The Psychic is NOT a Part-Timer

Lotus

Saiki

"~Thoughts of others~

Saiki wondered if he and Lotus would ever have a walk home after school, just the two of them.

The couple ventured down the street accompanied by Kaidou and the newest member of their motley crew, Kuboyasu. Much to everyone's surprise Nendou was not present, a rather unusual occurrence for them.

"Where is that idiot?" Kaidou asked aloud.

"I haven't seen Nendou all day," Kuboyasu said.

Nendou, while not being the most studious of teens–in fact, many wondered why he came to school at all–but he never skipped school. The boy even showed up when he was sick, not a pleasant experience for his classmates.

Saiki was sure that without Nendou present his after school time–spent with Lotus–would be peaceful. Thank you Kaidou for proving him wrong.

"Oh!" Kaidou exclaimed as the group came across a local convenience store. "I forgot to buy this week's Shōnen Jump. Let me pop in there quick."

Saiki was about to use this as an excuse to break forth from the group but-

"Oh me too!" Lotus said.

"A chick that likes Manga, huh," Kuboyasu mumbled.

"Don't get any ideas."

Lotus and Kaidou stepped into the store, the electric bell going off as the automatic doors opened.

"Welcome friend!"

The group of students froze as they were greeted by the worker who stood behind the counter, nothing out of the ordinary. But what brought the students to a screeching halt was that they all recognized the worker. right before the doorway as they were greeted by the worker behind the counter.

"Nendou?!" Kaidou screeched.

"Eh?" Nendou paused as he recognized his friends. "Hey, guys!"

"Wait! You have a job!?" Kaidou said.

"I didn't say anything yet, cause I just started yesterday," Nendou said.

"He's in the workforce. That's bad."

"Everyone's gotta learn a trade right?"

Kaidou and Lotus got their manga while Saiki and Kuboyasu grabbed a copy of their own. Instead of making their way to the front of the store towards the counter, they posted up in a nearby aisle. Eyes peered over their books their focus solely set on Nendou.

It was sad to say that they didn't have high hopes for the new worker and he really wasn't doing anything to prove himself. Nendou stood behind the counter with a dazed look on his face as he seemed to stare out into nothing.

"Is he going to be okay?" Kuboyasu asked.

"Of course not," Kaidou said.

"How sad."

"This is a convenience store, it can't be that bad."

"Hey just because it's small doesn't mean it's easy. There's always something to be done in a convenience store. Selling lottery tickets, making coffee, stocking shelves, topping off the deep fryer. It's overwhelming," Kuboyasu said.

"He sure knows a lot."

"Whoa, you're smart. Have you ever worked in one before?" Kaidou asked.

"Yeah, after I wrecked my motorcycle."

"Did you wreck it or was it an unfortunate casualty during one of your brawls?"

A loud ding sounded off throughout the store, signaling that a new customer had just entered.

"Welcome friend!"

Nendou greeted a middle-aged man in the same manner as he had down with his friends. He was friendly, giving a big wave. A good start for someone who worked in customer service.

The man went through the store rather quickly, gathering up various items in one of the store's baskets. He was done in no time, making his way up towards the counter.

"He has a customer," Kuboyasu whispered.

The gaggled of students gathered together to observe the interaction. The man set the basket on the counter. Nendou glanced down at the contents of the basket giving the items a brief once over.

"Well, it looks like about 500 yen worth of stuff."

"What! You're guessing at it!" The customer shouted.

Kaidou and Kuboyasu went blue, shell shocked.

"~He can't even use the register~"

Lotus let out a sigh, sweat dropping.

Kuboyasu marched over to the counter. "Use the register!"

Nendou blinked looking over at Kuboyasu. "I'd like to but I couldn't open the drawer. So I tried some stuff, now it's broke."

"Then use the other one!" Kuboyasu shouted pointing at the second register. "Here watch and learn. Sir, I'll ring you up over here."

With amazing efficiency one only got with experience Kuboyasu rang up the man's items.

"That'll be 777 yen please."

"Oh, three sevens. That's lucky sir or ma'am," Nendou said.

"Did he just say, sir or ma'am?"

"Just drown the stupidity out with this."

Saiki held up a Manga in front of Lotus.

"But he-Oooo is this the special edition with exclusive colored art panels?"

Lotus dived into the book, her mind occupied so she did not see Nendou offer the "lucky" customer some free chicken.

"As a prize for the three sevens I'll give you this fried chicken," Nendou said.

"Don't give away product!" Kuboyasu shouted.

"Your change is 333 yen," Nendou said, handing over the change.

Confused and exhausted, the customer took his change and left the store.

"Come again!" Nendou called out.

"But that wasn't the correct change at all."

Finally, Kaidou decided he wanted to purchase his manga. "I'm gonna get this Jump." He said placing the book on the counter.

"I'll scan it," Nendou said

He picked up the JUMP along with the register scanner. He ran the scanner over the barcode placed on the spine of the book. There was a loud beep as a notification popped up on the screen of the register.

"Why do the customers need to be 20 years old or older?! It's just a copy of Shōnen Jump!" Kaidou shouted.

Before Nendou could give back any sort of retort the door to the back room opened and a middle-aged man stepped out.

"Hey Nendou, are all these kids friends of yours?"

"Yes, Manager."

Kuboyasu stood before the man bowing his head. "Sorry for using the register."

The man smiled, calmly waving his hand swatting away any issues. "It's fine. As long as you're Nendou's friends, I trust you. This might sound crazy, but I owe my life to Nendou. He helped me a few weeks back when I collapsed on the street from severe heart palpitations. I offered to repay him however I could and he said that he was looking for a job, and that's how we got where we are."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"Heart of gold in his chest but not much going up on top."

"Nendou, I'm just so grateful for everything you've done. Thank you ….And you're fired."

"What?!" Nendou said.

"You broke a register three times and the copier twice. The register is short 32,858 yen. And we've got 27 complaints from customers. I'm sorry Nendou but I'd rather be indebted to you forever than to have you employed at my store."

"Yeah….I would've done the same thing."

Nendou, now out of a job, joined his friends on the streets. He had turned in his convince store uniform, donning his school uniform once again. Despite having just been fired the tall male didn't seem all that upset about the matter.

"You did get the job in a way that only exists in the world of fiction."

Nendou addressed the group who was ready to comfort the big lug, only to have them stunned by his next sentence.

"Yeah don't go crying for me guys. At least I have my other jobs," He said.

"What?!"

"Other jobs?"

Woefully confused the group followed Nendou as he led them towards a restaurant just a few blocks away.

"A ramen shop?" Lotus read. "Yup sounds like a place Nendou would be."

Upon entering the shop they were welcomed by a middle-aged man, the chef and owner. He greeted with a hearty "Welcome" and a wave of his muscular arm.

"You're early! You must be ready to go!" He spoke to Nendou.

"A Ramen shop?" Kuboyasu questioned.

"It's his favorite food," Kaidou off-handedly clarified.

"I got fired from my other job so I thought that I'd come in early. I was at a convenience store and I made a lot of mistakes. I scared shoppers…" Nendou explained.

"I want you to put all that crap behind you and work for me!"

The chef exclaimed loudly, wearing a large smile. He was also profusely, was it from the heat of the kitchen or the pure enthusiasm?

"Is this guy related to Hairo or something?"

Picking up an apron Nendou got to work. He started off helping out in the kitchen, which didn't end well. Noodles ended up on the floor, wrong ingredients in wrong bowls, flour in the air, it was utter madness in a few minutes. But despite Nendous's mistakes, his boss kept a positive attitude supplying encouraging words throughout the entire endeavor.

Moving on from the kitchen Nendou attempted to deliver some dishes to awaiting customers.

"Listen up good kid, everyone makes mistakes!"

Nendou was just two feet shy of the table before he dripped. The bowls flew overhead, soaring through the air before landing on top of the customer's heads, broth and noodles clinging to their faces and suits. While bad it was a tad impressive that he was able to get both bowls on each of their heads.

"Looks don't matter!"

Nendou skirted off back to the kitchen but ended up knocking over several large pots, landing inside one of them.

"What's most important is your enthusiasm! If you have that you'll always have a job here…."

In a short span, Nendou had single-handedly turned the Ramen shop on its head. It was as if a wild storm of ramen and chaos had swept through the restaurant. Food decorated the ceiling, walls, and floor. The very few windows were broken, multiple dishes chipped and cracked, and furniture was strewn about. The once jovial look on the owner's face was gone as he sat sullenly on a nearby stool.

"Motivation?" He mumbled.

He seemed to b contemplating something, it didn't take a genius or psychic powers to figure out what was mulling through his mind.

The man's lowered head suddenly shot up, his smile back.

"You're fired!"

Lotus's feet dangled just an inch off the ground, her butt firmly planted on a swing. Right next to her, sitting on the other seat, was a depressed Nendou. Shoulders slouched, head hanging low, and...was that a storm cloud forming over his head?

Nendou sat depressed on a swing set in an empty playground, the others standing around him. The other boys stood gathered around the forlorn teen.

"Here." Kaidou held up a bunch of bananas. "You got a job to earn enough to buy these right? You like them don't you?"

"That's not what I wanted! My mom's birthday is next week and I was trying to save up some money," Nendou explained.

"Your mom's birthday?" Kuboyasu said.

"Right, I don't have a dad and my mom has to work all the time to support me. She holds down three different jobs and still manages to find time to cook for me and clean for me. It's not an easy life you know, so I really wanted to show her my love by buying her a present with the money I earned. Huh? Hey, what are you guys crying about over there?"

Nendou's story brought tears to the eyes of Kuboyasu and Kaidou.

"Ignore those idiots."

Saiki heard a sniffle to his left and saw Lotus, looking away with a hand covering her face.

"You too?"

"Shut up! It's sweet and emotional, okay!"

Saiki sighed, pulling out a white handkerchief, and passed it over to Lotus. Without turning the girl took the cloth, dabbing away at her wet face.

"We're not crying," Kaidou sniffled, wiping his face.

"You know if you wanted a job the diner by the train station is hiring, we can all go apply together," Kuboyasu said.

"Yeah, cool!" Nendou cheered.

Saiki turned. "I'm going home."

He grabbed Lotus's hand and started pulling her away.

"W-Wait Saiki-?"

"I promised you a date didn't I? Or would you rather go apply for a job?"

Lotus froze, stunned, face going red. This allowed Saiki to drag her along without any resistance. The two were down the street when Lotus came back to the real world.

"Saiki!" Lotus planted her feet. "You trickster!"

"Trickster?"

"It's the best word I could think of. You said that on purpose to get me to come along."

"It worked didn't it?"

"Yeah, well….We should help the others out."

"You want to get a serving job?"

"No, but do you really think Nendou could get one on his own?"

"...You're right."

"Well this isn't an ideal date, but it'll do."

Lotus sat in a booth next to Saiki, the pink-haired duo sitting with drinks in hand looking across the restaurant. Why had they picked this specific restaurant? Well, it was the place where the others had decided to apply for a job. From the couple's vantage point they could easily observe the trio that was just starting their training.

"Let me introduce our three new waiters. Kaidou. Kuboyasu, and Rikii."

Kaidou and Kuboyasu gaped, staring at the random guy who stood next to them.

"~Nendou didn't get the job!?~"

"What's the point of working here if Nendou isn't working!?" Kaidou said.

"I completely forgot, no restaurant would hire someone as ugly as he is to be a waiter!" Kuboyasu said.

"Alright guys, let's get to work!" The man spoke with Nendou's voice.

"Who are you?!" Kaidou shouted.

Lotus leaned on her elbows taking a sip from her drink. "So Saiki…could you give another explanation on how exactly you accomplished this?" She asked, pointing over at the trio.

"Oh hey, buddies I didn't see you there!" Nendou greeted walking over, holding a water pitcher.

"I just made it so he appeared more handsome than normal. Riki Nendou is just Rikii with two I's, but Nendou has no clue."

Lotus clapped her hands. "Impressive. Impressive."

"Hey, Rikii," Kaidou called out.

"Don't call me by my first name, it's weird!" Nendou said turning around, tipping the pitcher over.

"I even changed the spelling on his application."

"Rikii! You're pouring water over that customer!" Kuboyasu shouted.

Indeed, Nendou was spilling the entirety of his water pitcher over a poor man's head.

Saiki stood up with Lotus, heading towards the exit.

"I'll let you guys handle this."

Kuboyasu and Kaidou appeared before the drenched man holding towels.

"We apologize! Please forgive us, sir!" They said.

"~Why do we have to clean another employee's messes-~"

"Ahhh!"

Kaidou yelped as he knocked over a cup of coffee, spilling it on the poor customer's lap.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Kaidou, you're screwing up too!" Kuboyasu shouted.

"Hey, yo part-timer!"

From the other side of the restaurant two young men, dressed as stereotypical gangsters, shouted over towards the boys. One of the customers was leaning out of the booth holding up a bowl of fries.

"Get us some ketchup for these french fries for sure!"

"Lickety-split dumbbell!"

"You seriously useless! No tip!"

Kuboyasu's shoulders shook and as the teen turned around fire erupted from behind him, three veins throbbing angrily in his face.

"Oh, I'll get you some ketchup, out of your nose! Here's a tip!"

Kuboyasu lunged at the two, freaking out others in the restaurant.

"Mr. Manager help!" A poor waitress screamed.

"Don't mess with me!" Kuboyasu shouted.

A few feet away, outside the restaurant, Lotus and Saiki were walking away.

"How are they so hopeless?"

"It's a mystery. Now come on," Lotus grabbed Saiki's hand, "Let's go somewhere for a real date. I'm feeling in the mood for something vanillay? You?"

Saiki just looked away with a small sigh, but he squeezed tighter onto Lotus's hand.

"Whatever. As long as I can get some good coffee jelly."

Lotus smiled with a small giggle. "Can do! Let's go!"