Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo - Epilogue Part 2

Epilogue Part 2

 

July, one year ago.

 

As I stepped out of the stadium, the sun, hot as it was since it was currently summer, blessed me with its light.

 

Even for a high school student with plenty of energy like me, this was still a harsh situation.

 

“I gotta look for it… There should be one somewhere around here…”

 

Those words slipped out of my mouth as I remembered the result of the final match of the regionals that the baseball club played today. 

 

At the end of the match, the end of the ninth inning, our side was overwhelmed by the opponent and lost the match.

 

That alone was pretty upsetting, but I couldn’t afford to let it get to me.

 

“Wait for me, Sun-chan.”

 

Muttering the name of my friend, I desperately searched for a certain shop.

 

A kushikatsu shop.

 

Sun-chan, as the ace of the baseball team, was the only one among the players who still had a smile on his face. Instead of crying like everyone else was, he made his effort to comfort them. But, I knew that he was just acting tough.

 

It was him who felt the most depressed of them all.

 

After all, out of everyone else, he was the one who wanted to go to Koshien the most.

 

And so, I took it upon myself, as his best friend, to cheer him up.

 

My plan was to greet him with a smile while holding his favorite food, kushikatsu, in my hands.

 

That was the reason why I was searching for a kushikatsu shop, but I couldn’t find any near the stadium.

 

“Not here… Then…!”

 

When I looked around my surroundings desperately, I noticed something.

 

A food stall a short distance away from where I was standing.

 

‘Yoki Kushikatsu Stall’ was written on it. There was no doubt about it! They should be selling some kushikatsu there! 

 

“Excuse me! Can I—”

 

Wait, no, I forgot to hide my true personality here.

 

My outward personality was that of a kind and naive boy, so time to get in character!

 

“Can I have all the kushikatsu in your stock?”

 

I said to the store clerk, pointing to the more than fifty skewers of kushikatsu.

 

The clerk was wearing a bandana on his forehead, keeping his hair so that they wouldn’t obstruct his sight. I could feel his spirit of professionalism.

 

“Huh?”

 

The good-looking clerk, who looked out of place because he was running a kushikatsu stall, looked at me with suspicion.

 

Due to his appearance, I thought that he would be a kind person, but it seemed like my guess was wrong.

 

“You, what did you say just now?”

“Um… I said, can I have all the kushikatsu in your stock?”

“If you’re here to make fun of me, then why don’t you just leave? So annoying.”

 

Oi, what the hell. Your attitude didn’t reflect the name of your stall at all. (T/N: Yoki is also a slang for ‘nice.’)

 

I was still a customer, you know? Since I said that I wanted to buy your goods, then, give me your goods. Well, it wasn’t like I couldn’t understand his feelings.

 

A high school student came out of nowhere and told you that he’d be buying everything that you had. If I were in his position I would probably do the same. Now, the difference here was that I was serious about buying everything.

 

“No, um… I’m not trying to make fun of you or anything…”

“Then, you’re serious?”

“…Yes.”

“I see. Sorry for doubting you then. People often told me that I kept taking things the wrong way. I really need to reflect on myself.”

 

Oh, he apologized properly. Guess he wasn’t such a bad person after all.

 

Since that was the case, let’s behave accordingly.

 

“No, it’s okay.”

 

I gave him my pure-hearted smile. It should look like I was smiling from my heart, my acting was flawless, after all.

 

“There are sixty of them in total… I think I should heat them up first. Do you mind waiting?”

“Ah, sure, but can you do it quickly? I have something I have to do after this…”

 

Since I was buying them for Sun-chan, it wouldn’t be funny if he ended up going back home before I could give them to him.

 

I told the clerk in a rather panicked tone.

 

“You’re in a hurry? Alright, I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you very much!”

 

Wait, what?! The dude heated the sixty or so skewers at an unbelievably high speed!

 

It looked like he manifested a thousand hands due to how fast he was!

“While you’re waiting, why don’t you taste some of our samples over there. We’ll be closing after this anyway.”

“Woah! Thank you very much!”

 

His hands didn’t stop moving even as he talked. What an amazing guy. Not only that, he was also a nice guy.

 

Since I was a little hungry, I decided to take up on his goodwill.

 

Sun-chan would eat up everything anyway. I wouldn’t be able to eat any of them.

 

I pricked a small piece of the kushikatsu samples with a toothpick and brought it to  my mouth.

 

After tasting it, I realized that it tasted even better than I previously thought.

 

Sun-chan would be happy after eating these!

 

“How was it?”

 

His hands were still moving as he asked me that question with a sharp gaze.

 

“It’s good! It’s really tasty!”

“…I see.”

 

Huh? What was it?

 

I gave him my honest compliment, but he looked down for some reason.

 

“If that’s the case, why aren’t anyone buying them?”

 

The clerk said in almost a whisper.

 

“No one’s buying them?”
“Yeah. At first, there were a lot of people coming here, but nowadays, we are always in the red. Even on good days, we could only sell ten boxes at most. Today… We haven’t sold a single one… For the past year, we’ve been only eating the leftover kushikatsu for dinner. And, my family had considered closing the stall for good…”

 

Seriously? Man, the world was such a harsh place. Even though their kushikatsu was so good…

 

“Since there’s nothing wrong with the taste, what else could be the problem…?”

 

This sounded like a serious problem for him.

 

But, it wasn’t like I could do anything about it.

 

“What do you think? Do you think there’s something wrong with the kushikatsu I made?”

 

Oi, why were you asking me about that? I told you your kushikatsu was tasty, didn’t I?

 

If you wanted some help to make your dying stall prosper, then ask someone with the surname ‘Yama’ or ‘Umi’ instead of me. (T/N: I don’t get this one, sorry.)

 

“Um… I don’t know…”

“There’s no problem then. But why aren’t they selling…? What possibly could be the reason…?”

 

Oh no. He became depressed…

 

Ah, wait, I should be able to give him advice. Well, it was something that anyone could come up with, but, you know…

 

“Well, even if your kushikatsu is good, I don’t think that’s enough…”

“What do you mean?”

 

The clerk’s eyes twitched after hearing my words. Dude, you were scaring me.

 

“You see, no matter how good your kushikatsu is, if people don’t know about it, of course they won’t buy it. They need to eat it before they know that it’s good, but if they haven’t even bought it, then, how could they know?”

“…Hm. Do you mind continuing your words?”

 

Why the sudden condescending attitude? Well, whatever.

 

“That’s why, the first thing that you should do is to make them interested in your kushikatsu. For example, you can make a flier. Then, you can also make unique shaped kushikatsu, like heart-shaped ones to draw in women. And since the baseball stadium is nearby, you can create a catchphrase that resonates with the people who are likely to go there. Something like, ‘Kushikatsu for the win!’ could work.” (T/N: The catchphrase is a pun, katsu in kushikatsu means ‘deep fried,’ but it could also mean ‘to win.’)

“I see. Your catchphrase suggestion is horrible, but that’s actually good advice. The problem isn’t the taste, huh? We need an advertisement to match what the consumers want and give them a reason to come here and buy our kushikatsu… This is something worth looking into.”

 

That insult wasn’t necessary, you f**ker.

 

Well, whatever. I just hoped that my words were helpful. After that, he proceeded to mumble about something as he fried the kushikatsu.

 

Around ten minutes later, she had finished packing all the kushikatsu into several boxes.

 

“Here you go. That’s all of them.”

“Thank you very much! Let me get my money…”

 

There was no way that I could take out my wallet while holding those boxes.

 

So, I paid him first before I took the boxes from him.

 

“Whoops, almost dropped them.”

 

There were more boxes than I expected. If I messed up just a little, the result wouldn’t be pretty…

 

“Take care~”

 

Finally, the clerk broke his buddha-like face and showed me a smile.

 

Honestly, it would be better if he were to smile like that from the beginning, but of course I wouldn’t say that out loud.

 

“Alright, I’m going now!”

“Wait. Don’t you think you’re too careless? You should check if the amount of kushikatsu I gave you matches the money you paid me.”

 

This guy was pretty thorough, huh? Well, sure, I’d do it.

 

“Um… Okay, all good!”

“Alright then. Oh, wait, can I ask something?”

 

Sure, I had time to spare, but I really wanted to leave as soon as I could,

 

I knew Sun-chan wouldn’t want anyone to see how frustrated he was, so he would definitely go back home quickly.

 

“Thank you for giving me ideas and cheering me up. I was ready to give up on this business before you stopped by. Thanks to you I know that my kushikatsu is tasty and I’ll do what you were telling me to do. I’ll create an advertisement that fits what our customers’ need.”

“U-Um, don’t count on it, though… I-I don’t want to inconvenience you in case that it ends up failing…”

“You won’t be inconveniencing me. All you’ve done is give me advice, what I do with your advice, is completely up to me. If I end up failing, I’m the one who has to take all the responsibility, not you. Besides, even if that’s the case, I’ll still be grateful to you. It was you who bought my kushikatsu, telling me how good it is and even giving me advice.”

“You don’t need to mind that…”

“Anyway, um… May I know your name? If there’s a chance, I want to thank you later in the future…”

 

He looked embarrassed, but he never took his eyes off me when he spoke.

 

Well, it wouldn’t be a problem even if I were to tell him my name. It wasn’t like we’d meet each other ever again.

 

“My name is Chiharu. It is spelled with the chi from chigasaki and haru.” (T/N: Chi/茅 from Chigasaki/茅ヶ崎. Chigasaki as in the Chigasaki City. While haru/春 here means ‘spring’.)

“My name is—”

 

TL: Iyo

ED: Iyo

 

 

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