Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 11

Near But Far Away

「Thank you for your patronage~」

The automatic door opened and the customer left the store with two white vinyl bags in hands.

Mild which was a supermarket despite its smallness had a lot of housewives as its clientele.

Akito’s shift in his part-time work usually started at 5 PM.

The supermarket was usually visited by part-timers, housewives coming  back from work, and sometimes also males looking to buy items that they  lacked for their daily life.

There were houses, apartments, and condominiums lining up nearby.

People could go to large supermarket if they simply walked a bit  further, but as expected a lot of customers came to Mild instead because  it was more convenient for them.

Akito checked that there was no more customer inside the store and rolled his shoulder.

Yakumo called out to him. It felt like she was becoming kinder recently.

She was carrying a cardboard box from the back.

「Good work. You have gotten really used to the job aren’t you?」

Akito felt good from getting his work praised. He approached Yakumo to help her with the cardboard box.

「Ah, senpai. I’ll carry it for you.」

「I can do this much by myself. Instead can you sort out the shelves  for me? It looks like a lot of elementary school students came before  our shift.」

The shelves that contained candies and ice creams had become untidy because of them.

(The part-timers before us didn’t tidy up before they left.)

There were two housewives who were in the shift before Akito and  Yakumo. But he remembered them being very leisurely when handing over  the store to them.

「Really those people, they should tidy up the place if they had time.」

Yakumo seemed to guess what Akito wanted to say and snickered.

「Yeah. It’s troublesome to clean up after them――」

Yakumo closed her mouth before she finished speaking.

This supermarket’s full-time employee came from the office in the back into the store.

The full-time employee Kurita Futo was a thirty year old male.

He dyed his hair brown and grew it a bit longer. His plump body and  drooping eyes stood out. His height was average just like Akito.

That Kurita glared at Akito.

「Part-timer! Move your hands instead of your mouth!」

「Y-yes!」

Akito made a grimace when he looked at Kurita’s face. The reason was because Kurita was an unpleasant person.

He wasn’t particularly a hard worker. He only did the work that was sometimes got sent from the head office to this branch.

Kurita was muttering in annoyance.

「This is why someone without any talent is useless. But unlike him,  you’re really a hard worker even today too Yakumo-chan. I’m telling the  management good things about you.」

He was behaving modestly toward Yakumo with a tone that was clearly different than the time with Akito.

Yakumo seemed to understand that Kurita must have some kind of  ulterior motive for behaving like that with her. She was making a look  of exasperation.

「I don’t mind even if you report normal things about me to the management though? Setting that aside, why are you coming here?」

The employee’s work was to check various things at the back.

It was the norm at Mild to leave works like serving customers or refilling the shelves to the part-timers.

Sometimes when there was new worker they might also took the role as instructor.

「Well, that’s because there’s no customer right now. Besides, you  always left the back too quickly Yakumo-chan……oh yeah! Yakumo-chan, are  you interested with this?」

The shelve that was placed near the cash register had a lot of cards placed on it.

There were cards for card game, card of electronic money……the one that Kurita took was electronic money card for Pandora’s Box.

10000 yen was written on the card to denote the point it contained.

Yakumo frowned.

Akito thought that there was impact when a beauty made an angry face while he was tidying up the shelves.

「What about it?」

「Actually I also started playing this. The game is really interesting  you know? What about giving it a try if you’re interested? I usually  logged in from eleven――」

Yakumo sighed.

「Not interested.」

Akito watched the conversation while recalling that Yakumo was attending a girls’ school where young ladies enrolled.

(Come to think of it, Shikata-senpai is going to a famous private  girls’ school. As I thought, she doesn’t seem like someone who’s  interested with playing game.)

Akito harbored such impression while eavesdropping on the conversation.

「Don’t say that. You’ll absolutely have fun if you give it a try. Okay?」

Akito saw Yakumo looking disgusted when he suddenly felt the presence  of someone approaching. He turned his gaze there and saw a customer  about to enter from the other side of the automatic door.

「Welcome!」

He raised his voice loudly. Kurita who was persistently hitting on Yakumo hurriedly turned toward the door.

He greeted the customer while retreating toward the back office.

Yakumo approached him while the customer was walking inside the store and shopping.

「Thanks. Even so, how did you notice him before he even entered?」

Akito scratched his head to hide his bashfulness and lied.

「Ah no, I just caught sight of him. Still, you have it hard aren’t you senpai?」

Kurita was especially hated among the full-time employees that were dispatched to this branch store.

Yakumo nodded.

「I wish he would stop. Come on, I’ll help you so let’s finish this quickly.」

The two began to tidy up the shelves.

Akito pondered about what just happened.

(Strange. How did I sense someone approaching? Was it just my instinct?)

*

The next day.

Akito was feeling bewildered inside his classroom.

「Eh? I need to stay behind and help?」

After school, someone unexpected called at him to stay behind. It made him felt slightly confused.

「Yes. You don’t have part-time work today do you? Your friend Aoba-kun has to work so I couldn’t ask him.」

His classmate Ichinose Maya said to him that she wanted him to help with some work.

Akito put his bag on the table.

「Well, I do not mind. I do not have anything to do at home anyway.」

Maya narrowed her eyes slightly.

「Why are you using polite language?」

「No, no reason?」

Akito felt that there was a wall between him and Maya who was an elite as he helped out with the works.

The work that he was asked to help with was about questionnaires for the whole school.

The reason why the questionnaire used actual paper instead of being  done digitally was so that students wouldn’t forget about how to write.

But because of that it became necessary to tally the questionnaires manually.

The questionnaires were sorted by class. Maya asked Akito to help out with it.

(The president should be able to do this by herself though.)

The number of male and female students per classroom was twenty.

He didn’t think that the president needed any help for just that much.

In fact the work was finished quickly.

Maya finished with the tallying and sighed before she immediately thanked Akito.

「Thank you. ……We finished it really quickly.」

「Y-yes. Err, we only need to send the tallying data to the teacher to finish things off. I’ll take my leave――」

Akito stood up, but Maya stopped him.

「Wait a second.」

「Yes?」

Akito stayed standing as he waited. Maya looked like she had difficulty speaking.

「Y-you see……」

「Y-yeah」

Inside his heart Akito was,

(C-could it be a confession!? O-of course. There was no way she  needed help for this kind of work. She singled me so we are alone like  this, and now her face is red and she has difficulty speaking――)

Maya spoke to Akito who was getting excited on his own.

「You see……do you know what will make a man happy?」

「……Ha?」

Akito was bewildered. When he asked Maya what she meant, unbelievably  it seemed there was this man that she was interested to. Her  relationship with that person was like a friend. She said that she  wanted to get closer to him but there was no impetus for that.

「It feels like we’ve gotten slightly closer recently, but how should I put it, it’s like the progress is stopping there.」

「Hmm~m」

Akito listened to her while thinking.

(Aha, ahahaha……it’s fine. I was able to see a nice dream no matter  how brief it was. Yep, of course it’s like this……there’s no way that  kind of fantastic story can happen to me. ……FUCKKKKKK!!)

Akito listened to Maya’s story while screaming tearfully inside his  heart. He interjected appropriately in some places while ignoring the  rest.

In general, what she said was――.

「I said that we’re close but it’s not a romantic relationship or anything like that!」

「But, somehow I also don’t like it if we stay like that forever……he’s  a really good person and reliable, so I think my other friend also  might not leave him alone……」

「There is this one other person, an acquaintance who is always  together with us. I think she definitely has feeling for him. That’s  why, I guess, I want to do something about it.」

――Those.

It was clear that she wanted to develop their relationship to be romantic one.

(This is surely that. The human relationship of the upper class elites? I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it.)

Akito couldn’t give any appropriate advice even if she talked to him about the upper class elite problem like that.

Even if he made some kind of joke to respond, Maya looked like she  might really carry it out seriously. Akito made a careful deliberation  of what to say to her.

(I don’t want to say something careless that will result in failure.  She might resent me if that happen. What is the right thing to say here?  Or rather, I myself don’t have any love experience.)

Akito thought until that far and said to Maya.

「Err, how about expressing yourself more with words? Like saying  thank you if he do something for you. And if you do something wrong then  tell him sorry. I think that kind of communication is necessary.」

Both Akito and Maya had zero love experience.

The answer that he gave at the end was only something obvious like expressing herself more with words.

*

「Haa, it’s the worst.」

「What’s the worst?」

Inside the game.

Surrounding the table at the first floor’s inn that was a dining hall was Ponsuke, Alfie……and Mariela.

Mariela was making new order at the counter.

The huge orc hunched his shoulders to talk with Alfie.

「Actually someone asked me for love advice at RL.」

Alfie coughed because she almost spouted out the juice she was drinking.

「……You’re accepting love consultation Ponsuke? That’s unexpected.  Don’t tell me that you have a lot of advices to give based on your  experiences?」

Alfie probed with her words. Ponsuke waved his hand.

「No way. I don’t have any romantic experience. This person suddenly  called to me and when I wondered just what she wants, it was actually a  love consultation. Haa, spare me from that.」

Alfie looked a bit delighted.

「Is that so? So you don’t have any experience.」

Ponsuke thought about something obscene when he was told that he had  no experience and shook his head. He was a healthy high school student  in the inside.

Of course his thought would immediately head to that direction.

Then Mariela returned back.

「What are you two talking about? Don’t leave me out.」

Mariela jumped on Ponsuke’s back. Alfie became a bit sullen seeing that.

「Actually someone asked me for a love consultation in RL. But you  know, I don’t have any experience in romance so now I’m wondering  whether I gave her the right advice or not. I’m regretting it now.」

Mariela sat on her chair and reached toward the food on the table.

Almost all of the plates had been emptied. The number of plates that were empty was more than ten.

「You don’t need to care that much about it. Or what? Do you perhaps harbor a feeling for that girl?」

Ponsuke shrugged.

「How should I say it, she’s the number one girl in our class, or rather in our whole year. She’s completely out of my league.」

Alfie crossed her arms.

「A girl out of your league huh. How nice. If only I’m also that kind of girl then……」

Mariela put her hand on Ponsuke’s shoulder.

「Aa~, that’s harsh. A love consultation from someone you like, or  rather someone you idolize huh……but, that also means that girl don’t  dislike you at least. So it’s all fine.」

Ponsuke sipped on his juice bit by bit.

「Well, I guess. But still……it makes me feel kinda pent-up!」

Alfie looked at Mariela.

「You never experienced that kind of thing yourself Mariela?」

Mariela looked up to the ceiling and pondered for a bit before she declared clearly――.

「Never. I’m feeling fulfilled with my life recently. Ah, but there’s  this superior in my work place that I hate. He always hit on me every  time asking me to play game together. I’m scared telling him that I  already play the game. He might match his play time with mine.」

Ponsuke nodded.

「Aa, now that you mention it there’s also that kind of person at my  place. Though it seems the person he invited wasn’t interested and  turned him down.」

Mariela shrugged at what Ponsuke said.

「You can find that kind of person everywhere.」

「You’re right.」

Alfie didn’t join the talk at all when it was about work situation,  but she sensed the waiter approaching and turned her gaze there.

Ponsuke had sensed using his skill of the waiter’s approach so he didn’t turn around.

But he got astonished by the foods that the waiter lined up on the table.

「Mariela, you ordered so much again.」

There was a plate with three bright red lobsters on it.

A large slab of meat.

Food that looked like paella and a lot more types of food.

「It’s fine. I won’t get fat from eating a lot anyway.」

Alfie also said 「You have a point!」 and reached at the lobsters. Then  she grabbed one with her bare hand and started eating just like that.

The two had gotten very familiar with the game world.

In contrast Ponsuke was cutting the large meat with a knife and a  fork and distributed the pieces to the two’s plates. Alfie told him  「Thank you very much」 shyly.

「You two, aren’t your eating manner too wild? Eat the food a bit more gracefully.」

The surrounding was laughing seeing Ponsuke’s party being like that.

「What, the orc is actually the one with manner.」

「The two girls are unsightly.」

「Normally it should be the reverse.」

The voices of the players were teasing and also understanding with  good humor. Both Alfie and Mariela only responded casually to those  comments.

Alfie’s reply to the players who she often met in this dining hall was,

「I can also eat gracefully. But, it was you guys who taught us that this kind of food should be devoured instead wasn’t it?」

「Bull’s eye!」

Mariela also finished eating her lobster wildly before she dragged Ponsuke into the argument.

「Hey, you should also eat more wildly Ponsuke. You will look really good like that.」

Ponsuke shook his head.

「It was you two who said that it’s scary how it suit me too much!」

The players around them roared in laughter at Ponsuke’s yell.

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