Chastity Reversed: Part-Time Life by the All-Girls High School - Chapter 63: Let’s Go to the Izakaya!

“Would you like your bento warmed up? Understood—”

“Manager, you still have mayonnaise on that!”

“Huh?”

“Whoa, that’s dangerous! It’s about to burst!”

☆

“This expired, didn’t it? Manager~”

“Oh no, I completely missed that.”

“No worries!”

“Thanks…”

☆

“Why doesn’t this place have a toilet!?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll become the toilet myself…”

“M-MANAGER!!!”

☆

“I’m trash. I’m trash. I’m trash…”

“What’s with her?”

“Well… she’s had one bad thing happen after another today.”

“I’m the toilet. I’m the toilet. I’m the toilet…”

“…Eh, she’ll be fine tomorrow. What a hassle.”

“Right, totally (not really).”

In the backroom, Hokuto-senpai sighed in exasperation as she watched the manager lament her existence like some kind of cursed soul.

She worked on closing one of the registers as she grumbled. It was almost closing time.

No customers came at this hour, anyway. Sure, closing at 11 p.m. might be early, but apparently, there was no point staying open.

“You know, the manager’s moods really swing a lot.”

“Well, considering she’s in charge of a place like this, she’s gotten good at resetting her mental state.”

“(Disappearing noises)”

“She just vanished…”

“It’s bad this time. Haven’t seen her like this since that time she botched the order.”

“Oh, the strawberry milk incident with 100 cartons?”

Yeah, that was rough.

Those milk cartons went bad fast, you know.  

We managed to offload them by cooperating with other stores and advertising. Everyone made mistakes—it could’ve been worse if 1,000 cartons showed up.

Still, I didn’t want to drink strawberry milk for a while.

“…Hmm.” Stare

“Oh come on, Vice-Manager, I’m leaving soon.”

The girl with cropped hair and oddly long bangs—even though they covered her eyes, you could still feel her stare—was the store’s Vice-Manager.  

It was strange, but you still knew when she was looking at you.

Apparently, outside of this job, she made games as a side gig. Cool, right?

“…(Intense gaze).”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry about me. I’m not alone.”

I replied, meeting her stare.  

Honestly, she hardly spoke unless necessary. She’d talk like a robot during customer service, crisp and efficient, but it seemed like she avoided small talk when not on duty.  

Mysterious types like her were kind of amazing.  

That said, she opened up a bit in private. Mostly about video games—especially the “settings” she designed for her games. Other than that, it was silence.

“Manager.”

“Oh, Sato-sama…”

“Are you so down that you’ve lost your position? Come on, let’s head home together.”

“!!”

“That’s why I stayed late.”

“Oh… Oh no. Am I seeing things? I must really be losing it…”

“…”

It was past 10 p.m.

High school students couldn’t work past that by law, obviously.

So, I’d taken off my uniform and was chatting in the backroom to kill time.

If the cops came around, I’d make something up. I already looked like a college student, so it was fine.  

For the record, misjudging someone’s age (especially for guys) was a no-go in this world. Not that I cared.

“Hey, snap out of it already.”

—Smack!

“Ow!”

“Oh, she looks like she’s back to normal.”

Hokuto-senpai clapped her hands beside the manager’s ears, jolting her out of her funk. She turned her gaze toward me.

“Huh? W-Why is Sato-sama still here…?”

“I was worried about you, Manager.”

“B-But high schoolers can’t be out after 10…”

“This isn’t work anymore. Instead, let’s grab some food.”

“!!!”

“It’s private time now. No work-related stuff allowed.”

I’d already finished my homework in the backroom earlier.

Speaking of which, didn’t the word “private” sound oddly similar to “backyard”?

…Anyway, with no other obligations today, I was free! All clear!

“Dinner with Sato-sama!”

“Please stop with the ‘-sama’ already!”

“Sato-dono~”

“You seem fine now…”

“East~ Sato! North~ Sato! Fighting Sato~ Sumo~”

“You’re turning this into a sumo chant!”

She was joking around again, wasn’t she? Well, at least she was back to her usual self.

“Seriously, I’m kind of jealous, though. I still have work.”

“…” Piercing stare intensifies

“Anyway, I’m leaving this to you guys. Vice-Manager, Hokuto-senpai, see you later!”

“Damn it, invite me next time!”

“…” Death glare

As their resentful stares bore into my back, I left the store with the manager.  

While I felt bad for the girls working the late shift, stepping outside with this sense of freedom was priceless.

“So, where should we go?”

“Why not that izakaya you always go to?”

“Uh… but, alcohol… You’re still here…”

“You want to drink, don’t you?”

“Ugh.”

“It’s fine. I like izakaya menus anyway.”

Fried chicken, fries, pickled cucumbers!

I loved bar food. Salty stuff was great, don’t you think? (Simple tastes.)

“Okay, let’s go!”

“Alright. Let’s drink!”

“You can’t drink, though, Sato-kun…”

Coke High, Jack & Coke, Rum & Coke—I’d love to try them all!

…But fine, I’d wait until I was 20.