Tokyo, 1994, starting with medical training

Chapter 56 Living Like You

The clock had only struck 5:30 in the afternoon, but it was already completely dark outside.

That's how it is in winter; the days are so short it's unsettling.

In the Civic Affairs Hall on the first floor of the City Hall, the suffocating silence was even heavier than the darkness outside.

The workday bell has already rung.

But no one moved.

In the large office with twenty people, the only sounds were the clatter of fingers tapping on the keyboard and the rustling of papers turning.

Keiko Yoshino remained seated behind her dark gray steel desk. Who would dare to leave?

She was holding a red pen and drawing circles on a newly printed document.

Her complexion was terrible; even thick foundation couldn't cover the dark circles under her eyes.

It wasn't just the aftereffects of a hangover, but also because I felt sorry for her.

"We tried our best, but the stains from the sauce and beer had seeped into the fibers."

My favorite Isetan wool coat, even when taken to the most expensive dry cleaner, the clerk just shook his head and apologized.

Snapped!

Section Chief Yoshino slammed his red pen on the table.

Everyone shrank back, quickly lowering their already bowed heads even further.

The office atmosphere has been tense all day.

No one wanted to attract the department head's attention at a time like this; they just hoped to blend in with the dust in the air.

"Saionji Temple!"

Suddenly, Yoshino's shrill voice rang out.

Everyone immediately breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Aside from Saionji Mina, who was sitting in the corner, hunching her shoulders and pretending to check data.

"Yes...yes!"

She immediately jumped up from the chair, and because she moved so quickly, her knee hit the table leg, which hurt so much that she almost cried, but she didn't dare to rub it.

"Is this the meeting minutes you took?"

Section Chief Yoshino picked up the stack of documents and threw them at him relentlessly.

The papers scattered, and although they did not cause any real harm, they all hit Saionji Mina.

"You even missed 'the Imperial Court'? Did a zombie eat your brain?"

"Or do you think the other party is a small, casual company that doesn't need such honorifics?"

"This is for the hearing materials related to next year's budget!"

"Are you trying to make all the bonuses for our civics class go down the drain?"

Section Chief Yoshino spat out, almost hitting his face.

Saionji Mina lowered her head, her hands pressed tightly against her thighs.

"I'm so sorry! It was my oversight! I'll fix it right away!"

She bent down, giving a perfect 90-degree bow, her forehead almost touching the table.

It looked like a frightened little quail, pitiful, helpless, and at the mercy of its prey.

This is the kind of personality that the temporary employee, who has been with the company for less than six months, has.

weak.

They're easy to bully.

Even if they are scolded severely, they will only bow and apologize again and again, and dare not say a word in rebuttal.

Saionji Mina stared at the grout lines in the floor tiles.

She felt a fire burning in her stomach.

This isn't an official document; it's just a draft circulating internally. We can simply point it out and make changes.

Why did you throw it in her face?

Why reprimand her like that in front of everyone?

A ceramic vase placed on the corner of the table, used to hold elegant flower arrangements...

She should be able to lift it, right?

Couldn't it also smash hard into this old woman's face?

Such a heavy vase must be bleeding profusely, right?

"Really."

"Young people these days have absolutely no resilience."

"Back in the day, we weren't so pampered."

Section Chief Yoshino took a slender women's cigarette from the pack, lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

The office was filled with smoke.

In the days before a complete smoking ban was implemented, the office was a giant gas chamber.

"Rewrite."

"If I find any more problems, you're going back to the countryside to farm!"

"Did you hear me?"

Section Chief Yoshino waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away an annoying fly.

"Yes! I heard you!"

Saionji Mina bowed again, then fled back to her seat.

Fantasy is just fantasy.

The reality is that she still needs this job to pay rent and utilities, and she still needs to survive like an ant in this cruel society.

Section Chief Yoshino watched her departing figure and snorted.

She didn't actually care whether the information submitted by Saionji Mina was correct or not.

Even if all the hearing materials are just a blank sheet of paper, the budget and bonuses for next year will not be reduced by a single cent.

What she cares about is last night.

Last night at that barbecue restaurant, some drunkard who appeared out of nowhere ruined her favorite coat.

So all day long, she couldn't stand anyone.

Especially this Saionji Mina, so timid and submissive, like a doormat, it's infuriating to look at.

Moreover, last night at the barbecue restaurant, that brat just huddled in a corner and watched, without saying a single word in support.

What's the point of keeping such a clueless subordinate?

"Damn drunkard..."

Section Chief Yoshino cursed under his breath, picked up the now-cold teacup beside him, and took a big gulp.

Make sure she never runs into that bastard again.

If she finds out who that guy is who's been swindling people with that Ogawara councilor's business card, she'll make sure he knows what happens when you anger the section chief of the city hall.

……

It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the city hall to the apartment where Mina Saionji lives.

It would only take five minutes by bus, but she prefers to walk to save over 100 yen on the fare.

In late December, the cold wind in Maebashi City felt like a knife.

Saionji Mina wrapped her coat tighter around herself and buried her face in her scarf.

The shops on both sides of the street were all lit up.

She passed by a convenience store, went in and bought a discounted rice ball and a carton of milk, which would be her dinner.

It was already past six o'clock when I got back to the apartment building.

This is an old three-story apartment building. Some of the exterior tiles are peeling off, and the stairs are made of cement. There is no elevator.

Saionji Mina climbed the steps.

Although I live on the third floor, there isn't much of a view; all I can see are the underwear hanging on the balconies of the buildings opposite.

The motion-activated light at the corner between the second and third floors, which always breaks down, is still malfunctioning today.

She stomped her foot hard.

no response.

Total darkness.

Even you are bullying me.

Saionji Mina muttered something in the darkness and could only climb up by touching the handrail.

We arrived at the corridor on the third floor.

The motion-activated lights here were on, casting a dim, yellowish glow in the narrow passageway.

Room 301 was her room.

At the end of the corridor, next door in room 302... is Dr. Kiryu's room.

She didn't take out her keys and stood in the hallway for a while.

She is waiting.

About a minute later.

Snapped.

The motion-activated lights went out, plunging the corridor into darkness.

Saionji Mina held her breath and looked down at the door of room 302.

A faint sliver of light peeked out from under the door.

He is at home.

Dr. Kiryu, who kicked the oven away, smashed the alarm with a chair, and calmly subdued the department head in the barbecue restaurant, was right behind the door.

Saionji Mina felt her heart begin to pound violently.

She tiptoed to the door of room 302, raised her hand, and wanted to knock, to ask him—

"Excuse me, how can I live like you?"

How can I, without hesitation, slap a rag in my boss's face when faced with a nasty boss?

How can I kick all my colleagues away when I don't like them?

"I want to be like that too."

"Kiryu-san, please teach me."

Please.

(End of this chapter)