Itâs mid-summer. Despite it being early morning, the cicadas were chirping strongly, emphasizing this sensation that summer had truly arrived now. Their voices were ringing in my ears to make me feel anger from the pit of my stomach, urging me to scream at them at close range. If police and public security didnât exist in this world, I would have definitely done that.
However, despite this seething heat, my body felt oddly light. Yesterday, I felt how exhausted I was, so I fell asleep early at like 10pm in the eveningâŚand got some good sleep as well. Now Iâm feeling better.
Leaving that side, itâs part-time job time. I didnât think that Natsukawaâs punishment would be used in regards to the incident with Ichinose-san. This is an irregularity that hasnât happened yet, as I had given up on really dealing with Ichinose-san since this was only limited to summer break, but having my back pushed like that is pretty big. I donât know why Natsukawa would use her punishment for me to actually help me, but I guess itâs alright in the end? Yep.
âŚNo, isnât that actually pretty bad? If Natsukawa hadnât said that, Iâd probably be at a loss by now, and it feels like I am directly receiving Natsukawa Aika-samaâs blessing. Thank you, Goddess, Iâll throw a 500 yen coin in the post box of the Natsukawa Residence when I stop by again (Court case inbound).
Walking the path beneath the elevated structure up above me, it was still pretty hot, but itâs not as bad as walking directly underneath the scorching sun. Since I donât exercise too much as of late, I need to be careful of getting a heat stroke.
ââŚI really donât wanna go inside.â
I arrived at the deserted second-hand bookshop. Iâm sure that Ichinose-san must already be present. It was the same yesterday, and when I arrive at school, thereâs a good chance sheâs already sitting at her seat.
âTomorrow, you will ask about that girlâs circumstances. That is your punishment.â
ââŚHaaaaa.â
Ahh, Goddess.
*
After entering the bookshop and moving to the back, Ichinose-san was already present. Since the scenery perfectly overlapped with the one yesterday, I thought that she was some NPC of an open-world game at first. If there was one difference, then itâd be that she was already showing her forehead. Once she realized my presence, Ichinose-san froze up like she was hit by lightning, and stopped moving all-together. What? Did she fall for me at first glance? Haha, she must be nervous.
ââŚGood morning, Ichinose-san.â
âY-YesâŚ! Good morning!â
âUmâŚyou donât need to be so wary of me. Iâm really sorry about yesterday.â
âO-OkayâŚâ
This oneâs not good. Even if I apologized, Iâm pretty much a day late, so talking normally is probably impossible. For now, the best I can do is act cheerful, and try not to hurt Ichinose-san more than I already didâŚcan I? Please, no weird customers walk inâŚ!
âThe store manager wasnât in the front, do you know where he isâŚ?â
âAhâŚUm, he should be up on the second floor.â
âOkay. Thanks.â
Alright, that should be enough for now. Let me take a quick break. If I try to close the distance between us too much, itâll just backfire. If I just slowly work on it, things will end up fine. First, I need to fix her Sajou allergy. Maybe that canât be fixed.
Arriving at the stairs that lead up to the residential space on the second floor, I couldnât exactly go up just like that, so I called out first with a loud âGood morning!â. Shortly after, I received a quick âOh, good morning, Sajou-san!â from the back.
Leaving aside Gramps, his wife is often up already at a time like this, showing her face. Since she only greeted me with her voice alone, she must be busy putting on makeup. Iâm sorry for arriving at such a bad time.
I took out the same usual working apron from the shelf, already in perfect condition to interact with customers. Looking at my side, Ichinose-san had nothing to do either, just awkwardly fidgeting.
âSince weâre not open yet, we should organize some of the books in the front.â
âAhâŚY-YesâŚ!â
O-OhhâŚ? It was rather awkward, but she gave a better response compared to yesterday. I can feel like sheâs actually trying. Maybe she was really serious when she was prostrating herself in front of meâŚAhh, I didnât want to remember that. Let me just not think about it.
Just, seeing the current Ichinose-san, I was reminded of what Ashida told me. âShe could have just quit if she wanted toâ. And, I agree. However, since sheâs still here, working with clear motivation, she must have a reason to not back down from this. Despite the store not even open yet, Ichinose-san is moving carefully through the rows of bookshelvesâŚWell, um, it was honestly cute to look at, like I was hearing manga sound effects around me.
Looking ahead of me, on the top row of the shelf stood a book. It was clearly a weird location to be at, probably left there by a customer who kept it as a possible purchase, but forgot about it there. I moved over in order to organize it properly, when Ichinose-san raised a surprised âAhâ voice, as she headed over there herself. She got ahead of me for a split second, butâshe had no hope of reaching that. Thatâs just way too high up for her.
âAh?!â
âWahââ
Ichinose-san jumped up, trying to reach the book. She did put her hand on the books on the row below, but because of the impact, they fell to the side, which made Ichinose-san lose balance. In a panic, I ran over there, and supported her body.
âA-Are you okay, Ichinose-san!?â
ââ!?â
I somehow managed to catch her before she fell onto the hard floor. So lightâŚHow can one girl be this light! Sheâs the enemy of all women! Probably the type that doesnât get fat even after eating all sorts of sweets! Donât think I would forgive you for that, okay!?
âŚBut seriously, she is so light. Are all girls like this? Pretty sure sheâs lighter than my student bag back when I was studying for high school entrance exams.
âU-UmâŚ! Iâm fine, soâŚ!â
âAh, yeah.â
Ichinose-san panicked, and moved away from me. I wonderâŚdespite being so close to Ichinose-san, I donât get any wicked thoughts or desires. Maybe because of the guilt, but I just want to protect her instead.
âIâll take care of the high places, so you can do the ones you can reach easily.â
âY-YeshâŚâ She returned a meek response.
HmmâŚweâre back to yesterday, huh. Well, besides dealing with customers, sheâs doing just fine, so letâs just do our bestâŚNot really, I need to be aware of her circumstances as well.
ââŚâŚâ
ââŚâŚâ
After that, we continued working in silence. Since not every shelf was in disarray, it wasnât that much work. It really depends on the customers in the end. Then again, most customers come by at the end of the week to buy books for the weekend. Still, itâs pretty quiet in here. Maybe we really should add some BGM here.
âTime to open up. Iâll go turn over the sign at the front.
ââŚAh! IâllâŚâ
âAlright, then please do.â
Receiving my permission, Ichinose-san headed outside the bookshop. I wonder, her small steps still reminded me of a cute animalâŚWhat is this feeling I have? Fatherly loveâŚ? I got back in the groove, because the shop opened now. Of course, Ichinose-san will try her best, but if some weird customer came by, I needed to take over right away. If things went south again, itâd probably make her emotions explode to the fullest.
As I was thinking about the difficulty of dealing with customers, Gramps came over from the register.
âYou doing fine?â
âStore manager. WellâŚyes, I think itâs going well. We just opened after all.â
âAs long as nothing happensâŚâ Gramps said with a worried voice.
Normally, heâd always speak with vigor in his voice, but now heâs being careful, I see. Well, Ichinose-san went outside, so it should be fine.
âI-I did itâŚâ
âWell done.â
âEh?â
Ah. I treated Ichinose-san like a small child who just came back from her errand. I just skillfully ignored my blunder. Once she can properly deal with customers, she should be fine at everything else this job requires. This might actually be perfect for someone who isnât experienced at working part-time.
âWelcome~â
I greeted customer number one with a loud but adequate voice. It looks to be your average book reader man. From a bit further away, I could see Ichinose-sanâs expression freeze up. With what happened yesterday, I decided to head over to the register myself.
However, Ichinose-san suddenly moved in front of me. Wuh? Why do you look like a sulking child now? Are you trying to win me over?
âI-Iâll do itâŚâ
âEh?â
Hold on, I think Iâm going to cry. What kind of growth is this? Did she practice that much? I feel like no time in this world would have been enough. Ichinose-san moved towards the register, and stood behind it. I could see how nervous she was just from her expression alone. Dear customer, could you maybe finish your purchase quickly? Youâll only ruin Ichinose-sanâs determinationâŚOh, heâs heading over.
ââŚâŚâ
ââŚAhâŚâ
Damn itâŚ! Itâs the type who silently puts down their purchase on the cash register! At least he didnât just throw it down. But, this kind of strength might be too much for Ichinose-san.
âW-WelcomeâŚThat will beâŚ130 yen, pleaseâŚ!â
Oh.
âI-Iâve received 500 yen. Your return will be, umâŚah, 370 yen!â
Eh, Iâm actually gonna cry. What kind of growth is this (Second time). Did she go on a training trip after all? Can you teach me? Iâll invite you to some karaoke!
âAhâŚumâŚâ
âHello, we offer a book cover for free as a service, would you like that?â
âYeah.â
âUnderstood!â
At the stage of the book cover, Ichinose-san froze up, so I jumped in to help. Since the customerâs response was short but sharp, I just proceeded with my work so that he wouldnât complain. I gave a brief âThank you for your purchaseâ, and Ichinose-san didnât lag behind to join in. Hey now, what happened!? What kind of awakening is this!?
After the customer left, Ichinose-san showed me a sharp glare.
ââŚW-Why did you help me.â
â!â
S-Seriously? Are you saying that you donât need me anymore? Hi and goodbye, or what? Watching her like that, I can definitely quit without a worry in the world. So much that I want to go down on my knees to apologize. People sure change quickly, huhâŚ! No can do, I canât hold back my excitement.
âWhat happened to you, Ichinose-san! Youâre completely different compared to yesterday! Itâs amazing!â
âHawaâŚ!?â
I almost lost to the momentum pushing me, and was about to tap her on the shoulder. I definitely cannot risk going behind bars for sexual harassment. I am a gentleman. However, because I was screaming so loudly, I must have scared Ichinose-san, who staggered backwards.
âJust what did you do!?â
âAhâŚumâŚwell, I was watchingâŚvideos on customer serviceâŚâ
âThat exists!?â
âYessssssâŚ!â
Thatâs amazing. Like, totally amazing. Sheâs the perfect example of a newcomer. Not on the level of Airi-chan, but I want to praise her and give her some sweets. I want my past self to receive a rolling thunder from Big Sis.
âHow nice. Deal with customers like that! Getting used to it is most important after all!â
âY-Yes!â
When I praised Ichinose-san a bit too much, she moved away from me, returning to organizing the books. Looking over, I could see her forming a fist, like she was celebrating. Seems like sheâs happy that she could use everything she learned in a real situationâŚGreat, that makes me happy as well. Nothing bad at all. I think itâs great for Ichinose-san to gain some more confidence, as she moves forward. I just hope that my encouragement helped in some way.
Ichinose-san returned to her work. She really made it far in a short amount of time, I canât help but be impressed. Itâd be troublesome if a customer like yesterday appeared, but thatâs an extreme case, and everything should be fine as long as she can deal with customers normally. I had to start somewhere myself. I personally just got a lot of earfuls from Gramps with the attitude of âYou shouldnât say that to a customerâ, so Iâm not really one to talk.
âSajou-kun, Mina-chan, you can take a break now.â
âUnderstood.â
We took the break, and headed to the back of the bookshop. On the way to the residential space, we ran into Grampsâ wife, who was walking towards the toilet. Since she had another PC class, she had properly styled herself up.
âAh, Mrs. I forgot to tell you yesterday.â
I had Ichinose-san move on ahead, and talked to her about the small stepladder. Since Gramps would just be Gramps and argue that he doesnât need it, I brought it directly to his wife. Heading over to the residential space, I spotted Ichinose-san opening up a small book. At least some things havenât changed compared to yesterday, huh.
âŚNo, wait? I only have time right now, so shouldnât I be using this time to talk about Ichinose-san? Once work is over, sheâll probably head home right away, so at this rate, I wonât be able to fulfill Natsukawaâs punishment. Crap, sheâll definitely ask me after this, right. I need to do something! UmâŚEhmâŚ
âIchinose-san, I really thought youâd quit.â
âEh?â
Ahhhhhhhhh, what am I asking!? Those words for a girl who worked really hard!? Iâm only digging myself a deeper grave now! Well, I do really feel that way! Canât believe I just ran my mouth like thatâŚTerrified of her reaction, I carefully looked at Ichinose-san, who seemed annoyed. Sorry, this is all my fault. I just have no decency.
ââŚI couldnât afford to quit, thatâs all.â
When our eyes met, Ichinose-san gave me a response with a momentâs delay, as she averted her eyes. Seems like her determination really was set in stone. Then again, I shouldnât have seen that coming since her heart didnât break after everything that happened yesterdayâŚHmm? âCouldnât afford to quitâ? That sounds a bit roundabout. Maybe she wanted to quit, but had a reason that she couldnât quit?
Then again, even if I asked her âWhy couldnât you quit?â, she might just give me a cold âWhat right do you have to ask that?ââŚIs there no better way of asking that?
âSoâŚwhy did you think of working part-time anyway?â
ââŚâŚâ
Is this it? Asking for her motives? Seems like a Senpai at work might ask? Itâd be something Gramps would ask during a job interview, so I feel like this is something Iâd get an answer for. Ichinose-san put the book to the place before, and turned her body towards me.
ââI want to be independentâŚâ
âEh?â
Hold on, what did she just say? To be independent? Isnât that hella amazing? I didnât even think about that. Why was I working part-time? To get money and play aroundâŚDamn, Iâm actually trash.
âEh? B-Be independent?â
âY-YesâŚTo be independent.â
When I asked her for confirmation, the same response came. I seeâŚso thatâs why she didnât quit after yesterday. I feel like her outlook on work like this is completely different. Itâs more like Ichinose-san is working in a more grown-up way, like a member of society. That makes sense.
Become independentâThatâs pretty much wanting to be able to stand on your own two feet, without the help of someone else. Itâs not something like doing the work at school alone, or doing your duties, but rather that you take care of your own food, laundry, and carry the living expenses weighing you down, right?
âThatâs pretty amazing, butâŚisnât that kind of fast?â
ââŚâŚâ
ââŚ?â
With her small body, I couldnât see her as reliable and able to do that. If this was Natsukawa, then I might somewhat agree, but when thinking of Ichinose-san, I could only see that happening far into the future. Then again, pulling that off in high school, let alone the first year, is just ridiculous.
However, Ichinose-san nodded in silence. I can see her reasoning in this case, but I feel like thereâs something else driving her. Maybe some worries at school? To be perfectly honest, I can see that. Itâs probably some territory I shouldnât set foot into.
ââI wanted to be independent from my older brother.â
âEh?â
Hold on, sheâs willing to tell me? Not to mention that the reason I was told seemed pretty sad. Become independent from her older brother? That is a reasonâŚthat would probably hurt said older brother a lot. Hearing it right now just has me feeling âAh, I seeâ, like itâs not related to me, but if she was my actual little sister, Iâd probably end up depressed. Somehow, I feel glad to not have a little sister. Huh? Wait, Ichinose-sanâs older brotherâŚ
âAh, sorryâŚIs your older brother a third-year Senpai in the public morals committee?â
âAhâŚâ
When I asked, Ichinose-san calmly nodded. I knew it! Itâs the bear Senpai I met at the school visit! He was pretty tall, but also gave off a gentle impression, which is why I remember him. If anything, he and Ichinose-san donât seem related at all, but their personality has some overlapping attributes.
âBut, why would you want to stay away from your older brother? He felt like a reliable Senpai, so you can just rely on him to be kind, right?â
ââŚâŚâ
âAhhhâŚSo, even if you want to, you canât?â
Yet again, Ichinose-san nodded. What a difficult story. This is pretty much related to her family at this point, huh. If so, then I wouldnât want to poke in her private affairsâŚI guess this should be enough for the punishment I got. The gist of it is basically that she wants to rely on her older brother, but ultimately canât, so sheâs trying to live independently. Thatâs why she canât simply give up on her work. Something like that.
ââŚI see. I understand the reason youâre working so hard, Ichinose-san.â
Hearing her wanting to be âindependentâ, I assumed that it would be something depressingâŚbut itâs pretty cute. I canât really tell how heavy this topic is though, since Iâve never gone through such a feeling. If anything, my general image of little sisters is that they donât really get along with their older brothersâŚWell, I guess this is just something I canât hope to comprehend.
ââIâŚreally loved Onii-chan.â
âEh?â
âWellâŚI still do, butâŚâ
Eh, um, eh? Are we still not done? I donât need to hear about your love for your big brother, you know? Especially not so unvarnishedâŚAh, that sounds kind of lewd directed at a girlâWait, this isnât the time to have lewd thoughts, weâre having a serious discussion right now. Get your head in the game, me.
Ichinose-san slightly cast her face down, which created a shadow on her face. Ah, I get it, sheâs not talking to me, but just muttering to herself. If you want to do that, you can use a convenient app for thatâŚ!
âUm, Ichinose-san?â
âWhen I was reading books at home, I would always sit between Onii-chanâs legsâŚResting my back against his stomach. It was farm, felt comfortable, and just became normal for meâŚâ
Whatâs up with that, I can totally see that. Youâre like the ideal siblings. Now I kind of want a younger sister myselfâBut, why are you telling me? Donât you hate me? Would you really tell someone you have 0 trust and faith in? I mean, itâs a cute story.
âIchinose-san, umâŚâ
âOne day, Onii-chan brought a female classmate of his overâŚI think her name was Yuri-san. Eventually, weâd see each other more often, and my time to talk with Onii-chan went downâŚâ
AhhhâŚYuri-san, huh. I remember. Sheâs that girl Bear-senpai called âYuri-chanâ, right. That Senpai who ordered the carrying group as the head of the army. Of course I remember. She had the nerves to broadly flirt around with Bear-sansenpai. I still remember how my exhaustion went up by 40% because I was forced to watch that. Even the people around them took a weird distance. But, they probably couldnât say anything exactly because they know them.
Hold on, since weâve come this farâŚIs Ichinose-san lonely because Bear-sansenpai is constantly flirting with Yuri-chansenpai?
âEven so, I wanted to be with Onii-chan moreâŚSo one day, I decided to tell him of my feelings after coming home from school.â Ichinose-san lowered her head.
Seems like sheâs not planning on stopping unless I forcefully interveneâŚH-Hold on, isnât that pretty bad? I got a really bad feeling about this. Will my mind even put up with that? Am I even allowed to hear that?
âWhen I came home, I spotted shoes different from my familyâŚand, I realized right away that they belong to Yuri-san. However, I couldnât just bear with it, soâŚâ
âIchinose-san stop, calm down.â
âAhâŚâ
Please, just stop. I get what youâre talking about. Thatâs why, you donât need to say it. Itâs like sheâs diving into a carpet of thorns, pulling me down into it as well.
ââŚâŚâ
Ah, stop with that face like youâre about to cry. Eh? Donât, please. Am I the weird one right now? You donât need to say whatâs hurting you. Come on, I donât want a two-days consecutive trauma.
â Cough âŚMm, sorry, got something stuck in my throat.â
ââŚâŚâ Ichinose-san nodded yet again.
So she nodded, huhâŚI just hope sheâs done for good now. Ichinose-san still looked like she was about to cry, but at least sheâs calmed down. However, she still seems adamant on telling me the rest. Alright, Iâll hear you out then! I donât care what the content is about! Iâll put up with it!
ââŚWhen I went up the stairs, I headed to Onii-chanâs roomâŚI subconsciously opened the door without knocking.â
Ichinose-san lost all restraint, and openly explained what she had seen. It might have been happening subconsciously, but all light in her eyes vanished. I actually want to interrupt her again, my heart is racing dangerously fast. Iâm going to die.
âA-And thenâŚUmâŚâ
ââŚâŚâ
âA-And thenâŚ!â
Ichinose-san spoke like she was trying to hold back what was overflowing inside of her. How can she openly talk about this? But, thereâs probably no stopping her. Thatâs why, let me at least pray. Please, let my assumption be offâŚ! Otherwise, I will actually die! Please, let my heart rest easyâŚ!
âO-Onii-chan wasâŚon top of Yuri-sanâŚandâŚthey k-k-k-kissedâŚ!â