Chapter 84The Girl Sitting Next to You
Yamazaki said. [My dog is wet.]
I said. [Is it a local breed?]
Yamazaki replied. [Papillon.]. I think I'm going to break my relationship up with this guy.
What are you doing? Why are you playing horror games to the point of losing your intelligence? Are you doing some kind of training?
[Just go to sleep already.]
'Go to sleep, right now.'
'Auh...'
I heard a sound like a mosquito on the other end of my smartphone or rather a dog. I feel like I've been abandoned by humans. Even when I fall asleep, I think the contents of that horror game will appear in my dreams.
No, seriously, I should refrain from playing horror games for a long time because there are a lot of really crazy people in those games. Games are meant to be enjoyed, not challenged.
As I sweated in the bathroom and pasted the contents of Ceva's Theorem into the message to bring Yamazaki back to the real world, my app updated again... ...Eh, this isn't from Yamazaki...?
[This is... ...Tell me what this is? A punishment? But what punishment...?]
It finally came.
I've been waiting for you, Natsukawa-san. I accidentally sat with my thighs crossed and I waited. I felt disgusted with myself, what's with this reflex of mine...? I'm almost unconscious, but isn't that serious? I didn't feel nervous because I wasn't talking in front of that person directly, so I couldn't control myself. Why was I analyzing myself so calmly...?
While I was waiting for the continuation of this message, another message was sent 18.34 seconds after the previous message (seriously).
[Do you want to play with Airi again?]
What... ...what did you say?
Airi-chan..., Airi-chan, huh? Playing with her is just like when I visited you that time... Eh, no, wait a minute, isn't that a pretty high difficulty level? Do I have to go to Natsukawa's house again? No, no, calm down, it's not that easy for a girl to invite a boy to her house, right? That last time, there seemed to be a special situation, where I might enter the shrine so easily.
[Um...? Airi-chan wants a Sylvanian Families* figurine, so do you want me to buy that for her?]
(TL Note: Sylvanian Families (シルバニアファミリー) is a Japanese series of collectible anthropomorphic animal action figures made of plastic.)
[I didn't say a word about it.]
[Eh?]
Oh, am I misinterpreting it...? Is that possible? It went viral before, right, so maybe she's looking for a sensation? Strangely enough, maybe her hobbies are more in the direction of boys' hobbies?
[How about a Rider belt*?]
(*TL Note: The belt he's talking about is from Kamen Rider.)
[I didn't say a word about it!]
Eh?
An angry Natsukawa. She sent me some angry and screamed really cute emoticons. She said Airi-chan is a girl, so don't treat her like a boy. No, I think so. How can a girl as cute as Airi-chan have hobbies like boys? I knew it. Do you?
[Let's see how much I can please Airi-chan...]
[I told you, it's not like that... but, no...! Why are you setting the bar so high?]
[Isn't there anything I can buy for Airi-chan?]
[Don't you dare spend your money! I won't let you!]
Eh? Don't I need to spend my money? (It's really hard.)
Seriously, that's so cute, is this a punishment? I think I'll become more than just a servant. I'll probably be so pleased to do it. But what about it? Personally, just being involved with Natsukawa is like a blessing.
[Playing with Airi-chan isn't a punishment, is it?]
[I feel like I'm disqualified as a big sis.]
[Oh? Did something happen suddenly?]
Eh? Eh? Did something happen? I understood it back in two seconds. I'm just saying that it's not a punishment for me, right...? ...Eh? Did I say that it was wrong? Natsukawa-san even felt depressed.
[I am probably the one who deserves to be punished.]
Eh?
That's too sudden for a development...! Why are you suddenly looking back? Where did the usual Natsukawa-san go? I thought she was a siscon who proudly said that she was a kind-hearted big sis who doted on her little sis. I have no problem with that, Natsukawa-san!
[Natsukawa, let's hold off on talking about it for now. It's okay, there's no need to rush.]
[...I got it.]
I feel like I've pressed against the body of a beauty named Natsukawa Aika that I shouldn't have pressed against. And I feel a bit depressed by the expression just now, and I think I should go to hell. I don't know what happened, but I'll just let Natsukawa calm down for now. If we keep talking like this, I'll receive damage in a good way, and I won't be able to endure it anymore. Uhehehehe.
[No, you broke her, Sajocchi.]
At night. I got a mysterious message from a private chat with Ashida, who had probably calmed down after her club activities. I couldn't make sense of it.
♦
The next day, at my part-time job, I felt in better shape. If you ask me why, I'll say that I wasn't woken up at 4 a.m. by the loud notification sound. If I woke up again today, I'll go to Yamazaki's house early in the morning. Sleep is important, you know.
"Sajou-kun, is there still free space on the third shelf?"
"If I'm not mistaken..., the books on Shelf A have been selling quite well and I think we can fit about 20 books there. Besides, I think second-used books are more popular than new ones."
"Oh, new books are still popular..., but even second-used books can still be found online these days. And the price is much more affordable than the original selling price."
"Oh... ...Eh? Is that okay?"
"Sajou-kun. There are people in this world who are not quite satisfied without buying printed versions of books. But there aren't many of them."
"You sound like a reader."
No, this store is more for fans. Maybe I like the fact that it's privately owned, because sometimes I get customers who are picky and I can't understand.
"Honestly, I can't underestimate technology nowadays, but hey, it makes my job a lot easier."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm glad as a youngster that that kind of thing is increasing."
This is the cash register for the management of this private business, which Gramps bought when he started opening the store. It shows the sales history for two weeks, but he usually records it by hand. But, but! I noticed I could tinker with it in my spare time and I could also export the history to USB memory! Then I can transfer the history to a spreadsheet! We've done it!
I think it's okay for now, that's why his wife started taking computer courses, and will probably get better at it.
"By the time my summer vacation is over, your wife will have mastered the basics of computers, so what will you do with my part-time job after I leave?"
"I'll hire someone. Although, even if it's a girl of Sajou-kun's age, the store will look different with young clerks."
Yeah, okay... — Hmm? I nodded my head, but isn't that a bit harsh? Is there anything that caught your attention?
"You see, we've already started the recruitment."
"Oh, come to think of it, there's already that poster at the entrance, huh?"
"That's right. I put that up earlier, and I want you to come at least a week before the end of summer vacation."
"I can't say anything."
"What's with that tone of yours? You don't sound like a young man at all."
Gramps, who looked flabbergasted, patted me on the center of my back. The part you gave me was quite hard, Gramps. If you look closely, you'll find that his arms are muscular... ...doesn't he have more muscles than I do? I mean, there are many old men I've met out there who have relatively very strong arms. You can tell that they had a lot of training when they were young.
"Then, please take care of the rest, okay?"
"Roger that, Roger that, sir!"
"Phew, that reply made me remember the first time I said that."
Gramps walked to the back of the shop in the same tone. What time did he mean? He must have been born after the war era. I didn't ask how old he was, but he could talk like that when he wasn't over 80 years old, right...?
Long life, Gramps.
I got up and started working. The paper bag that Gramps had left behind contained second-used books that had been registered as saleable products. All I had to do now was put the books on the shelves and then serve as the cashier until it was time to go home.
"Quite a few books are coming in today."
There were about 20 novels in the bag, probably from the customer who had just sold them in bulk. The novels seemed to be brand new and even had their covers on. They looked like the latest novels, but I wonder if the original owner read these novels properly...? That's okay, then.
"'Kawashima Reiji', 'Odajima Seiji'... Is it here, huh?"
The contents in the gaps on the shelves in alphabetical order are backward. If I got the order wrong, I'd get pretty harsh and annoying lectures, so I had to work carefully. The shop was small, so I could easily see when a customer came in, and it was nice to work alone and carefree.
"—U-U m..."
"Hmm...? Oh, yeah, can I help you?"
As I crouched down, I heard a quiet voice that sounded like a mosquito. Come to think of it, I saw someone's shadow, so I turned my head to the right and found a little girl in a black one-piece dress standing some distance away from me, and she bows down. I immediately understood that she was the shy type.
Also, she has a cute voice. This is the most important thing.
"...Um... ...in front of there —Eh?"
"Okay... ...hmm?"
Hmm...? Eh, I think I've seen this girl somewhere before... ...am I wrong? Is it because she only looks like a girl behind a paper or screen? Gosh, isn't this serious? Wake up, me. Even if I touch her in another dimension, she'll just feel rough or slippery.
Oh. I got it.
"...Well, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Eh...?"
I recognized her minimalist face, with half of her face covered by her bangs. I thought I had seen her somewhere before, but it turned out to be Ichinose-san, who sat next to me at school.
This girl probably doesn't like me..., I'm sure she thinks I'm a noisy person or something. When Ashida who was sitting on the seat behind me was bothering me and making a fuss, I could feel the gaze of Ichinose-san who was reading a book on the seat next to me. It was like a letter being sent directly to my mouth, and she must have been very upset with me.
Even so, I wanted to praise myself for pretending that this was my first encounter with her. Girls like her probably don't like to be bothered by noisy boys, so right now, I'm not going to say, "Eh? You're Ichinose-san, aren't you? Seriously~?" at this point. If I said that, she would run away quietly.
No matter how quiet the girl is, if the other person is a professional clerk, she could be somewhat stronger, and it's good that I'm playing my role as a professional clerk here. Get up...! The clever Kraken hidden inside me!
No, there's only a squid inside me.
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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