Once you’re seated, Kaiba speaks up, “Everything okay, manager-san?” she says.
“Yes,” you say, putting the key in the ignition, “We’re going to pick up your stuff at the hotel, you’ll be staying with Kitabayashi-san from HR until you find a place. She’s a good friend of mine.”
Kaiba’s mouth opens, then closes, and she just nods. A smile on her face.
Knowing you have a place to call home after being homeless for a while must be such a relief.
You do as promised and take Kaiba to her hotel near Kabukicho.
Even at the middle of the afternoon, the streets are swarming with tourists, thugs, and strange people.
You can’t believe Kaiba was able to walk these streets at night.
“Hey…” you say, glancing at the unsavoury folk dotting the sides of the road, “Nothing happened, right?”
“Eh? No. Why?” says Kaiba, confused.
“Nevermind,” you say, throwing in a quick smile.
After a few more minutes, you arrive at the hotel and go to gather Kaiba’s things.
Luckily, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of it, so you don’t have to stay in this neighbourhood for too long.
Afterwards, you return back to work where you finish off the day.
Marketing mentions they’re planning to start the vlog up again soon, so there’s that small win that Kaiba has been looking for.
After work, you meet up at Kitabayashi’s place. Who looks exhausted.
Judging by the cleaning equipment still in the living room, she put in same serious last minute effort to make the place look presentable.
Like the previous time you were here, when you dropped Kitabayashi off after a night of heavy drinking, there’s not a lot of furniture.
The wall that used to be filled with picture of Kitabayashi’s time as an idol is now blank.
She has tried her best to hide it, but you can still see faint outlines where the pictures used to hang.
Kitabayashi and Kaiba may have seen each other in passing at the office, but you decide to do formal introductions anyway.
Things are understandably a bit awkward.
Hello~ here’s a stranger that’ll be living with you for a while.
Kaiba bows at the waist, “Kitabayashi-san,” she says, “Thank you for letting me stay. I’ll try not get in the way too much.”
“My~,” says Kitabayashi, smiling, “Don’t worry about things too much. We’ve all had moments in our lives when we need some help.”
”Let me show you your room,” adds Kitabayashi.
There’s a spacious bedroom waiting for Kaiba, but quite barren.
There’s only a small table wedged in the corner and a futon.
“You kinda caught me by surprise,” says Kitabayashi, scratching a cheek, “We can get you some other stuff tomorrow, I just have the futon that I keep for guests for now.”
“…Uuuu…Hic…”
[https://assets.legendkeeper.com/5a29ec9e-d842-472f-88d4-793c0127d23b.png]
Ah. Kaiba-chan is crying again.
It’s hard to imagine for you to not know where you’re sleeping that night.
Sleeping at the kind of place she was, she must’ve been quite scared.
But that’s all over now.
You hug Kaiba-chan from behind, arms wrapped around her shoulders.
”You get settled in, okay?” you say, “I need to talk with Kitabayashi for a bit.”
Kaiba wipes away her tears, nods, and goes to unload her backpack.
Meanwhile, you and Kitabayashi move into a different room.
Kitabayashi is crying, too, “I’m sorry,” she says, fanning her face with her hands, “When other people cry… it gets me toooo….”
You flash her a smile, then embrace her from the front, “There, there,” you say.
“Hug, getto~” says Kitabayashi.
Geh.
You look up and see Kitabayashi grinning at you.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Hello~” says Kitabayashi, fingers splayed into a peace symbol over her eyes, “Former idol and actress, Kitabayashi Yui~”
“This counts as the favour I owed you,” you say,
“No fair!” replies Kitabayashi, pouting.
“Luckily, I need another one,” you say, letting go.
“Ah, my Miho-chan is such a greedy girl,” says Kitabayashi, wrapping her arms around you to keep you in place, “What is it?”
“It seems like Kaiba-san’s mother has taken her bank book, so she can’t get an apartment or access to her money,” you say, “Would you mind helping her replace it and make sure her salary gets deposited in the new account?”
“Not a problem,” says Kitabayashi, “That’s sorta my job anyway.”
“…And Kaiba might need some help looking for an apartment…” you say, guilt rising as you keep asking favours.
“That’s fine,” says Kitabayashi, “We’ll spend every evening together anyway, besides browsing houses is kinda fun. I do it when I’m bored, too.”
“Thank you, Yui-chan,” you say, “Really.”
Kitabayashi smiles, then uses her fingers to flick your forehead, “Not that easy, missy,” she says, letting you go, “This is cold, hard world of business. I’ll be making a bunch of demands of you~ Look forward to them.”
Using a hand to rub your forehead, you smile, “As long as it isn’t anything weird, I’ll do it. I owe you that much,” you say.
“I should probably get going,” you say, turning to leave, then pause.
“Don’t do anything weird to Kaiba-chan, okay?” you ask, somewhat uncertain.
“Geh!” says Kitabayashi, waving an angry fist, “Who do you take me for?”
You sigh in relief. Kaiba will be just fine here.
> >You owe Kitabayashi Yui one favour
> >Chigsa Iki has made $7.800 at her job at Isekai Cosplay and gained one fame.
> >Enatsu Mari has made $11.400 at her job at Genki Clothing and gained one fame.
> >Kaiba Aoi has made no money and gained no fame
>
> The summarized parts are now over.
> Next up are:
> >4 - A Day in the Life of Nagata Miho (House, groceries) (Saturday)
> >6 - Her secret interest: J-rock. A local store is offering a new album. (Saturday)
The weekend has arrived.
You had a fairly ordinary week as you feel a manager should have.
Assigning jobs to your idols, accompanying them to support them, and chatting with co-workers.
This normal week lasted up until Friday when you found out that one of your idols, Kaiba, has been homeless and living out of her backpack for the past two weeks.
Luckily, you were able to find her a place to stay until she gets back on her feet.
Which means that you finally have a weekend to yourself.
It’d be nice to relax a little. Sadly though, there’s a heap of chores that need doing.
You’ll have to wash clothes, clean the apartment, get groceries, and so much more.
You sigh. You’ve barely woken up and you’re already feeling overwhelmed.
The alarm on your phone continues to beep as you’ve yet to turn it off.
There’s a faint purr coming from the side of the bed as your cat, Asuki, jumps onto the covers.
“Uuuuu,” you say, reaching for Asuki, “Have you come to soothe me…”
The cat evades your grasp, always remaining barely out of reach.
It meows loudly. Jumps off the bed, waiting in the doorway to see if you follow.
You shut off the alarm on your phone, then stretch.
“Ah,” you say, “The feeder must be empty…”
Phone in hand and fuzzy slippers equipped, you shuffle your way to the adjoined kitchen in living room.
Squinting to fight against the sun beaming through the window, you refill the automatic feeder.
With a mechanical whirr, the machine deposits some cat kibble into the bowl.
Asuki pats it twice with a paw, then walks away.
After taking a seat at the kitchen table, you yawn.
You should probably stop by Kitabayashi’s house later today to drop off some groceries.
That’s the least you can do, right?
Living this high up in an apartment complex is great, you’re free to sit around in long shirt serving as improv pyjamas without risking anyone peeking through the windows.
The only sounds in your apartment are the faint sounds of your slippers being dragged over the kitchen floor and the aggressive sputtering of your age-old coffee machine.
Sitting back down with a cup of coffee, you decide to check your phone.
There’s a message from Kitabayashi and one from your younger brother, Nagata Aki.
The message of your younger brother is short and formal as always.
----------------------------------------
Business has me in Tokyo next week, we should meet up.
Mother wants to know how you’ve been.
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Nagata Aki isn’t a bad person, he’s very diligent and hard-working, but he’s just… not fun.
Meeting up with him is less like spending time with a relative and more like a business relationship.
He doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t go clubbing, and his idea of good time is optimizing things until all the fun is drained out of it.
Still, he’s your brother.
You send a message that you’d like to meet-up, but can’t commit to anything until you know next week’s schedule.
Kitabayashi’s messages are a lot more cheerful.
It’s a selfie of her and Kaiba sitting on the living room, watching some kind of movie.
Kaiba seems to be having a good time, so that’s reassuring.
“She was really stiff and careful at first, but she managed to relax a bit. Kinda feels like I’m somebody’s big sister now,” says the accompanying message from Kitabayashi.
[https://assets.legendkeeper.com/37b1a87e-dc18-43cc-b3c7-bc947d985d95.png]
Kitabayashi’s place sure seems large though compared to yours.
All you have in your apartment is a living room kitchen combo, a single bedroom, a tiny laundry room, and a bathroom.
Bringing Kaiba to Kitabayashi was definitely the right decision.
After tossing some clothing into the washing machine, you decide to get dressed.
It’s time to get some groceries.
> Where do you go?
>
> >1 - Local convenience store (Encounter local residents)
> >2 - Larger supermarket a few miles away (Random encounters)
> >3 - The big supermarket chain in the shopping centre (Strange encounters)
>
> Winner
> >3 - The big supermarket chain in the shopping centre (Strange encounters)