❝RED❞

FOUR

FOUR

AKABANE KOHAKU IS an unsatisfied man.

No, not ambitious. Just unsatisfied.

The man lifted his right wrist and observed the time: 12:59:38. Twenty-two more seconds until his set meeting with Red.

Turning, Akabane shifted his gaze outside the window to view the vaguely familiar scenery of Tokyo at noon. His dark eyes, ineloquent, glided over the bustling city with an impassive stare.

The sound of a door clicking open brough his attention back to the spectacle before him. His eyes briefly flitted to his watch one final time: 2:00. On the dot. The man allowed his thin lips to twitch faintly into a smile. If anything, he and Red at least agreed on punctuality.

"Akabane. Come in," Red stood leaning against the door to prop it open, sweeping the space before her to signal him to step inside. The politician acknowledged the female with a laconic nod of his head, so subtle that not even a single strand of black hair fell out of place.

Settling down into the maroon coach seated before the CEO's glass desk, Akabane spun his head around to observe the office. It had changed since his time in here, he concluded. Previously dark-gray walls had been painted coral. His monochrome-styled office had been changed to a red theme. Suiting, he decided, for a person whose alias was Red.

"So." The anonymous CEO pulled back her rolling chair, bent her waist and sat down. Her scarlet heels were muted against the carpet floor, but clicked faintly against the stem of her chair. Pushing aside her rose MacBook, Red allowed it to face her at an angle so that she may address any issues that would occur during their meeting. But for now, with nothing so far on her calendar, Red allowed Akabane to have her full attention. Elbows resting on the glass table with fingers interlaced, she parted her ruby lips to speak. "You wanted to see me."

Akabane nodded silently. "Be brief," she continued. Her eyes, hidden behind her red glasses, shifted over to her computer. "I am a busy woman."

A smile twitched at the corner of his lips. "You wouldn't be if I had my job back," remarked Akabane drily. He leaned forward a little, his elbows now resting on his knees. His limbs creased his perfectly ironed pants, fingers interlaced to match Red's posture.

The woman's eyes darted back to the front. "If you've come here today to discuss these matters," her perfect brows furrowed, "then you're wasting both your time and my own."

Anger flickered in the pits of Akabane's stomach. "Not only are you CEO of Cloud Dust and Scarlet X, you've also acquired the position for Japan Men's National Volleyball Team. You're busier than ever now, right? You can give up one of them. You already have enough."

"No." Red's quiet tone of voice changed to a stronger one. Unlacing her fingers she leaned back against her chair and crossed her wrists against her left thigh. She propped her right leg on top of her left, gently swinging it back and forth. "I don't."

Akabane raised an eyebrow. "You're unsatisfied? Even now? Isn't that a little greedy of you?"

Red's leg stilled. Her gaze, hidden by the glasses, focused on the man before her. "Maybe," her answer was simple. Dipping her head down, she peered at Akabane over the rim of her scarlet sunglasses. Loose strands of black hair fluttered down beside her face and tickled her cheekbones. "Why should it matter to you?"

The politician had had enough of the civil talk. "Because your selfishness has ruined other people's lives!" He stretched his body forward, hissing the words with undisguised contempt.

Raising her head, the stray dark wisps of Red's hair fell back against her ears as she parted her lips to speak. "So?"

Akabane's jaw hung open. The angle between the minute and hour hand on his watch had largened before he shut his mouth and pressed his lips into a thin, firm line. "You–"