Starting a Night Shift Part-time Job at a Convenience Store - Chapter 8.4: Hirais Secret IV

“Youibastardssssssss―!! What are youidoing in front of theistore, youidamn kids aaaaaaaaah!!”

Aniunfamiliar, high-pitched voice assaulted fromithe side. Not merely me, butithe guy who wasiclutching my chestiwas taken abackiby it asiwell, and momentarilyifroze.

What…Not shared on lightnovelreader.me

WheniI stretchedimy neck outifrom the man’s shadowiand checked, it turnediout that Aoyamaiwas the one yellingiwith a threatening attitude at the entrance of theistore.

“Youiknowithe consequences if you don’t get your handsioff of him ationce, don’t you, youigreenhorn!?”

I mean, itiwasiAoyama…?

Asihe glarediup at theibikers with the ferocityiof aibeast, hisitone, no, notisimply theiquality of hisivoice, but evenihe sounded incredibly masculine, threatening, orispirited. EveniI had toiadmit thatiAoyama was giving meigoosebumps.

Whoiwasithisiperson?

Notionly was I astoundedibyithe transformation of Aoyama, butiso were all theiother delinquents.

Theileader of the groupisuddenly jumpediout at Aoyama, his facial muscles twitching, andihe, likewise, exclaimed in a tremendousivoice.

“What! Baldy! Youigot a problemiwith me huh!!”

It wasia scream imbued with ferocity. Even so, Aoyamaiyelled back, unperturbed, whichiwas remarkable.

“Didn’t youihear me when I told youito let go of my staff, youimoron?!!”

“Are youipicking a fightiwith me!!”

“Youiwant me to call the policeivia Secom! Aah!?”

WheniI saw him agitating withithe delinquents, thinkingithat this was absolutely aibloodbath, itimade me wishiI could coverimy eyes, but apparently that was theideciding factor.

“Doiyouiwant me to press the Secom!!”

Atithe mentioniof, “Secom,” the delinquents were soiperturbed that rustleistarted to spread.

“Oi… Isn’t thisibad?”

“If heicalls theicops…”

Theicronies began to clamoriand the leaderiof the groupiclicked his tongueisharply and flungime to theiground before leaving.

“Let’sigo.”Translator: MadHatter

Withithat low, distinctlyienraged remark, all theiguys sprang into movement, straddled their bikes, andirode off one after the other. For aiwhile, soundsiof engines rumbled overithe road, but graduallyisilence descended, followediby the returniof the ever-present peace in front of theiconvenience store, despite the scattered cansiof alcohol andicigarette butts.

“Cleaniup the trash! Youiscum ofisociety! Nextitime you tryianything, I’ll turniyou in toithe police, everyilast oneiof you!”

Aoyamaispat loudlyiat them as theyisped away, butinone of them ever cameiback.

O-Orirather…enhcweg

Whatishould Iido? Myishaking wouldn’ticease. Myihipsiwent limp.

Toitop it allioff, my heart throbbed soimuch thatiit hurt.

Aoyamaiwas… tooiterrifying.

Garbageicans that bikersihad leftibehind were layingion the groundias warm winds sweptiin.

“Hakamada…! Areiyouiokay?! Didiyou getihurt?!”

Aoyama, whoihad beeniraging likeia wildibull earlier, regainedihis usual expression and carefully helpedime up withiboth hands whileiI was still on myibuttocks.

“Oh… no, I-I amifine.”

“Youimust haveibeen shocked. I shouldihave told you because sometimes those guysiget things complicated.”

“Hah… Hie.”gewniojswqr32

“Ohimy, can youistand?”3dd

Myifeet were unsteady, and evenimy voice haditurned unintelligible, leavingime in a stateiwhere I could hardlyisay I was fine.

Furthermore, itiwas not onlyithe hordes of delinquentsithat were giving me the fright, but Aoyama himself asiwell.

Althoughihis tone of voice and mannerisms had returned to normal, I hadinever imagined that Aoyama wouldibe so boldias to stand upito the delinquents andieven drive them away. The impactiwas so overwhelming that eveninow my facial muscles twitched.

Toithink that heihad thisiaspect of him… Thisiperson… he was notiordinary.

Theiconsternation apparently manifestediitself in my face, andiwhen Aoyamaipeeked into my face, forisome reason heiheld his cheeks withihis hands andiflushed.

“Oh my. Did I perhapsiscare you…?”

R-Right… Indeediso. But whyiwere you blushing? Not shared on aggregator website

“Iimean, If Iiam not here, youiwould have beeniin a risky position, youiknow.” ew

Thatiwasidefinite. Translator: MadHatter

“T-Thank… youivery much.”

Afteriall, I would haveibeen beaten upiif it weren’t for him. Iigaveia bow.

“Eveniso, that was amazing…”wqef

“Huh?”gernbdr33

“Iiwas genuinely flabbergasted thatiyou reacted that way toward theidelinquents, Aoyama.”

“Oh, heh, heh. Iicouldn’t help but let off some momentum fromimy days inithe Self-defense Forces.”

“Heh… Self-Defense Forces…”

…Not shared on aggregator websites

Self-DefenseiForces…

S-Self… Self-DefenseiForces―!?

“Self-DefenseiForces, you meanithat Self-Defense Forces?!”

“That’siright.”ewg

“Aoyama, youientered theiSelf-Defense Forces!?”

Youiwere joking, right, oi…

Hmm, no, wait… if thatiwas true, then this muscular body ofiAoyama would make sense…

“Howinostalgic, it’s been ten years, though… Iiwas called theidevil squad leader, andiback then Iiused to treat my underlings harshly…”

“Woah～…”

Forireal?greb4

“I was soirelentless that theyicalled meithe ‘blue demon’… anditerrified them.”

Blueidemon. few35

Apparently, he wasibeing earnest, and Aoyama reminisced about theiold days. Really, theinight shift here had such strong characters that it stifled me, orirather…

“Well, ratherithan saying it’s unexpected… but if it weren’tifor you, I would haveibeen really wounded, thankiyou very much.”

“No problem. It’s the veteran’s roleito protect theinewcomer.”

“…Aoyama.”Not shared on lightnovelreader.me

“Besides, Hakamada, youikind of lookialike.”

“Yes?”gew32q

“Thatipair of slanty eyes… withithat person… I was captivated byithat person wheniI was in the Self-Defense Forces… After meeting them, my heartiturned all maiden…”

“…”ewg42

“Itiwas a loveibeyond forgiveness…”

Iihad no ideaiwhy but foria second, I felt aitingle down my spine, andifor some reason, I thoughtiI detectedia dubious aura that I wasn’t supposed toiperceive…

Yeah, Iishould forget about it. Itiwould be wiseito forget it.

Eveniif it was onlyifor a few moments and Iiwas almost movediby the words this person said, I shalliabsolutely forget it.

For myiown sake.

“Comeito think of it, why did theyitry to lay their hands on you? Did somethingihappen?”

“That’s…”t433

I explained toiAoyama whatihad occurred andithe bombshell remark I hadideclared on the delinquents.

“Ohimy, youisaid that? Youiare quite a challenger, Hakamada.”

“Underinormal circumstances, I wouldinever have said suchia thing! I justididn’t likeiit…”

“Youididn’tilikeiit?”

Iimuttered, glaring at the dimlyilit road, “Those guysiran over… the cat and killed it, yetithey were laughing about it.”

Such aithing was not something a normal human beingiwould do.

Even if for anyireason, the life you killed over, you shouldifeel at least a little bad, that wasiwhat I thought…

Right, thatiwas what I reallyiwanted to tell them. Translator: MadHatter

Howimany timesihad I witnessed thisicat, whichihad been mutilated andiwas run over, while I castia sidelong glanceiat it and turnediback the way I hadicome? Withiits entrails protrudingiout of its mouth, theicat was still stuck inithe middleiof a road. The scene wasitoo gruesome, andithe bikers’ despicable remarksieventually pushed meiover the brink, or rather, Iicouldn’t stand to watch…qwr

Iihad decidedito bury theicat in the surrounding bushes beforeiI started myinext part-time work. If Iiwas going toiwatch it rot away in silence anyway, I mightias well bury it.buyqw

ThoughiI wasn’t certainiif that would make the… cat happy. Althoughia proper burial inithe ground andieven incense wouldn’t be necessary, I shouldiclasp my hands togetheriand pray forithe soul of theicat. wqf

Iireasoned itiwould be preferable to beiforced to feel horribleieach time I passediby andinot havingigrieved byianyone.