Takenouchi Akihito is a young man he met after his rebirth, a student at Aoyama Gakuin University.
A few days after his rebirth, on a night when business was deserted due to strong winds, Takenouchi Akihito and a group of college students from the party, men and women, poured into the store.
Odyssey does not accept female guests alone, but they can be led by a male.
That night, as if to counteract the desolation caused by the bad weather, the guests and waiters deliberately showed off their enthusiastic, lively and frivolous female students, and even invited the male waiters to dance.
Takenouchi Akihito was the worst dancer, but he paid special attention to Shinichi Iwahashi, who was an outstanding dancer, and took the initiative to chat with him. This person was naturally familiar with himself, and every time he came to the store from now on, if Shinichi Iwahashi was on duty, he would meet him.
, be sure to say hello to him.
Although it's a bit strange for a waiter in a nightclub to talk about "friendship with customers," it's not wrong to say they are familiar customers.
Tonight, Takenouchi Akihito came with three or four other male students. Several of them ordered whiskey and happily commented on the female singer singing on the stage.
After a few words of greeting, Iwahashi Shinichi was about to leave, but Takenouchi Akihito stopped him, "By the way, Iwahashi. Are you free next Tuesday evening?"
"I'm free in the evening. However, I have to work until half past five during the day."
He works three nights a week at Odyssey and five days a week at a pizza chain called "Lossac" in Yoyogi. On Thursdays every week, the two work hours overlap, so he will be busy by then.
Not open to trade.
"If you are free, can I ask you to help me dance next Tuesday night?"
"What?"
"My friend who came to the store last time joined a band and was originally scheduled to perform next Tuesday. Unfortunately, one of the backup dancers broke his foot. Now we need to find someone to temporarily support him."
"The band also has backup dancers?"
The band that Shinichi Iwahashi remembers is a band with a lead singer, guitar, bass, and drums. With these four, it is considered to be complete. Or add a synthesizer keyboard player. Anyway, I have never seen anyone dancing.
Takenouchi Akihito said of course, "The composition of a band is all kinds of weird."
Well, he is ignorant...
"There are many kinds of dance, and I may not be able to do it if you suddenly say this." Shinichi Iwahashi declined. He didn't want to waste his time performing with a band he had never heard of and was obsessed with.
"I don't think it's a problem," Takenouchi Akihito still insisted, "Actually, she followed me to the store once before and even danced with you. Now it's her who thought of you first and said that you are qualified, so I
Volunteer to ask."
she?
Iwahashi Shinichi tried to recall whether any of the female students he had seen chirping into the store had such a prominent figure, but not even a single memorable figure popped into his mind.
"Of course, it's not for nothing, you get paid." At this time, Takenouchi Akihito said again.
Iwahashi Shinichi finally took it seriously when he heard that he had money to take. No one has trouble with money.
"Performance fees are not included, and the time spent in rehearsals is also counted as an hourly wage, which is 600 yen."
Seeing that he was becoming interested, Takenouchi Akihito quickly stated the conditions, "The leader of the band is a graduate of the Fine Arts Department of the Bunka Institute, and he is quite wealthy. You can treat it as a part-time job, so please consider it carefully."
It seems pretty good to go dance with me and make some extra money. Anyway, when you're not working, you're just idle. If it works, you can go and see.
If there was money to be made, it wouldn't hurt to perform with a band that he had never heard of and whose style was a mystery. As for whether the person who paid him was a wealthy young man or a frugal young man chasing dreams, the background of the band had nothing to do with him.
That being the case.
"Okay then." Iwahashi Shinichi agreed.
It was not convenient to continue talking about personal matters during working hours, so Takenouchi Akihito asked him for his contact information and how to arrange the follow-up arrangements before calling him.
On the way back to the preparation room, Iwahashi Shinichi took a pen and paper, wrote down the phone number of his apartment, and gave it to Takenouchi Akihito while delivering things, not forgetting to explain in advance, "I have a part-time job at nine in the morning, and at half past eight
I could answer the phone before.”
Takenouchi Akihito made an "ok" gesture, "I understand and will contact you before then."
To make a call, you had to tell the time in advance. Iwahashi Shinichi couldn't help but miss the era of universal intelligence.
Separating from Takenouchi Akihito, Iwahashi Shinichi continued to greet people in the store. When it was about to close, he retreated to the break room, changed out of his uniform, said hello to his colleagues, and walked out of the store.
The rain in the evening turned into mist and the air was humid, but it looked like there was no need to hold an umbrella anymore.
Iwahashi Shinichi walked down the iron stairs, came out of the alley, and walked alone on the street late at night. He avoided the staggering drunken people and turned a deaf ear to the loud noises that came over him.
The well-dressed and polite men and women I saw during the day were completely changed as soon as they came to this street at night and drank the yellow soup.
If you have enough time, you happen to have a bit of boring low-level taste, and in addition, you also have a little bit of stupidity and boldness that is not afraid of danger. If you walk around Kabukicho late at night, you can always see no less than a hundred ugly drunken behaviors.
At this time after get off work, I can just catch the last tram.
After walking unsteadily for four stops, we got off the bus at Koenji. Shinichi Iwahashi walked into the narrow alleys of the old street and turned around until he stopped in front of an old two-story apartment.
Chaofengzhuang.
When I first came here, every time I went out and came back, Shinichi Iwahashi would stare at the small signboard at the door and always think to himself, it turns out that in real life, people would give such silly names to apartments.
The two-story building has been divided into eight rooms. The landlord lives in the room on the first floor that does not face the sun. Counting him, four of the remaining seven rooms are now rented out.
Iwahashi Shinichi took off the key from his waist and slowly climbed up the dusty concrete steps. When he returned home late at night and went up the stairs, he tried to walk as lightly as possible.
When renting such a house, the landlord will not be picky about the tenant's career and life. Of course, if such a house cares too much about these things, it may not be able to attract tenants.
But the more this happens, the less he wants to cause trouble to others.
Room 203 on the second floor is the room where he lives.
Leave the umbrella outside, open the door, hold the light cord hanging from the ceiling, and pull it gently. A small light bulb is enough to illuminate a six-fold space.
As soon as you enter the door, there is a kitchen next to it. The short and simple sink looks like a toy for playing house.
Not long before Iwahashi Shinichi moved in, the landlord had repaired the house and replaced the paper on the closet sliding doors. The cheap stuff in the whitewashed house looked particularly miserable in this shabby house.
The narrow activity space is quite organized for a bachelor's apartment.
Of course, it also has something to do with the fact that there is nothing in the house.
Shinichi Iwahashi took off his coat, hung it on the wall on a hanger, filled the kettle with water, and turned on the gas stove. While waiting for the water to boil, he opened the drawer of the kitchen cabinet, took out a bag of instant noodles, and tore it open.
bag and pour into a bowl.
As soon as the kettle is heated, the bottom of the kettle makes a clicking sound.
For nearly three months, he repeated this routine.
Doing this can be said to be observing and adapting to this strange country, or it can be said to be self-protection in a state of confusion after suddenly changing identities.
When he was first reborn, facing the huge, fast-moving city and the unfamiliar humanistic environment, he even felt a little afraid.
It's not like he hasn't thought about returning to his "home" in Shizuoka, but both Shizuoka and Tokyo are unfamiliar places to him, and he needs to get to know them all from the beginning.
People don’t consider a place where they don’t have a sense of belonging as their hometown. So, there is no difference between Shizuoka and Tokyo.
Although Tokyo is big, it has infinite possibilities. Although Shizuoka is small, it is just a cave where losers hide.
He had nowhere to hide and could only face the wind and rain.
When the water boiled, Shin Iwahashi took the bowl to the small table in front of the TV, then went to pick up the kettle. He poured the boiling water into the bowl, and casually took a copy of "Flash" and placed it over the mouth of the bowl.
The girl idol Minamino Yoko on the cover opens her beautiful eyes and stares at the low ceiling.
The magazine was already three months old, but even if Minamino Yoko was three months out of date, she was still very beautiful. Even before he saw this magazine, he didn't know who Minamino Yoko was.
But a beautiful person is a beautiful person.
During the three minutes of waiting, Iwahashi Shinichi followed her gaze with some boredom.
There is a brown stain on the ceiling that I don't know what it is.
After eating and washing, Shinichi Iwahashi took out his sleeping bed from the closet. He had never made a bed on the floor before, but now, he repeated the same routine of laying and collecting quilts every day. If he set a small goal for himself first, he thought
Live in a house with a bed.
After a rain, the moisture in the air penetrated the sleeping bed, which was very uncomfortable.
Shinichi Iwahashi wrapped his legs in a blanket, hoping that it would be a sunny day tomorrow so that he could bask in the damp bedding.
