Okaeri Saotome-san Chapter 33

Saotome-san wants to share content

「This time you guys were almost on the verge of losing your jobs because of the deal with the big company right?」

「Ah, you must be talking about that matter where the president bragged excessively and pulled out later on.」

Beachside clubhouse.

This sort of establishment, also called beachside teahouse, dots Japan’s seashores¹, and we were finally able to grab a few seats in one of them. Unable to fend off the onset of tiredness, we leaned against the thin table while waiting for our lunch.

The most… actually the only lively fellow, Tsuchiya, has gone to get drinks. Meanwhile I am inquiring about the company’s situation from Murasaki. Mio-san is…. Well, she is completely spent and is lying head down on the table. The excitement from wanting to win the gold medal as sisters has long since died out.

「It seems that the authorities were suspicious of the big company pressuring us and started an audit. A premises search investigation.」

「For real? The Subcontract Act huh.」

Act against Delay in Payment of Subcontract Proceeds, etc. to Subcontractors. In simple terms it’s a law that prevents powerful companies from strong arming or power harassing smaller companies.

Looking at it from the perspective of the big company, it’s an extremely absurd claim. How could they foresee that an experienced veteran executive would, wanting to impress a beautiful young lady (Mio-san), overstate the company’s capacity by over 50 times.²

「And as you would expect, after the investigation they understood that it was the fault of our president and then…」

「Rather than “understood”, I think “exposed” would be a better fit.」

「Ah, welcome back. Sorry for making you run around, Tsuchiya.」

「There you go, an ice coffee for Saotome-san, next is cola, and after that iced tea for Murasaki.」

「Thanks.」

With a stoic face, Murasaki drank the entire iced tea in a single gulp. Slurping on the drink, she tilted her head to find that it had more ice cubes than she had expected, prompting her to shoot a hateful look at the cup.

「Murasaki, your throat was parched to that extent eh…. And then what happened after all that?」

「The president’s head got Anpanman’ed³.」

「Wow, then you mean to say that the company actually ended up becoming better.」

「For now the former president’s wife is filling in, but soon I think a new person will be appointed by the officials.」

「What?! To think he got fired even before a successor was appointed…」

It turned out to be a much bigger case than expected. I am talking as if it is someone else’s problem, but had I still been working there I would have been right in the middle of the storm.

Actually, had I not been headhunted by Mio-san none of this would have happened in the first place, so I guess it’s a meaningless hypothesis.

「Still, all of that is something that only concerns the higher ups. The real issue starts from there.」

「Issue?」

「Authorities are people who pay attention to things at the country level right?」

「Yes, they are.」

「They said that we would have to graduate from being a black company or risk going under. And you know what, they first took up the annual leave policy and…There!」

「Oh yeah!」

「What happened?」

Mio-san whose body was unable to keep up with the newfound youthfulness of her heart slowly raised her head up from the table affected by the chillness of the ice coffee.

「Mio-san! Listen to this!」

「The summer holidays…」

「Were increased, THREE TIMES OVER!!!」

「Three times?! Wow? Isn’t that great, are you planning a vacation somewhere?」

Mio-san is amazed.

But you are wrong Mio-san. You have got the “base” wrong.

「Yes! One day has now become three whole days of holidays!!」⁴

「Clubbing it together with Saturday, we get a five day holiday! F-i-v-e・d-a-y-・v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n !!」

「Is th, that so. I am glad.」

「Mio-san, their fight has just started.」

By the way, Mio-san is right now here on the compensatory holiday that she got for working on Saturday. I too am here on this 4-day compensatory holiday as I matched my work schedule with Mio-san’s.

The summer holiday is a 5 day consecutive holiday that we get around the O-bon festival during August. It’s redeeming feature is that it’s a paid vacation, which amounts to 10 days if we include the weekends.⁵ Ten consecutive days of holiday. It was difficult for me as well to wrap my head around it when I first heard about it.

It is only natural that she wouldn’t be able to understand the emotions of people working in a black company. But, if they have changed this much in the first year then it means the company is also serious about it.

It’s clear that it will keep improving from now on.

「Moreover. Since little baldy was chummy with the previous president and did as he pleased he has now gone straight to the gallows⁶. With this he should now become a little more meek.」

「So, it had such an effect as well…… Little baldy?」

「We have updated the nickname. Section chief bald cuckoo ⁷ has now been changed to section chief little baldy.」

「….Ah baldy in a tough spot and hence little baldy huh⁸. I finally got it.」

Since he is no longer able to pass on his work to others the Cuckoo has now been put in a tough spot. I wonder who comes up with these nicknames every time.

「All of this is happened thanks to Saotome-san!」

「No, not really. Hindsight is 20/20….」

「Even if that might be true, it is a fact that the company has become a better place because of Saotome-san」

「Is that…. I see….. that’s how it was.」

Just as I thought even though she said that the situation has been resolved, it looks like it was still a thorn on Mio-san’s side. It is evident because she let out a sigh of relief after seeing that the situation developed favourably afterwards.

「Sorry to keep you waiting! Here’s your order, one mega size omusoba and four corndogs.」

Right when the atmosphere was becoming solemn, we heard a voice from behind. A waitress wearing a swimsuit came to deliver us our order.

「Huh?」

「Eeh…….?」

「Tsuchiya? Murasaki? What happened?」

「Wait, I will have look from the side.」

I understood why Murasaki and Tsuchiya are frozen stiff after staring at the plate on top of the table by pushing me aside.

「I ordered a mega size as it would be cheaper to share, but……」

「Is it supposed to be like this…..?」

The smoky smell of the sauce is drifting about. The omelette is half-cooked and is a delectable yellow. There is no mistaking that it is a delicious omusoba which whet’s your appetite. There is no mistake, it’s just that…..

Big.

It’s too big.

I thought that it is common in such beachside clubhouses to get disappointed comparing the actual dish with the picture in the menu. Then why in the world is the quantity much larger compared to the picture.

Amongst all of us who were lost in thought, surprisingly it was Murasaki who first came to her senses.

「For now, let’s start digging in before it gets cold!」

「Yes, that’s right! Mio-san, omusoba is also one of your favourites right.」

「Ye, yes.」

Serving it in a bowl and placing it in front of Mio-san elicited a stare from her with upturned eyes.

「Mio-san?」

「It looks extremely delicious but…… how many?」

How many.

It is a strange question when somebody asks this on your trip to the restaurant. But me and Mio-san share a mutual understanding. Basing my calculations on the numbers that I have managed to memorise in the past two days I got a rough estimate. Looking up I raised my thumb.

「Taking into consideration the exercise this morning, you are safe by a good margin!」

Needless to say it’s the calorie count.

「I, itadakimasu!!」

With a smile on her face wide enough to reach the ears Mio-san used the disposable chopsticks and started eating.

「Yummy, it’s delicious.」

「There is still a lot left so please properly chew your food. We also have a corn dog each.」

「Ok!」

Actually, the count was higher by a small margin, but I just can’t ruin such a happy moment.

After returning to Tokyo I should stock up on tofu.

「Come to the sea and in the end watch a movie?」

「I am fine with it, if you stay too long on the beach you might get sunburns.」

「I wanted to take a rest after the meal and it’s the perfect timing. ….. It would be good to take a rest.」

After lunch, we decided that we lacked the stamina to continue any further on the beach and returned to the inn.

「It’s this: 『Your Pancreas: Should I eat it from the top or from the sides』」

「What’s that, a horror movie?」

The cover shows a man on his vacation wearing a surgical gown and standing in the darkness.

「I borrowed from one of my clients. He is a movie buff and lent me a hidden masterpiece before as well.」

A hidden masterpiece. Certainly 『A Ghost’s Bon curry』 qualifies as a masterpiece for having made us scream to that extent. As a horror movie that is.

I think Mio-san brought this movie on purpose wanting to have as many people as possible to watch the movie with.

「I like movies too. I enjoy watching them.」

Looking at Murasaki’s excited face, as her senpai my heart aches for her.

「Alright! I am playing it.」

And 90 minutes later…

「Uek, wah….」

Mio-san is crying.

「Wahhhhhhhh….!!!!」

Tsuchiya is also crying.

「Weeeee….!!!!」

Murasaki is also crying.

「Eb, eben after all the showy and pretentious foreshadowing….?」

I too am crying.

We were caught off-guard.

Completely unaware.

「Such a brilliant medical drama, why is it not popular…?」

『Your Pancreas: Should I eat it from the bottom or from the sides』turned out to be a medical drama and not a horror movie.

It’s the story about an outcast surgeon who refers to “cutting open the patient’s body” as “eating”. His lover contracts a pancreatic disease and he goes on to operate on her.

Should I insert the scalpel from the bottom or from the side. It is impossible to not be moved to tears while seeing the protagonist agonising and despairing by himself.

「The cover depicted his loneliness where he wasn’t even able to make people understand about the difficulty of the surgery……… Such a tragic prodigy….」

「But still, miracles do happen don’t they….!」

「It’s not some miracle Murasaki, it was his unrelenting efforts and indomitable will that made it possible!!」

「Who cares about the reason, all that matters is that she was saved!!!」

We unexpectedly shed a lot of water, but it was fun.

With this it looks like the plan for the evening will also proceed without any trouble.

「Guh, what do we do now?」

「For dinner I have made reservations for barbeque with the inn. It starts from 5pm. And after that, once it gets dark…. Oi, Tsuchiya, you have bought it right?」

「Yup, naturally.」

「Is the place fine as well? Nowadays quite a few places on the coast are prohibited….」

Murasaki is making a worried face. This is no oversight there.

I have specifically booked an inn which has enough space secured for such things.

「It’s fireworks time after dinner.」