Keigo had always been the type to stick with things and keep his possessions for a long time. He’d played the RPG game his parents bought him in elementary school more times than he could count. The computer he’d bought for himself in junior high using his saved-up New Year’s money was still working, albeit with a lot of the parts changed out. As for programming, which he’d first learned about in elementary school, he still loved it now that it was his job, and he wanted to keep doing it for the rest of his life. He didn’t have a reason for loving these things. A combination of his inborn personality and childhood experiences might have played a role, of course, but basically, he liked things because he liked them. Now, at the age of twenty-seven, he was still holding on tight to his love for the one thing he irrationally adored more than anything else: his exceedingly oblivious childhood friend.
“Let’s all raise our glasses to congratulate Yuuki on his transfer! Cheers!”
The division head’s toast was followed by a chorus of cheers and the clinking of beer mugs. It was seven thirty at night, and a welcome party was underway at a bar near the office. As his new coworkers came up one after the other to offer him boisterous toasts, Keigo tried to drill their faces and names into his memory.
“Looking forward to working together!” he answered again and again.
A week had passed since his transfer to System Development Division One. After the incident with Kojima, the president had immediately submitted the necessary paperwork. However, since it was unplanned, the actual move took another few days, and by the end of the hellish storm of related trainings and documents, everyone was very ready for it to be done.
When the dust settled and the day of his transfer finally arrived, the division head introduced him during the morning announcements. When she saw him, Nagi nearly jumped out of her skin. Considering his transfer had been kept secret until then, her reaction was only natural. Seeing the look on her face was reward enough for Keigo, but it seemed Ryou had taken the additional thoughtful step of assigning him to Nagi’s team. That was how he ended up working with her directly. Although he still had a lot to get used to, there seemed to be no shortage of good folks in his new division, which was a relief.
Just when Keigo thought he had been introduced to everyone at the party, he heard a familiar voice behind him.
“Good job today, Keigo.”
If he had to liken that voice to a color, he would choose orange. It was smooth and kind but, at the same time, lively. He turned around, his heart thumping.
“Nagi.”
Her olive-greige hair was trimmed neatly at the nape of her neck, and she was quite tall for a woman. She had a cool gaze, but he knew well that when she smiled, her eyes would gently soften.
She clinked her glass against his.
“Same to you,” he said.
Just then, a much smaller woman who had been hidden behind Nagi until now leaned her head out to the side and said with a friendly smile, “Yes, thank you for all your hard work!”
“I think you two have already met,” Nagi said. “But this is Ai Saotome. She’s on our team.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Saotome said gently. She was the polar opposite of the brisk Nagi, but from what he could tell from the past week of work, she was very efficient.
“The pleasure’s mine. As a junior team member, I’m looking forward to learning from you.”
“Ha! I’m not sure I have much to teach, but I’ll do what I can,” she answered modestly. Nagi rested her hand on the other woman’s shoulder.
“Saotome is extremely good at her job!”
“Please stop. I’m just starting out. Mr. Yuuki is much more impressive than me,” she said, clinging shyly to Nagi’s arm. Watching them, Keigo thought about how lucky women were. They get to hug in public without being accused of sexual harassment. Wonder if they’d punch me if I asked to join in. Probably. Especially Nagi.
“I’m looking forward to working together,” he said instead.
“So am I,” agreed Saotome.
Apparently having had their fill of joking around together, the two women waved at him and returned to their seats. Now, time to chow down, Keigo thought. But just as he was lifting his chopsticks, a young man approached him.
“…Welcome to the division.”
“Oh, hi, Saiga. Thanks.”
Keigo hadn’t spoken much yet with Takumi Saiga, his other new team member, so he didn’t have a grasp on his personality. But from observing the general situation, Keigo got the sense he didn’t get along very well with Nagi. That said, given that he’d made a point of coming over to say hello, he probably wasn’t a bad kid. They clinked glasses and tossed back their drinks.
“Remind me how old you are,” Keigo said to Saiga, who looked vaguely uncomfortable.
“Twenty-three.”
“You just started at the company this year, right? I wish I was still that young. You have all that potential ahead of you.”
“I might have potential, but I’m still useless.”
Keigo felt the atmosphere chill noticeably. What’s the deal, Saiga? You’re being too negative.
“H-hey…that’s not true. I heard you studied programming in university, right?” Keigo said, urgently trying to lighten the mood.
“Yeah, I did. I was an information sciences major.”
At first, Keigo feared he’d already gotten on the kid’s bad side, but Saiga responded normally to his question, which reassured him.
“What kind of stuff were you working on?”
“I was totally focused on programming.”
“Ha-ha, sounds like me. That’s about all I did. I even participated in some contests.”
Saiga’s expression changed visibly at Keigo’s casual remark.
“Really, you did? What did you make?”
Maybe it was Keigo’s imagination, but Saiga’s eyes seemed to glitter, and he leaned forward.
“I created my own search engine. I’ve still got an app version on my phone. Wanna see it?”
“I’d love to!”
Apparently, Saiga really liked programming, and he went on to barrage Keigo with more questions. Even people employed at IT companies rarely did programming in their spare time, too. Keigo, one of the few who did, had never talked so much with a coworker about this hobby, and the conversation flourished.
“—That sounds so fun!”
As they were talking about the computer Keigo had recently built, someone interrupted them. It was Saotome.
“Saiga, the department head wants to speak with you,” she whispered, turning to the man in question.
“What? To me?”
“Yes. Since you’ve been in the department for six months now, it seems he wants to know if everything is going okay. We’re at a party, so you can probably just casually go over and pour him a drink.”