Chapter 40: "Quillan-kun, May I Ask You to Walk Me Home?"

His very first day of working left Quillan completely at a loss for words.

It fair to say that the Moe Jam Café was extraordinarily lively tonight. Waves of customers came and went, with the clientele shifting from purely male patrons to a balanced mix of men and women. For a maid-themed café to earn the favor of female customers was clearly quite a remarkable achievement.

Thus, while Quillan was left speechless, Ai Oda was the one beaming with joy.

That woman carried a smile on her face the entire night, her eyes narrowed into squints without ever opening fully, which only made Quillan feel increasingly irked.

After all, the person who had been sold out was him!

All evening long, Quillan was shuffled around amidst that crowd of women. They kept pulling him into photos, constantly pelting him with questions. Upon hearing Quillan introduce himself as an international student from America, far from dampening their enthusiasm, the women only grew even more curious about him.

And so, Quillan tragically ended up as the little guy being flirted with by a mob of women. He was thoroughly annoyed by it, yet there was nothing he could do.

With great effort, he endured until 9:00 PM. The moment his shift ended, Quillan headed straight for the staff breakroom without a second’s hesitation to change back into his own clothes.

Since regulations stipulated that high school student workers could not exceed four hours per day and twenty-eight hours per week, the female customers were quite understanding when they heard Quillan’s shift had come to an end. Even funnier was that after trying out the Moe Jam Café once, these women felt as though they had discovered a whole new world, finding the place delightful and perfectly suited for social gatherings.

Consequently, they spontaneously exchanged contact information with one another on the spot and even established a group called the "Café Maid Subculture Study & Exchange Club." With Miss Yoshiko as their president, everyone promised to meet up at the Moe Jam Café whenever they were free in the future.

Quillan nearly spat blood when he overheard this. Once all the female patrons were escorted out, the café finally began to quiet down. Although a few customers remained, they were very few in number.

At the counter, Ai Oda was chatting with Miyuki Sakurai and Haruka Himuro. Just as Quillan walked over, Ai Oda beamed at him and said, "Quillan-kun, you’ve changed and are ready to head back? Thank you so much for tonight, Quillan-kun! Besides, Miss Yoshiko and her group will be coming here for gatherings in the future, so we don’t have to worry about the café’s daily turnover anymore!"

"Ai-nee, I’m heading back..."

The happier Ai Oda was, the more irked Quillan felt. Naturally, his reply was devoid of energy, and he had no desire to linger around and chat with her, turning around to leave.

"W-Wait a second!" Ai Oda hastily called him back, pulling out a 1,000-yen bill and handing it over as she said, "Tonight was all thanks to you, Quillan-kun! Our shop has never had such great business before—it’s literally our best record in history! Tee-hee, I bet everyone is exhausted, right? Especially you, Quillan-kun. So... consider this 1,000 yen as extra pay for your hard work tonight. Please be sure to come to the café tomorrow night!"

She actually handed Quillan 1,000 yen as extra pay for his hard work. Seeing the actual hard cash in hand made Quillan feel slightly better inside.

Then, Ai Oda handed Miyuki Sakurai and Haruka Himuro 500 yen each as a reward for the night. Forking out a total of 2,000 yen in bonuses on the spot—and that wasn’t even counting the other waitstaff—one could only imagine how profitable the café’s business had been tonight.

At a conservative estimate, total revenue might very well have crossed 100,000 yen!

Otherwise, would a boss as thrifty as Ai Oda ever be this generous?

Pocketing the bonus money, Quillan was reasonably pleased after all. He stashed the bill away with a smile and left the café. Miyuki Sakurai and Haruka Himuro bade farewell to Ai Oda in turn and caught up with him outside.

"Tee-hee, Quillan-kun!" Miyuki Sakurai was thrilled. Looking at Quillan, she said, "Part-time work is truly wonderful! Who would have thought that on my very first day on the job, I’d get a 500-yen bonus!"

This girl was certainly happy, even praising, "Manager Oda is truly wonderful!"

"Wonderful my foot!" Quillan didn’t see it that way, though receiving a bonus still put him in a better mood. He remarked, "Do you think she gave us bonuses out of the goodness of her heart? Ai-nee only treated us this well because we catered to so many customers tonight and she’s afraid we might take a day off tomorrow on purpose!"

When Quillan signed the contract with Ai Oda earlier, he had noticed the terms. Because it was a student part-time contract, laws were in place to protect students’ study time, allowing them to take leave at will. In other words, if Quillan felt unhappy, all he had to do was call Ai Oda to request a day off, and there would be nothing she could do about it!

Add to that how grueling tonight had been, Ai Oda was worried Quillan might develop a distaste for the job and choose to take leave the next day. If that happened, the newly attracted female customers might lose interest in the café. That was why Ai Oda decided to hand out rewards to Quillan and the two girls tonight—just to boost Quillan, Miyuki Sakurai, and Haruka Himuro’s spirits so they’d return to work tomorrow!

Holding her own bonus, Haruka Himuro’s delight was not a bit less than Miyuki Sakurai’s. Relatively speaking, among the three of them, Haruka was the one who needed money the most. Thus, upon hearing Quillan’s words, she merely pursed her lips without voicing any objection.

In truth, Haruka felt conflicted inside as well. On one hand, she didn’t want to contradict Quillan’s words; on the other hand, she felt working at Ai Oda’s café was fantastic. Getting extra bonuses on top of regular pay made it a prime opportunity that was hard to find anywhere else!

The rented apartment was relatively close to the commercial district. As the three chatted along the way, they soon arrived in front of Hitomi Matsumoto’s store. From a distance, Haruka called out to Hitomi Matsumoto. The joy that had been bottled up in her heart for so long was released at this moment as she skipped happily toward Hitomi Matsumoto’s shop.

Seizing this opportunity, Miyuki Sakurai blushed and asked Quillan, "Quillan-kun, m-may I ask if you can walk me home again tonight?"

"Uh..." Quillan checked the time and saw that it was already 9:15 PM. At such a late hour, it was indeed unsafe for Miyuki Sakurai to walk home alone, so he nodded in agreement.

"Awesome!" Miyuki Sakurai looked at Quillan happily. Then, realizing that her reaction lacked proper restraint, she lowered her head and whispered softly, "Quillan-kun, p-please don’t misunderstand. It’s just that I’m scared of running into a drunk creep like last time..."

"I understand!"

Facing the adorable Miyuki Sakurai, Quillan could only answer her with a helpless, quiet smile in his heart!