When Aoi, who was sleeping with Miko, woke up leisurely, she propped herself up, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and looked somewhat dazed at Rice Shower's bed. What surprised her was that the place where a small person should have been sleeping was now neatly folded with bedding, and the person was gone.
"...Huh? Where's little Rice Shower?"
After yawning and finishing washing up on the second floor, when Aoi walked downstairs, she found that Kazuo and Rice Shower were already in the store.
Kazuo was sitting at the front desk, teaching Rice Shower how to use the computer to write record books, and Rice Shower looked very serious.
"Why did you two get up so early? And... is it my imagination? Why is the store so clean?!"
"Rice Shower did it, oh?"
Hearing this, Aoi's eyes widened in disbelief.
"No way? Didn't we play until past two in the morning? What time did you wake up, Rice Shower?"
Quietly... Aoi, who was sleeping beside her, hadn't noticed that Rice Shower would wake up so early... And did she do all of this by herself?
She looked at the freshly cleaned store, the merchandise neatly arranged on the shelves, and the floor meticulously mopped. This amount of work couldn't be done in less than an hour.
Aoi subconsciously glanced at the clock on the wall; it was almost seven... Which meant—
"Rice Shower, why did you wake up so early? Did you get up at six?"
She'd only slept for less than four hours, right?
Can her body handle it?
Thinking of this, Aoi couldn't help but show a worried expression.
Rather than praise, she was more concerned about her physical and mental state, and she couldn't help but worry that Rice Shower was pushing herself too hard.
While certainly surprised by how hard Rice Shower was working for the store, still—
She didn't voice her thoughts, but from her expression, Rice Shower seemed to understand what she wanted to convey.
Feeling a little scared, a little flustered, she lowered her head, at a loss.
Kazuo then spoke, "Rice Shower, could you please go upstairs and wake everyone up?"
She paused for a moment, then nodded obediently, softly hummed, and turned to walk briskly upstairs.
After Rice Shower left, only Kazuo and Aoi remained. At this moment, she quickly leaned over and said with great concern:
"Rice Shower... is she okay? I'm a little worried about her condition..."
Kazuo shook his head and said, "It's fine. Let her do it this way for now. This is her own decision, so we don't need to worry too much."
"But wouldn't that ruin her body? In every way..."
"Only for the last day of her part-time job... that's what she said, right? She wants to do something, wants to make up for something... Let her do it. Manager Kiryu-in and I both believe this is best for her. Or rather, it's an unavoidable part of growth."
"Brother... did he really say that?"
When Kazuo mentioned the Manager, Aoi's expression became subtle. She asked tentatively, and when Kazuo nodded in response, she nodded thoughtfully and said:
"Heh eh... My unreliable brother can be quite dependable sometimes... That hasn't changed..."
Her last words were a bit soft, and Kazuo didn't quite catch them, but Aoi quickly shook her head and said.
"I'm going to check on my brother, he's definitely still sleeping in, isn't he?!"
Kazuo wanted to stop her, but he hadn't expected her to already be striding towards the studio.
"Oh dear..."
.
"Yes, yes... Okay, is this acceptable? Then I will immediately contact the person in charge here... Uh, I'm truly sorry. We've caused you unnecessary trouble... Yes, okay. Thank you for your understanding."
After Kiryu hung up the phone, he finally seemed to relax, slowly leaning back in his recliner.
His tense nerves finally relaxed, and drowsiness washed over him like a tide.
His eyelids felt as if they were fighting.
"...Hmm... It's been a long time since I pulled an all-nighter... It's true that at almost thirty, I can't handle this kind of exertion anymore."
He spoke as he closed his eyes. The computer beside him still displayed the email he had sent to the other party and the archived plan, and on his desk were several proposals sent to him by friends.
Now everything was settled, and he just needed to wait for the final negotiation results from the other side.
Regarding Rice Shower's matter, the issue of handling custom merchandise, he had been busy for a day and a night, and now, he could finally rest.
Half-asleep, he seemed to feel someone enter his room and stand before him. Then, a weight was added to his body. But he was simply too tired; once he closed his eyes, it was as if he had fallen into an abyss.
"Honestly, big brother, I really can't do anything with you..."
.
"Although it might be presumptuous for me to discuss Miss's affairs given my status, if it helps you, Teacher, to assist Miss, then that would be for the best."
Rice Shower's mother is named Lilac and is an Uma Musume from a prestigious noble family. Even though she didn't focus much on Horse Racing in her choices, Rice Shower's mother was an excellent presence who had won several championships in verifiable races.
If Rice Shower was the moon, then her mother, Lilac, was her complete opposite, a sun that could illuminate everyone.
In her early years, Miss Lilac proactively divorced her husband, and Rice Shower was awarded to her mother, who was better equipped to raise her—Lilac, the "Queen" of the business world.
Perhaps it sounds a bit exaggerated, but Rice Shower's mother could even be considered an exceptionally outstanding female elite in society.
Before giving birth to Rice Shower, Miss Lilac was already a powerful woman dominating the business world, decisive and unwavering in her actions. It could be said that while Rice Shower inherited her mother's beautiful looks, she did not inherit her fiery personality.
Compared to the petite Rice Shower, who is only 1.4 meters tall, her mother Lilac, with her devilish figure of 1.9 meters, was definitely beauty queen material.
Overly excellent parents often cause their children to be constantly compared to their past achievements. For example, her name, Rice Shower, would always turn into phrases like "she is Miss Lilac's child."
"At least reach the heights of your parents"
is also an expectation many people have for their children.
Regardless of friends or family, over time, this so-called expectation slowly turned into a heavy burden weighing on Rice Shower.
Perhaps years of such comparisons gradually made Rice Shower less confident, and the divorce of her parents and the long-term lack of parental affection made Rice Shower extremely sensitive, often believing herself to be a child who brings misfortune... Although her family conditions were very affluent, Rice Shower did not show it; on the contrary, she was very low-key in her dealings with others and often fell into pessimistic and negative attitudes—
This information was obtained from Ms. Lilac's personal driver. This old man has also been with her mother for over a decade. He could be said to have witnessed Rice Shower growing up.
And ironically, in reality, this old man, nearly sixty years old, also became the "family member" who often substituted for her mother at parent-teacher conferences, entrance ceremonies, and graduation ceremonies. Regarding career choices, a simple "do as you please" shattered the courage Rice Shower had finally mustered.
Throughout the year, the number of times she spent with Rice Shower was less than half of this old man's.
The more he understood Rice Shower's family situation, the more he wanted to help this child.
And just as Yoshida said, a teacher should not interfere too much in others' family matters, but according to Old Man Yoshida—
Guiding her to change, however, was not a taboo.
That's right, what Kazuo is trying to do now is exactly that.
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