My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected

Without MAX Coffee, how could Chiba Prefecture still be called Chiba Prefecture? Wouldn't it be like a sun cake without the sun?

"...There is."

When Kawasaki said that quietly, Yukino immediately shot her an irritated look. Seriously, why did you two get along so badly? This was scary.

"Then what are you doing here? Don't tell me you're on a date with someone like that."

"How could I be? If you're referring to that thing beside me, even as a joke, that's far too tasteless."

"Um... argue all you want, but could you not drag me into it?"

Don't call me "someone like that" or "that thing"!

If it were just the two of them talking, nothing would ever get done, so I spoke first.

"I heard you've been getting home late lately. Is it because of this part-time job? Your little brother's worried about you."

After I said that, Kawasaki gave a derisive snort, as though she were looking down on me. It was seriously irritating.

"You came all this way just to tell me that? You must have a lot of time on your hands. But do you really think I'd obediently listen to some stranger lecture me and quit because of it?"

"Being called a stranger by a classmate... Shut-in, you're amazing..."

Yuihama was actually impressed by that... Wait, I didn't know Kawasaki either, so didn't that make us even?

"So that's why people have been bothering me lately. Was this your idea? Did Taishi tell you something? I don't know how you know him, but I'll talk to him myself when I get home, so you don't need to get involved... In other words, stay away from Taishi."

Kawasaki shot me a glare.

She was telling outsiders like us to stop meddling, wasn't she? But Yukino wasn't about to let it go.

"I have every reason to stop you."

Yukino shifted her gaze from Kawasaki to her watch and checked the time.

"It's 10:40... If you were Cinderella, you would have one hour left. Unfortunately, your magic has already worn off."

"Once the magic wears off, doesn't the happy ending come next?"

"Are you sure about that, Little Mermaid? I think what awaits you is a rather unhappy ending."

Their exchange left no room for anyone else to cut in. Their momentum suited the setting perfectly. The two of them traded barbs like it was some game favored by the upper class. Seriously, why did they get along so badly? Hadn't they only met for the first time today? This was scary.

Then someone tapped me on the shoulder and leaned close to whisper in my ear:

"...Shut-in, what are they talking about?"

Oh, Yuihama. Having a commoner like you beside me was genuinely reassuring...

Under the Labor Standards Act, anyone under eighteen was prohibited from working after ten at night. Since Kawasaki was still working at this hour, it meant she'd used the magic of lying about her age—but Yukino had broken that spell.

Even so, Kawasaki remained utterly composed.

"You're still not planning to quit?"

"Hm? No, I'm not. Even if they fire me here, I'll just find somewhere else to work."

She spoke calmly as she wiped down a liquor bottle with a cloth. The way she talked, it was like she didn't consider this a big deal at all, which made me a little angry. But Yukino merely took a sip of the Bailey's in her hand... Or was it Harris?

Amid the tense, dangerous atmosphere, Yuihama cautiously spoke up.

"Th-then... Kawasaki, why are you working here? Um, well... I work part-time when I don't have money too, but I wouldn't lie about my age just to work this late..."

"It's nothing... I just need money."

Kawasaki set down the liquor bottle with a soft thud.

It was the obvious answer. Nine times out of ten, people worked for money. Of course, some pursued the value of work or the meaning of life, but I didn't know much about that sort of thing.

"Ah... I think I kind of understand."

The moment I said that without thinking, Kawasaki's expression stiffened.

"How could you possibly understand...? Someone who jokes about his own future couldn't possibly understand."

I couldn't remember how long ago it had been, but Kawasaki and I had met on the school rooftop once. Apparently, she still remembered the Workplace Observation Form she'd seen then.

"I wasn't joking about that..."

"Oh? If you weren't joking, then you're just a kid. You take life far too lightly."

Kawasaki tossed the cloth she'd used to wipe the bottle onto the table and leaned against the wall again.

"You... No, not just you. Yukino and Yuihama wouldn't understand either. I'm not working for money to have fun with, so don't lump me in with idiots like that."

There was force in Kawasaki's glare. Her eyes clearly conveyed the message, Stay out of this. Yet tears welled up in them.

But was that really strength? To me, her claim that nobody could understand her sounded like a sigh of disappointment and discouragement over the fact that nobody did. In truth, she wanted someone to understand her, didn't she?

By comparison, look at Yukino. Even if no one around her understood her, she would not sigh or lose heart over it. That was because she believed that holding true to her convictions was strength.

Then there was Yuihama. She never gave up trying to understand others, nor did she run away. That was because she hoped that even superficial efforts could, with time, bring about some kind of change.

"Yeah, but if you don't try saying some things out loud, other people won't understand. Maybe if you tell us, we can help... and you'll feel a little better too..."

Kawasaki turned an ice-cold gaze on Yuihama. Halfway through her sentence, Yuihama's words began to falter.

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. Help? Feel better? Is that so? Then can you give me money? Or can you give me the things my parents can't provide?"

"Th-this..."

Yuihama-san lowered her head, unable to refute her. Kawasaki was way too scary!

"Please know when to stop. If you keep making a fuss..."

Yukino's voice was cold enough to chill one to the bone, and the fact that she left the sentence unfinished only made it more terrifying. Wait, what were you planning to do?

Even Kawasaki paused involuntarily. But then she clicked her tongue and turned her gaze toward Yukino.

"I heard your father is a prefectural assemblyman, right? You never have to worry about food or clothes, so how could you possibly understand my situation..."

She spoke so quietly, as though she were talking to herself. And her voice sounded as if she had given up on something.

Then, suddenly, there was the sound of a glass tipping over.

I looked beside me and saw Perrier spilling from an overturned glass. Yukino had her lips tightly clenched, her eyes fixed on the tabletop. The usual Yukino would never have reacted like this, and I couldn't help staring at her face in surprise.

"...Yukino?"

"What is it? Ah, sorry."

Once she came back to herself, she returned to her usual—no, an even colder-than-usual—poker face and casually wiped the table with a towel. From the unusual atmosphere in the room, I realized Kawasaki had stepped on one of Yukino's land mines. Now that I thought about it, she had seemed like that a while ago too... I began searching my memories, trying to recall when it had been. Then someone slapped the table with a bang.

"Hold on! What we're talking about has nothing to do with Yukino's family!"

Yuihama-san glared at Kawasaki, her attitude unusually firm. She wasn't joking or trying to stir things up. She was genuinely angry. So this was what she looked like when she got mad?

Perhaps because Yuihama-san, who was normally always giggling foolishly, had suddenly changed her attitude so drastically—or perhaps because she knew she had said something she shouldn't have—Kawasaki's voice lowered as well.

"...Then you have nothing to do with my family either, do you?"

If that was how we were going to put it, then there was nothing left to discuss.

This matter had nothing to do with me, Yuihama-san, or Yukino in the first place.

If Kawasaki had broken the law, then the teachers and parents should condemn her, and the law would punish her. But for outsiders like us, who couldn't even be called friends, there was nothing we could do to help her.

"Maybe you're right, but that's not what we're talking about right now! Yukino—"

"Yuihama-san, please calm down. I merely knocked over a glass by accident. It's nothing, so you don't need to worry about it."

Yuihama-san was about to rise from her seat in agitation, but Yukino gently stopped her. Her voice was calmer than usual, but correspondingly colder too.

Early summer had already passed, yet the air here was freezing.

It looked like we wouldn't be making any progress today. These three girls had no way of having a calm, proper conversation.

Still, I had picked up a few things. If I handled the rest afterward, it should be enough to solve the problem.

"Let's call it a day and go home. I'm already sleepy. I'll leave once I finish this drink."

That was what I said, but more than half of my Ginger Ale was still left.

"You..."

"Y-yeah, Yukino, let's go home for today!"

Yukino sighed in exasperation, looking as if she wanted to say something to me, but Yuihama-san cut her off. Yuihama-san met my eyes and nodded. It seemed she had noticed that Yukino wasn't acting normally either.

"...Fine. Let's go home for today, then."

Yukino herself seemed to have noticed it as well, so she miraculously went along with my suggestion. Without even glancing at the bill, she placed several bills on the counter and stood up to leave. Yuihama-san rose with her.

I spoke from behind Yuihama-san.

"Yuihama, I'll message you later."

"...Huh? Okay, I got it... I'll wait."

Under the indirect lighting, Yuihama-san's face looked especially red. Her hand hesitated at her chest for a moment before she waved goodbye to me. You don't need to wave. It really didn't suit a classy place like this.

After seeing the two of them off, I picked up my glass and turned toward Kawasaki. Before speaking, I wet my throat with a sip of my drink.

"Kawasaki, lend me some time tomorrow morning. Can you meet me at the McDonald's on this street at five-thirty?"

"Huh? Why?"

Her tone was even colder than before, but I was confident that my next words would change her attitude.

"I want to talk to you about Taishi."

"...What?"

At those words, she looked at me with surprise—or rather, hostility. I drained the rest of my drink in one gulp, then stood up and left, so I wouldn't have to meet her eyes.

"We'll talk about that tomorrow. Later."

"Wait!"

I coolly ignored the call behind me and prepared to leave the bar with a nonchalance perfectly suited to this place.

"Wait! You didn't pay enough!"

...Hey, Yukino, you didn't cover mine?

I silently returned to the counter, pulled out the only thousand-yen bill I had, and received sixty yen in change. Yeah... this was definitely not the time to ask "why," right?

A single Ginger Ale cost nearly a thousand yen... Was this place the only one still living in the bubble economy?

The next morning, just after five. I hadn't slept at all that night, and now I was dozing off at McDonald's while drinking my second cup of coffee. The sky had already brightened, and sparrows calmly pecked at the ground before taking flight again.

After the three of us left the hotel, we each returned home. Once I got back, I only asked Komachi to take care of a few things before heading out again to kill time here. I could've slept at home first, but I really wasn't confident I'd wake up before five.

The reason I'd stayed up all night was—

"Did she come...?"

The automatic doors slid open, and Saki Kawasaki shuffled inside, her face heavy with exhaustion.

"What did you want to tell me?"

The fatigue of having gone without sleep all night made Kawasaki look especially irritated. Her sheer forcefulness made me briefly consider dropping to my knees and apologizing, but I dismissed that thought and tried to act as calmly as possible.

"First, inhale some refrigerant... calm down."

I bit my tongue, and my attempt to act composed failed completely. It couldn't be helped—Kawasaki was terrifying. Still, biting my tongue helped me relax enough to continue smoothly.

"The others will be here soon, so wait a little."

"The others?"

Kawasaki asked in surprise. At that moment, the automatic doors opened again, and Yukinoshita and Yuihama entered the restaurant.

After parting with them last night, I'd sent Yuihama a message telling her to let her family know that she'd be staying over at Yukinoshita's house tonight, then come to this McDonald's with Yukinoshita at five in the morning. In short, it was a brief and straightforward message.

"You two again?"

Kawasaki looked annoyed and let out a deep sigh.

However, there was someone else present who was equally unhappy.

Yuihama seemed to be sulking and wouldn't look at me at all.

"What, is she short on sleep?"

I asked Yukinoshita, but she tilted her head in confusion as well.