Chapter 51 (1/2)
Chapter 5: A Utopia of Swimsuits and Fruits
Just ere our enemies?
I’ree that it would be the <unknowns> Seeing that they were an alien life form that almost drove us to extinction, there was no doubt that they were the clear answer to the question
That being said, allow me to ask a different question
Just ere our enemies?
Ask that again and the majority of the people would just stare back blankly They would think that perhaps ive the exact same answer: The <unknowns> And of course, it would be a fine answer
But, letout another question to follow up
Just ere our enemies?
Ask that again and so made fun of, orthe sary or just ignore the question altogether Despite that, I’m sure the majority of people would answer it with the exact saain But would they really mean it?
The question “Just ere our enemies?” could be interpreted in many different ways It’s completely up each person to decide on which interpretation to take So, if the question was repeated four, even five tie a little depending on the person as ht was put into it People’s ansould then diverge:
“It’s the <unknowns>… nothing else!”
“No… The real enemy is from within”
“It’s literally everyone else We are always coht?”
“Errr… I dunno”
“Our society can kind of be like an enemy, actually”
“Everything in this world is the enemy”
These anseren’t strange at all In fact, ht on the mark Funda
Just ere our enemies?
I htly different answer to that question It was so so terrible that it would inevitably wipe out hu so It ithout a doubt,than any other answer out there Of all the evils in the world, this one was the worst of theainst it
I’, of course, about work Humanity’s mortal enemy was none other than work itself It’s because of work that we had to fight It’s because of work that ere given the order to annihilate all the <unknowns>, and it’s because of work that we had to obey those orders It’s because of work that we had to compete with each other for points, and it’s because of work that we had to meet our quotas
If we had not been given this e called war, then ould have no enemies Work itself established the eneht
So with all that said, let’s call work the enemy of all mankind Naturally, the people at the top who allocated all this eren’t aware of this I&r
squo;ned would have some impact on the world for better or for worse There were some within them who strove for love and peace, and others who just si out orders
But, the many workaholics that served under them were different For them, their very existence and purpose in life was all about work The people fighting in the front lines and the people working in the very back all fought in this war because they were given a role, a role which ultimately came from work Under the pretense of work, it even becaainst those that previously almost wiped out all of humanity
If only work didn’t exist, hu would be different Perhaps I would run along the hills, chase so I would live in a sood foods all the time In this utopia, it wouldn’t be the ones who excelled in violence and deception that would be on top No, the ones at the top would be those who lived life hoas meant to be lived— laid back and chill
Every fault in this world lied ork It robbed us of our personalities and was just detestable in general Absolutely detestable
With that hatred into do the impossible It had already been a few days since I tried to coiven me So branch Within that tiave ement”
“It’s almost the deadline, you know”
“Still at it?”
“Ughh…”
“Ughh… still?”
“You need to keep writing without breaks… You working for 22 hours and sleeping for 2 would be ideal, you know This is no time to play around”
Every Single Day I would be pestered like this I was good at ignoring things, but even I couldn’t conore all of this Eventually I broke down a little… For three nights I couldn’t sleep at all Perhaps it was because of the stress I accu too utter I would usually wake up after only sleeping two hours… I guess in the end, I orking all according to Urushi+bara’s “ideal” schedule Everything could have been all according to his plan, actually… Was he secretly a master tactician?
Ulti to die fro to take hi? I did feel a bit sorry for hih, because every day he quietly came back with new scars on his forehead, perhaps due to the Sonic Stitches of Blood and Ashes thingy he had to participate in
All in all, that’s pretty much how my days went…
Days soon crawled by, and the day e had to ain and discuss our plans finally arrived It was the early y drinks, and aspirin to help h the day I even put wet sheet of papers on my forehead and neck, and rubbed some ointment beneath my eyes Only after I finished all that was I able to continue typing on my keyboard
Suddenly, I heard a weird laugh
“K-Kasu just came into the office She handed me a cup of coffee
I grabbed it and finished it in one gulp with all y I then put the cup back on the table and slammed down on the enter key “Thanks,” I said, exhausted “It’s all done now so I’m fine now… I think…”
I turned to Renge and droppeddejected, I eao and Urushi+bara, and siy out there, why did I have to print it out too? Why did Urushi+bara have to get so s out?
At last, I finished ao and Urushi+bara walked in soon after
“Kasuao the moment she walked in
I silently nodded and handed her the bundle of papers I just printed out
“Thanks I can see you’ve been working hard… Well then, let’s start the , shall we?” she said as she s roo to my ears
It was so soothing in fact that I let out a little chuckle, but quickly stopped as Renge and I followed thee took the papers and cheerfully handed them out, while the rest of us sat down
“Can’t wait to see your plan!” said Asagao She hu the papers, but stopped abruptly“Kasu at one of the papers she was holding on to On it, written in Co:
The new era of fruits have arrived! Fruits carefully selected fro branch!
Dance with the sea breeze as you enjoy the new trends! Guaranteed love at first sight! ♪
I nodded in satisfaction Yes, this was a good hook with a catchy follow up, wasn’t it?
“It’s the title of the plan,” I blurted out without thinking I couldn’t think straight due to a lack of sleep
In response, Urushi+bara just sighed deeply “You know, Chigusa… You think this is so around? You think you’re still in school?”
“Well, we are students, you know,” I thought However, it just took one look at his very tired face for me to lose all the confidence I had earlier
“I want an explanation for this too…” said a bewildered Asagao Renge nodded as well
Do I really have to explain all this? Souess there’s no choice It looked like I was going to have to explain everything
“Nah, It’s what I thought up orking everyday…”
“How I don’t want to work…”
Asagao scowled “O-Oh… you’re worse than I thought, you trash…”
“No, you got it all wrong…” I said “See, I was thinking thatthe saive the people what they really want Only then can we get their support”
The people ere not in the lory in this hellhole they called a workplace I was sure they had enough of this never-ending war in their everyday lives and wanted a little peace for once The idea of having fun without a care in the world would resonate deeply with them
According to our ancestors, tired and exhausted people were told to relax at the beach All the working people did, after all, dreao away fro as it was in the opposite direction Many would probably enjoy a trip to the hot-springs as they peacefully stared out into the sea
That’s why I took their drea so, I cauujyou idea When talking about fruits, in e of many tropical countries came to people’s mind In the past, ave out fruits to welco and relaxation, and I wanted to bring that to Chiba
With that being said, the presentation of this new lineup of fruits was crucial By presenting the of a relaxing tropical resort, the consureat impression of not only the fruits the branch as well Theoretically speaking, of course
“I think I’ao as I finished explaining “But this Ryuuguujyou hot spring… what is it?” She turned to page two of the plan and pointed at a conceptual render of the supposed place
“Ah— that I was ruh some old docu in the past You know, the place where we had our battle Before it became a battlefield, it was supposedly a very popular place to be I also read that the people at the top used tax money to host new-year conferences and stuff like that in it”
“Hot springs huh?” said Renge, gazing happily at the render “I’ve never been to such a place, though…”
The hot spring shoas indeed marvelous As a whole, it had stone walls and featured open air baths that had a clear view to Tokyo Bay On top of that, there were cozy hot tubs ant place to be in
Asagao was alsoin satisfaction, but soon had a confused look on her face “Wait a second… new-year conferences were held in hot springs?”
“Yeah… it her ups back in the day,” I said
“Wow, really?” said Renge
Asagao was not convinced “I bet it was just an excuse for theovernment money…” she said restlessly She was pessiood to have a ht?