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CHAPTER 19 – HAPPENINGS WITH THE BODYGUARDS [1]
Since then, the week passed without any particular incidents. I guess the only thing worth noting is that the student council work has reached a point where we can relax now, so we had a party at the family restaurant. I guess, as usual, the treasurer and general affairs officer1 were dumbfounded seeing how I looked as I ate. The other three were laughing though.
「Be cautious and take care.」
「Aren’t you exaggerating, Akane? I’m just visiting my family,」
「To begin with, they’re the kind of parents that don’t visit their own hospitalised child even once. There’s no knowing what’s going on in their head.」
「I already explained the situation back then, didn’t I? Well, my father is overseas right now, so it should be alright.」
I don’t have any idea why but Akane, who just came back from work, was worried about me. I’ve already talked a lot about my family to Akane but it seems like she’s still uneasy. I don’t really feel the need to be that uneasy though.
「If anything happens, call for help, alright?」
「Where do you think I’m even heading to?」
「A battlefield, I guess.」
「It’s my home.」
Home being a battlefield would be the worst. Am I some sort of mercenary? I retorted and we both laughed. Akane was just saying that as a joke but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s worried. I’m just going to visit for half a day though.
「The cookie ingredients are all I need, right?」
The cafe serves cookies as well but I should at least make these myself. Cakes are completely out of my expertise, so maybe I should ask Saori to teach me sometime. Since I might be able to help out at the cafe more if I learn too.
「Well, I’ll be sleeping now~」
「See you tomorrow.」
Seeing me off in front of her room, I head to the cafe. Being a Saturday, the road is desolate without people commuting to work and school and as I continued walking through it, I turned around. And as I expected, I met the eyes of someone following me not too far behind. Oh, she awkwardly looked away.
「Can I have a moment?」
「What is it?」
It seems like she’s assigned for this morning. I just realized that I don’t know the names of any of the bodyguards.
「I will be going home later this afternoon.」
「Is that really something to say to a random stranger?」
Well, she’s right about that, but it’s not like she’s a stranger. We’ve regularly interacted in the cafe, after all. I at least know the faces of the regulars, you know?
「Are you going to keep hiding it?」
「Well I guess not, huh. You’re pretty perceptive, aren’t you?」
「Aren’t you a cafe regular though?」
「Well that is true, actually. So, why talk to me after all this time?」
「Wouldn’t it be unpredictable on your part if I did something I haven’t done up until now? 」
「Well, that is troublesome, sure, but it’s part of the job. Still, I appreciate that you informed me in advance.」
It’ll be terrible for them if they suddenly lose track of the person they’re guarding, after all. At worst, she might get fired. That’s why I informed her just to be sure.
「Too bad for Kyousuke this afternoon. He’s pretty fond of the cafe, you see. Well, I am too.」
「Even though it’s your job?」
「Exactly because it’s our job. At the cafe, we can relax and drink tea on the job, after all. Normally, we’d need to be always on alert and on our feet.」
Well that’s true. They have to always be aware of their target’s movements and be watchful for any danger in the vicinity. If someone suspicious is nearby, then they have to nonchalantly solve the issue somehow, so they have a lot to do. And since the one they’re guarding is working at a cafe, they can’t really just stand guard from outside the building. Because of that, they can have a relaxing teatime inside.
「It’s pretty popular, you know? Being your bodyguard that is. It’s easy, after all.」
「Is it really that easy?」
「I mean, your days follow a routine, after all. You don’t walk out at night either. On weekdays, you only go from your apartment to the academy and on weekends, you work at the cafe. Other than that, you’re either in the apartment or buying groceries.」
Looking back on what I do, I really have been doing the same thing all over, huh. And when I occasionally go out, I’ll either go to the library or the shopping district. As for why I don’t go out at night, it’s just so I don’t waste money.
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「Besides, when guarding big-shots, you’d always be in some stifling, suffocating place. On the other hand, there’s little need to brace myself while guarding you. Rather, I’d stand out from the crowd doing that.」
Well yeah, looking cautious or serious in a cafe would make you stand out from the rest. You’d ironically look suspicious and have the other people being cautious of you, which could cause needless trouble. More importantly, walking with me like this doesn’t count as standing out, huh.
「Though at first no one really wanted it. Because, you know, you were pretty infamous.」
「Ahh, understandable.」
「But after actually doing the job, it’s unbelievable how easy it is. The guys that turned it down regretted it, you know.」
「And that’s why the younger ones were chosen, right?」
「Lower ranked people getting pushed to troublesome jobs is a societal standard. I was pretty lucky this time, though.」
I get what she means. Still, the chances of getting lucky in that way is pretty low. Practically a godsend. In most cases, it would be some awful matter.
「Still, why go back to the mansion at this point?」
「It’s the twins’ birthday. Well, it isn’t exactly today.」
「Ooh, I’ve heard that you didn’t have any interest in your siblings. You really can’t count on rumors, huh.」
「No, the rumors are correct. It’s simply that I’ve changed since.」
The one inside is decent now, after all. I do think about 80% of the rumors are true. Hearing her standpoint as a bodyguard, I now understand how wide the range of influence these had. I can’t do anything about that at this point though.
「How did it feel when you were first put in charge of me?」
「Honestly felt like I’d have a hole in my stomach.」
「How terrible. Well, it’s understandable though.」
That’s likely why they executed their job without interacting with me, watching only from afar. And then they had to enter the cafe, which got their faces known, so I don’t think that went too well.
References
Lio: Saiki and Yamada