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
The day I stained Tsukishima san’s T-shirt with tomato sauce, we made a somewhat forceful but undeniably joyful promise at the laundromat.
I was tapping my smartphone screen nervously in front of the station ticket gate where we had agreed to meet. I checked the time repeatedly, but of course, time doesn’t warp. Me, choosing her clothes…?
Women’s fashion sense is far beyond my area of expertise. This might be the most challenging consulting project of my career.
“…Minato san. Did I keep you waiting?”
I looked up when I heard her voice, and there she was, wearing her usual casual hoodie. In her hand was a tablet for some reason.
“No, I just got here too…what’s that tablet for?”
“Oh. It’s a document about clothing specifications. I put it together last night.”
When she showed me the screen, there was a file with the serious title “Specifications for the Introduction of New Clothing Assets.” The contents were filled with bullet points listing items such as budget, TPO, color, material, and design direction.
“So…..we’re looking for clothes that meet these specifications….?”
“Yeah. The previous clothes perfectly met these specifications. Of course, these do too. Shall we go?”
She pointed to the clothes she was wearing and started walking briskly.
(If even a hoodie can meet the criteria, maybe the conditions aren’t that strict after all…)
I felt a mix of exasperation and helpless amusement at her typical approach, and followed her.
We headed to an area near the port where trendy select shops lined the streets. As soon as we entered the first store, we were completely overwhelmed by the stylish atmosphere.
“…What do you think, Minato san?”
“Eh? Well, I don’t know…they’re all beautiful, I guess…”
“I want more specific feedback.”
“Then…let’s start by confirming the requirements for this ‘clothing asset.’ The target wearing scenario is mainly ‘commuting to TechFrontier Company.’ The desired impression is a balance of ‘approachability’ and ‘intellectual trustworthiness.’ In other words, not too casual, but also not too conservative.”
“Hmm. We’re on the same page there. Well, as another perspective, is there any specific clothing you’d like me to wear as an individual man? Feel free to list the requirements.”
She stared into my eyes and said. Her serious gaze made me swallow hard. This wasn’t just about choosing clothes. It was a high-stakes test of my sense of style and my understanding of her.
“Hmm…I think that black dress from the other day looked great on you.”
“…Black, huh. Got it. Next.”
She blushed slightly and looked away.
“As for the rest…well, I think soft colors like pale lavender would suit you too. Since you usually wear a lot of monochrome outfits, I’d like to see you in those colors too. Though it might depend on how they match your hair color…”
“…Lavender…I see… Got it. I’ll find clothes that match the requirements list, so you can choose from there.”
It seems I don’t have to go through the trouble of understanding Tsukishima san’s requirements list and searching for clothes myself.
She scanned the store with sharp eyes, like a hunter who had spotted her prey.
After a while, she disappeared into the fitting room with several outfits in her hands. I waited idly in front of it. The time felt like an eternity.
Soon, the curtain of the fitting room opened quietly. The first outfit she wore was an elegant navy-colored blouse with a soft texture.
“…Option A. How is it? Is it a bit too formal?”
“No…I think it’s great. It’s intellectual and trustworthy…but maybe a bit too formal?”
When I gave my honest opinion, she said, “I see. Thanks for the feedback” and disappeared back into the fitting room.
The next thing she came out in was the soft lavender summer knit I had requested.
“…Option B. What do you think?”
The moment I saw her, I was speechless. It was different from the black dress. Her soft, gentle, and somehow vulnerable appearance easily captured the weakest part of my heart.
“…Minato san? What’s wrong? You’re frozen.”
“…No… It’s good. It looks really good.”
That was all I could manage to say. It wasn’t logical. It wasn’t analytical. It was just what my heart was screaming.
At my overly honest reaction, Tsukishima san looked surprised for a moment, then smiled the happiest smile I’d ever seen.
“I see…then I’ll take this one.”
Tsukishima san decided to buy the lavender-colored summer knit and the matching skirt. At the register, when I tried to take out my wallet and say, “This is my fault” Tsukishima san stopped me with a firm hand.
“No way, Minato san. You have to be moderate with the seasoning.”
“Seasoning?”
“Yeah. The seasoning of memories. If you sprinkle the seasoning of a gift you received on this outfit, you can’t throw it away. Even if it gets all worn out, I’ll keep using it.”
Her usual, yet somehow gentle logic left me speechless once again.
◆
After leaving the store, we took a break at a nearby café. On the empty chair was the shop’s paper bag containing her new clothes.
“…It’s strange, isn’t it?”
I muttered while drinking my coffee.
“What is?” Tsukishima san asked.
“It’s just…I wonder why we decide what clothes we like or dislike. There’s a big emotional component to what we like and dislike. I can’t even explain why I thought that knit sweater was good.”
“Human ‘preferences’ are a black box. We can see the input and output, but the thought process in between is impossible to analyze, even for the person themselves. Some people say things like, ‘You’ve really managed to put that into words,’ but I think it’s okay not to force everything to be visible.”
Tsukishima san continued, sounding a bit amused.
“Sometimes, it might be interesting to trust your own black box and leave the judgment to others. Since Minato san said it looks ‘good,’ I also thought it was ‘good.’ …That was also a new discovery. Well, not just clothes, but people too…”
Her honest words slowly sank into my heart.
At that moment,
I recognized a familiar figure outside the café window and was startled. It was Tanaka Jun. She seemed to be looking at a map on her smartphone, but when she looked up and noticed us, she stopped moving.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and the next moment, as if she had made a great discovery, she broke into a broad smile. Then, she gave us a dramatic wink and a thumbs-up, and like a skilled spy, she quickly turned around and disappeared into the crowd.
“…Tsukishima san.”
“…Yeah, I saw it.”
Tsukishima san’s voice sounded just as despairing as mine.
“It’s over…our peaceful daily lives…”
“Yeah. The company chat starting Monday is gonna be crazy.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at Tsukishima san’s prediction of the future.
“Haha…well, whatever.”
Tsukishima san put down her coffee cup and said with a slightly relieved expression.
“Hmm. Well, if it’s just being teased in the company chat, there’s no real harm done.”
“Yeah, I guess so…there’s no real harm done.”
“I think there might even be some benefits.”
“Benefits !?”
“Probably.”
Tsukishima san said that with her eyes rolled back.
“…What are you doing?”
“Winking.”
“You’re not doing it right.”
“Eh? Take a picture.”
I took a picture of myself rolling my eyes as Tsukishima san instructed.
“…That’s weird. There’s a gap between the expression in my mind and the one in the photo.”
“Objectivity is important.”
“…What about the opposite?”
Tsukishima san narrowed her eyes again and rolled them.
“Haha ! You can’t do it.”
Tsukishima san looked down as if she were deeply shocked. But she quickly looked up with a startled expression.
“Ah…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of you…”
“No, I know that. It’s just that in my life, no one has ever told me that I’m bad at winking…or rather, I realized that no one has ever seen me wink, and that made me tremble.”
“I see…”
“And then I realized something else.”
“What?”
“Now, there is.”
Tsukishima san stared intently into my eyes with both eyes. We continued to stare at each other, but neither of us delved deeper into the situation or its intentions.
I closed my left eye in silence and winked back, and Tsukishima san puffed out her cheeks and took a sip of coffee.
Maigetsu