I left Masaya, who had club activities, and walked toward the station. Then, I took the train to the closest station to my apartment and headed to the convenience store right in front.
“Senpai!”
Then I heard a voice calling me from behind.
“You’re as energetic as ever, Yakumo.”
“That’s what I do best! Ah, you have a shift today, right?! Can I come with you?”
“Sure, let’s go.”
“Okay!”
Yakumo Sera, a junior student at my school and a job colleague, lined up next to me with a happy expression on her face.
Her semi-long brown hair was tied as a single knot, and her petite body moved with a kind of mascot-like cuteness.
She calls me senpai because I was a sophomore while she was a freshman. Moreover, I joined the job first of the two.
“You helped me out a lot before. I still can’t remember what brand of cigarettes we have…”
“Ah, that story.”
On a previous shift, I came across a slightly troublesome customer yelling at Yakumo.
As she said, she couldn’t remember the cigarette brand, so she didn’t know which one the customer had requested. She directed him to the aisle number, but the customer spat out in an irrational rage, “You should remember that much. Don’t bother making me look in your stead.”
It worked out since I had been on the job a year longer than Yakumo, and I managed to get the cigarettes the customer wanted―.
“But, how could you remember the cigarette brand name? I know I need to remember them, but it’s impossible for me. I’m not even interested in them.”
“Don’t say it so clearly… Though, I can’t say I don’t know how you feel.”
I only learned the brand names because I’ve been working here for a long time, and I was casually checking them when I was taking out items. It was also from being yelled at by people like those who victimized Yakumo.
“I guess it’s better to remember them when you’re working, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask for.”
“That kind of thing is hard when they yell at you. It’s not sincere, but on the surface, it’s best to listen and show remorse, and then just not care.”
Well, I can’t live like that myself, so in the end, I’m not sure which side of the argument I’m on.
“Hmm… That’s a tough one.”
“Well, I guess so. But that’s about all I can say.”
“Yes, sir! I’ll keep that in mind!”
I’m not in a position to give any good guidance, but Yakumo looked at me with respect.
It’s a strange itch, and I’m sorry to say this, but the time I spend with her makes me feel uneasy.
I know that I’m not a bad person and that I’m friendly, but… My instincts make me think this way.
“I’m going to have to learn to move quickly and efficiently so that I don’t have to be a burden to my senpais.”
“I agree. I might not be able to help you in the future even if I wanted to…”
“Eh? What do you mean⁉”
“No… I’m just trying to cut back on my shifts. I’ve been taking as many shifts as I could get, but from now on, I may ask them to reduce it to three shifts a week or something like that.”
“Are you going to reduce your number of shifts?!”
I was taken aback by the reaction. It was louder than I had imagined.
“W-Why is that!?”
“Well… It’s just that I have a little less time, or I don’t have to work as much in the first place.”
“You don’t have much time… W-wait! Girlfriend⁉ Did you get a girlfriend, senpai!?”
Girlfriend… girlfriend, huh?
I couldn’t give her any details of the situation, so I could only reply vaguely.
Still, if you want me to tell you in the closest possible terms―
“Yeah, something like that.”
“⁉⁉”
I’m not exactly in that kind of relationship ‘yet,’ but it would be strange to deny that I wasn’t. I could only show my sincerity this way.
“H-how… Senpai… A girlfriend?”
“Oi… Are you okay?”
I instinctively lent a hand to Yakumo, who looked dizzy with empty eyes. But she, on the contrary, got closer and looked into my face with a desperate look.
“Wh-..?”
“Who is it!? The other party!”
Hmm, I wondered if I should answer.
I am sure Yakumo would abide if I told her not to tell anyone, but she wasn’t as close to me as Masaya. In fact, I only know her when she is working part-time.
Not knowing leads to suspicion, which in turn makes me hesitant to say anything.
“… A classmate. I’ll say no more.”
“Why!? Please tell me!”
She backed down moderately, but it was getting harder and harder for me to say anything at that point.
“I haven’t told many close to me about this, and I don’t really want to.”
“W-Why is that?”
“Why?”
Why do you ask… Ah, yeah―
“Because she’s a precious person? That’s all I can say.”
“Precious… person…”
Yakumo’s body is dizzy again.
What is the need to be so shocked?
“…. don’t approve.”
“What?”
“I don’t approve! Until that girlfriend is actually in front of me!”
Suddenly, Yakumo shouted that and started walking and left my side.
“Senpai is probably still trying to keep up appearances, right?! I’m not so easily fooled! Hmph!”
“O-Oi…”
Yakumo said as if wound up and ran off toward the convenience store where she worked part-time.
I stood there in a daze, and I ended up walking alone to the store by myself.
“Haruyuki-kun’s… precious person? Me? Fufufu… Fufu… Fufufufu.”