Chapter 321: Convenience Store Anecdotes |
"Thank you for your patronage!"
Seeing off two customers who came in to buy water, the convenience store's newly hired part-time clerk, Komatsu Kaori, let out a long sigh. As a high school student taking advantage of the summer vacation to work part-time and earn some pocket money, even though it was only her first day on the job, the busy hours had already given her a profound realization of just how difficult it was to make money.
Out in the real world beyond the school gates, there truly were all kinds of people—
An arguing couple who nearly knocked over a shelf, a middle-aged woman who relentlessly pestered her to exchange small change, a child throwing a tantrum and rolling on the floor to demand his mother buy him a toy...
Although the vast majority were normal customers who entered the store, grabbed what they needed, paid, and left, as Komatsu Kaori—who only had half an hour left until her shift ended and she could go home—looked back on the day, her mind was filled entirely with those difficult customers who left her physically and mentally exhausted.
'This job is completely meaningless. Maybe I should just quit tomorrow?'
Unable to hold back another sigh, Komatsu Kaori grumbled to herself, 'Can't some cute customers come in to slightly heal my work-battered, traumatized soul?'
'Preferably the kind of fragrant, soft, and cute girls, hehe...'
Ding-dong~
"Good evening, Auntie Kei... Huh? It's not Auntie Keiko today?"
Komatsu Kaori stared at the vibrant beauty wearing a loose white short-sleeved shirt and denim shorts, her eyes unconsciously widening slightly.
'Ah... is this God's reward for my hard day of work?'
'Just a second ago, I was thinking it would be great if some cute customers came in, and in the blink of an eye, such a super beautiful girl walks into the store. If this isn't a reward from the gods after hearing my heartfelt wish, what else could it be? It couldn't possibly be that I've awakened some sort of wish-granting superpower, right? Hehehe...'
"..." Shimizu Yu glanced at the unfamiliar clerk, who had been staring blankly at her since she walked through the door and was now giggling foolishly to herself. Her expression gradually grew a little strange.
'I wonder where Auntie Keiko went. Why does this convenience store have such a strange new clerk?'
'Whatever, I only came here because I realized we were out of bath salts after dinner. Buying things is my top priority. If she wants to stare, let her stare; we're both girls anyway, so I'll just ignore her.'
Shimizu Yu navigated through the aisles with familiar ease. After locating the bath salts, she grabbed two boxes and headed to the cash register to pay.
By this time, Komatsu Kaori had snapped back to reality. Seeing Shimizu Yu approach the counter, she embarrassedly scratched her cheek. "Sorry about that, I spaced out just now. Are you acquainted with Senior Keiko?"
"Eh?" Seeing the strange clerk acting normal again, Shimizu Yu didn't mind chatting with her. "Yes, I live nearby, so I often come here to buy things. Why isn't Auntie Keiko here today?"
The fresh fragrance emanating from the girl and the pleasant voice coming from her small mouth caused every muscle in Komatsu Kaori's body to relax. Looking blissfully happy as if she were about to ascend to heaven, she said, "Senior Keiko's shift has been changed to the morning. From now on, I'll be in charge from the afternoon until eight o'clock in the evening."
"I see..." Shimizu Yu nodded in understanding, but her gaze couldn't help shifting to the counter. She had already placed her items down; why wasn't this clerk—who seemed to have gotten weird again—scanning the barcodes to ring her up?
Komatsu Kaori noticed Shimizu Yu's gaze and only then realized she was neglecting her duties again. She hurriedly scratched her head in apology, then picked up the two large boxes of bath salts with lightning speed to scan them, completing the transaction and handing over the change.
"Thank you for your patronage!"
Before leaving, Shimizu Yu glanced back at the strange new clerk... She seemed quite clumsy. Would she be okay? If she acted like this toward other customers and received a complaint, she would probably be scolded by the store manager, right?
After thinking it over, Shimizu Yu decided to offer a gentle reminder. "Take your work seriously! Bye!"
Shimizu Yu left, leaving behind Komatsu Kaori, whose face bore an utterly healed expression.
'Ah... this job is so interesting. I definitely shouldn't quit after all!'
Ding-dong—
The automatic doors that had just closed slid open once again. This time, the person who walked in was a girl with a very petite figure and incredibly fair skin.
Komatsu Kaori cast her gaze over and subconsciously covered her mouth. 'Oh my, this one is also so cute! No, she is super cute! Unlike the vibrant beauty from earlier who was both pretty and cute, this one is purely so adorable that I just want to scoop her into my arms and cuddle her to death!'
With her small stature, fair skin, large eyes, and small mouth, her facial features were so exquisite they looked as though they had been meticulously carved by a master craftsman. Her long hair was tied up into a ponytail, and she was dressed in a pink long-sleeved shirt and a denim suspender skirt. Paired with her little white socks, black leather shoes, and the small shoulder bag on her back, she looked exactly like a well-behaved, delicate porcelain doll.
'Oho! Has the location advantage of being right next to a high-end residential area finally revealed itself?'
'In less than five minutes, two super beautiful girls have walked in! It would be an absolute waste of their talents if they didn't become idols and use their looks to rake in cash from otakus!' Komatsu Kaori felt she wouldn't even need any side dishes for dinner tonight; she could wolf down an entire bowl of rice just by recalling the faces of these two beauties.
After Takanashi Chisaki walked into the convenience store, she also noticed the intense gaze locked onto her from behind the cash register. However, she didn't pay it much mind. She had endured countless stares like that before, although it was still highly annoying.
Although she was a bit curious as to why the usually gentle auntie wasn't manning the register today, she had absolutely no desire to strike up a conversation with someone who would stare at people with such impolite eyes!
With a soft hmph, she held her little head high and strutted over to an aisle. After scanning the shelves up and down, she spotted her target: the newest flavor of Fujiya lollipops!
'But... why did they place it so high up? Weren't they always kept on the bottom shelf before? That new clerk must have moved them! How annoying!'
Takanashi Chisaki looked left and right, then stood on her tiptoes and tried to reach up a couple of times. Unfortunately, even when she stood on her tiptoes as high as she could and stretched her arm out entirely, she was still quite a distance away from her target.
'Argh, why am I so short?!' Even if she was younger than the rest of her classmates due to skipping grades, she was still a high school student!
'Being cursed with such a petite stature, it is bad enough being called a primary school student by annoying boys, but even strangers outside give me weird looks! Now even a mere lollipop is bullying me for being too short!'
Tears of frustration welled up in the corners of her eyes, but Takanashi Chisaki had absolutely no intention of asking that staring clerk for help. Puffing her cheeks, she turned around in a huff, ready to leave. So what if she couldn't get it here? She would just go buy it somewhere else!
But just as she turned around, she realized that a teenage boy with heterochromatic eyes, who was much taller than her, had silently appeared beside her.
She froze for a moment. Then, she watched as this boy—who possessed a level of handsomeness that even she had to admit was bordering on unfair—reached up and took down the entire box of lollipops she had been eyeing.
Takanashi Chisaki's heart instantly warmed. 'There really are good people out in the world after all!'
"Thank—"
She had barely opened her mouth to thank him, but in the next second, the boy with heterochromatic eyes turned around and headed straight for the cash register to pay, without even giving her a single glance.
"..." Takanashi Chisaki pouted, the rims of her eyes instantly turning red.