Kakuta City, an ordinary convenience store.
In the eyes of the people in Tokyo, even the prosperous Osaka was considered a rural area. A small, unknown city like Kakuta City — to be precise, the northeastern region of the Island nation that included Kakuta City — was not just a rural area. It was the edge of human civilization. It was only slightly better than Gunma County in Africa, which didn't even have an Internet connection.
"Pitiful, you're wearing so little today. Aren't you cold?"
The store manager's wife saw that Takahashi was only wearing a shirt. She didn't even have a school jacket. She was still wearing her winter coat.
Miyagi Prefecture was located in the north, and the temperature at the beginning of April was still below ten degrees Celsius. Although the girls of the Island nation could only wear skirts in winter, not even a jacket was too much.
"Not cold, not cold."
Rubbing his cold arms, Takahashi said pitifully in a nasal voice, "The coat was left in the basin last night and I forgot to wash it, but I can wear it tomorrow."
How could she not be cold in this kind of weather? However, her school jacket was locked in the cabinet, so she could only wear this thin.
It was much better in the convenience store. As long as the store was open, the air conditioner would be running. Under the warm breeze, the cold on Takahashi's body was dispelled.
Since the beginning of her first year of high school, Pitiful Takahashi had been working in this convenience store. The salary was considered good in a small town. In addition to his lunch expenses, he could also leave some money to support his family.
Also, the store manager's wife was a very kind mother-in-law. She was kind to everyone. It was said that her daughter who worked in Tokyo had long wanted to bring her mother-in-law to Tokyo, but the mother-in-law didn't want to go because she didn't want to leave her hometown.
Pitiful Takahashi had to leave this cobweb-like countryside.
She changed into her work clothes, prepared the oden at the front desk, and checked if there were any goods that needed to be replenished … After three years, Pitiful Takahashi was already familiar with the work process.
"Pitiful Takahashi, come here."
"Yes."
The store manager stood in front of the small warehouse. Her back was sore, and she struggled to move a small box out. "Hey, I can't move it anymore. Send this box to the right hotel."
"Send it to the hotel?
Is it mineral water? "
The convenience store also had a wholesale function. It was often necessary to deliver mineral water and beverages to the nearby small restaurants. Most of the time, people would drive over, and when it was rare, Takahashi would deliver them by bike or on foot.
"It's for the hotel. Can you guess what it is?"
"Hotel … supplies …"
Taking the box handed over by the store manager, Takahashi saw the unique smile on the face of the old woman when telling dirty jokes. She immediately reacted and ran to the hotel with the box in her arms.
The box was a little heavy, but she could still move it in one breath. The only thing that made her feel uncomfortable was the [Okamoto] logo printed on it. She had only heard about it from her classmates, and she had seen it before. When she was cleaning up at school, she had seen it on the stairs and in the toilet cubicles several times. Every time she ignored it and walked away, she wanted to leave this place even more.
"Hello, I brought it to you," Takahashi said pitifully with the box in his arms, "Is there anyone in the store?"
A bald man with a wretched look walked down the stairs. "Oh!
Leave it at the counter. "
The way he stared at him made Takahashi feel uncomfortable.
Of course, the most frightening thing was the Ukiyo-e tattoo on the man's shoulder.
A green-faced, fanged man with a long sword in his hand.
"Okay!"
Seeing the tattoo on the man's arm, Takahashi was so scared that she stood up straight and then fled from the hotel.
She ran to the telephone pole outside the hotel and breathed a sigh of relief. "I was scared to death. There was such a scary tattooed man on the street."
The country with the deepest discrimination against tattoos should be the Island nation. Although there was a culture of tattoos on the one hand, people with tattoos would never be accepted in the mainstream society of the Island nation. Once a tattoo was tattooed, no matter how big or small it was, it was impossible to find a formal job, let alone work in the government. Even the football circle, which had the strongest tattooing atmosphere in the world, was affected. Very few football players in the Island nation had tattoos.
Even when soaking in hot springs and sunbathing on the beach, they needed to buy special stickers to cover the tattoos on their bodies. When TV stations interviewed passers-by, they would also mosaic the tattoos of passers-by.
Back in the store, she stood at the front desk and counted the goods for the customers. After eight o 'clock in the evening, there were basically no more customers in the store. Until the end of the day, there were less than ten groups of customers.
"Then I'm leaving, store manager."
"Wait a minute."
The store manager's wife ran out of the inner room, holding a rectangular box in her arms.
"A reward for your recent work." The store manager's wife stuffed the box into Takahashi's hands.
"Ah, thank you." Takahashi showed a sweet smile and did not give in a few more times.
The store manager usually liked to give him some small things, such as cabbages and breakfast the next day. In the years that his mother had been away, the store manager was like his new mother. The kindness of every small gift was deeply engraved in Takahashi's heart.
"Be careful on the way home."
"Okay, okay!"
Standing under the street lamp, Takahashi slowly opened the box handed by the store manager under the light.
Removing the cardboard outside, what was revealed was … shoes?
The black plastic packaging wrapped around the shoes had a store logo. It was one of the few shoe specialty stores in the small town.
"…"
Looking down at her feet that were still wearing the school's indoor shoes, Takahashi sniffled pitifully. Standing under the street lamp, her shadow gently shook.
Walking home with the new shoes, Takahashi gently opened the door. It was already past nine o 'clock, very late in Kakuta City, but her father had not returned home yet.
He would have to drive late again tonight. Her father's job was to drive long-distance, and he had two shifts of 24 hours.
If there was no long-distance job, he would take some short-distance jobs, transporting seafood from the seaside to the town. Because he could not afford a small truck, he chose to rent a truck. In order to make more money during the rental period, her father always wanted to become a part of the truck. He only needed to fill the truck with gasoline and he could work continuously.
All of this was for her future university. Takahashi was confident that she would be admitted to a school in Yoto, but the tuition for each academic year was an exaggerated figure of millions. Takahashi's poor little shoulders were heavy. She did not dare to disappoint her father's expectations. No matter what happened at school, she would grit her teeth and support herself.
Putting the shoe box away, Takahashi took out the white feather from her schoolbag.
The feather shone brightly in the dim light.
Although many unfortunate things happened today, just like the store manager, there were still many good people in the world, right?
"You are my amulet." Takahashi held the paper feather and put it on her heart.
"Good night."