Chastity Reversed: Part-Time Life by the All-Girls High School - Chapter 21: Old Tales

Ai: [I left.]  

Sora: [Wait, seriously? Just like that?]  

Ai: [Yeah.]  

Sora: [Really?]  

Ai: [I’m telling the truth. I’m done with them.]  

Sora: [Let’s throw a celebration. A fried chicken party, just for you!]  

Ai: [Can’t. Got a ton of homework piled up.]  

Sora: [Wow, lame. You’re so responsible.]  

Ai: [Yeah.]  

Sora: [Are you sure?]  

Ai: [I already said so, didn’t I?] 

After that, we became friends. And as friends, it was only natural to exchange contact info on our messaging app.  

The next day, this message exchange happened.  

It seemed almost anticlimactic. If she really managed to leave that easily, then I was glad for her.  

But something about it didn’t sit right with me.  

Could she really escape just like that?  

I mean, these were the people pushing cigarettes like shady supplements.  

“…Should I give her a call when I get home?”

Just in case.  

Worrying too much wasn’t healthy—they said it led to hair loss!  

“Oh, Hokuto-senpai, good work today! Are you clocking out now?”  

“Hey, Sato. Nah, unfortunately, I’m stuck here until 10 PM.”

“Wow, really? That’s rare.”  

“Yeah, the manager—who’s always around when you’re working—has some HQ stuff to deal with today.”  

“Oh, maybe she’s getting a raise.”  

“If she is, let’s make her treat us to something!”  

“Definitely.”  

“Alright, I’m counting on you tonight!”  

From 5 PM to 8 PM today, it seemed I’d be working with Hokuto-senpai.  

“Hey, don’t slack off, or I won’t go easy on you.”  

“Haha, no worries. I wouldn’t dare.”  

“You’re so responsible, Sato. Not that it matters—there’s barely anyone coming in anyway.”  

Glancing around, it was clear we’d already handled the stocking and displays. It was a slow day.  

With her busy cleaning out the backroom, I found myself staring at the empty store.

“Y’know, Sato, you’re pretty amazing. You’ve been working here for over six months now, right? Doesn’t it get tiring having girls hit on you all the time?”  

“You get used to it.”  

“You’re such an odd guy… If I were an Aimei student, I’d be here every single day.”  

“Are you flirting with me, Senpai?”

“Idiot. I mean, if there’s a cute high school boy behind the counter at a girls’ high school convenience store, you’d expect that reaction, wouldn’t you?”  

“Well, thanks, I guess.”  

Hokuto-senpai laughed, her smile completely genuine.  

Yet, because of that—  

[I know it’s not normal, all of this.]

I couldn’t match the Rose Garden group she once described with the Rose Garden Ai had told me about.  

“Hey, Hokuto-senpai.”  

“Yeah?”  

“Can I ask you about the Rose Garden?”  

As I refilled coins and swapped out the receipt cartridges at the register, I tried to bring it up as casually as possible.  

“Huh? Uh, yeah, I guess… Rose Garden? Sounds like a tea, right? Good stuff, especially morning tea. Though I usually drink it in the afternoon…”  

“Please, focus.”  

“…”  

I guess it was easier for her to bring it up herself than having someone else do it. That made sense.

“Well, what exactly did the Rose Garden do back then?”  

“…This is just what I heard from someone I know, alright?”  

“…Sure.”  

“Their goal was to protect this town. But before that… it was just a group of kids who’d almost gone off the rails—kids with bad parents or no parents at all.”  

“Wow. Still, it’s impressive they came together like that.”  

“It started with one person. That idiot was crazy good at fighting—took on every challenge and won every single time. Eventually, they were at the top of the school. Though, academically? Dead last.”  

“…”  

“Thing is, all the people they beat had no place to belong. They turned out like that because they didn’t have anywhere else to go. The leader, too. So after each fight, they’d get along, and the group just kept growing.”  

As Senpai spoke, it felt like she was reminiscing about those days.  

“They’d walk around the town together, just having fun as a group. But then they started noticing things—drunks harassing boys, middle schoolers picking on elementary kids, even purse snatchings targeting stay-at-home dads. In this rough neighborhood, stuff like that was just normal.

As the group grew, their confidence did too. Maybe some of it was arrogance or whimsy, but whatever it was, they started taking down the town’s ‘bad guys’. 

And when the people they helped thanked them, it was the first time any of them had ever been shown gratitude. These so-called delinquents were getting thanked. It felt incredible. So naturally, they thought, ‘Why not use our strength to protect this town?'”  

After a pause, she continued, 

“And that’s how the Rose Garden was born—a group of wannabe town heroes made up of delinquents.”  

She said this while cleaning the hot food display case.

I see. That was probably how it started.  

“That’s pretty cool, honestly. The Rose Garden.”  

“Yeah? You think so?”  

“The name’s a bit… unique, though.”  

“…”  

Her reaction was so obvious, it was almost laughable.  

Still, I had to ask, just to be sure.

“By the way, there wasn’t anything like selling cigarettes at inflated prices or first-year battle royales at abandoned factories, right?”  

“…”  

“Sorry, sorry, forget it. That was out of line.”

“No, actually… there was.”  

“What?”  

“As the group grew, so did its problems. Some members started extorting money, causing trouble for the town instead of helping it. Others picked fights with students from other schools. The Rose Garden wasn’t immune to that kind of drama.”  

“Wow…”

“Yeah, it’s pretty ironic. A group that started as protectors ended up causing so much trouble themselves. They tried to deal with it, but it got out of hand. Eventually, the name ‘Rose Garden’ started being used by people who weren’t even part of the group. It became impossible to manage.”  

“So what did they do?”  

“When the town’s safety improved, they disbanded. They held a big meeting and shut it down for good. ‘Yankee’ groups shouldn’t grow too big—it never ends well.”

“Wait. Does that mean the Rose Garden doesn’t exist anymore?”  

“Yep. Gone. Done.”  

“…I see.”  

“No one these days would even know the name. It only existed for about a year. But why do you ask?”  

“Haha, I’m just into history, that’s all.”  

“You’re a strange one, Sato… Anyway, I’m thirsty after all that talking. I’ll grab some water.”  

“Go ahead.”  

Now I was certain.  

The current “Rose Garden” Ai had mentioned—it was just a knockoff.  

There was no way Hokuto-senpai, someone I respected, would lie about this.  

“…”  

But that only made me more uneasy.  

This “new Rose Garden” wasn’t just some unrelated group.  

Delinquents loved their “legends.” There was no way the original would just fade into obscurity. If anything, its reputation had only grown over time.  

And people who exploited that name wouldn’t just let someone leave so easily.  

I really hoped I was just overthinking things.  

“She really did manage to leave, didn’t she, Azuse?”  

In the empty convenience store, I glanced outside as I tidied up the magazines.  

Looking toward where she might be, I quietly murmured to myself.