Drama CD: [今、隣のキミに恋をする] CASE4 日向 傑
A sorta new (2018-2019) six-disc series from TEAM Entertainment Inc. Guy #4 is my first listen, and from the looks of it the first three characters are students and the latter three are working/adults. Some stats on #4 from the official site:
Age: 30
Height: 175 cm
Occupation: Foreign investment company employee
Relation: Your superior who sits at the next desk
Our story starts with a meeting, where the boss compliments Hyuuga Suguru (cv. Hirakawa Daisuke) for having the highest # of clients this month. To which Hyuuga thanks his team and says he couldn't have done it without them.
Co-workers of both sexes question in awe if he is even human, because he has everything: looks, brains, AND a great personality it seems. Even the ladies from the other departments all have their eye on him, and it's hard for us mere mortals to even get near to him *le sighzzz*.
...Enter YOU, staying behind to work overtime because the bossman had dumped a mountain of folders on your desk. Hyuuga sees you just as he's about to leave after a time-consuming client. He praises your dedication, but says that you should learn to say 'no' to people occasionally or else you will die of karoushi. (Ok he didn't exactly say it like *that*; I took some liberties.)
So, as your senpai, he’s staying to help you with your work. In return, he only asks that you lend him a hand in the future if he's ever in a pinch ;)
Both of you finalllly finish your work, and he brings you a coffee. You ask him why he stayed to help you, and he replies that, as a man, he couldn't bear to see a girl struggle with everything by herself. Also, you are the hardest worker in the entire department, and he wants you to succeed~ (ง •̀_•́)ง Shucks ain’t that sweet?? :3
Afterwards. he offers to take you home, since there's no more public transport at this time of night and it's unsafe for a girl to go home alone. On the way he asks about the office drinking party on Sunday, which you are both planning to attend.
…At the drinking party, Hyuuga is surrounded by #drunkpeopleactingdumb. He notices that you are being rather quiet, and you explain that you are not much of a party-person. To which he replies that he's the same way!! You are surprised because he seems so popular, but he jokes that he must seem like an ojisan to someone your age. A cheesy exchange ensues:
You: Ojisan? That's not true, Hyuuga-san is cool af.
Him: Cool? Whythankyouverymuch, that's an honour. Looks like I'll have to work harder from now on, in order to maintain my cool af image in your eyes!
You: But... the way you are right now is enough...
Him: 'The way I am right now is enough'... for what?
Just then you are interrupted by a drunken co-worker, who forces more drinks onto Hyuuga. Hyuuga remarks lovingly that everyone at the office is like his family, making the drunk dude cry tears of joy into his sake. Ay-yai-yai.
NEWSFLASH: your department is going to have a reorganisation soon. You and Hyuuga will be on the same team, and you will become his new assistant! So then he casually asks about your document-prep time, and mutters 'SLOWPOKE' under his breath after hearing your reply. You thought you heard him say something and question him, but he denies it *whistles innocently*. Hmm...
After work, you show up at your regular bar following a long absence. The staff tell you they've missed you, and gossip to you about a new regular customer who goes by 'Suu-san'. According to them, this person has the face of an idol, but a completely *twisted* personality, always complaining about work. At that very instant, who else but Hyuuga enters the bar, and it is confirmed that he is the Suu-san they are talking about.
Hyuuga didn't see you, and before the staff can make the introductions, he cuts them off and places his order, launching into his usual work complaints. He bitches about his new female assistant who is sooo slowwwwww that he is forced to take work home and sacrifice his weekends. And all the other co-workers are either unhelpful retards or pathetic gold-diggers. THAT PLACE IS DOOMED, YO.
After his spiel (of which you heard every word), the bar owner turns back to you... and that is when Hyuuga finally notices you. He is so shocked that he spits out his drink LOL, and hurriedly pays and drags you outside to *talk*. He tells you that what you heard are his true feelings, while his 'work persona' is but a carefully crafted act for survival. Also, he only helps you with your work because your slowness affects his work.
Unsurprisingly, you are shocked and hurt by his confessions, but he doesn't even seem to care. In his view, you and the other co-workers only like his fake personality and not the real him anyway. His only concern is that you keep this a secret from them, and luckily for him, you agree to it without much fuss.
Next day at the office, you keep your promise and didn't tell anyone. But unfortunately, you look all #doom&gloom and are clearly avoiding him. Since you are his assistant, it would look too suspicious, so he orders you to act normal - i.e. like his loving kouhai... OR ELSE.
After work, it's pouring and you've forgotten your umbrella. What's worse, it's not going to stop any time soon. Hyuuga sees your sorry state and makes you *beg* him to share his umbrella with you. At first you refuse, but, not wanting to be stuck at the office all night, you reluctantly beg him in the end and walk to the station together.
Along the way, he tells you to scoot closer under the umbrella (-ella, -ella,...) so that you don't catch a cold and miss work. #TSUNDEREALERT!!! Then he sees the #1 most cliched item ever to appear on a rainy day: An abandoned baby kitten in a cardboard box. He instructs you to take his umbrella home, while he takes the kitten with him and hails a taxi to safety.
It's the weekend! You are at his place!! And it's not what you think!!!!!!! (Wait, ...what ARE you thinking? ;P) There's an error in your document, and he's called you over to fix it before handing it over to the client. As your superior and a bona-fide #goodguy, he will have to take responsibility for your misses :'). He threatens that he gon' make you pay for wasting his weekend, and you cower in fear imagining unsavoury scenarios XD.
He teases you about your gutter-mind, and you become on the verge of tears. Your defenselessness makes him want to bully you more, so he announces that you will become his sex-slave, because... he is interested in you (!!), and this is how he treats people he likes. #ufeelingluckypunk??!
Except for past girlfriends, he hasn't invited anyone else to his place. Hearing this makes you slightly happy :3. What's more, he promises to treat you to some delicious food after you finish the work. (Awww I am melting~~~) You call him sweet, and he overreacts and denies it, making you laugh XDD. He tells you that, in the past, *some people* have said he has a bad personality, and it's stuck.
Later the stray kitten that he brought home came running out. He's named it 「アメ」 ('rain', after that fateful day of their meeting) and nursed it back to health. You observe that the way he talks to Ame is super cute, which embarrasses him, and he's all like 'SHUT UP AND DO UR WORK' to cover up his shyness wwwww~~~
Afterwards, he compliments you on a job well-done and calls you a responsible and almost-perfect worker - your only weakness is your speed (or lack thereof). You are surprised by his praise and start to reevaluate him. This is when he tells you his #assholebackstory:
Once upon a time, he was in love with a girl and tried his best to make her happy... only for her to tell him that he is a hurtful bastard who is abusive to everyone around him. This misunderstanding was a huge blow to his self-esteem, and ever since then, he started putting on the inoffensive persona that he uses at work, in order to navigate the treacherous terrain of social relations.
On hearing this, you become sympathetic, despite his protests to the contrary. You bring up the rain etc. as examples that he is actually a big softie, and he tries to come up with excuses how they are just normal behaviour. He also admits that he's secretly glad it was you who overheard him at the bar that day, instead of anyone else. His embarrassed confession is so adorable that you call him 'cute' again, and he gets all #angrytsundere trying to deny it lulz.
At the next meeting, the boss assigns a big client to your team. Afterwards, Hyuuga invites you to lunch together, Your closeness starts to arouse the jealousy of some women in your dept, and they gossip behind your back (which Hyuuga overhears). During lunch, Hyuuga tells you that you are not only important to the team, but to him personally as well. You are all like #confusedpuppyeyes, which makes him doki-doki, but just then the waiter arrives with your food, and he swallows back his confession. #badtiming ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Days later, some v. important data for this case has gone missing, and Hyuuga asks the boss for some time to fix this. You apologise and admit that you might have lost it by accident, but he doesn't believe that you would make a silly mistake like that. Two female co-workers come over and badmouth you for your carelessness, and Hyuuga starts to yell at them but you stop him.
At this point, Hyuuga can't hold back anymore, and says outright that he saw the two of them at your desk yesterday after everyone had left. He threatens to check the building's security cam footage. As the culprits struggle to come up with an excuse, he flies into a fit of rage and goes ballistic on them at some length before storming out.
You chase after him and express your worry now that he has revealed his 'true self' in the office. But he doesn't seem concerned - more than keeping up his persona, he has now found something *more important* to protect. You don't get his meaning, and he's all like (┛◉Д◉)┛︵ ┻━┻ 'cos he can't believe how dumb you are. #rofl
So then FINALLY, dude confesses that he likes you! Your acceptance and nonchalance after seeing his true self, plus your knack for bringing out his gentle side, have (#reluctantly) won him over. He asks you to date him, and you laugh good-naturedly at his whole #ore-sama attitude before saying a resounding YES. (ﾉ*>ω<)ﾉ~☆
[Epilogue / half a year later]
You come out of the shower with your hair all wet, and he nags at you while drying it for you. He complains that you are more low-maintenance than a dude, and he feels more like your mum than your boyfriend XD.
Ever since revealing his true personality at the office that day, everyone has ironically grown even closer to him, and he wonders if you are all secretly a bunch of do-M's lol. Then he snuggles up with you for the night and thanks you for accepting every side of him, and promises to stay by your side 4everrrr.
[Thoughts] I loved this story!! Sure it has a bunch of cliches and predictable elements in it, but I love the way he gradually changed his attitude and slowly warmed up to our lovely heroine. You also get to hear Hirarin as an オラオラ/ヤンキーtype, which is so out-of-character for him. He’s just too cute/hilarious when he gets angry to hide his shyness. And the way he raged at those two jealous co-workers... Is this even real?? OMG.
The audio is from the bonus track/free talk, where he does his special baby voice that he uses to talk to cats, and... I JUST CAN’T. EVEN. I mean just listen to it. wwwwwwwww~~~ XDDD. Hirarin also reveals that, on his 30th birthday, he got a msg from his dad explaining why they named him ‘Daisuke’. The reason is kept secret here, but apparently 「大輔」 means was a kind of high-ranking official title in olden times (pre-Heian). #don’tquoteme
One other thing I really liked, is that some of the side characters are voiced as well, like the boss and co-workers. It’s so refreshing and cuts the monotony of usual situation CDs where you have to guess what the other people are saying, because everyone else is unvoiced. Especially in fight scenes, where your guy starts taunting and/or getting injured by *nobody*. But anyway.
