"For you," Hiroyuki answered, then added quickly, "but this is for emergencies only. And occasionally I'll call you if I have to work overtime."
Jiro's face was adorned with a wide grin. "Thank you. I'll only use it sparingly."
Hiroyuki felt satisfied at Jiro's attitude. He nodded his head. Then he changed into more relaxing clothes before he headed off to make dinner.
After dinner, the two inhabitants headed out to go grocery shopping. At the supermarket, Jiro beamed with delight. His favorite snack was on discount. It had expired today and the store clerk had just marked it down. Jiro pulled five bags of snacks into his bosom, acting like a mother holding onto her babies.
"Don't take too many," Hiroyuki lightly told him.
"I won't eat them all in one day," Jiro pouted as he promised. "I'll eat them slowly."
Hiroyuki frowned, but then he remembered today's shopping spree was all dependent on Jiro's pay. Unlike Hiroyuki, who was paid on a monthly basis, Jiro was paid in cash on a daily basis. The five thousand yen was enough to pay for their daily groceries. Because they bought items from the discounted section, some of those items were beyond their expiration date. Hiroyuki didn't like the idea of keeping these items for long periods of time. He feared they might eat the spoiled food and get sick. This is also why he would rather walk a few blocks each day to go grocery shopping. Firstly, it gave him digestive exercise. He had read somewhere that after eating a meal, lightly exercising helped to aid in food digestion. Secondly, by buying only enough for one day of food, Hiroyuki didn't have to store too many things in his tiny studio apartment. Lastly, by buying food by the day, Hiroyuki didn't have to worry about eating expired food, that was beyond its shelf life.
Since Jiro had started working, Hiroyuki reasoned internally that the young boy needed more calories. Thus, he allowed him to buy all five bags. For Jiro, it was a special treat when his snacks were discounted. Before going to the checkout counter, Hiroyuki mentally calculated the cost of their groceries. It seemed they had enough money.
Now that Jiro received free lunches, they didn't have to spend as much money on buying groceries. The only thing they needed to worry about was their breakfast and dinner. For the most part, Hiroyuki could eat breakfast at work.
The two people checked out. After paying for the groceries, Jiro still had five yen.
"When we get home, I'll give you a jar. You can put your money in there. When you have saved at least one hundred thousand yen, we can open a bank account for you."
Surprised, Jiro turned to look at Hiroyuki. "Really?"
"It's true," Hiroyuki answered. He had never intended to cheat the young boy out of his hard earned money. In fact, when he received his paycheck, Hiroyuki planned on giving some money to Jiro. For now, he would just let the young boy have the pleasure of paying.
"Thank you," Jiro quietly said.
"You're a good kid," Hiroyuki answered. "Back then, I'm glad I took you home."
Jiro's eyes grew shiny and to keep from embarrassing himself, he faced downwards, so Hiroyuki wouldn't see his tears.
Of course, being a good person, Hiroyuki pretended he didn't see the hot teardrops falling onto the sidewalk pavement, nor could he hear the occasional sniffles as Jiro sucked in the flowing drip from his nose.
Sometimes, there will be moments between two people, where it was better to keep quiet.