“Hakamada,you’re not good with people likethat, right?”

“That’sbecause I try not to beinvolved with people like that… dealingwith them is ahassle…”

“Buttome, youlook like abadass delinquent, Hakamada. Youdon’t look that different fromthem, you know?”

“No,no, no,no!!”Translator: MadHatter

Forsure, Ibleached myhair andhad myears pierced,but!ges

“Isn’t minejust alook! Eventhough I sayso myself, I amquite acoward!”

Ididn’teven have the balls to get my nosepierced!

“Isthatso? Yougive methe feelingthat youused to bea rascalin highschool.”

“Iwas a fairlyhealthy highschool baseball playerwith darkhair andglasses… Ihad contactsand dyedmy hair afterI retired.”

“Ohmy, that’s an exceptional makeover.”j

Incidentally, thereason for themakeover wasthat I was fedup withpeople labeling meas “serious”or “studious” whenI had blackhair and glasses, somethingthat I had no imageof myself as. Despitethe changein appearance, myinner self remained exactlythe same. Ididn’t like thepunks who causeda commotion in the school, nordid I wantto hang outwiththem.

Ineverliked those whostayed out of thecommunity, yetclustered together andstirred up trouble. Thesame appliesto the neighborhood nuisance gangof delinquents and girlswho were adept at forming substandard relationships withtheir fuzzy eyelashes.

Orperhaps the truthwas that I wassimply intimidated.

“Butit wouldhave been terrible if Hiraihad been withus today.”

Hiraiwould have unarguably beenfrightened. Moreover, Hiraiwas petite… and… hada bewitching body. Itwas customary for someone toaccompany another for the night shift job, but I was sure shewould have beenterrified… On topof that, wewere in thiskind of place.

“Ohmy, that girlwill be fine!”

“What!?”g7tuy

“Hiraiis ratherfearless.”

“But she’s agirl, and inwardly, shemust be…”

“Atleast she’s tougher thanyou, Hakamada.”

“Forreal?”Not shared on lightnovelreader.me

“Forreal.”Not shared on aggregator websites

Tougherthanme… Thenhow muchof a weaklingwas I beingviewed as?

Oh, speakingof which…

“Aoyama,did you see that… on yourway here?”magic

“That?”Not shared on aggregator websites.

“The cat… the cat’s…”

Thatsprang to mind when I broughtup Hirai. Aoyama raised an eyebrow when Iinquired about whether henoticed it and lightly smacked me on thehead.

“Hey! Don’t remindme of that!”

Oh, so hedid see it, afterall. His reactionwas exactly whatIhad expected, andI chuckled inwardly.

“Everynow and thenthere’s an animal carcasslying around, butthat almost mademy heartstop!”

“Metoo. It was rightafter passing through thetunnel.”

“Takenakawould have hada stroke if hehad seenit.”

“Ah,haha, Takenaka had ahard time yesterday.”Timepassed as theconversation carried on, and Aoyama and Iwent aboutour usual late-night tasks of adding and organizing merchandise, placing orders, cleaning, andthe like.

However…gwrb

“Thoseguys, they’restill there…”

Thedelinquents were still out therehaving fun.

Ridingaround outside all the time ontheir bikes wasa nuisance, but staying in front of the storewas even more disturbing. Thanks to them, not a single customer had arrived at the store sincethen. Evenwithin the store, the unceasing laughter could be heard echoing fromoutside. Perhaps they have had a lot to drink, some of them were clapping their handsand emitting strange noises.

I waswatching them incredulously, but Aoyamaadmonished me, “You shouldn’t do anything. It’s best not to be concerned about them.”

“But thoseguys, they’re definitely the oneswho litter.”

“It can’t behelped. Theplace is what it is, and sometimes there are peoplelike that.”

“…”piomg4r

Ididn’t get what he was talkingabout, but I didn’t want to get involved, so Istopped gawking at them.

That wasmy thought, but unfortunately, therewas still trash to be disposed of, so Igathered up the trashand stepped out of the safe zone of the storeand into the danger zone. Thehot and humidAugust nightwind swept over me, and Iwas almost staggered by the sound of vulgar laughterthat stimulated my eardrums.

“Oh, the staffis coming out.”grh3

“What thehell, did you come here to complain?”

Nonetheless, Iignored it completely and wentaround to the rear side of the store.

Oh, if I hadbeen a little stronger in a fight, I would haveprotested without hesitation.

Goodgrief… Being youngmust be good―

Tobe able todo anything and have fun, even if youwere aggravating peoplewithout even realizing it, must bea blessing in a sense.

Whata breath of fresh air itwould be if I could say it to them. Impossible, though.

I walkedto the building’s back with alarge garbage bag as frustrationbegan to set in. Afterall, listening to that foolishlaugh made me furious. You know, that smile on your face like not knowingeven a millimeter of the harshness of society… you should be working, damn you!

Thespark that wassteadily igniting inthe pit of my stomachcooled off when Ireached the garbagedumpster in thebackof the store.

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