“Welcome.”
Turning back to the door, there were two female customers who just entered. The first customers of the night.
There was a woman with light brown hair that was nearly blonde, tied up in an updo. Her makeup was done in a way that made it clear that she was heading to work after this. This was the first time that Subaru had seen this customer, but judging how Tokizawa calmly told them “Welcome, and Happy New Year,” Subaru could tell they were regular customers.
Or rather, Subaru was surprised to see Tokizawa greeting this sort of flashy person without hesitation. Completely different from when they were in high school.
“Happy New Year~~… Huh! What’s this?? A new staff member!??” Both girl’s eyes widened when they saw Subaru behind the counter next to Tokizawa.
“For a limited time only, but please take care of me,” Subaru cheerfully answered as he got a plate of nuts from under the counter. Since Subaru couldn’t make cocktails, the things he could do was just cleaning and tidying up. Helping out would more likely be a hindrance instead of help. Even though Subaru being there made Tokizawa nervous, in the end, he let Subaru come without a single complaint. Such a nice guy.
“A limited time only?” One of the women said in an inquisitive tone as she sat down and began to unfurl her scarf.
“I’m freeloading at this guy’s place for the month, so I thought I’d help out here once in a while.”
“Ooh, is that soo? Are you one of Asahi-san’s friends?”
“Yes. We were high school classmates.”
“Ooh. What’s your name?” Asked the other woman in a very curious voice.
Subaru replied with “I’m Tsukijima.”
“What about your first name?”
“… You’re not allowed to pry into my employee’s personal life.” Tokizawa inserted himself in the conversation with a bitter smile.
“Whaat??”
“It’s personal information.”
“What do you mean personal information… I think it’s okay if I’m just asking him for his name.”
“Not allowed.”
“You’re so stingy.”
The women laughed with no sign of the mood being ruined.
“I want something sweet, anything is fine.” They threw their orders at Tokizawa.
It seemed like Tokizawa was also used to this way of ordering because he just nodded and opened the fridge.
Tokizawa looked inside the small gold colored door before quickly closing it.
“Ah… Subaru, I’m sorry, but can I trouble you to go buy something for me?”
“Hmm? It’s fine but I don’t know where the store is.”
“I’ll draw you a map.”
“Okay.”
Tokizawa quickly drew a map on a memo pad that was nearby.
“Sorry for asking you when it’s so cold. It’s really close by. It’s not a supermarket or anything, it’s a really small liquor shop so you’ll know when you see it.”
“What should I buy?”
“Can you buy 3 bottles of carbonated water? They are in blue bottles. If you don’t know which one, you can tell the clerk the name of this bar, and he’ll get it for you.”
“Got it.”
With the one thousand yen bill and memo in hand, Subaru put on his coat and haori and left the bar.
Under the cold air, Subaru headed towards the store while walking on the sherbert-like snow. His breath came out in a white mist.
Subaru suddenly thought about those two women. It was very likely that one of them liked Tokizawa.
The sound of her voice sweetly saying “Asahi-san” remained stuck in Subaru’s head.
“…Asahi.”
It was a name Subaru had never uttered until now, and as expected, it wasn’t something that came out naturally. However, it seemed like that woman was very used to calling his name.
Subaru wondered if he should have called Tokizawa by his name from the start. From the first day that they met, Tokizawa always called Subaru by his name. Subaru was the one who had been calling Tokizawa by his last name. When they were in high school, there was not a single classmate who would call Tokizawa by his name. Subaru himself never once thought about changing the name he called Tokizawa by either.
Subaru didn’t think how you called someone was particularly important. But Natsuko also called Tokizawa by a nickname that Subaru could not get used to.
So Subaru didn’t understand why the way she called Tokizawa by his name continued to ring in his ears.
While Subaru was lost in the gloomy feelings of his thoughts, he suddenly noticed that the store he was supposed to be going to was right next to him.
The liquor shop that Tokizawa told him was full to the brim with all different types of alcohol. From types of alcohol that he sees all the time, to imported liquor that he’s never seen before. As well as different types of cigarettes that were neatly lined up in a glass case.
As Subaru stared at all the rare items, a small man wearing an apron came out and bowed his head.
“Is there anything you’re looking for?”
“Ah, sorry. Actually I came to buy carbonated water, but I noticed all these imported brands that I’ve never seen before. I apologize.” Subaru replied.
Subaru thought he would get reprimanded for staring so he apologized in a panic, but instead the man smiled widely and said in a good-natured tone, “It’s no problem. Please look around to your heart’s content.” The man headed to the shelf where the carbonated water was. “Which one are you looking for?” He asked.
“Ah, do you know a bar by the name of Pleiades? I was told you would know if I mentioned the name.”
“Ah okay. So you’re looking for this one. How many do you need?”
“Thank you. I need three please.”
The man came back with the three bottles to settle the bill.
“Here you are… hmm Pleiades is already running low I see.”
“Huh?”
“Ah, well you see, I just had some goods delivered the day before yesterday and usually it takes about a week for the supplies to run low.”
As Subaru lined up the receipts, he quietly muttered how envious he felt of the clerk who didn’t know the circumstances.
“Mister, are you a new employee there? Up until now he’s only been the manager by himself.” The clerk said in a friendly manner as Subaru wrote his name on the receipt. Subaru responded to his questions while still thinking about what the clerk had just said.
“It’s only for a limited… I’m here on a trip so I asked him if I could help.”
“Oh! Are you friends?”
“Yes, we were high school classmates.”
“Wow! Really? So you’re saying that you’ve been in contact since then? How surprising.”
The man handed the bag with the carbonated water and the receipt and continued talking with a sparkle in his eye over this fascinating topic.
“Ah, actually, we hadn’t seen each other since graduation,” Subaru explained, “We happened to reunite here by coincidence. I was surprised to find out he was running his own place.”
Subaru suddenly decided to ask a question of his own.
“Um, what do you mean by surprising?”
“You see, he didn’t give me the impression that he had any friends. Ah! I don’t mean anything bad by that! Like he’s actually very sociable but he won’t get deeply involved. Like he’s setting a boundary.”
“…Sociable??” Subaru unconsciously repeated the phrase that he could not ignore.
The man tilted his head in confusion. “Yes he’s sociable.”
“Uh, it’s just that I did not get that impression from him when we were in high school but I guess running his own place changed that. Well thank you very much.”
Subaru one sidedly cut the conversation and left the liquor shop.
Even though there should have been the drinks in stock, Subaru wanted to know the reason why Tokizawa drove him out of the bar. Just who the hell was the clerk even talking about.
Subaru doesn’t know the Tokizawa was, apparently, sociable. The Tokizawa that Subaru knew was the one who only ever spoke to him. It also wasn’t a mistake either that Tokizawa had tried to create distance between himself and Subaru.
Irritated, Subaru quickly returned to the bar. He didn’t even care that the three glass bottles in the bag were clinking and hitting each other.
“I’m back.”
Upon returning, it looked like Tokizawa was just about to take something out from the storage. Subaru could hear the women at the bar laughing with their high pitched voices.
“Ah, welcome back. I’m sorry. It must have been cold.”
“Yeah.”
Subaru held out his hand with the bag to hand over to Tokizawa as Tokizawa was trying to say thanks. The receipt and the change was also in the bag. Tokizawa took it with a bewildered expression. Tokizawa noticed that Subaru’s attitude had hardened.
“Thanks… What’s wrong? Did something happen? Ah, did some drunkard pick a fight with you on the way?”
“No way.” Subaru spit out carelessly. He avoided Tokizawa’s gaze and headed inside the bar.
“Huh, Subaru?”
Subaru ignored Tokizawa’s panicked words and closed the door.
“Oh! Subaru-kun! It’s been a while~”
As soon as Subaru walked in, there was a voice that came from directly in front of him. It was someone he had met before. Natsuko. Since they first met, Subaru had helped out a few times, but this was the first time since then that they had seen each other. It had been a week.
“Hello Natsuko-san,” Subaru greeted.
“Is your name Subaru-san?”
“Yes.”
The person who cheerfully asked that was none other than the woman from earlier that had called Tokizawa by his first name.
“I’m Mari, and this is Kanako.”
“Mari-San and Kanako-San. I have memorized your names.”
Due to his work experience from his last job, Subaru was good at remembering names. Subaru smiled as he took off his coat and returned to the counter. He washed his numb hands with warm water. He picked up the soap and scrubbed the palm while Mari started speaking with an extremely curious tone.
“Tsukijima-San, have you and Asahi-San always been close?”
Even though Subaru had introduced himself to her and she even knew his name, she did not call him by his first name. Just as I thought. Subaru thought as he smiled and answered.
“Nope, not always,” Subaru replied.
Tokizawa came in at the same time as Subaru’s denial.
“S-Subaru.”
“What?” Subaru answered sharply.
Tokizawa, in a state of panic, just “umm’ed” distressedly and went behind the counter. Tokizawa turned to the faces lined up at the counter and looked like he was about to continue talking and that made Subaru irritated.
“…Hmm it sure is narrow here.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll be a customer today,” Subaru decided.
“Huh, Subaru?”
Subaru ignored the bewildered way that Tokizawa said his name and sat down next to Natsuko.
“Oh my my my? Did you fight?”
“No way. Tokizawa, I want something sweet to drink too.” Subaru answered Tokizawa and Natsuko in a cheerful tone with a smiling face as he ordered a drink.
Tokizawa, who was still in a panic about Subaru’s sudden change of behavior, tried once more before finally starting to prepare his drink.
“Ah, it’s time for us to go, we have work from now,” The girls told them.
The only person who had noticed Tokizawa’s change of disposition was Natsuko. Mari and Kanako, who were drunk after having many drinks, left in good spirits after paying.
The only people who were left were now Natsuko, Tokizawa, and Subaru, who was now a customer. After handing Subaru his drink, he awkwardly turned his back to them and started wiping glasses.
“Those girls from earlier, they work nearby,” Natsuko suddenly said as she split a pistachio shell.
“I see.”
“They’re attached to him, but I don’t think they’re attached like that.”
“Like that?”
“Like romantically.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I thought you might want to know. If I’m wrong then you can ignore it.” Natsuko smiled with her pretty lipstick over her thin lips. The green colored nut could be seen through the shell.
“Why do you think that?” Subaru asked as he stared straight at Natsuko with his almond eyes. Natsuko stayed silent for a while before laughing and putting her glass down.
“You seem kind of scary today and not fun to talk to today~ Let’s chat again when you’re in a good mood.”
Her drink was only half drunk, but she got up from her seat.
“I’ll head home as well. A-Kun, the bill please.”
“Natsuko-San, I’m sorry. I…” Subaru started.
Oh no. Thought Subaru as he also hurriedly got up from his seat in an attempt to stop her. Natsuko, who had taken out her wallet, smiled and waved Subaru away.
“You don’t need to apologize. Even if you’re acting scary, it doesn’t really bother me. But A-Kun on the other hand will freak out so how about you try talking to him properly?”
As she said that, she left with a smile on her face.
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault, isn’t it.” Subaru spoke.
In no time, the bar became silent. Subaru hung his head. Natuko was under his care, and he did poorly on his part. Despite everything she had done for him, Subaru treated her badly. A regular customer left because he decided to expose his bad mood.
“Of course not-”
Tokizawa tried to deny it, but Subaru cut him off and looked up towards his handsome face.
“Did my attitude really come out?”
“What part…?
“The angry one.”
“S-so you really were angry? Why? Um, did I…”
Seeing Tokizawa’s handsome face grow into confusion made Subaru even more irritated. Even though Tokizawa didn’t care one bit when Natsuko left, every single one of Subaru’s actions left him wavering.
Subaru was facing towards Tokizawa. There was a pair of eyes a head above him looking right back at him. Under the dim light of the bar, Tokizawa’s eyes that usually shone now looked like a darker shade of green. Despite his irritation, he couldn’t help but admire them.
“You really hate that fact that I came, don’t you!”
“Of course not.” Tokizawa quickly shook his head in response to Subaru’s question.
“Liar! If you weren’t then why were you trying to chase me off? You still had carbonated water!”
Tokizawa’s eyes shook at the sudden interrogation. His gaze began to swim in a panic. Subaru stayed silent waiting for Tokizawa’s response.
Tokizawa finally closed his eyes in resignation and apologized.
“I’m sorry. But I swear, it’s not because I hated it.”
“Don’t make any excuses, I don’t want to hear them. After all, an ametaur like me would only get in the way so it’s my fault anyways. And if that’s the case, I’d rather you just say it directly. I won’t understand if you say it in a roundabout way.” Subaru sighed and shook his head.
Tokizawa, on the other hand, desperately continued.
“It’s true! W-well it’s half true.”
“What do you mean by half true?”
“W-well, you see, the people who come will all be interested in you.”
“What?”
“Mari-San and Kanako-San were so interested in you and I thought it wasn’t good… because they might ask you a lot of questions and stuff so I thought it would be a good idea if you left for a little bit.” Tokizawa said fretfully and sighed, “Sorry.”
Subaru felt exasperated with this man.
“Are you an idiot?”
“Yes…”
“No matter how you look at it, those girls are interested in you.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
Subaru stared at Tokizawa as he shook his head slowly and reached for the glass.
Even though earlier Subaru had been smoldering in anger just a few minutes ago, it had all disappeared like it was not even something that happened. He finally understood the reason why.
It was relief and superiority.
It was a sense of relief that he wasn’t doing something that was disliked. It was also a feeling of superiority that Tokizawa was ignoring those girls and choosing Subaru over them
Have I always been this much of a detestable guy? Subaru thought as he drank some cold water.
“Um, Subaru. I’m truly sorry. If I made you feel bad then…”
“It’s fine… end of conversation.”
“Ah, okay!”
Seeing Tokizawa suddenly straighten his back as he received the cup that Subaru handed to him, he suddenly remembered that something like this happened before.
But he also remembered a sense of guilt from that time.
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