Volume 1 - CH 7

After overcoming the harassment of those two women, lunchtime had arrived. At times like these you must be thinking that the company cafeteria is an ideal place to have a break from all the work and pressure we are exposed to, right…? Wrong.

In our company there is no cafeteria, we only have a water heater and a couple of snacks . I have heard that only 5% of companies in Japan have a proper cafeteria for their workers. Many of my colleagues, including myself, usually eat at our own desks or at the nearest restaurant outside the office. 

I wish I could be eating a decent lunch in a more appropriate place and not in the same place where I usually stress out and spend most of my time…

But things are never as one wishes. So, here I am, eating instant ramen and some rice noodles while getting ready for the extra hours I have to put in today. I certainly have the life of a champion.

—Masato-senpai, Masato-senpai.

—Hm?

—Would you be willing to trade your lunch for mine?

Inami is the kind of girl who usually cooks her own food. Today I brought a bento along with instant ramen that I bought at the convenience store. It’s a typical salaryman’s lunch. 

In her bento was rolled omelettes, cabbage rolls in a very compressed shape, octopus and marinated vegetables. A fairly light yet nutritious lunch. I even see bunny shaped apple slices in a separate tupperware. 

Trade my lunch for my Kouhai’s home-cooked food, I don’t know….

—Well… If you insist so much.

—Thank you very much, Senpai.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had cabbage rolls, so I couldn’t resist them, it was too hard to resist them.

Inami took my food and began to taste it.

—Hmmm ~this spicy flavor is addictive~.

For some reason, watching her eat like that is quite hypnotic… Now I understand why lately videos of young boys eating in front of a camera on the internet have become so popular. 

After Inami finished her meal. She proceeded to grab one of the cabbage rolls with her chopsticks and offered it to me. 

—Masato-senpai, ah~n.

—…Huh?

This was totally unexpected, I didn’t expect Inami to feed my mouth, so my reaction of surprise was totally justified.

No no no no, I can’t be nervous because I’m about to have an indirect kiss with my kouhai. I’m not 15 anymore, what’s happening to me? Not to mention the fact that we’re still in the office, it’s not a coffee shop.

However, thoughts with erotic and immoral overtones that can happen in an office come into my head like flares in the middle of the ocean on a dark night… No, what the heck am I thinking?! I think I’ve seen too many adult movies… 

—Senpai, hurry up! The role-playing juices are starting to drip onto the desk!

—Okay, but don’t rush me! 

I closed my eyes not wanting to think anything strange and took a bite of food.

—So? What do you think?

—…Umm…Delicious.

—Yay! Hehehehe.

It’s a strange feeling. By the time I finished swallowing the food that was in my mouth, I went from feeling embarrassed, to a warm loving feeling, it reminded me of the food my mother used to prepare for me when I was a kid.

—I’m thinking of making pot-au-feu with these cabbage rolls for dinner tonight.

Damn, that sounds pretty delicious… I’m so jealous of you, you little twerp.

—You seem to have great culinary skills.

—Yes, ever since I started college, I had to cook my own food every day. It’s complicated at first, but once you learn, it becomes pretty easy. It’s like that saying, practice makes perfect. — she replied as she raised her right arm and tightened her muscles.

I understand that she wanted to somehow make it reflect that she has a lot of confidence and strength in what she does, but… That pose was kind of lame… 

Beyond my critical comment, I think it’s great that Inami feels very confident in her abilities, she’s certainly a very capable girl in that field. 

Inami placed her chopsticks on the table and perched on her elbows with her hands clasped together with a defiant look on her face. That pose… It feels familiar… Commander Ikari? Is that you?

—Fufufu… At this rate, Masato-senpai’s stomach will be delighted with my dishes.

—Don’t talk about it like it’s premeditated.

—Guhahahahahahaha~~! From now on I’ll make you lunch every day~~ Gaa~~~!

I don’t understand, is it some kind of threat? 

—Calm down, I’m only half joking when I say that kind of thing.

—The fact that you say you’re only half joking makes it more worrisome.

—I think I’ll be able to be a good housewife in time in the future. However… — with eyes on fire, Inami continues — I first aspire to be a great woman like Kyouka-senpai!

—I see…

Inami really has admiration for professional women. So much so that her biggest goal besides being a housewife, is to be successful in her career.

That’s very nice. I like my Kouhai’s impetus. Suzumori-senpai has always had a performance far superior to any other employee in the sales field. She is such a capable woman that I have even heard that on more than one occasion, other companies have tried to hire her, this obviously offered many benefits to make the job offer juicier.

—Does that mean that Nagisa-chan wants to be just like Kyouka-senpai and nag Kazama day and night when he was a newcomer in this company?

—….

As soon as I turned to the direction where the voice came from, I saw Inaba who was showing her white teeth mischievously. It seemed that she would also take advantage of her break time to eat, as she had a grocery bag with a sandwich and salad.

Instead of greeting her, I proceeded to take the fried chicken and pop it in my mouth. I wanted to destroy that smile.

—Um, looks delicious, can I have one?

—No, fuck you.

—Don’t be stingy. You won’t starve to death if you give me 1 or 2 pieces of chicken. It’s because of things like that that you always stay here working late and don’t go home early.

—What?! You mean if I give you chicken, I can go home early? Take them all!

—Hahaha, where did that despicable attitude of yours just go?

—*Sigh*. Inaba doesn’t understand the suffering of us salespeople. — I said as I sipped my green tea.

Inaba’s job in this company is to be a web designer, in addition to creating sketches, and mockups, she is also in charge of writing code. In addition to making logos and banners for advertisements. She is a multipurpose of creativity in other words.

It depends on the company where you work, one team or another are the ones who usually stay late in the office. And in the case of the company where we work, it’s the marketers who get that heavy duty.

—So that’s what you think, huh?

—Huh?

What’s wrong? Why is Inaba suddenly approaching me with that creepy smile?

It doesn’t make me uncomfortable that she brought her face too close to mine. What makes me uncomfortable are the large breasts that, from the position I’m in, are such weapons of mass destruction that if I so much as glance down even a little, my life will most likely be over in the blink of an eye.

I have to be strong, I have to resist the temptation to look at those big breasts with the cleavage she’s flaunting, it’s as if they wanted to greet me… 

—Answer me a question, Kazama, who was the one who came to me crying the other day begging for my help?

—….

The memories of that day remain vividly in my memory. Consequently, it was inevitable that my face would tense up at the bad comment I just heard…

It happened last Friday, just before the end of my workday. A call from a client came in unannounced, and the conversation I had with him was about making a last-minute announcement about a large-scale event they were about to hold.

I’m quite competent at doing that kind of work, but in a simple quality. But, when it’s an ad that requires high quality, and above all, to be delivered in a very short time frame. It becomes a very complicated task for me… 

That’s why I ran to Inaba Fukahiro and asked for her help. Needless to say, one couldn’t imagine how sorry and guilty I felt for forcing her to help me… 

—You’re right… Inaba, thank you for your help on that occasion.

—I didn’t tell you this, but I had a blind date that day, but I cancelled it to help you… — She replied having a somber expression on her face.

—Guugh…

—Ah~… I sometimes wonder what would have happened to my current life if I had gone on that date, maybe I missed the chance to meet the love of my life

—Uggh…

—I haven’t been out of this company for a long time, sometimes I’d like to do girl stuff.

—I’m so sorry! I’m sorry for what I said! Designers have jobs just as hard as salespeople!

—Mmm… That’s what I wanted to hear, thank you for saying so.

It seems my words were enough to calm the beast that was beginning to be born in Inaba. For she turned around and returned to her seat with a smile on her face… Goodbye, breasts.

—Fukahiro-senpai, Fukahiro-senpai.

Uh-oh… My spidey sense tells me there’s danger lurking. 

—Hmm? What’s wrong, Nagisa-chan?

—Can you tell me stories about when Kyouka-senpai scolded Masato-senpai when he first joined the company?

Tch… Inami, it wasn’t enough for you to steal my lunch along with Inaba, she also wants to rejoice in my past misfortunes in front of me. How cruel women can be.

But I won’t let you get away with it, you little twerp.

—Inaba has nothing interesting to say about me.

—Huh? You think so?

—That’s right. When I joined this company, I was a very kind and hardworking guy.

It was a time that I miss too much. I had not lost my drive and spirit to get things done. I had a fierce hunger to acquire a lot of knowledge and to be taken into consideration for future projects. 

There were other things I would’ve liked to say, but at that moment I looked at Inaba’s face, who had egg sandwich stuffed in her cheeks with an expression of indifference on her face. But I’m still going to try to control the situation and bring it to a point where it suits me.

—Even Inaba came to receive scolding from Suzumori-senpai.

—What are you talking about? — Inaba asked in a state of confusion.

—Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten? It was when we were doing our rookie training, and we snuck off to go to the arcade. 

—Oh~! That’s right! It was when Kazama wanted to go out to have fun. Then we went into a photo booth and you wanted to use couple mode since you’ve never done it with anyone. — Inaba replied with a mischievous smile on her face. 

Damn it, Inaba, what lengths do you intend to go to in order to fake memories? 

—That’s not true! It was the two of us who agreed to select that way!

—Huh…?

—Aah! Noo! It’s not what you think, Inami!

Inami stared at me with a fixed expression, her big white eyes confused me, is she thinking about hurting me or was she just shocked by my words?

—Inaba, don’t say things that could cause misunderstandings! We chose that way with the intention of joking!

—Shame on you, Kazama! You should be ashamed of yourself, Kazama! You tricked me into sneaking out of work with you and taking me to a photo booth to do dirty deeds with me in front of a camera! You’ve turned this body into one that can no longer marry…. 

—Huh?! Masato-senpai… You’re a pervert.

—I’m not a pervert! It’s Inaba who’s playing a joke on you, you idiot!

—Hahahahahaha! It’s fun to make fun of Kazama!

Inaba’s laughter was so loud that even tears began to flow from the corners of her eyes, reaching the point where it hurt to breathe. I hope she gets respiratory distress and they have to take her to the hospital.

—I thought I heard noise coming from here, what kind of conversations are you having…?

As if the teasing and harassment I was getting wasn’t enough already, Suzumori-senpai just made an appearance in the office.

—These kids… How can they talk about topics like this while eating? — she said as she sits down across from me and proceeds to drink her vegetable juice she was holding.

—But…. It was Kyouka-senpai who started all this. — Inaba said while eating her salad.

—Huh? I’m the cause…? — Suzumori-senpai asked with a confused expression on her face.

—Hey, Inami, why don’t you do me a favor and sew this idiot’s lips shut?

—Leave it to me, Senpai! — Inami replied smiling gloomily at Inaba. — Anyway, this whole conversation started because of my curiosity about how Kyouka-senpai scolded Masato-senpai for doing his job wrong.

—You idiot! Don’t expose me like that!

—Why aren’t you more honest about what’s going on, Kazama-kun? — Suzumori-senpai said while squeezing my cheeks. 

At the moment I’m feeling more embarrassment than pain. I had no choice but to explain to her the conversation we were having since she was a bit skeptical.

—I’m just telling the truth, Suzumori-senpai told me that I was one of those who had great potential when I started working here.

—That’s not how I would rate you earning daily scoldings for not doing your job well.

—That’s just it, it seems Masato-senpai was a bad boy.

—Inaba, Inami, your comments are unnecessary.

No doubt this girl is a pain in the ass. There’s no way I can trust co-workers like that. Let alone when they throw me into the ocean in front of my adored Suzumori-senpai. Who, by the way, had changed her attitude from skeptical to convinced. 

—Certainly, Kazama-kun was arrogant back then.

—Eh…

What’s this, Suzumori-senpai? Are you going to turn against me too? Or is it because like them, you enjoy making me suffer along with those two hellish girls?

I seem to be starting to have hallucinations, as I suddenly start to see a pointed tail start to emerge from her back and a pair of small horns make an appearance on her head.

This is horrible. It’s like having three demons in front of me who have come to torture me… Suzumori-senpai, I was hoping that you would be the one to rescue me. 

—So it’s true, Masato-senpai was quite the rebel!

—Well, up to a point. But of all the kouhai I had, Kazama-kun was the most successful… But he’s not free of many mistakes he made.

—Ugh. Why are you smiling like that?

Onee-san looks at me smilingly as if she enjoys making me look bad… 

—Have you already forgotten what happened during Golden Week?

(Gw means golden week. That is usually from the end of April to Early May. A lot of bank holidays are concentrated in that period. That’s why people call it golden week.)

—Huh…

—You submitted a document with a lot of information that you simply copied and pasted from the Internet. And what did that cause? Exactly, that you were reprimanded by me.

—….

—So, tell me Kazama-kun, do you know what were the consequences of those actions?

—………

Flashbacks start coming to my mind of those years where Suzumori-senpai was my trainer…

Golden Week had begun, and I was late to the office that day.

—Kazama-kun. You stayed up late playing again, right?

—Yes… 

—I’m not saying you shouldn’t play, but if you’re going to pay more attention to a video game than your work, then you should limit it to one hour a day, don’t you think?

—No, no, no, no! Now that Esports are becoming more and more popular, an hour a day is a very short time to do that attitude.

—In that case, you have two options, the first one is to limit your time to 1 hour a day, or go with me and sell the console. Which one do you choose?

—Now that I think about it, 1 hour a day sounds more than reasonable.

And that’s how for 1 month I was under Suzumori-senpai’s strict surveillance regarding my video game addiction. But that did nothing to improve my behavior as if I was unemployed…

—Kazama-kun. You copied and pasted this document from a competitor’s website, right?

—Huh?! How did Suzumori-senpai notice it? 

—There’s an advertising service that we don’t handle. 

—Ugh…

—Also, there’s some information I’d like to corroborate, could you tell me where you got the source from?

—Eh? A source…? Why…? 

—Hm… You’re getting really nervous, Kazama-kun, I hope you didn’t get it from some wiki on the internet… Or did you?

—…Huh, yes, I did…

—Uugh…~~~! You idiot! I’ve already told you not to use Wiki’s to do this kind of work. Do it again!

—Hueeh!!

End of flashback…

—Slit my throat and kill me once and for all…

I admit that I was an idiot when I was young, it’s inevitable that I would cry inside seeing Suzumori-senpai exposing me in such a way….

—I think I’ve tortured Kazama-kun enough for today….

—Ah, you think so? So you could do it even more if you wanted…?

—Hmm… If I really wanted to do it, you’d be crying by now.

I was horrified at my senpai’s words, but at the same time, I felt a bit of eroticism. Yes… I have a problem.

—After all, it’s inevitable not to get attached to the kouhai you’ve ever taken care of.

Suzumori-senpai, it’s much worse to clasp your hands together and put them near your face with that angelic smile of yours. And it’s even more unfair when you say something like that to me, my heart is about to explode because of how fast it’s beating right now. 

—Masato-senpai, please get attached to me forever!

Now Inami is the one saying deadly things like that. I didn’t think she had it in her. 

—Hahaha! Or maybe it’ll be Nagisa-chan who acts like a Senpai in a few years when she’s Kazama’s boss!

Inaba, I’m still amazed by your ability to hurt my pride in the moments where even my heart is trying to heal. However, I can’t deny that that is a likely fact, seeing Inami’s abilities, I don’t doubt that she is capable of becoming my boss in the future.

Inami, who notices my pained expression, clasps her hands together and says;

—Don’t feel bad, Masato-senpai. As soon as I’m your boss, I’ll buy you drinks every day!

—Huh…?! You want to take me out for drinks every day?

—Hehehe, that’s right! We’re going to drink a lot!

There’s no other name for that but harassment at work.

Does it give Inami pleasure to see me drunk all the time? Or does she want my liver to suffer to the point of death? And if that’s not enough, Suzumori-senpai is watching us with a smile on her face.

—You know, I’m very happy that we have such a cheerful and energetic group like you.

—Like us?

—When I joined the company, there were only people who were in a position above me. I was the only newcomer to the company, because of that, I felt quite lonely.

Suzumori-senpai has no intention of hiding her true feelings. She is willing to be honest with us. For that reason, she keeps a generous smile on her face.

—That’s why, when I see you guys chatting and laughing happily, I feel happy.

Listening to Suzumori-senpai was like seeing the rebirth of the goddess we know of again, making the pointed tail and horns disappear from the now the beautiful angelic woman in front of me. 

This is the Onee-san I admire and respect so much. It is much more gratifying to hear this kind of thing than my beginnings in this company.

—So, when Kyouka-senpai joined the company, she was the first in a long time. That means you were amazing even though you were a rookie!

—That’s not quite true. I also made a lot of mistakes and was scolded many times when I started working here.

—Eeh… Ah, right, no matter how skilled you are in your field, there will always be an adjustment period when you start working in a new company. 

—Exactly… Although by that time I didn’t think I was very skilled for this job.

—Really? Sorry for getting the wrong idea.

—No, no, it’s okay. I’m glad you see me that way.

This Inami, is information might come as a bucket of cold water. But for me, who has known Suzumori-senpai for five years, it’s something I’ve heard on several occasions. There’s no need to belittle yourself like that.

—Hmm… It becomes quite complicated for me to imagine Kyouka-senpai in her early years in this company. — Inami said with a smile on her face — Fukahiro-senpai, do you know anything about Kyouka-senpai’s past?

—Wow, Nagisa-chan, you are really very interested in knowing your co-workers.

—I’m glad you asked, Nagisa-chan. — Inaba said as she corrected her posture, making her voluminous breasts jump to life. — Nope. I don’t know anything about Kyouka-senpai’s beginnings in this company. But I do know that when she was a student—….

—….

As soon as Inaba saw the expression Suzumori-senpai placed on her face, she abruptly fell quiet. She could feel the Goddess who had arrived a moment ago blur again to make way for the devilish Suzumori-senpai with a pointed tail and horns on her head.

A wave of tension built up in the atmosphere, and a murderous aura seeped more and more from Suzumori-senpai. Her soft smile was still intact. But her eyes showed no sign of compassion before Inaba.

What I could read through those eyes were; “depending on what you say, those could be your last words.”

Inaba closed her eyes, and took a bite of her sandwich and remained silent until it was completely finished.

—Thank you for the food. — Inaba said as she gathered all her things and prepared to leave.

—Fukahiro-senpai! Wait!

That woman got away from her….

—Well guys, I have to go too, get on with the work!

Suzumori-senpai was the next to leave the place, she drank her vegetable juice in one gulp, and left the office as fast as she could, leaving Inami and I alone again.

—Hey, hey, Masato-senpai.

—Hm?

—How much do you know about Kyouka-senpai’s beginnings in this company?

Inami’s curiosity is really scary, this girl is not satisfied with anything until she is given a clear answer.

—…I don’t know anything — I answered while averting my eyes.

—Aaaa!!!! So, Masato-senpai knows something!!!!

If I said a single word about what Suzumori-senpai was like five years ago, my life would surely come to an end. 

I’m sorry, Inami, but I don’t want to die yet.