CH 16

“You’ve got to be more vocal! You can do better than that! Are you a lazy part-time worker? “

If I shout any louder, it will be too loud, common sense dictates that we should not shout at customers.

Well, it’s also too noisy if I don’t listen to him, so I’ll do it.

“The bill is 15,000 yen!”

“You idiot! Are you kidding me? Who would shout like that? 15,000 yen? How much do you have to eat to get that much? What? Are you alone or in a group? Tell them how many people came and what they ate for that much. Come on, tell them. “

No, you told me to speak loud. And tell them everything? What’s that?

Nakamura…Why are you so bossy just because you’re a little older than me?

What’s so great about being a college student?

Or rather, why are you being so unreasonable with me? 一What in the world did I do?

Hirose was teaching me how to work the cash register until a few minutes ago, but suddenly he said he was going to take over, and now we’re in this situation.

I’ve had this situation several times today.

Huh…

To be honest, it’s tough.

I wasn’t there on the first day of the week, so I didn’t know, but there are guys like this.

”Hey, are you listening to me, new guy? Newbies are more…. “

More…?

Hmm?　For some reason, Nakamura suddenly becomes silent in the middle of his words and disappears quietly somewhere by himself.

I still don’t get it. This guy.

Is he going to the restroom?

A visitor is coming.

“Welcome!”

“Oh! Where’s Erika Hirose?”

As far as I can see, there are about four of them.

The guy in front of me was the first one to look for Hirose.

“What is your relationship with Hirose, by the way?”

I smile and ask him the question.

“Just let her out of here! Hey! “

I knew it.

I remember Hirose whispering something about this. Recently a persistent and obnoxious guy has come to this place every once in a while.

I’m pretty sure it’s them, and their yelling is really loud.

Well, I can call her if I want.

Fortunately, she is out of my sight, and if I let Hirose-san out, she will surely hate me.

And if she hates me, it will be a big problem for my future part-time job.

A lot of trouble. So it is not a good idea.

Besides, if I let her out easily here and something bad happens.

I would be completely responsible.

I have no choice but to refuse.

First of all, it’s not very manly of me to listen to these guys in a situation like this.

Not that I’m not afraid of them, but fortunately, this is a family restaurant, and other people are watching.

I’ll be fine.

Even if they look like bad guys like this, they don’t give off an impression of a criminal.

I’m only on the level of intuition, but in my experience, I can sense who is stronger than me.

These guys are not stronger than Kanna, even if all four of them are together.

Well, they are definitely stronger than me.

“I’m sorry. Hirose isn’t here today.”

“What? Don’t lie to me! I confirmed Erika’s presence from outside the window earlier! I’ll kill you! I said, get her out of here!”

I just added fuel to the fire. Lying’s not good.

Or, rather, he had already grabbed me by the chest.

“Anyway, she’s taking a break right now. I’ll pass your message on to her later. What is it?”

I’m sure he won’t hit me here.

I hope the manager will come soon…

Speaking of which, I think the manager went out somewhere to buy dinner.

Ugh, I’m getting tired of this…

What should I do?

“I told you to get Erika out of here! “

“I’m sorry. She’s on a break.”

Well, there’s nothing I can do except firmly refuse.

No, there’s one more thing.

“You really need to see some pain to understand. You’ll get hurt really bad if you keep up this sense of justice. Hey! “

I grip the right wrist of the guy in front of me as he grabs my chest even tighter with his yell.

“Let’s just stop it for now. If you make a fuss here, you’ll disturb other people. If you make more noise, I’ll call the police. Not Hirose, but the police.”

“Ughh… You. What’s with your grip?”

Yeah. I’m weak. I can’t beat this guy in a simple fight. But I have a strong grip.

I haven’t seen anyone stronger than me in simple grip strength.

Well, this grip strength is not helpful most of the time.

However, it should be effective against such a half-hearted guy who likes to surround people and might be scared of the police. It should be effective.

In fact, this has happened to me once before.

Well, it was different back then. At that time, it happened when I was with Karen.

With ‘his’ body, I got good looks and a wild-looking face, so I got through it with a few words.

It was a bluff.

I was in front of Karen and I couldn’t show her how uncool I was, so I had to keep myself sharp.

And now, on the other hand, I have this grip, even though my looks and face don’t exactly flatter people.

It’s a bluff world out there.

I’ve learned from him how important it is to bluff.

I don’t know what will happen, but even if these guys hit me, it will be nothing compared to Kanna’s kick.

It’s a gamble, but since it has come to this, it can’t be helped.

“Hey, if you keep pestering her, I’m going to call the police. Unless you come here as a simple customer.”

“You, you…You do this to a customer… “

I can easily crush an apple in my right hand, which is my dominant hand, though it may surprise you. I guess it’s because I have been helping my parents with such heavy work since I was a child.

And I put more strength into my dominant arm, thinking like that.

“Well, I guess you can go now, Hirose is taking a break right now. And my dominant arm is my left hand, not this one. I’d appreciate it if you could just take care of it and not make any trouble.”

This is another bluff. I’m totally right-handed.

!

He kicked me in the face!

But I can take one kick like this with an expressionless face…maybe.

“Hey, that’s violence, isn’t it? I’m calling the police. It’s a case of assault. Someone, please call the police.”

It hurts a lot, but I don’t let the pain show on my face until the very last minute.

I shouldn’t show them.

“Ugh, we’ve got to go. Hey, I’ll remember you! I memorized your face!”

And then he freaked out, thinking that I was actually going to call the police. The people around the guy in front of me, who had been yelling earlier, left the store.

“I’ve really memorized your face, so be prepared. If I see you again, I’ll kill you.”

“That’s okay. We’ve also recorded your faces on this shop’s security cameras. You’re the one who’s going to get your hand crushed if you keep on being cheeky like this.”

(Kansai dialect, いちびってる, Ichibi tteru, To get carried away. To be too much. To get on one’s high horse. Cheeky. )

“Damn…You son of a bitch!”

And before I knew it, the guy who was holding my hand shook off my right hand and walked out of the store.

Or rather, I made him shake me off.

Phew, my hunch was right after all.

I’m glad I was right.

Worst case scenario, I’d be seriously injured.

If we meet again, will you kill me? No, no way. Absolutely not.

I’m sure I’ll be okay by the looks of him, but…

No, the anxiety and regret hit me at once.

Now that I think about it, I was okay when I was in Renya’s body because I seemed to be strong.

I don’t think my real body is strong enough in terms of appearance.

And yet, in the end, I said the same thing as I did before, with such a tone.

Ugh….. I just used a line from my favorite drama.

No, wait. It’s a gap between a weak-looking appearance and a strong tone.

And I’m pretty sure that was in the Kansai dialect.

Maybe I’m not as lucky as I did last time.

Whatever.

The crisis in this place is over.

My bluff worked this time, too.

Speaking of which, where’s that annoying college kid Nakamura?

He’s been in the restroom for too long, even if it’s number two. (For those who are unaware, number one is urinating, and number two is defecating.)

“Hee, really? Thank you very much.”

“Oh, well, if it’s up to me, I can handle it.”

Then, I heard the voices of Hirose and Nakamura from the back of the store.

“I’m sorry. I heard a lot of yelling, and Erika was afraid it might be them. Erika has been hiding here all this time. Sorry. Erika didn’t know what was going on, but it’s really scary to see four people… “

“Oh, it’s okay. Yeah, it’s fine now. Guys like them. I’m kind of used to it. I can handle it. So, you wanna get dinner sometime? “

That’s definitely Nakamura’s voice.

This guy…

“Excuse me. Can I have the bill, please?”

“Uh, yes. Excuse me. The bill is…”

Why…

“The bill is..?”

Ka-Karen!

“T-the bill is 850 yen.”

And she’s alone?

The person in front of me is definitely Karen Otsuka.

She stares at me with a familiar wallet in her hand.

She stares at me, holding a wallet that I must have given her as a gift in the past…

“Wow, I didn’t know Kazama works part-time at a place like this. I didn’t expect that.”

“Well, I’m just trying to learn about society.”

No, no, it’s not strange at all that Karen is at a family restaurant.

But, I don’t think she was the type to come to a family restaurant alone.

And, then, maybe what I said earlier…

“And what you said earlier was also very surprising. You seem surprisingly manly. And I haven’t heard that in a while. What you just said. I think it’s a Kansai dialect.”

” … “

Ahh…

“W-what are you talking about? I don’t understand…?”

“Hmm, fine. Well, that’s okay for today. See you later. Renya.”

This…

“No…. no, I’m Kazama.”

“Yes, yes.”

She says this and disappears from the store.

No, this is bad…

I’m sure she calls me Renya just now…

Seriously?

“Ya-hooー! Sō-chan. Oh, you’re a cashier! But show me around first. Come on, Sō-chan, don’t just stand there, show me around! “

“Ah.”

And then, as if karate was over. Kanna really came.

My mood and her mood are neatly reversed now….

” … “

“Ah! I just passed Otsuka! I wonder if she’s okay. Otsuka. She was mumbling something and looked so serious that she walked past me without noticing me.”

“Uhh “

M-mumbling with a serious face…?

“Here’s your seat…. “

“Yes. I’m ordering the hamburger Doria, of course! “

“Yes, I understand… “

“Mmm-hmm. Make it taste good! “

I went to the kitchen to place her order.

Then she, Erika Hirose, comes walking in front of me.

Well, I have no time to care about her now.

I tried to pass her in silence…

“Hey Kazami, thanks for earlier. By the way, what did you mean by ‘ichibiru’ earlier? Tell me more about it next time.”　

Huh?

She says in my ear and whispers in a small voice.

And when I turn around, I already saw her walking quietly in the opposite direction from me.

“Damn, how can I take down Erika? Eating together would be good. At least a dinner. Ungrateful!”

And Nakamura is talking to himself with a regretful look on his face for some reason.

Ungrateful? No, in the first place, you’re…

No, no need to mind him.

Too many things are happening these days.

I need to clear and organize my head.