Volume 1 Chapter 2 A Brief Moment of Healing
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The break room inside our office building. I tap my ID card – it’s a payroll deduction, of course – and pick the cheapest bottle of mineral water in the machine. I lean back against the bench and take a breather.
”Haa… man, I’m beat…”
My overtime this month is already pacing toward eighty hours. Wait… yeah, this should only be the fifth time this quarter, so legally, I’m in the clear. I use the “no late-night overtime” initiative and the Article 36 Agreement¹ as a shield to actually get out of the building, but I just end up working from home anyway. If I calculated my actual clocked hours, it’d be terrifying.
But honestly, the overtime – even the unpaid kind – isn’t what stresses me out. I’ve always loved programming. I think a job where you can obsess over pure logic and efficiency suits me. It’s not like there’s anything else I’d rather be doing.
No, the stress comes from being buried in busywork, or being forced into irrational methods. It’s having my “responsibility” expanded without my consent, being air-dropped into a project that’s already a total dumpster fire, or getting a mountain of tasks dumped on my desk right at the deadline –
Maybe I don’t need to try this hard. I’m not exactly a one-man show. I know I’m doing too much unpaid labor. I know the danger of this workload becoming “the new normal.” But if things don’t get finished, the fallout hits everyone. It sounds nice when management says “the buck stops here,” but at the end of the day, it’s the grunts who have to do the heavy lifting.
I don’t want my kohai to get the short end of the stick if I can help it. I don’t want to be the kind of person who inflicts the same crap on my juniors that I hated when I was starting out. Stepping up to be the dam that holds it all back… that’s a senpai’s job.
That said, I’m already twenty-eight now. Firmly in my “late twenties.” I used to pull through on raw youth, but lately, I feel like I can’t fake it on willpower alone. The migraines are constant, and my body feels like lead. Even energy drinks don’t seem to do the trick anymore. Nowadays, they just make me feel nauseous.
”I’ve got a bad feeling about this… if I keep going like this…”
How many times have I grumbled that to myself? I know I should change things, but I use “being busy” as an excuse to settle for the status quo. Reality is never as easy as just “knowing” better.
As I’m spacing out, I hear the voices of my juniors coming in for their own break.
”Satake-san, thanks for your hard work.”
”Paisen², thanks for the hard work-ssu!”
”Ah, Toda-san and Mamiya-san… good work, you two.”
There’s Toda-san, the guardian deity of my soul whom I’m currently mentoring through OJT, and the other new hire – Mamiya Kei-san. Mamiya-san has her light-brown hair tied up in a ponytail; she’s a cute girl with these striking, spirited eyes. She’s got a great vibe and is super easy to talk to, which makes her popular with the older guys in the office. Well, to be fair, almost all the female employees are popular with the older guys…
Since she’s always hanging around Toda-san’s desk before the morning meeting, we started chatting naturally. Now we’re close enough that she even calls me “Paisen.”
”Man, Paisen, you look perpetually exhausted.”
”…It’s my age. You, on the other hand, are always full of energy, Mamiya-san.”
”That’s ’cause I’m pretty confident in my stamina-ssu!”
Mamiya-san makes a gesture like she’s swinging a racket to show off. I recall hearing she was in the soft tennis club back in college.
”Do you have a secret for staying so upbeat?”
”Hmm, let’s see-ssu… Eating lots of meat, maybe?”
”What a meatheaded answer…”
”Wha – !? Paisen! Don’t underestimate the power of meat-ssu! Protein is vital-ssu! Are you even eating properly, Paisen?”
”I intend to be careful for the most part, but… yeah, I guess I have been living off convenience store salads lately.”
”That’s no good-ssu! You gotta eat meat! Thinking ‘Health = Vegetables’ makes you the meathead here-ssu!”
”I… have no defense against that.”
”Geez, Paisen is hopeless for his age-ssu, isn’t he~”
Mamiya-san starts digging her elbow into my ribs. It actually kind of hurts.
”I’m gonna make sure you’re eating right, so let’s go get some meat! Tomorrow! After work! The three of us!”
”Whoa, that’s sudden…”
”No time like the present, as they say.”
”Tomorrow is Friday, right… Let me check my schedule…”
”It’s okay-ssu, Paisen didn’t have anything in his schedule after 18:00 tomorrow-ssu!”
”I don’t?”
Just because there’s nothing in the schedule only means there are no meetings or anything put in; it’s not like there’s nothing to do. The tasks are piled up as high as ever.
”Wait, how do you even know my schedule…?”
”Hehe. For a woman of my caliber, I can read your every move, Paisen.”
”Seriously?”
”No, well, I just normally peeked at Paisen’s schedule-ssu though. Paisen, you’re impressive for putting your schedule in properly-ssu.”
I’m scared I might skip a meeting or something. It’s natural for the sake of protecting myself.
”Now then, Paisen. A real man wouldn’t turn down an invitation from his cute juniors-ssu, right?”
”…”
To be honest, I really did need a change of pace, and the invite actually makes me happy. Just like Mamiya-san said, there’s no way I’m saying no to this. As for work… I’ll just have to bust my ass and make time. I’m actually feeling motivated now. I’ll finish this out of pure spite. And if I don’t, well, I’ve still got the weekend.
”Fine. Let’s go.”
”Yay! It’s Paisen’s treat-ssu!”
”Eh?”
”…I know. Obviously.”
”I knew it! You’re so kind, Paisen-ssu!”
Well, I don’t spend money on much else anyway. I have enough pride to treat my juniors.
”Toda-san, are you okay with this? It feels like it was decided for you…”
”Ah, yes! It’s fine! I’d… I’d love to go!”
”Paisen. I’m the one doing the talking, but the one who actually wanted to invite you was Sayaka-ssu, okay? Don’t you forget it-ssu.”
”Kei-chan!? That was a secret…!”
To think the quiet Toda-san was the one who suggested it… Wait. Does this mean… could it actually be…? No, calm down. Calm the hell down. It’s probably just because I’m her mentor, or she wants to ask for work advice. That’s way more likely.
But… man. I’m still happy. I have to use every ounce of my pride to keep from grinning like an idiot. It’s okay. I’m an expert at the poker face. I glance at Toda-san… her pale skin has turned as red as a boiled octopus. If you give me a reaction that cute, this “old guy” is really going to get the wrong idea, you know?
”Kei-chan! Break’s over! Let’s go back!”
”Eh!? Wait! I haven’t even bought my drink yet!?”
Toda-san starts dragging Mamiya-san out of the break room.
…I’m seriously going to get the wrong idea, okay?
Since they missed their chance to buy drinks, I’ll pick some up for them. I think Toda-san usually drinks that lemon tea. Mamiya-san seems to change it up every time, but… yeah, let’s go with this –
”Ah, sorry… thank you very much for going out of your way…”
”Paisen! Why am I just getting water-ssu!? Is it discrimination-ssu!?”
”No, I didn’t know what you wanted, Mamiya-san…”
”Oshiruko³ would have been good-ssu!!”
”Wait, they have that in a vending machine?”
”It’s normally there-ssu, you know!? In the vending machine at the very back! On the bottom row! On the far right!!”
”Seriously? Sorry, I had no idea. Here, I’ll take the water back – “
”No, I’m still drinking this-ssu. Thanks-ssu, Paisen. But next time, I’m asking for oshiruko-ssu.”
—
Summary:
Satake Yuki, an overworked software engineer, takes a break in the office and reflects on his grueling schedule and his role as a protector for his juniors. He is interrupted by his two female juniors, Toda Sayaka and Mamiya Kei, who corner him into a dinner date for the following day. The chapter ends with a lighthearted exchange over vending machine drinks and the revelation that the shy Toda was the one who wanted to invite him.
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Trivia:
- Satake works 80+ hours of overtime a month.
- The ‘Article 36 Agreement’ is a Japanese labor law detail that limits overtime.
- Mamiya Kei was in the soft tennis club and has high physical stamina.
- Toda Sayaka is the one who actually initiated the dinner invitation.
- Satake buys Toda a lemon drink based on her usual preference, showing his attentiveness
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Character Insight:
Satake’s motivation isn’t just money or work-ethic, but a protective instinct toward his juniors (the ‘Satake Wall’). Toda Sayaka, despite her shyness, is showing proactive interest in Satake.
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Behind the Scenes:
The ‘Paisen’ honorific is a common slang among younger Japanese generations, often used by ‘gyaru’ or athletic types to sound friendly yet acknowledge seniority.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Satake – The protag. Tall and lean in a rumpled suit, with faint stubble, tired dark eyes shadowed by deep circles, and a perpetually composed expression, he carries the quiet wear of overwork in every line of his posture. A 28-year-old software engineer and OJT mentor, he is “Paisen” to Toda and Mamiya, the unseen “Satake Wall” shielding them from burnout. Beneath his poker face lies dry cynicism and a self-mocking “ojisan” complex, shaped by years of isolation, relentless duty, and a life lived at his desk, now culminating in a hospital stay born of exhaustion.
• Mamiya Kei – A spirited first-year hire at Satake’s firm, she moves through the office with quick wit and brighter energy, her light-brown ponytail and athletic frame marking her as both poised and playful. Off-duty, she lounges in casual comfort, sharing a lively home with her roommate Toda. She teases seniors—calling Satake “Paisen”—yet deeply admires him, her informal dialect and easy laughter shaped by club days, independence, and a life that taught her to stay light on her feet.
• Toda Sayaka – first-year hire under Satake’s OJT, she is a soft-spoken mediator to her roommate Mamiya, her modest dress and careful manners reflecting a pure, almost old-fashioned grace. Slender and pale with long, pitch-black hair flowing softly down her back, she carries a delicate beauty—wide, gentle eyes, easily flushed cheeks, and a quiet, almost fragile presence. Called an “oasis” and even a “guardian deity,” she moves through life with self-effacing kindness, cooking for others and blaming herself for small faults, her innocence preserved yet shaped by a constant, tender effort to care for those around her.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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