Chapter 33: Time is Money, Akira

On September 10th, I was at the restaurant where I worked. During my break, I kept spacing out, not reading a book as I usually did. I felt restless.

"Akira-kun, what's wrong? Why have you been daydreaming all this time?" the Manager asked, looking at me with concern.

"Manager," I said, sighing in resignation. "I have a big problem. Yui asked for a birthday gift that's out of my budget."

"Could it be that Yui's birthday is on the 20th?" the Manager asked, shocked and panicking along with me.

"Manager, calm down. This is Akira's business, not yours," a female employee said, laughing at the sight of the manager's panic.

The next morning, I was still restless. This time I ignored all my friends' greetings, including Ayaka, Reina, Mika, and Sayo. They were all worried.

"What's wrong with Akira-kun? I'm so worried," Ayaka said, after I responded to her greeting with only a weak tone.

"Good morning to you too, Ayaka," I said with a blank stare.

"Could Akira-kun be heartbroken?" Ayaka thought too far ahead, making her friends whisper among themselves.

During lunch break, I kept spacing out. Mika approached me with a gentle look. "What's wrong, Akira-kun? Is this about Yui's birthday?"

I came back to my senses. "Hmm! You're right. I'm out of ideas on how to raise enough money to buy her the gift she wants."

"What did she ask for?" Mika asked, curious.

"She asked for an action figure from an anime she watches, and for me to hire a cosplayer of the character, too," I said, remembering the scene of my little sister pouting.

"What?! She asked for something like that?" Ayaka was shocked. "Oh my, that must be really difficult, Akira-kun."

Suddenly, Reina had an idea. "How about one of us cosplays as the anime character Yui likes? And we can all pitch in to buy the action figure?" she suggested.

"No need to go to so much trouble. I can do it myself," I said, walking straight into class.

That afternoon, when I was heading home, a man in a suit picked me up. It was my grandfather.

"Huh? Isn't that Kurogane Motoyashu, the richest man in Japan?" Ayaka and Reina whispered, shocked to see my grandfather.

"Why doesn't he just ask his grandfather to buy him the action figure?" Reina said. Ayaka was silent, thinking that I didn't want to bother anyone.

In the car, I asked my grandfather for help finding an extra job. My grandfather remembered that his hotel had an opening. I immediately accepted, without knowing what the job was.

The next morning, I went to my grandfather's hotel. As I tried to enter, I was stopped and pushed back by a guard who was also a waiter.

"What's the meaning of this?" I asked, shocked.

"Can't you read the sign?" the guard said, pointing to a board that read: "Unauthorized people are not allowed to enter, except for hotel patrons."

"Wait! Wait! You misunderstood! I just got a job from my grandfather!" I protested.

I tried to force my way in, and suddenly, Kenzaki, who was about to become the hotel owner, noticed the commotion.

"Mitsuru-san, what's all the noise outside?" Kenzaki asked, looking at his tablet.

"Oh, it's a crazy person who's trying to force his way into the hotel. He says he got a job here, even though we haven't opened any job applications yet," Mitsuru said.

"The world is really crazy," Kenzaki said. "Even a person like that can only dream of working at a famous hotel—" Kenzaki suddenly realized that the person trying to force his way in was his own younger brother. "Wait! Hey! What are you doing to him?" Kenzaki separated the commotion.

"We were trying to get him to leave, but he kept forcing his way in. What a lunatic," the guard said.

"There's a misunderstanding here. Don't you know that the person in front of me is my grandson and also my younger brother, Akira Motoyashu?" Kenzaki said, shaking his head.

Suddenly, the guards and waiters were shocked. "So you're Kurogane's grandson and also Kenzaki-san's younger brother? Why didn't you say so earlier?" the guard said, making excuses.

I just sighed in frustration. I had told them I was Kurogane's grandson, but they hadn't believed me.

I explained that I would be working as a hotel waiter for a week to earn extra money for my sister's birthday gift. Long story short, I served the guests very kindly, and some were even impressed with my service.

During my break, I took off my waiter's jacket. Suddenly, a service cleaner pulled me aside. She didn't know that I was Kurogane's grandson. She told me to clean the windows on the outside of the building. I was shocked because I was very afraid of heights.

In the meeting room, my Grandfather, Grandmother, and Kenzaki were talking. My Grandmother saw me from the window, her eyes wide.

"Honey, look out the window! Look out the window!" my Grandmother exclaimed, shaking Kenzaki's arm.

Kenzaki also looked outside. "Akira-kun, what are you doing out there?" he said in a low voice.

My Grandfather was just enjoying his coffee. My Grandmother immediately turned his head. My Grandfather was utterly shocked by my recklessness in cleaning the windows from the outside at that height.

A few days later, I had successfully raised the money. I bought Yui's favorite action figure, while Sayo became the cosplayer of her favorite character.

On September 20th, we all celebrated Yui's 9th birthday.

"Happy Birthday!" everyone in the room shouted. Seeing Yui's smile, all my hard work felt worth it.