Tokyo, 1991: Starting as a bank clerk.

Today she was wearing a dark blue vest, the standard uniform of Mitsubishi Bank, her short ponytail was neatly tied up, and she was holding a thick stack of discount application documents in her arms.

If it were Yayoi Mizuna from two weeks ago, she would probably have already started apologizing and then hurriedly did as the other person said.

But after half a month of training by Kiryu Yaya, she has grown a lot.

Mizuna Yayoi held the documents, glanced down at the list at the top, then flipped through a few more pages. After hesitating, she said:

"Tamura-senpai"

Her voice was soft, but she had already taken a slight step to the side, blocking the way between the documents and the doorway.

"This...cannot be delivered now."

Tamura paused for a moment.

"why?"

Mizuna Yayoi opened the documents and pointed them out to him, her voice still trembling slightly:

"The expiration date for the constraint hand on the list is July 31, but the original copy shows June 30."

"And here, the endorsement stamp is missing a bit. If we send it to the financing review department now, the experienced reviewers will notice these problems, and it will be returned. By the time the client arrives this afternoon, it will be too late to fix it."

Her voice grew softer and softer, as if she could feel the gazes of several colleagues around her on her, and the tips of her ears turned as red as if they were about to burn.

She paused for a moment, then took a deep breath, as if she had used up all the courage she had gathered that morning in this one moment.

"So, if we find it now, it can be dealt with in just a few minutes. I'll call the client to confirm the date first, and then ask you to re-stamp the cut mark. That way, when we submit it this afternoon, it will be complete. It's much faster than... much faster than having it returned."

Tamura looked at her, remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded and said:

"Alright, Yayoi, let's do as you say."

Just then, Section Chief Takei walked over from the side.

"what happened?"

Tamura briefly explained the situation.

Section Chief Takei glanced down at the spot Yayoi Mizuna had pointed out, and his eyebrows twitched slightly.

Then he looked up at Mizuna Yayoi and said with a smile:

"Yayoi is quite good."

Mizuna Yayoi was stunned.

Section Chief Takei then looked at Tamura.

"Resend it after making the corrections. The client is coming this afternoon. If it gets returned by the financing review department because of this kind of basic mistake, it will be embarrassing for our business department."

Tamura looked a little embarrassed, but eventually nodded.

"understood."

Mizuna Yayoi held the documents, as if she had finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When she looked up, she saw Kiryu Yaya standing not far away.

Their eyes met briefly in the air.

Yayoi Shuina was stunned.

Then, her face gradually turned red.

Kiryu Yaya didn't go over immediately, but simply nodded slightly to her.

Just then, a semi-transparent interface popped up in front of him.

[New life options have been triggered]

[For the first time, under pressure from the sales department, Mizuna Yayoi remained calm and composed, relying on her knowledge of procedures to prevent a potentially rejected document from being returned.]

She saw that you had witnessed everything; she was nervous and shy, yet secretly hoping for your opinion.

At this moment, you have three choices.

[Fork in the road 1: Praising her in public: "Yayoi-san, you're already amazing."]

(Bonus: Bank deposit increased by €1)

[Second Fork: Pretend you didn't see it, turn around and leave. Her growth is her own business; you don't need to interfere.]

(Bonus: Bank deposit increased by €5000)

[Branch 3: Tell her during lunch break that she wasn't arguing with her colleague, but rather preventing a mistake from happening to the bank.]

(Bonus: Bank deposit increased by €2)

Kiryu Yaya's gaze swept over the three options.

Praised in public?

Given Yayoi Mizuna's personality, she would probably immediately find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Kiryu Yaya shook his head and quickly made his choice.

He didn't go over or say anything; he simply delivered the summons to Section Chief Takei, got his signature, and then turned and left.

Mizuna Yayoi stood there, secretly watching his back.

For some reason, her heart, which had been pounding wildly, gradually calmed down.

Chapter 33 Ayako Shiraishi's Invitation

Lunch break.

The Mitsubishi Bank cafeteria was still bustling with activity.

Today's menu is fried pork cutlet, shredded cabbage, miso soup, and rice.

As soon as Kiryu Yaya reached his usual spot, he saw that Yayoi Mizuna was already sitting there.

A dark blue cloth bag was placed in front of her.

After the cloth bag was untied, two black bento boxes were revealed inside.

As Kiryu Yaya sat down, she immediately pushed one of them towards her.

"Senior, here's today's bento."

"Thank you."

Kiryu Yaya opened the lid.

Today's bento box is still very luxurious.

The rice was cooked with bamboo shoots and oil, and sprinkled with a little bit of wood sprouts on top.

Neatly arranged next to it were grilled eel, crab meat omelet, black Wagyu beef stew, sesame asparagus, and two beautifully cut strawberries.

The cafeteria set meal not far away costs only €150.

The cost of the ingredients in this bento box alone is enough to feed him at least half a month in the cafeteria.

Kiryu Yaya held his chopsticks, his feelings complicated.

Damn, it's so good to be rich.

Mizuna Yayoi looked at him nervously.

"Wouldn't that be...too strange?"

"Do not."

Kiryu Yaya picked up a piece of eel and put it in his mouth.

The sauce was perfectly balanced between sweet and salty, the fish was tender, and the aroma of the oil blended with the rice—it was simply not something you'd expect to find in a bank cafeteria.

"It's delicious."

Mizuna Yayoi's eyes lit up immediately.

"Great."

She breathed a sigh of relief, then explained in a low voice:

"Actually, some of the ingredients for today were sent by my mother from Kyoto. She said that I work alone in Osaka and she was always worried that I wasn't eating well, so she sent me a lot of things."

Kiryu Yaya glanced at the bento box.

This is no longer just about not eating well.

This is because they ate too well.

Yayoi Mizuna picked up her chopsticks, ate a few bites, and then suddenly looked up at him again.

"Um... what happened this morning, did you see it, senior?"

"I saw it."

Mizuna Yayoi's fingers gripped the chopsticks nervously.

"Was what I said too harsh?"

Kiryu Yaya put down his chopsticks and looked at her.