A Job for Children 5
HiMERU: —Well, then. Now that we’ve more or less established everyone’s affairs, let’s sort out the situation at hand.
Hinata: Oh, uh, sure. Why’s this—umm, HiMERU?
Why’s this HiMERU guy in charge, anyway? This is probably all my fault anyway, though, so I guess I should just shut up and stop griping.
HiMERU: That would be wise. Clumsy excuses tend only to fuel the fire.
Yuuta: So anyway, since you were acting all shady, HiMERU-san here helped me figure some things out. He’s sooo nice~ Like a reliable onii-chan ♪
Hinata: Grrr. The only onii-chan Yuuta-kun has is me...
Wait, not the point, never mind. I’m sorry.
Yuuta: What are you sorry for, Aniki? I don’t really blame you for anything? Well, depending on the circumstances, I may really lay into you—
Hinata: No, it’s just a habit... Especially since last year I was always doing stuff that you’d get mad at and then use me as a verbal punching bag over...
Yuuta: Well maybe you shouldn’t do things that’ll get you in trouble.
Hinata: Urghh, my baby brother’s such a tyrant... I know, I know, in this world it’s always Onii-chan’s fault.
Big brother’s the one to blame for everything all the time. I’m so sorry I was ever even born. Sobsob.
HiMERU: What kind of act is that? It’s not exactly advisable to joke around in a situation such as this.
Yuuta: Yeah, seriously. You’ve got a bad habit of this, Aniki. I know you were protecting me by making yourself seem like an unserious “bad kid” and stuff.
But enough is enough—Hinata-kun.
Hinata: Gh. What do I dooo? No matter what, I get scolded... But I can’t help it, y’know? I’ve been like this for so long.
It’s not like I can make the switch with a snap of the fingers. And it still makes me kinda embarrassed when I call you Onii-chan.
I don’t even get nervous on stage! But something like this is embarrassing? C’mon!
Yuuta: Just get used to it already. I mean, it’s easy enough to copy me, right? That’s kind of our whole thing?
Hinata: Urgh... how could my lowly self dare to so shamelessly imitate someone so esteemed and noble as my Onii-chan-sama?
HiMERU: Again: what kind of act is that?
If you don’t maintain a consistent character, it will confuse the people watching you. This jumping all over the place is undesirable for an entertainer.
Hinata: Man, are your critiques always this harsh?! Like, did I do something to offend you, uhhh, HiMERU-san?
Yuuta: Heh, I’m sure he’s just mad at you because he sympathizes with me ♪
HiMERU: That’s not quite the reason... HiMERU gets a little too talkative when it comes to areas he has expertise in. He will counsel himself.
Well, getting back on topic: It’s a simple matter once you break it down.
Crazy:B is in the midst of a dry spell at the moment, and we have a considerable amount of time on our hands with no work to fill it. The only way we’ve been able to kill that time has been by playing mahjong at our meeting spot.
To break the monotony, or perhaps it was simply on a whim, Amagi has gone off on his own to do something rather dubious.
Yuuta: Ooh, I’m kind of jealous of all that free time you have. In our case, we have so much to do we’re barely sleeping.
Hinata: No seriously. The VP must love us—or maybe he doesn’t have any other convenient pawns to use—but he’s got us doing all sorts of little jobs.
Yuuta: Right? It’s like we’re CosPro’s favorite idols or something. I am grateful for that, but It’s day in and day out. We just can’t catch a break.
Which is why we don’t have the time to get roped into a bizarre situation like this. This isn’t the time to be playing around, got it Aniki?
Hinata: Sobsob. Got it... But I wasn’t playing around either, y’know.
HiMERU: Okay. Umm, Aoi Hinata—is what you will be referred to as. Yuuta has already had this explained for him, so that will be omitted.
Hinata: Hey now, what gives you the right to call the most beautiful and precious little brother in the whole world by his first name? Put some love into it! Call him Onii-chan-sama!
HiMERU: To call a younger brother “onii-chan” would be contradictory. In addition, it feels almost disgusting to do so, so HiMERU will refrain.
Hinata: Don’t call us disgusting! That’s our trigger word!
Yuuta: Ahaha, I’m getting the feeling that you two don’t really mesh with each other.
Hinata: On the other hand, Rinne-senpai keeps messing around with you, so I guess you guys don’t get along with each other, huh...
He’s been pretty good to me, though. I know I haven’t known him that long, but I’m already crazy into him!
Yuuta: Ew, you’ve got terrible taste, Aniki. What’s so good about a guy like that?
HiMERU: Yes, that’s pretty baffling, actually.
Hinata: Guh, I need cover! Call in for backup! Help me, Rinne-senpaaaaai!
HiMERU: Amagi was kicked out, so he will not be coming to your rescue. Please give it up.
...Although, that man seems to be rather indebted to you, so it’s likely that he would come to your aid if you asked.
He’s surprisingly old-fashioned in his thinking—or rather, he possesses a strong sense of duty.
Yuuta: So he’s basically a boomer. That’s why I got so up in arms: I thought you were having secret meetings with a guy like that at some shady nightclub.
Hinata: It wasn’t a secret meeting! The VP asked me to give some support to Crazy:B, okay?
It was sent all official-like through Glitter Mail, and I got paid. But he said he was leaving the details up to me.
Yuuta: Yeah, you told me that on the phone.
Hinata: Yep. But it’s not like we’ve been in the position to take care of others all by ourselves before.
At Yumenosaki Academy, we pretty much just let Sakuma-senpai be the boss and tell us what to do.
Yuuta: Well, we didn’t have the leeway to look after anyone other than ourselves.
Hinata: Exactly. So basically I had like, nooo idea what to do... and then I said to myself, well first, you just gotta go talk to them. And that’s how I got in touch with Rinne-senpai.