Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [21]

“Ehhhh?!! Hikigaya-san?! You came to Jimbochō too?!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, a look of surprise washed over Aoyama Nanami's youthful face. Realizing she'd just blurted that out, she hastily covered her mouth, her pretty face reddening slightly.

“‘Too’?”

“Ah!”

Blinking twice rapidly with her clear, bright eyes, Nanami’s cheeks took on a deeper shade of pink, her palms inexplicably sweating.

In fact, she'd already noticed Hikigaya Ryōhei earlier on the train ride here, but after hesitating, she'd decided not to greet him. She’d assumed they wouldn’t cross paths after getting off the train, yet now she'd been discovered anyway.

Today, the girl wore casual clothes instead of her usual work uniforms: a neat, light-gray tracksuit zipped right up to her neck, her hair tied in its usual perky ponytail, an empty backpack slung on her shoulders.

Nanami felt a bit embarrassed, but seeing that Hikigaya Ryōhei's expression showed nothing unusual, she gradually relaxed.

She wasn't a rude kid who wouldn't greet an adult she knew—it was just awkward. Once hesitation kicked in, she found herself stuck.

After all, suddenly admitting to a barely familiar uncle that her dream was to become a voice actress…

So embarrassing! Ahh, I regret it now!

It was perfectly normal for a sixteen-year-old girl like Nanami to react this way. Adolescents tended to excessively care about others' opinions.

Peers were fine, but if a frequently encountered adult misunderstood, it'd be the worst.

Then again, maybe such anxieties were entirely her imagination. Adults hardly had the free time to pay attention to kids, after all.

“I came to buy some secondhand books to read. Aoyama-san, you’re here for books too, right? Voice acting-related, I assume?”

“Y-yes! New books are expensive, and my father… Um, that is… Hikigaya-san, are you here for books too?”

Nanami didn’t know why she'd almost let slip that her father didn't really support her dream of moving to Tokyo to become a voice actress.

Her father hadn’t been optimistic about her aspirations, clearly stating he’d only provide enough living expenses for her high school years in Tokyo; the rest was up to her.

Her skill in changing topics was clumsy at best, but Ryōhei didn’t mind in the slightest. He'd been a decent teacher in his previous life, after all, and had a generous tolerance toward kids her age.

Besides, it was only natural for teenage girls to have their guard up around grown men.

“Yeah, I'm looking for books on modern history—just like you, I'm buying secondhand.”

Surprised, Nanami glanced at the uncle standing in front of her. She'd initially thought Ryōhei had just happened to pass by.

Had she not spotted Ryōhei first without greeting him earlier, she might even suspect this uncle was following her.

Still, no matter how you looked at it, a convenience-store part-timer in his thirties didn't seem the type to read scholarly humanities books.

“Hehe, I didn’t expect you to have such wide interests, Hikigaya-san. Um, I heard there’s a small bookstore specializing in voice-acting materials near the corner—I, um…”

Nanami felt conflicted. As acquaintances, manners dictated they should browse a few stores together, yet she instinctively resisted walking with such an adult.

This was Tokyo, after all!

She couldn’t shake the feeling passersby would see her as some cheap girl involved in compensated dating…

“Mm, go ahead, Aoyama-san. Actually, I personally prefer shopping for books alone.”

Hikigaya Ryōhei maintained his educator-like, approachable stance, quietly easing the conflicted girl’s mind.

She even briefly felt like she'd run into her middle-school homeroom teacher.

Must be my imagination.

After waving goodbye and walking five or six meters away, Nanami suddenly realized she might've acted too deliberately just now.

After all, Uncle Hikigaya genuinely seemed like a good person. He'd even encouraged her dream of becoming a voice actress the last time they'd talked…

As an educator, he really does care about nurturing kids' sincere dreams.

Unable to resist, Nanami glanced back around the corner, but Hikigaya Ryōhei was already out of sight—probably in some bookstore.

“Speaking of which… Uncle Hikigaya doesn’t really seem like the type of failed middle-aged guy who can only handle part-time jobs, huh?”

Nanami fiddled with the hem of her clothes, recalling their interactions over the past half-month.

She thought for a moment, but her limited experience led nowhere, so she just shook her head and went to find her books.

“Anyway, we're just coworkers at a part-time job. It’d be rude to pry too much. Argh, why did I even tell Uncle Hikigaya I wanted to become a voice actress in the first place?!”

In his past life, Ryōhei had ordered many books online, but he'd always preferred browsing physical bookstores.

Buying books online was too easy—just click, place an order, pay, and the book was yours.

But in bookstores, you could wander around, discovering heaps of interesting books, then carefully selecting what you could afford—although overspending was usually inevitable.

Choosing books one by one, feeling torn between giving some up and finally obtaining others, made you cherish them even more.

Flipping through countless books physically also helped build a sense of publishers and authors, so you'd never again worry about what to buy or read; there was always more than enough that you wanted to explore.

And once you knew a bit about various books, you might even strike up a conversation when encountering someone who’d read them.

Of course, if you thought this would help you chat up girls—dream on!

Time flew by when browsing bookstores.

After a quick roadside lunch, Ryōhei found his backpack already full.

The secondhand books had turned out even cheaper than he'd imagined—some poor-condition copies even went for around a hundred yen. Resisting the urge to splurge, he stuck strictly to buying necessary history books.

One pleasant surprise was realizing he had no difficulty reading vertically printed Japanese books, nor any trouble with the language—likely remnants of this body's former habits.

“Seems like foot traffic here isn't as busy as I'd expected, huh?” Ryōhei murmured to himself, observing the bookstores lining the street.

Indeed, lower customer volume was exactly why so many shops offered discounts.

Even stores selling new books had eye-catching discount ads displayed.

Perhaps it was, as newspapers suggested, a reflection of the persistent economic recession.

The recent news still obsessively covered the ongoing economic crisis. But as a bottom-rung, part-time worker, this hardly impacted Ryōhei further.

Already hit rock bottom—how much worse could it get?

---

This is a fan translation of 比企谷大叔永远年轻 by Stargazer All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!