No matter how fast I run, I can’t outrun the subway. whoosh
And do you know what? It’s not like I can just hop on the subway whenever I want.
During rush hour on weekdays, the trains are packed. There are plenty of people commuting from Gyeonggi-do to Seoul in Korea, but Japan takes it to a whole new level.
While Seoul and Gyeonggi-do have high-rise apartments packed tightly together to efficiently stack humans in a narrow space, in Japan, ‘mansions’—what they call apartments—aren’t that numerous. Even if they exist, they seldom come in units like in Korea.
Perhaps it’s because the Japanese-style detached houses spread low and wide in two or three stories. The ‘metropolitan area’ in Japan has much longer commuting distances than Korea’s.
…No, maybe it’s the weirdness of me going all the way from Saitama to Minato Ward for school and working part-time in Akihabara, but whatever.
The part-time job I do is basically one where I have to present an image, so I can’t show up with my long hair all greasy from just waking up.
I had no choice but to wash up as hastily as possible, dry my hair a little, and pray for it to dry during the subway ride.
By the time I arrived at my part-time job, it had already been about three hours since they called me.
“Koto Ne?”
And then, I immediately ran into Koko.
There were quite a few customers. It was to be expected since it was the weekend.
During that time, Koko blended in and was working naturally.
“Ah.”
Koko, having accidentally called my name, showed a startled expression, then shook her head left and right, looking a bit serious.
“Koko.”
At first, I wondered what she meant. Though it’s common for Koko to refer to me in the third person, she had never muttered her own name like that, as if it were some kind of crying.
And after about two seconds, my rigid head, which had been tense, started to move, and I realized what she meant.
Koko… she was mimicking me right now.
She probably didn’t succeed very well. If she had perfectly imitated me, even the boss wouldn’t have noticed. Koko was just like me.
“Not…”
What words should I add after that?
I think I understand why Koko is here.
She must have thought to work in my place while I was deeply asleep. To let me rest.
“……”
Not knowing what to say, I stood there blankly until someone tapped my shoulder.
Turning around, it was the boss.
“Let’s talk outside for a sec.”
I looked back and forth between Koko and the boss, then nodded.
“No, you should be working.”
When Koko reflexively tried to follow me out, the boss said.
“Koko—”
Koko blurted that out, then quickly closed her mouth.
Realizing she had misspoken, she took a moment to catch her breath before opening her mouth again.
“Koto Ne is… Koko…”
“……”
But when I stared at her intently, Koko couldn’t say anything.
“Uu…”
Seeing Koko react like that made my heart ache a bit, but for now, talking with the boss took precedence.
…If Koko rode the train here alone, nothing major would happen just because she was left alone for a bit.
Besides.
“……”
Shii, who was watching us from a bit of a distance with a worried look, nodded when our eyes met.
I felt a slight sense of relief.
“I’m going. I’ll be back.”
I said that to Koko and followed the boss out.
*
The boss took me up to the rooftop.
Well, the boss was also wearing a maid outfit right now. I don’t know her exact age, but she looks to be in her twenties. If she graduated from college, she’s probably in her mid-twenties.
At this age in this world, people start to hear suggestions about marriage. Female characters often married in their mid-twenties back in the early 2000s.
“…Hoo.”
Sighing deeply, the boss leaned against the concrete railing of the rooftop.
It was a thick concrete railing that came up to her waist, so even leaning against it didn’t look particularly dangerous.
While rummaging through her maid outfit pockets, the boss pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Naturally, she took one, put it in her mouth, and our eyes met as I stared at her.
“……”
The boss stared at me for a while before extending the cigarette pack toward me.
I reached out to grab a cigarette from the pack just before my fingers touched it.
“What do you need cigarettes for at your age, kid?”
The boss said incredulously, taking the pack back before I could.
“Or do you know how to smoke?”
“……”
In my past life, I had smoked a bit. Learned it in the military and continued through college. I quit after getting a job. My younger sister was such a nuisance about it. There was a story online about a firefighter who died from lung cancer but wasn’t recognized for work-related injuries because he had smoked.
Whatever the reasons, I had to quit since my sister made such a fuss. But there was no helping that I often thought about it afterward.
Especially, it was particularly so on the day that sister passed with the family.
I had unknowingly taken a cigarette from a friend and just held it without lighting it. The friend never offered a light.
“…Hah.”
The boss gave a hollow laugh, as if finding it ridiculous.
It seemed she judged I knew how to smoke just from my silence.
After holding the cigarette in her mouth for a while, she put it back in the pack, as if her thoughts had changed.
“…This place you work at.”
The boss spoke after a moment of contemplation.
“You know the kids who work here don’t bother calling their parents, right?”
I nodded.
At first, I thought the boss was just someone who didn’t care much about her employees.
However, there have been cases of kids leaving without any notice. In those instances, the boss said nothing and left the position vacant for about a month. Only then would a quiet “Help Wanted” sign go up out front.
By now, I pretty much understood. The boss was intentionally letting that happen to those kids.
Some might think poorly of this. Some might suspect the boss is connected to some shady dealings and running this place for money laundering.
But I doubt that’s the case.
Yuka appeared unfazed by all of it. At least her grandfather must have checked the place out.
The boss is just that type of person.
“Your younger sister, Koko.”
The boss said.
“She’s a good kid.”
I nodded again.
That was a story with no room for rebuttal.
“There’s not just good kids involved with borderline intelligence. No, usually they’re a bit clumsy, but they can end up in strange situations.”
The boss instinctively clenched the cigarette pack in her hand. It was made of plastic, and it crumpled under her grip.
“My… younger sister used to be like that. She must be around your age by now.”
“……”
“Anyway, passing the intelligence test means she’s just an average person socially. The treatment would reflect that. So… it implies she won’t get protected anywhere.”
The boss’s gaze drifted aimlessly in the air. She looked like she didn’t want to continue with this conversation.
“And it’s a bit tricky to provide indiscriminate protection. They may seem a bit clumsy, but they don’t have disabilities unless someone claims so. Like I said, passing the test means they’re at least capable.”
The boss stated.
“Someone must have said this. They tend to learn as they grow and adapt and live well as adults.”
There might be many cases like that in reality. Most would hardly even recognize that they had such aspects.
Their school grades might be slightly lower, and they might hear their peers say they’re a bit unique, but in the end, they probably would find a way to blend in.
But before that, they might call attention to themselves and be used.
“For various reasons, they could end up wandering around and possibly get sent to a juvenile center.”
I couldn’t respond to that.
“Once they get out of the juvenile center, they could disappear and never show up again.”
“……”
As I remained silent, the boss scratched her head a bit annoyingly.
“Haah, I didn’t bring you here to talk about this.”
The boss spoke while sighing heavily.
“I’m just making this situation more burdensome, aren’t I?”
The boss shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t intend to pry into what kind of life you’re living. But in this current situation, I felt a little compelled to say something. You, doing ok these days?”
“……”
“How much must your sister have felt to come here knowing this? I can’t say I fully understand the situation either, but… well, good luck.”
….Did she call me to say that?
The boss wasn’t looking me directly in the eyes.
Leaning against the railing, she stared blankly at the sky. She’d probably be smoking if I weren’t here.
“Just… just take care. Okay. That’s what I wanted to say to you.”
I doubted that was it.
She might have had many more things to say.
I pondered on what to reply.
After twisting my head here and there, I realized there was no need for long words in situations like this.
Sometimes, it’s just.
“…Thank you.”
That simple response is what I needed.
“…You’re getting paid to be here. No need for gratitude.”
The boss said that and turned her body away without looking at me.
Then she stared endlessly at the ground below the building.
Her back seemed like it had finished speaking, so I turned around without a word and headed down the stairs.
*
“Koko.”
“I’m Koto Ne… Koko.”
Koko stubbornly pointed at me while insisting, “Koko.”
“……”
What should I say to her?
On one hand, I knew I shouldn’t think this way, but I felt a bit happy.
Koko will manage to live doing anything now, even in my absence.
Fortunately, Koko wasn’t really borderline intelligence. She only seemed innocent on the surface.
Though there could be bad people who might approach her.
But—
I looked at Shii.
Shii looked puzzled about what to do. She seemed flustered by the standoff between us.
…
Koko still doesn’t have a cellphone.
I hadn’t thought about that. Maybe because I subconsciously believed Koko would behave just as I wished.
Maybe I should give her one soon.
Or should I just let her use mine?
While I thought about this and that, I slowly moved to a seat.
And I took up a spot.
“…I’ll order.”
“Koto Ne?”
Seeing me say that, Koko looked surprised, as if she hadn’t anticipated it, her eyes opened wide as she stared at me.
I raised one finger.
Then pointing at myself, I said.
“Koko.”
And pointed at Koko.
“Koto Ne.”
Koko, whose expression was blank from my words, broke into a bright smile.
…Yeah.
Sometimes.
Sometimes, let’s accept kindness as kindness.
Just as Kuro said in my dream, living leisurely like a cat doesn’t seem too bad either.
Not lazily, but laid-back.
After all, the time I have is limited. Whether I act hastily or take it easy, it doesn’t change that.
“Yay!”
She ran toward me, unfolding the menu while saying.
“I’ll give you service!”
Where on earth did she learn that?
“What kind of service is this? I’m not the boss here.”
Just then, the boss, coming back from the rooftop, looked astonished and said.
“…Chocolate cake and coffee, please.”
“Sure!”
When I said that, Koko beamed with joy and went to the register.
Then a few minutes later, the cake I received seemed oddly a bit bigger than the one I saw every day.
…What a sentimental person.
*
I watched Koko until work ended.
No one complained that I was taking up too much table space. After all, the customers weren’t particularly interested in others seated in other corners of the café.
Koko… did well.
I thought Koko might be much better than me, who dealt with customers somewhat stiffly.
Seeing how much she was popular with young female customers gave me further assurance.
I leisurely savored my chocolate cake, swallowing a sip of coffee to wash away the thick sensation left in my mouth.
How long had it been since I felt that kind of leisure? It might have been the first time since I came to this world that I was so worry-free.
“Shall we go for ramen afterward?”
“Ramen!”
“Sounds good, Senpai.”
After work, as usual, we all went to have ramen. Of course, since Koko was the one who worked today, she came along too.
It was a bit late for dinner. The skies had grown dark.
The ramen I enjoyed sitting with three high school girls was delicious.
*
Well, relaxing was nice and all.
That aside, I still had work to do.
I still didn’t know how it would all end. The portion I read that was serialized is set to come out early next year.
It was just after the New Year’s. That’s when the story about the Hyakki Yagyō came out.
[Tokyo Slayers] isn’t quite the level of a life-changing novel. It’s not because it’s poorly rated or below par. After all, otaku generally stack up and read those kinds of books. Back when I was deeply invested in reading, there wasn’t a pricing system, and I’d buy several at once at a specialist bookstore with a twenty percent discount.
With the discounted price of 10,000 won, I could buy two comic books, or just over that amount for two light novels.
At the end of each month, I’d buy a few of the new releases and [Tokyo Slayers] was just one among that many novels.
Of course, just because it’s not a life-changing novel, the fact that I still remember it well after all this time indicates that it was indeed a novel I enjoyed while reading.
The anime never got made. Perhaps it wasn’t popular enough for that.
The reason I hadn’t reached the end of this novel… it’s probably nothing special.
While comics regularly get serialized in magazines and come out as volumes, light novels don’t work the same way.
Sometimes they get serialized in magazines, but many works come out with each volume being completed.
In the beginning, some novels would regularly release about two volumes a year, but later they would dwindle down to one per year or even longer.
There are even cases where an author got tired of writing and started another novel, ending up in a seemingly endless hiatus. Unlike web novels in the 2020s, light novels sometimes take ten years to finish.
Given the background I know about this world, I don’t think [Tokyo Slayers] went on indefinite hiatus. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a blend of simple youkai hunting with the Cthulhu Mythos.
It had been serialized for quite a long time, so enough contents had likely flowed through for such settings to emerge.
However, as the serialization periods grew longer, the novel slowly faded from my mind since I wasn’t eagerly waiting for it anyway, and as I aged, I lost interest, and thus it naturally disappeared from my purchase list.
…So, I don’t know the latter parts of this novel. At least I have no knowledge about any part dealing with the Kurosawa family.
What kind of reactions would readers have had? Was it a surprise?
Well, whatever it is, this world is like that.
[…You asked to tell you where I work?]
Yeah. I should’ve known this.
“Yes.”
[Are you sure you have confidence to dive into the deeper side?]
“No, I’m not like that at all.”
I answered.
No way would I jump into socialization without even knowing what it’s like.
I am not a hero. Nor a saint.
However, I also don’t want to become someone who exploits others.
Perhaps it’s already too late and just a hypocrite.
“At the very least, I should know what kind of place it is before entering.”
When I said that, Kagami seemed to ponder for a moment on the other side of the line.
[…Alright. I can show you. But I’ll warn you it might be super awkward when you see me later.]
“Doesn’t matter. It’s already awkward anyway.”
[That’s a bit hurtful.]
But Kagami laughed.
[I wonder if you’d say the same to others.]
“Can’t help it.”
Even if I meet someone from Yamashita’s family, what can I say?
I already anticipated that considering how close I know the connection with Yamashita family.
And thus, I felt I needed to know more about the social gathering.
According to what Yamashita’s father said, it seems like there are quite a few believers within the Yamashita family.
If that’s the case, whether they kill or beat people in the name of the social gathering.
…I don’t think about there being clean and righteous Yakuza members.
[You’re off tomorrow, right? Stop by after school. I’ll send you the address via email.]
“…Is it okay to bring Koko along?”
[…You want to bring her?]
Kagami asked with a somewhat reluctant voice.
[Well, if you really want to, go ahead. But it wouldn’t be good for her education.]
What kind of place is it?
If it seems even a little dangerous, I need to take her back home right away.
I can always show Koko later. You know, just before I leave.
Though I have no idea what it would be like then.
*
And then, the next day.
Koko and I headed to the place Kagami told us to.
I thought it wouldn’t be too bad, as the atmosphere was not so terrible. At first glance, it seemed like a fancy bar.
But the problem was—
“Hey there, little girl! Hurry over!”
There was Fukuda’s dad, barely holding himself together from drunkenness.
Seated next to him was Kagami in a provocative outfit.
Ah right, I hadn’t thought of that since it’s not someone I see often.
Damn.
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