⚪️Short Story | Mikando Bookstore Episode 5

The high school punk rocker, the around-forty (tentative) Ms. Hiiragi, and I were left behind.

***

Today is my welcome party.

***

Mikan-san checked her message notification sound, said, "Oh, it looks like an urgent matter. Sorry to leave in the middle, but please eat as much as you like," and left.

Trattoria 'Pamina' is located about 100 meters down from the bookstore toward the metro station.

Mikan-san had set up a table for four there. And, except for a shut-in named Kenji who only comes to work a few times a year, these four seem to be the entire staff of Mikando Bookstore.

***

After introducing me to the two of them, Mikan-san said, "Once again, welcome to Mikando Bookstore." That was about 15 minutes ago.

Then the high school punk rocker said, "Nice to meet ya," and the around-forty (tentative) Ms. Hiiragi laughed, "Ohohoho."

There had always been something unclear about Mikan-san's hiring criteria, but now I'm even more confused. I'm sorry, but I'm just an ordinary person, you know?

***

"Hey old man, aren't you going to eat that?"

The girl with five piercings in one ear asked me that. She was eyeing either the pepperoni pizza or the homemade sausage I hadn't touched yet. Since she had just taken a sausage from Mikan-san's plate, she probably wanted this one—no, that's not the point.

"Calling me an old man is harsh."
"Eh. You're older than me. And you're an employee, right?"
"That's true, but..."
"So you're an old man."
"No, no. Then what do you call this person?"

I pointed at the around-forty (tentative) Ms. Hiiragi.

"...I don't call her anything."
"Ohohoho."

No, call her something. What kind of sloppy evasion is that? And why is Ms. Hiiragi laughing too?

"You can't just not call her anything."
"Then, Miss."
"Ohohoho."
"Then what about me? I'm not an old man, right?"
"Eh."
"Come on, say it. Big brother? Hmm?"
"Big... big brother."
"Come on, I can't hear you?"
"Big brother."

Why are you blushing? It's making me shy.

***

When I asked more about it, I learned the high school punk rocker was named Luna-chan and only worked part-time on weekday evenings. So, I probably won't see her much in the future. That's fine. The problem is right now.

She seems to be hungry all the time. She loves meat, and not satisfied with just the homemade sausage, she took only the pepperoni from my pizza, and on top of that, she called the chef to ask if he could make fried chicken. The chef, while puzzled, said something about how it's Mikando-san's place, and prepared fried chicken that wasn't on the menu.

***

The around-forty (tentative) Ms. Hiiragi is apparently only a weekend part-timer. So, I probably won't see her much either. Or rather, does this shop have no backup staff?

"Ah, did you just realize that?"

Luna-chan stuffed her cheeks with various meats.

"Ohohoho."

Ms. Hiiragi is drinking a lot of red wine.

"I'm starting to feel sleepy. I wonder if I should just stay somewhere tonight."
"Oh, please feel free to do so."
"Ohohoho."

Mikan-san. I'm worried about so many things!

(Continued in Episode 6 )

*The header image is a work by Hane-san.

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