Volume 4 - CH 8

These circumstances Ichinose-san spoke up about—quite literally with no hesitation—created a great impact inside of me. I sympathize with her hate and dislike towards normies. That definitely is a trigger to become independent from her older brother. Honestly feels like NTR…though the details are different.

After that, it became too awkward for her to meet her older brother. In the end, she can’t even properly talk with him. That only made her more lonely, so she decided to run away, and work here at this second-hand bookshop.

“I need to…become independent.”

“Y-Yeah…right.”

I get it. She sent my feelings on a homerun after all. Of course you’d feel forced to move away from your older brother. If I ended up in a similar situation with Big Sis, I might try to earn a lot of money and live on my own.

Wait, now that some time passed, I’m actually feeling a bit excited now. So Yuri-chansenpai was the assertive type, huh…I felt a bit of that at school, but…Waaaaaah, I’m so jealous of Bear-sansenpai…! But, what is this feeling that actually makes me want to congratulate him as well…Probably because no hottie for once.

Ahhh, forget it! Focus on work! There’s too many thoughts plaguing me, I need to get back into the groove!

*

Even after this conversation, Ichinose-san showed great effort in her behaviour, making a lot of work much easier. I’m sorry, but watching you just makes me want to grin. Ichinose-san’s independence—well, it might be a bit different from being independent, but her determination to live without her older brother is remarkable to say the least, and I perfectly understand it. If anything, I was so absorbed in her story, all these negative emotions I felt towards her had completely vanished.

After hearing her out, I really wanted her to succeed with her plans. If not, it’d be too much to bear…If anything, I want to help her with everything I can. I am happy for Bear-sansenpai, but a part of me is screaming ‘You damn bastard!’ internally. That is probably the most common ground I have with Ichinose-san.

“Guess it’s customer service.”

“Customer service…”

Because of the words I muttered, Ichinose-san froze up. That trauma from that weird old man yesterday is still going strong, I see. That might have been a special case, but it still left a strong impression behind.

“Even if one of those kinds of customers stops by, I can just deal with them, so you just need to get used to them to some degree.”

With how much she’s working, she will surely be able to achieve this soon enough. Since she didn’t just start working for a while like I did, she actually has motivation to continue, and I can fully support her for that.

“Ah, dear cus—honored customer.”

“Eh? Ah, welcome—”

Ichinose-san corrected her words, as she pointed behind me. If a customer had arrived, then I needed to greet them as well, so I turned around, only for my words to be stuck in my throat. Oh yeah, I haven’t seen her since that school visit a few days ago, so I called out to her.

“Welcome, Sasaki-san.”

“U-Um…yes.”

Maybe Ichinose-san? Seems to be turning pretty awkward, huh. Sasaki-san was fidgeting awkwardly, as she approached us. Did something happen the last time we met…? I think we separated fairly normally. Though, she really seems like an adult no matter how many times I look at her, I still can’t believe she’s in middle school—Ah.

Now that I know she’s in middle school, I can actually talk to her in quite the flat way. Because I thought she was a university girl, I paid attention to my tone. I wonder if she feels bothered about that…After all, I’m treating her with less respect.

“Ahh…right. You were younger than me, right.”

“…!?”

“A-Ah…so, you don’t need to treat me with so much respect, any normal way is fine…”

“I see, I understand…”

“Eeeek, stop alreadyyy…!”

When I used the word ‘younger’, Ichinose-san’s eyes shot over towards me. I get it, I really do. No matter how you look at it, this beauty in front of us looks like an older Onee-san. Can’t we just make her older than us? I’ve seen enough girls acting much older than they really are, and that’s getting me fired up. That’s right, I’m burning trash.

“So…is this fine?”

“Ah…yes!”

A girls-only middle school student…she’s in middle school, yeah. She wore a thin pink blouse with a white skirt, looking as grown-up as always, despite being younger than me. Disappear, my wicked thoughts that should be directed at a girl older than me…!

“S-So, about today! I wanted to clear up that misunderstanding from before…!”

“Eh, misunderstanding?”

What is she talking about? Did she have some odd idea about something? Did I? I mean, I only thought that she was in university, only to really be in middle school, but that’s about it. Ah, wait…is it that she and her three friends were cosplaying!? Seriously, I had no idea, you really got me there! (Delighted)

“Sasaki-san…I was utterly deceived.”

“Eh!? Y-You’re wrong! I’m not tongue-tied, nor do I live in a fake world of shoujo manga! I love novels! E-Especially romance novels…”

“Eh?”

That’s what she was on about? Not the part of her being in university?

“Even Sensei told me that ‘You’ve finally started to reach an inner self that is close to your outer appearance’, you know! I even chose some more grown-up clothes to match that…”

“Ah, yeah.”

H-Huh? It actually doesn’t feel that odd using informal language with her? Did Sasaki-san always have that character? I feel like she was actually much more calm before…Then again, knowing her real age, it’s not weird at all…But wait, she’s a university girl, right? Wait, I’m getting myself confused.

No hold on, calming down is my strength. Whether she’s a middle school student or university girl, it doesn’t matter. She looks like a grown adult—and that’s all that matters.

“Don’t worry, you properly look like an adult, Sasaki-san.”

“—! R-Really…Ah, wait, it’s not that I didn’t want you to say that…! I want Sajou-san to treat me like a junior…!”

“Junior, huh. Right, that is pretty nice in itself, yeah.”

“That is pretty nice in itself, yes!”

Right, right. She’s just a junior attending middle school who looks like a university girl, speaking in a childish tone. Isn’t that just fine? If I just think about it too deeply, I’ll dig my own grave. I should get back on track. So, when I looked to my side, Ichinose-san gave me a ‘What is this about?’ expression, observing my exchange with Sasaki-san.

“Ichinose-san, this here is Sasaki-san. It might be hard to believe, but she’s actually in middle school. Next year, she’ll be taking entrance exams at our school, so right now she’s a university girl brimming with life.”

“Eh?”

“Sorry, my mistake.”

Yeah, she’s definitely a university girl. I can’t treat her like a junior at all. If I let down my guard for a second, I’ll act like the junior myself. My younger brother attribute is just that strong. I want to graduate from this reign binding me down.

“I-I am still a middle school student, Sajou-senpai!” Sasaki-san frantically corrected me.

Eh, wait? Sajou-senpai? I’m not used to being treated like that, I’m feeling a bit happy now. Actually, I’m super happy.

“Middle school student…” Ichinose-san inspected Sasaki-san from head to toe.

Hey now, you can’t just stare at another person. You need to introduce yourself first. And, I get what you feel, but suffering from an inferiority complex is no good. I feel the same way, you gotta get used to it.

“Sasaki-san, this here is Ichinose-san, a new part-time jobber here, and my classmate.”

“S-Sajou-san’s classmate, is it…Nice to meet you, Ichinose-senpai!”

“Ah…um…”

Sasaki-san put up a true energetic middle school student attitude. However, that worked just fine against Ichinose-san. Sasaki-san seemed calm with Ichinose-san’s attitude and size, and started talking to her just fine. Well, Ichinose-san has no pressure at all.

Hmmm…I feel like if we switched the two souls in these bodies, it would probably fix this relationship a bit more…No, this is just fine. I want to see Ichinose-san act like a senior. However, Ichinose-san seemed to be flustered at being called Senpai, and started fidgeting like Sasaki-san when I first met her. I understand how she feels. Even so, she didn’t seem to hate it, and properly greeted Sasaki-san as well.

“N-Nice to meet you…Junior.”

“Eh?”

Now old on, young lady.

*

Although it was a shame since I haven’t gotten to talk to Sasaki-san in a while, Ichinose-san seemed to be reaching her limit. Since she only showed a change of heart and more motivation today, I can’t really rest easy yet, as she might be close to breaking down again. I heard that whenever you’re hurt, you should fill the hole in your heart with work. But, that rarely ever takes into a good direction…and this only happens in dramas or manga. No, wait?

“Sasaki-san, you loved reading books, right? You might get along with Ichinose-san.”

“Eh, really?”

As the two were getting to know each other, I threw a topic at them. Since Ichinose-san is a resident reader, they should be able to get along even with their difference in age. Even if she can’t fully become independent from her older brother, getting to know new people should help with her loneliness…

“I-I…do read books, but…”

“Wow! There’s not many book readers around me, so I’d be happy if we could get along!”

“Eh, um…Well.”

Oh? That’s the Sasaki-san I know. Is this the kind of expression she shows on the outside? Also, is Sasaki-san opening up like a middle school student really a good idea? But, I really want her to act like a grown-up adult…! However, Sasaki-san jumping in joy is also…! Ahhh!

“U-Um…we’re currently at work, so…”

“Ah…is that so…”

“No, it’s fine. We can just keep talking until another customer comes.”

“Eh…”

There’s barely any customers coming anyway. As long as we properly work when it matters, it should be fine. Sorry, Gramps.

“You liked reading romance novels, right, Sasaki-san? What kind of books do you read, Ichinose-san?”

“Umm…I don’t have any particular taste…I’m more attracted to titles.”

“Waaaah, that’s amazing…”

“…!?”

Sasaki-san looked at Ichinose-san with a strong sparkle in her eyes. It seems like Ichinose-san’s reading mentality is a pretty big deal. Since I barely read manga at most, I have no idea what they’re on about. However, I feel like enjoying books disregarding the genre is something worthy of respect. Because books are pretty much not limited to anything, you can just read on and on with no end. Even so, I bet that reading books with Bear-sansenpai’s back hitting her is a crucial part of that.

As for Ichinose-san, she was a bit flustered, but I decided to not intervene now.

*

“………”

No customers coming, huh. I let Sasaki-san take care of Ichinose-san—Or, the opposite? Anyway, I let Ichinose-san take care of Sasaki-san, and about thirty minutes passed. Since this is fairly laid-back work, I’m at a loss on what to do. This isn’t the time to change the song inside the store either, so this is generally the time where I would think ‘I hope my shift is over soon’.

In the midst of that, the conversation between Ichinose-san and Sasaki-san was blooming. The most voices I heard belonged to Sasaki-san, but her attitude felt gentle—Gentle? Anyway, Ichinose-san was properly responding to Sasaki-san as well. I still see her as a child, huh.

I was worried about Ichinose-san’s mental state, but at this rate, nothing will happen. Since I’ll be leaving after summer break is over, I want her to grow a bit more confident than this. That’s why, maybe I should ask Sasaki-san for help.

“I’m sorry to break between you. Sasaki-san, do you have some time?”

“Yes?”

When dealing with customers, I’m pretty sure everybody would freeze up in the beginning, so it probably would be best to first practice with and collect customers to get used to it, and get the hang of it. I figure that forcefully pushing the stuff into her would be most efficient, but thinking of experience, you need to give some variation.

Thus, the customer service role play began. I had Ichinose-san wait at the cash register, and I would be a problematic customer to give hard trials to Ichinose-san. I headed for her directly, giving Ichinose-san a sharp glare. She really doesn’t deal well with pressure like that, huh…I stood in front of the register, and looked down at her.

“Hey, don’t you have any magazines here?”

“…W-We don’t have any.”

“Huh? Why?”

“B-Because…”

If some customer were to bother me during my shift, I’d love to give him a ‘Leave and look at the sign outside’ with a death metal roar. However, that would only invite trouble. So, it’s better to just give in and say something like ‘I’m sorry, but we don’t have any magazines in our sortiment’, you know. In most cases, that would solve the problem. Even so, grudges will be left behind, which is the shitty part of society. Can’t just throw the register at them after all.

Leaving aside all those shitty thoughts, Ichinose-san should know that she can’t afford the customer to have control over her.

“I…I’ll go ask the store manager!” With these words, Ichinose-san walked away.

Yeah, that way of resolving things does work. We get a lot of questions concerning sortiment, so without being able to resolve these things on your own, it’ll just burden Gramps more. I want her to be able to pull it off eventually.

I followed after Ichinose-san—Wait, Ichinose-san? Where are you going!? Are you actually talking to Gramps!?

*

Seeing her stand in front of Gramps with her head lowered, I slid into the room on my knees, bowing down while explaining myself. Gramps heard me out, and gave me a wry smile. Receiving a fortifying ‘Aren’t you doing great’ from Gramps while he gently tapped on her shoulder, Ichinose-san showed a flustered reaction. In reality, it’s not going that great. If Gramps got a report from me, he’d probably give me an earful.

“Well, with any other place, that would probably be the right choice.”

“Y-Yes…”

We decided to continue our practice. Since this was the first time, we weren’t really scolded much, and just continued our work. Ichinose-san put a note down next to the cash register. Ah, her writing is pretty curved…Looks like a printable type.

“S-So this is a part-time job…!”

Sasaki-san looked at the notes with sparkling eyes, as she stood at the cash register. Huh, does she not have any experience working part-time? The second I thought so, I remembered her age. Not good, even if her impression is that of a ‘university girl’, I need to accept that…Even though I really don’t want her to be. Ahh, how powerful the term ‘university girl’ really is.

Sasaki-san’s limitless and brimming smile was dazzling enough to melt and kill me. Isn’t that a bit too cruel?

“Then, next up is Sasaki-san. I’d like to try a lot of different patterns, so could you maybe be more annoying of a customer?”

“Eh…!? A-An annoying customer…?”

“Cu—Yes, a bothersome customer, you might say.”

A panicking Sasaki-san was adorable. It was almost enough to make me voice my honest feelings. By doing that, I could see a glimpse of her true age…Not bad. She’s the first person after Natsukawa who can absolutely disrupt my personal feelings expression radar. Damn it…If she was an actual university girl, I could have gotten myself spoiled…!

“Ahhh…if it’s too difficult, then…”

“N-no! I’ll do it, it’ll be great for learning about society!”

“Eh…really?”

I didn’t want her to simply force herself, but apparently she was fairly motivated. Sasaki-san formed a small fist in front of her chest, and it felt like I could hear something like ‘Onee-san will try her best!’, which had my heart melt. She let out a motivated breath, and stepped outside the store. Amazing, the way she walked away really made her look like a middle school student. I guess that youth really shows.

I’m glad I was just looking at her back, otherwise I might have gotten attacked by a force unrecognizable on a scale, the energy hitting me face-on.

“…How nice…”

“………”

I heard a faint mutter coming from Ichinose-san, who stood behind the counter. In shock, I turned my head over there, about to give her a dubious gaze. I can tell, that’s the subconscious one. I tried my best to not look at Ichinose-san, moving next to the cash register. Only when I glanced over at her, I could see her blush furiously, covering her mouth with both her hands. Not to mention that these hands were quivering.

Not yet, Ichinose-san…You can do it! I have big hopes for you! Your growth period hasn’t started yet!

“I-I’m coming over!”

Sasaki-san stood ready next to the entrance, so I gave her a signal with ‘Please do~’. With that as a sign, Ichinose-san faced the cash register, her ears red. And, Sasaki-san walked towards Ichinose-san brimming with motivation.

“Youuuu! You…you bastards, where’s my magazine!”

Now wait right there, young lady.

*

Terrified of Sasaki-san in a lot of ways, Ichinose-san still somehow managed to properly evade her in a way. Then again, it felt more like Sasaki-san was the one evading her. Well, leaving aside the part of her walking like a yankee and purposefully making her voice deeper, she was pretty much a normal customer. The time when she received back the change, she gave a cheerful ‘T-Thanks a bunch’, and buried the fist with the change inside up to her chest. That sight alone seemed close enough to make Ichinose-san go rampant, and I’m pretty sure that Ichinose-san’s HP got close to zero. But, she passed.

“T-This is more embarrassing than I thought, hehe.”

Probably, yeah. When she accepted the money, she still looked like a grown university girl, no matter how I looked at her. I’m sure that her appearance back during the school visit was just my imagination, or a hallucination. Maybe both Sasaki-san and I were tired at that time. Sasaki-san is an entrance exam student, so—Yeah, summer is warm.

It seemed like Sasaki-san came here with any kind of business related to me, but I guess that probably was just to get a change of pace like before. After becoming an actual customer and buying two books, she swiftly went home. On her way out, when she waved her hand at us with an ‘I’ll be coming again’, she looked like a lily of the valley shaken in the breeze. Can I have you change with Big Sis?

“…That was pretty amazing, huh.”

“……”

I subconsciously blurted out an impression. Ichinose-san didn’t give me any response, and that’s perfectly fine, I was just muttering to myself. What’s really amazing is that no customer came by except Sasaki-san. Well, we’re still not at the weekend, and most people come by on Saturday or later on the day.

“Ichinose-san, I’ll be quitting after summer break ends, but please make sure to help Sasaki-san when she comes by again.”

“Eh…!?”

When I said it nonchalantly with no preparation at all, I heard a shocked voice next to me. Looking over, Ichinose-san gave me that ‘Seriously?’ type of expression. Eh, don’t tell me…She hates Sasaki-san…? What, she’s a kind Onee—junior, though. A university gir—Wait?

In the end, I had no idea how Ichinose-san felt about Sasaki-san. Watching from the side, Sasaki-san seems like the assertive type. I was just always way too welcoming, I never realized. I just hope that Ichinose-san doesn’t feel uncomfortable around her…Also, if I quit here, I won’t be able to meet Sasaki-san again, huh…

“You…you’re going to quit?”

“Eh…you didn’t know?”

The reason Gramps put up a new recruitment notice is exactly because I’m going to quit…Maybe she didn’t hear about that during her interview with Gramps…Well, he was probably too happy, so he didn’t tell her that many facts. Also, you have something like a mascot university girl-type middle school girl as a set regular customer, your store is hella popular, Gramps.

“Well, as you can see, this bookshop doesn’t really need two jobbers. If Gramps was a bit younger, he could probably take care of it himself.”

“……”

Especially if his hips were still a bit younger. Of course, dealing with customers is more important than anything else, but carrying heavy cardboard boxes and cleaning is also necessary once in a while. Then again, this shop is just his hobby more than anything, so at least Ichinose-san will be able to protect this.

“Well, I heard about your story, and I don’t know if you can grant that wish of yours, but I’ll be your senior until the very end.”

“……!”

“Ah.”

Crap, I might have said something that wasn’t the best idea in this conversation. Ichinose-san twitched in shock after all. Whenever I’m curious about something, I tend to think about it more than usual, right. I bet that Bear-sansenpai and Yuri-chansenpai are together right now—Ahhh, so much damage hitting me. If I played dead in front of them, they probably wouldn’t even notice.

“…Yes…thank you very much for hearing me out.”

“Ah, yeah…Hm?”

Is she thanking me for listening to her in general, and not just as a senior of hers? If anything, should I have been listening to that? Ichinose-san in question spotted something far away at a bookshelf, and moved away from the cash register. I’ve seen this already, but I feel like she’s actually pretty talented when it comes to anything but customer service.

“…Guess it’s time to end the shift soon.”

Looking over at the clock, the needle was pointing towards noon. Since Gramps is pretty strict when it comes to breaks and end of our shifts, he’ll be coming to us any second. Until that time, I talked a bit with Ichinose-san.

*

On the way home from work, I was lost in my thoughts, trying to ignore the heat around me. Once I quit working, I’ll end up more distanced from Ichinose-san, I bet. However, even if we are strangers at that point, I heard about her troubles, so I can’t fully ignore it either. That being said, these circumstances are related to her own family, so poking my head in there might just be bad manners. I’m just her senior at work after all. Was it really okay to tell me about that?

I wonder, why did Ichinose-san explain all of that to me? We never really talked that much before, and I pretty much showered her with cold words on her first day at work. With that kind of thought in mind, there’s only one answer to arrive at here.

‘It’s because she has nobody else to talk to about that’. I felt an odd urge to cry. I’ve been thinking this a lot, but…that sure is a rude assumption, huh. It’s like I’m looking down at her. However, I don’t think I can really help it. I’ve never seen Ichinose-san talk with anybody else at school.

On top of that, Ichinose-san is trying to become independent, at least emotionally, which is probably why she hasn’t even got time for that. She’s trying to become stronger, so that she won’t be suffering all alone. To a point where she told pretty much a stranger like me about it.

What I’m about to say is another speculation. If Ichinose-san doesn’t do that, something will eventually spill. Just like she explained her circumstances to me, in order to protect herself. If she told her parents, her older brother might suffer under some circumstances. If she told Gramps, I don’t think he would sympathize with her. Gramps’ wife would probably throw demoralizing words at her. So, if Ichinose-san had a girl she was close with…I probably wouldn’t have heard about that.

“Is she expecting something from me…”

I stood next to a vending machine, with some carbonated juice in one hand. Sheesh, what kind of protagonist am I? There’s no way…If that was the case, then I’d be popular with cute girls, and an ace in any kind of sport. Of course, Big Sis would be kind and an honor student…Oh wait no, I’d have a brocon little sister…Hm? That sounds oddly familiar.

Maybe something better would have happened if she’d asked Sasaki instead? The best I can do is be her senior at work. I can only teach her the most common things. That’s about all I can offer. I really am pretty insignificant.

“H-Huh…?”

I was actually thinking about it for a long time there. The juice can in my hand was already empty, the refreshing feeling inside of me gone. It was just sweet now. Maybe Sasaki would have been better at drinking the juice.