CH 13

The Second Invitation

During summer break, I’ll stay at home and enjoy my days with games—is what I planned, but in order to enjoy my lifestyle to the fullest, there is something I need—Cash money. Ah, that sounded a bit cool, making a goal for myself and all. Of course, using my long break allows me to gather experience needed later for my birth in society (*Big pretense). Also, this is already my first day at work, just fyi.

“Are you really sure about this? Your hourly wage isn’t that high.”

“It’s fine. I don’t need any excessive pocket money.”

After searching for a fitting place, I found this bare minimum wage bookstore, right in the slump of business. It’s not that I’m dissatisfied or anything, but if I were to say one thing, then the nearby car sounds were quite annoying. This seems to be a one-person management here, probably the hobby of the elderly man here. Because of the low hourly wage, the low amount of work here is it’s selling point. Any problematic customers wouldn’t come here to such an old book store anyway.

“Revision of the purchases, adding price tags, and storage organization will all be my work, so I’d like you to take care of the book organization and dealing with customers.”

“Is that all I can do?”

“You’d be godlike for doing that, yeah.”

‘Godlike’ he says…That’s quite the young way of phrasing things, Gramps. Now then, might there be some light novels around here…? Leave the organization to me, my organizational talent is burning up! …Maybe not the best idea here in a bookstore.

I’ve already gathered experience working in arrangement as I worked part-time at a nearby convenience store before I started attending high school. Not to mention that that’s a dark past of mine even Big Sis shouldn’t know about. I remember it being pretty tough. To a level where I’d definitely never do it again. Especially rough was teaching Reg-san, a co-worker of mine, how to use polite Japanese. Why did they even employ him…

Compared to that, as long as I take care of the books here, and properly deal with customers, this is easy peasy. This isn’t some fantasy where gals or yankees read old books like these, seriously.

“Huuh? They ain’t selling cigarettes here?”

“Yeah, this is just some boring ass bookstore.”

Well, I guess this kind of stuff happens. Guess I should put up a sign that says ‘We don’t sell cigarettes here’ once I get on my break.

Since I was mostly organizing and arranging the books during my shift, the cash register was mostly empty. How gallant1…Wow, I guess it’s true that your brain rots away if you have too much free time. Being bored even in work mode sure is rough.

“Manager, I finished assorting the books!”

“R-Really…? Wow…Maybe I was right in choosing you after all.”

“Eh, you had other applicants?”

“A blondie with piercings all over his face—”

“Ahh, yeah don’t worry about it, I’ll do my best during my job.”

“My apologies…”

He’s easy to get along with. He’s completely different from some grumpy old man. He doesn’t have a wooden sword either. It really feels like I made it out of the Showa era. Welcome, Heisei…Wait, that ended already. I need to get out of here…Can you keep up, Gramps!?

“To think there would be such a difference with just one more person. Though, it must also be thanks to your knack.”

“Well, I did work at a convenience store for a while. A job like this is just perfect, and much better than not doing anything.”

“How nice, how nice. You can go home for the day. I don’t want to steal the time of a youngster like yours.”

“Eh, but there’s still three—”

“I’ll properly pay you for five hours. You already finished 80% of my usual work load after all.”

What the hell, this is the best. Also, is he really sure about that? I was only applying here in order to get a bit of money and take it easy, but now he’s so friendly, I’m starting to feel guilty.

*

“11am…?”

I heard the cars roaring as I was stuffing my cheeks with steamed buns. It’s still morning, technically. Doesn’t feel like my part-time work is over at all. If anything, some stores around here just opened. Can I really get money for this? Am I going to get cursed?

“Don’t joke around with me, bastard!!”

Eh, real-time karma? Maybe that Gramps found out that I made the desk dirty with some ink while writing that sign? No, all jokes aside, isn’t this pretty bad? This is a secluded location, so what if some girl was being attacked or aggressively hit on?

“…Huh?”

Small…Pretty small. Looks like middle school boys on their way to the club are picking on a grade school boy. Now that I think about it, this is on the opposite side of a business street, so the security is pretty good. There’s no other high school besides ours around. Kind of a letdown. Well, as long as it’s nothing bad.

“Hey, you brats.”

“—Huh, a high school student!?”

I don’t really understand why, but without thinking too deeply about it, I stepped in front of the middle school guys. Seriously, what am I doing…Oddly enough, I was feeling pretty confident. Maybe because they’re clearly middle school students?

“You wanna get killed, bastard!?”

“Yeah yeah, enough already. Hey, are you okay…?”

“W-What’s your problem!?” Another of the middle school boys screamed at me.

“Are you hurt? You got pushed around, right? Nothing worse than that, glad to hear that. Can you stand?”

From how I could see it, the young boy wasn’t hurt in any way. When I asked him about any injuries, he shook his head. Looking over at his bag, that seemed to be fine as well. Well, they must be on summer break as well, which is why he didn’t have a backpack.

Because I ignored these middle school boys despite them screaming at me in anger, they eventually grabbed their bags, and walked away. I can hear them insulting me from a distance. You bastards, better remember this.

I calmed down, and spoke up with as much of a calm and gentle tone as I could manage.

“Can you tell me your name?”

“S-Sasaki—”

No way.

“Sasaki Kouta.”

Ah yeah, he’s got a nameplate on his clothes—’Sasaki Kouta’, it says. I don’t know why, but I feel relieved. I might have treated this kid differently if the worst-case scenario happened. I wonder how Yuki-chan’s personality would have ended up with if she had a younger brother…I feel like that younger bro would be going through a lot of trouble.

“I see…Do you have something I can contact your family with?”

“Yup…”

Sasaki Kouta-kun put his left arm on his nameplate. Turning that around, I could see an emergency number written on there. I see, that’s why he had it on even during summer break. I feel like I’ll only end up in the crossfire if I were to contact his family now, but…better be safe than sorry.

“Ah, is this the family of Sasaki Kouta-san? The thing is—”

*

Buying some pocket tissues at the nearby convenience store, I went to clean the dirty bag in an open plaza, with old folk exercising around us, when a panicky woman ran towards us. What first caught my attention was her long skirt. This appearance that reminded me of a university girl got my excitement up. What is this, an Onee-san appeared. Might this be a ‘Throw in a shrimp, and get a whale’ situation? Ah, I shouldn’t get too excited.

After looking around for a short moment, that woman spotted Kouta-kun standing next to me, and called out to him while jogging towards us. Kouta-kun also called out to her with ‘Onee-chan!’, and clung to her.

“Kou-kun…! I’m so glad…Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m okay, Onee-chan!”

Now that is some short story I’d love to read about in school. Not to mention that this scenery looked like it could be straight out of a TV drama or series. Watching that happen in real time had me go ‘Wao…’ out of admiration. If possible, I would have wanted to watch this happen with people completely unrelated to me…But, this is reality in front of me…Am I really a related party? Just walking away like that would be bad, right? I guess I should at least give an explanation…

“Um, excuse me. I was the person who called you just now.”

“Ah, yes! You are…”

I looked at the super Onee-san again. This fluffy aura emitted from her body. It was clear that she was a university student, completely different from any high school girl I’ve met. I wonder if Natsukawa and Ashida will go through this kind of change as well. Then again, seeing Ashida change that much would honestly be pretty creepy.

“On my way home, I heard the voices of some middle school students, so I rushed over.”

“Yes, um, thank you very much…!”

“Don’t worry about it. Also, I didn’t ask Kouta-kun any details, so maybe do that once he’s calmed down a bit, and make sure to check the backpack at home for damage, as this might not have been the first time.”

“Y-Yes! I will make sure to look over it!”

Since I didn’t see what happened before I arrived, I could only tell her everything from my view. Having someone listen to me this earnestly doesn’t happen that often, so I talked more than I needed to even. I’m glad that I’m wearing a polo shirt. I mean, it makes me look more grown-up, right.

Still, this Onee-san in front of me is pretty stylish. Because she’s wearing loose clothes, when she came running towards me…..Crap, my shitty son down there is reaction…I can’t look at this woman in a weird way. Maybe retreating quickly is the better choice.

“Anyway, I’ll be taking my leave now…”

“U-Um…I’m sorry, is there a way that you could share your contact information…?”

Should have guessed~ It’d only be more suspicious if I said no now…

“…So you’re Sajou-san. Wah, you’re a student from Kouetsu High!”

“Eh? Ah, yes. It’s close to my home, and my grades allowed me to.”

Seeing is believing, as they say. Since I needed to bring my student ID for the contract at work anyway, I showed it to her. I’m nobody suspicious, okay. Look, I’m even wearing a polo shirt. Though, I can’t really say that because I was practically chasing after the girl I had feelings for. Also, why are we three sitting down, with Kouta-kun in the middle? I don’t have any resistance towards older sisters that aren’t Big Sis, okay? Well, better than talking face-to-face.

“Kouetsu High is wonderful, isn’t it! The uniforms are cute, the plot is nice to look at, and it really feels like a university!”

“Is…that so.”

“Yes!”

If she, a university student, says so, then it must be true. Also, an Onee-san who seems like a mother getting this excited is bad for my heart. That kind of skill can kill any virgin…Uhehehe.

Since she knows about my school, she must be a graduate, right? If so, then she must know some juicy hidden locations at the school…Like there being the small hut deep in the forest behind the school? Well, that’s Aizawa and Arimura-senpai’s love nest right now though.

“Well—Sasaki-san, you seem like an adult, so I’m sure the university campus is perfect for you. I can see you sitting on the grass while reading a book.”

“N-No, that’s not…I’m not all that grown-up at all.”

“No no no, if you say that, then all the other girls around me are children.”

“T-Thank you very much…This is the first time somebody’s ever told me that…I only grew a lot as of late. Not too long ago, I really was a child.”

“Haha, I can’t imagine that at all.”

What modesty. Maybe she’s just matching my pace, but Sasaki-san’s tolerance sure is crazy. Just talking to her like this feels comfortable. Accepting everything I say as I mean it, that’s just awesome. Is this what they call ‘An adult’s composure’? I can’t come up with any other praise words. And the way she’s flustered all the same is super cute. Is she doing that on purpose…I don’t wanna believe that. Either way, she’s definitely popular, I’m sure.

Natsukawa-sama, this presence is wasted on me. I feel like I’ll lose my reasoning if I converse with her too much. It’ll all come out soon.

“…Kouta-kun, have you calmed down now?”

“Ah, yeah…thanks, Mister.”

“Next time, make sure to not go to such a deserted location. Your big sister will just end up worried about you again.”

“Y-Yeah…I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. We’re talking next time.”

I think that must have been the kindest voice I could have ever managed. I doubt I can ever act like this again. How was I acting before with Airi-chan? Oh right, I was a horse. Or, a dog even. Also, better warn that Onee-san as well. She might not be aware of it, but she definitely stands out.

“You best be careful as well, Sasaki-san. Although the safety around here isn’t bad by any means, for high school boys like me, you are exceptionally charming.”

“Eh…Ehh?”

“There’s also the chance that you might run into a grown man. Not to mention there being rather big middle school students. I recommend you use places with a lot of people around. I don’t mean to give you orders, but I’d be happy if you would accept this meddlesome warning of mine.”

“Y-Yes…thank you very much…”

“Then, if you would excuse me.”

—This feels comfortable. I never would have imagined that talking with an older beauty like her would be this easy. I see, this is the secret to success in life for women. Maybe girls have it harder than boys after all?

*

Around a week has passed since I started working part-time. As I figured, not being able to meet the usual guys was pretty lonely after all. I wonder if everyone else feels the same way…? Although I have to get up early for my five…No actually, barely three hours of work, it’s hard finding the motivation for it. After all, the second I get home, I just lay around on the sofa, enjoying an afternoon nap, and play until night.

“Ahhh…so listless.”

As the examinee that she is, Big Sis has school during the day. Just thinking that I would end up the same way in two years, I felt my HP being chipped away at. For once, I could actually understand why she would say such a thing, being surrounded by hotties all day even during summer break.

“…I’m shocked you are up this early.”

“The early bird gets the money after all. With just five hours of work, I actually get money. Won’t get that at school, right? …Eat shit.”

“You’re pretty shitty, huh.”

“You shitty siblings over there, don’t use such dirty words.”

As Big Sis and I were insulting each other, my old man suddenly broke between us. He’s in the middle of eating breakfast after all…Since he’s tied to work until the evening, he must be annoyed to hear such a conversation happen in front of him. Big Sis must have felt a bit of guilt because of that, because she didn’t talk back any more than that. My old man must be the guy the most exhausted out of all of us. If I was in his position, I’d definitely be pissed.

“What was it? A second hand bookshop? Easy peasy.”

“Rather than a second hand bookshop, it’s more a personal hobby business. Rather than some chain bookstore, once the work is over, the work’s over for good.”

“So the student council is a chain store.”

“As if.”

She’s got it pretty tough as well, huh. From what I heard, the preparations for the culture festival are up now, as well as a test visit for the middle school students. Our school has a lot of events, huh. And, I completely ignored all of that when I enrolled there.

“Yeah…A selected group will be showing them around. Like hotties or cute girls.”

“I see, so that’s why you weren chosen, Big Sis.”

“Yeah yeah, I’m so glad I wasn’t born a beauty.”

Huh…? She’s ignoring my insults like that…? Normally she’d slam me on the ground with a rolling sobat…Eh, what am I expecting? Wait a second…are we both just crazy?

Still, a selection of hotties and beauties, huh. In my head, I immediately thought of that one coupling I saw just the other day, and I feel like they might be asked for that as the culture festival execution committee members anyway. Especially Natsukawa, there’s nobody above her. Huh? Sasaki? Don’t know ‘em. Except Sasaki-san of course.

“Ahhh…that reminds me, you were invited into the public morals committee, right?”

“Hm? How do you…Ah, you’re friends with Shinomiya-senpai, right.”

If I remember correctly, Big Sis was Shinomiya-senpai’s gal friend back then. Or, not? How did these two even meet each other? They’re the exact opposite in personality…

“Friends…Well, something like that. More importantly, what’s your relationship with her? She suddenly asked me about you.”

“It’s not that big of a deal…She’s just interacting with me since I’m your younger brother. She even told me that in person.”

“Alright then. You gonna join the public morals committee?”

“Like hell I would. It’d probably get crushed from the weight if I joined there.”

“Then join the student council.”

“…What?”

What did she just say…? Student council? Not some random committee, but the student council of all places? That sounds probably as heavy as the public morals committee. Lots of events to take care of, so I’d definitely be busy.

“Why?”

“Rin also said it, but I feel like I don’t mind leaving the future to an idiot like you.”

Can’t tell if you’re praising me or not. Should a former gal really say that…I mean, the stress must be horrible.

“You’re good at all this organisational stuff, right. Gross.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

‘Yeah’, my ass. Who were you responding to, old man? The ‘gross’ part? I doubt he knows about me working part-time in middle school…Also, what do you mean ‘good at organisational stuff’? Just call it my strong point.

“I was only asked to help the student council. Though I didn’t do much as of late.”

“You skipping?” Big Sis threw in.

“I’m not even a member of the student council. Also, I’m in my summer break right now.”

“Then treat me to something with your salary.”

“Well…Treating you to some ice wouldn’t hurt.”

“Just wait for me, Haägen.”

I can see that she must be having a lot of work to go through, so I guess I should show a bit of kindness here…Only for Big Sis to suddenly be unreasonable again…I’m pretty sure that her personality would be the same even if she wasn’t born as a girl.

“I’m being serious though. Give it some proper thought.”

“Huh? Big Sis, what are you—”

She pushed her used tableware on me, and went up to the second floor. Eh, you’re kidding me, right. I’m not like that. I felt oddly enough, and continued my breakfast with my old man.

1 Empty here sounds similar to ‘Gallant’