Fujii Taki

(This story is purely fictional, and all characters appearing are over 18 years old!)

Tokyo, Arakawa District.

"Whoosh!"

Inside a 24-hour convenience store, a young man pushed a cart loaded with unopened boxes of merchandise into the storage room. Wiping away the beads of sweat on his forehead, he adjusted his baseball cap and began checking the mountain of goods against his inventory list.

He wore a dull brownish-green convenience store uniform, and beneath his black baseball cap was a somewhat boyish face. Standing around 176 centimeters tall, despite his thin shoulders giving off an impression of fragility, his fair complexion and handsome features exuded a youthful charm.

"Thank you for your hard work, Fujii-kun."

"With all these goods, I don't know how long it would've taken me alone."

Matsumoto Yuriko, the thirty-seven-year-old store manager, had walked in unnoticed and offered him a bottle of soda. Her eyes were full of admiration as she looked at Fujii Itsuki.

"Ah, it's my duty," Fujii Itsuki replied casually, wiping the sweat that was about to drip into his eyes with his arm before accepting the soda and taking several big gulps.

It was September, but summer's heat still lingered, making Tokyo's weather unbearably hot.

"Drink slowly, Fujii-kun..." Store manager Matsumoto Yuriko said with a charming smile. Her gaze followed the trace of soda at the corner of his mouth, trailing down his smooth, sweat-covered neck, his collarbone, and his soaked dark green employee shirt.

Her eyes seemed ready to wander even lower.

Matsumoto Yuriko lightly licked her dry lips and smiled, "Fujii-kun, you're still in school, right?"

"Yes, junior college."

Fujii Itsuki nodded, lifting his cap to let some heat escape from his head.

"That's impressive! You work so efficiently, unlike most students!" Matsumoto Yuriko praised generously, her gaze fixed on Fujii Itsuki's young, handsome face.

"But shouldn't college students prioritize their studies? Why choose to work part-time?"

"Well, it's..." Fujii Itsuki hesitated, seeming to hold something back, "it's just some family matters."

He wore a helpless expression.

Seeing this, Matsumoto Yuriko tactfully didn't pursue the topic further.

It was either financial difficulties requiring him to work to maintain his livelihood, or family discord forcing him to leave home early and live independently.

Either way, it meant one thing—the young man before her needed work, needed money.

This thought stirred something unusual in Matsumoto Yuriko's heart.

"I see."

"Fujii-kun, here's your salary for this month." Matsumoto Yuriko timely pulled out an envelope containing cash from her pocket.

"Please continue working here with peace of mind."

"Yes, thank you for your guidance, Manager!" Fujii Itsuki accepted the envelope, bowing slightly with sincere gratitude.

"Manager, I've checked all the goods, and the numbers match," he said, turning to look at the merchandise piled in the corner of the storage room and handing the completed inventory list to Matsumoto Yuriko. "If there's nothing else, I'll get back to work."

"Go ahead, Fujii-kun, thank you for your hard work today." Matsumoto Yuriko stood with her hands clasped beneath her chest, her black pencil skirt revealing a pair of shapely, fair thighs. Her figure was curvaceous and well-proportioned. At thirty-seven, she took good care of herself, maintaining her beauty so well that she could easily pass for a recent college graduate.

Watching the young man's retreating figure, Matsumoto Yuriko turned and cast a meaningful glance at the goods in the storage room.

...

Evening, closing time.

"Ding dong!"

Accompanied by the bell of the glass door, Fujii Itsuki, now changed back into his school uniform, slowly walked out of the convenience store located in Higashi-Ogu.

"80,000 yen."

Walking along the streets of Higashi-Ogu, Fujii Itsuki opened the envelope and counted exactly eight Fukuzawa Yukichi notes (10,000-yen bills).

In other words, working as a server, he had earned only about 4,000 Chinese yuan after a month of exhausting work.

"Sigh—"

Well, he was just a part-timer, so his wages couldn't compare to full-time employees. Not to mention Japan's strict regulations on student part-time work, limiting them to no more than 28 hours per week and not past 10 PM on any given day.

80,000 yen would have to do.

It was enough for his regular expenses as an ordinary student.

Sighing lightly, Fujii Itsuki put the money back in the envelope and into his pocket, then walked to the nearest train station to take the Toden Arakawa Line toward Minami-Senju.

Fujii Itsuki, 18 years old, was a transmigrator.

He had been in this world for just over a month.

He woke up one day to find himself as an ordinary college student in Tokyo's Arakawa District. His original self had been timid, academically mediocre, and came from a terrible family situation.

His birth mother had died early, and his father had gotten involved with a woman who had just lost her husband and had two daughters. Before they could even get married, his father died in a car accident one drunken night.

Before his death, witnessed by a lawyer, he had entrusted himself and the family property to this woman whom Fujii Itsuki had never met.

After the hasty funeral, the Fujii residence had become the domain of the mother and daughters, while Fujii Itsuki, the only blood relative of the family, became like an outsider living under someone else's roof, enduring life in silence.

New to this world and in the foreign city of Tokyo, starting as both a chosen part-timer and an unfortunate soul, it took Fujii Itsuki quite a while to gradually adapt to his current life.

"Click."

The train doors opened, and Fujii Itsuki followed the crowd out of the station, walking along Minami-Senju Town street for ten minutes before stopping in front of a two-story building.

The Fujii Residence was a typical "ikkodate" or detached house, the most traditional Japanese two-to-three-story independent Japanese-style building.

It was two stories tall with a small yard and a garage on the first floor. It resembled the homes seen in anime like Crayon Shin-chan and Doraemon.

Passing the nameplate that read "Fujii," Fujii Itsuki glanced at the garage—it was empty, meaning his stepmother probably hadn't returned from work yet.

"Click."

Taking out his key to unlock the door, Fujii Itsuki changed into slippers at the entrance, ignored the girl watching TV on the living room sofa, and quickly went up the stairs "thump thump thump" toward his bedroom on the second floor.

Back in his room, closing the door, Fujii Itsuki tossed his newly received salary onto his pillow and collapsed exhaustedly onto the bed.

"Click click!"

The doorknob made a slight turning sound, and then a teenage girl gracefully walked in.

Shimizu Aimi, one of Momonogi Eiko's daughters, was the girl who had been watching TV on the sofa.

Shimizu Aimi was 18 years old, petite, with delicate features.

Her face still retained its childlike charm, full of collagen, and she wore a pink shirt paired with denim shorts, revealing fair and smooth skin. Her hair was tied in two slightly swaying ponytails at the back of her head, giving her a very playful appearance.

However, her cuteness was merely superficial, and only Fujii Itsuki knew what kind of devilish heart lay beneath that adorable exterior.

"Big brother, you're back!"

"Oh right, today's payday, isn't it!"

Shimizu Aimi's pretty face wore a bright smile, and then she suddenly extended her delicate hand in front of Fujii Itsuki's eyes, saying in a tone completely different from her cute smile: "Hand it over obediently, this month's salary!"

...