"And with that, I officially call the second meeting of the B.O.S.S. to order."
Following Bara's formal greeting, the attendees offered a polite round of applause.
Today's roster included the original members—Bara, Cruz, Minami, and Kaori—along with two new additions: Shino and Mai. Naturally, a glass of oolong tea had been placed pointedly in front of Shino.
"I kind of just tagged along, but... um, what exactly is this 'B.O.S.S.' thing anyway?" Shino asked.
"Take a guess," Bara replied cryptically.
Cruz didn't skip a beat before sniping at Bara's mysterious tone. "Chief, you're acting like a creepy old man."
"I—It's fine! It's no fun if I just give it away immediately, right? Right?"
Bara looked around, desperately seeking validation. The others gave her a pitying nod, essentially humoring her.
"Er... how do you spell it?" Shino asked, trying to get a lead.
"It's the 'Company' Sha and the 'Good Job' Otsu," Bara explained, referring to the Japanese shorthand for Sha-Otsu-Kai.
Shino went silent for a moment, her expression shifting into one of pure bewilderment. "Okay... I get the characters, but why on earth would you choose that specific name?"
"Because I just witnessed a top-tier piece of self-staged drama," Bara said.
"Self-staged? What do you mean?"
"I want to hear this!" Mai chimed in.
"Very well. I shall reveal the facts of the incident I witnessed to the group."
Bara paused for dramatic effect before beginning her explanation to the five women.
"First, look at this video."
"Wait, is that Hikigaya and Department Manager Argo from earlier?"
"Exactly. And tell me, Kaori, how did you know that was Argo-san?"
"Um, the beard on his cheeks?"
"And Hachiman?"
"Process of elimination!"
"Perfect," Bara said, nodding with the air of a satisfied teacher.
"I don't get it," Cruz muttered.
"Yeah, it seems pretty obvious to me too," Mai added.
Bara countered their skepticism. "Okay, but what if you didn't know Argo-san had a beard drawn on his face? What then?"
"What then? Well..."
"Oh! In that case, nobody would be able to tell who either of them were..."
"Ah, I see where you're going with this!"
"Now you're catching on," Bara said. She then explained the logic behind showing them the clip.
"This video was uploaded immediately after the incident occurred. Look at the angle. To those of us on the inside, it's obvious who they are. But to a total stranger, it's impossible to tell what's actually happening."
"True..."
"Now that you mention it, maybe only our employees would recognize them."
Bara followed up with another question. "Now, did any of you notice anything strange today? Was there someone important... missing, perhaps?"
"Someone? Hmm..."
"Was there? Let me think... wait..."
"Oh! Come to think of it, where was the CEO today?"
"The Boss should have been in his office all day," Mai noted. "I was at the reception desk the whole time and never saw him leave. I mean, he could have snuck out the back, but that's not like him."
"Wait, isn't it?"
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