❝ I didn't know I'm good at bargaining.❞
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Chapter 12
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People's initial responses upon seeing the scene in front of them were shrieks and gasps of shock and disbelief.
The thief lay there, facepalming the floor, as security guards approached to apprehend the robber, while you were crouching on the ground, your cheeks resting on your both palms with an unreadable face.
Who would have thought you'd catch him in such an unusual way? What exactly did you do to the person who was lying on their buttocks? Let's go back in time by 20 seconds.
"MISS!"
"NOZOMI-SAN!"
You stepped aside under 0.001 milliseconds, then purposely extended your left leg and tripped the person who was supposed to be stabbing you. You already found out that he was a male; as he fell to the floor, your foot caught the sharp object called "knife" and slid it far away from him.
He groaned, "You bitc-" you didn't let him finish his sentence as you stomped really hard on his right hand.
"That's what you get for stealing things you don't own."
You stomped it again as he shrieked in agony from the pain.
"And that's for trying to hurt me," you get close to him and say with a straight face, "Oh, and I'm sorry."
"You don't look sorry at all!!" He thought while he questioned himself, wondering why he felt compelled to stab the wrong person.
You stood up, dusted your pants, and now nodded at Endou, who had rushed over to check on you.
He mentally cursed and panicked as he saw the guard approaching them, "Shit, shit, shi-" the man keeps repeating in his head.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes,"
"Really?"
"Yes, now let's go, I don't want to waste our time here," you said and nodded to Endou, who was still concerned about you, while glancing down at the man and giving him a blank stare before turning back to the goalkeeper, ignoring the stunned thief.
"It's all your fault!" He yelled his heart out as if you were the one who was wrong in this situation.
"To be honest, I don't care," you remarked, boldly grabbing the end of Endou's shirt, signaling to leave.
You really don't have a reason to care about such things anymore, whether they're life-threatening or not, and almost every time you discover many little things around you, the intriguing discovery turns into an uninteresting result after learning about them for a while.
This is why you were aware of how quickly everything could become boring and dull.
In comparison to the situation, everyone knows that getting almost stabbed or probably getting murdered, or much more, the so-called crime is really terrifying, it is terrible and frighteningly interesting.
Howbeit, as the years pass, it will eventually fade from one's memory; people will either forget about it or, more succinctly, it will disappear because they no longer find it interesting, intriguing, fascinating, or captivating.
Because it had already happened.
For you, however, it took only a fraction of a second to move on, as you knew a great deal, whereas many people likely do not acquire the knowledge of the truth.
You took a sharp breath and walked away from the scene, practically still dragging Endou by his shirt; he wasn't bothered, so he just let you be, mumbling and telling you random things.
"-and Goenji went whoosh! Then Kidou goes-"
You subconsciously blocked his voice from entering your mind, letting go of Endou and blankly staring at the air before turning to face the legendary pokemo-legendary goalkeeper.
"I'm sorry for dragging you away without your consent," you bowed, lowering your head.
Instead of greeting an angry, agitated, or frowning Endou, you look up to see him beaming at you.
"No worries!"
Your lips pursed together, baffled, but it didn't last long as everything was expected.
He was Endou, and the man was certainly soft. As you can see, Endou was a simple, honorable person; he was gregarious and tenacious, and men like him were known for being brilliant protagonists.
Endou, Tenma, and Asuto are the types of people who can be your happy pill; if they exist in real life, they could be unlicensed therapists due to their ability to affect one's life.
You haven't seen or known "Tenma" as well as you should have because you didn't get a chance to watch the entire series, let alone the Orion one.
Your eyes remained unreadable; they say eyes can't lie, but why have your once-bright, sparkling eyes become lifeless like you? You're happy, sad, scared, or whatever emotion you're experiencing, but no one can see it through your eyes. Why is this so? Is it because your interest in one thing has turned into a lack, as in a lack of interest?
The previous chapter discusses how you desperately wanted to return home because you only live for your mother and nothing else.
What about you, though? Did you ever consider anything other than survival?
Maybe, maybe not.
You're still with Endou, who is staring at you intently, probably wondering if you're playing football or not.
"This is becoming tedious; please cut this scene."
"What the heck-"
"I just want to buy an electric fan."
"No-"
"What are you thinking, Nozomi-san?" The energetic boy perked up, curious if she was thinking about soccer as well, as he usually does.
"I don't know, I forgot," you blinked, forgetting how you acknowledge the almighty author.
He sweatdropped at your antics before politely asking if he could hold your hand, to which you replied with a nod because you thought there was nothing wrong with it.
Get a man like Endou who will ask for permission or consent.
He can feel your small hand by gently grabbing your wrist, feeling how smooth it was due to the natural texture of your palm, but also a roughness with some scars covering it.
Endou has scratches on his hand as well; there are no further questions or arguments about how he got them, because he was a goalkeeper, a player who defends the goal with their hands, feet, legs, upper body, and even their heads.
He didn't mind how you have those type of hands, because he knew too well that there is always a reason behind it, plus Endou was not a judgmental person like someone.
Nothing happened nor escalated after that; you just followed him until he came to a halt, then he pushed you into a public seat and told you to wait there.
"That's kinda rude," you thought as you waited for Endou to return, but to your surprise, he did so in less than a minute.
Because he was standing and you were sitting, he bent down to your level of height and pulled a mysterious object from his hand, then grabbed your hand and placed it in your palm.
You stared curiously at the man in front of you for a moment, a big question mark above you.
"It's a bandaid," he explained.
"I know that; I'm not stupid, but for what?"
"Oh right! Haha! It's for your arm, it has a new wound," he scratches his hair, nervously laughing.
"...oh,"
You both stared into each other's eyes, one finding it comfortable and the other discovering nothing interesting. Your staring contest was broken up by a man angelic voice coming from Endou's back; you didn't see who it was, but you recognized the voice because you'd met him twice before.
"Endou." The said man turned to face the owner's voice.
"Ah, Kazemaru," Endou said, his trademark grin on his face.
"How are things going? And what about your team?"
"It's great," the ponytail boy chuckled, remembering Endou, who couldn't live without football.
Their interaction left you alone, as if you were not present and did not exist. You felt like you didn't belong here, and you're right; you don't blame them if they forget about you or not because, in the first place, you shouldn't be here at all.
However, this is not the first time you have been alone.
You've been living in the shadow for what seems like an eternity, hiding from the light, bracing yourself against the darkness, and engulfing the monster within it. Even if the "something" inside you is safely contained, what if it escapes? Will you continue to live in the shadows?
Will you finally feel like you fit in? After all, what awaits you is what you will become.
Your consciousness and hearings were purposefully blocking their voice.
"-team," He then caught a glimpse of a hair poking out behind Endou as Kazemaru peered around the corner and saw you staring at them blankly.
"It's you again," you said flatly, no longer surprised to see Kazemaru, "Hello."
"Do you know who she is, Kazemaru?"
"Not entirely, Endou-san; we only met twice."
"She's right, Endou," he said, agreeing with you, before turning to face Endou and asking, "Who is she?"
Since you could tell what was going through his head, you bowed and said, "Nozomi Kamui."
"Right! This is Nozomi Kamui, and this is Kazemaru Ichirouta." Endou introduced the two to each other while you just nodded and Kazemaru smiled.
"We've met earlier!"
"Ye..."
"I apologize for being impolite, but could we please leave now?" You didn't want anything or anyone to stop you on your way because you already had problems, such as "lost in the mall" and "the item you might get out of stock."
"Okay," the two agreed not finding any rudeness from you since you asked nicely.
Being the idiot that you are, the smartest thing you did was interlock your palms with Endou's. You did not intend to continue holding his hand until now, but you feared offending him by not doing so, so you grabbed hold of his hands.
It is not you, but rather your fear of offending others.
One of the greatest fears can devour anyone who has ever experienced fear. What exactly is fear? It is a set of unpleasant emotions and sensations that can result from apprehension of a thing or a person.
We all live with fear, such as the fear of death, but we can also be afraid of things that are neither dangerous nor life-threatening.
Except for you, the thought of offending someone is a trivial matter for most people. You're scared of the people you have just offended because their gaze has been fixed upon you, penetrating the boundless existence that you're living.
To Kazemaru's surprise, he witnessed the two of you walking hand-in-hand as if it were nothing special. Well, it's not, but the fact that you just met today and are holding hands like you've known each other for years is quite surprising and remarkable. From his perspective, you did not appear to be at all touchy; he anticipated that Endou would be the first to hold your hands, which he had done earlier, but Kazemaru didn't know.
Kazemaru could only watch and trail from behind, but all of you stopped in your tracks when you had arrived at your destination.
An angelic sound appeared, followed by a bright light that blinded you all three, and an overdramatic wind that caused your hair to bounce backward.
You squint your eyes briefly before opening them, and as you do so, you think to yourself, "Finally." You are now seeing where you should have been all along, which is in the location of electronic devices.
After letting go of his hand, you move closer to an extremely reasonable quantity of electric fans. You were about to make a request for a salesperson, but as you looked around, you noticed that there were only two people taking care of the customers; one of them was engaged in conversation with an unknown person, and the other was already assisting Endou.
You became so disappointed by the lack of staff that you joked to yourself, "If a Karen goes here, they'll probably make a huge scene."
As you got closer to Endou and his friend, your eyes blankly stared at the woman in her uniform saying things you couldn't understand because your one brain cell was only working today.
You could hear the goalkeeper asking Kazemaru what he should do, which made the pretty boy nervously laugh.
"Did you really guys want to buy this but not know how it works?" you asked, sighing.
They both turned to face you while you ignored them. "Is this an android or a smart TV, Miss?"
"Ma'am, this is smart television,"
"Could I look for one that runs on Android?" Your gaze began to wander to the various types of television in front of you.
While the salesperson nodded and searched for the android television, you were confronted by two perplexed humans.
"What do you want? What about a regular television? Is it a cozy one? Is it high-tech?"
"What do you think, Kazemaru?"
"I have no idea. What do you think, Nozomi-san?"
"I just prefer Android over smart TV for some reason, but if we look for Android, can you really afford that?" You're concerned about how a simple electronic device could bankrupt the famous goalkeeper.
"Don't worry, Nozomi-san! I am confident that I can afford them."
"Of course you can, you are the most famous person in the soccer industry after all."
"Okay, but will you allow me to choose? I suppose I could be a scammer, though."
"But you're not!" He said.
You and Kazemaru reacted with deadpan amusement to his response and the way he reasoned.
"What a nice logic. Don't you agree, Nozomi-san?"
"Indeed."
The saleswoman began to show you various types of television, and when you noticed one in particular, you began asking how much it was, to which you received a more convenient answer.
"Ma'am, two years warranty,"
"Wait, warranty?" You asked, scanning the led television with your silver gray eye orbs for something.
You hummed before a thought occurred to you, "How about that electric fan?" You made a point with your finger.
"That's 10% off, ma'am, and it cost 1942.27 yen."
"How about you give us a discount if we buy the TV and that fan?"
"This is a mall, ma'am," she said with a smile that revealed her thoughts, "you can't do that here."
"We'll take that electric fan and television for a much lower price."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, ma'am."
"Ah, Nozomi-san?" Endou called you, but you ignored him.
"You can and you will," you stated emphatically. Suddenly, you morphed into Karen, but with a twist.
"Hello, ma'am, I'm the store manager; what appears to be the problem?" The lady manager appeared out of nowhere and politely questioned.
Kazemaru could only watch with sweat on his brow, not knowing what you would do, and Endou was completely oblivious that you were doing something incredible.
"I haven't even called the manager yet, nice."
"I'm negotiating."
"You can't bargain at the mall, Ma'am."
"Who said I couldn't?"
"Ma'am—" You cut them off by telling them what you discovered "I'm not the type to pry into other people's lives for no reason. But don't you realize the television you showed us was a forgery?" You said monotonously before deciding to sit and showing them the paper.
"Wait, warranty?" You inquired, scanning the led television with your silver gray eye orbs for something.
That is, there is something on the brand logo. You saw 9 small dots instead of 8 small dots. Because the logo contains shapes such as lines, circles, and so on. It needed to be carefully checked, and the fact that they didn't do or copy it correctly makes them look foolish.
Not only was the logo noticeable, but the paper with the information about the television was also incorrect; instead of handwriting a warranty date, they put an exact date, two years from now, with a printed date. How did they know they'd have a customer who'd buy that exact TV if they printed it right away with that exact date? Furthermore, when you scanned it, the screen light was rather dull and flashy.
"That." You stated that you were closing your eyes and resting your cheek on your right palm.
Kazemaru, the manager, and the salesperson were taken aback by what they heard from you.
"Now, give me the original, and you must reduce the price from before. Because if you don't, I'll report these incidents and build a case against you for faking the device in order to gain money. Now, choose between paying a lot of money and losing your job and business, or giving me the original, giving us a discount on both items, and replacing these electronic devices with originals."
Reopening your eyes, you straighten your back and say, "All right, let's make a deal."
"Do your job, and we'll be right here," they didn't say much as they started to leave and get what you wanted.
The amount of talking you did caused your eyes to become tired.
"How did you know that, Nozomi-san?" Endou questioned, astonished.
"Yeah, you are very observant," Kazemaru agrees to his former teammates, thinking about how the trusted mall could fake something.
"I don't know, I forgot."
They sweatdropped, but you cut them off before they could say anything else, "I'm just good at bargaining."
"...you just threatened them with something that could result in them losing their job," Kazemaru deadpanned. Even though he has only met you three times, it appears as though he has become more at ease in your presence, as is typical for friends.
"Yeah! You're good at it."
The only sane person in the group could only shake his head in disbelief at the pair and facepalm.
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Details
—1942.27 yen is equivalent to 14.16 USD.
—You're going to get what you want no matter what it takes.
—As a stranger, Kazemaru and you get along well.
—Endou was oblivious for today's chapter.
Do you wish to continue?
—Yes
—No