Last night's message was still lingering in the corner of her mind. 『Looks like something tough happened today. Don't push yourself too hard』 She'd read it over and over in bed, and ended up not sleeping well at all. Ichikawa's confession, Mizuuchi's sharp gaze—everything swirled together in her head, and even by morning, nothing was sorted out. The 8th floor of Akasaka ASK Building. The usual Third Sales Department floor. Riko set down her coffee cup on the desk and powered up her computer. She opened the revised proposal data and continued checking the figures she'd left incomplete yesterday. She needed to focus. But her fingers just stopped on the keyboard. (The age distribution of the target demographic... that's the weak point...) The part Mizuuchi had told her to "redo." No matter how many times she looked at it, her reasoning felt thin. Was the way she'd pulled the supporting data wrong, or was the overall structure flawed? She couldn't quite grasp where the problem was. That's when the floor door opened. "Excuse me. I'm Hashimoto from the Sales Planning Division." His voice was calm. Riko looked up. An unfamiliar man stood there. Around 28, maybe—tall, thin black-framed glasses, dark navy suit. Not the oppressive feeling Mizuuchi gave off; rather, he had a gentle impression. His eyes were narrow, like he was always smiling a little. He held a thin A4 folder in his hand. "[serious]The Sales Planning Division will be strengthening coordination with the Third Sales Department, so I came to introduce myself" Yano Aya—the senior who'd been in the Third Sales Department for three years, always attentive, 31 years old—popped her head up from her desk. Her round eyes lit up slightly at the new face. "Oh, you must be Hashimoto. I heard about you. Nice to meet you" Hashimoto gave a light bow and glanced around the floor. Then he stopped short near the shelves in the department. Riko's proposal was sitting there. The one she'd left out temporarily for pre-submission review—the one that had been sent back for revision. Hashimoto tilted his head slightly, studying it. "[serious]...The way you're using this data is a bit of a shame" Riko stiffened. She was genuinely irritated. Being evaluated on her proposal out of nowhere by a complete stranger—she hadn't expected that. But Hashimoto continued right away. "[gentle]You've narrowed the target demographic to ages 25-34, right? If you add one more piece of evidence here, I think it'll become a really compelling proposal. I can help, if you'd like" Riko was quiet for a moment. It wasn't criticism. He was purely saying this is how it could be better—she could tell from his tone of voice. "...Thank you" Her voice came out small. From the department head's desk by the window, Mizuuchi Shinichiro watched the exchange. He held documents in his hands, his expression unmoved. Only the right hand holding his pen tightened slightly. —— When lunch break came, Hashimoto appeared again. "[gentle]Could I see that proposal from earlier? I think I can organize it in about 15 minutes" Riko hesitated. Was it worth showing him? Or was she just imposing on him? Yano, opening her bento box beside her, interjected with a grinning face. "[laughing]Come on, Riko, go ahead. You've been stuck on that part anyway, right?" "...Yano" "What?" Nothing, Riko shook her head. Yano's eyes were having too much fun. In the 8th floor break room—a small space about 4 tatami mats, with a little table for two against the wall—the two of them brought in a laptop. Hashimoto laid out the data and explained in his calm voice. "[serious]If you're setting the target demographic to ages 25-34, adding SNS usage data to this Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism statistic doubles your evidence. Either one alone is weak. But with both, you can see at a glance why this demographic" As Riko looked at the data, something clicked in her head. Mizuuchi had only given her "redo." She'd tried to ask what was missing, but the conversation ended before she could. But now, hearing Hashimoto's explanation—suddenly it was clear why it had been weak. "[surprised]Ah...right, I only had one line of evidence" "Exactly. The idea itself is interesting. The demographic selection isn't bad either. It's just the depth of the evidence" "[gentle]Your idea itself is interesting, Ayase. You can be confident about that" The moment she heard those words, Riko's cheeks warmed slightly. She was happy. Genuinely happy. But at the same time, there was something vaguely unsettling about it. She couldn't quite understand why she felt that way. Yano, passing through the hallway, peeked through the small window in the break room door. Seeing Riko's face slightly flushed, Yano quietly leaned her back against the hallway wall. "(One more added)" She mouthed it silently, grinning. She pulled out a notepad and wrote something. It was probably better not to ask what she was noting. —— In the afternoon, Mizuuchi called Riko over. "Ayase. How's the revision coming" "[serious]Yes. I added evidence for the target demographic. I lined up the Ministry data and SNS usage statistics——" "You asked Hashimoto" A short confirmation. His tone was completely businesslike. "...Yes" Mizuuchi glanced at her screen. "[cold]...Well, it's not bad" He said just that, and his gaze returned to the documents. Riko returned to her desk, feeling a small hole open in her chest. (Like a wall again today) He said it wasn't bad. That meant he acknowledged it. She understood that. But—why did it feel so distant? That's when Hashimoto passed by the edge of the floor. When his eyes met Riko's, he smiled lightly and spoke. "[gentle]Did the revision work out well" In that instant, Mizuuchi stood up. "[cold]Ayase. Finish the remaining figures today" He said it in a flat voice and placed documents in front of Riko. Hashimoto gave a wry smile and left the floor with a quiet "excuse me." As Riko took the documents, she couldn't help but whisper at the stark temperature difference between Mizuuchi and Hashimoto. "[whispers]...The department head is scary" The moment she said it, she gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. Whether Mizuuchi didn't hear or pretended not to, he simply returned to his own desk. But—his back, his ears were tinged slightly red. Riko didn't notice. She was looking at the documents. Yano noticed. But she said nothing. She simply turned a page in her notepad quietly. —— Deep night. Her apartment in Nakameguro, 3rd floor. Riko opened the balcony glass door slightly and breathed in the night air. The Meguro River's surface rippled with streetlight reflections. It was a quiet night. She'd tried to draw an illustration, but her hands stopped, and she ended up curled up on the sofa. Her phone vibrated. A direct message from @silent_north_star. Riko slowly opened it. 『Your idea today was right. Don't doubt yourself』 Her breath stopped. Today's—the proposal exchange. They knew about it. Riko got up from the sofa, holding her phone, thinking. Hashimoto had said "your idea is interesting." Mizuuchi had said "it's not bad." And the sender of this message wrote "your idea today was right." Which meant this person—was someone who'd seen that exchange today. Something in Riko began to quietly click into place. (It's... Mizuuchi after all...?) She started thinking that, then immediately shook her head. Because during the day he was like a wall. Just "it's not bad" and his gaze went straight back to the documents. How could he be so cold, but then like this at night— "[whispers]What does this mean..." She whispered to the empty room. Riko started typing a reply. 『Thank you』—she deleted it. She tried to write something else—her fingers stopped again. Even if she figured out who sent this message, what did she want to do about it? She still hadn't answered Ichikawa's confession. She still couldn't grasp why Hashimoto was being so kind. She still didn't understand why Mizuuchi was cold. Everything was suspended in midair. She hugged her phone to her chest and sank deep into the sofa. The sound of the Meguro River reached her faintly. Three men. Three feelings. Where they were all heading—Riko still didn't know. But there was one thing she'd figured out. The sender of this message had been in the office today. Right beside her. All along.