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
On Friday night, I was at my usual laundromat, frowning slightly as I stared at my smartphone screen.
“…It’s slow…”
It wasn’t that the laundry was taking a long time to finish. It was that my smartphone connection was painfully slow due to data restrictions.
The cause was my home Wi-Fi malfunctioning. As a result of relying on my mobile connection for all my daily communications, I had reached my data limit.
Videos froze every few seconds, and news sites loaded slowly.
“Oh, sorry. I’m late. I kept you waiting.”
Before I knew it, Tsukishima san was sitting next to me.
“Whoa !? That scared me…”
“Minato san, you were really focused. What were you looking at?”
“Ah…no, actually, I couldn’t see anything. It’s because of the data cap. The slowness isn’t because of you, Tsukishima san, but because of the connection.”
“Hmm…a data cap…”
“Lately, my home Wi-Fi has been acting up, so I’ve been using my smartphone connection. Videos keep stopping, and pages load abnormally slowly. I wonder if the router is nearing the end of its lifespan.”
When I said that and sighed, Tsukishima san’s eyes seemed to sparkle with a click. It was the gaze of a detective facing a complex mystery, or a skilled engineer receiving an intriguing bug report.
“Huh…? Network issues. What are the symptoms? Is the latency high, or are there packet losses? I doubt it, but…have you checked the DNS settings?”
“Eh, uh, no… Latency? Packets…?”
I was completely frozen by the rapid-fire technical terms. All I understood was “slow” or “fast.”
Tsukishima san saw my expression and sighed deeply.
“Minato san, you’re too careless about your home’s infrastructure. HR consulting is fine, but basic IT literacy is an essential skill for surviving in modern society.”
“…I have no words to respond.”
“Well, never mind. Once this laundry is done, I’ll go to your place. I know a bit about networks, so I might not be able to fix it, but I should be able to pinpoint the cause.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah, I’m an engineer before being a CTO. Plus, back when we moved to this nice office, I used to manage the internal network. It got too big, so we had to outsource it, but…I still know my way around.”
Her impressive title and resume left me speechless, able only to utter a foolish “Huh…”
“But…taking up your valuable time, Tsukishima san…”
“It’s fine. I actually enjoy troubleshooting like this. It’s much easier to resolve than interpersonal conflicts.”
Her overly reassuring offer left me with no choice but to accept.
◆
On the way back from the laundromat, we walked side by side along the night road. I never would have imagined a few months ago that I would end up inviting Tsukishima san into my slightly run-down apartment twice in this way.
As soon as we entered the room, Tsukishima san headed straight for the Wi-Fi router flickering quietly in the corner of the room.
“…I see. First of all, the location of this router is structurally problematic.”
She picked up the router I had carelessly placed there, surveyed the room with a stern gaze, and moved it to the top of the shelf.
“Minato san, why don’t you make some coffee? I’ll be done soon.”
“Oh, sure…”
I had no choice but to start preparing coffee in the kitchen as she instructed.
From the living room, I could hear Tsukishima san’s quiet but serious mutterings.
“……There’s severe channel interference with the surrounding access points. Are everyone just using the default settings…? Also, this router’s firmware is way too old. It’s unacceptable in terms of both security and performance…”
She typed on the keyboard with the precision and astonishing speed of an F1 racer handling the steering wheel. Her profile was serious, intelligent, and…more radiant than any other expression of hers I had ever seen.
The face she shows at work as CHRO.
The face she shows at the laundromat, a bit lazy and into mysteries.
And now, in my room, using her overwhelming expertise for my sake, the face of the CTO and engineer.
Each of these faces is a multifaceted charm that makes up the person known as Tsukishima Shiori, and I am once again reminded of that.
“…Alright, done.”
Just as I finished brewing the coffee, Tsukishima san casually said that.
“Eh, already?”
“Yeah. I’ve already changed the settings to avoid channel interference with nearby networks and updated the firmware to the latest version. Also, I’m moving the router to this shelf. The signal path needs to be physically secured…this should improve the throughput by at least 300%.”
I followed her instructions and connected my smartphone to the internet.
“…..Eh, so fast…! What is this? It’s like a different dimension…”
The lag from before was gone, and videos played instantly, and even heavy news sites loaded in an instant.
“Amazing…..Tsukishima-san…..are you a magician or something?”
When I exclaimed in genuine amazement, Tsukishima san smiled coolly, as if she had just taught a child a simple calculation.
“Nothing special. This is just the basics…anyway, Minato san.”
She suddenly adopted a slightly spoiled tone of voice.
“Do you have any snacks? I’m hungry.”
The stark contrast was striking.
Just moments ago, she had been a lone genius engineer mastering cutting-edge technology, but now she was just an ordinary girl asking for snacks.
Her cuteness was so overwhelming that my heart began to race wildly and irregularly once again.
“Um, yeah…I think there’s something…”
I grabbed some chocolate and potato chips and sat down on the sofa with her.
With coffee and cookies in front of us, we took a breather. Thanks to the improved Wi-Fi, we could stream our favorite music on our smartphones while continuing our aimless conversation.
She talked about the overseas drama she’s been into lately. I shared my theories about the culprit in the mystery novel I’m reading.
The time was so comfortable that we completely lost track of time.
Suddenly, I glanced at the clock on the wall and gasped. The clock had already passed 3 a.m.
“Oh…it’s already this late. Thank you, Tsukishima san. I’ll walk you home.”
Tsukishima san slowly took out her smartphone to check the time. Her face was surprisingly calm.
“…….”
She stared at the screen in silence. Then, she muttered quietly, as if it were someone else’s problem.
“….You’re right. It’s time to sleep. It’s a waste of time to go home now.”
“…….Eh?”
Tsukishima san slowly compared me, the sofa in my room, and the bed in the adjacent room separated by a sliding door, then quietly said,
“…Minato san. Can I stay over?”
The question was too direct, but it also had a tone that seemed to be asking for help, yet inviting me into another world.
“Eh…uh, sure. It’s fine, but…well, there’s only one bed, and there’s no extra futon for guests…”
“Hmm. It’s okay. I can sleep anywhere, even on the floor. It doesn’t have to be soft.”
“No, no, that’s not how it works…”
“……Then, is it okay if the bed is soaked in Minato san’s scent? Well, sleeping on this sofa is also great, so either one is fine.”
“Well…I guess so. Do you have any clothes to change into?”
“Hm. Yeah. I just washed tomorrow’s clothes, so there are plenty. I’m sweaty, so can I borrow the bath…I mean, the shower? When I concentrate, I sweat a lot under my arms.”
Tsukishima san said this with a displeased expression, closing her arms.
“G….go ahead…”
Tsukishima san said, “Hmm. Thanks. I’ll just borrow a towel.” and disappeared into the bathroom.
Left alone in the room, I still couldn’t fully grasp the situation.
Just a moment ago, Tsukishima san was helping me fix my Wi-Fi router, and now she’s in my bathroom, and she’s going to stay here tonight…?
I was facing an unprecedented, major, and completely unfamiliar situation that I had no idea how to handle.
The sound of the shower echoing from afar felt like the beginning of a long night to come.
Maigetsu