Chapter 33: Haruka Himuro Wants to Work Together Too?

Quillan didn’t want to be late on his very first day of work.

However, the maid-themed café still made him feel a bit hesitant deep down. A guy like him working inside a maid-themed café—it could easily lead to misconceptions if word got out!

Yet Quillan had no choice. Having cut ties with his family, he could only rely on part-time jobs to support himself through school. Besides, he had already taken a 50,000-yen advance on his wages from Ai Oda, so turning back wasn’t an option.

Originally, Quillan intended to have Haruka Himuro go home first. But Haruka gave him no chance to speak up and send her away, keeping her head lowered to avoid his gaze the entire time.

Quillan wasn’t stupid; how could he not realize that Haruka wanted to stay by his side?

Considering that she had just lost control of her emotions earlier, Quillan didn’t have the heart to provoke her further at this moment. He had no choice but to bring Haruka along to the side door of the Moe Jam Café and step inside.

Upon entering, Quillan heard Ai Oda’s sweet voice complaining helplessly, "Seriously... Yumi-chan actually called in sick at a time like this. Talk about bad timing!"

"Ai-nee!"

Hearing her complaints, Quillan wasn’t naive enough to think he could solve her problems, so he simply stated honestly, "I’m here for my shift. What tasks should I handle, Ai-nee?"

"Ah... Quillan-kun, you’re finally here! That’s wonderful!" Ai Oda joyfully grabbed Quillan’s arm, her troubled expression instantly morphing into a sweet smile. But as she turned her head, she noticed Haruka Himuro standing next to Quillan with her head down.

"Huh?"

A sound of curiosity escaped Ai’s lips, and the look in her eyes as she stared at Quillan shifted subtly.

Quillan quickly explained, "Ai-nee, this is my classmate, Haruka Himuro. Since she ran into some trouble earlier, she’s just sitting in here for a bit..."

"Fantastic!"

Before Quillan could finish his sentence, Ai Oda released his arm and bounced over to Haruka’s side. Her eyes narrowed into smiling crescents as she beamed at Haruka. "Himuro-san, right? I’m Ai Oda, Quillan-kun’s ’big sister’!"

Ai Oda wasn’t actually Quillan’s sister at all—she was just Gavin’s cousin. Yet she went around telling everyone as if Quillan were truly her younger brother!

"Eh? Mas..." Halfway through her word, Haruka saw Quillan shaking his head at her. Blushing instantly, she quickly changed her form of address and asked, "Quillan-kun has a big sister in Japan?"

"That’s me!" Ai Oda laughed delightfully, though to Quillan, her smile carried a hint of a hidden motive.

She was definitely plotting something regarding Haruka again!

Having seen Miyuki Sakurai get tricked into becoming a maid waitress, Quillan could pretty much guess what Ai Oda planned to do next.

Sure enough, Ai Oda began leveraging her cunning side once more, enticing Haruka.

"So, Himuro-san, are you interested in getting to know Quillan-kun better through me, his ’sister’?" As Ai spoke, she winked at Quillan while secretly pinching him on the waist.

It was a blatant warning for Quillan not to expose her. With no other choice—since Ai was the boss, after all—Quillan could only give a dry cough and fix his eyes strictly on his own shoes...

Right now, Quillan could only hope that Haruka wasn’t as naive as Miyuki Sakurai and wouldn’t be fooled by Ai Oda. Otherwise, Haruka would likely end up as a waitress in this café too. With both Miyuki Sakurai and Haruka Himuro together, the dynamic between those two would hardly be pleasant. If Ai Oda succeeded with her plan, he would definitely be caught painfully in the middle!

Maid-themed cafés were a staple of subculture in Japan, but Ai Oda’s shop seemed short-staffed for some reason. Regardless of the underlying cause, the fact that Ai was trying this hard—even resorting to lies to entice students to work for her—made it obvious that the staffing situation here was indeed quite tight!

Compared to the simple-minded Miyuki Sakurai, Haruka was naturally not as easy to fool. Staring into Ai Oda’s eyes, she asked curiously, "Manager Oda, are you really Quillan-kun’s sister?"

"O-Of course!"

Having her story questioned made Ai Oda nearly slip up. It seemed she wasn’t someone who lied often, but she was definitely a somewhat crafty older sister. Quillan even wondered if Ai Oda’s personality had been influenced by that guy Gavin.

Since she was Gavin’s cousin, growing up alongside such a far-from-innocent character would likely corrupt even a simple-minded girl like Ai, turning her cunning over time.

To cover up her tension, Ai Oda immediately continued telling Haruka, "Quillan-kun even calls me Ai-nee. Himuro-san, do you really not want to learn more about my younger brother who came all the way from America?"

"I..." Haruka stole a glance at Quillan, then lowered her head, whispering softly, "I do!"

Though her voice was faint, her answer was resolute.

Quillan let out a quiet sigh in his heart—life was getting impossible.

It was bad enough having to deal with these girls at school; was he really going to be stuck with them after school at his job, too?

If he had known this would happen, he should have stepped up to expose Ai Oda’s lie!

Quillan felt a bit disappointed by Haruka’s choice—very disappointed, in fact. He had even coughed to warn her, and Haruka wasn’t as simple-minded as Miyuki Sakurai. How did she fall for it anyway?

In reality, Quillan didn’t realize how magnetic he was to Haruka. In her eyes, although she was living with him now, it was only because Quillan took pity on her. Having grown up in a tumultuous household, Haruka had always severely lacked a sense of security. Paired with a beauty like Miyuki Sakurai constantly around Quillan, Haruka—who was plagued by low self-esteem and insecurity due to her family background—naturally wanted to seize every opportunity to understand Quillan better.

More importantly, Haruka also wanted to earn her own living through part-time work now. Even though she was tasked with doing housework for Quillan, she figured that as long as she squeezed out an hour right after school to head back to the rented apartment and finish the chores, she could still handle an outside job.

Worst case scenario, she’d just work one hour less!