Chapter 6
Even though it was winter vacation, it wasn’t like I’d lose my job.
If it was a food and drink business, that would be obvious, and Amane had his own shift, so he had no intention of complaining about that, but going to work the day after Christmas felt exhausting in many ways.
I hadn’t put in any work for Christmas, the busiest time in December, so it would probably be better to put in some work other than that, which meant I’d started my shift this afternoon, but I ran into Miyamoto in the changing room.
“How was Christmas?”
As Miyamoto lightly asked, wearing her necktie, she thought of the second day of Christmas, wondering what Amane would say to her.
"After school, Eve spent time with her friends normally, and on Christmas day, she and I had a peaceful time together.’’
"You're so withered...’’
"It's withered, or rather, it's something we've decided on together. I've sent you a Christmas full of satisfaction.”
It wasn't Mahiru's wish that we were going on a date that was typical of couples. We stayed the night, but it was healthy, and we really did spend some peaceful time together.
From Mahiru’s point of view, spending a relaxing time in peace and quiet was more than enough, and on Christmas Day, as usual, she was just standing next to him.
N o, rather than just being next to her, we cooked and played games together, but generally speaking, it was probably the sam e as usual.
"What about you, Miyamoto-san?"
I remembered the shift schedule, so I knew that Miyamoto had gone to work for Christmas as well. I felt like I didn't need to rest today, but when I looked at his face, I couldn't see that he was tired.
It's just that I feel like there's some kind of distressing color to it, but I don't know if it's okay to ask it directly, so I ask it softly, and it makes an easy-to-understand and sour expression. "-Are you going to ask me that?”
“I'm sorry.”
“Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. ...Well, it was a grumbling tournament for Rino, who entered her part-time job and rolled in after she got home.’’
"Ahh.„”
I can guess what happened at the Christmas grumbling contest.
For some reason, Miyamoto and Ohashi must have been close enough to casually enter the house because they’d interacted since they were young.
"As expected, but..”
"Yes.”
"..Ah, alcohol isn't good."
"What is it? Did you get drunk after drinking so much?”
Borrowing the power of alcohol to forget about bad moods is apparently an adult thing, so I don’t think the drinking party itself is anything out ofthe ordinary, but for that matter, Miyamoto was acting strange.
From the moment we met, I'd thought she was slightly different from usual, but as she spoke, her behavior became more suspicious, and there was something more bewildering about it
“No, I'm not drunk or anything, but... No, ahh."
“I'm not drunk or anything.”
"I'll never drink again."
“What kind of blunder..?”
Since he was clearly declaring that he was going to cut the liquor, he must have done something he couldn't tell others.
It didn’t really feel real to me, since my parents weren’t the type to drink alcohol they liked, and they weren't drunk at all when they drank it, or they were saving a lot, but seeing Miyamoto made me realize that alcohol was a terrifying thing that paralyzed people's brains. As Amane strengthened his perception, a scowl came over Miyamoto’s face.
"I don't think Fujimiya's the type to imagine it”
“Then what is it..?”
“For the sake of my honor and Rino's, I'll keep my mouth shut."
"Y-Yeah.”
“..You don't have to worry about it Seriously."
“Ifyou say so, Miyamoto-san.”
The moment he said something he’d done while drunk, he thought it might not be good, but poking him too much would put him at a disadvantage in our direction, so Amane swallowed his doubts, since his motto was to stay away from the dangers of princes.
It's hard to tell what's good or bad to touch, so it's better not to ask anything if you don't know.
“You're really smart to back d own now."
“I don't want to get kicked by a horse for prying into other people's love lives or interfering with them.”
“*cough*”
Miyamoto, who had been sitting and taking a sip from the plastic bottle to calm down,burst out, so Amane hurriedly pulled a tissue out of the bag he hadn’t put away yet and held it out to her.
Miyamoto, water spilling from her mouth, looked up at me with round eyes.
“..Huh? What, did it look like that?"
“On the other hand, did you think I hadn't noticed? It's, umm, pretty easy to understand,"
I watched as Miyamoto obediently wiped her mouth after receiving the tissue, and when I answered honestly, I could tell that her cheeks were turning faintly red.
"..About this.”
“I don't think Oohashi-san herself is aware of it at all, but Kayano is perfect, or rather, Kayano was the one who suggested it If you look closely at it, well, it's easy to understand."
“I'll catch Kayano later.”
“Sorry, Kayano. I didn't mean to sell it..”
I sent a message to Souji, who had gone to the store ahead of me due to his morning shift, with a sudden feeling of apology for getting him involved and a desire to give up.
The look in Miyamoto’s eyes grew sharper when she realized her juniors had a firm grasp on her, but there was nothing she could do about it now.
As Amane tried his best to keep his composure and wait for the storm of Miyamoto's feelings to subside, he roughly scratched his own head and sighed deeply.
"..Leave me alone, even if Rino's acting weird."
“H-Hah.. Strange?"
“I don't know. It's just that I'm really sorry if you're acting weird, but please don’t ask me anything."
“Understood.”
'You're so honest there, it's scary”
“I don't want to get caught up in a love affair."
“Hey, you.”
“It hurts, Miyamoto-san."
To put it bluntly, Miyamoto shoved both of my temples with her fists.
Amane didn’t have a clue what kind of state Miyamoto’s "weird" referred to, so he went outside, but after a little while, he came to understand what she meant by "strange."
Oohashi, who had apparently come to work today, was acting very suspiciously.
Normally, she’s so high-strung that she’d have added thirty percent more Chitóse, and she’ll get involved with Amane with a smile, and even act charming to the regulars, but today Oohashi's calm, or rather, her footwork, is heavy and docile.
The brightness of her smile had dropped a little, but it wasn’t as if she didn’t have a smile, and she treated Amane and the others normally, but her attitude toward Miyamoto was lower than that of a shy person.
Normally, she wouldn't care when she was teasing or poking at Miyamoto for sure. In feet, she was running away rather than avoiding it.
I don't feel any emotion that she hates me, but I do feel that she doesn't want to make eye contact with me or talk to me, so I can't blame her for looking at me suspiciously, wondering if I might have done something really bad.
Every time he was blatantly avoided, Miyamoto looked like she’d bitten down on a bitter pill, and her complexion was getting darker and darker, to the point where Amane and the other employees became awkward.
You could even say that it was awkward enough to exchange glances with an upperclassman you didn’t know for the first time today, even though you didn’t usually take shifts with Amane, saying, "That feels bad" and “It's bad, isn’t it?”
Of course, they didn’t show any such attitude toward customers, but regular customers who were close to the employee must have sensed something was off, because they were having conversations like, "I wonder if something happened to Daichi-chan and Rino-chan," "Miyamoto-kun voted for saying something tactless to Rino," and "Well, I’d like to believe that’s not the case," so Amane and Souji both broke out in a cold sweat when they realized this was bad.
During the peak time of day, busyness won out over awkwardness between the two of them, so there was nothing dangerous about it, but the carnage in Amane and the others’ hearts was around the time when the crowds, seats, and empty spaces started to stand out.
The feet that floating between the two of them wasn’t an aggressive atmosphere like tingling was the least reassuring factor, but as 6r as the people around them were concerned, it was completely unsettling.
"Wouldn’t it be better to let her take a break, since it won’t be work..?”
“Right?”
Even the normally indifferent and calm Souji felt it wasn’t good enough to show on his face, so Amane wondered if he should say it, but he made up his mind and headed over to Itomaki, who was observing the two of them, wondering how to mediate.
“Owner, we don’t have many customers right now, and we’re shorthanded, so shouldn’t we have the two of you take a short break?”
There wasn’t much that Amane and the others could do, nor was it a curtain for Amane or the others to appear. They were the only ones who could solve the problem, and only the two of them could.
The best we can do is make time for that.
At Amane’s offer, Itomaki’s ob servational gaze remained unchanged; he simply smiled peacefully and nodded.
“I think it’ll be fine. Fujimiya-kun’s gotten pretty used to it, so it’s a good opportunity to show that he can do it without you, right?"
“You’re right. It’s bad compared to the two of you, but I still remember my work.” "Minase-senpai and I are here too, so I think it’ll be fine."
I thought it would be a little dangerous if it was just Souji and me, but the owner, Itomaki himself, was there, and even though we hadn’t talked much, Senpai was there.
I could turn this place around plenty, so I wanted Miyamoto and Ohashi to have a good talk behind the scenes, both to ventilate this indescribably awkward atmosphere and to do something about their relationship.
"So please hurry up and go."
“Hey, Senpai, aren’t you treating me poorly!?”
“Miyamoto-san was treating me poorly today, so I’U return the favor.”
He wouldn’t be scolded by Miyamoto any way. In feet, he was the one who wanted the opportunity, so it was probably best to give him a push, even if it was a little forceful.
As he physically pushed Miyamoto from behind, Amane plastered his face full of the customer service smiles he’d been training recently
“If you’re acting weird too, I’m going to get a little off-kitler. Or if you’ve already gotten into a fight, I want you to go all the way to the end and talk to me."
“I-It’s more like a fight.. Ah, I get it already. Owner, thank you for taking a break!”
"Here you go.”
"Rino!”
“Huh? Wh-What? Hey!”
It seemed like it was worth the push, so Miyamoto grabbed the confused Oohashi’s hand and half-forced her way into the rest area
That room was soundproof, so even if there were a few arguments, they wouldn’t be able to hear it out front. I believed they would be fine with violence and outbursts, so all that was left was to wait for the two of them to reconcile.
“You can be so pushy sometimes, Fujimiya-kun."
As Amane watched them go, Itomaki sent him a mischievous smile mixed with admiration and curiosity, but Amane returned a calm smile without any intention of riding on his teasing. "I’ll be repaying you, Miyamoto-san. I don’t know if I’ll ever be indebted to you.”
“Why don’t you get mad at me later?”
"..Owner, please protect me."
"Hehe, there’s no helping it."
As Itomaki laughed funnyly, Amane lightly bowed his head and made his way to the hall to answer the bell that rang from the audience.
“..I’m home."
About thirty minutes later, Miyamoto returned.
"Welcome back. The discussion is over without incident.. Miyamoto-san, I think you should focus on kitchen work for the rest of the day and cool your cheeks."
Unsurprisingly, he didn’t think the discussion was heating up at a level where he'd come back with swollen cheeks, and Amane was on the dismayed side.
Aside from the feet that her cheeks were red, she was back to normal, and it was easy to tell that the discussion hadn’t broken down.
Ohashi also came out from behind Miyamoto, but this one was bright red, but she didn’t seem angry, so she hurried back to her own business.
“..Did I offend you?”
"In the first place, I made you angry yesterday."
“What are you doing..?”
"It’s all my fault, but I was drunk, It’s not like getting drunk is the reason,"
“I’m not going to ask you what you did, but you must have offended her enough to get slapped."
He was probably reflecting on the feet that he didn’t object to Amane’s words.
“So, was that not good enough?"
“No.. No, that’s not it.. Ah..”
From the way Miyamoto spoke, it didn’t seem like there was a rift in their relationship, so in that regard, it was probably safe to relax.
“If it’s hard for you to say, I won’t ask, but please tell me if it'll have a serious effect on your future part-time job exchanges."
“..It'll probably be fine. I don't think Rino will run away, either."
“That's good to hear."
It would be painful for Amane, who adored the two of them, if it came down to the feet that the two upperclassmen at the part-time job he was close to had ended up breaking up, and it would probably be awkward for him to work part-Time in the future.
After the two of them disappeared behind the scenes, Souji and I had secretly discussed what to do next with each other in mind, but for the time being, I was relieved that my worries were unfounded.
As Amane let out a sigh of relief at the fact that they’d settled down in a circle for the time being, Miyamoto lowered her gaze with the same awkward expression as Amane and the others from earlier.
“..Sorry.”
"What did you apologize to me for?”
“No, I was just thinking about how I’ve caused you so much trouble and worry.”
“You've done so much for me, Miyamoto-san. Besides, it pains me to see you two having a felling out.”
"It's more like I'm the one who's one-sidedly at fault, but, well, yeah. That's a big help.”
I don’t know what really happened, but if Miyamoto says it's her fault, that’s probably it, and if she's reconciled with Ohashi on top of that, it makes no sense to make a fuss from an unrelated Amane
Ohashi, her face dyed with a different emotion than anger, glanced at me, or more accurately, at Miyamoto, and turned away in a huff.
Amane vaguely guessed what it was, but swallowed that it wasn't something to say, and then turned his gaze from Ohashi to Itomaki, who was by his side, and after that, he let out a soft sigh.
Souji seemed to notice this, too, as he walked over and whispered softly to Miyamoto.
"Umm, Miyamoto-san.”
“What is it, Kayano?”
“The owner is nervous, so I think you should be prepared."
“..Yeah...”
It was only natural, of course, but if they were to have this kind of less than a disagreement at work, the administrators would probably interrogate them or two.
It was certain that a different kind of hearing than a scolding would be waiting for Miyamoto, so Amane called out to her as if it had nothing to do with him, saying, "Good luck,” and went to retrieve the dishes left in the seat
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