Chapter 91 – College Life

 

Once I got used to it, living alone was easy.

 

At first, I got unnecessarily anxious about everything. Oftentimes, I would check on my doorknob multiple times before going outside to make sure it was locked. I also got scared whenever I lit the gas stove, thinking that if I mishandled it, it would explode and kill me.

 

Since my apartment was next to the Hirose River, I would also sometimes get anxious about the possibility of it flooding. Though, that was a needless worry since the building was located on a high ground.

 

*   *   *

 

It is currently April.

 

Spring was supposed to come around this time, but the weather was still cold. I still wore long-sleeved clothes whenever I went outside.

 

Outside was the Hirose River. I’ve seen people fishing there often whenever I walked on the bridge while listening to the song I’ve been listening to since high school, ‘On the Nature of Daylight.’ This song calmed my mind whenever I listened to it. (T/N: It was a song by Max Richter, you probably heard of it if you’re old like me.)

 

Life in the university was confusing at first, but I quickly got used to it.

 

Unlike in high school, I was pretty much free to do whatever I wanted. No more waking up early in the morning or being forced to study about something I wasn’t interested in.

 

My major was Japanese Literature. The main subjects of my major were to study and explore the arts and literature that originated from Japan. I learned that there were actually a lot of people who loved to read books, like me, studying here.

 

Just like in high school, I was popular.

 

I could sense people’s gazes on me whenever I walked around the campus. There were a lot of club members trying to block my way and using recruitments as an excuse to talk to me. Of course, I rejected them all. Not only them, the boys also tried to pick me up randomly whenever I came across them. Everytime they did that, I just told them to their faces that I had someone I liked already and they would leave me with wry smiles.

 

One day, I was standing in line at the cafeteria.

 

My campus’ cafeteria was the type of cafeteria where you put the food you want onto a tray, then you could pay for them after you were done picking them. Among the drinks selection, a carton box of tomato juice stole my attention. Yeah, it was the drink that Sui loved. When I was about to pick it up, I heard someone’s voice from behind.

 

“Do you want this one?”

 

I asked that person.

 

“No… Um, you’re Hiwa-san, right?”

 

That would be my first meeting with the girl that would become my first friend in college. Sakuraba Chiho.

 

She was an Economics student, but because of my fame in her club, she came to know about me. Later, I found out that it wasn’t a coincidence that she was standing behind me at that time as she had been trying to strike a conversation with me for a while.

 

Chiho was what everyone would call a fashionable college girl. She often wore long and cool skirts, following the current trend. She often took me to clothing stores because my sense of fashion was lacking and I only had simple clothes back at home.

 

“Is your boyfriend a salaryman, Arina? Or is he a student like us?”

 

I was having lunch with Chiho at a restaurant near Sendai Station.

 

Everyone assumed that I had a boyfriend because I’ve been telling everyone that I had someone that I liked. She had been keeping her curiosity in check ever since we became friends and never asked about it even once, but I guess she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

 

“It’s complicated…”

“Ah, are you in an LDR?”

 

Since I had no reason to hide anything from her, I told her about Sui. About how he fell into a coma one day. About how I confessed to him and was still waiting for an answer from him. I didn’t tell her about my dual personality or amnesia, though. That was too dark of a topic to bring up.

 

“…That’s the gist of it… Well, I wasn’t lying when I said that I have someone that I like, though he isn’t my boyfriend or anything like that…”

“Pure love…”

 

Chiho put a handkerchief to the corners of her eyes and wiped away her tears.

 

“So that’s why you didn’t join any clubs. The guys there tend to be nosy, especially the older guys.”

“Well, I actually have another reason for that. I need more free time, you see?”

“What for? Part-time job?”

“Yeah, I’m going to look for one soon.”

“I see. Alright, if there are still people forcing you to join their clubs, I’ll punch them in their faces, just leave it to me!”

 

I had not decided what kind of job I wanted to do.

 

I had never worked before and I didn’t know what I was good at. I could look for an interesting job, but that kind of job tends to have lower payments.

 

“What about you? Won’t you get a part-time job?”

“I don’t think so. My parents are too overprotective of me. They send me a lot of money every month so I can concentrate on my studies and they won’t let me get a part-time job even if I wanted to.”

“Too bad then. You can’t meet a nice senpai at your part-time job.”

“I don’t want that anyway. I want to find someone like the boy you like, Arina~”

 

Chiho crossed her arms and closed her eyes before going into the fantasy world. 

 

*   *   *

 

I decided to look for a part-time job.

 

With the sound of Hirose River as a BGM, I looked up the part-time jobs available for me near the station area. The most common job available was at a cafe or a restaurant. Since I wasn’t confident with my stamina, I ignored those kinds of jobs. The next most common job available was home teaching, but it seemed like a hassle, so I decided not to take it.

 

Should I try to work at a bookstore? There was a job available at the bookstore I often visited near the station. I decided to go for it, so I applied for the job.

 

Night came and suddenly, my phone rang. I thought it was news about my job application, but it was actually Tsuru.

 

“I’ll be home for the Golden Week~”

 

Right, Golden Week would be this week, huh? It would be a perfect chance for everyone who moved out of the prefecture to return home.

 

“Just give me a call when you’re back. I can hang out with you anytime as long as I don’t have a shift, well if they accept my application, that is.”

“Shift? You’re getting a part-time job, Arina? What is it?”

“Clerk at a bookstore.”

“Oh, great. I can see you walking around with a book in your hands, it suits you.”

“Well, in any case, if they accept my application, it’ll be a bit harder for us to meet up.”

“Don’t worry, I can adjust to your schedule! I don’t have anything to do anyway, so feel free to tell me when you’re available~”

 

She hung up not long after.

 

It had been a while since I last saw her, I wonder how much had she changed? I had not changed at all, but she was a different case than mine. She loved to dress up in fancy clothes, so now that she was free to dress up in whatever outfit she wanted, I was excited to see what she had in store.

 

The next day, I received an email from the bookstore and had an interview scheduled with them.

 

It was scheduled on the first day of the Golden Week. Aside from that, the day passed without any interesting thing happening. I went to the campus to attend the lectures, had lunch at the cafeteria and walked around the campus like usual.

 

Eventually, the Golden Week came and I went to the bookstore for the interview.

 

I wasn’t nervous because I had been coming to this place since I was in high school. I went to the clerk and told them that I had an interview scheduled. After hearing that, they brought me to the manager’s office.

 

The manager was a woman and the interview was brief. She only asked me a few simple questions like ‘Why did you decide to work here?’, or ‘What major are you in your university?’ and so on. After that was done, she handed me some documents.

 

“What time would be convenient for you, Hiwa-san?”

 

With that, my application was accepted. I told her the time during the evening when my lectures were less likely to overlap with the job.

 

After I filled out the contract and talked a little about the details of my shift, everything was pretty much over. We had a small talk before she let me leave the room. After that, I left the bookstore.

 

Hoping that everything will go well for me, I walked back home while skipping my steps occasionally.