Tsukumodo:Volume 1 Present

My wage is calculated on an hourly basis and paid to me every day—in cash.

That is because Towako-san can't be bothered—and would forget—to make a payment to my account at the end of every month.

At days when she's away for her purchases, Saki is in charge of paying me.

Since I live in an apartment on my own, I have to use my wages with care. While my parents do send me money, my payment still covers a significant part of my daily expenses.

I don't line up for bargain sales, but at the very least, I try my best not to waste any money. I even save up some of it.

If it's really okay for a high schooler to act so much like a housewife is anyone's guess.

Well, because of that, I'm not so stupid as to use up my entire wage the day I get it like other students that have started a part-time job out of greed.

I'm not suited for a lifestyle that involves spending one's earnings before the night is out.

Always use your money wisely. That's my motto.

◆

"Here, this a present."

I hardly believed my ears when Tokiya said so out of the blue.

I, Saki Maino, stood stone-still for twenty-two seconds with a shopping bag in my hands.

During that time, Tokiya said something, but because my mind had gone blank, everything went in one ear and out the other.

"...So, got it?"

"Eh? Ah, yes. Sure."

I nodded instinctively, although I had no idea what he had been talking about.

"Anyway, that's all there is to it, you hear?" he said and left, perhaps embarrassed.

Left alone, I was at a loss of what to do with the present—according to him—he had given me and kept standing on the spot.

(People—namely Tokiya—often say that I have no feelings, but that's not true. I merely have trouble showing them, but naturally I do have feelings, and my heart is as sensitive as everyone else's.

To the degree that I get a little flustered when I suddenly receive a present.

I need to recall what just happened.

Tokiya and I were working together until closing time like we always did.

Towako-san was away to acquire Relics again, and there were next to no customers like every day, so there was pretty much nothing to do.

We really do have few customers.

I'm convinced that we ought to make both the interior and exterior brighter and make it more welcoming to customers. I also think that it would be best if we included Asian merchandise and fancy things into our range of goods instead of sticking to forgeries of Relics.

When I once made this suggestion to Towako-san, she told me there was no need to do that. Apparently, she didn't have any plans of making her shop flourish. Despite her concern over its sales figures.

Perhaps I should lend her the book "Becoming a Famous Shop Manager made easy!" I've been reading until yesterday?

Oh no. I went off track.

Anyways, we worked until closing time and then Tokiya left.

However, for some reason, he came back.

At first, I thought he had forgotten something, but then he suddenly handed a shopping bag over to me and told me it was a present.

A present? Why would he give me a present?

I also wondered if today was my birthday, but that isn't the case.

Labor Thanksgiving Day? Not really. To begin with, there's nothing he should thankful over.

Mother's Day? I'm not his mother. Father's Day... goes without saying.

Today's no special occasion, nor is it a holiday.

Another possibility would be that it's an apology for something he did.

I tried searching my memories, but nothing came to mind that would require an apology.

H-He cheated on me...?

No, we're not in that kind of relationship, so infidelity doesn't apply here.)

......I came to my senses again and felt a little ashamed of having such dull thoughts.

With the bag in hand, I went back into the house.

Since Towako-san was absent, I was alone today.

Upon arriving at the living room, I put the bag on the table.

I turned on the TV for starters.

A variety show that wasn't particularly interesting was on. Because the TV failed to draw my attention, my gaze went back and forth between the TV and the shopping bag on the table.

I tried touching the bag.

It gave off a rustling sound.

I quickly pulled away my hands.

Then I went back to the TV and changed the channel.

A baseball match of which I didn't know the rules was on. Because the TV failed to draw my attention, my gaze went back and forth between the TV and the shopping bag on the table.

I tried sneaking a peek into the bag.

There was something pink inside.

I quickly pulled my head back.

(Boy, what am I doing...?

In the first place, how dare Tokiya do something confusing like that all of a sudden!)

My disturbance started to settle down and was replaced by anger.

(Is he watching me and having a good laugh...?

Ah! That's it! That must be it!

And I was so silly as to act like this right in front of his eyes...)

"How careless of me."

I shot a gaze around the room, searching any signs of Tokiya.

...I didn't find anything.

Just in case, I also took a look at the shop, but with the lights turned off, there was only an absolute stillness. I peeked out of the window, but of course did not find anyone. I also checked the kitchen and the restroom, but remained unsuccessful.

(What else is this supposed to mean, then?

Is it by any chance really a present?)

"........."

With a deep breath, I made up my mind and opened the bag.

Inside was a dress. A sleeveless dress with lots of frills. Its color was... not my favorite color, black, but pink.

(After knowing me for so long, he still doesn't understand what I like. Anyways, choosing that color comes close to harassment. No, he is trying to harass me.)

At that point, I recalled a certain thing and fetched a book from my room.

There was a magazine I had bought with the hope that it might help me improve my customer service. It was a magazine aimed specifically at high schoolers, but that was no problem. After all, I was a teenager as well. Tokiya had given me an awkward glance, however, while was I reading it back then.

I flicked through the magazine. There was supposed to be a featured article on presents. Making a present to someone can be related to suggesting articles to a customer. That's why I bought it.

I found the caption of the article, "What do I do with such a present?!".

"If a boy gives you a present you don't like, don't get angry! It's a sign that he wants you to share his likes! Go, jump at the chance!"

I closed the magazine.

I was quite impressed by what I had just read.

(Yes, the dress on the table doesn't match my preference.

But does that mean that he has a preference for such things?

Tokiya likes this kind of dress? Does he want me to wear it?)

As a test, I repeat, as a test. No really, as a little test—believe me. I held the dress in front of me and stood before a mirror.

In the mirror was my body, which was always clad in black, shrouded by pink.

Honestly speaking, it didn't suit me.

A pinkish frilled dress just didn't fit my sour face.

Still, I didn't put the dress away.

It was a present from Tokiya.

The first one ever.

There had been nothing like this in the past.

I hadn't even dreamed of it.

People—namely Tokiya—often say that I have no feelings, but that's not true. I merely have trouble showing them, but naturally I do have feelings, and my heart is as sensitive as everyone else's.

To the degree that I get a little excited when I suddenly receive a present.

◆

The incident occurred the day before yesterday.

Right after I had arrived at the shop for my shift, I changed with Saki so she could go do some shopping.

Towako-san was away to make purchases.

Alone and bored, I went to the living room to watch TV, since there wasn't going to be a customer anyway.

However, something caught my eye.

It was a wallet. A normal brown leather wallet as you can get at any store. Knowing that Saki's was black, I supposed it was Towako-sans'.

While wondering how she could only forget her wallet when she was making purchases, I took a peek at its contents. It was completely empty.

That there was no money goes without saying, but there weren't any credit cards or cash slips either.

Apparently, she had bought a new one and left the old one here.

Actually, the coin pocket of my worn-out wallet had gotten a hole just that day, and had become useless.

I decided to borrow Towako-san's old wallet until I bought myself a new one. I didn't see why I should not use it if she didn't need it anymore.

After switching all my money and things like my video rental membership card, I stuffed the wallet away in my pocket.

The shop closed for the day and I received my wage from Saki. On my way home, I went to a convenience store and bought myself a few things like a microwave dinner.

The change I had left was barely going to suffice for my lunch the following day.

The following day.

I found my wallet empty.

The cards were still there. But the change that should have been there had disappeared.

I hadn't noticed until I was at the checkout of a convenience store I had dropped by on my way to school, wanting to buy a canned coffee. The embarrassment that came with returning it because I had no money was beyond description.

Most likely, I had dropped it the day before somewhere. Or perhaps I had forgotten to accept the change. It was a crying shame that this happened when I had only just changed my broken wallet.

But the real hair-raising shame was the amount of money I had lost. The money that had been there from the beginning plus the change would have made about 800 yen.

That day, I was forced to go without a canned coffee—the sole luxury granted to me.

Of course, no lunch for me, either.

Despite I had eaten two several-day-old buns in the morning, I felt as though as I was hungry already.

After I had born through the lunch break while getting teased by my classmates, I headed to the shop.

I tried to get my hands on some leftovers by explaining to Saki that I had dropped my money, thus hadn't eaten anything, but on that day of all days, there was nothing left.

(I'm out of luck.)

I bore through my shift while enduring my empty stomach, and earned my wage. On my way home, I dropped by the convenience store again and bought another microwave dinner and some new buns for breakfast. At last I got something to eat.

I accepted my change and put it carefully into my wallet, checking every single yen.

1262 yen. Exactly.

The following day.

I found my wallet empty.

The cards were still there. But the change that should have been there had disappeared.

(Strange. I can't have dropped my money two days in a row.

Besides, I checked the sum yesterday. As precisely as I could. There should be 1262 yen. In the first place, it would be still one thing I I lost my wallet, but it's just ridiculous to exactly only lose a 1000-yen note and the change. That's just absurd.

If I think like this, it also becomes dubious if I've really lost my money yesterday.)

Suddenly, I noticed that the buns I had bought for breakfast had disappeared.

(Did a burglar break in?)

I checked my room. All that was missing was my money and the buns I had bought the day before. Upon further thought, it seemed rather unlikely that a burglar would come to steal some loose cash—two days in a row at that—and a few buns.

(But what was it then...)

I looked at the wallet on the table where I had thrown it.

It lay there still. A perfectly ordinary brown wallet. Yes, as ordinary as it gets.

The only special thing about it was that it belonged to Towako-san...

I took my mobile phone and gave Towako-san a call. Most of the time, she was not available by phone when she was on her purchase trips, but this time I got through to her by a miracle.

"Mmmm... Tokiyaa? Mwhat's wrong?" a sleepy Towako-san replied at the other end.

"Towako-san, I'm sorry, but tell me whatever you know!"

"About what?"

"About the wallet you left at the shop!"

"Wallet...?"

"Yes. A brown wallet."

"A brown wallet? Aah, I see. Mm? Why do you know about it?"

"It was on the table in the living room."

"Eh? I've put it at such a place? Yikes. Looks like my thoughts were elsewhere. Please stow it away somewhere. Ah, absolutely don't line it up in the shop! And don't use it on any account! Well, it's not like you were so dimwitted as to touch my things."

"......"

"......Eh? Did you... use it?"

"......Yes."

"Fool! Didn't I tell you not to?"

"That was just now!"

As she said, I had been thoughtless. I couldn't deny that.

I should have realized the moment I noticed it belonged to her.

But. But!

Who would expect a Relic wallet to lie about at such a place?

However, it's no use crying over spilt milk.

"So, what power does this wallet have?"

Thus I asked.

I asked what nightmare this Relic was going to bring about.

"You lose all the money you've earned during the day if you don't spend it on the same day."

I don't know who created this "Relic", but let me say one thing:

Are you a freaking party animal or something?!

• If I don't spend my earnings the same day as I received them, they disappear.

• Things I bought with these earnings disappear as well.

• The effect lasts seven days.

This was what I could summarize from what Towako-san told me about this Relic.

The fact that my earnings disappear if I don't spend them on the same day means that I was always going to become flat broke the following day, right after midnight.

The fact that things I bought with my earnings disappear as well means that I couldn't buy any buns for breakfast, because it was impossible to stock food.

The fact that the effect lasts seven days means that I had to bear up with this stupid power for a whole week.

Incidentally, the effect had activated the moment I'd put money into the wallet and wasn't going to stop even if I disused it, trashed it or burned it. In fact, Towako-san threatened me to make me work for free for the rest of my life if I did that.

The only saving grace was that everything I had bought before using that wallet did not disappear, thus my clothes and utensils were still okay. I bitterly regretted that I hadn't also bought cup noodles ahead, but now it was too late.