Hataraku maou-sama ! Volume 7 Part 4

Vol 7 Short Story:

 Work! High School Girl –a few days ago

Hataraku maou-sama volume 7
Enjoy it and thx :D



A gust of cold wind blew in from an open window, causing a piece of paper next to a person’s hand to fall on the floor.
“Ah!”
The owner of the piece of paper frantically wanted to pick it up.
Even though its content is not something that would be troublesome if someone saw it, it was also something which could be causally shown to everyone.
Accompanied by the low sound of a chair sliding on the wooden floor, the owner of the piece of paper got up to stretch her hand towards the floor----
“Ah!”
The girl looked up when she discovered that someone else had picked up the paper first.
The person who appeared in front of her----
“Hm~”
was her friend, and that friend was currently looking at the contents of the piece of paper while frowning with a serious expression on her face.
“H, hey, Kao-chan! Don’t look!”
The girl called her friend’s nickname and frantically tried to take the piece of paper back.
“No, I’m not going to return it.”
The friend answered childishly.
“Kao-chan!”
“Sasa, what’s up with this?”
“What do you mean?”
Studying at Sasahata North High School second year class A, the closest friend to the girl, whether in class or club activities----Tokairin Kaori unhappily shoved that piece of paper back to ‘Sasa’.
“It’s all above 85!”
“Wah! You’re too loud!”
“Nothing will happen even if these scores were heard by others! Unlike me, my average scores are below 60!”
Kaori shouted seriously, she pretended to hug ‘Sasa’’s shoulders, and circled behind jokingly strangling the girl’s neck.
“Actually getting such good scores with such a clam face, you model student! Share some of your brains with me!”
“Wah, ugh, hey, Kao-chan, Kao-chan?”
“Oh?”
“……Isn’t this strange? I should have shared with you right?”
“……O, oh?”
The girl did not let the opening Kaori revealed when she guiltily looked away past.
She snatched the result slip from the mock exam mercilessly given after the spring break, and ducked to free herself from the arm wrapped around her neck.
The girl quickly circled behind Kaori, grabbed her friend’s left arm and raised it, pressed her body lightly against her friend’s back, and then----
“Wah, hee hee hee! Ugh, wait, Sasa, no tickling! That’s illegal!”
The girl restricted Kaori’s shoulder movement while tickling her sides.
“The parts which may come out in the exam, I should have already taught all of it to you, didn’t I already split up some studying time to you? After the spring break club activities ended, what have you been doing?”
“Ahahahahaha, er, erhm, I surrender, don’t tickle anymore!”
Kaori, who was unable to stand the tickling attack, patted her thighs, announcing her surrender.
As the girl originally was not serious about it, she promptly let go of Kaori.
“Fu, fu, oh my, I did study, and Sasa’s teaching method is easy to understand, but, that, I didn’t have much time.”
Kaori smiled stiffly, and said her excuses with a finger twirling in her hair.
Kaori’s normal results were not considered bad, but since even Kaori was like that, then about how about the other person?
Just as a bad feeling surfaced in the girl’s heart----
“Oh, how amazing, Sasaki, your mean deviation is more than 60!”
Someone picked up the mock exam results which the girl got back from Kaori after much effort, and shouted in surprise, the girl looked back----
“Emura-kun.”
And discovered that the person is Emura Yoshiya, the person who is one desk number ahead of her.
Tokairin Kaori and Emura Yoshiya are her classmates since first year, and also comrades from the archery club.
As the desk numbers in the school are listed by mixing the boys and girls and arranging them by 50 tones, so at the beginning of the term when the seats have not been changed, the three people with consecutive numbers are seated together in one row.
“Yoshiya, how did you do?”
Kaori asked Yoshiya.
“Ah, me? Failed in English and Japanese, other subjects barely over 50 marks.”
Yoshiya replied unconcernedly.
“Yeah, I won Yoshiya!”
“……Emura-kun……”
Compared to Kaori, who clenched her fist in joy, the girl’s shoulders slumped and she sighed.
“Oh, Chi-chan is depressed again.”
“Probably because Emura failed again? There doesn’t seem to be many people in the Archery club, it feels a bit pitiful.”
Comments from the surrounding people who understood the three people very well since last year were heard.
“Sasaki, Sasaki Chiho, are you there?”
Suddenly hearing someone shout her name, the girl----Sasaki Chiho, looked up with a tired look on her face.
Looking carefully, the teacher in charge of Kanji, Andou, was waving at her from the door.
“I’m sorry, please give this out.”
Chiho was not the class representative or held any other positions in the class, but for unknown reasons, she was frequently asked by various teachers to do miscellaneous things.
What Andou-sensei passed to Chiho was a stack of documents made up of 3 pieces of paper stapled together.
The title on the top wrote ‘To Guardian Second Year Three Way Talk, Things to Take Note’.
The April of just being promoted to second year of high school.
A season where the feeling of spring can be felt, but the winds are still cold such that people did not want to let go of their winter clothing.
The school life of Sasaki Chiho’s second year of high school, a normal life not much different from middle school, raised its curtains.
※ “Even if Yoshiya got bad results, Sasa doesn’t need to be so depressed right? That guy didn’t even prepare for the exam right? Sigh, even though I, who studied but ended up getting delicate marks, have no right to say this.”
Kaori comforted Chiho, who looked worried.
However, with regards to Yoshiya, who shamelessly said that he failed two subjects, what Chiho was worried about was actually other things.
“……Once I think about the upcoming midterms, I can’t treat it as someone else’s problem. Even though I really want to believe that he’s alright.”
Chiho sighed with a heavy tone, Kaori looked at Chiho’s face, and spoke like she discovered something,
“Hm, that’s true……ah, Sasa, there’s ketchup on your face, here.”
Kaori pointed to the area next to her mouth, Chiho, who discovered that the corner of her mouth was stained with ketchup from the hamburger she was biting, quickly grabbed a paper serviette to wipe it off.
The two people were currently at the place they will pass by on the way home from school, the MgRonalds in front of Keio line Hatagaya Station.
After club activities or on the way home from school, Chiho and Kaori would frequently patronise this shop.
Even though it might be difficult to judge accurately just based on the snack expenditure standards of high school students, Chiho always thought that these products, which logically should not be much different from other food stores or other MgRonalds, the ones at this store were particularly delicious.
“If it is a regular exam, as long as Emura-kun accepts one remedial class, then he would have to stop club activities right. Everyone in the club will be troubled like this.”
“That’s true. After there’s only three of us club members in the second year, even though there would still be juniors joining later, if the only boy in the second year is like this, then we can’t be an example for them.”
Kaori ate her fries while agreeing with Chiho’s worries.
Sasahata High School, which Chiho and the others study at is considered a school which places more emphasis on going onto higher education compared to the metropolitan high schools nearby, and in the past, there was one person who got into Todai University.
Therefore the school specially emphasises that a student's role is to study, as long as they fail in more than three subjects in a regular exam, unless there are special circumstances like participating in national competitions, they would be banned from participating in club activities for a period of time.
The archery club which Chiho, Kaori and Yoshiya joined did not have a lot of members, luckily because the three of them joined last year, they were able to avoid the disbanding of the club.
Even though there were not many high schools with specialised archery dojos in the country, and the environment already looked rather good in terms of facilities, but the number of high school archery athletes in Japan were not high to begin with, and amongst student spots, the basic equipment for this sport is classified as the more expensive kind.
Now other than the three people including Chiho, there was only one male and female senior in third year, the teacher in charge was useless as well, without any experience in archery.
Therefore in terms on instructions, they could only rely on their seniors, graduates, and voluntary work from the Dan grade people nearby a few times a month, however even so, there was still a limit on how much they could improve.
With this, if they were unable to get more than three male juniors to join this year, the males would not even be able to register for official competitions.
Because it is this situation, Sasahata High School is not a strong school, forget about national competitions, the best result they achieved was Top 16 at the City Competition more than 10 years ago.
So if Yoshiya fails at three subjects at the next midterm, he would be immediately forced to stop club activities.
Like this, it would affect the morale of Chiho, Kaori and the new members, if club activities were stopped close to a competition, they would be unable to practice properly.
Chiho did not feel like she would be able to give her whole high school life to archery like in sports manga, but since she got into a sport, she hopes to compete with full preparation.
Because of this, Chiho was very surprised that Kaori’s results did not improve at all this time.
Logically, Kaori should not be the type who would busy herself until she neglects her daily activities……
“I feel bad as well, even though I’m not looking for an excuse, but the reason for me letting Sasa’s teaching efforts go to waste is partly because of club activities.”
“Eh?”
Kaori pouted, slumped on the table, and said,
“I, was working during the spring break.”
“Eh? Working?”
Chiho said in surprise.
As Sasahata High School did not ban working, so Chiho did hear of her classmates taking up regular work.
But the subject this time is Kaori, making Chiho feel interested.
“Eh, what work did you do? Why did you suddenly want to work?”
Chiho could not help but lean over and ask, so Kaori smiled with a rather troubled expression,
“Ne, my archery skills aren’t as good as Sasa, so the arrow would frequently bend, and also, changing a bow does require quite a bit of money right.”
“Ugh, I, I don’t shoot that much better.”
Chiho was not being humble, but sincerely felt that way. Recently, Chiho was able to let the arrow fly straight and ‘touch’ the target at a competition distance called ‘near target’, but she felt that she still had not reached the standard of comprehending a ‘bullseye’.
(T/N: Near target is approximately 28 meters.)
Even though they are second year club members, but the three of them including Yoshiya are still novices like when they started learning last year, so the difference in skill between them was not that much.
“Ugh, but when Sasa was shooting the practice target, your arrow barely bends at all.”
Kaori used her right hand to assume the posture of shooting at the practice target and said.
Even though the practice target looked simpler to shoot than a regular target, but if they did not aim accurately, a cheap arrow was still bend very easily.
“And the practice bows prepared by the club, the length does not suit me at all. So I started work because I wanted to buy an equipment which suits me……sorry, even though you specially took time during revision to teach me.”
“I see……I feel rather sorry, actually not knowing anything.”
Chiho, who no longer felt surprised, felt a certain admiration for Kaori this time.
In Chiho’s eyes, who had not worked before, Kaori seemed to have matured.
“It’s alright, it’s my own problem after all. Sasa was able to improve steadily just by using practice arrows, so you’re much more capable compared to me.”
“It’s nothing like that……”
It was not a joke, it does cost a lot of money to learn archery.
Even basic equipment for students would require at least 50,000 yen for a complete set, Chiho also felt hesitant in the beginning because of this.
Because with Chiho’s situation, unless she asked her parents to help pay for her, she would be unable to obtain equipment to enter the club.
However, Chiho’s father----Senichi, who is a police officer, seemed to feel very happy because his daughter picked a martial arts club able to train her heart and body, and to Chiho who decided to discuss with him, he consented to her joining the archery club without any protests and went to an archery equipment shop to help his daughter buy a set of bow and arrow equipment.
Even though Chiho said, ‘A cheap one would do’, but her father, as a police officer with a Dan in archery said,
“If you use something that is too cheap in the beginning, the growth later on will slow down.”
And then helped her prepare a set of equipment which could be considered the highest grade in terms of standard pricing.
Thankful for her father’s attentiveness, Chiho not only treasured all the equipment very much, she also remembered to maintain them.
But like Kaori said, bow strings and arrows are consumables, and the cost of maintenance also costs quite a lot.
Even though there are durable arrows made from aluminium alloy, but the tensile force of the bow, the physical stature of the shooter, the weight of the arrow itself, this balance differs from person to person, so to gather a set of cheap bow equipment is not an easy thing to do.
“……But, it’s amazing.”
“What is?”
“I have never thought about working for the sake of equipment which suits me.”
The reason why Chiho choose to enter the archery club was because she thought it was cool.
Of course, one of the main reasons was that Sasahata High School did not have choir, which Chiho joined in middle school, in addition during the period of time in first year where the clubs recruit new students, she had felt touched from seeing that third year president assuming the basic posture for shooting----‘Kai’.
At that time the bow the club senior used at the martial arts performance, was not made of carbon fibre like what Chiho and the others were using, but a beautiful bamboo bow which looks like a white material could just seep out from deep within the bow.
“Don’t praise that person too much. I resigned in the end anyway.”
Chiho recalled about past events a bit, and Kaori said unhappily.
“Is it short time work, or daily pay?”
Chiho, who was not clear about how working is like, tried to ask with words she vaguely remembered.
“It’s neither. I worked at a family restaurant, but I resigned later because it was too laborious.”
Kaori sipped on her orange juice and replied with a stony face.
“Family restaurant?”
Even though it is classified as a family restaurant, other than large scale franchises around Hatagaya and Sasazuka, there were other countless restaurants.
“Even though I don’t want other people to say I have not resilience, but the job was really out of this world. And the customers are scary.”
“Is that so?”
“Sigh, even though there wasn’t much time to learn anything, I have to officially start work around the third time I came. Isn’t there a handy terminal specially used for ordering food? There are a ton of buttons on top, and four options will come out for each button. Because there were spring promotions on the first and third day, so the options have all changed, making me spend a lot effort just to help customers take orders.”
“Oh……but at the beginning, isn’t there a ‘Training’ nametag to wear?”
Chiho recalled seeing such a thing at a family restaurant a long time ago.
Kaori shook her head with an exaggerated expression on her face,
“Customers don’t care about such a thing. When Sasa ordered just now, you didn’t carefully see the employee’s nametag right?”
“No, I do read it you know? Even though I don’t know how to read it, but the last name of the black haired guy, the first word is ‘Ma’, the back is ‘Ou’. And there was even B Grade Employee written on it.”
Chiho looked at the black haired male employee who helped her take her orders, looking like a model ‘MgRonalds’ employee straight from a television commercial, from afar.
“……Sasa is a special case. Normal people won’t look at all.”
(T/N: Question to everyone, do you look at the nametags of the people who serve you? ^_^ Proof-reader’s Note: My customers stare very very intently at my nametag…I think it’s because my name is unusual.)
Kaori looked at Chiho in a rather frustrated manner for unknown reasons.
“Anyway, even if you ask me, who is still in training, what is added in the spaghetti, or how many calories there are in sundae, I won’t be able to answer right? I didn’t read it.”
“But normally, aren’t these information written in the menu?”
Chiho asked nonchalantly, and after that Kaori suddenly got up, stretched across the table, pointed to Chiho’s nose in a gloating manner and said,
“That’s right! You think so as well right? They didn’t read at all! Actually not reading the menu and asking directly, ‘What does this store have’, I don’t know what these people are thinking at all.”
“Oh……I see. But is there so many of those people? When I go to buy things or eat, I have never seen them……”
Chiho, who could not grasp the reality of what Kaori said was not even able to finish what she said when Kaori leaned over again and said,
“Have you seen for 6 hours continuously? There are such people every day. And those kind of customers are considered good, there are others who use the drinks bar like they’re free, and lose their temper once you remind them; or complain that the plates used this time are different from the previous time, even if you ask me these things, how would I know about this!”
Kaori’s aura did not show signs of dissipating, and Chiho could only continue playing along.
“The most troubling thing is, because the store was filled with customers during lunch time, and there was a group of people waiting outside, so I told a salaryman who came in ‘I’m sorry, the store is full now, please wait in order’. But that person actually asked me ‘I have to wait? Why?’ Don’t you think that is strange?”
“……That’s really out there.”
Even if she felt it was hard to believe, as Kaori is not the type to exaggerate, they should really be salarymen like this.
“Right? Because that guy can’t understand Japanese, so not knowing what to do, I could only remain speechless, and in the end, he actually asked me to ‘call the manager’ in a very pissed off voice. Without any other choice, I could only asked the manager to come, and because that time period was super busy, so even the shop manager lost his temper at me.”
“Eh?”
“And when the shop manager is not around, only me and a senior is left at the hall. When me and him are around, the desserts aren’t made by the kitchen, but the staff at the hall. But even though he didn’t teach me anything, he suddenly threw a manual at me to ask me to make sundae, how would I be able to make one? I don’t even know where the ingredients are!”
Kaori kept complaining. Like being asked to do things that she had never learnt before, and being lectured after failing at it; or even though her evil hearted senior is very free, he wouldn’t come over to help, anyway, she didn’t have good memories of this working experience at all.
Even though she knew her friend chose to resign after being unable to tolerate these things, Chiho, who suddenly thought of a question, still asked her friend,
“Then did they give you your pay? Didn’t you resign after working for less than one month?”
“At least they still gave it to me! But because it was calculated with the hourly pay of a trainee, and I resigned after around half a month, so I didn’t get a lot! Ah! Anyway, it really sucked!”
Kaori pushed the MgRonalds tray, which she had finished the food to the side, and slumped back in the sofa in an exaggerated manner.
At this time----
“Miss, if you have already finished your food, can I help you clean up the table?”
A voice was heard from next to where the both of them were seated.
After Chiho and Kaori looked up on reflex, they momentarily sucked in a breath.
Someone dressed differently from the other employees, who can only be described as a ‘beautiful lady’ was standing in front of them.
That lady has a lithe body, and had porcelain white skin, adding onto that a low voice full of charisma, she looked like a fashionable model.
Chiho looked at the nametag hung on the lady’s chest which she discussed with Kaori earlier, ‘Shop Manager: Kisaki’ was written on top.
Chiho thought about the reading of the lady’s last name.
Next that shop manager who even had beautiful posture, after politely taking away the tray when Kaori nodded dazedly, left after bowing.
As quite some fries and a drink were still left on Chiho’s tray, even if they still stayed here for the time being, they did not have to feel bad about it.
“Wah~ that person is really pretty.”
Kaori was still staring at the back of the shop manager.
“If I can meet that kind of shop manager, I would probably stay longer. The shop manager of the store I worked before, he wouldn’t work when he sees that they are no customers. And he still told me, try to find something to do when I’m free. He should be the one working properly!”
Only after that female shop manager disappeared behind the counter, Kaori finally turned her head back to Chiho’s direction.
Chiho replied with a wry smile,
“But I often heard before that the work at restaurants and convenience stores are very difficult, but after all, work is doing something you’re not familiar with. But for me, who has never worked before, saying this is a bit strange.”
“That’s true. But I feel that if you’re scolded by the manager or someone for all the little things, you would still lose motivation right. Ah, it’s annoying! I definitely don’t work to work in a family restaurant anymore!”
After declaring this loudly, she slowly took out a stack of documents from her school handbag.
“Then again, even if you tell of to think about our future path now, we should not have that much idea right?”
That was the document which Andou-sensei asked Chiho to give out, the content was a notification of a three way talk between the student, homeroom teacher and guardian, and the survey stapled at the back.
As it is a survey about future paths, so it is expectedly asking students to choose to continue higher education after high school graduation or finding a job after, and giving a reason underneath, and this survey forms seemed like it would be used as a reference during the three way talk at the end of the month.
“Sasa should want to go to university right?”
“Yeah……probably……”
Chiho nodded and vaguely asked Kaori’s question.
Having to think about the future path after graduation after just being promoted to second year, caused Chiho to feel rather troubled.
“Yoshiya would definitely not qualify for university, so he would probably graduate directly, what should I do. I already confirmed that I’m not going to choose a family restaurant anyway. But reason……even if I want to continue further education, I don’t know what I want to study.”
Chiho’s feelings were exactly the same as Kaori’s.
Talking about universities, other than famous universities like Todai and Kyodai, Chiho also wanted to get the names of the schools which got the first few places in the road relay competition which her father went to watch during the New Year.
However, even so, to Chiho, who did not even have any working experience, getting into employment was an area even more foreign than university.
“Ah, but Sasa’s breasts are huge, and you look cute too, as long as you walk around Harajuku, perhaps you’ll get scouted by talent agencies right? Why don’t you just join the show business?”
Kaori suddenly said jokingly.
“I say……”
Kaori would frequently tease Chiho about her breasts so she is already used to it.
Even though a lot of female friends are jealous about Chiho’s breast size, but she sincerely thought that being big chested had no advantages at all.
Not only it is easy to mess up her posture when shooting or get it hit by the string, even the inner wear her mother buys for her is so expensive that she felt bad or something which does not look cute at all.
Even though Chiho had not experienced stiff shoulders, even if she saw tops she likes and the shoulder area and sleeves fit, she always had to give up on them because they could not be buttoned up around the chest or her chest shows between the buttons.
“How is that possible. Be more serious. This has to be shown to our parents after this.”
Chiho ignored Kaori’s joke with a serious look on her face, took out a similar document from her bag and started to flip through it.
“I totally forgot that it needs to be shown to the family! Then I don’t know what to write anymore!”
Kaori grabbed her own head, feeling very troubled over it.
The ambition box in the survey form was especially big. Seeing this, Chiho thought of essay questions were the word count basically has to be at least 80% of the specified word count, causing her to start worrying about it.
Chiho had a similar feeling when she was in middle school, this vague term like future path would always cause her emotions to become ambiguous.
Why Chiho wanted to enrol into Sasahata High School in the beginning, was simply because this school fitted her academic ability was close to her home, not because she wanted to learn anything special in this high school.
On the future path guidance survey in middle school, she did honestly write this on the form, but she was asked by her homeroom teacher to write a more formal reason.
Even though it was not what Kaori said, Chiho remembered that there were students who said that they wanted to join the show business or become an athlete on the survey form, but in the end, their parents and teacher told them, ‘Don’t dream such impractical dreams’.
But on the contrary----
“If the occupation one wants to do the most is a civil servant, it feels that person has no dreams at all.”
Such a saying being circulated amongst the masses, really cannot be agreed with.
Even though one would be seen as an idiot by others for chasing one’s dreams.
Chiho’s father is a civil servant known as a police officer, so from her viewpoint, she felt that ‘being a civil servant means having no dreams’, this saying is looking down on people whose goal is her father’s occupation, but this caused her to be more confused about what the adults meant by ‘future path’.
“Even so, I don’t have anything in particular I wish to do in the future.”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing.”
Even if she felt angry about the unreasonableness of the adult’s word, even if she was asked, ‘Then do you have any amazing ambition’, Chiho would not know how to answer.
Because in reality, she did not have any.
Even though everyone says that you can enter a good company when you graduate from University, but since the television was reporting news about the bad economy and difficulties in finding jobs everyday like a mantra, even if it was a high school girl, she also knew that a job cannot be found based on results alone.
On the internet, it can be seen that some people are arrogantly saying that studying in university is useless when going out in society.
If so, why do so many companies all want to accept graduates from first rate universities, thinking about this, Chiho was more confused about what future path is.
(T/N: Luckily I have already been through university and found a job, or else I might just get depressed reading this section.)
Chiho placed the survey form at the corner of the table, picked up the paper cup holding her drink, and as she thought that she probably did not look that cute when she frowned, she planned to suck a mouthful of drink in the cup.
At this moment, she noticed the advertisement underneath the survey form, placed on top of the tray.
“……Looking for working comrades.”
As long as it is the MgRonalds tray paper, advertisements for hiring would be printed on top.
“Sasa?”
“……Kao-chan, through working, you should have learnt some things which have to do with society and not taught in school right?”
“It’s nothing like that. I just know that working is tiring and troublesome……”
Even though Kaori was not wrong, but to Chiho, who did not have any worries in her life due to the care of her parents, even if it was for a short time, her friend, who interacted with a world she did not know, seemed to be closer to the adult’s world than herself.
“Look at this, if I start working as well, I might understand things related to future paths or work.”
Seeing Chiho point towards the MgRonalds hiring advertisement, Kaori shouted in surprise,
“Eh? Stop joking around, it’s better if you don’t do such a thing. Did you not listen to what I said just now?”
“Uh, but……that’s not the only reason, just like what Kao-chan said, I also want to buy better archery equipment……”
“Even though letting your parents pay for the arrows does make one feel bad, but it can’t be helped, with Sasa’s results, even if you wait until you get into university before you start working, it won’t be too late.”
“Hm, that’s true……”
The white bamboo bow and arrow used by the already graduated senior surfaced in Chiho’s mind.
Of course that senior did not use that set of bow and arrows every time, but if she also started to work and earn money, she might get closer to that beautiful bow.
And if she could take the chance to understand a bit about working, it could be considered killing two birds with one stone.
“Not only does Sasa’s have good brains, you’re not lacking in spending allowance right? You don’t usually spend a lot of money anyway.”
Kaori seriously tried to dissuade Chiho.
“Even though it’s not because I feel anxious……”
However, even the school results praised by Kaori and Yoshiya, was not at the standard of being the top five in the whole school.
Chiho could not deny that there was actually an urge to challenge new things nested somewhere in her heart.
At this moment----
“Ah!”
Chiho, who was thinking and did not notice her surroundings, could not help but shout out.
A salaryman, who passed by the two of them, because he did not adjust his shoulder strap properly, his bag propped up on their table, hitting the paper cup Chiho was holding.
Even though it did not hurt, Chiho still dropped the cup because of the surprise and impact.
As the two of them were here for quite some time, the lid of the paper cup, which had turned soft, loosened once it was dropped from a height, the cola which spilled out instantly spread to the corner of the table, wetting Chiho’s document.
“Oh!”
The salaryman seemed to realise his mistake and the surprising thing was still to come.
When the two of them looked up, they discovered that the salaryman in front of them was not Japanese.
A bearded burly white man, was currently saying something to the both of them, but Chiho, because an important document was stained, she was unable to react at all.
“W, w, what do we do?”
“Sa, Sasa, are you alright? Uh, that……”
Kaori, who was worried for Chiho, also did not understand what the foreigner said.
“Uwah, the document is dirtied……what to do, then again, how do you handle this situation?”
“-------------!”
Chiho, Kaori and the white man knew that it was a bad situation, but the difficult thing was that they could not communicate.
After the man felt troubled for a while, he took out a handkerchief to pass to Chiho, it would be alright if only the clothes were dirtied, but if the paper was already made wet from the cola, it would no use even if the handkerchief was used to wipe it.
Just as Chiho and the rest did not know what to do, and froze on the spot because they did not know what order to handle the situation in front of them----
“Miss, may I know what happened?”
The voice of a young man saved this situation.
Chiho, who looked up because she had an impression of the voice, discovered that the black haired male who took her order at the counter earlier had rushed over here. The store employee, who leaned over between Kaori and the white male, looked rather surprised at the puddle of cola on the table, and asked Chiho in a concerned manner,
“Are you alright? Did your clothes get dirty……”
“E, erhm, I’m fine……”
“Ugh, Sasa, how is this fine, what do you do with your document?”
At this moment, Kaori finally picked Chiho’s document up from the cola puddle.
“B, but it can’t be helped, since it’s already this wet, even if we borrow a towel from the employee……”
Just as Chiho stared at the paper which had softened and became stained from absorbing water----
“-----------!”
That white man started to say something again. But even if they know that the other party was speaking English, Chiho and the others, who did not have the ability to converse in English, still did not understand what the man was trying to say. It was useless even if the other party apologised anyway, and just as Chiho planned to say ‘it’s alright’ to the man----
“This gentleman wants to apologise to you……”
The employee with the nametag ‘Maou’, a last name with an unclear way of pronunciation, suddenly said this to Chiho.
“Eh……?”
“----------!”
“I’m sorry, it’s because I was not careful. This man says he wants to compensate you. This document, is it handed out by the school?”
“Yeah, it’s a document related to counselling about the future paths to take.”
Kaori answered for Chiho, who was too shocked to say anything, and after the employee looked at Chiho and Kaori’s face in turn with a rather surprised expression----
“That is her school document which is guidance counselling.” (T/N: Actual English text in the novel, looks like the author’s English improved after Vol 5. Remember ‘Here have fork, ha?’ XD)
He suddenly started to converse with the white man in fluent English.
“Oh……really?”
Once the white man heard this, he covered his face in an exaggerated manner.
“I’m sorry, may I know if the document which your comrade has contains the same contents?”
“Eh? Ah, that, that’s right, how did you know that?”
The employee replied apologetically,
“Excuse me, because the voices of both of you could be heard from the counter……so honestly, I heard everything.”
“S, sorry, disturbing you like that.”
After hearing the employee’s explanation, Chiho, who felt embarrassed, bowed her head in apology.
The employee shook his head with a warm smile and said,
“How about this? From how I see it, these documents seem to be normal printing paper. If your comrade’s document has not been written on, you can consider borrowing it from her to a nearby convenience store to photocopy it……”
“Ah.”
“Ah……”
Chiho could not help but nod with open mouths, thinking carefully about it, this was an easy thing to do, but not even thinking about this method to handle this, it could be seen how frantic they were from this accident.
“Sir, her friend has a blank document. Would you copy this by a pay copier?”
After the employee said a string of words, the white man raised both his hands and said something.
“Because he’s afraid of dirtying it again, so this gentleman seems to wish for your friend to go to the convenience store with him. I will go as well, if you do not mind, can I ask this young lady to come along?”
“Ah, okay, no problem.”
Kaori, who seemed to have calmed down a lot, after she nodded, she took her document and stood up.
“This uncle would help to pay for the photocopying fees right?”
“He said even if you want to print 100 copies, it is fine with him.”
Even Chiho could tell, that the content which the employee translated last, was a joke which suited the style of foreigners very well.
“Then I’ll be back soon, just wait here for a bit.”
“Shop manager, I need to accompany a customer out for a while.”
Kaori and the employee, after speaking to Chiho and the shop manager behind the counter, the three of them walked out of the store.
Thanks to the employee with an unknown last name pronounciation, ‘Maou’, the initial chaos was solved in an unbelievably smooth manner. Even though Chiho breathed a sigh of relief because the document could finally be saved, the incident did not end here.
“Miss, excuse me for disturbing.”
The beautiful shop manager came to Chiho to talk to her, and bowed with a beautiful angle.
“May I know if your clothes were dirtied?”
“Ah, hm, my clothes are fine.”
“Then I’m relieved. Even so, my apologies for having this incident happen when you are happily eating. If you do not mind, I can give you a new set of drink and fries, would you like that?”
“Eh, it, it’s fine.”
This time, Chiho really got a shock.
After all, the shop did not do anything which needs to be apologised for.
Rather than that, because that ‘Maou’-san was around, Chiho was able to know that the white man wanted to apologise, and successfully saved the document, so Chiho thought that the person who should be thankful is her.
If she even let the other party help her change to new drinks and fries, she would feel very bad.
After Chiho honestly said her thoughts, the female shop manager shook her head with a warm smile and said,
“Our job is to create an environment where customers can eat comfortably within the store. So we should try our best to prevent troubles between customers, not only is this our job, it is also our responsibility. So Maou……that employee just now should help customers to solve their problem.”
So that male employee’s name is read as ‘MAOU’. Chiho looked back at the door which the three people walked out of earlier.
“More accurately, giving your friend trouble, is what makes me feel bad. If both of you are going back for today, as long as you show today’s receipt the next time you come, you would be able to redeem the same items, what do you think about this?”
The female shop manager smoothly said these sincere words.
To Chiho right now, compared to the commotion which occurred earlier, the personalities of the shop employee who accurately read the situation and solved the problem with fluent English, and the shop manager who apologised to her sincerely, moved Chiho even more.
Even though she did not plan to criticise Kaori’s previous workplace, but it feels like if it is the store these two people are working at, the atmosphere should not be the same as what Kaori had gone through, making a workplace comrade have unhappy memories.
More importantly, to Chiho, who thought the job of MgRonalds employees is just to make hamburgers, the explanation of the shop manager who said, ‘job is to create an environment’, felt refreshing to her.
“Receipt……”
Chiho took out the receipt which she put in her wallet subconsciously, and looked at the contents printed on it.
And discovered a certain piece of information on it.
“That’s right. Later, as long as you bring that receipt, no matter when……”
Even if the shop manager still wanted to continue explaining with regards to Chiho’s receipt, when Chiho came to her senses, she was already asking a question completely unrelated to the receipt.
A telephone number was written at the bottom of the receipt, as well as the words hiring workers.
“Erhm……”
“Yes, what is it?”
If the content has to be more exaggerated, what Chiho said to the shop manager at that moment, greatly changed her destiny later on.
“May I know, if this is the telephone number of this store?”
※
“Working at Mags?”
“Kao-chan, you’re too loud!”
“Eh, Sasaki, you want to work?”
The next day, after Chiho went to school, she told Kaori and Yoshiya that she followed the hiring advertisement of the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya station to apply for it.
Therefore, the both of them were predictably shocked, leaned closer to Chiho and said,
“Eh, but that kind of thing just happened yesterday, right?”
“That incident has nothing to do with the store, and that uncle also apologised a few times afterwards.”
“Um~I don’t care okay! I have already warned you! The days when you’re unlucky will be very arduous!”
“Sasaki should be more capable than Tokairin. Let’s not care about that first, Sasaki, if you’re accepted, I’ll be go there as a customer.”
“Uwah, Yoshiya, do you have the right to say these things? Is it this mouth? Is it this mouth which said I am useless?”
Just as Chiho, who was sandwiched between the two of them, wanted to try stopping Kaori from rushing over to grab Yoshiya----
“But, why do you suddenly want to work?”
Yoshiya tried asking.
Chiho placated Kaori, who was threatening Yoshiya, and replied at the same time,
“Wasn’t the future path ambitions form given out yesterday? Honestly, if this goes on, I do not think I will be able to say anything meaningful during the future paths counselling. But if I try to work and earn money, I feel that I would be able to understand things about this society and working.”
“I feel that it’s not much use.”
Kaori, who had a bad working experience, said with a stony face. Chiho could only give in wry smile in response.
“And there’s still the same motive as Kao-chan----I also want to have money, whether it is used to buy archery equipment or other things.”
“That’s true, I also want money too.”
“Yoshiya, if you start working, it’s not something which can be solved with failing two subjects.”
“……Sigh, perhaps it may really turn out like that.”
Kaori said harshly, however, Yoshiya, who could normally dismiss it casually, actually replied with a serious face this time, causing Chiho to feel concerned.
“But regardless of whether I failed two subjects, or twenty subjects, only both of you would get angry at me. Honestly, I am quite envious of Sasaki who can be so serious about the future.”
“……Emura-kun?”
“Since you know we’ll get angry, then work harder a little!”
Yoshiya showed a rather lonely expression, causing Chiho to feel very concerned, as for Kaori, she just criticised Yoshiya like normal.
“Both of you won’t be participating in my three way talk anyway. Sigh, the day of the three way talk, will my parents really come?”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
Sasahata High School, who emphasised on future paths counselling, even though they had some flexibility regarding the attendance date, the guardians seemed to be strongly encouraged to attend the three way talks.
“Sigh, because my parents don’t seem to be that interested in me.”
“Eh?”
“Ah?”
Yoshiya said quickly, even though the two people who did not know the situation wanted to know more, Yoshiya changed the topic first.
“Forget about this first, Sasaki, if you are hired, Tokai and I will bring a few classmates to eat there, at that time, please take care of us.”
“Eh? What are you saying, Emura-kun!”
“Oh my, it’s rare to be able to see friends work right? Like Tokai, she would not even tell me where she is working at.”
“Because I know you would do such a thing, which is why I didn’t tell you. My original job already caused me to accumulate a lot of stress, how can I let Yoshiya see me work.”
“Eh, w, wait a moment, it’s not confirmed that I would be hired.”
Chiho could not help but start to stutter.
Thinking about it carefully, other than Chiho, other students from Sasahata High School frequently go to that MgRonalds.
Even though she did not know the reason, it feels like letting her friends see a side different from her usual self in school would make her feel troubled.
“Sigh~ actually telling Yoshiya, Sasa, looks like your luck has run out.”
“D, does that matter, nothing much will happen even if I am seen. If I am hired, I will definitely work properly!”
“Good, then it’s settled. Tell us again when you’re hired!”
It feels like the development of the situation is a bit strange.
Even though she regretted her careless words, Chiho’s determination to work did not change.
Yesterday, once Chiho reached home, she immediately contacted the store, causing the shop manager Kisaki, who picked up the phone, to be a little shocked.
Even though such a thing just occurred yesterday, the two of them quickly agreed on a time for the interview.
As for her parents----
“It’s alright as long as you can maintain your current school results.”
Chiho also received a conditional agreement.
Chiho subconsciously touched her bag, inside was a resume which she bought as the stationary store before she called yesterday, last night in order to fill in the resume, not only did she repeatedly look at a few model examples, she troubled over it until late at night.
※ Perhaps it is because she already knew how the other person is like beforehand.
When she accepted the shop manager’s interview in the evening, Chiho did not feel especially nervous.
The two of them were currently in the staff room where customers do not normally enter do carry out a one on one interview.
The shop manager Kisaki Mayumi introduced herself to Chiho once again in the same polite manner as with customers.
Then----
“Please let me look at your resume first.”
Kisaki started to read through the resume Chiho passed over.
[Image of Kisaki reading through the resume and a nervous looking Chiho]
The content should not contain anything wrong or strange right, Chiho, who faced this for the first time, felt her heartbeat accelerate because of nervousness.
“……I see.”
After more than 10 minutes, shop manager Kisaki nodded once and placed the resume on the table.
“Sasaki-san.”
“Y, yes?”
“On top, you said your motive for interviewing is to accumulate social experience through working.”
“Ah, y, yes. Is there anything wrong?”
“No, there’s nothing wrong.”
Shop manager Kisaki looked at Chiho’s eyes directly and asked an unexpected question.
“Do you have any urgent need to accumulate social experience?”
“Eh……? N, need?”
Chiho was flustered.
She actually expressed that her goal is to accumulate social experience in the interview motive.
Perhaps she discovered Chiho’s inner chaos, shop manager Kisaki smiled lightly and continued speaking,
“It’s nothing, it just that Satahata High School is considered a school of higher academic ability compared to nearby metropolitan high schools, and you also joined a sports club. So I was thinking why you wish to specially limit the free time outside of studying and school life and rather choose to a more difficult lifestyle of working to accumulate social experience.”
“Ugh……”
“There’s only me and Sasaki-san here. If you don’t mind, I wish to know the reason.”
“……”
Shop manager Kisaki moved the old office chair to face Chiho again, shrinking the distance between them slightly.
Looking at Kisaki’s eyes, Chiho felt that she seemed to be able to understand the motive behind the other party’s question.
“Future path……”
“Yes.”
“I am troubled over the path I should take after graduation.”
“Future path huh. You’re thinking of continuing higher education or getting a job?”
“Yeah. Earlier, I talked with my friend about working, and from her, I heard many things which could not be experienced in school at all. Even though I have been studying in school since middle school, but with regards to the path in the future, the more I thought about it, the more I did not understand, then yesterday, shop manager……”
“Me?”
“Told me at your job is to ‘create an environment’, until now I thought MgRonalds is just a shop which sells hamburgers, perhaps working is actually a concept which is much wider than what I normally experience, even though I cannot express it very clearly……”
Chiho felt it herself, that the words she is saying now, is more scattered than she thought.
However, shop manager Kisaki did not press Chiho, and only nodded lightly for her to continue.
“Then, just as I started to thinking what is working, shop manager-san told me that I, would be able to exchange for similar products as long as I bring the receipt over, the money I originally used to buy hamburgers, can actually come back to me in forms other than the products, so, I started thinking about money.”
Chiho felt herself gradually losing her calmness.
School, future path, friends, club and family, various things were spinning around in her head, causing Chiho to be confused as to what exactly is truly important.
“Even though I am not sure what form it will be presented in, if I can understand these things by working and earning money, it can at least turn into social experience, so, in the end, erhm……”
Chiho, who could not calm down, frantically waved her hands and legs, and said loudly,
“I want to work and earn money.”
“……I see.”
At this moment, shop manager Kisaki smiled in satisfaction for unknown reasons.
“It is just a casual chat, have you ever thought about where to spend the money you earned?”
“W, where? Uh, once I saved enough money, I want to buy a better bow. And arrows as well.”
“Arrows? Even though I’m not clear about archery, but these arrows can only be used once?”
“No, even though it’s not to that extent, it will occasionally snap or bend during practice and become useless, so there is a need to continually replace them. Archery is originally a sport which uses up a lot of money, and I feel bad if I ask my parents for money every time, and a suitable arrow differs from person to person, so I think if I earn my own money, even if it is more expensive equipment, I would be able to choose freely……”
After that, there was a period of time where shop manager Kisaki was having a conversation with Chiho with regards to archery, and after 40 minutes of what was more like casual talk rather than an interview, the interview time finally ended.
“Then Sasaki-san, thank you for specially coming down today. As for the results, I will contact you these two, three days.”
“The one who should say thank you is me. Then I’ll be leaving.”
Just as Chiho got up and bowed and prepared to leave the staff room, she discovered that her legs were shaking slightly.
But just as Chiho opened the door and walked out of the room----
“Ah, hello.”
The employee called Maou who helped to solve the conflict just happened to be outside the door and greeted Chiho with a glance.
“I’m shocked. Such a thing occurred yesterday, and you actually applied for work today, how unexpected.”
From Maou’s refreshing smile, he should be expressing welcome.
“Yeah, hello……”
But Chiho, who totally relaxed after the end of the interview, seemed to only have enough energy for one greeting.
“It’s great if you can be hired. I’m looking forward to seeing you come here again.”
Chiho, who was spoken to when she prepared to go home, was able to make herself nod.
Chiho walked out of the store with shaky steps, and when she could not see the store, she squatted on the ground, grabbing her head.
“I definitely failed……”
Chiho felt that her reason of wanting to earn money was too exaggerated.
Ever since she walked out of the shop, she kept regretting the fact that not only did she not say the things she ought to say, she also said some things which felt unnecessary no matter how she thought about it.
Especially even honestly revealing that she wanted money and what she wanted to buy caused her to regret it greatly.
This time she must have gave the other party a bad impression.
Even though Chiho originally wanted to show her decorum as much as she could, but in front of someone part of society, she was still unable to break out of the mould of a ‘fashionable teenager’.
“Sigh……looks like I won’t be able to come to this store of the time being.”
She did not have the courage to enter the shop where she did not pass the interview again as a customer after all.
Tomorrow, she better suggest to Kaori some other places where they could hang out after school.
When the sky started to darken, Chiho, her brain filled with these negative thoughts, went on her way home with unsteady steps.
※
Within the MgRonalds store in front of Hatagaya station, after the high school girl applied to work left, it was obvious that shop manager Kisaki seemed to be happy.
“Hey, Maa-kun.”
Kisaki talked to employee Maou.
“What is it?”
“I’ll leave that girl just now to you.”
“Fast! You already decided to hire her?”
“Yeah, even though I didn’t have much expectations at first because her resume looked normal, I’m satisfied with her unexpectedness.”
Kisaki never stopped smiling.
“Please don’t mention the resume thing to me anymore.”
After hearing this, Maou’s face turned stony for unknown reasons. But Kisaki, not letting it go, still continued speaking,
“Give up. A resume where the interview motive is ‘wanting to eat good food’, I will never forget it my whole life.”
“Haha……but, this means that even though the resume is normal, the interview results are very good?”
That high school girl who just walked out of the staff room, looked like just a normal girl in Maou’s eyes……
“Yeah, it’s rare to find a student who likes it she will stay for a long time. Don’t teach her too strictly okay.”
“My god! This is probably the first time I heard Kisaki-san say not to be too strict to someone!”
This is really an unexpected high rating.
“That girl looks like she already takes things seriously. And since she is able to answer that way, I feel that even if we’re strict to her, it won’t have any meaning.”
“You plan to let her improve on her own huh.”
“Yeah. I especially like the way she doesn’t use beautiful words to cover up her own hopes. That’s how the situation is, I’m counting on you from tomorrow.”
Looking at the back of his happy supervisor, Maou mumbled softly,
“Hope huh…… if I wrote conquer the world, it would definitely be treated as a joke and not get hired……”
Other than an old cashier, no one else heard Maou’s mumbles with a dangerous aura.
※
“So, how was your second day of work?”
“Hm……it feels like my feet are going to die……ugh……”
Even if she was currently on the phone with Kaori, Chiho, lying on the bed in her room, still could not help but groan.
Her legs, which she thought were already trained from club activities, were swelling. Whether it was her soles, calves, thighs or soles, they were filled with a tiredness she had never experienced before, even though she already soaked in hot water and massaged them thoroughly, it felt like the fatigue had not gone away at all.
“You were standing the whole time after all. There’s no break in between?”
“No, because the working hours aren’t long.”
“Ah, that’s true, I think if the working hours are not more than 8 hours, there won’t be any break time.”
“Yeah, the explanations about this were mentioned on the first day……”
As law dictated that high school students can only work until 10pm, the results of the discussion is that on normal working days, it can at most only be arranged from the time school and club activities end until 10pm at night, these four hours.
As for weekends, it is 4 to 6 hours.
When they were talking, Chiho started to remember things which occurred on the first day of work.
Chiho never thought that after answering like that, she would actually still be hired.
Because she was told beforehand that she had to cut her nails, so after Chiho cut her nails in a more careful manner than she would normally, at the appointed time, she headed for the store feeling more nervous than during her interview, and received the contract and the uniform her size from shop manager Kisaki.
The loose design caused her chest to be less obvious, causing Chiho to breathe a sigh of relief.
Seeing herself change into the MgRonalds uniform which is normally saw as a customer, and herself reflected in the mirror of the staff room, gave Chiho a strange feeling.
“Then, next, follow me around the store, I will explain to you the usage of the various facilities in a simple manner, and the jobs the various areas are responsible for.
After Kisaki said this, Chiho immediately straightened up.
Even though this store isn’t that big, but what you need to remember is still quite a lot……”
Chiho, who recalled Kaori’s previous experience, felt uneasy because she was worried that she might get scolded if she was unable to remember everything in one go. But----
“Because it is impossible to remember everything due to the huge amount of information, so you just need to roughly know there is actually this kind of business. If you feel that there is a need, you can take notes. The first job of Sasaki-san is to first learn various things.”
“Y, yes.”
“In addition, you must wash your hands before you go out to the hall, I will teach you how to wash, so we will start from the tap where you wash your hands……”
After that, Kisaki brought Chiho around the store once, and explained in order the machine name, area name, room layout, the jobs of the various areas and the places where items are placed.
The notebook in Chiho’s hand was quickly filled up with messy notes.
Even though it was a store she had been to many times, there were new terms and new habits everywhere, machines she had never seen, and areas she had never entered.
Just explaining about the store interior required one and a half hours, after that was basic greeting practice, and as a result, three hours of the first day passed just like that.
Finally----
“Hey, Maa-kun.”
Kisaki suddenly waved an employee over (to Chiho, even calling a shop employee as an employee is very fresh).
What is surprising is that the employee who walked over, is that man called Maou who had helped Chiho before.
“Ah, you’re the one from earlier……”
It looks like Maou still remembered Chiho, he took off his cap, and greeted Chiho with a cheerful smile.
“Uh, ah, I, I’m working here from today! I’m Sasaki Chiho! Please take care of me!”
She bit her tongue from the start.
Even though Chiho blushed furiously due to embarrassment, not only did Maou not mind----
“I’m Maou Sadao. Sasaki-san, please take care of me from now on.”
He even answered her in a polite manner.
From the way Maou spoke English and how the treated others, Chiho thought that he should be a lot older than her, but actually after greeting each other face to face, it feels like he is unexpectedly young.
But it looks like he should not be a university student right?
“Because I will not be in the store tomorrow, I wish to get him to help take care of Sasaki-san.”
Kisaki placed her hand on the shoulder of Maou, who is Chiho’s senior----
“With regards to this store, he knows everything, so test him all you want.”
When she got to the second half of the sentence, Kisaki was already saying in a laughing manner.
“Such pressure.”
Maou put on his cap again and smiled in a troubled manner.
“If you teach the wrong things, I won’t let you off!”
Even though it was not known how serious she was, Kisaki still piled more pressure on the mentor.
But even while smiling wryly, Maou still said with a confident expression,
“Don’t worry. Compared to commanding 500,000 people, this is nothing.”
“Eh?”
Chiho was confused over the term 500,000.
So Kisaki shrugged and said,
“If not for the fact that Maa-kun will occasionally exaggerate like this, he would not have any faults.”
For unknown reasons, Chiho did not feel that Maou was exaggerating just now.
“Haha……but considering that Sasaki-san will be working in this store long term, if there is anything you don’t know, you can ask me, Kisaki-san or other people directly. If you can’t pick up a skill after learning it once, then learn it twice, if twice is not enough, then learn in trice, please remember to consult others. And in our store there is definitely no one who would lose their temper at you because you can’t learn something well.”
“Al, alright……”
“If someone got angry at you because of this, tell me. I will……”
Kisaki’s expression suddenly turned into a smile of an Oni.
“let that guy see Hell.”
“Wah!”
That scary smile, caused Chiho to cry out.
“To explain what Kisaki-san just said in easier to understand way, it means compared to causing customers trouble by making mistakes based on a vague impression, no matter how much more work it would take, you should first consult those who know, less harm will be caused that way, please don’t hold back and ask your seniors questions.”
Maou help translate to Chiho, who got chills from Kisaki’s smile.
“Everyone from this store learnt this way, so no matter what you ask, everyone will carefully answer your questions.”
“……I understand. I will work hard.”
The work performance of Kisaki and Maou as employees, Chiho had already experienced it personally as a customer.
Since the both of them had said so, then the other employees must also be very capable.
Even though Chiho did not feel anxious because of his, she still hoped to develop to a point where she would not drag other people down.
“Uwah……what is this? Is it Heaven?”
After hearing Chiho’s experience of her first day, Kaori expressed envy from the bottom of her heart.
“Every time I ask, I would be told by others that someone should have taught me already.”
“Ahaha……”
“Since the first day is like that, then how about today?”
“Ugh……”
For the first day, other than greeting, it was all learning.
Only today, when she went to work for the second time, she was finally given a more decent job.
“Because I still cannot touch the products, so today, I was cleaning most of the time.”
“Cleaning?”
“Yeah, like wiping the trays with sanitised cloths, wiping the table while remembering the table number, taking the straws, paper serviettes and specialised takeaway bags out from the storeroom to replenish the shelves with the spares and so on. In addition, I also took the chance to clean up the shelf holding those spare items……”
“Then did you take out the garbage or anything?”
“They don’t seem to allow me to take out the garbage.”
“Eh?”
“Because the separation of the trash is very strict, so they only let the people who can properly separate the trash to do it, and isn’t there a rubbish bin near the entrance of the Mags? Because I am unable to properly guide customers to their seats and answer questions from customers, so I am still unable to do these jobs.”
“……It looks like every store is a bit different.”
“Because standing for 4 hours straight is tiring. Ah, just like what Kaori said, I did get asked a very difficult question. Even though I was wearing a huge ‘in-training’ nametag.”
“Experiencing it so quickly. So, what was the result?”
“Yeah, because unless it was really very busy, that senior Maou would be at my side and mentor me, so in the end, it was solved by that senior.”
“Sasa, exchange with me.”
Kaori’s tone was serious.
“But it sounds quite good. Even though I don’t want to learn from Yoshiya, but I will also find time to see Sasa’s working appearance who has become a Mags-nee chan.”
“……Please go easy on me.”
Chiho, who hang up the phone after chatting about some unimportant things, recalled the ‘difficult question’ which Kaori mentioned before.
A man in his fifties came forward to ask if the store in front of Hatagaya station sold any birthday cakes.
Chiho had never heard of MgRonalds, as a hamburger franchise store, selling any cakes.
Even though no one taught her before, Chiho still did not think too much and prepared to answer that customer based on her own impression----
“We’re sorry, our store does not provide birthday party services, so we also do not sell cakes.”
Hearing Maou next to her suddenly reply like this, caused Chiho to get a shock.
Chiho, who was unable to link MgRonalds with birthday parties and birthday cakes, suddenly felt that it was hard to believe.
Maou, who was next to the surprised Chiho, continued to speak,
“However in district 23, in Meguro district and Suginami district, both of them have a branch store where birthday parties can be reserved. Because the store at Suginami is closer in comparison along the Keio line, let me go back the store number for you.”
After saying this, Maou quickly walked to the staff room, and took out a flyer which Chiho had never seen as a customer and passed it to the man.
Chiho, speechless, watched the customer give his thanks and leave.
“Sigh, actually this kind of things aren’t common.”
After saying this, he passed a similar flyer to Chiho to read.
“Some branches of MgRonalds will provide reservation for birthday parties, but compared to stores in the city which are small, there are more branches like this in the suburbs.”
On the flyer, a photo of a few children who just got into elementary school holding a birthday party with the store employees was printed.
“Children seem to hold some admiration to the adults working around them, and would feel happy once they see this uniform and hat. But very few people will ask this question, so you don’t have to mind that much.”
“……”
Chiho, looking at the flyer, started to feel ashamed at her own rashness.
Since the customer will ask this, he should be thinking of holding a birthday party at MgRonalds for his grandchild.
If Chiho was not careful and gave the wrong answer, it might just cause a party to go down the drain.
“……so that’s why it was said earlier to ask someone when I am faced with something I don’t know.”
“Hm?”
“Because I have never seen MgRonalds sell cakes, so I thought there wasn’t any……”
“Ah, yeah, actually I have not really seen it myself too……”
“Sorry, I will be more careful in future.”
“I see.”
Maou nodded lightly.
“But since you are able to reflect like this, then on the contrary, you should be careful not to make yourself too depressed. If you really reflected from the bottom of your heart, then you definitely must not repeat the same failure.”
“……Yes.”
“But even though I said this, it’s better if you don’t think that you’ll be able to do everything perfectly immediately.”
“Eh?”
“Becauase if Sasaki-san does everything perfectly during training, then I won’t have no standing right? Whether it’s me, Kisaki-san, or other people, everyone learnt their job by causing trouble to others, so making mistakes at the beginning, and reflecting later is also part of the job. It’s alright as long as there is development in the end.”
Even though it is said in a rather direct manner, but what Maou said while being considerate to Chiho still made the latter relax a little.
But even if Maou said this, it does not mean that Chiho could slacken.
“Yes, but in order not to feel bad when collecting salary, I would depend on others without acting like a spoiled child and work hard.”
After Chiho made herself more vigilant, Maou raised his eyebrow in a rather surprised manner and said,
“I seem to understand a little, why Kisaki-san can say that Sasaki-san will stay for a long time.”
“Eh?”
Chiho asked back in confusion.
Even though she was not clear, but if shop manager Kisaki praised her in this way, it was something to feel happy about.
The result of using her eyes, ears and body to experience little by little----
This is what working is.
Thinking and thinking about it, Chiho’s consciousness started to become enveloped by sleep----
“……I have to brush my teeth first.”
Chiho, who almost dropped her phone, did her best to urge her body to get up from the bed, and walked towards the wash basin. ※
Ever since Chiho started working, around two weeks have already passed. Even though she does not work every day, when she accumulated up to 7 work days, Chiho felt like she had already surpassed the difficulties from the beginning.
Even though it is very tiring, and it was not just filled with happy things, at least Chiho did not feel depressed when she thought about the next time she had to work.
“But your expression is really down.”
Contrary to her thoughts, Chiho’s expression seems to be a bit gloomy, and so Kaori said this in concern.
“Yeah……the shop manager and seniors are all good people, but I’m not troubled because of this.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hm……I might become fat.”
“Ah?”
Other than the first day, the remaining six times she went to work, Chiho was given a rule to eat MgRonalds regular meals as dinner.
Even though Chiho liked MgRonalds meals, and she did not have to pay because she is a MgRonalds employee, but always eating fast food will make her care about the calories.
“Having somebody treat is a good thing, but eating it every time might be too painful. Why do you have to do such a thing?”
“Seems like if I don’t know what the taste of the products I sell is, I won’t be able to recommend to customers. Like me, even though I do go there often, there are a lot of meals I have never eaten before……”
“Ah……that’s true, I have also never eaten those which are too expensive and the breakfast.”
Kaori fully agreed after understanding.
“But of course, it won’t be like this forever, seems like after the training has ended, it would change to using employee price. Looks like you have to pay to it yourself afterwards.”
Even though she did not plan to do such a thing, in order to avoid boasting about her workplace, Chiho added this on.
The employee price Chiho was talking about refers to employees being able to buy the products sold at 30% discount.
“But it’s nice. Just like winning the lottery. The shop manager and seniors and kind and capable, and even treat you to food. Ah, if I work there, I would probably stay longer.”
Kaori said enviously from her heart----
“And then? Having tried working, have you gotten any inspiration related to future paths?”
Then like she suddenly remembered something, she opened up a troublesome topic.
“……There’s not much development in that area……”
Then again, the reason why Chiho started working, was because it was one of the ways to solve the future paths survey form.
Now that she thought about it, she had no free time to think about future paths when she was working.
Even if she led very fulfilling days, and with regards to the root motive for starting work, which is what to about her path in the future, Chiho had no leads at all.
With the nearing of the deadline to submit the survey form, the end of the month when the three way talk is held, there is not much time left.
“Hey, Sasaki.”
Next, Yoshiya also joined the conversation.
“So what is your hourly pay?”
“Hourly pay? Ugh, because I am still in training, and am a high school student, right now it is 800 yen, I wonder if there is a chance to increase by 50 yen when the training ends.”
According to shop manager Kisaki, the hourly pay after that is adjusted based on work performance, and Chiho’s direct senior Maou, set a legend of having his hourly pay increase by 100 yen just two months after getting hired----merely one month after the end of his training.
Even if no one specially explained to her, Chiho had seen Maou’s work performance with her own eyes, so she felt that she should still need to spend a long period of time to reach that standard.
“In other words, just working 6 hours in one day will earn almost 5000 yen, how amazing.”
“But, the prerequisite is to work, Yoshiya, don’t thinking about these unnecessary things, you should be more troubled about the future paths survey form compared to Sasa right. Aren’t your parents very strict since before?”
Even though Chiho only knew the both of them after going to high school, Kaori and Yoshiya seemed to have known each other since elementary school, so they would occasionally talk about past topics which Chiho did not know about.
Kaori seemed to speak rather rudely to Yoshiya since before, but Chiho thought that since the relationship between the both of them has always been so good, it means that the both of them have already gotten used to this interaction, so she did not mind it that much.
But this seems a little different from normal.
“Strict huh……that’s true. But I seem to have been largely ignored the whole time. So perhaps my parents may not even come on the day of the three way talk.”
“Eh?”
“Yoshiya, what are you saying?”
“Tokai, you should know about my older brothers right?”
“Ah.”
Kaori nodded like she suddenly realised it.
“Emura-kun, you have older brothers?”
This is a fact she first heard about in the second year after she had known them. Even though Chiho was interested just knowing about her friend’s brothers, but for unknown reasons, Yoshiya replied with a disgusted expression.
“Personally, I don’t really want Sasaki to know about this.”
“Eh? Why?”
“If you know about my brothers, I’m afraid Sasaki will look down on me……uwah!”
At this instant, Kaori threw a pencil box filled with stationary and beautifully hit Yoshiya’s face.
From the feeling when it flew past her ear, Chiho felt that the force was not small at all.
“People look down on you because you’re this useless! Sasa is not that kind of person!”
“……My teeth hit the zipper……”
“Quickly go and wash it, and use alcohol to disinfect it!”
“Tokai! You!”
“W, wait a moment! Both of you calm down a little!”
After that, Chiho was forced to listen to the both of them argue for around five minutes over her head.
“There’s two older brothers above Yoshiya, those two are amazing.”
Even though the topic finally returned to the topic of Yoshiya’s brothers, Kaori actually started to talk about what Yoshiya did not want to say.
“The oldest brother is a judge, while the second brother is a doctor right?”
“Eh?”
As it was a higher achievement than what she imagined, Chiho could not help but shout out.
However Yoshiya shook his head with a stony face and said,
“Don’t leave out so much. Even though my oldest brother wants to be a judge, he is still currently in training, and second brother only managed to obtain his doctor license this year, and is not a proper doctor yet.”
“And because both his brothers are too amazing, so for the one who is last in line, Sasahata North failed-san, he has no face.”
“Don’t say it so bluntly……”
Yoshiya replied the bluntly speaking Kaori with a truly disgusted feeling.
“There was a period of time where my parents wanted me to watch my brothers and work hard, but recently, he did not say anything much, looks like they had given up, even when I failed in the exam earlier, they only hmphed once and let it go. And other than studying, I don’t have any other skills worth expecting, so recently, I was considering whether to leave home.”
“Emura-kun……”
“Since Tokai and Sasaki have started working, then I’ll find a job, save money and leave home.”
After Yoshiya said this simply, he ended this topic.
As Yoshiya did not seem to want to talk about his brothers anymore, Chiho did not continue asking, for unknown reasons, she felt that the Yoshiya now looked very dangerous.”
“……I said that if you start work now, you might skip being held back one year and get expelled immediately.”
Perhaps she felt this atmosphere, Kaori said this rather seriously.
“It’s fine as long as I can earn money from working right? Recently, aren’t there people who frequently say that the assignments in school might even be useless for taking university entrance exams? With regards to the future path survey form, I might as well fill in “join the workforce.””
Yoshiya replied with his usual tone. But of course, Chiho did not know exactly how serious her friend was.
※ “Your expression today looks rather gloomy hm?”
“Ah, shop manager……”
Kisaki spoke to Chiho standing in front of the cashier.
“Is there something you don’t understand?”
“Ah, n, no……uh, perhaps it’s like that……”
“?”
The topic of future paths talked about at school, was revolving around in Chiho’s brain and not going away.
Whether it was Yoshiya, Kaori or herself, they wanted to look further ahead, and understand what is the meaning of future path, but in the end, they did not know anything.
“……Today, I discussed with my friends at school about future paths……but in the end we did not understand anything, and the school also arranged a discussion. I felt that I should have some thoughts already, so……”
“Oh, that thing.”
Kisaki nodded seriously.
“I’m sorry, I will focus properly and work……”
“Adults’ opinion and irresponsible opinion, which one do you want to hear first?”
“Eh?”
Chiho got a shock.
Because Chiho originally thought that Kisaki will angrily tell her to work properly, but not only did Kisaki discuss this seriously with her, she even said something strange.
“……Then, I’ll start with the adults’ opinion.”
“Hm, to adults, the future path of students ‘is nothing much at all, and it’s useless to be troubled over it’.”
“Eh?”
Kisaki’s words were very ridiculous.
Just seeing this part, it was like those adults who Chiho have seen, the type of people who do what they want.
However, Kisaki’s expression showed that there was still more to come.
“Do you know why? Because this topic future path, to an adult’s life, it has already ended.”
“W, what does that mean……”
Kisaki continued to speak to the confused Chiho.
“Because after becoming adults, they would know ‘what should I have done that time to be more successful’, so even if all of you were now facing the crossroads of deciding your future path, these adults who have already experienced these things, would still be unable to understand why all of you are so troubled. Most adults would feel troubled about the time when they are passionate, immature and honest to themselves, so they have already forgotten these things very early on. So besides parents, teachers and tuition teachers, those opinions of the adults who have never truly seen you, they can all be ignored.”
“Tui, tuition teacher?”
“The job of those people is to let the students’ future paths be stable. So for each other’s good, from their hearts, they will think from the point of view of the students.”
“I, I see……”
“In addition, even though it’s an irresponsible comment, but with regards to troubles about future paths, it can be roughly divided into, what should one do, what should one’s goal be, not knowing what to learn. These few points. Meaning that you don’t know what job to do in future, and even if you go to university, you don’t know what to learn.”
“That, that’s right, so……”
“To express an opinion from an objective point of view, then a person can just study law or medicine at a national university with cheap school fees and become a judge or a doctor in the future. But in this era, even lawyers have a hard time haha, being a civil servant would be more stable.”
“B, but……”
Chiho panicked because Kisaki unexpected brought up examples which existed around her, but the latter only gave a bold smile and continued speaking,
“But even if I said that, you would only think it is strange right?”
“Y, yes……”
“If so, then you don’t have to be troubled about something so far into the future. No one can predict what will happen tomorrow, this is the same even with adults, and those petty people actually forced children like you to make such a boring choice, it’s really regretful.”
Kisaki said bluntly.
““Future path, is to continuously think about what you can do today for the sake of tomorrow.”. Since you don’t know what is going to happen next year, you should at least know what you want to do tomorrow right?”
“Tomorrow and today……”
“This isn’t an analogy you know? But really referring to the today and tomorrow on the calendar. Future paths are about the future, and the future is the front of the things which are accumulated today and tomorrow. Most people are not smart enough to skip the time period in the middle and think about one, two years in the future. So they can only act within their power, and repeatedly work towards the tomorrow which is closest to today. With this, the period of one year will pass quickly.”
(T/N: Kisaki’s words are wise. For those people lost about what to do about their future, it’ll help to keep these words in mind.)
“Work, towards tomorrow……”
“Sigh, anyway……”
Kisaki suddenly placed her hand on Chiho’s head and Chiho looked up with a troubled look on her face.
“Compared to being affected by those irresponsible adults, you should focus on the work in front of you. Just like I said just now, to strive towards tomorrow, today is important.”
“Ah……alright.”
“The most important thing about handling money is being calm. You have to differentiate between 5000 yen and 10,000 yen properly okay.”
“I, I understand.”
When reminded by Kisaki, even if some vague portions were still left in her heart, Chiho still regained her senses because of this.
Chiho, who could not focus at work today, had mistakenly thought that the 5000 yen she received from the customers was 10,000 yen two times.
If not for the rules that she had to pass the notes to be given to the customers to other employees to check, Chiho would have given the wrong amount of change.
“I’m sorry, I will immediately focus on work.”
Compared to just now, this time, for unknown reasons, Chiho was finally able to answer this from her heart.
Even if the confusion in her heart had not been fully solved, she felt that her feelings were more relaxed compared to before.
“Very good. With this, talking about all these big concepts was worth it. I have to go to the company later and won’t be at the store, afterwards if there is something you don’t understand, please consult the other employees.”
“Alright.”
“Do your best, Chi-chan.”
“Yes!”
After Kisaki encouraged Chiho in a strange manner, she waved and returned to the staff room, until she closed the door completely, Chiho suddenly realised something.
“…… ‘Chi-chan’?”
Chiho, who prepared to get off work that night, got a shock when she saw Maou wearing his casual clothing in the staff room.
“Eh? Sasaki-san is leaving as well?”
“Thanks for the hard work, Maou-san as well?”
“Yeah, because I came in the morning, so I got off work earlier than usual.”
The store in front of Hatagaya station, not a 24 hour shop, only opened until midnight.
Normally when Chiho goes home, Maou would still stay until closing time, but today because he started work earlier, he got off work earlier.
But compared to that, Chiho was more concerned about something else.
“……E, erhm, Maou-san?”
“Hm?”
“Y, you’re going home wearing that?”
“Yes?”
Maou’s unhesitant answer caused Chiho to become momentarily speechless.
Even though it is spring, but in the period, when the chill had not gone away, just a thin shirt with a hoodie is wearing too little.
“D, don’t you feel cold?”
“Yeah.”
Chiho was speechless again.
“Oh my, because my clothes aren’t drying at all.”
Even if Chiho felt that the problem should lie there, Maou still continued,
“The coin laundry machine store inflated in price, so I could only hand wash it, but since it is winter clothing, I didn’t expect that with by just taking out the dewatering process, it would take such a long time to dry.”
This is the first time Chiho chatted about personal topics with her senior……even though she minded it a bit that the contents were too slice of life, but from the interactions these few days, Chiho also knew that Maou was the type of person who would speak frankly.
“In this type of weather, clothes won’t dry unless you dry them for about two days. So I can only wear this.”
It feels like this and wearing very little were two different issues.
But if she pried too much into the other party’s personal life, it would seem a bit rude.
“T, that’s true. The weather would start to turn warmer later, and male bodies are stronger too.”
Just as Chiho answered and prepared to change clothes----
“Eh? The weather will turn warmer later?”
The question from behind caused her to turn back and say,
“Eh……because, it’s already April……and spring is about to start right?”
“Ah, that’s true. That’s right, after winter is spring. It’s the same in this aspect.”
“Ma, Maou-san?”
Maou, who spoke like this natural thing to know is new knowledge, and when he noticed Chiho’s stare,
“…………I already knew this okay.”
“…………I thought so.”
Chiho, who felt like she could not rebuke this part, walked into the female changing room with her change of clothes.
“Th, then thanks for your hard work.”
“O, oh, thanks for your hard work.”
After finishing their greetings, Maou walked out of the staff room.
However when Chiho finished changing, finished greeting the remaining employees and prepared to leave the store, she discovered that Maou was still standing outside the store alone for unknown reasons.
“Maou-san? Is something wrong?”
“Ah…..”
“Ah! It’s raining……”
Even without specially listening to Maou’s full answer, she could tell that it was raining outside.
And from how Maou was acting, he probably forgot to bring an umbrella.
“Oh my, such a mistake. And of all days, there’s no backup umbrella which can be borrowed today……”
“Ugh, b, but the weather forecast this morning should have said that it would rain at night……”
Chiho took a foldable umbrella out from her bag.
“Ah, I don’t have a television at home.”
But Maou yet again answered in an unexpected manner.
“Eh……?”
“Sigh, looks like I can only run back directly. It’ll be good if the clothes can dry……”
After saying this, Maou pulled on the thin hood for the hoodie, and took a deep breath like he was hardening his determination.
“Then Sasaki-san, be careful when you go home……”
“E, erhm, may I know which area Maou-san’s home is in?”
When she regained her senses, Chiho had already asked this question to the Maou who was preparing to run out.
“Eh? Ah, hm, I live near Sasazuka station……”
“I, I also planned to walk in that direction! If you don’t mind, do you want to share an umbrella?”
“Oh my, I feel bad, I’m saved.”
“Ah, erhm, y, yeah, you’re welcome.”
Compared to Maou’s refreshing voice of thanks, Chiho’s answer was as soft as a mosquito.
Even though Chiho said this on reflex, thinking about it carefully, she had never shared an umbrella with other guys.
The only lucky thing is that Chiho, who frequently went around with her archery gear, the foldable umbrella which she brought around was larger than normal umbrella, so there is no need to worry about too much physical contact with Maou.
“E, erhm, Maou-san, your shoulder……”
But right now the one holding the umbrella is Maou, who is taller.
Perhaps he was being considerate, Maou intentionally leaned the umbrella more in Chiho’s direction so she would not be hit by the rain, and as a result, Maou’s other shoulder was drenched.
“It’s alright. Compared to being thoroughly soaked, this is nothing.”
However, no gloom could be heard in Maou’s voice at all.
“Then again……will it frequently rain from now on?”
“Eh? I, I’m not sure……it’ll probably keep raining, I guess?”
“I see……how troubling. It looks like the clothes will take longer and longer to dry.”
“But it’ll start to get warmer from now on. Why don’t you take this chance to buy a cheap washing machine?”
“Eh?”
This time, Maou’s expression was clearly filled with surprise.
“It’s impossible, buying two of such big things, there will be no place to put them, and no matter how you think about it, it should be very expensive right?”
“Eh, ah, that’s true……?”
Chiho, who thought that she interfered too much into the economic situation of other people, suddenly felt something was off.
Two, very big things?
“Even though it doesn’t look that big when placed in a laundry shop, but if we take the washing and dewatering machine as well as the drying machine back home directly, it would fill up the whole of the corridor.”
“E, erhm, Maou-san? I’m not talking about the huge industrial use washing machines, but the home use ones……”
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
“......Home use?”
“Y, yeah……”
Did Maou think that all washing machines in the world were like the huge cubes in coin laundry shops.
“If it’s a home use model, they do sell fully automatic washing machines which are just slightly larger than the dustbins in the store you know? If you wish to lower the price even more, you can consider buying the double door type……”
“……Really?”
“Really.”
Actually the one who truly wanted to ask this question is Chiho, but Maou looked like he really received a huge shock.
“Since you live in an apartment, then there should be a tap in the corridor right? As long as you connect to there……”
Chiho tried to find information related to where Maou lived from his strange words to elaborate further.
“There is one! So it’s for the washing machine?”
What else is it for then.
“Because I don’t know what it is used for, so I used it to fill the buckets with water to wash clothes!”
“……To, wash clothes huh.”
“I see……so washing machines can be bought……I thought it was a monopolised business by a laundry guild.”
Maou nodded repeatedly.
What is going on. It felt like the conversation partner in front of her was a completely different person from the Maou in the store.
“Ne, can I ask another question?”
But Maou, whose eyes seemed to sparkle because he obtained new knowledge, looked strangely cute.
“Y, yeah, please go ahead.”
“After this, not only will there be more rain, the weather would also become warmer right. So even if it is placed in the shade, vegetables will still spoil very quickly, how does Sasaki-san normally……”
Maou asked a more unexpected question, causing Chiho to stare in disbelief while listening.
“S, shade? This, it’ll be fine as long as you put it in the fridge…….”
Since it was said to that extent, even if it is Chiho, she can easily predict how Maou will answer two seconds later.
“Ah, I don’t have a fridge at home.”
“Buy one! Disregarding the washing machine, it’s really bad to not even have a fridge! If you eat rotten food, you would harm your body you know?”
“……S, so you think so as well?”
“Even though the spring these few years have a long cold period, but it’ll be summer immediately after that! Like this, vegetables which spoil one step earlier will become inedible immediately you know?”
“Is, is that so? So vegetables have legs too?”
“This is just an analogy! Then again, why are you surprised, isn’t it the same situation last year and the year before? If you put raw things outside in the summer, it’ll spoil immediately!”
“I, I understand! I originally wanted to buy a fridge, so I’ll buy it later on……then…….”
“Eh?”
“……Erhm, where do I go to buy a cheap fridge and washing machine?”
“……”
It looks like Maou really did not seem to know about common facts such as the change of seasons, and home electronic shops.
Even though he’s so capable in the store……
Faced with this unexpected gap, Chiho really did not know if she should feel happy or troubled……
“Maou-san, have you returned from overseas? Your English is so fluent……have you been living overseas the whole time.”
Chiho tried to ask.
From what Maou said just now, even if he is good in fluent languages, the unfamiliarity he had with Japanese living is still rather exaggerated, but if he had been living overseas until recently, it can still be explained.
“Hm~ it’s a little different. I’m not considered a returnee. Even for English, it was learned because of ‘work’ needs.”
It was too bad that Maou’s reply was a denial.
Even if she felt shocked at Maou saying without hesitation that he ‘learned’ English----
“……For home electronics, I feel that for Yodogawa Bridge Home Appliances at Shinjuku Nishiguchi, not only is it cheaper, there are also more choices. There is still Don Quijote at Honancho area……the place where there are a lot bicycles parked at the shop entrance.”
Chiho still pulled back to the original topic.
After all, continuous rebuking may cause the other party to feel unhappy, and she felt that even if she continued rebuking, it would only increase the number of things he did not know.
Maou did not mind Chiho who was acting that way, and nodded with widened eyes,
“Ah, I know these two stores. Because the storefront looks very big, I thought that they only sold luxury goods inside.”
“The things sold at Don Quijote are basically very cheap. Especially for bicycles, if you’re not picky, you can buy one for a few thousand yen.”
“Eh? A few thousand yen can……Sasaki-san is really knowledgable.”
It looks like Maou truly felt admiration.
Even though Chiho felt that what she said was mostly common knowledge, Maou said before she could reply,
“No wonder Kisaki-san gave you a nickname so early.”
“Eh?”
“Didn’t she start calling you ‘Chi-chan’?”
Chiho’s heart beat vigorously once.
“Y, yes. You know about this?”
“Not only me, everyone knows. From tomorrow onwards, everyone would probably address you that way. When Kisaki-san starts using nicknames to address someone, it is the same as announcing that the person has already passed his training. Even though the company mandates that the salary for the trainee can only be adjusted after at least one month has passed, but since she started using nicknames to address you so early, then the hourly pay after the training ends, would probably be a little more than what was mentioned in the beginning.”
“Eh? Is, is that so?”
Chiho, who did not find any connection between nicknames and training, widened her eyes in surprise.
“Even though we don’t know the reason, but needing to respect a new person who Kisaki has used a nickname to address as an asset who can be independent is already an unwritten law in our store.”
Chiho suddenly remembered the experience which Kaori shared with her.
Could it be that the training period would only be in name and if she is unable to complete the work by herself later on, she would be scolded?
Perhaps he saw Chiho’s uneasiness, Maou still added on,
“Ah, even so, we still will not ignore you just like this, you can relax. Before you can do everything independently, I will always be by your side.”
“T, thank you.”
As she felt relieved, Chiho also felt rather shy because of the sentence ‘I will always be by your side’.
“But what can be confirmed is that Kisaki-san probably acknowledged that you have a special characteristic, and thinks that you should be seen as a full time employee in terms of work. Perhaps this would give you some stress, but do not feel down because of this, please do your best.”
“Al, alright……”
She kept feeling like she could not look at Maou’s face directly and the both of them lapsed into a short silence like this.
Without them realising it, Maou and Chiho had already reached the intersection in front of Sasazuka station.
“I’m going in this direction from now on, how about Sasaki-san?”
“Ah, I’m going in the opposite direction, but, I can accompany you?”
If she separated from Maou here, he would still be drenched by the rain in the end.
“It’s alright. If I let you walk more to reach my house, it would be bad if something bad happens on the way back.”
“But……”
Seeing that Chiho was unwilling to give up, Maou smiled, looked at the post box next to him and said,
“See, I got an umbrella as well. Thank you for accompanying me to this place, it was a big help.”
Maou was holding an old and worn down plastic umbrella.
The tip of that umbrella was obviously rusted, and even if unopened, it could be seen that the frame was already bent in many places.
Maybe someone had hung it on the post box and forgotten to take it away, or they planned to abandon it here.
The umbrella, which looked like it was put there for some time, was filled with water, but Maou still returned the foldable umbrella to Chiho, and opened that umbrella.
“Not bad, not bad.”
Maou nodded in satisfaction.
“I’m really grateful, be careful when you go back okay. Ah, also……”
“Yes?”
“Hm, even though it feels a little strange saying this……”
“Yes……may I know what’s wrong?”
Maou coughed bashfully once and said,
“Continue working hard from tomorrow as well, ‘Chi-chan’.”
“……Uh?”
“Then, see you next shift.”
“Ah, al, alright, thanks for the hard work.”
This was really an unexpected blow.
Chiho stared at Maou’s retreating back as he waved in a dazed manner and subconsciously put her hand on her cheek.
When was the last time she got called ‘Chi-chan’ by other guys?
Until she was called that by Kisaki, even Chiho herself forgot that she was called that when she was young.
And everyone who called her ‘Chi-chan’, were all adults who were mentally stronger and more mature than Chiho.
“……Ugh!”
Chiho felt that until just now, her shoulder which had lightly touched Maou when they were under the same umbrella suddenly started to heat up, causing Chiho to suck in a breath.
When Chiho was young, she had held a mild admiration for an older male cousin, but right now, he is married and has children.
To Chiho, who had just became aware of the world around her, that older male cousin looked very mature, and like Maou right now, taught her many things she did not know.
For unknown reasons, the figure of that older male cousin had overlapped with Maou.
Dependable, knew many things she did not know, and even if he’s very mature, he was a little dense in some aspects……
“Eh? E, eh?”
Chiho, who felt that even her face had started to heat up, was unable to tear her gaze away from the direction which Maou had left in for a long time.
※
“……There’s no resemblance at all.”
After going home and trying to look at the photo album again, Chiho discovered that Maou and that already married cousin did not resemble each other at all.
Even though she felt bad saying this about her cousin, Maou was more good looking compared to him……
“W, what am I thinking! O, ow!”
Chiho, who closed the thick photo album with force accidentally clamped down on her own finger, which pained her so much that she could not speak for a while.
After returning the photobook to her mother, who felt confused because Chiho suddenly asked to see the photo, she glared at her fingernail which had slightly changed colour and returned to her room.
Chiho lazily jumped on her bed, buried her face into the pillow and sighed then silently swung her legs.
“……What is wrong with me.”
Chiho increased the speed of her leg swinging.
“What is wrong with me what is wrong with me what is wrong with me!”
The bed springs started to produce ‘creak creak creak’ sounds----
“Ow!”
After that Chiho jumped up from the pain because her swinging legs hit the wall, and after pressing her toes for a while with teary eyes, she said,
“W, what am I doing……hm?”
Just as Chiho felt confused at her meaningless actions, she heard the sound of her ringing mobile phone.
“A message, I wonder what it is about.”
Chiho protected the front of her toes which got hit and picked up her mobile phone which was placed on her room table.
“Eh, it’s Emura-kun?”
The contents of the message was very simple.
“I’ll be going to Mags with Tokai tomorrow to eat.”
“Eh, wait……”
Chiho replied on reflex.
“I’m still not used to the work, don’t come first……”
Even though Kisaki and Maou seemed to have high ratings of her, honestly Chiho did not know what they saw in her.
Chiho already knew beforehand that her friends or family might come to the place she works as a customer, but since actually choosing it to be tomorrow of all days, this timing was really too bad.
This time she would definitely fail because she was thinking of unnecessary things.
“Eh? Kao-chan?”
Just as Chiho thought this, this time it was Kaori’s turn to send a message over.
“’Yoshiya sent a message, saying that he wants to go to where Sasa is working. As long as you don’t reply, he wouldn’t know that you have a shift tomorrow, what are you doing’......ah!”
Chiho started to curse her own carelessness.
Tomorrow would be the first time Chiho would work on a Sunday since she started work. Until today, she had never stayed in the store for more than 6 hours.
Now, even if she told Yoshiya and the others not to come, they would definitely not listen.
“W, what should I do……what should I do if friends come over……”
Even if the both are them are her friends, but since she is still working, and there are other customers around, then it feels like she should treat them as customers.
But in television dramas, if a customer which the employees know come over, the employee would normally act more familiar……
“B, but those stores are bars run by the person himself, for a franchise like MgRonalds, it can’t work that way right?”
If the people who came were her parents, things might be simpler.
Even though she would also feel troubled, but her mother coming to greet shop manager Kisaki, who has been taking care of her daughter, is a very natural development.
But what would it be like with friends from school?”
People who are close to her coming to her workplace as customers.
No matter what, Chiho could not imagine such a scene occurring in a franchise shop like MgRonalds.
“R, right! As long as I ask Maou-san……”
At this instant when Maou’s face flashed across Chiho’s mind, she picked up her mobile phone on reflex.
“Ah……I don’t know his contact details.”
Even though Maou had almost always kindly guided Chiho during her training period, the both of them had never exchanged numbers or mail addresses, so Chiho naturally did not have ways to contact Maou, basically----
“W, why have I thought of asking Maou-san……even though there are other people around……”
Why had she not considered the possibility of asking other people before she discovered that there was no way of contact Maou.
“Calling the store directly……is not very good huh.”
Even though Chiho did record down the store’s telephone number in her mobile phone----
“My friends are coming tomorrow, what should I do?”
It felt that this question was really too immature.
“It, it’s not confirmed that they’re coming tomorrow anyway, I’ll just wait till tomorrow and secretly ask the people on shift what…..to do……”
Chiho nonchalantly looked at the shift timetable clamped within her notebook, and remembered that there was another piece of paper behind the shift timetable.
“Te, telephone number……”
That was the contact records of the employees.
When they are suddenly unable to go to work because of certain reasons, besides obviously reporting to shop manager Kisaki, they still need to personally ask other people to replace them.
In addition, even though it is an emergency contact list for accidents and disasters in name, but the contact list which she received on the first day of work still did not have Chiho’s number recorded.
Chiho subconsciously looked for Maou’s record and discovered that a mobile number is recorded on it.
Then again, what kind of life does Maou normally lead.
Since he did not have a television, washing machine and fridge, he must be leading a hard life.
But from the shift timetable, Maou seemed to have a dense shift arrangement every day, morning and night, so it could be seen that he should not be a student.
Since he’s not a student, and lived such a frugal life, he could be a musician or an actor, the kind of person who chases his dreams.
“W, wrong, I don’t want to know about these things at all! What I want to know if when friends come to the store, would I be able to speak to them, and if it would affect the atmosphere in the store……”
From the way he works and his normal behaviour, perhaps Maou, whose behaviour is like his personality, and is down to Earth, is actually saving for university or vocational school fees……
“I already said it’s not like that!”
Even though he is living a frugal life in an apartment by himself, Maou’s normal life still looks very organised.
Honestly speaking, whether it’s about his hair, bag or even casual clothing, Maou’s tastes are not at all fashionable. But he always grooms himself well and the uniform is well-washed. Perhaps there is someone nearby who is taking care of him.
“….Uu.”
When she thought to this part, Chiho suddenly felt unhappy for unknown reasons.
But, she did not know why her mood had become worse.
But, thinking about it normally, this is not impossible.
But, whether Maou-san had a lover, had nothing to do with her at all……
“Wrong wrong wrong wrong! It’s definitely not like that!”
“Chiho! What are you being so noisy for!”
Her mother’s voice from downstairs caused Chiho to come to her senses, her face blushing.
That’s right, she should try asking her mother in a roundabout way. After all, the difficulty of calling suddenly is too high, and Chiho did not want the other party to think that she was a sloppy person by calling and asking unimportant things.
“I don’t want him……to think of me this way.”
After putting the shift timetable back into the notebook, Chiho turned off the light in her room and went downstairs to discuss her troubles with her mother.
But after her room darkened, that imaginary partner at Maou’s side kept occupying a corner of her mind.
It should be a person who is working hard to support him from behind so Maou can focus fully on work.
Or unexpectedly, was Maou actually plagued by a certain person who likes to spend money and is lazy?
Or was it a person different from the usual impression which Maou gave others, a female who wore traditional kimono every day?
Or is it a person actually suited for the hardworking Maou, an female salary worker with a proper occupation……
“T, this has nothing to do with me! It doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter!”
Chiho shook her head hard, trying to shake these strangely detailed imaginations from her mind.
“What doesn’t matter?”
Unexpectedly, the words she spoke when she thought to herself was heard clearly by her mother downstairs.
“It, it’s nothing. Then again, there’s something I want to ask you about……”
Chiho changed the topic and moved towards the living room to consult her mother on the question she truly wanted to ask.
“It doesn’t really matter, but weren’t you troubled over the future path counselling before? What happened with that issue afterwards?”
Chiho’s mother asked Chiho, who was planning to sit on the living room sofa.
“……Ah!”
The latter let out an airheaded sound.
Chiho completely forgot, next Monday was the deadline for handing in the survey.
※
After troubling over it for one night, in the end, Chiho only filled in her name and class in the future paths survey.
But Chiho, who went to work with these troubles, her most urgent question right now was whether Yoshiya would come to the shop at all.
After that message last night----
“I will watch him properly and not let him do stupid things.”
Kaori sent another message, but even ignoring this, friends from school coming to see her working self will still make her feel embarrassed.
It was only until her friends said that they want to come over did Chiho finally realise why Kaori only told her about the part time work after she resigned.
This was not due to any principle. Purely because one has to receive their friends in a different standpoint, it made one feel anxious and uneasy.
Even though Chiho tried to discuss with her mother last night on how to handle friends when they came to the workplace----
“As long as it doesn’t disrupt your work, you should be able to chat with them a bit right?”
She only got this irrelevant answer.
“And you have to be careful not to be glared at by the shop manager and seniors.”
And this advanced warning.
Even though she did not know the reason, since Kisaki just acknowledged a certain aspect of Chiho, she definitely ddi not want her ratings to drop because of her carelessness.
As for the result----
“E, erhm, my friends might come to the store today……”
it was keeping to the guide where she cannot make her own decision when she is unsure of something, and discussing with Maou.
“Friend? Is it from school?”
“Y, yes. Then, when my friends come……”
As she spoke, Chiho also felt that this question was really very stupid.
At the same time Chiho asked the question, she was thinking at the same time that according to the situation up until now, as long as she read the atmosphere and acted accordingly, she would not have any problems.
As if to affirm Chiho’s inner thoughts, Maou smiled warmly, nodded and said,
“Actually you don’t have to be so reserved. As long as it is not a situation where it is very busy or causing too huge of a ruckus, even if you go the corner and chat a little, it wouldn’t be an issue. That’s what you wanted to ask right?”
“Ah, y, yes.”
Today, for reasons unknown, Chiho could not look at Maou’s face directly at all, and she stammered when she answered.
“Having familiar people see your working shelf would always make you feel restless. Even so, if you treat the other party politely like normal customers, it feels a bit irritating.”
Maou gave a wry smile like he remembered something.
Seeing this, Chiho also felt relieved.
So everyone thought about the same things after all.
“Then again, I have never thought that I would use polite language to serve my own official. So after that, it was awkward between us for quite some time.”
Since even Maou, who she thought would not feel shaken no matter what happens, would also think so, perhaps what she felt is something which cannot be helped.
Thinking to this, Chiho suddenly had a strange feeling.
If the words Maou said, was a term she had never heard before mixed inside?
Official? What does that mean, is it someone’s name?
(T/N: Maou probably pronounced 臣子 as Omiko or Yatsuko, which sounds like a name.)
Maou, who did not detect Chiho’s small confusion nodded, looked at Chiho and said,
“Regarding this part, you can just read the atmosphere and react accordingly.”
“Ah, uh, I understsand. Thank you. And, I’m sorry, actually asking this unimportant question.”
But because Chiho only thought it was a little strange, and also because of Maou looked at her directly, Chiho suddenly felt very awkward, so as she lowered her heads and gave her thanks, the strange feeling she felt earlier easily disappeared until there were no traces left.
“It’s alright, it’s alright. At the beginning, whether the PET bottles left behind by customers could be thrown away, I had to ask others as well. Rather than that, the Chi-chan who is troubled over how to treat her friends is very reliable when it comes to switching one’s state of mind.”
“K, kya!”
“Eh?”
Ah, y, yes! Thank you for the compliment!”
“O, oh? It feels like Chi-chan is very energetic today.”
Chiho started stammering again, and got a shock because Maou called her ‘Chi-chan’, in order to hide her embarrassment, even her volume had gotten louder.
Even though he was a bit hesitant when he called her yesterday, today Maou was able to call her ‘Chi-chan’ successively.
Even though she was not particularly shocked when being called that by the other seniors, it was only with Maou did things not go that smoothly.
“Roughly when will they come?”
Eh? W, what do you mean?”
“Your friends.”
“Ah……ah, that, I don’t know yet. Basically, whether they will really come or not is……”
“I see. Then it’s really difficult to calm down. When the person I know wanted to come the first time, I also got nervous without any reason. But it is easy to make mistakes by being anxious, you have to pay more attention okay.”
Even though the reason of Chiho’s ‘anxiey’ was not just about her school friends, but once she thought about the other reason----
“E, erhm. I’ll go check ‘number 10’ at 3 o’ clock!”
“O, oh, I’ll leave it to you.”
Chiho, who was very embarrassed, forcefully changed the topic, moved her gaze away from Maou and walked towards the washroom.
“……Looks like she’s not very good at handling those friends.”
Maou watched Chiho’s back and said this in confusion.
‘Number 10’ refers to the washroom, it was one of the secret codes within the store so that the customers who are eating are not aware of the washroom.
MgRonalds has the check the cleanliness of the washroom every hour.
Chiho, who went to the washroom, after conducting the checks based on earlier instructions, wrote her ‘name’ on the inspection name list next to the washbasin.
“……Wah!”
Above the 3 o’ clock space which Chiho sighed on----inside the space of the 2 o’ clock check, in a guy’s squarish handwriting was the big word ‘Maou’.
“Maou, Chiho……aah? I, I wrote it wrong! N, no, it’s not considered wrong!”
Chiho only wrote her name in the centre of the space.
She quickly cancelled out the words written on top and re-wrote the word ‘Sasaki’ in the remaining narrow space left.
“……Uu, it feels more embarrassing that way.”
Why is she so bothered about Maou.
Even though she did not know the reason at all, once she thought about Maou, she could not keep calm.
If this goes on, Chiho got more and more worried about what she should do when Kaori and Yoshiya came.
Even though she was not particularly tired, Chiho, who walked out of the washroom listlessly----
“Ah, it’s Sasaki.”
“Uwahh!”
She immediately met up with Yoshiya in casual clothes, causing her to shout and jump up.
“Oh, Sasa.”
Kaori appeared behind Yoshiya, and both of them were still empty handed.
“Because you weren’t at the counter, so we were thinking what we should do if you were working in a place we can’t see.”
“I, I see, ah! Uh, t, that……”
Chiho, who was not mentally prepared at all, used her eyes to ask Maou at the counter for help without caring for her reputation.
Maou, who seemed to notice because of the shout just now, after glancing at Chiho and the others, nodded and moved his chin a bit.
Honestly, Chiho did not know what that code meant at all.
She was not so synchronised with Maou such that they could communicate with eye contact alone.
Therefore, Chiho, who thought that Maou who be able to handle a situation like this, straightened up her posture as much as possible, bowed and said,
“Welcome! If you have decided what to order, please move to the counter!”
“……Ooh?”
“Oh, not bad.”
Chiho, who could not help but look up at the counter, discovered that Maou did not nod or shake his head, and was only smiling.
Was it alright to just handle it like this?”
Either away, Chiho first brought the two of them to the counter manned by Maou and her.
Then----
“Welcome, thank you for the help before.”
“……Ah! You’re the employee from that time?”
Maou greeted Kaori.
“You still remember me?”
“When I heard that Sasaki-san’s friends are coming, I had a rough idea that it would be you. Causing trouble for you earlier, I’m very sorry about that.”
“Eh? What? Did something happen earlier?”
Yoshiya, who did not know that Chiho’s future path survey had been drenched by cola, got a shock after seeing the interaction between his friends and the MgRonalds employee.
“That’s right, Sasaki-san.”
“Y, yes?”
“Since it’s a rare chance that your friends have come as a customer, why don’t you try taking the order and assemble the order yourself?”
“Eh, myself?”
Chiho answered in surprise.
Assembling the order means, after taking the order, put the ordered food onto the tray to give to the customers, right now Chiho was only allowed to help customers take orders and cashiering.
Depending on the number of people in the shift, other than peak periods, in principle, the employees at the counter are in charge of handling the drinks and the food which came with the order.
This was different from just taking orders and cashiering, one person would have to prepare the drinks, fries----or salad and dessert depending on the situation within a limited time and pass it to the customer.
Even though Chiho had already learned the process of assembling the order once, would she be able to complete it smoothly.
In the short window when Chiho was troubled, Maou walked out of the counter for unknown reasons and discussed with Kaori.
Then Kaori took out a certain item from her bag.
“This is the receipt from before, that employee said I can use this to exchange for the same items.”
“Eh?”
That was the free receipt which Chiho heard Kisaki mention when she was still a customer.
That means, on the day when the cola was spilled, Kaori was also one of the people who was ‘involved in the trouble between customers’, so even if the store mentioned some kind of compensation, it was not anything strange.
“Ah, then again I have a voucher.”
“Al, alright!”
Yoshiya probably had not decided what to order, she only saw him take out his mobile phone with the feature to read electronic wallets and showed the image of the voucher.
“Do your best.”
After saying this, he backed up until he was one step behind Chiho and watched over her.
After Chiho closed her eyes for a short while to focus, she took a deep breath.
Since she was being tested, then she would need to respond in some way.
“……For this customer, you only require the items as written on the receipt?”
“Yeah, that would be alright.”
“I understand. Then there is no need to pay for these items.”
Chiho keyed in the dessert and cola set meal recorded on Kaori’s receipt and pressed the special options button. While operating, Chiho keyed in the number on Kaori’s receipt, confirming that this receipt is already part of the free service. And after setting the price to it being free, she finished the order.
“For this voucher, can you change the fries to nuggets?”
Yoshiya used the voucher to order a set meal.
Chiho pressed the mobile phone reader button----
“Please place your mobile phone in front of the machine.”
The sensor in front of the mobile phone let out a blue glow.
“……For this customer, as your voucher can only be used for promotional items, other than the amount, other changes cannot be made, please understand.”
“Then it’s fine like this. My drink is cola.”
“I understand.”
After confirming all the orders----
“The total is 650 yen.”
“Ah, I only have big notes, is that alright?”
After Chiho received the tea coloured note, she confirmed the amount displayed on it.
“I received 10,000 yen. Received 10,000 yen from the customer!”
After asking the other employees to help check the amount of the high value note, Chiho placed the paper note into the cashier, and after taking out the change to give to the customer, she confirmed it once again.
“Excuse me, we only have small notes left, would that be fine?”
As the peak lunch hour had just passed, there was not a lot of 5000 yen notes left, and only 1000 yen notes can be given to the customer.
Chiho counted the notes carefully in front of Yoshiya and passed it to him.
“Here is 9000, and 350 yen. Can I put everything into the same tray?”
“It’s alright.”
“I understand. Then please wait on the right hand side for a while.”
After completing the transaction, the screen in the counter area displayed the waiting time on it.
Employees have to place all the orders in front of the customers before the screen turned red.
It was April season right now. And the warmer was slightly turned on within the store, therefore the dessert which melts easily have to be delivered last.
Chiho confirmed that there was no one else behind Kaori and Yoshiya, so she looked towards the kitchen.
At this time, the mayonnaise patty of the mayonnaise burger which Yoshiya ordered had already been put inside the oil pot.
It would have to be fried for 20 seconds, then placed between two burger buns together with poached egg, lettuce and specialised sauce.
So Chiho decided to handle the fries which were not as easily affected by room temperature.
“!”
However, after seeing the situation, Chiho immediately changed her direction. She first prepared two cups of cola, and took the dessert out from the freezer and wiped off the ice on it.
At this moment, the completed hamburgers slid down the delivery belt.
Chiho pressed the ‘Wait for meal at seat’ button at the corner of the waiting screen, and after putting the hamburgers, drinks, dessert and a plastic stand with a number on it onto the tray, she put the tray in front of the two customers.
“I’m very sorry. The fries are still being prepared, please take this number plate and wait at your seat for a while, I will deliver the freshly made fries to you later, okay?”
“Oh, that’s great, looks like we came at the right time.”
On the contrary, Yoshiya seemed happy that the fries were not done yet.
“I’m sorry, then enjoy your meal, both of you.”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks, Sasa.”
Unexpectedly, the both of them walked directly to the direction of the seats.
Even though she looked back a few times in the middle, at least it looks like she did not give the both of them a bad impression.
Seeing the both of them choose a seat further away and next to the window, it was then Maou returned to Chiho’s side.
“Chi-chan.”
“H, how was it?”
What Chiho was concerned about the most was of course, Maou’s rating.
In reality, this work was practically all taught by Maou. If she made any mistake, it would be like letting Maou down.
But as if to dispel Chiho’s unnecessary worries, Maou smiled, nodded and said,
“That’s great, I never expected that you would learn it after teaching you only once. There’s nothing wrong at all.”
“…….Thank god!”
An indescribable happiness filled Chiho’s heart, causing her to clench her fist subconsciously.

“I had thought that you would get stuck at the button for the free receipt and the fries, but you actually calmly and smoothly finished the job, it looks like that even if I’m not at your side, you wouldn’t have any problems anymore right?”
“E, eh? I, I don’t want that!”
However, after hearing the second half of Maou’s sentence, Chiho replied in reflex.
“Eh?”
“Ah, eh? Ugh, that, I will be troubled like that. I’m still not that……”
“Oh my, I won’t abandon you like that. But since you learn so fast, perhaps Kisaki-san will ask me to teach you more in depth things……oh, the fries are ready.”
“Ah!”
At this moment, the beep notifying that the fries are ready sounded, and golden fries started to float up on the oil pot.
“Then later I will teach you how to add salt to the fries. Because there are customers waiting this time, I will handle it……here.”
Maou passed the fries which Yoshiya had ordered but was still waiting for to Chiho.
“……Uh!”
Even though Chiho sucked in a breath because she touched Maou’s fingers slightly, but Maou did not seem to be particularly concerned, and passed the tray and serviette to Chiho.
“There aren’t many customers right now, you can chat with them a little.”
“Eh, can, can I?”
“It’s fine as long as you don’t talk for too long. Go.”
“Alright, thank you.”
Chiho bowed once, and walked towards the seat where Kaori and Yoshiya were waiting.
“Thank you for waiting, this is your medium fries!”
“Oh.”
After putting the fries on the table and collecting the number plate, Chiho switched from her professional smile to her normal expression and started a conversation with the both of them.
She kept feeling that this situation was very awkward.
“……Sigh, it’s roughly like this.”
“Eh? Is it fine like this?”
Kaori seemed to be concerned about Maou over at the counter.
“Yeah, Maou-san said I can talk with both of you a bit.”
“Oh, he’s rather understanding.”
After Kaori nodded in admiration and suddenly appraised Chiho from head to toe.
“It suits you.”
“Eh? Is, is that so?”
“Yeah, you look very mature.”
Yoshiya also nodded like he agreed with Kaori’s opinion.
“It, it’s not like that!”
Chiho, who could not help but become shy, started to wave the number plate picked up from the table.
“Hey, Yoshiya, stop looking at just the legs!”
“Idiot Tokai, that’s not it! Even though the appearance is like that, but the service just now, was really done well.”
“Hm, that’s right. I think it’s at least a lot better than the colleagues at the place I used to work at.”
“Is, is that so? Thank you.”
Even though it is embarrassing to be seen by friends, but to praised so generously would also make one feel shy.
“After seeing this scene, I do want to start working at well. From what I heard from Tokai, this seems to be a good place.”
Even though it was not known how serious he was, but after Kaori heard Yoshiya say it, she immediately gave a stony face and said,
“There you go again.”
“What. I’m very serious here.”
“Even if you get serious, it’s not even half of Sasa. At least for me, I don’t have the confidence to be able to work here for the long term.”
“Eh?”
Kaori’s unexpected answer, caused Chiho and Yoshiya to feel confused. After all, when Kaori heard Chiho’s description earlier, she said that she might be able to stay longer if she was here.
“Sasaki-san! Can you come over for a moment?”
Then Maou’s shout could be heard in the direction of the counter. Perhaps Chiho had stayed here for too long.
“I’m sorry, I need to go over.”
“Y, yeah.”
“Do your best.”
Chiho turned and left the two people, rushing towards the counter.
“Sasaki-san, this customer wishes to say hello to you.”
“Eh?”
A customer is looking for me?
Just as Chiho looked up at the customer’s face in confusion----
“Ah!”
Chiho could not help but suck in a breath.
The person standing there was that white man with a large build.
That man had once accidentally spilled Chiho’s cola when she was still a customer, and just based on the results, this incident was also one of the reasons why Chiho started working at the store.
“Ah, hello! Before……”
Even though Chiho spoke Japanese directly----
“This gentleman says ‘I didn’t expect that you actually became an employee here in the end. The document from that day is still alright?’”
But with Maou’s synchronised translation, the both of them were barely able to communicate.
“Actually I have not handed it in yet, but through working outside of school, I feel that I am able to catch a glimpse of what I want to do after graduating.”
“‘In my student days, I had felt lost about life because I didn’t know what I should learn. But I’m different from you, I didn’t try to solve the problem during my student days, so I had a hard time later, it was only until now am I able to feel proud about my job after much difficulty’.”
“May I know what you’re working as right now?”
“Ugh, ‘I am an art dealer who specialised in importing Japanese pens and brushes into Helsinki. There is no products in the world with better quality than Japan’s pens and brushes’. Oh!”
Even Maou, in charge of the translating felt very surprised.
“Helsinki, that’s in Finland right?”
When the white man was asked by Chiho, he nodded happily.
“This gentleman said he’s returning to Helsinki tomorrow, when he is concerned about Chi-chan’s situation later, so he tried to take a look in the store.”
“But thanks to you, I am able to work in such a great store. Even though I don’t know about the future, but if you have a chance to come to Japan again in the future, please come here again. I will work hard so that I can give you good news at that time.”
“He said ‘Then it’s an agreement, please do your best. What you learned in your student days, will definitely be useful in some form in the future’.”
“Yes!”
Chiho nodded once with force and said,
“Ah, Maou-san.”
“Hm?”
“……Can you help me tell him, when he comes next time, I will try hard so that I can speak to him directly?”
※
“……”
“Ne? If there is that kind of senior around, you probably won’t be able to continue on right? Normally, you would break down because you feel that you’re too useless right. If you want to quit school no matter what, I won’t stop you, but at least with your abilities, you won’t have the qualifications to work here.”
“……”
“Yoshiya?”
“Hey, Tokai.”
“Hm?”
“……Where is Finland?”
“……You, forgetting about Helsinki, you should at least know where Finland is right. Scandinavian Peninsula! North Europe! Not even knowing that, and actually wanting to do work at Sasa’s level, seriously laughable.”
“Is there really someone who would come to Japan from so far away to buy pens?”
“If the senior did not translate wrongly, then there is right? Even though I think it is correct.”
“For what?”
“How would I know! If you’re so concerned, why don’t you ask the person himself?”
“How do I ask?”
“Looks like you have to ask that Maou-san, or use that broken English which you failed in school or something?”
“……”
※
Six in the evening. The two friends stayed until it was time for Chiho to get off work.
Luckily, during that period of time, it was not crowded within the store to the extent where the two of them had to be asked to leave.
Thanks to Maou, Kaori and Yoshiya, Chiho finally obtained the confidence to be able to finish an order by herself, but following that, there should still be many things which she needed to depend on herself to learn.
Just as Chiho confirmed that she had gone through a fulfilling day and grasped the results----
“Hey, Sasaki.”
“Hm? What is it?”
On the way home, Yoshiya asked with a puzzling expression,
“That senior of yours who can speak English, is he a university student or someone who returned from overseas?”
“It seems like he is not. I asked him before as well, and he said that he learned it because he felt that English is necessary for work. In reality, there are foreigners who do come to the store frequently from nearby companies.”
“Normally, would a person go to that extent for work?”
Chiho also had some doubts about this.
Of course, it was one of the factors, but----
“Emura-kun, do you know what language is used in Finland?”
“Eh? It’s not Engilsh?”
Chiho shook her head.
“It’s Finnish. Even though it’s a different language from English, that gentleman learned English and German on his own through self-learning after graduating from school. And it was said that he only referred to the teaching materials from school.”
“……Was it because he is already more intelligent than most people?”
“He did not go to university you know.”
Yoshiya was speechless.
Seeing Yoshiya’s side view, Chiho remembered what Kisaki said before----
“Future path, is to continuously think about what you can do today for the sake of tomorrow.”
Maou and that white man, both felt it was necessary for tomorrow, so they learned English today.
Even though a person does not know what they would be doing one year later, but regardless of tomorrow or one year later, there will not be another day like today, so at that time, it would be better to obtain more.
Since he is an art dealer who goes around the world, then even if it is not tomorrow, he might come to Japan next month. Before that, Chiho hoped that she would be able to at least learn how to use English in greetings.
Even though she had these thoughts now, it was not necessary that it would become an asset in one, two years, but----
“If you’re unable to work hard for yourself, how would you be able to do something for others.”
It was not only Maou, Kisaki and the other seniors, the people at that store are like this.
Because you want to work for others, you would be able to work hard for yourself.
Because you are working for yourself, you would be able to work hard for others.
“……What does that mean?”
Yoshiya asked in confusion, but Chiho turned back and said,
“I’m not telling you!”
Chiho was not so considerate that she would tell other people the answer that she obtained after troubling over it, so she replied Yoshiya in an unclear manner and bullied him a little.
“I think if it’s now, I would probably be able to fill in the survey form.”
“Eh? Sasa hasn’t completed it yet?”
Kaori, who walked in front, turned back with surprise on her face and said,
“I wrote that I wanted to go to a university with a strong archery club. It isn’t a total lie, after all what can make me work hard right now is only this. If people still complain because of this, I’ll think of a way at that time.”
“……Why are the two of you like this.”
After that, until the three of them separated, Yoshiya kept showing the expression that he could not accept it.
※
The nerve wrecking day three way talks.
Chiho’s group were participating in the talks in the order Emura, Sasaki and Tokairin, and were sitting on the chairs in the corridor with their accompanying guardians before the start of the talks.
Of course, Yoshiya’s mother, whom he kept insisting would not come, also came.
From Yoshiya himself and what she heard about his older brothers, Chiho originally thought she would be a mother with a cold personality who is enthusiastic about education, but instead she was a well-endowed lady who looks like she has a warm personality.
Ever since he went to Chiho’s work place, Yoshiya started to become very quiet.
Because she could not find any opportunity to bicker with Yoshiya, Kaori was also obviously restless.
“Emura-kun, please come in.”
Andou-sensei called the last name of mother and son, asking them to enter the classroom.
Even though Yoshiya’s mother bowed to Chiho and the others, Yoshiya walked directly into the classroom without even looking back.
“Sasa, Sasa.”
Once the door closed, Kaori waved Chiho over with a soft voice and knelt next to the gap under the classroom door.
“K, Kao-chan, you can’t do that.”
“Hey, Kaori?”
Chiho and Kaori’s mother chided Kaori, who obviously wanted to eavesdrop.
“……Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come.”
Unexpectedly, even without intentionally eavesdropping, Andou-sensei’s voice could be heard from within, causing everyone present to lose interest.
The premises of Sasahata High School were very old, no matter how tightly the door is closed, it does not have any soundproofing effect at all.
“……Chiho, Mama is going to go to the washroom.”
After saying this, Chiho’s mother stood up with a wry smile.
“……I will take the chance to go as well.”
Kaori’s mother also took the chance to get up. Even if it’s not intentional, to adults, they would still feel bad listening to the other people’s talks.
The two mothers disappeared around the corner of the corridor, Chiho and Kaori looked at one another.
“……Me, me too……”
Even though Chiho also wanted to follow her mother’s footsteps and leave----
“No, we have to wait here.”
But Kaori stopped her with a soft voice and forcefully pulled Chiho back to the chair.
“And hasn’t that Yoshiya been a little strange recently? Perhaps he had some mental change.”
“Seriously……even if it’s like this, we might not be able to hear……”
“Emura, even though Sensei does not really want to say this, but with your current results, wanting to go to English course in university is really a bit too difficult, why do you suddenly have such thoughts?”
““……””
Just like a joke, Andou-sensei’s voice was heard at a very opportune time, causing Chiho to come close to laughing.
And on this point, Kaori was the same as well.
Yoshiya actually wanted to take the English course?
“Perhaps you might have known beforehand, but I have two outstanding older brothers.”
Before the surprise felt by the two of them could dissipate, Yoshiya in the classroom said with a slightly supressed volume.
“But because I know my results are not good, so I do not think I would be able to catch up with my brothers. My brothers have made being a judge and doctor their goal because they have clear reasons, but I do not have any ambitions, and even if I took model careers which the world thinks would make a person succeed as a goal right now, it probably would not go well……”
“Sensei also feels that there is nothing that wrong with taking stellar examples as a goal, and then?”
“…………………Finland.”
What Yoshiya said after keeping silent for a while, caused Chiho and Kaori to get another shock.
“Hm?”
“Sensei, people who come from Finland to Japan to buy pens, what kind of life do you think they live?”
“Eh?”
“Do you think they can make a living like this?”
“W, wait a minute, I do not really understand.”
It was not strange for Andou-sensei to feel confused.
“This is what I think. Even though other people say that the salary of doctors or civil servants are better, and their lives would be more stable, but those people did not get money because they have become civil servants, but because they performed work as civil servants right? Sensei also gets your salary because you teach us right? Not because it’s stable, Sensei must have had romantic thoughts and dreams about this occupation in your own way, which is why to choose this job right?”
“That, that is correct. Yeah.”
“I only started getting these thoughts after seeing the situation of my friend working. I should not see the name of an occupation as a goal, but when I find an occupation which can be a goal, I should think about what I should do to let myself chase after this goal without any hesitation.”
Yoshiya paused like he was thinking how to express himself.
“……Then, I met an uncle. Even though I do not think that he started to study hard in his student days in order to come to Japan to buy pens, but if I do have something I feel I must do because of a certain opportunity, then is there anything that I need to do right now, then I remembered the English which I failed before. I am not that intelligent, I will definitely slack if I do not have an easy to understand goal, so I want to choose a more difficult English course as a goal, it is roughly that feeling.”
“……”
When they came back to their sense, Chiho and Kaori discovered that there were already immersed in intently listening to Yoshiya’s words.
“……About this, does Mother have any thoughts……”
Even if he felt confused, Andou-sensei still tried to strike a conversation with Yoshiya’s mother.
“……Whether it is this child’s older brothers, me, or my husband, we have lived what this child describes as a ‘model life’. My husband is a civil servant, and before I married, I was a teacher.”
“!”
Chiho got a shock. Because this is a fact which she did not know.
But from Kaori’s expression, she also was clueless beforehand after all, and right now she was concentrating to hear the conversation within.
“We do not plan to force Yoshiya to work towards that kind of future, and being surrounded by these model-like adults, he must have felt restricted the whole time. My husband and I are worried whether he would feel that we have forced even the future paths of both his older brothers.”
“……I did not think that way at all……”
“Basically, since that is his goal, then as parents, we do not plan to interfere. If he has decided to do so, then regardless of good or bad, there will be a result in the end, even though it might cause Sensei trouble, but I still ask you to teach him well……I do not know why it is Finland, but if he becomes a translator in future, then when we go overseas, we will definitely use him properly.”
The last sentence said by Yoshiya’s mother should be directed at her son. From her voice, the impression that she did not care about her son at all was not felt, it was like Chiho’s mother Riho, a voice of a mother who constantly worries for her child.
“Since I failed last time, don’t expect too much.”
“That is why you have to work hard from now on.”
After that, the three people continued conversing which sounded more like a chat than a discussion, and when the sound of someone getting up was heard within the room, Chiho and Kaori straightened their posture, acting nonchalant.
But Chiho did not miss it----
“Even though it’s just Yoshiya……”
Kaori mumbled softly at that time.
Andou-sensei led the Emura mother and son pair out of the classroom.
“Emura-kun, thank you for your time. Next is Sasaki-san……eh, Sasaki, where did your mother go?”
“Ah, she went to the washroom and will be back soon……”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry for the wait.”
Once Chiho pointed towards the corridor, Riho rushed over like she grasped the right timing.
“Hello, thank you for waiting.”
Chiho, who entered the classroom after the Emura mother and son pair----
“Right now, do you still want to work?”
She tried asking this as she brushed past.
Even though Yoshiya did not seem to know why Chiho asked this, but he still pouted in a strange way, looked away and answered,
“Because the both of you are really too naggy, so I should still study first.”
After Yoshiya said this, he walked away quickly, embarrassed.
As for Kaori, she looked at Yoshiya’s back with a subtle expression.
Yoshiya’s change was definitely mainly because of his own will, but thinking that Maou, that man from Finland and how Chiho was like when working has influenced him should not be considered self-conscious.
If she really wanted to voice her frustration was probably because the future path she thought about was already said by Yoshiya. In the future path survey, Chiho also treated the English course at university as a backup.
And the reason was almost the same as Yoshiya.
Because it was something Chiho could accumulate right now and is also what she wants to accumulate at the same time.
This world is a lot wider than what she could see as a student and what she wants to see.
No one can guarantee that what one sees now is the same as what one sees next year.
Even so, then within a range she could reach, the things she needs to fly towards a new world, she must grab them one by one.
Chiho felt that this must be the path she should proceed towards in the end.
A future path is not an end point.
But just a checkpoint in the middle.
Even though she was thinking these amazing thing in her heart, but on the other hand, in order to prevent overlapping the replies she have already heard from Yoshiya, thinking in her mind on how to explain and simulating it, this part of her with a small capacity does exist, and it made her feel a little useless.
“Hm, with Sasaki’s results, forget about the subjects in the humanities group, there are still a lot of universities which you can choose from, anyway you can first talk about the reason why you choose the English course as your first choice.”
The reason for a goal, the motivation for working hard, there was no rule that there could only be one.
Even though it was not like Yoshiya, but Chiho felt that pure admiration was a stellar motivation to set up a goal.
Just like the club she visited not long after entering school, when she saw the ‘Kai’ movement done by the senior with the bamboo bow.
Just like the paper which had her future written as an opportunity, the ‘job’ where she got to know many adults.
She wants to reach that place.
She wants to see the same world as them.
“I want to catch up, with a senior I really respect.”
She wants to stand on the same horizon as that person and experience the same world as him.
※
This is a story from when I was a high school girl who did not know anything.
It is a story where even though I was prepared for changes in the future, I did not expect that the changes which I experience later, was actually enough to change the world, the story of Sasaki Chiho.
Two short weeks after that talk, I knew the truth about that person.
After knowing that truth, my world started to expand in a completely different way from before, causing me, an originally normal high school girl to be involved into a battle where many lives and world situations are at stake.
And this is a story which happened, slightly before this……
--END--
Vol 7 Afterword
The afterword this time reveals some plots about this volume.
The readers who start reading from the afterword, please take note.
With regards to the jobs and industries which have appeared from Voume 1 to 6 of “Hataraku! Maou-sama”, Wagahara has not experienced any of these occupations before.
But the four stories contained within this book are created with Wagahara’s past experiences as a foundation.
With regards to the main characters of these four stories, other than Demon King Satan Maou Sadao and Hero Emilia Yusa Emi, these fixed characters, I also arranged one other character for every story.
Please pay attention to Maou and the others, and the pages of stories crafted by these people who live various normal lives.
(Demon King, deciding to be an honest merchant)
This is a story which starts 30 seconds after the end of the second volume in the main story.
The theme is ‘Calm down, discuss with someone first’.
Just like the reports on television with the ‘Reality!’ feel, those people’s reasoning are filled with strange logic errors.
One morning, I coincidentally wore a western suit to go out, and on the way to the local bus stop, I was suddenly stopped by someone trying to promote a box of four European pears, this experience became the foundation of this story.
Even though I am not an office worker, but do they really think that a man wearing a suit during working hours would buy fruits……
(Demon King, taking a stray kitten home)
Before I debuted, the budgerigar who kept me company for sixteen years at my old home passed away because of old age.
Not only did that budgerigar pass away after sixteen years (around 130 years when converted into human years), it was a strong animal which survived cataracts and two cerebral infarction, and the veterinarian who helped that time was a very considerate person.
I pay my tribute to that doctor and hope that all pets can live a happy life.
By the way, the yard in my old home, had cats from the same family giving birth to kittens there 4 years in a row, because they’re very cute, we cannot just chase them away, but the log my father bought to grow mushrooms out of interest was scratched by them, isn’t there anything which can be done?
(Demon King and Hero, buying a futon together)
My cousin’s daughter is one of the reasons for the birth of the character Alas=Ramus, and she grew a lot in just one year, I really got a shock.
And when I was thinking what birthday present to buy for the child of a couple who are my friends, I got many suggestions from the people in the store, and after coming in contact with this personally, I deeply felt that the speed of children’s group was unbelievably fast.
If Maou and Emi continue to trouble over it, because they were overtaken by time, they might be forced to face one different trouble after another!
(Work! High School Girl –a few days ago—)
This is a prologue which happens before the first volume of “Hataraku! Maou-sama”, describing how Sasaki Chiho and Maou Sadao met.
This is a newly created story in this book.
Chiho, who is gradually becoming superhuman, at this point, is only a normal girl where it would not be strange to describe her as a high school girl.
The normal Chiho, because the people around her are older, she is a character who is always using polite language.
When I was planning, I only wanted to write a story of Chiho chatting leisurely with her friends, why exactly did it become like this.
Even though people say that if they want to predict the future, even Onis who find it funny, but there are pople who say that being able to laugh is a fortunate thing.
Because various deadlines will chase after me like Onis with metal clubs, so for the things which decisions can be made, it would be better to make those decisions earlier.
From the beginning, Wagahara is the type to be chased around and be trashed as a punishment in the end.
Then, when this volume reaches the reader’s hands, it would already be after 10 February 2012. After in April, two months later, the anime version of “Hataraku! Maou-sama” will be shown.
Ever since I started this series, right now, the start of the third year is approaching, the world of “Hataraku! Maou-sama” will continue to expand, please look forward to it.
And no matter what developments occur, in order for three meals a day and a happy life, today, they will still treasure normality while working hard every day.
I hope that I would still have a chance to write a book like this one, stories which describe simple normal lives in detail.
Goodbye!