by Ko Hiratori
So she’s initiating the dumping process?
Well, this is Kiyori, so maybe she’s actually busy, but if she’s trying to put some space between her and Chiba, it’s a good thing. She’s a serious girl. If she hangs out with Chiba, she’ll just go bad.
“Look, I’ll pay 80 rubers. Let’s go upstairs.”
He arrogantly stacked some coins on the table, but when I measured them with my eyes by height, I smirked.
“It’s not enough!”
“Huh?”
“Hoo-hoo. You can’t think of me as the girl you used to know forever! Starting yesterday I cost 100!”
“What? Are you serious? That’s a rip-off.”
“I’m not ripping anybody off!”
Fucking rude fucking otaku. I finally made it to three figures! The big time!
And this month I’ll definitely rank in at number five. I’ll be one of the five goddesses.
I’m almost caught up to Shequraso at number three. The sales race is heating up!
My job is way more important to me right now than the demon lord or Chiba’s cheating. I even want the shop to do well.
I feel like I’ve started to understand what it means to feel responsible lately.
“So as one of the poster girls for the shop, I need to keep exploring new territory! Stop whining and go brush up your character with some of the older girls. The experience points you need in life aren’t just from battles! Lupe, hit this guy with some in-depth lecture time!”
“Huh? Haru—”
He’s a pain in the ass, but there are still some kind-hearted girls who care about him. Apparently he reminds them of their little brothers. I shoved Chiba off on Lupe and went to work the floor.
“Please listen to my troubles, Miss Lupeeee!”
“Sure, I’ll listen.”
Plus I’ve been feeling lately like they’re a better match.
＊
“Comfort visit?”
Lupe and I frowned at the unfamiliar term.
“Yeah. You go to the barracks and sing, drink with the soldiers. I guess it’s to cheer up the guys at the front who can’t go out for fun. Mr. Bisque asked if I would go,” Shequraso said happily, playing with her bangs.
“Apparently lots of the soldiers can play instruments, so I guess they sometimes want to hear a girl sing. But if it goes well, maybe it’ll lead to more work. I can’t do much else, but I’m pretty confident in my singing.”
“Did Madam okay it?”
“Yeah, she said to do my best. And the army will pay me and the shop. My take alone is 2,400 for two nights!”
“Wow, Shequraso. You’re like a real singer.”
“Heh-heh. It’s just my boyfriend pulling strings.”
“Sure, your boyfriend...”
“...And so”—she twirled her bangs even more and lowered her voice—“Mr. Bisque says he wants to introduce me to the hectosquad commander.”
“Huh? To that scary guy?”
Personally, that’s the kind of fellow I definitely don’t want to be introduced to.
And last time Mr. Bisque even avoided her...
But Lupe looked surprised. “Could that mean...”
Lupe’s face was red, but Shequraso’s was even redder.
Huh? Is that what this is about?
Is that what getting introduced to someone’s boss means?
“...you’re getting married?”
“N-No, he hasn’t said anything like that officially! Just that he’d take the opportunity to introduce me!”
“Eek! Congrats!”
“Nice! That’s great, Shequraso!”
“W-Wait, you guys! I don’t know for sure yet!”
That’s what she said, but she looked pretty damn happy. Even though just the other day she was all sad-faced and depressed.
Good for her.
“Then let’s have that hot pot party as a big welcome back!”
“Oh, let me pay. I’ll buy all the things you guys want to eat!”
“Sweet!”
Okay. While Shequraso is off making her dreams come true, I have to hold down the shop.
＊
I was getting all fired up like that when...
“Miss Haru...” Kiyori showed up with a dreary face.
“Whoa, stop it, you’re bringing me down. What’s with that face?”
“Sorry... It’s the face I make when I’m not sure what to do...”
“No, you said something like that before, but I didn’t get the feeling your face was going to jinx me.”
She seemed more cheerless every time I saw her. And isn’t she a Sister? Starting out pure just makes you more likely to get cursed...
I had her sit down on the bench and got her a warm drink. Maybe that calmed her down, because she seemed to be regaining her spunk.
“I guess I just feel so powerless...”
Apparently Chiba was depressed. She’d been busy, so she couldn’t see him as much, and his house was getting messy. But he wouldn’t tell her what he was upset about. When she encouraged him, he just said, “You don’t understand my feelings.”
“I feel so pathetic...”
Her shoulders slumped, and she sighed.
She’s just so serious.
There’s no need to ask a dude about worries he won’t even tell you if you’re his girlfriend. You can’t spoil men like that for no reason.
“So, I don’t know if I should say this or not, but honestly, doesn’t Chiba make you kinda mad? Isn’t it a pain watching over a guy like that so seriously? Maybe he seemed cool in the arena, but how has it been actually going out with him?”
“...”
“I can tell from listening to you that you’re doing your best. But Chiba won’t even take you into the forest, right? And then he’s always giving you obnoxious orders to do this or that, right? Kiyori, at times like that, you should get mad, not sad. He only throws his weight around because you don’t talk back to him.”
He’s the kind of guy who will dent if you jab him. With this sort of obedient, blind-follower girl, he could turn into a DV perp or a stalker, ugh.
But instead Kiyori got even more depressed.
“...So it’s my fault, huh?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying you don’t have to put up with his shit.”
Gah, this is such a pain in the ass.
“Chiba’s upset because he found out his stupid success story was a lie. Of course no one else would understand. Even Lupe at the shop, who is a great listener, says he makes no sense. But he’s not saying anything complicated—he’s just throwing a fit because he hates hard work.”
Trying to explain cheating and skills to someone from this world seemed pointless. It would be impossible if they had never played a mobile game, and even I barely understood it all. In that sense, it is kind of sad that I’m the only one Chiba can talk to.
But that doesn’t mean he can be a heinous prick and take it out on his girlfriend.
“Why don’t you try breaking up with him? It might make him think. And your goal is to go out beyond the front, right? I’m sure there are other nice adventurer guys. Yeah, I think that would be much easier, and you’ll get better cost-performance than if you stick with a wishy-washy guy like Chiba. Kiyori, you’re cute, so that’s what I think you should do. Follow your dreams and get the guy!”
Of course, all the strong guys are older, but still.
Some of them are mature and cool!
“...I just can’t think that way,” Kiyori murmured. At some point she had raised her head and was looking at me with these eyes that just—I don’t even know. “I get the feeling you and Mr. Chiba really are different from the rest of us. The way you think, the way you talk—there are some things only the two of you understand. Like the term ‘cost-performance,’ you don’t hear that around here. It feels like you two share a world we know nothing about.”
Ahh, this is really such a pain. This world’s language is pretty handy in
that I can use most wasei-eigo words fine, but sometimes proper nouns and slang trip me up. They’re just slightly off.
Most people let it go in one ear and out the other, but the ones with keen intuitions latch on and don’t let go.
“Miss Haru, could you two be—?”
“Ahh, the shop is going to open soon! Anyhow, I’ll give Chiba a talking to for you. But more importantly, Kiyori!”
“Y-Yes?”
“You need to speak up more when you’re talking about your feelings, too. Boys in general have trouble hearing. And don’t lose to the misogynists! It’s men and women that make the world go ’round!”
“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about...”
“That is all! Break!”
I chased her off and went back to work. I was busy. I had to make like Shequraso’s boyfriend and fill her hole. I had to work my butt off.
“Lupe, Haru and Kiyori just don’t understand how the protagonist feels during the sad part of the story. They don’t get naked or anything—they just start lecturing. They’re spergs, I swear, total spergs.”
“Hmm. I don’t really get it, but men and women don’t always have the easiest time understanding each other...”
But I couldn’t stand listening to Chiba grumble to Lupe, and I threw some water on him.
“Augh, that’s cold! And my head isn’t a koi or a Carp!”
“Shut it! I don’t need that crap—just get over here. Pay 100 rubers and follow me!”
“Geez, look at you, all in heat... Sorry, Lupe. I’ll see you later.”
“U-Uh, okay. But just so you know, I think Haru is actually mad? That’s kind of a big deal, so it could be fatal if you misunderstand.”
I was already stomping up the stairs, and behind me Chiba was spouting his wrong ideas. The second we got into my room, I threw him over my shoulder.
“I may not look the type, but I was in judo club as an elementary-schooler!”
“Don’t go bringing up that backstory detail now!”
Chiba flew along a beautiful arc and landed on the bed. I jumped up and choked him.
“Stop causing everyone trouble, Chiba!”
The fuck is the ‘sad part of the story,’ you dumbass anime otaku.
You got strong so easily, but now because of one setback, you’re doomed? Every day is the sad part of the story for sex workers! Don’t take us so lightly, asshole! Don’t underestimate the bottom rung!
Live like your life depends on it, you idiot.
“Stop it, Haru.” He had no trouble peeling my hands off his throat and flipping me over to get on top. “I’m stronger, and I don’t want to hurt you.” Then he added, “I only let you throw me ‘cause it was you,” like a creep. “And I let you dump that water on me from behind, too. If it were anyone else, I would have cut their arm off.”
I dunno what kind of life an innodiator (is that right?) leads, but Chiba, like the other adventurers who make their living hunting demons, has this gory vibe about him now.
“Because my strength is for protecting you.”
“...But like I said, you’ve never once protected me.”
“The reason I protect this city from monsters is because you’re in it.”
“You’re just racking up XP!”
“I’m forging my destiny. The protagonist has to get stronger.”
He started going on about how we shared the fate of coming from another world and moved his lips closer to my neck.
He pinned my arms to the bed.
Roughly, as if I were his prey.
“Don’t get too cocky or I’ll murder you, otaku scum!”
But I slept with guys like that every night. It wasn’t about to faze me.
I can survive without your protection. I have been! I’ve been surviving on my own in this world.
I can lay a guy flat any time just by kicking him in the balls. The only reason I don’t is because I made a promise to those kids! You’re the one who’s scared, weirdo!
“...I’m not getting cocky.” But Chiba didn’t chicken out like usual. He sighed and sat up. “I wasn’t getting cocky, dammit! You were, Haru! This isn’t school, and we’re not in class anymore. Don’t call me otaku scum ever again!”
He held me down and screamed with a serious face I’d never seen on him before.
“I know you used to call me and my friends that! I know you laughed at us. You looked at us like we were a different species, right? But that classroom wasn’t only for you guys! It was ours, too! But you were always the center of attention, surrounded by your friends, laughing your big dumb laugh about the stupidest shit, so popular and always having fun!”
It was the first time Chiba had mentioned the other world. I remembered that I had never talked to him in class.
“We weren’t being cocky at all! We weren’t even given the space to! Not that it matters anymore. In this world I’m the protagonist, I’m surrounded by cute girls, and you’re a sub-heroine now! But know this”—he pointed at me with tears in his eyes—“Why do you think I died protecting you? Shouldn’t you be more grateful to me? I...I just thought, wouldn’t it be great if instead of every day being so boring, this was a romantic comedy with you as the heroine? I was thinking that forever! So now why are you all pissy right when things suck for me? I don’t fucking get it! Why aren’t you consoling me like you should? Without me, how will you even make it in this world? Without me, you’re doomed!” Chiba screamed, crying with both hands over his face. More like “off the rails peninsula.”
That was the first time I heard this guy’s true feelings. But they were even worse than I had imagined.
“Move, Chiba.”
We’re done. I can’t take this anymore.
We’ve been weird ‘friends’ for a while, or maybe not long at all, huh?
“I’ve always thought you were kinda gross, but now you’re the biggest creep ever.”
“Heh,” his shoulders flinched as he laughed.
Then he dropped his pants.
“Oh, right. I see. You still think you’re Haru Koyama, member of the classroom’s highest caste. But you’re not. You’re just a whore. And I’m a customer, so...”
His pale cock stuck out. He shoved it toward me and said, “Suck it.”
“Yes, sir!”
I did my job.
That’s business, so I did it like I’m supposed to.
Chiba is sensitive, so when I touched the tip with my tongue, his hips shivered.
Watching me suck his cock on my hands and knees, he laughed as he cried. “Heh... Haru’s...sucking my cock....”
Yeah, I am.
I, apparently member of the classroom’s highest whatever, am sucking your weirdo cock.
Get as horny as you like.
“Nn, ahh...”
Chiba rolled up his shirt, and his hips squirmed.
I made slurping noises as I sucked. I flicked the tip of my tongue to service him.
“Haru...”
He got carried away and tried to touch my hair, but I swatted his hand away.
Then he thrust his hips and poked his cock down my throat, which was obnoxious, but I let him do what he wanted.
Right before he came, he pulled it out of my mouth.
Then he shot it all over my face, rubbing it in as he spasmed.
The sticky mess dripped down my bangs and cheeks. Seeing my face like that, he laughed again, “Heh,” put his cock away, and got ready to leave.
“...Chiba.” Wiping my face with a towel, I spoke without turning around. “Don’t ever come here again.”
Chiba snorted and said, “Who would wanna do that?”
＊
Well, who cares about that jerk—I’ve got work to do!
“And so, Shequraso got busy, so we can’t do the hot pot party yet. When we do, though, I wanna buy meat from your place. Can we make an order like that?”
“Oh, yes. That’s fine. I think it would be cheaper to get the rest of the ingredients through u
s, too, so I hope you’ll let me handle everything.”
“Really? Aw, thanks.”
Sumo’s a good guy. Nothing like that tons ’o fun peninsula jerk.
When I squeezed his hand, he blushed immediately. He’s still got a soft spot for girls.
“Oh, hey. What about training with a different girl now and then?”
“N-No. I’m okay.”
“A bunch of them have told me they think you’re cute, you know.”
“N-No, that’s not true.”
They have, though. Ever since the incident with the guild master’s son, Sumo has been quite the idol around here. His earnest stand that day won the hearts of quite a few girls.
Lately even I think he’s pretty cute.
There was a time when I thought you had to be hot and popular to be a man, but more recently I’ve realized there are all kinds of guys in the world and all kinds of ways to be with them.
Of course, my current type is mature, cool, and older.
“Then do you want to go upstairs with me?”
“...Yes.”
I like Sumo, too. I think he can grow to be an even better guy.
Lately he’s gotten the hang of doing it from behind.
He’s the type who can do something if he tries.
My sales increased on track, and I looked forward to recording the previous night’s earnings on the ranking chart.
Along with the feeling that I was more valuable came more pressure closing in. I couldn’t make any humiliating mistakes on the job.
I didn’t neglect my prep for the shop or livening up the stage shows.
When I did a good job, guys would actually notice that and buy me. Finally, after spreading my charms around and doing even boring tasks with all my might, the customers fall for me. They like me as a person, and only then do they become regulars.
Before, my work was spotty. I think there were lots of complaints. If something is really bad you have to speak up, but you also have to smile in front of the customers as much as possible.
In this business it’d be an exaggeration to say we’re selling dreams, so I can’t, but it’s important to make customers happy.
And the one who makes the most people happy here gets ranked number one.
All right, I’m psyched. Sex Worker Haru is ready for action.
Time to rock another day of work!