After school date

As the bell rang, I dashed out as fast as I could. I met Naname at the shoelocker and walked out with her. 

“KAZEROU TSUBAKI! STOP RIGHT THERE!”

I groaned as Kuriyama blocked our path.

“Move it 4 eyes, we’ve got a tight schedule!”

“Insults will not be tolerated! Your attitude needs improvement. You ran through the halls AGAIN!”

“How would you know? You’ve been out here the whole time. I just walk fast, now if you’ll excuse me, Naname and I have a date- “

“Oi Zerou! I still have things to discuss with you!” Himesaki sneered as she emerged from the school.

“What!? I’m on a tight timetable!”

“That’s the thing, rules say no extracurricular activities till your grades improve.”

“Bullshit! I can date my girlfriend!”

“Na-uh! Failures don’t get to enjoy themselves. That includes working a job. School rules prohibit students from working jobs if their grades are low. I guess it’s understandable that you didn’t know considering how dumb you are. You also need to submit a report on any jobs you work to the school regardless of how well your grades are. So, what’s this job I heard you bragging about?”

I was in a tough spot. My only hope was to lie about it, but that might anger Naname. I then went with the best option I could think of.

“Yeah, my mom paid me for doing some roof repair. It felt like a job, and she paid me a lot so I um…”

Himesaki laughed.

“Well that’s an idiot for ya. Hosen-san, you should ditch this trash he’s got no redeeming qualities.”

“Not true! Kazerou-kun’s gonna become an Olympic shooter,” Naname stated.

Himesaki’s eyes narrowed as I felt a chill run down my spine.

“Olympic shooter huh? I find that hard to believe when he can’t even remain eligible for sports,” she grumbled as she walked away.

I then grabbed Naname’s hand and ran as Kuriyama angrily yelled at me to return.

                                                               ...

“Sorry about the tyrants,” I apologized as I sat in the booth across from Naname.

“Naname understands. Kuriyama is always yelling at Naname for not brushing her hair properly.”

Naname was infamous for her stubborn messy hair that refused to stay down. No matter how much she brushed it, multiple hairs would always stick up. Even when she began tying up her hair and using clips, it refused to stay straight. Since she hated going to the salon and using spray or gel, she had just decided to accept her hair’s jagged and stubborn state. I personally thought it added to her charm, but I guess the tyrannical council didn’t have an eye for beauty. Come to think of it, Naname really put in the effort to make her hair look nice and beautiful yesterday…

“__!”

I quickly decided to change the topic before Naname got mad.

“So, what do you want to eat? I’m paying so go all out.”

“Really!? Naname wants to try the sweet sugar boat pancake!”

The item in question was one of the restaurant’s more popular and expensive items. Well, since I now had some cash, I didn’t mind.

“Though are you sure you can eat that whole thing on your own? It says it’s massive.”

“That’s why you’re here. So you can help Naname eat.”

My heart thumped as my face went red. This girl really was an angel. How dare that bitch ruined our date yesterday and hurt her. Well, at least her money would be paying for this.

After ordering, I decided to figure out the banking app the bitch installed on my phone, while Naname went to the restroom.

“WHAT THE HELL!?”

My face went pale as I saw the number. 50,000. Yes 50,000. It would be more than enough to cover the meal IF IT WAS IN YEN INSTEAD OF EUROS! I then received a text from the bitch.

“Not a bad idea to spend your paycheck on fine dining.”

“How did you know!?”

“Spyware.”

I really needed to delete all the spyware she installed. Ugh, I’m getting off track.

“Why is the payment in euros?”

“Because they’re more valuable than yen or dollars. I guess a Zero like you dosen’t know basic economics.”

“Cut the bullshit! I know enough to know this shit is useless here. Why can’t you change it to yen?”

“Your problem not mine, If you want to convert it you’ll have to do it yourself. Though I wouldn’t recommend converting large amounts frequently. You’d immediately be under suspicion and you wouldn’t want that.”

I seethed in anger as Naname returned.

“What’s wrong Kazerou-kun?”

“Oh ah, nothing to worry about, just my boss being unreasonable. Ha ha.”

Based on Naname’s skeptical look, I imagined she wasn’t fully buying it.

“Say Kazerou-kun, what is this job you got? Naname’s certain what you said back at school was just to throw off those bullies. What is it?”

Things were only getting worse. In addition to not being able to use the money I got, Naname was asking about my job. I couldn’t just tell her I’d become a mafia hitman. Though maybe…

“Say Naname, how do you feel about criminal gangs like Yakuza and mafia?”

“Naname HATES them! Why are you- “

“Good, so that means you like people that take them down, right?”

“Yes! Like superheroes. Wait is Kazerou-kun- “

“Yep! Well, more like I’m helping those that do end up doing the heavy lifting. See someone caught wind of my sharpshooting skills and commissioned me to help give her guys some pointers. I might end up going on missions, but for now it’s just target practice.”

“So then your boss is a police officer?”

“Well, government agent would be more accurate. Sadly, she’s more of the “work first, play later” type, and can be a bit insensitive to matters like romance.”

“Ah, Naname understands. Don’t worry, Naname has faith you’ll find a balance between me and your work.”

I felt terrible. I was lying out of my ass. Worst of all I had a feeling someone would eventually find out my secret due to how much this world hates me. My only hope was to literally find the balance Naname had mentioned. If I put in that effort, then maybe the powers that be will mercifully get me out of this mess so I can live happily ever after with Naname.

                                                                   ...

“34, 35, Yep! 25,350 yen exactly. Thank you for your patronage.”

I groaned as I hobbled out of the restaurant with Naname. Not only did my stomach ache from the meal, but I had literally spent every last yen in my wallet.

“I really hope I’ve got enough left on my ringo card for the train home,” I thought.

After saying goodbye to Naname, I began jogging to the meetup place. It was 3:50, but luckily the meetup spot wasn’t too far away. 

I reached the location at 4 on the dot. It was a residential intersection, with hardly anyone around.

“YOU’RE LATE DAMMIT!” A woman’s voice roared out.

I turned to see a woman with a pink bob wearing sportswear standing in front of a gray cube car. My phone began ringing, as the woman motioned for me to answer it. It was the bitch.

“I see you’ve met Sakura. She’s short tempered, but one of my most trusted subordinates. Today you two will be teaming up to take out some dangerous Yakuza. Sakura will explain the details in the car.”

Once the call ended, Sakura picked me up and tossed me in the passenger’s seat.

“What the hell!? How are you so strong!? Are you a gorilla?”

“Shut up or I break your jaw,” she growled.

Once we were on the road, she explained the mission.

“The job is to take out a Yakuza boss known as Hyena. He’s a crazy drug smuggling bastard that’s declared war on the Panini family. Our job is to take him out.”

“So you want me to snipe him?”

“It’s not that easy. That bastard has crazy reflexes. I’m going to corner him to the point where he won’t be able to dodge a ricocheted shot from you.”

“Wait! Ricocheted shot!?”

“Yeah, you CAN pull that off right?”

“Yes, I can pull it off. I could even blast a nonlethal shot through you to take out the target.”

Sakura’s death glare told me that was not a viable option. Well, if the mission is anything like yesterday, it shouldn’t be too difficult, right?