Him • Fate

The chōrei didn't last too long; after a customary introduction and meeting your boss, you were handed over a thick folder stuffed with documents and led to your work cubicle. There wasn't much to it; you worked for quite a long without getting much distracted. Your co-worker turns out to be a Mr. Hasegawa; and seemed to be quite amiable…and at times seemed to be the only human in the office, the others being more like machines programmed to work endlessly.

Around lunch break, the office seemed to be deserted, with most people off to run an errand or two, or perhaps eat.

"Would you perhaps like to join me for lunch? There's a konbini around the corner…"- Mr. Hasegawa asked out of the blue.

Before you could process your anxiety ridden hesitation, you blurted out, "Uhh yes...sure".

You nervously drank your tea; he was eating a couple of onigiri.

"I ate karage almost every day in university but I kind of crave ebi tempura more nowadays, it pairs really well with saké…" - he kept blabbering on. You mindlessly kept nodding your head and went along with his eulogy on food that goes well with saké.

He looked quite young; he probably could pass off as a sophomore.

"He's quite the extroverted, talkative type eh", you thought to yourself as you gulped down the last remaining bit of your tea before discarding the bottle.