If he’s your friend, then you must know, Ichikawa said relieved.
“Sketchy person?”
“That guy who’s always wearing a fox (?) mask. When he was questioned by the police around that side path, he ran away as fast as he could.”
“Of course he would run away when questioned by the police.”
Shimura laughed loudly at Kusamakura’s episode that was unknown to him.
—Always wearing a fox mask.
It must have been the same mask he picked up for him that day. He didn’t think he always wore it. Tatsumi couldn’t see. So just what was he trying to hide from him? It was new to him, but if he said that, he had a feeling they would tell him even more, so he held it back.
Once he got home, Tatsumi collapsed into his bed. It had been a somewhat hectic day. Perhaps using the opportunity made by going to lunch with the other women, suddenly other coworkers started to talk to him. “Representative” didn’t seem to be a complete exaggeration. It wasn’t just the two who invited him to lunch, when he returned to the office, all his other coworkers came to his aid. His loneliness up until yesterday seemed like a lie. Everyone helping him out like it was natural, left Tatsumi bewildered. However, the most surprising was Yamauchi. After work today, she called him to the conference room. Being alone in a locked room with her was honestly terrifying. A man and woman alone together would of course invite misunderstandings, but since she locked him in, Tatsumi couldn’t move. First thing she opened her mouth to say to the visibly apprehensive Tatsumi was, sorry. Since her voice was rather low, she must have been bowing her head deeply, it sounded m.u.f.fled.
—Sorry, for always bullying you.
Yamauchi said in a trembling, but firm voice. Knowing she really did mean him harm, as expected, pained his chest. On the other hand, having his doubts confirmed was also fulfilling. Even so, what he didn’t understand was why she bullied him.
—You embarra.s.sed me…..no, I felt like you embarra.s.sed me, and wouldn’t be satisfied with just a few words.
Embarra.s.sed, she must have meant when she grabbed his white cane. In the end, it wasn’t settled with just a few words. He could tell from behavior towards him that she was letting out her resentment toward him daily because of it. However, perhaps noticing Tatsumi coming to his own conclusions, Yamauchi told him he was wrong in a bitter voice.
—I liked you.
—Eh!?
Tatsumi was unable to catch this ball flying at him from an unexpected direction. Yamauchi sighed heavily at his cruel and fl.u.s.tered reaction at her words that were somewhat like a confession of love.
—At first, I just couldn’t forgive you for embarra.s.sing me.
—Sorry about that.
—Stop apologizing. I’m the one at fault for pretending to feel offended……but, you never got angry towards my cold behavior, so that was a little funny in itself. I thought it was bold, but……since we never had any men like that here before, it was refreshing. It was too late to be nice to you though, so I thought of you as a man who needed my help,and it gave me a superiority complex and a need for control, and it annoyed me that you wouldn’t ever ask for my help.
—When Shimura-san spoke to me, I finally came to my decision. I wasn’t sure when I would quit, so she did me a favor…..well, that’s not for me to say.