Episode 2: What Happened Yesterday Never Happened
I didn’t sleep a wink last night.
I kissed my junior coworker, the one I hate. Hanamori Chisa.
No, to be precise: I was kissed.
It wasn’t a dream. Probably.
Morning. Light filtered in through the gap in the curtains, and Hanamori stirred on the sofa.
Bedhead in every direction.
Her face puffy. Yesterday’s little-devil mode was completely, entirely offline.
“…Owww… my head… hurts~…”
“Yeah, I bet it does.”
“Mm… where am I…?”
“My place.”
“…Huh? Asami-san!? This is your place!?”
“Yep.”
Hanamori clearly hadn’t caught up with the situation yet, so I explained flatly while sipping my coffee.
“Eh!? Why!?”
“You were absolutely wasted. Collapsed on a bench outside a convenience store.”
“…Ugh, I remember literally nothing…”
She held her head, groaning in a voice at least two octaves lower than her usual high pitch.
No, no. I’m the one who wants to groan here.
“…How much do you remember from yesterday?”
“Eh? Um…”
Hanamori closed her eyes, seemingly trying hard to trace back her memory.
“I think I remember up to the second round… oh, but partway through I think I was talking to some good-looking guy… he said he’d walk me home and we went to a convenience store together…”
“…That guy left you at the convenience store, you know.”
“Ugh, the worst. I didn’t think he was that kind of person.”
“So, do you remember how you got here?”
“Not at all… it’s all patchy… I remember feeling sick and sitting down on a bench at the convenience store, but after that…”
“So you completely blacked out.”
“Seems like it…”
Hanamori looked unusually downcast. I started to feel a little sorry for her. Just a little.
*
“…So then, yesterday’s that too…?”
*
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“Huh? What’s ‘that’?”
Hanamori looked at me, blinking blankly.
“Eh, ah, no, nothing…”
I hurriedly looked away. My heart was pounding. There was no way I could say it. “Do you remember kissing me?” Absolutely not.
Actually, if Hanamori didn’t remember, maybe that was for the best. I could make it never happen. Forget it.
Yeah. Let’s make it never have happened.
“Anyway, want some shijimi soup?”
I set down the instant clam miso soup I’d warmed up in the kitchen in front of Hanamori.
“Eh, shijimi soup…?”
“Supposedly good for hangovers.”
“Huh.”
Hanamori looked surprised and took the bowl in both hands. She took a sip and let out a relieved breath.
“…It’s good.”
“Sure.”
I answered curtly. But inside, something felt a little ticklish.
“…um… thank you.”
Hanamori murmured it quietly.
When she looked up, her expression wasn’t her usual bratty one. It was a little bashful, honest.
“You saved me. Thanks for picking me up.”
“…Whatever.”
I looked away. It was oddly embarrassing.
Hanamori brought the soup to her mouth again. The motion was strangely careful, gentle. Not a trace of her usual bratty air. If anything, she looked small, like a puppy.
Before I knew it, I was staring. My eyes kept getting drawn to her lips.
Last night, those lips and I—
Hey, hey, stop. Stop it. I just decided that never happened. Don’t remember it.
“…What are you looking at?”
“Eh!? N-nothing, I’m not looking at anything?”
“Liar. You were totally staring just now.”
“I was not…!!”
My face went hot. Completely caught. Why was I flustering? This was the worst.
Hanamori smirked. That expression brought back her little-devil mode from last night. The honest, gentle air from a moment ago was gone without a trace.
“Asami-san, your face is kind of red?”
“Must be the heater.”
“The heater’s not even on.”
“…Okay, that’s enough, hurry up and drink so you can go home.”
“So mean.”
Hanamori giggled and drained the rest of the soup.
…Exhausting, this early in the morning.
Having finished her soup, Hanamori glanced at the clock and suddenly panicked.
“Eh, crap, it’s already eight!”
“What about your clothes and stuff? Are you gonna make it to work?”
“Hmm… it’s cutting it close, but I’ll go home first. Can’t exactly go in like this.”
The judgment not to show up to the office in yesterday’s clothes was sound, doubly so for someone as always-put-together as Hanamori. But timing-wise, it was going to be tight.
“I could lend you something to wear.”
I offered, reluctantly. Not that I wanted her to owe me one. I just didn’t want to get blamed if she showed up late. Yeah. That’s all it was.
“It’s fine. I’ll just swing by home and change. Should make it if I leave now.”
“…Sure.”
“Besides, your clothes wouldn’t suit my face.”
“…Excuse me?”
“No, I mean. Your clothes are kind of plain, right? I’m more the type who suits something a bit flashier.”
Yep. There it was. There was the irritation. And here I was, being nice about it.
Two enormous internal sighs. No, maybe three.
This girl always has to say something unnecessary. It’s genuinely infuriating. This, exactly this, is why I hate her.
Hanamori stood and headed for the door.
“Ah, but really, thank you so much. I mean it!”
She turned back at the last moment with a soft look and bowed deeply. When she lifted her head, she was smiling. The sight looked oddly cute, and I got flustered all over again.
No good. Irritated one second, thinking she’s cute the next, my emotions can’t keep up.
At the office.
I sat at my desk as usual and booted up my computer as usual.
The monitor’s white light felt oddly blinding.
I opened my email, checked some documents, typed at the keyboard.
The usual morning. The usual work.
But I couldn’t focus at all.
As I typed, yesterday’s kiss kept flashing through my mind.
That closeness. The sweet scent. The warmth where our lips touched.
Hanamori’s hazy, soft smile right after the kiss.
The worst. Don’t remember that, of all times.
“Good morning~”
A high, bright voice rang out.
I turned around, and Hanamori strode in briskly.
Hair perfectly styled, makeup flawless. A pink blouse, white skirt. Undeniably flashy.
Yesterday’s disheveled state felt like a lie.
I almost laughed, remembering her exploded bedhead, drool marks, puffy face, saying “I feel gross~.”
Nobody else knows that Hanamori.
Only I do.
…Somehow that felt a little special, and my face went hot again.
No good. What am I even thinking.
“Ah, nice tie today. Suits you~”
“Eh, did you get a haircut, section chief? You look younger~”
Hanamori waved with a smile while casually closing the distance. A perfect sales smile.
There it is again.
Same as always. Hanamori charming the male staff, smiling sweetly, winning them over with small gestures.
*
Hanamori’s desk sits diagonally across from mine in the same block.
She’s always in my line of sight.
Hanamori on the phone. Hanamori taking notes. Hanamori laughing.
I see all of it. Every bit. And before I know it, I’m thinking, (Yesterday, those lips and I…) again.
And sometimes our eyes meet.
Every time, I hurriedly look away.
I took a deep breath and turned back to the monitor.
Okay, focus, focus. Focus.
But my hands were shaking as I typed.
Hanamori Chisa.
Because of that woman, my peaceful daily life had completely collapsed.
Truly, the worst.
—Right in the middle of all that, I got called in by the section manager.
“Asami, Hanamori’s going to be debuting in the field for sales. Can you keep an eye on her for a while, take her on as your mentee?”
“Eh?”
—The absolute worst timing.