Read Online 1931 The Grand Punk Railroad: Local by Ryohgo Narita - Free Book Online Page A

they’re weird people?!”
    “I don’t want to hear that from a guy with a tattooed face.”
    Jon delivered a perfectly natural verbal jab.
    “Th-that’s so mean…”
    As Jacuzzi began showing signs of waterworks, Nice cut into the conversation from behind him.
    “Well, don’t worry about it, Jacuzzi. Never mind that; why don’t you try talking to those two? They look interesting.”
    “N-Nice, ‘they look interesting’? That isn’t a real reason.”
    “They might be movie stars, you know, dressed like that.”
    At that, Jacuzzi took another good look at the couple in the corner.
    “Now that you mention it…”
    “You see? It would be kinda cool to be friends with movie stars, wouldn’t it?”
    Hearing this from her made him feel like trying it, and Jacuzzi timidly approached the couple.
    Watching him go, Jon muttered to Nice:
    “Nice, don’t pick on Jacuzzi too much.”
    In response, changing her attitude completely from what it had been with her boss, Nice turned back to Jon and Fang with words that were too courteous.
    “It isn’t like that, Master Jon. I merely wish Jacuzzi to become more sociable.”
    “Man, you haven’t changed at all, Nice,” Fang said. “That overly polite speech of yours is still the same, too.”
    “Then it’s as I suspected: Courtesy does not suit my appearance…?”
    As she rubbed her eye patch, which was embellished with gold thread, Nice nodded, looking a little embarrassed.
    “Uh… No, that’s not what I meant.”
    “Frankly,” Jon cut in, “no, it doesn’t, but that’s also one of your virtues, you know. …To the point where it makes me wonder why you talk so casually to Jacuzzi.”
    “It’s because he says he won’t stand for anything but casual speech. He’s quite stubborn about such things.”
    With that, Nice smiled happily, then turned her gaze toward the boy in question, who’d engaged the couple.
    The pair behind the bar also glanced at Jacuzzi, then muttered critically:
    “Stubborn, huh…?”
    When they looked, their leader seemed to be begging the couple for something with tear-filled eyes.
    “You meant ‘spoiled brat,’ right?”
    Taking the seat beside the mystery couple, stiff with tension, Jacuzzi spoke:
    “Um, uh, erm, g-g-g-good day. Oh, no, I guess it’s ‘good evening.’ Um, I, er, excuse me, I’m sorry.”
    When he didn’t know what to say and it came out incoherent, the man finally seemed to notice him; he stopped the hand he’d been eating with and turned toward the boy.
    As he chewed, his mouth working, he stared steadily at Jacuzzi’s face, and as soon as he swallowed, he said:
    “Miria, what’ll I do? A guy I don’t know just randomly apologized to me.”
    At that, from behind him, a woman’s perky voice spoke up.
    “In terms of winning and losing, I guess you won!”
    “I see. A win, huh?! Great! I don’t really get it, but that was a good match. Thanks!”
    At that, he abruptly took Jacuzzi’s hand and shook it firmly.
    What’ll I do? They really
are
weird people.
    Jacuzzi begged Nice and Jon for help with tear-filled eyes. However, Nice only gave him an easygoing wave. Hearing the cook’s yell from the kitchen—“Do your jobs, dirtbags!”—Jon and Fang hastily returned to their own tasks.
    “Uh, umm…”
    “Still, mister, that’s really cool! I’ve never seen anybody with a tattoo on their face before!”
    “Yes, talk about culture shock!”
    “Could you possibly be a movie star?!”
    “That’s
amazing
!”
    If things were like this, their positions were the complete opposite of what he’d expected. Anxiety began to erode Jacuzzi’s thought patterns with breathtaking speed.
    “Nuh-nuh-no, I, um, I’m not, I’m, uh, I’m not a movie star or anything, I just make and sell liquor… No, that’s not it, I lied, um, erm, it’s a lie, it isn’t true, I’m just a delinquent, or, um, something, and anyway, I’m just a normal person, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
    Although there wasn’t a