| Itaru | (We managed to find his grandchild at the courtyard in the end. All’s well that ends well. Glad it wasn’t some kind of kidnapping case or anything…) |
| Glière | ≪ Thank you for helping me. Would you mind if I have your business card? ≫ |
| Itaru | (Ah, he’s finally speaking English. I can actually follow up like this.) |
| ≪ Please, the honor is mine. My name is Chigasaki Itaru of Quon Corporation. ≫ |
| Glière | ≪ You have my utmost gratitude. Now excuse me, I must take my leave. ≫ |
| |
| Itaru | (Trouble: Solved. Major Client: Appealed. I guess this wasn’t such a bad day for my position as an employee.) |
| (Speaking of, where did that glasses Senpai go… I should ACTUALLY try to say my thanks this time…) |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | Thanks for your work today. |
| Itaru | ——!! You scared me….. |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | Oh, sorry sorry. I made you jump again, didn’t I? |
| Itaru | No, I was just thinking of searching for you. Thank you very much for helping me out today. |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | I must thank you as well. It seems like the client earlier has a quirk where he could only end up speaking in his mother tongue when he’s in a fluster. |
| Moreover, he speaks a rather minor language, so it troubles a lot of people around him. There’s barely anyone in this company who could speak it in the first place. |
| I was called for that specifically, but because of some other business, I ended up arriving late— right as I was told that the client had gone missing. Which is why the timing earlier couldn’t have been more perfect. |
| Itaru | Is that the case then? That makes me even more grateful that you walked right by when you did. |
| … Also, uhm. I apologize. I know we work in different departments, so I didn’t mean to call you by Senpai earlier. |
| Pardon the question, but would it be alright to ask for your name? |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | Ah, that’s right. I don’t believe we’ve introduced ourselves at all. |
| Itaru | My name is Chigasaki Itaru. I belong to the First Group of the head office’s sales department. |
| I’d also like to thank you for going through the trouble of returning my misplaced items the other day as well. |
| I would really like to return the favor sometime, so I was hoping to know your name first. |
| It’d be rude to just end up calling you Senpai all the time after this… |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | Right, you have a point… |
 |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | Actually, I’m fine with you calling me “Senpai”. |
| Itaru | ………Huh? |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | “Senpai” has a very interesting feel to it. Very Japanese, don’t you think? |
| Itaru | Uhm? Er, but still…. If I don’t know your department or your name, I won’t be able to return the favor—— |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | Favor, huh… Well. Perhaps someday you can. |
| Itaru | …??? |
| (... Why do I get the feeling I just got myself a real pain-in-the-ass acquaintance.) |
| —— —— —— —— FLASHBACK END —— —— —— —— |
| |
| |
| Itaru | …And for a long while, you made me call you nothing but “Senpai” every time we would meet in the company. It was real embarrassing, I’ll have you know. |
| Chikage | I’ve never heard the word “Senpai” from anywhere besides Japanese anime, so you could say it merely tickled my fancy. |
| But you still call me that despite feeling embarrassed back then, right? I did feel bad. |
| Itaru | You sure did not. Look, I may have gotten used to it now, but you seriously were nothing but a pain-in-the-ass senpai to me since that day. |
| (Days after that, we got called together in the same meeting room..) |
| (To think that troublesome Senpai was none other than the “Utsuki Chikage-San” I heard of prior to that. I wanted to die on the spot after learning that. Fate really overdid it, looking back now…) |
| Chikage | That reminds me… So about that “favor” you said that you wanted to return to me… |
| Itaru | ….Please don’t make me remember something so unnecessary— |
| Chikage | That favor’s way past its expiry date by now. |
| Itaru | Huh? Well, that was unexpectedly easy. |
| Chikage | Let’s just say that you’ve already taken care of it in plenty of other ways. |
| Itaru | … Well, if you say so I guess. |
| Still, I do feel a little bad. I’ll treat you to a pizza bun after all. |
| Chikage | I already know that’s what you want. Besides, how is it that you’re into those kinds of foods? |
| Itaru | I just sorta crave for them when it’s this time of the year rolls around, I guess~ It’s pretty delicious, you know. |
| Chikage | I’d rather have a curry bun instead, thanks. |
| Itaru | You say that but you’re bound to complain about the this-and-that of their spices. |
| In fact, I’m trying to take precautions so that the convenience stores' corporate powers don’t fall victim to the curry madness. |
| Chikage | You won’t know until you try it, no? You might even find yourself liking it after taking a bite. |
| Actually, since curry is such a prized product of Director-san and MANKAI Company, then a collaboration is also possible. The process itself can even become good content for videos. |
| Itaru | Title: “I tried recreating the Ultimate Curry Bun And This Is How It Came Out” |
| Chikage | That would catch people's attention. You may as well move to the development department after coming up with that. |
| Itaru | Thanks, but no thanks. Our room would become some kind of curry studio if I did. |
| Chikage | Sounds more preferable than the mess of a gamer room we have now if you ask me. |
| Itaru | It’s exactly that mess of a gamer room that makes it better. Besides—— |
| Kitamori | Ah, thank goodness you’re still here! I’m sorry, but there was one more thing I forgot to mention— |
| …Is something the matter? |
| Itaru | Oh, we're just talking theatre troupe matters. |
| Chikage | Indeed. Troupe matters. But nevermind us, what did you need? |
