By the time he returned to the office, it was past eight o'clock. There were still a few people left in the office. "I'm hungry," Shinoda said, taking out a cup of instant noodles from his desk drawer. He still had work to do. He turned on his computer and saw that he had received over a dozen emails. He couldn't help but sigh. His stomach started growling, too.

"Urabe-san, is your stomach okay?"

Shinoda was already slurping up the finished yakisoba with disposable chopsticks, and the fragrant smell of salt-fried noodles filled his nostrils.

"If you want the same one, I'll give it to you. I'll treat you."

It didn't feel good to have Shinoda treat me, but nothing beats being hungry. "Thank you. Can I have one," I replied honestly.

As we slurped down our yakisoba together, Shinoda suddenly said, "What did you think of the drinking party the other day?"

"Last Friday?"

Shinoda nodded silently. I immediately realized he was referring to the entertainment from last week.

"His attitude is also arrogant. In the first place, it feels like he shouldn't be interfering with the people at the bottom."

As I slurped down my noodles, I tried to flatter him by saying, "Well, that's true." It had only been a month since he was assigned to the company, but Shinoda was acting like a full-fledged employee, which made me feel indignant.

Indeed, the executive at the raw materials manufacturer was a rather unpleasant character, his protruding belly apparently awash in self-love and arrogance.

"You sounded as if you had developed it from scratch, which is not the case."

"Well, it's fine. It's selling well, so it's worth the effort."

I won't say that it wasn't Shinoda who had a hard time, but mainly me.

Although it can be a hassle at times, sales work has generally been interesting. I think I lacked social skills until high school, but after entering university and learning how to interact with others, I no longer found it difficult to interact with others. On the contrary, after becoming a company employee, I discovered the joy of smoothly communicating and making a business successful.

However, sometimes I suddenly think about it when I'm alone on the weekends.

Is it really okay for me to stay like this?

The following week, an email arrived from a cosmetics manufacturer's production manager. Sales of a new lipstick product were exceeding expectations, and they needed to urgently increase their purchase of raw materials. At times like these, Shimae Shoji's job is to act as a go-between for the manufacturer of the final product and the manufacturer of the raw materials. I immediately instructed Shinoda to contact the person in charge at the raw materials company.

"Urabe-san, I'm in charge of Teito Chemicals."

Recently, Shinoda has started making an effort to correct his honorific language.

"You're Yoshimura, right?"

"However, it seems that I was recently transferred and my position has changed. The new person in charge said they would like to meet me in person to say hello and discuss things."

"Then please arrange the date. I'll leave all the meetings to Shinoda."

"Oh no."

"Teito Chemicals is a big customer. Be careful."

"Don't scare me."

By entrusting this transaction to Shinoda, they hoped to help him gain confidence. Teito Chemicals is an important business partner with which they have had a long-standing relationship, and for this reason, they also wanted to help him get used to the job as soon as possible.

On the day of the meeting, Shinoda came towards me with a pale face as soon as I arrived at work. I had a bad feeling.

"Urabe-san, this is bad."

They don't even notice that honorific language has returned to normal.

According to Shinoda, incorrect information about raw materials was given to a manufacturer that he was doing business with, which caused delays in production.

"What's it like over there?"

"I'm so angry."

I sighed.

"Anyway, when the chief arrives, report to him immediately. I'll be heading to the meeting with Teito Chemicals, so Shinoda, you should prioritize dealing with that. I'll help out later."

I listened to what happened and gave him some instructions. Shinoda said "I'm sorry" in a husky voice and returned to his desk. I thought I'd comfort him once things had calmed down. "Young employees grow with every mistake they make" was something my current supervisor had told me when I was a new employee.

I received the documents from Shinoda and headed alone to the meeting with Teito Chemicals. As I headed towards the entrance of the company building, I realized I'd forgotten to ask the name of the new person in charge. Oh well. I'd find out once we exchanged business cards. A man in a suit was sitting on a bench. As I approached, he quickly stood up.

"Is that Shinoda-sama?"

"No... I'm sorry, but Shinoda has suddenly had to cancel his appointment due to work-related reasons. I, Urabe, will be taking his place today."

"I see. Urabe-sama, I'm Minato from Teito Chemical."

Minato was a good-looking young man with short hair. His muscular build must have been the result of training in sports. After showing him to the conference room, I exchanged business cards with Minato once again. Minato Daigo. Looking at the brand new business card, I thought to myself, "I've seen this name somewhere before." Minato seemed to feel the same way, as he stared intently at my card.

"Excuse me."

Minato was the first to speak.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-eight. Maybe."

"Yes. I also turned 28 the other day."

After a moment of silence, it was my turn to speak.

"...Have you done kendo?"

Minato suddenly looked up from the business card.

"Inter-high!"

After saying that, Minato hurriedly apologized, "Ah, no, I'm sorry."

"Urabe-san, I believe you placed third individually at the Inter-High School Championships in your third year of high school."

"Well...Minato-san was also ranked highly. I think he was from Hokkaido."

"Yes, that's right. I lost to Kota Fujinami in the quarterfinals."

"Wow, that brings back memories. It's been a while since I last heard that name. I wonder what he's doing now. I know he went to college."

"Fujinami is in France now."

"France?"

"After graduating from university, he went to France to promote kendo. He's retired now, but there was a teacher named Ogata from Myoho Gakuen. He's now running a dojo in France, and apparently he showed up there. He's teaching kendo to people there while working part-time. He should still be there now."

I had never heard of it before.

"Urabe-san, are you no longer practicing kendo?"

"That's right. I finished it at university. Minato-san, did you go to Naniwa University?"

"You know a lot about it."

"I'm starting to remember. Back then, Naniwa University was invincible. Are you still doing kendo?"

"Yes, I am. Kendo is the only thing I can do better than average."

So I stopped talking for a moment.

"Would you like to go out for dinner sometime?"

It was Minato who said that.

"I was thinking the same thing."

"For now, let's talk about work. I'll give you my personal cell phone number."

Minato took out a new business card, wrote a number on the back, and handed it to me. He handed me another card with his cell phone number written on it. An innocent smile appeared on Minato's face.

"Well, since I was the one who brought it up, I'll contact you first."

After saying this, Minato took out a thick envelope from his bag.

“So, today I’m here to say hello, but there’s also something I’d like to discuss with you. I’ve put together a summary of the recent purchase price trends here…”

He tightened his expression to match Minato's, who instantly returned to his work-like appearance.

Minato contacted me that same day. He said he often goes to a restaurant in Ginza and invited me to have dinner there. I had plans to play futsal on the specified day, but I canceled them and decided to go to dinner with Minato.

A few days later, when I went to the restaurant, Minato was already there. He was dutifully nibbling on some snacks while he waited.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I wish you'd had your drink first."

"No, I invited you."

After a toast with draft beer, we started to use "watashi" instead of "watashi" and our tone of voice gradually became more casual. Like biscuits soaked in milk, my mood slowly relaxed.

"Namidai University was really strong when Minato-san was there."

"We were in the same year. Ishizaka was the boss."

"Ishizaka Sho is now with the Osaka Prefectural Police, right?"

"You really know a lot."

"There was a rumor going around that you would join the prefectural police immediately after graduating from high school."

"That brings back memories. In the end, I went to university because Professor Ogata recommended it."

Sho Ishizaka was a special person. If you heard anything about his recent activities, you couldn't help but remember it. Also, Ishizaka was a famous athlete currently at the top of the kendo world.

"The year before last, we won the police championship. Last year, we came in third in the nationals."

"Yes. For a mere professional athlete like me, he seems like a distant figure. I'm sure he'll be selected for the next world championships."

He tilted his mug. If that was the case, then perhaps Ishizaka Sho was now someone who had almost no connection to him, having only faced him once at the Inter-High.

"What position did you hold as a student, Minato?"

"I was usually the second-in-command. But in our generation, Ishizaka and Kikuchi were the two who stood out. I was just an afterthought."

"What is Kikuchi doing now?"

"He's a teacher in Kagoshima. Back at his alma mater. Even though he's a physical education teacher, he apparently spends all his time in the art room. His hobby is drawing."

"His father was Professor Mamoru Kikuchi, and they were famous as a father-son duo."

"That's right. But it seems my father is retired now. This year, the students he taught for the first time will be competing at the nationals. I imagine they're practicing hard right now."

Minato quickly switched from beer to sake. I poured some cold sake into Minato's sake cup.

"Do corporate teams have less work than regular employees?"

"Not at all. In fact, I work even harder than normal. The Kendo Club at Teito Chemical has a motto: 'People who are good at Kendo are also good at their jobs.' People who can't do their jobs are looked down upon even within the club."

"That's tough."

"Are you not doing kendo anymore, Urabe-san?"

Minato asked with a bright red face.

"I haven't played it in a long time. I can't win now."

"That's not true, even if it's rotten, we still got third place in the Inter-High."

"Even if it's rotten, it's still good" is quite an exaggeration. After drinking, Minato's tone became casual, as if he had become a different person.

"Also, I know this might sound arrogant, but I don't think winning is the only appeal of kendo."

From what I can vaguely recall, Minato practiced some pretty dirty kendo when he was in high school. It was kendo that was practiced solely for the sake of winning. "Winning isn't the only appeal," was a line I couldn't imagine coming from Minato.

"If you don't mind, why don't you come to the place I go to next time?"

"A corporate team? That's impossible. It would just hold us back."

"No, it's a kendo class in town. I show up there once a week. It's a small-scale class that's held in a rented elementary school gymnasium. It's full of elementary and middle school students, and there are beginners too."

Minato enthusiastically invited him. As he was leaving, he said as he paid the bill.

"How about next Wednesday? Let's do kendo together."

Somehow, I began to think that maybe I should give it a try.

"Well, I guess I'll go then."

"Really? I'm so happy. Everyone will be happy."

I wondered why everyone was so happy when I went, but I didn't ask for details.