[Haaa…]
In the quietly running train, Yanagi Daiki sat down in a seat that was empty thanks to it being the last train, and let out a heavy sigh. Then, he put his hands on his shoulders and shook his head, making his bones rattle.
(Somehow I managed to take a day off… For the first time in a while I’ll be able to get some proper sleep)
The deadline was fast approaching so he was continuously working overtime. Moreover, usually the last train was already gone when he tried to go home after work, so he had to usually stay overnight in the office for the past few days. And of course, he didn’t have a day off last week, he had to work on a holiday.
(Errr, how many consecutive workdays did I work…? I was able to take the Sunday before the last one off so…thirteen consecutive days…That’s not so bad is it)
Thus it becomes apparent just how much Daiki has been poisoned when he thinks like this.
The company that Daiki works for is a so-called black company. No, the correct answer is that it became a black company.
(What a bunch of c**p, not giving us overtime pay saying he’s trying to cut labour costs, that damned second generation b*****d)
When Daiki first started working for the company, the president had been a good man, but after he was replaced and his son took over as president, the company gradually lost its cleanliness and found itself turning pitch black.
Already guessing this would happen, his coworkers, who were very understanding and had a lot of money saved up, quit one after another, however with no money in the bank and a string of work coming in from former co-workers who had quit, Daiki completely missed his chance to escape.
(How much work are they going to make me, a high school graduate, do? I say that, but even more I was given that much work, I couldn’t quit because I had no savings…)
Even if he wanted to quit when he had enough money saved up, since he was no longer getting paid for overtime, and had to stay overnight at the office, sometimes taking a cab home, going to an internet cafe to take a shower, and eating out a lot, because of that he had no savings left.
Daiki’s environment had completely fallen into a vicious cycle.
(I guess I’ll just have to save up a little bit….Well, it’s fine. Anyway, tomorrow is my day off. I’m going to sleep in, make some good food, and relax.)
Although Daiki’s hobby isn’t cooking, he wants to avoid eating out on his days off, and because he is a good cook, he spends his days off cooking and eating delicious food.
Eating the delicious food that he has made with his skills is a great way to relieve stress, and it is the only thing that enriches his life at the moment.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s already a hobby, but Daiki himself doesn’t think so.
(If I wake up before noon, I can simply make something with bread and have brunch, or if there are any baguettes left at the supermarket, I can do something with them.)
Daiki’s mind began to fill up with thoughts of what to make for tomorrow’s menu.
He was thinking about what he would buy at the supermarket on his way home.
The apartment was rundown, small and expensive, but the only thing that was Daiki’s saving grace was the fact that there was a 24-hour supermarket nearby.
(What to do for the night… It’s been a while since I’ve made a kakuni stew, and a leisurely beer doesn’t sound bad.) {TN: kakuni = a Japanese braised pork dish}
When he imagined the sweet and spicy stewed pork belly and beer,he gulped and couldn’t help but grin. Fortunately, no one seemed to have seen Daiki, and he was able to avoid being treated as a pervert, which made him feel relieved.
Daiki’s height is less than 180 cm, and he has a moderate build with broad and thick shoulders. He also has a stern face that people say makes him look threatening even though he doesn’t mean to be. When he was in high school, a friend told him that he never knows what kind of misunderstandings might arise when he is alone with a grin on his face, and ever since then, he has been careful.
Anyway, as Daiki was thinking about tomorrow’s meal, he unknowingly fell asleep, and when he woke up, he found himself at the station where he was to get off, and hurriedly got off the train with his bag.
[Phew…]
If he missed his stop, he would not have been able to take the train home because it was the last train of the day, so he breathed a sigh of relief that he was able to get off safely.
As soon as he started walking towards the stairs, he began to feel tired all over.
It was probably due to the fact that tomorrow was his day off and that he had arrived at the nearest station to his house, so the tension from his daily hard work had left him.
In a way, it may be that his paralyzed senses have returned to normal, but he really wished that they had done so after he arrived home.
In any case, Daiki’s steps became heavy on the station platform as he made his way to the stairs leading to the ticket gate.
And when he started to climb the stairs.
[Eh, wai――!? Kyaaa――]
When he looked up to see what was going on, he saw that the woman on top of him had lost her footing and was falling back toward him, flapping her hands as if she were swimming in the air.
[Uohh――!?]
If Daiki stayed put, he would be directly in the path of the falling woman. So, of course, there was no way for Daiki to avoid it, so he quickly stepped one foot down, grabbed the railing with his right hand, leaned forward to make a waiting posture, and caught the falling woman with his body and held her with his left hand.
[Guh――!!]
Daiki’s large and sturdy physique was able to catch the impact without falling along with the woman.
Then, as Daiki let out a sigh of relief, he began to dawdle as his awareness turned to the softness and thinness of the woman’s body in close contact with him.
(S-soft! Everywhere I touch, it’s so soft! And her waist is so thin!)
For Daiki, who has never had a girlfriend in his life, this was the first time he had ever been this close to a woman, and the stimulation was quite unfamiliar. This caused Daiki’s thoughts to freeze.
[Eh…?]
Then the woman looked down at her body, making a bewildered sound, then slowly turned around.
[Aah――!? I-I’m sorry! Are you okay!?]
She must have understood the situation. Not only did Daiki save her from her own peril, but he also almost got himself involved in it.
[Ah, aah, no. I’m fine here, are you okay――!?]
The woman’s voice brought him back to himself, and he gasped as he made eye contact with the woman looking up at him.
Her small face has big almond eyes that look strong-willed and cat-like. She has a high, straight nose, a well-shaped mouth with gleaming lips, and fine, white skin.
Daiki was completely captivated by the woman’s beauty.
[Y-yes, I’m fine. And really thank you for catching me, it could have been very dangerous――…Um?]
The woman marvelled at the unconsciously dumbfounded Daiki.
{Ah, no, yes, d-don’t worry about it.]
Daiki stuttered back, and that’s when he realized that he was still holding the woman in his arms.
[――Ah, I’m sorry. I’m going to let go of your hand, is that okay?]
[Ah, yes. It’s fine――]
Daiki let go of the woman, supporting her with his chest, and separated his body as well, feeling a sense of reluctance.
Then, standing firmly on the top of the stairs with both feet, the woman looked back at me and bowed her head deeply. The tips of her long, lustrous black hair, which she had pulled up into a half-up, swayed vigorously.
[Once again――Before it would’ve been really dangerous, thank you. You who caught me――No, it was because of you catching me that it wasn’t dangerous, so really thank you very much.]
Daiki felt both embarrassed and pleasant at the heartfelt words of appreciation that he knew were coming from the heart. Most importantly, he was happy that he wouldn’t be afraid to look himself straight in the face.
[No, I’m glad you’re okay. Both of us. Besides, with my physique, I thought it was fine and caught you, and you were light, so don’t worry about it.]
The woman raised her head and said, “Well” while giggling.
[I’m glad I didn’t feel heavy… You have a really magnificent physique don’t you?]
In the end, the tension may have dissipated, but the tone of voice was a little broken and said so, and while enjoying the feeling of having been shot in the chest by the cuteness of the woman who tilted her head, Daiki looked again at the dignified appearance of the woman.
A navy tailored jacket and a high-waisted white tight skirt with black stockings underneath seemed to be a common outfit, but the clothes exuded a sense of luxury that even Daiki could recognize at a glance. And from the beautiful woman, who was probably older than him, he could feel the aura of a woman who can do her job well, which he never saw around himself. The woman was probably working at a large, respectable company, not a small, black company like his own, he thought to himself.
Then, the word “disparity” suddenly came to Daiki’s mind. {TN: it was actually originally ‘two characters’ as the original word in Japanese had two characters, 格差.}
(Oh no, if I get involved with such an amazingly beautiful woman and fall in love with her, I’ll be in trouble later.)
An unreachable flower is known as an unreachable flower because it is out of reach. To even reach out your hand is difficult, and it is here that it becomes harsh, so simply looking at one is enough.
Ironically enough, the woman was on a higher level than Daiki, which seemed to affirm his thoughts.
Instinctively, Daiki thought about it and answered with a wave of his hand, keeping a lid on his heaving chest and thinking to get away from the beautiful woman here as soon as possible.
[Haha, muscle training is my hobby. And, after I ate a meal this just sort of happened.]
[Aah, muscle training, I see…]
The beautiful woman made a sound of admiration. Then Daiki noticed.
(H-huge…)
The jacket and the shirt underneath were pushing up her twin hills to make it even more considerable.
(What the h**l is this person, she’s beautiful like a model, thin, looks like she’s good at her job, and even has big b***s…Is she the ultimate weapon beautiful woman or what)
Daiki, full of fatigue and now after suddenly encountering a beautiful woman, had incomprehensible thoughts running through his head.
(Yeah, it’s virtually impossible for a virgin to handle, her beauty and her b***s.){TN: originally something like a pun with the words 童貞(dōtei) and 到底(tōtei), hence the alliteration}
In addition, when he thought of something that would not usually come up, Daiki shook his head to drive away his worldly thoughts.
[? What’s wrong?]
[Ah, it’s nothing. I’m in a hurry, so I’ll be off here. On your way home, please be careful.]
He bowed his head lightly and started to quickly walk up the stairs, passing by the beautiful woman.
[Eh!? W-wait――Um, really thank you very much!]
Without stopping, Daiki bowed his head and walked quickly through the ticket gate.
As he passed through the ticket gate and descended the stairs, Daiki felt dizzy for a moment and stumbled.
(Ahhh this is bad, after saving that beautiful woman, did I run out of energy…?)
He was completely exhausted and didn’t have much strength left after catching the falling woman.
Daiki took a deep breath and headed to the convenience store he spotted.
[Thank you very much~]
With the convenience store clerk’s voice behind his back, Daiki stepped aside from the entrance, stopped in front of the lined trash cans, opened the lid of the energy drink he had just purchased and downed it in one gulp.
[――Puhaa. Even though I was already going home, even today I needed help from this…]
Feeling empty after remembering the energy drinks he had drank while working overtime to overcome his drowsiness, and that he had to drink it on the way home again today, even if it was just to replenish his energy supply until then.
Talking to himself, he threw the bottle of energy drink into the trash and headed home.
[Well, I’d like to stop by the supermarket and have a good look at the ingredients, so that’s what I’ll do, yeah.]
Making excuses to himself, he walked in the direction of the house, then he suddenly noticed the back of a person walking ahead of him.
(That’s… probably, the beautiful woman from earlier…)
The back view was also beautiful. Daiki already knew that she was a beautiful woman, but even if he didn’t, the back view made him feel that she was definitely beautiful if she turned around.
And then he suddenly realized. Wouldn’t she think he was strange if she noticed him walking behind her, even though they were far apart? He wondered if he would be mistaken for a stalker.
(No, I saved her from a dangerous situation once, so it’s fine…right…?)
With that in mind, Daiki slowed down his steps and walked gradually away from the beautiful woman.
As he walked forward, his eyes naturally fell on the back of a beautiful woman.
(It’s kind of amazing how beautiful the back of a woman can be…)
As he casually looked at it, excusing himself that this was inevitable since it was in his field of vision, he noticed that the woman was holding a plastic bag in her hand, which she had not been holding earlier.
Probably stopping at a convenience store like Daiki, he guessed, and the woman put her hand in her handbag as the convenience store bag dangled from her hand and began to search inside, walking carelessly.
(You won’t fall over again, right…?)
As he was feeling unsettled by this thought, he had a vague idea of where the woman was headed.
It was probably the high-rise condominium that he had seen earlier. Daiki predicted that since she was approaching there, she was probably trying to get the key out.
The condominium is close to the station and has a very luxurious feel to it, and from what some people say, it’s worth over 100 million.
(Wow, she lives in a hundred-million-yen apartment? She’s literally an unreachable flower then…)
After all, it was a good thing I didn’t get close to her. There were too many disparities. I was feeling disappointed that I didn’t have a chance to meet her before, but now it seemed that the vestiges of our encounter would disappear.
As he convinced himself in this way, he found himself much closer to the woman. Not only that, but I could hear the beautiful woman’s troubled voice.
[Huh…? Where did it go…?]
Then the beautiful woman stopped and began to rummage through her bag.
(…You can’t find your keys…? Maybe you dropped it on the stairs earlier…?)
He felt sorry for her, but Daiki had no intention of making more contact than necessary. As he stepped forward to pass the woman from behind-
[Ah――!]
Apparently, she dropped her bag while searching and scattered the contents. Even more unfortunately, the button or zipper of her purse must have been open, and the coins spread out like a clinking sound.
[Aaaah…]
The beautiful woman slumped her shoulders so sidelong that she could be seen, squatted down and began to pick up the contents of her bag.
Then a small coin rolled to the ground at the feet of Daiki, who had stopped to watch the scene.
In this situation, the virtuous Daiki could not turn a blind eye.
Daiki let out a sigh, picked up the small change – a five yen coin – and walked over to the beautiful woman.
[It just rolled over here.]
[Ah, thank you very much――Wait, aren’t you the one from before!?]
[Yeah, me from before.]
With a wry smile, Daiki handed her the five-yen coin and began to help her pick them up by squatting down on the spot.
[T-thank you…]
[Don’t mention it. More importantly, can you see them all? You should use the flashlight on your phone.]
There were streetlights, so Daiki could see him clearly, but she might miss it, so he took out his smartphone and shined the light on her just in case.
[Ah, that’s right.]
The woman who responded took the phone that was lying at her feet and looked relieved to see that it was not broken.
[Huh――Aah, that’s right. Sorry, it seems that my battery died.]
[Your battery is dead? Are you okay, it’s not broken or anything?]
[Yes. My battery was almost dead when I got off the train earlier, so I think that’s the reason.]
[If that’s the case, that’s fine… Well, it should be enough to light up using just one. Ah, there’s a card on the floor.]
[Eh? Ah! I’m glad…I didn’t drop it…]
The woman clutched it tightly with a look of sincere relief.
(…Ah, it’s a card key.)
He guessed that from the way she looked before she dropped her bag. In the meantime, Daiki was busy picking up coins and handkerchiefs, and the woman who noticed him hurriedly began to pick them up as well.
(…Somehow, the image of a capable woman that I had when I first met her seems to be falling apart…)
No, it was probably just a coincidence, Daiki thought, dismissing his train of thought.
[Yeah.. seems to be gone. Do you think you have everything in your bag?]
[Yes, I think it’s probably fine…I think. Thank you so much.]
After squatting down and scurrying around, he smiled at me, and almost falling in love with that smile, Daiki looked away and just nodded back.
And that’s when the two of them stood up together at the same time.
[!?]
Daiki felt dizzy and at the same time felt his face go pale.
It was probably due to the fact that when he stood up from his squatting position, the circulation of his blood got worse.
[? Are you…alright?]
She must have noticed something strange when she saw Daiki put his hands over his eyes and stumbled forward.
[Eh, yeah. i-I’m fi――ne…]
As Daiki said this, he felt his world being turned upside down. No, the ground was beside him when he realized that he had collapsed on the spot.
[H-hey――!? Wa!? A-Ambulance――! Ahh, did my battery have to be dead now…That’s right!! Just hold on for a moment ok!?]
The woman said, and ran off.
(…Even while running, her back is beautiful…)
While thinking about that, Daiki fainted.
[Haaa…]
In the quietly running train, Yanagi Daiki sat down in a seat that was empty thanks to it being the last train, and let out a heavy sigh. Then, he put his hands on his shoulders and shook his head, making his bones rattle.
(Somehow I managed to take a day off… For the first time in a while I’ll be able to get some proper sleep)
The deadline was fast approaching so he was continuously working overtime. Moreover, usually the last train was already gone when he tried to go home after work, so he had to usually stay overnight in the office for the past few days. And of course, he didn’t have a day off last week, he had to work on a holiday.
(Errr, how many consecutive workdays did I work…? I was able to take the Sunday before the last one off so…thirteen consecutive days…That’s not so bad is it)
Thus it becomes apparent just how much Daiki has been poisoned when he thinks like this.
The company that Daiki works for is a so-called black company. No, the correct answer is that it became a black company.
(What a bunch of c**p, not giving us overtime pay saying he’s trying to cut labour costs, that damned second generation b*****d)
When Daiki first started working for the company, the president had been a good man, but after he was replaced and his son took over as president, the company gradually lost its cleanliness and found itself turning pitch black.
Already guessing this would happen, his coworkers, who were very understanding and had a lot of money saved up, quit one after another, however with no money in the bank and a string of work coming in from former co-workers who had quit, Daiki completely missed his chance to escape.
(How much work are they going to make me, a high school graduate, do? I say that, but even more I was given that much work, I couldn’t quit because I had no savings…)
Even if he wanted to quit when he had enough money saved up, since he was no longer getting paid for overtime, and had to stay overnight at the office, sometimes taking a cab home, going to an internet cafe to take a shower, and eating out a lot, because of that he had no savings left.
Daiki’s environment had completely fallen into a vicious cycle.
(I guess I’ll just have to save up a little bit….Well, it’s fine. Anyway, tomorrow is my day off. I’m going to sleep in, make some good food, and relax.)
Although Daiki’s hobby isn’t cooking, he wants to avoid eating out on his days off, and because he is a good cook, he spends his days off cooking and eating delicious food.
Eating the delicious food that he has made with his skills is a great way to relieve stress, and it is the only thing that enriches his life at the moment.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s already a hobby, but Daiki himself doesn’t think so.
(If I wake up before noon, I can simply make something with bread and have brunch, or if there are any baguettes left at the supermarket, I can do something with them.)
Daiki’s mind began to fill up with thoughts of what to make for tomorrow’s menu.
He was thinking about what he would buy at the supermarket on his way home.
The apartment was rundown, small and expensive, but the only thing that was Daiki’s saving grace was the fact that there was a 24-hour supermarket nearby.
(What to do for the night… It’s been a while since I’ve made a kakuni stew, and a leisurely beer doesn’t sound bad.) {TN: kakuni = a Japanese braised pork dish}
When he imagined the sweet and spicy stewed pork belly and beer,he gulped and couldn’t help but grin. Fortunately, no one seemed to have seen Daiki, and he was able to avoid being treated as a pervert, which made him feel relieved.
Daiki’s height is less than 180 cm, and he has a moderate build with broad and thick shoulders. He also has a stern face that people say makes him look threatening even though he doesn’t mean to be. When he was in high school, a friend told him that he never knows what kind of misunderstandings might arise when he is alone with a grin on his face, and ever since then, he has been careful.
Anyway, as Daiki was thinking about tomorrow’s meal, he unknowingly fell asleep, and when he woke up, he found himself at the station where he was to get off, and hurriedly got off the train with his bag.
[Phew…]
If he missed his stop, he would not have been able to take the train home because it was the last train of the day, so he breathed a sigh of relief that he was able to get off safely.
As soon as he started walking towards the stairs, he began to feel tired all over.
It was probably due to the fact that tomorrow was his day off and that he had arrived at the nearest station to his house, so the tension from his daily hard work had left him.
In a way, it may be that his paralyzed senses have returned to normal, but he really wished that they had done so after he arrived home.
In any case, Daiki’s steps became heavy on the station platform as he made his way to the stairs leading to the ticket gate.
And when he started to climb the stairs.
[Eh, wai――!? Kyaaa――]
When he looked up to see what was going on, he saw that the woman on top of him had lost her footing and was falling back toward him, flapping her hands as if she were swimming in the air.
[Uohh――!?]
If Daiki stayed put, he would be directly in the path of the falling woman. So, of course, there was no way for Daiki to avoid it, so he quickly stepped one foot down, grabbed the railing with his right hand, leaned forward to make a waiting posture, and caught the falling woman with his body and held her with his left hand.
[Guh――!!]
Daiki’s large and sturdy physique was able to catch the impact without falling along with the woman.
Then, as Daiki let out a sigh of relief, he began to dawdle as his awareness turned to the softness and thinness of the woman’s body in close contact with him.
(S-soft! Everywhere I touch, it’s so soft! And her waist is so thin!)
For Daiki, who has never had a girlfriend in his life, this was the first time he had ever been this close to a woman, and the stimulation was quite unfamiliar. This caused Daiki’s thoughts to freeze.
[Eh…?]
Then the woman looked down at her body, making a bewildered sound, then slowly turned around.
[Aah――!? I-I’m sorry! Are you okay!?]
She must have understood the situation. Not only did Daiki save her from her own peril, but he also almost got himself involved in it.
[Ah, aah, no. I’m fine here, are you okay――!?]
The woman’s voice brought him back to himself, and he gasped as he made eye contact with the woman looking up at him.
Her small face has big almond eyes that look strong-willed and cat-like. She has a high, straight nose, a well-shaped mouth with gleaming lips, and fine, white skin.
Daiki was completely captivated by the woman’s beauty.
[Y-yes, I’m fine. And really thank you for catching me, it could have been very dangerous――…Um?]
The woman marvelled at the unconsciously dumbfounded Daiki.
{Ah, no, yes, d-don’t worry about it.]
Daiki stuttered back, and that’s when he realized that he was still holding the woman in his arms.
[――Ah, I’m sorry. I’m going to let go of your hand, is that okay?]
[Ah, yes. It’s fine――]
Daiki let go of the woman, supporting her with his chest, and separated his body as well, feeling a sense of reluctance.
Then, standing firmly on the top of the stairs with both feet, the woman looked back at me and bowed her head deeply. The tips of her long, lustrous black hair, which she had pulled up into a half-up, swayed vigorously.
[Once again――Before it would’ve been really dangerous, thank you. You who caught me――No, it was because of you catching me that it wasn’t dangerous, so really thank you very much.]
Daiki felt both embarrassed and pleasant at the heartfelt words of appreciation that he knew were coming from the heart. Most importantly, he was happy that he wouldn’t be afraid to look himself straight in the face.
[No, I’m glad you’re okay. Both of us. Besides, with my physique, I thought it was fine and caught you, and you were light, so don’t worry about it.]
The woman raised her head and said, “Well” while giggling.
[I’m glad I didn’t feel heavy… You have a really magnificent physique don’t you?]
In the end, the tension may have dissipated, but the tone of voice was a little broken and said so, and while enjoying the feeling of having been shot in the chest by the cuteness of the woman who tilted her head, Daiki looked again at the dignified appearance of the woman.
A navy tailored jacket and a high-waisted white tight skirt with black stockings underneath seemed to be a common outfit, but the clothes exuded a sense of luxury that even Daiki could recognize at a glance. And from the beautiful woman, who was probably older than him, he could feel the aura of a woman who can do her job well, which he never saw around himself. The woman was probably working at a large, respectable company, not a small, black company like his own, he thought to himself.
Then, the word “disparity” suddenly came to Daiki’s mind. {TN: it was actually originally ‘two characters’ as the original word in Japanese had two characters, 格差.}
(Oh no, if I get involved with such an amazingly beautiful woman and fall in love with her, I’ll be in trouble later.)
An unreachable flower is known as an unreachable flower because it is out of reach. To even reach out your hand is difficult, and it is here that it becomes harsh, so simply looking at one is enough.
Ironically enough, the woman was on a higher level than Daiki, which seemed to affirm his thoughts.
Instinctively, Daiki thought about it and answered with a wave of his hand, keeping a lid on his heaving chest and thinking to get away from the beautiful woman here as soon as possible.
[Haha, muscle training is my hobby. And, after I ate a meal this just sort of happened.]
[Aah, muscle training, I see…]
The beautiful woman made a sound of admiration. Then Daiki noticed.
(H-huge…)
The jacket and the shirt underneath were pushing up her twin hills to make it even more considerable.
(What the h**l is this person, she’s beautiful like a model, thin, looks like she’s good at her job, and even has big b***s…Is she the ultimate weapon beautiful woman or what)
Daiki, full of fatigue and now after suddenly encountering a beautiful woman, had incomprehensible thoughts running through his head.
(Yeah, it’s virtually impossible for a virgin to handle, her beauty and her b***s.){TN: originally something like a pun with the words 童貞(dōtei) and 到底(tōtei), hence the alliteration}
In addition, when he thought of something that would not usually come up, Daiki shook his head to drive away his worldly thoughts.
[? What’s wrong?]
[Ah, it’s nothing. I’m in a hurry, so I’ll be off here. On your way home, please be careful.]
He bowed his head lightly and started to quickly walk up the stairs, passing by the beautiful woman.
[Eh!? W-wait――Um, really thank you very much!]
Without stopping, Daiki bowed his head and walked quickly through the ticket gate.
As he passed through the ticket gate and descended the stairs, Daiki felt dizzy for a moment and stumbled.
(Ahhh this is bad, after saving that beautiful woman, did I run out of energy…?)
He was completely exhausted and didn’t have much strength left after catching the falling woman.
Daiki took a deep breath and headed to the convenience store he spotted.
[Thank you very much~]
With the convenience store clerk’s voice behind his back, Daiki stepped aside from the entrance, stopped in front of the lined trash cans, opened the lid of the energy drink he had just purchased and downed it in one gulp.
[――Puhaa. Even though I was already going home, even today I needed help from this…]
Feeling empty after remembering the energy drinks he had drank while working overtime to overcome his drowsiness, and that he had to drink it on the way home again today, even if it was just to replenish his energy supply until then.
Talking to himself, he threw the bottle of energy drink into the trash and headed home.
[Well, I’d like to stop by the supermarket and have a good look at the ingredients, so that’s what I’ll do, yeah.]
Making excuses to himself, he walked in the direction of the house, then he suddenly noticed the back of a person walking ahead of him.
(That’s… probably, the beautiful woman from earlier…)
The back view was also beautiful. Daiki already knew that she was a beautiful woman, but even if he didn’t, the back view made him feel that she was definitely beautiful if she turned around.
And then he suddenly realized. Wouldn’t she think he was strange if she noticed him walking behind her, even though they were far apart? He wondered if he would be mistaken for a stalker.
(No, I saved her from a dangerous situation once, so it’s fine…right…?)
With that in mind, Daiki slowed down his steps and walked gradually away from the beautiful woman.
As he walked forward, his eyes naturally fell on the back of a beautiful woman.
(It’s kind of amazing how beautiful the back of a woman can be…)
As he casually looked at it, excusing himself that this was inevitable since it was in his field of vision, he noticed that the woman was holding a plastic bag in her hand, which she had not been holding earlier.
Probably stopping at a convenience store like Daiki, he guessed, and the woman put her hand in her handbag as the convenience store bag dangled from her hand and began to search inside, walking carelessly.
(You won’t fall over again, right…?)
As he was feeling unsettled by this thought, he had a vague idea of where the woman was headed.
It was probably the high-rise condominium that he had seen earlier. Daiki predicted that since she was approaching there, she was probably trying to get the key out.
The condominium is close to the station and has a very luxurious feel to it, and from what some people say, it’s worth over 100 million.
(Wow, she lives in a hundred-million-yen apartment? She’s literally an unreachable flower then…)
After all, it was a good thing I didn’t get close to her. There were too many disparities. I was feeling disappointed that I didn’t have a chance to meet her before, but now it seemed that the vestiges of our encounter would disappear.
As he convinced himself in this way, he found himself much closer to the woman. Not only that, but I could hear the beautiful woman’s troubled voice.
[Huh…? Where did it go…?]
Then the beautiful woman stopped and began to rummage through her bag.
(…You can’t find your keys…? Maybe you dropped it on the stairs earlier…?)
He felt sorry for her, but Daiki had no intention of making more contact than necessary. As he stepped forward to pass the woman from behind-
[Ah――!]
Apparently, she dropped her bag while searching and scattered the contents. Even more unfortunately, the button or zipper of her purse must have been open, and the coins spread out like a clinking sound.
[Aaaah…]
The beautiful woman slumped her shoulders so sidelong that she could be seen, squatted down and began to pick up the contents of her bag.
Then a small coin rolled to the ground at the feet of Daiki, who had stopped to watch the scene.
In this situation, the virtuous Daiki could not turn a blind eye.
Daiki let out a sigh, picked up the small change – a five yen coin – and walked over to the beautiful woman.
[It just rolled over here.]
[Ah, thank you very much――Wait, aren’t you the one from before!?]
[Yeah, me from before.]
With a wry smile, Daiki handed her the five-yen coin and began to help her pick them up by squatting down on the spot.
[T-thank you…]
[Don’t mention it. More importantly, can you see them all? You should use the flashlight on your phone.]
There were streetlights, so Daiki could see him clearly, but she might miss it, so he took out his smartphone and shined the light on her just in case.
[Ah, that’s right.]
The woman who responded took the phone that was lying at her feet and looked relieved to see that it was not broken.
[Huh――Aah, that’s right. Sorry, it seems that my battery died.]
[Your battery is dead? Are you okay, it’s not broken or anything?]
[Yes. My battery was almost dead when I got off the train earlier, so I think that’s the reason.]
[If that’s the case, that’s fine… Well, it should be enough to light up using just one. Ah, there’s a card on the floor.]
[Eh? Ah! I’m glad…I didn’t drop it…]
The woman clutched it tightly with a look of sincere relief.
(…Ah, it’s a card key.)
He guessed that from the way she looked before she dropped her bag. In the meantime, Daiki was busy picking up coins and handkerchiefs, and the woman who noticed him hurriedly began to pick them up as well.
(…Somehow, the image of a capable woman that I had when I first met her seems to be falling apart…)
No, it was probably just a coincidence, Daiki thought, dismissing his train of thought.
[Yeah.. seems to be gone. Do you think you have everything in your bag?]
[Yes, I think it’s probably fine…I think. Thank you so much.]
After squatting down and scurrying around, he smiled at me, and almost falling in love with that smile, Daiki looked away and just nodded back.
And that’s when the two of them stood up together at the same time.
[!?]
Daiki felt dizzy and at the same time felt his face go pale.
It was probably due to the fact that when he stood up from his squatting position, the circulation of his blood got worse.
[? Are you…alright?]
She must have noticed something strange when she saw Daiki put his hands over his eyes and stumbled forward.
[Eh, yeah. i-I’m fi――ne…]
As Daiki said this, he felt his world being turned upside down. No, the ground was beside him when he realized that he had collapsed on the spot.
[H-hey――!? Wa!? A-Ambulance――! Ahh, did my battery have to be dead now…That’s right!! Just hold on for a moment ok!?]
The woman said, and ran off.
(…Even while running, her back is beautiful…)
While thinking about that, Daiki fainted.
