I’m Having Trouble With a High School Girl I Meet on the Commuter Train Who for Some Reason Has Take

 Chapter 22: - June 17 (Wednesday): Director   

As the clock struck 11:00 a.m., I was checking the equipment in the company warehouse.

As usual, Otozui came trotting over to me.

There was no need to hurry, but it was probably because of Otozui’s serious nature that she tried to act as quickly as possible.

Her appearance reminded me of a kitten approaching to be pampered.

The presentation material for the Tanabata campaign had been approved by the Chief.

“I see. I’m looking forward to your presentation, because I’ve incorporated your ideas into this project.”

“Yes! Oh. I’ll help you check the equipment.”

“That would be great.”

Ever since we went to the outlet mall on Saturday, Otozui had been doing very well.

It was easy to see that she was more focused on her work than ever.

We were preparing for an upcoming presentation.

The content of the presentation was a Tanabata campaign for smartphones, but since the campaign would be held in major cities other than Tokyo, the profits would be huge if we could win the bid.

If this happened, Otozui’s reputation would improve and she would be able to finish her training period successfully.

However, this meant that Otozui would be assigned to a different team.

In this company, it was customary to assign the trainer and the newcomer to different teams in order to prevent them from getting along with each other.

I felt sad because I was finally starting to understand her, but I had no choice.

Maybe it was because I was staring at her so hard, but Otozui asked me with a puzzled look on her face.

　

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm?… No. I was just spacing out.”

“Even you, Sasamiya-san, have such moments. Fufufu.”

As if to escape from the smiling Otozui, I averted my gaze and resumed my equipment check.

I answered appropriately so that my mind wouldn’t be exposed, but I wondered if I’d managed to deceive her.

Otozui was also very perceptive, so one can never be too careful.

But unlike someone else, Otozui wouldn’t tease me about my weaknesses. …

“Otozui-kun! What’s this!”

Suddenly, an elderly male employee opened the door of the warehouse and shouted loudly.

He was a frog-faced man walking with a big belly shaking.

He was the head of the department we belonged to.

He did very little work, and his title was just for decoration.

He was a problem child who took advantage of his position as the president’s son to do whatever he wanted.

Even coming to work in the morning like this was incredibly rare.

“The manual distributed to the campaign staff is hard to understand! If you hand out this stuff, it will confuse the field workers!”

The director shouted and slammed the document he was holding on the floor.

Otozui, who had stopped breathing, trembled slightly.

“I-I’m sorry, …”

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“Do you think an apology will be enough?!”

What the director brought was a document that was supposed to have been approved by the chief.

However, the manual for the campaign staff was written in the same way every time. There was no reason to be angry now.

The director simply wanted to shout at Otozui.

And whenever Otozui felt angry, she would become defensive, which resulted in her making more mistakes.

The director’s presence had somehow hindered Otonzui’s growth.

But now, I was the one in charge of Otonzui’s learnng.

I couldn’t stand it when my cute junior was getting harassed.

Even if he was the head of the department.

I raised my unsociable mood to the limit and interrupted him.

“Director. May I?”

“What, Sasamiya-kun! I’m talking to Otozui-kun now!”

“I’m the one who finished this document.”

“What?”

The director opened his mouth wide so that his frog-face became even more demented.

“It’s …, but it says Otozui-kun created it!”

“Otonzui made only a part of the draft of this project, and I finished the manual and other parts. There’s no way I’m going to suddenly throw all the document preparation to a newcomer.”

“Then …, then!　There’s a problem with the part you came up with, Otozui-kun!”

Come on, you were angry because it was hard to understand.

I was irritated with the director for trying to fail Otozui no matter what, and I sharply told him off.

“I’ve fixed all the problems. If that’s not right, then the responsibility is mine. I will review it again and resubmit it by this evening, so please excuse me.”

I bowed my head in a deliberately exaggerated manner. It was a roundabout attempt at sarcasm.

The director cleared his throat.

It was Otozui that this person wanted to be angry with, not me.

If he wasted the time of his subordinates by making them redo documents that had no problems, he would be held responsible.

He knew that much, as expected.

“Enough! I’ll leave the rest to Sasamiya-kun!”

With that, as if he was spitting, the director clicked his tongue and left the warehouse.

Otozui confirmed that the coast was cleared before she  approached me without hesitation.

“Sasamiya-san … Is that okay?”

“What?”

“Because if you say that, Sasamiya-san will be disliked by the director …”

“Ah, it’s okay. He’s avoiding me.”

I picked up the materials on the floor and turned to Otonzui.

 “And Otozui. You’re doing a good job. Don’t lose your confidence over something like this.”

“…Sasamiya-san. …I-I was scared. But I’m really … glad that Sasamiya-san was there for me. …. u~. ……”

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She was so scared that she grabbed my arm with tears in her eyes.

Well, the way the general manager shouted at a person could scare even a man.

There were no other employees in the warehouse, so I would leave it like this for a bit.

But when I see Otozui clinging to me like a kitten, I wanted to pet her head.

I was sure she wouldn’t get mad if I pet her now. … I mean, of course not.

■–Afterword–■

Next time, Yuika will be jealous.

(T/N: Thank you for your patience :D. Will resume regular updates now.)