Chapter 3 – What I Thought to be the End of My Tragedy was Merely the Beginning

Just yesterday, the showdown between Tsubaki, Cosmos, Himawari and Pansy had ended.

The showdown’s purpose was to see each among them could please me the most, but I ended up receiving continuous physical and emotional damage instead. In the end, I picked Sun-chan as the winner.

Of course it wasn’t all great. Thanks to me choosing someone who wasn’t even a participant as the winner, I ended up having to distance myself from those four girls.

I told Tsubaki, ‘You don’t need to devote yourself to me,’ told Himawari (though, I doubt she’d understood what I really meant), ‘Focus on your tournament,’—that should take care of her bitch tendencies. Then, I also politely told Cosmos to not make me lunch again by saying, ‘My mom makes my lunch for me, so I’ll be fine,’ and lastly, I told Pansy, ‘I won’t be eating your sweets anymore’.

To put it simply, my harem (not counting one of them) had collapsed unceremoniously.

As for the winner of the showdown, I sent him ‘You’re my number one!’ and got a slightly concerning reply from him, ‘Ora! Somehow I’m getting excited after hearing that!’. I don’t know what he’s gonna do to me, but I hope he’ll go easy on me.

Anyway, now that all the Tsubaki-related issues have been resolved, it seems my mob life will return soon. Or so I thought.

There’s actually another slight problem that I had to deal with.

And it is…

“C’mon, Joro, tell me~!”

In the hallway. I was making my way to the classroom when a guy ambushed me while clasping his hand, as if I was an object of worship or something.

He didn’t greet me, didn’t introduce himself to me, and just said what he wanted from me with the sense of enthusiasm that only a mob had. Since I’m also a mob, I’ll give him the appropriate response that fits both our status.

“Buzz off, I won’t tell you anything no matter how much you beg me.”

Dismissing him without giving him even a single glance.

But that move couldn’t drive him away. Instead, he became even bolder. He approached me and embraced me by the shoulders. Ugh, seriously…

“Oh, c’mon, don’t say that~ Let’s keep it between the two of us, okay? Am I not your friend~?”

What friend? I don’t even know you!

We’re in different classes, and this is literally the first time I’ve ever talked to you!

Then again, I understand your feelings…

If I were in your shoes, I’d definitely do the same thing and try to scrape for any information that I could get.

…Huh? What exactly was this guy wanted? Well…

“Tell me the name of the other girl in the Kabuten!”

That. This is the slight problem that I was talking about.

Ah, right, explanation.

Kabuten was a big event that was held on the last part of the first day of the Hyakka Festival, where three girls would take turns to dance with a single boy.

For this year’s Hyakka Festival, I was the boy participant.

As for the three girls, two of them were Cosmos and Himawari, two prettiest girls of our school as you already knew.

And the third girl… well, she was a girl that was even prettier than those two.

When she came out of the stage, the whole student body went into an uproar. Everyone sang praises to her like, ‘I’ve never seen a girl as pretty as her before!’ or ‘She might be even prettier than Cosmos and Himawari!’

Back when I was dancing with her, I felt like I was on top of the world. Since I was already in a good mood, I just enjoyed the experience overall.

But, after that… ugh…

“I told you already! I won’t tell you anything!”

“No way nya~! How could you, nya~!”

If he thought that he could get an answer from me by doing that, boy, was he wrong.

Well, if he’s a girl, probably, but he’s a guy, so he just made me cringe in disgust.

In any case, since the Hyakka Festival ended, I’d been dealing with this nonsense. Everyone and their mothers kept on hounding me for answers. The second day of the festival, especially, was rough on me.

A horde of people asked me a bunch of questions—it was the first time in my life that I got surrounded by that many guys.

Thanks to Tsubaki’s transferring in, the crowd died down a little, but I know they’re only waiting for the right moment to strike.

As soon as that moment comes, they’ll make their move, just like wild coyotes. Well, then again, I don’t really care what they were going to do with me.

“Damn, I guess it’s true huh, I really can’t get anything out of you. Fine, I’ll just ask the other person…”

…Huh? The other… person…?

“Oi, what did you just say?”

“Hm?”

“You said something about the other guy or whatnot…”

“Hm~? Muhyohyohyo~ I can’t tell you that~”

Why is everyone who interacted with me trying to make up some kind of character?

“Since you won’t tell me anything, I won’t tell you anything either.”

At least make up your mind what kind of character you want to play.

“Well, a hint won’t hurt. So, there’s one other person who might be able to tell me who that girl is—”

“I see, so you’re going to ask Himawari about it.”

Now that I know what he’s up to, as long as I can reach her faster than him, he won’t be able to do anything.

“A-ah, w-wait! Y-you came to the answer too quickly! W-why can’t you wait until I make an impression on you at least?!”

“Shut up, I don’t care!”

“Wait, Jo! Ro! Wait!”

Who the hell would wait for you? While I might be the type of person who would cheer up my opponent who I had already beaten, I wouldn’t wait for them to catch up to me.

Also, don’t cut up my name into syllables like that! It sounds disgusting!

Anyway, the identity of the third girl who participated in the Kabuten was Pansy. This truth must never come to light, ever.

Because if that were to happen, things will turn out even messier than it already was! For me!

For starters, she’ll hurl me with more venom than usual whenever I visit the library! Hell, maybe she’ll even hurt me physically! Ugh, just thinking about it already makes me terrified! Also, it’s Pansy we’re talking about! There’s no way that she’ll keep things moderate if she were set to make me suffer! She’ll definitely surpass even the wildest of my imagination!

“Oh, yo Joro! What’s up? Were you waiting for me to use the toilet?”

As I was walking briskly down the hallway, a loud, energetic voice suddenly echoed.

It came from the guy with a well-built body and a passionate smile, Sun-chan.

He was wiping his hands with a bright red flame-patterned handkerchief. It seemed like he had just done with his business.

“No. I need to find Himawari.”

“Hm, that short and concise answer, that means this is urgent. I assume this is related to that person?”

Sun-chan, who quickly followed me, once again made a terrifyingly accurate guess.

You could see how tight his lips are when he referred to Pansy as ‘that person’—not even disclosing her gender.

“Yeah. Someone said that he’s going to ask Himawari who that person is.”

“I see. Himawari’s probably already finished her morning practice, I guess this is the perfect time for them to do that. I mean, she’ll be away from you during that time.”

It’s great to see you holding me in such high regards, Sun-chan, but that isn’t it.

They’re doing it because they know that she’ll be away from you, not me. It’s you who they’re afraid of.

I mean, if they’re afraid of me, that weirdo who tried to make up a character wouldn’t even dare to call out to me.

“By the way, Tsubaki isn’t with you? Didn’t she come to school with you yesterday?”

“She’s helping out with her shop’s opening, so she’ll be here later, probably around the time the first bell rings.”

Himawari had her morning practice, meanwhile Tsubaki was helping out with her store. Since I entered Sun-chan’s route, the heroines had distanced themselves from me… which was great! My wonderful mob life had finally begun!

*   *   *

When we arrived at the classroom, I saw my classmates chatting happily to each other.

Alright, now where…was…Himawari…? Huh?

I looked around, but she wasn’t here.

Maybe she’s still practicing. Guess I’ll visit her.

“She doesn’t seem to be here, Sun-chan… Let’s go to the tennis court…”

“No, she’s here. …There.”

“Huh? …W-woah…”

Sun-chan pointed in a certain direction, and when I directed my gaze there… I was greeted by an amazing sight.

The classroom was sparse, but there was a corner where everyone was crowding at for some reason.

At least ten boys were there, creating half a circle in front of a section of the wall. None of them were familiar to me, so I assumed that they were from other classes. In the center of that half a circle was Himawari.

“Jeez, just go away! I won’t tell you guys anything!”

Himawari’s cute, disgruntled voice came from the center of that wall of guys. Occasionally, her head would pop up, probably because she was jumping up and down, trying to find a way out of that circle.

“C’mon, Himawari, don’t say that~ Can you tell me, please~?”

“No! I already told you that it’s supposed to be a secret!”

“Don’t worry! If you tell me, I won’t tell anyone!”

All of them wore a perverted look as they questioned her.

I guess they’re all enjoying this situation, huh? It’s pretty much hitting two birds with one stone; they get to tease a cute girl while asking about the identity of another cute girl.

Still, it’s good that Himawari’s still keeping her mouth shut.

No matter how airheaded she is, I really shoulda trusted her more, huh…?

“Just a hint would be okay! You don’t need to tell us the whole truth!”

“No means no! I won’t say anything!”

“Don’t worry! Joro said that giving out some hints would be okay!”

“Huh? Really?”

Alright, I’ll take back my previous words. Glad that I made it in time!

Those bastards, using my name without permission… who do they think I am, huh?!

“Yes! He said that no one would know if it’s just a hint!”

“I see! No one would know, huh?”

As if that would be the case!

If you were to give them even the slightest hint, they’ll be able to figure out who that girl is immediately!

Ugh, I can’t see this anymore. I’ll give those guys a good—

“Oi, cut it out.”

“U-uwah… S-Sun-chan…”

Huh? I thought it’s my turn to save the day?

Before I knew it, my best friend had already broken through that wall of guys with his powerful strides and giant physique. He stood between Himawari and the wall of guys like a real hero.

“Can’t you see that you’re troubling her? She already said that she doesn’t want to tell you guys anything, so leave it at that. Besides, the other girl has already said that she doesn’t want her identity to be known, that’s why none of us will tell you who she is. So, just give up.”

With that kind of handsome face, it was hard for my heart to not skip a beat after seeing him in action.

Is this… love?

“S-sorry! B-but, you know…she’s so cute and—”

“That still isn’t a reason for you to bother other people. Yes, she is cute, and I understand your feelings, but she doesn’t want the attention, that’s why she asked people to keep her identity a secret in the first place. Why can’t you think about her feelings before pushing yourselves like this, hm?”

The main character… so cool…

“G-got it…s-sorry…”

“Sun-chan! Thank you!”

The saved heroine, Himawari, looked at Sun-chan-sama with gratitude.

But, Sun-chan-sama didn’t show his kindness to Himawari-sama—he threw her a sharp glare.

“Himawari, you need to think about it for a second before doing anything. Do you really believe that Joro would say something like that to them? You know that if that girl’s identity is known to others, he’s the one who’ll suffer the most. Do you really think he’ll risk something like that?”

“S-sorry…y-you’re right…I-I’ll be more careful…”

Even the cute girl isn’t spared by his wrath!

The way he stood there with confidence gave an illusion that he was a prince. Seeing him made my heart tremble in awe.

“Well, as long as you understand! Sorry that I came out strong. Anyway, it’s early in the morning, forget about this and let’s just have fun! I’ll buy you some cream bread for lunch, Himawari! Don’t tell the others about it though!”

“Eh? R-really?!”

“Yeah!”

“Woah, Sun-chan, thank you!”

He even took care of the aftermath and the gloomy atmosphere in an instant!

The sight made you wonder how his grades were so low even though his mind was as quick as lightning.

“Wait, Sun-chan.”

At that moment, the guy that Sun-chan scolded raised his hand.

Apparently, raising your hand like this granted you the permission to speak to the prince. Didn’t know when this kind of rule came out though.

“Hm? What is it, Ayanokoji Hayato?”

Woah, that’s a cool name! I didn’t know that guy had such a cool name!

“Actually, I have a cream bun with me right now. You know, since I troubled Himawari and all… I want to make amends with this…”

Dude came prepared! Why do you have that thing on hand!?

Did you bring that to bribe her if all else failed?! Huh?!

“Woah, you’re lucky, Himawari! Ayanokoji Hayato here got the cream bread for you!”

“Yay! Thank you, Ayanokoji Hayato!”

“Ahaha, no need to thank this Ayanokoji Hayato. You’re just making this Ayanokoji Hayato feel embarrassed!”

Okay, but is calling his full name every time even necessary? Like, he even refers to himself as Ayanokoji Hayato as well.

“Forgive me, Kuzuryu Soma, too, Sun-chan.”

“Me, Chosokabe Teisho, too. I promise I’ll stop the others from doing the same thing.”

What the hell is with this school?! Why do we have a bunch of people with cool-sounding yet hard-to-remember names!?

“Ah, if you say so. Thank you, everyone! I’ll leave it to you!”

So dazzling! To a mob like me, this scene is so dazzling that I’ll definitely evaporate if I were to intrude!

“Normally, Sun-chan’s just a fun guy to be around, but whenever it counts, he can be the coolest guy around, huh?”

“I can see why everyone likes him!”

“Makes you wonder why he chooses to befriend that bacteria, Joro?”

With that, Sun-chan easily attracted all the attention of the girls in our class.

And just like usual, Girl A-san treated me like I’s a filthy thing. Well, since I’ve turned into a mob, I never expected people to see me in the same light as Sun-chan, but could you treat me like a human being at least?!

“My bad, Joro. Sorry to keep you waiting!”

At that moment, the hero everyone’s been praising patted me on the shoulders. Ah, it feels like all my filthiness has been cleansed!

“Ah, you were there, Joro? I didn’t notice you at all!”

Yes, that’s par for the course. A bacteria like me shouldn’t be visible to people anyway.

“He rushed here because he was worried about you, Himawari! You know, he wanted to check whether you’re okay or not!”

“I see! It’s all good, Joro! I didn’t tell them anything!”

Her smile was so bright that if I didn’t see her almost giving these bunch an important piece of information, I’d probably be fooled by it.

Then again, I couldn’t just lash out at her right now.

Since a bacteria like me lived my whole life in the air, it was a given that I could read the air pretty well too.

“Ah, right! I have a favor to ask you, Joro!”

What is it? Well, if it’s something that a bacteria like me can do, I’ll do it.

“You’re going to the library later, right?”

The library, huh…? Honestly, I shouldn’t go there because of the outcome of the showdown, but Pansy texted me something like, ‘If you don’t keep your promise to come, I’ll make you regret it,’ so it isn’t like I can just not go…

“…Yeah.”

“Alright! I can’t go there because the tennis club will be having a meeting later, so can you return this to Pansy for me?”

She opened her bag and took out Dostoevsky’s ‘Crime and Punishment’.

Right, she did say that she wanted to borrow a book that could make her heart race from Pansy, so I guess this was the book she borrowed. Also, there was something that I was wondering about…

“Did you even read this properly?”

This girl couldn’t even last half an hour when there was an opened book in front of her.

And you expected me to believe that she had read through this thick book? No way.

“Of course! This book is great! Whenever I can’t sleep, I just read it and it puts me to sleep right away!”

Okay, that tracks.

Well, whatever. This is the matter between her and Pansy. I don’t need to get myself involved.

“…Fine. So, you just need me to return this book at lunch?”

“Yes! I’ll leave it to you!”

I received the ‘Crime and Punishment’ from Himawari and placed it in my bag.

Come to think of it, Pansy also gave me a book to read.

I still had it in my bag, I probably should read it soon—

“…Huh? Huh??”

Hey, hey, what the hell?

So, I placed the ‘Crime and Punishment’ Himawari gave me in my bag.

Until then, there was no problem, but there should be one other book inside my bag. The book that Pansy let me borrow—no, to be exact, the book that Pansy forced me to borrow.

That book isn’t in my bag anymore.

“What’s wrong, Joro?”

“Is everything okay?”

Sun-chan and Himawari gave me worried looks, but I didn’t have the leisure to answer them.

Why isn’t it here?! I’ve never even touched that book! It should’ve been there!

Maybe I forgot and left it in my room?

“Sorry, I need to go back home!”

“Ah, Joro!”

Oh crap, oh crap! Please tell me it’s on my desk! Please be there when I get there!

*   *   *

“I-I’m home…”

After rushing out of the classroom, I managed to run to my front door in just eight minutes and broke my personal best record.

In the process, I lost a bunch of my stamina and the ability to speak Japanese, though.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Amatsuyu? I thought class already started? Did you forget something?”

“Y-Yesh—! I-I’m going back to my room!”

I can hear an idol song being played from the living room, but that isn’t important! Mom always plays similar songs anyway, so who cares?! I have to find the book that should be in my room!

“Seriously, where is it?!”

I looked under the bed, went through my bookshelves, rummaged through my desk, and even lifted the bottom of the drawer to look for it, but I couldn’t find it anywhere! What the hell?! Is it hiding from me?!

“It’s not in my room, not in my bag either, then, where is it?!”

…Let’s backtrack…! Yesterday morning, it was still in my bag, I remember that.

Which means, I probably lost it either yesterday or earlier today.

And among the two options, the most likely one is yesterday! Alright, let’s try to remember what happened yesterday!

Okay, in the morning, Tsubaki came to visit me. Then Himawari…

‘Yoshyaaa!’

‘Unshoooo!’

“Ah… AAAHHHHHH!”

At that moment, the energetic grunt of those two girls ran through my mind.

Right! There was that! One single instance when my bag left my hands yesterday!

When Tsubaki and Himawari tried to hold my bag!

Maybe the book flew somewhere during that time! I remembered that the zipper was opened back then…

Which meant…

“Amatsuyu~ If you don’t go now, you’ll be late for class~”

“I-I know! I-I’m about to leave now!”

Somehow, amidst my panic, I managed to reply to Mom’s reminder, so I immediately went down the stairs.

I did it so quickly to the point that I wasn’t sure if I actually went down the stairs or just straight up fell down.

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!

Pansy said that the book was her ‘precious treasure’.

If she were to know that her precious treasure was lost, she’d grow to hate me—wait, actually, I’d be okay with that.

Right, yeah, it’s okay for her to hate me, yeah! I don’t care about her at all, do I?

Anyway, I need to stop dawdling and go to the place where Sun-chan found my bag yesterday!

*   *   *

“I-it… should be… h-here…”

They said that when push came to shove, even a normal human could exert an extraordinary strength, but, it seemed like there was a limit even to that. Fuck, I can’t go on anymore…

Those main characters who can break their own limit with pure willpower are truly something else. I can never…

Whatever, at least I reached my destination. This should be the place where my bag fell…

“Where… is… it…?”

Letting out zombie-like growls, I stumbled toward the grass patch where my bag allegedly fell into.

Sun-chan picked the bag and gave it back to me, but there was a good chance that he missed anything that slipped out of it. Yeah, I should keep that in mind while searching for that book.

S-so, where is it?! I can’t find it! Is it not here? If it isn’t then, where—?

“THEEREEE!”

I found it! There it is! It’s hiding beneath all the grass!

Yes! This was the same book that Pansy let me borrow! Finally! Found… it…

“O-oh no…”

Alright, from those words, you probably could realize what happened already.

No, no, like I said, this is Pansy’s book, that much is certain.

But, you see, a whole day had passed since then, and the book had been sitting there for that long.

In other words…

“It’s so battered already…”

Yes, you heard that right.

When I first received it from Pansy, the book looked aged already, but it still looked neat. Now it isn’t the case anymore.

It looks so tattered, maybe because it had absorbed a lot of water from the grass. Hell, I won’t be surprised if it absorbed some mud too.

I could still read its content, but it wasn’t like I could just return this book to her as if nothing had happened after I read it.

“Tell me this isn’t real…please…”

W-what should I do…? Apologizing to her is a given, but I doubt I could get away with just that.

Then, there’s only one thing I can do. Ditch school for the time being and go look for the same book in the bookstore.

Yeah, I know that skipping classes isn’t exactly the right thing to do.

I can already hear the PTA reprimanding me like, ‘What if my children are trying to do the same as you?! Stop being a bad example to my children!’ so, here is a disclaimer. Good boys and girls shouldn’t skip class! 

And since I am a bad boy, I can do it whenever I want, so suck that.

*   *   *

“…Next, here…”

It’s currently 11 am. I’m at the next station over, standing in front of a bookstore as I let out those words in a tired voice.

I looked through all the bookstores in the nearest station to my house, but I couldn’t find a copy of Pansy’s book.

Maybe the book is so old that they stopped selling it a long time ago…

If that’s the case—no, don’t give up so easily!

Since I’ve decided to do it, I’ll do it! That’s my life motto and I’m not going to stop following it!

“Welcome!”

The bookstore was around a ten minute walk from the actual station itself. When I entered the store, an old man with a shaggy beard greeted me. He gave me a look that said, ‘What is a high school student doing here at this hour?’ but I ignored him. Alright, time to look around.

Since it’s an old bookstore, the selection isn’t really that good…

Then again, if there’s a store where you could buy Pansy’s book—which seemed rare, old and valuable—it’d be a store like this! 

I wandered around the store while checking through the shelves.

Guess staying cooped in that library all the time made me develop the ability to instantly identify book titles’ from a glance.

I thought it’d be a useless ability, but somehow it came in handy in a situation like this.

Still, even with that amazing ability, I can’t find the book I’m looking for.

‘Is it not here after a—huh?’

“Ah, there it is!”

Considering my rotten luck so far, I thought I’d never be able to find it, but it isn’t the case at all!

For some reason, the book was placed in an ostentatious display case.

In any case, it was the same book as the tattered one I had in my hands!

“Hey, shut up! You’re bothering the other customers!”

“S-sorry!”

Because of my cry of joy, the old man scolded me.

What’s the big deal? There isn’t even anyone here except for—no, don’t get distracted.

I’m here to buy the book in the display case.

If the old man comes to hate me, there’s a chance he’d refuse to sell the book to me.

Despite my rotten self, I usually wore the mark of politeness, and I shouldn’t take off that mask for something as trivial as this.

Alright, let’s see how much it is!

It’s probably around ten thousand yen or something since they went ahead and placed it inside a display case like this. Or maybe a little higher than that, but I should be close.

Back in April, I bought a whole phone in cash, bought an expensive lunch for a certain bitch and I still had some money left. 

Compared to both occasions, surely a single book wouldn’t cost more!

Alright, time to check the price for real! Open the price!

One… ten… hundred… thousand… ten thousand… hundred thousand…

102,000 yen!

Huh? Weird. There are so many zeros in there!

Even if I were to buy all Dengeki Bunko¹Dengeki Bunko is Oresuki’s publisher, it also has big titles like SAO, To Aru series, Hataraku Maou-sama and so on. releases for the whole year, I doubt it would amount that much. 

Maybe if I count MF-san²MF Bunko J, publisher of COTE, Re:Zero, NGNL and so on.’s releases to the mix, it would be enough?

No, it still wouldn’t be enough! We’d still need more help to surpass that number!

Sneaker-san, Fantasia-san and Famitsu-san would need to join too³Sneaker Bunko is Konosuba and Haruhi, Fantasia Bunko is DAL and DxD, Famitsu Bunko is Baka to Test and Kokoro Connect. All of them, including the two publishers from before, are subsidiaries of Kadokawa.!

This is the perfect chance to harness the true power of Kadokawa! Wait, no! What the hell am I doing?!

What I need to think about is the price of this book, not comparing it to Kadokawa’s earnings for the year!

Anyway… WHAT?!  THE BOOK’S THAT EXPENSIVE?!

No, like, I had a hunch that it would be expensive, but not this expensive!

Seriously Pansy, what kind of book did you let me borrow?!

I don’t have enough money! It isn’t even close to enough!

Actually, I might have enough if I were to get down on my knees and ask mom to withdraw her ‘for future’ funds, but there was no way in hell I’d actually do that!

The only time that I should take a single cent from that fund is when a real emergency came up, and this wasn’t that kind of emergency.

Anyway, I need to calm down. This isn’t the time to get worked up.

First, let’s think about how to get that much money!

“Um, excuse me…”

“What’s wrong, sugar boy?”

The hell is with this old man? Putting up the hard-boiled air out of nowhere like this…

“Um, about that book over there…”

“Which book? Ah, that. That one’s a rare one, they don’t appear often in the market.”

“Is that so…? Actually, I want to buy it, but it seems that I don’t have enough money… so, can you hold it for me while I’m saving up?”

As I told him that, the old man pulled out a cigarette out of nowhere.

Smoking in a bookstore? Is that even allowed? Wouldn’t the books go bad quicker?

“And why do you even want to buy it?”

“Um… it’s for my… friend… They lent me the exact same one, but because I was careless, I ruined it, so I want to buy a new one for them…”

“Friends… huh…?”

Don’t repeat that, please! I knew I hesitated to say that word, but that was because I really didn’t want to admit that she was my friend at all.

“I see. Putting your body forward for the sake of a girl, huh? Not bad, bitter boy.”

Apparently I ranked up from being a sugar boy. Dunno why it went from sugar to bitter though.

If anything, shouldn’t it be sweet boy instead? Also, he seemed to misunderstand me.

“Well, I don’t mind, but I’ll have to set a deadline. Two weeks from now, on Thursday… no, I’ll give you time until Friday morning. Try to get enough money by then.”

“T-thank you very much!”

Two weeks from now, on Friday… so I’d need to gather 92,000 yen within two weeks since I already have 10,000 in my pocket. Unless I find a part-time job that pays well, it’d be tough… no, wait it’s too early to be pessimistic! This is a good enough condition already!

“Also, give me your contact information so I can contact you if something comes up.”

“O-okay!”

I tore up a page of my notebook and wrote down my phone number on it. Also my email, just in case.

After I handed the paper to the old man, I bowed to him before leaving the store.

Alright, at least I found the book now! So, on to the next goal!

They shoulda distributed some magazine with part-time job notice on it around the station, so I’d pick some of them first. After that, I’d go back to school!

*   *   *

“J-Joro, you’re late! A-anyway, hurry up, sit down!”

Lunch break. When I entered the library and went to the reading area, I saw Sun-chan, looking incredibly nervous. It was probably because of the unsettling atmosphere that the girls’ exude. The sore losers were taking it out on him, I see.

It’s a rare occasion that he called out to me like that while asking for my help. Somehow, I feel sorry for him…

“E-everyone, J-Joro is here already! W-why don’t we continue the previous conversation?”

“…Sure.”

“Okay…”

“…It can’t be helped then.”

Huh? Ah, right, the tennis club has a meeting today, so Himawari isn’t here…

That meant I was the last one to arrive.

Normally, I’d always get here before Sun-chan, but today wasn’t the case.

Because I was extremely late to get to school, they sent me to a pleasant place called the staff room.

While I understood that they were trying to make use of the lunch break, it was still a precious time for both students and teachers, you know? Still, it was admirable that our dear homeroom teacher sacrificed their precious time just to give me a lecture. I guess this was their attempt to assure the PTA?

“Did you finish everything?”

“Well, I found what I was looking for at least.”

As I answered Sun-chan’s question, I sat down in my usual seat.

Of course I didn’t take a glance at Pansy sitting next to me. I was too afraid to.

Instead, I decided to indulge myself in Cosmos’ beauty, who was sitting in front of me.

“U-um, J-Joro-kun…c-can you not stare at me too much? I-It’s embarrassing…”

Aww… well, fine, I’ll just stare down at my lunch and eat while not making any eye contact with anyone.

“So, why were you late, Joro-kun?”

Please don’t ask me that, Pansy. I’ll explain to you properly later.

It’d be bad if everyone knew what happened.

In the worst case scenario, they’ll say something like, ‘We’ll help you,’ and I don’t want that.

This is something that I need to solve alone.

Since that’s the case, I need to come up with a proper excuse…

“N-nothing big. Don’t worry about it!”

“So, there is something. Tell me.”

Dammit! I thought I’d be fine as long as I didn’t say anything that involved ‘looking for’ and ‘a book’, but that was naive thinking, me! Anyone, please, help—oh no…

Pansy’s comment roused the other three’s curiosity!

How do I get out of this situation?! Those four were staring at me, exuding the ‘Hurry up and tell us!’ aura! …A-ah, r-right! I-I got a good idea!

Time to change the subject!

It should be something that everyone could talk about so that none of them would ask why I was late anymore!

…But, what is it? Something that everyone could talk about…? Is there even such a thing?

All of them had different hobbies!

Cosmos loves to cook, Sun-chan loves baseball, Pansy loves books, Tsubaki—huh? Right! That’s it!

Tsubaki’s kushikatsu! That’s something that everyone could talk about!

“A-anyway, Tsubaki! I heard that your shop will be open today, right? W-what about we go there after school today? D-do you have a recommendation?”

T-there we go! After school! Today! We’ll be going to Tsubaki’s store!

If they all pounce on this topic, they’ll naturally forget about the previous one! I’m a genius!

“Hm? A recommendation? Well, our quail egg kushikatsu is really good. Anyway, why were you late, Joro?”

Tsubakiii! Why did you change the topic back to that?! Talk about the kushikatsu more!

“I-I see! Quail egg kushikatsu, huh? A-alright, I’ll order that one for sure, right, Sun-chan?!”

“Of course! Other than that, I’ll also order the scallop kushikatsu! You can’t just go to Yoki Kushikatsu without ordering that! Anyway, why were you late, Joro?”

You don’t need to ask me that too, Sun-chan! 

Don’t you love kushikatsu? Just talk about that instead!

“Scallops, huh~? That sounds good, yea! Alright, I’ll order that too! Speaking of, what will you order, Prez?”

“Me? Ah, well, I’ll just order everything, maybe? I want to taste as many variations of kushikatsu as possible so that I can get better at cooking. Anyway, why were you late, Joro-kun?”

…Is this that? The pattern where no matter which path I chose, the world will make me explain the reason why I was late? The so-called illusion of free choice?

No! I must not give up hope! Maybe, by some miracle, Pansy would be my last hope—!

“I-I see! P-Pansy what about—”

“Anyway, why were you late, Joro-kun? Just answer that question quickly.”

She immediately dragged the topic back to that.

D-damn… Should I bail…? Nah, I can’t even if I want to…

Because everyone had asked the same question over and over again, they exuded the ‘No matter what you do, we won’t let you go until you answer the question’ atmosphere. No matter how hard I tried, the future was already set for me. This was my canon event.

Can’t be helped then. I’ll just tell them without bringing up the book thing.

“…It’s because of this.”

Rummaging through my bag, I took out the part-time job magazine that they distributed for free at the station.

Feeling like someone who got caught hiding a cigarette, I placed it on top of the desk.

“This is… a part-time job magazine? Are you struggling for money, Joro-kun?”

Don’t get ahead of yourself, Pansy! I know that you’ll try to direct the conversation to find out what I need the money for, but I won’t tell you anything!

I’ve already prepared an excuse in case something like this happened!

“Yeah, so… I’ve been spending more than I should lately, so I barely have any money left now. If things were to continue like this, I won’t have enough for summer vacation. So, yeah.”

“For summer vacation? What are you going to do?”

“Go on a trip. I’ll be leaving by early August, so I need some money for that.”

By the way, that wasn’t a lie.

It wasn’t confirmed yet, but I did plan on going somewhere in August.

Nah, I wouldn’t go sightseeing or go on a culinary trip or anything.

How should I put it…?

“Joro, you—! Alright, I’ll definitely win this year! I promise!”

Alright, some of you shoulda figured it out already from Sun-chan’s words, right?

Yes. Koshien.

In over a month, a passionate battle between men to fight over a ticket to Koshien will begin!

If our school wins it, I’ll be going to Koshien to cheer for them!

That’s why I need money! I’ve already planned to take up a part-time job by the time summer vacation starts so that I could go there, so this is just me moving the schedule forward.

So, what do you think? I got to dodge Pansy’s questioning by telling her half the truth!

However, Cosmos’ stare turned sharp after hearing this. What’s wrong with her?

“That means the reason you were late was because you were looking for a part-time job? Why didn’t you do it after school instead?”

Ugh… I shoulda known that excuse wouldn’t work for the student council president…

I was too focused on Pansy that I let my guard down.

“T-that’s true, but…”

“But?”

“…Nothing. I’m sorry, I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“Fine then, please do that from now on. A-anyway…”

Hm? Suddenly Cosmos started to fidget. Did someone trigger her maiden-in-love switch?

“As the student council president, I need to know what other students are up to! S-so, tell me about your part-time job schedule, what days are you free during summer vacation and t-things like that, okay?”

Dear President, you can’t just go out and abuse your authority like that! Also, put that note away.

Well, I won’t mind telling her all that, it’s just… I don’t want things to spiral out of control like the whole thing with the broccoli.

Anyway, I’ll just dodge her question and move on.

“Sure. I’ll tell you about it when everything is decided.”

“A-alright, please do! …Yes, I did it!”

I can hear you, Cosmos. You didn’t mutter that last part, you know?

“As the member of the library committee, I also need to know your schedule, Joro-kun. Can you tell me later?”

“No.”

There’s no way I’d tell you. That’ll be a one way trip to hell.

“Are you telling me that I can visit you anytime? Thank you very much for trusting me.”

There it is! Pansy’s overly positive thinking!

Sure, visit my house if you want to! I won’t be there anyway!

“Go ahead if you want to. I won’t tell you if I’m in or not.”

“I can just ask Laurier-san in advance.”

Oi, contact who in advance? You were supposed to contact me, not her!

“If you aren’t there, I’ll ask Laurier-san to give me a tour of your house. You don’t need to worry.”

I don’t need to worry my ass! That’s one big thing to worry about! Give me a break!

Why is she so good at creating forced events?! Ugh, I couldn’t even run from her safely…

“Ah, I see. Joro.”

“What’s up, Tsubaki?”

She seems happy for some reason. Mind elaborating on that, girl?

“Since you’re looking for a part-time job, why don’t you work at my place?”

“Huh? At your place?”

“Mm. Today’s our opening, but we’re still short-staffed, you see? I’ll be happy if you were to work there with me. Ah, the showdown is over, so this isn’t about me repaying your favor or anything like that! I’ll make sure to work you like a horse, so you won’t need to worry about that!”

I have nothing but worry after hearing that last sentence!

“But, I can’t cook, so I doubt I’d be of help.”

“Don’t worry. You need to be a good kushikatsuzer like me to be in the kitchen anyway. We can put you in charge of the hall!”

Was that what a skilled kushikatsu chef called? Kushikatsuzer? That was the first time I’ve ever heard it.

“Of course, if you want to be a kushikatsuzer instead, we can work with that.”

“No, I’ll pass.”

“I-is that so? What a shame… Anyway, what do you think about working at my place? Of course I don’t mind even if you only work for a brief period of time!”

She slowly leaned over the desk, her upper body leaned toward me.

You know, there’s something I’m curious about. Kushikatsu’s high in calories, right? How could she have such a thin figure when that’s all she eats? Anyway, that aside…

“How much is the hourly wage?”

That’s an important thing to consider. I need a bunch of money, so I’d rather work in a place that pays well.

When it comes to shops like hers, or rather, restaurants and stuff, the hourly wage tends to be on the low side.

Unlike a certain demon king, I’d rather get paid at least a thousand yen an hour from the start.

“Hm, it’s around twelve hundred yen.”

“Please let me work there!”

“Really—woah!”

Crazy! That’s a crazy amount of money for a high school student like me! Pretty much the VIP treatment of payment!

Yes, please! Take me in, please! I begged her, holding both her shoulders forcefully,

“I’ll work at your place! Please, hire me! Please!”

“U-um, J-Joro…? I-I’ll be glad to hire you, b-but…y-your face is too close! I-it’s embarrassing…”

“Ah! S-sorry!”

Oh, whoops, I lost my cool by accident.

No good, I can’t just snort my breath into her face like that. I need to be more careful from now on.

“T-that was my fourth first time… A-anyway, when can you start working?”

Tsubaki fidgeted shyly.

Well, that wasn’t a crazy reaction from her. Our faces were so close that we almost kissed. You know, our relationship hadn’t advanced that far yet.

By the way, fourth ‘first time’? …Your third was in my dream, no? You counted that?

“…Hm. When’s the earliest I can start?”

While I am curious about the whole first time thing, there’s a more important thing to focus on, so let’s get it out of the way first.

No, it isn’t because I’m too scared to ask! It’s just a matter of priority!

“If you want to, you can start today.”

“Today it is!”

Since the five of us planned to go there after school anyway, it shouldn’t be a big deal if I start working there instead. I want to get a bunch of money as soon as possible!

“If that’s the case, will you stop coming to the library after school, Joro-kun?”

Right, there’s that, huh…?

I’ve always been coming here after school, but that was because the situation allowed me to…

“A-ah… yeah, I guess… I can’t come here until I get to save enough money…”

“…It’ll be lonely here…”

Ugh, where did your usual indifference go?! Why are you acting depressed so suddenly!?

Our promise was for me to ‘come to the library everyday’ and I had been doing that every lunch break! No need for you to act all depressed!

“Sorry, but this is important to me. I really can’t afford to stop by, at least until I’m done with everything.”

Calm down, me! If you were to show her your weakness, she’d definitely go after your ass!

Just keep calm and tell it to her straight!

“…Fine.”

That was what she said, but it was obvious that she wasn’t fully convinced yet.

“Also, Pansy…”

“What is it?”

“Uh, let’s talk about it later. Could you make some time for the next recess?”

“Why don’t you tell me now?”

As usual, her voice sounded indifferent, but I could tell that her tone was lower than usual.

Just hearing that intensified my guilt to the point that my words stuck in my throat.

“I can’t… sorry…”

“It can’t be helped then. Since it doesn’t sound like you’re messing around anyway, I’ll spare you for now.”

Somehow, I managed to convince her. I’ll do my best to talk about it during the next recess… Ugh, I feel depressed now…

*   *   *

As soon as the fifth period’s recess started, I walked out the classroom carrying my bag. When I took a step into the hallway, Pansy was already there, waiting for me.

How? Class just ended and I immediately went outside! How did she get here already?!

“Sorry, did you wait for long?”

“No, I just got here.”

And here I thought that she teleported here. Her class probably ended a little earlier than mine.

By the way, I hate that the conversation just now sounded like we’re meeting up on a date.

“I see. Anyway, let’s move to another place. There are too many people here.”

“Got it. Also, I’d appreciate it if we have a similar conversation on our next date.”

“Hell no.”

“Too bad. You’ll still go on a date with me later whether you like it or not, though.”

Somehow she thought that I’ll actually go on a date with her.

Anyway, she seems more energetic than during the lunch break.

It made me feel relieved, but at the same time, I felt like punching myself for feeling that way.

*   *   *

“Alright, no one’s here. There won’t be anyone who’ll overhear us either.”

We went down the hallway and continued our ways up the stairs right below the rooftop. Since it was recess, the place was as deserted as the library.

Alright, time to explain the situation properly to her this time.

“Oh my, what are you going to do to me? Now I’m nervous.”

Normally, her sliiiiiightly upbeat voice would annoy me, but not today.

I thought that she’d already realized what was going on because she’s an ESP and all, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.

She seems to be really looking forward to what I’m about to say.

But, the thing that I’m going to tell her… no, stop! Don’t get cold feet now, me!

Just do what you need to do! First thing first! Bow!

“Sorry! The book that you lent me the other day… I got careless and ruined it!”

“…Huh?”

I wonder what kind of expression she has right now?

Since I had my head down, I couldn’t even take a peek at it. Part of me wanted to see, but other part of me didn’t.

“You…ruined the book I lent to you…?”

She repeated the words I just said after a brief period of silence. 

And that was enough to make my chest tighten.

“Y-yeah… I-I dropped it on a grass patch the other day and didn’t notice it until it was too late…”

“How did that even happen…?”

Oh no… this is bad…

I don’t want to mention those two’s names, but what else should I say to her?

“Joro-kun. Tell me what happened. Raise your head and look me in the eye.”

When I raised my head up fearfully, I was startled by how close her face was to mine.

We were so close that I could kiss her if I were to lean just a little bit closer. Her scent tickled my nostrils, fresh, just like blooming pansies. But, that wasn’t important.

“U-um… s-so, my bag’s zipper was opened and it flew out of my hand. T-That was how it fell…”

“You live a very lively life, huh? I didn’t know that.”

She took a step away from me, clearly exasperated. This is the first time she’d ever done this…

“So, where is it now?”

“Um, here…”

I took out the book in question, which had become tattered from the water and the mud. It didn’t make it unreadable, but it definitely had seen a much, much better day.

Even though I’ve prepared my heart for this, I still felt nervous about showing it to her.

“…That… looks awful…”

“A-anyway, that’s why, as an apology, I’ll buy another copy of it for you! T-that’s why I’d have to work part-time, so that I can get enough money for it! A-ah, the thing with Sun-chan wasn’t a lie though! But, that was just my secondary goal! My true goal is… this…”

“I see. You got me good.”

It’s rare for her to praise me for my effort like that, but from the tone of her voice, it’s clear that this isn’t the occasion for celebration. Scary!

“S-sorry… i-it was hard to say it when everyone was around, you see…”

“I understand, I’ll forgive you for deceiving me. Also, you don’t need to buy me another book.”

Huh? What did she say? I don’t need to buy her another copy? Why would she say something like that…?

Was she being sincere? But…

“It’s not about the money. Even if you buy me a new one, it won’t be the same one…”

“Yeah, that’s true, but…”

Ugh, I feel more depressed than I was back during the lunch break.

What should I say to her now?

No matter how I look at it, this is completely my fault, so I have to make amends for it. But, if she doesn’t want me to, I can’t really force her either. Then…

“I’m really sorry! So, please tell me what I can do to make it up for you!”

These were normally words too dangerous to be said to her, but I had to say them.

…Still, I wonder what would she make me do? She must be really angry at me…

“Then, forget about working part-time or whatnot. Just continue going to the library after school.”

Huh? That’s a completely different than I expected.

I thought she’d give me hell for it, but she didn’t…? Like, what I did was enough for anyone to hate me.

“You know that I just can’t come to hate you, right?”

I see. But, the fear of getting my mind read overwhelmed the reassurance I got from her words.

Anyway, it seems like I don’t need to go through all that effort to make up for it! Yay!

I just need to continue on like usual without getting a part-time job!

Jeez, I can’t believe that Pansy could be this kind! Alright, since that’s the case, I’ll gladly accept her kindness!

“No. I’ll buy you a new copy.”

As if I’ll do that.

Of course, I understood what she was trying to say.

She did say that she liked me, so it was reasonable to think that she wanted to spend as much time as she could with me.

Since she was the one who asked for it, she’d probably prefer for things to go that way.

But, that wasn’t right.

“I told you already. You don’t need to do that.”

“So what?”

“…I see.”

After a short pause, she let those words out.

Honestly, this whole thing is scary for me because I don’t know what’s going on in her head.

Who knows, maybe buying the book won’t be enough for her, and she’ll still ask me for a date even after I pass the book to her.

…I’ll prepare myself—no, actually, I’ll just run away. Yeah, let’s do that.

“What about the tattered one? I’d like it back if possible.”

Ugh, as expected, she still asks for it.

Yeah, well, there’s a reason why I didn’t give the book back to her. I knew that it was my fault that the book got all tattered in the first place, but…

“Can I borrow this book for a little longer?”

“Why?”

“…Because I haven’t finished reading it yet.”

Like I’ve stated multiple times before. While the book’s all tattered, it isn’t unreadable.

That’s why, I’ll read it properly and tell her what I’d think of it.

If I were to return it to her just like that, I’d be breaking my promise to her.

Unless she demands that I return it, I won’t do it, at least not until I finish reading it.

“Oh my. And here I thought that you can only act selfishly, so you can act kindly as well, huh?”

She had been speaking in dismay, but this time her voice bounced a little, which was a relief. No, I didn’t say that to earn points from her. She was just being weird as usual.

“I’m not being kind to you, I’m just trying to stand by my own words.”

“Do whatever you want then.”

“I will.”

“So, I assume that we’re done here? Alright, see you, Joro-kun, you stubborn oaf.”

“Mm, see you.”

I was probably just imagining things, but her steps as she walked away looked more depressed than usual. No, that wasn’t just my imagination. Ugh, so this is the result of my actions, huh?

Dammit! Fine, I’ll drown myself in the part-time job so I can get a lot of money for me to spend when the summer vacation comes! Surely that will wash off the bitter taste in my mouth!

*   *   *

“Alright, see you at Tsubaki-chan’s shop, Joro! Good luck on your part-time job!”

After school. Himawari, who somehow knew that I got a part-time job now, sent me words of encouragement before continuing on to her club.

Thank you, Himawari. Don’t worry, I’ll be doing my best even without you telling me to.

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that my motivation is overflowing.

Though I had no experience whatsoever on the job, I’ve already read through the manual that Tsubaki gave me right after I got back to class after my talk with Pansy. Yes! I read through it in the middle of the class! What did you expect? I’m a bad boy, after all!

Also, there were some job-related lingo that I picked up from the manual.

Anyway, I’m all-set for the job now! I just need to do it! Alright, let’s do this!

That aside, I was actually a little—no, I was REALLY nervous.

“Have you ever had a part-time job before, Joro?”

On my way to the shop, Tsubaki, who was walking right next to me, asked that question in a cheerful voice.

Hm, was she trying to ease my nervousness?

“Nope. The closest thing I got to a part-time job was when I helped my grandpa with his garden and when I helped out tidying up the library.”

“I see. You’ll have a lot to learn then, but don’t worry, I know you’ll get this.”

“Leave it to me!”

To show her how motivated I was, I let out a refreshing smile, like the one that Sun-chan usually let out.

No girl won’t fall for this smile, that’s for sure.

“Mm, I know I can count on you, but, don’t show that evil smile to our customers, okay? You’ll scare them away.”

See what I just said? I’ll never show anyone that smile ever again.

Anyway, it seems like my smile has evolved from ‘weird’ to ‘evil’! Growth! Celebrate!

Still, what kind of smile do I need to show so that Tsubaki will accept me?

The limit of my repertoire is beginning to show.

“If you have any questions, you can always ask someone near you. There are some who are like you—new part-timers—but there are also old employees from the main store. They have a blue circle in their name tags, they’ll be more than happy to help you out.”

I see. In other words, as soon as I got into the store, I’d be greeted by a fierce battlefield.

As for what kind of battlefield it was, guess I’ll find out about it later.

*   *   *

“Haa… haa…”

“Here, assorted kushikatsu! Thank you for waiting! Bring it to table 6, please!”

“Y-yes!”

“Kisaragi-kun, once you’re done with that, clean up table 4, please!”

“Understood!”

C-crap, this is tough—!

The job is physically demanding in the first place, so there’s that, but the problem here is the fact that there are so many things to do!

When I first arrived at the store, it was all fun and games. I was a little nervous, but that was it. It felt like everything would be easy and all I needed to do was chill and do my job properly. Then I got to actually work and realized that I was too naive.

The voice of the customers and the voice of the staff mixed in, coming from all directions. It was hard to tell who was saying what.

“Thank you for waiting! Here’s your assorted kushikatsu!”

“Huh? This wasn’t my order, though?”

“Eh? Please wait for a moment!”

Isn’t this table 6? Wait, is it actually table 9?! Fuck, this is so confusing⁴The numbers in the raw are in arabic numerals, so 1, 2, 3 and so on, not in kanjis, that’s why he’s confused.!

Who decided on the shape of those numbers?! I swear, I’ll give him a piece of my mind!

“Thank you for waiting! Here’s your assorted kushikatsu!”

In panic, I served the assorted kushikatsu to table 6.

The table was occupied by a group of university students who were drinking beer so heartily that it made me gulp unconsciously.

Damn, that looks good. I want to drink some when I become an adult.

“Then, Michiko just went hahoo~ and pyau—ah, leave it there please.”

What were you doing, Michiko?! No, wait, it wasn’t the time to think about that!

“Understood!”

Alright, next, clean up table 4!

They said 4 is a lucky number, but it’s literally the most recognizable one of them all! My lucky number!

As for 1 and 7, and 6 and 9, they could all go to hell!

“Oh, it’s Joro! Joro’s working!”

When I was picking up the dishes and cleaning up the table with a rag, a familiar voice entered my ears.

Amazing. I could distinguish her—Himawari’s voice, even amidst this chaotic mess.

“…W-welcome!”

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was currently 6.45 pm.

Huh? I thought it had only been half an hour since I started, but it didn’t seem to be the case.

After the student council matters and club activities were over, everyone, including Pansy, came to visit me here.

“Ahahaha! He said ‘Welcome!’ Joro just said ‘Welcome!’”

This fucker… I’m working hard and she’s acting like this…

“Himawari-san, Joro-kun is working, you shouldn’t disturb him.”

As expected of Cosmos, she could read the atmosphere properly!

“That uniform looks good on you, Joro! Let’s do our best together, okay?”

Sun-chan! Yes, I’ll do my best! You do your best at your club, okay? Let’s meet at Koshien! Well, my part-time job had nothing to do with that, actually.

Anyway, it’s true that we both should do our best!

“Don’t push yourself too hard. If you’re having troubles, just let me know.”

At least tell me what you’re gonna do to me when that time comes, Pansy!

Seriously, you’re scaring me!

“Reservation for four is this way! Please follow me!”

Cosmos was the one who was standing in front of everyone while smiling, so I called her out to guide them to their table.

As expected of the student council president! I could rely on her in a time like this!

“A-ah, r-right! Ahem! T-then, I’ll ask for the most popular menu here, ‘being guided by the waiter to my seat’! I-I’ll go first!”

“There’s no such thing on the menu.”

I messed up, I shoulda called out to Sun-chan…

“Cosmos-senpai, that’s just wrong. Watch me. One ‘waiter’s smile of love’, please.”

“There’s no such thing on the menu.”

Why the hell were you guys so natural at this?! In any case, there was no way I’d do any of that!

After that, I guided them to their table and poured them each a glass of water.

Alright, next—

“Oi, that brat over here! Hurry up and take my orders! I’m a paying customer!”

An exciting⁵Exciting was in english. old man called out to me. Fine, I’ll go over.

“A-Alright, please take your time choosing! …Yes! Sorry to keep you waiting!”

“What a brat! Give me dashimaki tamago⁶Rolled omelette., raw chilled tomato, edamame⁷Japanese peas.… assorted kushikatsu, one shiitake⁸A kind of mushroom., two quail eggs, one eringi⁹This one’s also a mushroom., one scallop.”

“Huh? S-Sorry, could you repeat that again?”

Seriously, slow down! I only heard the first half of the kushikatsu part!

“Huh?! Why can’t you just listen carefully then?! Fine, I’ll repeat it again!”

“U-Uwah!”

He grabbed me by the chest and brought his mouth closer to my ear.

Ugh, he reeked of alcohol—!

“Dashimaki tamago! Raw! Chilled tomato! Edamame! Potato salad! Shiitake! Three pork! Tsukune¹⁰Chicken meatballs.! Scallops! Do you remember now?!”

“Y-yes!”

So annoying! At least I managed to write everything down this time.

It sounded different than his first order, but whatever.

Ugh, my head…

“How can’t you remember it? What an idiot!”

Right? What an idiot.

“A real waiter would remember it the first time they hear it! What an idiot!”

Right? What an idiot!

Anyway, I swear my head would burst if I kept listening to this guy, so let’s just get his order quickly.

“Here’s the order! I’ll put it here!”

“Okay!”

What’s next…? Right, Pansy and the others’ orders.

“T-thank you for waiting! Are you ready to order yet?”

“Gulp, gulp! The water is tasty! You look tired, Joro! Why don’t you drink something first~?”

“Phew… Sure.”

Though I said that, I didn’t have the time to.

“Here! Water!”

As expected of the angelic bitch! She offered the cup of water to my mouth without hesitation!

…Huh? Where did the water go?! There was just a single drop in it! What the hell?!

“Thank you very much. Thank you very much.”

“Hehehe you’re welcome! But why did you thank me twice?”

Because I got double the joy.

“I-I see! S-so you can do this too!”

“…Not bad, Himawari.”

Don’t you guys dare imitate her, you hear me? Especially that braided glasses over there.

After that, I took their orders and wrote them down. Suddenly, Himawari raised her hand. It seemed like she found something that interested her in the menu. Still, she didn’t need to raise her hand…

“Joro, can I try this vanilla ice cream kushikatsu? It looks tasty!”

“Understood!”

“Hahaha! He said ‘understood’! So funny!”

It seems like me using polite speech is funny to Himawari. She’d been laughing whenever she heard me doing it.

“By the way, Joro! Everyone said they’ll be cheering me on my match, so can you come to cheer me on too? I’ll do my best!”

“Got it. Is that all?”

“That’s all! Thank you, Joro!”

No matter what the situation was, Himawari never changed. She was always a ‘my pace’ kind of person.

Anyway, time to deliver their order, then their food!

“Oi, brat! My dashimaki tamago and kushikatsu aren’t here yet! How long are you going to make me wait?!”

What an annoying old man! You didn’t even wait for long, you old fart!

Did you really expect your kushikatsu to come in a single minute after—-?!

“Thank you for waiting! Here’s everything you ordered!”

What? How the hell did you do that?!

After that, I handed over Pansy’s group orders to Tsubaki and she made everything in a little over a minute.

A skilled kushikatsuzer is really on a whole different level.

*   *   *

It’s now 10 pm. While the store is still open at this hour, because I’m still a high school student, my shift ended by this time.

Tsubaki’s too, and she’s sitting inside the break room with me.

“Good work, Joro.”

“You too, Tsubaki. You were amazing out there. I never knew someone could make kushikatsu that quickly.”

As I said that, I changed into my school uniform and sat down on the pipe chair.

I wanted to go home right away, but I didn’t even have the strength to move around.

So, I planned to have some tea and get my strength back before going back home.

“Hehehe. I wasn’t even trying for real back then, though.”

Her eyebrows hopstepped in lively manners. I guess she was happy because I complimented her.

“Oh, by the way, Joro, about your pay. I assume that you want me to pay you once you have 92,000 yen in total, right?”

“Yeah, if it isn’t a bother. I’d appreciate it if you do that.”

Usually they’d give their employees’ pay monthly, so I’d understand if they couldn’t pay me before the month changes. If that’s really the case, I guess I could borrow my mom’s money for the meantime.

Anyway, I asked her if they’d let me do this. Hopefully they could…

“Okay. I can do that.”

As expected of the girl who was ranked quite high in my ‘Girls who are probably kind to me’ list. Seriously, I’d worship her if I’m allowed to.

“Can I ask why, though? You said that the reason why you’re working part-time is because you need money to go to Koshien, right? Even if I follow the usual payment schedule, it should be fine, no?”

“W-well, yeah, but there’s something else going on, you see…”

“I see, got it.”

This girl’s quite strange. Like, she’d do something like that showdown thing while disregarding my feelings, but at the same time she’s quite considerate to me. I mean, just look at her, she didn’t even try to pry.

“In return, can I ask you something?”

“To use your words, ‘Sure, but I’m not sure I can answer you properly’.”

“Ahaha, I did say that once, didn’t I? You have knacks for remembering something strange.”

Actually, I only remembered it because it sounded cool, not because she said it.

Well, it isn’t like she cares about the details or anything anyway.

“I just want to hear your thoughts about yesterday’s showdown.”

“Yesterday’s showdown?”

“Mhm. So, Himawari tried her best to carry your bag for you, Cosmos-san made you lunch and Pansy came up with a way to make you happy. Can you tell me how you feel about that?”

Well, since everything is over now, I guess I could tell her everything.

It was hard to tell her everything honestly, but…

“Honestly, I think that whole thing was a disaster. Everyone, you included, somehow messed up the sole goal for that showdown. But…”

“But?”

“At the same time, I felt happy… and grateful… Like, really, really grateful. But at the same time, I feel guilty…”

“…Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I mean, everyone was doing their best for me, someone who isn’t even worth anything… how can I not feel guilty over that?”

You know, the protagonist always had some kind of dream, and they’d always try to fulfill it one way or another. They knew what to do and knew how to take action.

That was why they were the protagonist in the first place.

But that didn’t apply to me. I had no goals, I only went about my daily life.

That was why I was a mob.

Being able to spend my time with those guys was already a miracle in itself.

“You aren’t worth nothing, Joro.”

What a good girl. I never expected she’d go out of her way to say such kind words to a mob like me.

Actually, now that I think about it, maybe I deserved it? I mean, I’m quite competent for a mob.

“Just look at what you did at your shift. You were so amazing, it’s hard to believe that you were doing everything for the first time. That’s why, be more proud of yourself, okay?”

“That old man gave me hell for my work, you know?”

“Well, that guy is an outlier… anyway, look here! This is the first order that you gave me. I think I’ll keep it around to celebrate the occasion.”

“S-sure…”

She smiled as she showed me a piece of paper with horrible handwriting on it. Because I was too nervous at that time, my writing looked more horrible than usual.

When I looked at it closely, ‘Cola’ and ‘Assorted Kushikatsu’ were written on it.

“Your handwriting is awful, though. You need to fix that, okay?”

“…I’ll do my best.”

“Hehehe, here we go again, another ‘first time’ with you.”

It was the same thing as the five yen coin she always kept with her. Apparently she liked to make mementos out of small things like this.

I don’t mind, of course, but seeing her being all giddy like this made me feel embarrassed.

The atmosphere turned a little strange. Alright, time to engross myself in my mob role again.

After this, I should go home and read the book that Pansy lent me.

Maybe I could keep up with her a little if I were to do that.

“Alright, see you tomorrow at school, and here, Tsubaki.”

“Mm, see you tomorrow.”

I said my goodbye to her and finally left Yoki Kushikatsu.