Welcome to Seishun! This is the Marketing Department!
(A small peek into Inui and Kaidoh's relationship… On a day Inui is feeling naughty…)
Horio, Kato, and Mizuno have just been recruited into the Seishun Tennis Company sales division! But the entire sales department is currently out on an overseas business trip to seal a deal with Hyotei International Sports Company! Kaidoh kachou of the marketing department, who used to be in the sales division, is left to guide the new recruits around the company.
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"And this is the engineering department. This room is where all our products get designed and built, before they are sent off to be tested in the test centre we passed by before." Kaidoh Kaoru's gruff voice reverberated through the hallway next to the aforementioned room. Horio Satoshi, Kato Kachiro, and Mizuno Katsuo, who were scuttling behind like little ducklings following their mother, nodded in unison.
"Na! Kaidoh kachou! Why did you move over from sales to marketing? Is it more fun in marketing?" Horio asked loudly.
"Hrrh?!" Sharp eyes immediately whipped around, and the three recruits shrank back in fear. After a brief pause, as Kaidoh paralyzed the trio with fear, he responded. "I was needed there." came the short reply.
After Kaidoh turned back around, motioning for them to follow, the three recruits sighed in relief. They glanced at each other and silently agreed that Kaidoh kachou was not a man they wanted to cross, before continuing with their frantic scuttling, in an effort to keep up with the kachou's long strides.
They soon entered a lift that quickly closed and started its ascent. "We'll now be heading to the marketing department, where you guys will spend the rest of the day helping out." Kaidoh started talking once more. "The top floor in the building is where the president's office is, and his secretary's desk is right outside his room. If you ever need to make an appointment to see Tezuka shachou, you know where to go, but if you have no reason to be there… Just don't go there." Vigorous nods were received in response.
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"Good morning Kaidoh kachou!" A man with brown Elvis-style hair greeted Kaidoh brightly. They had finally arrived at the marketing department. "Hrhn. Kawamura." Kaidoh acknowledged the man with a slight nod of the head.
"Uwah! Are these the new recruits? Nice to meet you all! I'm Kawamura Takashi of the marketing department!" Kawamura beamed at the three recruits, who wasted no time in taking turns to introduce themselves.
"Kawamura! Show them around, then get them to help with whatever needs to be done. I need to go speak to Inui senpai about the Gekkan Pro Tennis ad. He's already gone to his office right?" Kaidoh asked, looking irritated.
"Ah! Yes! Inui buchou is already inside! Horio, Kato, Mizuno! Follow me! We'll start by preparing the meeting room for later!" Kawamura turned and headed for a room past the neat array of desks, and the trio followed obediently.
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*Knock knock* "It's me Inui senpai."
A voice from the other side of the office door told Kaidoh to enter.
A man with reflective rectangular glasses was sitting in front of the desk that was labeled 'Buchou: Inui Sadaharu'.
"Ah… Kaidoh. What is it?" Inui asked with a small smile playing on his lips.
"Hrhn!" Kaidoh grunted. "Shiba-san from Gekkan Pro Tennis gave me a call this morning, saying you haven't sent her the final draft of our nanotechnology racquet ad yet! Hsss! You said you'd get it done yesterday!"
"Relax Kaidoh. I finished writing up the draft at exactly 1.37pm yesterday. I just haven't emailed it over to Gekkan Pro Tennis yet. If I hadn't finished, I wouldn't have had the time to keep you company till 3.54am this morning." Inui's grin got a tad bit wider.
Blushing furiously at the intimation, Kaidoh averted his eyes, and told Inui to just send it in already.
"I will. But only if you drink a cup of my new hyper overdrive remix nutritious youth Inui juice first!" Inui promptly poured out a cup of thick red juice from a bottle behind his desk, and offered it to Kaidoh. "It's a super healthy energy-restoring drink. Plus, I specially adjusted the taste, so it should be more palatable for you."
Kaidoh shuddered at the sight of the cup. "Why should I have to do that?" he demanded.
"Well… You don't. I just won't send out the final draft till I feel like it." Inui set the cup down onto his desk, and turned to his computer monitor, expression serious once again. "Ah… We have a meeting in 8 minutes and 43 seconds. They might ask about the Gekkan Pro Tennis ad..."
"Hsss! I just need to drink this cup of juice right?!" Kaidoh snapped before squeezing his eyes shut and pouring the contents of the cup down his throat.
Surprisingly, Kaidoh did not find the taste offensive at all. As scary as the juice had looked, it tasted like strawberry juice. "It's actually not bad…"
"Right? Doesn't it taste good? My Hyper Overdrive Remix Nutritious Youth Inui juice?"
"W-w-what did you just feed me senpai?!" Panic rose in Kaidoh's voice, his heart rate increasing fast.
"Oh… Nothing much… Just my special aphrodisiac Inui juice formula." Inui replied calmly, a smile back on his face.
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The 10.30am marketing department meeting was about to start and only seven people were present.
Inui, Kaidoh, and Kawamura were the ones in charge of the new racquet launch; Horio, Kato, and Mizuno were there to learn how meetings were run; and the president's secretary, Fuji Shusuke, was there to handle the budget with a very late Tezuka shachou.
*Vrrr vrrr* A few moments later, Fuji looked up from his phone, smiling. "Tezuka shachou won't be attending today's meeting. He's not been feeling well today." Fuji chuckled ever so slightly. "Why don't we go ahead and start the meeting?"
"Will shachou really be okay?" Kawamura asked, full of concern.
"Yes." Fuji replied. "I'll continue looking after him, after our meeting. So why don't we start?"
"Okay…" Kawamura was obviously still worried. "There has been some bad bug going around though… Hey! Kaidoh kachou! You don't look too good either! Are you okay? Your face is all flushed!" Kawamura's attention was now directed to Kaidoh, who had been squirming in his seat.
"Hrnh?!" Kaidoh let out a surprised grunt. "I'm fine." He said quietly, looking down at the table.
Inui, who was sitting beside Kaidoh, had a very large grin plastered all over his face.
"Now that all this has been cleared, why don't we start the meeting? I'm sure you guys don't want to spend the whole day on this meeting right?" Fuji's mouth was curved into a smile, but his eyes now said otherwise. Kawamura finally got the message, and started with the project introduction.
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"Kaidoh, follow me to my office. I have something really important to discuss with you." The meeting was finally over, and Inui beckoned Kaidoh to follow him.
Kaidoh complied, shuffling awkwardly behind Inui, strategically holding a clipboard in front.
"I sure hope Kaidoh senpai is alright…" Kawamura wondered aloud.
"He'll be fine." Fuji reassured him. "Well, I'd better get going too! Good work everyone!" And Fuji left, still smiling.
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Back in Inui's office, Inui had repositioned himself in his chair in front of the desk.
Kaidoh was standing by the side of his table, squirming uncomfortably.
"Inui sempai…"
"Yes Kaidoh?"
"Please…"
"Hmm? Why don't you come over here?" Inui made a gap between him and his desk, a mischievous grin on his face…
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Outside, in the main area of the marketing department, Kawamura was giving the newbies a quick debriefing after the meeting.
"And that's basically how meetings go in the marketing department! If you guys can handle this, you'll do just fine. Meetings in other departments are not too different! So… Any questions?" Kawamura said cheerfully.
"Na! Senpai! The marketing department doesn't seem to do much work ne… Even the meeting was so short!" Horio commented in his loud voice.
"Ahh… It's cause we have a very efficient buchou! You noticed how the budget was agreed upon immediately? That's because our Inui buchou always calculates things beforehand! You won't find such a buchou in the other departments!" Kawamura responded with a proud smile.
"Eh? So most of the work is done by Inui buchou?! Then, with my two years of business experience, if I transfer to the marketing department, it won't be too long till I become kachou! Anyway, Kaidoh senpai has such a scary face, so I'm sure it won't be too hard to replace him!" Horio said, his delusions taking over.
"Umm… Horio-kun… I'm sure you have good skills, but Kaidoh kachou works very hard! Plus, he has a very important role in this depar…" Kawamura was suddenly interrupted by sounds coming from Inui's office.
"Ahh~!"
The four men outside jumped.
"I-Inui~!"
"Oh… Uhh… … I thought Kaidoh kachou wasn't feeling well today… … But… Umm… Yeah… Like I was saying, it doesn't seem like there's much to do because of the combination of our buchou and kachou… They really help take this company to new heights, so they are pretty irreplaceable right now." Kawamura maintained his smile, seemingly unfazed by the growing sounds from the office.
The newbies, on the other hand, now had faces as red as tomatoes, and all three had suddenly become very interested in the exquisite grey carpeting covering the floor.
"Hey… What's this?" Kato asked, while bending down to pick up a shiny item that appeared to have fallen on the ground. "Wow! It's a gold fountain pen! Is it yours Kawamura senpai?" Kato offered it to Kawamura.
"Oh yes! Thanks! I keep forgetting about this somehow!" Kawamura took the pen while laughing at his forgetfulness.
Suddenly… "BURNING!" The trio looked up at their senpai, stunned.
"OH YEAH BABY! WITH OUR BUCHOU-KACHOU DUO, THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT WILL BE UNSTOPPABLE! WE WILL BE UNBEATABLE! UNBELIEVABLE! OH MY GOD! SEISHUN WILL RULE THE WORLD!"
Horio's, Kato's, and Mizuno's jaws dropped. They exchanged glances with one another, and silently agreed that they didn't have the desire to switch to the marketing department after all.
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Back in Inui's office, Kaidoh was putting his pants back on.
"You were really excited today huh, Kaidoh?" On Inui's face was a satisfied smile.
"Hrhn! It's only because of your stupid juice!"
"Ahh… But it was only blended strawberries… I should write this data down! Kaidoh is susceptible to the placebo effect. And an aphrodisiac of the mind works really well!"
Kaidoh walked out of the office, leaving behind an Inui with two large lumps on his head.
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