Friday evening, and the office fluorescent lights were blindingly bright. Amano Yui stared blankly at the mountain of documents on her desk. The expense report forms were a crumpled mess, the numbers searing into her eyes. Five years since she'd joined the company. The general affairs department, eighth floor of the headquarters of Rise Cosmetics, a major cosmetics firm in the heart of the city. From the windows, you could see the high-rises of Roppongi, but Yui's days were buried in paper and computer screens. The café latte she'd bought at lunch had long gone cold. (*Is this really all there is to being a general staffer?*) A girl from her year had quit last year for a shotgun wedding. Her senior colleague was competent, but her face always looked exhausted. The glittering brand logo of the glamorous cosmetics company smiled down from the wall. She felt… strange. Off, somehow. But she couldn't tell anyone. If she did, they'd probably think she was just being soft. Under her desk, Yui pressed her fist against the knee of her tight skirt. "[excited]Alright, everyone, great work today! We're drinking tonight!" Five minutes before the end of the workday. Sawada-senpai from the neighboring section clapped his hands briskly. "[cold]Ah, well, today I'm a little…" "[laughing]Yui-chan, no way~! It's the section social! We're also celebrating the strong sales of the new product!" She couldn't refuse. Yui plastered on a smile and set her bag down on her desk. The venue was a cheap *izakaya* in Shinjuku. The smoke from grilled skewers and the smell of beer made her hair feel sticky. "[laughing]Yui-chan, no boyfriend~? What a waste—are you eating properly?" The male senior colleague acting as organizer sat down next to Yui, a one-sho bottle of sake in hand. Thirties, married. The wedding ring gleamed on his finger, yet he kept patting Yui on the shoulder. "[laughing]It's always the quiet ones who suddenly get bold one day, you know (lol)" The people around them cackled. Yui laughed too. In her head, she thought, (*Shut up.*) But what came out of her mouth was, "[gentle]Oh no, not at all~" (*Ah, there it is. This is how it always goes. I just go along with it, laugh, and wear myself down.*) Before she knew it, she'd had three, four cups of sake. Not in the little *ochoko* cups, but in a regular glass. The chilled sake seeped into her throat, and the back of her head grew hot. Taking the excuse of going to the restroom, she stepped outside the shop. "I'm going home." Her legs were unsteady, and before she realized it, she was walking in the opposite direction from the station. A back alley in Ginza. The neon lights looked blurred. Her feet stopped in front of a multi-tenant building. On the fifth floor, there was a small blue sign. "Midnight Blue." (*A bar, huh?*) She'd never really been to a bar. An *izakaya* was always enough for her. But for some reason, she felt drawn in. Stepping off the elevator, she found a shop with just a single door. Opening it, she entered a quiet space illuminated by dark blue lights. Eight seats at the counter, and two private booths in the back. A bartender who looked to be in his fifties was quietly wiping a glass. "[gentle]Miss, you're pretty drunk. I'll get you some water, so just have a seat for now." Prompted by the master, who was called Sakamoto, Yui unsteadily took a seat at the counter. (*There's a nice smell…*) Like incense, but more mature. And then. At the end of the counter, there was a man. He was drinking whiskey alone. Silver hair. Short, with slightly longer bangs falling over his forehead. It sparkled in the lighting, almost like moonlight. His narrow eyes were an icy blue. A sharply defined, beautiful face. Maybe in his early thirties? He was tall. She could tell even though he was sitting. His shoulders were broad in his suit, and his hands were large. When Yui sat down next to him, the man glanced her way for just a moment. Blue eyes. But he immediately returned his attention to his whiskey. He said nothing. Just the clink of ice. (*He's a cold one.*) Yui also stayed silent, drinking the water the master had given her. But for some reason, she couldn't take her eyes off this man. (*He's beautiful, but somehow… he seems lonely.*) The depths of those blue eyes felt bottomlessly dark. As Yui gazed at him vacantly, the man suddenly spoke. "[cold]Are you alone?" His voice was low. A quiet voice that sent a shiver down her spine. "[surprised]Huh… Ah, yes." "[cold]Just for tonight. Don't ask any questions. Let me hold you." Yui's drunkenness sobered up a little, all at once. (*What?*) Normally, that was a line that would make her get up and leave immediately. But. The man's eyes, for just a fleeting moment, wavered. (*This person… is lonely.*) Yui's heart pounded hard. It wasn't about being swept along. Something inside Yui snapped with an audible crack. (*I was so irritated today. At the drinking party, at work, at my own life. So—*) "[whispers]…Okay." Yui had nodded. The taxi arrived at a luxury hotel in Roppongi, "The Orchid Roppongi." A suite on the forty-second floor. The night view spread out before them, the lights of Tokyo Tower blurring. The man closed the door behind him with one hand, then placed his hand on Yui's chin. A large hand. Rough, yet his fingers were long and beautiful. "[cold]I won't ask your name. It's just for tonight." At his low voice, Yui's body trembled. It wasn't fear. It was a sensation she'd never felt before. The man's fingers began unbuttoning her blouse, one by one. Dexterous, without the slightest hesitation. "[whispers]…Ah" The moment his cold fingers touched her skin, a strange sound escaped Yui's lips. The man brought his face close to her ear. "[cold]So sensitive, and yet you've never let anyone touch you until now?" (*Idiot, stop it.*) Her face burned with embarrassment. But the man's fingers didn't stop. He unhooked her bra with one hand, then began tracing slow circles around the tip of her exposed breast with the pad of his finger. "[crying]N-no, ah…!" Her hips lifted. Her body reacted with twitches so intense she couldn't believe it herself. The man pushed Yui down onto the bed. His large hand slipped inside her skirt, pulling down her stockings and underwear together in one motion. "[whispers]You're already this wet." (*Don't look!*) But she couldn't voice it. The man's middle finger touched her pussy. A slick, wet sound. "[crying]Nooo…!" His finger entered deep inside her. The squelching sound echoed in the room, and Yui wanted to cover her ears. "[cold]You don't have to hold back your voice." As the man whispered that in her ear, his finger's movements quickened. He stirred her deepest parts. Deep in Yui's belly, something tightened intensely. "[crying]Ah… s-stop, no, something's… coming…!" It was a sensation she'd never experienced in her life. The core of her body grew intensely hot, and her mind went completely blank. "[crying]I'm… cumming…! I'm going to cum…!" She didn't even know what she was saying. The man relentlessly thrust his finger deep inside her while pressing his thumb firmly against her clit. A jolt. Her vision sparked. "[crying]Aaaaahhh!!" Her hips convulsed, and Yui climaxed, crying. Her love juices trickled down her thighs, wetting the bed sheets. But it didn't end there. The man removed his clothes and spread Yui's legs wide. His silver hair clung to his forehead with sweat. His blue eyes stared at Yui intently, like a predator eyeing its prey. The man's exposed penis was already fully erect, throbbing. Pre-cum wet the glans, glistening in the dark room. "[whispers]I'm putting it in." Without waiting for a reply, the man pressed his cock against the entrance of Yui's vagina. His hips pushed in firmly. "[crying]Ah, ahh…! It's… going in…!" She wasn't inexperienced. But she'd never felt anything reach so deep inside her before. She felt a knocking sensation at the entrance to her womb. The man began to move his hips wordlessly. Slowly at first, but gradually faster. Slap, slap, slap. The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the suite. "[crying]Ah, ah, ah, ah…!" Yui was now just a doll, panting helplessly. The bed creaked and groaned in rhythm with the man's thrusting. "[cold]I'm going to cum inside you." His low voice pierced deep into Yui's ear. "[crying]Please, inside… cum inside me…!" (*What am I saying!?*) But she couldn't stop it anymore. The man's penis grew even harder inside her vagina, Throb, throb. Hot semen poured deep into Yui. Feeling the heat of his cum, Yui came again. "[crying]Ah… ah…" A whitish fluid flowed back out of her vagina, making a sticky mess on her thighs. The man remained hard inside her still. When she came to, she was sleeping in the man's arms. Her face buried in his broad chest, Yui breathed softly in her sleep like a child. (*Why do I feel so at ease?*) With a man whose name she didn't even know. The next morning. She woke to the morning sun. No one was in the bed. "…Huh?" Yui stared up at the ceiling for a while. Only a room service coffee sat on the table. There was no trace of the man at all. (*Was it… a dream?*) But. Deep inside her body still ached. The stains left on the sheets told her that everything from last night had been real. Yui sat up and took a sip of the coffee. It was cold. (*Do I regret it?*) Yeah, probably. But still. (*For the first time, I made a decision for myself.*) She hadn't been swept along. In that moment, Yui had definitely nodded. She had reached out, of her own accord, to the loneliness deep within those blue eyes. She spent Saturday and Sunday idly in her own apartment. A 1K in Nakano, seventy-eight thousand yen a month in rent. In that small room where she could see the Shinjuku skyline far off from the balcony, Yui recalled those blue eyes over and over. (*I won't see him again. And that's fine.*) She told herself that, but her chest ached sharply. Monday morning. She got on the usual commuter train and went to the usual office. But something felt different, and Yui couldn't settle down. She couldn't believe her eyes at the morning email. [Company-wide morning assembly today at 9:00 AM in the 8th-floor main conference room. Inaugural address by the new president.] (*Ah, right, the company was bought out, wasn't it?*) She'd heard rumors that a foreign investment firm had acquired Rise. But for a general staffer like Yui, it was a distant matter, something she'd never felt was real. Employees shuffled into the large conference room in droves. "I wonder what he's like." "I hear he's young." "Kazama Holdings is that company from Singapore, right?" A buzz of chatter. Yui stood near the back as well. "Quiet, please." At the department head's voice, silence fell. "This is the new President and Representative Director, Mr. Kazama Ren." A man in a suit stepped up onto the podium. Platinum silver hair. Cold, blue eyes like a frozen lake. "[cold]I am Kazama Ren, representative of Kazama Holdings, and as of today, I have assumed the position of President of Rise Cosmetics." Yui's mind went completely blank. Her heart pounded furiously. Loudly. (*It's him.*) The man from Friday night. Kazama Ren's gaze on the podium swept over the room for just a moment. And then— It stopped at Yui. Probably for less than a second. But those blue eyes definitely looked at Yui. As if confirming something. And then, he faced forward again as if nothing had happened. "[cold]Rise Cosmetics retains inefficient practices. From now on, I will reform it my way." His voice sounded distant. Yui couldn't move, as if her feet were glued to the floor. (*The president. That man is the president.*) Inside her skirt pocket, Yui's hand clenched tightly. There was no way she could pretend that night had never happened.