CH 34

Friday.

Today, I was leaving for a business trip for three days and two nights.

When I arrived at the airport, I completed the ticketing procedures and sat down on a bench in front of the boarding gate.

Then Otomizu arrived with a small suitcase in her hand.

As soon as she saw me, her eyes widened and she gave me her best smile.

Otomizu came running up to me like a kitten and deeply bowed her head.

“Sasamiya-san, good morning!!”

“Oh, good morning, Otomizu.”

It was unusual for someone to greet me so enthusiastically at the airport, but I would rather welcome a cute innocent like Otomizu.

Even without favoritism, Otomizu was cute.

I believe it was not only her appearance but also the cheerful atmosphere she possessed that kept her from losing half of her charm despite being in a suit.

However, other men might want to pat her on the head.

I didn’t feel comfortable with that. Not at all.

“I’ll sit next to you.”

“Yeah.”

“Fufufu~. I think I should be the one to sit next to Sasamiya-san.”

“Do as you please.”

“Yes. I’ll stay next to you as long as you like.”

If Yuika were here, she would have said, “This is a love confession”.

But Otomizu was unaware of it and said this kind of thing without hesitation.

Maybe some guys could get the wrong idea and their marbles crushed.

If I hadn’t been in the position of a trainer, I would have quickly thought she had a thing for me.

Good grief. … This is why not thinking is such a problem.

But … well, … But I still feel happy about it, so I’m not too disappointed.

“By the way, Sasamiya-san. There are a lot of strange souvenirs at airport stores.”

“That’s right.”

“I saw some unusual sweets on sale earlier, so I bought some. Look at this.”

“Oh. What kind is it?”

Otomizu took out a common chocolate chip cookie, which contained about six individually wrapped cookies.

If it was just sweets, you would probably wonder what was so unusual about these.

However.. 

I took a closer look at the name of the product, and I was astonished.

The name of the product was―― ‘Cheating Man Demolition Cookies!!’

And the man in the illustration was on his knees, crying, with his face beaten to a pulp.

What a surreal sweet …

“What do you think? Don’t you think it’s cute?”

“I don’t think so at all.”

“I’ll give one to Sasamiya-san.”

“O… Oh, thank you.”

I often thought that women used the word “cute” in the wrong …… way. Definitely wrong.

For some reason, when I looked at Otomizu with the cheating man-destroying cookie, she smiled at me.

I wonder what it was.

I felt as if I had been warned in a roundabout way.

But …, I checked the time and looked around.

It was already time to meet, but the other members hadn’t arrived. I wondered what was going on.

“Everybody’s late.”

“… Oh.”

There were five of us on the trip.

In addition to me and Otomizu, other team members were supposed to come, but the meeting time had already passed.

It was nothing if it was just one member, but it was strange for all three members to be late. 

Could it be that we were at the wrong meeting place?

Worried, I sent a message to my senior colleague who was going with me.

Soon after, the senior staff member called me back.

“Hey! Sasamiya! What is it? You’re afraid to fly and want to hear my voice before you leave? You’re so cute!”

This overly energetic person was Konno-san, my senior and the leader of the other team.

She was a successful employee with a wolf cut haircut.

“No, that’s not it. … Konno-san and her team are traveling with us, right?”

“Hmmm? Didn’t you hear? Yesterday, my team had some trouble. I can’t go on the business trip.”

“…Didn’t know that.”

There was always a lot of trouble in event work.

It was not uncommon for the staff to not show up on the day of the event, or for equipment to break down on the day.

The fact that she had to cancel her business trip meant that she might have been busy all night.

But Konno-san was in high spirits and laughing.

“Well, I think I can handle it. Don’t worry about it. See you later!”

After greeting me with no sign of fatigue, she hung up the phone.

So, two of us would have to do the work of five people.

We started by greeting the local staff and the stores where the event would be held, then we discussed our opinions and revised the manual. Finally, we had to add supplementary information.

It was a lot of work, and we didn’t have enough time. 

This was a lot of work.

“Ah, …, Sasamiya-san.”

I didn’t know why Otomizu spoke with me so hesitantly.

She must be worried about Konno-san and the others suddenly not being able to come.

As a reliable senior, I had to reassure her.

“We’ll be fine. The time will be a little tight, but if we adjust the schedule, we can do it.”

“Oh, …, um, …. So is work. …”

“What’s up?”

“U-Us. We’re staying here alone today and tomorrow, right?”

“Oh. …”

Afterword–■

Next time: Happening at the inn after all!

Because it’s a romantic comedy.

(T/N: Posting resumes from today.)