Episode Thirty-One

“I’ll be waiting next weekend.”

Leaving those words behind, Runa went home.
Leaving my head spinning in confusion.
She likes me. Runa likes me.
Wait. Wait, wait, wait for me.
　So that means even when we were practically living together, when we took a bath together on that snowy day, when I was irritable after failing my job hunt, when I was drunk, half-naked, and clinging to her like crazy… she felt that way about me?
She was looking at me like that?
What the hell is that?
What the hell is that?!

“What the hell is that, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

“──Uwaaaaah…”

I can’t take it anymore. I don’t want to think about anything.

In the end, that night, Ibara didn’t come back to my place.
Sunday dawned, which was Sereno’s regular day off, so naturally I couldn’t meet her either. As expected, the message I sent to the chat room was read and ignored.
My head was a complete mess, yet still, the night ended and another week began.

　†

Further turmoil began with a single sentence delivered at work.

“Amami-san, just a moment.”

Monday morning.
The moment I arrived at the office, I was summoned by Shindo-san.
After three years working in the same place, you develop a certain intuition. A premonition, a bad feeling.
In the end, it proved accurate.

“—Emergency hospitalisation? Yamauchi-san?”

“Yes. She’ll be on leave for about the next two months.”

In the small meeting booth, Shindo-san said it with grave solemnity. My heart gave a sharp chill.

“Is it that serious?”

“Ah, no, don’t misunderstand. I can’t go into details due to privacy, but it’s not life-threatening.”

Seeing me gasp, Shindo-san added.

“It seems surgery is required, though. Factoring in the recovery period before and after, that’s why it’ll take that long.”

“I see…”

“She seemed perfectly fine during the meeting, as you know.”

“Yes.”

Even while working alongside me as a sub-assistant, Yamauchi-san was cracking on with her work. I never imagined she was battling an illness.

“She did ask to work remotely herself, but… well, that was a bit much. She’s got paid leave left, so I’ve decided to let her take time off.”

“That’s the sensible thing to do.”

It was the obvious decision, but I was glad Shindo-san was the kind of boss who could make the obvious decision. He’s a demon when assigning work during peak periods, but otherwise he’s basically a decent bloke.

“We’ll redistribute the minor tasks she was handling across the entire design department. There’s just one tricky one, though.”

It clicked.

“It’s ‘Rêve’, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It’s a big project, and coordinating with the client’s been quite a struggle, hasn’t it?”

“…Yes. We’ve finally settled on the design concept, but we haven’t got the rough sketches approved yet.”

“Amami-san, can you handle it?”

Shindo-san lowered his voice slightly.
I understood exactly what he meant.
The ‘Rêve’ project had Yamauchi-san as the lead and me as the sub.
Normally, this would be a project I’d have to take over.
But this project is tricky.
　The manufacturer’s representative was getting quite impatient. They wanted a proposal that could get upper management approval quickly.
Shindo-san’s question essentially meant, “Should we withdraw and hand it over to another veteran?”
After a moment, I replied.

“…I’d like to try doing what I can.”

“Right.”

“But if you think it’s getting risky, please replace me based on your judgement. I’ll report back in detail on all communications.”

“Understood.”

Shindo nodded.

“I’ve heard the situation from Yamauchi-san too. This week is the decisive one. If the rough draft isn’t approved by Friday, I’m afraid we’ll run out of time. Is that acceptable?”

One week.
Given the circumstances so far, it was pushing it. But realistically, that was probably the limit.
If it failed, I’d just have to accept it was down to my own lack of ability.

“Understood. That’s fine.”

“Right. You can assign any non-urgent projects to the team so you can focus on this. Also, send me the rough draft for a final check before you submit it.”

“Yes.”

There were two reasons I said I’d do it.
Part of it was stubbornness – I wanted to see it through to the end myself.
But more than that, I wanted to immerse myself in work right now.
I wanted to put off thinking about Ibara and Runa.

　†

That’s when the real struggle began.
Obviously, I couldn’t propose every single idea I sketched out. The number of proposals we submitted directly impacted costs, so the company couldn’t afford to present subpar work.
I’d create what I thought was “the one”, only for it to be rejected after Shindo-san reviewed it. Or he’d specify areas needing revision.
　Making those changes would throw off the overall balance, leading to “something feels off” and having to start reworking it from scratch, a never-ending cycle of such work.

The first day, Monday, ended with me merely wandering through the fog.
It wasn’t until Tuesday that the broad outline was finally decided, allowing us to tackle specific colour schemes, designs, and the product name logo.
Wednesday was scrap-and-build, just churning out ideas.
And then, Thursday.
　We narrowed it down to two proposals. We incorporated the client’s feedback as fully as possible.
With two rough sketches between us, Shindo-san and I faced each other.

“—What do you think?”

“…I believe it meets the required standard.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

Shindo-san stroked his chin.
You could see the frustration written on his face.
　It met the standards. As a company, it was at a level where we could charge for the proposal.
But, it felt slightly lacking. As a design, it lacked eye-catching appeal.
It had the sizzle appropriate for a chocolate product. The box had a sense of luxury, and the lettering for the product name was stylish.
But the impression was faint.
To put it bluntly, it was ordinary.

“I’m sorry, I’ll need to refine it a bit more.”

“But you can’t just say you’ll refine it – the deadline is tomorrow morning.”

I glanced sideways at the floor clock. 18:12. We were already past closing time.

“…I’ll take it home. I’ll send the data by morning.”

“Are you going to tell management that?”

“Please just say it’s shift work.”

Shindo-san closed his eyes once, then slowly opened them.

“…Fine. But tomorrow’s shift won’t be approved. Email the data over. I’ll check it in the morning. If it’s good, I’ll send it to the client. If not, we stick with the current version.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologised to Shindo-san.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected him to go this far with me.
He could have written me off much sooner, and that would probably have been the right thing to do, management-wise.

“Honestly, I think this is sufficient.”

“Eh?”

“As work goes, that is. No sarcasm intended. I think we can stop here. Still want to continue?”

“…Yes.”

“Understood.”

Shindo-san nodded and handed me a rough sketch.

“If you’re going to brush it up, this one’s the one. I reckon adding a single accent to the bottom margin could really transform it.”

“I’ll give it some thought.”

“Right. Well, to be honest, you’ve got far more sense than I do, Amami-san.”

“──Eh?”

“Right then, do your best. Sorry, but I’m off now. It’s my daughter’s birthday.”

Waving his hand lightly, Shindo-san returned to his desk.
Was that… a compliment?
I looked down at the rough sketch in my hands.
One small detail. Something missing from my design.
I wouldn’t sleep tonight until I found it and gave it form. That’s what I thought.