Vice President WATAME's Rebellion: The Tsunomaki Hololive Takeover Plan! - Exile ~A Company Without Sheep~

The pillow was cold. The fabric, soaked through with tears, clung to her cheek. Tsunomaki Watame opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry. A thin ray of morning light slipped through a gap in the curtains. A six-tatami-mat apartment. Stacks of documents piled against the wall. Beside the bed, the suit she had tossed aside last night lay crumpled, abandoned. Her smartphone was vibrating on the pillow. Incoming call — Houshou Marine. The moment she saw the name on the screen, something deep in Watame's chest clenched tight. (I can't look.) Watame pulled the futon over her head. The phone's vibration continued for a while, then stopped. It vibrated again. Stopped. A third time, a fourth— Each time, Watame curled up smaller beneath the futon. Her long, off-white hair lay tangled across the pillow. The braid she always tied back with a ribbon was undone now, a disheveled mess. The sheep ears atop her head drooped limply, not even twitching. "Watame is... already..." Her voice was hoarse. —It happened yesterday. At the board meeting, Nerissa had made her accusation. A blatant lie — that Watame had leaked confidential company information to outside parties. Marine had defended her desperately. But faced with the "evidence" Nerissa had prepared — forged email logs, fabricated transfer records — no one believed Watame's words. Not even President Fuwawa. "*hic*... uu..." The tears came flooding back. The president had simply shaken her head, looking sad. Dismissal from the vice presidency. Unanimous vote of all board members. Watame had been driven out of the company. She had wanted to change — that was why she'd started running alongside Marine. She'd moved by her own will for the first time, wanting to expose the chairman's corruption and make the company better. In the end, Watame was incompetent. A nuisance. Just a useless person no one needed. Still buried under the futon, Watame cried, stifling her voice. Nerissa's cold voice echoed endlessly in her head. *"Vice President, this cannot be expensed."* *"It's pointless, isn't it."* The last face she'd seen of Nerissa — those pale, cold eyes. There had been no emotion in them at all. From the very beginning, Watame had never mattered to her. Her smartphone vibrated again. This time, it was a message. From the company's official address — *Notice of Dismissal*. Unable to look directly at the screen, Watame turned the phone face-down. The trembling wouldn't stop. She was scared to go outside now. Scared to see anyone. Curled up small beneath the futon, Watame simply waited for time to pass. That same morning, at Kadomaki Company. "Dispose of all those writing implements as well." Accounting Department Head Nerissa Ravencroft stood before Watame's desk, issuing orders in a flat, toneless voice. Her black hair, reaching down to her waist, swayed in the breeze from the air conditioning. Her bangs were long enough to cover her eyes, hiding half her face. Beside her, a young male employee from General Affairs was packing Watame's personal belongings into a cardboard box. A sheep mug — the one personal item Watame had used every day for tea. A stack of sticky notes. A work notebook filled with scribbled notes. All of it tossed carelessly into the box. *Rustle.* The dry sound echoed through the quiet office. "Department Head, this..." The employee's hands stopped. A single sticky note, stuck to the corner of the desk. Rounded handwriting lined up across it. *'Thank you always. No matter what happens, I'm on Marine-senpai's side.'* Expressionless, Nerissa picked it up between her fingertips. The writer — the Vice President. For just a moment, her pale eyes traced over the letters. And then. *Flutter.* The sticky note slipped from Nerissa's fingers and fell into the trash bin on the floor. "Continue." Nerissa spoke without changing her expression. There was no hesitation in her voice. No guilt. Nothing. Just routine work. Simply discarding something useless. A female employee passing by stopped in her tracks. "Hey... did the Vice President really do it?" "I heard she was leaking info to outsiders. Seriously?" "I knew it... she was always getting worked to the bone by the president, maybe the stress got to her?" The hushed whispers faded away down the corridor. Nerissa listened, but said nothing. She simply stood there, watching, until Watame's desk was completely empty. Like a statue. The break room. Houshou Marine stood leaning against the wall. Her deep navy ponytail, like the depths of the sea, hung lower than usual. The anchor tattoo on the back of her right hand gleamed pale blue under the emergency lights. Her golden eyes burned with anger and frustration. —Last night. When she'd been summoned to the president's office, Fuwawa hadn't said anything. She'd just slumped over her desk, murmuring Watame's name over and over. She had to know something. The president's office had been locked since this morning. Fuwawa wasn't letting anyone in, wasn't speaking to any employees. (*Dammit...*) Marine clenched her fist. Last night, she'd pried open Watame's cabinet. But the evidence of the chairman's embezzlement was nowhere to be found. The original forged emails Nerissa had supposedly shown — all of them had been cleanly erased. There was a limit to what she could do alone. "—Guess I've got no choice but to record it." Marine pulled her smartphone from her pocket. She tapped the screen. Voice recorder app. Wiretapping skills she'd picked up in her pirate days — the art of making someone slip up and talk. Confront Nerissa face-to-face. There were risks. But — she couldn't back down now. For Watame's sake. And for her own. Marine burst out of the break room. Evening. Watame opened her apartment door just a crack. She hadn't eaten anything all day. But she didn't feel hungry. She just felt like she had to check the mailbox. Maybe something had arrived — the thought came unconsciously. The fluorescent light in the hallway buzzed with a *zzzt, zzzt* sound. Still in her slippers, Watame walked to the mailbox. She opened the lid. Inside — there was just a single envelope. A white envelope. No sender's name. Watame returned to her room and, with trembling hands, broke the seal. Inside, there was only one sheet of letter paper. When she unfolded it, rounded handwriting leapt out at her. —It was Fuwawa's writing. *'To Watame'* The moment she saw that opening, Watame's fingers began to tremble. *'To Watame.* *When you read this letter, I'm sure you'll be going through something really painful.* *So, I'm sorry.* *The reason I made you Vice President — it's because, during your interview, you wrote a little note in the corner of your resume.* *"If expense reports are only once a month, small wastes pile up. I think it would be better to do them once a week."* *Just one line.* *But when I saw that, it made me so happy.* *No one else had been thinking about the company — but you, Watame, you were really paying attention.* *Your kindness, and your ability to really see things.* *I thought that was more amazing than anything anyone else had.* *But I'm selfish.* *I kept giving you so much work, always causing you trouble. I'm sorry.* *I've always hoped that someday, you'd change the company in your own way.* *I love you so much, Watame.* *—From Fuwawa'* A tear fell onto the letter paper with a soft *plink*. "Uu... uuu...!!" Clutching the letter, Watame collapsed to the floor. Her shoulders shook. Wordless sobs echoed through the room. —Watame hadn't been alone. The president had been watching her properly. She had found Watame's strength, and believed in it. Wanting to change — that hadn't been a mistake. Watame lifted her tear-streaked, crumpled face. She gently pressed the letter in her hands to her chest. (*Watame... isn't finished yet.*) Slowly, she rose on trembling legs. That same evening. Kadomaki Company, Accounting Department. *BANG!!* Marine threw the door open with force. At the desk in the back, Nerissa was flipping through documents. An old ledger — the usual volume, its cover reading "Vice President's Failure Memo." "Have you not learned to knock?" Nerissa spoke without looking up. "Shut it! I've got questions for you!" Marine stood in front of Nerissa's desk. Her golden eyes pierced straight through Nerissa. "What you're doing isn't some kind of company purification. It's just a power struggle, using Watame, isn't it?!" Nerissa slowly set down her cup. She raised her head. From beneath her bangs, pale, cold eyes looked up at Marine. "—That is correct." So terribly, terribly casually. "Without cutting off the Vice President, we could not have brought down the Chairman. This was the most efficient purification of the company." Marine's hands trembled. Her vision went red with rage. But — the smartphone in her pocket was still recording. "Then why did you choose Watame...!?" Marine forced the words out. "There had to be other ways. Why her—" For just an instant, Nerissa lowered her eyes. It was only a fraction of a second. And when she raised her face again, there was no emotion in those pale eyes. "Because she was incompetent. She was the most suitable to eliminate." —*Snap.* Something inside Marine broke. "...Is that so." In her pocket, she gripped her smartphone. The recording — was definitely still running. "Remember this, Nerissa Ravencroft...!!" Marine turned her back on Nerissa and burst out of the Accounting Department. She ran down the corridor. The pale light of the emergency lamps illuminated Marine's profile. In her pocket, the smartphone grew warm. With this — with this, she could prove Watame's innocence. (*I won't leave you alone.*) Marine jumped into the elevator. Her destination — Watame's apartment. Twilight enveloped the buildings of Minato Ward. The fifth floor of Kadomaki Company. The empty president's office — the "Fuwawa Room." Pink walls, twelve stuffed animals. Fuwawa Abyssgat stood by the window. In her hand, an old photograph — from the day three years ago when she had appointed Watame as Vice President. "Watame... I'm sorry." Her voice reached no one, fading into the quiet room.

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Episode 5

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

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