Chapter 215

"Is that it...?"

"Why? Are you scared I'll spread rumors? If you're that anxious, just cosplay for me once. I might keep it a secret for the rest of my life."

"I—I knew it...! You crazy bastard...!"

"Why are you cursing? Wasn't this just a hypothesis?"

"...Even if it's a hypothesis, the intent to exploit someone's sensitive side is completely impure. Of course I'm going to curse at you... Anyway, I have to work."

"There's nothing to do. I already did it all."

"What do you mean, nothing to do...! We need to memorize the POS menu and figure out where all the ingredients are. Do you even know where the straws are? I noticed we were running a bit low earlier."

"The storage room."

"Got it. I'll go get them."

Renka tried to step away from the counter to avoid me.

Since I happened to be standing near the opening, I stepped sideways and blocked the exit with my body.

"...What are you doing?"

She glared at me, frowning heavily, but even that expression was cute.

"I just wanted to try it."

"Could you get your annoying face out of my sight?"

"Am I annoying?"

"Incredibly annoy—"

"Hmm."

"No, I'm not...! I'm not annoyed...! Happy now?"

She was just reacting on instinct at this point.

At this rate, she'd develop paranoia.

Flashing a grin, I turned sideways to let the huffing Renka pass.

"Hurry back."

"...I must be out of my mind..."

"What's so crazy?"

"You don't need to know."

Renka gave a short snort and practically fled into the storage room.

With her acting like this on our very first day of work, how could my heart not flutter?

A fresh, lively cafe date with Renka... I was going to enjoy this to the fullest.

Renka called out to me after returning from lunch at the Gyudon Restaurant.

"Matsuda. The Boss says to come over. Go eat."

I nodded, loaded the grinder with coffee beans, and carefully sealed the rest of the bag.

"What did you eat?"

"Gyudon."

"I mean, what kind of gyudon."

"Just gyudon."

"Hmm."

"I had chashudon..."

The moment I let out my signature hum, she hurriedly blurted out the type of gyudon.

It was funny seeing her already getting trained like this.

I would have to use this sparingly. If I overused it, she might build up an immunity.

"Was it good?"

"...Yeah."

"That's a relief. Wait a second... You have something on you."

"What? Where?"

"I'll get it."

Without waiting for a reply, I reached out and gently touched the side of her hair.

She flinched in blatant panic and raised her voice.

"Hey... Hey! What are you doing...!"

Her voice was quite loud.

It was a good thing we had no customers; otherwise, that would have easily drawn a complaint.

I picked a small, light-brown, translucent flake out of her hair and casually inspected it.

"Looks like an onion skin."

"...An onion skin?"

"Yeah. Try not to walk around with food in your hair like a klutz."

Honestly, I was dying to just pop it into my mouth right in front of her, but I let her off the hook.

"I-It must have stuck to me when I walked out of the kitchen... My hair is long, I can't keep track of everything. And who told you to just go around touching people without permission?"

Even as she scolded me, Renka kept fiddling with the long strands of hair framing her face.

It must have been bothering her. Subconsciously, of course.

Tossing the flake into the trash, I readily apologized.

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever... Next time, just tell me."

"Understood. I'm going to go eat now, alright?"

"Go ahead."

"If it gets busy, call the extension. I'll come right back."

"You don't have to hurry back."

"Are you being considerate so I can take my time eating?"

"No. It's because I don't want to see your face."

Spouting words she didn't even mean.

Answering with a smirk instead of words, I crossed over to the Gyudon Restaurant and ate my meal while chatting with the Boss and the other staff.

When I returned to Cafe 24 later, Renka was energetically greeting customers.

"Welcome! This is Cafe 24!"

She wore a bright smile that was completely different from the face she showed me, and a sudden stab of jealousy hit me.

As payback for snapping at her master, I would have to make her work with a condom-covered vibrator shoved inside her.

After stepping behind the counter and washing my hands, I approached Renka, who had just finished taking an order.

"What was the order?"

"A drip coffee and a Strawberry Latte."

"I'll make the Strawberry Latte."

"No, you make the drip coffee."

"Why?"

"Because you don't suit strawberries."

"What... Then what does suit me?"

"Pineapple."

Why pineapple, of all things?

She definitely didn't mean it in the sense of being refreshing...

She was probably comparing me to its dangerous, prickly skin.

"Why?"

"Shut up. Work. Drip coffee."

Speaking in a stilted, robotic tone, Renka pointed at the drip coffee filter.

I could detect a slight—very slight—hint of playfulness mixed into her voice.

After lunchtime, quite a few customers flooded in.

The cafe wasn't completely packed, but we had a ton of takeout orders.

Thanks to the rush, Renka and I were kept busy on our feet, completely unable to hold a proper private conversation.

The Boss swung by briefly to help out, gave us a thumbs-up while praising how fast our skills were improving, and promptly headed right back to his restaurant.

After the huge storm passed and the cafe became quiet again, Renka and I caught our breath while eating the snacks the Boss had brought over.

"That was incredibly busy."

"Not incredibly. It was manageable enough once you got the hang of it."

"Was it?"

"What's with that tone? You sound like you're talking to a puppy. It's annoying, so go back to how you usually talk."

"I am using my usual tone. Anyway, aren't you tired from standing so much?"

"Not really. Are you?"

"My legs hurt a bit."

"That's because you don't exercise."

"I work out hard, though."

"Then never mind."

She wasn't going to ask what kind of exercise I did? What a shame.

I popped a piece of the karaage sitting in front of me into my mouth and went to throw out the piled-up trash.

Just then, Renka poked my back with her finger.

"Hey, Matsuda."

"Yeah. Do you have more trash to throw away?"

"Not that... About the book you bought last time..."

"Book? Ah... That one? Ms. Asagao's Household—"

"D-Don't say it out loud...! Please...!"

She looked around the empty cafe, completely flustered.

I let out a chuckle at her cute reaction and spoke.

"Alright. What about it? Do you want to borrow it?"

"Borrow what... I just wanted to ask if you were enjoying it..."

"Didn't I tell you it was fun before?"

"I mean, are you reading it again..."

"I read it occasionally when it comes to mind."

"Really...?"

"Yeah. Why bring that up all of a sudden? Are you interested in the Ms. Asagao figure?"

"W-What kind of nonsense is that...!"

"Do you happen to have a figure display case at your house, President?"

"Why is the conversation suddenly heading in that direction? Just go throw away the trash! And while you're at it, throw yourself away too...!"

She wasn't denying it this time, just changing the subject?

I wondered if she was slowly becoming more honest.

"That's harsh."

"...But is there a Ms. Asagao's Household Circumstances figure?"

"I don't know."

"You acted like you knew when you didn't?"

"Yeah. I figured you'd give me the answer, President."

"Me...?"

"You're an expert in this kind of stuff, President."

"Stop barking up the wrong tree, will you...?"

"Just confess and seek salvation."

"Am I some kind of criminal?"

"It's just an expression. Let's get off work together today."

At those words, Renka's eyebrow twitched.

"You finish an hour earlier than me."

"I can wait. I was planning to buy something nearby anyway, so call me when you're done."

"Why don't you just go?"

"I don't want to."

"I don't want you to, either. I'm going alone."

"Stop throwing a tantrum."

"You're the one throwing a tantrum...! Why are you so selfish?"

"President."

I suddenly dropped the teasing, shifting to a serious tone.

Seeing this, Renka flinched, and her voice dropped slightly.

"W-What...!"

"Do you really hate going home together that much?"

"...It's not that I hate it, but you keep teasing me like this...!"

"If I promise not to tease you, will you go with me?"

"Well... If we can go quietly, then sure... It's more comfortable than public transportation..."

"Then let's do that. I won't tease you."

"...Then... I guess we can go together..."

The more I talked with Renka, the more my desire to do naughty things with her flared up.

I hoped our relationship would quickly deepen to a point beyond compare.

With that thought in mind, I greeted the customer who had just opened the cafe door and walked in.

"Welcome, this is Cafe 24."

"I'll get going."

"Yeah. Go on in."

"Was I scheduled to come in first tomorrow?"

Renka should have known her own schedule much better.

The fact that she was going out of her way to ask me anyway meant she felt a bit guilty about our silent ride all the way to her house.

Acting uncharacteristically nice... Tsk tsk.

"That's right."

"Got it. Thanks for the ride."

"See you tomorrow."

After dropping Renka off and meeting Miyuki to watch a movie, I returned home and checked my Cell Phone.

Seeing a notification pop up on the AnyShare app, I raised the corners of my mouth.

What kind of message did she send today? My heart pounded in anticipation.

[MK, I read Girlfriend Training like you recommended. It was pretty interesting. I'm planning to leave a review for it soon.]

Unlike yesterday, a friendly message had arrived.

Was she trying to play both bad cop and good cop all by herself?

For now, I would pretend to fall for it.