Chapter 092 – Bookstore Girl (Revised)
Masayoshi Kishimoto didn’t pay any lip service at all. He did what he said he would do and told Natsui Makoto to wait inside the Cold Drink Manga House. He himself left straight away and went home to get something.
If it wasn’t for the fact that this cold drink manga house was located in the Ueno Park area of Taito District, it wasn’t too far from his own home. He also had the heart to do so.
The reason why he was willing to make this trip for a strange girl, not a pretty girl, was all because of the word “fellow enthusiast”.
In less than half an hour’s time, Masayoshi Kishimoto brought from his home several issues of “Pure Love Tenant Pretty Landlord” that had already been published in “Weekly Shonen Magazine”.
Natsui Makoto was instantly touched in her heart when she got the stack of Weekly Shonen Magazine that he handed to her.
Even if the sun wasn’t blazing outside, it was sweltering hot. For the first time in her life, she met a stranger who would do this for her.
Natsui Makoto saw Kishimoto Masayoshi’s sweat seeping from his forehead, and hurriedly took out his handkerchief from the handbag he was carrying and handed it over.
Kishimoto Masayoshi hesitated a little, but still took her handkerchief over. He knew in his heart that a girl’s handkerchief would not be given casually to a boy.
Kishimoto Masayoshi took it and wiped his sweat while making his attitude clear, ”I’ll return it to you after I wash it. Tomorrow is Sunday, how about we still meet here at this time?”
Natsui Makoto understood that he had gone on such a trip for his own sake, so there was no sense in letting the other party wash his handkerchief for him.
She firmly refused, and held out her hands towards the other person to retrieve her handkerchief, “Thank you, no need. I’ve already caused you trouble.”
Masayoshi Kishimoto also had no choice but to hand back the handkerchief that had wiped away her sweat and said, “In life, it is hard to find a confidant.”
Natsui Makoto put the handkerchief back inside her handbag on one side, and on the other side felt in her heart that he didn’t look like a bad person. From the very beginning, it was sort of herself who was taking the initiative to strike up a conversation.
An unexpected encounter like this did not cause too many ripples in her heart, but the idea of making friends was still there.
“Eh, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Natsui Makoto.” Natsui Makoto introduced herself.
“Nice to meet you too. My name is Masaru Kishimoto.” Masayoshi Kishimoto gave her a small smile and said.
“You should be renting in this neighborhood, right?” Natsui Makoto naturally thought of this when she saw that he was able to come back so quickly. It wasn’t that she asked an unnutritious question, she just needed to get an acknowledgement from the other party’s own mouth Dao.
“Sort of!” Masayoshi Kishimoto did not fail to think of the fact that the house he had mortgaged to the bank for a period of two years had not yet expired. Nowadays, the real estate license was not even in his hands, so it could not be considered a rental?
“What a coincidence, I also live in Taito District. Do you know the Miki Bookstore?” Natsui Makoto overflowed with a happy smile and said.
Masayoshi Kishimoto traced the arc of a corner with his right index finger and calmly said, “You’re talking about the bookstore on the corner of this street!”
Natsui Makoto nodded, her smile unchanged, “Well, it’s that store. I work part-time at the Miki Bookstore. Today is my shift off. What kind of work are you currently doing?”
“That is, I’m working inside a small company of about ten people in this neighborhood.” Masayoshi Kishimoto said lightly.
“Listening to your accent, it also seems like you’re not a native of Tokyo.” Natsui Makoto heard his accent with a hint of Shikoku and said.
Masayoshi Kishimoto didn’t deny it and said, “My hometown is in Kochi Prefecture, Shikoku.”
“My hometown is Wakayama Prefecture. Both of our hometowns are sort of across the sea from each other.” Natsui Makoto said with a full smile.
Masayoshi Kishimoto had long since heard that the other party’s accent was not the Kanto accent of the Tokyo locals, but rather had a strong Kansai accent. Usually girls like her who came to the capital from the local area to work were also living a hard life.
There was no shortage of people who either worked part-time behind their backs doing strange things or were looking for men to relieve their personal financial pressures.
Masayoshi Kishimoto could easily tell that Makoto Natsui had come to Tokyo from her hometown right after graduating from high school. She had neither a university degree nor a skill, and only worked as a temporary laborer for a living.
As for entertainment inside weekdays, it was also very limited. A low-cost comic book store with cold drinks is often the first choice.
Renting an apartment is an expense that puts a lot of pressure on them. Renting an apartment in RB is a relatively troublesome matter. The normal process involves finding an agency near a district.
You state your budget about how much you are willing to spend on renting an apartment and what are the requirements. It then compares and arranges for your budget.
One person from the agency will take you to see the properties one by one. Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and inevitably there will be a fee.
Once you have secured a rental, you will also need to make a deposit, as well as the RB tradition of renting which is that you also have to pay an extra month’s gift money to the landlord.
And that’s not all, if the house is a condominium, there are management fees, maintenance fees and other necessary expenses before you move in. There is a saying that the more you move, the poorer you get.
In Taito Ward, Tokyo, it is possible to rent a 10-square-meter room with all the appliances, which is not too shabby, for about 50,000 to 60,000 yen, and it is located close to Arakawa Ward.
The name of Arakawa-ku tells you that it is not in the top, but in the bottom of the list of Tokyo’s 23 wards.
In the past, Arakawa-ku was a large area of farmland. Its economy and development is only a little better than the worst Adachi district.
If it was within the prosperous area of Taito City, it would never be possible to rent. A separate room like Rie Sakai’s, with fine furnishings and so on, would never cost less than 150,000 yen per month, even if it was shared by two people.
Even if the rent was tens of thousands of yen per month, the tenant would need to come up with several hundred thousand yen at once. Some people can’t afford to pay the rent, so they live in cybercafes and capsule apartments for a long time.
However, if you want to have a full-time job as a member of a social organization in RB, you have to have a permanent place to live. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be one. Without an official job, it’s not even easy to get a bank credit card.
After all, in addition to the company you work for sending this and that by mail from time to time, utilities and especially credit card bills are also sent by mail. This is one of the traditions of RB people.
In addition to housing, food, clothing, and transportation are the three major categories of expenses necessary for survival. It’s not easy to live in a place like Tokyo without a regular, permanent job as a member of the organization.
How could a person live well on less than 200,000 yen a month? If the family still needed her to send money back again, it would be harder and harder to live.