Chapter 32: Start of work

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

---

“Uh, um, so basically this girl is going to help with Ren's work…?”

“Yes. My name is Airi Sugawara. Fukagawa-kun… Ren-kun—I'll do my very best for him.”

“O-Oh, I see…”

I introduced Sugawara-senpai to my mom.

After all, she would be working at my house five days a week from now on.

Still, my mom didn't look entirely pleased.

Even if they weren't in the same room, having a teenage son and a girl under the same roof every night was enough to make any parent uneasy.

Sugawara-senpai spoke to Nodoka Komori, who was preparing dinner in the kitchen.

“You're quite used to this, aren't you? Playing housewife?”

“T-That's not it at all! Th-this is just my way of repaying Ren for saving my life!”

“Then… would you mind if I took over that housewife role?”

“E-Eh!? Th-that's…”

“Just kidding. You're blushing—how cute.”

“Even if you’re my Senpai, I'll hit you, you know!? Also, do you have any foods you dislike or allergies?”

“Nope, I'll eat anything.”

Having both of them in my house…

It felt strangely unreal.

Just a month ago, I couldn't have even imagined a scene like this.

My mom suddenly grabbed my left arm tightly.

“H-Hey, Ren. Come here for a second.”

She pulled me to the corner of the room and, while glancing at Nodoka and Sugawara-senpai, whispered:

“So, which one is it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean, between those two—which one is your main girl!? D-Don't tell me you're two-timing them…”

“They're not like that at all…”

Until now, the only girl around me had been Yuzuki.

So it wasn't surprising that my mom was reacting so strongly to suddenly having multiple girls in the house.

“Besides, I'm not planning on getting a girlfriend yet.”

“I-Is that so…? Well, if that's the case, fine… But seriously, don't lead girls on, okay? One day you might get stabbed.”

“I'm not some playboy.”

“You never know. Even your father—he's got thinning hair and a beer belly now, but back when he was popular, he was kind to every girl and had quite the following.”

So my mom managed to win over that kind of guy, huh?

In that case, the impressive one isn't my dad—it's definitely my mom.

“Ren! Dinner's ready!”

Just then, Nodoka called out.

I quickly sat down at the table.

And for some reason, Nodoka and Sugawara-senpai sat down on my left and right.

…There were empty seats next to my mom across from me, so why squeeze in like this?

Just like on the emergency staircase before, I ended up sandwiched between the two of them.

My mom watched me with a cold stare.

“Like father, like son… honestly.”

---

Nodoka packed up a portion for Anna and went back home.

Sugawara-senpai stayed at my house.

We went upstairs and entered the empty room next to mine.

“You can work here.”

“This is supposed to be an empty room…? It's actually really clean.”

“Well, we also use it for guests sometimes.”

In reality, it was basically a storage room.

Some of my parents' things were there, but most of it was mine.

Still, since it doubled as a guest room, I made sure to keep it clean.

Pointing at the laptop and sub-monitor on the low table, I said:

“You'll be using these for your work. Can you use a computer?”

“I know how to use a mouse and keyboard… probably. It's been a long time since we had a computer at home.”

They probably sold it when her father's business failed.

Given how little furniture they had, there was no way a computer would still be around.

“Oh right, senpai. Use this too.”

I took out a smartphone I had prepared beforehand.

“A-a smartphone?”

“Yeah. A work phone. You know some companies provide those, right?”

“But something this new…”

“It's a few years old, not that new. It used to be mine, so don't worry about it.”

Since stock apps are heavy, I always keep both my phone and PC updated to the latest specs each year.

So for calls, LINE, or reading web novels, it should still work perfectly fine.

“I'll cover the communication costs too, so don't worry about it.”

Sugawara-senpai hesitantly accepted the phone.

Since I had reset it, the screen displayed “Hello.”

“So since it's a work phone, I can only use it during work hours, right?”

“No, that's not necessary. I'd actually prefer if you carried it with you at all times.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to contact you whenever I need to.”

Even as I said it, it sounded like something a power-harassing boss would say.

But framing it as a work instruction would probably make it easier for her to accept.

“Oh, and this isn't work-related, but make sure to exchange LINE with Nodoka using that phone, okay?”

“Got it. But I want the first person I add on this new phone to be you, Fukagawa-kun.”

After finishing the setup and installing LINE, she showed me her QR code.

I pulled out my phone and scanned it.

This would save us the trouble of having to find each other during lunch breaks.

“Oh, right. You'll need this too.”

I took out a futon and spread it on the floor.

“If your back starts hurting, you can lie down here.”

“Eh? Really? What if I accidentally fall asleep…”

“Well, just be careful about that yourself. And if you're really sleepy, it's fine to just sleep. I don't intend to overwork you at the cost of your health.”

After all, this job was just an excuse to keep her at my place during weekday nights.

“Got it. You're right—if I'm not healthy, your favorite legs of mine would be ruined.”

“Exactly. You have a duty to stay healthy for my sake.”

She smiled softly and gently held my hand.

“Thank you. I'll work really hard for you, Fukagawa-kun.”

“Yeah, I'm counting on you.”

After that, I turned on the laptop and gave her a simple explanation of the trading tools and my portfolio.

Perhaps because of her experience with various part-time jobs, she listened with intense focus, writing down everything without missing a word.

It was a level of seriousness I'd never seen from her before.

“It's not that difficult, right? The key is not missing sudden stock movements or unexpected news.”

“It seems easier than I thought. Basically, I just have to keep watching the screen, right?”

“Yeah. Any other questions?”

“I understand the job itself, but, um…”

Sugawara-senpai fidgeted awkwardly, which was unlike her.

“What do ‘long' and ‘short' mean…?”

“Ah, I skipped over that part a bit. ‘Long' is the typical investment method—buy low and sell high. In other words, you're expecting the stock price to go up. ‘Short' is the opposite. You're expecting the price to go down and profit from that.”

“Huh? How do you make money if the price goes down?”

“It's also called short selling… Let me put it simply. Say I borrow a pencil from you for a week. Right after borrowing it, I sell it secondhand for 500 yen. Then a week later, I buy the same pencil back for 200 yen and return it to you.”

“So you make a profit of 300 yen that way?”

I nodded.

In reality, it was more complicated, but she wouldn't be making the investment decisions herself.

This level of explanation was enough.

“My main specialty is shorting. So when bad news comes out, it's actually good news for me.”

“I see… I don't really know much about that kind of thing, so I can only think you're amazing, Fukagawa-kun.”

“But doesn't it bother you at all, senpai?”

“About what?”

“Well… you could say I'm making money off other people's misfortune.”

Of course, from my perspective, I was simply making full use of my abilities.

But it wasn't exactly something society viewed positively.

That's why I had kept the fact that I was a short seller hidden even from my parents and Yuzuki.

This was the first time I had told someone openly—Sugawara-senpai.

“Well… I don't really have any knowledge in that area, so I don't even have a sense of what's right or wrong… But I don't think you're taking advantage of other people's misfortune.”

“…You don't?”

She smiled softly.

“Because… I'm happy right now.”

At those words, my face grew hot without me realizing it.

---

A little over a week passed.

Sugawara-senpai worked with more focus and precision than I had expected.

In my dream, she had said she was clumsy, but that didn't seem to be the case at all.

Like usual, I had just woken up and was getting ready for school when—

Ring, ring, ring—

My phone started ringing.

When I checked, it was that private detective.

“My apologies for calling so early. Is now a good time?”

“Yes, it's fine.”

“I'd like to give you an interim report. We've identified the underground casino the target frequently visits. It took some effort, but we successfully infiltrated it.”

“You've got the time frames too?”

“Yes. I'll send you a summary in a table.”

As expected of someone known as a top professional in this field.

Now there was just one thing left.

“There's one more request I'd like to make. Of course, I'll pay an additional fee.”

I would show Sugawara-senpai the truth.

Even if it was cruel, I would settle everything at once.

“Please arrange for two people to be able to infiltrate that underground casino.”