Wednesday, 5/25 (Early Morning)

"I saw a new job posting on the town bulletin board!" a girl cried. I glanced at her. "The daily pay for being a tutor looks really good," she continued.

"Yeah, but…. Don't you need to have more knowledge before anyone would ask YOU to tutor them?" her friend replied.

"Wh-Why would you say that!? Anyway you're wrong! It turns out you need understanding to take the tutoring job!" the first girl snapped.

"Yeah, but you don't have much of that, either," the friend said with a smirk.

"That's not true! I understand everything!" the first girl protested. "Maybe I can start washing dishes at Shiroku bar. You need understanding there, too."

Interesting….

(After School)

"I've seen you around here a lot," a man told me as I was staring at the selections in front of the book store. "Are you interested in books?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"I read a lot, but I end up throwing my books away when I'm done with them," he said with a shake of his head. "I feel bad for the books, though. I thought maybe someone like you can give them a little love…. So are you interested?"

"Tell me about it."

"Ah, I see. But, I never said I'd give you my books for free." Ugh… should've known. "I want a peach seed," he continued with a tiny smirk on his face. "Bring me one of those and I'll trade you for a book, okay?"

"All right," I answered. Hmm… let's see if I have one…. I rummaged through my bag and brought one out. The reader's eyes instantly lit up.

"All right, let's trade for that peach seed," he said. "Do you have it?" I nodded. "Oh, nice. I like this one. Okay, here you go." He handed me a book. The title read, "The Gentle Way." Huh.

Anyway, I decided to check out the new jobs.

I read the pub dishwasher job info. It said you need some understanding. Why you need understanding to wash dishes at night, I don't know. I decided to accept the job, though.

Next one: hospital janitor. Apparently, you go at night, too. It says you need courage. Psh. I got that in the bag! I mean, what can be scarier than Shadows? I accepted the job.

Last one: tutor. You go at night, too. Huh. Anyway, it says you need understanding. That's something I have plenty of. I accepted it, too.

"Oh, hi Misaki-chan," Yukiko said as I was looking through my locker. I had forgotten something that I put in there and found some Segaki Rice.

"Hi," I replied. "Uh, wanna hang out?"

And so, she dragged me to the flood plain.

She handed me a homemade boxed lunch.

"It came out well, so I packed it up. Try it out," she told me. I opened it up and studied it. It looked normal. Suddenly I caught a whiff of something that smelled horrible.

"Well… let's eat!" I tried to say brightly. It must've sounded a bit strangled. I mean, it did to me.

"Go ahead!" Yukiko said with a firm nod. She looked at me expectantly.

I started with the… omelette-looking thing, regretting my choice greatly. Hmm…. It's actually sof—what the hell!? There's like a freaking rock inside!

I caught another whiff of this stuff. It smelled burnt, yet raw…. Suddenly, I felt my stomach lurch, and I quickly covered my mouth. It wouldn't be good if I threw up here….

After a long while I finally swallowed it, feeling sick.

"… You're not about to tell me how delicious that was, are you?" Yukiko muttered, looking sad.

"W-Well… there's always next time," I replied, setting the food on my lap.

"I-I suppose…. Thank you." She let out a relieved sigh.

"What are you doing?" someone suddenly asked. I glanced around and found Nanako.

"Hi," I greeted her with a nod.

"Ah, Nanako-chan…. Well, I was just having her try my boxed lunch…" Yukiko answered.

"Ooh, I want some," my cousin said, jumping up and down excitedly as Yukiko glanced away.

"I-I'm sorry, but I can't give you any. It's not good…" she murmured. Yeah, you'll die Nanako….

"Oh. If you make a good one, will you let me have some?" Nanako asked.

"S-Sure, if you want," Yukiko replied uncertainly.

"Yay! I'm rooting for you!" Nanako exclaimed, beaming at the older girl.

"Nanako-chan…. Thank you. I'll do my best, okay?"

"I need to go now," Nanako suddenly said. "I'm going to Mai-chan's house. Bye!" She spun around and walked away.

"Be careful," Yukiko called. She then shook her head. "Umm… I'm sorry to drag you around…."

"I'm having fun," I replied with a bright smile. Well… it wasn't fun when I ate that… thing….

"R-Really? I'm glad to hear that," she said with a relieved sigh. "Only about a year left, huh…? I need to be able to do anything on my own by then…."

"Good luck," I told her, flashing her a thumbs-up.

(Evening)

I continued to read "English Made Easy." I flipped to the middle of the book and read some of it.

There were no new things to learn. I sighed and tossed the book to the side.

Thursday, 5/26 (Afternoon)

I studied the map of Ancient Egypt in the textbook.

"You'll also find a picture of Great Pyramids, the pride of Egypt," Ms. Sofue said. "It was said that these pyramids were built by slaves. However, upon excavation, attendance records of the workers were found, disproving that theory." Interesting. "Hohoho, I'd believed in the nobility of the ancient Egyptians since even before they found those records... Ancient remains are the real stars of history! Don't you all feel the romance that comes of looking back on ancient times?" Kinda. History's pretty interesting at times. "My older brother is just a boring old samurai with no interest in ancient civilizations. He looks like an idiot in the kabuto! This nemes is much more elegant!" Honestly, I prefer the samurai look. "Hmm? You there! Mr. Hanamura! Don't start zoning out just because I changed the subject! Tell me how the theory that the pyramids were built by slaves was disproven!" She pointed her crook accusingly at Yosuke.

"What!?" he cried. "Uh…. Something about laborers?" I sighed and shook my head.

"Yosuke, you should pay attention more. It's interesting!" I hissed.

"Hey shut up!" he snapped.

"It's attendance logs, daydreamer," I told him.

"Impressive, Mr. Hanamura. You've got it," Ms. Sofue told him when he repeated my answer. "Yes, the theory was disproven after the attendance logs of the laborers were found. There are even notes listed as reasons for absence, such as 'hangover'! If the labor was being done by slaves, they wouldn't have been allowed to take days off for things like that, would they? It seems that the long-prevailing theory was very different from the truth."

"Thanks, Misaki! I'll have to listen to the lectures more attentively…" Yosuke muttered.

"You'd better," I replied with a smirk. He sent me a glare before turning back to the front.

(After School)

I sat down at a table with Yukiko at the Junes food court.

"Ummm, notebooks, three colors of pens, a loose-leaf folder, labels at the stationery department…" Yukiko muttered, checking her list. "Then the furniture department. I want to look at the desks. Those and the lamps…."

"What's all this for?" I asked, trying to look at her list.

"Studying!" she giggled. "I'm thinking of studying seriously for a job license. Though I haven't decided on exactly which one I'll pursue. But I was thinking of trying for all the ones I feel I can earn. I've started working at night, you see. Remember the job you told me about? Thanks to that, I have some money…."

"Huh? Well, if it isn't the manager of the Amagi Inn," someone drawled. I glanced up and found a suited man, accompanied by two other people. I eyed him suspiciously. "Or should I say, the manager-to-be," he continued with a smirk.

"I see you haven't gone home yet," Yukiko told them curtly, glaring at them.

"Well, I can't very well go anywhere until the next bus or train departs. This really is the boonies. Stuck here with nothing to do…. Man, the countryside is the dumps." Wha—! No… calm down. Everyone's entitled to his own opinion. There's nothing I can do about it.

"Then why the hell are you here?" I asked. He glared at me and opened his mouth to speak.

"I beg to differ," Yukiko interrupted. The suited man directed his attention to Yukiko.

"Turning down sweet deals is part of country life, too, is it?" he chuckled dryly.

"Maybe it's cause you look like a pedophile," I muttered. "And your deal actually sucks." Whatever it is. He glared at me once more before walking away.

"Oh…. I'm sorry," Yukiko apologized. "Those people are from the T.V. station. They wanted to cover the Amagi Inn…."

"You said no?"

"Yes…." Her face turned pink. "It's a 'news of the weird' show…. It isn't real journalism. You know that our inn was associated with Ms. Yamano's murder, right? They wanted to make a special called, 'Hot Springs Getting Too Hot for the Amagis!?' It was an abhorrent title. Mother turned them away…. But maybe she shouldn't have declined."

"Huh?"

"I mean…. If it gets a bad reputation…. We'd lose customers, and the inn really would close its doors. Then…. I'd feel better about leaving."

"….. What? Are you serious?"

"I'm serious…" she muttered darkly. I simply stared at her. "But you're right, there's no real point in saying things like that," she continued. "I'm leaving under my own power…. My life is in my hands now. And of course, I want to help everyone. You too, for being such a patient listener all the time.

"W-Well, let's go shopping," she suggested. "First is… the stationery department…."

(Evening)

I took a deep breath and told my uncle that I was gonna work part-time in the evenings.

"What…? You're working part-time in the evenings?" he repeated, looking a bit shocked. "Hey…. I'm your guardian, you know? Do you think I'm going to allow you to do something like this?"

"…. You should," I replied.

"You seem rather composed about it," he muttered. "Well…. You can probably get away with it because you have no intention of doing anything bad…. Sheesh. All right, I'll allow it. I believe you. It's better than having you sneaking out behind my back. But, even though this is a small town in the countryside, there's a lot of chances to get into trouble. Watch out. It's a promise, go it?" I nodded.

I just stood there next to him awkwardly.

"So um... How's it going?" Dojima suddenly asked me. "Oh, er…. Well, maybe that wasn't the right line…." I could tell he's struggling to find the right words. "I don't consider myself an old man yet, but when it comes to high schoolers…. I don't know what to talk about." I chuckled.

"Want some ideas?" I joked.

"You're that bored…? Well, have a seat," he sighed, gesturing to the seat in front of him. I took it. "So…. What have you been doing after school?"

"Working," I replied. Y'know… fighting random blobs of black goo and knights with shining armor, summoning awesome flying beings, running away from red goo, stuff like that. Totally normal.

"Oh, really…? You're pretty responsible for your age," he said, looking impressed.

"Haha, thanks."

"…. Whoops. This is turning into an interrogation, isn't it? But it's not as if we have much in common… except for the murders." I went silent for a moment. Guess he still suspects me.

"Tell me about yourself," I said with a nod towards him.

"About me? You're interested in the strangest things…." He shrugged and I laughed. "It's just what it seems. I'm a simple country detective living with my daughter. There's nothing about that to interest a high school kid…. But you know, it really is good to have you around the house. I didn't think Nanako would be so happy…. Hell, I'm already tired of hearing 'big sis' this and 'big sis' that….. You're more like a very young sister to me than a niece." I burst out laughing again.

"Should I call you big bro?" I asked with a humorous smile.

"Hah, stop that!" he laughed. "You're sending chills down my spine." He suddenly went silent for a moment. "… I think it's been a while since I've laughed this much." I gave him a thumbs-up.

"You need to laugh more," I replied, and he chuckled.

"All right, I have to finish processing some data from work. Don't hit the sack too late, you hear?" I nodded. "'Night."

A/N: This update was a bit late, wasn't it? Sorry! XP I got sick, and I had tons of homework to do. It wasn't fun.

Well, thanks for reading! ^_^