The Moon’s Ship That Crosses The Night: Chapter 14

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The faint smell of sweat brushed past Kawase’s nose. Turning around, he wasn’t surprised to see Matsushita walking by. The sun was still up, but it was already past 6:30 PM—the time when people started feeling worn out after a long day. With the air conditioning set at an eco-friendly yet barely effective temperature, the large-built, sweat-prone Matsushita had spent the entire summer muttering the same complaint: “The AC’s definitely broken, don’t you think?”

“Matsushita, you stink of sweat!” One of the more outspoken female employees wrinkled her nose.

“Huh? Really?” Matsushita looked genuinely puzzled.

With half of the office being women, someone had told him to be more mindful of things like that, but he never showed any intention of taking preventative measures.

“Hey!”

Kawase heard Arisawa calling out, but since he hadn’t been directly addressed, he ignored it. Then came, “Hey, Kawase!”—there was no avoiding it now.

As soon as he reached Arisawa’s desk, the man got straight to the point. “You free tonight?” His forehead was already shiny with the sweat and oil of the day.

“Well, I guess…”

“Then let’s go drinking. It’s Friday night!”

Arisawa loved drinking. And for some reason, he always invited Kawase. Maybe it was the shared experience of divorce that made Arisawa feel some kind of kinship. He wasn’t an annoying drunk—just a cheerful one—but he could drink endlessly. If Kawase agreed, he knew he was in for the full course: drinking until dawn, followed by ramen in the morning. There was no way he’d be functional the next day. And he had planned to clean his apartment this weekend.

“Uh, well…”

Just as he was searching for an excuse to get out of it, Arisawa clapped his hands. “Alright, it’s decided!” Without waiting for Kawase’s response, he had already made up his mind.

Figuring that socializing with his boss was just another part of the job, Kawase let out a small sigh and said, “Got it.” Then, he returned to his desk and hurried to finish up his remaining tasks. Arisawa was unpredictable—he could suddenly decide, “Let’s go!” at any moment, and Kawase didn’t want to keep him waiting. That meant pushing whatever work he couldn’t finish onto Monday, which was the last thing he wanted.

All he had left was reviewing the compiled survey data, but it was taking longer than expected. Matsushita had been the one to prepare the initial dataset, so Kawase should have had less work to do. But the report was riddled with small mistakes. Matsushita had assured him he had triple-checked everything, yet there were still glaring typos staring right back at him.

After saving the corrected data both on his computer and an external drive, he shut down his PC and tidied up his workspace. "Crab Heaven," the project he had been involved in since its initial development, had finally launched two weeks ago. The next project was still in its early stages, so for now, he had some breathing room.

Glancing over at Arisawa, who showed no signs of getting ready to leave, Kawase made his way over to Matsushita’s desk. Noticing him approach, Matsushita flashed a loose, nervous grin. His face was subtly tense—he had clearly sensed a lecture coming.

“I screwed something up, didn’t I?” Matsushita asked, completely unaware of the tension in Kawase’s expression.

“You idiot, how many times have I told you to double-check for typos? That data gets submitted as official documentation. People are gonna start thinking nobody in our team knows how to write properly.”

Even though Kawase hadn’t so much as raised a hand, Matsushita immediately ducked his head, covering it with both hands. “I’m sorry!”

“If you don’t want to get yelled at over stupid careless mistakes, then check your work properly! If you screw up like this again—”

Matsushita suddenly let out a small “Ah,” peering past Kawase’s shoulder with an odd expression.

“What, are you even listening to me?” Kawase snapped, irritated.

“The branch president is here,” Matsushita blurted out in a rushed whisper.

“What about him?”

“You know, from Hokkaido... the one who helped us a ton…”

Kawase instinctively turned around, and the sight before him made his breath catch. Someone who had no reason to be here was standing right in front of him.

The man’s neatly combed hair, streaked with silver, and his deep navy suit—almost black—gave him an air of composed authority. He was tall and lean, exuding an effortless presence, yet he didn’t make the already poorly air-conditioned office feel any warmer.

“Should we, uh, go say hi or something?” Matsushita asked, uncertain.

Kawase saw Arisawa clap the man on the shoulder, the two exchanging familiar smiles. A soft expression that only surfaced around people he trusted. Kawase suddenly recalled Arisawa saying he’d “talk to the person in charge over there” before the Hokkaido test marketing. Maybe he had been referring to this man all along.

After murmuring something to the former department head, Arisawa turned toward Kawase.

“Hey, Kawase, come over here for a sec.”

The invitation sent a jolt down his spine. Was this man here on a business trip? He couldn’t piece together the situation, but he approached the two slowly, cautiously.

“You owe a lot to Shibaoka from Hokkaido, don’t you?”

Kawase forced a brief “Yes” in response, keeping his eyes fixed on the man’s chest rather than meeting his gaze.

“I really appreciate all your help back then. Thanks to the data we gathered, the product turned out great,” Kawase said, offering the most neutral, formal words of gratitude he could muster as he bowed his head.

“I tried the final product myself,” Shibaoka replied with a small nod. “The texture was just right—firm but not too hard. The mild seasoning was perfectly balanced. It’s the kind of snack people won’t get tired of easily. It might have a slow start, but I think it has the potential to be a long-term seller.”

Arisawa let out a short, impressed “Oh.”

“Getting praise from the former ace of the Planning Department? That’s an honor,” he chuckled.

“You always exaggerate,” Shibaoka replied with a mild smile. “It’s been years since I was in planning.”

Arisawa exhaled, shaking his head. “Still, it’s a damn waste for someone as capable as you to just up and leave the company.”

“Leave…?” The word hit Kawase hard, and his head shot up.

“Retiring this early? You’re not that old,” Arisawa grumbled, giving Shibaoka’s shoulder a light shove.

“Our company’s been pushing for early retirement for a while now. It’s just how things go—old soldiers fade away.”

“Come on, you’re not even fifty yet! That’s hardly ‘old.’ The company might want to push out useless managers, but the ones who can actually do their job? Those are the ones we need.”

Kawase finally found his voice. “Branch president … you’re leaving the company?”

Shibaoka met his gaze and simply said, “Yeah.”

“You helped me a lot, too,” he added with an easy smile.

Before Kawase could fully process that, Arisawa threw in his usual teasing remark. “Look at you, all formal. I bet you came all the way from Hokkaido just to say your goodbyes, didn’t you?”

“There are a lot of people I owe here,” Shibaoka replied. “And it worked out well for the paperwork I needed to take care of. It’s easier to wrap everything up in one trip.”

“You heading back today?” Arisawa asked, rubbing his chin. His stubble was starting to stand out.

Shibaoka shook his head.

“No, I’m leaving on tomorrow’s flight.”

“You got any plans tonight?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then let’s go drinking.”

The man narrowed his eyes and smiled. “I can’t drink as much as I used to. You sure I’ll be able to keep up with you?”

“Who said anything about drinking you under the table?”

With that, their plans were settled. Kawase felt a quiet relief at being freed from Arisawa’s usual drinking invitations. He took the chance to slip away. “Well then, I’ll take a rain check—”

But before he could finish, Arisawa cocked his head and cut in.

“What the hell are you talking about? You’re coming too. I heard all about it—you weren’t just looking after him on that business trip. He’s been helping you out since your sales days, hasn’t he?”

“Uh… well, I mean…”

“Right, Shibaoka?” Arisawa turned to the man with an expectant grin. “Kawase should come too, don’t you think?”

“I don’t mind,” Shibaoka said calmly. “As long as he doesn’t.”

“Of course he doesn’t! Alright, let’s go. Kawase, grab your bag.”

A firm push on the back sent him moving toward his desk. He grabbed his bag, but for a moment, just stood there, at a loss. His mind couldn’t keep up with how fast things had changed.

…It wasn’t like they’d be alone. And with three people, maybe he’d find an opening to slip away early. Shibaoka was leaving the company. This would probably be the last time they ever met. It was just a few hours. He could deal with it. Kawase told himself that and took a deep breath.

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