That evening, Kamiyā Yuu drove to the izakaya where he had arranged to meet Morishita Aoi.
A waitress dressed in a traditional Japanese uniform respectfully led him to a spacious private room.
It was a typical Japanese tatami room. A low rectangular table sat in the center, surrounded by six floor cushions.
The izakaya was fairly upscale, offering private rooms of various sizes, the largest accommodating up to thirty people. The room Kamiyā Yuu had reserved was not large, but it belonged to one of the more expensive categories. Once the sliding door was closed, not the slightest noise from outside could be heard.
"This way, sir. This is Private Room No. 03, which you reserved for July 25th. Please wait a moment. A server will bring your appetizers shortly."
After bowing once more, the waitress quietly left.
The room's décor carried an elegant Japanese charm—simple without being monotonous. Dining here never felt oppressive because of the surroundings.
Even so, Kamiyā Yuu still wasn't used to sitting on tatami while eating. No matter how he sat, it always felt awkward.
Finding a seat, he quietly admired the room's design, inwardly giving the designer a thumbs-up. The Japanese atmosphere was subtle rather than overwhelming, creating a refined elegance. He had visited rooms overloaded with ukiyo-e decorations before, and those had made him extremely uncomfortable.
Before long, several servers brought in several exquisitely prepared appetizers.
Kamiyā Yuu had only taken a few bites when the sliding door opened.
Morishita Aoi entered after taking off her high heels, still wearing the same black business suit she always did.
Seeing Kamiyā Yuu, she nodded.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Yuu."
Kamiyā Yuu looked her over carefully.
She seemed slightly different from usual.
More refined.
More feminine.
Japan's makeup techniques, China's photo-editing skills, and South Korea's cosmetic surgery were often jokingly referred to as the three great "mystic arts" of Asia.
Japanese women placed great importance on makeup. Most wore at least some whenever they went to work. A woman skilled at it could look completely different before and after makeup. Someone whose natural appearance might only rate a three could seemingly become an eight through cosmetics alone.
Because of that, jokes often circulated online in Japan—such as marrying a beautiful woman only to wake up the next morning beside an unfamiliar plain-looking woman, or that an accomplished wife would never let her husband see her without makeup.
Both Morishita Aoi and Uehara Etsuki wore makeup, but theirs was so light that even Kamiyā Yuu had to look closely to notice it. It enhanced their beauty naturally without appearing overdone.
Today, however, Morishita Aoi had clearly put extra effort into her appearance.
Her makeup remained light, but every detail—from her chin-length black hair to her delicate eyebrows—had been carefully refined.
Even with her usual serious expression, her mature, feminine charm was impossible to ignore.
Kamiyā Yuu glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and smiled.
"You're fifteen minutes early."
"Am I?"
Following his gaze to the clock, Morishita Aoi sat opposite him and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear with a smile.
"Perfect timing. Have you decided what to order?"
"I only just arrived myself. Let's call the server first."
Smiling, Kamiyā Yuu pressed the service button on the table.
A lone man.
A lone woman.
A private room.
A male superior.
A beautiful female subordinate.
For a brief instant, all kinds of unhealthy thoughts flashed through Kamiyā Yuu's mind.
But they remained only thoughts.
He simply continued chatting with Morishita Aoi about work.
"Ah, the 'Fate/Zero' project won't stop at the anime. After a while, I'll expand into several other projects. I'll also contact Miss Mizuhara about a new game project. I want to make 'Fate/Zero' the second flagship IP of Yosuganosora Animation Studio."
Morishita Aoi poured him a small cup of sake with a faint smile.
"Sounds like you'll only get busier."
Kamiyā Yuu shook his head.
"That depends on how the company operates. Even though we've been expanding nonstop lately, it still feels like we can never keep up. Sometimes I wonder whether we've even increased the number of departments and staff."
Covering her mouth, Morishita Aoi laughed softly.
"The company's growing, and it's moving forward. Recently, just handling all the commercial projects for 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' has overwhelmed the operations department. Most of the people transferred over from Human Resources are newcomers, so they can't help much."
Kamiyā Yuu laughed.
"That's rare. Hearing you complain about work."
...
Once the food and sake had been served, the two chatted while eating.
At some point, Kamiyā Yuu realized the atmosphere in the room had changed completely.
The reason was simple.
Morishita Aoi had started drinking.
And she had become unusually uninhibited.
"Seriously... why does every job end up getting dumped on me? I'm already too busy. And you too, Yuu! Even if I never refused, couldn't you at least consider how I feel? I'm against overtime! Against! Over! Time! I want to get out of work before six every day. That way I could go home, relax, drink beer, watch TV, and eat dried squid! Just so you know... this is all your fault~~"
"It's so hot~~ Isn't it summer? Why isn't the air conditioner on~~"
Her cheeks were flushed red.
The moisture in her eyes made them look lively, and a carefree, almost silly smile spread across her face.
Her neatly arranged business suit had become somewhat disheveled because of her exaggerated movements.
She absentmindedly loosened the buttons at her collar.
"So the air conditioner is already on."
Having expected something like this, Kamiyā Yuu couldn't help laughing.
"Aren't you looking, Yuu?"
Morishita Aoi scooted over until she was pressed right against him.
She slipped one arm through his and hugged him tightly.
Resting comfortably against him, she smiled with the smug delight of a child whose prank had succeeded.
Kamiyā Yuu felt a faint fragrance surround him.
His arm was completely trapped, though he had little desire to pull away.
"Aoi, you're drunk."
He had already noticed it earlier.
She had been drinking far more frequently than usual, almost as though she deliberately wanted to become intoxicated.
Morishita Aoi snorted.
Leaning her weight against his arm, she pushed him backward until he was lying on the tatami.
She sat over him, looking down with a mischievous smile while pouring herself another cup of sake.
"Yuu, want a drink? You're a grown man. How can you survive drinking parties if you can't drink? Hehe... I'll teach you myself."
Fortunately, this truly was a private room.
Even behind the sliding door was soundproofing, so there was no need to worry about anyone outside hearing them.
Without waiting for his reply, Morishita Aoi took a sip of sake.
A moment later, she leaned down and kissed him, awkwardly passing the sake to him.
Her eyes remained tightly closed.
Her slightly trembling eyelashes betrayed emotions far less casual than her outward appearance suggested.
The moment their lips met, the haze of alcohol seemed to disappear from her mind.
After sharing the sake, they reluctantly parted.
Morishita Aoi no longer knew whether she was truly drunk or not.
Nor did she know whether what she had just done had been intentional.
Looking into Kamiyā Yuu's eyes with a complicated expression, she hesitated for a long time before whispering near his ear,
"Yuu... has your relationship with Kaoru really become... that kind of relationship?"
"Kaoru told you?"
His question caused her expression to stiffen.
"...Yes."
"Recently, you've been practicing kendo with Kaoru on the rooftop during lunch breaks. There are also rumors all over the company about the two of you."
When she had stayed overnight at Uehara Etsuki's house, she had asked Busujima Murasaki about those rumors.
The answer she received had left her emotions in complete turmoil.
Joy?
Disappointment?
A tiny lingering hope?
"Forget the rumors. If Kaoru told you, then it's basically true."
Morishita Aoi lightly gripped the fabric of Kamiyā Yuu's shirt.
She tugged at it, then let go.
After a long silence, she tried to get up—
Only for Kamiyā Yuu to pull her back into his arms.
He gently brushed her short hair behind her ear, revealing her delicate profile.
Smiling softly, he said,
"Aoi... has anyone ever told you that you're actually very beautiful?"
She blankly shook her head.
His confirmation about Kaoru had already thrown her thoughts into complete chaos.
Even though she had prepared herself mentally, her mind was now completely blank.
Her tangled emotions refused to let her think clearly.
What... was she supposed to do now?
Finally, burying her face against his chest, she asked in a struggling, pained voice,
"Yuu... what am I supposed to do now?"
It had been over three years since they first met.
For the first year, they had merely been colleagues.
As Kamiyā Yuu gradually changed, they had grown closer.
The first time she became aware of her own feelings was when Kamiyā Yuu admitted his relationship with Kamiyā Sora.
During those few days, she had buried herself in work to numb her emotions.
Ever since then, she had deliberately avoided confronting those feelings.
Whenever her family asked about having a boyfriend, the first person she thought of was Kamiyā Yuu.
Meanwhile, as she grew older, her family's pressure for her to marry only increased.
"You could spend your whole life as an employee of Yosuganosora Animation Studio."
Kamiyā Yuu replied half-jokingly.
Biting her lip, Morishita Aoi said,
"I know about Kaoru... but what about Sora? Does she know about your relationship with Kaoru? Does she know what's happening between us right now? What is this...?"
"Before I came here, Sora specifically told me to comfort you."
Morishita Aoi froze.
Lowering her head, she remained silent for a long time.
Remembering everything she had rehearsed before coming here, she finally spoke with difficulty.
"Yuu..."
"I'm sorry... I still can't accept it."
"I'm not Kaoru."
"I don't understand what Sora really thinks either."
"But I still want an ordinary kind of happiness."
"I don't want my future life to become so complicated."
"It's too unfair..."
"It's too unfair..."
"...It's too sly..."
As soon as those words left her mouth, tears welled up in her eyes.
No matter how hard she tried to hold them back, the emotions she had suppressed for three years burst forth all at once.
Kamiyā Yuu rolled over, gently pinning the flustered Morishita Aoi against the tatami.
Ignoring her weak attempts to resist, he kissed her again.
Her resistance gradually weakened.
Eventually, she wrapped her arms around his neck, quietly savoring the fleeting happiness she had long dreamed of.
She wanted to refuse.
Yet, lost in confusion, she no longer knew how.
"I'm really pathetic right now."
"Lying here like this... I'm nothing like my usual self."
She looked away from his eyes and laughed bitterly.
Kamiyā Yuu helped her sit up and held her in his arms.
"Do you still want to keep drinking?"
"Yuu... what are you going to do?"
"What do you mean?"
Morishita Aoi frowned.
"Am I really that unimportant to you? Just an ordinary coworker?"
"I mean, our relationship is already what it is now. What else could it become?"
Kamiyā Yuu gently stroked her cheek as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Morishita Aoi stared at him in astonishment.
After a helpless laugh, she said,
"Yuu... after tonight, we'll only be coworkers."
"That may be what you're planning."
"But I don't intend to let go."
Kamiyā Yuu answered innocently.
She couldn't help laughing despite herself.
"What kind of answer is that...?"
Wrapping an arm around her waist, Kamiyā Yuu sighed.
"You know I'm not someone who gives up easily."
"And you're not someone I can simply let go of."
"So even after hearing what you just said, I don't believe our relationship will end that easily."
Despite the turmoil in her heart, Morishita Aoi couldn't help smiling.
"Yuu... was your skin always this thick?"
Kamiyā Yuu answered helplessly,
"I'm being completely serious."
Resting against his chest, Morishita Aoi shook her head.
"That's only how you see it."
"I admit I like you."
"But I'm an ordinary woman."
"I want a relationship where both sides are equal."
"I want to receive as much as I give."
"Not something as unfair as this."
"I know you're an exceptional man."
"Maybe men like you naturally have this privilege."
"But like I said..."
"What I want is the ordinary happiness of an ordinary woman."
"I won't entrust my life to feelings that are so... uncertain."
"I understand."
"If you understand, then let go of me."
Morishita Aoi twisted slightly, only to discover that the arm around her waist had not loosened in the slightest.
She panicked.
This was completely different from what she had imagined.
She had expected Kamiyā Yuu to let go and for them to return to being ordinary coworkers.
Yet amid that panic was also a subtle sense of anticipation.
As for what she was anticipating...
She didn't know.
"No."
"Why?"
Kamiyā Yuu shrugged.
"I understand your reasoning."
"But I just don't want to let go."
"Yuu... I even have pepper spr—Mm!?"
Before she could finish, Kamiyā Yuu kissed her once again.
In the end, Morishita Aoi simply let him do as he wished.
She did not attempt whatsoever to reach for the pepper spray she had mentioned.
A long while later, their lips finally parted once more.
Resting her head against his shoulder, Morishita Aoi alternately loosened and tightened her grip on his shirt.
The lingering effects of the alcohol and her exhaustion left her without the strength to resist.
Silence filled the room.
After what felt like an eternity, she whispered beside his ear,
"Yuu... I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore."
Holding her warm body gently in his arms, Kamiyā Yuu smiled.
"I'll take you home."
Silence answered him once again.
Finally, Morishita Aoi wrapped both arms around him, closed her eyes, and nodded as though resigning herself.
"...Okay."
"But let me say this first."
"My younger sister is staying at my house now."
"So whatever you're thinking..."
"...is impossible."
"Younger sister?"
"She just came to Tokyo last week."
"She'll be studying here from now on."
"Oh? Your sister must be very capable, too. High school or university?"
"This year she'll be attending the affiliated high school of the Faculty of Education at the University of Tokyo."
"Then, after graduation, she can come work at our company. I'll arrange a good position for her. Or you can arrange it yourself."
Morishita Aoi shot him a glare.
"No."
"That decisive?"
Rolling her eyes, she reached out and pinched his cheek.
"She's your devoted fan."
"So I don't want her ending up in the same situation as me."
She knew her younger sister.
She also knew exactly how attractive a man like Kamiyā Yuu was.
Most importantly, Kamiyā Yuu was someone she had already set her heart on.
Her younger sister would almost certainly develop the same strange thoughts she once had.
Kamiyā Yuu protested,
"Do you really think so poorly of me? No matter what—"
"The old Yuu really was excellent."
"But after everything that's happened tonight..."
"I've realized you're just an ordinary man after all."
Morishita Aoi looked at him with half-lidded eyes, as though asking, Isn't that obvious?
Kamiyā Yuu had no response.
"...Uh..."
"Pfft..."
Morishita Aoi laughed.
"Forget it."
"We haven't finished the sake yet."
"Let's finish drinking together."
She affectionately wrapped her arms around his neck.
In the end...
She softened.
Or perhaps...
She simply chose to avoid the issue.