyes made her feel very comfortable, and his manners were gracious and courteous, unlike her last boss´s. "It´s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Winner. Minako has said many wonderful things about you," she replied, shaking his hand.

Quatre chuckled. "I think you´ll find that your opinion changes once you´ve been around her for awhile," he said. "Wouldn´t you agree, Hilde?"

Hilde laughed, then shook Rei´s hand as well. "I´m Hilde Schbeiker, and I´m the building´s receptionist," she introduced herself with a grin. "Though most of the time, I end up making our clients late for their appointments."

"But it appears to be a habit you´re incapable of breaking nonetheless," Quatre replied good-naturedly. "Shall we go up to my office, Miss Hino? I apologize for not showing up to the Stone affair a few nights ago to meet you, as I had told Minako I would, but there was a sudden surge in paperwork that I had to work through."

Giving Hilde a smile and a small wave, Rei followed Quatre into the elevator to the top floor of the fifteen story building. "It´s quite alright," she answered. "I had actually feared what Minako would say about me to you, had we met under her surveillance."

Quatre laughed as they stepped out of the elevator. He led her down the corridor to a cozy looking office that looked as though a hurricane had come through it. He smiled apologetically at Rei. "As you can see, I need an assistance," he told her. "Please take a seat, wherever you can find one, and I´ll look through your resume and reference letters."

Rei ended up standing and handed him the required documents. She waited silently as he looked through them, biting her lip. Quatre was definitely easier to read than Heero though, and she could already tell that he was impressed with the variety of jobs she had undertaken since her graduation from university. Still, she was not one to relax until the final hurdle had been jumped over.

Finally, Quatre looked up with a pleased grin. "I think, Miss Hino, that you will be very helpful in the office."

Rei let out a sigh of relief and smiled back. "I´m glad you think so, Mr. Winner. I shall do my very best," she replied.

Quatre chuckled. "No need to be so formal. I know the rumors have told you otherwise, but at least in this office here, we´re all friends. The environment is rather relaxed and that makes work easier for everyone," he informed her.

Rei grinned. She had a strong feeling that she was really going to enjoy this job. The two spent the next half an hour working out an agreement about salaries, work hours, and her responsibilities, all of which was done rather quickly, since Quatre was very agreeable and the schedules tended to fluctuate, which Rei was already aware of, being Minako´s best friend. Soon, Quatre had shown Rei around the building and led her into her new office, which was adjoined to his.

"I officially welcome you to Winner Studios," Quatre announced with his warm smile, which Rei was beginning to find both contagious and sweet. "I hope you enjoy working with us."

~*~*~*~*~

" So tell me, Miss Aino, why were you interested in this job?" Noin asked Usagi as she led the young woman through the twisting halls of the large building, trying to make a bit of conversation.

"Actually, I´m not into the secretarial field," Usagi admitted, making Noin give her a knowing look, as though this was routine. "I would rather be in the software design section of your company, seeing as that´s where my interest lies, but the company only had an opening in the secretarial position, so I thought that I would try it out, just to experience the workings of a company as large as Aegis if nothing else."

Noin visibly startled at her response, and Usagi realized that whatever she had been expecting as a reply, that wasn´t it.

"I´m sorry," she apologized quickly. "I´m not downgrading the secretarial field. It´s just not what I´m interested in, and I also have a bad habit of being horribly blunt, as well as sarcastic at times."

Noin chuckled. "Oh, I understand what you mean. I´m just surprised that you´re actually here for work," she explained.

Usagi frowned. "What else would I be here for?" she asked, genuinely confused. "Does the building have a hidden shopping mall or restaurant that I´m unaware of?"

Noin laughed, drawing attention to the duo as they walked down the hall. It was a strange sight indeed. Lucrezia Noin was one of the very few women in the building that had no romantic interest in the boss, and she was known to look scornfully at the young girls who thought getting into Aegis was one of the first steps to snatching the most eligible bachelor in all of Japan. Now, here she was, laughing merrily with a pixie who was obviously here for a job interview. Otherwise, Noin wouldn´t be leading her down the halls.

"No, no, despite our size, we don´t hide other commercial areas at HQ," Noin replied.

"Then why would I be here for something other than work?" Usagi persisted.

"Are you aware of who the boss is?" Noin questioned.

"The person I´ll be working for if I get the job," Usagi guessed.

Noin shook her head. "You´re right, but that´s not all," she informed Usagi. "He´s also been named as the most eligible bachelor in all of Japan for the past five years."

"Oh," Usagi answered, obviously uninterested. "I don´t read those magazines, so I´m unaware of that. I suppose you thought I was here for him?"

"To be honest, yes, and you wouldn´t have been the first or the only one," Noin admitted.

"That´s kind of sick," Usagi commented, wrinkling her nose. "Why would women my age be interested in a man who´s probably somewhere in his fifties, ugly, and balding?"

Noin laughed again as she came to a stop in front of a large wooden door. "You´ve never met the boss," she remarked with a grin.

She opened the door after a brief knock and walked into a spacious office, where a slim woman with shoulder-length mahogany hair was talking to a redhead who looked and dressed as though she had just walked out of public bar. The woman clearly looked relieved when Noin and Usagi walked in. She gathered the few pieces of paper on her desk and stuck them into a hot pink folder before shoving it across the table back at the redhead.

"Thank you for your time, Miss," she gritted out. "We´ll contact you if we need you."

The redhead nodded, then jumped up, grabbed her folder and sauntered out of the room. As soon as she was gone, the woman sighed and rubbed her temple, then turned to eye Usagi. "Another one?" she said irritably. "How old is she? Seventeen?"

Usagi tried not to laugh, but she was unsuccessful. "I must be the only woman on Earth who wants people to get her age right," she joked.

Noin smiled. "Probably," she replied. "Let me have a guess. Twenty-two?"

"Close. Twenty-three," Usagi answered. "And my guess is that the lady who just left was one of those women who didn´t want the job."

"She wanted the job, alright," the woman whose name Usagi still hadn´t gotten cut in. "She wanted the man who comes with the job."

"I still don´t understand the whole attraction to the old and ugly boss," Usagi sighed.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Old and ugly boss?" she echoed. She looked questioningly at Noin.

"Either she´s a really good actress," Noin replied, "or she really doesn´t know who the boss is. And I´m going with the latter. I think you´ll like her, Une."

"My name is Lady Une, and I´m head of the human resources department," the woman introduced herself formally, shaking Usagi´s hand.

"I´m Usagi Aino, and I´m. . .uh, head of the midget group back in university," Usagi replied cheekily, a grin making its way onto her face.

Une raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Midget group?" she asked.

Usagi shrugged. "I´m listed as one of the top ten shortest people in my graduating year," she supplied. "Though it could just be because I refused to wear high heels when all the other girls had ten-inches high platform shoes."

Une grinned. Noin was right once again. This girl really could be the one. She took Usagi´s folder and quickly looked through the documents, satisfied that it was all neat, typed, and in proper order. The girl didn´t have much experience, but Une liked her character, and she knew that Noin did too. And they were both good judges of character. Plus, it seemed like this girl could put the boss in his place. Une respected him, but sometimes, well, most of the time, he was too arrogant, self-assured, and selfish for his own good. The man needed a secretary who was afraid of neither his bark nor his bite.

Usagi watched as Une read her references, nervous about the interview. However, when it came, it was easier than she had thought. Une asked almost the exact same questions as Noin, with only a few more on what she thought would be a reasonable pay and what she wanted to get out of her time at Aegis. Finally, the questions stopped, and Usagi watched in fascination as Une´s eyes turned from strict to friendly.

"I think you´ll be great for this job, Miss Aino," she stated quietly. "Welcome abroad Aegis Electronics."

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End of Chapter 4.

AN: I think that from here on, the story will take a larger focus on Heero and Usagi, though I could be wrong. Give me your opinion. ^^ Heero and Usa? Or equal focus on everyone? Please review!