Kira grabbed a simple slip dress and shuffled into the bathroom, running her fingers through her messy hair. She stripped off her smelly T-shirt and turned on the shower. Warm steam filled the space, taking the edge off her exhaustion and the headache pounding behind her temples.

She had barely begun to enjoy the comforting warmth of the water when the sharp ring of the doorbell suddenly cut through the air, making Kira frown. Who on earth would be knocking this early? The bell rang again, a long, impatient buzz.

She quickly shut off the water, grabbed a baggy t-shirt from the hook, and wrapped her wet hair in a towel.

"Just a second!"

Kira called out as she hurried over and cracked the front door open to peek outside. She couldn't believe her eyes. Yoshi was standing right there. He wore a plain white t-shirt under a blue flannel, looking ready for a picnic.

A surge of panic hit her. She slammed the door shut, her heart hammering against her ribs as if it would burst. What had she done this time? Why was her boss standing outside her apartment? Was she still drunk? Was this some kind of hangover-induced hallucination?

The doorbell rang again, and Yoshi’s voice came straight through the door.

"Open up, Kira. It's getting late. I'm here to pick you up for the field trip."

Kira gasped. Yoshi was picking her up for what? She scrambled to throw the door open again.

"Where did you say we are going?" she stammered, staring at him.

Yoshi raised an eyebrow, taking in her dripping wet appearance, and looked away.

"Go finish your shower. I'll wait out here."

She shut the door on him again. She stood there in a daze for a few seconds, her mind spinning, before she unlocked the door, slid the safety latch to let him in, and bolted back to the bathroom.

"Yoshi-san, please wait in the living room for a second!" she called out. "I'll be right out!"

Kira locked the bathroom door tight. Her mind was an absolute mess as she stood in front of the mirror, hurriedly drying herself off to get changed.

Kira stepped out, looking completely bewildered and lost as she found Yoshi sitting on the sofa, scrolling through his phone.

"Ah...Yoshi-san? Is there... is there something going on?" The words came out of her mouth in a hesitant mumble. Kira stood awkwardly, wondering what to do.

Yoshi sighed, looking at her. "When are you going to start picking up your phone when I call?"

Her phone... Kira went blank. She completely forgot where she had thrown her phone last night.

Yoshi placed a stack of documents on the table. "We need to do some competitor research for the plan we discussed with Glacier yesterday. Take a look at this; we'll discuss it in the car. It's late."

❀

"Drink this." Yoshi reached over and handed her a small brown bottle with a gold cap from his driver's seat.

Kira took the bottle from his hand, asking in confusion, "What is this?"

Yoshi glanced at her before starting the engine. "Anti-hangover drink. Packed with vitamins. It'll take care of your headache." He gestured toward a paper bag on the dashboard in front of her. "Eat something to settle your stomach. It's going to take us about an hour and a half to get there."

Inside the bag was a salmon onigiri wrapped in seaweed.

"Thank you," Kira muttered, still flustered. "But... where exactly are we going?"

"Glicopia Chiba. An ice cream factory and a tourist attraction. The ideas you presented yesterday aren't new. Glico's target market, however, is completely different from Glacier's. We should look at the whole picture before making our plans." Yoshi spoke as he steered the car out of the parking lot.

Kira nodded in agreement, a bite of onigiri still in her mouth. She had not found the time to research these kinds of activities in Japan yet. "But is it just the two of us going, Yoshi-san?"

The car braked suddenly after backing into the main road, throwing Kira backward and nearly making her choke on her rice.

"Do you not remember anything from yesterday, Kira? You sound like you have your head in the clouds."

Yoshi’s sulky tone and his chagrined, reproachful look made Kira forget about eating entirely. Her brain immediately bypassed all logical thoughts, jumping straight to the most scandalous scenarios she could do while drunk. What had she actually done? She couldn't even recall agreeing to a road trip in the first place, let alone whatever chaotic nonsense she had pulled last night. Should she just ask Yoshi directly? Kira stole a glance at him, noticing the tips of his ears had already turned a bright red.

"Ah... um... I didn't think we would go on a site visit so early. I mean, I can handle this on my own. There's no need to trouble you, Yoshi-san."

Yoshi’s brows furrowed. This was the second time she had seen him frown this morning.

"Do you know how important Glacier is to our company, Kira?"

Kira had no idea why he was asking this. She mumbled, "Yes... how so?"

"Glacier is one of the largest ice cream corporations in the US. Why do you think they chose a small marketing agency like us?"

Kira remained silent, waiting for Yoshi to explain.

"Even though Glacier is a giant in the US, they're small fish compared to multinationals like Coca-Cola, Toyota, or Shiseido. On top of that, they're only testing the waters in Japan, so their committed budget here is still quite low. If they went with a massive agency like Dentsu or Hakuhodo, they’d be tossed into tier three or four on the priority list, sitting behind hundreds of loyal, long-term clients. Over there, a senior director easily manages at least ten brands at once."

Yoshi stopped at a red light and continued.

"A small agency has the advantage of agility and bold ideas. A large agency takes three to six months for a project, whereas we can pull it off in one. Most importantly, a client like Glacier gets undivided attention right from the top."

"We aren't just handing them a standard market entry campaign. We have to show them what we are truly capable of, including handling daily social media operations, creating content, responding to comments, managing crises, tracking and optimizing ads, running back-to-back minor campaigns, and launching major seasonal ones. Even if they took this concept to another agency, they would never get such a seamless, comprehensive package."

"To secure this partnership, we have to nail the first step. I know your personal time is important, but just for this initial phase, could you focus a little more? Once this major project is wrapped up, you can take all the compensatory leave you want."

Kira just sat there, listening to Yoshi’s long lecture without daring to utter a word. She hadn't complained once since yesterday, so why was he suddenly getting so worked up?

"Yes, I understand how important the project is... But I got really drunk last night. Did I happen to offend you or say something out of line?"

"Next time we have a company dinner, you're not allowed to touch a drop of alcohol. Actually, it's better if you don't drink at all."

Yoshi's voice was definitely laced with anger. Although Kira still had no idea what she had done, she apologized anyway just to be safe.

"I'm sorry."

Yoshi let out a heavy sigh, clearly exasperated with her. "Just read through the plan and see what we need to get done today. Write a report and submit it to me this afternoon. We're not going there just for fun."

Kira breathed a sigh of relief and began flipping through the documents he had handed her earlier. She mumbled to herself: ticket price, revenue model, secondary spend (shop, workshop, restaurant), limited products. Where visitors react, where they photograph, and what they enjoy the most.

"When did you make this?" Kira asked without thinking, completely forgetting that she was supposed to avoid bringing up yesterday. "Didn't you also go out for dinner with everyone last night?"

Yoshi answered indifferently. "Hayashi made it. It even includes notes for other locations."

"Ms. Hayashi?"

"Yes, Hayashi sent it to me last night. She is a typical Japanese worker, not exactly direct, but incredibly diligent. You should start getting used to how everyone here works."

The route to Chiba took them along the Shuto Expressway before transitioning into the suburbs of Noda. A stretch of levee road opened up before them, flanked by endless blankets of golden mustard flowers along the riverbanks, under a canopy of cherry blossoms in full bloom with petals floating in the breeze. Sunlight filtered through the roadside trees, spilling into the car and softening the heavy silence between them.

Kira’s phone was completely dead, without a single drop of battery left. How she wished she could capture this moment. She peeked into her handbag, pressing the dark screen of her lifeless phone.

"There's a camera in the bag in the back. You can use that for the shoot later."

Kira turned to look at Yoshi, then glanced behind her, where a brown camera bag was resting on the back seat. "Did you prepare this too, Yoshi-san?"

"That's just what it takes when working with you."

Kira bit her lip, doing her absolute best not to snap back. After all, she had to stay on her best behavior today, at least until she could remember what she had done last night to put Yoshi in such a mood.

As soon as they arrived, Kira was drawn to the massive Goal-in Mark outside Glicopia Chiba. High on the five-meter wall was the iconic image of the Glico running man crossing the finish line. Since they were early, the two took some time to wander around the first floor. The lobby was spacious, scattered with fun photo corners and humorous face-in-the-hole boards for visitors to try out. Kira got absorbed in the Ezaki Memorial, a special exhibit showcasing Glico's tiny giveaway toys from over the decades. She pressed her face close to the glass cases, studying the tiny wooden and plastic toys from years gone by. When she looked up and saw her reflection in the glass, she realized Yoshi had been standing behind her for some time. Through the display glass, she saw him glance at her before quickly shifting his eyes away when he got caught.

"Is something wrong?" Kira turned around and asked.

"Nothing," Yoshi replied, his face quickly returning to its usual composed expression.

The group was led up to the fifth floor. Stepping out of the elevator, a metal tunnel appeared right before them. This was the air shower room, simulating the factory's cleanroom entry.

"To go through this properly, everyone please raise both hands and spin around as you walk through," the guide explained cheerfully. "Our actual factory staff have to complete ten strict hygiene steps, including this blower, before they can enter the production floor."

Kira watched the visitors ahead of her get blasted by strong gusts of air that blew through their clothes to clear away any dust. When her turn came, she raised both hands and did a clumsy spin, laughing as the strong wind tickled her scalp. Yoshi followed right behind. He walked through with his usual calm, but the wind still managed to scatter his neatly styled hair into a messy mop, which looked quite funny.

They walked into the ingredients preparation area, viewing a row of metal vats where the milk and sugar mixture was heated, separated from them by a protective glass partition. Right next to it was the main production line, where products were filled, sealed, and packaged in a continuous flow.

Next up was one of the most anticipated parts of the tour: walking through an actual cold storage room kept at minus ten degrees Celsius.

"Please move quickly once you are inside," the guide warned, gesturing toward a side path nearby. "If anyone has health conditions or is pregnant, please use this bypass route instead."

The moment she stepped through the heavy insulated door, a blast of biting, freezing air hit Kira head-on. The sudden drop in temperature made her shiver, her breath turning into white mist. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, her teeth chattering as her feet instinctively hurried down the freezing path. Yoshi walked close beside her, his tall frame blocking part of the icy wind.

The group was then led to the product tasting area. After that was the optional activity: the DIY ice-cream making workshop. Kira could not contain her excitement.

The Glico Kitchen was a bright room with long tables fitted with built-in ice bins. To join the workshop, everyone had to tie on a triangular bandana to keep their hair back and slip on a Glicopia apron. Seeing Yoshi, who was always so impeccably dressed in his suits, now struggling to tie a green bandana, Kira couldn't help but stepped in and naturally reached for the ends of his fabric.

"Let me."

She quickly tied a neat knot, then gave his shoulder a playful pat.

"There you go. You look quite domestic."

Yoshi cleared his throat, turning slightly to adjust his apron.

Each station was set with a metal bowl filled with milk, butter, and sugar, nested inside a wooden bucket packed with ice and rock salt. The instructor explained that the salt-and-ice mixture would drop the temperature rapidly, and they had to keep spinning the metal bowl with enough force to freeze the mixture into a smooth texture. Kira eagerly set to work, spinning the bowl. It was fun at first, but after barely three minutes, her wrist went numb, and the bowl’s rotation began to lag.

"Keep it going, or you'll get ice crystals," Yoshi said, standing close.

"My wrist is killing me, Yoshi-san. You try it," Kira whined.

Yoshi let out a soft sigh and stepped closer. Kira caught her breath as he simply placed his warm hand over her cold, shivering one, adding his strength to keep the metal bowl spinning. The warmth of his palm seeped into her skin, contrasting with the cold of the ice bucket below. She looked up at him, but Yoshi kept his eyes fixed on the thickening ice cream.

Within five minutes, the milk mixture had whipped into a fresh soft serve. They were handed Pocky and Bisco cookies to decorate. Kira popped two chocolate Pocky sticks into her waffle cone, then glanced over at Yoshi's symmetrical creation.

"Yoshi-san, let me borrow your phone," she said. "We need to take a selfie."

Yoshi simply looked at her. "My phone?"

"Yeah, mine's dead."

He hesitated for a heartbeat before pulling his phone from his pocket, unlocking it, and handing it over. Kira took it, swiped to the camera, and stepped right into his space, shoulder to shoulder. She held her waffle cone high, angling the lens to frame them both.

"Smile. Cheez—zu." (Cheese)

Kira leaned in closer, her cheek almost brushing his shoulder as she flashed a radiant smile.

Click.

❀