Katawa Shoujo - Akira Satou Route

Act 5-1 Come fly with me

The entrance to the massive building is marked by a brass plate, the engraving upon it reading 'Satou Electronics & Communications.' The imposing structure easily twenty stories tall, although everything seems to glimmer as though it were brand new, from the shiny black steel frame to the thousands of tinted window panes despite a sign informing me that the building is over forty years old.

However, for such a commanding structure, there doesn't seem to be a lot of hustle and bustle around it. The entire city block is vacant for the most part, save for a man or woman in a three-piece suit slipping in and out of the front doors every so often.

It's not the first time I've seen it, but I can't say I've ever been inside. Akira always makes a point of taking a detour and showing me around the area anytime we decide to have our evening walks after work, but I've never been invited inside. She never sees a reason to explain what it's like here either, maybe because today is the first time she's been back at work in nearly a month.

The glass door swings out against my touch, opening to a mixture of simple and modern designs embellished by an incredibly high ceiling and an indoor fountain. The size of it all seems very mismatched for how much business is actually occurring -- there can't be more than three or four people in here.

Is this what Akira saw the first time she walked in? Maybe they're just experiencing a slow day; no one ever wants to work on Monday. Either that or this has been reduced to a mere hub for business and redirection ever since their headquarters opened up overseas.

Then again, this is just the reception desk. It's pretty grandiose for a reception desk, but I guess that's to be expected with such an affluent company.

Three different elevator doors lay to my right, accompanied by a stairwell. A receptionist focuses on her work at the front desk, a pair of thick-rimmed glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose and a shade of lipstick darker than blood on her lips.

"Yes, sir?" The receptionist says with one sharp gaze as I step up to the desk. Her fingers freeze in the middle of typing something and her eyes glance up and down my face, no doubt wondering why she doesn't recognize me.

Or maybe she's wondering why this guy in a school uniform and carrying two wrapped bento boxes is in the lobby of an office for a multi-national electronics corporation.

I gather up my courage and take a deep breath. "I'm here to see Akira Satou."

She tilts her head and begins sifting through some papers on the desk. "May I have your name, sir? We don't have anyone scheduled for interviews today."

"Hisao Nakai." I answer, hand already perched over my pocket in case she asks for an ID.

More shuffling of papers and a few clicks of her mouse lead to a negative. "I don't have you anywhere in our files. Were you hoping to apply for an internship?"

I shake my head. "Well, no. I was hoping to just see her for a short while."

And now my inquiry is met with a raised eyebrow. "It's her first day back, I'm not quite sure that she wants to be disturbed even for a short wh-"

"Can you just page her or something? It's uh... difficult to explain. She knows who I am, though."

As much as I'd love to state what I am to Akira, it's not quite something we've aired to anyone beyond Lilly and Hanako. I haven't even told my parents yet - what would I even say?

"Please?" I add as soon as she opens her mouth to object.

Reluctantly, she picks up the phone and taps a few numbers into the keypad, the long nails of her fingers clacking against the desk as she waits for the other end to answer.