Chapter 100Awakening Girl
I'll accept the fact that I unintentionally treated Ichinose-san like a child who just completed her first errand to my grave, but this is indeed a good start. If she can handle customer service after this, then I think she can do this part-time work. Are there any other part-time jobs that are easy like this? Yeah, this one is indeed easy.
"Welcome!"
She greeted the first customer in a not-too-loud voice. The customer looked like a typical buff book reader. I saw Ichinose-san's tense and trembling face from a slightly further distance. After what happened yesterday, maybe I should be the cashier for some time.
I stopped arranging the second-hand books that I had finished carefully examining and went to the cashier counter. Then suddenly Ichinose-san appeared in front of me and asked me not to go to the cashier counter. Huh? What the heck, isn't she kind of childish and cute? Can't she stop making me stimulated as a fellow part-timer?
"I-I'll do it..."
"Eh?"
Eh, wait a minute, Big Bro, I mean me, is very impressed. Isn't this growth fast? Has she been practicing in the Space of Soul and Time since yesterday? If that's the case, it's my turn to play games there. I don't have enough time to hunt.
Ichinose-san hurriedly walked to the cashier counter and stood there with a calm expression on her face. You can still read the tension on her face. Oh, dear customer, if you would like to purchase something, please do it as soon as possible. Ichinose-san, you're slowly getting nervous.
Oh, our dear customer is on his way to the cashier counter.
"..."
"...Oh..."
Tsk...! Is that the kind of customer who just puts things on the cashier counter without saying a word? It might be better if he didn't say anything. But this kind of attack power might also be quite difficult for Ichinose-san to handle alone...
"W-Welcome— Th-The total price is 130 yen, okay... ...can be paid in cash."
Oh...
"Y-Your money is 500 yen, um, um... ...Oh, your change is 370 yen, correct."
Eh, wait a minute, I'm impressed (for the second time). Didn't she grow up so fast (for the second time)? Is she training somewhere? Does the Time and Soul Space exist!? Tell me where it is! Of course, I won't say it's free! For the same price as karaoke, that is!
"Oh... ...um."
"Sorry. A book this size can be covered too, do you want me to cover this book too?"
"Yeah."
"I got it."
I could see that Ichinose-san was only limited to the packaging stage, so I quickly intervened for the covering stage and asked the customer. The answer was "Yeah," with a mysterious accent, so if she just put it in a plastic bag with the book the customer wouldn't have any complaints. See, I finished the book cover too. I didn't lie.
I looked down and said "Sorry". Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ichinose-san already following me without delay. Hey, hey, hey, that makes me stimulated!
As the customer left the store, Ichinose-san looked at me with a somewhat annoyed look.
"...Wh-Why are you helping me, huh?"
"!"
Are you serious...? ...You don't need me anymore? Do you want me to say goodbye with a smile? So I can leave now without any worries. I want to prostrate myself on the floor and apologize for yesterday. People can change at any time, you know!
It's no use, there's no need to be too eager to restrain yourself.
"What's going on with you, Ichinose-san!? You're different from yesterday, it's amazing!"
"Wow...!?"
I was so excited that I almost tapped her shoulder too hard. I am passionate and would never commit sexual harassment. I am a real man. Perhaps my voice was too loud, but Ichinose-san looked surprised and took a step back.
"Are you doing something to improve your quality!?"
"Oh... ...Um, yeah... ...I watched a video about customer service..."
"There's also something like that, huh?!"
"Yeah..."
Isn't she great? Isn't this good? I can't beat her at all, even though she's just a beginner. I know that she's not Airi-chan, but I want to give her a bag of candy. I want to be back-wrestled like Big Sis did to me yesterday.
"That's good... ...Let's keep serving customers like that! You might get used to it!"
"Y-Yeah."
Ichinose-san, who was in a good mood, said that she would go back to arranging the second-hand books on the shelves, and as she moved away from me, she flashed me a faint smile. She was happy to be able to use what she had learned herself. I was happy too, so there was nothing wrong with that! It's important for a teenage girl like Ichinose-san to have confidence in herself, so I think it's good that she can keep going.
My encouragement seems to be working — I hope it does, but Ichinose-san has started to actively carry out her duties, even though she had some difficulties in the beginning. Whether she said so clearly or not might matter, but the way she's progressing is truly remarkable. That's right, it is indeed wonderful!
The problem is whether she can already deal with troublesome customers like yesterday or not, but she needs to get used to ordinary customer service first, so it's better if we put that aside for now. After all, that's not what I was worried about in the first place, is it? I couldn't make a little game out of changing my tone from the start either, could I?
In my case, it was because Gramps kept yelling at the customer, "That's not right," to the point where I decided to do something myself. It was indeed unavoidable.
"Sajou-kun, Mina-chan, it's time for you to take a break."
"Alright."
I took a break for a moment and went to the back door. On my way to the living room, I met the Manager's wife who was heading to the kitchen. She looked neat as if she was going to a computer course after this.
"Oh, Ma'am. I forgot to tell you yesterday."
I asked Ichinose-san to go ahead of me, and we (me and the Manager's wife) discussed the dangers of the stool we used for part-time work. If I told Gramps, he would just ignore me and say that we don't need it. I'm sure it would just be a hassle.
When I went to the living room, Ichinose-san had already taken out a book from her small bag. It seemed that her desire to read was still the same as yesterday.
...No, wait a minute? Isn't this the only break time we have, and isn't this the only time I can talk to Ichinose-san? She seems like the type to go home immediately after finishing her part-time job. Oh no, I can't serve the punishment given by Natsukawa, if I don't take advantage of this time. Later, she'll ask me again about this, right?
Oh, um,
"Ichinose-san, I guess you'll eventually quit working part-time."
"Eh?"
Hey! What did I just say!? That's not something I can say to a girl who's been working hard, right!? I said something really mean, didn't I? Yeah, I did mean what I said, but!
This is what I meant when I said that my mouth felt dry, I must have used a lot of lip balm, but come to think of it, I never used lip balm in the first place. The margarine on my bread for breakfast was the last layer.
As I turned my gaze towards Ichinose-san timidly, then I caught a look of annoyance on her face. I'm sorry, okay? I don't have any delicacy. I flushed it all down the toilet this morning. I turned my head to the left and she turned her head away.
"...I can't quit this part-time job."
As our eyes met, Ichinose-san said so while turning her face away a moment later. I think she has a strong determination not to quit this part-time job. Yesterday's incident didn't discourage her, did it?
...Eh? "I can't quit this part-time job"? Isn't that a bit strange to say? Maybe there's a reason why she can't quit this part-time job even though she seems to want to...?
Even if I asked her "Why can't you quit this part-time job?", she would probably reply "Why do I have to talk to you about this, anyway?" ...I wonder if there isn't a more natural way to ask that question...
"Oh..., ...why did you decide to look for a part-time job in the first place?"
"..."
What's going on? It's like the reason why you're motivated to work part-time, right? That's the kind of question your senpai at your part-time job will ask you. I'm sure she'll have mentioned it to the Manager during the interview, so I think it'll be easier to answer this question.
Ichinose-san put the book she had taken out into her small bag, sat back down, and turned to me, her eyes wandering everywhere.
"–...Because I want to be an independent person..."
"What?"
"Eh?"
Eh? Because she wants to be an independent person? Isn't that great? I never really thought about my reasons for working part-time. Why would I want to work part-time again, huh? I came here to get work experience, plus I can have money to play games, right? P*ss me, p*ss me. The real miracle is my co-worker who has a strong will and determination.
"Eh? Would you like to be an independent person?"
"Y-Yeah..., I want to be an independent person."
When I asked her again, I got the same answer. So that's it... this is the reason why she couldn't quit this part-time job even after being criticized so much yesterday. I think she has a different attitude towards this part-time job than I do. Maybe there's a special reason for that, or maybe Ichinose-san sees this job as an adult job. If that's the case, I don't think she would just quit this part-time job.
...But we're still the first-year high schoolers, right? We are high school girls, also known as Joshi-Kousei or JK for short. Oh, come to think of it, I'm not a JK. J (Jiishiki / Self-conscious) K (Kajou / Exaggerated)? Shut up, you idiot. You're just a high school boy, also known as Danshi-Kousei or DK for short. In other words, I'm a gorilla*. Wukwuk.
(TL Note: What MC is referring to here is the use of the abbreviation DK other than Danshi-Kousei (high school guy), which is Donkey Kong, a Japanese video game with a main character of the same name, who is a gorilla. Wukwuk is the voice of a gorilla in Indonesian, I don't know what a gorilla sounds like in English, sorry.)
Author's Note: ...Wukwuk?
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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