It's been a few days since the competition ended. Haku has been resting at home, taking a lot of walks in the evening and catching up on his sleep. He hasn't touched his PC at all in all those days. Today, he is going to the office. Since the season has ended, it is time for a team meeting to talk about contract renewal. They're supposed to be there by 3 p.m. and Haku is stopping by a bakery first to buy them some treats.
He's a bread lover so it's his hobby to try out new bakeries whenever he can and today he wants to try a new bakery around the Aoyama area. It is a high class residential area so the pricing would usually spike up a little bit compared to the one in his residential area but the pricing promoted on the social media of this particular bakery seems to be on the cheaper side so it attracted Haku's attention.
Aoyama has a lot of stores but this bakery is not anywhere near the center of the place. It was at the edge and there weren't as many people walking around. He kinda likes the vibe so far. From a distance, he could spot its signboard, clearly written 'Just Bread' on it. He increased his walking speed in excitement and when he got to the door, he could smell the heavenly aroma of freshly baked goods. There aren't many people in the shop so Haku's glad he can take his time looking at every option.
He opened the door and made his way into the shop. "Come in! Come in! Come and take a look!" He's greeted by a smiley young man on the counter. His voice was so loud, it could probably be heard even from outside the store. It's pretty surprising to hear such a loud greeting from a bakery attendant, but Haku doesn't hate it. He smiled at the man and proceeded to look around the baked goods. There are anpan, melon pan, chocolate cornet, and donuts. The breads are pretty common and there aren't many special varieties too, Haku thought to himself.
Almost as if the man on the counter could hear his thoughts, he talked to Haku again,
"We just opened this week so we're selling rather common breads first but I promise you, they're all very delicious! It's always the normal-looking bread that tastes the best! I recommend our melon pan! You will find out it's the best melon pan you've ever tasted your whole life!" The man approached Haku and offered one piece of it for him to try.
Haku didn't hold himself back. He took it from the man's hand and ate it. It tasted okay, not really the best one he's had, but the smile on the man's face and his liveliness made Haku chuckled and it brightened up his mood so he ended up buying one piece of every type they sell in the store. They didn't sell that many types anyway so it wouldn't hurt his wallet, or so Haku thought, because when he went to pay for them, the man refused his money and told him, "I made you laugh so I won! You can have the bread as a service! Come again next time if you feel guilty!"
The man's antics made Haku laugh once again. He barely spoke a word with this man but he made him feel so comfortable that he didn't even feel guilty about not paying for his food. Haku saw there is a drink menu and seating area as well. He's promised himself to return and eat in the café the next time he can come. He thanked the man and left to go to the office. There is some distance from the cafe to the office but Haku is in such a good mood that he didn't mind the walk. He's even humming his favorite song as he swings the plastic bag to the rhythm of his steps.
When Haku finally arrived at the office, he didn't go to the meeting room right away. He greeted the receptionist and strike a conversation with her. She is in her early 20's too and started working there straight out of high school. She had no knowledge of the e-sports scene and applied for the vacancy because it is very near to her house.
"Is Kouki here?" He asked her.
"He is, he has a meeting with the Marketing Department right now."
Haku nodded and thanked her before he walked away and towards the hallway to their left. There is an office area on the left side of the hallway and a series of closed rooms on the right side. Haku saw a few people at their table and he felt it is better not to disturb them while they're working. As he walked past those rooms, he could recognize Kouki's voice coming out of one of them. He ignored it and went straight to the stairs at the end of the hallway and climbed to the first floor where Kouki's office is. Kinsmen is only a small team and they don't have many workers so their office is not spacious, but Haku likes it. The close proximity to everything makes him feel at home. On the first floor, everyone's already there.
Yutaka was sitting crossed legs on the sofa, Banri and Hiroki were playing a racing game on the PlayStop and Kento was playing with his phone while lying down on the sofa across Yutaka. Haku said hi to them to get their attention.
"You're late again, Haku," Hiroki chided him. "Your house is the nearest among us, why are you late again this time?"
"I went to buy these treats for you," Haku put the plastic bag full of baked goods on the table and all the guys in the room swarmed around it. One by one, the breads are taken and they slowly forget that he was late as they naturally started making conversation about the breads and their recent daily activities.
Haku wasn't nervous earlier, but now that he's seeing everyone's face, his heart was beating so fast. Haku reached for the mineral water and took a few sips to drench his throat. There are reasons why he's this nervous. One of them is that they'd usually discuss the team direction amongst themselves first ahead of time without Kouki present. This is to listen to what everyone's thinking and check whether they are all on the same page. If one of them doesn't feel like staying, the rest of the members need to know and decide whether they'd want to stay with the team or leave together for a different team. They haven't had such discussion yet since nobody initiated it and none of them are speaking a word even now. Is it perhaps because they want to hear from Kouki first? Haku looked around at their faces. Yutaka seems to be engrossed in his own thoughts. As the team leader, there must be a lot of pressure on him right now. The members would usually listen and follow him so whatever he decides would usually be the final decision. Banri and Hiroki are talking together about the game they had played just now, they were laughing and joking and slapping each other's arm. They may look like they don't think too much about their contract and leave it all to Yutaka, but it is just simply that they trust Yutaka with their life. After all, they have been friends for 10 years. They are more like a family now. Kento, on the other hand, was playing with his phone while eating the bread. Kento is the youngest among them and he follows Yutaka like a child following his older brother around. Since Yutaka isn't initiating a meeting beforehand, Haku can practically guess what he has in mind.
At this moment, the door creaked open and Kouki showed up. "Sorry, I was having a different meeting just now, it took too long to wrap up." Kouki took a seat on the sofa in the middle and looked around at his players' faces one by one as they started gathering and taking their seat.
"Let's make this short. I am open to sign all of you for another season, as long as you are all up to it. I don't really care about the result, I want to support all of you until the day I can witness you win the title."
Kouki was rather straightforward with his proposal. His face was rather hopeful, no, he was rather certain they would sign with him for another season, but as he scanned around for their faces and reaction, the big smile on his face slowly faded away. Their faces were rather tight and it is not a good sign.
"No?" He began digging for some response. His heart is beating rather fast. "Yutaka? How about you?" He dug again, this time by mentioning a name so he can be certain he'd get a response.
Yutaka was playing with his fingers and he was looking down at it the whole time. It took him a few moments before he held his head up again and looked towards Kouki, then to each of his members, to the managers, and lastly, back to Kouki.
He took a deep breath and said, "Kouki, I don't want a team owner that doesn't care about the result. I need an owner who is hungry for results." They can almost hear a pin drop in the room with how silent it got. Yutaka looked around again before he continued,
"I am not saying it's your fault, Kouki. It is our fault because our performance was not good enough and that is precisely why I feel we need an owner that can push us beyond our limit but you're just too nice for this."
Kouki turned to Kento who was sitting next to him, in a way, asking if he's in agreement with Yutaka. Kento nodded, "I agree with Yutaka. I am sorry, Kouki." He turned to the next one, Hiroki, and he nodded in agreement as well. He then turned to Banri next and Banri apologized to him and expressed his agreement to what Yutaka said. Kouki had one more person to confirm with. He turned to Haku and asked if he's also in agreement with Yutaka.
Haku responded, "I'm sorry Kouki…" Kouki nodded in defeat, he had no intention to argue with them, if that's what they had decided, he'd comply.
"...and everyone."
Everyone in the room's head perked up. All of them are looking at Haku now with a wide eye.
"I am retiring."