Chapter 233 – Attract (3)

City D is where I was born and raised.
Before the negatives appeared, the name was different and it was a more city-like place, but before I knew it, the city of D had become an underdeveloped city.
… I have been through all of that process, so I have no choice but to know about D city well.

“Before becoming a trainee… So, well, have you lived since you were born…”
“That, yes… ? It must have been D. Uh… Joe, that’s a nice place… ! Canned food is also delicious…”

Grape was flustered and hastily praised Poem D.
However, he couldn’t easily continue talking, as if he couldn’t think of anything to praise.
I smiled at Grape’s appearance and said.

“You don’t have to praise it, it’s true that D city is a bad place… You bought grapes in A from the start, right?”
“Yes… He, since childhood…”
“Hmm… I wonder if you’re still doing it at D… If you go to District 3 of City D, there is an old woman who sells side dishes, and if you go there as soon as the shop opens early for lunch, she will make you egg rolls with real eggs… Her grandmother keeps chickens.”
“Ah, yes, I will go.”
“I ate often when I was young… The grandmother is also old, so she might not do it anymore.”
“I will definitely go!”
“Other than that… Ah… If you give the vegetable shop guy in District 6 an extra money, he’ll give you some vegetables you grow yourself… This is once a week, and if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to eat it. If you go to the canned food store where Grandpa runs in District 8 and pretend to listen to Grandpa, he will sometimes give you canned food that Grandpa has left for you to eat… Grape is pretty, so just listening to it makes me feel good, so I can give it right away.”
“I went there when I was little… ?”
“Ah… Yeah, the picture of that grandfather when I was little might still be on the wall… My grandfather said he didn’t know how to use a camera, so I taught him.”
“Please! I will definitely go!”

I told Grape every step of the way to eat a decent natural diet in D City.
Grape took out his vision phone and took notes of all the information I gave him.
Then he raised his head as if he had suddenly remembered something.

“Excuse me… Then Anger… My parents’ house…”
“Uh… Doesn’t exist.”
“Yes?”
“My parents aren’t there.”
“Ah…”

Grape’s lively face turned pale in an instant.
When he was at the company, it was something he wouldn’t even say at a drinking party.
I didn’t do it because there was nothing good to do, but what… Maybe I can talk to Grape.

“It’s not that great, it’s just that he died during the first negative raid, so he’s gone.”
“Ah…”
“People in the neighborhood know that, so when I was young, I sometimes went to my grandparents and gave them natural food and gave them pocket money… Hmm… ? Oh, that’s why they gave me natural food… ? Grape, if you don’t give me natural food when you go to the store, tell me you’re my friend.”
“Oh, no… That is… Mi, I’m sorry…”

Grape bowed his head in a sincere apology to me.
I laughed at Grape’s reaction and patted his head with the palm of my hand.

“Why is Grape apologizing… ?”
“No, I made a mistake…”
“It’s not a mistake, what… Am I the only one who lost my parents to Negative… ? Especially during the first raid, it was worse.”

Negative basically eats up pleasure, fear and despair.
First… In her first attack, when she couldn’t be seen as a magical girl, she acted to give her fear and despair rather than pleasure, so she suffered a lot of casualties.
Now… Even if a man is killed, he tries to keep a woman as livestock, but in the past, both men and women were killed and eaten as meat.

“Ugh… Still…”
“I don’t really care… Still, talking about D o’clock reminds me of the old days… Ah, I want to go to the house where I used to live… ?”
“I want to go!”
“Hmm… If my landlord grandmother is still alive, she will have my room on the roof. She said that if I leave, she can come back anytime, and that she will be using it as storage. There might be my family photos and albums from when I was little…”

I got a vision phone from Grape and wrote down the address of my old home.
I had lived in a room rented by my grandmother, who was close to my parents, and had left all my old things behind when I moved to city A.
She didn’t bring much and didn’t seem like anything nice, and she said she’d keep it if she left her grandma too… If only her grandmother, the landlord, had not passed away, she would still be there.

“Look, can I see?”
“If there is… ? Take a look if you want to see…”

As I was talking, I suddenly remembered the current situation in D City.
Come to think of it, the fact that all of the mid-ranking and high-ranking magical girls in D City are empty means that the people living in D City are in danger.
If the magical girl doesn’t block it, the infected will hunt the elderly who are too late to escape, so maybe everyone who told Grape is already dead.

“… If you really want to go, can you tell me later when no one is around?”
“Yes? Why… ?”
“Because if there were no magical girls, one of them might have died… They might all be dead.”

If someone is dead, I still want to know that they are dead.
Grape heard me and thought for a moment what I meant, then he straightened his back in surprise.
He said holding his hand as if to reassure me.

“Gwa, it’s okay! No one will die! I’ll go and fix everything!”
“I must have died…”
“No! Not dead! Anyway, don’t worry about Anger being weird.”
“Uh… Huh…”

I nodded my head, pressed by Grape’s momentum.
If it was the grandparents in my memory, I think they would have died soon even if there was no infectious agent…
For some reason, I think Grape will scold me if I add such words.

The atmosphere is awkward.
Are you talking about people dying?
I got up from my seat, leaving Grape to sit still and not say anything.

“I even woke up… I’ll take a shower and come out.”
“Ah yes! Then… I will be cooking!”
“Huh.”

Even if I try to sleep, I won’t be able to sleep.
I went into the shower room, took an early morning shower, and came out.
In front of the shower door, in a small space that replaces the kitchen, Grape is cooking.

“I ran out of shampoo… Is it because the two of you wrote it?”
“Already? Hmm… Do you want to go shopping together later?”
“I wonder… How about cooking?”
“I have one left, if I take a break while drying my Anger hair…”
“What is left?”
“I’m trying to stir-fry vegetables…”

Thinking that we should do one thing together, I roughly wiped my body dry before taking out my apron and putting it on.
There is only one dish left, so I just wear it on my bare skin and cook… I think you can put on your clothes after you finish eating.
When oil or sauce splashes on clothes, I just wash it for no reason, so I live alone and do it occasionally.

“What, what are you doing… ?”
“To help cook.”
“Oh… Clothes… Yo. This?”
“I’ll do it and put it on… Would you like to see it?”
“No?! Is that good?! Great!”

No matter how comfortable Grape is, he still hates showing the clothes he used to wear in front of his eyes when he is alone, but it doesn’t seem too bad.
I felt comfortable and helped chop the vegetables next to the grapes.
When I put vegetables in the pan, the grapes are stir-fried, and when I take out the plate, the grapes are served.

“I seem to be eating breakfast all the time because of grapes these days…”
“I mean, I haven’t eaten before… ?”
“Huh… Wouldn’t it be okay to have brunch instead?”
“… The company eats convenience store sandwiches and calls it brunch.”
“If it’s breakfast and lunch, it’s brunch.”

I prepare a meal while chatting with Grape.
It is now a familiar situation that has become no different from everyday life.
When I open the water, Grape sets the spoon, brings the bowl, and cleans the dishes.

“This is delicious…”
“Thank you, isn’t it too sweet?”
“Hmm… Yep, that’s fine I think I will want to eat this again.”
“Then I’ll do it again next time… I think I know how Anger tastes.”
“How is it?”
“Hmm… Childish yet adult taste… ? I like sweet and stimulating things, but I hate things that are just blindly sweet…”
“I know.”

A dish of steamed potatoes in a sticky, creamy sauce is delicious.
I don’t know what it is, but it’s completely different from the sauce I make.
I just buy instant soup and mix it with a little milk and eat it thinking it’s a cream sauce… The one made with grapes has a stronger egg flavor and is savory.

Grape and meal…
As Grape and I are eating, facing each other, I suddenly remember that Rapid refused to eat with me.
I put my hand on my head and screamed in agony from a sudden headache.

“Eww…”
“Uh? Why, why?”
“No… It’s just that my head hurts a little.”
“Sick?! Why?!”
“… I guess it’s because I have a headache.”
“What’s going on… ?”

I listened to Grape’s worried voice and considered whether or not to tell him about what had happened with Rapid.
Speaking… Grape is also a top-notch magical girl and Rapid’s friend, so maybe he can help…
After thinking about it, I opened my mouth.

“… Because of the job.”
“Ah…”

I have a hunch that telling Grape about meeting Rapid isn’t going to be a good idea.
Even if it’s sex between friends, sex is sex… If I said it wrong, I might think I’m not happy with sex with Grape.
You might squeeze it out until the desire to have sex with Rapid is completely gone.
I’ll just have to turn around and pass it on.

“It hasn’t been long since I left… Wouldn’t it be okay to rest a little more… ?”
“I guess…”
“Anger needs some rest! What about food expenses… I can buy it…”
“Hmm… Because we are eating together… But then what about the rent?”
“Bar, rent… Is… I see…”
“We don’t live together.”
“Okay, yet… Hmm… If we live together… Living together… I can pay the rent too…”
“For rent and food… Anyone who hears it will know that I am trying to breed…”

I thought it was a funny conversation, so I giggled and ate the dish.
Grape laughed a little, probably thinking it was a funny story.
I don’t know why, but the sound of laughter is strangely creepy.

“But why do you get a job… It’s hard?”
“Hmm… Why didn’t you accept the interview?”
“Uh? Why?”
“… Grape is pretty, so that won’t happen, but A’s usually don’t accept interviews…”

I naturally told a lie as if it were the truth and continued the conversation about employment.
Grape reacted as if why the company didn’t even give interviews, but this is a reaction that Grape can do because he’s pretty.
The starting point for getting a job is different from Grape, who wants to see it just by looking at the photo on the resume, and I, who can throw the resume in the trash even without seeing the photo.

Ordinarily, the average City A companies… Because they know that what they hire is a huge privilege for the employee, they take that privilege to the limit.
In some cases, female interviewers are explicitly asked if they have a boyfriend.
When I was preparing for a job at a company other than the one I worked for before, I saw a woman who tried to seduce her interviewer by blatantly emphasizing her breasts.

Even if you do such a thing, the interviewer should be grateful for the interview.
City A says employers are okay with it… Where it is unavoidable
I received a letter of recommendation for a job in the National Guard thanks to my good grades during my trainee days, and I was lucky to be hired because my superiors with military experience looked good before the negatives appeared, but the other interviewers were desperate enough to be a little excessive.

And that’s all possible only if you go through an interview…
Recruitment is low… The only way to get hired is to meet the recruiter at the company by chance, say hi, slowly get closer and ask to take a look at your resume.
Recruiters don’t bother with such people, and anyone trying to get a job in City A should do their best to meet people who avoid them.

It’s somehow similar to my situation…
I want to meet Rapid, and Rapid avoids me…
I opened my mouth thinking that I could ask Grape’s opinion naturally.

“… What if Grape has to meet someone who hates Grape?”
“Yes?”
“So…What if I want to meet someone who is avoiding Grape?”