The Protagonist's Sister Loves Me, But She's Definitely a Yandere. - Chapter 52: The Mascot Suit

Chapter 52: The Mascot Suit

“What a pathetic way to spend a weekend.”

Summer break was just around the corner.

Today was Saturday.

Recently, I’d been dragged into a shopping trip by the Underclassmen Duo and had a deep heart-to-heart with Hinata.

It’d been a pretty packed stretch of days… but now?

“Well, I guess this kind of suits me.”

I had absolutely zero plans for the weekend.

Normally, by this point, I’d have gotten a “summons” from Runa or Mimi, but—

Nothing.

Radio silence.

Which meant… I was completely free.

For someone like me, that should’ve been a good thing.

But now that I actually had time on my hands… it just felt off.

I couldn’t relax.

A luxury problem, I guess.

Runa and Mimi—being who they are—were both dying to know what happened between me and Hinata the other day.

They wanted the full story. Every last detail.

So, I gave them the short version.

If it had been something serious or urgent, I would’ve shared everything.

But honestly, there wasn’t much to say.

Hinata’s thoughts or worldview didn’t really affect either of them.

To Runa, Hinata’s just that guy she can’t stand.

To Mimi, he’s the perfect decoy to hide behind.

That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Beach, festival, pool. And… that’s it.”

Aside from the fun little outings the girls had enthusiastically added to my schedule, my calendar was bone-dry.

“…Guess I’ll just work on some assignments or something?”

The school had already handed out the list of summer homework assignments.

Yeah… I had to finish them eventually.

But man, I just couldn’t bring myself to start.

I spent the whole morning lying around in my room, overthinking everything and doing absolutely nothing.

Before I realized it, it was already almost noon.

Eventually, boredom beat comfort, and I dragged myself outside—only to regret it instantly.

“…So hot. I’m gonna die out here.”

I squinted and turned my face away from the blazing sun.

Summer had fully kicked in after the rainy season, and July was not messing around.

Seriously, the weather lately had been brutal. Climate change was definitely doing its thing.

Every year, the heatwaves just kept getting worse.

And this was only the beginning.

With the humidity piled on top, I could practically feel my discomfort meter maxing out.

“…Maybe I should swing by the bookstore.”

I muttered to myself as I started walking.

Once I was already out, turning back right away felt like admitting defeat.

I remembered there was a new volume out from a manga series I’d been following.

Might as well go grab it while I was out.

Between all the chaos with Runa and Mimi lately, I hadn’t had much time to myself.

So what if I spent a little of this rare free time being unproductive?

I figured I’d earned it.

I crossed the street. Walked. Kept walking.

Eventually, I reached the station area.

It was the weekend, so the place was packed—students in casual wear, adults running errands.

And right there, on a bench that must’ve been set up recently, was a black cat.

Just lounging like it owned the place.

“Welcome~”

The bookstore clerk’s half-hearted greeting drifted behind me as I headed straight for the manga section.

Even though it was the latest volume, it had actually come out last month.

So it wasn’t on the front display anymore—just a few copies tucked away on the shelf.

I grabbed one and made my way to the register.

Nothing worth writing home about.

The store’s air conditioning made it tempting to hang around longer, but I wasn’t bold enough to loiter like that.

“…What the heck is that?”

Mission complete.

Just as I stepped back outside, something strange caught my eye:

The black cat that had been chilling on the bench earlier was gone.

And in its place… was a dog.

A huge dog—in a mascot suit.

It looked cartoonishly exaggerated, but also oddly realistic.

Honestly? Kind of creepy.

The kind of thing that barges into your dreams without asking first.

The outfit itself was unsettling enough…

But what really caught my attention was the position it was in.

Whoever was inside the suit was lying down.

The dog head had been removed and was just sitting there on the ground.

A headless mascot suit, sprawled out on a bench like roadkill?

Yeah. No wonder people were steering clear.

“…Should I go check on him?”

It didn’t look like someone just taking a break.

And leaving your real face out in the open? That’s like breaking some kind of mascot code.

It didn’t feel like laziness—it felt like something was off.

I stared at the guy.

He was clearly conscious… but not moving a muscle.

And yeah, at that point, I was starting to get a little worried.

“Uh… are you okay?”

“…”

I mustered up some courage and spoke.

The guy glanced at me and mumbled something—barely audible.

I leaned in to try and catch it.

“Eh? Sorry, what was that?”

“…w-water…”

He sounded like a post-apocalyptic hero on the verge of collapse.

─────

“…So yeah. How the heck did it come to this?”

I moved my arms around.

Tight.

Also—hot. Way too hot.

Even with the tiny fan inside the suit, it felt like I was boiling alive.

My vision was half-blocked by the oversized dog head.

Looked down—fuzzy arms.

Further down—fuzzy legs.

Yeah, the head design was borderline nightmare fuel, but still.

I went out to buy manga and somehow ended up doing mascot duty.

Is this some kind of metaphor for my future in corporate hell?

…Well, they did say they’d throw in a little extra pay.

A little while earlier—

After guzzling the water I gave him like a man dying in the desert, the guy called his company on a work phone.

Turned out he was showing signs of heatstroke, so they told him to pack it up and head home early.

…Fair enough. That part made sense.

He even paid me back for the water.

The problem started right after that.

Apparently, this mascot suit was from the company he worked for.

Honestly, whoever’s in charge of their marketing needs a serious reality check.

Then he handed me this signboard.

It said “Now Hiring!” in the cheesiest font imaginable.

Apparently, they were short-staffed and desperate to recruit literally anyone as fast as possible.

…Yeah, good luck with that.

Then one of the HQ guys showed up.

A full-grown man bowed his head and asked me for a favor.

I was suspicious at first—thought it might be some kind of scam—but he showed me the company address, business card… all legit.

“…Am I just weak to pressure or something? Whatever. It’s hot. This sucks.”

Sometimes little kids get scared of me.

Sometimes high school girls pass by and laugh.

Yep—this weekend was turning out real special.

All I had to do was walk around with this goofy sign.

Simple enough.

Wander around the station.

Duck into the mall when it gets too hot.

Since I basically had this gig forced on me, I figured taking some “extended cool-down time” wasn’t exactly slacking off.

“…Hm?”

Over at the station—I spotted a familiar face.

She was just walking, but all eyes were on her.

No mistaking it. That was Runa.

…Wait. Mimi’s with her too?

“What are those two doing out at this hour?”

That oil-and-water pair…

The way they’d suddenly started getting along was still a mystery.

I couldn’t help getting curious.

I followed them.

Not like a creep—just from a discreet distance.

Not like I had to worry about being recognized anyway.

I mean, come on. I was literally dressed as a giant dog mascot.

No one was ID’ing me in this getup.

“…Actually, never mind.”

I stopped in my tracks.

Felt kind of wrong to butt into their private time.

It’s not like I had any real reason to follow them.

If anything important was going on, they’d tell me eventually.

That’s what I told myself—

But it turned out their destination was just ahead.

Right in my line of sight—

“A cake shop, huh.”

A little sweets store near the station.

Runa and Mimi slipped inside, blending into the weekend crowd.

“—Um, excuse me.”

A soft voice called out behind me.

I turned away from the cake shop and looked toward the speaker.

It was a petite, timid-looking woman—probably in her forties.

“I just wanted to ask about the job listing…”

“…Huh? Oh! Right!”

It took me a second to realize what she meant.

I was technically working right now.

…Didn’t expect anyone to actually show interest, though.

After listening to what the woman had to say, I followed protocol and contacted HQ.

Once everything was wrapped up and I’d seen her off, I turned my attention back to the cake shop—

Then blinked.

“…Huh?”

A weird thought suddenly popped into my head.

Inside the sweets shop, two beautiful girls were moving around like they owned the place.

Wait… hold on a sec.

“Are they… working?”

They were both dressed in waitress uniforms—mostly white, with bright red ribbons tied around their chests and waists.

No mistaking it. They were staff.

(…Did they start part-time jobs? Since when?)

I tilted my head, totally confused.

Runa and Mimi, working together?

This was the first I’d heard of it.

Maybe they had something they both wanted to save up for?

Well, picking up a part-time job is good life experience.

If they’re enjoying themselves, that’s what really counts.

No need for me to butt in.

Still… if the chance ever comes up, I might swing by sometime pretending to be a customer.

Wouldn’t hurt to flip the script a little—

Last time, I was the one stuck working at the beach, after all.