Ch.112Chapter 18. Repayment (3)

No matter how fast I run, I can’t outpace the subway.

And you know what? I can’t just hop on the subway whenever I want either.

On weekdays during rush hour, subway trains are naturally packed. While many people commute from Gyeonggi Province to Seoul in Korea, Japan takes this to a whole other level.

Unlike Seoul and Gyeonggi Province with their densely packed high-rise apartments that efficiently stack humans in smaller spaces, what Japanese call “mansions” (apartments) aren’t nearly as numerous. Even when they exist, they rarely form large complexes like in Korea.

Perhaps it’s because Japan spreads out with two or three-story traditional houses? Whatever the reason, what Japanese call the “metropolitan area” covers a much greater distance than Korea’s.

…Well, maybe I’m the strange one for commuting from Saitama all the way to Tokyo’s Minato Ward for school, and working part-time in Akihabara, but anyway.

And the part-time job I do is all about maintaining a certain image, so I couldn’t exactly show up with greasy, long hair right after waking up.

All I could do was wash up quickly, dry my hair hastily, throw on some clothes, and pray my hair would finish drying during the subway ride.

By the time I arrived at my workplace, nearly three hours had passed since I received the phone call.

“Kotone?”

And I immediately ran into Koko.

There were quite a few customers. That’s normal for weekends.

And Koko was blending in naturally among them, working.

“Ah.”

After inadvertently calling my name, Koko made an “oops” expression, shook her head side to side, and put on a slightly stern face.

“Koko.”

At first, I wondered what she meant. While Koko often referred to herself in the third person, she never muttered her name like it was some kind of cry.

And about two seconds later, my frozen brain finally started working, and I realized what she meant.

Koko was… imitating me.

It probably wasn’t very successful. If she had perfectly mimicked me, the manager wouldn’t have noticed in the first place. Koko looked exactly like me, after all.

“No…”

What should I say next?

I think I understand why Koko is here.

She must have planned to work in place of me while I was sleeping deeply. To let me rest.

“…”

While I was standing there blankly, not knowing what to say, someone tapped my shoulder.

I turned to see the manager.

“Let’s talk outside for a moment.”

I looked back and forth between Koko and the manager, then nodded.

“No, you need to keep working.”

When Koko reflexively tried to follow me, the manager spoke.

“Koko is—”

Koko started to say something but quickly shut her mouth.

Realizing her slip-up, she took a breath and tried again.

“Kotone is Koko…”

“…”

But when I stared at her, Koko couldn’t say anything more.

“Uuu…”

Seeing her react that way made my heart ache a little, but talking with the manager took priority.

…If Koko managed to take the train here by herself, she should be fine alone for a little while.

Besides.

“…”

Shii, who had been anxiously watching us from a distance, caught my eye and nodded.

That was somewhat reassuring.

“I’ll be back.”

I told Koko that and followed the manager out.

*

The manager took me up to the rooftop.

Well, she was wearing a maid uniform too. I don’t know her exact age, but she’s probably in her twenties. If she graduated from university, she’d be in her mid-twenties.

In this world, that’s around the age when people start hearing they should get married. Female characters in the early 2000s typically got married in their mid-twenties.

“…Phew.”

With a deep sigh, the manager leaned against the rooftop railing.

The concrete railing was quite thick and came up to waist height, so it didn’t look particularly dangerous.

The manager rummaged through her maid uniform pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She naturally took one out and put it in her mouth, then caught me staring at her.

“…”

After looking at me for a moment, she held out the cigarette pack toward me.

I reached out to take one of the cigarettes that was sticking out.

“What are you doing with cigarettes at your age? You’re still in high school.”

The manager pulled the pack away before my hand could reach it, looking incredulous.

“Or do you know how to smoke?”

“…”

In my previous life. I smoked a little.

I learned in the military and continued throughout college. I quit after getting a job. My younger sister nagged me terribly about it. She found something online about a firefighter who died of lung disease being denied workers’ compensation because he smoked.

Whatever the reason, I quit because my sister made such a fuss, but I still thought about it often.

Especially on the day when my sister and the rest of my family were gone.

When a friend offered me a cigarette, I unconsciously put it in my mouth and just held it there. My friend didn’t give me a light.

“…Huh.”

The manager let out a disbelieving laugh.

She probably took my silence as confirmation that I knew how to smoke.

After keeping the cigarette in her mouth for a while, she seemed to change her mind and put it back in the pack.

“…About where you work.”

The manager paused in thought before speaking.

“You know we don’t usually contact the parents of the girls who work here, right?”

I nodded.

At first, I thought the manager was just being casual about employment.

But there was a girl who quit without saying anything. The manager didn’t say anything about it. She kept the position vacant for about a month, and only after the girl didn’t return did she quietly put up a recruitment notice on the café door the next day.

By that point, it was pretty clear. The manager was deliberately providing jobs to certain types of girls.

Some might think the worst. That the manager has connections to the underworld and runs this place for money laundering.

But that’s probably not the case.

Yuka didn’t bat an eye at this place. At the very least, Yuka’s grandfather would have investigated it.

The manager is just that kind of person.

“Your younger sister, Koko.”

The manager said.

“She’s a good kid.”

I nodded again.

There was no room for argument there.

“Borderline intellectual functioning doesn’t always mean they’re all as sweet as her. I mean, they’re usually a bit naive. That’s why they can sometimes go down the wrong path.”

The manager reflexively squeezed the cigarette pack tightly. The vinyl pack crumpled in her hand.

“My… younger sister was like that. She’d be about your age now.”

“…”

“Anyway, passing an intelligence test means she’s socially considered normal. That’s how she’s treated. Which means… she can’t receive special protection anywhere.”

The manager’s gaze wandered aimlessly. She looked like she was discussing something she’d rather not talk about.

“And realistically, it’s hard to just blindly protect them. They’re just a bit naive, not disabled enough to qualify for assistance. As I said, they can pass tests.”

The manager continued.

“Someone told me that many of them learn everything they need to, and once they become adults, they adapt and live well.”

That’s probably true in many cases. Most people probably don’t even realize they have such tendencies. They might get slightly lower grades in school or be called a bit peculiar by others, but eventually, they’ll blend in and live normally.

But before that happens, some might catch someone’s eye and be taken advantage of.

“For various reasons, they might end up in juvenile detention centers and such.”

Hearing that, I couldn’t say anything.

“They might disappear right after getting out and never be seen again.”

“…”

Seeing me keeping quiet, the manager scratched her head as if slightly annoyed.

“Ah, I didn’t bring you here to say all this.”

The manager sighed deeply as she spoke.

“I’m just making you feel more burdened, aren’t I?”

The manager shrugged and said.

“I don’t intend to interfere with how you live your life. But in this situation, I feel like I should say something. You’re having a hard time lately, aren’t you?”

“…”

“Your sister must have noticed and came here. Since I don’t know your situation, I can’t say I understand or anything… but, well, hang in there.”

…

Is that what she wanted to say?

The manager couldn’t look me in the face.

She was leaning against the railing, staring blankly at the sky. If I hadn’t been there, she probably would have smoked.

“Just… just hang in there. Yeah. That’s what I wanted to say.”

That’s probably not all.

She might have had more to say.

What should I respond?

After thinking about it, I realized I didn’t need to say much.

In times like these, just…

“…Thank you.”

That’s all I needed to say.

“…You work and get paid. Nothing to thank me for.”

The manager said that and turned around without looking at my face.

Then she stared down at the building below.

Her back seemed to indicate she was done talking, so I silently turned around and went down the stairs.

*

“Koko.”

“I’m Kotone. …Koko.”

Koko stubbornly pointed at me and insisted I was “Koko.”

“…”

What should I say?

On one hand, while knowing I shouldn’t feel this way, I felt a little happy.

Koko could live and do anything even without me now.

Fortunately, Koko wasn’t really borderline intellectual. She just appeared innocent on the surface.

Bad people might still approach her.

But—

I looked at Shii.

Shii seemed unsure what to do. She appeared confused by our standoff.

…

Koko doesn’t have a cell phone yet.

I hadn’t thought about getting her one. Perhaps this too was because I unconsciously believed Koko would stay quietly at home as I expected.

Should I buy her one soon?

Or should I just give her mine?

After thinking about various things, I slowly moved to a seat.

And sat down.

“…I’d like to order.”

“Kotone?”

Seeing me say that, Koko’s eyes widened as if she hadn’t expected this.

I held up one finger.

Then pointed at myself and said.

“Koko.”

Then pointed at Koko.

“Kotone.”

Koko, who had been looking dazed at my words, broke into a bright smile.

…Right.

Sometimes.

Sometimes, let’s accept kindness as kindness.

As Kuro said in my dream, it might not be bad to live leisurely like a cat.

Not listlessly, but leisurely.

After all, the time I have is limited. Whether I act hastily or leisurely.

“Mm-hmm!”

She ran over to me, opened the menu, and said.

“I’ll give you a service!”

Where did she learn to say that?

“What service? You’re not the manager.”

The manager, who had just come down from the rooftop and entered the store, said incredulously.

“…Chocolate cake and coffee.”

“Okay!”

When I spoke, Koko smiled happily and went to the counter.

And the cake I received a few minutes later somehow looked a bit larger than the cake I saw every day.

…She’s such a caring person.

*

I watched Koko until work ended.

No one complained about me occupying a table for so long. The customers weren’t particularly interested in another customer sitting in the corner of the café.

Koko… did well.

I thought that perhaps Koko might be even better than me, who tends to be somewhat stiff with customers.

Especially seeing how popular she was with young female customers made me feel more at ease.

Leisurely savoring the chocolate cake in my mouth, taking a sip of coffee to wash away the sticky sensation left in my mouth.

How long had it been since I felt such leisure? Perhaps this was the first time I’d been so thoughtless since coming to this world.

“Shall we go get ramen?”

“Ramen!”

“Sounds good, senpai.”

After work, we all went for ramen as usual. Of course, since Koko was the one who worked today, she came along too.

A bit late for dinner. When the sky had turned completely dark.

The ramen that three high school girls ate sitting side by side was truly delicious.

*

Well, taking it easy was one thing.

Separately from that, I still had work to do.

I don’t know how it will end yet. The part I read in the serialization was early next year.

Shortly after the New Year. That’s when the Hyakki Yagyō story appeared.

[Tokyo Slayers] wasn’t exactly a life-defining novel for me. Not because it was poorly rated or subpar. Otaku typically accumulate and read such books, don’t they? When I was avidly reading, it was before the fixed book price system, so I would buy several books at once from specialty bookstores with 20% discounts.

With discounted prices, ten thousand won could buy two manga volumes, and just over ten thousand won could buy two light novels.

At the end of each month, I would buy several new releases that came out that month and read them, and [Tokyo Slayers] was one of those many novels.

Of course, while it wasn’t my life-defining novel, the fact that I remember it so well after all this time means I enjoyed reading it.

It never got an anime adaptation. Perhaps it wasn’t that popular of a novel.

The reason I never saw the end of this novel… is probably nothing special.

Manga is regularly serialized in magazines, so unless there are unusually many hiatuses, volumes are published regularly. But light novels aren’t like that.

Some are serialized in magazines, but many are published only when the author completes a volume.

Novels that initially came out steadily at two volumes per year often slow down to one volume per year or even longer intervals later on.

Sometimes authors get tired of writing and start new novels, effectively putting their previous works on indefinite hiatus. Unlike web novels of the 2020s, light novels often take 10 years or more to complete.

Given what I know about this world’s background, I think [Tokyo Slayers] probably didn’t go on hiatus. Otherwise, a simple yokai hunting novel wouldn’t have Cthulhu mythology mixed in.

It must have been serialized for quite a while to develop such settings.

But the publication intervals probably got longer, and as it slowly faded from my mind (since I wasn’t desperately waiting for it), and as I grew older and my interest in such things waned, it naturally disappeared from my purchase list.

…So, I don’t know the latter parts of this novel. I know nothing about the parts where the Kurosawa family appears.

How did readers react? Did they find it random?

Well, whatever the case, this world is like this.

[…You want me to tell you where I work?]

Yes. That’s why I needed to know.

“Yes.”

[Are you sure you want to delve deeper into our world?]

“No, it’s not like that.”

I answered.

I have no intention of jumping in without knowing what kind of place the cult is.

I’m not a hero. Nor am I a saint.

But I don’t want to become someone who exploits others either.

Maybe it’s already too late, and I might already be a hypocrite.

“At the very least, I need to know what kind of place it is before I enter.”

Hearing my words, Kagami seemed to ponder for a moment on the other end of the phone.

[…Alright. I suppose showing you won’t do any harm. But you might feel extremely uncomfortable every time you see me from now on.]

“I already feel uncomfortable, so it doesn’t matter.”

[That’s a bit hurtful.]

But Kagami laughed.

[I wonder if you’d say the same thing if you ran into someone else.]

“That can’t be helped.”

Even if I meet someone from the Yamashita family.

I’m already anticipating that much. I know how close the cult and the Yamashita family are.

And that’s why I need to know more about the cult.

According to Yamashita’s father, there seem to be quite a few believers within the Yamashita family.

So, do they kill or beat people in the name of the cult?

…I don’t expect there to be clean and honorable yakuza.

[You’re off tomorrow, right? Come after school. I’ll send the address by email.]

“…Can I bring Koko too?”

[…You want to bring her?]

Kagami asked with an extremely reluctant voice.

[Well, do as you wish. But it won’t be good for her education.]

What kind of place is it?

If it looks bad after a quick glance, I’ll have to take her home right away.

I can show Koko another time. Later, perhaps just before I leave.

Though I have no idea what it will be like then.

*

And the next day.

Koko and I headed to the place Kagami had told us about.

It wasn’t as bad an atmosphere as I had expected. At first glance, it looked like an upscale bar.

But the problem was—

“Hey, second daughter! Welcome!”

There was Mr. Fukuda, heavily drunk.

Next to him sat Kagami in provocative clothing.

Ah, right.

I hadn’t thought about it since I don’t often see his face.

Damn it.