A Job for Children 1

About an hour later

HiMERU: —Now then, shall we go? We’re headed to the questionable nightclub Amagi brought your brother to.

HiMERU... will call you Yuuta. He is not the type of character who uses honorifics with other people.

Yuuta: No, that’s fine. I got used to all of that at Yumenosaki. We’re always treated like we’re at the bottom of the totem pole, basically.

HiMERU: Hm. One could compare that to Ra*bits, or similar cases. When you sell yourself as innocent children, or otherwise emphasize those qualities, you tend to be looked down on and scorned. It must be difficult.

Yuuta: Oh, well, it’s not that it’s difficult, really. I don’t let it bother me, and I’ve gotten used to that biased view of us.

HiMERU: —Hm. In any case, you’re worried about your brother, Hinata. HiMERU wants to engage in more solo activities suitable for his style, but as the leader, Amagi won’t allow it.

It seems, then, that our interests are aligned. We will acquire hard evidence that Amagi is causing trouble for your brother—Hinata.

And then HiMERU will use that evidence as leverage to assert his own will.

If Crazy:B becomes a lawless existence which uses its stinger to poison other units—

It will be detrimental to HiMERU’s future activities to be associated with such a dangerous and criminal group.

Amagi would not be able to argue against such an accusation.

That man already knows HiMERU prioritizes “HiMERU” above anything else.

Contrary to popular belief, he does operate on a basis of logic—the way an insect would.

Therefore, we will work together to obtain this evidence that Amagi is troubling Aoi Hinata.

HiMERU is skilled in this area, so please let him handle it.

HiMERU: Should it turn out that Amagi is doing nothing wrong and he’s leaving Aoi Hinata alone... that would also be a favorable outcome.

Surely you’re so worried because you don’t know what’s really happening.

Even if it’s only consequential, HiMERU should be able to help you ease that anxiety.

Yuuta: Ahaha. I guess I should say sorry, HiMERU-san. I didn’t mean to make you suspicious of someone from your own unit...

And you even bought me a drink at the café earlier. You’ve been very kind to me.

HiMERU: Not at all. As mentioned before, our interests align.

Rather, HiMERU is grateful for your presence—It provides good pretext to legitimately stab Amagi in the back and force him to bend to HiMERU’s will.

Besides, it’s customary for one’s elders to pay for meals.

Although, it’s likely that 2wink is making a far greater income than Crazy:B, so perhaps this is a bit too forward.

HiMERU’s problem is that he tends to stick too closely to tradition.

He has realized from our experiences, and especially the MDM, that this is only a hindrance in the incomprehensible modern era.

Unfortunately, HiMERU knows no other way to live, and he doesn’t want to choose another anyway.

Yuuta: ...? No, I appreciated the coffee and the snack you got me.

I dump all of the L$ I earn into a shared 2wink account.

I have one in my name only too, but it’s completely empty. And I only carry around yen with me, which can’t be used on ES grounds.

HiMERU: —Hm, is that not inconvenient while at ES?

Yuuta: Not so much, no.

If I want to do some shopping at ES or rent out a room or something, I’ll just call Aniki up to pull out some L$ from our account.

I’m still in high school, and while Yumenosaki is under the direct management of ES, you can’t use L$ there yet.

And sometimes I want to buy things that have nothing to do with idol stuff, so having yen on me is convenient.

I want to do stuff that isn’t related to idols at all, too...

Like eating spicy food, or reading racy manga, or buying weird clothes no one else would.

HiMERU: Hmm. It should be possible to petition for these things under the argument that they are necessary for idol activities.

In which case, ES would first procure the items, and then it would sell them to you for L$...

But unlike the essentials we need as idols, you wouldn’t be able to purchase them at the standard discount.

Handling fees and the like are inevitable.

Yuuta: And even then, I can’t look at something and buy something on the spot just because I want it. Impulse buying is fun...

HiMERU: Hm. All shopping ought to be planned in advance. You don’t have access to unlimited funds, after all.

Yuuta: I know that... I should have some self-control. But thanks to that, my room is bursting at the seams with stuff I don’t have any idea what to do with.