Volume 3 - CH 2

“Could you work in the hall for a while?”

When the interview was over and I headed to my part-time job, the manager suddenly said to me.

“Well…..before that, I’m sorry for suddenly missing work.”

“That’s okay, that’s okay ! I’m glad you’re okay !”

The manager of this family restaurant is a normal person. He is neither kind nor strict. He’s not interested in student part-timers, but is a normal working person who only cares about getting stuffed by the head office staff. So there’s no way he would say something like a good person line…….

“Why am I in the hall?”

“YDid you hear? How Echizen san entered an idol training school.”

Ah,…..it’s already that time? There was indeed an incident where Hikari was accepted into an idol training school and moved from the hall to the kitchen to keep a low profile. But was there ever a story about me moving to the hall instead……?

“Idol trainee and Hero ! I want you to liven up our store with those two billboards.”

Ah…… those……. Today is not the golden age of the internet, but I’ve confirmed that there are images of a minor who have been stabbed all over the internet. I’ve also talked to newspaper reporters and it’s not an exaggeration to say that my personal information is being spread all over the world. I really…..don’t want to stand out for something like this.

“I’ve had some experience in the hall, so that’s fine…… I’d like to work mainly in the kitchen, please. Why do people talk about me anyway?”

“I know, I know ! Hm? Igarashi kun, have you ever worked in the hall before?”

“……Sort of.”

“Well, that’s fine. I’ve got an interview for the company newsletter. You don’t have to take the shift yet, but please do so.”

I was praised by the head office for my incident, wasn’t I? I greeted the manager, who seemed to be in a good mood, and went into the kitchen to bow to the usual people who were working in this part.

“I apologize for the inconvenience.”

“Seriously. What do you mean that you don’t work any shifts during the summer vacation? Thanks to you I didn’t get to go on the trip.”

“Midori chan, you’re so harsh～ If you’re being a tsundere, I’ll tell him about how you cried a lot.”

“Putting that aside, isn’t the store manager more awful !?so I don’t want people to know that I’m working at a family restaurant ! Let’s protest together !”

“Was there a cute nurse at the hospital?　I’d like to use them for my manga.”

……I felt relieved. This is it. No one cares about me or looks over my shoulder. They’re the only ones who won’t change. This relationship is the most reassuring of all.

“There were no erotic developments. You should look at the reality. But there were a lot of cute nurses.”

“Oh, seriously ! What should I do, I should be hospitalized too……

“There is no way any woman would take a 26-year-old freelancer as a partner.”

“That’s not good~Midori chan. Paa san turned 27 recently, so you have to tell him exactly~”

“He’s an old man whether he’s 26 or 27.”

“You’re not an old man when you’re in your twenties !”

Midori, Shinobu san, Hikari, Paa san, or anyone else came to visit me every day, so I don’t feel like it’s been a long time. But this time. Working together with everyone while talking about trivial things is the most precious thing to me. I’ve had a lot of hard times, but I’m having so much fun that I can say I’m glad I came back just to be able to spend this time with them again. If only I had realized it sooner…… No, I guess that’s the way these things are. It’s always after you’ve lost it that you realize it. How much you’ve missed it. I always regret the importance of their existence after losing them.

“……Shinobu san, well, how should I say it……”

“Hm～? What’s wrong～?”

I called out to Shinobu san at the right moment when we were alone together, but nothing changed in her expression or voice. There’s no color of romance, nothing.

“No……it’s nothing.’

It was only natural. The reason Shinobu san fell in love with me was because I protected her. Now that that history is gone, there is no way for me and Shinobu san’s relationship to progress. That’s why the adult Shinobu san disappeared from the past. The agent’s story is that I’m the only one who has disappeared from the world in which the adult Shinobu san and I were engaged, so Shinobu san’s happiness will not disappear……but I still feel a little sad.

I have yet to fall in love with Shinobu san. But if it continues like this, I should’ve fall in love with Shinobu san someday. That future is a future that I will never reach. Of course, if I took an action, I may be able to get closer to that future, but I will never see that Shinobu san again.

“……You were so cute.”

“What did you say～?”

“……Nothing.”

Well, it’s no use thinking about it. It might just be that the adult Shinobu san didn’t come to the past, and both of us were walking towards a happier future. If I change something in the past, the future will change. That’s right. What matters is now.

“Welcome home, master.”

“Who !?”

But when I got home, I found a maid I didn’t know. I couldn’t face it head on.