Episode 13: When Mitsuya-san and Aosawa-san arrived, I despaired

Friday, with my trip home imminent. Arriving at work, she, who should always be seated opposite me, was nowhere to be seen.

I couldn’t fathom my meticulous colleague, who’d never once arrived later than me, being late. Puzzled, I sat down at my desk.

　Our Budget Management Section boss, Manager Yamazato, seemed to have arrived too, but wasn’t at her desk. Only the new recruit, Arimura-chan, was present.

“Morning, Arimura-chan. Is Seno-san off today?”

“I haven’t heard anything. Manager Yamazato had already left her desk by the time I arrived.”

Her large eyes, framed by long lashes, flashed sharply behind her black-rimmed glasses. She seemed to have some thoughts about not being informed, a certain edge to her tone.

Seno-san wasn’t the type to take a day off without notice; there must be some reason.

“I see. Maybe she’s feeling unwell. That’s a pain, today’s the deadline for budget registration.”

She pulled her smartphone from her jacket pocket and typed a message to Seno-san.

　—Taking the day off? Feeling unwell?

But before her reply arrived, Manager Yamazato returned to her desk.

“Good morning, Mitsuya-san, Arimura-san. Regarding Seno-san, apparently her mother has taken ill, so she’ll be taking some time off. I’m terribly sorry, but could we discuss how to redistribute her duties? Let’s have a meeting in ten minutes.”

I was taken aback by this unexpected turn of events.
　Fallen ill… just how urgent could it be?
Though curious, I hesitated to pry into her private affairs with Manager Yamazato and kept my mouth shut.

Come to think of it… I knew nothing about Seno-san.

Her family background, where she was from, nothing of any importance.

　We weren’t lovers. We weren’t friends.
It was only natural, of course, but being confronted with that fact now made my chest ache just a little.

At the same time, a flicker of unease crossed my mind.
This was troublesome. With Seno-san absent and us currently handling a new recruit, would we manage this month’s workload?

　When Aosawa-chan left, it hit me hard too, but I managed because she was there.
But now, just the two of us – me and the new recruit, Arimura-chan – covering Seno-san’s workload too… I’m not very confident we can manage it.

“Um, Manager Yamazato. Could we perhaps ask Aosawa-chan for support? Even just for the closing period?”

I recalled the face of my lovely junior colleague, who’d left the Budget Management Department and was now working hard as the President’s secretary.
　It was a shot in the dark. If she could help, it would ease my mind a little…

Then, before Manager Yamazato could respond, Arimura-chan suddenly spoke up.

“Support isn’t necessary. I’ll handle Seno-san’s share too.”

My jaw dropped.

I knew Arimura-chan was conscious of her predecessor, Aosawa-chan.
I regretted mentioning her name now, belatedly.

　I’d heard Arimura-chan had been persistently requesting a transfer from the Accounting Department to the Budget Management Department for quite some time, and I thought her enthusiasm was commendable.
But that was a separate issue altogether.
Time is finite, and what one can accomplish has limits. Taking on work that vastly exceeds one’s capacity simply wasn’t realistic.

“Now, now… what are you saying, Arimura-chan? You must be joking.”

I tried to sound as gentle and teasing as possible, but Arimura-chan, the one it concerned, looked dead serious and declared firmly,

“I’m not joking.”

At this, even Manager Yamazato, usually so composed, scratched her cheek in exasperation.

“Arimura-san, I’m truly grateful for your offer, but it’s a bit unrealistic, I’m afraid. Still, asking Aosawa-san for support might be difficult too… I’ll check with my husband if he could take over picking up the children. It might be hard to manage every day, but… I’m really sorry.”

Manager Yamazato said that, but I felt reluctant to burden her, especially as she was already on reduced hours. So, for the time being, Seno-san’s duties were divided between Arimura-san and myself.

　I offered to take on more since I was more familiar with the work, but Arimura-san stubbornly refused.

She’s an excellent employee, and I believe she can learn the job steadily without rushing, perhaps she’s feeling the pressure now that she’s finally been assigned to the Budget Management Department she’d always wanted.
She’s prickly like a sea urchin, but if left alone, she might settle down eventually.

Thinking this, I didn’t press the matter further.

　Today, the deadline for next month’s budget registration, required checking every single budget application submitted from each area and approving them all.

After finishing my own area and half of Seno-san’s area, I glanced over at Arimura-chan, still staring intently at her PC monitor.

It was already past eight o’clock. Before I knew it, only Arimura-chan and I remained in the office.

“Are you alright? How much do you have left?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me. You should go home first.”

Without looking up from the monitor, Arimura-chan cut me off decisively.

How unappealing.
If it were Aosawa-chan, she’d probably look apologetic and just say, “Please help me.”
Even Seno-san would surely ask for help if she couldn’t finish.

“Arimura-chan, you know, you don’t have to push yourself. Seno-san’s really good at this kind of checking work, and she was handling the most areas. Even if it’s only half, it must be pretty tough, right?”

“It’s fine. The work someone as unmotivated as Seno-san was doing couldn’t have been that important.”

“That’s tough, isn’t it…”

　All I could manage was a wry smile. She certainly doesn’t hold back with her seniors.
That’s both her good point and her bad point.

Well, to be honest, I too thought Seno-san lacked motivation at first, so I’m hardly in a position to criticise Arimura-chan.

“…So, Arimura-chan, why did you want to come to the Budget Management Section? Was the Accounting Section boring?”

When I asked that, Arimura-chan looked up from her monitor and shook her head from side to side.

“No. It’s not that I disliked the Accounting Section. …The reason I wanted to transfer to the Budget Management Section was because I wanted to work under Manager Yamazato. She’s on the fast track to promotion, isn’t she? Ever since meeting her at the company briefing, she’s been my idol. That’s why I was so envious of Mitsuya-san and Aosawa-san. I’d been hoping for Budget Management all along, but there was no sign of a transfer… When Mitsuya-san and Aosawa-san arrived, I felt utterly hopeless.”

　So that’s why you were so openly hostile towards Aosawa-chan. She suddenly appeared and snatched the chair I’d been hoping for.
I see. So you’re the type who lives for work, Arimura-chan.

“I envied Seno-san too. I kept thinking, if you’re not motivated, I wish you’d let someone else take your place.”

“Ah… I don’t think she lacks motivation. It’s just that she comes across that way…”

She’s definitely disadvantaged by her appearance.
She’s the type to make enemies among women. She’s attractive, popular with men, and then there’s that air of detachment…
I feel like she and this kind of serious girl type are completely incompatible.
She’s actually quite easy to talk to, though, Seno-san.

“It’s alright. I’ll handle all the work assigned to me myself and head home, so please feel free to leave, Mitsuya-san. Thank you for your hard work.”

If she insists, perhaps there’s no need to force the issue.

In the end, I left the office, leaving Arimura-chan behind.
As I passed through the entrance, my pocket suddenly vibrated. Taking out my phone, I saw a message from Seno-san.

　――Sorry to bother you on such a busy day. My mother collapsed, so I’ll be taking some time off. It’s nothing life-threatening, so don’t worry. I know it’s inconvenient, but thank you for your understanding.

Reading that message, I gave a wry smile.

“…How very businesslike.”

Stepping through the automatic doors outside, I looked up at the sky, so black it seemed to suck you in.

　Does she have anyone she can rely on when she’s in trouble? What’s the point of worrying about that anyway? I’m not the one she’d turn to for that.

Just a fuck buddy, that’s all I am.

Even though I knew that, it felt unbearably hollow, like a huge, stupid hole had been punched right through the centre of my heart.