Chapter 84 - Volume 5 (1/2)
Volume 5, Chapter 13: What I Wanted to Say, Part 2
“What’s making all that noise?”
I came to the shopping district ramen shop again today.
If you’re eating ramen all the time like this, you would get fat, so Kotone-chan, who noticed that number on the scale for her was terrifying, decided that today she would be swimming at the gym instead of coming.
“Erm, well, it seems that there’s some roadwork?”
To my mutter, Misa, who was doing homework with me, raised her head to tell me.
“Is there a lot in the works this time?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
When I looked outside from the window of the restroom instead of the inside of the store, I could hear some sounds but I couldn’t see where they were coming from.
“Just how many places are they working……?”
The roadwork itself weren’t unusual, but was it being done all over the shopping area?
Since it’s a school holiday tomorrow, it’s not a problem even if Kotone-chan comes to pick me up, but I wonder if the car can even enter?
Well, it can’t be helped; I guess I’ll have to stay at the shop.
Now that I think on it, the backroom and the second floor of this ramen shop is grandpa shopkeeper’s house, and Misa and Dad-chan are lodging on the second floor.
“Yuzu-chan, you should stay over~.”
“What should I do?”
“Well, let’s sleep together in the futon.
We’re sharing a bed. Yeah, that’s nice, isn’t it… When I started to drift off into my own thoughts, Dad-chan came from the shop to the restroom with his cellphone.
“Yuzu-chan, there was a phone call from Ooba-kun, but since there were so many roads that were blocked due to construction work today, he might be late, so please make your way back by taxi before it’s too late.”
“Oh.”
“And Yuzu-chan, did your phone’s battery run out? I heard that Ooba-kun couldn’t reach you.”
“Really……?”
I took out my mobile phone from my bag, and indeed, it really was off.
When I pressed and held down the power button, it turned on, but after a couple of seconds, I saw the picture of an empty battery on the screen.
“A dead battery, huh……”
You can use our shop’s phone, so stay in contact. Would you like to call a taxi?”
“Yuzu-chan, you’re not going to stay over……?”
Misa looked sad when she heard.
“……Dad-chan, is it no good for me to stay?”
“That’s not what I mean. And I’m not Misa’s father! Recently Misa has been imitating you and calling me [Dad-chan], so the rest of the people in the shopping district are also starting to call me [Dad] these days!”
“It was an accident……?”
“It obviously wasn’t an accident!?”
As expected, the straight riposte from Dad-chan is strong.
After that, I called Ooba-onii-chan and then asked Dad-chan to call me a taxi.
Ah, I wish I’d charged my mobile phone before the taxi had come…… I managed to charge it for one minute just before the taxi arrived.
It was around nine when I boarded the taxi and the ramen shop was closed.
It was quite late. It took me well over an hour to get a cab. At this rate, it might really be better to just stay over.
“I’m sorry, Miss. Because there was so much construction work ongoing, there were only a few roads that I could use.”
“Is that so?”
Because the young driver with a well-built physique was talking to me, I answered properly, and went with the flow.
If I can’t even handle small talk, I don’t think I can ever become a full member of society. I am an elementary school student.
“Miss’s uniform, are you from the Takamine school?”
“Yes, that’s right. You know of it?”
“Well, it’s the best school in this area. With that kind of school tuition, I think it’s impossible for my children to attend.”
“There aren’t many of them, but there are children from ordinary families, you know?”
“Haha, those children are clearly treasured by their parents. If I had a cute little girl like you, dad would have liked her to go to Takamine, too.”
“…… Dad?”
Does Dad know Driver-san? No, it’s not a taxi company that’s often around here? Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any such company, either.
Anyway, this driver, seems rather talkative……
“When I got on the taxi, didn’t your dad come to see you off? What a pleasant parent-child relationship.”
“…………”
Did he think that Dad-chan and I were parent and child? …… It’s strange putting it into words.
People who come by the shopping district often would know that I call him [Dad-chan], but when did this driver hear of it?
Even though he was from the taxi company that was used by the shop, he didn’t seem acquainted with dad-chan.
And even though he’s a taxi driver, he doesn’t seem to know where I’m going…
“………”
“………”
The conversation got interrupted as I stayed silent.