Senseless Abyss (Zero-One Fanfic)

-Chapter 176

-Chapter 176: You Still Have Fire

"Good morning, President Aruto Hiden," I say, greeting my ex-boyfriend warmly as he looks up from his seat in his office. "How is it going this morning?" I hope his day is going well so far and isn't full of boring paperwork. 

"Everything is going swell so far," Aruto answers, grinning. "You seem to be shining brightly today. Did something good happen to you on the way to work?" 

"Nope," I respond. "Just ready to start my day and have a good time working. Lots of work to being doing these days." 

"I thought you would be hanging out at your company today," he says, still wearing his lovely grin on his face. He looks good when he's smiling so brightly like that.

"I was going to hang out there, but I decided to come here to do work. I figured it would better to put our heads together. Besides, it is difficult working with Nina and Rei at times." Both of them just cause trouble and get off topic. Then Allen tells them to focus and they get right back to work.

Aruto nods his head. "I can see what that would be difficult. Those two seem to get lost in the clouds at times. Not that we don't, but we tend to be more serious about our jobs."

"Ain't that the truth..." I sigh a bit. "Aruto, do you think that we can stop him anytime soon? Maybe if we come up with a plan to tackle him and his plot and burn it to the ground, we can stop him."

"I think that we might be able to do that," he says, nodding as his smile drops a bit. "He's not easy to work with. How did you ever work with him before? Is there some special way to deal with him?" I wish there was. 

"You already know the answer to that one." Blackmail. "I didn't matter that he was forcing my hand back then, I grew to care for that machine." 

"Yeah, I am aware that you care for him a lot. I don't blame you for getting attached to him. It is only natural for one to. You were around him a lot and you even lived together for a bit. It isn't surprising that it would end up that way." It is natural for someone to grow to care for someone they are always around all day long isn't it?

I laugh. "Thank you for being so kind about it, Aruto." He doesn't have to be, but he is. 

"It isn't something you should be thanking me for. I respect your life you had with him back then and I respect what you have with him now."

"Aruto, I'm not dating him."

"I know you're not, but you have a special relationship with him right now. I respect that special relationship of yours."

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, my eyes going to the Caller ID. "It is Yua."

"What is she wanting from you at this time?" Aruto asks me.

"No clue." I slide my finger on the screen and put the phone up to my ear. "Hello?"

"Mari, you need to go and check in Horobi. I have intel that he's working on having a Magia army head out," Yua informs me. "Please, go there and see if you can deescalate the situation there." 

I look away from Aruto. "Is it that serious? I have work to be doing." Important work.

"This is important as well. He could destroy all the humans around that area if he goes off the deep end."

I nod my head. "Alright. I will check in on him and see what is going on. Thank you for calling me. Goodbye." I remove the phone from my ear and end the call, my eyes going to Aruto.