Episode 1: The Tale of My friend Sending His Little Sister to Me as Collateral for a 500 Yen Debt.

For the first time in my 18 years of life, I was living alone, struggling to get away from my parents, and the strangest and most bizarre event of my 18 years of life was coming my way.

“…”

Ah, I can feel eyes on me.

A girl sat in the corner of a six-tatami room, holding her knees.

It’s not that I know her well. I barely know her. I don’t think we’ve even spoken much.

Of course, it’s probably the same for her.

Such a girl is in my room. She’s sitting there.

According to her, and according to her brother, as a form of collateral for a debt.

◆◆◆

“Hey, when are you going to pay back that 500 yen?”

It was just before the end of the first semester of my first year at university.

I asked my friend from high school, Miyamae Subaru, that question.

It wasn’t that I didn’t have 500 yen to spare. It’s not that I was in such dire straits that 500 yen would change my life.

500 yen is a small amount. At least for me, it’s not something I need to reclaim by paying the price of getting on my friend’s nerves.

Since it was a small amount, I’m more likely to forget about it if I don’t remind him. 500 yen is a small amount, but money is money. And it’s not like I gave him an unseasonal New Year’s allowance.

I had mixed feelings about such a mere 500 yen, but Miyamae’s face turned pale when I urged him to pay the debt. Isn’t that an overreaction?

“So-sorry. My friend from high school, Shiragi Motomu!”

“Why are you being so theatrical?”

“If you don’t say it right, your name won’t come across to the readers!”

“Who’s the reader? Are you going to write a book about this trivial conversation?”

“I can’t guarantee that there’s no chance of that because I can’t guarantee that I won’t accidentally become a celebrity for the whole world to see.”

“Even if you do, will you record such a trivial episode about 500 yen?”

Who would buy such an autobiography?

If you want to include it, you should do a good job of adapting it or supplementing it with a monologue… No, it’s wise to leave it out, after all.

“Anyway, about the money I owe you… can you wait a little longer?”

“It’s 500 yen. Just 500 yen.”

“Rich people like you don’t understand, 500 yen is a lot of money..!”

“Shut up, son of a wealthy man.”

Miyamae is a friend of mine from high school. I know him from my hometown, and his family is quite rich. Compared to an average salaried family like mine, his family is far more wealthy, and it’s only ironic that he would call me rich.

“Anyway, please wait for me to pay off my debt. I don’t mean for free, I’ll give you something more important than my life in exchange!”

“You’re the first person I’ve ever heard of who’s willing to offer collateral for a 500 yen debt.”

“Unprecedented… That has a nice ring to it.”

“It’s creepy.”

I had no idea that such a trivial conversation, which would not make it into an autobiography, would be the trigger.

A few days later.

“My brother told me to come to you as collateral for his debt. I’ll be in your care from now on.”

That is until she, Miyamae Akari, really came to me as collateral for the debt.

◆◆◆

As I mentioned earlier, I don’t know much about Akari-chan.

In high school, most of the time when I played with Subaru, I went to his house where he had a better selection of games. And when I played with him, I saw Akari-chan a few times, but I don’t think I ever had a chance to talk to her in-depth.

She is a beautiful, somewhat surreal girl who, like her brother, has a well-shaped face… and looks like she could be on the other side of the television. In fact, she has been scouted several times.

Even though she is a year younger than me, I feel uncomfortable having her in my room. I was in my first year of college and she was in her third year of high school. The reason for my restlessness probably includes the fact that she is wearing her high school sailor uniform. I was supposed to have gone to her school until half a year ago, too.

“Um, Miyamae-san?”

“Akari is fine, Senpai.”

“Akari-chan..?”

“Yes, what is it, senpai?”

Akari-chan didn’t say anything herself, just said that she was collateral and sat down in the corner of the room.  Like a Zashiki-Warashi. The long hair flowing down her back gives her the appearance of a Yamato Nadeshiko. (TN: Please google if you don’t know what’s Zashiki Warashi and Yamato Nadeshiko)

“Um, what about your school?”

“It’s fine. It’s summer vacation.”

“Ah, I see… Then why are you in uniform!?”

“I was advised by my brother that it would make senpai happier.”

What kind of advice is that, Subaru…?

“Ah, I’ll serve tea. Um… is barley tea, okay?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m a collateral-  and I belong to you.”

“Be-belong to me?”

“But if it’s barley tea, I’d be very happy to have some sugar with it.”

“A, Ah… Sure, I don’t mind.”

The way I phrased it was strange, but I offered her a cup of barley tea and a stick of sugar that I had bought for coffee and still had plenty leftover.

She took them and poured the sugar into the glass of barley tea and mixed it with her thin index finger.

By the way, adding sugar to barley tea was once a popular way to drink barley tea in my hometown…

“fufu~, it is sweet.”

Taking a sip of the barley tea, Akari-chan smiled happily.

When she pulled her mouth away, she left a mark on the glass from her lips, which was strangely sexy. What am I thinking about when I’m dealing with someone a year younger than me…!?

“So, Akari-chan.”

“What is it, senpai?”

“About being the collateral… What am I supposed to do?”

“Please do whatever you want. I’ve …made up my mind.”

While saying that herself, Akari-chan, with a bright red face, turned her head down. 

No, you’re throwing away too much of yourself for a mere 500 yen..!

“But, Akari-chan. It’s true that I’m lending money to Subaru…I mean your brother, but it’s only 500 yen, you know?”

“It’s not just a little. There is a saying, ‘He who laughs at a penny will cry at a penny.’ In other words, if you belittle 500 yen, which is 100 times a penny, you will cry 50,000 times. If you cry that much, you will die of dehydration.”

“Uh-huh…?”

I feel like she is saying something messed up. …No, she is saying it, that’s for sure.

“Anyway, senpai.”

“Y-yes?”

“If my brother dies, leaving me aside, my parents will be sad. I don’t want to make my parents sad, so until my brother returns the 500 yen, I will belong to you as a form of collateral. That’s the decision!”

“Don’t I have the right to decide?”

“No, you don’t.”

“I don’t?”

I’m a creditor, but I have no rights. What does the word “right” mean then…?

“But, senpai. If you reject me that much, even I will be hurt. I’m pretty weak mentally. I’m not even worth 500 yen, am I…?”

“No, no, I didn’t say that… I mean, you can’t put a price on people…!”

“That’s not true. It’s a modern society where you have to sell yourself for a price. People often say, “Smile for 0 yen”, but that smile also earns an hourly wage. That’s what Ritchan said.”

“Who’s Ritchan?”

“It’s a friend of mine who works part-time at a fast-food restaurant.”

There are many things that could be said, but in short, what that person was trying to say is that it is natural to work and earn money.

“Well, senpai. You can use me in any way you want. If it’s senpai…I’ll do my best to accept whatever you say to me…”

“No, but, where does your grief-stricken determination come from..?”

“I don’t think it’s …grief-stricken though.”

Anyway, it’s not good for my mental health to leave my friend’s sister in my room.

It would be more constructive to get the 500 yen repayment done quickly in accordance with her.

“Well then, Akari-chan.”

“Ye-yes. I’m prepared for this.”

“Let’s not ask what it is that you’re prepared to do… Let’s see…”

What could I have asked her to do? …Ugh, using my friend’s sister for my own personal desires is so immoral. My stomach began to churn.

In the worst-case scenario, Subaru could suddenly come into the room with a camera.

“Then, I guess I’ll just ask you to clean my room.”

“…yes?”

I think it’s a pretty orthodox request, but Akari-chan gave me a somewhat disappointed and dumbfounded stare, in other words, a flat gaze.

“Um, senpai. Cleaning, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“Not you, but your room?”

“Me? No… the room.”

“Hah~…”

Akari-chan let out a blatantly loud sigh.

“–I understand. That’ll have to do for now.”

“Perhaps, you do not want to do the cleaning?”

“No… But let’s see. I think it’s important to earn good points in these areas.”

With a somewhat serious look on her face, Akari-chan nodded deeply.

She said she was earning points, but her debt was only 500 yen. I don’t know how much it would be if I converted it into an hourly wage. But even if I estimate it low, it would take me less than an hour to complete the repayment.

One hour later.

I hadn’t originally thought that my room is dirty. But I was still amazed at how clean it had become, so clean that I could clearly see the before and after.

“What do you think, senpai?”

With a smile of satisfaction on her face, Akari-chan stuck out her chest.

“Wow, it’s amazing. It’s a lot better than I thought it would be. I want to ask you to do this on a regular basis.”

“I understand. I’ll clean it every day from now on.”

“Every day?　No, that’s fine.”

Asking her to do it every day seemed excessive, and on the other hand, I might have to borrow money to pay her.

“But now that I belong to you, you can use me as much as you like.”

“Watch the wording… It’s all good now. See, I think it was worth more than 500 yen for what you just worked for me. That means it’s paid back in full…”

“What are you talking about, senpai? Even I’m going to be appalled.”

I thought I had said the most natural thing, but Akari-chan still looked at me as if I were stupid.

“Look here senpai. First of all, let’s assume that the monthly rent for this room is 60,000 yen.”

“It’s not an assumption, it’s true… Well, okay.”

“If you divide 60,000 yen by 30 days a month, that’s 2,000 yen a day. Also, even if the hour of cleaning you just mentioned was 1,000 yen per hour… well, I heard that the standard working hours per week is about 40 hours per week, so if you convert it to a day, it would be less than 6 hours. In other words, assuming that I worked full-time, I would be earning six thousand yen per day.”

“Uh-huh?　Why do rent and working hours come into play here…?”

“Considering this, you can see that after deducting the rent, I’ll still have 4,000 yen left in my paycheck.”

“Sorry, I haven’t been able to keep up.”

“But unfortunately, that 4,000 yen will also disappear into thin air.”

Ignoring my words, Akari-chan raised her voice high.

“By utilities and water bills and all that!!”

“The utility bills and water bills are not that high!?”

“Senpai… I charge my phone every day you know…?”

“It’s a pittance!”

I haven’t been able to catch up with her. But if I follow her words, it means that the utility and water bills exceed the rent. Even though I can’t live without them, I think it’s a bit too much to ask.

“Now now, I said all that stuff. There are many other costs involved, yes. So as a result, we ended up with a ton of expenses, and I never got around to paying off my brother’s debt of 500 yen. Ah, that’s troubling…”

“The idea started out sounding pretty plausible, but the details ended up being too lax…”

“It’s called a charm point right.”

“Don’t say it yourself.”

I’m not sure what’s going on here, but one thing I do know is that Akari-chan seems to think that she can’t pay off her 500 yen debt with her current level of cleaning.

I don’t remember 500 yen being that heavy… Has the value of the yen skyrocketed while I was unaware?

Just as I was about to leave the room, I heard the sound of a light chime.

“Hmm?”

“Ah, it must be the courier, right?”

Akari-chan guessed that as a matter of course and left on her own.

It was really the courier who was behind the door.

“Yes, this is Shiragi. I’m a Shiragi. I also have the seal.”

While making more of an appeal than necessary that she was a member of this family (a lie), Akari-chan stamped a seal with my last name engraved on it and received the package. What a neat trick. I mean, what did you receive?

“Ah, this is my luggage. First of all, these two trunk cases contain my personal belongings, including a change of clothes.”

“A change of clothes?”

“Yes. I am a collateral, so of course, I will be staying with you. Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure you can deduct the cost of accommodation from my daily wages. I’ve calculated that including all these expenses, I’ll be able to make a profit or loss of zero, yes.”

After putting the two rattling trunk cases in the room, she brought in …a fluffy bag of goods that was bigger than the two trunks.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a futon.” (TN: Bedding)

“A futon?”

“Yes, I bought it for my stay, and I thought I would need a futon if I were to stay overnight. Of course, it comes with a pillow.”

Akari-chan put the futon bag on the floor and said,

“No, but, if you have the money to buy this, you can pay back about 500 yen…”

“No, I can’t do that. It’s just Nitori ” (TN: nitori is a japanese furniture company. thanks for the help Ziis_ND)

“Does Nitori have no value!?”

“It is more than worth the price, so no loss or gain.”

It’s like the theory that doughnuts have no calories because they have holes in them..!

“Well, even if there’s a price… It’s also that thing. Because if you put it into that thing like that to the other thing, you get no loss or gain”

“A lot of things got blurred in that sentence at once right…?”

Akari-chan coughed blatantly and tried to force a change of subject.

No, but considering all this baggage and her remarks…

“That’s why senpai. I’ll do my best to cover the debt, so please take care of me from now on.”

“Um… how long are you planning to stay…?”

“Of course, until my brother’s debt is settled… or until my purpose is fulfilled I think?”

“Akari-chan’s purpose?”

“The contents are confidential… Well, I’ll let you know if I can fulfill it, yeah.”

–although of course, I’m hoping to settle this over the summer break.

Akari-chan then said a few more words as if to add to it. While exuding a slightly provocative sound.

“I wish you could take this seriously…”

“Fufu, let’s just take it easy. Ah, senpai.”

“…What is it?”

“Can I have another cup of barley tea, please? A very sweet one with sugar.”

“That’s… No, sure. certainly…!”

I was about to ask if a cup of barley tea would help reduce the debt, but then I stopped.

Whenever I say it, I’m sure it will be reduced no loss or gain by the daily expenses and other things. It’s a convenient word, isn’t it?

Akari-chan sipped from the glass she received from me and smiled again, looking like enjoying it.

Perhaps inspired by her, I tried to drink barley tea with sugar for the first time in a while.

“Uh…”

The taste that I used to be familiar with seemed too sweet for me now.

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TN: Well, this is just a teaser. I am not sure if I will pick this up.. Depends on the pageviews and response in comments… This chapter was too long… Let me know your thoughts.

IMPATIENT MTL READER

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