On the followingnight. Translator: MadHatter

Inthe rear wheel of my motorcycle, I put rubber gloves, a shovel, newspaper, atiny tin of cat food I had bought at the supermarket, and a cut and flattened piece of cardboard I had at home, and attached it tothe bike with cords.

Allof these things were prepared for mourning thecat.

Afterall, touchingthe cat with my bare handswas out of the question, so I had to weargloves and carry the cat in thecardboard box.

I left home early, contemplatingthe cat’s burial. That cat… I wonderedwhat happened to it.

Today’s weatherwas bright and beautifulas if yesterday’s dayof incessant rain had beena lie. After beingdrenched by precipitation and exposed to the sunlight, thecat’s carcass mustbe devastated oncemore, now that Ithought about it. A shudder crept through me as I imaginedit. I should hurry up and bury the cat in thesoil.

As Iapproached the exit of the tunnel, I slowed down and parked mybike where it wouldnot disturb others. Nonetheless―

Whatwas happening?643fd

Nowhereon the tunnel’s exit road could a cat’s carcass be discovered.

Odd. Itwas certainly around here… I searched andsearched, yetcould not find anything thatresembled the remainsof a cat anywhere.

Apparently, ithad been disposedof before Iarrived. Orperhaps someone thoughtfully buriedit. Whichever thecase, thatwas for the best. It would be better that way thanto have it exposedhere.

Althoughit was true thatwhat I had broughtwith me hadended up invain, Iquietly claspedmy hands togetheron the spot for the moment and set off onmy motorcycle to head for the convenience store.

“Yoo-hoo! Hakamada…! Long timeno see!”

Ohyeah, I forgot tomention that mypartner for today’s night shiftwas this Hirai.

Indeed, it hadbeen a long time since I hadseen Hirai. For over a week, I hadn’t seen Hirai as theschedule of our shifts was not always the same.

Seeing hersmile was somehow a little nostalgic.

Yeah, thebust of her uniform wasstill as bulging as ever, too. Well, thatwasn’t the point.

“Longtime nosee, Hirai.”

“Yeah, howhave you been?”

Hiraiand I exchangeda light greeting after she left the backroom.

“Iam fine, well, a lot of things have been going on…”

“Hmm?”Not shared on aggregator websites

“Oh, no, no, no, I am talking about myside of the story. Didanything unusual happen to you, Hirai?”

“Me? I am in high spirits all the time! All yearround! But recently Ihave been diligently working on the thin book!!”

“Hahaha… you’remaking the thin book.”

“Yeah! The festival isaround the corner! I have been puttinga lot of effort intothis one! I amnot slacking! Whenit is finished, I will show it toyou!”

Huh, I wouldpass…!!

“What? Why? Iwant you tohave a lookat it especially, Hakamada.”

“What’s withthat?”magic

“Youwill understand it once yousee it.”

I thought, unfortunately, that I had become accustomed tothis unusual stringof words as soonas I was able to follow upwith her discourse.

…Right, I hadalready learned the identity of Hirai, whichhad been unknown to meuntil recently.

“No… After all, I don’t wantto touch that kindof genre.”

Until recently, Ihad no ideawhat this kindof discourse entailed, nordid I have aclue whatHirai wasgetting excitedabout, but with the helpof my sister, Ichecked it out onan Internet searchsite the other day. I learnedthat this behavior—what the general public referred to as “girls like Hirai and the others who concentrated on one thing to heighten theirexcitement”—was a pathology.

“Hakamada, whydon’t you get hooked on ‘yaoi’ and become a fudanshi!!”

“As if!! Howcould you say that with a broad smile on your face…!!”

Iinvoluntarily launched a clean counterattack.

“Hirai, pleasedon’t talk about this stuff at work, it’s awkward for me.”

“Huh? I enjoy it, though, particularlywhen you get confused.”

“…Hah.”gr4

“Sorry… but when I look atyou, Hakamada, it’s apparent that you reekof playing the role… or bullying.”

“Hiraiiiiii?!”

“Imean, I am a fujoshi! Evenwhen I am working, I ama living creature that looks for moe, you know? Ican accept anything from prepubescent boy to uncles, intense or soft, oh, and Iam not opposed to humanoid creatures, though lately, I have been able to accept inorganic things aswell…”

“Inorganic?!”Not shared on aggregator websites

Right. Now, this person herself had candidly unveiled herself without ashred of embarrassment.

Whatwas hidden was that Hirai Kaname, a.k.a. Lolita Big Tits Hirai, was asplendid fujoshi who loved “yaoi,” whichmeant “no plot, no punchlines, and no meaning,”[i] in short. Amongthem, she was a fearless expert. She was anopen fujoshi. Furthermore, she lovedthese things, recommended them, and even produced them on behalf of yaoi fans all over the country.

Forthose of you who were not familiar with this, pleasetry typing those words into the search bar. If youhad the courage and determination to take it all in, youcould do so by going to… (this was important).

Thedetails beyond this were too much for me to explain… since it was quiteshocking.

I mean, girls hadsuch horrifying thoughts; theywere so introspective. Whatdid she mean by humanoid and inorganic things?

Whydid you produce and sell so manybooks of such nature duringthe summer and winter?

“Thesebooks are very profitable. Andabove all, it’s enjoyable! When everyonegathers together, thetopics of conversation broaden!”

Don’t mention itwith those sparkling eyesof yours…!T/N:

[i] It’s the term for “yaoi” when the word “yaoi” itself did not exist yet in the past