I Started a Lover-for-Hire Service, And For Some Reason, Only Beautiful Girls Are Requesting Me

“Yahoo, Senpai!”

“Huh… You’re here again?”

I was troubled at my part-time job at the bookstore, mainly because of the high school girl in front of me, the “JK gal” (gyaru), Jingu Aira.

“Haha, what’s with that annoyed face? You could at least greet me with a ‘Yahoo!’ I’m a customer, you know? I buy manga and contribute to the sales.”

“I’d be happy to see you if you didn’t interrupt me while I’m working.”

“I’m not trying to be an interruption.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Seriously, seriously!”

She smiled cheerfully, showing off her sharp, white, pointed canines. Her tan skin probably made her teeth stand out even more, giving them an extra shine.

Why did she always come to bother me…?

As I thought, I had absolutely no idea why.

Her blonde hair, neatly styled to her shoulders. Large, slightly upturned jade eyes. Flashy nails and piercings. Light makeup and a short skirt.

Though she was a gyaru, she probably tried to maintain a more pure and innocent image as she didn’t go for an overly flashy look.

With her looks and personality, she was definitely popular in high school. She only came on the days I worked part-time, though. It was not an exaggeration; this was something the store manager had told me.

I wasn’t happy because she had been interrupting my work.

‘I wished she’d just go home already.’

While I had been organizing the books on the shelves with that feeling in mind, Aira poked me with her light green nails.

“Aira ranked first in the class for the national mock exam.”

“Oh, nice job.”

“Yup…”

She had been grinning from ear to ear, even though I was only giving a casual response. I started to feel guilty for brushing it off so easily…

“So, like! Could you buy me something?”

“Ask your parents to buy you something.”

“Fine, I guess.”

Aira had easily given up on that. The lack of persistence felt a bit off.

“Hey, you’re organizing the books, right?”

“As you could see.”

“Then, sort out the manga section over there first, not the classical literature section.”

“Just tell me why.”

“Well, I can talk to senpai while looking for my favourite manga, right? Two birds with one stone, right?”

“No.”

The only one benefiting from this “two birds with one stone” thing was Aira.

I firmly rejected it, but I understood she wasn’t someone who’d easily give up. I was just offering some last resistance, partly giving in.

“Senpai, you actually said that? Maybe I should leave a bad review for this store. I’ll even ask my friends at school to help me out.”

“…Is that a threat?”

And the most effective method for hurting the store, too.

“See? So, come on, please. If the manager gets mad, I’ll apologize for you.”

“…”

“Alright!”

“I think I’m hearing things.”

“Come on, let’s go!”

“Sigh…”

Aira forcefully grabbed my uniform and dragged me, in whatever direction she pleased, over to the manga section.

I couldn’t even resist by pushing back — That was because Aira had become the “mascot” of this bookstore.

Once she started coming to the store, rumors had spread that a cute gal was coming to the store.

It was so simple… As a result, the number of male customers had increased, and the sales had gone up before the move.

To the manager, Aira was like a lucky cat.

To make sure Aira wouldn’t be lost… the manager had asked me, “Please don’t turn down that customer’s requests!” and bowed to me. “That customer is very fond of you, Ryoma.”

Orders from above were absolute. That’s why I followed them, but Aira, in her own way, did show some consideration. She set times for when she’d bother me, and she didn’t linger in the bookstore for too long… and so on.

It was still a nuisance, but she did show just a bit of thoughtfulness.

…Honestly, it’s not that I hated it, but still…

If I had talked to Yukiya about this, he probably would have said, “You’re getting the perks, huh?”

We arrived at the manga section.

“Whoa, look, Senpai! ‘The Great Sage Older Brother and the Shut-in Little Sister’! This looks super interesting, doesn’t it?”

While Aira was rummaging through the manga, I was about to start organizing the books again when she suddenly called out to me.

Aira had said, “I’m not trying to be a bother,” but looking at her actions, I couldn’t quite figure out how those words were meant to make sense.

“I think the rating for that manga was… about 2.4? A little on the low side.”

“Senpai, are you the type to care about ratings? That’s not good.”

“Huh?”

She poked my abdomen with her sharp nail, giving me an instant critique.

“I’ve been thinking lately, but don’t you think people have lost the ability to decide for themselves? They just look at reviews and let that decide whether to buy something or not.”

“Now that you mention it…”

“Right? And you know why reviews are so effective? Because that’s how fake customers, or ‘sakura’, work. Honestly, isn’t it annoying to be swayed like that? I don’t want to become like that.”

“You’re right…”

The term “sakura” referred to those who created the illusion that a product was selling well, often being fake customers. Though Aira might come off as a bit silly, I knew she was smart. I knew because she often boasted about her good grades at school.

Aira and I had met three months ago.

–

“Where’s this?”

Aira had suddenly appeared, showing the manga she was searching for on her smartphone screen.

“I’ll guide you to it.”

“Oh, you know where it is?”

“Yes… that’s correct.”

She had been speaking like this from the start. She had definitely been acting like a gal even back then.

“Then, just point to it. I’ll go get it.”

“Alright, I’ll point it out… it’s over there.”

“Thanks. How about this one?”

She probably saved a screenshot in her album. She flicked through to show me the next photo.

“That one should be on the same shelf.”

“Last one, what about this?”

I pointed again, and Aira flicked once more to show me another picture.

“Sorry, that one won’t arrive until next week.”

“Still not in? Thanks, nii-chan.”

Having worked at the bookstore for a long time, I’d been able to explain where all the books she’d been looking for were.

But what had surprised me here was—every single manga title she’d shown me from her phone was part of the “big brother” genre.

Wasn’t she embarrassed asking someone of the opposite sex…? I’d thought that back then as I’d gone through the day… but since then, she’d started appearing every day on my workdays, acting a bit mischievously, and now we had become close enough to chat during work.

–

“Hey, I’ve been thinking for a while, do you have a desire for a big brother or something?”

She was facing me, moving her hands as she carried on the conversation that was technically still part of customer service.

“I knew you’d notice. All the manga are from that kind of genre.”

By “that kind of genre”, she meant the ‘big brother’ type.

“…Well, I’m an only child, so I kind of wanted someone to spoil me a little, you know? My mom and dad come home late, too.”

“Why don’t you have your parents try harder?”

“Even if a boy were born, he’d just become my little brother. And that’s kind of sexual harassment.”

“Seriously? Sorry.”

Being able to joke like that came from knowing our boundaries with each other.

“It’s fine, but… don’t you ever wish you had a big brother, senpai?”

“I’d rather have a little sister or brother.”

I already had my older sister, Kaya, so I’d want a younger sibling. Of course, I really appreciated having Kaya-nee around.

“Huh… so you want a little sister.”

“Well, a little brother too.”

“…You know, I kind of think it would be nice if you became my big brother.”

“Huh? What are you trying to say?”

Aira folded her knees, flipping through the manga, saying something that didn’t make sense.

“It’s like a trade. I’ll be your little sister, and you can be my big brother. We can both get what we want, right?”

“I don’t want a little sister enough to buy manga and novels and get emotionally attached.”

“Eh…? Then what would make you become my nii-chan?”

“Money.”

“Huh?”

Honestly, there was nothing else that could balance out the exchange. The only thing I wanted was money. I didn’t want to burden my sister, Kaya.

“Senpai, asking younger people for money is pretty creepy.”

“I’m just desperate to make money, that’s all.”

“Why?”

“For various reasons.”

I didn’t share details about my family situation, not even with my best friend, Yukiya.

I didn’t like being pitied for losing my parents. I didn’t want others to see me as weak, miserable, pathetic, or pitiful.

“Huh… various reasons, huh?”

“Yeah, various reasons.”

One of the things I liked about Aira was that she didn’t press on with questions here. Then again, if she could read my emotions well enough to avoid pushing further, why didn’t she just leave me alone?

“Uh, um… so, does that mean if I pay, you’ll do it? The, um, ‘big brother’ role?”

“Why are you taking that seriously? It was just a joke.”

“H-Huh?!”

I nailed it with my serious expression and quick speech.

“That’s so annoying! That whole thing didn’t feel like a joke at all!”

“Guess it means I’m a pretty good actor.”

Despite saying that, I hadn’t actually been joking.

If she really paid me, I’d agree to be her ‘big brother’. But it felt too pitiful to accept money from a high schooler like Aira. My pride got in the way, and I rejected it.

Because I carried that pride, I could only earn a limited amount of money… Honestly, it was a complicated feeling.

If I had gone along with Aira’s suggestion, I could’ve gotten the money… That’s one regret I had.

“Fine, I’ll just scatter things around here!”

“If you do that, I’ll hold a grudge forever… Organizing books is harder than it looks.”

“I’m already holding a grudge in real-time!”

“Come on, cheer up…”

I hadn’t expected her to sulk this much. But right now, that was not my main concern. If Aira stopped coming to this bookstore, I’d lose my position.

“Then buy this for me.”

“Huh?”

At that moment, she handed me a copy of The Great Sage Older Brother and the Shut-In Younger Sister with both hands.

“Buy it.”

“Hey. You didn’t just set me up for this, did you?”