The sound of the wet asphalt was strangely comforting, but Nifuji was extremely careful with how he walked. Fortunately, Tayama's place was quite close to the public transportation, and this gave him a chance to return to his place, so he could change into a different suit.
His suit was a mess, and unlike Chizuru's place, it was his first time at Tayama's place, and with their relationship, it was impossible for him to keep his suit there.
Still, as for why he went back to his place instead of going to Chizuru's place, it was because he knew that Eri and Mayuri were working, so there was no one at his place.
If he went to Chizuru's place, he was afraid that she would dry him.
His body was almost wrecked, after all, and while the instant ramen had filled him up, and the caffeine from the coffee had made him slightly energized, it was just for a moment, and frankly, to be honest, he needed a real, deep sleep.
Sleeping.
When he was young, he had never thought of this activity as something that needed to be taken seriously. After all, it was quite often the case for him to spend his day without sleeping, gaming all day and night, then sleep for a few hours before he woke up.
Still, everything was already going in the right direction, especially when he had set up all the plans, and what was left was just for everyone to follow his words.
System.
Yes, even though he might plan to make many things, what he made in the beginning, after he started to become the leader of the toy department, was to create a system where he had no need to take care of everything.
As a leader, what he needed to do was just to lead everyone, telling them the direction they needed to go.
If he made a comparison, he would be the user of the AI.
He made the direction, and the AI would give him the answer, according to what he directed.
While it would be too rude of him to compare those employees under him to tools like AI, he knew that most people in this country didn't treat their workers like human beings, either. Instead, the salarymen in this country were like cogs within a machine, who worked together to move a machine known as the company.
So, how would the owner of the machine treat a cog that was broken?
The best way was to repair it, but in most cases, depending on the cost, they would discard the cogs and replace them with new ones.
Nifuji didn't want to become one among the cogs, and because of that, he was glad that he had gained the system.
Yet, if he didn't have the system, what would he do?
Frankly, he wasn't sure, but he knew that instead of just working as a salaryman, he would also do a side hustle, so that way, when there was a critical situation, such as being fired, he wouldn't be so desperate for his life.
However, life has always been like this, right?
If one couldn't be the leader of the pack, then they would become part of the pack.
Being the leader of the pack was nice, as they had more resources and lived a comfortable life, but if one became part of the pack, while they could gain a comfortable life, if the situation called for it, they would be discarded by the majority.
Nifuji didn't want to become part of the discarded pack, so he tried to get better, even though his life was easy.
After all, like what Tayama had said before, even if he quit his job and became unemployed, he could get a woman who would take care of him and make him a household husband.
Also, with his system, even if he didn't work at the office, he had many ways to live, so why did he insist on working so hard in the office?
Yet, taking everything for granted was definitely something that one shouldn't do.
It was like how one bought a motorcycle, and expected to keep moving without even bringing it to the service center to maintain, and when everything was too late, it would be broken.
So, even a tool that had no emotions needed to be taken care of, so what about humans?
It was troublesome, yet a relationship or emotion, everything that came from emotions was illogical.
Even if one knew that it was bad for them, they somehow, in the end, chased after it, ignoring all of the reminders, and because of that, even if he knew that it was bad for his body for not resting and contiously went after one woman after another, to show that he could take care of them, in the end, he forced himself, but now?
Yup, now, he wants to rest.
So, when he came to his home, he thought of sleeping; a long, deep sleep that would make him able to recover his exhausted body—
"...." NIfuji.
Yup, he knew well that even if he returned to his place, he couldn't rest, especially when he happened to meet Fuji (Ame to Kimi to), who seemed to have a sixth sense when he was about to go home.
"Did you get fired?"
"....." Nifuji.
"...why do you think that I got fired?"
Nifuji's lips twitched uncontrollably, but Fuji smiled softly. "It's weird for a salaryman like you to come back home at this hour."
During this hour, everyone, especially the salarymen, was out to work, so without a doubt, for him, Nifuji, who went home at this hour, was definitely weird, and it was perfectly normal for her to think that he was fired, or was it part of her joke?
Yet, somehow, strangely enough, he saw a relief from her eyes.
'What the heck?'
Why did she show such an expression?
Was it something so happy that he was being fired?
"...let's talk later. I am so exhausted."
Yup, it was better to talk later since he really wanted to take a rest first, but—
"Do you want to rest at my place?" Fuji asked.
"..."
Nifuji narrowed his eyes, staring at Fuji, who met his gaze with a blank, calm expression, and asked, suspiciously, "You won't do anything weird to me, right?"
"...I think you are the one who is doing something weird to me." Fuji rolled her eyes since who the heck made a move between them?
Still, Nifuji knew well that it would be hard for him to sleep at Fuji's place, but as he felt responsible for her, he knew well that even if his body was broken, he had to go on, but somehow, he really fell asleep well at her place.