It was nearing the end of their shifts.
Kamishiro Kaede and Mizuno Maki had both changed out of their work clothes and were preparing to head home.
At that moment.
The shift leader walked over, holding two packaged Ichiran Ramen meals and their day's wages, handing them both over.
"Here's your pay."
"I'll give you these Ichiran Ramen as a late-night snack today, take them home and try them."
"Keep up the good work tomorrow!"
Although Kamishiro Kaede had already eaten his work meal, he certainly wouldn't refuse a late-night snack and took it directly.
Mizuno Maki was silent for a moment, but she also didn't refuse, taking it into her hands.
Seeing the two so good-looking and wearing the same school uniform, the shift leader suddenly became curious and asked, "Um, you two aren't perhaps a couple who came here to work part-time together, are you?"
Just as Mizuno Maki was about to deny it, Kamishiro Kaede denied it first, saying, "No."
She paused, her cool face tilting up slightly, and glanced at Kaede.
"Oh? I thought you looked quite compatible." The shift leader scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly.
Kamishiro Kaede shot the shift leader a look and waved goodbye without looking back, "I'm off, see you tomorrow."
Mizuno Maki also bid farewell to the shift leader at the same time and pushed her old, broken bicycle, slowly following Kaede about five meters behind.
They were both walking the same route.
The streets of Hibiya glowed with a unique vibrancy and bustle in the dark night.
The streetlights cast a bright glow, adorning the entire street like a starry sky, injecting a warm radiance into the night's activity.
Along both sides of the street, the neon lights of tall buildings flickered incessantly, resembling a neon ocean of the city.
The glass of the shop windows reflected the colorful neon lights, displaying all sorts of goods and attracting passersby.
But neither of them paid attention to their surroundings, they just walked in silence.
After a short walk.
Kaede saw the Hibiya subway station and slowly went down, preparing to take the train back to Shibuya.
Mizuno Maki, however, did not enter the subway but continued to push her bicycle towards Shibuya.
————
Shibuya.
It was past ten o'clock, and the night was deep.
Kamishiro Kaede walked into a narrow, quiet alley and looked up at the old house standing at the street corner.
It was a two-story building, and the marks of time had left deep imprints on its exterior walls.
The white paint had faded, and the exposed walls revealed the vicissitudes of the years.
Kamishiro Kaede carried the freshly bought ingredients and the Ichiran Ramen takeout in his hand, and pushed open the door.
Sato Ayaka, who had been sitting in the living room for a long time, turned her head the moment she heard the door open.
Only when she saw Kamishiro Kaede return did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Kaede, welcome back!"
"Auntie, I'm back." Kamishiro Kaede closed the door, put the ingredients he was holding into the refrigerator first, to be used for breakfast the next morning.
Seeing so many ingredients in his hand and recalling what Kaede had said on his phone at noon, Sato Ayaka was deeply moved and began to cry and choke up.
Kamishiro Kaede didn't understand why she was crying and asked, "Why are you crying again?"
"Wuwuwu~ No, I just feel like you've suddenly grown up so much, you even know how to help with the family's burdens. Auntie is truly relieved, and I can't help but want to cry." Auntie wiped her tears, crying and laughing.
Kaede found it somewhat amusing and exasperating, still not quite understanding what made his aunt cry.
Suddenly.
He felt a gaze.
He turned and looked towards the corridor, immediately spotting Kamishiro Erina in pajamas, squinting at him from the shadows.
No, it should be said that she was staring at the Ichiran Ramen in his hand.
(┬＿┬)
"What is that? It looks delicious. Did you buy it for me? I'm a bit hungry, give it to me!" Kamishiro Erina walked over, trying to snatch the Ichiran Ramen from Kaede's hand.
He slapped her hand away and rolled his eyes at her, retorting, "You think that's a good idea. I'm hungry right now, and you want it?"
Kamishiro Erina clutched her hand, frowned, and gritted her teeth, "Auntie, did you see that? He's bullying me!"
Sato Ayaka covered her mouth and laughed heartily, "Erina, don't fight with your brother. He's been busy for so long and needs to eat something to replenish his energy."
"But Kaede, you said you were working at a restaurant. Is this from that place?"
"Yeah."
"Eh, Ichiran Ramen? Auntie has eaten there before too. It's quite famous. The last time I ate there, it cost around two thousand yen for a bowl."
"Ichiran Ramen..." Kamishiro Erina silently noted the restaurant's name. After some thought, she seemed to recall something.
She looked at Kaede, a slow curve forming on his lips, her eyes mischievous, "Kaede, since you work there, don't they give employees ramen every day? Then I'll let you have this one today. Remember to bring me one tomorrow. It's a deal!"
Kamishiro Kaede was amused by her, laughing, "This was a gift from the shift leader. It's not like they give them out every day."
"I don't care, I haven't eaten there yet!" Kamishiro Erina glared at Kaede, then trotted to her room door and called out, "Remember!"
With that, she closed the door, clearly intending to go to sleep.
"How was your day? Was your part-time job smooth?" Auntie asked curiously.
Kamishiro Kaede casually described his day at work.
Auntie's beautiful eyes were filled with relief, "That's great. But don't neglect your studies either~"
"Don't worry." Seeing that Erina had gone to sleep, Kaede also urged his aunt to go back, "Auntie, it's late, you should go to bed too."
"Yes, I'm a bit sleepy too..." Sato Ayaka yawned and slowly stood up, "Then make sure you go to bed early after you finish your late-night snack."
After Sato Ayaka returned to her room, Kaede quickly finished his meal, showered, and went to his own room.
Then he took out the pay envelope the shift leader had given him from his school bag and opened it to take out the money.
He counted it.
He had worked for five hours, earning a total of 6000 yen.
At this pace, he would get his next occupation in about nine days.
Nine days, that was quite fast.
Kaede was looking forward to what occupation he would get then.
He checked the time; it was already around eleven o'clock.
He looked at the two attribute points and three skill points remaining on his status screen, hesitating whether to use them.
Since he already had skills and knew that the Spirit attribute could only be improved through attribute points, he pondered.
After some thought, in order to improve the efficiency of leveling up his student occupation.
Kamishiro Kaede felt that he could add another point to his Spirit attribute, and would see what to do with the remaining point later.
As for the Absolute Focus ability, he also planned to level it up once to see the effect. If it wasn't significant, he would stop upgrading it and save the skill points for when he obtained other skills later.
Thus.
He looked at the Spirit attribute and the Absolute Focus skill on the virtual panel and began to allocate points!