Starting a Night Shift Part-time Job at a Convenience Store - Chapter 8.6: Hirai’s Secret VI

A stand-like person, an effeminate man, and a fujoshi… How intense was the night shift with all these people huh. Wasn’t my presence extinguished?

“I don’t think I’m that intense.”

“No, Hirai’s intensity is now one of the two highest…”

Hirai had a smile accompanying her innocent visage, and when she did so, she was typically rather endearing. On the other hand, in spite of her lovely outer appearance, underneath the surface lay a delusional and starving beast… the gap between the two was nothing short of mind-blowing.

“It’s alright not to worry, the late-night crew is naturally comprised of unique individuals, and Hakamada is already one of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings of Individuality’ of the late-night shift.”

“F-Four Heavenly Kings!? I mean, I am one of them…!?”

“Right, now that Hakamada has joined, there are finally four of us: me, Aoyama, Takenaka and you. The Four Heavenly Kings who firmly uphold this convenience store with the power of our individual personalities!”

“No… even if the three of you are unique, aren’t I simply an ordinary person… or rather, aren’t I merely drifting around?”

Even if measured by a scale, the disparity between us was starkly evident. In the presence of all these major figures, I felt like quite an outcast.

“I don’t possess anything exceptional.”

Unlike Aoyama, I lacked the capacity to be solid in times of crisis, and without a guardian spirit like Takenaka, I did not have a willingness to protect others. Neither could I speak or behave amiably like Hirai. Instead, I was nothing but an obstinate guy who clung to his own will more than necessary.

Was I, in that light, not merely a burden to the others? Perhaps I was dragging the three of them down and spoiling the atmosphere. Even with the help of Takenaka and Aoyama the other day and the time before that, as if it were a given, I was still being helped out. That kind of thing wouldn’t serve me any good. I had to protect myself properly… by my own power, right?

Due to my obstinacy, I ended up staying here, yet I wondered whether I could keep on working here with these apparently outstanding people. When I was musing about this, Hirai, perhaps sensing my feelings, gave me a gentle poke on the side of the head.

“You don’t have to put on such a complicated face. The people here won’t simply regard you as an obstacle.”

Hirai put her hands behind her back and grinned at me.

“Everyone is supporting you. Because… you are doing your best.”

“Huh… Working my best?”

“Yeah. I suppose various things have changed since you came here, but you are still trying your best to keep going,” remarked Hirai. “When you were warned, Hakamada, I honestly thought, ‘Ah, this person is going to resign soon’. A week later, when you were assaulted, I figured… that would be the end of it.”

Hirai smiled wryly and added, “Sorry to bring this up, but there have been countless others like yourself who have resigned after running their mouths off. But still, when I heard that you would not resign, I was stunned.”

For what on earth would you gain, what purpose would you serve, to persist in going on any further? It seems that the manager was not the only one who thought it was beyond foolhardy.

“Even now, I wonder why. It must surely have been due to your deep conviction that you couldn’t quit, Hakamada. That, in my opinion, is incredibly commendable. I believe you have tenacity. We don’t view people like that as a hindrance! In fact, we wish we could work together with you!!”

Hirai raised her fine eyebrows and told me with a keen gaze.

“Hirai…”

“That’s why! I hope you will join us as a fixed team soon and become a companion with whom we will share our destiny!”

Sharing our destiny was probably an exaggeration, though…

However, the meaning of Hirai’s words was clear to me.

“Thank you… Hirai.”

Everyone here was distinctive, heading in different directions, and had their own quirks, but the positive thing about this convenience store was that it… was warmer than any other place.

It was at that moment that the sound of innumerable engines pounding my eardrums at full force reverberated from a distance.

This uncouth, yet aggravating sound was something I had been hearing more and more often lately. A bad premonition came over me… come on, seriously?

“Ugh…”

For whatever reason, that group of delinquents who showed up two days ago, all of them, were coming over to our place. The guys that Aoyama had driven away vigorously entered the parking lot and parked more than a dozen bikes all over the place, occupying the front of the convenience store rather than the parking lot in no time.

Subconsciously, I clamped my mouth shut and tried not to look at the delinquents’ faces. After all, such a thing had occurred only two days ago. Without Aoyama, it would have been a catastrophe. Those guys must have memorized my face, of course.

This was undesirable… today, I was with a girl, though. If anything happened… No, no, don’t be subservient. Even if Hirai protected me, my standing as a man would be obliterated.

Settle yourself down, for the time being. Well, for the time being, I supposed.

While desperately trying to compose myself, the automatic door opened and I accidentally locked eyes with the huge man who entered with the chime, who was apparently the head of the gang―!

Y-Yikessssss! Anyway… and if anything were to go wrong, I would call secom without hesitation―!!

Hirai looked at me with concern, as I was obviously attempting to maintain a normal demeanor, but I couldn’t.

“Hakamada? Are you okay? You’re sweating profusely…”

“No problem. No problem at all…”

“Really? Are you sick?”

I was alright. I was absolutely alright.

If you were going to come, then come, you delinquents. I promised I wouldn’t screw up like I did the other day, and that I would protect Hirai.

Even so, fighting was something I had been weak at since I was a student, and I wanted things to go as peacefully as possible, which was truly pathetic.

After the hordes of delinquents began rummaging through the store, I was motionless as if I were an ornament, and Hirai was standing at the cash register, looking perfectly at ease.

My words couldn’t flow out easily and as I was making eye contact with her eyes, a smile spread across Hirai’s features as she took a few steps toward me, stood upright, and whispered in my ear, “I heard from Aoyama. That you got into a dispute?”

“Oh… you knew that.”

Aoyama, damn you, did you tell her that I got embroiled in this?

“Haha, I don’t mind. Running into a drunk or an exhibitionist is a common occurrence.”

“Aoyama said so as well.”

“Yeah, I have heard about this, but I have never encountered these people before. They are the ones who have been the subject of recent rumors. Indeed, they…”

Hirai shrugged when she noticed what was going on outside.

“They must be a nuisance, then.”

“Yeah.”

“A lot of people are out there. It must be surprising to be surrounded by that many people.”

“Are you afraid?”

When I asked her, she laughed and replied, “I wonder but I am used to molesters and stalkers.”

“What!?”

Such a thing… I see, of course… It was impossible not to be targeted with that body of yours, Hirai… I mean, hold on a second.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I am fine. Even if someone attempts to do something to me, things get resolved unexpectedly. So far, everything has been fine.”

“I-I see…”

“Are you worried?”

“That’s because you’re a… girl.”

“Thanks. Hakamada, you’re so kind.”

“Should anything arise… I will manage it somehow, even though I may be unreliable…”

“That’s not true! Haha, I will be relying on you.”

I was sincerely apologetic for not being reliable. Thanks to the conversation with Hirai, my nerves eased somewhat, and we succeeded in getting the delinquents out of the store uneventfully. As expected, it was painful to receive their stares while working at the cash register, but they did not attempt to interfere with me inside the store because of Aoyama’s warning and the fact that the security cameras were in operation.

I did witness some of the underlings cooperating diligently around the snack shelf and the liquor section to shoplift, though… I swear, these guys were shoplifting after seeing today’s night shift members. Despite my indignation, I was prepared to bow down to the manager at a later date, as Hirai was present today as well, so I turned a blind eye to the situation this time.

“Those guys… smelled funny,” Hirai muttered to herself as they went outside and gleefully gulped down their drinks.

“Smell funny? Well, they look filthy, they smoke, and they don’t look like they bathe properly, and some of them must stink…”

Besides, it was summer now. Haha, being mentioned by a girl they were smelly. I laughed slightly, and Hirai tilted her head and growled a little.

“Yeah… It’s not that kind of smell, it’s more like… a strange smell.”

“Strange?”

“Rather than saying it smells fishy… it smells rotten, like a putrid odor…”

Putrid odor…?

The moment I heard that, I nearly linked it with a certain thing.

“No…”

There was no way there was a connection to that.

“People usually don’t smell like that, how strange. Hakamada, do you have a clue?”

“I can think of a few clues.”

“I see…”

Hirai made a gesture as though she were mulling over something while placing her index finger lightly on her lips. While I didn’t have a clue about what Hirai was thinking, she, like Takenaka, was a person of substantial power. She might have sensed something.

“Is something going to break out?”

“Don’t worry. If it does, I’ll take care of ‘that side’.”

Hirai gave me a reassuring look and gave me a gentle tap on the shoulder as if to alleviate my uneasiness, but then she tightly closed her mouth, looked at the delinquents, and ceased to say anything for a while.

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