Hirai’s Secret |
“Karaage, ah, yuzu-ponzu flavor? Oh, ten of these.”
My foreboding proved to be spot on.
It was right on the heels of yesterday.
Before the cash register was a young man with sunglasses, sporting a blonde hair-cut head, a scruffy-looking outfit, and a rough-looking face (as if he had no filial duty to his parents). With a cow-ring-like piercing in his nose, he tapped the hot snack case next to the cash register in a dull tone of voice.
My whole body froze for a few seconds.
This, this… this.
What the hell was going on here!!
This would be absolutely inconceivable in the middle of the night, and the store was overflowing with people.
No, it was overflowing with bikers.
Stern-looking men dressed in outrageously flashy outfits were everywhere!
When I cast my eyes to the cash register beside me, I found Aoyama busily engaged in a series of activities, deep frying foods, taking cigarettes, verifying customers’ ages, not selling cigarettes, etc.
At this hour of the day, I had never seen so much activity going on. I mean, don’t try to purchase cigarettes and alcohol when you were underage.
“Hey, the karaage.”
“Uh, ah, yes!”
Damn! How could I be so daredevil as to be distracted when facing a delinquent?
The biker gangs from yesterday even stormed into the store today, and the sight of the store awash with them made me feel as if the convenience store had been hijacked. Feeling an odd perspiration (not from the heat) beading on my forehead, I looked at the case of hot snacks.
Hey! Only 2 pieces of karaage were left!
“E-Excuse me, b-but the karaage we have here are the last ones we can serve you right now…”
“Then please fry them up.”
I know, rightー
I replied with “Understood” and plastered a sickening smile on my face.
Ah, geez, I didn’t want to deal with this kind of customer.
“If I start now, it will take about 20 minutes or so to finish…”
“Ah?”
The delinquent with the nose ring leaned forward with a sour look.
Hahiiiiiii, how scaryyyyy!
He was significantly taller than me and had broader shoulders than Takenaka. Why did he have such muscles clinging to his arms! Aah? There was no choice but to give him ten of them!
He shook his head in a bad mood and asked, “Ah, can’t you make it a bit faster?” as panic crept into my thoughts.
Impossible!
I couldn’t say that, though.
“I’ll endeavor on it,” I said in a low voice so as not to upset him.
Endeavor to deep fry karaage? What was I even saying?
I felt like if I stopped even for a second, an arm would reach out and grab me from the cash register.
With a tight expression, I pulled the “karaage yuzu ponzu flavor” from the cold storage and tossed it into the fryer.
“Ah, please fry all ten of them, ah, I will be waiting outside, so please bring them to me when finished.”
“Yes.”
…
Say it quickly!
And this was not a bento shop!
The delinquents who were swarming the cash register were rather difficult to deal with, but thanks to Aoyama’s help, we managed to get them all out, and tranquility was finally restored within the store.
While the store appeared to have been somewhat ransacked—the hot snacks were almost completely sold out, the cup noodle display shelves were running low on supply in certain spots, and products were left in places they obviously did not belong to, creating the feeling that the store had been ransacked a bit—I chose not to say anything about it…
After all, they were hanging out in front of the store.
Several fancy bikes were parked in the parking lot. On top of that, the bikers were sitting there in their full delinquent-sitting posture and getting their hands on the food, liquor, and cigarettes that they had bought in bulk at the convenience store.
What a nuisance… With this, cars wouldn’t be able to park there… or rather, people wouldn’t be able to come by…
When I relaxed my shoulders and heaved a huge sigh, I was grabbed by both shoulders from behind and squeezed to the left and right to the fullest extent.
“Aoyama!?”
“Your face looks tired, so I’ll give you a massage♪”
“T-Thank you…”
I was freaked out that I thought something had happened. Even if I told him to stop, he wouldn’t do it, so I decided to let Aoyama rub my shoulders for a while.
Ah, it was surprisingly comfortable.
This person’s frequent body touch was something that I had gotten used to, though I wasn’t certain if I should get accustomed to it.
“Don’t worry, that kind of situation sometimes happens.”
“Heh, is that so?”
“Especially in the summer, the manager said it was a problem because other customers couldn’t come to the store even if they wanted to.”
…Indeed.
“You’re very used to dealing with this, aren’t you, Aoyama? Just now, when the person who got caught with the age confirmation was about to get upset, you were able to settle the matter down in a normal way.”
That almost made my heart stop.
One of them got busted on the age verification, and got up on the cashier’s counter and said, “Can’t you sell?” I thought I would be turned into minced meat when Aoyama looked coldly and said, “It’s the law, right? There is no way we can sell it,” and attempted to drive him away.
The delinquent made a sour face as he leaned further toward the counter, where he was stopped by a man who looked like his chief or leader, and reluctantly left the store.
“That was scary to watch.”
“Particularly late at night, we get a lot of strange customers here, not only delinquents, but occasionally suspicious people as well, so if an exhibitionist arrives, it’s not unusual.”
“Hmm, f-for real!?”
This person… was accustomed to it.
But Aoyama was a veteran, after all.
“I’m glad you are with me today…”
“Oh, no! Is that a compliment? Oh, I’ll give you a service!”
His broad shoulders, huge arms, and the appropriate amount of force. Was this person a human massager?
However… please stop rubbing your chin against my head.
A shaved head with a muscular constitution. By all accounts, he was a dandyish man.
Why did this man’s life take a turn like this…
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