Chapter Seventeen — “Prospects”

There were three team leaders in the First Factory.

Sugiya was one of them—and the youngest.

This is already my fourth term as a team leader...

This year, I want to produce some real results.

The members are getting stronger, too.

I can't rush things, but... it's about time.

Sugiya's team had five members.

Yokota, the new guy... he'll be fine.

He's motivated, and he's curious.

Give him three... maybe four years. He's someone to watch.

Take-san and Nezu-san are veterans. They're steady.

Nezu-san has slipped a little lately, maybe... but he's close to retirement. That's only natural.

He paused.

...The problem is Tsubaki and Sano.

They're both relatively young among the mid-level workers, sure.

But even taking that into account... they're still behind.

There's already quite a gap between Sano and Takahashi, who joined at the same time.

Tsubaki, too... if you compare her position with the people in the other teams, they're working alongside the ace-level guys.

She's still got a long way to go...

As usual, Sugiya found himself going over the same concerns again and again.

Then the bell signaling the end of the three o'clock break rang.

That doesn't mean I can give up.

I want to get results with these people.

With this team.

There has to be a breakthrough somewhere...

The key, he thought, had to be those two.

The ones who still had room to grow.

...I've got to work harder, too.

Before long, Sugiya had become completely absorbed in his own work.

---

Three young women had joined the company that spring.

One had been assigned to Sales, while the other two had gone to the Operations Department.

For the first two weeks or so, all three had trained together.

But once they were assigned to their respective departments, Natsumi Sugisaki from Sales had begun moving on a completely different schedule.

“Come to think of it, have you seen Sugisaki lately?”

“Not really.”

Yumemi stretched slightly.

“I wonder how she's doing.”

“I think I saw her the day before yesterday. She was running somewhere in a huge hurry.”

“You could only see her from far away?”

“Yeah. But I'm pretty sure it was her.”

Yumemi smiled.

“She seems to be working hard.”

“Compared to her, we're taking things pretty easy.”

The two young women from the Operations Department were perfectly aware that they were, perhaps, a little too relaxed.

It was their day off.

They were having lunch at a restaurant inside an upscale hotel next to the station.

“You know,” Miyuki said, “I thought working for a company might be boring.”

She smiled.

“But I'm really glad I met you, Yumin.”

The tall girl called Yumin's real name was Yumemi.

“Me too.”

Yumemi smiled.

“I'm glad I met you, Miyuki.”

“Honestly, I'm having more fun than I did in high school.”

“Isn't that a bit much?”

“Hmmm...”

Yumemi thought about it.

“Actually, maybe it's not.”

“...Seriously?”

Outside the restaurant windows, the midsummer sky was completely cloudless.

The sunlight was blazing.

Inside, the air conditioning worked perfectly.

And time drifted lazily by.

“...Still.”

Miyuki suddenly spoke.

“I have to say, Sugiya-senpai is pretty cool.”

“Oh?”

Yumemi turned toward her.

“Miyuki, are you Team Sugiya?”

“Team Sugiya...?”

Miyuki frowned.

“Not exactly.”

“But he's kind of manly, isn't he?”

“Hmmm. I guess.”

Yumemi smiled.

“For me, it's Takahashi-senpai.”

“I get it.”

Miyuki grinned.

“Yumin, you look like you'd be into that slightly unreliable, quiet, grass-eating type.”

“Ahhh.”

Yumemi shook her head.

“You just don't get it.”

“Don't get what?”

“The masculine side of Takahashi-senpai.”

Miyuki blinked.

“Where?”

“What do you mean, where?”

“Exactly where is Takahashi-senpai supposed to be masculine?”

“You mean Takahashi Shinji?”

“Who else would I mean?”

“I don't know.”

Miyuki shrugged.

“Maybe there was another Takahashi-senpai in Sales.”

She smiled.

“Some middle-aged guy who's ridiculously muscular.”

“Miyuki thinks someone like Sugiya-senpai is masculine.”

“...”

“For me, I'm looking at something different.”

“...Oh?”

“What?”

“So, basically...”

Miyuki leaned forward.

“You want to get a little closer to Takahashi-senpai?”

“It's not like that...”

Yumemi looked away.

“But I'd like to talk to him a little more, maybe?”

“Hmmm.”

Miyuki nodded thoughtfully.

“I have no idea what's so great about him.”

Then she suddenly slapped the table.

“But hey!”

She pointed at herself.

“For Yumin's sake, I'll take one for the team!”

“Take one for the team?”

Yumemi stared at her.

“We're the same age.”

“Come on!”

Miyuki puffed out her chest.

“If that's the situation, we've got to come up with a plan!”

“You don't have to. I never asked you.”

“Don't be like that!”

Miyuki waved her hand dramatically.

“Once I've made up my mind, there's no stopping me!”

She leaned forward.

“I'll think of something.”

“I'm sure I'll come up with a good idea!”

---

Shinji Takahashi missed his stop again that day.

By the time he realized it, the train doors had already closed.

I did it again...

He hadn't been asleep.

He had simply been thinking.

He was always thinking.

At work.

During meals.

Even after waking up in the morning, while still lying in bed.

The same thoughts never seemed to leave him.

This could be really interesting.

One day, an image had suddenly appeared in his mind.

And ever since then, it had remained there.

Shinji had always loved the night views of industrial areas.

Whenever he looked at them, he felt as if he could hear the breathing of the people working there.

...Beautiful.

Factories floating almost dreamlike in the darkness.

A place where the human world and the world of dreams seemed to overlap.

Beauty created by human hands.

Everything condensed into one landscape.

Someday, I want to create something like that.

At some point, Shinji had begun dreaming of expressing the beauty of an industrial area in some form.

And recently—

Maybe...

Maybe this method could actually work...!

One idea had come to him.

If this connects here...

Then the side panel could serve this purpose...

Hmm.

That would collide with this part...

There has to be a better way to assemble it.

There has to be.

But...

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

There's one thing I've already decided.

The name of this product will be...

Shinji whispered so quietly that no one could hear him.

“PaneModel...”