First Day at the Talent Development Institute
“Hello. I’m Taira Ryuta, the new hire who just joined.”
I gave a polite bow as I introduced myself to the members of Education Support Team 2. The people already in the office wore expressions that clearly said Isn’t it too early for a new recruit? mixed with Taira? No way…? That suspicion was correct, but I saw no reason to confirm it for them. If anyone asked me directly, though, I was prepared to answer.
“I’m Shinone Misano, Team Leader of Education Support Team 2. Welcome to our team.”
Shinone Misano was a reassuring beauty with slightly sleepy eyes behind her glasses. She possessed an outrageously curvaceous figure—enormous breasts and wide, fertile hips that aggressively stimulated the male gaze. She took me around the office and introduced me to the team. Only two people stood out enough for me to commit to memory: Mimata Chieri, my direct senior, and Kurakake Kuma, the deputy team leader.
Mimata Chieri gave off an incredibly refreshing, bubbly vibe. She had the kind of bright, idol-like appearance that earned her the label “juicy beauty,” and since she was my senior, we’d be spending a lot of time together. I needed to remember her. Kurakake Kuma, on the other hand, was a bald, middle-aged man in his late forties with a creepy, large-framed build and glasses. The blatant hostility rolling off him was impossible to miss, so I burned his face into my mind as a precaution. Besides, remembering the names and faces of people who disliked me would make it easier to repay them later. The fact that he already hated me suggested he knew I belonged to the Taira family. Was it because I’d been dropped in here like a parachute?
“Mimata Chieri, please take good care of Taira Ryuta.”
“Yeees~!”
Even her voice was refreshingly bright. True to her idol-like looks, Mimata Chieri had a firm, slender figure. At a glance, her chest seemed to be around a B-cup. The way she waved at me while smiling felt like a much-needed cleanse for my eyes after having to look at Kurakake Kuma’s rotten face.
“Taira~! Come sit over here.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Mimata Chieri patted the empty seat beside her with an enthusiastic pat-pat. So that was my spot. The moment I sat down where she’d indicated, she turned to me with a bright “Hehe~” and a wide smile.
“Taira, is your Taira the Taira family, by any chance?”
She’d said the word “Taira” four times in one breath, but the meaning was obvious: Are you actually part of the royal family?
“Yes. It’s not something I particularly want to brag about, but with a surname like this, it’s impossible to hide.”
“Hahaha, I guess so! Anyway, I’ll show you what we do in the morning. Then we can grab lunch together~!”
She was almost excessively cheerful. Was this her natural personality? It felt a bit mismatched with someone like me—a former gloomy gamer. Still, it was definitely better than someone dark and irritable.
“Our team, Education Support Team 2, does exactly what the name suggests. We prepare educational materials and supplies for people who’ve just joined the company and come to the Talent Development Institute, or for executives and directors who’ve been promoted and are receiving training here. We also organize the personal information of new hires undergoing training and report any notable details to upper management. Occasionally we get called over to help the main education team when they’re short-staffed, so we’re pretty much the most versatile department in the entire institute.”
It didn’t sound particularly difficult. The educational materials were probably already written; I’d just need to edit them. Supplies could be ordered. Organizing every new hire’s personal data might be a bit tedious, but they wouldn’t dump that on someone who literally just started, right?
“What kind of work do you do when you help the education team?”
“Assisting with lectures, helping run recreational activities—that sort of thing. If you go help them, Taira, everyone’s going to love it. You’re so handsome.”
Mimata Chieri giggled while looking at my face. Hmm… Being good-looking really is the best. It never gets old. It was a sensation I’d never experienced before my possession, but now that it was mine, I was slowly getting used to it and learning to enjoy the perks.
“Won’t the male employees dislike it?”
“The guys will be too busy eyeing the female employees to even notice you.”
Mimata Chieri patiently taught me the details of our duties. Thankfully, she said they wouldn’t make the new guy fetch coffee, but apparently copying documents and sending faxes was all on me. Come on. Why were they still using faxes instead of email? I couldn’t understand Japanese corporate culture’s stubborn attachment to technology that should have been obsolete long ago. Still, as a powerless newcomer with no faction behind me, I had no choice but to do as I was told.
“Ah~! It’s lunchtime! Let’s go eat!”
The moment Mimata Chieri grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the office, the male employees shot me looks full of pure hatred. It wasn’t like I’d grabbed her hand first, so I felt a little wronged. Actually, the pleasant softness of her hand outweighed any sense of injustice by a large margin.
“There are three cafeterias in the Talent Development Institute. First is the large cafeteria used by the trainees who come here for education. Then there’s the employee cafeteria for regular staff, and finally the executive cafeteria used by directors and executives who come for training. I heard only team-leader level and above can use the executive one. I’ve never been there, hehe, but the employee cafeteria is still really good.”
The employee cafeteria used a kiosk system where you scanned your employee ID, chose between Western or Japanese food, and even selected portion size. Let’s see… Western was meatball spaghetti, Japanese was oyakodon. The name “parent-child bowl” sounded a bit lewd, so I decided to go with the large oyakodon. When Mimata Chieri saw me click the large size, she spoke up.
“The portions here are pretty big. You might not finish a large one.”
“I’m a big eater. I need to eat this much to maintain a body like this.”
After hearing me, she squeezed my forearm and nodded. Her face was filled with pure innocence, completely free of any lewd intentions.
“With muscles like these, you must burn an incredible amount of calories every day.”
“Exactly. If I ate like a normal person, I’d get hungry again in no time.”
“Then… I’ll have the meatball spaghetti~!”
When we handed over the tickets we’d printed from the kiosk at the Japanese counter, the lunch lady gave me a look that said, Would you look at that? It’s been a while since someone ordered the large size. She then served my oyakodon in an exaggeratedly huge bowl that looked like it could be used for washing your face. Several side dishes and a bowl of soup came with it.
“Thank you~!”
I thanked her, picked up my tray, and sat down across from Mimata Chieri, who was waving me over. She seemed to have ordered a medium meatball spaghetti, but the portion was still quite large. When I looked slightly surprised, she laughed awkwardly with an “Ehehe.”
“Actually, I eat quite a lot for a girl, hehe.”
“I see. By the way, Senior… would it be okay if I called you that?”
I hadn’t needed to address her directly until now, but it was time to settle on a title, so I asked carefully. The word “Senior” seemed to please her greatly; she nodded so vigorously she looked like a dog wagging its tail like a propeller.
“Senior, Senior…! I love it! In our education team we usually just use last names because we’re divided into team member, deputy leader, and leader, but the word ‘Senior’ has such a thrilling ring to it! Maybe it’s because I went to an all-girls school and never got to hear a guy call me that?”
Hmm. All-girls school. I filed that information away.
“Then I’ll call you Senior. Mimata-senpai.”
“Oh my♡ Enjoy your meal~ Junior!”
I picked up my spoon, scooped up some oyakodon, and put it in my mouth. Hmm…! Excellent. The slightly rich sweet-and-savory sauce was perfectly balanced by the soft-boiled egg, and the chicken had great texture—clearly high quality. There was even a hint of torch flavor, so I figured I could easily finish this massive portion.
“Um, Junior?”
“Yes?”
When I looked at Mimata Chieri, who was calling me in a slightly shy voice, I saw she was holding two small plates that she must have grabbed at some point.
“Want to trade some?”
She really did love to eat. I was also curious about the meatball spaghetti, so I nodded. I took one of the plates she offered and piled it high with the oyakodon bowl. Since my portion was so large, even a generous scoop barely made a dent.
“Here you go.”
“Yeees. Here, try some of my meatball spaghetti too.”
I handed over the oyakodon and received the spaghetti from her. She’d given me quite a lot of it as well.
I tried the spaghetti noodles first, then the meatballs. It was also excellent. I’d assumed the meatballs were frozen, but they tasted homemade. When I bit into one, rich juices from high-grade beef burst out and mixed with the tomato sauce in my mouth, creating a deep, luxurious flavor. No matter which dish I’d chosen today, I wouldn’t have regretted it.
“The meatball spaghetti is delicious, right?”
“See? The oyakodon is great too!”
Trading really had been the correct choice. I ate my lunch with gusto while making sure not to look too gluttonous.
“Junior, let’s share again next time. Hehe.”
“Unless either of us has some special schedule, how about we eat lunch together every day?”
“Y-yeah, I’d love that!”
Mimata Chieri looked far too happy about it. Hmm. Did she not have any close colleagues in the team? As if sensing my question, she spoke up a little bashfully.
“Actually, I haven’t been in Education Support Team 2 for very long. I used to work at the Taira Foundation.”
The Taira Foundation ranked much lower within the group than the Talent Development Institute. After all, it was a charitable foundation created by the money-obsessed megacorp known as the Taira Group, existing purely for tax benefits. In contrast, the Talent Development Institute was a highly desired workplace that every Taira Group employee wanted to join, so its internal ranking was very high. She must have been promoted from there. Considering she’d jumped straight from the foundation to here, she clearly had real ability.
The original members of Education Support Team 2 had probably rejected her at first, thinking something like Why is a fourth-rank trying to sit at the sixth-rank table?
“I’ll be counting on you from now on, Senior.”
“Hehe! Let’s trade lunches again tomorrow.”