“Does anyone have any questions so far?” asked Mishima.
Her voice was clear as she looked around the meeting room from her place in front of the projector.
The idea she’d just presented was generally well thought out, but I still shot up my hand. She looked annoyed for a moment, but she pointed at me anyway.
“Yes, Mr. Yoshida?”
“First off, it’s good that you’ve set out the workload and deadlines with reasonable margins.”
“…Thank you? But, um, I was asking if anyone had any questions…”
“That being said, we’ve never worked with this kind of plan before. So I’d like to know how you calculated the margins and if someone supervised the plan.”
“Ahhh,” said Mishima, nodding confidently. “There shouldn’t be any problems. The Sendai branch already implemented this policy a few years ago.”
“Sendai?”
“The branch I used to work at.” Kanda raised her hand, coming to the rescue.
“Oh… Is that why you’re…?” Putting two and two together, I looked over at Kanda. She quickly nodded.
“That’s right. I was instrumental in implementing it over there, and since this plan is so similar, I’m helping Ms. Mishima out as her supervisor.”
I had wondered why Kanda was at the meeting—she usually worked on different jobs in another section. But it all made sense now.
“Does the workload look okay to you, Kanda?” I asked her, pointing at the documents in front of me just to check.
“Yeah, this schedule gives us plenty of time,” she answered right away. “Ms. Mishima asked me about it beforehand, too.”
She gazed up at Mishima, who scratched the tip of her nose, looking slightly embarrassed.
“In that case, I think we’re just about done here,” I said.
Mishima breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s agreed, then. As long as nobody has anything else to add, I’ll move on to the next item.”
She looked around the room and waited to see if anyone else was going to put their hand up. Nobody did, so she moved along with the policy meeting.
Seeing her conduct the meeting like a pro was making me a little emotional.
“I can’t believe Mishima is actually in charge of a project,” Hashimoto said as he poked at his fried rice in the cafeteria. “That would’ve been unthinkable a few years ago.”
“Right? I guess all my mentoring finally paid off,” I replied, slurping at my usual bowl of Chinese noodles.
Mishima grimaced openly.
“Stop exaggerating.”
“Back then, you were always focused on slacking off,” I pointed out.
Mishima bit her tongue as she used her chopsticks to pick apart her grilled salmon.
“Well…I’ve turned over a new leaf.”
“…Seems like it.”
I could more or less guess what had caused her change of heart. A lot had happened between us over the past few years.
“I thought it was about time I tried enjoying my work, that’s all! But more importantly, I know I can count on you two to support me whenever I run into trouble.” She spoke enthusiastically, then began chewing away at her salmon.
Hashimoto seemed to find this amusing, and his shoulders shook with laughter. After a few moments, though, he followed suit and focused on eating his fried rice.
The employees under my supervision had grown a lot in the last few years, and I felt like my job was a little easier for it.
I would turn twenty-eight that year. My thirties were just around the corner…
I had a rewarding job, and I was enjoying life… But I still found myself harboring feelings for the great love of my life—the same one I’d been pining after for years.
“Good work today, Yoshida.”
Just as I was getting ready to head home at the end of my shift, Ms. Gotou came over to me. These days, she had been going out of her way to visit my desk instead of calling me over to hers.
“You too,” I replied. “What’s up?”
“I was just wondering if you were free later.”
“Uh…do you mean for dinner?” I asked, and she nodded vigorously.
She’d started inviting me out to eat more often, and I would regularly take the initiative and ask her out, too.
We weren’t a couple yet, but it felt like we were getting there.
As nice as it was for her to invite me out for dinner, though, I’d already made plans for the evening.
“I’m sorry. I’d love to, but today isn’t the best day…”
“Oh, do you have something to do?”
“Yeah. Somebody from my neighborhood wanted to meet up.”
“Hmph. All right, then,” she said.
For a moment, she looked like she wanted to ask me something, but she soon gave up, sighed, and nodded.
“Can’t argue with that,” she said. “I’ll catch you another time, then. Have a good night.”
“You too! See you!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ms. Gotou turn on her heel and head back to her desk. I bit my bottom lip, feeling a pang of regret.
I’d turned her down because Asami had invited me out.
I was just as surprised as anyone that Asami and I still kept in touch. We even met up every now and then.
Asami was now in college. She was studying literature, and occasionally, she’d invite herself over to my place and make me read a story she’d written.
That was probably what was going to happen today.
To be honest, I wasn’t that interested in reading fiction. I’d much rather go out to dinner with Ms. Gotou… But I always prioritized the plans I’d made first, and that wasn’t about to change.
“I’m heading out!” I said as I made my way to the door.
Once I’d left the office, I hurried straight home.
Asami’s writing aside, I did enjoy hearing about her life in college. Whenever I spoke to her, I imagined what a certain other “high school girl” might be getting up to now.
I got off the train at my local station and sent Asami a message as I began the walk home.
Where should we meet?
I could see the “Read” notice pop up immediately, and a few seconds later, I got a reply.
Your place is fine.
Over the past few years, Asami had…mellowed out in a lot of ways.
She’d stopped calling me “Yoshi,” and her hair was now a muted shade of brown… Most notably, however, she’d adopted a more natural way of speaking.
I had no idea what caused this change…but she seemed more comfortable when she spoke, which could only be a good thing.
Gotcha.
Seconds after I sent this reply, another message came from Asami.
Are you almost here?