Vice President WATAME's Rebellion: The Tsunomaki Hololive Takeover Plan! - Secret Operation in the Water Heater Room

A week had passed since then. A week since Marine joined the company. Every morning, as Watame brewed her coffee, she found herself lost in thought. The electric kettle in the break room gurgled noisily. Steam rose, fogging up the small window glass. (*A takeover, huh...*) Marine's words from a week ago swirled endlessly in her mind. Watame still remembered how Marine's golden eyes had gleamed like a hawk locking onto its prey. " Vice President, got an answer for me yet?" Suddenly, a voice whispered right by her ear. "Eep!" Watame jumped. The mug in her hands clattered loudly. She spun around to find Marine grinning mischievously. Her deep navy ponytail, like the sea itself, swayed behind her. The anchor tattoo on the back of her right hand stood out sharply under the fluorescent lights of the break room. " Day after day, I keep coming to ask if you've got an answer, and you just keep dodging me. It's been a week already. A whole week." Marine planted her hands on her hips and looked down at Watame. Marine was five centimeters taller. That difference felt impossibly large right now. "I-I'm not dodging you or anything..." " Then let's talk right here! Nobody comes to the break room. Works for me, right?" Marine reached behind her and closed the door. A soft *click* echoed through the room. Watame gripped her mug tightly. (*What do I do? I can't say no...*) Watame's heart was a complete mess. Taking over a company—something that huge. It was terrifying. But—she wanted to change. She wanted to put an end to these days of being bossed around by Fuwawa. That feeling had grown far stronger than it was a week ago. " Okay. Just... just listening, though." Watame gave a small nod. The fluffy sheep ears atop her head drooped flat. " Yes! That's what I like to hear—a sailor's word is her bond! ...Ah, well, I'm a woman, but still!" With that, Marine pulled out her smartphone. The screen displayed a colorful diagram. A whiteboard app. "Alright, Watame. These are the rules for a board resolution." Marine began tracing the diagram with her finger as she explained. "Kadomaki Company has five officers in total—the President, Fuwawa; the Vice President, which is you; the Chairman; the Accounting Manager, Nerissa; and an outside director from our parent company, Zeppeki HD. To change management policy, you need three votes. To fire the president, you need four." "O-Oh, I see..." " And here's the important part." Marine tapped her finger firmly on the words "Vice President" in the center of the diagram. "You've got a vote too. A proper one." Watame blinked rapidly. "I do...?" "That's right. You're the Vice President. If President Fuwawa is absent, you even have the authority to act as her full proxy. Not that you've ever used it once." Watame stared intently at the screen. There it was, clearly written: "Vice President Tsunomaki Watame — 1 Vote." (*I have a vote too...*) She had never even considered it before. Her seat was a six-square-meter space partitioned off next to the president's office. Documents were always piled high, and her only personal item was a sheep mug. She did whatever Fuwawa told her—organized papers, brewed tea, wore a sheep costume. But—she was the Vice President. That fact suddenly felt incredibly heavy. " So basically, you and me, that's two votes. If we get one more person on our side, we can change the management policy. You get it, right?" Marine clapped Watame on the shoulder. Her golden eyes sparkled. "...I get it. But how do we get more people on our side?" When Watame asked that, Marine grinned. " First, we list out *every single wasteful expense* in this company. We expose the waste, and from there, we find someone's weak spot. The Chairman, the outside director, or even—Fuwawa's." "W-Wasteful expenses..." " You look at the expense reports every day, right? Noticed anything?" Watame thought for a moment. Expense reports—one of the mountains of documents she processed daily. She'd look over the invoices and receipts submitted by each department and get Fuwawa's stamp of approval. It was just routine work. But— "Now that you mention it..." Watame murmured quietly. "There are some cases where the supply costs are really high. Like, thirty thousand yen for a single mouse, or eight thousand yen for one box of copy paper..." "Oh-ho!" "And also, travel expenses. There's someone who always uses the Green Car on the Shinkansen. The rules say standard class, but every single time, it's the Green Car..." "That's amazing!" Marine clapped her hands together. " That's it, Watame! You can see all the company's waste, plain as day! That's a genuine talent!" "I-It is...?" Watame was bewildered. No one had ever called what she did a "talent." But—deep in her heart, she felt a tiny spark light up. Just a little bit, she was happy. " Alright, then it's time for a strategy meeting! We'll make this our secret base and work on the list a little every day. I'll help too!" "A secret base..." The break room was a small room tucked away at the end of the fifth floor. Just shelves lined with mugs, a sink, an electric kettle, and an old refrigerator. The window only showed the wall of the neighboring building. Watame had never imagined a place like this could become a secret base. " Okay. I'll try." Watame gave a small nod. Deep in her chest, she felt a faint warmth. This was Watame's true first step in her "company takeover plan." Several days passed. Day by day, Watame and Marine checked copies of the expense reports in the break room. Marine had told the accounting department she "wanted to check past project materials" and had pulled a year's worth of expense reports. Bundles of documents were spread out across the break room's small table. " Look at this, would you? The lease on this copier. A hundred and fifty thousand yen a month. A normal company could get by just fine with fifty thousand." Marine circled the number with a red pen. "The president of the leasing company is apparently golf buddies with the Chairman..." " That's blatant collusion!" Watame pointed to another document. "This one too. The expenses for the employee trip are recorded for five more people than actually attended." "What? Let me see that." The two of them peered at the document. Marine's deep navy ponytail brushed softly against Watame's shoulder. (*She's close...*) Watame's heart skipped a beat, but she quickly refocused on the documents. "You're right. Five extra people. And all of them in suites. They definitely brought their families along for free." "If we gather this much, wouldn't it be pretty solid evidence?" " No, it's still weak. The overpriced supplies, the padded employee trip—they can just make excuses for all of that. We need something more decisive." Marine folded her arms and fell into thought. Watame picked up a different envelope. A brown envelope labeled "Chairman — Expense Report." A report submitted by the Chairman once a month. Normally, she just stamped it without a second thought—but not now. Watame checked the details inside, one by one. "...Huh?" "What is it?" "This... there's a two hundred thousand yen consulting fee recorded every month." "Consulting?" Marine peered over from the side. The statement read: "Management Consulting Fee — 200,000 yen/month." The payment was to "Mirai Souken Co., Ltd." "Same day every month, same amount..." " Look it up on your phone real quick." Watame did as she was told and searched for "Mirai Souken Co., Ltd." on her smartphone. The screen changed. "...The company name comes up, but there's no website." "What about the address?" Watame scrolled through the search results. Only one page from a corporate information site came up. She tapped the listed address, and the map app launched. The pin dropped on— "...Huh?" The map showed a residential area in the city. She zoomed in. Zoomed in further. "An empty lot...?" It was a small, vacant lot. Just an empty plot of land overgrown with weeds. No building whatsoever. The two of them looked at each other. " This is...!" " A fake invoice! No doubt about it!" Marine pumped her fist. Her golden eyes flashed sharply. "Two hundred thousand yen a month, twelve months makes two-point-four million yen. If this has been going on for years... that's serious money!" "A-And if the Chairman's been approving this..." " It means the Chairman himself is funneling company money into a shell company. It's embezzlement." Watame's hands trembled. (*Something like this... it's really happening...*) Her heart pounded violently. It felt like the air had grown thin. "Marine, we have to report this right away!" "Hold on, hold on." Marine raised a hand, stopping Watame. " We let it ride. One expense report alone is still too weak. We copy the statements from all the other months, and we look into the bank account the payments go to. We need to build a stronger case." "B-But..." " I get how you feel. But if we move now and fail, it's all over. The Chairman will hold a grudge, and you'll end up fired. That's how it goes. Am I wrong?" Marine's words had lost their usual boisterousness; they were unnervingly calm. Watame looked down. (*...She's right.*) Watame was still clinging to her position as Vice President. If the Chairman turned against her, she'd be fired in an instant. " Yeah... okay." Watame gave a small nod. Thrill, anxiety, and then—just a tiny bit of excitement. Everything mixed together, swirling deep in her chest. That evening. Outside the window, the orange sunset dyed the cluster of buildings. Watame and Marine were in the break room, discussing their next move. "I've made copies of the Chairman's expense reports for the past three years. I've also looked into the bank account the payments go to. Now we just—" Marine had her notebook open, explaining. Beside her, Watame was diligently taking notes. That was when it happened. *Clack.* The door opened. "—" Watame held her breath. The person who walked in was—Nerissa. Straight black hair that reached her waist. Narrow eyes holding a cold, pale light. In her hand, the usual worn-out ledger— On the cover, handwritten: "Vice President's Failure Log." Expressionless, Nerissa slowly looked at the two of them. " Oh my. Vice President, Miss Marine. What are you doing in a place like this?" Her voice was utterly flat. As if a robot were speaking. "N-N-N-Nothing at all!" Watame panicked and tried to hide the documents on the table. But Nerissa had already seen them. Her pale eyes swept swiftly over the copies of the expense reports. " I came to make some tea." With that, Nerissa walked past the two of them. A faint, cold air drifted by. Nerissa took her own mug from the shelf. A black, simple cup. Completely different from the colorful mugs the other employees used. Only the sound of pouring hot water echoed in the quiet break room. Watame couldn't move. Frozen in place, she just stared at Nerissa's back. Nerissa slowly placed a tea bag into her cup. The faint scent of black tea wafted through the air. And then—she turned around. " Vice President." "Y-Yes!" " You've been spending quite a lot of time in the break room lately." Nerissa's pale eyes stared intently at Watame. It was a gaze that seemed to see right through to the depths of her heart. Her long black hair, backlit by the sunset, was eerily beautiful. "Th-That's... um..." Watame couldn't find the words. " Well then, if you'll excuse me." Holding her mug, Nerissa left the break room without a sound. The door closed. Only a soft *thud* remained. "...Haaaah." Watame felt like she was about to collapse on the spot. Her legs had no strength. Marine, on the other hand—was grinning. " She's onto us." "Sh-She's onto us...?! What do we do?!" " It's fine. She hasn't got anything concrete

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Episode 2

Name: Vice President WATAME's Rebellion: The Tsunomaki Hololive Takeover Plan!
Author: Novelia

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