The next day, carrying a beautifully wrapped gift box, Nakayama Takuya returned to his alma mater—Tokyo Institute of Technology.
The Ōokayama campus was just as he remembered. The ginkgo leaves were tinged with yellow in the autumn breeze, and the air held a mingled scent of books and fresh grass.
Walking along the familiar paths, watching the young faces passing by, Takuya felt as though he had slipped back in time—back to the freshly graduated student who was both lost and hopeful about the future.
Only now, he stood in a sharp suit, the Patek Philippe on his wrist scattering fine glints of light. He was no longer the kid in the cheap shirt who had drunk himself senseless at the graduation party.
He took a deep breath, feeling the tension of the past few days ease a little.
Moving by instinct, Takuya found the grey engineering building and climbed the stairs to the office where his advisor, Professor Yonezawa Akinori, used to be.
The door was unlocked. He knocked, then pushed it open.
Inside was quiet—only a few unfamiliar young teaching assistants were sorting through documents. One of them, without looking up, called out, "Come in."
Professor Yonezawa wasn't there.
"Excuse me, who are you looking for?" a bespectacled young man finally asked.
Takuya was just about to answer when a familiar figure stepped out from the inner room. The man froze for a moment.
"Takuya? Nakayama Takuya?"
His face lit up with surprise and delight. "It really is you! You disappeared right after graduation—what brings you back now?"
Takuya recognized him too—his senior by two years, Yamashita Yukihiko.
Back then, Yamashita had been the archetypal genius upperclassman, always buried in research.
"Yamashita-senpai, long time no see."
"Just thought I should come visit you and Sensei," Takuya said with a smile, placing the gift on an empty table. "Looks like you stayed on to teach here, Senpai?"
"Ah, I'm just muddling along," Yamashita said humbly.
"I'm just running errands at a video game company," Takuya replied just as modestly.
"Video games?" Yamashita suddenly perked up, leaning forward and lowering his voice. "Oh? Which one? Nintendo? Capcom? I heard their Street Fighter is amazing!"
Takuya nearly laughed. His senpai was exactly the same—curious about everything.
"Senpai, that one's by Capcom. I'm with Sega."
"Sega, huh!" Yamashita slapped his thigh. "That's a major company too! I know it! My son keeps pestering me to play that game—the one with the blue hedgehog!"
"Sonic the Hedgehog," Takuya supplied.
"Yes, yes! That one!" Yamashita grew even more animated. "That game's incredible—what speed! I've played it myself a few times. Takuya, what do you do there? Programmer? Planner?"
"A bit of everything," Takuya shrugged lightly. "I'm currently Executive Director of Operations. Before this, I worked on Sonic, Fatal Fury, Pokémon, Golden Sun, and some others."
The room fell silent.
Yamashita stared at him, stunned.
Executive… Director?
Wasn't that a board-level position?
He looked at the junior who used to follow him around asking questions, unable to process it for a moment.
"You—you're not pulling my leg, are you?" he sputtered.
"Would I dare joke about something like that with you?" Takuya spread his hands innocently.
"I only got into Sega with my father's connections. After bringing in Tetris, developing Fatal Fury, Pokémon's electronic pet line, and so on—they promoted me."
"Good heavens…"
Yamashita gazed at him with shock, envy, and a pride that belonged to a senior watching a junior flourish.
"Not bad at all! It's only been a few years since you graduated! Even if you had help, these achievements are no small matter. If Professor Yonezawa hears this, he'll definitely drink in celebration!"
Seeing his senpai's flushed, excited face, Takuya felt warm inside.
He smiled and steered the topic back.
"Speaking of which, I came today to visit Sensei, but also because there's something important I'd like his advice on."
Just then, the office door creaked open.
An elderly man in a grey suit stepped in—his hair white but neatly combed.
Seeing an unfamiliar sharply dressed young man among his assistants and Yamashita, he paused.
He adjusted his reading glasses and studied Takuya. The face was familiar, yet he couldn't quite place it.
"Sensei!" Yamashita immediately stood to greet him.
Takuya rose as well, bowing deeply. "Professor Yonezawa, long time no see. I'm Nakayama Takuya."
"Nakayama… Takuya?" Professor Yonezawa repeated, and suddenly memory returned.
Yes—this was the bright student who constantly daydreamed in class.
But the youth before him wore an air of affluence; the watch on his wrist gleamed with quiet weight. He hardly resembled the scruffy boy from years ago.
"Oh! So it's you!" the professor exclaimed in delighted recognition. "Graduated and never came back to visit—I thought you'd forgotten this old man!"
"How could I?" Takuya grinned, offering the gift with both hands. "I finally achieved a little something, so of course I had to come report back to you."
Yamashita couldn't hold it in any longer. "Sensei, don't underestimate him! Takuya isn't just doing 'a little something'. He's now Sega's Executive Director of Operations!"
"Executive Director?" Professor Yonezawa's eyebrows shot up, his hand stalling mid-motion as he accepted the gift.
He examined his former student with renewed scrutiny.
A board-level role? Only a few years after graduation?
"Sega's Executive Director?" he murmured, clicking his tongue. Then half-teasingly added, "If I recall correctly, you were the one sleeping in the back row of my Information Theory class. Is it really that easy to become an executive? Your father couldn't have put you there by himself."
"Only thanks to your teachings, Sensei. You trained me well—I can even keep up while slacking." Takuya said this with mock gravity. "And my graduation project did end up being… unique, didn't it?"
"Hahaha!" Laughter filled the office; even the assistants looked up.
Professor Yonezawa pointed at him, laughing as he scolded, "Your mouth is still as slick as ever! That ridiculous MSX-modified mini pachinko toilet—you call that a graduation project?"
"Pff—!" The last few assistants who hadn't laughed finally burst out. So the infamous contraption was his creation.
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