I was glad we didn’t have any classes this afternoon.
But some students were unhappy about having to attend a commemorative school event earlier this morning, and Ami was one of them. We had already finished everything we needed to do, and while all that was left was to just go home, she stood at my desk, venting her frustration.
「Don’t you think it’s unfair we had to come to school today, even on the school’s anniversary? They should just make it a holiday next year.」
“Wouldn’t you agree?” Ami added while rattling my desk. But I needed to be the bearer of bad news and remind her of one important detail she had forgotten.
「Even if they do make it a holiday, we’re about to graduate soon, so it’s not going to have anything to do with us anymore.」
「Oh, you’re right.」
Ami said, sounding dejected, and Maika earnestly followed up with,
「It’d be nice to have a day off in June, considering there aren’t any other holidays in the month, but it won’t really matter if they add one after we’ve already graduated.」
My two friends came over while I was seated at my desk, and it was obvious they felt differently about having to come to school today. Maika, not as troubled by the lack of a day off as Ami, clapped her hands together, as if to redirect the conversation.
「There’s somewhere I wanted to go after this. Are you guys free?」
「Yeah, I should be.」
I replied as I looked over towards Maika. Ami grinned and chimed in with, “Me too.”
「In that case, do you want to come with me while I shop for some sunscreen?」
「Yeah, I’ll go. Can we stop by the bookstore too? I want to pick up a reference book.」
Hearing Ami’s unusually cheerful voice reminded me of a manga I was interested in buying. While Maika needed to pick up sunscreen—a summer essential—the manga I had in mind seemed quite interesting, so I wanted to get it if we had the chance.
‘I do have the money for it…’
That reminded me—I was running low on a certain something.
「Wait, sorry. I just remembered I had something to do. You two go on without me.」
「Aw, come on, Shiori. You should just leave your errand for some other time. It probably wasn’t that important if you forgot about it until now anyway.」
Ami grumbled, and Maika followed up with,
「Where are you running your errand?」
「Well, it’s not a matter of “where.” I’m supposed to be doing something with my father.」
「Oh, did your dad get a day off today?」
Maika said, sounding surprised.
「Oh, no, he didn’t take a day off. He said he’s working somewhere close by today and has something to give me on his way there.」
Truthfully, I didn’t have any plans to meet my father today, and it wasn’t like he had any time for that either. I was just making up an excuse to avoid having to tell them that I actually needed to go to the bank.
I was running low on five-thousand-yen bills for Sendai-san. I had made up my mind to only pay her in five-thousand-yen notes—not with five one-thousand-yen bills or a ten-thousand-yen bill and have her give me change. So, I needed to exchange some bills.
To be honest, I found exchanging money to be a huge hassle.
If I could avoid it, I would.
But I didn’t have any more five-thousand-yen bills left in my wallet, so it was an errand I needed to run pretty frequently.
「I see. I guess there’s no arguing with that.」
Maika spoke with disappointment, and Ami quickly chimed in, “I want to meet Shiori’s dad!” It wasn’t exactly something I wanted to hear, so I could only try to gently let her down.
「It’s not really something worth going out of your way for.」
Meeting up with my father was just an excuse I made up, but even if it wasn’t, I didn’t want other people to meet him.
「Really? I’d even use the money I got from New Year’s to pay just to see him.」
「What are you saying? Okay, how much would you be willing to pay to see Shiori’s dad?」
「Maybe about a thousand yen?」
「That doesn’t sound like a lot.」
Hearing Maika’s response, Ami began to speak as if she took it personally.
「I mean, a thousand yen can buy a whole book, right? If someone paid me a thousand yen, I’d be more than happy to show off my dad to them—or even offer a buy-one-get-one-free deal! Honestly, I’d do anything for that kind of money.」
Ami said with a firm tone. Hearing her made me want to ask,
「Would you really be willing to do anything for a thousand yen?」
「… Well, I guess it depends on what they want me to do.」
Maika burst into laughter after seeing how quickly Ami changed her stance and retorted with,
「That’s not what “being willing to do anything” means.」
Well, that was to be expected.
At least Ami was being honest. For most high school students, a thousand yen was a decent amount of money, but it was obvious that no one in their right mind would do anything for just that. It made sense that people had their limits on what they were willing to do.
But what if it wasn’t for just one-thousand-yen? For example, let’s say it was some other amount instead…
「Hey, Ami. What if I told you I could give you five-thousand-yen instead? Would you be willing to do anything for it?」
I asked while looking straight at Ami.
It was a lot more than a thousand yen, but not nearly as convincing as a ten-thousand-yen bill.
Would she be willing to do it for that amount of money?
「Hmm, let me think…」
Ami contemplated with a serious look on her face. After a brief moment, she cleared her throat, spread both her arms apart and said,
「I would worship you like a god, Shiori.」
I was taken aback by how unexpected her answer was. Maika seemed equally as surprised as she said,
「Ami, why is it so cheap to buy your faith? Also, you didn’t answer the question.」
「It’s fine even if I didn’t, right? I mean, five-thousand-yen is kind of a lowball anyway. If someone really wanted me to do something for them, they should at least offer me ten-thousand-yen. Oh, but I’m just talking hypothetically.」
「Okay, then let’s say I was willing to pay you ten-thousand-yen. What would you do?」
Somehow, Ami and Maika began increasing the price, and the answer to my original question drifted further away. Eventually, they started discussing what they would buy with the money instead. Meanwhile, I couldn’t shake the thought of the five-thousand-yen bill from my mind.
The five-thousand-yen bill – which Ami apparently considered a “lowball” even in a hypothetical situation – wasn’t something people commonly used. Even my father, who gave me a much larger allowance than necessary, rarely left me a single five-thousand-yen bill. As a result, I rarely carried one in my wallet unless by chance.
So, on the day I first met Sendai-san, it was pure coincidence that I had a five-thousand-yen bill with me, and it was what I used to pay for Sendai-san’s books.
Obviously, coincidences weren’t always going to happen.
Since I began giving Sendai-san my five-thousand-yen bills, I found myself running out of them quickly. Sometimes, I would also have to spend them when making purchases, which led me to look for ways to convert my one-thousand-yen and ten-thousand-yen bills into five-thousand-yen ones. That’s when I discovered currency exchange machines. However, I soon realized they were surprisingly inconvenient because banks often closed early, meaning I could only use them during lunch hours or when school ended early, like today.
I had to go out of my way to learn about something new for Sendai-san, and all it did was create more trouble for me.
I should have saved any five-thousand-yen bills I got, kept them in an envelope, and called her only when I had enough, but it didn’t quite work out that way.
「I’d better get going.」
I said as I grabbed my bag and stood up.
「Let’s walk together until we need to part ways.」
Maika said, and the three of us left school together. After about five minutes of walking, I said goodbye to them and went straight to the bank.
I withdrew some cash from the ATM and then waited in line at the currency exchange machine. When it was my turn, I inserted the money, and the machine converted it into five-thousand-yen bills, which I then put into my wallet.
I was really confused the first time I used the machine, but I’ve since gotten the hang of it.
I could easily go to the bank and then head home as if it were a routine task.
But sometimes, I’d wonder…
What if, instead of using a five-thousand-yen bill to pay for Sendai-san’s books that day, I had used a one-thousand-yen bill and some coins?
Thinking back on what Ami said earlier, there was a good chance Sendai-san wouldn’t have followed my orders for that amount of money. She might not have even agreed to come to my apartment. However, if I had used a ten-thousand-yen bill instead, Sendai-san likely would have insisted on paying me back at school, without stepping into my home.
If that had happened, I wouldn’t need to save five-thousand-yen bills in an envelope or visit the bank to exchange for them.
As I left the bank, I texted Sendai-san with the usual message.
Then, I headed straight home without even waiting for a reply, and I didn’t go to the bookstore either.
As I walked, I made sure to step only on the darker tiles of the sidewalk.
I heard my phone chime from my bag. Pulling it out, I saw a message from Sendai-san on the screen. It looked like the bills I had just exchanged were about to be put to use.
What kind of order should I give to her today?
Back in May, I kissed Sendai-san, and at the beginning of June, I bit her ear.
I kept summoning her, even though I had no clue what other orders to give, and June wasn’t even over yet. The only thing I knew for sure was that if I wanted Sendai-san to keep coming over, I had to keep paying her five-thousand-yen bills.
Sendai-san wasn’t going to worship me like a god or anything, but for five-thousand-yen, she would do whatever I asked.
A five-thousand-yen bill was equal to five one-thousand-yen bills and half of a ten-thousand-yen bill—nothing more, nothing less. Yet, it was the perfect price to buy Sendai-san’s time after school.
But the five-thousand-yen had to be paid with a single five-thousand-yen bill.
I started to walk faster.
No matter what order I planned to give her, I at least needed to make it home before Sendai-san arrived.
About fifteen minutes after I got back home, the intercom rang.
After seeing Sendai-san through the monitor, I unlocked the door to the apartment building. Soon after, I met Sendai-san at the front door and let her in.
「You’re pretty early today.」
For some reason, I ended up saying that without much thought.
「Really? I don’t think I got here that quickly.」
Sendai-san said nonchalantly as she removed her shoes, and I headed back to my room without waiting for her. She followed shortly, set her bag down by the bed, and unbuttoned her blouse up to the second button.
「Here.」
I said, passing her the five-thousand-yen bill I had exchanged earlier.
「Thanks.」
Sendai-san replied as she tucked the money into her wallet, as if it were nothing, like she’d done it a million times before.
The five-thousand-yen bill exchange marked the beginning of today’s agreement, much like how a single five-thousand-yen bill had started everything between us, but it didn’t mean anything more than that. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder where the five-thousand-yen that had vanished into her wallet would take us.
Ave Lilium Translations 