Checking Out at 5:15 PM Chapter 31: The Four Disasters and the Ex-Girlfriend’s Arrival (Patreon)

“Good morning, Motoi-kun~!”

The moment I stepped through the staff doors, Reiko’s cheerful voice greeted me.

“Good morning, Kobayakawa-san.”

I was greeted by a warm smile and an undeniably distracting view of her massive chest pressing against her apron. It certainly woke me up and lifted my spirits. At the very least, it distracted me from the lingering awkwardness of my late-night phone call with Aoi.

But then again... Aoi was coming to Kamakura today. And she had fiercely insisted on treating me to an expensive dinner tonight. Was that really a good idea?

I had a terrible feeling it was going to be incredibly awkward. When we were dating, we had our fair share of fights. One massive fight had even caused us to break up for a short while before we eventually got back together.

Would tonight just devolve into another argument?

I didn’t think so. Our paths in life were just too fundamentally different now. I was completely content with this mundane, peaceful life as a local librarian. She was violently ambitious and wanted more.

Yes, I had the Tier-1 qualifications. I could do more. But at what price? I wasn’t naive. I knew that earning high-tier money meant surrendering your entire life to the corporate grind. And as for making money through... questionable, "gray-area" methods, I had zero interest. I firmly believed in karma. Living a dishonest or overly stressful life just wasn't worth it. I wanted peace, and I had exactly what I wanted right here.

“Are you ready for today's Children's Reading Session?” Reiko asked, her gentle, motherly smile pulling me out of my thoughts.

“I am.”

I took a deep breath. Yes, working in a sleepy coastal library surrounded by beautiful women and good books was exactly where I was meant to be. The lingering regrets about Aoi might sting occasionally, but I could handle it.

“Don’t worry,” Reiko murmured, suddenly stepping much closer. Her voice dropped to a soft, intimate whisper. “If you get nervous up there, I’ll be right by your side to support you.”

“Thank you, Kobayakawa-san. But I’ll be fine.”

I stepped back smoothly. I would be fine with the reading session, but if Reiko continued to press herself against me, I was definitely not going to be fine. I vividly remembered her comment from yesterday about how her husband "wouldn't mind" if I got close to her.

What the hell did she actually mean by that? Was she actively trying to drag me into a terrifying, illicit affair?

Unfortunately, I hadn't asked Yui for any mystery novel recommendations yesterday. If I had brushed up on some classic detective deduction skills, I might be able to unravel the terrifying mystery behind Reiko’s words.

“Stop pampering him, Reiko. Or rather, stop harassing him. He doesn't need your pampering to read a picture book.”

Misaki’s sharp, authoritative voice cut through the air as she walked into the office. She glared directly at Reiko, who was leaning entirely too close to her subordinate.

“You just don’t understand, Misaki-chan!” Reiko sighed dramatically, placing her hands on her hips. Her face turned incredibly solemn. “Today... the Four Disasters of the Kids are coming!”

“Huh?!” Misaki stopped dead in her tracks, her confident aura shattering. Her voice spiked with genuine panic. “They are coming today?!”

“The Four Disasters of the Kids?” I repeated, completely confused. How did a group of toddlers earn such an incredibly menacing, anime-villain nickname?

“Have you ever heard of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Motoi-kun?” Reiko asked, her voice dropping into a grave whisper.

“...Yes. They’re famous figures from the Book of Revelation.”

I might not be religious, but as a guy, I couldn't deny that the mythological concepts of the apocalypse were objectively cool.

“Famine, War, Death, and Pestilence,” Reiko narrowed her beautiful eyes, staring into the distance. “You must be extremely careful with them today.”

“.................”

I stared at her. “Why exactly are they called that?”

“Well,” Reiko began checking them off on her fingers. “Famine is simple. She’s a sweet girl, but she constantly tries to feed her snacks to the other kids, which completely distracts everyone from the story. War is a fiery little boy who constantly tries to fight anyone he thinks is bullying someone else. Death... she’s an incredibly quiet, sweet girl who always sits completely alone in the corner and just stares at you happily. And the last one, Pestilence... she’s a fragile little girl with a weak immune system who is always getting sick. So, do your absolute best reading for them today, okay?”

“.............................”

I wanted to slam my head against my desk. I had assumed the "Four Disasters" were a gang of delinquent toddlers who actively tried to ruin storytime. Instead, they were just four incredibly sweet, innocent kids who genuinely loved the library. The only "disaster" was the immense, crushing pressure not to disappoint them!

“Isn’t it a bit too cruel to call four innocent toddlers the Four Disasters?” I asked dryly.

“You’re entirely right,” Reiko nodded. “But they came up with the nicknames themselves from a fantasy book, and they absolutely love them.”

Yeah. Kids are weird, I sighed inwardly.

At exactly 9:55 AM, the children's section was completely packed.

Yui had decided to brave the crowds to watch the session. But terrified of attracting any attention or being recognized by her fans, she had chosen an incredibly questionable disguise. She wore baggy denim pants, a massive, oversized gray hoodie pulled low over her head, and a large white surgical mask covering the bottom half of her face.

She was trying to blend in, but standing rigidly in the corner of a children's library looking like a nervous bank robber made her incredibly suspicious.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Is she a shoplifter?”

“Well... maybe she just has a terrible cold, right?”

Yui was completely oblivious to the whispers of the local mothers around her. Her entire focus was glued to the small wooden chair at the front of the room, waiting for Motoi to appear.

It’s almost ten o’clock, right? she thought, checking her watch.

“Excuse me.”

“A-Ah! Yes!” Yui jolted in shock, spinning around.

She froze, completely dazed. Standing before her was one of the most breathtakingly beautiful women she had ever seen in her life. The woman had a sharp, impeccably styled short bob, a delicate, flawless face, and was dressed in a chic trench coat and tailored slacks that looked like they belonged in a high-fashion Tokyo magazine.

What was even more surprising was how completely neutral the woman was. She didn't react at all to Yui’s highly suspicious, hooded appearance.

“Why are there so many people gathered here?” the woman asked smoothly, crossing her arms. “Is there a special event?”

“W-Well...” Yui stammered, intimidated by the woman's intense, elite aura. “There’s a children's reading session happening today.”

“Oh?”

The woman looked around the room. She noted the massive crowd of energetic toddlers sitting on the colorful rug, and the large ring of young, attractive mothers standing behind them, gossiping and fixing their hair.

“Is the reader really that popular?” the woman asked, her sharp eyes narrowing suspiciously.

After all, if a municipal storytime drew a crowd this large, there had to be a specific reason.

But why did this gorgeous woman choose to ask Yui, out of everyone in the room?

It was simple. Aoi was an expert at reading people. One glance at Yui’s hunched shoulders and nervous eyes told Aoi that she was a complete pushover who couldn't refuse a polite question. Furthermore, despite the baggy hoodie and the face mask, Aoi’s sharp, observant eyes immediately recognized two things: the hidden, delicate beauty of Yui’s features, and the absolutely massive, terrifying volume hidden beneath the gray sweatshirt.

Aoi subconsciously glanced down at her own modest chest, letting out a small, bitter sigh.

“W-Well, I don't really know,” Yui answered softly. “But my... my friend is going to be the one reading today.”

“Oh, really?” Aoi’s eyes sparked with intense interest.

Before Aoi could interrogate her further, Reiko stepped to the front of the rug and clapped her hands brightly.

“Alright, everyone! The children's reading session is about to start!” Reiko beamed, her motherly voice easily cutting through the noise. “Our reader today is brand new to this, so please be very kind to him, okay?”

“Okaaaaay~!” The toddlers cheered in unison.

Like an expert mother hen, Reiko herded the final stray kids onto the colorful rug.

“Now, let’s give a big welcome to Motoi-oniisan~!”

The staff door opened, and I stepped out. I offered the room a warm, gentle smile. I was dressed in my usual uniform—a crisp Oxford cloth shirt under a fitted charcoal cardigan, pressed trousers, and polished leather loafers. Honestly, I looked more like a young, handsome professor than a wacky children's entertainer.

The room erupted into noise. The kids cheered, but a sharp, unified gasp echoed from the ring of young mothers standing in the back.

From her hiding spot near the reference section, Misaki watched with her arms crossed, intensely curious to see how I was going to handle the chaotic mob.

Several kids were screaming, talking over each other, and completely ignoring the front of the room. I didn’t shush them. I didn't raise my voice to shout over the crowd.

Instead, I calmly sat down in the low wooden chair facing the rug, smiled warmly, and simply began clapping a slow, loud, incredibly steady rhythm.

Clap... clap... clap... clap...!

The sharp, rhythmic sound cut through the chaos. A few kids near the front stopped talking and looked at me. I caught their eyes, smiled, and nodded, keeping the beat.

Then, I started to sing a simple, improvised greeting to the incredibly catchy tune of London Bridge.

“Hello friends, how are you? How are you? How are you? Hello friends, how are you? How are you today?”

The catchy melody and the steady clapping instantly worked like magic. The noise died down. Within ten seconds, every single toddler was staring directly at me, mesmerized.

Now that I had their undivided attention, I stopped clapping. I held both of my hands high up in the air, opening and closing my fists rhythmically.

“Alright, everyone! Let's wake up our hands! Can you show me your hands?”

The few kids who were still standing instantly plopped down onto the rug so they could copy me. Thirty pairs of tiny hands shot up into the air.

"Open, shut them. Open, shut them. Give a little CLAP, CLAP, CLAP!" I chanted, my voice loud and rhythmic. The kids enthusiastically mimicked the claps.

"Open, shut them. Open, shut them. Put them in your LAP, LAP, LAP!"

I dramatically slapped my hands down onto my knees.

“Haha!” The kids slapped their own knees, giggling loudly at the sudden movement.

"Creep them, crawl them, creep them, crawl them... Right up to your CHIN, CHIN, CHIN!"

I leaned forward, dropping my voice into a highly exaggerated, conspiratorial whisper as I walked my fingers slowly up my shirt and tapped my chin. The kids, completely hypnotized, walked their tiny fingers up to their own faces. The entire room had gone dead quiet. Even the gossiping mothers in the back had completely stopped talking.

"Open up your little mouth...” I opened my mouth dramatically wide. Thirty toddlers opened their mouths in awe.

"...But do not let them in!"

I quickly yanked my hands down and hid them behind my back. The kids burst into delighted laughter, quickly hiding their own hands behind their backs.

“You are all so good at that!” I beamed, bringing my hands back out and placing them gently in my lap. I dropped the exaggerated tone, speaking in a warm, comforting, normal voice. “Welcome to storytime, everybody. My name is Motoi, and I am so incredibly happy to see all of your faces today.”

I reached to the small wooden side table next to me and picked up a large, colorful book. I held it up so the entire room could clearly see the vibrant cover.

“We have some great stories today. Let's start with this one. Does anyone know what kind of animal this is right here on the cover?”

“A BEAR!”

“THAT’S A BEAR!”

“BEAR! BEAR!”

“That’s exactly right! It’s a big bear. And what color is he?”

“BROWN!”

With the crowd perfectly warmed up and engaged, I opened the cover of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

I began to read, completely ignoring the intense, piercing gaze of my strict boss in the back, the adoring stare of my suspicious-looking author friend in the corner, and the sharp, completely unreadable eyes of my ex-girlfriend standing right beside her.

I also did my absolute best to ignore Reiko, who had crouched down right next to my chair to "assist," her massive chest practically brushing against my knee as she smiled at the kids.

"Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?" I read, my voice loud and clear, before turning the page with a dramatic, theatrical swoosh.

"I see a red bird looking at me!”

I pointed to the vibrant red bird on the page. “Red Bird, Red Bird, what do you...?” I paused intentionally, cupping a hand to my ear and waiting.

“See!” the kids shouted in unison, instantly catching the rhyming pattern.

“I see a..." I slowly peeled back the corner of the next page, just enough to peek, and let out a loud, dramatic gasp. “Oh my goodness. It’s yellow. And it goes quack. What is it?”

“A duck!”

“Let's find out!” I flipped the page smoothly. "I see a yellow duck looking at me!"

The pacing was flawless. As the story moved on, the kids eagerly anticipated the pattern, shouting out the cat, the dog, the sheep, and the goldfish. By the time we reached the end of the book, the entire room of toddlers was practically singing the words along with me.

“Goldfish, Goldfish, what do you see? I see a teacher looking at me. Teacher, Teacher, what do you see?”

Reaching the final spread, I turned the book completely around. I swept my arm across the room in a grand gesture, pointing directly at the massive crowd of kids sitting on the colorful rug, and smiled brightly.

“I see CHILDREN looking at me!"

The kids screamed the final word along with me, bursting into applause as I closed the book with a satisfying snap.

I let out a genuine, incredibly childish, happy smile. I had actually nailed it.

But as the women in the room watched my unguarded, brilliantly happy smile, something dangerous stirred in the air.

Yeah. I am absolutely going to gobble him up, Reiko thought to herself, licking her lips.

“.........................”

I suddenly felt a violent chill run down my spine.