After leaving the haunted house, Amane was supporting Mahiru, who seemed somewhat tired from surprise and fear, as he headed for the rest area, but when he suddenly spotted a familiar figure behind him… “Ah,” he couldn’t help but let out his surprise in a deep voice.
“…Huh? Itsuki’s father…?”
Amane called out to his back in a timid tone, since he wasn’t too familiar with him, and the man turned around, standing tall as imposing as before.
He had handsome features, but there was no softness or looseness in his expression. He was a man of similar age to Shihoko and Shuuto, yet he wore an expression akin to a boulder. Relieved that he hadn’t made a mistake remembering his face, Amane straightened his back again. Mahiru, next to him, looked up at him curiously, so he whispered softly, “It’s Itsuki’s dad,” in a way he wouldn’t be noticed.
“It’s been a while. It may be hard to tell since I changed my hairstyle a little, but I’m Fujimiya.”
Daiki, Itsuki’s father, took a good look at Amane’s face and his face softened a little, his prior expression likely steered people away from him.
“Fujimiya-kun, huh? I didn’t recognize you.”
“Ahaha. Well, I was pretty gloomy last time.”
“That wasn’t the meaning I had in mind… I’m glad you’re looking so confident now. You don’t have to belittle yourself like that.”
Itsuki often grumbled at how often his father scolded him, but Daiki was rather fond of Amane, and he seemed to take Amane’s change in attitude favorably. When it came to his son, even Amane had to admit he was hardheaded, but other than that, he was calm and sensible, so even Amane didn’t find it hard to talk to him, and if anything, he liked their conversations.
Amane was left slightly bashful at Daiki’s honest words of praise, as his tone indicated how impressed he was. The man’s gaze shifted to Mahiru.
“What about this young lady?”
“Ah, umm. She’s the girl I’m dating.”
Amane couldn’t get a grasp on the social distance between him and Daiki, and that was why he ended up introducing her in such a detached manner. It was somewhat difficult to interact with your friend’s parents, so he had no choice but to do this. He could tell that Mahiru’s body stiffened subtly from the awkwardness and embarrassment, but she put on an angelic smile and bowed her head slightly. As far as Mahiru was concerned, he was an unfamiliar man, so she gave a response meant for strangers, but given Daiki’s personality, this was probably the right choice.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Shiina Mahiru. As I was introduced, I am dating Amane-kun.”
“How polite you are. My name is Akazawa Daiki, and I am Itsuki’s father.”
Daiki bent his hips politely in Mahiru’s direction, then briefly glanced at Amane. He felt like there was some implication behind it that he couldn’t put into words, but Amane pretended not to notice and smiled back at him.
“I see… Well, how should I phrase myself? I was unaware that you were dating a girl. I’m surprised I didn’t hear anything.”
“Nothing from Itsuki?”
“He basically doesn’t talk to me. I assume he doesn’t think there’s any need to tell me.”
“Well, I guess there’s no need to go out of his way to talk about his friend’s relationship.”
He almost sighed, thinking that Itsuki was as awkward as ever with his father, but he decided not to let that show.
“You’re dating Fujimiya-kun… Which means you’re taking care of my son’s foolishness as well. I’m always sorry for that.”
“No, I am the one indebted to Akazawa-san.”
“You don’t think he has caused you any trouble?”
“Of course not. He’s kind and considerate, and he’s always helping me out. I want to continue to be friends with Akazawa-san as well.”
Daiki breathed a sigh of admiration as Amane listened to Mahiru’s praise. He refrained from commenting that he was prone to meddling from time to time.
“…Fujimiya-kun, I’m glad you found a wonderful girl.”
“Well, my Mahiru’s nothing but a good girl.”
“P-Please don’t make jokes like that now!”
Mahiru hadn’t expected him to start praising her in front of his friend’s father, and her porcelain cheeks began to plainly flush over in an obvious manner.
Amane gave her a silent smile, and Mahiru lowered her eyes in embarrassment and casually jabbed him in the back away from Daiki. She didn’t use much strength, so it didn’t hurt him at all and left nothing but an itch. On the contrary, it brought a smile to his face instead.
“I’m glad to see you two are getting along so well, but I feel like I’m being shown something very blinding. It’s a moment to be happy about, however.”
“Sorry, I’ll be careful. By the way, have you stopped by our class already?”
“No, I had planned to, however… how should I word it… the atmosphere made it rather tough to enter.”
“Ahh…”
Daiki wasn’t very interested in events like this. He wasn’t the type to show any interest in manga or games, so it would be hard for him to be hosted by Amane’s class.
“Of course, I would trouble the students if I went in alone. After all, there is the problem of appearance.”
“In your case, I don’t think it’s how you look, Daiki-san. Would you like to join us? We’re in our own class, but I wanted to join as customers.”
“No, I can’t bear to get in your way. Not during your free time as a couple, that is. Besides… she’s in the classroom right now, isn’t she?”
“…Yeah, that’s right.”
“I don’t wish to put her on edge or make her awkward once she notices me. If she sees me face-to-face right now, it may hit her hard.”
Amane lowered his eyebrows at Daiki’s troubled smile, but he didn’t pursue the matter any further. Amane didn’t have much of a good feeling about the relation between Chitose and Daiki, but he did know that Daiki didn’t have any blatant malice toward her. Amane also knew that he was rejecting Chitose because he had his own thoughts on the matter.
Even though he knew that, as a friend, he wanted to help her overcome the problem if possible.
“Apologies for intruding. I’ll take my leave now.”
“But…”
“I don’t desire to ruin the festive mood. You two, do go enjoy yourselves.”
As Daiki left before Amane and the others could stop him, Amane sighed softly.
“…He still won’t accept… Chitose-san?”
“Yeah. …This is just how it is, but Daiki-san himself isn’t a bad person. It’s a classic case of people who can’t get along with each other. I don’t think Itsuki, Chitose, and Daiki-san’s personalities are compatible to begin with.”
Even Amane, who only had a slight interaction with him, could tell that Daiki was fundamentally a serious and stubborn person, the type that sticks to his methods.
Itsuki and Chitose, on the other hand, while they aren’t insincere, they don’t follow most people’s common sense—they’re flexible people who don’t act the way one would initially expect. They aren’t the type of people who would adjust themselves greatly when forced to, so it was natural that they wouldn’t obediently listen to Daiki’s demands. They weren’t compatible. But if asked to say whether Daiki was at fault, that wouldn’t be strictly true either, since while Daiki’s standards were somewhat high, they were still within the realm of common sense.
“It’s just that Daiki-san’s demands are a little too much of a hurdle right now. I’m not trying to hurt Chitose out of malice, but… I’m just troubled because there’s nothing I can do about it.”
If Daiki was easily convinced and would acknowledge Chitose, it would have long since happened already.
Amane didn’t think it was thought highly of a parent to interfere with their child’s romance to such an extent, but the feeling of wanting their child to have a better partner was one Amane could empathize with. Itsuki wasn’t one to talk much about it, and Amane didn’t think of it too much, but the Akazawa family was a prestigious one in the eyes of the public, which likely warranted harsher interference from his parents.
“It’d be nice if we could get him to approve of her somehow, but it’s not something we can solve.”
“You’re right. …I think those two really do suit each other, and they’re deeply connected. I don’t want them to be separated, or rather… I wish his father wouldn’t try to pull them apart.”
“Yeah. …Daiki-san feels that too, that’s why he’s thinking it’s best not to directly interfere right now. Things won’t improve until one side gives in or a compromise is made.”
When he sighed again, Mahiru also lowered her eyebrows in confusion, resting her head on Amane’s upper arm, and murmured softly, “I hope we can do something.”
✧ ₊ ✦ ₊ ✧
After parting ways with Daiki, he bought some food to bring with him and headed toward his own class while taking a break. Compared to the other classes, there was quite a long line at the reception desk. Even when they were on shift, they would look outside from time to time, but he could tell that it was more popular now than it was in the morning. They must have garnered quite the high reputation.
Although it was his own class, he came as a customer, and when he obediently arrived at the reception desk alongside Mahiru, he found his classmates busily looking over the list.
“Huh? Fujimiya and the Ang– …Shiina-san. Don’t tell me you’re here to help out.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not it. Thought I’d keep an eye on the customers. Also, I’m here to see how Itsuki and Chitose are doing.”
“Ah, they’re doing well. Well, you could say that.”
“What’s with that evasive tone?”
“No matter what I do, Itsuki always flashes his frivolousness.”
“That’s also one of his trademarks, no helping that.”
“That’s awful.”
It was normal for Itsuki to act all cheerful and giddy, and you couldn’t expect otherwise unless something serious happened. And with an event like this, Itsuki took it rather seriously when it came down to it, but his unrestrained personality started to surface. His frivolous nature wouldn’t disappear anytime soon.
Some students enjoyed that part of him, so he was a popular butler in his own way. After all, it was a student-hosted event, and he didn’t have to act disciplined like a real butler would.
“A table for two, right? You’ll probably have to wait a little while longer.”
“It can’t be helped since it’s so crowded here, I was prepared for it. …Fine with you, Mahiru? Are you not tired?”
“I’m fine. I-I’m just fatigued because of what we did earlier…”
“That’s because you were acting tough and went in.”
“…I don’t remember doing that.”
Mahiru averted her eyes. The way she acts really makes me want to tease her, Amane thought, but if he went too far with it, she would start sulking, so he decided to avoid bringing it up again. Instead, he whispered softly, “You promised to watch a horror movie with me, remember?” and she glared at him with eyes that flickered ever so slightly, but this time Amane feigned ignorance.
Even the receptionist glared along with her, saying, “Go do that elsewhere,” but all Amane could do was avert his eyes.
✧ ₊ ✦ ₊ ✧
A little while later, it was finally their turn, and at the receptionist’s urging, they entered into their own class… but since the two of them were familiar with how they rotated the waiters for greeting customers, Amane frowned in jest.
The receptionist had definitely relayed a message, and Itsuki and Chitose were acting as their waiters. The couple were smiling much more professionally than they did during practice, but their mouths twitched at Amane’s somewhat displeased face. They looked at him as if their little prank was a success, and even Amane’s expression started to tremble—in the creeped-out sense, of course.
“Welcome back, Milord, Milady!”
“Hey now, Itsuki. No chance that greeting was in the manual.”
They were fundamentally a maid and butler café, but guests were to be referred to as ‘customers,’ and Amane couldn’t help but wear a strained expression as they intentionally called him ‘milord’. Bashful, Mahiru was probably embarrassed at being called ‘milady’ and lowered her eyes timidly.
“No, no, not at all. It’s written in our top-secret manual, on a page reserved just for you two.”
“Don’t go making things up.”
“Now, now. Allow us to guide you to your seats.”
“It’s not good to give us special treatment in front of all these customers,” Amane reproached him with his gaze, but Itsuki paid no attention to his protests.
No matter what he said, it seemed pointless, so he reluctantly sat in the seat he was escorted to.
He was distracted by Mahiru’s graceful mannerisms as she sat down in the chair Itsuki had pulled out. Chitose smiled and asked, “Did you enjoy your break?” and held out the menu (that Amane had long since memorized) as she followed the procedure in the manual.
“Hm? Well, it was fun. Still got places we want to go to, though, so we’re going to keep wandering around after this.”
“I’m glad, I’m glad. I was hoping Mahirun would come and take a break sometime soon.”
“Really?”
“That’s right. She told me she wanted to have a good look around everywhere.”
He glanced over at Mahiru, whose cheeks were slightly flushed, “one A-set,” as she tried to divert the topic. She hadn’t shown much excitement about the cultural festival when they were at home, but in her own way, she seemed to be looking forward to spending time with Amane. He smiled a little at the adorable Mahiru and swore to ask her for more details later as he ordered the same thing. Realizing what he was thinking, she glared at him a little, but she didn’t seem to be against it, so he was relieved.
Chitose made no attempt to hide her bright smile when she heard the order and went to relay the order to the back. It was then that Amane suddenly remembered something. On his lap were a bag of donuts, which he then handed over to Itsuki. They were bite-sized and fried roundly, so it would be easy to eat when they were having a quick break. If he recalled correctly, they had toothpicks in the back, so the other staff could eat without getting their hands dirty.
“Ah, that’s right. Here, I brought you some snacks from another class. Let the others in the back have some when they’re on break as well.”
“Oh, hey, hey, hey!”
“I wanted to do it, so don’t worry. But if you’re going to be grateful, do it like a butler would…”
“Thank you for your kindness, milord…”
“Drop it, man. Also, enough of that joke already.”
“I ate lunch, but I’m still a little hungry,” Amane laughed, seeing Itsuki grinning with a cheerful expression. In his mind, however, he apologized in advance for what he was about to tell him.
“Hey, Itsuki.”
“Hm?”
“I met Daiki-san.”
He could tell his body stiffened a little at those words. His priority was to report it while Chitose wasn’t around, so he said it now, but he wasn’t sure about telling him, since it may lower his motivation for serving customers.
Itsuki’s usual unconstrained, light smile fell silent, replaced by a sour look for a moment, and then he forced a grin to hide it.
“Yeah, he didn’t mention anything about Chitose. He did say that it was hard to enter the class, though, and he went elsewhere.”
“Ah… that figures. He wouldn’t be too good with this kind of thing. And even if he did come, well, it would only trouble Chi, so it’s probably for the best.”
Itsuki shrugged and muttered, “I may have given him the invitation out of obligation, but I wasn’t expecting him to come.”
“I’ll go talk with him when I’m home. I doubt he’ll stick around today to look for me.”
Seeing Itsuki’s ambiguous smile that hid his real thoughts, Amane sighed softly as Itsuki returned to the back, with his bag of snacks in one hand.
I hope everything goes well…
Even if it wasn’t that easy, all he could do was hope that he could make a small difference, no matter how long it would take.
Chitose, who had switched places with Itsuki and brought in the menu he’d ordered, tilted her head quizzically when she saw Amane and Mahiru’s expressions, which had sunk a little because of Daiki.
“Huh? Did something happen? Did you two fall out?”
“You think we would have an argument?”
“I think any couple would. Normally, anyway… but in your case, you listen carefully to each other, so it’s amazing that I can’t say that for sure.”
Chitose solemnly murmured so in a voice mixed with exasperation and admiration, but Amane didn’t think it was all that strange. In general, Mahiru was mild-mannered and rather tolerant, so seeing her angry was a rare occasion. Moreover, it was unlikely for her to get angry for her own sake. She had been angry on other people’s behalf before, but Mahiru herself didn’t get angry very often, and it stemmed from her personality.
If he were to get into an argument with Mahiru, it was almost guaranteed to be Amane’s fault for getting her angry, and in that case, it would lead into a discussion rather than a fight. They would discuss what was wrong and why she was upset, and identify the root cause as well as the ideal solution. There was no need for Amane to make her angry, and he had never been close to doing so. If he did, he would immediately apologize as soon as it happened. That’s why it never turned into a fight.
Once Mahiru heard the word ‘argument,’ her caramel-colored eyes blinked and she smiled a little, looking as if arguments were something that didn’t exist in her world. There was no need for her to be angry with Amane. She had frustrations when Amane would belittle himself, but she was more reprimanding him than genuinely angry, and the most important thing to note was that she believed it was for Amane’s own sake.
“Anyway, we’re not arguing. Just got something on our mind, and we’re a little troubled by it.”
“Hmm? Well, as long as you aren’t fighting, that’s fine. More importantly, are your parents not coming, Amane?”
His body momentarily stiffened at the mention of ‘parents,’ but Chitose didn’t seem to notice his concern as she moved closer.
Amane was relieved that Daiki’s existence seemed to be tucked away in the back of her mind for the time being.
“Well, Mahirun once said that your mom and I were kindred spirits, and I’m all curious. Do make sure to let me say hello.”
“I sure can see you two getting along. You’re bound to hit it off, so much so that Mahiru will get caught in the crossfire.”
Not only were they likely to get along, but their trains of thought were rather similar, too. When he first met Chitose, he noticed how similar she was to his mom, and reminisced about how dejected he felt back then. Their love for cute things, their intense physical contact, and their extreme fondness for Mahiru were exact carbon copies of each other, and they were almost guaranteed to dote on and tease her to their hearts’ desire.
Mahiru’s smile faltered for a moment as she easily imagined the future carnage, but Amane pretended to be unaware.
They’ll turn her into a dress-up doll, or shower her with excessive skinship. Hang in there.
They won’t do any real harm, so there was no need to fret over it. He felt a help-seeking gaze from Mahiru, but it was a fate that Amane was too powerless to overturn, and he could do nothing but hope she was strong enough to pull through.
“Anyway, don’t go too far. Also, are you sure you don’t need to go back soon?”
“Whoa, Makochin’s glaring so much~”
Makoto, who was on the same shift as her, seemed to have a lot to say to Chitose, so Amane cut their conversation short. Makoto gave Chitose a cold look as she stuck out her tongue as an excuse, and he urged her to get back to work.
He gazed at Chitose’s back as she reluctantly returned to work and let out a soft sigh.
“Supporting you is the only thing I can do, but good luck, Mahiru.”
“As if it’s someone else’s problem.”
“No, I can’t stop those two and their overflowing passion. Hang in there. If you really don’t want it, then you need to be firm about it.”
“I-It’s not that I don’t want to… umm… but they will definitely dress me up in a lot of different clothes, won’t they?”
“No doubt, yeah.”
Shihoko already loved to dress Mahiru up, but once she meets Chitose, she’d probably get even livelier in her antics. Knowing his mother, who had already recognized Mahiru as her daughter, it looked like she’d take her to a boutique and make her change into a bunch of various outfits before buying them for her. He had a hunch that Chitose would gladly accompany her on such endeavors.
Amane couldn’t bear to stop her deep-rooted love for Mahiru. He knew how his mother had always wanted to have a daughter, and she had also taken a liking to Mahiru as a person.
“Well, as long as you’re prepared to be dressed up, there’s no need to refuse them.”
“When you say it like that, you know I can’t refuse.”
“I don’t mind, you know? I can help dress you up instead if you really want.”
It wasn’t like he had anything specific in mind for Mahiru to wear, but he felt it would be nice to pick out clothes he thought would suit her.
“…Well, even putting those two aside, I want to do that. If it’s something you’d like, I’d love to accompany you.”
Mahiru murmured quietly and lowered her eyes in embarrassment, but given his location, Amane couldn’t start saying that he adored Mahiru no matter what she wore, so he simply smiled happily at her cuteness as he took a sip of coffee instead.
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