A restaurant located about ten minutes by train from Yuzuruâs home.
In the waiting room, a boy in a waiterâs uniform and a man with a mild-mannered appearance were facing each other.
âSo, Yuzuru-kun. What are you going to do about your shift this term? Same as before?â
âWell⊠if you can, it would be great if you could increase it.â
Yuzuru said to a man with a rather neutral atmosphere â the manager of his part-time job.
There are three different jobs that Yuzuru has.
One is as a tutor for the children of his fatherâs acquaintanceâs household.
The other is to help his fatherâs friendâs lawyer (chores).
And finally, he works at this restaurant.
Of these, tutoring is the most profitable, at 2,000 yen per hour.
The lawyerâs chores pay 1,500 yen an hour.
However, these two jobs are only available once a week, and the shifts cannot be changed at will.
Therefore, the biggest earner is a part-time job as a waiter at the restaurant.
The hourly wage, by the way, is about one thousand fifty (1050) yen.
âWould that be all right?â
âIt would be helpful if you do that, but will you be able to study? If Yuzuru-kunâs grades drop, Iâll get scolded by your parents.â
Naturally.
The manager of this restaurant is also an acquaintance of Yuzuruâs parents.
Although⊠this was not a relationship with his father or âTakasegawaâ, but with Yuzuruâs mother.
âIâll try not to cause any trouble for you, Hiromi-san.â
Hiromi Hasegawa.
That was his name.
He is a very kind person and Yuzuru is very much indebted to him.
Itâs not surprising that the parents would entrust Yuzuru to him.
âŠAs for Yuzuru, he wanted to find a job for himself, but they wouldnât let him.
There are bad people in this world, so itâs only natural.
In addition, ⊠Thereâs a dirty adult reason that if Yuzuru were to do âsomethingâ, it would be easier to cover it up if you knew them.
Of course, Yuzuru didnât want to do anything of the sort.
âWell, I guess If itâs Yuzuru-kun, you can handle it. It would be a great help to the store⊠By the way, may I ask why? If you donât want to tell, thatâs fine.â
âIâm trying to save up some money for White Day.â
When Yuzuru replied that, Hiromiâs eyes widened as if to say, âhe~e~â.
Then he smirked.
âWhat? If you are supposed to be receiving something, does that mean there is a girlfriend? And you said you had plans for Christmas as well. So youâre doing what you gotta do, huh, Yuzuru-kun?â
âWell⊠Sheâs not really my girlfriend. Sheâs the one I like.â
Arisa was not his girlfriend.
But she will surely give him Valentineâs Day chocolates⊠Or so Yuzuru was expecting.
If she didnât, he would be seriously depressed.
Anyway, if it is certain that you will receive chocolates for Valentineâs Day, you should prepare a gift for White Day while you still can.
If the Christmas present was a jab, this time he intends to knock Arisa out with a real straight shot.
And for that, he needs a good amount of money.
âHeh. âŠâŠ So, if you become lovers, will you introduce her to me?â
âYes. Of course, I will, when that time comesâ
Itâs only natural to introduce your future wife to the people who have treated you well.
âBy the way, is she pretty?ăWho does she look like?â
âLetâs seeâŠâ
Yuzuru mentioned the name of a famous foreign actress.
Hiromi then tilted his head.
âYou mean sheâs from overseas?â
âSheâs mixed-race. Well, she was born and raised in Japan.â
Yuzuru told him information about Arisa as he was asked. But of course, he didnât tell him anything about her personal life.
He said she was beautiful, a good cook, smart, athletic, and a wonderful woman.
Hiromi nodded his head in agreement.
âYuzuru-kun, youâre crazy about her, arenât you?â
âThatâs rightâ
âYou donât even deny it.â
âItâs true after all.â
Itâs a fact that Yuzuru is crazy about Arisa, and itâs not something to be ashamed of.
Of course, thereâs also the feeling of being a little embarrassed if people tease him.
Itâs not cool to be embarrassed, so he just stands proud.
âI seeâŠâ
Hiromi nodded as if he was convinced of something.
âAll right. Iâll add as many shifts as I can.â
âThank you very much.â
Hiromi then left the waiting room and scratched his head, looking a little troubled.
â⊠What am I going to do to explain this to our girls?â
Such a sinful manâŠ
He mumbled quietly and sighed.
A few days later, it was Saturday.
Basically, Saturday is âArisaâs dayâ, and Yuzuru stays free.
As he was cleaning his room with a lot of energy since Arisa was comingâŠ
Yuzuruâs cell phone rang.
It was from Arisa.
âYes, hello. Whatâs up, Arisa?â
[âIâm sorry⊠I canât come to your house today, Yuzuru-san.â]
Her voice sounded somewhat different from the usual Arisa.
It was a little muffled.
â⊠Are you not feeling well?â
Come to think of it, Yuzuru recalled that she hadnât looked so good yesterday.
Maybe it was a cold.
[âYes, âŠ. Geho~! I caught a cold.â]
It seems to be a cold, after all.
However, itâs not good to have a cold at this time.
This is because âŠ
âIf I recall correctly, now youâre on your own right? I heard that your sister is staying at a friendâs house, and your mother is traveling with a friendâ
And of course, Naoki Amagi was at work.
Haruto Amagi was back at college.
Normally, she might say that it is rather comforting to have no one around⊠But it must be hard to be alone when she is sick.
[âGeho, geho⊠Itâs okay. Iâll be fine if I sleep a little.â]
That dialogue was very stubborn.
However⊠It actually made Yuzuru worry.
It was as if she was straining herself to keep Yuzuru from worrying about her.
âAre you sure youâre okay?â
[â⊠Iâm fine. Thereâs no need to worry.â]
There was a slight pause before she replied.
It seems that she was bluffing after all.
Yuzuru felt as if Arisa was asking for help.
(Iâd like to respect Arisaâs wishes, but when it comes to illnessâŠ)
Even if it was just a mild cold, it could suddenly get worse.
It could be the flu.
This is not the time to be talking about respecting Arisaâs will.
BesidesâŠ
(Although she says sheâs fine, I feel like she desires helpâŠÂ )
It has been half a year since they first met.
He has come to be able to guess how Arisa feels to some extent.
âThen, Iâm coming to visit you now.â
[âEh? No, butâŠâ]
âDidnât you take care of me the last time I was injured?â
It was when Yuzuru fell from a tree and sprained his ankle.
When he thinks about it now, thatâs what brought him closer to Arisa.
âLet me help you this time.â
As Yuzuru said thisâŠ
After a moment of silence, he heard a slightly damp voice.