Sweet Potato Under the Sun

I just sent out the documents! President Oguro, could you please give them a look?

Sure. ♪

Next, I need to request a meeting with the bus company to ask them about collaborating… Ah, we have a meeting with an advertising agency tomorrow, right?

Yep.

And… Ah! The neighborhood council said that they’d get in touch with us today about the files!

(There’s too much… There’s too much stuff to get done…!)

Ah, wait, where’s Nagi-kun?!

He’s not here. He came in earlier, but he stumbled right back out.

What?! Oh, I should check his calendar!

(Why’s his schedule so jam-packed…?!)

(Ah, but he’s free for 15 minutes right now…!)

(I thought he was still in the building, so I was about to go looking for him, but…)

……

*munch*

(Why is he…sitting on a bench and eating a baked sweet potato?)

*munch, munch…*

Um… Hi, Nagi-kun. Sorry to interrupt you while you’re eating, but can we talk for a bit?

Ah, Chief… Hello. Sure.

So there are two things. I was wondering if you’ll be able to greet all of the shops in the neighborhood starting tomorrow, and…

Mhm.

We’re running just a little low on the budget for each department, so I want you to review that by the end of the day.

Okay.

That’s it. Sorry for the interruption. I’ll head back into the office for now.

Wait.

Hm?

Want some?

…Are you offering me one of your sweet potatoes?

Yeah. I still have a lot left.

(Now that I think about it, I haven’t had the time to eat anything today. I’m pretty hungry…)

(A warm and fluffy sweet potato… The honey-gold color and sweet aroma… It sounds so good right now… But I still have so much work to do…)

*munch* Sweet potatoes are so easy to eat that it makes me think that they were put into this world just to be steamed and eaten. They don’t even get your hands dirty.

Where’d you get them from? Did the bento shop start selling them?

I got them from the Ward 16 baked sweet potato festival I helped out at yesterday. I’m eating them instead of regular food to save money.

I did get permission from the bento shop to sit on their bench, so don’t worry… Oh, I can go and get permission for you to sit too.

Th-Thank you. Sure, I can join you for a bit.

Here.

Ah, thank you! You even have warm green tea…!

Sonia put some in my water bottle for me.

(The sweet potato and the green tea are both delicious… This feels so comforting.)

I saw someone put sesame salt on his baked sweet potato for the first time the other day.

Really?

Yeah. It was an old man at the baked sweet potato festival.

He said that it brings out the sweetness and makes it more fragrant, like how you can sprinkle salt on watermelon for the same effect. So apparently it’s really good.

Sounds like it.

He also told me to try frying regular sweet potatoes with sesame salt, since that tastes good too.

And if you add honey to it, it almost tastes like candy. I’m gonna give it a try.

Yeah.

(Nagi-kun’s deep and pleasant voice… His funny, yet heartwarming stories.)

(The blue sky, the white clouds. Warm tea, and a delicious baked sweet potato…)

I think sesame salt is really versatile, like how soup base is.

(Nagi-kun has a certain quality that Renga-kun, Akuta-kun, and Raito-san don’t have. He’s so soothing.)

(When you’re next to him, he has this strange ability to slow your breathing and make you start drifting off to sleep…)

The way you eat sweet potatoes shows a lot about your personality.

It really does. It says a lot about you.

Ah, I need to get going.

Oh, me too. Thanks, Nagi-kun.

You’re welcome… For what?

You made me realize that I needed to give myself a break. So I’m thanking you.

I think I’ve been pushing myself too hard lately, so I’ve been a bit on edge…

But I’m glad we were able to spend some time together. Even when you’re busy, you should always take the time to just look up at the sky and relax for a bit.

I’m not sure if I really understand, but I think I got it. You always work really hard, so don’t forget to take breaks.

Yeah. Thank you.

…But you have that really packed schedule too. Are you doing alright? You need to make sure you’re taking care of yourself!

Ah, that’s no problem for me… *thud*

W-WHAAAAT?! You JUST said that it was no problem!!

I’m sorry… I told you that it was no problem, but then I immediately fainted…

It’s okay, you don’t need to apologize. I’m glad I was there to help you.

Thank you for carrying me, Jiro-san…

Oh, you need not thank me. It is quite warm today, so I suggest you rest and take a nap for the time being.

I believe you have pushed yourself too hard to partake in your happiness activities. As a result, you have grown both mentally and physically weak, and your constitution has suffered. I shall check on your condition tomorrow as well and have a medical professional examine you.

I apologize. I should’ve done better. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.

I can cancel the greetings you were supposed to do tomorrow. Just make sure to rest up for the day, okay?

…Please forgive me. I cannot apologize enough.

(He keeps finding different ways to apologize…)

We took you to FloLa because you wanted us to, but I think it’d be better to take you back to the HAMA House, so you have people around who can help…

It’s okay. I don’t want them to worry about me or catch my cold.

Nagi-kun, we all need to be there for each other.

…That’s something that you should do for your family or close friends. I’m just a coworker, so I can’t impose on people like that… I don’t want to…

Everyone has stuff they want to do. I don’t want them to be tied down to me.

……

(I can’t seem to get close to him. He reminds me of…)

Yodaka-san, do you have any dreams or desires? Like, something you’d like to be or something you’d like to do. It’s alright if it’s something completely out of the realm of possibility.

……

(I don’t want things to become awkward again, and Nagi-kun’s sick right now, so…)

Okay. Just promise that you’ll call me if something happens. I’m asking you that for my sake.

…Okay.

Precisely. I am sure you will recover fine on your own.

Shorry for the wait! Nagi-shan’s room ish all clean and ready for him to ushe!

And you have a very reassuring pet robot on your side as well.

Thanks, Sonia.

Alright, let’s go. Can you stand?

…Hmph.

Are you not entering?

GUH?!

You are standing there and eavesdropping, but not going inside. Are you stalking them?

I ain’t…! I went to the office, and Lu told me that Hachinoya passed out, so⁠— Wait, why are you here anyway?!

Looking after Gii is one of my many functions.

Huh? The fuck does that mean?

I am here to see him, just as you are. Okay, let’s go in.

Hold on.

Oyo?

Didn’t you hear the guy? He doesn’t want people to be tied down to ‘im. That means he doesn’t wanna see us right now. He’ll be fine. He just overworked himself.

But I pulled out some weeds to give to him.

He’s literally a florist. Don’t just give him a buncha weeds.

…Tied down, huh?

I’m happy as long as my dear brother and everyone else is happy. That’s my greatest wish.

Am I tyin’ ‘im down?

Whatever. You wouldn’t get it.

Both of you are.

Huh?

Both of you are tied to each other. The love is mutual.

……

…Alright.

I just wanted to check in on you. Did I wake you up?

I see… That’s good to hear.

Is this what you were talking about?

Yesh. It’sh a weird cardboard boxsh. We should tell the policshe, like the chief told ush to…

Let’s open it.

Ah… Is this…?

Are theshe all get-well giftsh?!

I…think so.

(Hm? There’s an omamori for good health and a bottle of Yippie! Green Tea in a plastic bag next to the box…)

Ah, there’sh a letter in the boxsh. Hmm…

Ah! I knew it! It’sh from all of the local residentsh that you’ve been lending a hand to!

Oh…

I’m not their family or their close friend, but they’ll still help me in my time of need… So this is the power of social welfare.

Social welfare is amazing…