It was just recently that I realized he only comes on rainy days.
He sits at a window table alone sipping a stiff drink. He’s never had a girl sit with him or taken anyone upstairs.
He doesn’t talk to anyone, just looks around the shop or out the window.
“Lupe, do you know that guy?”
I wanted to know if this super-hot older guy with stubble and slicked-back silver hair had been coming for a long time. When I whispered to her, she frowned.
“I’ve definitely seen him around. He’s kinda creepy, right? Even if I’m totally friendly, his expression stays the same, and all he says is, ‘I’ll have a drink.’”
She didn’t seem to like him—on the contrary, she was scared and had a hard time trying to talk him.
Really? But he’s so hot. He’s like the hottest guy in this other world.
“When our eyes meet, I get freaked out, like I’m being glared at by a hawk or something.”
To me, though, in this shop full of grimy, barbaric dudes, he was the only one who gleamed. He was less like a hawk, and more like a crane surrounded by trash—a jewel in the dump. I wanted him to call me “Princess.”
“Would you like a refill?”
I made up my mind to talk to him. He raised his head quietly and looked at me.
Sharp eyes. It seemed like they might be able to see right inside my head. But far from a chill, I got more of a gush. I want these eyes to look at me naked.
“No thanks.”
He put down the money for a single drink and left.
Well, he’s a tough egg. Maybe he’s not coming for the girls.
But he was the first one.
The first customer here I thought I would like to sleep with.
“So yeah, I finally bought it. A house. My home. My castle. Mi casa. But it’s so huge and I don’t have a woman to look after things, so it’s actually pretty inconvenient. Maybe I’ll get myself a slave...”
Lately I’ve gotten pretty good at cooking, so I can even handle one of those pans for frying rice, like a wok, no sweat.
When I got here I had never even cracked an egg before, but now I’m sometimes even trusted to decide the menu.
I’ve grown in this world.
Last month I was number six in sales, which is incredibly close to number five, and now that I’m 80 rubers, I figure this month I’ll hit it or maybe even four. My ass has gotten lovelier to the point that even that chokey dude lusts after me, and I learned some service techniques from more experienced girls so that in the last customer satisfaction survey* I was near the top.
*This happened after the cat ears incident. I actually proposed it to help improve the shop’s image.
Lately I’ve been obsessed with getting to like my job.
“Hey, Haru. Are you listening?”
“Yep. Here’s your fried rice.”
“Whoa, what the heck? It tastes just like the cafeteria’s!”
“Eww, don’t cry.”
As for Chiba, he’s been getting even more carried away with himself, grumbling about slaves and his house, and even wearing these jangly gold accessories that don’t even match his vibe. There is nothing harder to look at than an otaku who suddenly thinks he’s the cock of the block.
“I have no intention of being your maid.”
“So you’re gonna be a prostitute forever? I thought you wanted to quit.”
“Not forever, but...”
I don’t even know how long I’ll be in this world.
I mean, if it starts looking like I might be here ’till I die, then I guess I gotta think about my future, but...
“Oh yeah, I heard something interesting. If there was a way to get back to the other world, what would you do?”
“Huh? Is there?”
“There’s a legend in this world. Apparently at some point the demon lord appeared with a sudden black rain, said he was taking revenge on humanity, and started a war. The people were in trouble, so they asked God to summon a hero from another world. And that’s me, but anyways, once the demon lord is gone, some people say the hero gets to go back, and some people say he doesn’t.”
“What are you talking about? Of course you could go back. Chiba, go beat that demon lord’s ass right now!”
“Nah, there’s no way. I haven’t even leveled up lately. Besides, I don’t really feel like defeating the demon lord. What would I even do if I went back to the other world?” He twisted his piece-of-shit pimple face into a frown and whined about how we would have been studying for entrance exams.
“Here I’m already gaining renown as an innodiator”—which is apparently a word he made up, a mix between innovator and gladiator. I don’t even know anymore—“and I’m making a stable living. To be frank, I don’t have any reason to go back to our world except anime. If that’s how it is, then it’s way better to stay here and be the protagonist of one, right? I mean, what would you do if you went back?”
“I’d be a high-schooler again, duh.”
“You’re assuming that we get to go back as we are, though, right? But we got hit by a truck! It could be that if we go back, we just die.”
“...Our bodies and minds came here in one piece, didn’t they? It must be the same when we go back. Don’t freak me out like that.”
“Even so, we’re dead. It’s already been eight months without us back there.”
Our funerals are over, our graves are made, and everyone probably got sick of being sad and returned to life as usual. My boyfriend is probably getting tons of pity sex; my friends probably deleted my name from their LINE list; the flowers on my desk at school are long gone. I bet the only people still feeling sad are my parents and my big sister.
The only space left for me is the size of a picture frame. I wonder if Chiba gets even that much.
If that’s all that’s waiting for us when we go back, then I see how you might rather stay in a world where you already have a life, not that I want to admit it.
“Haru. I’m not going to defeat the demon lord, but I am going to become the strongest man in this world.”
Chiba’s confident about his ability to survive because of his cheat skills, so he’s optimistic lately.
Even though he’s an otaku, even though he’s a loser, every time I meet him he’s getting more manly. He’s cheeky enough to come try to win me over.
“I promise I’ll protect you, so...will you come live with me?”
I took a breath and then told him, “Ya know, Lupe told me she saw you holding hands with Kiyori.”
“Oh, shit. The routes got crossed. I gotta disarm this love bomb!”
“Seriously, what is with you lately? Have you ever heard of self-control? Not like I care who you date—it has nothing to do with me.”
“I love a woman who can take that attitude.”
“‘Nothing to do with me’ means that you and I have nothing to do with each other, got it? Don’t interpret it some weird way.”
Apparently this guy actually wants a harem of girls to wait on him. I thought he was kidding, but Lupe said he was telling her about his grand plans the other day.
I really admire her for dealing with this dipshit. Of course, I’m the one who introduced them, but ya know.
“Eh, just come over to my house for a visit. I even made a room for you.”
Chiba came closer with an earnest look in his eyes—something rare for him.
The confidence he’s gained in this world causes bizarre misunderstandings and makes him pushy.
“I’m telling you, I’ve been thinking about your future too, Haru. Take a look at the room, and if you like it...quit your job and come live at my place.”
For all that, though, the way he made his move like he was hot shit got to me, which made me mad. My face heated up.
“Let’s meet in front of the arena tomorrow. I’ll wait there until you come.”
I had had it up to here with him, so I figured I would go take a look at his house and diss it.
＊
The next day, I headed to the arena.
I was only going to his house, and, well, I didn’t really think anything would happen, but just in case, I put on a new pair of underwear.
Nah, it’s really not gonna happen. Seems like he’s going out with Kiyori, anyway.
But Chiba’s been attached to me this whole time. Seems like he really wants to make me his woman.
Like, why would you pick a girl who’s sleeping with a different guy every day?
It must be because I’m the only one who knows he’s from another world, right? Yeah. That’s the only possibility. And I mean, the only reason I meet up with Chiba is that, and I don’t feel the need to outside of that.
Would we live together...? Nah.
A raindrop fell on my shoulder. It had been sunny, but the sky had abruptly darkened.
Aw man, I thought, and looked for some eaves to stand under. But everyone was in a panic over the sudden shower, so there wasn’t anywhere I could find shelter.
Then I caught sight of someone slowly walking through the rain, someone who seemed to have chosen to get wet on purpose.
Silver hair, a head taller than everyone else.
It was him.
Huh? What? What? Really, it’s him?
Does he live near here?
I went after him through the rain in spite of myself, taking care not to get noticed.
I had the feeling it would be fine to say hi, but I didn’t want him to think I was easy, or—wait a second, I work at a brothel, of course I’m easy, but maybe more like I didn’t want to come on too strong. In any case, it was impossible for me to call out to him on the street in the middle of the day, so I decided to follow him.