HRG Company
When I woke up the next morning, I was in the present. After getting up and checking my smartphone, I realized that I had returned. Rather, just finding a smartphone at the bedside is enough for me to figure out that this isn"t my second-year of high school, even without checking the date.
Just to confirm, I checked the date, and it really was ten years later. Looking around the room, I noticed that it was the same room from when I was previously living with Hiiragi-chan, but I was now alone.
"Breakfast is done."
The door slightly opened and Natsumi-chan came in. Natsumi-chan, who was now an adult, had changed from a short-cut to a semi-long hairstyle. She now looked like a lady that was more mature and calm.
Natsumi-chan? Why is she here…?
"Is something wrong?"
"W-where"s Haruksan."
"If you"re asking for Haru-chan, she"s over there."
She pointed out to a s.p.a.ce behind her with her thumb.
"Am I… not living together with Haruksan?"
"Yeah. You are. I ended up begging Papa a lot, and got you guys approval for this. Be grateful, okay? "
Shishishi, Natsumi-chan laughed teasingly.
"Aah… Thank you so much for taking care of us during that time."
"No no, not at all… Now, we"re the one who are being taken care of by you after all…"
Natsumi-chan seemed to feel a bit awkward, as she averted her eyes. Seeing Natsumi-chan"s expression, which was completely alien to me, honestly made me feel a strange discomfort.
Natsumi? Hearing Hiiragi-chan call out, Natsumi-chan and I headed for the dining table. Hiiragi-chan ten years later didn"t change much from my high school years, just as I expected. As for a ring… she still isn"t wearing one. Which means that we haven"t gotten married yet.
It seems like there hasn"t been much progress from the situation that I know. Marrying and having children—That was the future that I was looking forward to, but it seems that events didn"t go that well.
After quickly finishing breakfast that was prepared, Natsumi-chan stood up from her seat.
"I"m heading out for my part-time job."
"Yeah, have a safe trip."
"Have a safe… trip…?"
Part-time job!? … She"s one year older than me, so 28. Based on what was said before breakfast, she is probably living with us under the same roof.
After Natsumi-chan left, I asked Hiiragi-chan.
"Natsumi-chan has a part-time job? D-does she has some sort of goal?"
"No. I don"t think that"s it. Our company is in a bad spot right now, right?"
"Sorry, it seems like I kind of forgot… When you say "our" company, you mean HRG? In a bad spot?"
What does that have to do with Natsumi-chan having a part-time job?
"Simply put, it collapsed due to poor performance."
"Eh!?"
"It was pretty big news, you know? And then, things involving money became quite a bit of trouble… You said you wanted to let Natsumi have a room in this house, remember?"
Aah, that"s right, or that"s what I said, but I have no idea.
Hiiragi-chan"s family company collapsed…? Having the company for which I worked for before I time initially leaped collapse in this future, really gives a weird feeling. If they"re in a financially tough spot, I wonder if it"s a problem of debt. Since her family is in a bad spot, I would understand not wanting to marry.
"Natsumi probably believes that she"s getting between us, so she"s working hard in order to be financially stable and leave this place as fast as possible, however… Natsumi is working hard, but she is a girl from a rich family, she must be having quite a bit of trouble. It doesn"t seem to be going that well."
She seems to have the image of being on top of everything but, in truth, she"s just a pure and innocent lady. A girls only high school, girls only college, and even for her career path, she was walking on a route to remain a pampered young lady of her family.
"Seiji-kun, before this, you said you wanted "a marriage to make everyone happy", right?"
"Yeah."
I don"t exactly remember saying it in the past, so it was probably said by me in the present. Still, I"m certain that I also hold the same feelings.
"Right now, everything is in chaos… and for my family, it seems that"s just out of the question."
"It"s okay. Don"t worry about it."
The business performing badly, can it possibly due to that…?
"The summer of my second year of high school, I ended up interrupting Haruksan"s marriage interview, right?"
"How nostalgic."
"The company doing poorly, is it because I interrupted…?"
"Ahahah. It doesn"t have anything to do with that. It only started getting bad about four years ago after all."
By the way, the current me is a salary man working at a company about 20 minutes driving distance from here. The average me. The deterioration in the company"s performance wasn"t something the average me could do anything about.
No… wait?
Me, a former employee of HRG… deteriorating performance… part-time job…
"Should the me who knows this future, once again join the company…?"
"Seiji-kun? What are you mumbling to yourself about?"
If it"s me, I might be able to do something about it…! Alright, come, time leap. I"ll return to the past and topple this company"s bankruptcy flag, and change the future to a happy one!
Uh, hmm? It"s not coming at all… Ummm? It"s good now, you know?
Similar to the situation as the previous time, we were still living together in the present time, so I"m probably still doing various things to help out with that.
"Ah, it"s already this time?"
As Hiiragi-chan said that while washing dishes, I grabbed her from behind. Her ap.r.o.n appearance was cute as usual.
"Kyah!? … Come on now. I"m busy this morning."
Even though she said that, she didn"t seem to dislike it at all.
"Se-Seiji-kun… it"s still morning though… Mouu…"
Turning her face in my direction, even though it was morning, we exchanged an adult kiss. Hiiragi-chan"s switch turned on. In this kitchen, I will graduate from my virginity!
※ Censored ※
In the end, when I blinked at some point and opened my eyes, I had returned to my room in my parents" house. Remembering that we were having a party at Hiiragi-chan"s place to celebrate the hard work we did at the sports festival, I changed and headed to her place.
Natsumi-chan said that she would come as well, but she still hadn"t arrived. Since it was just right, in order to avoid the future situation that I had already experienced, I started to take measures against it.
Hiiragi-chan, who had entered her spoiling mode, let me sleep on her lap and petted me on the head like I was a pet cat. We started talking about the sports festival from yesterday, and when the conversation finally came to a breaking point, I interrupted.
"Haruksan, I am working part-time at a café, you know that right?"
Even after summer break, I went to work part-time at the store about three days a week.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"I was thinking about quitting that one and doing a different part-time job."
"Eeeh? You"re going to quit? You looked good in the uniform though."
"Really? Leaving that aside, I was thinking of quitting and working part-time at HRG."
"O-our company?"
HRG is a company with a wide range of businesses, including food manufacturing, mail-order sales, telecommunications, and insurance. They have a considerable amount of business partners and affiliated stores. That"s the reason why, I still can"t comprehend the fact that it went bankrupt.
Hiiragi-chan wouldn"t joke around and say something unreasonable like that, so if everything were to continue like this, the chance of that future really occurring is pretty high.
"Yeah. Haruksan"s family"s company. The telecommunications department is looking for workers, I think."
Rather, it"s my department.
"Y-you"re quite informed.
"I was wondering if they could have me work part-time there for just a bit."
"I got it. Then, I"ll try asking."
"Thank you, Haruksan."
"It"s fine, don"t worry about it… However, you"re not planning something, are you?"
Muni muni, Hiiragi-chan poked my cheeks.
"I am not."
In the past, the me in my second year of high school didn"t know of the company called HRG, so there"s no way I would have worked part-time there. Just me being there, might not be enough to prevent the company from going bankrupt. However, if the past changes, the future should change due to the b.u.t.terfly effect.
Getting up, I hugged Hiiragi-chan.
"Is something wrong?"
"It"s nothing."
I want to make the person that I love happy. Towards the Hiiragi-chan who was making a dazed expression, I kissed her as if promising that.
"Ah. A kiss from Seiji-kun, that makes me happy… Then, from me as well, payback ♡"
Hiiragi-chan also kissed me. Marrying Hiiragi-chan is still something that will occur in the future, but this sweet relationship seems like it will continue for a while.