Volume 1 - CH 6

Volume 1, Chapter 6: For the Sake of Living

I was dazedly listening to the lecture, not particular in mind.

Somehow, I just didn't feel motivated...

Just because I felt unmotivated, didn't mean that I wouldn’t do something.

If I didn't do anything, I wouldn't be able to survive.

I told Maki-san this morning that I didn't need money. Which was why I needed to do something...

Maybe I should get a part-time job...

Even if I said I would do that, I had to choose carefully. I wanted to work in a place with good conditions if possible, like their working hours, hourly wage, and work environment. At the very least, I needed to choose some place that paid by the hour...

As I was thinking about this, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Lunch break was to start now. I wanted to go look for a part-time job and start working today...

With this in mind, I took my phone out of my pocket and looked for a place nearby when a voice called out to me from the front.

"H-hey, Manato."

When turned my eyes to see the source of the voice, I saw the person who had been my childhood friend up until this morning standing there.

"What's wrong? Ayano."

"! D-don't call me like that..."

Don't call her like this? Did I say something rude?

"Um, what do you mean?"

I didn't really understand and asked that.

"Don't call me Ayano..."

Eh...then how should I call her, huh.

"Call me Sayaka."

"Why?"

Ayano and I shouldn't be that close anymore. How could I her by her first name?

"Because we're childhood friends, right?"

"I told you we aren't anymore, though?"

Right. We weren't childhood friends anymore. I, just like the rest. Ayano as well. Just a classmate and another classmate. That was all we were.

"Don't say that! Why do you want to do that?!"

Ayano raised her voice inside the classroom, causing all students to turn towards us in unison.

"H-hey. Calm down a bit."

I tried to soothe Ayano with those words, but she refused to listen.

"How can I calm down?!  How could Manato do that on your own?! Why don't you understand?!"

"I don't know what you want me to understand, but if your childhood friend was so important to you, how come you forgot my birthday, huh."

The tone became a bit domineering.

"That..."

Why was I asking this? I should have given up. Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind, I was still trying to be loved by Ayano.

But that soon turned to resignation.

"I really forgot... I'm sorry."

Childhood friends amount to just that, after all. If she could so easily forget, even though it was something important, then that probably didn't matter that much to her.

"Well, that's just how it is. You don't have to do anything with your childhood friend anymore, right? Is this all you wanted to talk about? If so, please go away, I'm a bit busy."

As I told Ayano this, I shifted my eyes back to my phone.

Ayano looked like she wanted to say something, but after a few moments, she turned her back to me and staggered towards her seat.

After that, I could hear whispering around me.

I felt uncomfortable...

For a while, curious eyes were on me and Ayano.

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After school was done, I was on my way to a particular location. The place I was headed to was a secondhand bookstore. The reason was because, of course, to apply for a part-time job. It wasn't that far away from my house and school, and the hourly wage was 1,000 yen, which was higher than the average around here. With this, three hours of work should be enough to buy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The other thing about this part-time job was that it had shifts.

I just hoped it wouldn't be too demanding...

I arrived at the secondhand bookstore with such expectations.

I checked the location with my phone and made sure it was the right one before going inside.

"Excuse me. I want to work part-time here..."

The inside wasn't very spacious, as evident from outside. But thanks to that, the smell of old paper filled the store, and it wasn't so bad.

When I turned towards the cash register, there was a woman standing there.

She wore glasses and looked mature. It felt like I had seen this person's face before...or was it my imagination?

"Um, I'd like to work part-time..."

When I told her this, the female clerk jolted.

"Y-yes! I-I'll go get the manager!"

The female clerk replied to me with this and entered a place named Backyard. She seemed terribly timid.

A while later, the female clerk returned with an elderly man.

"Oh, this is the manager."

The female clerk told me this and I looked the old man.

"Excuse me. I want to try working part-time here..."

"Ah, sure. Tomorrow then, please."

...Eh?

"Eh? No, um, huh?"

"Hmm? Is there still something?"

The old man tilted his head and asked me that.

"Oh right. You wouldn't know what to do, huh. Ask Hisai-san here what to do tomorrow."

Was the female clerk called Hisai-san? No, that was beside the point.

"T-that's not it! I mean, don't you need to have to do an interview or something?"

That question was only natural. Every part-time job should have an interview. Otherwise, they wouldn't know what kind of person was applying for the job.

"Ah, it's fine, it's fine. You look serious enough."

I looked serious, he says... Was it fine to easily make this decision?

"You can feel relieved. Everyone I've hired have all been excellent."

"...Thank you so much."

Somehow, I felt it was useless to say anything else to this person. He had such a strange atmosphere.

My part-time job had been decided.