Chapter 26 - 1

Chapter 26: Chapter 1

22nd of August (Saturday)

It was another Saturday morning, towards the latter half of summer break. Outside the window, I could hear cicadas holding a live concert. I pondered life while eating some rolled omelette with my chopsticks. Generally, during summer break, a weekend basically puts a school-free day on top of your already school-free day, which then creates this feeling like you're missing out on something. Can't we just take all of the Saturdays in this 40-day summer break interval as extra holidays after the end of this vacation?

I don't think it's that big of a request to make. If a public or national holiday falls on a Sunday, we generally get Monday off, so we technically should get all the Saturdays that happen during summer break—or if that's too much to ask, at least the Sundays—converted into vacation once summer break ends. Don't you agree? I considered this idea so much that I brought it up during breakfast.

"You already have an entire month of summer break, and yet you want even more? Is there anything you want to do or something?" My old man seemed astonished in reaction, so I stopped eating and started thinking.

"—No, not really."

"So why?"

"I just felt like I'm wasting time."

"That's youth for you."

"I don't think age has anything to do with this."

"Once you reach my age, you'll be unable to think of anything to do even if you suddenly get a day off."

"Woah, you're saying that in front of Akiko-san? At least make it sound like you're happy to spend time with her..."

"Fufu, you really are considerate, Yuuta-kun. Unlike a certain Taichi-san." Akiko-san commented from her seat across from my old man at the table as she picked up a piece of rolled omelette.

Since my old man and her remarried two months ago, she's now basically my step-mother. She works as a bartender at a bar, so she mostly works at night and comes home late. My old man for his part is your typical salaryman, so he leaves early but doesn't come home that late at least. Despite being newlyweds, their day/night cycles were opposite from each other except for weekends and holidays. That's why I am yet again reminded that today is a weekend when I see my old man and Akiko-san talking together in the morning like this.

"But you need to think about these sorts of things, Yuuta-kun."

"I do?"

"For example, today might be a Saturday and a school-free day, but it's not all that different from the other days you've spent this summer break, right?"

I found myself nodding along to Akiko-san's argument. Just as she said, such a long period of holidays and no school causes you to lose grasp on the concept of days, and they all sort of blur together. Even more so since I've been living this kind of lifestyle for an entire month since summer break started in July.

"But today is a Saturday instead of a normal weekday, right? Meaning you'll be working part-time later, Yuuta-kun."

"Yes, I have a full shift again today, so I'll have to head out at noon."

"Very admirable. So you'll be working the same schedule as you did yesterday, right?"

"Yes."

"Since today is actually Saturday, you'll be getting a holiday bonus, which results in higher pay! That's amazing!"

"Eh... Eh?"

"It might feel like any normal day, but you actually get paid much more. That's a great thing. Don't you agree?"

"I... guess?"

"If today wasn't Saturday, you wouldn't get this bonus. When you think about it that way, isn't the way you're currently spending summer break the best?"

After hearing her out, I couldn't help but at least partially agree. Even though the logic sounded oddly contradictory, it was far easier to believe when you combined it with Akiko-san's naturally slightly air-headed voice.

"Jeez. Asamura-kun, you're being deceived." Ayase-san cut in, seeming unable to bear with it any longer after having only listened in silence up until now.

"Really?"

"Yup. If you go with that logic, then you could also say that you've been working full-time with only a weekday salary up until yesterday."

"Ahh... I see."

Basically, Ayase-san is saying that the weekdays during summer break aren't 'normal days', but rather all 'holidays'. That would mean that I'm not gaining anything by working today; instead I'm losing out on potential income. The reason I found myself easily agreeing with Akiko-san's logic was because she had blinded me with the logic that a Saturday during summer break is like any 'normal' day, which she brought up first thing in the conversation, thus creating the concept that today is 'normal' in my mind. Guided thinking is a terrifying thing.

"Be careful. Mom has the talent to become a used car salesman."

"How cruel, Saki. Is that something you should say to your own mother?"

"I know how you really tick because I'm your daughter. Befuddling people is something like eating breakfast for you, right?"

"Ahh, that takes me back. No matter how sad or depressed I ever got, Akiko-san always knew how to cheer me up." My old man added his own comment like he seemed to remember something thanks to what Ayase-san said, but didn't you basically admit to being deceived there?

Is that something you should be saying with such a happy and delighted tone of voice? Then again, the woman in front of me here is known as the bartender with the most experience out of Shibuya's entire business district, so she's a pro at dealing with customers. She could probably make my old man and I dance in the palm of her hand. But that's neither here nor there.

"Being forced to work on a holiday is a bit of a depressing way of thinking about it, but as long as I keep in mind that I get paid more today, it'll probably have a better impact on my mental state, so I'll go with that." I said. Akiko-san gently smiled and offered me her slender hand.

"Yuuta-kun, would you like another serving of miso soup?"

"Yes, please."

"Ah, I'll get it. I wanted some more myself, anyway." Ayase-san stood up before Akiko-san and snatched my bowl.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Saki-chan, could you get me another serving as well while you're at it?"

"Ah, yes." Ayase-san accepted my old man's bowl with her hand that wasn't holding a ladle.

After that, she smoothly carried the bowl over to the pot, turned up the heat on the stove, and stirred the miso soup. Before it started boiling, she turned off the heat again and carefully poured some soup into the bowl.

"Thanks, Saki-chan."

"This isn't anything special, so don't worry about it. Here, Asamura-kun."

"Thanks."

Ayase-san put my bowl down in front of me and sat down in her own seat to restart her breakfast.

"Saki-chan's miso soup is as delicious as always." My old man said, smiling in joy wide enough for his eyes to look half-closed.

On weekends, Akiko-san and Ayase-san were both responsible for breakfast, but miso soup is Ayase-san's forté. Today, it was standard miso soup with scallions and deep-fried slices of tofu. The tofu rehydrated in the soup perfectly, making it soft and perfectly chewy, and the scallions' texture made it enjoyable to eat.

"Yup, you're right. Ayase-san's miso soup is really fantastic."

"...Thanks, Asamura-kun." Ayase-san sounded like she hesitated for a moment before giving a response.

Upon seeing this, Akiko-san gave a blooming smile. "Fufu, you two have gotten pretty close."

"Yup, they sure did."

My old man and Akiko-san looked at each other, smiling in contentment. I felt relieved to see them like that. Thinking back to when I was much younger, eating breakfast like this was either supplemented with rage and voices raised in anger, or awkward conversations, making the food lose all taste and warmth. Compared to that, now I was being practically forced to watch a lovey-dovey married couple exchange words of affections to no end.

Of course, being teased and feeling slightly uncomfortable about it all was par for the course, but it's better than them holding back. Ayase-san seems bothered by it a lot of the time, but the fact that she doesn't leave shows that she shares similar sentiments to mine.

"But you two still call each other by your family name, huh?" My old man commented.

Akiko-san also glanced over at Ayase-san.

"Are you still too embarrassed to call each other by your given names? You can go with 'Yuuta-niisan', you know."

I found myself agreeing with Akiko-san's proposition. I guess this is what you call difference in experience. I can't imagine Ayase-san calling me 'Onii-chaaan~' with a sweet voice, but 'Yuuta-niisan' sounds plausible. It's not too different from 'Yuuta-san', and it would make us feel more like siblings... I guess. Though it's not like I would really know since I don't have and never have had an actual little sister. I think this is pretty reasonable at least. However, Ayase-san calmly shook her head in response.

"It's not that I'm embarrassed, but it doesn't feel right."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Well, you're right. 'Asamura-kun' makes it a bit less complicated."

"Complicated?" I was confused by my old man's choice of words, so he elaborated.

"Before we started dating, Akiko-san called me 'Asamura-san'. At home, that is. So to Saki-chan, 'Asamura-san' refers to me, and 'Asamura-kun' refers to you, Yuuta. That makes it easier to follow, I guess."

I didn't even hear the second half of what he said. I just froze up, with my mouth open in shock. I had never even thought about that, but it's true. Obvious, even. Even as close as they are, they still have a certain level of politeness towards each other. Even more so since he was still a customer back then, and a veteran at customer service couldn't suddenly close the distance between them by calling my old man 'Taichi-san'.

In public spaces, Modern Japan sees the addition of 'san' after a name as fairly formal, but sometimes it becomes inevitable to even add a person's family name... Wait, hold on.

"Wait, so back then you called Akiko-san..."

"Yup, I called her 'Ayase-san.' Makes sense, right?"

"It took quite some time for him to start using my given name though, my goodness."

"Hahaha, you're making me blush." My old man scratched his red cheek.

This gesture you could only describe as an example of belated adolescence caused even me to feel embarrassed. Ah, good, I'm being forced to watch a newlywed couple flirting first thing in the morning. But I guess this just goes to show how happy they are. When I raised my head and glanced over at Ayase-san, she made a bit of a troubled expression, but immediately went back to eating her breakfast.

Thanks to that, I managed to regain my calm as well. Thanks, Ayase-san.

After we finished eating breakfast, I brewed some coffee and set the cups out in front of everyone. Since breakfast was done and I hadn't helped, I figured I could at least do this much. My old man and Ayase-san prefer it black, but Akiko-san likes it with a bit of milk, so I poured a small amount into a small creamer pitcher and offered it to her.

"Thanks, Yuuta-kun."

"You're welcome."

As for me, I go with wherever my mood takes me, so I'm pretty random when it comes to my preferences. As for coffee, I usually alternate between Brazil Santos and Blue Mountain. My old man heard somewhere that the smell helps you focus, so he bought heaps of it. I think it was right before Ayase-san's supplementary exam. Since we still had a ton left over, I was slowly chipping away at it. As for how I finished my summer homework so fast, it was either because of the time I had at my part-time job or because of the coffee.

"Still, I never thought you'd start working at Yuuta-kun's part-time job, Saki."

"How many times do we have to go over that, Mom?"

"I mean, I just never imagined something like that."

"It's my first time working part-time, so I figured that it'd be easier to get into it if someone close to me had experience. I've always loved books, and I wanted to help my modern literature scores too, so this was just perfect, to be honest."

This exact exchange has probably happened at least three or four times since the beginning of summer break. Akiko-san was still a bit confused by it, but for Ayase-san, it was probably much easier to answer than the questions on her supplementary exam she had before break.

Of course, it was a surprise to me to see Ayase-san want to work part-time at a bookstore, which combines physical labor with not-the-best pay, considering how adamant she was about finding a job that pays a lot with the least amount of effort and time invested. She also doesn't seem to be as much of a book lover as I am, though I'm not trying to gatekeep here or anything.

That's why I doubted my eyes at first when I saw Ayase-san at the bookstore on that day. Up until that point, she had never mentioned anything about her plans or that she already had a place in mind. I was curious enough to want to ask her about it right away, but I couldn't exactly just leave my work, so I had to suppress my curiosity until the end of my shift. Then again, that was just wasted energy on my part, because she told me right away after I got home. When I asked her why she hadn't told me beforehand, the answer was simple.

"It'd be embarrassing if they didn't accept me after I applied."

It wasn't exactly an exciting plot twist like would be in a drama. It is true that it's embarrassing to fail a job interview, so I understand where she's coming from. While sipping the coffee in front of me, I reminisced about the evening Ayase-san nonchalantly told me 'Starting tomorrow, we'll be coworkers, Asamura-kun'.

"Are the two of you sure you want to be working all summer break?"

"No worries. I'm still attending my summer classes. I can take proper care of myself, okay?"

Once you become a second-year in high school, you should immediately start focusing on your university entrance exams. Especially in our school, Suisei High. It's quite a highly-regarded uppity school, so most people—aside from my friend Maru Tomokazu who spends his summer break with club activities—generally focus on mock exams or summer courses. As a side note, Ayase-san isn't attending said summer courses.

Since such courses are usually offered by a famous prep school, naturally one that charges money, she would have needed to ask her family for money in order to attend. My old man said that he wouldn't mind paying for them, but you know how stubborn Ayase-san can be. After all, she plans to get into a famous university all on her own, without accepting any sort of help from others, and I can't help but respect her for that.

"Summer courses? Ahh, I don't really care about that." My old man said, based on trust (or so I'd believe), and completely ignored my hard work.

Instead, he voiced an entirely different concern.

"I mean, you and Saki-chan aren't showing any signs of heading off anywhere for your summer break."

"That's what you meant?"

Both Ayase-san and I are busy pretty much all day every day, so being able to hang out as a family like this was a rare occurrence even during summer break. That being said, I didn't expect my old man to just completely ignore the topic of studies altogether and suddenly act all serious about something like that.

"It's very important. When you grow up to become an adult, you'll find it harder and harder to find time to really enjoy yourself. There's no time like the present for you two to spend some love-filled youthful time with friends."

"Mmhmm. So why do I feel like you've been having plenty of that despite your age?"

"In our case, it's love between adults. There's a difference."

Or so he said, but when I look at this couple, I wonder what exactly the difference is. But that would be too much of a philosophical question right now. Maybe everyone in the world just assumes that whoever says something first is right.

"As high school students, shouldn't you like, you know, go on trips, go to festivals, and create lots of memories?"

"As an adult, shouldn't you like, you know, warn me not to have too much fun? Also, I'm having plenty of fun doing my shifts at work, so it's not all work and tedium." I replied with an exhausted tone.

My old man shook his head in response. "Work is still work. You can't compare it to a trip or something like that, can you?"

"Well, you're not wrong..."

I mean, from an adult's perspective, working part-time somewhere is still pretty much like playing around, right? Adults love to talk about things with this kind of nuance, right? Apparently the same can't be said of my old man, though.

"Once you become third-years, you'll be busy with entrance exams, so having a bit of fun right now while you can shouldn't hurt, right?"

"Indeed. I'm worried that Saki is just watching her life pass her by."

Both my old man and Akiko-san started worrying about their children in a very different way than you would normally expect from a parent. Yet again I'm reminded that these two are actually pretty similar to each other.

"Also, your friends might be lonely if you don't give them some attention."

Friends, huh? When my old man said this, the first person who came to mind was a muscular guy with glasses.

"I don't have many friends to begin with, and the few ones I do have are devoting their lives to their club..." I internally gave a wry smile as I answered my old man.

My friend Maru Tomokazu is a second-year player like I am, and a regular attendee to the baseball club. Even during summer break, there's no day without practice. On the contrary, there's training camps, practice games in different prefectures, and that sort of thing. Even if I have time to hang out, he's way too busy.

"I'm glad for the long break! It allows me to practice more than during normal school days!" He told me with a grin, so that's probably how he became a regular. While thinking about what Maru said, I glanced over at Ayase-san.

"Myself aside, I feel like Ayase-san's friends probably invited her someplay."

"No plans." She bluntly denied any assumptions I might have had.

Ayase-san's only friend that I know of is Narasaka Maaya, but unlike Maru, I haven't heard anything about her being in a club. Not to mention that she generally cares a lot about other people, so I figured that, knowing how close she is to Ayase-san, she wouldn't let this summer break pass without inviting her somewhere. Since Ayase-san had denied anything of the sort, I was unable to ask for details and was forced to drop the subject.

Later, I was in my room preparing to head off to work when someone knocked on my door. When I opened it, Ayase-san was there.

"If you're wondering about Maaya, then don't worry about it. We don't have the kind of relationship where we would hang out during summer break. Just to let you know."

I was at a loss for words. She was so blunt about it that I wondered for a moment if I had spoiled her mood.

"Wait, Ayase-san."

"...What?"

Ayase-san was about to head back to her own room, and I instinctively called out to her. But I didn't even know what to say. I couldn't properly put it into words, but I felt like something was off, and that her attitude just now felt dangerous. My intuition generally is pretty good, so leaving this subject untouched could come back and bite me in the long run. All misunderstandings should be resolved as quickly as possible.

After spending these past three months with Ayase-san, I now somewhat understand how she thinks and how she values her time, so I can see how she wouldn't want to spend time with her friends outside school much, especially during holidays. That being said, she won't even interact with any strangers—isn't exactly correct, either. She brought Narasaka-san with her after school, and we played a game together, Narasaka-san taught her here, and she even helped with dinner. When you look at the distance these two are suddenly putting between themselves, it might seem like they suddenly got into a fight or something.

"Sorry."

"Huh?" I quickly raised my head, my thoughts interrupted before I could come up with anything to say.

With a somewhat troubled expression, Ayase-san continued to speak.

"I'm not angry or in a bad mood, okay? I'm sorry if I made you worry. But Maaya and I really don't hang out that often."

"Didn't she come over several times, though?"

"That's because she was interested to find out what kind of person you are. The other time I invited her was because she's good at looking after others, right?"

Oh yeah, Narasaka-san mentioned she had a lot of younger brothers. Unlike Ayase-san and I, both of whom are only children, she was taught from a young age how to be mindful of others and their troubles.

"Basically, without either of us inviting the other, generally nothing will happen."

"Ahh, well. I understand. I'm not the type of person who really hangs out with other people myself."

"Do you prefer staying alone?"

"More than going out, I guess."

I'd say I'm pretty good at entertaining myself. I can spend time by myself for as long as I want, and I don't find it boring or a waste. If anything, spending time with others can be kind of exhausting for me. When I was younger, my mother was always in a bad mood, so I had to always be careful to not anger her unnecessarily when I was at home. It always made me feel tired and tense. To me, a home wasn't a place where I could feel comfortable. That was probably why I developed this reclusive bookworm type of personality. It's not that I'm fine on my own. It's more that being alone just makes things easier for me.

"So you're the same, then. I guess that means this topic is resolved?"

"Yep." I agreed.

"Alright, I have to prepare for work. Also, I'm going to take a detour on the way there, so I'll probably leave early."

"Got it." I nodded, but my sense of discomfort did not go away.

I didn't want to think that she was lying, but something about what Ayase-san said sounded off. After she left and went back to her own room, I kept pondering this odd feeling that was plaguing me, and I realized one thing. Why did Ayase-san go out of her way to come to my room and emphasize that she didn't have any plans to go out with Narasaka-san over summer break?

I stepped out of the house a bit before noon. My shift for the day would last from early afternoon all the way until night. After parking my bike in the corner of the parking lot, I checked the time. I realized that I still had about thirty minutes until my shift started.

"Then again, that's not much time to step outside again..."

I decided to spend a bit of time inside the store, so I entered through the normal customer entrance. Just inside, I saw new releases and popular books on the shelves and on the front display. It's probably the most eye-catching location of the entire bookstore, but because of that, it was always a bit of a battle to get anything there depending on the time of day. Right now, a salaryman I guessed was in his 40s gave the new stuff a glance before he walked towards the corner with the sports magazines.

Although I don't have much time, it's always worth checking out what's new. Since there's only one entrance to the store, the cash register was close by. It makes sense, of course. For the people who have finished their purchases, the most important thing is to immediately move to a different location, and walking around inside the store any more than necessary after their purchase would just be a bother to them.

If you walk past this corner with the new and popular stuff, past several bookshelves, you'll reach an area with books that aren't exactly current top sellers. Everyone knows you should put popular books in a place where a lot of eyes find them. In every bookstore, there's a certain system and arrangement to how you display books in the store. Although I was only taught about ours by a senior at work, it made a whole lot of sense to me. Oh yeah, this takes me back to when I first started working here.

"Yomiuri-senpai, don't bookstores change their displays a lot?"

Around once to twice a year, bookstores would change the location of this popular corner, which baffled me. Even bigger stores couldn't seem to leave it in the same place. I can't imagine a library doing that.

"It's a lot of trouble, isn't it? Not knowing where all the books are." I brought up something that every regular bookstore customer must feel at least once in their life.

"Yup, that's exactly why," was Yomiuri-senpai's puzzling reply.

"What?"

"We do this precisely because you remember where things are."

"What do you mean?"

"To be more technically correct, it's because you think you remember. Humans actually don't remember the tiny details despite remembering the bigger picture. Do you remember what book was right here before?" Senpai asked, tapping one corner of the bookshelf she was standing next to.

It seemed to have not been sold out for too long, but the space was empty. Since this was the light novel corner, I came here pretty often, yet I still couldn't remember exactly what book had been in this location just before.

"Here's your answer."

She showed me the cover of a book we had just received today. It's a pretty well-known book, and the novel is from an author who's known for their short stories. Of course, I had read some of their books before, and when I looked around the bookshelf, I should have realized that it was filled with books from the same author. Although it's not part of any longer series.

"Ah, it was that one?"

"But when you looked at the bookshelf, you didn't think that anything was different from usual, did you?"

"That... is true."

"Basically, you don't remember what's inside the shelves. However, your brain thinks that the shelves are the same as ever. Humans are still just animals, so if they don't think something is off or different, their attentiveness drops."

I couldn't help but groan when Senpai said that. Despite her using me as an example, I could still tell that what she said made perfect sense. Of course, I didn't miss her faint grin at the end. She might look like a beautiful Japanese woman, but she's pretty rotten on the inside. At least that's what I was already thinking back then.

"So that's why we do it?"

"Yup, that's why we go through all of that. If nothing changes, then you'll be able to shop without having to actually look. We basically destroy that reality, changing the location of bookshelves and such from time to time. Then you have to walk around for a bit trying to find what you're looking for, and you'll pay more attention to your surroundings. Unlike a library, we're actively trying to sell books here. If we just put the new and popular releases on the special display, the rest of the store will be practically useless, because people don't check out other books aside from what they're looking for. A bookstore can't survive without moving the shelves around from time to time. I know of bookstores that vanished over time because their shelves were basically rotting in place!"

"Thank you very much for the philosophical and profound explanation, Senpai."

"I was pretty cool, right?"

"You were like an old and shriveled man from an RPG."

"Hmph, that doesn't sound cool at all." She pouted.

While thinking about what Senpai said back then, I looked away from the lineup of new stuff and looked towards the inside of the store. A bookstore is pretty much a showcase of humanity's knowledge. In addition, new releases reflect the current flow of the world's information for the current generation. I can feel it on my skin by simply looking at the titles and covers. It's a great way to spend time, to be honest.

I passed by the display and started my round inside the store. I checked the new releases, running my eyes along the bindings of the books on the shelves. When I do this, I can check how the store is doing, and I'll be able to help customers better once my shift actually starts. After a bit of time passed, I started figuring I should probably change into my uniform when someone suddenly tapped me on the shoulder.

"Yo, Junior-kun."

When I turned around, Yomiuri-senpai stood there in casual dress.

"Senpai, don't surprise me like that. I almost had a heart attack."

"Have you always had such a fragile heart?"

"It might not look like it, but I have."

"If you show me, I might just be willing to believe you."

"If you put it back where it belongs afterwards, I don't mind showing you."

Upon hearing my response, Senpai smiled happily.

"Who are you, Shakespeare? Even I know that you can't take out your heart without shedding any blood. I guess I'll just have to believe you without evidence."

"I appreciate it."

Today, Yomiuri-senpai was wearing slim-fit denim jeans with a sleeveless blouse, her long hair tied up behind her back in twintails. Her choice of clothes looked comfortable and relaxing, even refreshing for the current season.

"Also, aren't you here pretty early?"

"Right back at you, Senpai."

Isn't she supposed to start her shift at the same time as Ayase-san and I?

"Loitering around at home is boring. The A/C is on here, so I figured I'd check out the store before starting my shift."

"Are you that bored?"

"That's what it means to be a university student."

"What about your seminars, your circles, and your research?"

"Ahhhh, I can't heeeear youuuu, can't hear you at allllll."

"Don't react like a grade school student would. How old are you?"

"Remember the saying 'Better too big than too small', Junior-kun?"

"Your cheap logic makes you sound like a middle school student."

"No matter how old I grow, what's inside won't change."

"You're trying to sound clever, but this is just a half-baked attempt at dodging my question about you slacking off, right?"

"You'll understand how I feel once you start attending university, Junior-kun. University students aren't as mature as you high school students might think." Yomiuri-senpai tried to talk herself out of it as she smiled.

Her credibility when saying that was different than before.

"By the way, where's your little sis?"

"Who knows? Is she not here yet? She left the house before me, so I'd assume she should be here soon."

Even all during this past month, Ayase-san and I never walked to work together. She said something about how we should draw a line like how we were with our relationship at school, and I agreed. It's not like anything bad would happen if the store found out that we were siblings, and since Ayase-san had to turn in her job application, I'm fairly certain the store manager already knows that we're siblings. He's just not spreading this information to the other employees from what I can tell.

On top of that, I usually travel here by bike, whereas Ayase-san walks, so I would have to slow down and she'd have to speed up to keep pace with each other if we wanted to come here together, and neither Ayase-san nor I enjoy this kind of showy form of consideration.

"Still, I never thought that your little sis would come to work here~ Eh, what's that face for?"

"Well... I just had a similar conversation at home."

Why does everyone think it's a surprise that Ayase-san would work part-time at a bookstore? When I asked Yomiuri-senpai this question, she thought about it for a moment.

"It's not a rare thing to see someone working part-time at a bookstore. However, that goes for high school students who just want to play around a bit. Your little sis is as diligent and serious about her work as you are, Junior-kun."

"Maybe... Oh yeah, Senpai, are you going anywhere this summer?"

"Hmmm? Me? Of course. I'm going to wear a seductive swimsuit and have guys try to pick me up at the beach."

She said this while puffing out her chest in confidence. Should you really be acting this arrogant, though? Not to mention a seductive swimsuit? A what swimsuit? Well, from an objective point of view, Yomiuri-senpai is quite beautiful and good-looking. If only she'd stay silent, she would look like the perfect example of a Japanese beauty, especially with her alluring long black hair. Then again, on the inside she's an old man.

"The sea, huh?"

"What's that bothered face about?"

"Well... I can only picture it as a stampede of people."

You'd have to swim off the coast of Honshuu to avoid the crowd. Not to mention that for an introvert like me, going to a crowded beach is a bit too much to handle.

"I'm not going there to swim, so it's totally fine."

"You're going there to get hit on?"

"Yup, yup."

"Is being hit on that good of a thing?"

"I can eat for free thanks to it."

"You're not even poor..."

I mean, I know that the pay from a bookstore doesn't amount to much. Fundamentally, bookstores don't exactly have crazy good profit margins, so the salary isn't anything to boast about. Even if you're an actual full-time bookstore employee. Much more so if you're just a part-time jobber.

"Oh my, do you dislike this practice of obtaining free food?"

"Not exactly, I just don't like the idea of creating debts with other people. Also, constantly being treated like that is basically akin to confessing you don't earn any money, which leaves a bitter aftertaste."

I like to live my life with the principles of give & take, so always being treated to free things, or only being on the receiving end of other people's kindness, just doesn't sit right with me. There's nothing more expensive than something that's free of charge. Not to mention that food I bought with the money I've earned tastes ten times better.

"Well, that's very much like you, Junior-kun. But I'm offering them a beautiful university girl's smexy swimsuit appearance, so it's not like I'm eating for free, don't you think?"

"Smexy...? You already sound like an old man. Are you sure that appearance hasn't already withered away?"

"So you're calling me a dried up university girl?"

"I never said that."

I was just thinking it, is all.

"I can tell what you're thinking!"

"I'm sorry."

"By the way," Senpai put her index finger to her lip and smiled like a teasing cat. "Everything I told you just now was a lie."

"...Everything?"

"Yup, everything."

"So what were those lies for, then?"

"There's no deeper meaning to it!" Senpai insisted.

Then again, as I looked at Yomiuri-senpai now knowing it was all a lie, I probably should have seen through it from the very beginning. I reflected on my mistake. After all, her arms showing from beneath her sleeveless blouse showed no signs of any tan or sunburns. She was still as snow-white as ever.

"Well, jokes and fun aside, we should probably change into our uniforms now."

We walked to the back area of the bookstore and split up. I changed in the empty men's changing room, putting on my uniform. Right as I stepped out to head into the office, Yomiuri-senpai and Ayase-san stepped out of the women's changing room. It seems like she was perfectly on time.

She was wearing the same apron above her uniform as Senpai was. Unlike at school or at home, she now had her long hair tied up together with a ribbon, probably to help her work more efficiently. Her glittery blonde hair looked like the tail of a prideful and renowned horse. The gap between her employee uniform and flashy hairstyle caused her to stand out in the store, and my eyes would occasionally drift towards her.

It felt like our eyes met for a second. However, this only lasted for a moment, and she averted her gaze again. This isn't good. I need to get used to this already. Or so I told myself as I fixed my posture. I doubt Ayase-san likes it when I sneak glances at her.

The store was fairly crowded. Maybe because it was a Saturday, but it was probably mostly because we're in the middle of summer break. Even so, there was a short stretch of time when the flood of customers calmed down. I think it was around 3pm in the afternoon. After finishing a purchase at the register, Ayase-san let out a polite "Thank you very much!" to a customer as they left. Since no more people were lining up in front, Ayase-san, Yomiuri-senpai, and I all lined up behind the cash register, sighing in relief.

"You're doing great for only working here for one month, Ayase-san!"

"Really?"

"Yup. I thought we got a clever kid when Junior-kun applied here, but you might even beat him."

Her tone sounded like she was serious. Personally, I had to agree. Everything she did was perfect, from dealing with the cash register to helping customers. I didn't even need to step in and help her. Not to mention that this had already been the case about a week after she started working here. She was already remembering all the small details about this job, fitting in much faster than I did back when I started.

That reminds me, Yomiuri-senpai calls Ayase-san 'Little sis' when she's in front of me, but when she's talking directly to her, especially inside the store, she also calls her 'Ayase-san' from time to time. These kinds of things make her seem really mature. Mentally, of course. Not physically.

"Thank you very much." Ayase-san returned a warm smile.

She's been acting more dry and cool at home recently, so seeing a smile like that was refreshing. Then again, it was close to the fabricated smile she first gave me at the family restaurant.

"But that just shows how good you are at teaching me, Senpai."

"That response really shows just how amazing you are."

"No no, it's the truth."

"Um..."

"Ah, yes!"

A customer spoke up on the other side of the cash register, and Ayase-san turned around and started helping them with another perfect smile. It was an elderly woman who seemed to be searching for a manga.

"Should I take care of the cash register?"

"Please do." Ayase-san nodded and stepped out into the main store.

I figured she would come back soon enough, but after around ten minutes, Ayase-san showed no signs of returning. In the meantime, more customers lined up in front of the cash register, leaving me without a chance to go search for her. Books aside, Ayase-san doesn't read any manga. She might have gotten lost trying to help the customer.

"Leave the cash register to me. You help her." Senpai must have seen my worried expression, since she tapped me on the back.

I left the rest to her and stepped out into the main store. When I walked towards the manga corner, I quickly spotted Ayase-san walking along the bookshelves with the customer behind her.

"Is everything okay, Ayase-san?"

"Asamura-san..." Ayase-san turned around with a troubled expression on her face, her eyebrows hanging low.

From what she explained, the elderly woman was looking to buy a manga for her grandson. In other words, she didn't know much about manga herself, and she had a rather perplexed expression as well. She said she was looking for a new release from this month. It had just gotten an anime adaptation announced, and it had fairly good sales. Considering how many copies we get of popular series, I can't imagine it would be sold out. But Ayase-san couldn't find it.

"Judging from the publisher, it should be on this shelf..."

"Have you looked it up?" I glanced over at the machine in the corner of the bookstore.

We should be able to figure out if it's available thanks to the machine's search function.

"It says we still have five copies, but..."

"It's not in the front display, is it?"

"No, I already checked that."

After confirming the situation thanks to Ayase-san's input, I started thinking. It's odd to be unable to find the series despite it having just been released. We have copies of it left over despite how popular it is, too. However, since it's not in the popular items display, I was forced to look through the covers on the shelf. This shelf was filled from head to toe with manga from that publishing label. Going down the lines of authors with the A i u e o principle, I saw older series from them, but not the newest release. It seems like the ones we put on the shelves were sold out.

"Not here..."

"Yeah. I know it should be here, but..."

"That means... Hmm, maybe over here..."

I pushed the books that were laying flat on the display beneath the shelf aside. Then another manga, and a completely different one at that, appeared. It was the exact new release we were looking for.

"Ah!"

"Here. This is it, right?"

In bookstores, customers often take books out from the shelves to look at them but don't put them back in their original place. This is yet another example of that. If the book had been put away randomly somewhere else, it might have stood out more, and thus been easier for Ayase-san to find, but since they put another manga down on top of the one we were looking for, they effectively and accidentally hid it. The number of copies underneath the initial one also matched the number our search machine said we had in stock.

"Amazing...! How did you know?"

"Well... intuition, I guess? More importantly, the customer is waiting."

"Ah, yeah. Um... is this what you wanted?" Ayase-san turned towards the customer, checking if that was the one she wanted.

When she did so, the lady gave her a happy smile back.

"Yes, yes, this seems to be it."

"Great! Would this be all you need?"

The lady nodded in response and we escorted her to the cash register and finished the payment. The woman seemed very happy to have succeeded with her shopping trip, and she tightly embraced the manga and chatted a bit, then left. As she did, Ayase-san and I sighed in relief.

"I'm glad we found it in the end. So how did you even know to look there? It's almost like some kind of superpower."

"No, that's really not it."

On the card on the display, it said 'Releasing 2nd of August!', but the label on the book on top of the pile was one that should normally not be released on that day. Basically that book shouldn't have been in that pile to begin with, which stood out to me.

"I had no idea..."

I don't blame Ayase-san for not being familiar with manga releases. Unlike me, she doesn't regularly check new releases.

"It's hard to notice that sort of stuff if you don't have a feel for it. I just have a bit of experience, that's all."

—If animals don't think something is off or different, their attentiveness decreases.

These words Senpai told me a long time ago now came back to mind. When your brain thinks 'it's not there', then your eyes won't register either. n-.0VELBIn

"Even so, I think that's pretty amazing."

"I'm sure Yomiuri-senpai would have found it even quicker."

Yomiuri-senpai had switched with us, and was now patrolling inside the store. While thinking about her, Ayase-san muttered an indifferent 'I see' and stood behind the cash register again. More and more customers appeared to buy something, so things got busy again.

I could see the moon starting to rise between the valley of buildings. There were around ten days left in August, so the wind was still warm, and a bit of the leftover heat started to rise from the asphalt. The time of day was fast approaching 10pm, and it's actually already been fifteen minutes since my shift ended. A high school student is only allowed to work until 10pm, but we're basically being allowed to leave at 9:50pm instead. Even so, changing clothes and saying goodbye took the full ten minutes.

Ayase-san and I left together, walking next to each other. Since we both prefer to not be overly considerate of each other, we're both perfectly fine with leaving for work at different times. Yet we walk home together. The reason for this has to do with Akiko-san's conditions for letting Ayase-san work part-time. Namely, she asked us to walk home together when our shifts end late. She doesn't want a girl walking home alone in a big city like Shibuya. It just goes to show how loving of a parent she is.

Ayase-san had been against it in the beginning. She argued that having her older brother act as her bodyguard was taking things too far. According to her, she often had to make her way all alone to the bar where Akiko-san worked, and she was safe every time. Oh yeah, a lot of students had at one time spread rumors that Ayase-san was into some kind of shady paid dating deal, but in reality some students just spotted her as she was making her way to meet Akiko-san, and they got the wrong idea. That explained a lot of things.

And there's probably another reason why Ayase-san originally tried to turn down the idea of me tagging along. Since I was travelling by bike on the way to our job, I can make it home much faster. So she doesn't want to slow me down. If our positions were reversed, I'd probably feel the same way. Since Ayase-san prefers to be more on the giving side than the taking side, she didn't want to accept this condition.

Even so, she eventually agreed. She didn't want to burden her mother unnecessarily when she was busy with her work already. To be honest, I was relieved in that regard myself. Even if she herself said she was fine, I really don't want Ayase-san to walk down the night streets of Shibuya all alone. One time would be fine enough, but since we work almost every day, there was bound to be trouble that would happen eventually.

When I brought that up, Ayase-san gave a nonchalant 'I guess you're right'. After going through this several times, we've gotten used to walking home together. I wiped away the sweat on my cheek, hoping that it would cool down soon.

"It's a hot summer, huh?"

"So it's fall already, huh...?"

"Eh?"

"What?"

We both stopped walking. Ayase-san gave me a baffled expression, and I gave her an equally baffled reaction. After Ayase-san closely investigated my face, she nodded faintly.

"Are you talking about the heat?"

"Yeah. What about you?"

"That." Ayase-san pointed her chin in the direction of a boutique's... shop window?

I could see mannequins standing behind the glass window.

"That's supposed to be fall?"

"It is fall, right? What else would it be?"

Ayase-san's disappointment seemed to only grow when she saw that I remained confused.

"Eh, are you being serious now?"

"Sorry, I see no difference between the style of clothes on that mannequin and what you're wearing right now, Ayase-san."

I mean, I could tell that those weren't midsummer clothes thanks to her pointing it out. The sleeves were also a bit longer... I guess? But Ayase-san is wearing a checkered jacket over her knitted tanktop, so...

"That's not really the problem here. When you look at the color of the clothes and the minor details, you can tell what's in fashion this fall. Also, most mannequins are no longer wearing summer clothes, at least not those that you'd put in the front windows of a store. Not to mention that they're wearing different clothes than they were yesterday, right?"

"Are they?"

"You're joking..."

"Ah, no, I don't doubt you or anything. I'm sure you're right. So please don't make a face like you've run into a zombie or a Santa in the middle of town."

"Personally, I feel like I've encountered something even rarer than that. I wouldn't even be surprised to see a zombie or a Santa at this point."

"That's a bit cruel, don't you think?"

She's treating me like some kind of Area 51 inhabitant or a SCP. Maybe my consciousness is just so narrow that I don't even remember what the mannequins on my daily route are wearing.

"Asamura-kun, are you the kind of person who's not that interested in fashion?"

"Have you ever seen me reading a fashion magazine?"

If I had money to waste on clothes, I'd much rather spend it on books. Also, who would I, a loner and a bookworm, want to show these clothes off to? Ayase-san nodded, seeming to follow my reasoning.

"I see. I guess you really don't realize it at all if you have no interest."

"It seems like it."

"Well, I guess there's no problem if you're not working part-time for the clothes..."

"...Hm? What's that about?"

"Don't mind me~" Ayase-san started walking ahead.

I don't know what exactly she had just been talking to herself about, but I pushed my bike and followed after her. For some reason, though, from then on Ayase-san seemed to be in a better mood compared to before our conversation.