Chapter 277 Life
“Ah… No…”
A strange touch on his waist interrupted the boy’s thoughts. He instinctively turned around and saw a black-haired girl poking him, less than a person’s length away from him.
A faint, sweet fragrance constantly permeated the air beside him. The girl’s scent, actions, and demeanor were all displayed exceptionally close to Noyoru Yokota. Even his body, trained by professional heroes, seemed to lose control in that moment, his heart pounding like a drum, beating so intensely it felt like it would burst from his chest.
The boy’s slightly bewildered eyes accidentally met the girl’s deep, black-hole-like eyes. After a few seconds of daze, he quickly turned his head away, leaving behind a few stammered, ambiguous answers.
“Tch, you still have so many empty spots here!”
Kazumi didn’t react much to Noyoru Yokota’s actions. After all, the boy’s surging inner emotions were all hidden in his heart. In her opinion, the other party was just a little stunned because she had caught him daydreaming while stocking shelves.
Taking her hand away from the boy’s waist, Kazumi pointed at the boxes full in his hands and spoke with a slight smile.
Of course, the girl didn’t care whether the other party was slacking off or not, regardless of his work attitude. For Kazumi now, this job was just a shield to legitimize her source of income. Especially after joining the organization, it was very convenient to make some false attestations in this regard.
But for now, Kazumi did not intend to leave. Firstly, a fake is still a fake, no matter how sophisticated the disguise, there is always the hidden danger of being exposed. On the other hand, her current life doesn’t have too many burdens, so working here for a decent reward is completely acceptable.
The best disguise is no disguise.
Secondly, Noyoru Yokota himself was also a very important reason why the girl decided to stay and work here.
A student of the Hero Department at Shikoku Gakuin, a civilian without a significant background, someone she had helped, and someone who might have some simple affection for her?
Combined with her analysis and establishment of the boy’s personality model during this period, Kazumi quite wanted to keep this rarely seen peer-level ability user under her control, especially since he had obtained an internship qualification at a highly ranked hero agency.
After all, in the current social climate, although ability users had not yet reached the level of a feudal system, there had always been an invisible gap between ability users and ordinary people. Added to that the influence of parents in ability user families, if it weren’t for a fortunate coincidence, it would be very difficult for her to interact with such a future hero, let alone develop a further relationship.
Didn’t you see that just dealing with Sato Shinichi’s Grandpa Sato had made the girl extremely cautious, fearing that a single slip-up would lead to a deadly disaster?
This was all because Sato Shinichi was just an ordinary person. Otherwise, Kazumi felt she might not even have had the opportunity to interact with him, let alone become a couple.
Therefore, unexpected, orphaned quasi-heroes like Noyoru Yokota were very rare, and their potential seemed quite good.
His status as a post-awakening ability user meant he wouldn’t have the natural arrogance towards ordinary people like those from established families. And the lack of parental supervision also made the girl’s operations more convenient in various aspects. Even the most mature kid is easier to fool than an adult, isn’t he?
With their current relationship, the problems with abilities that Kazumi had been struggling with could basically be addressed through him. And if the relationship developed smoothly, it might even solve her future internship opportunities.
A logistics job at one of the top hero agencies in the industry was probably the ultimate dream of all ordinary students from Shikoku Gakuin.
Moreover, after utilizing all the above points, he could even be a good experimental subject for ability users. Or, she could directly transform him into an undead creature to become a spy within the Heroes Association, but she would still need to investigate whether the Association had corresponding detection and identification methods for undead creatures.
The relationship between Shinomiyai Mai and the Sato family that she had learned about earlier allowed her to infer that psychics must have a connection with the Association, and as the headquarters of the entire Association, its protective measures in this regard would definitely be in place.
However, it seemed that Shinomiyai Mai, this half-baked Onmyoji, couldn’t sense the death aura within her. What she needed to see now was whether other powerful psychics had this ability.
“Ah, sorry, I was just thinking about other things.”
Noyoru Yokota, awakened from his daze, had no idea how dangerous the girl’s thoughts were at this moment. He turned to look at where the girl had been working. The neatly arranged shelves of snacks formed a stark contrast with the large empty shelf space on his side.
Realizing that he had missed work due to daydreaming, Noyoru Yokota quickly apologized to Kazumi and reached for the snacks to stock them. But as he was about to pick up the second bag of potato chips, his hand reached into the box and grabbed air.
He turned his head with a strange look and saw the girl standing in front of him, shaking the bag of potato chips in her hand.
“I’ll help you.” “No, no, it’s my job.” “Stop talking nonsense, I’ll take it myself.”
Watching the girl forcefully take a large pile of small biscuits from his box and walk towards the shelves nearby, her cute, swaying posture from carrying so much made him chuckle uncontrollably. Noyoru Yokota’s expression changed a few times, finally settling into a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.
He looked up at the surrounding environment. The newly changed advertising light at the entrance illuminated the road in front of the door quite clearly, dispelling much of the darkness of the usual night. It was also a time when there were no customers. The not-so-large small shop was very quiet, and even the bubbling sound of the oden boiling at the counter seemed to have a rhythm.
The girl opposite him was busily arranging the small biscuits in her arms, seemingly stretching onto her tiptoes because she couldn’t reach the top row. The cool hero on the blue potato chip packaging bag in her hand was smiling and giving him a thumbs-up. The plastic packaging reflected bright light spots, forming a peculiar position as if affirming him.
After letting out a long breath, the boy heavily placed the bag of potato chips in its rightful place, feeling a long-lost sense of relief. He glanced at the working girl again through the shelves and suddenly felt that such a day seemed pretty good.
It was just like what that middle-aged bald uncle Masamori always liked to say…
Life will always get better and better!
(PS: Positive energy! Plenty of positive energy dried fish!!)
