: This is Kirasaka's story.
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A hundred years of your life.
In these days when the average life expectancy is increasing year by year, we sometimes wonder what we can do to make life worth living for a hundred years.
One hundred years, simply calculated, is more than four times longer than what you've lived till date.
Even if I had one or two hobbies, how long would they last?
I would like to complain, but there are things that are absolutely necessary.
No matter what age you are, no matter what your situation, there is one thing you can't go wrong with.
Yep, it's money.
Cash, pocket money, belly button savings whatever you call it.
Even for students, without exception, it is difficult to have fun without money nowadays.
Games, events, light novels and other books, etc...
Many people buy bikes and PCs as hobbies.
I mean, they say money is the best and time can't be bought with money, but when you don't have money to begin with, you are not even given the option to buy, so you'll have to start by earning money.
Minato-kun's monthly allowance given to him from his father has been decreasing year by year, so he is thinking of getting a part-time job during the short summer vacation.
Even if it is not a solution, the problem has been postponed. In the last few days, now that the current student council problem has disappeared, I have been looking at job sites on my smartphone, which I don't use often.
No ...I'm motivated.
But I don't wanna take action.
This is a typical pattern of being aware but not taking action.
I have part-time job experience. However, when it comes to short term, I have to get interviewed, get hired, and then work for a short period during a day or two to get paid on a daily or weekly basis.
I understand how it works, but there is nothing that I am good at or intrigued by.
Just when I was wondering what to do, I received a call from the woman in question.
"You should get a part-time job."
"It's not an offer ...right, that's what it's looking like."
Kirasaka Rei, the woman who has naturally settled in the living room of the Shinra household, came to me under the pretense of paying her respects in the middle of the hot season.
It is supposed to be an invitation, but the words themselves seem determined.
As I narrowed my eyes and looked at her, she told me as if she had seen through my thoughts.
"Don't students work part-time during summer vacation? You don't have any experience, so you don't know, but I can assure you that the conditions alone are unbeatable."
"I don't appreciate your nonchalant rich-lady behavior ...so what's the job?"
If it's a recommendation from an acquaintance, there's no need to go through the hassle of an interview in a strange place.
I'm glad I got one.
"It's simple, I need you to help out at my house for a day. The pay is around this much...?"
She held up three fingers and made an offer.
I mean ...three of them in one day?
That's a lot to ask for just to help out at home.
It feels horrifying to go this far in naivete.
"Welcome aboard, business partner."
"I feel like your voice is full of enthusiasm even though I don't sense any motivation from your expression. ...Well, okay then, I'll have them pick you up tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m."
She told me this as her small white hand grabbed the back of my hand that I had held out to Kirasaka.
For a moment, I thought of complaining about the fact that she was starting tomorrow, ...but I decided that I couldn't give in just yet.
My living expenses are at stake.
To be honest, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do when I'm asked to help out at someone's house, but I think it's better than working at a customer service or warehouse.
Now I can buy what I want.
Like books and ...books.
...Surprisingly, I can live off of my earlier allowance without any hitches.
There's nothing I really want except books.
I'm a low-interest type of guy.
No, this is the kind of guy who will be in high demand in the future.
It's the pattern that one's wife is completely in control of their wallet and decides their monthly allowance even though they earn their own salary.
Anyway, my first allowance during the summer vacation was decided in an unexpected way.
"Chair."
"..."
"Chair."
"..."
The next day, the scene was far from the part-time job I had imagined.
First of all, we came to a villa that was not the main residence of the Kirasaka household, but a villa that is a specialty reserved for rich people.
I had imagined a large mansion, so I was taken aback by the cozy, wooden building.
However, it was not cheap in any way, and while it retains the sense of luxury that permeates throughout the house, meanwhile it also has a commoner's aura to it.
It was built at Kirasaka's request, just as she had requested.
It is a two-story wooden house with a lawn and garden, built at the foot of a mountain, one of the most isolated places in this rural town.
There was a large river nearby, and to be honest, I felt at home in the natural surroundings.
However, once inside, I found Kirasaka's caretaker waiting for us there outside.
I asked her the reason for this invitation.
Without even looking, she said, "Summer vacation is a natural right for the caretakers. ...Come on now, you'll be working here for today."
And now, what she was asking me to do was not to offer her a chair, ...but to be the chair itself.
"Nope ...not happening."
Minato-kun, can't turn at such right angles.
I mean, it's impossible with my physical specs to carry a person while being a chair.
When I refused Kirasaka's order, she let out a small sigh.
"That won't do, today, I'm not your classmate, but your employer, okay? Isn't it your duty to carry out your job to the best of your ability?"
"In the future, I want to be someone who can say 'NO'..."
"I can only worry about that future..."
As if she were my mother, she taps me next to the couch where she is sitting, as if she is worried about my future.
I knew without asking that it was a signal for me to sit down.
I sat down on that white object and was softly and gently welcomed by a fluffy sensation.
After all, the money spent is different from mine at home. ...As I was thinking that, when I suddenly sat down next to her and Kirasaka's body was lying on my side.
Her expressions showed no signs of embarrassment.
I'm a pillow, I understand.
If she had dyed her cheeks even a little, I would have felt embarrassed, too, but she has kept such a clear expression on her face that I no longer felt anything.
I just feel heavy.
How much time has passed in this position?
An hour? Maybe almost two hours.
During that time, all that permeated this room was the sound of each other's breathing and the sound of pages being turned.
The only other sound was of nature.
Fortunately, thanks to the sofa on which I was sitting, my joints did not ache, allowing me more time to contemplate for a bit.
I recalled a lot of thoughts that I did not want to, and some errands that I did not necessarily needed to do.
But that was until Kirasaka opened her mouth.
"After the summer vacation ...it's already the second term, right?"
"It's only the second term ...if you consider that only a third of it is over, you're in for a long haul."
Differences in the way we think and perceive things.
But from the sound of her voice, the words sounded like they contained emotions different from mine.
It was as if she was regretting the passing of time.
I had already known from our previous interactions that she was not that kind of person, but I couldn't believe my eyes at the momentary change.
After the reading was over, the next thing that awaited me was the cleanup of the yard.
The dead leaves on the lawn were placed in garbage bags.
Although the work was carried out in the blazing sun, fortunately it felt somewhat better, perhaps due to the fact that there was a water source nearby.
Kirasaka watched me work nonchalantly under the shady roof.
What amused me was the slight smile on her face, instead of her usual cold expression.
"Don't you think that for the short time we've known each other properly, our days together have been rather intense?"
"...I wouldn't do anything if I were aware that I was increasing that intensity."
Her skin is as white as snow, and the word "summer" is completely inappropriate for her.
A drop of sweat spills down the end of her short hair, and she brushes it away with her hand as if it were depressing.
"I don't feel bad about it, considering I'm giving Shinra-kun a colorful life."
"You interpret yourself too positively..."
Picking up the last leaf in sight, I sprinkled water one last time, which was meant to bring down the heat.
The grass dripping with water reflected the sunlight as if it were happy.
Did I really want my life to become more colorful?
Did I really want to change my life, a life that repeats itself day after day, a life that is not as equal as the world often makes it out to be?
The person I was back then will never give me an answer.
The only thing that has been confronting me recently is the fact that I cannot go back to that life.
"Kirasaka ...did you ever wanted to redo something in your life?"
"Redo..."
It was an unusually pure and unadulterated question.
Would she want to redo anything?
How is this world for her, who has the popularity, talent, environment, and other talents that most people would want to have?
That is what I wanted to hear.
"..."
She looked up for a moment and put her hand on her chin.
Then, after a long enough pause, she spoke the words and told me what she thought.
"There is."
"...I see."
---Even you have it?
When I was about to throw those words at Kirasaka, she uttered as if to continue.
"But I've tried not to think about it since I've come to believe that it simply leads to regret."
Regret, Kirasaka's opinion was right on the mark.
Regret is at the root of wanting to start over.
And it is because she knows the consequences that await her at that time.
The difference between people with a strong will and people with a weak will is whether they can grasp this reality or not.
They are bound by the past, unable to put past glories behind them.
But strong people are not bound by it, they can detach it as the past.
That is why Kirasaka is strong.
The reason why neither Shizuku nor Yuuto are even slightly close to her is because of the strength of their will.
"If there is one thing I will regret first in the future, it will surely be..."
Putting the book in her hand to the side, Kirasaka smiles wryly, as she usually does, as she walks to the garden, where the sun is shining.
Then, she brought his wet fingertips close to my face and murmured.
"...The day when Shinra-kun leave us?"
"..."
She turned around and returned to her original position as if to nest a giggle.
I looked at her back, and this time I muttered something to her.
"Us..."
After that, a lot of work was assigned to me.
But even as I worked, I kept thinking about the change in her.
It may be a change that she herself is not aware of.
But that is why it left a strong impression on me.
That a female student who shuns that person and hates to be in a group is seeing others and herself in the same place, even if they are not her friends.
A trivial day of summer vacation.
A day that I thought was going to be a hot and tedious day just to get a paycheck, and to know one thing, though it was really trivial.
I realized something that day for sure.
I would make do with my allowance and never ever devote my energy to a part-time job.
I'm tired of it...
---
: Next up is Shizuku.
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