On the morning of the day the girl known as Bara would eventually collapse, Kazuto had readily accepted Chika's request for help. He now stood outside the flower shop, "Nakama-tic," ready to begin his shift.
"Morning, Nakamachi-san. I'm here as promised."
"Kazuto-kun! Thank you so much for today!" Chika beamed.
"No, no, it's nothing. Anything for a lady in need," Kazuto said, puffing out his chest with a smirk. "Or is that the kind of thing Hachiman would say?"
It was a terrible impression, but the effort was there.
Chika giggled. "Haha! If it were Hikigaya-kun, he'd probably just act indifferent and say, 'I just happened to be in the neighborhood, so I figured I'd help out while I was here' or something like that."
"Heh, yeah. That sounds exactly like him."
"Right?"
Kazuto was then introduced to the other two part-timers who had arrived earlier.
"I'm Fuuta Yamada. Nice to meet ya!"
"Daizen Nagasaki. I'll be in your care today."
"Kazuto Kirigaya. Good to meet you both."
"Wow, you three are full of energy!" Chika said, smiling at the trio. "We're just using dollies to move the plants today, but there's quite a lot of them, so it might get a bit grueling. I'm counting on you!"
With Chika at the wheel, the four of them headed toward Soleil. When they arrived, the front of the building was already lined with rows of greenery—the stock Chika had arranged for a supplier to drop off early that morning.
"Whoa, look at that," Fuuta whistled. "The plants look like a colony of ants from here."
"This looks like it'll be worth the effort," Daizen added, rolling up his sleeves.
"Well, we've got dollies, so the physical strain shouldn't be too bad," Kazuto noted.
Fuuta's stomach gave a quiet rumble. "Personally, I'm more interested in the employee cafeteria..."
"Wait, isn't Soleil's cafeteria famous for being gourmet?" Daizen asked.
"For real? Now I've got something to look forward to!"
Chika checked the temperature. "We'll take a break every five plants we move. It's starting to get hot, so we need to stay hydrated. Alright, let's get started!"
She handed out maps and shop jackets with "Nakama-tic" printed across the back. The maps were meticulously marked with five specific locations for each run; it was a small detail, but it spoke volumes about Chika's thoughtfulness.
"I'm going to head to the reception desk to check in," Chika said, waving as she headed inside.
Just then, the Kit pulled into the driveway. However, the boys were so preoccupied with the wall of plants that none of them noticed. As one might expect, Hachiman had been the one to secretly arrange this specific "hired help"—likely thinking it was less of a hassle than Chika having to put out a public call for workers. Interestingly, Fuuta and Daizen knew nothing of Kazuto's background, and Kazuto was equally in the dark about theirs.
"Hikigaya-kun!"
"Oh, Nakamachi-san. You're already here?"
"Yup! We're starting the delivery right now."
"Did those guys show up okay?" Hachiman asked, glancing toward the entrance.
"They did! Thank you so much for setting that up for me. It's a huge help."
After greeting Hachiman and Kaori, Chika headed back to the garden area and began hauling the lighter plants herself. She was determined to work her hardest for Hachiman's sake and had no intention of leaving all the heavy lifting to the boys.
"Heave... ho!"
"Nakamachi-san? You okay? Want a hand?"
Hachiman happened to be passing through the hallway just as Chika was setting down a pot.
"Oh, no, I'm fine! This one's light."
"If you say so. Just make sure you leave the heavy stuff to those guys."
"Haha, I feel a bit bad for them, but that's the plan. There are definitely a few I can't even budge on my own..."
"Don't worry about it. Use and abuse them as much as you need," Hachiman said with a dry shrug.
"Hey! We aren't some 'black company' sweatshop!"
"Haha. Alright, see you later."
"Yeah, see ya!"
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"