“Tell me, tell me... What did you guys think about the movie?”

““...””

The three of us were eating a late lunch at a small isolated cafe, and discussing random things, well, the latter has been the trend for the past few hours. It was currently 3 PM on the same day. After getting out of the house, we realized that we hadn’t planned anything, so we just walked on the unusually quiet streets, due to the intense heat I suppose.

We just roamed around, seeking an activity to do, so we settled on watching a movie. It was a romance-oriented movie, so Minami and I were quite hesitant on watching it due to our unrequited love situation. However, Chiaki was quite adamant, so we reluctantly accepted, and went along with our friend’s teary-eyed request.

And let me just say, it was a terrible decision. The poster of the movie, which depicted only the main character with one girl, ended up deceiving us. The story was about a love-triangle and quite the complicated one at that. After about 20 minutes into the movie, we understood the reason behind Chiaki’s stubbornness. The unavoidable awkward atmosphere persisted between Minami and me throughout the movie, and that awkwardness has still not dissipated.

The reason for this awkwardness wouldn’t just be the aspect of the love-triangle, the more concerning part was how relatable the movie’s storyline was to our situation. In the movie, two beautiful girls, who also happened to be best friends, fell in love with the same guy, who couldn’t be described as the popular type. In the end, instead of rejecting both of them like we had been expecting him to, he ended up accepting one of them as he had developed feelings for her, and the other girl was left depressed and devastated.

“Tell me~ Tell me~ Silence won’t do~”

Chiaki, we can see that sarcastic smirk behind the latte cup. She’s been like this ever since the movie ended. Even during the movie, she had this satisfied expression on her face, which ended up annoying both Minami and myself. She had already watched this movie with her sister last week, and the only reason she made us watch the movie was so that we could have this conversation.

“It… was a good movie, isn’t that so, Miya?”

It was clear how awkward it was for Minami to be answering this particular question, and that would be because the character that resembled her, got brutally rejected. I watched her make some interesting expressions today.

“No comments. You know, my brother has this meeting with this super-important guy tonight, he’s been freaking out for the past week, he looks like a girl who has a date with her crush.”

I realized the irony behind my words after I had articulated them.

“Your brother, huh? He’s hot.”

Chiaki said so with a matter-of-fact voice and then proceeded to take a bite out of her huge burger.

“I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but I can’t disagree.”

Minami said with an accepting expression printed on her face.

“Really!?”

I mean… sure?

““He’s a male version of Miya.””

You don’t need to be in perfect sync like that! I mean, as his sister, I can’t see him that way, but I understand where they are coming from. He’s handsome and intelligent. He has always been popular. Ever since middle school, he’s had, multiple girlfriends. Even now, I believe he is dating a girl from his college.

“I wonder if I should take it as a compliment or not…”

I say so and stuff my face with the white pasta which was beautifully arranged on my plate.

“Yeah, about that, we never had the ‘talk’, so to speak…”

It was Minami who said that after a momentary look at Chiaki.

Hm… I wonder what this is about…?

“Listen to Miya… You’re beautiful, and we know that you already realize that… But let me just tell you how beautiful you are…”

After that one line, I received an hour-long lecture where Chiaki and Minami analyzed each of my body parts quite thoroughly, and the most embarrassing part of it all was the fact that the guys who were staring at me were secretly nodding in agreement to the girl’s opinions. I am kinda used to the stare of the opposite sex, so I am not overly conscious about it, but if they get involved in a weird and embarrassing conversation like this, it just creeps me out.

After we got out of the cafe at about 4 PM, with seemingly nothing to do, we decided to head over to my house, which was the closest one to our location. After boarding a train and riding down two stations, we got off and walked to my house at a slow pace, taking in the evening breeze seemed heavenly after spending half the day in overwhelming heat.

We reached my residence at around 5 PM, after ringing the doorbell, my mother arrived at the door and received us with a smile. My mother has been an acquaintance of Chiaki’s for quite a while, Chiaki’s basically my guardian, so she’s been similar to a second daughter of the Kobayashi family since we were in elementary school.

As we moved through the house and finally arrived in the living room, the sight of my brother in an expensive suit with his hair perfectly arranged and his body covered in a sweet aroma came into sight. He was sitting on the couch with his legs folded, the new pair of shoes he bought exclusively for this ‘meeting’, were showing their glamorous presence on his feet.

“Yeah, your brother is hot.”

“I still love Takumi… But yeah, can’t disagree.”

I can’t disagree with this situation either. But not poking fun at him in this situation would be unbecoming of a sister. I move into the living room with Minami and Chiaki in tow, we settle down on the three-person couch and the girls greet my brother.

“Kozue-san, been a while.”

Chiaki has been playing with us since we were little, so she has quite a long history with him.

“Kobayashi-san, long time no see.”

Minami bows and greets my brother, her flesh jiggles in front of his eyes, but he seems completely uninterested… Tch, I was gonna Minami as bait and make fun of him.

“Yeah. Hey, you two.”

His greeting seemed a little dispirited and nervous, and the same was true for his smile.

“Miya, you were right! He does seem like a girl who’s about to go to her first date.”

Hehe. I know right!

“Nii-san, isn’t this meeting of yours at 7 PM? It’s not even 5.30 right now…”

“Well… all the invited recruits from my department have decided to meet an hour before to calm our nerves, and ‘get a lay of the land’, so to speak.”

Hey, if you give such a serious answer, it won’t be fun, y’know.

“What kinda battlefield are you going to Kozue-san?”

“It’s the battlefield of life, Minami-chan, battlefield of life.”

Don’t speak like some kind of philosopher. And why are you making such an understanding expression Minami!?

After we conversed with my brother for about five minutes, trying our best to calm him down, he got his briefcase and departed in a cab.

After he left the house, we spent our time playing board games, and of course, talking about Takumi. At about 8 PM, we all had a nice dinner, my father had also returned, so it was a nice family dinner with Chiaki and Minami included. I asked my mother to refrain from revealing my love life to my father because he can be somewhat paranoid about things like that.

I went along with Chiaki and Minami to see them off till the station and returned home to jump into my bed after changing out of my clothes and brushing my teeth.

“I am leaving.”

I am standing at the grandiose door of my house, it is currently around 10 AM, and the ones seeing me off are the resident princess and… the resident freeloader?

Well… I made lunch for Fumiya and Sana, took Sana out on a walk, did the laundry (well, the AI did.), helped Fumiya with his homework, gave him instructions for when Miyuki comes by, prepared an extra room for Miyuki ( even though I know that she’s going to sleep together with me), got some accounting done, and many other activities. I wonder if I am turning into a workaholic?

Woof Wo~oof

Sana is upset at my inevitable departure, but she is very well trained and extremely sweet, so she doesn’t normally throw a tantrum when I go to work. She just looks at me with those moist, and authentic puppy-dog eyes, so it becomes extremely difficult for me to leave. Her partner in crime is always the freeloader, Fumiya. He says that he becomes lonely when I am not around, but I can’t take him with me today, I am going to be quite busy, and there’s that Miyuki’s matter as well. When I suggested him to go hang out with our other friends, he said, “I can’t go out without you!”, and then proceeded to sit on the sofa in a grumpy position.

I had no time to elevate his mood, so I just bribed him with a full-course Italian cuisine feast, hand-made from scratch by me. His mood recovered instantly and he regained his sense of reason and obedience.

“Listen, if there’s even a single scratch on Sana’s mind or body, you’ll be spending the night outside. Depending on the damage, it can change to ‘nights’, or even ‘forever’.”

Hearing my words, he flinched and looked at me with wavering eyes.

“How are you going to make me sleep outside for the rest of my life?”

“By putting you in a coffin. I said ‘forever’, not ‘for life’.”

He managed to muster up what little courage he had to utter those words of sarcasm. To which I replied in a deadpan voice, and at this point, he was shivering.

“Ah! It’s not that bad, I’ll join you in about eighty years or so…”

“I understand, Takumi-sama. I will take care of everything.”

“Fine. See ya.”

I waved my hands to them and left through the front door. I walked to the end of the marble path leading up to my mansion and boarded the Rolls-Royce waiting for me on the road. I was wearing the shirt of my suit, the jacket was in my hand. Currently, it was just one car that arrived to receive me, but more cars will join us as we close the distance to our location, and they would stay with us for the rest of the day. Apparently, ‘sniper assassination is pretty common nowadays’, or something. Well… it’s not like I particularly mind the security detail. Better safe than sorry, I guess.

Inside the car were three people in total: the driver, Riku-san, and my other secretary- Sawada Kyoko-san. I have a total number of three secretaries, and each of them work pretty hard for my sake. There was this one time when all of them said, “Huh, company? We have zero attachment to it… We do what we do solely for our boss… If he were to leave this company, then we would do so as well, and stay by his side… But we can’t tell him that… Too embarrassing…”, I overheard this conversation. And apparently, Christmas came early for them that year.

“‘Sup, Takumi!”

“Good morning, Takumi-kun.”

Kyoko was in high energy while Riku-san was in her professional mode, the same scene as always I guess.

“Yo Kyoko, you seem quite energetic today. Ah~ A very good morning to you as well, Riku-san.”

I greeted them as I took my seat which was beside Kyoko, and the opposite to the one which Riku-san occupied.

“I’ve been wondering for the past year… What’s with this obvious difference in treatment?”

You’ll find out soon enough. Riku-san is a very nice and hardworking person, but she is a bit serious and uptight, well, one can probably infer that from her appearance. She has the typical appearance of a secretary: pony-tail hair, glasses, light makeup, suit which looks right at home, and a very erotic body. However, when she lets loose, she becomes a monster, and that’s when we can hold an actual conversation.

“Leaving that aside, Takumi-kun, we are going to be at least an hour late to a board of directors meeting!”

“Ah~ Don’t stress about it too much Riku-chan, those old farts just blabber for hours and then leave all the decision making to Takumi.”

And there’s the difference, Riku-san. Kyoko is the laziest among the three of them, but it is a proven fact that no one in the whole company can compare to her intellect and efficiency. The only person in the entire organization who overwhelms her in intellect and ability is me. It has been proven several times over, so the only one she takes orders from is myself. And honestly, she’s my spirit animal. I believe that the one statement from her is enough to justify that.

Before Riku-san could say anything, I interrupted.

“Hey, Kyoko, sorry if it’s rude, but you are 22 right?”

Kyoko is a very cheerful and energetic young lady. Her tongue is quite sharp, but she has the ability and intellect to back it up. She has a rather average stature of 165 centimeters with a hair color of red, and brown eyes. Her hair falls all the way down to the lower part of her back and sway each time she rotates her head. Her face is very cute and matches her age of 22 quite well, and like Riku-san and myself, she is also equipped with a suit with a skirt, which to be honest, doesn’t go well with her personality.

“Hm? It’s not rude at all though… You are my boss, y’know… Yeah, I’m 22 this year.”

“How about you marry me once I graduate from high school…?”

“!!!”

The one who gave an interesting reaction was Riku-san, her face contorted and had a very complicated expression printed on it.

“Listen, Takumi. Even if it was a joke, that gave me way too much hope. I imagined living a life filled with love and leisure by your side as a devoted wife.”

You lived through a whole life in a mere ten seconds!?

“Sometimes… even I get surprised at your inhumane processing speed.”

“In this situation… I’d say that it is a bad trait.”

While we were engrossed in our conversation as such, Riku-san had a troubled expression on her face which didn’t leave until I explicitly told her that it was just a joke.

After a while, we reached our destination, and I asked a very concerning question, which was hovering in my mind for quite a while.

“Hey, tell me, where is Akane?”

I asked Riku-san, who was walking beside me while explaining to me the agendas and concerns which will be discussed in today’s meeting.

“Oh, she is already present in the meeting room, you know how she is…”

She said and heaved a sigh of resignation.

“Yeah, you’re right. However, no matter what anyone says… She’ll be mine forever.”

“You make her sound like a pet who’ll live for as long as you will… I can’t disagree though. She is sweet and loyal.”

“She’s your fellow secretary… Please restrain yourself.”

After all three of us met up and prepared ourselves for the board meeting, we were welcomed into the room by none other than Akane. Akane is of about the same age as Kyoko, and she’s a perfect example of dignified beauty. She has refined movements, which resemble those of a samurai from ancient times.

Akane isn’t particularly smart or intellectually formidable, but her battle prowess is extremely potent. Not only her brute strength and her technique but also her battle sense and instinct are top-notch. She gives me, a boy who has been thoroughly trained in karate, martial arts, taekwondo, swordsmanship, various top-secret military combat techniques, and assassination, a run for my money. Her beauty and figure are nothing to look away from either. If I were to statistically analyze it, 9 out of 10 men would most definitely steal a long and lustful glance at Akane if they were to encounter her on the street.

Her silky hair of black color rolls down her back and reaches her waist. Her eyes, sharp as an eagle, have a certain charm alluring to them. Her body line is way too idealistic for a woman, if I were, to be honest, she’s got curves right where they’re needed, and her beautiful face which unusually doesn’t even have a single scar stands out even in a crowd of extremely beautiful women.

“Welcome, Takumi-sama, I hope your journey was all right.”

I’ve told her a million times to stop with the ‘sama’.

“Yup, Akane, it was good.”

Akane bows and gently removes the jacket of my suit off my shoulders. It was a pretty natural scene for everyone to witness, so nobody paid it much heed. The room in which the board meeting is being held is a very high-class room in this building of the Oracle company. This isn’t the headquarters of my company, on the contrary, it’s a rather new establishment. The reason why we decided to hold our meeting here, instead of the headquarters which was relatively closer to my home, was the sudden increase in criminal acts against big-shot businessmen. The thieves have been relentless.

I stood in front of the room. My seat was the one in the end, the head’s seat. So, before settling in and subconsciously absorbing the information while they talk, I decided to at least apologize for my laziness.

“I apologize for showing you people such an act of obvious tardiness. However, considering that I am here already, please don’t start all over again, let’s just continue from where you men left it off.”

I said so and bowed my head in courtesy, to which, the reaction seemed dull.

“Says the guy who has 90% of the company shares.”

“It’s fine Kawashima-kun, we’ve all gotten used to it.”

Such were the comments from the others as well. After a slight discussion, the unavoidable outcome arrived and I was declared in charge of every agenda discussed on the table. The minor number of advertisements promoting our company on the television, the lack of any new results in the research department- physics division, the low manufacturing of our new technology product which results in the price being elevated, and other such concerning matters.

While thinking about how to resolve these matters, we moved from the company building to the headquarters of the largest advertising agency in all of Japan. While there, I encountered many of the famous actresses and models whom I would sometimes see on the T.V. It was an annoyingly recurring occurrence, so I didn’t pay it much heed and focused on my work there. The Oracle Company and the Famous Studios were able to come to a very swift conclusion because of the kind cooperation of their heads. It was a sweet 100 million deal, in which, 10 different advertisements would be shot with the most trending models and actresses acting in them, and the advertisements will be displayed on many digital service platforms, including social media.

After the whole advertisement thing, we went to the headquarters of the technical department of our company. Honestly, I was hoping for some juicy new tech, but the only thing they said was to wait for about one more month and they would be finished with the prototype of a new mobile device. I ended up sending them extra funds because it seemed interesting, and the head of the technological department kept showing me his gratitude a little too intimately.

And now, finally, it’s the last event of the day… Dinner with the most interesting recruits.