Tokyo, 1991: Starting as a bank clerk.

Kiryu Yaya nodded, pulled a stack of blank A4 paper from his desk, and took three ballpoint pens of different colors from the pen holder.

"First, the first point of knowledge:"

"The materials sent out and the materials used for archiving are two completely different logics."

He divided the A4 paper into three stacks and labeled each stack with a number in the upper right corner using three different colors.

"The archiving uses a 'customer logic'. All materials for customer A are put together, and all materials for customer B are put together. This way, if you need to find information about a certain customer in the future, you only need to flip through one folder."

"But what the recipient needs from the materials sent out is 'time logic'."

He rearranged the three stacks of A4 paper, stacking them together in numerical order.

"For example, the loan application you submit to the financing review department. The account manager needs to verify that the client first signed the application, then provided tax payment certificates, then provided property registration certificates, and finally signed the contract. This process has a specific order."

"If you put the contract on top and the tax certificate at the bottom, the account manager has to go through the whole stack of materials again to figure out what stage the client has reached."

Mizuna Yayoi's eyes slowly widened.

"So that's how it is..."

"The reason you were complained about before wasn't because you weren't careful. It was because no one explained the timeline to you. Your section chief asked you to categorize by customer, and he was referring to the filing requirements. You treated the filing requirements as requirements for all scenarios."

Kiryu Yaya pushed the stack of neatly arranged A4 papers in front of her.

"So from now on, remember one principle."

"Yes."

"Materials sent out are arranged in chronological order. Archived materials are arranged by customer category. These two principles do not conflict; they simply apply different logic to different scenarios."

Yayoi Mina nodded vigorously, took out a palm-sized notepad from her pocket, and quickly wrote on it with a ballpoint pen.

Kiryu Yaya glanced at it and said:

"And the location of the seal."

Kiryu Yaya took out a sample of an invalid application from the drawer and spread it on the table.

"The bank's seal isn't just stamped on and that's it. Each document has its own way of being stamped. For application forms, you need to stamp 'Seal of Seal' next to the signature field, at the boundary between the signature and the adjacent paper, half on the name and half on the paper. This way, if someone tampers with the signature, the seal will break off."

He drew a circle on the sample with a ballpoint pen, marking the position where the stamp should be placed.

"The contract must be stamped with a 'correction stamp' at each point of revision. Every change, whether it is a single word or a single number, must be stamped with the correction stamp directly above the point of revision. Any changes without a correction stamp are legally invalid."

"..."

Mizuna Yayoi's pen moved rapidly across the notepad, the tip of the ballpoint pen almost smoking.

Chapter 9 The Aftermath of Fuji Metals

Forty minutes passed quickly.

Footsteps and conversations echoed down the corridor as employees, having finished their lunch break, returned to their workstations.

Mizuna Yayoi stood up, carefully put the notepad into her pocket, and then bowed deeply to Yaya Kiryu.

"Kiryu-senpai, thank you so much for today."

"I've memorized a lot of what you taught me. I'll review it repeatedly when I get back and memorize it all. I'm sure I won't make any mistakes next time I deliver documents."

"Ah."

Kiryu Yaya put away the A4 paper and the discarded samples on the table.

"See you at the usual spot in the cafeteria tomorrow at noon."

"Yes!"

Mizuna Yayoi turned and walked towards the sales department. After a few steps, she turned back and smiled at him.

Kiryu Yaya watched her figure disappear around the corner of the corridor before leaning back in his chair.

Free lunch, how wonderful!

Suddenly, he remembered something.

He forgot to correct Yayoi Mizuna, who kept calling him "senpai."

Forget it.

Let's talk about it next time.

Mizuna Yayoi practically skipped back to the sales department.

Materials sent out are arranged by time, and materials archived are categorized by customer.

The seal must be stamped in the correct position.

Discard the seal, revise the seal, cut the seal.

As she walked, she silently recited the text in her mind, like a primary school student memorizing a text, not daring to miss a single word.

Back at her workstation in the sales department, she spread out her notepad and circled the key points she had just noted down one by one with a red pen, drawing small star symbols next to them.

Tanaka, the senior colleague sitting at the workstation next to her, leaned over.

"Yayoi, what's wrong? Your face is so red."

"N-no!"

Mizuna Yayoi slammed the notepad shut, covered it with her hands, and her ears were so red they looked like they could bleed.

Senior Tanaka gave her a meaningful look, smiled, and didn't ask any further questions.

Just then, the phone at her workstation rang.

The caller ID showed a number she recognized.

The area code for Kyoto.

When Mizuna Yayoi answered the phone, her voice involuntarily softened.

"Hello, Mom?"

A gentle female voice came from the other end of the phone, with the elegant ending notes characteristic of Kyoto accents:

"Mina, have you eaten?"

"I've eaten! The salt-grilled mackerel in the cafeteria was delicious today."

When Yayoi Mizuna said this, her voice was much lighter than usual.

"Mom, how are you feeling today?"

"Same as always, it's fine. The cherry blossoms in Kyoto have all fallen, what about Osaka?"

"Yes, it's alright. The cherry blossoms in Kyoto have fallen, and the ginkgo trees on Midosuji are just sprouting new leaves, so tender and green, they're so beautiful."

After saying that, Yayoi Mizuna herself was stunned for a moment.

She had never paid attention to the color of the ginkgo leaves outside the window before.

I'm busy from morning till night every day. Just dealing with those endless receipts has exhausted all my energy. I have no time to look at ginkgo trees.

But today is different.

Today she remembered that the ginkgo leaves at Midosuji were new leaves, remembered their tender green color, and remembered how the afternoon sunlight in April fell on the leaves.

"Shuna?"

There was a hint of doubt in the mother's voice.

You seem... a little different today. Did something good happen?

Yayoi Mina held the receiver and said happily:

"Mom, I have to tell you, I met a really nice person at the bank today."

"Are you a colleague?"

"Yes. He's a senior from the financing class, his surname is Kiryu."

Mizuna Yayoi held the receiver between her shoulder and ear, her hands unconsciously twisting together.

Her voice was very low, but her speech became faster and faster, like a stream that had been accumulating water all spring and finally found its outlet.

"This morning, when I was carrying a bunch of documents out of the elevator, I accidentally bumped into him. The documents spilled all over the floor, and I thought to myself, 'Oh no, I'm going to get yelled at again.'"

"But Kiryu-senpai didn't scold me at all. He knelt down to help me pick up the documents and even told me how to arrange them. I did as he said, and when I delivered them to the conference room, the account manager really didn't say anything to me!"

"Then at noon in the cafeteria..."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

Then the mother chuckled softly.

"I see. That's wonderful. Mizuna, you've met a kind person."

"Ah."

Mizuna Yayoi pressed the receiver to her ear and nodded vigorously.

"Mom, can I become someone like my senior when I grow up? The kind of person who... helps others without making them feel indebted."

“Mina is already one.”