62. Part-Time Job
During summer holidays, I would stay at home and enjoy my days with games ── was what I planned, but in order to enjoy my lifestyle to the fullest, there was something I needed.
Right, cash money. Well, no exact number made it sound a bit cool, as if I was a person trying to make ends meet.
But, what to hide, really, I thought of using my long break to also gather experience needed later for my birth in society. (※ Big Pretense)
Also, today was already my first day at work.
“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 wasn’t that I was dissatisfied or anything, but if I were to say one thing, then the nearby car sounds were quite annoying.
Also, this seemed to be a one-person management here, purely the hobby of the elderly man here. Because of the low hourly wage, the amount of work here was also low, in short, easy was its selling point. More importantly, any problematic customers wouldn’t come here to a used bookstore.
“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.”
“If anything, is that all I have to do?”
“You’d be godlike for doing that.”
‘Godlike’… 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 heating up like a bonfire! …No, I can’t let out the fire here in a bookstore.
I had 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 was a dark past of mine even Sis shouldn’t know about. I could still remember it being pretty tough. To a level where I would definitely never do it again. Especially rough was teaching the foreigner Reg-san, a co-worker of mine, how to use polite Japanese. Even now… I still wondered why did they even employ him.
Compared to that one, as long as I take care of the books here, and properly deal with customers, who mostly likely the type to not speak a lot, this is easy peasy. This isn’t some fantasy where gyarus or yankees read old books like these, seriously…
“Huuh? They ain’t selling cigarettes here?”
“Yeah, this is just some boring used bookstore.”
Ah, 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… But really, on a used bookstore? Should I write it in ‘Minchotai’…? Then use a brush pen to write it on a yellowish paper… [TN : ‘Minchotai’ is the standard typeface in Japan, often used in books, newspapers, etc.]
Since I’ve been mostly organizing and arranging the books from the start of my shift, I’m sure inside the cash register is no treasure. Treasure, trail…… 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 to 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 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.”
“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. What the hell, is this place gonna be okay? I was only applying here to take it easy, but now I feel like I might get attached to this place so much. This is bad, what should I do… Right, I’ll do my best to make POP advert using Minchotai, just you wait, Gramps!
◆
“11 am……What?”
Hearing the cars roaring, a high schooler was stuffing his cheeks with steamed buns. It was me.
It’s still morning? Doesn’t feel like my part-time work is over at all. If anything, isn’t this around the time some stores have their board changed to ‘OPEN’? But, really, can I… can I really get money for this? Am I going to get cursed?
“Don’t joke around with me, bastard!!”
Eh, real-time karma? Seriously Gramps, you don’t like Minchotai? Or, did he find out I spilled some ink on the desk…? If so, of course, I’m getting cursed.
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?
Without noticing, I had walked close enough to the source of the voice, and perhaps my back was seen.
“…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 still better than others. There’s no other high school besides ours around. Kind of a letdown.
But, well─── can’t be helped.
“Hey, stop already, you brats.”
“──uh, a high school student!?”
I didn’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… But, strange, I’m feeling pretty confident. Maybe because they’re clearly middle school students…? Is this a boost I got after becoming a high schooler?
“You wanna get killed, bastard!?”
“Huh? Yeah yeah, if you wanna hit, just hit already. Hey, are you okay……?”
“Wha…What’s your problem!?”
“Are you hurt? You only got pushed around, right? Good, that’s good. Can you stand?”
Well, the middle schooler’s voice isn’t that scary.
From how I could see it, the crying 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. Since it wasn’t a school backpack, it was easy for me to think of the reason. Grade schoolers must be on summer holidays as well.
Because I ignored these middle school boys despite them screaming at me in anger, they eventually grabbed their bags, and walked away. I could hear them insulting me from a distance.
You bastards, better remember this.
I calmed down, and spoke up with as much of a calm── a proper adult-like tone as I could manage.
“S-Sasaki───”
No way.
“Kouta Sasaki.”
Ah yeah, he’s got a nameplate on his clothes──’Kouta Sasaki’…
I didn’t know why, but I felt relieved. Perhaps, I might have treated this kid differently if he had the same name as ‘that guy’.
I wonder how Yuki-chan’s personality would have ended up with if she had a younger brother… I feel like he would mature faster than he should.
“I see….. Do you have something I can contact your family with?”
“Yeah…”
Kouta Sasaki-kun put his left arm on his nameplate. Turning that around, I could see an emergency number written there.
I see, that’s why he had it on even during summer holidays. Isn’t that dangerous… or not? Well, anyway, just taking him along may lead to another dangerous situation, more so under a girder bridge like this, what a worst situation. Alright, let’s just call that number.
“Ah, is this the family of Kouta Sasaki-san? The thing is───”
◆
Buying some pocket wet 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. Right, an Onee-san-type woman appeared. [TN : Onee-san-type in here, means an older woman, who looks fluffy, kind, and usually, with big boobs. A type that may pamper you.]
Might this be a ‘Throw in a shrimp, and get a whale’ pattern───Ah, no, no, no, I shouldn’t get too excited.
After looking around for a short moment, the woman spotted Kouta-kun standing next to me, and called out to him while running with short steps towards us. Kouta-kun also called out to her with ‘Onee-chan!’, and clung to her. [TN : Onee-chan, means elder sister, but I’ll leave it like this in this case, since it suits better for children saying it.]
“Kou-kun…! I’m so glad…Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m okay, Onee-chan!”
The scenery was like some picture you might see in a grade-schooler textbook. 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 ‘Woa…’.
If possible, I’d have wanted to watch this happen with people completely unrelated to me… But, this magnificent scenery in front of me is the reality… Can’t believe it, am I really a related party?
Just walking away would be bad, right? I guess I should at least give an explanation. Stay calm, me……
“Um, excuse me. I was the person who called you just now.”
“!! Ah, yes! So, it was you…”
Yes, it was me───Ah, no, no, it’s not time to joke.
I looked at the super Onee-san again. This fluffy aura emitted from her body.
As expected, a university girl is completely different from a high school girl. Let’s say Natsukawa will, but will Ashida go through this kind of change as well? Suddenly appearing in front of me with a different vibe, making me skip a heart beat… no, no, hope that won’t happen…
“…On my way home─── I heard the voices of some middle school students from the nearby under girder bridge, so I rushed over.”
“Yes, um, thank you very much……!”
“Ah, no problem. 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 at home…!”
Since I didn’t see what happened before I arrived, I could only tell her everything from my view. Having someone listen to me so earnestly didn’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 like an adult, right?
Still, this Onee-san in front of me is seriously, dangerous. Because she’s wearing loose clothes under this summer sky, when she came running towards me….. Crap, my shitty son down there is reacting. I don’t want to be seen by a woman like her in a weird way. Maybe retreating quickly is the better choice.
“Anyway, I’ll be taking my leave, take car───”
“Ah, umm… I’m sorry, is there a way that you could share your contact information……?”
Should have guessed~…… Don’t worry, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you my name. I mean, it’d only be more suspicious if I said no now……
TN: Join my discord channel if you want.
