"This... this is..."
A resounding shock!
Looking at the familiar handwriting, the endlessly revised sheet music, and the song title Glory Days at the top, Himawari Izumi froze, feeling as if her chest had been struck by a sledgehammer.
"Impossible! No way! How could this be?!"
Her eyes were filled with disbelief as her slender, pale fingers frantically flipped through the pages. As song titles like Glory Days, Lover, Seven Miles of Fragrance, East Wind Breaks, and Jiangnan—names she couldn't fully grasp but whose musical notation she understood—flashed by, her hands stopped on I Once Thought of Ending It All and a draft page for Blue Bird, followed by a torn-out sheet. The entire stack of sheet music slipped from her fingers.
"How could this be?"
Kneeling on the floor, her soft frame slumped onto her small feet clad in white knee-high socks. Himawari's clear, wide eyes were filled with bewilderment, her mind racing with memories from recent days.
Flashes of her chats with Beyond, the overwhelming emotions of earning surgery fees and living expenses through I Once Thought of Ending It All, all slowly faded. What remained were vivid images: a hand guiding hers to touch a speaker, the two of them playing in the snow by the roadside on Christmas, and Tetsu Fuyukawa's cheeky grin as he left at noon.
Her gaze softened from shock to warmth, filled with affection, then clouded with mist.
"So... it was you all along."
"You old jerk."
Slumped on the floor, she cupped her face with both hands.
In the small room bathed in the glow of the setting sun, soft sniffles gradually filled the air, and the sheet music blurred with tears.
---
At NTsoft's towering building, reflecting the sunset.
Completely unaware that his secrets had been fully exposed, Tetsu Fuyukawa was leisurely sipping tea in the minister's office.
"You've got time to sip tea? Spill it—how are you going to handle this?"
Miyano Mitei, exasperated by Tetsu's relaxed demeanor, grabbed a stack of contracts from the fax machine and tossed them in front of him with a thud.
[Promotion Application]
Glancing at the cover, Tetsu took another sip of oolong tea and chuckled, "It's just about promoting me to vice-minister, right? Makes sense. This time, with The Binding of Isaac, that guy Asai played me, cutting my profits. This is just his way of tossing me a sweet date to make up for the stick."
"Obviously! Everyone knows that. The issue is this promotion application—it comes with a non-compete clause!"
Miyano frowned slightly, plopping down next to Tetsu with her arms crossed.
She was happy about Tetsu's promotion to vice-minister. After all, the salary would jump to over ten million yen annually, firmly placing him in the elite white-collar class. But the problem was, at NTsoft, a vice-minister led a mid-to-large studio independently and had to sign a non-compete agreement!
Sensing her concern, Tetsu shook his head with a smile, slid his arm across the couch, and pulled her into his embrace. "It's not like there's a clause saying I can't work in the industry for years after leaving. Worst case, I pay a penalty. No need to worry too much."
Non-compete clauses might seem like overbearing contracts, but unlike truly exploitative ones, they balanced strict penalties with equivalent rewards and were tied to supply-and-demand dynamics.
Asai was promoting Tetsu because The Binding of Isaac was a massive hit. To minimize company losses, Asai had funneled profits into marketing, increasing costs and reducing Tetsu's bonuses while boosting the game's influence in Europe and America.
In short, Asai was worried Tetsu might get fed up and leave!
Right now, Asai was the one begging Tetsu to take the promotion and sign the non-compete. Naturally, the agreement wouldn't be too draconian.
One option was a clause prohibiting Tetsu from working in gaming for X years after leaving, plus a penalty, but it came with a promise: NTsoft would fund a game with a multi-million-dollar budget for Tetsu, with a bonus if sales hit a certain threshold.
The other option had no work restriction period but included a penalty and lower rewards: NTsoft would fund two games with three-million-dollar budgets each, with a smaller bonus for hitting sales targets.
The first option offered a higher bonus percentage, but either way, the non-compete's bonus structure was far more generous than standard contracts.
For Tetsu, this solved the problem.
The non-compete might cost him five eggs, but he could use it to make NTsoft, the old hen, lay fifty eggs while only paying for five!
Of course, NTsoft would still profit more in the end. But what could he do? He wasn't born with a silver spoon. Who doesn't take a few losses in the early stages of building something from scratch?
[Gather resources, bide time, and strike when ready!]
Tetsu had thought this through clearly.
Seeing no trace of resistance on his face, Miyano's cool expression softened into a faint smile of approval. "Alright, I was just worried you'd act impulsively and clash with Asai. Big companies like NTsoft don't take kindly to employees who 'defect.' Without enough capital, we'd be at their mercy if they came after us."
"I know. I'm not an idiot."
The workplace was a jungle, plain and simple. Asai might seem friendly now, but just like with The Binding of Isaac, when profits were at stake, he'd show his fangs. Once Tetsu finished Sekiro and took his team to start a "Souls-like" project elsewhere, Asai's retaliation was predictable.
It'd come down to whose teeth were sharper.
Tetsu shook his head with a grin, shifting focus. He turned to Miyano, eyeing the pale skin at the collar of her blouse.
A soft sniff.
"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? This is the office!"
Caught off guard by the ticklish sensation on her neck, Miyano, holding her oolong tea, shivered and shot Tetsu an annoyed glare.
But her fierce look, which could make someone like Kawaguchi quake, had no effect on Tetsu.
Playing with her silky hair, Tetsu grinned. "What am I doing? I seem to recall someone in the film crew promising to show me twin tails. I didn't misremember, did I?"
"...I said tomorrow!"
Twin tails—she'd never worn twin tails in her life. Miyano's eyes flashed with embarrassment, but Tetsu was unfazed, twirling her hair. "Tomorrow? That's a workday. You sure you want to play that kind of cosplay with even more people around?"
"...!"
More people!
Imagining herself in twin tails in front of the company staff, Miyano shuddered. But as she felt Tetsu's hand slide to her curvy waist, recalling his strong silhouette from last night, her embarrassment gave way to a flicker of desire.
"Fine, I get it! But just this once!"
With an exasperated glare, her cheeks flushed, Miyano stomped back to the boss's desk in her heels, yanking the curtains shut with a whoosh. Turning around, she faced away, letting her neatly pinned hair fall loose.
"Nice hair."
Tetsu's eyes lit up. Miyano's hair wasn't as long as Himawari's waist-length locks, but it was past her shoulders, and more importantly, it didn't look like the hair of a thirty-year-old woman—it gleamed under the office lights.
But...
"That pose is way too tempting!"
To tie her hair, Miyano raised her arms, causing her blouse to lift slightly.
As her blouse rose, revealing the curve of her lower back, wrapped in a tight skirt, her shapely hips, sheer black stockings, and the high heels on her delicate feet, Tetsu couldn't help but swallow hard, his gaze fixed.
"Hmph, bet you're smitten, you little wolf!"
Feeling his heated stare, Miyano's eyes sparkled with shy pride. Her lips, holding a hair tie, curled into a smug smile. But as the room grew quiet, with only the sound of the hair tie snapping and the clock ticking, and as she sensed Tetsu's increasingly heavy breathing and intense gaze, a pink haze clouded her eyes.
"That jerk—I'll make him kneel at my feet someday!"
Lost in her flustered thoughts, she finished tying one ponytail and was about to turn when she was suddenly pressed against the floor-to-ceiling window!
Unexpected yet somehow anticipated, Miyano's cool, sharp eyes widened in shock. Before she could react, her face was turned to the side.
Her soft waist was gripped tightly by his left hand, her face firmly tilted by his right, her entire body enveloped in Tetsu's embrace from behind.
"What are you—mmph—"
Before she could finish, her lips were sealed with a kiss.
Hot breath grazed her nose, the forceful kiss making her eyes widen instantly.
But soon, overwhelmed by his crushing strength and the cold glass against her upper body, her cool face flushed red, her eyes growing hazy as she let out soft whimpers.
"You bad guy."
"Shut up!"
"Ugh—"
A passionate kiss.
It was the weekend, the company nearly empty, the corridors silent. The minister's office was just as quiet, filled only with the sounds of their closeness and the ticking clock.
After a long moment, their lips parted.
"Help me."
Utterly limp, Miyano collapsed into Tetsu's arms. Looking at his heavy breathing so close, her eyes were dreamy, her breath soft as orchids. "You sneak-attacked me, you big wolf."
She teased, but seeing the fire in Tetsu's eyes, a shy glint passed through hers. Turning, she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his collarbone deeply and teasing, "How do you want me to help—mmph—"
Her playful words were cut off as Tetsu kissed her again, guiding her right hand upward.
Hiss—
---
Much later.
"You guys always need a smoke afterward, huh?"
In the minister's office, smoke lingered in the air. Freshly washed, Miyano plopped next to Tetsu, snatching the cigarette from his mouth for a drag.
Leaning back on the couch, Tetsu laughed. "Don't act like you're some expert. With your technique, if you were in Kabukicho, you wouldn't get a single repeat customer."
"...! You're asking for it!"
Stung by the jab, Miyano shoved the cigarette back into his mouth. "You're just salty because I didn't... you know, help you with that earlier, so now you're being all snarky!"
"I'm just stating facts. But no rush—you're not getting away."
"Tch, don't get too cocky! With my looks, if I wanted, I could—ugh, forget it, I'm done with this topic."
The conversation veered into sensitive territory, and Miyano shot him an embarrassed glare before standing and heading to the boss's desk. "You sure about signing this contract? I'll go register it then."
"Yeah."
Nodding, Tetsu watched Miyano brush her hair back as she walked to the desk. He took a final drag, stubbed out the cigarette, and stared at the smoke curling around the [Promotion Application]. His eyes glazed over briefly before heijji shot him a scornful grin.
"NTsoft's youngest vice-minister?"
"Tch, don't underestimate a man's ambition, Asai."