Chapter 55 Part 9: New Year Event

“Guys, should we stop sleeping?”

“Yes!”

I nodded to Amy’s words.

The new dinosaur pajamas had made me lose sleep, but the soft texture of the pajamas that wrapped my whole body warmly brought back the sleep I had lost.

Shine seemed to like the dinosaur tail, lying down and wiggling it.

“It’s cool.”

Did Shine also find out how cool dinosaurs were?

The dinosaur tail that had been spinning stopped moving the moment Shine fell asleep.

The next morning, Shine and I headed to the restaurant wearing dinosaur pajamas.

I wanted to show off these cool dinosaur pajamas to Rain.

As soon as I entered the restaurant, I looked around the interior.

However, the meeting I had been waiting for didn’t happen.

“Rain’s not here.”

I muttered in a strangely tired voice, and Amy patted my head and said, “Rain’s probably busy too.”

I nodded while looking around the restaurant, which looked quieter than usual.

After finishing my usual tonkatsu set meal, I headed to the gym where Victor was.

“Hello!”

I shouted as I opened the gym door and stepped inside.

Victor, as always, was sitting at a small desk a little way from the door.

He furrowed his brow at the sight of me as he was organizing his papers.

“Uh… hello?”

He looked flustered.

I ran over to Victor and took out the dinosaur rock from my pocket.

“Look at this, Victor!”

“Uh…”

His trembling gaze fell on my hand.

I started to move the dinosaur rock around so that he could see it better.

“How is it?”

“How is it?”

“Can’t you feel something?”

I asked Victor with anticipation.

He stroked his chin and answered cautiously, “Awesome…?”

“Wow!”

I cheered at Victor’s words.

No one had ever told me that this dinosaur was cool, so it meant that only Victor knew how cool dinosaurs were.

“Jeff.”

As I was excitedly stamping my feet, Shine grabbed my arm while wearing the dinosaur hood.

“Huh?”

“Let’s get started.”

“Oh. Okay, I will.”

I nodded to Shine and put the dinosaur rock in my pocket.

Small chairs near Victor’s desk were Shine’s and mine designated seats.

I sat in the chair and began training to control my ability.

When was it the same thing?

But I wasn’t making any progress.

My control ability, which had reached a certain level, was not progressing any further and was always standing still.

Victor said that I could improve if I practiced harder, but I thought that was the limit of my talent.

“Victor.”

Maybe it was because I was thinking like that.

I started talking to Victor more often during the control training.

“Why?”

“Victor doesn’t go on vacation?”

“Yeah.”

Victor answered my question briefly without being bothered.

“Victor doesn’t do anything?”

Shine’s question sometimes got on Victor’s nerves.

It still does now.

Victor’s right eyebrow twitched when he heard Shine’s question.

“I’m working.”

Shine didn’t even listen to Victor’s answer.

She just sat on her chair and stroked her tail here and there.

Shine’s attitude seemed strangely upset.

I fidgeted with my fingers as I watched her and Victor.

It felt like I was facing a bomb about to explode.

“It’s not fun.”

Shine immediately got up from her seat and walked behind her.

It seemed like she was going to pick up the balls she needed for the game.

I looked at her and Victor’s expression, and then I turned around at the feeling I felt in my butt.

“Jeff. Let’s go.”

“Ah….”

The identity of the subtle sensation was Shine.

The dinosaur’s tail slipped down between the chairs I was sitting on.

Shine was gently pulling on it.

“Then let’s stop training for today.”

Victor glanced at us and started organizing his documents as he said that.

I also agreed with his opinion and got up from my seat.

There was no point in wasting any more time.

“Are you attending the event?”

At that moment, Victor suddenly asked us a question as if he had remembered something.

“The event?”

When I looked back at him curiously, he answered.

“Didn’t you hear from Amy?”

I looked around the gym to find Amy at Victor’s words.

In the corner of the gym, a familiar pink thread slowly shook.

Bang! Bang!

Every time Amy’s fist cut through the air, I could hear the sound of air bursting out.

Amy looked busy for some reason.

I shook my head at Victor and said, “I didn’t hear.”

“Then that means you won’t attend.”

“Attend?”

“Ask Amy for the details. It seems like you all have an idea since she didn’t explain it to you guys.”

I nodded at Victor’s words.

I wanted to ask Amy more about the end-of-year event, but I didn’t want to disturb her, who seemed to be focused on training.

First, I had to play ball.

I ran to Shine, who was waiting far away, and started playing ball.

The ball bounced around here and there, and sometimes it flew in unexpected directions.

At such times, I would draw out my powers and generate a weak static electricity.

The ball, which had been bouncing as if it would fly far, would bend in a subtle direction and fall down.

A blue light would flicker at the end of the ball and then disappear.

The control method Victor taught me changed my ability to be used very effectively.

It wasn’t that the training was completely fruitless.

I picked up the ball that had fallen on the ground and threw it to Shine.

The rubber ball bounced and flew.

Shine ran forward and snatched my ball.

It looked like a dinosaur hunting for food.

In fact, it did look like that because she was wearing a dinosaur hood.

“What? Are you done already?”

As we were repeatedly passing the ball back and forth with Shine, Amy, who had finished training, asked us while drinking water.

When did we get so close?

I looked up at her with the ball in my hand and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then shall we go back?”

At Amy’s words, I looked back at Shine.

When I gave her a look as if asking what she thought, she nodded obediently.

“I’ll go back.”

I put the ball on the ground and followed Amy.

“Amy. Is the year-end event held at a separate venue?”

“Huh? Right? But who told you?”

“Victor told me.”

“Um….”

Amy crumpled up the water bottle she had finished drinking with a subtle expression.

The plastic bottle, which had flattened in an instant, went into Amy’s pocket.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I asked, pulling Amy’s hand.

Why didn’t you tell me?

I knew that the reason I had been so busy was because of the year-end event, but I felt a little disappointed at the sense of alienation I felt.

“We were going to do it separately.”

Amy answered, looking down at me and Shine.

The tips of my ears turned red for some reason at the unexpected answer.

Was it because we had been playing ball and running around?

My body felt hot and warm here.

“Just us?”

“Yeah. Rain, Shine, Jeff, Victor, and me.”

Shine glared at Victor at Amy’s words.

Shine’s gaze continued for a long time.

Victor must have sensed Shine’s gaze and looked at us.

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yeah. I’m busy.”

“I’ll collapse if I do that.”

Amy paused for a moment.

She started a simple conversation with Victor.

“I don’t like it.”

Shine, who had been glaring at Victor for a long time, muttered quietly.

I glanced up at Amy and slowly approached Shine.

It seemed like the conversation between Amy and Victor would not end easily.

“Shine. Why do you hate Victor so much?”

I asked, caressing Shine’s cheek.

She turned her head away as if avoiding my gaze and muttered in a small voice, “I just don’t like it.”

“Shine. There’s no such thing as just. There must be a reason.”

I spoke carefully as if soothing a child who was upset.

She closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against my hand, feeling good about my touch.

“Ugh. But I just don’t like it. You hit Jeff before.”

I answered with an awkward smile.

“I didn’t hit you… I just…”

“Just?”

“Just. It didn’t hurt.”

“It didn’t hurt?”

“Yeah.”

I was grateful that Shine was thinking of me, but I wish she didn’t hate Victor.

Victor was a good person.

It was clear that it would be a great help to me and Shine someday.

“So don’t hate him.”

Shine’s movements stopped at my words.

Her eyes, which had been closed, slowly began to open.

An empty gaze.

Her empty eyes turned to me.

The strong desire felt inside felt sticky.

“Jeff.”

“Yeah.”

I avoided that burdensome gaze and walked up behind Shine and hugged her.

The fluffy horns protruding from the back of her pajamas were squashed.

“Okay.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I don’t hate Victor anymore.”

Shine nodded obediently.

She looked at Victor without saying anything.

I pulled my body slightly to the side and looked at her gaze.

Okay. There was no longer any hostility in her gaze.

I smiled and grabbed Shine’s cheek and stretched it.

The chewy rice cake stretched out.

“What?”

“I just like Shine.”

“I like you too, Jeff.”

Shine and I looked at each other and smiled.

“Sorry. The conversation got a little long.”

While waiting for Amy with Shine, they fought with their dinosaur tails for a while.

After finishing their conversation with Victor, she said sorry.

Just before leaving the gym with Amy, Amy and I said goodbye to Victor.

And then Shine’s farewell.

“Goodbye, Victor.”

Victor’s body stiffened at Shine’s unexpected greeting.

Shine had never said goodbye to Victor before.

Perhaps feeling awkward at her changed appearance, Victor didn’t respond for a while.

Shine raised her eyebrows at that sight and said, “Aren’t you going to say hello to me?”

“Uh… Okay… Bye.”

Victor’s voice flowed out a little awkwardly.

He waved at Shine with a bewildered expression, as if he hadn’t expected to be greeted by Shine.

After leaving the gym, I started asking Amy about the year-end event.

Thinking back now, the explanation she gave me at first was lacking.

She was reluctant to talk in depth about her work.

To be exact, only about things that could involve us.

“Amy. Who will be attending the year-end event?”

Maybe it was because I heard Victor.

I wanted to know more accurate information.

Why didn’t he tell us?

According to the information I could get from Victor’s conversation, there was a separate venue for the event.

I organized the information I had gotten from Victor and what I had known so far and came up with my own deduction.

The year-end event was approaching, but most people were on vacation.

So, aside from the common people, the only people attending the event were people in high positions like Amy who didn’t go on vacation.

People in high positions who we shouldn’t meet.

Jin, or someone else.

Maybe everyone who attended there.

“Hmm….”