Yamada stood frozen for a moment longer, then finally snapped back to reality.
"YO," Ichigo greeted him with a blank grin, forming a peace sign with his fingers like nothing happened.
"'Yo' my ass. What the hell are you doing here?" Yamada demanded, switching from shock to calm in an instant like he was used to this nonsense.
"Just goofing around," Ichigo replied with a childish smile.
Before Yamada could lecture him further, Suzu cut through the chaos with an irritated sigh.
"Keep it down, you morons. We're in an office. Continue this in the project room."
All of them straightened like scolded schoolkids and followed her.
Yui was already glued to Ichigo's arm like a koala.
"Hey Ichi, nice seeing you here," she beamed. "So? How did you get a job here?"
Ichigo scratched his head ."Ah, I'll tell everyone together… it's lame telling the same story one by one… And—stop clinging to my arm! I won't get a girlfriend here either if you keep doing this!"
He tried to yank his arm away but Yui clung on harder.
"Oh come on, what's wrong with a senior guiding her dork junior on his first day of office?" she replied in a fox-like mischievous tone, smirking proudly.
Ichigo looked genuinely disgusted. "Guiding?? my ass—you're just ruining my romantic market value."
Yamada talked to Ryo, "Yui hasn't changed at all."
Ryo sighed deeply, "If anything she's gotten worse."
Yui glared at him. "HuHhhh, any problem with you two?"Her tone sounded like a demon in human skin. Both Ryo and Yamada started sweating.
"W-we? No!! Nothing at all!" Ryo waved his hands in panic.
We all followed Suzu into the team room. There was a young-looking girl sleeping face-down on one of the computer desks.
Ichigo opened his mouth, "Ah, who's this ki—"
Everyone's eyes widened. Ryo yanked Ichigo back a whole meter and slapped a hand over his mouth, panting like he just saved someone's life.
Yamada smacked Ichigo's head. "Idiot! Don't say that! She's the oldest person here. Even Miss Suzu is 28. Miss Ayaka is turning 30 in a few months."
Suzu walked up and grabbed Ichigo's shoulder, closing the distance in one second."Hey. Listen, idiot. Miss Ayaka is very sensitive about her height. I don't want her killing you on your first day. Got it?"
Ichigo nodded frantically.
Right then, the "sleeping kid" slowly lifted her head.Ayaka yawned cutely… then stood up with the aura of a mafia boss.
"Morning… Suzu-chan… who's the new recruit?"
Ichigo bowed instantly."G-good morning Miss Ayaka! I definitely did NOT mistake you for a child! Nope! Not at all!"
Everyone facepalmed in sync.
Ayaka narrowed her eyes… then suddenly switched to cheerful mode and grabbed Ichigo by the tie and pulled him down to her face level.
"Awwww another cute junior! I'm Ayaka, Senior System Architect! If anyone bullies you, tell me, okay?" Her face smiled but there was something terrifying about it
Ichigo nodded rapidly while holding his breathe.
Yamada pressed his hand to his forehead as someone who has given on all hope."How many days do you think this human has?"
Ryo replied with a huge sigh"Days? You're wayyy too optimistic. If I were you, I'd count in hours."
Suzu clapped her hands once. "Alright morons, formal introductions. Try to act like professionals starting now."
Everyone straightened their backs a little.
Yui waved cheerfully, "Ladies first! I'm Watanabe Yui, UI/UX Designer and Front-End Developer. I make the app pretty, easy to use, and addictive. If users don't fall in love at first sight, I'm failing. Also—" she wrapped her arms around Ichigo's, "—I protect this junior of mine from ever getting a girlfriend."
Ichigo whispered while biting his nails, "Tch, How do i get rid of her."
Ryo clicked his tongue and stepped forward. "I'm Akimitsu Ryo, Back-End & Database Engineer. I deal with servers, APIs, authentication, all the important things that no one appreciates until it breaks. If you crash my database…" he glared directly at Ichigo, "I'll KILL YOU" he said last line very seriously
Ichigo: "Very comforting, thanks."
Yamada raised his hand lazily. "I'm Kawaguchi Yamada, AI & Algorithm Specialist. I make the app smarter than its users — recommendations, automation, optimization. If you don't understand my code, don't touch it. If you touch it, YOU ARE DEAD"
Ichigo: "I knew it!! These bastards are Directing it at me!!"
Ryo & Yamada in sync: "Tch" with disgusted looks
Before Ichigo could defend himself, a quiet voice spoke from below.
"I'm Oshiro Ayaka, QA Lead and Bug Hunter." She looked half-asleep, tiny body slumped on the chair. "My job is to find bugs and destroy the app before real users do… and destroy anyone who introduces bugs too."
She gave a cute smile.
Everyone except Ichigo took one step back in fear.
Suzu coughed lightly and stepped forward. "I'm Shimotsuki Suzu, Chief Operating Officer and Head Project Director. I make sure this team works, stays on schedule, and doesn't burn the building down. Especially you four."
Ryo, Yui, Yamada, Ichigo: look away pretending innocenc
Ichigo scratched his cheek. Everyone stared at him in dead silence, waiting.
"Huh? Oh—right." He stood up straight, puffing his chest a little too confidently."I'm Ichigo Ichinose. I… don't exactly have an official position yet, but I'm pretty sure I can do everything better than you people could."
The room froze.
Suzu twitched. A visible vein appeared on her forehead.Is this brat challenging the entire team on his first day??
She opened her mouth to scold him — but then noticed something strange.
Ryo, Yui and Yamada, … were completely unfazed.
"Huh?? You guys aren't angry??" Suzu pointed at them."He literally just declared he's better than ALL of you!"
Ryo shrugged, arms crossed."Why would I? He is a complete idiot, moron, jerk, and asshole… but I won't deny that guy's skill level."
Suzu blinked. Ryo praising someone was a rare event.
Yamada leaned back in his chair. "Realistically, I have to admit, having him on team is actually a great help or backup we could ever dream of."
Ayaka raised her head from the desk, still half asleep.
Yui wrapped her arms proudly around Ichigo from behind like a proud mom protecting her chaotic child."He's a genius when it comes to stuff like this. I'm honestly glad he joined our company."She threw Ichigo a bright grin.
Suzu sighed and rubbed her temple."Well… if he's really as useful as you all claim, then this brat might actually be an asset after all."
Just then— knock knock.
The door opened slightly. A nervous employee peeked in.
"Miss Suzu, Miss Reiko is calling you to the CEO office."
Suzu exhaled, already tired on just 3 hours of first day.