"Link" Chapter 1 - The Path Paved by Hard Work - / Episode 13

13-1 Working Together in Earnest

After Rina-chan quit her job, we began running the crepe shop together in earnest.
Of course, it wasn't smooth sailing from the start.
As always, we were busy every day.

Preparing from the morning.
Operating the shop.

Cleaning up.

And preparing for the next day again.
There was a mountain of things to do.
But, it was clearly more fun than when I was alone.
—

Rina-chan wasn't just doing customer service anymore.

She was gradually learning how to make crepes, too.
At first, she was awkward at piping the whipped cream.
But, watching me work by her side every day, she was incredibly fast at learning.

Moreover, when Rina-chan was there, the atmosphere of the shop became softer.

The customers seemed to be having fun, too.

"You two are perfectly in sync!"
We started hearing that more and more often.

—

But what surprised me the most was that "working" itself had become more fun than before.

When I was running around desperately on my own, the feelings of "I have to sell" and "I can't fail" were much stronger.
But working with Rina-chan, even though we were busy, we spent more time laughing.

Even though it was work, it felt like we were building our days together.

After we finished for the day, we'd go out to eat, laughing and saying, "We were so busy today!"
Even that time was fun.

—
And our business in Sado was a huge success once again.

Even when we visited new corporate locations, there were lines everywhere we went.

"You came back!"
We heard that many times.

—

But at that time, we weren't just looking at our sales.
"Since we're at it, I'd love to travel all over Japan."
While continuing our business, we started talking about that little by little.
—

By then, perhaps the crepe shop was no longer just a job.

It had become a place where we were building our future together.

13-2 Setting Sail Together

After a while, we left Sado together.
We returned to the mainland and started setting up shop in various places again.

But the results didn't change there either.
Everywhere we went, customers lined up.

The number of repeat customers increased.
"You came back!"

I heard that many times.
And I thought once again, "It really wasn't just Sado."

Everything we had built up day after day while living in our car—the research into crepes, the customer service, the shop creation—had all properly taken shape.

Moreover, since we started working together, the shop had changed even more.

—

There was something Rina-chan often said: "There are things you haven't been able to put into shape because you've been too busy, right?"
There were many ideas I hadn't been able to touch because I was too busy on my own.

"I want to make time to realize those. You're good at thinking of new things that make everyone happy, right?"
—

"I'm not good at that kind of thing, but I'm good at working silently and streamlining things, so leave that to me! And customer service too!"

...
In fact, I loved thinking of new things.
New crepe menus, shop design, management.
"It would be interesting if we did it like this."

"Maybe everyone would be happy if we did this."

I was always thinking about things like that.
But detailed task management, efficiency, and delegating work to others—honestly, I was bad at those.

Conversely, Rina-chan wasn't very good at thinking of new things from scratch.
But she was exceptionally good at organizing the work in front of her, running things efficiently, and supporting while keeping an eye on everything around her.
In other words, our strengths and weaknesses were surprisingly different.

But they fit together beautifully, as if by magic.

It was like puzzle pieces clicking into place.

Moreover, we were both people who had been valued in our work originally.

So, when we each took charge of what we were good at, the shop kept getting better and better.
Ideas I couldn't put into shape when I was alone because I was too busy were gradually becoming reality.
And that, in turn, led to more smiles from our customers.

—
Even when there was a line, we knew each other's movements.

We knew what was needed next without having to say a word.
No matter how busy we were, we never compromised on our politeness toward customers.
"Thank you for waiting!"

"Thank you very much!"
Those voices echoed inside the kitchen car every day.
—
And I started to think little by little, "...If there are two of us, we can go even further."
It wasn't just about sales.

Work, life, too.

I felt that if we were together, we could reach places I couldn't have reached alone.

13-3 The Guided Path

By the time we had gotten used to working on the mainland, we were often talking about where to set up shop next.
"Where should we go next?"

Conversations like that increased every day.
Since we have a kitchen car, we want to go to many more places.

That feeling was growing bigger and bigger between us.

"Okinawa sounds interesting, doesn't it?"
"That sounds good."

"But I'd also like to go to Akita."
Like that, we continued working while talking about the future.

—
And when December arrived, I was looking at the documents of the company we were setting up shop at.

That company had many stores not only in Sado but also on the mainland.

And when I was casually looking at the store list, a certain place caught my eye.

"...Huh? In front of Nikko Toshogu?"

Tochigi Prefecture.

And it was right in the middle of a tourist spot.
There should be a lot of people during the year-end and New Year holidays.

"...This might be interesting."

Thinking that, I somehow looked up Nikko Toshogu.
—

Then, a photo appeared on my smartphone screen.
"Ah!!"

I let out a loud voice unintentionally.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Rina-chan looks at me curiously.

"Rina-chan! Look at this!"

I hurriedly showed her my smartphone.
"Oh, is this the Sleeping Cat of Nikko Toshogu?"

"Yes! And look!"

I shouted while showing her the screen.

"A calico cat!!"
Rina-chan looked at the screen again.

"Hmm..."

...

"Isn't this a black-spotted cat, not a calico?"
"...Huh?"

That was the moment.

"Meow."

I heard a cat meowing from outside.
Rina-chan burst out laughing.

"See? The cat is laughing at you! Hahaha!"

I unintentionally turned to look out the window.

Then, a calico cat was looking at us from a little distance away.

"...!!"

Moreover, that calico cat moved its front paw, beckoning.

As if it were saying, "It's this way."

And then, it turned around, nimbly jumped over a wall about a meter high, and disappeared.

—
"..."

I couldn't move for a while.

And the next moment.

"This is definitely it!!"
"Huh?"

"The cat god is calling us!!"

"Eh!?"

"Because!"

"My hometown's Hamamatsu Castle is also related to Tokugawa Ieyasu! And Nikko Toshogu is too, right!?"

I took a breath and shouted.

"We're definitely being guided!!"

—
Rina-chan said while laughing out loud.

"What is that about a cat god!? That's so weird! Hahaha!"
But even while laughing, Rina-chan said this at the end.

"I'm just going to follow you anywhere, anyway."

I was suddenly startled and froze.

"It doesn't really matter where."

...

That statement made me feel incredibly happy for some reason.
I nodded while smiling.
"Yeah."

And, "Then, let's go to Nikko together."
—

And at that time, we didn't yet know that this would be the beginning of a journey that would greatly change our lives.

🌿 This work is fiction based on real experiences. While based on actual experiences, some composition and direction have been added.

If there are parts where you thought, "Is this a true story?", please ask in the comments. I will talk about it as much as I can.

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