Vol 7 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 7 Chapter 1

Take ht, And I' road

I'm on my way, I'm on my way-- Home sweet home

”Home Sweet Home” Nikki Sixx

Chapter 1

Having lived for 17 years, I lost a lot, but never did I once thought of s that hurt e caused bymy parched throat These aren’t considered misfortune What really forces people down the abyss ofmore realistic, a flaw in reality that renders people powerless Simply put, it’s money, health, and the loss of family

That 17th Winter, I spoke with quite a few homeless folk

“Soars So that those are words of prejudice, that we should be called street buddies”

One of the homeless ones said to me

“But I think calling us ‘homeless’ will be the most accurate in this case”

He pinched the cigarette that’s as short as a fingernail, staring at the smoke as he mutters

“There’s also those without a house, but that doesn’t refer to us”

“What’s the difference?”

He rolled his sleeves, showing the red pellet marks on his arms Those were the scars caused by the BB bullet attacks

“Whether we have a hoo back to Those brats are the saht, and shoot us with the air guns I really want to beat theood, but I can’t say that I don’t understand the feelings of those brats”

“You…understand?”

“Of course The part that they have no place to return to”

That’s what it means to have no place to return to Hiswith the wind to thetrain

I could not iine how it felt to have no hoed to that us NEETs could easily give up on ourselves and run away, lost and not knohat to do For those who lost the place they belong to, what environments do they enter dreamland, and what are the scenes they see in the dreams?

“It’s not that hard That’s just all”

His voice sounded as though it came from a distant place

“It’s just that we have no place to return to That’s all”

I recalled the words of my employer, the detective e first met, what she said to me

Just as earthworuins are not asha of life, is it not?

At that moment, I could not answer

Early Winter, everyone was busy preparing for the change in weather, and even the NEET detective who heads in the dark, server roo was no exception

A certain day after school in late November, I received an order from my employer to head to Tokyu Hands and soe a to the office The office’s a fair distance away fro area near the station, located at the 3rd floor of a building crammed with all kinds of shops One of the doors had the display ‘NEET Detective Agency’ on it, and that would bewould always be switched on, and once I entered the corridor, I feltcold The 6-tatami sized rooets The three walls were filled with shelves of cases, , and the place ay beyond cyberpunk, al thing was the petite girl in pajamas seated at the center of the bed

“Watch the s; don’t let a single flea jump in Put up 3 layers of soundproof curtains, and a, h for the brain cells to shrink!” The girl continued to command me on the bed She has sickly white skin, black hair that flows like a river at night, and was dressed in teddy print pajas She’s my employer, Alice

“Hey, why must you lock yourself in that much?”

I asked as I pasted duct tape at the narrow space behind the shelves

“Why? You ask? I’m a NEET”

Alice proudly lifted her chest as she answered

She declared herself as the NEET detective, and would rather keep herself confined to this craency than to head outside due to her fear of doing so But what’s the reason for her being so wary?

“Tomorrow’s November 23rd Got to increase the thickness of the wall”

“So I say, what’s November 23 about?”

“It’s Labor Thanksgiving Day to each other wildly, the day where NEETs are robbed of their rights to even breathe”

“Ahh…” Labor Appreciation Day wasn’t soot about this vacation”

“Us NEETs end our year on this very day, so we have a duty to spend thisthe Passover After enduring this Labor Appreciation day, the next day will be a new beginning”

“Stop enduring and express your thanks to the laborers”

“Shut up and get working!”

Yes yes, but it’s way too eration to say that it’s the end of a year The ave me such a look, and said,

“What’s exaggerated about this? You’re the one being ignorant For the japanese, Labor Thanksgiving day is supposed to be a festival to celebrate the end of a year”

“Really?”

With duct tape in hand, I turned my head around

“The reason why Nove Day was due to it being a Royal Fa Festival As to why the weird naiven, it was because the Allied General Headquarters after the anted to lower the Royal Family’s shi+nto influence”

“Rice Tasting Festival…” I seemed to have heard of it, or not

“Si season ends, that’s the Rice Tasting festival Even someone as royal as the Emperor himself can’t taste the rice harvested this year before this day Using the Lunar calendar,festival is around winter or so That’s why the ti of this festival is as implied as its name, a New Year festival It’s also an i of rice, to celebrate the end of a year, and the beginning of a new one”

“Haa”

“So us NEETs have to stay still and not do anything for the entire day”

“You don’t work at all for the entire year anyway”

“Who do you think gives you your pay!?”

The following day was November 23rd, and naturally, there was a school vacation I was su, and I rode my bicycle to the office

Alice’s roo withwas a ra woman called Min-san, and before she inherited the ra to become a ice cream maker, so her ice cream was of professional standard Even till this day, she has been researching on it The ra Day, but the electricity in the kitchen was in use, and the ventilation fans were spinning as there was a sweet fragrance co out fro ice cream this year

“Excuse me”

I opened the back door and sat on a round seat Min-san, with her hair tied in a ponytail, turned towards me

“Oh, it’s you, Narumi You’re early today”

Min-san said as she placed the bowl she was holding onto the table On this day, Min-san wasn’t wearing a tank top, just a sarashi+ wrapped around the breasts, and I didn’t knohere to look as a result Like usual, she’s really defenceless This lady with G-cups should at least know that just wrapping a cloth around her large chest will show a huge cleavage that’ll really garner attraction

“The ice crea”

“No, I’ just to eat ice cream”

“You came to help too, Fujishi+ma-kun?”

A girl with short brown hair suddenly popped her head out from the kitchen corridor She’s Ayaka, my classmate, an employee of this shop The ramen shop’s closed today, but the boss and employee are both here, and I really don’t know for what purpose they’re closed for The only thing different is that Ayaka’s wearing a purple one-piece dress I guess Min-san has no interest other thanice cream

“I’ll go to Alice in a while”

“Why do you have to go to her at such an early time?” Ayaka tilted her head in scepticism as she held onto the blender

“Ah, because it’s Labor Thanksgiving Day, right?” Min-san said “Oh yeah, thank goodness we have Naru this year”

“What about Labor Thanksgiving Day?”

Min-san started to explain to Ayaka how on this day, Alice would shrink up in a corner of the room or on the bed and not move at all She typically would not eat much, and would rely on the potent carbonated drink Dr Pepper alone as nutrition, but on this day, she would not drink any Thus, she would end up as a living corpse, and for every trivialthis year, this would be my job

“So-so that ets to spend the entire day with Alice on the bed?”

“Well, that’s right—wait, what do you et onto the bed, right?”

“You can comb her hair and keep it nice”

“That’s your job, Ayaka”

“Or you can hug her and take a nap with her”

“That’s what you want to do, Ayaka!”

Min-san gave a mischievous smirk as she interrupted,

“Alice today is very interesting; she’s as obedient as a cat with flu If you hug her today, she’s not going to make a fuss You can try, Narumi”

No way What’s interesting about that?

It seeetting further away froency staircase towards the detective agency office on the 3rd floor Alice was dressed inclothes, knelt in front of the bed as she prayed Why’s she wearingclothes? Because it’s a rest day and she wanted to create a Church-like atmosphere? Also, the newly installed 51ch a Haydn’s Oratorio My head ached as I heard it, and I hurriedly got onto the bed to lower the volume

“What are you doing?” Alice lifted her black veil, raising an eyebrow as she asked

“Nothing much It’s noisy, that’s all”

“Can’t you hear the lamentations of all the NEETs outside the wall?”

If I could, I wouldn’t be here I’ll be looking for an ENT doctor

“I was downstairs, and heard that Min-san had been taking care of you up till last year?”

“Master’s different from you She pressed the air conditioner re to say a word”

That’s because you’re so de

“Or are you going to ask Min-san for help? I’ll just call her in then”

Like usual, I returned with a sigh, and right when I was about to leave the bed, I found the sleeve of ed at Shocked, I turned around to look, and saw Alice give me an earnest look

“Are you really serious about going back?”

“Eh? You wish for et Min-san up”

“Did anyone ask you to do so!?”

“Nope, so you preferplayed like a fiddle?

“I didn’t say you’re better!”

I placed my hand on my forehead What in the world

“So you wantMin-san up?”

“How did you end up deriving such a conclusion!?” Alice slammed the mattress hard as she yelled At this point, I started to feel that nothing mattered

“Erm, then, what do you want me to do?”

Alice puffed her cheeks, pulled the he skirt, and pointed at the computers behind her”

“Start shopping on the internet”

I had been Alice’s assistant for almost a year, but I was not sure how Alice would spend her days if there were no cases present Until this Labor Thanksgiving day, that was

Alice shoved the keyboard to me, and ordered me to search information on all kinds of dolls on the internet, and post on the foru when she hugged it, and the sewing

Following that,it was to collect all kinds of inforh everything about Dr Pepper, and even spend wildly on it Thus, Alice did not like the band Guns and Roses, but she had 5 copies of the ‘Chinese De Dr Pepper for not being nice or too ical lance) Of course, Alice only narrated this today, and I was in charge of typing at the keyboard

“…You do this every day?”

I asked in a worn out voice, and

“Of course! I have to protect the reputation of Dr Pepper no matter what!”

Isn’t the beverage co that already? I really wanted to retort back, only to sords back in Even if I did say the appropriate things, it did not mean that people would be happy This was a fact I learned, having worked as a detective’s assistant for a year

But even so, why did I have to type instead of Alice?

“God decreed that nobody is to work the Sabbath, so we can’t operate any machinery It’s said that the Jews can’t press the elevator buttons”

“…Isn’t co?”

“Actually, the work here refers to the ‘assembly of the Tabernacle’ inally stated was that we cannot create fire, and notelse Thus, the scholars are confused about this explanation However, the chapters listed after the Sabbath records lots of work about setting up the Tabernacle, so the scholars felt that it’s a ‘job’ forbidden by God Of course, after 3,500 years, the definition of work expanded, sometimes stricter, sometimes looser

“Ah…” And so?

“Work doesn’t include talking I’ now”

“You really can wiggle your way out of this!”

And with Alice bo me, I left my mark on various websites At thisI had always been curious about, but was unable to do so for some reason

“Alice, are you a Christian?”

“Ied “I’ created to answer the doubts of little children, like e can’t kill, e can’t steal, why do we go to Church on Sunday Belief can give a clear answer to these questions In other words, we’ll be lectured by a certain Soer than we are But when our adolescence, we need to bid farewell to religion”

“I see”

It was an ironic viewpoint, I felt, but really how Alice would look at things

“So why are you going about with that Sabbath?”

“Because I’m a weak kid too I need to make use of it from time to time”

“Make use?”

“Right The definition of religion is ultihts and frustrations to an Absolute Entity Even you probably had someone you prayed too”

“Hmm…I did, actually”

“So I say, ion is the sa special God should be an absolute existence, but both of us aren’t so free that we can be caring for each other all day long”

“So today’s the day we pay attention?”

“Right, just as how you will only care about God on Christ in purity”

I felt that I was forced to listen to an answer coreed However, there was so I was curious about

“Speaking of which, Alice, you don’t seem to care if what form God appears in, do you?”

“I don’t Even if it’s a sardine head”

“But you really use a lot of Bible scriptures”

Hearing that question, Alice immediately quit down, and averted her eyes It was a rare reaction

“Back when I was at my old home, I was forced to recite them”

Old home Alice’s old home…

I had no idea about how Alice end up co filled with shops, and she only indicated that she wanted to leave her family In the end, I was unable to clarify about it, not siloomy as a cloudy day in November, and also because Ayaka suddenly opened the door

“Alice, Fujishi+ma-kun, here’s some ice cream!”

Bursting into the office with life was Ayaka, holding the tray of ice cream with one hand, her round eyes widened as she stood at the bedroom room

“Fujishi+ma-kun, you said all that, but you spent the entire day on the bed, you know?”

“Eh? Ah, ahh, no, Alice asked s”

“W-well, how do I put it” Alice pushed her aside, and ducked under the bed to hide from Ayaka “I didn’t let him smell me, didn’t let him sleep with me, didn’t let him touch my underwear, socks and pajamas You don’t have any reason to lecture me”

Those words really hurt my pride as a human Can you please don’t refute to that specific level…

“Really? Not even a cuddle?”

“O-of course not!” Alice kickedme Even beyond the black veil, I could tell that she was blushi+ng furiously”

“Then I’ll cuddle you instead!”

With tray in hand, Ayaka got onto the bed, left it on the side table, and rushed towards Alice Before the latter could resist, she was turned around, and seated on Ayaka’s thighs

“Why do you have to hug le time?”

“Because this is the only position I can feed you ice cream”

“I can eat it by myself” Alice was furious

“And when I’ you”

“What’s with that weird reason!? And why do you look like you accept that explanation, Alice!?”

I slairls had already diverted their attention towards the ice cream

“This ice cream is made from rice”

“Hht that I would one day be move by the taste of rice”

Alice muttered, I can only be amazed by Master’s techniques

“You see, today’s that new tasting day or Rice Tasting day or whatever, right? That’s why Min-san made this rice flavoured ice cream”

“So it’s thanks to that that we get this nice Eye?”

“Eve?” Ayaka looked confused, and Alice turned around toshe had told me

“I see That means you can’t be a detective today, Alice?”

“That’s right” Alice shrugged “For a Sabbath, any work that result in reward is a taboo”

“So what happens if a customer visit?”

“He’ll have to return for the day”

“Ehh? But isn’t that a pity? Isn’t there Fujishi+ma-kun? He’s an assistant”

“I rather have them do a phone call consultation than leave Narumi to the customers”

For Alice, this level of spite was courteous of her For Alice, that is,

“First, a detective’s assistant is only an assistant, and not a replacement detective, just like how the moon can’t replace the sun I told Naurmi 500 times or so that he’s not suited to be one”

“Then, then, soht?”

“…Hm?”

“I want to be a detective for a day!”

And so, on this day, Ayaka was in charge of being the substitute NEET detective, and my first order of business was to stick a ‘fake’ label at the front of the ‘NEET detective agency’

“If the custo that I’m a real detective, it’ll be fraud!” Ayaka said, “I’ll be a detective, you’ll be a doll, Alice Try your best not to talk or mouth”

“Mmmm”

Alice, dressed inclothes, sat obediently on Ayaka’s lap, really reseree to this proposal obediently, it was because Ayaka threatened Alice, that if she didn’t get to be a detective for a day, she’s going to make Alice take a bath

“Well, whatever I decided to have a rest day today Customers won’t come by that easily”

“Then, Fujishi+ a few promotional calls?”

“Promotional!?”

Both Alice and I exclaimed in madness

And thus, I exited the office, down the eency staircase to the first level The first one I called was Tetsu-senpai He dropped out fro at, and a Pachinko pro now, an undisputed NEET

“Ahhn!? A request? ” senpai’s disgruntled voice could be heard from the cellphone

“Yeah If you got any troubles right now, fake detective Ayaka can solve it for you, it seems”

“Hey! What day do you think it is today? It’s Labor Thanksgiving day, you know? The day us NEETs stay at home and shi+ver Tell Ayaka that I’ll play with her tomorrow”

I could only hang up the phone and give up on Tetsu-senpai Up next was a call to Hiro, a gigolo who specializes in conning girls for a living

“Eh? Now? I’irl’s bathing now No, I ht, it’s Labor Appreciation day, so I won’t take the initiative to ask girls out, I’ll just accept”

I sighed, and hung up the phone Next was a phone call to Major He’s a college student, but always skipped classes, so he’s partially a NEET

“I won’t take a single step out of the house Of course? If I’m to accidentally do soht to be a NEET, right?”