Chapter 15: Work Hoe

Yuuko felt conflicted. She realized deep down that her method of business was somewhat immoral and she wouldn't have felt this way if she could have paid the right amount to the cause of the burst in the income of the bookstore. This conflict arose from guilt. And she had stated before that she would make an honest living while having her new helper temporarily assisting her.

But two reasons that made her stop in her tracks today once again.

One, of course, money. It's simply the most rooted and base desire for Yuuko because of how tight things were after her husband passed away.

Two—

Yuuko idly gazed at the dark-haired youth wearing a set of crimson armor with edgy shoulder guards and the torso region itself carved as a more muscular set around the youth's slightly thinner body, something she had seen in full glory before, and let out a soft sight. It was none other than Nik, wearing a crimson armor and a well-crafted mask for the lower section of his face made out of rubber and shaped as fierce teeth with pointed tusks sticking out.

The second reason was none other than some personal satisfaction that this work of hers hadn't been able to fulfill for some time now.

Silently patting her stomach, feeling full from the lunch that they just had, Yuuko suppressed the urge to take an afternoon nap. If Nik could have spoken the language well, she would have left the store in his care. A careless mistake in the eyes of others, probably, because Nik had nothing so he had every motivation to steal from Yuuko but he hadn't committed anything untoward to her even when alone so her defenses were now lowered.

Afternoon time didn't bring any customers but it did bring the other female store owners and occasionally the wives of male store owners, too. But Yuuko couldn't drive them away, not only because she might come off as rude, but also because these people took care of her when things were truly bleak for her.

The two continued with their work silently. After a few seconds, Nik entered the store and began cleaning the space of window available from the inside and Yuuko stood, starting to replace the sold books and filled up their places on the shelf.

*Ting-ling*

The soft chime from the bell installed over the entrance of the store allowed Yuuko and Nik to realize that there was a customer and both of them looked up at once.

"Ah, welcome," as usual, Yuuko smiled and greeted even when it was a familiar face. Straight, dark hair and a set of red-rimmed spectacles settled over the bridge of her nose and a pair of honey-gold eyes greeted the duo.

Seeing Mitsuko's body covered in a black-striped red puffer jacket and a pair of black trousers hugging her legs that straddled him just a few hours back in till the morning, Nik couldn't help but recall the sheer awkwardness revealed by Reiko after the fact. He had expected Mitsuko's daughter to be the perverted kind who owned up to their actions but now he realized that many things were involved in the matter and by letting known the possibility that he 'knew', he seemed to have thrown the trio off of their game.

But Mitsuko doesn't seem to feel fazed at all. Scenes of last night and this morning flashed. What started as an awkward and bitter recollection of the past ended up as a very short but fulfilling nap that made him ready for the work at Yuuko's bookstore more than ever.

"It's a good afternoon, Yuuko-san, I had expected you to be resting instead of working," Mitsuko smiled and greeted. The two women were only acquainted because of one particular woman that wasn't present here but the cause of such an acquaintance was not a pretty one. Still, life happened, and living near to each other, the two had plenty of interactions in the past, too.

"Me, too," Yuuko smiled wryly, "But I cannot depend on anyone else to restock the shelves."

"Ohh," Mitsuko nodded while setting her purse on the counter.

"By the way, what is the theme today?" Mitsuko inquired while observing Nik. Her eyes lingering on his body, especially his hands as he resumed the task at hand. It's not like he wouldn't see Mitsuko later tonight and right now, with the thick and fluffy jacket on her, there was nothing much to appreciate aside from her eyes which was more of a private affair and between two individuals in a relationship.

"Today I'm helping Hiro-san advertise her costumes for a commission. I asked for Nik's permission and we even decided to split the commission between ourselves," Yuuko patted her hands against the apron covering her generous body and Mitsuko giggled.

"Must have been tough translating all of this."

"It... really was," Yuuko chuckled and shook her head, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

Even Nik held back his smile.

What Yuuko asked him was: Would you like to split bills in half for a piping red armor in you?

Good thing that it was on him, right?

Anyway, he would be forced to relocate soon enough.

"Anyway, Souma-san, what brings you by?" The owner of the store inquired as Mitsuko patted her purse, "A little bit of grocery shopping before Kurumi returns. Anyway, she seems to enjoy stopping by here so by the time I'm done shopping, I can accompany her on the way back."

"I see. Um, you wouldn't mind me asking if something happened between Kurumi-chan and Megumi, right? Megumi simply refuses to answer me," Yuuko inquired while walking behind the counter and Mitsuko looked confused for a moment.

"I don't know what to say either," Mitsuko shrugged, "But whatever it is, I think they are getting along just fine."

Even Nik didn't have to understand what Kurumi and Megumi spoke back then to realize that they seemed quite hostile towards each other, you know, passively.

The fact that the two would run on the sidewalk only to collapse and roll down as if racing one another was a great indication of this matter. But Mitsuko seemed confident enough in her judgment.

Hesitating for a moment, Yuuko nodded and didn't speak on the matter once again.

"Ah, by the way, does Hiro-san take custom orders, too? I don't want to go into her shop without a little bit of knowledge regarding what she does."

"Hmm, there is a selection for custom orders but they are too expensive. Meanwhile, Hiro-san herself promotes the shows and manga she enjoys by creating these cosplays for others. By the way, I just saw that she had been hiding some 'other' materials, too," Yuuko whispered.

"Other material?" Mitsuko tilted her head.

"Um... I haven't read these things personally but Hiro-san said that many men like actual sports uniforms sometimes. So she had just started to make some costumes related to this."

Mitsuko's gaze brightened for a moment. It did seem interesting but Mitsuko herself hadn't really thought about cosplay up until this point.

"Well, I should be taking my leave. I just dropped by out of impulse," Mitsuko replied, "And I will see what Hiro-san has on display."

It wasn't just impulse. She had something more planned in her mind. But...

'That outfit is too complicated to get out of quickly and...'

Seeing Nik hard at work, she just suppressed the idea of disrupting his job. While she was interested in various forms of romance, by no means she was a young and foolish woman who would risk annoyance from a male hard at work. Concentration during a job is hard to come by and even if there aren't actually many who would really be annoyed by what she had in mind, just the sight of the youth constantly wiping away at the window calmly strangely lit her up.

Which was strange because she wasn't really attracted to menial labor.

This only left her with one possible speculation that made her feel a little wry but largely 'bubbly' within.

"Bye, Nik~!" Mitsuko called out sweetly and Yuuko's ears twitched. She sensed something strange. But Mitsuko, too, stopped at the door as Nik turned and bowed casually with the rag still in his hand and then began working once again.

"When did he learn that?" Mitsuko instantly inquired with the delight in her eyes growing stronger.

Diligent, respectful, and able to throw all of it away to treat her the way she deserves, just how she likes it.

"Just this morning," Yuuko smiled.

'It feels like I'm a fucking toddler... hehe, if only I could speak, fucking toddler... pfft,' Nik shook his head internally while delighting over his ill-mannered pun. Sometimes, silence truly is a golden virtue. Countless mind-breaking sessions failed to take away one of his greatest talents: bad puns.

As Mitsuko left after a searing gaze in his direction, the shop came to a striking silence with the soft whirring of the ac unit in the store warming the surroundings echoing. Yuuko was a talkative person by nature, just like her daughter. But she could only lament that guy who managed to shake Yakima off of her temporarily just happened to be a case of amnesia. She couldn't even just translate one of her few recollections, funny ones, in fear of offending Nik.

Even Yuuko knew that aside from the pandemic that left a lasting mark on the world, there was another disaster and it happened to be the more aggressive youths of the current generation. She had seen the videos on the internet. Children shouting about rights and all that.

Thinking of her phone, Yuuko switched it on and began watching cooking channels. Now that she had another guest on the table, Yuuko felt like trying to at least communicate using their meals.

'He will notice all the hard work though, right?' She pondered while watching the video of some Indian Curry.

Time gradually passed and customers began filtering in. Even though Nik hadn't stopped wearing the costume, Yuuko did make him stop handing out hugs from today.

"I'm back!" Megumi felt especially pleased, her voice louder than usual.

"-ey! Wa- wait I said!"

A gasp attracted Nik's attention and from the windowpane, he saw Kurumi being dragged away by Mitsuko, not even being allowed to enter the store: the source of Megumi's pleasant evening. Yuuko was attending a customer so she didn't let herself be distracted.

Closing the door to the store, Megumi looked around in surprise.

"Ah, no hugs today?"

"Megumi, behave yourself," Yuuko sighed and retorted as the girl with slightly disheveled hair nodded quickly. Glancing at Nik wrapped in a demon-like crimson armor with nothing but the top portion of his face visible.

"Yes, yes, sorry!" Sticking her tongue out, Megumi entered their home as Yuuko shook her head.

"Um... are you not giving anybody hugs?"

Meanwhile, a girl approached Nik. His task right now was to simply keep an eye around since most people know what they want to buy in a bookstore. Sometimes he would set the books in their original place once the customer left but this was a rare scenario. Most of them would set the books they took out back from where they took them by themselves.

She was young, quite a bit. Not even a teenager from the looks of it and had her short hair tied up like a small fountain. Compared to her, Nik was almost towering and in his almost malevolent cosplay, he seemed quite a bit intimidating when not actually giving out hugs.

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Seeing that Yuuko was changing the bills under the counter, he shook his head and knelt on a knee. Pulling down the mask, he couldn't help but smile and whisper.

"Sorry, not today. But if you keep coming to the store, you might get a hug."

It wasn't below him to manipulate someone much younger than him for the benefit of the store since it benefitted himself, too.

"O-ok, Big Brother," The girl nodded quickly and Nik pulled his mask up once again.

'Hah... to speak is really a luxury here,' he sighed internally. But he also couldn't help but think of his own situation. He would be leaving this world location temporarily tomorrow evening.

He had almost collected a single point once again and he now took more initiative in devouring things since he felt at least a bit settled here. But what about the new place he is supposed to be sent by his immediate superior— The Transmigration Paradise?

This world already had many things he didn't understand completely. From tiny objects such as mobile phones to larger carriages driven without steam and more streamlined bodies and even more humongous transportation vehicles such as a Train. If anything he was grateful then it would be that the men and women around him were the same. Two eyes, two ears, and stuff like that. He didn't even need to see a naked man at realizing that his nethers weren't different either or Mitsuko might have called him out on the very first day.

He was overly nervous about what he had to do in the next world but also the slightest bit excited.

And once again he felt the sinking feeling that he was missing out on something.

Nik silently glanced through the various books, now being able to read their titles. He walked around the self-help section and it truly helped him as he realized what he had been missing.

'Goals.'

Nik finally realized that whatever happened around him turned out to be set without his own thoughts truly.

He was pulled from the street and made to whore out because of Esta's will.

He did show initiative by trying to escape but that ended up in a fatality.

He was brought back from the dead and sent here, once again, out of his free will. Well, the Infinity did give him a 'choice' but truly, life and death, what was he expected to do? Just die?

And in here, because of how detached he was due to being unable to properly communicate, he got a job because of Genta and had a place to stay because of Mitsuko, and now he knew why, too.

All he seemed to be doing was living in the two choices. Either agree or disagree.

But what about himself?

Infinity wanted things and rewarded him with AP that will help him rise through this extraterrestrial organization.

Transmigration Paradise wanted to send him to various other worlds for its own objective and if completed, would reward him, too.

Even those around him knew what they wanted.

Megumi trained every evening arduously with that wooden stick because of some competition she talked about.

Yuuko wanted her store to do well.

Mitsuko wanted to do him and her daughters wanted to see it.

'I became a work hoe without realizing once again...'

Nik's gaze flickered. He didn't reach out to self-help books but instead spent the greater part of the evening just bowing at the leaving customers and thinking what he wanted from himself.

The fact that he would choose life over death meant that deep down, he wanted good things to happen for himself. He now just had to look even deeper and find out what he really wanted.

As usual, with Yuuko being busy till the later part of the evening, Megumi left to buy groceries for dinner once she was done with her training.

When it became even darker, Nik finally helped Yuuko pack up the entrance and then ate the hearty meal until Yuuko asked him to meet near the counter once again.

"What do you mean you don't want it?" Yuuko frowned slightly as she placed a bundle of 30000 yen on the counter. Nik had already changed out of the armor with much difficulty and looked a little bit tired.

Over these few short days, he had already realized that if the police system of this world was anything like the one in his world then even the short leave of seven days would be noted. It would be troublesome for him in the short and long term since Nik's 'leave' would be at a greater frequency. What he wanted right now was to have at least Yuuko ensure his back for as long as she can.

But Nik didn't think for even a second to expose that he knew Japanese. He may claim that he recalled something, but not the fact that he could speak the language yet.

So that's what he did.

It wasn't hard to translate short speech into translated texts.

"You remembered something?" Yuuko gasped, "We should immediately tell Asagi-san."

'No, we shouldn't,' he let almost let out a groan and she shook his head hurriedly.

"It's not something... I want others to know."

"Why?" Yuuko continued.

"Because it is dangerous."

"Then it is more likely that we should ask the police for assistance."

Nik's lips twitched. Anyway, this is something he had to do not because of having Yuuko as an 'accomplice' but also because she hadn't been unkind to him. This was a simple arrangement, even Nik realized it. Nothing more, nothing less. But this didn't stop a living being to come across as caring. Yuuko had paid a great deal of attention to him and for that, he was thankful enough.

"It's because whoever threw me here doesn't fear the police. Please, I'm only asking for seven days. If I don't return till then, you can report me missing," Nik made sure that the translated text didn't mean anything else in fear of any misunderstanding.

Yuuko frowned as Nik suddenly held Yuuko's hand. Her body stiffened but she soon relaxed as Nik stuffed the bundle of cash in her hand.

"This is the pay cut for my leave. Help me out this time and I promise that I will tell you what's going on seven days later."

Yuuko pursed her lips and set the money on the counter once again. Thinking for a moment, she inquired.

"Is it far?"

"It is," Nik nodded. His trip was planned on a completely different planet.

Yuuko opened the counter and took out a short stack of bills equivalent to the one on the counter and then smiled, "Seven days, alright? I will try and cover for you for only seven days but if I find out that you're doing something illegal, I will have to go to Asagi-san."

The translated speech didn't make too much of a sense and Nik might have struggled a great deal beforehand but now it didn't matter. He glanced at the translated texts and nodded.

Yuuko then stuffed the money in his hands, "For your journey. Be careful."

Nik gazed at the cash in his hands with a bit of hesitation.

"Keep it," Yuuko smiled and Nik finally nodded.

Reiko wasn't here to pick him up but it didn't matter since he already had the way to Mitsuko's home remembered. Walking down the flight of stairs, this time, Nik didn't see any shadow close to the street lamp but still, he took the longer route. But it wasn't only fear of the unknown that led Nik to take the longer route, he also had the chance to do community service.

Cleaning up the trash.

He had also tried devouring one bill of 5000 yen but it was barely better than an empty can so Nik 'stored' it away like a few unpaid outfits. Just like that, doing community service, Nik once again had a single point in his arsenal of AP.

***

A/N: For those who had expected Nik to have just gone for every single woman as I did in the previous version, sorry. But right now, he neither has the mission of having ten women or the incubus ability and when I read the first world in the previous fanfic, I realized that he had managed to acquire a harem in less than a week, again, mostly because of incubus bloodline.

Not only that, in this version, I did make Nik feel more unsettled even when sleeping with Mitsuko and also revealed that he simply doesn't have any nudge to actually form a harem until now. He's just a slightly different guy but a guy nonetheless. Another thing I noted was that it took only these seven days for the souma family to have moved in with Okusan but I didn't even reveal her now because it wasn't necessary.

This small arc was only to reveal Nik's problems and slightly set up the world without going to deep into it and leaving many things unsettled only for a large arc to commence.

I hope my line of thought would somewhat ease annoyances, if any, because of the sheer lack of lemons until now.

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