Chapter 6: The Unease in My Everyday Life After Work
The Unease in My Everyday Life After Work
Ever since the day Ayane invited me to have lunch with Minato, I’d spent my days thinking about how to tell her I wanted to break up during Golden Week. Before I knew it, the holidays were already starting tomorrow.
“Starting tomorrow, it’ll finally be Golden Week, which everyone’s been looking forward to. Once it’s over, a wonderful proficiency test will be waiting for you with a smile, so make sure you have fun without overdoing it, okay? That’s all for today.”
After finishing her announcement, our homeroom teacher, Mihara-sensei, left the classroom briskly as if she no longer had any reason to stay. She probably had her own plans lined up for the break.
“Taichi, what are you doing during the holidays?”
While Taichi was getting ready to go home, I asked about his plans for the break even though there wasn’t any real reason to.
“Huh? Me? I’ll be working part-time the whole time. There’s something I want, but it’s too expensive right now. What about you, Ryouta?”
“I’m planning not to work at all and just hang out with Ayane.”
“Ugh, damn you, you normie! Perish!”
“Sorry about that. Anyway, see you after the break, loner.”
“Yeah, see you, normie.”
After parting ways with Taichi, who left first, I headed to the classroom next door where Ayane was.
“Ayane!”
Calling out her name, I peeked into the classroom, but her seat was empty.
“Ayane? Where did she go?”
I had come to pick her up to play the part of her boyfriend, but as I muttered to myself, I made eye contact with a girl I didn’t know, so I decided to ask her where Ayane had gone.
“Um, do you know where Ayane… Tachibana Ayane-san went?”
“Ayane-cchi? Oh, you’re her boyfriend from the next class, right? Ayane-cchi went to the staff room with Yoshioka-kun.”
“To the staff room, huh…”
“I… I think so. Um, sorry?”
“Ah, it’s fine. Thank you.”
Apparently, Ayane had gone to the staff room with Minato before I arrived. When I went to check, neither of them were there, and I ended up helping Mihara-sensei carry her things to her car. Since I was already near the bike parking area, I gave up on looking for them and rode off toward my part-time job.
“Good evening, Kanae-san.”
“Good evening, Ryouta-kun.”
In the small office, Kanae-san, who had already changed into her uniform, was sitting at the computer taking a short break. After I changed, I entered the number on the back of my name tag into the computer to clock in, and as I did, Kanae-san gently took hold of my right hand that was on the mouse.
“Kanae-san?”
“Come with me, Ryouta-kun.”
She led me into the storage room where the inventory was kept, and without saying a word, she just kept staring at me. I looked back at her, and then suddenly, she pulled me into a tight hug.
“K-Kanae-san?”
Kanae-san, a college freshman two years older than me, was the senpai who had kindly taught me all the different tasks at the convenience store where I worked. As she held me, I realized that the soft warmth surrounding me felt deeply comforting.
“Ryouta-kun, aren’t you hurting inside?”
“Huh?”
Still being held, I froze, unable to respond to her words.
“Your eyes, Ryouta-kun… your heart is crying.”
“…”
Because of Ayane and Minato, my mind and heart had fallen apart, but after feeling numb for a while, I convinced myself I had gone back to normal. To Kanae-san, though, I must have looked anything but fine.
Wrapped in her gentle embrace, which felt completely different from my little sister Natsuki’s hugs, I felt something unknown that had been trapped inside me finally start to melt away.
“…Kanae-san, I feel like a weight’s been lifted off my heart.”
“It’s still not enough… Ryouta-kun, let me heal you.”
“Kanae-san…”
Even as guilt crept over me for being held by an older woman in the shadows of the store, I realized for the first time how comforting it could be to be embraced so kindly by someone outside my family.
“…Please come help at the register…”
The voice from the office speaker called for help at the register, and with a small sigh, Kanae-san released me.
“Guess we have to go, huh? Even though there are still five minutes left.”
“Y-Yeah, that’s right…”
After straightening our slightly rumpled uniforms, we headed to the register together. We worked until the owner and his wife arrived at nine, chatting between customers about high school and university life, until the end of our shift finally came.
“Good night, Owner.”
“Good work, Ryouta-kun. Oh, by the way, we might need some extra help during the holidays, so I’m counting on you if that happens.”
“Are you serious, Owner?”
“Halfway serious. If I do ask, I’ll make it the night-shift rate.”
“Hmm, I’ll think about it.”
“Thanks! Be careful on your way home.”
“Yes.”
Kanae-san hurried to the parking lot ahead of me and got into her car while I walked my bike over beside her.
“Good work today, Kanae-san.”
“Good work. The owner stopped you earlier. Did he say something?”
Looking down at her through the open driver-side window, I answered.
“Haha… he said he might call me in during Golden Week since I didn’t schedule any shifts.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, he said he’d pay me the same rate as the night shift.”
“I see. Well then, Ryouta-kun, it’s dark, so be careful on your way home, okay?”
“I will. You too, Kanae-san.”
“Yeees.”
Kanae-san turned on her headlights, waved to me, and drove off in her light blue compact car. After her car disappeared from sight, I pedaled down the quiet residential street toward home. Along the way, under a streetlight, I noticed the silhouettes of a boy and a girl walking together. They turned into a side street and vanished, and something about it caught my attention. Slowing down, I stopped at the corner where they had turned and looked down the road.
The two I had followed with my eyes were now standing under another streetlight near a vending machine. I could hear their cheerful voices as they chose drinks, and when I saw their faces lit by the light, I realized it was Ayane and Minato.
“Those two… alone together at this hour?”
Since they weren’t wearing their school uniforms but casual clothes, they had probably gone out somewhere.
“Geez, another coffee? You already drank so many.”
“Coffee tastes different when you drink it while looking at a beautiful view.”
Even though they weren’t talking loudly, their cheerful voices carried clearly through the quiet night air, reaching me easily despite the distance.
After buying a drink herself, Ayane crouched to take it from the vending machine, stood up, and turned around. When her eyes met Minato’s, they froze for a brief moment before the two of them kissed.
“…”
Watching them show their love so openly for the first time, I wasn’t shocked as much as I was filled with disgust, struggling to hold back the urge to vomit.
Looking away, I set my bike on its stand. When I looked back, they were wrapped in each other’s arms. Feeling nothing but emptiness, I decided I might as well interrupt them. Taking out my phone from my pocket, I called Ayane.