When Taki and Mitsuha realized how much sleep they didn't have over the course of the last 3-day weekend, the very idea of being sleep deprived created an almost insurmountable challenge of getting out of bed for work. 3 days? 3 weeks, it felt like. In the elongated 72 hours that had just taken place, they got done in that time what would normally take years to happen.
They could sit in bed and dwell on it for hours. And appreciate such good fortune. But, the adoption of capitalism makes them earn their living. So it wouldn't matter what could happen in the next few years if they didn't have a job.
It seemed like forever since the last time they got ready for work together. Mitsuha fixing up Taki's tie and stuff, making him pick an outfit for her, all these little things. But maybe the hardest part of going to work was being away from each other. They shared a short train ride to different stations together, so being in such a public place prevented them from saying 'see ya later' the way they would prefer. But. No matter how they'd slice it, it was only 8 hours and change a day. Really not that big of a deal.
The awkward gap between when Taki got to work and the board meeting that was planned in just 30 minutes from that time put him in a position of indecision. Not really enough time to do anything productive. But he certainly couldn't use any of that time for his own personal endeavors.
"Oh! Hi, Tachibana-san! How was your weekend?"
Well, there's that, at least. Conversing with co-workers to pass the time. The coffee machine in the break room could sometimes see hours of workload that would be deemed illegal under labor regulations. But the congregation of caffeine-seeking architects often forged an environment of conversation.
So that's what he did. Taki spent next moments recounting his eventful weekend. His very eventful weekend. One could wonder how you can fit a dinner with friends, a blackout later that night, coffee the next morning, a fight later that day, a marriage proposal that evening, another Oktoberfest the next night, and then the beach the next day.
"Sounds like a really bad episode of an anime."
There was nothing Taki could say to argue that; everything fell in place pretty much perfectly. And despite whatever he believed, there was no doubt that Tsukasa had some merit to what he said at the beach the previous day. Everything was happening almost too smoothly.
But. Why should that matter at all?
Some of his other, older coworkers shared their pieces on how they spent Health and Sports Day. And as expected, many of them spent the day outside their spouses and children. Taki had to restrain himself from jumping the gun and starting a family of his own with Mitsuha. But that wouldn't be very wise. At least at the moment.
"Okay, everyone, I hope you all enjoyed your three day weekend, because we've got a lot to do this week."
The director spent the next few minutes or so talking about narratives about teamwork and…pushing forward and…always doing your best. How much of the meeting attendants' attention he retained would never be known. Taki sure as hell wasn't paying all that much attention.
"So here's the deal. We have a few lenders who we'd like to establish a business relationship with. I've been doing this a long time, so I'm more than prepared to be able to pitch our project to these lenders and give them a reason to give us their money. Some of you have done this before, but we have some new faces in here. What we'll be doing is meeting with representatives from our list of potential lenders, and giving them a taste of what they'll be funding. Does that make sense?"
Rhetorical question or not, no one in the room offered much of a response, all but affirming to the director that everyone was on the same page. More or less. The director spent the rest of the meeting to basically assign the supervisors to a different lender. With the way things were going, Taki would've actually been very disappointed if he didn't get matched with Mitsuha's company.
But could he expect any less?
"Alright, Tachibana-san, I bet you saw this coming."
And he probably did. At 1030 the next day, he and a group of his architects were to meet with a certain credit union to discuss the terms of the project and pitch the idea to their potential lender. For whatever reason, he felt like he needed to carefully pick his architects, and make sure he took the ones that were the most socially apt. Not necessarily the most knowledgeable, since he was the supervisor after all, but he had this very unnecessary feeling of having to impress. When at the end of the day he shouldn't.
After all, the only people who would be in that room would be his fiancée, and then a bunch of people he could care less about. So why was he feeling like he had to put together a home run presentation?
"'Tachibana Taki'. Say, Mitsuha, remember that discussion we had a couple weeks ago?"
A couple weeks ago? That was forever ago…
The conversation when she signed a paper with Taki's name. Yeah. That was just a couple weeks ago. It sure felt like forever ago, though. And she'd completely forgotten about it. When she saw that a meeting had been established with this architectural firm, she got super excited quickly. But her manager noticed the name on the point-of-contact sheet.
"Isn't this the name that you signed with?"
"How can you even remember something like that?"
"Both our jobs are very detail-oriented. And I worked your job for years before I became a manager. You'd think by now I've learned how to pick things up and stick them to memory."
"Well…uhh…"
Mitsuha felt like she was in boiling water. And the only way to pull herself out was burning hot metal rod. Does she come clean and just tell her that this Tachibana fellow is actually her fiancée, or does she keep it to herself and let it fall under the table? The latter, she thought, could have potential for a serious disaster. At least at the moment.
"If he's your boyfriend, you can just tell me, I don't really care."
"Wait, you don't?"
"No, why would I?"
"Wha-…well, first of all, yes, Tachibana Taki is my boyfriend, fiancée actually. But…wouldn't that be like…I dunno, against nepotism policies or whatever?"
"Nepotism? Do you even know what that means?"
"Well, isn't it when-"
"Anyway, I get what you're saying. If we do find that there is a compliance or bribery issue, then you let someone else deal with it. Otherwise, as far as anyone else is concerned, you're just business partners. Don't worry about it. And by the way, congratulations."
She went from fearing for her own job to looking forward to seeing Taki on the clock the next day. This wicked turn of events and contrast in emotion left her a little confused. Good thing it was pretty much time to clock out and go home.
The aroma of omurice both figuratively and literally brought Taki home. He wasted no time helping prepare whatever else Mitsuha needed for dinner, who equally appreciated that he was proactive and didn't just sit down and watch TV or something.
The interesting dichotomy of their relationship as far as time went painted a pretty unique picture of their engagement. So little time, yet so much as happened. So much so that this life at home was starting to feel…pretty normal. As in, they prepared dinner, shared their days over their meal, and didn't bat an eye over it. If this were a couple weeks ago, they both would've gotten pretty sentimental, and talked about 'how cool it was that they were having dinner together' or something. But their relationship was past that. For worse, though? Definitely not.
"So are you excited to see me at work tomorrow?"
"You better not embarrass me!"
"What? I should be telling you that!"
Deep down they both knew they had the equal potential to humiliate each other. They knew how all too easy it was to make the other laugh. And in a professional setting, it probably would've spelled trouble for both of them as far as their jobs went. But. They knew better. Besides, they went through a lot and weaved some word salads to even make this possible. Why do something to make it for naught?
"So what can I expect tomorrow?"
"You tell me, I have no idea myself."
Neither of them were particularly interested anyway, so they just let it be and decided to take it how it came.
They realized that the meeting's late start essentially created another weekend for them. They could stay out and do whatever they wanted and sleep in the next morning. So, as if they didn't have enough to do last weekend, they took advantage and debated on what to do.
"Let's go for a run."
"What?"
"C'mon, it'll be fun! Get out, get the blood going, and breathe some fresh air…and whatnot."
"I mean, we spent all day at the beach yesterday, so…I'm pretty sure we breathed a little more than fresh air. But I'm in any shape to run, though…"
"Well, neither am I, I mean…look at me."
"…"
"What?"
"You look exactly the same."
"And so do you. We're both in shape to run."
"Eh. What the heck. I'm down."
Memories of the hike up Mount Takao revisited their minds, and the cool Tokyo night provided a relaxing, rejuvenating atmosphere to, ironically, run and exercise. Not relaxing at all. Neither of them knew exactly where they were going. They just ran in some direction that looked interesting, not even acknowledging the idea of getting lost. In some sense, they weren't even really out to exercise as much as they intended, as their evening jog turned into an urban safari through the streets of Tokyo.
And unintentionally, and perhaps belatedly as well, Taki lived up to his promise to Mitsuha to explore Tokyo with her. They ran through boroughs and parts of town that Taki himself had never been to before, simply because he never had a reason.
But the lights, the ambience, the environment brought in sentiments that, at this point, were occurring and repeating ad nauseam. Yet…it was still the same. Nothing changed. As if they needed any, it seemed like every day was a reminder of why they were together in the first place. And every now and then, they'd catch looks at each other, and took a second to appreciate the other being there at all. Otherwise they wouldn't be doing…this. Running aimlessly through the city that gave birth to their relationship…giving caution to one thing and one thing only. Fatigue, not a problem. Disorientation, who cares? Running after eating was by no stretch a wise decision at all. It was just each other…only the other half of their hearts was what mattered.
For every time they felt like their relationship started anew again, they themselves didn't have any explanation as to why. And they just got engaged, for crying out loud. But…did they need one, at all?
Eventually, their trek brought them to a park in the middle of who knows where. And of course, conveniently, they were "tired", and thought a nice stroll through the park would do them some good. For a Monday night, the life of the park was incredible. Of course tourists littered the venue, but some indigenous folk were also present and enjoying the park in its after-hours status. Two different worlds collided in a way at this park; the quad area served as a temporary home to a flash mob rehearsing, as well as general folk who basked in the fun atmosphere, but less than a half kilometer away was a quiet and neutral lake, where several people were scattered along its shore, enjoying the peace and serenity. Top everything off with a wall of sake barrels and blooming cherry blossoms, it was honestly a pretty homey feel. Lanterns barely lit the walkways, all but completing what seemed to be a perfect scene on a Monday night in Tokyo.
For Mitsuha, this was it. This was the one thing that she always wanted to see. She knew skyscrapers and contemporary modern buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, but for something that ironically reminded her of Itomori more than anything, she took a lot of resolve and appreciation for all of this. She supposed living here for 8 years gave her everything she needed as far as a bustling metropolitan life went. So coming back to an environment like this was refreshing. Still, she wouldn't ever wish that she was back in Itomori, living that kind of life. But. Nostalgia can be nice. And strengthening your roots is never a bad thing.
Crossing over to the midpoint of a bridge in the middle of the park lake, they couldn't help but be enamored by the incredible view of the lake before them. Quite literally the kind that calendars would have. Mitsuha circled Taki around, and took her phone out of her leggings, preparing themselves for a selfie with the lake as a backdrop.
Taki had to giggle when he noticed Mitsuha taking a few moments to make herself pretty, fluffing her hair and testing different facial expressions.
"I hope I don't have to remind you that we just ran. Neither of us look very good right now." But, at the end of the day, she was a girl, and pictures in a candid setting might as well be treated like a wedding, or a reception ceremony, at least. Who was he to complain, though? He knew a lot of people would give a lot to have someone like Mitsuha.
"Hmpph. I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that. You ready?"
"Yeah, I'm ready."
"Okay. Three, two, one…"
Taki reached over with his face and pecked Mitsuha on the cheek right as her phone captured their most recent memory. And boy did Mitsuha look silly, as her natural reaction to Taki's kiss created a funny-looking face.
And instead of scolding him like she usually might, she just looked at him, without an ounce of amusement in her face. With a sheepish look back at her, Taki offered only silence, unable to find words that could make her any less irritated.
"I'm, uhhh…I'm sure it looks fine."
But deep down, Mitsuha's reaction warmed Taki's heart. Silly face aside, her facial expression made her look genuinely happy. Which Taki couldn't help but appreciate.
She of course made him take a new picture, one where the derp level in her face was minimal. And it turned out to look very nice. Her new phone background featured them in front of the lake, replacing the incumbent, which was the picture they took at the top of Mount Takao. They could spend the rest of the night at the lake, but there was so much more to do. So for the next hour or so, they toured this vibrant area for all of its amenities.
They were just about done at the park, not feeling inspired considering the level of light out. Thoughts, ideas, and plans to come here in the daytime, perhaps with their friends or with just each other, served as a mental bookmark to return some day. If they remembered how to get here, though. The dilemma getting back home became apparent, and neither of them had any idea which way they came, let alone what part of town they were in.
"Ha! Thank god for technology, right?"
"I seriously don't even wanna know what would happen if our phones didn't have GPS."
It turns out that they didn't even really run that far, and a jog back home was actually doable. When it was all set and done, it turned out to be a pretty good exercise, and fatigue conveniently prepared them for bed. So after showering and brushing their teeth and stuff, bed time welcomed them into a needed slumber.
But not before Taki entered his bedroom with the lights already off. He figured Mitsuha was that tired and just ignored it, being too tired himself to care anyway. He sat down on his bed, but could feel a presence creeping in closer and closer to him. Consciously, he knew it literally couldn't have been anyone other than Mitsuha, but something was different. Mitsuha usually had a warm and loving aura about her, at least when they were alone. But this was not it. This presence had a chilling, frightening feel, almost hostile. The light from other sources, like the moonlight and their phones charging and stuff, just lit the room barely enough for Taki to turn, and come face to face with a ghastly figure. He'd seen some horror movies, so this entity reminded him a tortured soul present on Earth only to wreak havoc on its victims. The long black hair and ribbon-looking object in its mouth all but finished off this rather scary look. Taki would've been lying if he said he wasn't legitimately creeped out for a second. Its hands, fingers squirming and all, crept closer to him, presumably to attack him in some way.
Before it could, though, the light turned on, and Mitsuha tried in vain to keep looking scary.
"What are you doing?"
"I- I was trying to…scare you, I guess?" Mitsuha felt pretty embarrassed; she thought it was a cute and crafty idea to mess with him, but he didn't seem like he was having any of it. But nonetheless, he did appreciate the motives behind doing so, and spread his arms open to her.
"Well, if you really wanted attention, all you'd have to do is-"
Mitsuha pounced on Taki, wrapping her arms around his neck before he could even finish. Pushing herself down on top of him, she locked lips with him and serenaded his mouth with her own. Taki did nothing to resist and returned every bit of her sentiment back to her.
Eventually their mouths diverted for breath, but a slimy trail of saliva still linked between them. Taki wasn't quite sure what got into Mitsuha, and to be frank, neither did she. But needless to say they both loved how affectionate the other was to them. They gazed at each other for a few moments, sending subliminal messages of adoration to each other.
Never in my life…did I ever imagine I'd wake up in some guy's body…and that the guy…would be my future husband…
Mitsuha rested her weight on Taki's body, and lowered herself down for a good night kiss of sorts. Probably a little more than that.
Inconspicuously, they entered the meeting room at Mitsuha's building together, more or less getting the attention of the other attendants of the meeting. They were both a little early, but obviously not as early as the people already there.
The few people in the room got a chance to get acquainted as they waited for everyone else to show up.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Tachibana Taki."
"Taki, what are you doing?"
Apparently Mitsuha had forgotten that they were in a partners meeting, and not some social gathering. So her confusion as to why Taki was introducing himself was met with equal confusion, provided the reaction she gave to who would otherwise be considered just a stranger. Taki tried very hard to not get annoyed by Mitsuha's response, since he was trying to act professional and not make anything seem weird.
It was kind of awkward for her, though. She didn't feel like she had anything to hide in terms of her relationship with Taki, but she was also cognizant to the idea of her coworkers being a little perplexed at what just happened. But. She was the head honcho on her side of the business relationship. So she figured she'd just come clean.
"Okay! Cat's out of the bag, this Tachibana person is my boyfriend."
Tachibana person? Eh. I'm sure she knows what she's doing. He figured she had it under control, and decided to come clean himself, too.
"Yep!"
"Ooohhh, well nice to meet you, Mr. Mitsuha's suitor!"
Taki did most of the talking and most of the presentation of the project to the lenders, and his architects only spoke when it was deemed fitting. It was made clear that he was a smart guy and had a lot of affinity for his line of work, and his eloquent and articulate way of speaking made it all the more remarkable. The reps were impressed to say the least. Mitsuha didn't give a rat's ass about the strip mall.
Taki's so handsome…he's so smart…
The meeting adjourned almost uneventfully; he'd done such a good job showing off the project that there wasn't much need for further discussion afterwards, and it looked like Taki had done a pretty good sell job. Ironic, considering the other individuals in the room were paid to sell things themselves.
Everyone went off to do their own thing, but Taki and Mitsuha were willing to milk out every last second they could with each other before Taki had to go back to his own building.
"I'll go with you to the station."
As they walked hand-in-hand towards the station, they didn't have a whole lot of time to talk about anything. Just a few words about what Mitsuha thought about his project. And they got to the station before they could even realize it.
And here they were again. Back at a train station, struggling to depart from each other to go to work. Sound familiar?
"I don't care if anyone sees."
Taki threw no caution to the wind, and pulled Mitsuha in for a goodbye smooch, which caught her off guard a little bit. Still, they both wanted it, and perhaps needed it for reasons they probably don't even know. But going back to work without each other was a little easier. The work day was just about half over anyway.
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A/N: I hate school, I hate football (if you're a neutral fan of football, please remain that way, you will be disappointed for significantly less weekends), I hate life, nah I'm just kidding. But I AM VERY SORRY FOR THE DELAY . School has consumed so much of my time, and I have so much less flexibility to write this fic. So honestly, to everyone, thanks for sticking around.
And, NEW FAVORITERS AND FOLLOWERS, oh my goodness, welcome . I wonder if a lot of you are first time viewers of the movie, and if so, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and welcome to the program!
But yeah, this funny thing called life put a serious dent in my writing time, so this is all I have for you this time. I have no intention of cutting this off anytime soon, since there's still so many things I have in my tiny brain, it's just the time is a little constrained. Nevertheless, the story will still go on, it's just hard to predict when it'll come.
As for the story, I got the idea to do this coworkers arc since I just recently did a month long internship of sorts for an architectural firm (unpaid since I'm considered a minor, of course) over the summer, so I figured I knew enough about the industry to implement it into the story, since that is Taki's line of work after all. I had some family members who work in the banking industry help me out with Mitsuha's side of things, but there wasn't much they could tell me since a lot of it is behind the curtains. Nonetheless I think I'm done writing about their professional endeavors for now.
As to what to expect for the next few chapters, obviously planning the wedding will take place, but there's also some loose ends to tie up, like everything going on with Mitsuha's grandma.
So yeah, I don't plan on ending the story any time soon. Once again, a huge thank you to anyone taking the time to read my story. Old followers still sticking around, your continued viewership means so much to me. And new readers and followers, welcome to my unstable and fragile mind, sometimes it produces stories like this one, so thanks a ton for tuning in.
That's it from me this time. See y'all whenever. And HAPPY HALLOWEEN, I guess. Cheers.