The shelf in front of me was stocked with magazines full of photos of idols and models plastered all over the covers. Among them, I picked up a magazine that had particularly flashy letters on it.

          I guess this was what Umina was talking about earlier… probably.

          The reason I was so unsure was because I was only half-listening to what she was talking about.

          I mean, what can I say?

          I stared at the magazine in my hands.

          Aside from the displays of mix-and-matched outfits, there were also superficial headlines advertising clothes that were apparently sure to make girls popular with the boys, as well as miscellaneous tips on how to improve oneself.

          Honestly, there wasn’t a single thing I liked about this.

          I’d rather wear clothes that I actually wanted to wear, and I could always worry about self-improvement later. If I was going to read a magazine anyway, I’d much rather read something lighthearted than some shallow looking fashion magazine.  

          But the truth was, I was only reading these types of magazines for the sake of friendship, and I had enough pocket money from my monthly allowance to spare anyway.

          In order to have a successful school life, you had to play your cards right. For example, in my class, it was absolutely necessary to suck up to Ibaraki Umina. Actually, I suppose that was a bit of an exaggeration, but at the very least, you had to make some kind of conversation with her and then play along with what she says.

          Umina was my friend who was quite flashy, though she was a bit lacking in the brains department, and she belonged to the upper echelons of the school hierarchy. She was known for having a short temper, so if you ever dared to cross her, you’d just be creating trouble for yourself. However, as long as you appeased her and stayed on her good side, you were basically guaranteed a comfortable school life among the upper ranks.

          That’s why buying this magazine – something she’d recently started getting into – was what I guess the adults would call a “necessary expense”.  

          There were plenty of people who might call me a people-pleaser, but it didn’t matter to me, they can say whatever they want to say. They were probably only saying that because they were just jealous anyway, so I let it be.

          Since I came all this way to the bookstore, I decided to look around a bit. After a short while, I ended up picking out a novel I wanted and headed towards the cash register. There wasn’t even a line or anything, but I still waited for my turn before bringing my books out to the counter.

          According to the display on the cash register, the total came to one thousand something yen.

          I reached into my bag and searched for my wallet.

          「Huh? 」

          My wallet, my wallet…

          The wallet that should’ve been there… wasn’t.

          I distinctly recalled putting my phone into my bag this morning.

          But what about my wallet?

          No matter how much I looked around, it just wasn’t there.

          I might’ve left it at school.

          Actually, no, it was probably sitting at home.

          I had no recollection of putting it into my bag whatsoever.

          When I snuck a glance at the lady working the counter, I could see she had a skeptical look on her face.

           Uh oh, I had to do something.

          「Ahh, umm…」

          It was a little embarrassing, but I had no choice but to put the books back.

          「These books―」

          「I’ll pay for them. 」

          「Huh? 」

          Before I could finish my sentence, a hand reached out from behind me and placed a five-thousand-yen bill on the counter.

          「Sendai-san, use this.」

          When I turned around, I was met with the sight of a girl wearing the same uniform as me.

          And what’s more, she was someone I recognized.

          Not that we’d ever talked before or anything, but she was a familiar face I saw every day.

          「… You’re Miyagi, right? 」

          I was pretty sure I got that right.

          As the resident people-pleaser, at the very least, I managed to commit everyone’s family names to memory. Well, I couldn’t quite say the same about first names, though.

          「Use that money to pay for your things.」

          Without confirming whether I got her name correct or not, she repeated what the five-thousand-yen bill was for.

          「No, it’s okay. I’ll just feel bad if I do.」

          「Don’t worry about it.」

          No, I’m going to worry about it.

          I wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of borrowing money from a girl I hardly knew. I disliked the idea of being lent money to begin with, and I certainly didn’t want to spend someone else’s money just for the sake of buying a magazine that I only wanted in order to appease someone else.

          「No, take it back.」

          I grabbed the five-thousand-yen bill from the counter and handed it back to Miyagi, but all she did was put it back down again.

          「Um, may I use this to complete your order?」

          The clerk asked, clearly looking troubled.

          「Yes, please do.」

          Miyagi answered in my stead.

          But I seriously didn’t want to borrow money from her.

          I tried to snatch up the five-thousand-yen bill again, but the clerk managed to beat me to the punch as she quickly slipped the bill into the cash register.

          In the end, I was left with the magazine, the novel, three one-thousand-yen bills and some coins.

          「Thanks, Miyagi. Looks like I forgot to bring my wallet, so you helped me out there.」

          I expressed my gratitude to her once we stepped away from the cash register.

          Although my protests fell on deaf ears earlier, I ended up using her money anyway, so I felt like I had to bow my head to her, albeit reluctantly.

          However, she said nothing in return. At the very least, since she didn’t correct me on it, it seemed that her name really was “Miyagi”.

          「Here, take your change. I’ll pay back what I used tomorrow.」

          I tried to return the money the clerk handed to me earlier, but for some reason, Miyagi wouldn’t accept it.

          「You don’t have to pay me back. You can keep the change too.」

          After saying her piece, she turned around and started walking off.

          「Huh? Wait a second, I feel bad.」

          「It’s okay. I really don’t need it, so you can have it, Sendai-san.」

          「I can’t just take this from you. Let me return it.」

          「Just throw it away then.」

          「Throw it away?! This is money we’re talking about!」

          I caught up to Miyagi, who was walking away rather quickly, and grabbed her by the shoulder.

          I’d never spoken to Miyagi at school before, so I never realized that her head had a screw loose, maybe even several. I mean, no normal person would ever suggest throwing away money like this. And to begin with, a phrase like, “You can keep the change”, was something only corporate executives would say, not high school girls.

          And besides, the fact that she thought I was the kind of person who would just be like, “Oh, sure, thanks!”, in response to keeping the change really got on my nerves.

           「Ahh, whatever. Let’s just say I borrowed the change as well. I’ll just give it all back to you tomorrow.」

          To be honest, I was really starting to get angry, but I held myself back.

          If rumors of me yelling at someone else started circulating around at school, it’d only serve to ruin my image.

          「There’s no need for that. You don’t need to pay me back.」

          Shaking my hand off her shoulder, Miyagi began to walk away again.

          She exited through the automatic door.

          Chasing after her, I called out to her from behind and said:

          「I’m going to pay you back. I’ll give you five-thousand yen at school tomorrow.」

          「Then how about you work to pay off that five-thousand yen instead?」

          Her response came completely out of left field and took the conversation in a totally unexpected direction. I involuntarily stopped in my tracks.

          「Huh? Work?」

          「For the time being, walk with me to my home.」

          Miyagi, who had been brisk walking up until now, stopped and turned to look at me.

          「Huh? Wait, wait, hold on. I just said I’d pay you back tomorrow.」

          「If you’re not going to come with me, then just keep the money.」

          Miyagi quickly turned on her heel.

          What’s with her?

          Seriously, what’s wrong with this girl?

          I cursed Miyagi in my heart.

          I didn’t want to accept five-thousand yen from her, but I also didn’t want to do any work for her either.

          But at this rate, Miyagi was about to head home, and it didn’t seem like she had any intention of accepting a repayment from me. Even if I slid the five-thousand-yen bill into her desk, I’m sure it’d just turn back up in my possession somehow.

          Seriously, what a troublesome person she was.

          As a sigh escaped my mouth, I looked up towards the sky. Grey clouds were beginning to roll in. Since the rainy season was already over, I hadn’t brought an umbrella with me. After heaving another heavy sigh, I heard Miyagi say:

          「I’ve got some umbrellas at home.」

          「Ahh, whatever. Where’s your house? Is it close by?」

          I didn’t want any rumors about me borrowing money from Miyagi to start circulating around, and I most definitely did not want rumors of me yelling at Miyagi and forcing money on her to start cropping up either.

          So, whatever, I guess I’ll just work for Miyagi for today.

          And so, I reluctantly followed after Miyagi.

---

Credits to himi for proofreading and editing this part!

---

< Previous Part | Next Part >