by Ko Hiratori
It felt like such an away game. Isn’t this the shop where I work? No? Aren’t I pretty popular here?
(“Haru.”)
Lupe gave me a stealthy You got this fist-clench as she waitressed.
When I took a closer look, I noticed Sumo crunched behind his usual table, looking nervous for some reason and wiping sweat away.
I took a deep breath and smiled.
Even if I couldn’t be as cool as her, I figured I would smile like I usually do.
“E-Err. Well, here’s a song from my hometown. It’s called, ‘Toritetsu.’”
Using a bone for a pick, I strummed.
I had been practicing, so my guitar sounded pretty good.
“I’m gonna go take a pic of the 7:52 DeHa 1000 ♪”
My voice used to be so out of tune it had startled karaoke box employees, but now it rang out beautifully. No one else was paying any attention, but Sumo and Lupe both looked a bit surprised.
Hell, I was surprised at first. I mean, Hectosquad Commander Buffness’s skill was Super Great Singing—that’s hilarious. I should have had him sing for me before killing him.
But now I was the one with the singing voice. I could be confident and let the customers hear it. My songs would bring in business.
Except I was so nervous I couldn’t really sing at all...
I thought once I got started things would work out, but I seriously couldn’t handle it. The pressure of a solo show is no joke. Without someone who knows what they’re doing beside me, I get super anxious. I couldn’t even tell if I was smiling properly or not. All I knew was that I was blushing.
I wanna go nuts. I wanted to be the hype girl like usual. But if I snapped, who would actually perform?
I sang, even though my voice was trembling.
“I wanna take a picture of you on your travels to a new world ♪”
Sumo even started clapping on the beat. (Who does that?)
It’s actually harder to play now. This isn’t a sumo bout!
Then Lupe was trying to get the other customers to do it. This isn’t festival music!
Agh, this is so hard. Whyyyy.
Well, it’s definitely a new kind of show. It’s fun.
You must be smiling, Shequraso.
＊
“Huh? No way! What? You’re giving this to me?”
I was thinking how nervous Sumo looked, and then the next minute he was giving me flowers to celebrate my singing debut.
A bouquet of little pink flowers.
I always thought the best stuff to get from guys was anything practical, like clothes or accessories, and from Sumo, of course, meat made the most sense. This was the first time in my life I’d ever gotten flowers.
“Oh my god...I’m...actually super happy...”
It was super out of character for me, but I really was super happy.
I felt like I was going to cry. Or rather, I did cry.
I had just decided not to shut down or stay quiet about my emotions, so the tears caught me off guard. Unable to hold them back, I made Sumo all flustered.
For some reason even Lupe started crying, and it was like this total season-finale atmosphere even though our fight had just started, and the other customers started clapping even though they hadn’t even been listening.
Idiots. I love you all.
“Ahh, I never thought I’d hear you sing ‘Toritetsu.’ To be blunt, only girls listen to that guy, so I have no interest, but that song is nostalgic. Oh, can you sing that other one? ‘Okuhonzakura.’ My friends said I should do that one in one of those videos where you sing, so I did for a limited time only. I’m not sure how many subscribers I got, but I did get a bunch of likes. So you wanna sing it together?”
I thought my flowers might wilt. I nearly let the snot drip out of my nose.
“Why the hell are you here?”
“I’m here. Isn’t that enough? I thought maybe you had chilled out a bit by now. I mean, it’s not like this was the first time you said stuff that made no sense, so with that in mind I just felt like, I gotta protect you, ya know? Heh-heh.”
Chiba pushed his red helmet back (it didn’t actually go back, though) and blushed.
I can’t believe this guy. There is seriously no point to me having anything to do with him.
So why did I murmur his name so often when I was getting passed around between a hundred guys? That is some dark-past shit.
I should deactivate Level Bind... I should take this idiot out...
“Oh, it’s raining.”
Rain fell, as if to cool my heart’s rolling boil.
I remembered the icy look in that guy’s eyes.
Since we slept together, the silver-haired man hadn’t been to the shop even once.
I wondered why. Was I that bad? I might seriously lose confidence. Especially near the end, I was a total mess, a shame as a pro, but...
No.
He was outside the shop. My Woman skill, or rather, my nose, was telling me so.
I stuck my bouquet into Chiba’s helmet and ran out the door. That wet silver hair that stood out even at night. That height wrapped in that long coat. Those awfully sharp eyes.
It was him.
My heart was positively skipping.
“H-Hi, good evening. A-Aren’t you getting all wet in the rain? Come on inside the shop!”
He stared at my face and then, without changing his expression, said, “I don’t need a drink. I just came to see your face.”
...
Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?
I was stunned for a second and turned the color of boiled octopus.
Uh, I can’t do this. I’m on the clock right now. B-But maybe I could talk to Madam and get time off starting now, and maybe, uh, would inviting him to my room work? Actually, it’d be the first time having a guy in my room not for work. W-Would he like, sleep over?
It was so sudden I wasn’t ready at all. Well, my body was! It’s my job, after all.
But man, this guy is always saying the most random stuff with a blank expression.
“...I knew someone like you would appear at some point. I just never thought it would be you.” He squinted. It was all like a riddle to me.
“I’m steeped in hatred. I don’t want your forgiveness or pity. I also know that you’re all from a different generation. Evolution, change, those are things humans do—they’re creatures that discard the past. For you lot, my hatred is just a story. Especially for you other-worlders.”
The rain poured down his hair and face.
Maybe he can’t survive outside the rain. It occurred to me that maybe he was incapable of crying.
“Someone will appear to end the story. Regardless of what sort of conclusion it is, I’m sure it will be bad luck for me. Maybe when it happens, I’ll be glad it was you. That’s what I thought, so I came to see your face”
He clammed up and just looked at me.
I felt like I should say something, but I really didn’t understand what he was talking about, so I couldn’t. I couldn’t even put on a polite smile, so I just stared back, blankly.
Then I had the feeling he smiled just a tiny bit.
“Next time, you come to me.”
Is that a proposition?
But without even telling me his address, he turned his back to me.
“I have no intention of being done yet. If you come, I won’t screw around. You better keep improving. As you are now, you’ll never reach me.”
He seemed to melt into the rain, and his back vanished.
Ultimately, I saw him off without understanding what he meant or my own feelings.
I had the feeling I’d been rejected.
But I also kind of felt like I’d practically been proposed to.
I was so dazed I wondered if I was okay.
Maybe it would be scary to learn any more about him. Maybe the closer I got to him, the less he’d like me. I had the feeling I’d clashed with some intense solitude.
But, I
really do like him.
He was the only one of all the guys I’ve slept with who didn’t give me any experience or skills.
I have no idea why he was the only one like that, but it felt sort of nice, and I thought it would be cool if it ended up being a “miracle of love” or something.
That would make me so happy, I prayed to the rain.
As soon as he was gone, the rain stopped.
“Haru, what are you doing? You’re getting soaked!”
“What’s with that bright-red handkerchief? Are you that magician from Ibaraki or something?”
“I’m the magician from Chiba! Err, I’m not even a magician! And I wasn’t born in Chiba, either! I was born in Tokyo and raised in another world—”
“Haru, you can use this.”
“Thanks.”
Lupe handed me a fluffy towel, and I dried my hair.
Phew, I was cold. And Chiba was so lame.
“...Did something happen?”
Lupe looked worried, but I told her it was nothing.
What else could I say? I had no idea what would happen.
And it was a prostitute’s love.
“All riiiight! I’m warmed up!”
Don’t fret, me. Let’s get this night started!
“I am really in the mood to do it tonight! First guy gets freebies that will send you to Heaven! Who’s it gonna be?”
Did I just hear a pin drop? The whole place fell silent. Just as I thought I had screwed up again, everybody burst out laughing and guy after guy put his hand up.
I go for 100 rubers.
But the bidding started, and in the blink of an eye, the price broke 200. The losers got a toast and a hug to thank them for their hard fighting. Then everyone watched even more closely until finally there were only two left.
“I-I’ll pay 300 rubers!”
“Fine! Then I’ll pay 305!”
“310!”
“Nrrrgh...315!”
It was Sumo and Chiba. What can I say? I guess these are the guys who will always be around, but the competition was pretty lacking in novelty.
But like, somebody teach Chiba how to bid. His turns were really anti-climactic.
Well, at this rate Sumo will win for sure.
That’s fine, I’ll make him want me so bad. I’ll force his sea of meat right out of the ring—hakkeyoi! ...is what I was thinking when a voice that was mature and quiet, but still carried, rang out.
“1,000 rubers!”
Outside the hubbub, a man was sitting at a table.
Who knew when he had showed up, but this grandpa with white hair and a white beard held up the announced money and narrowed his eyes in a challenge to Chiba and Sumo.
“...Hm? What’s wrong?”
More than the money, everyone was caught off guard by, I guess, his presence, so no one said anything. A beat-up ten-gallon hat, yet his leather jacket seemed well-made. Rugged boots. And he wore a sword on each hip, which was rare. I’d seen a lot of people, but he was the first dual-wielder.
A bit of a punkish old man? Nope, more like the confidence of a full-on active delinquent. The edges of his lips curled up.
“So, did I win, girlie?”
Sumo looked into his wallet and shook his head. Chiba was hilariously pale and trembling.
I opened my arms and welcomed the old man.
“Sold for 1,000 rubers! Thank you for your purchase!”
＊
The first thing the grandpa did when he entered my room was sit on the bed.
There aren’t any chairs, so sitting there is a matter of course, but he must have been pretty used to women if he could act like that going into someone’s room for the first time.
“There’s nothing in here.”
The way he didn’t take off his swords even when he took his hat off made it seem like he was used to all sorts of things.
He glanced around the room, then fixed his eyes on me and asked, “Been in this business long?”
“Mm, hasn’t been quite a year yet.”
I undid the buttons on my back and loosened my dress.
His gaze seemed to go right through my skin, but his eyes weren’t taking stock of a woman; it was more like a stabbing, they were so sharp. He was a little like my guy.
“So, girlie, do you know what a succubus is?”
“I’ve ridden the Catbus, but...?”
Ignoring my excellent pun, the grandpa man put a finger to his temple and narrowed his eyes. “A succubus is, well, it’s a legendary monster. To put it simply, they eat men. Starting down there. They suck out their vitality ’till they’re bone-dry and take ownership of them. Awful, really, wouldn’t you say?”
I took off the wrap-thing that went around my breasts.
I’ve gotten pretty confident in my bust these days. It’s bigger now.
He ignored it, but anyhow.
“I don’t know if it’s that or not, but there’s a monster in this town.”
I folded up the wrap and set it on my dress. Finally I reached for my final weapon, my panties.
“The army hasn’t even done a proper investigation, yet they’re assuming it’s one of the demon lord’s henchmen. They heard the rumors, but you know, it was that hectosquad commander’s unit. If you go to the scene, though, you can tell right away. They weren’t up against a demon. And it wasn’t the army who killed the demon horde. It was a monster. There’s a single monster who did that all on its own.”
I’m so proud of my beautiful ass, but when I showed it to him, he didn’t so much as flinch.
Did you come to the wrong shop? This isn’t a nursing home!
Grandpa was still absorbed in his own story, and explained it to me as if I was a kid, gesturing with his pointer fingers.
“If you count the corpse of the hectosquad commander, which disappeared, there were a hundred humans. There were also a hundred demons. The damn thing counted! Which side is this monster on? Humans or monsters? It had no sympathy for either and made an impartial ruling. It’s saying that both sides are shitty.”
He had his two fingers fight, but made the sole survivor neither of them and put up a pinky finger.
“The culprit is a kid. It’s a monster, but inside, it’s a child. It’s drunk on power and acting like God—a damned brat with its pubescent nonsense hanging out.”
He looked not at my naked body, but at my face as he spoke.
“The rain had mainly wiped them out, but I found a woman’s footprints. She went on a horse and returned on a horse. To the barracks. But from there she returned to the city on foot.”
There were people who had seen sex workers entering the barracks a few days prior, he explained, his eyes sharpening even more—he was practically glaring at me, like he was tying me up, even though I was totally naked and unarmed.
“The thought of a monster brat living in my town like it owns the place makes me so mad I’m losin’ sleep. And it must have killed them all for some stupid reason. If I find it, I’ll have to chop it apart on behalf of the great human race.”
When I took a closer look at his swords, I saw they were tied with a weird string.
If I deactivated Level Bind and tried to steal them, I probably wouldn’t have been able to. It was probably designed so that only he can draw them.
I heard about something like that from a customer once.
That the really strong guys were cautious.
“You wouldn’t happen to know anything, would ya, girlie? If you have any ideas, please tell me.”
Echoes of the dumb hubbub downstairs reached my room, but the air between us was frozen stiff.
If he was going to call that night “stupid,” then I was the one who couldn’t forgive him.
But even I could tell he was trying to get a rise out of me, that it was a trap.
A brothel at night is the scene of arguments, fights, weird business deals—I’ve seen so much.
I’d slept with this degree of danger lots of times.
A se
x worker uses their whole body to fight, not just their biceps.
“Hey, Mister.” I swayed my hips as I approached, and crouched to peer into his face. “If you talk about such boring stuff in front of a naked lady, you’re never gonna get any.”
If you would just ask what my true form is, I’d tell you. Looking at my body is enough to know what I am.
He lifted the corners of his lips slightly. But the glint in his eyes didn’t soften at all.
I straightened up and showed him my full body in lieu of giving him a business card.
“I’m Haru. I’m a sex worker at Blue Cat Nocturne.”
The boobs and butt I’ve developed here are my pride and joy.
I haven’t had the body of a JK for a long time. This is a sex worker’s body.
“I may not look it, but I’m the fourth most popular girl here. It was really hard to get this far—seriously rough. Men don’t know how tough it is to live as a single woman in this city, huh? It’s super exhausting. Totally takes it out of you. You don’t get into this line of work because you want to.”
I’m shoving grass up my pussy every day! Is this airport security?!
“But I hung in there. And thanks to that, I learned a ton of things about this world. I thought a lot. And I reached a conclusion. This whole world is a brat, from my point of view—it’s got a lonnnnng way to go.”
The grandpa guy’s piercing blue eyes widened a bit as I talked about this new world.
But he was flexible like a bow. He put his fingers to his temple and smiled like he was listening to his grandkid.
When he was young, he was probably a total stud. He was still pretty good-looking now.
“This is a place for boys to play, a world where boys and only boys get to live out their fantasies. They get all excited about rules convenient for them and hobbies that suit only their tastes, and if you say any little thing, they get pissed. But maybe it’s time they were conscious of girls. If they knew what girls were thinking, they could discover so much. Maybe they’re afraid that their world will be destroyed, but if they never go beyond their own giddy circles, then of course girls will think they’re gross. Open your hearts. Listen a little more to what girls have to say. Then this world would grow up and be more cheerful.”
I want affection, too. I want to be wrapped in the arms of that gentle world.
