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Chapter 74: Chapter 7

December 20th (Sunday) – Asamura Yuuta

I felt restless all day. The moment I got up, I was feeling a mixture of nervousness and excitement. This feeling didn't go away even during my shift at work. And it didn't take long for the promised time to arrive. It was currently 6 pm. Just thirty more minutes. With Christmas right around the corner, the streets grew more crowded by the day. It didn't quite feel right to leave work early during such a storm. Especially during the latter half of December, since working in a bookstore was always pure hell.

As delivery halts over the New Year's, the schedule for releases is always pushed forward, forcing new releases out sooner than usual. This in return meant we had to pack the shelves with them. This is what we call 'preemptive stocking.' It's basically the result of the authors and editorial departments apologizing with tears in their eyes as they send us all the releases early and force this hellish schedule upon us. If we get twenty copies of a release that we usually would only get about ten of per week, then we'll start running out of space on the flat displays, forcing us to get creative in book placement, and we need to create more displays for each series, too.

And since the customers don't know that all of this is happening behind the scenes, they end up getting confused and ask us employees for help. When someone is lost in this world, there are others who have to work their butts off. That is how this world continues to turn. Honestly, I have nothing but gratitude. I just hope I can help someone when they're feeling lost.

Oh yeah, Yomiuri-senpai will be coming in for a shift today when Ayase-san and I are leaving. Before leaving, I worked on organizing the shelves some more. I want to at least lessen the workload for my other colleagues. Once my shift was over, I headed over to the office.

"Huh?"

I opened the door and was surprised to see that Yomiuri-senpai was sitting there. Since my other colleagues from the 6 pm shift were already walking around inside the store, I didn't expect to see her still in here this close to work.

"What a rare sight."

"Are you accusing me of skipping work, by any chance?"

"Not at all. I would never."

"You're telling me to get out of here, then? How cruel… Waah, waaah, waaaaah!"

"Your fake crying skills need some work."

"Tee hee."

No matter how much I try to be the straight man, it just feels like she's playing with me.

"Phew…" I sighed right as Ayase-san slipped into the office.

"Huh? Yomiuri-senpai, shouldn't you…?"

"I'm not skipping wooork!"

"Ah, so you were late?"

"That's not the case either, Saki-chan. I was waiting for you! Come with me. Since I couldn't give you the present last week!" She said and dragged Ayase-san over into the women's changing room.

"Huh? What? Huh?"

"Don't resist now. Just leave everything to Uncle, yeah?"

So she's finally admitted to being a creepy middle-aged man? Wait, more importantly, our manager was sitting at his desk watching this from start to finish. And even though Yomiuri-senpai was late for work, he didn't say a thing.

"Is it really fine for her to keep up this attitude at work?"

"Well, this place just doesn't function quite the same without Yomiuri-kun," the manager said with a defeated smile.

"Is that so?"

"Just think of it as something that's necessary to guarantee maintaining the level of teamwork that makes our bookstore run."

I didn't think he'd be this attached to Yomiuri-senpai's ethics. I really can't underestimate her. And she didn't seem to be lying either, as she returned from the locker room after giving Ayase-san her present and stepped out onto the main store while waving her hand at me. I was a bit curious why she was grinning like that, but oh well.

After a bit of waiting, Ayase-san returned, changed from her uniform, and we left the store together. It was a bit past 6 pm, but we should make it in time for the reservation at 6:30. For now, we were walking towards the building with the restaurant inside of it. On the way, I brought up Yomiuri-senpai's present, but Ayase-san wouldn't tell me anything. It probably wasn't something she could easily talk about… But there's no way Yomiuri-senpai would give her junior from work anything unorthodox… Right?

"Is it here?"

"Hm?"

We reached the building in question while I was lost in thought. While looking at the signs on the outside wall showing off all the different establishments, Ayase-san commented with a worried tone.

"This place seems pretty expensive. Are you sure about this?"

"It's actually a place that caters to families, so the price is very reasonable."

We stepped inside the elevator and rode up to the floor in question. The upper floor harbored several Western but also Japanese-themed restaurants. After briefly looking for the restaurant in question on the floor map, I spotted a larger place close to the entrance.

"Ah, this is it."

It was a well-lit place with a peaceful atmosphere. The restaurant offered plenty of space with tables here and there that didn't make it feel too cramped. Since we were used to the noise from the always-packed family restaurants, it felt like we had entered an entirely new world. However, as I had previously stated, I mostly saw young couples or families with children sitting at the tables. It definitely seemed fancier than the average family restaurant, but it resembled the atmosphere at a hotel venue.

"This is the first time I've come to a place like this…"

"Well, it's your birthday, so let's make it a memorable one."

I told the employee my name, and we were guided inside the restaurant. They brought us to a table for four, and we seated ourselves opposite of each other.

"But why here? Is this place famous or something?"

"Ah. About that…"

Even the reveal of the surprise is making my heart race. I think keeping a poker face is much easier than such a grand reveal.

"I was told that the beef stew here is especially good."

Up to this point, Ayase-san's eyes looked a bit droopy, presumably since she was a bit tired from work, but when I finished my sentence, they shot wide open in shock.

"Wha…?"

"Well… I heard you liked beef stew, so that's why."

She's not gonna say that her preferences have changed, right? But right when I started feeling worried, Ayase-san's expression changed into that of disbelief.

"You knew?"

"I asked Akiko-san, sorry."

This was the best surprise I could do, considering she already knew what present she'd get. When I gave her that explanation, her mouth opened again in a daze, but her expression quickly changed into that of discontent.

"Not fair."

"What?"

"I wanted to do it, too. It's not fair that you're the only one."

"Ah, um… O…kay?"

"I wanted to give you a surprise."

"Ah…"

I guess that makes sense. She prefers to give more than take, after all. I may have had my share of fun surprising her like this, but I can see why she's displeased. That being said, I think this is the first time she's actually said "Not fair" while pouting like that. It showed her genuine feelings with a bright expression, unlike how she was when we just met. This must show how much she's opened up to me, right? When I think about it this way, I can't help but think that she's cute.

The employee removed the plaque that said "Reserved" from our table and offered us both the menu. And while we were reading through that, forks and knives appeared on the table.

"This all looks delicious… Can I order this?" She pointed at the beef stew special as she asked me.

"Of course."

We both ordered the beef stew set. It didn't take long for the food to be carried to our table, too.

"It is still quite hot, so please be careful."

Just as the employee said, I could see a faint line of steam rising from the plate that held the stew. The scent of sauce wafting up from the thick demi-glaze tickled my nose to the point that I felt starving. And from the brownish ocean, I could see lumps of meat poking out. It was the main ingredient of this stew—beef. The orange carrots were cut up into thin sticks and then sliced up once more. Next to them was the beautifully green broccoli. The mushrooms cut into slices contradicted the brown sauce with their white skin in the center, creating a bright color parade of red, green, and white. In short, it looked absolutely delicious.

Upon stabbing my fork into the meat and cutting it a bit, the meat immediately fell apart. Taking about half of that lump of meat, I carried it to my mouth—and I felt a painful heat burn along my tongue.

"Ouch ouch ouch!"

"A-Are you okay?"

I guess I bit off more than I could chew, literally and figuratively. In a panic, I reached for my glass of carbonated water and gulped about half of the entire thing down. The employee stepped towards our table and filled my glass with some more water.

"Thank you very much."

As you'd expect from a professional working in the food industry, they pretended like they hadn't even witnessed my failure and just offered me more water. Using this, I took another small sip from the glass.

"Phew, that was hot…"

"Probably, yeah. I'll be careful." Ayase-san used her knife and fork to beautifully cut the meat.

Upon securing a small piece of meat, she carried it to her mouth and showed a blissful smile.

"Delicious!" She was happy, saying that it tasted similar to the beef stew she loved to eat as a child. "I wonder what the difference is from the beef stew we make at home…"

"You don't know either?"

"Yeah…when it comes to boiled stuff like this, the taste of the individual ingredients sorta melts into the sauce, right?"

"Ah, that is true."

That is something I learned recently by helping with cooking at home.

"But in this case, the taste of the meat itself is still concentrated, right?"

While discussing this, I took another bite from the beef stew. Once our bellies were stuffed, I took out my present for her. Just as she had requested, it contained the soap. She accepted my present and opened the wrapping.

"Ah… it's a bubble soap pouch."

"That's just the bonus."

"Thank you. I'm really happy." Ayase-san smiled at me. "The soap is great, too. Honestly, it feels like a waste to use it. I was a bit curious as to which one you'd pick, but this isn't what I expected."

Considering her choice of words, she probably realized that this soap was supposed to have a healing and relaxing effect. If so, then the advice Maru gave me seemed to have worked out. Then again, that in itself was pretty embarrassing to realize.

"So…um, I'm really happy about all of this… So if you're okay with it…" Ayase-san placed her small bag on the table, taking out an envelope. "Won't you come to watch a movie with me after this?"

She took out a paper and showed me the front side. It turned out to be a ticket for a movie that was screening today at 8:50 pm at the movie theater near the Shibuya train station. And most surprising of all is that the title sounded oddly familiar. As expected, you could say, since it's the latest movie after three years from the director I've been following. And of course, this wasn't a coincidence either.

"Did…"

"I got them from Yomiuri-sean as a birthday present. Just now, actually. She said 'Use them as you'd like! Since I bought two of them, you can watch the movie together with Asamura-kun, right?'"

Yomiuri-senpai truly is a terrifying tactician.

After our dinner ended, we immediately made our way to the movie theater in question. Since the tickets were limited to today, we didn't want to waste Yomiuri-senpai's goodwill. Or so I made up excuses to myself, but I really wanted to watch this movie too. I've been waiting three years for this, after all. Thankfully, we just barely made it in time.

Here in Tokyo, minors are not allowed to do any sort of business past 11 pm. The same would go for movies, as you couldn't watch any that went beyond that limit. Thankfully, the film today ran from 8:50 to 10:50 pm, probably making for a runtime of about 100 minutes after you counted ads and such. Once again, Yomiuri-senpai's scheduling ability is no joke. She'd be a great manager or secretary.

"But we have to leave as soon as the movie is over, right?" Ayase-san asked, and I nodded.

Since we'd be home late, we contacted our parents. They gave us permission as long as we'd head right back home right after it ended. They said it would be fine if we called a taxi, too, but I think we'll be fine even without that.

"What kind of movie is this, even?" Ayase-san looked at the display at the movie theater.

Shown on the poster were a boy and girl, presumably in high school. However, I had no idea what exactly it would be about.

"Is it a horror movie? Maybe fantasy? Or science-fiction?"

"Actually, I don't know."

Ayase-san looked at me in surprise.

"You don't?"

"I was avoiding any kind of information about it. I didn't want to get spoiled accidentally."

"Oh… You were really looking forward to it, then?"

"Well, I guess you could say that."

Being told this to my face made me feel a bit embarrassed, and I realized how much I had been anticipating this movie. We skipped the concession stand and soon it was our turn to present our tickets and enter the 3rd theater. Our seats were located in the dead center but a bit towards the back of the audience. They were perfect seats that would let us watch the movie without having to strain our necks upwards.

That being said, the pressure you feel from such a huge screen can't be compared to the small TV at home. Unless you're a millionaire who has their own home cinema with a 1000-inch screen. That being said, actually watching it in a large cinema like this gives it another feeling. It's like you're experiencing everything along with your fellow comrades around you. Upon reaching our seats, we had just started to relax when the advertisements started playing and the lights dimmed. Shortly after, the actual movie began.

Shown on the screen was the sort of high school you'd see anywhere. Through the windows, you could see inside the classroom, and the camera approached a silhouette sitting in the corner. It was a girl with black hair, the same one that had been shown on the movie poster. Her hair color was different, but she resembled Ayase-san a bit. The beginning of the film showed the introverted girl's everyday high school life. Then, one day before summer break arrived, a theft happened in the classroom.

Everyone immediately suspected the girl. Even her friend she believed she was on good terms with didn't take her side, which left her no choice but to wander through the town, riddled with despair, and she ended up getting run over by a truck and dying. For a moment, I thought we'd be dealing with an isekai development, but that wasn't quite right. Instead, she traveled back in time. Now that she had been given a second chance, she made friends with someone else, and although she managed to avoid the previous incident, something else happened and she was once again betrayed, causing her to experience despair yet again.

After meeting failure upon failure, the girl closed her heart completely, blocking off any warmth from the outside. However, one day, a transfer student arrived. It was the other character shown on the poster—a boy with bright-colored hair. After everything the girl had gone through, she didn't open up to the boy at first. But he kept talking to her day after day, and the warmth he brought with him slowly began to melt her frozen heart. And then the fateful day arrived once more.

On the last day before summer break, the situation escalated, and the girl was under suspicion of having committed a murder. Who was the true perpetrator? And why was she forced to repeat this over and over? The young boy revealed himself to be from the future.

'Put simply, this is a phenomenon akin to a time oscillation pendulum with you as the center. Leaving you alone like this could cause a ripple in time and destroy space and the universe as a whole.'

And in order to heal this wound, he traveled back ten thousand years to the past.

'That's why you approached me?'

Upon hearing the girl's question, the boy shook his head. Even in the distant future, they had no idea what could have caused this.

'Then why?'

'Since you didn't have faith in anybody anymore, you treated me, who was estranged and unfamiliar with the common sense of this time, just like everyone else. We managed to adjust to each other without any prejudices. Plus… your miso soup was really delicious. We sadly don't have that anymore in the future where I come from.'

He explained that the idea of miso soup had died out in the world he was born in. That made me snicker, and the girl on the screen smiled along with me. After that, the boy embraced the girl. He spoke with a gentle tone and said 'I'll save you from this place.' In return, the girl began weeping and crying like a small child.

I could see Ayase-san move next to me. She was leaning forward, her gaze drawn towards the screen. A single tear ran down her cheek. I frantically looked back at the screen. It feels like I saw something I shouldn't have. And at the same time, I made a vow. I want to treasure her no matter what.

The movie reached its climax and the ending song started playing. After roughly 103 minutes, the movie ended. And I instinctively knew that day, Ayase-san's 17th birthday, would be something I would never forget.