[My Sister Can't Be This Cute: Senpai didn't come to school today.]
[The great cosmic being is so scary: Will the bento go to waste?]
[My Sister Can't Be This Cute: I've already asked my sister to take care of it.]
[...]
Kurusu Akira apologized profusely to the junior who had made him a bento today, then recalled the wonderful experience at the high-end restaurant earlier, and couldn't help but burp.
Walking on the pedestrian overpass in Chiyoda, the Phantom Thief lamented his meager savings, which had barely exceeded ten thousand yen, and then thought of the time he had to wait for novel profits, as well as the upcoming trip to Kawasaki—
His Persona should be avoided for the time being, to ensure he remains in optimal combat condition.
So, if he wanted to earn money now, he really had to work.
Kurusu Akira happened to know two workaholics.
When he couldn't find a suitable part-time job, he might as well ask Kawaragi Momoka and Togawa Sakiko.
They could do the most part-time jobs in the least amount of time, and they managed to do so without their social circles finding out—they earned money without anyone knowing.
Considering it was class time, Kurusu Akira had no choice but to call the former guitarist and vocalist of the Diamond Dust band.
Soon, Kawaragi Momoka's slightly puzzled voice came through the connected phone. "Amamiya? Shouldn't you be in class right now?"
As she spoke, he could hear the long honking of cars in the background.
"I just figured out my ultimate goal in life."
Kawaragi Momoka was puzzled. "What does that have to do with you not being at school?"
"I've been thinking, why do high school students wake up at seven every morning, squeeze onto crowded commutes to school during rush hour, endure boredom and monotony in class for most of the day with sheer willpower, spend money and energy filling their after-school hours with cram school courses, and hastily swallow a bunch of texts or math formulas that will be useless after graduation... What is all this for?"
"Hmm... Isn't it to find a good job?"
"Wrong! High-paying and respectable jobs are goals that university students should consider!"
"Don't high school students study just for higher education? Doesn't that still lead to finding a job in the end..."
"Too superficial, Kawaragi. You really don't understand us high school students at all."
Kawaragi Momoka, a high school dropout, felt offended.
Kurusu Akira's voice gradually became impassioned. "Courage, perseverance, passion, romance... those are merely false elements of adolescence deliberately created in JUMP shonen manga to package a classic story."
"Just as alchemy believes that the world is composed of the four elements of 'Fire,' 'Water,' 'Wind,' and 'Earth.' True high school life is precisely composed of 'showing off,' 'possessiveness,' 'rebellion,' and 'worship'!"
"School bullying arises from showing off one's social status in class, and flaunting one's comprehensive abilities in various aspects leads to ostentatious displays of romantic experiences... The purpose of such showing off is to possess more attention and gain the admiration of others. At the same time, those who are harmed in this process will gradually develop thoughts of rebellion."
Alchemy again, and deconstruction of life... Such a lengthy discourse made Kawaragi Momoka unable to resist complaining, and she interrupted his explanation. "Amamiya, it's better to graduate from chuunibyou as soon as possible."
"Chuunibyou?" Kurusu Akira's voice instinctively rose a few octaves, as if he had been poked in a sore spot. "You call this analysis, which is so rich in youthful philosophical meaning, chuunibyou? Do I look like someone who spouts chuunibyou lines all the time?!"
"I always feel like you're the type who would shout 'henshin' in certain situations and pick up a toy sword to imitate Kamen Rider poses..."
"Silence!" Kurusu Akira was furious. "Take back such slander! I am a super normie at the top of the social hierarchy!"
"But as far as I know, Amamiya doesn't have many friends, right? That doesn't sound like a normie."
Kurusu Akira, who had intentionally avoided unnecessary social interaction due to his former professional habits and thus truly had few school friends, painfully closed his eyes.
Kawaragi Momoka's words successfully awakened his psychological trauma from his previous life.
Those old "Shadow Operatives" often complained that he was an overgrown chuunibyou who hadn't graduated at twenty-three. It was indeed a thoroughly shameful thing.
After all, the terrible title of "chuunibyou" had accompanied him for seven whole years since high school.
Although Kurusu Akira would shout "Persona" in front of enemies and then put on his special Phantom Thief attire, and when the battle became intense, he would even cover the mask on his face with his hand and shout out the names of his moves... But! He firmly believed that he had no connection with the word "chuunibyou."
He felt that once he admitted to being a chuunibyou, all the glorious and righteous images of him as a "Phantom Thief" would collapse in an instant.
So, how should he now defend himself against being a chuunibyou and prove that he is a normie?
The Phantom Thief, accustomed to acting alone, his thoughts raced. Because of his excessive excitement, his Persona, Dioscuri, had spontaneously manifested behind him, beginning to review his past life, attempting to find suitable testimony from a vast sea of memories.
And so, he stood silently in place for a full ten seconds.
Sensing the silence on the other end of the phone, Kawaragi Momoka suddenly burst out laughing.
"Go ahead and laugh." Kurusu Akira's voice conveyed a sense of helplessness and sorrow.
"So, you called me specifically for something?...Let me say this first, if you're going to tease me with topics like dating again, then forget it!"
"Can you introduce me to some part-time jobs I can start immediately?" After saying this, Kurusu Akira belatedly remembered that Kawaragi Momoka was a kind woman who liked to meddle.
"You skipped school just to work part-time?!" Kawaragi Momoka, who was driving a truck, slammed on the brakes, immediately connecting it to Kurusu Akira's extremely poor family situation... She would rather this high school student had called her to talk about romance.
Hearing her tone, Kurusu Akira realized the situation was not good.
As expected, her next sentence would probably be to persuade him to go back to school.
Kawaragi Momoka really is a kind person.
However, things were probably going to get troublesome.
'How should I explain to her that spending time in class for a short period is just a waste of time?'
Kurusu Akira, whose life had taken a miraculous turn, began to ponder how to make Kawaragi Momoka, a high school dropout of four years, understand and believe that he was a prodigy who could memorize knowledge points just by reading a textbook once.
But before he could speak, Kawaragi Momoka's voice came through the phone first.
"Do you have time to come to Shibuya? Let's talk about part-time jobs when we meet. I'll wait for you at the train station on Shibuya Central Avenue."
Ah, what a nagging woman.
But faced with such sincere kindness and concern, even Jotaro Kujo from "JOJO" would only grumble a few "noisy!" before heading very seriously to the address given by the other party, wouldn't he?
...
[April 24, 2022.]
[Remaining days until the Kawasaki trip begins: Three.]
[Phantom Thief's current funds: 11,050 yen.]
Looking out at the Shibuya cityscape, car lights converged into a colorful river of light, flowing between streets. A soft noise, a mixture of various sounds, hung like a cloud over the city.
The pedestrian traffic light blinked.
Pedestrians looking down at their phones walked past the stopped traffic like a migrating flock of ostriches.
Kurusu Akira arrived at Central Street, and sure enough, at the entrance of the train station, he saw the seemingly aloof girl leaning against the wall, playing on her phone, with a guitar case on her back.
Her silver-gray long hair contrasted sharply with her black men's shirt. A pair of deep gray eyes reflected the sky, as if veiled in a thick fog, filled with confusion about the future and present.
Below the shirt were dark blue hot pants and black tights, outlining well-proportioned, long legs, and further down were a pair of black leather boots with a few mud stains.
Such a rebellious outfit appeared uniquely dashing, and combined with her beautiful face, it inexplicably had a sexy allure.
Like a very fast Rap, after indistinct lyrics, it left a complex feeling of toughness and gentleness intertwined, making a lasting impression.
Several men passing by tried to strike up a conversation with her, but she rejected them all with a very cold expression.
Then, noticing Kurusu Akira's figure, Kawaragi Momoka immediately walked over with her guitar case, greeting him warmly, "Want to sit down at the bakery over there?"
"Kawaragi is unexpectedly popular."
"What, you just noticed?" Kawaragi Momoka intentionally tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "But unfortunately, I'm not interested in younger high school boys, little brother."
"Kawaragi, rest assured, I'm also not interested in older women."
"Old... older woman? I'm only twenty this year!"
"It's fine, I'm seventeen this year."
If the law allowed, Kawaragi Momoka truly wanted to twist off the forehead of this chuunibyou, stubborn, and boastful guy in front of her, just to see what kind of messy things were inside.
Though chuuni and stubborn, Kurusu Akira, who never overexerted himself, followed Kawaragi Momoka and sat under the awning outside the bakery.
"One cheese toast, one mousse cake."
After ordering, Kawaragi Momoka placed her guitar case beside the chair, then looked at Kurusu Akira, who was sitting opposite her, with a serious expression.
"Amamiya, have you encountered any difficulties recently? You skipped school just after noon, and even missed yesterday's band practice."
Kurusu Akira's eyelids twitched, "I'm short on money."
Then, under his astonished gaze, Kawaragi Momoka took out a stack of banknotes from her pocket and placed them on the table.
"One hundred and ten thousand. Is this enough?" Kawaragi Momoka stared intently into Kurusu Akira's eyes.
Kurusu Akira looked at the banknotes in front of him and suddenly felt a bit parched. 'Why do these women, one after another, like to just pull out money when they meet me… Do I look like someone who's so easily swayed by money?'
He looked up and met Kawaragi Momoka's gaze, "I just want to do some part-time work in my free time."
"Free time? You're not even going to school anymore! Are you going to quit the band next?!" Kawaragi Momoka's expression was serious. "Since I joined the band, I have to be responsible for it."
"Kawaragi seems to be short on money too, doesn't she?"
"I'm an adult. If I wake up earlier every day and take on a few more odd jobs, I can earn a decent income." Kawaragi Momoka crossed her arms, a hint of helplessness in her eyes. "Originally, I planned to use this money to rent a recording studio or secure a spot for a performance at a Livehouse, but since the band is preparing to debut through street performances, this money has been saved."
Then she looked closely into Kurusu Akira's eyes, "Performing on stage with all your might, leaving no regrets, that's what rock should be like."
Kurusu Akira felt an undeniable force in her words, "If I accept this money, will it affect Kawaragi's life?"
"I don't have any debts," Kawaragi Momoka's light remark cleanly ended the conversation.
Kurusu Akira was speechless for a moment.
Then he mentally calculated the club's funding disbursement time, "I'll return this money to you in two weeks."
Kawaragi Momoka looked at Kurusu Akira with some dissatisfaction, "It's fine if you occasionally return a little, but remember to always come to band practice from now on."
"What about the part-time job…?"
"You focus on your studies!" Kawaragi Momoka glared at him. "If you haven't made up your mind to dedicate your life to rock, then don't give up on your studies! You're just a minor, don't always take on all sorts of pressure and responsibility yourself!"
But unlike Togawa Sakiko that night, there was no sympathy or pity in Kawaragi Momoka's words and actions at this moment.
She simply wouldn't allow the rock she loved and believed in to be trampled for such an absurd reason.
Kurusu Akira took the banknotes from the table, and for some reason, these light things felt a bit heavy.
He looked at the bust of Fukuzawa Yukichi on the banknotes and couldn't bring himself to refuse.
This was the first time he understood that for some people, rock music could truly be more important than life itself.
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