My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend - Volume 6 - Chapter 5.10

12:46 P.M.: Even if You Forget, Fate Finds a Way

Mizuto Irido

We stopped people from lining up as lunchtime neared. After taking care of the rest of the customers in line, I could finally take a break and be free of the stupid customer service smile that I wasn’t used to wearing. Then, I’d spend the afternoon with Isana and Yume, going around the festival as I’d promised. But I wasn’t in the clear just yet.

“Hey, Irido, someone’s asking for you,” Kawanami said, calling me from the staff area.

“Me? Who?”

“Dunno, but it’s some gorgeous lady with an elementary schooler. You know them?”

A lady with an elementary schooler? There was only one person I could think of this being.

“Fine. I’ll go.”

“You look really annoyed.”

“Of course I am. Wouldn’t you be annoyed if your family came to where you worked?”

“Yeah...” He looked kind of unsatisfied but also understanding. “Good luck,” he said, lightly tapping me on the shoulder.

As I made my way through the classroom that had now calmed down quite a bit, I saw that Yume had already been called over by the same person.

“C’mon, Chikuma, say something to your big cousin Yume!”

“H-Huh? U-Uh...”

“Madoka-san, you don’t have to force him. Sorry, Chikuma-kun, you can just act normally, okay?”

As expected, it was Madoka-san. Yume had invited her, and she had said she was coming, but I had really hoped she wouldn’t. What a pain. Also, why did she bring her little brother? I felt bad for him. He was already really shy, but now he was in the midst of a high school cultural festival? Poor kid.

I moved closer to the high schooler and college student who’d made an elementary schooler red in the face.

“Oh,” Madoka-san reacted. “Mizuto-kun! I’ve heard all about how popular you are! Apparently you’re number one in your class?”

“I don’t remember there being any kind of ranking. Also, this is my only shift. I have other work as a cultural festival committee member.”

“Aw, you. Don’t be so shy. I saw the girls fawning over you!” she snickered. “I’m so proud!”

I didn’t want to deal with her, so I turned towards Yume. “Don’t slack off for too long. They’re not the only customers.”

“What’s your problem? You should treat her as nicely as you do the other customers. Sorry, Madoka-san, there are more customers than I thought, so...”

“No problem! We’ll just chill here. Go on!”

Yume bowed her head and left their table. Chikuma-kun followed her with his eyes. Well, generally speaking, anyone would start looking up to a new family member like her. Just generally speaking. I got up and left to seat new customers. Fortunately, a table had just opened up.

“How many in your party?” I asked.

“Two!”

There were two middle school girls. Judging by their small stature, they were probably first-years. One of them looked very outgoing, while the other had her eyes fixed on the ground. Are these the last customers?

We’d posted newspapers from the Taisho era on the walls and put some of the popular books from back then on the bookshelves. The girls stared at them in wonder as I guided them to their table.

Overall, we’d had a lot of middle school customers. They’d probably been invited by their older siblings as a way for them to check out their high school so they could decide whether or not they wanted to apply. Most likely I’d have already graduated by the time these girls would start high school.

When we arrived at the table, the more social-looking one began happily talking. “You look really good in that! You think so too, right?” she asked, turning to the other girl who was strangely staring at me for some reason.

I’d gotten used to the stares while wearing this outfit, but this girl was looking at me like I had something on my face. What’s her deal?

“Um...” she said slowly, furrowing her brow at me. “Have we...met before?”

“Huh?”

It was so sudden that I accidentally slipped out of work mode. Did she really ask me if we’d met before? I looked at her well-formed, languid face closely. Her hairstyle was difficult for me to describe—she wore it half down and half in pigtails. She had sharp, almond-shaped eyes.

I’d never been the best at remembering faces, but it was even harder to differentiate between younger people. They all just kinda blended together. Why was it that as I got older, it became harder to distinguish kids from one another?

“Sorry, but I don’t know who you are.”

“I see...” she said, seemingly disappointed.

“That’s rare,” the other girl spoke up. “I’ve never really seen you interested in a guy before. You always look at the guys in our class like they’re trash!”

“I just thought I recognized him, is all.”

“Oh, let me tell you somethin’,” the sociable girl said to me. “When she was in fifth grade, she saw...middle schoolers? Yeah, she saw a middle school couple kissing in a library, and it totally traumatized her, and now she hates guys!”

“Hey, he doesn’t need to know that!”

Okay, so the look she’s giving me is one of caution. But still, why did she think she recognized me?

“In that case, I’ll have one of our female staff take care of you two after I take your order. Will that be okay?”

“Y-Yes, please.”

Even while she was ordering, the man-hating girl kept staring at me. Yume shot me a look when I entered the staff area.

“Why were you talking to them for so long?”

“They were talking to me. But there aren’t as many customers now, so it’s not a big deal, right?”

“Uh-huh...” Yume glanced at the two girls. “They look like first-years.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“They’re so small.”

“Aren’t they all at that age?”

“Do you like middle schoolers?”

“I’m gonna hit you.”

It was true that I dated a middle schooler in the past, but that was when I was also a middle schooler. I wasn’t interested in continuing this weird conversation and being accused of something that wasn’t even remotely true, so I forcefully moved the direction back to work.

“When the food’s ready, can you take it to them instead? The girl with long hair hates guys.”

“Wow,” she said flatly. “Even a girl who hates guys talked to you?”

“Drop it already.”

I heard someone snickering and saw Madoka-san grinning at us. I wished the two of them would learn from Chikuma, who was quietly blowing on his black tea before drinking it.

“Ah—”

Just as I thought that, Chikuma bumped his elbow into the table as he raised the cup to his mouth. The saucer slipped off and was just about to fall to the ground and shatter...until someone with incredible reflexes caught it. It was the girl who hated guys. She exhaled with relief and held the saucer up to Chikuma.

“Here. Be careful.”

“Uh...” Chikuma took it while responding in a soft voice.

“Sorry about that! Thanks! You tell her too, Chikuma!” Madoka-san said.

His face was red from embarrassment, but he lifted his head and said, “Thank...you...”

She winced a little for some reason. “Whatever,” she coldly responded, before returning to her seat.

Apparently her hate towards guys extended to younger ones too. I thought back to the story I’d heard about her seeing a couple kiss as a fifth grader. Considering her age now, that would’ve meant it happened two years ago...

Then I started to realize something. Two years ago? A couple? Kissing? Library? Elementary schooler?!

“Uh...” It was on the tip of my tongue.

“The order for table two’s ready!” the chef called out, dispersing the weird thoughts floating around in my head.

How did that happen, again?