The day after, during lunch break.
The cafeteria was filled with people, but Kaminari managed to save them a spot.
Yamikuro, Kaminari, Rye, Cedar, Isabella, and Deia sat together.
While Yamikuro was playing around with his school food, which didn't seem edible, Kaminari started talking, his mouth full of food.
"So I've been thinking, there's this new console..."
A sour expression appeared on Isabella's face.
"You're disgusting. Shut your mouth while eating."
Kaminari swallowed the food, ignoring Isabella.
"Alright, all of us need to find a part-time job or somethinglikethat."
Everyone looked at each other at the table.
"Are you kidding me? I'm not getting a job to pay for your console." Isabella rolled her eyes.
"Neither am I..." Deia said quietly.
"A-alright, fine. But Yamikuro? Rye? Cedar? You guys are surely in."
Cedar shook his head.
"I'm already working at my parents' business, sorry."
Kaminari flicked his finger.
"Ah, that's right, I forgot. But Rye and Yamikuro, you guys have to be in."
Yamikuro still played around with his food. He was hungry, but the unboiled potatoes and the slime-like sauce threw him off.
"I don't want to get a job... Ask Rye." He said.
After not hearing Rye, Yamikuro looked next to him, where he sat.
It was empty.
"Where is he?"
Kaminari pointed towards the dumpster.
"He's there... Throwing away the food into the wrong place, as usual."
Yamikuro raised an eyebrow, looking at everyone ignoring the fact that Rye basically just teleported there.
"It's just what he does." Isabella sighed.
Yamikuro pretended to accept it, just like the rest of them.
"Right..."
Kaminari's eyes widened looking at the clock. He quickly picked up his fork.
"Crap! Lunch is almost over, we'll talk about this later."
The class bell rang, and they all went to their classes.
The day went by quickly, and Kaminari stopped Rye and Yamikuro as they walked into the courtyard.
It was wide, with fences surrounding all of it. Bushes were growing next to the surrounding fences, and a water fountain was in the middle of all of it.
It wasn't as beautiful when compared to yesterday, when Yamikuro first saw it.
The grey clouds covering the sun made the view less colorful.
"Stop!" Kaminari yelled over everyone.
"Remember, our job."
Yamikuro shook his head.
"No, I'm not getting a job."
Kaminari sighed in disappointment.
He then pushed around Rye and Yamikuro through the courtyard to a quieter spot.
"Listen to me real close... Yamikuro... Do you see these clouds above our head?"
Yamikuro looked up.
"I do."
"Alright, and what would you do if it were to rain? Go inside, right? But what then?"
Yamikuro wanted to respond with a counterargument, but he couldn't think of anything.
Was there really nothing to do inside the dorm? It's not like he spotted a console either, although there were computers.
"What about the computers?"
Kaminari giggled, almost laughing.
"You can barely even have multiple browser tabs open. There's no way we could play anything on them."
Yamikuro turned to Rye to see if Kaminari was lying or not.
Rye shrugged.
"Kaminari is correct. Although the computers can be used for cooling during the warm days."
"But Kaminari, you really don't understand, do you? You can't just get a job."
Kaminari scratched his head.
"How are we supposed to get one then?"
Suddenly, Yamikuro could sense rain coming.
There were no drops anywhere, but deep inside of him, something felt off.
Yamikuro then let out a long sigh.
"Fine, only for a short amount of time, I'm willing to work so we can spend time inside, doing something fun."
A wide smile appeared on Kaminari's face, and he grabbed Yamikuro, holding his hand across his shoulders.
"That's my boy!"
Rye just tagged along with them. It's not like he had anything better to do right now.
They then arrived at a movie rental store.
"That's the place?" Rye asked.
Kaminari, still having a smile on his face, didn't answer. He just opened the door.
When they stepped in, they could smell the mustiness of this place. It also looked like something straight from the 90s
But that's when a woman standing behind the counter noticed the three boys.
"Welcome!" She said.
Kaminari walked up to her, leaning his hand on the counter.
"I heard ya guys were hiring."
The woman nodded.
"Are all three of you looking for work?"
"We are."
Hearing that, she grabbed three papers to fill out.
Kaminari handed each of them one.
They found a circular table to sit at and started filling out the stuff.
The creaky fan above them was the only sound breaking the silence.
Kaminari tapped his pen on the paper, Rye kept biting the pen, and Yamikuro just stared at the paper while trying to figure out what to put as answers.
Their full names, locations, and date of birth, all the basic stuff, were easy to fill out.
But they had problems with questions like 'past work experience' or 'why would you be the perfect fit for this place'.
Kaminari was the first one to fill everything out.
He threw the pen on the table and stretched.
"Finally done!"
Trying to see what Rye wrote, Yamikuro couldn't figure anything out.
Rye's handwriting was a mess, almost as if he wrote with his opposite hand.
Yamikuro still stared at the last question.
"Why would I be the perfect fit for this position...?" He whispered.
"Dude, just write whatever comes to mind."
Rye spoke up, still chewing on the pen.
"You're good with customer service, you have nerves of steel, you have a lot of patience, you're understanding... and you know the movies well."
Yamikuro started writing immediately. He didn't want to forget any of these things before being able to put them on paper.
"Did you just come up with them?"
Yamikuro could feel Rye staring into his soul.
"Just from what I've gathered of you." He said, completely serious.
Kaminari broke the quietness.
"Alright, you done already, Yamikuro?"
Yamikuro nodded as he wrote the last word.
"...And done."
"About time, now we'll just-..." Kaminari stopped mid-sentence.
Rye was missing from his seat.
Looking towards the counter, Rye was already handing in his application.
"No, he didn't...!"
Yamikuro looked behind him and noticed why Kaminari was frustrated.
"I was the first to finish it! I should've been the first to present it as well, thatsnotfair!"
Yamikuro stood up, hearing Kaminari, but didn't think it was that serious. Kaminari was just overreacting as usual.
"H-Hey, no!" He tried to stop Yamikuro.
But as he tried to stand up, he tripped, falling with the chair.
"Damn it!"
He dragged himself to the counter, placing his application on it, his expression serious.
And that was the first time Yamikuro saw him like that.
The woman looked at each of the applications, and quickly... too quickly, she looked up at them.
"You're all hired." She said with a smile.
Kaminari was startled.
"Are you serious?"
The woman nodded.
"Mhm. We're extremely short-staffed, as you could probably see already. There's no need for an interview or anything; you can start right now, if you're ready."
Kaminari's expression changed quickly.
His eyebrows raised, along with the edges of his mouth. And Yamikuro could swear Kaminari's eyes shone.
"Yes, yes. We're ready! Thankyousomuchforthisyouarealifesaver!"
The woman giggled over Kaminari.
"I'll go get your name tags ready, be right back." She said and walked to the room.
Rye couldn't help but smile, same with Yamikuro.
They were quiet, but definitely felt the emotions of Kaminari.
When she returned, they got their name cards.
And by putting them on, all three of them were officially clocked in, ready for what was to come. Or were they?