Free Web NovelChapter 142: Cut-off Call
The day seemed more hectic than usual, with Kikuchi Koji running around all over the city, making time for his partners and going over contracts that needed some clarifications. All this time, Hajime was right on his tail, observing everything he did and taking down every piece of information that he needed. Despite the hectic schedule, he was quite used to the rush, and he didn’t run out of breath compared to his first day as Koji’s secretary.
Post-lunchbreak, the running around finally concluded, and Hajime found time for lunch. Personally, he looked forward to this particular time of day since there was free food in the company’s cafeteria. Not only that, he got to eat as much as he could without worrying about his budget. If it were any other regular day, Hajime would’ve been taking a nap instead of eating a meal since he still needed every cent he got in order to medically support his sister.
Unbeknownst to him, however, the cafeteria was actually nonexistent prior to his hiring. This was something that Koji concocted since he knew just how hard Hajime’s life was. And, of course, the employees weren’t complaining since this was free food for everyone, not just for Hajime. In fact, they were even slightly grateful for Hajime’s presence.
As usual, Hajime filled his tray with a ridiculous amount of food. Just the sight alone made his mouth water, and he couldn’t wait to eat everything before he returned for his afternoon shift.
Ring~
Riiing~
Hajime felt the light vibration from his pocket as his phone started ringing. Thinking that it wasn’t an emergency, he seated himself first and started eating before he answered the phone call.
"Kirisu-san? Why is she calling?" Hajime asked himself. In between bites, he responded to the call. "Hello?"
"Hajime!" Kirisu’s voice boomed from the other end of the line. She was frantic, or so that’s how Hajime perceived her due to the rushed tone in her voice.
"Yes? Is something wrong?" Hajime asked. At this point, he was getting extremely worried— not because he thought that his sister was in critical condition, but because he feared that Kirisu was in trouble. As someone who’d been a friend of his parents and as someone who had taken care of his sister in her coma, Hajime held Kirisu in high regard and treated her as family. Her worrying tone made Hajime feel a tad bit concerned. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"It’s your sister! She’s—"
Beep!
"..."
"..."
Kirisu’s panicked undertone, coupled with her mention of Hajime’s sister, was enough for Hajime to gulp everything in his mouth and rush out of the cafeteria without another word.
In a flash, Satoshi sprinted out of the building and dashed straight to the sidewalk, raising his hand to attract an available cab. At the back of his mind, he thought that it’d be a waste of money if he were to ride a cab, but it didn’t matter. Right now, money was not the issue; the emergency was.
To Hajime’s surprise, every single cab that passed by had a passenger in it. Precious minutes passed by, and he was getting rather panicked by the second. Beads of sweat trickled on his forehead as the mid-noon sun shone against his head and reflected by the pavement down below. The heat was getting to him, and the unavailability of the cab was not helping.
It felt like an eternity, but in reality, only two minutes had passed by ever since he got out of the building. At this point, Hajime’s patience had run out, and he decided to flag down the next taxi that passed by.
...
Meanwhile, at the Mikadzuki General Hospital
"Kirisu, are you all right?" Someone asked as Kirisu paced back and forth inside the hospital room.
"Yeah, it’s just that..." Kirisu pointed to her phone. She didn’t mean to give Hajime a huge misunderstanding, but it was as if fate was playing a prank on her. She was supposed to deliver some news, but before she could say anything, her phone just turned off for some odd reason.
Knowing Hajime, Kirisu had already concluded that he would be rushing to the hospital no matter what happened. She felt bad for delivering such misleading information, even mentioning his sister to boot. "I just hope he wasn’t panicking too much. Knowing him, he might be running all the way over here straight from work. Why did my phone have to act up at such a crucial time."
"It’s fine, Kirisu-san. I’m sure—"
"Yeah, I’m sure he’ll be safe... but I couldn’t help but worry," Kirisu muttered, fumbling with her phone as if that would make the situation any better.
...
Hajime’s target finally showed up— a white cab that was on his side of the road. He raised his hand, but he could tell that there was someone in the backseat. That fact didn’t stop him from walking straight in front of the cab, though.
In haste, the taxi driver flashed his taxi’s headlights at Hajime since he was directly in front of the cab. This didn’t stop Hajime. Instead, he raised his hand in a threatening t-position while waiting for the cab to stop.
The driver panicked, hitting the brakes before he hit Hajime. Seeing the cab stop at a halt, Hajime felt a wave of relief hit him as he rushed to the side doors of the taxi. "Oi, kid! What do you think you’re doing? Do you have a death wish or something?!" The taxi driver waved his fist at Hajime.
"Please! It’s an emergency!" Hajime called out, forcefully opening the side door to the backseat. There, he found a familiar-looking red-haired girl scooting over to the side, wide-eyed. With a quick bow of apology, Hajime hopped inside the cab. "It’s my sister! I need to get to the Mikadzuki General Hospital as soon as possible. Please!"
"Look, kid, you can’t just hop inside a cab with a passenger... wait... aren’t you, Hajime? Sasajima Hajime?!" The driver called out, pointing at Hajime with a look of disbelief on his face.
"I’m sorry, have we met before?" Hajime asked, turning at the red hair beside him.
"I don’t know about him, but I’m sure we’ve met before, Hajime. You’re heading to the Mikadzuki General Hospital, right? I’m heading that way as well." The red hair said, extending her hand and shaking Hajime’s in the process. "Let’s floor it, driver-san! To the Mikadzuki General Hospital!" She hastily declared.
