Riko: The Cheeky Junior

22:07.

On the floor, the only island still lit by fluorescent lights was Sales Section 1. The other desks had long been dark. On the monitor, the unit prices for the quote due tomorrow at nine in the morning were still not even half corrected.

The one who had sent it to the client with a digit misplaced was the junior sitting right next to me—though by "next to me," I mean on my desk rather than in a chair.

"Senpai~. You're still not done?"

Shiraishi Riko was perched on the edge of my desk with her legs crossed. Her pumps were kicked off onto the floor, and the tips of her black-stockinged feet swung idly. In her hand was a bag of convenience-store gummies. She clearly had no intention of helping from the start.

"The section chief said, 'Fix it together,' right? Together. You fix it, and I supervise. Isn't that a perfect division of labor?"

Just then, the phone I'd been using as a calculator lit up in my hand.

Yurari🌀

Let's begin tonight's induction

Before I could grab it, slender fingers snatched it away.

"...'Yurari'? What's this?"

Her thumb tapped the notification. A pink spiral spread across the entire screen. At the very bottom of the menu, there was an item marked with a β.

"'Pair Induction Mode'... 'Have the other person look at the screen for thirty seconds, then implant one suggestion in the inductor's voice.'"

Reading it aloud, Riko burst out laughing.

"Wait, a hypnosis app? That's hilarious. Senpai, you're the type who installs stuff like this, huh?"

Before I could say it was something I'd installed because I couldn't sleep, she had already opened the reviews.

"2.1 stars. 'Doesn't work.' 'Tried it on my girlfriend and she broke up with me.' ...Ahaha, amazing. And, the very bottom."

She read it slowly, with exaggerated deliberation.

"'*This app's induction will not work on content the target genuinely refuses.' ...Doesn't that make it pointless?"

She popped a gummy into her mouth. When she grinned, a snaggletooth peeked out.

"Sure, go ahead. Try it on me. It's not like it'll work anyway."

Recrossing her legs, she leaned toward me.

"If it doesn't work, you can do all the rest of the quote, senpai. ...If it does? If it does, I'll do anything you say. Not that it'll ever work."

Without waiting for an answer, her finger pressed "Start Induction." Holding the phone in one hand, she raised the screen in front of her face.

The pink spiral began to spin. At the edge of the screen, small numbers counted down from thirty.

"Okay, spinny-spin. ...So? Are you supposed to say something like 'you're getting sleepy,' senpai?"

Twenty.

"A senpai who tries to hypnotize his junior during overtime. I wonder what would happen if I told the section chief."

Fifteen.

"..."

Ten.

The teasing stopped.

Five.

The gummy bag slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor.

Induction complete

Please input one suggestion by voice

Current depth: 12

Her green eyes, still reflecting the spiral, didn't move. The tension had drained from the corners of her eyes, which she usually narrowed as if sizing people up. The tips of her stockinged feet, floating in midair, curled slightly.

"...Senpai."

The end of the word didn't trail off.

"I'm ready. ...What should I do?"