Gave Everything Up - V1C7
Volume 1, Chapter 7:
First Day of Part-Time Job
"M-Manato!"
Ayana called out from behind me in a familiar
voice.
"What is it?"
I replied briefly. I had an urgent matter
to attend to today.
"Are you leaving already?"
"It doesn't matter to Ayano, does
it?"
No matter where I was headed to, it was of
no concern to Ayano, a stranger. So, why would she care about my every move?
"T-that's right, isn't it.
Ahaha..."
Ayana replied in a small voice, laughing
helplessly.
"Are you done?"
"Oh...um, yeah. Sorry. For holding you
back."
After I heard those words, I turned my back
to Ayano and started walking. Towards my destination.
Alright, time to go in. I entered the
secondhand bookstore 'Shimamiya Bookstore', after I prepared myself. Today was
the first day in my life that I worked part-time.
"Hello."
The time was 4:30. Since I could only come
here after school, it was difficult for me to work for longer durations. By the
way, I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday. Which was why I was incredibly
hungry right now. I had to negotiate somehow with the manager to get paid on
the same day...
"Ah, h-hello."
When I entered the store, Hisai-san called
to me. ...Still, I felt like I'd seen that face before...just where? I didn't
have any idea.
"Please take care of me today.
Hisai-san."
"L-likewise."
She trembled too much.
"..."
"..."
An awkward silence passed between the two
of us.
"R-reminds me, I haven't introduced
myself yet. My name is Tamaki Manato. I'm a second-year high school
student."
I told her that so as to diffuse the
unsettling mood as much as possible.
"I-I'm Hisai Aika. A third-year high
school student."
Hisai-san introduced herself in return.
Huh, so Hisai-san was older than me. I was glad to have the chance to talk with
her for a bit. However, the conversation didn't continue at all.
"I, have to talk to the manager, so
I'll go in the back for a bit."
I couldn't stand this awkwardness any
longer, and I left with what sounded like an excuse.
There, I found the manager in the Backyard
organizing books, and I called out to him.
"Manager, is it fine to talk for a
bit?"
When I said that, the manager immediately
stopped working and turned to me.
"What's up?"
"Um, is it possible to receive my
salary on the same day?"
I started off with that, feeling
apologetic.
"I don't mind that, but...I guess you
must have your reasons."
I wondered if my expression was unsightly
and the manager guessed from that.
"Okay. I'll hand it to you at the end
of your shift today, so come find me then."
"Thank you."
I expressed my gratitude to the manager who
didn't ask any more questions. Because this wasn't the kind of thing to talk to
strangers.
When I returned back from the Backyard,
Hasui-san approached me.
"Oh, Tamaki-kun. I'm going to teach
you what to do on this job, so please follow me."
"Ah, please. Also, Hasui-san is my senpai,
so you don't have to use honorifics on me."
When I told her this, Hasui-san nodded.
"O-okay. I understand."
Why did Hasui-san seem to unconfident? It
wasn't that she wasn't good at communication. She could respond well enough and
was even able to speak to others on her own.
But she was always watching my expression
all this time. Well, I guess it was none of my business.
With that thought in mind, I followed
Hasui-san's lead.
"Um, let's start by putting the books
back to where they belong that a customer mistakenly misplaced."
"Yes."
It seemed that this secondhand bookstore
was divided by genres.
Mystery books were in the mystery section.
If it was a fantasy book, there were shelves dedicated to fantasy as well.
"Then, I'd like you to do that."
I was told that, and although it took me
some time, I managed to returned the misplaced books back to their original
places.
"A-amazing. Even though it's your
first time... It took me two hours when I first did it back then..."
It kept me busy for around 30 minutes. When
Hasui-san saw this, she lowered her head down and got depressed. I still had a
feeling that I had seen Hasui-san's face before, although I really couldn't
recall.
"T-then, next..."
From there, I was briefed on several
things. First was a process called POP, which involved displaying the arrived
books on the shelves and penning introductions and illustrations.
"Tamaki-kun is really amazing... You
don't even need me..."
After giving out a praise, Hasui-san's
voice became extremely quiet. And when I saw Hasui-san's face at that moment, I
remembered what this feeling of familiarity was all about.
Ah, I see. This was the same face I always
saw in the mirror. It was the same face I had when I gave up everything because
I wasn't loved.
"..."
Even though I understood that, I couldn't
speak out to Hasui-san. Because she didn't want any comforting words. We both
wanted to be loved.
And so, my first day of work was over. I visited
the manager as I was told, and he handed me a paper envelope.
"Okay, here's your paycheck for
today."
As I was told that, I checked the contents
of the envelope in front of the manager, even though it might seem rude.
"Huh? W-wait a minute. Why is there
5,000 yen here?"
I worked for three hours today, from 4:30
to 7:30.
The hourly wage at this shop is 1,000 yen,
so the correct amount should have been 3,000 yen. Yet, there was 2,000 yen more
in the envelope.
"An earnest-looking kid came to me, so
I was thinking I should at least give more for his first paycheck."
The manager replied with a laugh.
"B-but..."
"Continue working hard from now on,
okay?"
I couldn't say anything back to the manager
in the end. Still, I was very happy with the salary I earned.
this guy sure is very pragmatic finding a job was the first thing he did since he still wanted to live
ReplyDeletealso, skipping an entire day worth of meals like its nothing, can relate.
i did assume it'd be more of a "Bai Lan" like interpretation rather than the current one which is more like a depressed 'gave up' rather than 'gave up' to become free