The Encounter

The Encounter (1)

Yes, it all began three months ago…

At our company, every year, new employees spend six months on provisional assignment while their aptitude and other qualities are evaluated. Then, starting October 1, they begin working in their official departments.

However, during their first year, they also undergo training in various departments at set intervals.

Over the course of that year, they learn all sorts of things and transform from students into working adults—or rather, they grow into them.

Yes, it was exactly three months ago, in mid-April, when the new employees had finished their entrance ceremony and were beginning their provisional assignments.

After the entrance ceremony, they first spend one week learning the proper mindset expected of working adults, business etiquette, and other basics for life within the company. After that, they begin training at their provisional departments.

Then there is the annual New Employee Welcome Bowling Tournament held every May. Recruitment for participants begins in April.

Last year, I participated as a new employee myself.

The event is held on a grand scale with an entire bowling alley reserved for the company. Participation is mandatory for new employees, but optional for everyone else, and those who want to join must sign up in advance. Naturally, since I am terrible at bowling, I had planned not to participate this year. And yet…

Three months ago, in mid-April, I was sitting at my desk working when someone called out loudly from behind me.

That distinctive, resonant voice, loud and perfectly articulated, was enough for me to know who it belonged to without even turning around.

“Hazuki-san, will you join the New Employee Welcome Bowling Tournament on May 15?”

My heart skipped a beat. When I turned around, there stood my section chief with a huge smile on his face.

“Uh, well, Chief… I’m really bad at bowling, so I don’t think I can.”

Bowling was one of my weak points. I had fully intended to sit this year out, so naturally I wanted to decline.

“No, no, that’s fine. It doesn’t matter if you’re bad. You’ve bowled before, right?”

I wasn’t being modest. I really was terrible at it.

“Well… yes, I have.”

The section chief was the type to charge straight ahead once he made up his mind and never listen to anyone else.

“Great. Then I’ll put your name on the application form.”

“I’m really, really bad at it.”

I’m serious, you know.

“Oh, come on. It’s fine even if you’re bad.”

The section chief, whose neatly parted seven-three hairstyle was especially memorable, continued smiling cheerfully.

“Chief, you really don’t know how bad I am.”

He was clearly underestimating my abilities—or rather, my lack of them.

“We have to apply in teams of three. I’m counting on you. We’re definitely going to win!”

With that, the section chief hurried away.

“Wait, no, I told you I’m terrible… Chief!”

He was the very picture of seriousness, yet he looked so excited. If he wanted to win that badly, surely there were other people he could invite instead of someone who had gone out of her way to warn him that she was awful at bowling!?

And then, at last, May 15 arrived—the day of the New Employee Welcome Bowling Tournament that I had absolutely not been looking forward to.

I felt miserable about it, but since my name had already been submitted, I couldn’t exactly skip it.

The event was organized by the company’s Recreation Club, which was mainly run by younger employees and planned and carried out various company activities.

There were so many participants that even the large bowling alley felt cramped.

Let’s see… I’m on Lane Six. My teammates are the section chief, me, and one man and one woman.

Of all people, I had ended up on the same team as the section chief. Somehow, that made me feel even more nervous.

“Good morning.”

“Ah, good morning!”

His greeting was loud, crisp, and energetic. He was only slightly taller than me, but perhaps because he carried himself so confidently, he always looked bigger than he really was.

The section chief looked so enthusiastic and happy…

Ugh, I’m sorry. There is absolutely no way our team is winning. Please aim for the individual championship instead. I felt both apologetic and pathetic.

I didn’t recognize the other two people.

“Good morning. I’m Hazuki from General Affairs. Nice to meet you.”

“Good morning. I’m Sato from Engineering. Nice to meet you.”

“Good morning. I’m Wada from Domestic Sales. Nice to meet you.”

Sato-san seemed to be about the same age as me. She had a gentle, easygoing personality, and we quickly found it easy to talk to each other.

As for Wada-san, when I looked at him more closely…

Huh?

He’s handsome!?

Oh no. I really am terrible at bowling. It would be so embarrassing if I kept cleaning the gutters with gutter balls all day.

And just when I finally got lucky enough to be on the same team as such a handsome guy!

The Encounter (2)

Even though I was lucky enough to end up on the same team as a handsome guy, I’m terrible at bowling…

On the day of the bowling tournament, our team consisted of four people: our section chief, Sato, who had a cute and gentle air about her, the tall and handsome Wada, and me.

I’m about 160 centimeters tall, and I had to look up when talking to him, so he was probably over 180 centimeters. His good looks seemed to stand out quite a bit, and I could see the female employees staring at him and whispering among themselves.

Sigh… I really am terrible at bowling. It would be embarrassing if all I did was clean out the gutters with gutter balls. But now that I was already here, I just had to accept it and do my best, even if I was bad at it. Hopefully everyone would just find it endearing.

At last, the announcement signaling the start of the games was made, and the bowling tournament began.

We would play two games in the order of the section chief, Sato, me, and Wada. The combined scores would determine both the team rankings and the individual rankings.

As expected from someone who had been looking forward to this so much, the section chief was good. He kept scoring spare after spare and strike after strike.

Sato and Wada seemed to be enjoying themselves normally enough.

As for me…

Don’t ask!

I felt like the section chief’s expression was gradually becoming more rigid. Was he seriously aiming for first place in the team competition?

Sato and I were women of the same age, so our conversation quickly became lively.

And Wada, surprisingly enough, was younger than me. He looked so mature that I was genuinely shocked.

…Which meant he must have been one of this year’s new employees.

Handsome rookie Wada kept chatting cheerfully with a slightly tanned, average-height man in the lane next to ours. Maybe they worked in the same department? Yeah, they probably did.

He looked pretty ordinary, but he seemed kind. I wondered if he was older than me.

Oh, our eyes met!

“How’s it going?”

He casually spoke to me with a smile, so I smiled back.

“Ah, well, I’m doing terribly. I’m really bad at bowling.”

“Hmm, let’s see…”

The man, who seemed like an older coworker and looked fairly ordinary aside from his cute smile, stared closely at my score before grinning and saying one thing.

“You’re not cut out for this.”

Gah…

“Exactly! Go ahead and laugh.”

There was no choice but to say it like a joke, right?

“No, no. I’m about the same. I’m not cut out for it either.”

He laughed as he said that. Aside from being slightly slender while still looking fairly muscular, he really did seem like an ordinary senior coworker.

“Oh, really?”

“Really.”

The atmosphere instantly brightened.

I was a little surprised when he told me I wasn’t cut out for it, but he had probably just been trying to make me feel better. And by turning his kindness into a joke, he made sure I wouldn’t feel awkward about it either.

He seemed like a nice person.

More than anything, there always seemed to be laughter around this ordinary-looking coworker.

After that, the four of us younger employees completely forgot about the section chief and had a great time together.

At first, I had spoken politely to the ordinary-looking guy because I thought he was my senior, but then I discovered that we were actually the same age!

Wait, did that mean we had joined the company in the same year?

Hundreds of new employees joined every year. Saying things like, “Even if we joined at the same time, there’s no way we could remember every single face,” we soon stopped using formal language with each other.

The two games flew by as we chatted and had fun, and at last it was time for the results to be announced.

As expected, another team won first place. The section chief looked a little irritated.

I should probably avoid making eye contact with him as much as possible.

But it wasn’t my fault! I told everyone over and over that I was bad at bowling.

…Still, I’m sorry.

I apologized silently in my heart, just in case.

Then it was finally time to announce the individual winner. The section chief waited with a slightly tense expression.

Come on, Section Chief! You can do it! Please win!

…Though the games were already over, so cheering now wasn’t going to change anything.

In the end, the section chief came in second, leaving a somewhat awkward atmosphere hanging in the air.

“Well then, shall we head home?”

“Yes.”

At the section chief’s prompting, the three of us who had participated from the same workplace started walking away.

Then our eyes met again.

“Why don’t we all grab something to eat on the way home?”

Your voice is a little too loud, ordinary-looking coworker of mine. The section chief is staring over here with a scary expression.

What should I do?