5 Work! Trauma! I wish I could die!

Yo, Dear Readers.

Author here.

So, been a while, huh? I know most of you would be pissed, and some may not even be here but hear me out, I am back? So forgive me for vanishing so suddenly, please?

Anyway, now that's out of the way, I'd like to say that this story is back. For now, I will only be focusing on this, no other stories. And there is a chance my writing has deteriorated a bit, so beware it will take me some time to get the hang of it again.

That's all. Thanks for still being there with this story.

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Yawn~

Yawning as I walked across the sidewalk, I stretched my arms. I had a good rest back there. A good, half an hour nap. It was pleasant, the weather was good, and nothing in the world disturbed me. I wanted to sleep some more, but time doesn't stop for anyone. Like hell I'd be an exception.

Oga, the infamous ogre of Ishiyama High and the soon-to-be father of a demon lord had already left the place before me. So I didn't have any more conversations with him, which was fine by me. If I were to get close to him, it'd bring me nothing but trouble in the long run. Beelzebub was a great anime and all, but I don't remember most of the story. I just know that the little beel-bo was supposed to end humanity at some point, or was it something like that?

Meh. It's not my problem. I leave the fate of the world in your hands, Oga-kun. Show that little child the correct path in life. I'm sure your barbaric, defiant, and cruel nature would positively influence him(lol).

With an amused mind and a refreshed smile, I continued with my walk. The sun is yet to be set, and students from different schools can be seen walking back to their homes. It's quite late, so I am sure these guys are all associated with some sort of club. That would explain all this Youthful energy they are radiating. My eyes are on the blink of losing sight by how bright they look!

Tch. Die, you normal fags. Spoiled brats like you with money to go to a decent school can never understand my struggle!

Barking like a dog inside my mind, and pretty much showing how much of a loser I am, I increased my pace, trying to ignore all the fearful stares I was getting.

My clothes have splashes of blood, so what do you expect? People are sure to stare and comment on it. Especially when they can recognize my uniform, which belongs to the infamous Ishiyama High. They probably think I am some delinquent who gets into fights regularly. If that's true, then they aren't particularly wrong. But before now, it was just me getting beaten up. Today is the first time I am covered in the blood of someone else other than me.

I am not a delinquent, but a victim, so in a way nothing has changed from my previous life. How sad is that? With my brain having nothing better to do than wallowing in self-pity, I noticed that I was right where I had to be.

The McRonalds.

Yes, it's a copy of the McDonalds from my previous world, but this place right here sells the best burger ever. I never had a preference for junk food before, but now that I work here, it has changed and the only thing I eat most of the time is fries and burgers. Not that I have a choice since I am not drowning in money.

No, they are not leftovers. The-only-thing-I-can-afford is what they are.

"Home sweet home."

I stood in front of the door of my workplace. For most people, working is a tedious task, but for me, it's a great pastime. That's what happens when you live in a house without a TV. You become a workaholic!

Opening the door to my workplace, I was greeted by the bright smiles of my coworkers.

"Welcome to McRonalds!"

"Welcome to McRo- Oh. It's Tengen-kun!"

The difference in the greeting was clear. A boy with slightly messy black hair, with a mildly unkempt spiky appearance, and sharp red eyes, gave me the greeting befitting of a diligent employee. Unlike the girl beside him, he was treating me like he would treat any other customer, despite having worked with me for months.

This is Maou Sadao, the ever-diligent and good boy of our fast food corner, and a very close acquaintance of mine.

"Wait, Tengen-kun, is that blood in your clothes?!"

I turned my attention away from Maou to look at the girl beside him. With Shoulder-length light auburn hair and big, ember eyes, this girl in my opinion can be considered cute. Holding a concerned as well as pale look on her face, the girl quickly got out from the counter to check on me, followed behind by Maou-kun, himself.

This one here is Sasaki Chiho, another close acquaintance of mine, and the only girl I know who doesn't hate my guts.

"What happened, Tengen-kun? Are you hurt?"

Maou asked, gazing at me up and down. Sasaki-san on the other hand inspected me quite roughly, making my eyes twitch.

"Calm down. It's not what it looks like."

"Did you get into an accident?! Were you bullied again?!"

As expected, Sasaki didn't listen to me, her eyes full of worry. What a gentle person. I would have felt thankful to her if it weren't for her shaking me so roughly.

Calm down, woman. I ain't dying here, you know~

Looking at Maou from the corner of my eyes, I could see that he had already figured out that this blood was not mine if the curious look he was sending my way was any indication. That's Maou for you, the keen observer.

"Stop shaking me. It's not my blood." I pushed the girl from me gently, giving Maou the look. "Oi, Maou, calm her down."

Nodding, Maou pulled her away from me, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Chii-chan. You know how Tengen is, don't you? If he was hurt, he would be cussing people out who hurt him instead of being this calm."

I nodded, agreeing with Maou. I was a very dirty and hateful guy. Instead of cursing at my tormentors on their faces, I liked to badmouth them behind their backs. I'm not an idiot who would do so in front of their faces only to get more beating.

You don't approve? Sounds like a you problem.

"B-but..."

Sasaki was still giving me that worried look, biting her lower lip as she looked me up and down with concerned eyes. I didn't know what it was that made this girl so concerned about me. Was it the fact I was her senior at work? But isn't that more of a reason to enjoy my pain?

You need to learn something from Maou, Sasaki. Learn to ignore the problems which do not concern you, or else you might get in trouble.

"I'm fine, Sasaki. I didn't get bullied today."

I reassured the worried girl with a calm tone. I could tell she wanted to say more, but the way I dismissed the topic should be enough of an indicator that I didn't want to talk about it.

"Color me surprised."

"Shut up, Maou. Don't ruin my cool moment."

I walked over to the changing room all the while ignoring the snickering co-workers of mine. Well, at least Sasaki's mood has lifted. We can't have her worrying over me during working hours, after all.

Opening the door, I walked in, the sight of the small room stuffed with useless things filling my vision. I quickly removed my tattered shirt and changed into my working Uniform. Walking over to a small mirror, I looked at my face.

Just like in my previous life, I looked like your ordinary guy with dark hair and eyes. No radiant features like golden, purple, green, or any other eye color for me. I was the pure definition of a perfectly average, everyday guy you forget till the next time you meet.

Well, I just look a bit above average in appearance, but that's all. My charming personality is enough to make me stand out and piss off a lot of people. The hatred for me is usually indiscriminate. People of all castes, religions, colors, and races, all hate me equally.

Speaking of which, I think I deserved to be stabbed.

Stretching my arms, I walk out to see Maou standing in his place at the counter. I walked toward him and he gave me a nod, his expression returning to that creepily friendly guy that customers love to argue with.

I stood beside him, looking quite lazy in comparison.

"I'm glad you're right in time. If you would have been late, the manager would have sucked your soul dry."

"I know. That's why I am on time in the first place."

Hearing Maou's words about the manager, I shuddered. That woman was scary, like, demon-level scary. I'm a veteran at getting scolded and have a skin as thick as an armadillo, yet her anger is something I wouldn't want upon even my worst enemies.

"It's fine now that you're on time. The weekday sales were just about to start. As you can see, there aren't any customers present at the moment, but that is going to change in a few minutes."

I blinked, giving him a puzzled look.

"Weekday sales?"

"Etto, Tengen-kun. Did you forget? You were the one who told the manager to do that."

Sasaki-san smiled awkwardly, scratching the side of her cheek. After a while of thinking, I finally realized what they were talking about.

Oh, yeah. The weekday sales.

It's a market strategy we applied after losing badly in sales against our rival business a few months ago. They opted for a strategy to sell all their products at a good, 20 percent discount for a day in a month, which increased their sales quite a bit. Compared to them, we sold very little of our products. The head office complained a lot, which made our manager angry, who in turn, made my life hell.

To calm that raging monster and stop her from barging into the rival store and thrashing it around, I decided to give her some advice, which was me just saying whatever bullshit came to my mind.

I told her to do a weekly offer, where we sell the most favored item in our store at a 20 percent discount. There was a chance we could have suffered a heavy loss, but we were already falling behind in the target sales, so taking such a risk was fine by her.

Not to mention, we can always stop the strategy whenever we feel like it.

Surprisingly, the trick worked. And we were leaving behind the rival business in the dust. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but we were still doing good.

At least, I hope we did.

"Yeah, I remember now. That bullshit I came up with. Is that trick still working?"

I asked, a bit surprised. Maou deadpanned at me, his smile fading.

"... You work here as well, don't you? How come you don't notice such things?"

"I'm too busy doing actual work than thinking about useless shit like that."

Our chattering was put on hold as the door to the restaurant opened, a bunch of high schoolers coming in. Plastering a practiced smile on my face, I looked at them, Maou doing the same.

"Welcome to McRonalds!"

~~~

[ 4 hours later ]

"I work so hard, and yet I earn so little. What's with this poor setting?"

I complained, sitting behind Maou's bicycle. It was our usual schedule since he bought his "Dullahan" a few weeks back. He would drop me off near my apartment every day after work, seeing as how I was used to getting into trouble.

I know, now that I have awakened my powers, no random mugger could pose any threat to me. But meh, I prefer to ride a bicycle than walk home.

"Right?! Tch, I wonder when I will get to be a full-time employee so that I can finally commence my plan..."

I raised a brow.

"What plan?"

"Guh! Nothing!"

I squinted my eyes at him as he whistled 'innocently'. Not that I cared what cooked inside that chuunibyou brain of his. Maou was someone I considered a friend, and now that my memories have returned, I think there is a possibility he is from some anime.

I don't know which one though. Knowing us, I would say it's something close to a Part-timer and poverty. It's not like we have anything else going on in our lives, other than running late for sales or getting caught sleeping during working hours by our manager.

Wait, that's only me. Tee-hee?

"We are here, Tengen-kun."

The tyres skidded to a halt as Maou spoke. Looking ahead, we were standing inside a dark alleyway that led to more darkness. I was perfectly confident that's what my future looks like, but let's not dwell on it too much.

Jumping off his bike, I gave him a thankful smile.

"Thanks for the ride, Maou. Go back home safe and sound, alright?"

"I should say that to you. You live in this shady area, after all." Maou voiced out, looking at me, a bit curious. "I still don't get why you're living here, but knowing you, I doubt you care about this shady atmosphere all that much."

"Meh. It's not all that bad."

I shrugged nonchalantly, looking ahead at the silent street. The me before my past life's memories only lived here to save the rent, and not to mention he was me. So yeah, apprehension and fear were something that I wasn't born with.

On that note, this place wasn't so bad. The people who came to live here wanted to live in seclusion. This place was quite safe, as no one wanted to stand out and do something to garner attention. No greetings between the neighbors, no small talk, nothing.

All in all, it was heaven.

"If you say so," Maou said, turning his bicycle around. "See you tomorrow, then."

"Yeah."

With that, he rode away. I looked at his back for a second before turning as well and walking towards my apartment. I silently crossed the street, only one streetlight at the side, its light flickering.

I don't know why, but this spooky environment is somehow calming.

"Wow!"

Jolted by that voice, I turned, seeing the sight I hoped I never had.

A large man with a weird mustache, sporting a tank top along with boxer shorts, stood at the side of the road. His eyes were big along with very feminine-looking eyelashes contrasting his burly image. He was blushing and panting as he looked at me, appearing to be the pure definition of bleach-mah-fucking-eyes!

I take back what I said about not feeling fear. Seeing this thing in front of me made me shriek like a little girl.

"Holy demon! The heck are you?!"

This thing is cursed!

"Ho? You almost squealed in excitement. Are you that happy to see me? Oh naughty, you."

Ugh. I'm traumatized now!

"I will fucking murder your ass and throw you in the Tokyo bay! How dare a thing like you exist? Stop breathing, damnit."

I took a step back, only to notice I was stuck. There was a wall behind me. Not caring about hiding my strength, I was about to punch the wall only to realize I was too late.

The man had already launched himself at me, jumping surprisingly high as he was beelining straight toward me. On instinct, I couldn't hold myself back and launched a kick to his chin with all my might.

That was my mistake.

The man(controversial) couldn't handle the force behind my kick and in a slow, almost magical way, split into two. My eyes widened as I realized the gravity of the situation. Crap, I killed that thing. I may be going to jail, yet, why the heck am I relieved?!

Looking down, I sighed. I need to think. I guess I will just dispose of the body and be done with it. It's not like anyone would care if a thing like that perished anyway.

As I was surfing through the internet for a solution to my worries, the man's half-split body started radiating light. It was so bright I had to cover my eyes. And at that moment, I realized, I have fucked up.

I thought the man was familiar. Maybe he was just some random pervert I have heard about in the news, but I was wrong. He was not someone I have known in this life, but rather, in my previous one.

Batim-do-whatever, the delivery guy from the anime Beelzebub, responsible for handing out the parcels from hell was the thing I split in two. Forget about me killing him, I doubt anything can. Which can only mean one thing...

Dread washed over me as I took a hesitant step back, ready to bolt before it was too late. There was no way I wanted to be a part of this. Turning around, I pushed my feet to my limit as cracks formed on the ground, and just as I was about to run, a voice reached my ears.

"Da? Da!!!"

The excited wailing rang throughout the otherwise, silent street.

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Well well well, the story finally starts. It's just the first day for the MC with his memories back, and already so much has happened.

Are you curious about what else is going to happen? Yes? Then keep on reading!

Don't forget to leave a comment, please. Tell me how you liked the chapter.

Peace.