Foiled at the Welcome Feast
As Shinone Misano had mentioned the day before, today was the welcome dinner to celebrate my joining the company. She stood in front of the team right before quitting time and said, “Everyone, please help Taira Ryuta adjust smoothly. And since the company is covering the costs for tonight’s dinner, you can all just show up.”
“Whoa~!”
The team erupted in excitement. Japanese company culture usually required employees to chip in for after-work gatherings, so the news that everything was being covered had them all thrilled. Of course, this was all thanks to Taira Yukiko’s support, but only Shinone Misano knew that.
“We’ll meet at Enkyo.”
“Enkyo sounds perfect~!”
One of the male employees got overly excited at Shinone Misano’s suggestion. It was apparently the name of a restaurant. When I asked Mimata Chieri, she told me it was a Chinese restaurant and bar nearby. The way they kept saying “Enkyo, Enkyo” made me think they meant “Enko.” As in compensated dating. Enko sounds good~! I nearly had a heart attack. Of course I’d misheard, but still.
While everyone else was buzzing about the free meal, my expert senses picked up on something strange. I saw Kurakake Kuma, the deputy team leader, pull something out of his bag and slip it into his pocket. Huh? Wasn’t that…?
I recognized it from the game. It was definitely a sleep spray. In the game it was used for stealth missions—knocking out homeowners to steal documents and the like. But if your physical resistance stat or mental will stat was high enough, you could overcome the effect. I remembered that an average of 9.5 or higher in those stats gave you a 100% chance to resist. Since my combined resistance and will averaged 10, even if that bald bastard tried to use it on me, it would be completely ineffective. That was a huge advantage.
But why was he bringing it? Self-defense? No, that didn’t add up.
“Hurry up, Junior~!”
I’d been standing there thinking about the spray for too long. Almost everyone had already left the office. Mimata Chieri grabbed my hand and pulled me out after them.
“What were you thinking about back there?”
“Oh, just some work stuff.”
“Today’s your welcome party, Junior! Save the work thoughts for later~!”
Enkyo, the Chinese restaurant-slash-bar, was naturally close to the Human Resources Development Center. It was walking distance, so no one minded. The reserved table was a large round one. When we sat down in order, Mimata Chieri—my senior—took the seat to my right, while Shinone Misano, who had arrived first, sat on my left. What incredible luck, being sandwiched between two beautiful women.
A quick glance showed the others didn’t think much of it, but Kurakake Kuma was staring at me with clear resentment on his face. Because we’d reserved ahead, the drinks and individual meals came out immediately, with the side dishes promised to follow soon. Most people ordered beer. Three chose something different: Mimata Chieri got a lemon sour, Shinone Misano—surprisingly—ordered sweet potato shochu and drank it straight in a glass without mixing it with water. What a total badass. Finally, Kurakake Kuma ordered chu-hi, which somehow didn’t suit him at all. Everyone else stuck with beer.
“To Taira Ryuta’s new life at the company!”
“Cheers!”
Hmm. Being the center of attention like this was a little embarrassing. As the team drank and the mood grew lively, people started talking to me. The first question, of course, was whether my “Taira” was the Taira family. When I nodded, the employees around me went “Ooh~! Royal! Royal!” and made a big fuss. Only Kurakake Kuma snorted in disbelief.
No matter how distant a relative I might be, I was still part of the main Taira bloodline. What gave him the nerve to openly disrespect me like that? Did he have backing from one of my uncles or aunts? That didn’t make sense either. This Human Resources Development Center had been one of the core organizations that fully supported my late father, Taira Saburo. There was no way a spy for another successor could act so blatantly inside it. He probably just assumed I was lying.
I shot Kurakake Kuma a mocking smile and focused on the gathering. I asked about work-related things that interested me and built rapport with the other employees while drinking. As Shinone Misano and Mimata Chieri got progressively drunker, their physical contact with me increased. They’d laugh and slap my arm or thigh, or squeeze my muscles while saying “Flex for me!”—basically groping me like sleazy old men. If an unattractive auntie had done it, I would’ve internally screamed about sexual harassment and reported it to HR, but since both of them were genuine beauties, I stayed quiet. Go ahead and touch all you want. I’ll just return the favor later.
Kurakake Kuma was the kind of abnormal person who read manga and tried to copy it in real life, but he prided himself on having the greatest patience in the world. That was why he could sit there calmly while the women who would soon belong to him—Shinone Misano and Mimata Chieri—flirted and giggled with Taira Ryuta.
Kurakake Kuma often thought of himself as a bear, just like his name suggested. A bear that chased its prey to the very end with relentless patience, showed savage ferocity when the target was in front of it, and possessed the cunning to drive that prey into a corner. That was exactly who he was.
There was a reason he’d ordered chu-hi. Kurakake Kuma didn’t see company dinners as opportunities for team bonding. To him, they were simply one of his hunting methods. Ordering chu-hi made others think he was a lightweight, lowering their guard. And since he got relatively less drunk than his targets, it was the perfect drink for hunting women.
“I’m going to… the bathroom…”
When Shinone Misano, who had been downing sweet potato shochu, staggered off to the restroom, Kurakake Kuma felt the moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived. But he didn’t make the mistake of standing up immediately after her. He counted exactly to thirty in his head before rising. The sleep spray in his inner pocket felt reassuringly solid.
Kurakake Kuma headed toward the restroom and waited for Shinone Misano to emerge.
“Huh…? Deputy team leader?”
With clouded eyes, Shinone Misano looked at him. Kurakake Kuma sprayed the sleep mist directly into her face. She couldn’t fight the overwhelming drowsiness and collapsed. Success. Now he just had to tell the team he would take her home…!
In truth, Kurakake Kuma had agonized over which of the two—Shinone Misano or Mimata Chieri—to use the drug on. Both were so tempting… He had already begun thinking of them as his women. In the end, he chose Shinone Misano because she had more vulnerabilities.
Kurakake Kuma believed that the more someone possessed, the more weaknesses they had. Shinone Misano was a team leader. She was also another man’s wife. If he took photos of them having sex and used them to blackmail her, she was far more likely to become obedient than Mimata Chieri. Her position and her marriage would become the very chains that bound her.
Once she accepted it the first time, it would be over. After that, he was confident he could turn her into his slave using the sex techniques he had perfected over nearly ten years by training with the wives of superiors and subordinates. Mimata Chieri, on the other hand, seemed like someone he would need to slowly gaslight and break down with authority rather than a sudden sleep-spray operation. After all, if he took photos after drugging her, she had nothing to lose and would probably report him to the police.
This method wasn’t Kurakake Kuma’s usual approach, so it felt unfamiliar, but everyone had to start somewhere. Once he succeeded once, he could keep succeeding. He planned to make that first success happen with Mimata Chieri later.
Enough thinking about Mimata Chieri. For now, he had to deal with this woman, Shinone Misano.
Kurakake Kuma draped Shinone Misano’s arm around his neck and supported her by sliding his right hand behind her back and under her armpit. Up close, he could smell the scent of a female in heat. It had been so long that his panties were soaked with the precum leaking from his erect cock. With an expression that was half surprised and half serious, he helped the unconscious woman back to the round table where the dinner was taking place.
“This is bad. Shinone seems really drunk. I found her passed out in the hallway on the way to the bathroom. As deputy leader, I think I should take her home.”
Everyone agreed, saying they should get her home quickly. Everyone except one person. Taira Ryuta shook his head.
“Still, this is a welcome dinner. The team leader got drunk, so the deputy leader should stay and hold down the fort. As the youngest here, I’ll take the team leader home.”
Taira Ryuta’s words were perfectly logical. Someone in charge needed to remain at a drinking party. Kurakake Kuma ground his teeth. That bastard I’ve hated since the beginning!
When Kurakake Kuma tried to argue, his phone suddenly rang. Using the hand that wasn’t supporting Shinone Misano, he checked it and saw a Line message from Taira Ryuta. When he opened it, there was a perfectly timed photo of him spraying the sleep mist on Shinone Misano.
You son of a bitch…!
That distant Taira family brat was blackmailing him with a photo. Kurakake Kuma had blackmailed countless women with pictures over the years, but he had never been the one on the receiving end. Forcing a smile, he nodded.
“You’re right. You should take her.”
It was his complete defeat. His future at the company was ruined. If that kid sent the photo to the police, Kurakake Kuma would have no choice but to go to prison. He watched with anxious eyes as Taira Ryuta carried the unconscious Shinone Misano away.