Extra Story: Baba’s Resolution and His Dream
“Fucking hell! It’s too late now!”
In a small meeting room within a corporate office, now being used as a prep room for a press conference, a man was slamming his fists onto the desk, bellowing. The near-retirement-aged man opposite him, on the receiving end of the tirade, was Baba, who had been promoted to department chief after the death of Takebayashi Ryoma.
“Please calm yourself, sir,” the secretary, who was around the same age as Baba, interrupted.
“Shut up! You stay out of this!” shouted the president of the company, a man still in his forties, going back to berating Baba.
“We don’t have much time, sir...” the secretary reiterated.
“No shit! How can I change the script now, just when I’m about to go out there?!”
“Sir.” Baba spoke up. “As it stands, the current script, no matter how much it dodges the issue at hand, can be boiled down to ‘the higher-ups didn’t know anything,’ ‘the employee’s actions were unauthorized,’ and ‘the employee is solely responsible for the incident...’ In short, that the company had nothing to do with it. The media would call that bluff in a heartbeat. They’re not that stupid.”
“Then what the fuck am I supposed to tell them?!”
“That the company is one hundred percent liable for all of this. Surely they already have enough evidence against us and our repeated labor code violations. We can’t just talk our way out of this. Especially not when it’s our employee who caused a violent incident. With all due respect, I can’t take the fall for this alone. The situation is too big for that now. You have to do it.”
“Like hell I will! If I go out there and tell them that, the company’s dead!”
“There are no ifs about this anymore!” Baba raised his voice, after his president refused to accept their suggestions, or even accept reality. An awkward silence followed, which Baba eventually broke.
“I’m sorry, sir. The incident itself was one thing, but the company’s lack of action has actively worsened the situation and made us look worse. Even if we make it through today, do you have any plans to regroup?”
“Well...”
“There is nothing more we can do. This company is doomed. But giving closure to this situation will grant us a chance at starting over. And I will fully support you in that endeavor, sir. Please, have courage... Akinori.”
“Haven’t heard you call me by my name in some time...” The president, Akinori, had inherited the company from its founder—his father. The three currently in the meeting room had become like family friends.
“Still, you’re the one who always ignored what I went through, and now you want to stand by me?”
“A fair observation. I used to think you were beyond hope.” Baba remembered a time when the man before him was much younger. “A few years after you inherited the company from your late father...”
“Business was tanking... Employees who had worked for dad for years were quitting left and right. I know you wanted to leave too.”
“For a time, yes... But I had lost hope for you when you started making shady deals under the table. Gaining a client by taking in the son of an executive to save their face.”
“I was desperate! Dad had built this company from the ground up, and it was crumbling under my leadership. Competition grew with the evolution of computers... I had no choice! I had to protect the company at all costs!”
“I felt the same way. Still, I wanted you to fix the company in an honest way. I believed that the company, and you, had enough technology and experience to do so. I wanted to be a part of it from sales, the best I could.”
“That doesn’t mean anything now. I didn’t listen to you, and even transferred you to development. You held a grudge for that, didn’t you?”
“That’s right. I was also a young man, then. A prideful one. I thought, at least, you would hear me out, but you even went and took me out of sales just so you wouldn’t have to face me... It felt like everything I had worked towards in the company with your father had been trampled on.”
“Then why try and help me now? Trying to kiss my ass now that you’re in danger of losing your job? Well, if you’re gonna get blamed for something you never did, I wouldn’t blame you.” Akinori gave a theatrical sneer, perhaps to Baba or perhaps to himself.
Baba spoke to him as old memories came back to him. “I began working for someone younger than me in dev.”
“What are you getting at?”
“Takebayashi. The one who passed away the other day... I’ve been thinking a lot about things since... He made me realize I have unfinished business to attend to.”
“Unfinished business?”
“Firstly, there’s the matter of all the overworked schmucks in his department... They’ve all turned in their notices.”
“What?! They’re all quitting?! They all found different jobs that fast?!”
“It’s strange... Everyone save for me had no issues finding new work.”
“In the middle of a recession? Bah. Guess they don’t want to be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,” Akinori snarled.
Baba gave him a hurt look. “There’s one more thing... Seeing how I abandoned you before, I know this will probably sound empty. But your father asked this of me.” His eyes now gleamed with resolution, staring Akinori down. “‘If the time comes...’ he said, before he passed, ‘make sure Akinori does what he must. I don’t know what the future will hold. I hope things will never come to this, but if the time does come... I don’t want him to turn his back on the company.’ He also said he ‘decided to pass the company to my son, as young as he is, because I believe he has the guts to take responsibility for the company.’ I...”
“Enough!” Akinori squeezed out. “Why...? Why are you telling me all of this now...?! No, I get it. You’re all the same, everyone who worked for dad. It’s always about him, isn’t it?!”
“Akinori...”
“I know! I know you all had your hopes up for me! I know I was young! I wasn’t ready...! But no one ever looked at me! Everyone was looking through me, at dad. You were all trying to make me just like dad, and all of the companies we had business with changed their tune... I tried, desperately, to be good enough to fill dad’s footsteps. Was I that hard to follow? I must have been. Business was going down... That’s when that deal came in. We’d been dealing with that company since dad’s time. We had a good rapport. We couldn’t afford to lose such an important client when the company was so unstable... You think I wanted to hire those pieces of trash? It was supposed to be a one-time deal. I was going to refuse, once the company stabilized... Of course, by the time it did, they’d put me in a situation where I couldn’t say no... And look where we ended up.” Akinori chuckled in self-deprecation.
Nobody spoke for what seemed like an interminable stretch of time. “That’s enough. We’re done here. The script stays the same, Baba.”
“But, sir—”
“I said, enough! I’m not just flying by the seat of my pants here. Once we get through the press release, I will restabilize the company with the aid from the parents of those idiots and their company!”
“You can’t possibly—”
“Just watch me! I have to! It’s our last shred of hope! We may be up against the ropes, but I’ve got a fucking file cabinet full of records on those dipshits that I’ve been saving for a rainy day! I’ll just turn the tables and blackmail them into supporting our company!”
Silence fell over the room once more. Akinori, who had been screaming to himself in an obvious attempt to convince himself, had fallen speechless. He was petrified from head to toe, his gaze firmly fixated on Baba, who was trembling. His fists were clenched so hard his nails dug into his palms, as tears streamed from his eyes.
Baba was overwhelmed with regret like he had never felt before. The young Akinori he remembered had indeed been less imperial than his father. Nonetheless, he was a young man who worked harder than anyone, and with integrity. The younger Akinori had made Baba want to support the young man, through and through. How could I have let this happen? Baba asked himself. Why did I turn my back on him in his time of struggle?
“I’m sorry, Akinori... I’m truly sorry...”
“What are you...? Your apology means nothing now. Get ready for the press—”
“No! You have to reconsider! I can’t let you commit any more crimes!”
“Times have changed! With the internet and social media... All anyone would have to do is type in my name and find out that I was a president here. How could I start over then? I have to get through this, and rebuild the company!”
“Still—”
“Shut the fuck up!”
Baba had grabbed Akinori’s shoulder, desperate to stop him. Akinori pushed him away. That was all it took for tragedy to strike.
“Look out!” the secretary shouted, and moved to catch Baba, all too late.
Baba fell backward, his head colliding with the corner of a desk.
“Baba!”
“A-Aki...nori...”
“N-No...”
Blood had stained the corner of the desk, and Baba lay immobilized.
“Baba... Your head... I...”
“I-It’s all right. It was...an accident. Please, reconsider... I beg you...” Baba implored as his mind faded away. He couldn’t hear Akinori’s response before he lost consciousness.
His desperate plea, however, would reach an unintended recipient...
■ ■ ■
“Where...?”
“Baba, sir! Can you hear me?!”
“Tabuchi...? Why are you...”
“I’ll— I’ll explain later! I have to get the doctor!”
Baba had awoken in a hospital bed, and Tabuchi rushed to click the nurse call button. A doctor and nurse soon arrived.
“Yes...” the doctor said upon examination, “you’ll be all right. We’ll have to keep you here for a while, but you shouldn’t have any lasting effects.”
“Hell yeah!” Tabuchi shouted. “Oh, sorry...”
“Heh, no worries. Thank you, doctor.”
“Take it easy, and rest well. Oh, that being said, I believe the police will come by tomorrow to interview you.”
“Understood...”
“Again, take it easy.”
Once the doctor and nurse had left, Tabuchi filled Baba in on what had happened.
“So,” Baba repeated, “you went to Takebayashi’s place by chance, met President Oya, then came to see me at the office because you were worried about me?”
“Something like that. I heard you were in the meeting room so I rushed over there and found you bleeding on the ground. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. If President Oya wasn’t there to tell me what to do... I tried to call an ambulance, but the president’s secretary told me not to, and the president was frozen and wouldn’t say anything. I tried to go outside and get help when the secretary shouted for security, so I almost got tackled down...”
“Really? Are you hurt, Tabuchi?”
“Oh, I’m totally fine. Hell, I even beat the fuck outta those two-bit security thugs!” Tabuchi boasted.
“Come on, I want to know the truth. Stop joking around.”
“It’s true, I did...! I was lucky, though.”
In fact, Tabuchi had been miraculously lucky. Once Tabuchi exited the meeting room to call for help, security had caught up to him, and he turned to face them. Intimidated by the burly security guards, Tabuchi reflexively reared back as his knees buckled. Tabuchi should have simply fallen on his back and let himself be apprehended. However, by chance, Tabuchi’s center of gravity was leaning back, the security guards were leaning forward, trying to catch Tabuchi, and the guards were grabbing Tabuchi by the arm or shirt. With those conditions combined, Tabuchi grabbed the hands clutching him when he fell, putting his entire weight on the security guards’ arms, managing to topple all three guards like he was some sort of judo master.
“It really was by chance, but the chief told me a lot about martial arts... So, that’s my guess as to what happened. My body comes in handy, sometimes.”
“I see. I understand now.”
It may be worth noting that Tabuchi had, perhaps from the recent stress or simply from overeating, reached 220 pounds.
“And the company...? I don’t know how long it’s been. Is the press release over?”
“It is... But things aren’t looking too good. There were already reporters there, and they saw you being taken away on the gurney... They’re even speculating about a third assault.”
“I see...”
“Oh, but have a look at this!” Tabuchi produced his phone from his pocket and pulled up an article on an online news site.
The article contained the taglines “It’s all my fault,” and Uncovering the dark truth behind a company marred with scandals from an employee worked to death, interference with public service, and assault!
“Did Akinori...?”
“Akinori? Oh, the president... Yes. He took full responsibility for everything that happened, and gave a thorough account to the media. Our reputation hasn’t plummeted like we expected... Of course, we’re still hurting from all of those incidents.”
“Right. But... He did reconsider...” A tear fell from Baba’s eye.
Seeing this, Tabuchi saw the close relationship Baba and the president had, and kept quiet.
The silence lasted for some time in the hospital room.
“Tabuchi... Do you know any gods by the name of Gain, Kufo, or Lulutia?”
“Um, what is this about?”
“I thought you were interested in mythology... And ‘light novels,’ are they called?”
“I know a bit about both... But I’m not sure if I recognize those names. They’re not major deities, in any case... But really, why are you asking?”
“Well... It’s just a dream, I’m sure... It felt like those gods came and spoke to me while I was out.”
“Were you going to be reincarnated, sir...? If you hadn’t woken up here? Do you have any superpowers?”
“I doubt it. I think the gods just let me talk. Like a confession. I can’t remember the details of what exactly we talked about... But afterward, the gods told me that they understood what I wanted.”
“Are you talking about the president...?”
“Of course. You wouldn’t know that...” Baba went on to explain his relationship with the president, and what had transpired before he was knocked unconscious.
“And the president had decided to be honest... I wonder if those gods were real.”
“That would be nice. They actually listened to me sincerely. It’s a shame I can’t remember it well, but it certainly put me at ease... Now that I think about it, I feel like they told me something important...”
“Important? Now I’m curious, sir. You have to remember.”
“Easier said than done...”
“If the chief were here, he’d want to—”
“That’s it!”
“What?”
“It was about Takebayashi. He’s reincarnated in the world of those gods, and he’s having a good time. That’s what they said.”
“For real...?”
“What do you think?”
“If it’s real, I’m glad he’s having fun... And I’m totally jealous.”
They shared a look for a moment or two before they began to laugh.
“I hope those gods are real,” Tabuchi said.
“Yes. I hope he’s found happiness, somehow. The reincarnated heroes go on adventures in those stories, don’t they?”
“It’s a staple if it’s a fantasy world. There’s some variety around nowadays, like worlds that are similar to ours. Chief would be fine with a little bit of danger, though!”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that... Did he have any black belts? I heard he was training, but I never asked about what martial art it was.”
“Oh, it was...not about an offering... I think it was called Mumyo Shinzen.”
“‘Nameless before the gods,’ huh? I wonder if it’s Shinto-based.”
“I think that’s it. It was in some really old book he gave me. Thing was written in fuckin’ classical Japanese, of all things. Passed down from his ancestors.”
“He has a book passed down from his ancestors?”
“He just laughed when I asked about it. Said they were a weird clan. Maybe his training is coming in handy in that fantasy world.”
“I wonder... But in any case, I only wish him happiness.”
“I second that.”
The pair prayed to the gods of another world for the peace of Takebayashi Ryoma. They had no way of knowing if the gods were real, or why they had appeared in Baba’s dream, nor did they care.
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