Chapter 48: Volume 5 - CH 4

“Welcome back, Master.”

A voice resembling a bell rang out. The owner of this voice was an adorable yet unfamiliar girl, wearing a frilly maid uniform that made her look even more cute—She was a maid. That’s right, I currently found myself in a maid cafe. Just as the name ‘Maid in Heaven’ suggested, this was maid paradise.

“Hey, what are you slacking off for, stupid chicken.”

Right when I stuck out my head from the small kitchen hole, I heard this sharp voice next to me. Standing there was another girl wearing the maid apron dress. She possessed a slender stature, with a somewhat strong and confident gaze, with contrary fluffy and wavy twintails—Usami Masamune. She put one hand on her waist, and gave me a dubious gaze.

“Come on, back to work. I introduced you to this part-time job, remember?”

“I am working. Just on a break right now.”

“The heck is that? You’re only working for today, so is there really a need to take a break?” Masamune sighed with a shrug.

Because of that attitude, I felt like giving her a comment of my own, but she’s not exactly wrong. Today, I was working part-time in this maid cafe. They were lacking some help apparently, so I jumped in. Then again, my work is just washing dishes or making drinks.

“Still, I didn’t expect you to be working part-time here.”

“Wha…what’s that supposed to mean? I’m not working here because I want to. The pay here is good, and I can wear cute clothes…”

“Hmmm.”

Despite being a nasty rabbit, she had a somewhat feminine reason, huh. Well, she mentioned that she got fired from her previous part-time job, so she probably is happy to find anything. I’m the same after all. Especially after that incident with Nakuru the other day, and I didn’t even get any reward for helping her out. Not to mention that it ended in such a puzzling way. I should probably ask her about that later.

“Hmpf, you better be thankful. I gave you the summer homework, and even got you into this job.”

“I really am thankful for that.”

This happened because I called Masamune about our summer homework. Summer homework is like a ticking time bomb. The limit of course is the new school term. That’s why I asked an honor student I knew to help me with defusing the bomb. As a result of that, she even pushed this job onto me, but since I was looking for money, I didn’t mind at all.

“Really, I shouldn’t have answered your call at all.”

“Don’t be like that. Also, it sounded like you were panicking a lot back then, did I possibly interrupt you in the middle of something?”

When I called her, Masamune’s answer was ‘Yes! T-T-T-This is Ushami!’, totally biting her tongue.

“Urk…I-I was surprised because you suddenly called me…”

“Surprised?”

“That never really happened before…”

“…Ahh, I see.”

She doesn’t have any friends, I remember now. Then again, I don’t think it’s that much of a shock, alright.

“Do you not talk with your guys from the handicrafts club or something?”

“Sending mails at most. For example, practice locations and times from the president, that’s about it. Also…the sound is different.”

“Ahh, how you have different sounds when you get a mail and when you get calls, right? I changed the ringtones myself for a few people.”

For example, Suzutsuki Kanade’s ringtone is the ‘Godfather’ theme. You know which one I’m talking about right? It’s basically the same. This ringtone is basically a signal for me to run away immediately. Works great with other people too.

“Y-Yeah, I changed it for some people too.”

“Oh really? So, what song did you use for me?”

“! T-That’s…”

For some reason, Masamune pulled down the hem of her apron dress, blushing furiously as she screamed ‘That doesn’t matter right now!’, and returned to the inside of the store…What was that about? She didn’t use the ‘Godzilla’ theme for me, did she? Well, I have that for Kureha, so I can’t really complain. But, I don’t want to be put into the same level as that monster.

“…But, just standing around here isn’t good.”

I need to properly use my break. Then again, I can pretty much just lounge around in the break room located in the back. But, better than standing around here. With these thoughts, I walked down the hallway…

“Ahaha, now that’s youth.”

“Woah!?”

Suddenly, someone tapped their hand on my shoulder. I reflexively turned around, and was met with another maid wearing similar clothes to Masamune, her black hair tied up into a ponytail. She’s the store manager, now grinning at me.

“E-Excuse me?”

“Hm? I mean, I was just thinking how great it is to be young. When I was your age, I was living my days in passion too.” The store manager nodded to herself.

Aren’t you pretty young yourself? Just looking at your outer appearance, you look like you’re in your early twenties. What you’re saying makes you sound like an old man though.

“Still, I was surprised to find out Rabbit-chan had a boyfriend.”

“What?” I looked at her in shock.

Of course, ‘Rabbit’ refers to Masamune’s name while working here.

“Fufu, good stuff, good stuff. Rabbit-chan is cute, so she has a lot of fans here, but her sharp attitude leads her to be more of a lonely existence. I was worried that she might not have any friends to begin with, but if there’s a boyfriend, then I can rest assured.”

“Um, store manager, it pains my heart to say this, but I’m not her boyfriend.”

“Wha? Really? Boring.”

“Boring…”

“I was hoping that I could tease small Rabbit-chan about this for a while.”

“……”

Man, I wonder why, this store manager sure feels like a certain rich lady out there.

“So, you’re friends with Rabbit-chan?”

“Something like that.”

“I figured. You were having such a joyful talk just now. First time I’ve seen her like that.” The store manager laughed.

That just now looked joyful?

“Rabbit-chan sure doesn’t open up to other people, almost like she’s building a wall around her.”

“……”

“That’s why I was shocked to hear about your case here. She randomly said ‘I’ll bring a friend over’, you know.”

“……”

Well, she’s not wrong. Usami Masamune has trouble putting trust into other people, which is why she sounds so cold and distant.

“Make sure you take care of her, okay?”

“…I know that.”

Isn’t even up to discussion. We promised during the school festival after all. Even if she’s building up a wall, I’m gonna break that down. And right as I was thinking that—

“Hm? Did something happen over in the cafe?”

Looking over, I saw a maid jogging towards the manager, the two whispering to each other. Hm? Maybe some troublesome customer arrived? Either way, it’s not my responsibility. I’ll just let them do their thing, and take my break. I started walking, aiming for the break room, when…

“Hold on a second.” Someone grabbed me from behind.

It was the store manager, giving me a single order as I was left confused.

“You’ll be working in the cafe now.”

“Wha?”

“Also, no breaks. Big trouble, help Rabbit-chan.”

“Help…?”

I was asking for more information, but the store manager just pushed my back along. The main cafe was equipped with several tables, like you would expect from a cafe. What gathered my attention is the table in the far back. There, I saw Masamune in her usual maid attire, and—

“…Seriously.”

When the full scenery entered my mind, I let out a groan. Sitting at the table was a girl wearing a frilly goth loli dress not losing against the maid dress in the slightest. She had her black hair tied up into twintails, and showed a smirk at my appearance.

“Jirou-kun, that’s where you say ‘Welcome back, young lady’, and not ‘Seriously’, you know?”

It was Suzutsuki Kanade. The only daughter of our school’s board chairman showed me a gracious smile.

×

“Have a seat. I just paid so you two can spend some time with me.” Suzutsuki said, as Masamune and I stood shocked in front of the table.

She paid for us? I looked over at the store manager, whose pupils had changed into $ symbols, gesturing us to sit down. That damn Devil Suzutsuki, she probably bribed her, right. What is this, some VIP pass?

“Y-You know that this is a maid cafe, right? Why are you acting like this is some hostess bar?” Masamune grit her teeth as she sat down facing Suzutsuki.

Having a maid sit with you at a table is not part of the service at this cafe. Also, the same goes for people working in the kitchen, like me. Thanks to that, all the customers and maids were directing their attention towards us. This is some kind of public embarrassment, alright.

“Also, why would some rich lady like you come to a maid cafe?”

“What’s the problem? I passed by this place during my shopping trip, and I spotted you wearing such an adorable uniform. Not to mention that Jirou-kun was further back in the kitchen. Now I could only come inside, you know.”

“What’s that even mean? You just came here to tease us again, didn’t you.”

“It seemed interesting, so of course.”

“Don’t walk into a maid cafe for that reason alone.” I complained, and sat down myself.

Since Suzutsuki is wearing her uniform, she probably had some business at the school. And then she just happened to pass by this cafe…Hm? Something doesn’t add up.

“Hey, where is Konoe?”

That’s right, Konoe Subaru is nowhere to be found, despite her usually always clinging to Suzutsuki, as she is her butler.

“Ah, I shook him off just now.”

“What?”

“‘Young lady, where have you gone!?’, he said. I wanted to see him panic a bit while trying to follow my traces like a hamster stuffing its cheeks with food, and lost him.”

“Your personality is as rotten as always, I see!”

“Eh? My, you’re embarrassing me. I didn’t think you would praise me.”

“That sure wasn’t anything resembling praise, you know.”

How positive can you be? No, how cruel can you be, leaving your butler alone like that. She must be worrying a lot right about now.

“It’s fine, I sent him an email saying ‘I’ll be travelling for a while’.”

“Even small brats leave a better message when they run away from home.”

“Don’t make such a scary face, will you. Even I have days where I want to be alone.”

“That’s fine, but don’t trouble Konoe that much.”

“You really are as kind as always when it comes to Subaru.” Suzutsuki smiled, and turned her gaze towards Masamune. “So then, dear maid, what kind of service are you offering here?”

“Ah, then please have a look at our menu and decide for…Wait, why do I have to speak all politely to you like this!?”

“How rude, I am a customer right now.”

“So who would become your maid, huh!?” Masamune averted her gaze from Suzutsuki.

“How cruel. You won’t even say ‘Welcome home, young lady’ to me?”

“Welcome home, young lady.”

“Fufu, all stiff and awkward. You’re like a template tsundere.”

“Wha…who’s a tsundere!? I’m not doing this for you, okay!”

“That’s what a tsundere would say.”

“What do you mean!?”

“You don’t understand it, my dear Rabbit-san?”

“It’s Usami! Not Usagi!”

“But, it does say ‘Rabbit’ on your nameplate?”

“Urk…that’s just because the manager put that on me…”

“Hmm, I see, Rabbit-chan.”

“Don’t call me Rabbit-chan!”

“…Can’t you get along some more?” I broke between the two.

Their compatibility really is just the worst. They’re average commoner and rich lady, and even when they’re maid and customer, that does not change.

“Fufu, let me think. How about we have a bit of fun? Dear maid, I’d like to order this ‘Doodle Omelette’. You’ll write a message on there for me, right?”

“Fine by me, I’ll go ahead and write ‘F**K YOU’ just for you.”

“Also, I would like the ‘Picture Time~’ option too.”

“I don’t mind, but you’re probably better off without it. I’m really bad when it comes to taking pictures.”

“Oh yeah, you were really against any photoshoots, right.”

This ‘Picture Time~’ service basically allows you to take a picture with the maid you prefer. From what I heard, Masamune is pretty popular, and gets a lot of requests like these, but she rejects them every time. She really hates taking pictures.

“I don’t mind, but the store manager will probably stop it.”

“What?”

“You know, we did this before, but the customer’s face ended up all twisted and distorted.”

“……”

“The second time, the customer didn’t have any head left.”

“……”

“And for the third time, there stood some unfamiliar girl with white clothing behind the customer, trying to reach for the camera…”

“Alright, Masamune. I get how bad you are at taking pictures, so calm down.”

That’s right, the place she’s living at is a possessed property—a real-life haunted house. Since the rent there is fairly cheap, Masamune is trying her best and still lives there, but to think this would even influence her taking pictures. Also, she’s clearly being possessed no matter how you look at it.

“Hey, why not have your place get exorcised at least once?”

It might not be on the level of Kureha, but I equally am not the best at dealing with the occult. Thinking of my friend being possessed by a ghost has me shivering.

“…! N-N-No need to worry. But…I’m happy that you’re worried about me…” Masamune suddenly grew silent, all the while blushing furiously.

…The heck is that about? Did her consciousness finally get swallowed up by that ghost? Ahh, please don’t. If so, then I can’t be staying here. It’s time to exorcise this evil ghost. I should call a nun first.

“Fufu, you are unexpectedly close, I see.”

There, Suzutsuki suddenly opened her mouth.

“Wha…D-Don’t get the wrong idea, Suzutsuki Kanade! Me and that stupid chicken aren’t that close or anything!”

“Really? Even though you work together at a part-time job?”

“That’s just a return for me offering the stupid chicken the summer homework…”

“So it was an equivalent exchange?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“I see, so you’re not even that close at all.”

“Urk…”

“And yet, you’re friends despite that.”

“Urgh…I-I wasn’t saying that…”

“But, there’s no particular reason you’re working together, right?”

“~~~! B-But! We did eat lunch at my place before!”

“…Lunch? Just the two of you?”

“That’s right! Together…and just the two of us…we ate lunch together, so we are still fairly good friends!” Masamune puffed out her chest.

That sure is vague. Not to mention that she’s starting to contradict herself compared to what she initially said. Are we close or not? I mean, I’d categorize us as normal friends, but…

“I see. That would mean—that Jirou-kun and I are also fairly good friends.”

“Eh?” Masamune lost her confident expression, and froze up.

“After all, he ate lunch at my home before too.”

“Wha…” Masamune almost fell off her chair.

Oh yeah, that did happen. It happened back during April after the leisure land incident. She treated me to some food after my injuries were healed, I think.

“B-But! It wasn’t just the two of you, right!”

“Indeed, Kureha-chan and Subaru were with us. We’re all very close, almost like a family you could say.”

“F-Family…”

“Not to mention that…he used my bed during that time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?”

“Don’t misunderstand, I just had him rest because of his injuries. He didn’t stay over.”

“R-Really? Don’t say such misleading things.” Masamune let out a sigh.

However, she would regret that moments later.

“—But, I actually stayed over at Jirou-kun’s place before.” Suzutsuki dropped a bombshell.

“!?” Masamune froze up beautifully.

In response to that, the rich lady continued in a calm manner.

“When I ran away from home, he let me stay over.”

“R-Ran away from home…!”

“It was a lot of trouble, you know? When staying over at his home, I was forced to wear a maid uniform.”

“How did that happen!?”

“Isn’t that obvious? I became his maid, so I had to properly serve him.”

“…!? That’s a lie! There’s no way that happened…”

“I’m not lying. You should be able to tell, right, Usami-san.”

“Urk…!” Masamune gripped the hem of her skirt, pulling it down in frustration.

Following that, she directed her gaze over at me.

You are reading story Mayo Chiki! at novel35.com

“What’s this about, stupid chicken!? What are you making your classmate do!?”

“D-Don’t jump to conclusions! There’s a proper reason for that!”

“Reason…So what she said is true!?”

“Well…Yeah.”

“~~~!”

“Come on, don’t look at me like I’m some shounen manga villain!”

I can’t deny that what Suzutsuki said is the truth. It happened during Golden Week, when I had Konoe stay over after she ran away from home, and Suzutsuki started some weird ‘let’s see who is more worthy of being a servant of this family’ contest, with her being a maid vs the butler Konoe. But, now she’s using a rather suggestive way of phrasing things. She’s making it sound like I’m actually into this sort of stuff.

“I-I’ve underestimated you! I didn’t think you were that much of a pervert!”

“Calm down, and properly think about it!”

“You made Suzutsuki Kanade wear a maid uniform, right!?”

“There’s a proper reason for that!”

“Not to mention that you tied her up on the bed, and violated her the entire night…”

“Who mentioned anything like that!? Do I really look like that much of a pervert?! Look at me!”

“Eh…”

“Why are you staying quiet there!”

“I mean, the second you walked into this cafe, you were ogling the maids, right.”

“I was not!?”

“Be careful, Usami-san, he is very passionate towards maids…Especially towards the garter belt.”

“Don’t add anything unnecessary, you wench!”

“…I knew it.”

“Why are you agreeing like that!?”

“When he stayed at my residence, he said ‘I want to get hung up with a garter belt’.”

“I do not remember awakening to some messed up fetish like that!”

No matter what I say, they will take it the wrong way. Also, that nasty rabbit is known to always get the wrong idea. It’s like she’s living on misunderstanding things. Are these two actually pretty close?

“Masamune, let me just say one thing. Nothing questionable happened, okay.”

“Even though you made her wear maid clothes?”

“She decided to wear those herself, okay. Not to mention that Suzutsuki wasn’t the only one staying over. Konoe was with her, and Kureha was at home too.”

“Eh? R-Really? So, there was no lewd roleplay going on all night?”

“Of course not. Nothing like that happened.”

“……Okay. I don’t know the details, but if nothing happened, then that’s fine. You better be thankful, I actually am putting my trust in you.”

“Yeah, thanks. Though I was just wondering, why are you so desperate about this?”

“Eh?”

“I mean, this entire conversation.”

She didn’t have to bite into every small thing, right? I feel like Suzutsuki was just making up stuff to get more reactions out of her too.

“T-That’s…you know. Wouldn’t you hate it if a friend of yours was into some nasty stuff? That’s why I couldn’t help but feel curious. You are innocent in the end, so what’s it matter!” Masamune explained with a strong tone in her voice, as she averted her gaze.

About that, I guess? I do know people in my class who are perverts. Like Tamura, who openly stated ‘My head exists to be stepped on by a beauty!’, or something like that. For him, it’s already too late. Even bleach can’t clean his rotten brain.

“…Jeez.”

Either way, that concludes me being accused, I guess. All this maid nonsense is making my head spin. Like some garter belt is enough to make me go crazy.

“You’re too naive, Usami-san.” There, Suzutsuki spoke up with an oddly serious tone. “It’s impossible to dismiss the possibility of Jirou-kun’s excessive interest in the maid moe at this state.”

“Shut up, Suzutsuki. Are you trying to rile things up again?”

“You be quiet, Jirou-kun. Frankly speaking, you’re in a grey to black area. No matter what you say with your mouth, we don’t know what you truly feel.”

“What I truly feel?”

“For example, stuff like ‘That’s not a skirt! It’s a restrictive tool to hold back the true strength of a garter belt!’, you know.”

“Are you saying that a garter belt is that powerful!?”

To a level where you have to use a skirt to suppress its strength!? Like hell anybody would believe that!

“That does make sense, yes.” Masamune nodded to herself.

“…!? Hold up, are you just blindly believing her nonsense now?!”

“Huh? What are you talking about, stupid chicken. I’m trying to say that a part of your unorthodox interests—might be deeply rooted in your interest for maids.”

“……”

Okay, hold on Masamune-san. What are you talking about?

“We should probably confirm that as quickly as possible.”

“Agreed. Jirou-kun is our friend after all, and we have the duty to protect our friends. It wouldn’t be good if something bad happened here at this maid cafe.”

“How much of a maid fanatic am I in your eyes!?”

They’re treating me like I was a ticking time bomb now.

“But, how can we confirm that?” Masamune put one hand on her jaw, thinking.

Immediately after that…

“Rest assured, I have an idea.” Suzutsuki showed a grin. “You just have to show your garter belt to Jirou-kun.”

“………”

Now hold on. What exactly did she come up with now?

“Wha…Y-You! What are you talking about!”

It seems like Masamune agreed with me on that one. She even pulled down her skirt in a panic, almost as to preemptively hide what was beneath that.

“You really don’t understand it, Usami-san. Right now, you are a maid that you can find anywhere. Basically, if Jirou-kun can win against your seduction, that means he’s not a maid fanatic.”

“I get where you’re coming from, but…S-S-Seduction!?”

“I called it that way, but it’s not anything complicated. You just have to faintly lift up your long skirt, and flash your garter belt to him.”

“Wha!?”

“Of course, adding ‘Please forgive me, Master…’ with tears in your eyes.”

“This feels like some messed up roleplay, you know?!”

“You can’t do that? Aren’t you Jirou-kun’s friend? Right now, it’s most important that we find out if he holds such an unorthodox interest or not, remember?”

“Urk…”

“Or, is this what I think it is? Is this the pattern where you actually have feelings for Jirou-kun, but you don’t want to show any embarrassing sight of yours in front of him, which makes you hesitate because of that?”

“Wha—”

Psssshhh, steam started rising from Masamune’s head, as she blushed furiously.

“L-L-L-Like hell that’s true!”

“Eh? You don’t like him, but actually love him?”

“N-N-No, of course not! There’s no way I would like this stupid chicken! Not love him either! There’s nothing!”

“I see, then hurry up and lift up your skirt.”

“!?”

“It’s fine, you don’t need to show your underwear, just flash your garter belt.”

“~~~!” Masamune started tearing up, and slowly confirmed her surroundings.

Joining her, I saw that most customers had left by now. At the same time, a majority of the maids had returned to their own work, not paying us any attention. This was a chance. A fortunate good timing. No matter what may happen at this table, only we would know.

“………U-Understood, my lady.”

After a long silence, Usami Masamune declared these words with a feeble voice. She must have made up her mind, as she spoke up like a maid, and stood up. Her long apron dress swayed in the movement, and she moved in front of me. Following that, she put her hands on her skirt—

“……!”

As her eyes were tearing up fully with embarrassment, she slowly raised her skirt. What appeared were snow white over-knee socks. Black and white: Black enameled shoes and the white contrast of the socks. The further the skirt was lifted up, the more an adorable ribbon on the knee socks appeared. Her skirt fluttered even further, until I was allowed to see her pure white garter belt.

“……”

Silence followed, awkwardly filling the atmosphere. And then…The girl spoke up with quivering lips, trying her hardest to not cry.

“…P-Please forgive me, Master…!”

“………”

T-The heck is this. In terms of exposure, this isn’t any different from a normal miniskirt. And yet…

“—!”

Crap. I don’t really get it, but this situation is dangerous. A maid—Masamune—was carefully lifting up her skirt to the very limit. This black and white apron dress, the adorable frills everywhere, the snow white over-knee socks, her flushed cheeks, her dampened eyes, her physique quivering in embarrassment, and the garter belt in my sight—

“……”

…I can’t. I’ll stop trying to hide it. I can’t hide my true feelings anymore. Doing so would just be rude towards Masamune…No, this maid in front of me. I will confess right here. I like them, I love maids a lot. Garter belts are true culture!

“—What a shame, time’s up it seems.”

It happened right when I wanted to confess these feelings inside of me. Suzutsuki suddenly opened her mouth, to which Masamune frantically pushed down her skirt. Immediately after—

“Young lady!”

The front door of the cafe opened up in a storm, a familiar alto voice reached our desk in the back—It was Konoe Subaru, Suzutsuki Kanade’s personal butler, totally out of breath.

“I’ve been searching for you, young lady.”

“My, Subaru, I’m shocked you knew I was here.”

“It was just a coincidence. I was walking down the street, when I saw you through the window.”

“I see, so it was similar to what I did.” Suzutsuki smiled gently like nothing happened.

So basically, she realized that Konoe passed in front of the door, and told Masamune to stop. That was dangerous…if Konoe saw this situation just now…It seems like she could only see Suzutsuki through the window.

“I’m sorry for suddenly running off like that.”

“No, I’m just glad you’re okay…So, what are you doing here, Jirou?” She turned towards me with a stare.

After confirming the safety of her master, she must have gotten curious about me being here for some reason.

“Ahh, Jirou-kun is helping in this cafe. By the way, Usami-san is working part-time here.” Suzutsuki took the job of explaining the circumstances in my stead, to which Konoe narrowed her eyes with a dubious ‘…Hmmm’ reaction.

“Subaru, let’s hurry back to the residence.”

“Yes, young lady, let’s.”

Suzutsuki stood up from her seat, and waved her hand at us with ‘See you another time. Do your best with your work, Usami-san’. Konoe followed after her. And, after we’ve watched the two off…

“…I sure feel tired.” Masamune let out an exhausted sigh.

Not exactly surprising, I couldn’t help but agree. Suzutsuki is always causing chaos, and now this stress is gone, so I feel like I just ran a marathon.

“Hm?”

Right after Suzutsuki was gone, a certain doubt filled my heart. Thinking about it rationally, something was odd about this whole incident. Judging from what Suzutsuki said during the summer festival, she’s bad at dealing with Masamune, even referring to her as her natural enemy. Maybe she had a different reason that led her to come here?

“But, good for you. We confirmed that your tastes aren’t unorthodox at all. But…that just now sure was embarrassing.” Masamune must have remembered the whole garter belt thing right now, and started blushing again.

…I can’t tell her. If she shows me that kind of face, I don’t dare to tell her I actually completely fell for the charm of a maid. Damn it, what’s wrong with liking maids? Is it bad to feel eroticism with a garter belt? Well, I sort-of feel like an outlaw saying this.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t suddenly run amok in a maid cafe either way.”

“Hmpf, of course. Such a crime has never happened in this country before.”

“You can say that again. Then again, I probably won’t visit a maid cafe again.”

Working there part-time is fun and all, but the cost for being a regular at a maid cafe is no joke. I could use up the money we get from Mom, but Kureha would kill me in the process. That’s why, today is probably the last day I will be coming here. Farewell, my beloved maids. Let’s meet again, garter belts.

“…Eh?” However, Masamune looked at me in surprise. “R-Really? You won’t come here again?”

“Hm? I mean, yeah? I was supposed to only work here today.”

“Urk…that’s true, but…”

For some reason, Masamune suddenly grew quiet…? Well, whatever. With Suzutsuki gone, I should go back to the kitchen or I’ll get an earful. I’m a bit curious about Masamune’s reaction just now, but I can just ask her after my shift. I turned around, and was about to walk away, when—

“W-Wait!”

Suddenly, someone grabbed the hem of my shirt. Turning around, Masamune looked up at me like a small child asking their mother to buy them something. And with no warning at all, she spoke up.

“…Stop by again.”

“Huh?”

“I-I’m telling you to come work here again another time. The store manager is constantly complaining about the lack of personnel in the kitchen, so she’d be happy. And, if you come over again…I’ll show you my homework in the future too.”

“………”

I mean, I don’t mind. Getting homework for free sounds mighty juicy, but coming here again to work…

“W-What’s the big problem? Shouldn’t be that bad of a deal, right…” Masamune sounded oddly anxious, devoid of her usual confident tone.

…Ahh, I see. I finally understand what’s going on. She probably doesn’t want to work here all on her own. The store manager mentioned that she wasn’t getting along with any of her colleagues. That’s why she wanted a friend around that would make her feel at ease…

“…Alright.”

After thinking about it for a moment, I agreed to Masamune’s request.

“R-Really?”

“Yeah. But, only from time to time. I can’t come here every day.”

I’m not part of a club, but I do get personal fighting lessons from Konoe and Kureha, so I can’t exactly skip out on that.

“O-Okay.” Masamune blushed yet again, seemingly out of relief this time.

…Yeah, this is fine. If she’s feeling better thanks to it, I don’t mind stopping by once in a while. After all, we’re friends.

“U-Um…stupid chicken.”

“Hm?”

“Ah…well…um…” Masamune stuttered over her own words for a moment, only to continue. “Thanks!”

Leaving behind these awkwardly conveyed words, Masamune ran towards the kitchen.

“……”

That surprised me. To think that nasty rabbit would actually thank me like that. Considering how twisted she normally is, I never expected that.

“Well, won’t hurt once in a while.”

It’s not like I was happy to receive this gratitude from a maid. Also, I know I’m repeating myself but…when she’s honest, Masamune sure is cute.

“Anyway, better get back to the kitchen myself.” I muttered to myself, and made my way to the kitchen.

Also, why did Masamune run off to the kitchen as well? She’s responsible for the inside of the cafe, right? Well, she probably just wanted to get away after saying thank you.

“—Hm?”

There, I found something dropped on the floor. Approaching it and picking it up, I realized it was a phone with a cute pink design. Does this belong to Masamune by any chance? Must have dropped it while running away.

“Waaah, she’s pretty girly in some things, huh.”

I happened to see the display of the phone, and how she had an adorable rabbit as a screensaver. Despite hating the idea of being called rabbit, she sure loves them, huh.

“Hmmm? But, this…Ah, what is she doing? She doesn’t have the phone in silent mode.”

She probably forgot about setting it up that way. Seriously, and you tell me to work properly? What if your phone rang in the middle of work? Oh yeah, not that it matters since she doesn’t have any friends…

“……”

Oh yeah, thinking about that, she said she changed some of the ringtones for specific people. If so, I wonder if she did that for me, and what song she used.

“……”

On a whim, curiosity got the better of me, and I called her phone. I couldn’t help but want to know, okay.

“Oh.”

There, the ringtone started playing. From the sound itself, it sounded like a musical box version. Hmm, I wonder, this calm and warm melody, I heard this before. In middle school, I feel like someone played this during a choir. It was pretty popular in grade and middle school too, so it was often sung for graduation ceremonies and so on. Um, I think it was called…

“Y-You heard it, right…?”

There, I heard a quivering voice. When I turned towards the source of the voice, I spotted a maid with twintails—Usami Masamune. She probably realized that she dropped her phone and came back. Seeing me with her phone in hand, her body was shaking in anger…Oh lord, I should probably…run away.

The second I judged so, my body reacted automatically, and I just started dashing towards the entrance of the cafe, jumping out into the streets.

“Ah, don’t run away!” A sharp voice screamed.

As expected, she came running after me. Turning around, she held the hem of her skirt with both her hands, and chased me. Thanks to that, she gathered all the attention from the people walking down the street. I feel like this will turn into a great advertisement. The time of day must have progressed quite a bit, as the streets were colored in a strong orange. As I ran along the street, Masamune’s phone was still vibrating and playing the song. This musical box melody seemed so familiar even now…

“…Ah.”

I finally remembered the name of the song. Man, I actually can’t blame her for being angry. Seriously, this doesn’t match with her usual nasty personality. After all, the name of the song is ‘Believe’.

“…Jeez.”

That stupid rabbit. Even if you only have me as a friend you can rely on, you actually went and used that? Damn it, you’re making me feel all embarrassed because of that.

“S-Sorry! I was just a bit curious, that’s all!”

“Shut up, stupid chicken! It’s fine! You probably won’t die!”

“What do you plan on doing!?”

“Shut up shut up shut up! It’s all your fault! N-N-Now that it’s come to this, I will teleport you up to heaven while you listen to this song!”

“You’re trying to send me on a trip to hell, aren’t you!?”

Well, I guess I should at least run until I come up with a method to make her calm down. If I went down on my knees, she might just forgive me. I mean, you know. That’s what makes us friends, right? With these thoughts in mind, I kept running from Masamune who continued to scream ‘Wait right there!’ behind my back.

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