Chapter 433

“Eat some more rice cake.”

Renka spoke, approaching me as I straightened the tables into neat rows.

I glanced sideways at her uncles working hard in the kitchen and shook my head.

“I'm good.”

“Eat it.”

“No, I said I'm fine. I'll eat it later.”

“I said eat it.”

It was funny how she expressed her shyness by pushing rice cake on me.

It was also endearing to see her change right before my eyes.

But I didn't expect Renka to change overnight.

Even if she was acting like this now, she would definitely revert to her old self the moment I let her off the hook.

Stifling a laugh, I said, “I'll eat it later. My stomach feels a bit bloated right now. Why not give it to your uncles instead?”

“They already ate.”

“Then you eat it, President.”

“Shut up. I'll leave it in the Changing Room, so eat it during your break.”

“Got it.”

Once Renka headed into the Changing Room, her older uncle called me over.

I went to the kitchen to see what he wanted, and he held out a bandana the same color as our uniforms.

“Put this on. Give one to Renka, too.”

“What's the bandana for?”

“It doesn't matter for us since we're bald, but you and Renka might drop some hair while serving food.”

“That makes sense.”

“Right? Oh, by the way. I sent a photo to Renka. Did you see it?”

My ears perked up at the unexpected question.

“A photo?”

“Guess you haven't. Last time we gave...”

Just as her older uncle began to explain with a surprised look on his face, a voice cut him off.

“Ah, Older Uncle! What is this! I told you not to leave this here...! It's a nuisance to the customers!”

Renka had already returned to the hall and was scolding her older uncle while glaring at a corner of the room.

The older uncle blinked and turned his gaze toward her, and Renka beckoned him over with a sharp glare.

“Come here right now...!”

“What is it?”

“I said come here!”

“All right.”

“Younger Uncle, you come look at this, too...! I swear, I can't stand you guys...”

She was overacting a bit. Was she eavesdropping on my conversation with her older uncle and desperately trying to interrupt us?

The circumstances certainly made it look that way.

Just what was that photo about for her to go to such lengths to stop him from mentioning it?

I was incredibly curious, but I would have to casually ask her uncles about it later.

No, on second thought, I shouldn't get the answer from them. I would make Renka tell me herself later.

I chuckled at the sight of the three of them whispering in the corner and tied the bandana around my head.

When Renka finally finished talking with her uncles and hesitantly approached me, I brushed the whole situation off as if it were nothing.

“Should we finish setting up?”

Renka looked momentarily panicked by my complete lack of curiosity, but she quickly relaxed and nodded.

“Yeah.”

“He said to wear this.”

I nonchalantly handed her the bandana, and she took it with obvious reluctance.

Did she hate the idea of messing up her hair?

More likely, she was worried she would look ridiculous wearing it and that I would tease her for it.

I was going to take a hands-off approach from now on, so she had nothing to worry about...

Our Renka just overthought things way too much.

Even if her sharp words made it seem otherwise.

Having finished our preparations, Renka and I opened the restaurant for the day.

Perhaps because it was vacation season, customers flooded in the moment we unlocked the doors, completely contradicting her uncles' earlier claims that it wouldn't be very busy.

I felt like I was going to be completely drained before we even hit the break. The previous part-timer had picked the perfect time to quit.

What an irresponsible bastard. If I ever met him, I'd beat the crap out of him.

Keeping those thoughts to myself, I plastered on a professional smile alongside Renka and welcomed the customers.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Just give me whatever's leftover.”

“Then I'll just boil down some fish bones and make you a soup.”

“Not funny.”

“I'm hurt.”

Smacking his lips, her younger uncle started cooking in the kitchen.

I pulled off my sweat-dampened bandana, glanced at Renka as she fixed her bangs in front of a mirror, and grabbed a dishcloth to wipe down the tables.

I was glad her uncles' restaurant seemed to have established a solid reputation, but working part-time was exhausting.

Especially in a tourist hotspot like this.

Looking at it like this, her uncles really had incredible grit.

Even when things went badly, they never gave up and always found a way forward.

They even knew how to accept advice from younger people.

Sure, their lack of initiative was a bit of a flaw, but it was still something worthy of respect.

Rustle.

I finished wiping down the tables and sat on a chair to rest while the food was cooking. Renka took the seat across from me and shoved a black plastic bag in my direction.

“Eat the rice cake.”

She was still on about that.

Aside from taking orders, checking the menu, and passing along dishes, this was the first private conversation I'd had with Renka since we opened.

“Thank you.”

I thanked her in a flat, emotionless tone and peeled the wrapper off the rice cake inside the bag.

Then I added, “It's almost mealtime, so I'll just have one.”

“Okay.”

“You have some too, President.”

“I'm good. Anyway, I need to talk to you.”

“I'm eating a rice cake.”

“You can eat while you listen. Follow me.”

Tossing out the order, Renka headed outside the restaurant.

I followed her out, chewing on the sticky rice cake, and slid the restaurant door shut behind me so her uncles wouldn't hear us.

Renka peeked through the glass to see what her uncles were doing, then crossed her arms.

“You know you've been acting weird since yesterday, right?”

“Have I? In what way?”

“Stop playing dumb. Are you sulking because I told you not to message me on AnyShare?”

“Why would I sulk over something like that?”

“Then is it because I refused to go to the Hotel with Chinami...”

“What are you talking about? It's nothing like that, so don't get any weird ideas.”

“Then why on earth are you acting like this?”

‘It's all part of my training regimen to raise a proper slave.’

How could I possibly say that out loud right now?

“What exactly am I doing?”

“Ha... You're so petty. Are you seriously asking because you don't know?”

“We might have different perspectives on this, so why don't you explain it to me?”

“...”

Renka snapped her mouth shut.

Whenever we had a short break during the shift, I hadn't called her a slave or teased her like usual. I hadn't even pulled her aside to a quiet spot to touch her. It definitely looked suspicious...

But since her sense of unease was based purely on a gut feeling, it was probably hard for her to just come out and say it.

“Just what are you thinking?”

She deflected, demanding an answer from me instead.

Deciding it was time to provoke her a little, I answered.

“I was just thinking about how exhausting this part-time job is.”

“You...!”

She looked incredibly pretty when she glared like that.

It made me want to melt that defiant expression right off her face.

“So you're acting like this because you're tired?”

“I really don't know what you're talking about.”

“You're driving me crazy... Shoo! Get away!”

Renka suddenly shrieked, having spotted her uncles pressing their faces against the glass wall of the restaurant.

Flinching like thieves caught in the act, the two of them offered awkward smiles and pointed toward the table.

It meant the food was ready. The way they both pointed in perfect unison was such a twin thing to do.

“...Whatever. I'm just going to stop caring.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Renka muttered to herself and marched back inside with a pout.

She dragged a chair out with a loud scrape, sat down at the table, and picked up a pair of chopsticks.

“Did you two fight?”

“Ah, what are you talking about...?!”

“You totally fought.”

“Stop it! I told you to go away!”

“We need to eat, too.”

“Then go eat somewhere else!”

“Our niece is saying such hurtful things. Do you have no sense of family affection?”

“No.”

“I think I'm going to cry.”

“Go outside and cry.”

I took a deep breath and stepped back into the restaurant, only to find her uncles mercilessly teasing Renka.

No wonder Renka always complained about how immature her uncles were.

I knew they had a goofy side, but I hadn't realized it was quite this bad.

Still, rather than nervously walking on eggshells around her, their teasing actually seemed to lighten the mood.

An ordinary person probably would have gotten genuinely angry at them...

But Renka only acted annoyed on the surface; she didn't seem to take her uncles' childish antics to heart.

She probably just accepted it since they were family and she had known them her whole life.

“Ken! Come eat!”

I offered a small smile to the older uncle, who had called out to me so energetically, and naturally took the seat right next to Renka.

Her body, which had been aggressively stabbing at her food with her chopsticks, gave a slight jolt.

I guess she hadn't expected me to sit beside her instead of across from her.

Secretly, she seemed happy about it, too.

“Is this Sushi?”

“Yeah. We had a little medium fatty tuna left over, so I whipped this up. We don't serve Sushi in the afternoon, anyway.”

“That must be expensive. Are you sure about this?”

“It's all just food once it hits the stomach.”

He was being considerate so I wouldn't feel burdened.

Just as I thought, they were much kinder than their rough appearances suggested.

But people like that were completely terrifying when they actually got angry... I would have to be careful.

“Then, thanks for the meal.”

“Eat up.”

The restaurant closed for the day after a wildly successful shift.

Thrilled by the unusually high number of customers today, the older uncle handed white envelopes to me and Renka, who had just stepped out of the shower.

It was our daily wage.

“Thank you.”

“I thought you said you weren't going to accept any pay?”

“You said you were going to force it on me anyway, so how could I refuse?”

“I'm suddenly regretting it. Want to give it back?”

“No chance.”

After bantering with her uncles, I stepped out the back door for some fresh air. My eyes widened when Renka walked out with her bag slung over her shoulder.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yeah.”

“Then wait here. I'll go grab my car keys.”

“I'm going to take the bus by myself, so you should just stay and sightsee or something.”

“What are you talking about? I'll drive you.”

“Forget it.”

“I said I'll drive you.”

“Are you deaf? I said I'm going alone.”

She was taking revenge for how I had acted earlier. And it sounded like she meant it, too.

But I was the one holding all the cards right now, not Renka...

Still, if I really let her go by herself, she would probably end up feeling completely miserable. I shouldn't push it that far.

“Are you sulking?”

When I threw the exact same words she had used on me during lunch right back at her, Renka whipped her head around to glare at me.

Thinking her fierce glare was incredibly cute, I continued, “Don't be like that. Just let me drive you. I'm sorry.”

“Why are you suddenly apologizing for no reason?”

“I just felt like saying it.”

“I knew it. You absolute Trash.”

“Is this really a situation that warrants calling me Trash?”

“Yeah.”

“All right, I get it, so let's just go together.”

Had she realized there was no point in refusing anymore?

Pouting heavily, Renka readjusted the strap of her handbag on her shoulder and thanked me in a small voice.

“I'll take you up on it.”

It was just too cute that even while sulking, and even after insisting she'd go home alone a second ago, she still remembered to thank me.

Barely holding back the urge to burst out laughing, I ducked back into the restaurant, offered a quick wave as her uncles told me to come visit again, and grabbed my car keys.

That was enough of a taste for now.

After I dropped Renka off today, I would just sit back and wait until she reached out to me first.

Renka needed to figure out for herself just how incredibly bored—and maybe even a little anxious—she would get without me around.

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