1-prologue




'Mmm......'

 I sip the apple juice I hold in my hand as I sit on a park bench, staring up at the sky.
 The sky in the middle of May is so clear that although it is pleasant to look at, it is vaguely spacious.
 Looking at the ingredients of the juice in my hand, I wondered what the mysterious fructose glucose liquid was made of, and I had so much free time on my hands.

'It's been a long time since I've had free time.

 Confused as to what to do on my first day off in years, I took out a clear file from my slightly ragged bag.
 Inside was a simple resume that I had bought at a convenience store, which I hadn't filled out in a while, and the contents were so sparse that I could read it in a few minutes.
 I don't know what I'm going to do with it at the moment, but there's no better way than to prepare something like this as soon as possible.

 Nanaka Futayado. Female, 21 years old, freelancer.
 Her final educational background is a junior high school graduate, and she has worked as a laborer, a day laborer, and at a pachinko parlor.
 This is a summary of what I have written on my resume.


 Let me tell you a little about myself.
 I no longer have parents. They died in a car accident when I was in the third year of junior high school.
 It was sad and painful at the time, but I didn't have time to worry about it.

 The family of my maternal aunt, who became my guardian, was like Big Daddy on TV, a big family supporting 12 children.
 My uncle made a lot of money, but even so, life was hard, and when I joined him, the tightrope that we had to walk even for free became even harder.
 In addition, it was in a strange house with very little personal space.
 Even though I knew I had no right to complain, I was just a 'foreigner'.

 That's why I decided to ask my aunt and uncle to arrange for me to live alone in exchange for giving them my parents' entire inheritance.
 It was not an easy decision to make, but my aunt and uncle finally agreed to my request.

 Since then, I have been working part-time to earn money for rent and food.
 I was a junior high school graduate, so they let me work without saying anything, but it was all manual labor jobs.
 From then on, I did only manual labor jobs and sent the rent to my aunt and uncle from the money I earned.

 In this way, for six years after graduating from junior high school, I earned my living by earning my own money, which I am proud of.

 Incidentally, when I came of age, I found out that my aunt and her husband had not actually used the inheritance I had given them.
 I remember that I cried for the first time in many years when my aunt and her husband said, 'Don't worry about your children.
 The inheritance was returned to me, but I still saved it so that I would not be troubled no matter what happened. It's not enough to live on for the rest of my life.


 Why am I, such a part-time warrior, sitting idly in the park on a weekday afternoon?
 There are some circumstances that are not deep at all.
 I've been working part-time without a break, and I've been getting by just fine, but recently all three of my main places of work have gone under.
 It's a big blow to me, as I've been working seven days a week at those three places.
 I felt sad about why all three places went out of business, and also a little dismayed at my stupidity in not looking for a new place to work after it was decided that they would go out of business.

 Well, I've been working for the past three years without a break, and to be honest, I can't deny that I've been working too hard, so I thought I'd take a break and went out into the city.
 And in an hour, I didn't know what to do, so I ended up in the park.

'Let's go home.

 I threw the plastic bottle I had drunk into a trash can in the distance and sat up from the bench.
 There's nothing to do here, so I'll just go home and sleep.


☆☆




 Ten o'clock at night. I woke up to the sound of an incoming call on my seldom-used smartphone.
 It's an app that seems to have exploded in popularity a few years ago, offering chat and free calls, but only one person is registered as a friend.
 In other words, the person who is calling me now can only be that one person.

'Hello, Rin? That's unusual.

'No, I think it's more unusual for Nana to pick up the phone in person.

'Haha, that's true.

 I agree with the dumbfounded voice.
 I have a part-time job more than full-time seven days a week, so I'm basically unreachable.

 Rin-chan--Rinne Takajo--is the only good friend I've ever had in my life.
 We call each other by our nicknames, Rin-chan and Nana, and it's no exaggeration to say that we were best friends from kindergarten through junior high school.
 It had been a long time since I had talked to such a person, and I was in a slightly happy mood.

'What's going on? Normally I would just message him.

'I wanted to talk to you about something. ...... Hey Nana, are you hiding something?

'What? What? What are you talking about?

'No, it's not normal for Nana to pick up the phone at this hour.

'Ugh, you're the one who talked to me through .......'

'I had a feeling it would connect...'

 I can't help but groan at Rin-chan's valid point.
 You can't blame her for not answering the phone at this time, since the late night shift is more profitable.

'So, you must have had some kind of reaction. Tell me.

'No, there's nothing.'

'What?

'All of my places of employment have gone under. ......'

 Despite my resistance, I was defeated by Rin's pressure.
 A long time ago, after my parents died, I said I would become a freelancer, and Rin-chan told me.
 She said to me, 'You can't be a freelancer, your future is bleak. I'll ask your father for connections, so you'd better work hard.

 Rin's father was the head of a large company called the Takashou Group, and his connections meant that he could get her into one of the companies in the group.
 Lin's father, who is very lenient with her, is the type of man who puts his personal feelings into his work.
 She refused the offer, but he was still very upset about it, and if she lost her job someday, he would definitely give her a hard time.

 By the way, her family is very wealthy and her youngest son, Lin, who is very much loved by her, has never had any difficulties in life.
 She has been given a huge amount of money for free, and also earns a lot of money herself, so I couldn't help but think that money gathers where there is money.

'Three places, all of them?

'Yes, ......'.

'Hmm. ....... Well, that's just fine. I have a lot to say, but it's really convenient.



'What are you talking about?

 I was expecting her to give me a stern lecture, but the reply I got from Rin was somewhat absent-minded.

"Nana, you're not busy right now, right?

'Too much free time, it's so bad.

'Get ready to stay the night and come to my house by noon tomorrow. You can't refuse.'

'What? What's going on?

'I was going to talk to you on the phone, but if you want to meet me in person, that's better. So that's it then.

'Okay, bye.

 I was overwhelmed by Rin-chan's vigor as she hung up the phone after pressing her requirements, but I was sure she was free.
 Tilting my head at the sudden schedule, I opened my closet to prepare my sleepover kit.