The Beautiful Kuudere Woman Who Always Reads Books While Standing Next to Me at the Laundromat Turns Out to Be the Vice President of One of Our Clients
It turned out that Tsukishima san was a fan of Kirishima Jo.
It was only a little, but I definitely felt that the distance between us had closed. When would we be able to talk again?
With that small hope in my heart, my daily life continued to be busy with my work as a consultant.
The new week began, and I was called into the office of my manager, Takahashi san, first thing on Monday morning.
“Minato kun. This is urgent, but I need you to take on a new client. I was adjusting the project assignments, but the leader of this case suddenly became available. I’d like to ask you to take it on. I’ve already informed the client and received their approval.”
Takahashi san said this with his usual gentle smile.
The cover of the documents he handed me read, [TechFrontier Co., Ltd. Proposal for Development Team Restructuring.]
TechFrontier. This IT venture company has been dominating the industry in recent years with its unique AI technology.
“TechFrontier…was it?”
“Yes. The vice president is young but sharp. At 24, he holds the positions of CTO, CIO, and CHRO. He’s a genius. How to incorporate the vice president’s vision into the organization is where your skills will shine.”
“I see……I understand.”
As I flipped through the documents, I noticed organizational charts for both sides. It seemed that the vice president was overseeing this project.
I felt an odd sense of unease about the person named ‘Vice President Tsukishima’ in the organizational chart.
I started thinking about Tsukishima san even during work, and I wondered if this was love.
◆
The first meeting was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
TechFrontier’s office was located in a new glass-walled building towering over a prime location in the city center.
After giving my name at the reception desk, I was immediately escorted to the conference room. Beyond the glass walls lay an open-plan office space with a relaxed atmosphere.
Employees sitting on colorful balance balls, employees listening to music through headphones while furiously typing on keyboards…
The culture there was clearly different from what I knew as a typical ‘Japanese company.’
As I waited in the conference room with the team members, the door opened, and I was surprised to see a woman with pink hair enter with several other employees. It was Tsukishima san, who had appeared at the coin laundry.
However, unlike her usual casual attire at the coin laundry, today she was wearing an oversized white shirt, black slim-fit pants, and a casual gray jacket. Her vibrant pink short bob stood out even more under the bright lighting of the conference room.
She also recognized me and, for just a split second, showed the same slightly wide-eyed expression she had at the coin laundry. But it was quickly replaced by a perfect business smile.
“Thank you very much for coming today. My name is Tsukishima, Vice President of TechFrontier.”
Tsukishima san handed me her business card. I hurriedly took out my own card and exchanged it with hers. The business card read Tsukishima Shiori, with the titles of Vice President, CTO, CIO, and CHRO listed. There was no doubt that this was Tsukishima san, the client-side representative and Vice President.
“My name is Minato Keiichiro from Human Capital Solutions Co., Ltd. I will be serving as the team leader for this project. I’ll be looking forward to working with you.”
I, too, put on my professional consultant’s mask and bowed deeply. In my mind, the spinning drum of the coin laundry, the silence of the conference room, and her two faces were swirling together.
Tsukishima san stared at my business card as if she were reading a book at the coin laundry, pausing for a moment. After a while, she looked up and murmured in a voice only I could hear, “Keiichiro…..huh.”
When the meeting began, Tsukishima san, as CHRO, began explaining TechFrontier’s human resources challenges and the vision we should aim for with surprising fluency and precision.
The content was highly sophisticated, combining the multifaceted perspectives she had likely gained from reading [The Book to Read When You Have Over 100 Subordinates] at the laundromat with her technical expertise as CTO.
“Our organizational structure was optimized for a startup in its early stages, but in our current phase, we recognize that it contains several critical vulnerabilities in terms of balancing scalability and agility. In particular, it is urgent to eliminate bottlenecks in the flow of information sharing and standardize communication protocols between project teams.”
She spoke fluently, as if explaining the design of a complex system architecture. Her demeanor was completely different from the somewhat lazy atmosphere one might see at a laundromat.
Her presentation was flawless. Every word she spoke was imbued with clear logic and strong will. This was a 24-year-old CTO and CHRO… I was once again overwhelmed by her high level of ability.
Still, I was here for work. I had to do my job.
“Understood. Regarding the overall plan…first, we will conduct a comprehensive assessment to identify the current organizational issues. Based on that, we will build a new human resources strategy framework that enables sustainable growth without compromising your company’s core values—namely, ’embracing change and continuously creating new technologies and values.'”
“Hm…..p-please take care of it. I’m an engineer by background, so I’m not very familiar with HR matters…I’m counting on you.”
Tsukishima san, did you just let your guard down for a moment !?
◆
After the meeting, I was seen off by Tsukishima san and the others and took the elevator to the ground floor.
“Minato san, do you know that vice president?”
Since we were the only ones in the elevator, one of the employees casually struck up a conversation.
“Eh…w-why did you think that!?”
“Well…the vibe? At least it didn’t feel like the first time you’ve met.”
“Huh, it’s the first time we met !?”
“Hmm…”
It seems no one believes me. Did it show that much on my face?
◆
Right after seeing off Minato san and the others, I raised my head once I was sure the elevator doors had closed completely.
“Tsukishima san, do you know that leader from earlier?”
A sharp-eyed female employee asked with a smirk.
“Eh…no…I don’t know him…”
“Eh ! Tsukishima-san, who never changes her expression, was smiling during the meeting, so I thought it must be her ex-boyfriend.”
“No way…..there’s no such coincidence. I’ve never had a boyfriend to begin with. Most men in the world may be someone’s ‘ex-boyfriend,’ but from my perspective, there is no such person as an ‘ex-boyfriend.’ Therefore, that person is not my ex-boyfriend.”
“I see…Tsukishima san shows that kind of expression to someone she’s meeting for the first time…so, was he just your type?”
“Not really…my type is Detective Tokito.”
“Who’s that?”
I felt a bit regretful that the elevator had already left, thinking that if it had been Minato san, he would have understood.
Maigetsu