Vol 1 Chapter 5 (1/2)

「Return: Chapter 5

Just like a person’s fate is uncertain, the fate of a company is also in darkness and it’s unknoould happen to it in the future This spring, I came to experience this fact first hand The coed with a new major software coe, so a lot of employees were laid off I was prepared to be the first one on that list of people being laid off, because I had been on a leave-of-work for three months, but fortunately, for so co software – a new project that began in April after the e

The head office was located in Osaka, so I left Tokyo, my permanent home since birth, and came to live in Osaka at the co an introvert had always been ues, as well as friends, had been laid off, it came to be that I practically knew no one at the firm On top of that, since the head office was in Osaka, it was only natural that the Kansai dialect was everywhere

I couldn’t help but think how aggressive the unfah I knew the people speaking didn’t intend it to be so

Because of that, I beca, it beca work, but because it was hard to find ee of jobs on the job e to quit Clearly, there was no way out for me

One day, shi+rai, a project leader, as well as a er of one of the sections of the syste to eat?”

A Kansai dialect, shi+rai mostly spoke standard japanese, perhaps because as a Kanto native He was thirty-two years old and appeared very capable at his job I heard that the young man had been entrusted with a rather i a project leader by a special-case promotion People said that he was quite a shrewd man, but he was actually soft-spoken On top of that, when he passed by a group of people, he turned everyone’s heads because he was so handsohly popular with the women in the office

I didn’t have the courage to refuse an invitation froo out to eat with hih I was sure that he would take me to the casual restaurant by the office, the place that shi+rai chose could hardly be called casual It was an Italian restaurant where it was deeuests The prices startled me, and I was at a loss about what to order

I was unfamiliar with the restaurants in Osaka, but the customers at this particular restaurant were only rich, married couples and well-dressed salarywomen

“Choose what you’d like, but if you’re unsure, let’s settle on the full-coursethat I was at a loss about what to choose I thought ere getting the prix-fixe menu for two, but shi+rai chose the

Maybe he’s putting it on his expense account? I wondered

I wanted to know if he was paying out of his own pocket, but naturally that was an i to ask Nevertheless, when I tried to spy on hi, our eyes met and shi+rai smiled

“Nothing to be modest for I chose this restaurant, because I'm fond of the cuisine and because no one from the company will come here”

Although he told ht I hadn’t been ‘modest’ from the start

“I see…” was all I could say as I cast my eyes down

“It seems you haven’t quite warmed up to your new environment But frankly, I think this job is hard, isn’t it?” shi+rai got straight to the point, after we clinked our glasses of sparkling wine in a toast

“No, the job is not hard All the problems are with me”

I was scared of the Kansai dialect and I didn’t know anyone, but naturally, an adult with a healthy mentality would be able to overcome these types of problems Even if I were to confide about this with somebody, they would just n from my job However, I didn’t tell any of that to shi+rai, but shi+rai’s next words were not so

“No need to conde you? Is it the unfa lonely because there isn’t anyone to seek advice fro, the food here doesn’t suit your taste, correct?”

“……Well……”

Everything he said applied to me I was at a loss for words as to how he knew

“I’ his eyes “I’ve felt all of that myself”

“Are you from Tokyo, Mr shi+rai?”

I thought that he was, because of how he pronounced his words, and then he said “Yeah”, confir it shi+rai nodded and told me his hometown

“My fa the Chuo Line in Kunitachi”

“Oh, so is , but quickly quieted down, thinking I mustn’t be so loud here A woman at a table next to ours turned around in surprise

“A coincidence, indeed Which area? I live on the west side”

“I live in the center Near Kunitachi Gakuen Elementary School…”

“I went to Gakuen Elementary”

“I went to Nishou Elementary”

Now that we found out we lived in the saly easy to continue our conversation We were six years apart in age, so we didn’t know the same people, but we talked a lot about the shops we had frequented e had been students

“Oh, that variety store is gone?”

“Yes, it became a Chinese chain restaurant now”

“They reed a lot”

“I see……”

Froo to his parents’ hoed his shoulders

“Actually, I have cut ties withled to another and it’s been ten years…no, twelve to thirteen years since I’ve seen them”

“Eh?”

Cut ties? I was surprised to hear such a shocking thing and was at a loss for words again I knew that cutting ties with one’s parents was devastating, so I ied the subject

“Not only did Kunitachi change, Tachikawa, our neighboring city, also changed Places along Chuo Line are really changing Musashi+-Sakai station, also…”

“Ahaha! I’ve troubled you, haven’t I? Sorry,” shi+rai laughed and cut me off

“Ah, um…”

“I let that slip I was just enjoying talking to you so , and leaned a little towards azed into my eyes

“You always have your head down at the office, but I think it’d be easier to talk to everyone if you looked up”

“……Ah, yes……” I agreed, nodding So this put an end to that topic of conversation Fro when he had said that he had ‘cut ties’ After that, our conversation shi+fted to how ned tointo the dormitory

“Oh, you’ve ress, haven’t you? You don’t need to work so hard, you know,” he toldthe dormitory, he announced that I could le room, but you probably can’t relax much in such a small space You’re more sensitive than others, so why don’t you move out of the dormitory? I’ll show you some affordable apartments”

shi+rai smiled and added that his friend ran a real estate business Before I could answer, he said that he would pick some out for me tomorrow I immediately tried to pursue the conversation further

“But, won’t that be a problem?”

The rooher than I had expected, but it was definitely less than renting an apartle employees at the office who couldn’t commute to work from their parents’ home resided in the dor, and living the dorm life where you had to use a public bath and eat in a cafeteria was honestly a pain

I le room, but the size of that roo your bed, closet, and desk all be built-in did not give you enough space to relax, and the walls of that room were so thin, you could hear the people next door The people next door often had their stereo on during the night Even though they were sh to lower the volume, I still couldn’t sleep because of the noise

Hearing this noise made it seem like I had no privacy, so that was also quite a pain, but to e to do what other people didn’t do

“It won’t be a proble before I moved out of the dormitory myself Isn’t it unbelievable that it takes close to about one hour to get to work from there? There’s no definite rule that says you must live in the dorht now there’s a strong de at the moment, so they’ll be pleased if you move out and won’t have any complaints”