Book 3: Chapter 11: Short Story: Sandwiched By Step-Sister And Senior At Work
*Door opening*
“Excuse me. Asamura-kun… is sleeping. He’s taking a nap during his short break. He must have been tired. I thought I would eat something while talking with him, but… hee hee. Well, whatever. I’d feel bad waking him up just for that. I need to get better at my job so that Asamura-kun doesn’t get as exhausted as he is right now. Even if I can take care of a customer and show them around, Asamura-kun can do that with two people in the same amount of time, so it makes sense for him to be tired. To be honest, I have nothing but respect.”
……
“You’re not listening to me talking, are you? Well, whatever. I’ll just eat something.”
*Door opening*
“Good work~ Oh? It seems like we already have some visitors here. You were giving it your all during the shift, so that makes sense.”
“Good work.”
“Oh, Junior-kun is sleeping, huh? You sure have a lot of guts to sleep like a log next to your little sis.”
“He was already asleep when I entered.”
“Hmmm~ Wah, he’s sound asleep.”
“…Why are you sitting down like we’re sandwiching him?”
“I figured I’d give him a taste of what it means to have a flower in each hand in his dreams, see~”
“I’m sure he’d be happy.”
“You’re talking like it has nothing to do with you~ You’re a flower yourself, so you should at least be confident that you would appear in his dreams.”
“Are you sure he won’t wake up from smelling the food?”
“Haha, having a dream about being fed from both sides, huh? That’s what I’d call luxury.”
……
“Have you gotten used to work already?”
“Thanks to your help.”
“Right, with how much work you do, you basically count for two people, Saki-chan.”
“If I count for two people, then you count for at least four people, Yomiuri-san.”
“Don’t just double it like that. You’re giving me too much credit.”
“It is the truth.”
“Even if it is, I wouldn’t want people to expect that much from me. I can’t handle all that pressure. The first step to failing is to over-evaluate your abilities, remember?”
“So then… I’ll go with me being worth one person.”
“That won’t do~ It’s the truth, after all.”
“Ehhh… You’re thinking of me too highly. I’m still not that good at answering questions about books. It takes quite some time for me.”
“That will change as you get more experienced. If you got the hang of that right away, I’d have lost my position as your senior.”
“Hmmm… Even so, I need to learn more tricks to help me get faster.”
“100 points! If you keep up that mentality, you’ll soon be a professional part-timer.”
“Ahaha… Thank you very much.”
“Ah, if we keep talking this loudly, we might wake Junior-kun up. We’ve gotta keep the volume down a bit… If I whisper into his ears, he might have some kind of reaction in his dream.”
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea..”
“It’s not?”
“They say that you shouldn’t respond to other people’s sleep talk, so Asamura-kun might respond in his sleep. Not to mention that we’d have our priorities backwards if we woke him up in the process.”
“Hmm… So you say, Saki-chan, but I wonder which one Junior-kun would be most delighted about?”
“Um…”
“This is just a bit of a reward for my hard-working Junior-kun, from your beloved senior. Open your mouth. Here, aaaaahn.”
“I don’t think there’s any guarantee that he’ll actually dream about food, though.”
“I’m trying to manipulate his dream by telling him things.”
“He might already be having a great dream right now…”
“Then… Why don’t we make it an even better dream? …Sorry to suddenly call you out here, Junior-kun. I didn’t expect you to tag along with me to this mountain area on the weekend~ We have electricity here, but the wind is so strong…”
*ShioriBlowingInYourEar.mp3*
“W-What are you doing?”
“I was thinking of making it a bit more realistic~ If you’re somewhere deep in the mountains, the wind can be quite strong, right?”
“Ahh… That’s right.”
*ShioriBlowingInYourEar.mp3*
“I do think the wind is a bit too fierce.”
“Oh my? Thanks for coming as well, Saki-chan.”
“This is supposed to be deep in the mountains, right?”
“Indeed, just as the—well, not two of us anymore—but anyway. Why did you come here?”
“It’s dangerous for just the two of you, so I figured the more people the better.”
“Yes, that is true. You’re absolutely right about that. With a flower each of his hands, not to mention deep in the mountains, it’d be like he had managed to grab the unattainable flowers all for himself. What a lucky fellow he is.”
“I think that Asamura-kun would be happier if I weren’t around.”
“No no, there’s no way that’s true. But anyway… We made it, Junior-kun~ Let’s give you an experience you’ll never forget~”
“What are you planning on starting?”
“Something very special. Your first time needs a lot of courage, but if you just jump into the unknown, it’ll end in a flash.”
“Although it’s inside his dream, I don’t think you should be saying such weird things…”
“Even if you know of the danger, sometimes you have to take that first step and let yourself fall. Now that you’ve come all this way, you can’t go back anymore. Right, Junior-kun? Now… jump…… And enjoy the bungee jump.”
“Huh?”
“I was talking about bungee jumping! Hmm? What were you thinking about? Did you think I’d kiss him or something~?”
“Isn’t it dangerous to do bungee jumping on days with strong wind?”
“In reality, yes. That’s why we’re doing it inside of a dream. Who knows? Maybe he was jumping with a flower in both hands~?”
“Oh.”
“Ah, oops. I guess I was playing around a bit too much.”
“Asamura-kun looked like he almost woke up there.”
“He’ll probably get angry at me if he finds out I was playing tricks on him in his sleep, ahaha~ Anyway, I’ll be excusing myself now!”
*Door opening*
“She sure is quick to run away…”
*Door closing*
“Is she that afraid…? Don’t worry. Come on back. Ah, you’ve calmed down a bit, huh? Thanks for the food. I guess I should go as well. I did kind of contribute to Yomiuri-san’s prank, and it would probably be a bit awkward if he found out that I saw him sleeping. Thanks for everything, Asamura-kun.”
*Door opening and closing*
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