I Just Want A Single Ending!

"By the way, calling you Togawa-san still feels a bit too formal, doesn't it?"

After they stepped out of the café, Kamigawa Saku turned to look at Sakiko Togawa, who was walking beside him.

He wanted to close the distance between them a little.

And the best way to do that was to switch to a more personal way of addressing her.

"You mean…?"

Sakiko had a feeling she knew what he was getting at.

Saku smirked slightly as he thought of something amusing. "How about I call you 'Assistant'?"

"That's fine."

For a title that formal, Sakiko had no objections at all.

Given the nature of their current roles, there was nothing strange about him calling her that.

"Assistant?"

Saku tried it out for size.

"Yes? What's up?"

Sakiko responded immediately.

"Actually… I think I'd better stick with Togawa-san."

Saku decided to abandon the idea. It felt awkward, and he couldn't get used to it.

Understanding his discomfort, Sakiko offered gently, "If you don't mind, you could just call me by my name."

"Really? You sure about that?"

Saku hesitated because they'd only met twice before, and calling her by her first name felt a bit too forward. That's why he'd thought of "Assistant" in the first place.

"It's fine," Sakiko confirmed.

"Then, you can call me by my name too," Saku replied in kind, reciprocating the offer.

"Alright."

Sakiko hesitated briefly but ultimately didn't decline. After all, he was her boss.

Saku felt quite pleased with how things were progressing.

It was easy to become closer to her, and now they'd agreed to call each other by name.

He recalled how she had referred to Soyo Nagasaki as "Nagasaki-san" before.

Sure, he might be leaning on his "boss" status to make this happen, but it was still a good development.

"Alright, I'll need you to lead the way to a place where we can buy high-end cosmetics and skincare products."

Putting their name conversation behind them, Saku moved on to business.

As a guy, he really didn't know much about this kind of thing.

That's why he needed to rely on her, a former young lady of high standing.

"I can do that… Wait, high-end?"

Sakiko had started to agree but caught on to a certain word.

"Yes."

Saku clarified, "When I say high-end, I mean readily available, popular products—not anything custom-made."

"Basically, luxury items that are still within reach for most people."

It wouldn't suit his video content to review products that were exclusively tailored by elite brands for individual use.

"No, that's not what I meant," Sakiko frowned a bit. "I meant… Are we really going to be reviewing high-end products?"

"Of course," Saku replied with a smile.

"Isn't that a bit… problematic? If fans see how effective high-end products are, it might trigger a desire to buy them," Sakiko expressed her concern. "But for an average girl, the price point on those kinds of products is completely out of reach, which could lead to a negative impact."

"I think we should be reviewing items that the average person can afford, especially since your account has mostly reviewed affordable snacks that anyone can buy."

Even though she put it delicately, Saku understood her meaning.

She worried that reviewing high-end products could encourage materialistic thinking in his fans or even push them to go to unreasonable lengths to afford those items.

"I get it, don't worry. Reviewing high-end products is only half of the video content. The other half will focus on products that anyone can afford."

Since he'd planned to make review videos, he'd thought through these aspects as well.

"Could you give me a clearer picture?"

Sakiko had a general idea of his plan, but to make sure she wasn't misunderstanding, she wanted to hear the whole concept.

Saku started his detailed explanation, "Let me give an example. Say a high-end face wash costs three hundred thousand yen, while a mid-range face wash costs three thousand yen—a hundred-fold difference in price."

"In each video, we'll review both and show fans the performance of each product."

"So, here's the question: Do you think there will be a big difference between the two?"

"Not really."

Sakiko didn't hesitate with her answer.

A high-end product would definitely perform better than a mid-range one.

But even if the price differed by a hundred times, the quality wouldn't differ by a hundred times.

"Exactly. Our video will convey that while the high-end face wash is excellent, the mid-range face wash is also quite good. We'll make it clear that only those who have the means should consider buying the high-end option, while those who just want a decent face wash should go with the mid-range one."

After explaining, Saku added a final note.

"And, if all goes as planned, that mid-range face wash will actually be our advertised product."

"You didn't have to tack that on to the example."

Even Sakiko couldn't resist pointing it out with a wry smile.

Saku checked in with her, "In any case, that's the overall concept for our video. That should alleviate your concerns, right?"

"Yes, but are you sure this won't cause any issues?"

It was a positive approach for mid-range brands since being compared to high-end products would only enhance their credibility.

But as for high-end brands, this could potentially diminish their prestige.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Saku reassured her. "We'll be speaking honestly. I trust the quality of those high-end products."

"As long as we're not outright bad-mouthing or degrading the high-end brands, those big names probably won't care about our account with fewer than six hundred thousand followers."

"That's true."

She realized her concern had been unnecessary.

"Then, shall we get going?" Saku redirected the conversation back to the task at hand.

Sakiko calculated the approximate distance. "It's a bit far, so it'll take some time."

"Let's just take a cab, then."

Saku opened his ride-hailing app, explaining as he did so.

"Oh, and by the way, this is strictly a work outing, so don't get any ideas about it being a date or anything."

"…I won't."

She hadn't thought of it that way, but now that he'd brought it up, it actually did feel a bit like a date.

---

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