An hour and a half had passed since the store opened, but there was no sign that the influx of customers would calm down. As a matter of fact, it was increasing. Although the number of visitors increased over time, the line of people waiting seemed to arouse the curiosity of those simply passing by. In the beginning, most of the customers were fellow students, but gradually, the number of invited guests began to increase as well.
As expected, while they didn’t seem as enthusiastic as the students, Amane noticed a few invited customers gasping in awe at the beautiful servers. Some of them were relatively young customers who were trying to get to know them by striking up a conversation, but the waitresses treated them like they were nothing.
“You’re so cute, Miss.”
Of course, the man was trying to call out to Mahiru, but she simply thanked him with a modest smile and continued to serve other customers. Not wanting to let the conversation advance, Mahiru continued to cut off the man trying to seduce her, repeatedly asking, “Are you ready to order?”
Such indifference in her treatment seemed to point out to the customer that he was just that—a customer.
“I’ve already decided what to order, but more importantly, you’re…”
“If you’ve decided, please tell me your order.”
“Umm, if you don’t mind, after this…”
“My apologies, we do not offer that kind of service at our café. If you’re ready to place your order, be sure to tell me.”
The customer was about to ask her once more, but Mahiru gave him a textbook professional smile. Evidently, the male customer had noticed the surrounding staff members staring at him coldly, and calmed down obediently before finally placing his order, although dejectedly.
Seeing such a scene occur several times, even Amane couldn’t help but form an awkward smile.
…It feels like everyone’s being overprotective of her, not just me.
He could sense that nobody in his class would allow any harm to come to Mahiru. It was a known fact that his classmates adored Mahiru, but Amane wasn’t expecting for them all to be so considerate of her.
“I know you’re worried, but we’re worried too, so don’t overexert yourself.”
Yuuta wore a wry smile as he walked up to Amane, giving him a surprise. As it were, Yuuta was often approached by female customers, but he was often seen dodging them in a well-experienced manner.
“I know you don’t feel like it when you have such a popular girlfriend, but Fujimiya, you can’t just keep on worrying about Shiina-san. We’ll keep an eye out when we can.”
“Kadowaki…”
Grasping the kindness and concern of his classmates, especially Kadowaki, Amane’s heart began to spread with warmth.
“Well, we don’t want to see a friend get hurt, or rather… we don’t want them to get in the way of our healing.”
“Healing?”
“‘Don’t disturb this sweet-and-sour atmosphere, or their relationship,’ That seems to be the consensus of our class.”
“Sorry, I don’t get what you mean.”
Baffled, Amane thought, What the hell is he talking about? Yuuta, who had spouted a line that made no sense to him, temporarily lost his composure and cleared his throat in amusement.
“Anyway, I think it’s fine to just say that Shiina-san is dearly loved. Consider it proof that the class is looking at you two favorably as a couple.”
“You mean we’re constantly being observed.”
“No, well actually, when you two flirt so naturally like that all the time, you can’t blame us.”
“We’re not flirting.”
“No, no, no, no, no.”
Conversely, Amane pursed his lips as if asking what he was talking about. He couldn’t recently recall a time he was actively flirting. He didn’t remember it, but since he often touched Mahiru inadvertently, he could have created that kind of atmosphere without realizing it.
I gotta be careful…
If he wasn’t, Amane would end up doing something bad unconsciously. Noticing his silence, Yuuta chuckled happily and said, “Well, I guess it’s fine as long as you’re happy,” which made Amane embarrassed, so he pursed his lips with even more strength.
✧ ₊ ✦ ₊ ✧
“Amane-kun.”
As Amane entered the back room, Mahiru’s eyes sparkled as she trudged up to him. Different from her business smile, she was now smiling from the bottom of her heart and greeted him with an expression she only allowed him to see.
“Are you not tired?”
“I’m fine. Everyone’s so worried about me… I was surprised to see everyone give intimidating smiles to the customer who brought a camera.”
“Uh-huh. Well, we clarified many times that no pictures were allowed, and we told them verbally beforehand, but if they just ignore you, it can’t be helped.”
“Everyone was so full of motivation…”
“Well, that’s true.”
Mahiru didn’t seem to notice Amane, who couldn’t say that it was because they were all vigorously watching over her, and she let out a faint bell-like chuckle.
He wasn’t sure if she already noticed, or if she was long used to it already, but for now, Mahiru seemed to be focused on the café and continued glancing in its direction from the back room.
“There’s a lot more customers than I expected.”
“It’s probably some kind of bandwagon. You know, the kind of thing that makes you want to join the queue.”
“Perhaps. Of course, that’s part of it…”
At that very moment, her eyes shifted to Amane.
“…I believe many are visiting in hopes of seeing a certain person. When I heard their conversations outside, there were voices that seemed to imply so.”
“True, there seems to be a lot of students coming in to see you…”
“…Amane-kun, after the cultural festival ends, I have a lot of things to talk to you about.”
“Huh? What things?”
“A lot of things.”
As if hiding something from him, Mahiru furrowed her brows as if dissatisfied, and Amane looked into her eyes, impatiently wondering if he’d accidentally done something he shouldn’t have, but Mahiru suddenly averted her eyes. However, it seemed to stem from embarrassment rather than an appeal of anger. Her cheeks grew slightly crimson.
“…Your outfit is so unfair.”
“Yes yes… You’ll get used to it soon. You’ve seen as much as you can during our practice, no?”
“It’s not possible. The way you look at other people and the way you look at me is so different.”
“It’d be a problem if it was the same…”
It should be natural that his gaze towards other people would be different than that of his lover. No matter how cute the female customers are, the way Amane would look at them would remain the same. To begin with, Amane didn’t feel like he would ever find someone cuter than even Mahiru. He considered all of her expressions, her bashfulness, and her sulkiness, to be all part of her cuteness, and he believed her to be the most charming girl he had ever laid eyes on.
“You just don’t understand, Amane-kun… I won’t let you be taken by anyone else even if they understand your charms now.”
Amane suddenly tilted his head in confusion at the sudden change of topic from Mahiru, but she didn’t say anything more, and simply pounded at his chest, seemingly ridding herself of her frustrations.
✧ ₊ ✦ ₊ ✧
What worried Amane the most about Mahiru serving as a waitress wasn’t her tendency to attract the attention of others. Nor was it the appearance of people who wanted to interact with her due to her incredible and captivating beauty. What worried Amane the most was the possibility of someone enforcing one of humanity’s three greatest desires upon her.
It was just past noon when it happened, a mere ten minutes before the end of their shift.
✧ ₊ ✦ ₊ ✧
There was a certain male customer who’d been following female members of staff since he’d entered the café, however, it wasn’t too unusual a sight as their store had a variety of beautiful waitresses. Nevertheless, Amane had a hunch that he had to keep his guard up, as he noticed the customer beginning to ogle and eye up the other staff members.
As Amane finished bringing over an ordered meal and was about to head back with the empty tray… he saw the man reach his hand out toward Mahiru. As the one serving him, Mahiru had brought over his order and was about to return. With her back facing the customer, it happened at that moment, and naturally, Mahiru was unable to see the situation occurring behind her.
The man reached out towards her skirt-clad hips and extended his hand, before changing course towards her buttocks. Amane stepped forward. Since Amane was nearby, and the man’s movements were rather sluggish, he was able to intervene in time.
“Dear customer, please refrain from carelessly touching our staff.”
Amane, who had slipped a tray between Mahiru and the man’s palm before he was able to make contact, pretended to be friendly, and quietly spoke out in words of warning. On the surface, he remained calm, but on the inside, he was rather vexed at his cute girlfriend being hit on in a dramatic manner, and since it was airing on the edge of sexual harassment, Amane’s anger flared up even more.
Mahiru, hearing the contents and tone of his voice, seemed to have sensed what was about to happen and took a step back, her cheeks quivering. Amane leaned his body to the side to protect her and mustered up as gentle a smile as he could. Before he realized it, silence lingered within the café, he could sense many stares gathering on him, but his vexation was so strong that he didn’t care. However, at the same time, he was rational. The customer had failed, it was merely an attempt. He likely had many excuses at his disposal that he could use to eliminate suspicion.
The people around him had likely noticed what happened as they were staring at the man’s palms, but not one of them had acted on their suspicions just yet. If the customer were to call it a coincidence, Amane wouldn’t be able to press the issue any further. However, there was one thing Amane realized. Something the man couldn’t escape from, even if he tried to feign innocence in his attempted harassment.
“One thing, dear customer. May I ask for the location of your entrance permit?”
The sudden change of topic caused the man’s eyes to widen.
“Let me ask you. How did you enter our school? It seems you are not wearing your wristband, proof of your entrance permit.”
Within the school building, it was intended for visitors to wear a wristband that was properly disposable, yet still durable, as proof of their invitation. Due to the many dangerous incidents and thefts reported in recent years during the length of the cultural festival, where visitors frequently entered and exited the campus, visitors of the general public were required to wear the wristband. Students of the school were not privy to the same rules, but instead had a colored nameplate to wear, the colors of which were used to differentiate between the student’s year.
The school had also prepared areas for the students, restricted to outside visitors, to prevent the public from entering where they shouldn’t. As soon as Amane pointed it out, the man promptly replied, “I-It’s because it got wet and tore apart…” and Amane sniggered.
“How bizarre. I do remember it was made to be waterproof. As per the pamphlet disclosed, you could have it reissued at the front office should anything have happened to the wristband. Just to make sure, who are the students who applied for your entry permit? I’m sure you have no problem answering that, right?”
“Th-that’s…”
“…This is out of the question.”
Readying his smile, Amane looked across at the other staff members who were observing the situation.
“I’m sorry, but could somebody call for a member of the student council or a teacher? It would be bad to allow an outsider who wasn’t invited to keep loitering around.”
“I’ve already contacted somebody. The homeroom teacher on patrol is heading over.”
“Great work.”
Hearing Kadowaki’s swift reply caused Amane to let out a sigh of relief. He shrugged his shoulders, stiffened his attitude, and smiled at the man who had attempted to molest her.
Needless to say, his eyes were not smiling.
“Excuse me, dear customer. If you would allow me to elaborate, the problem does not lie in your actions, but in the unauthorized entry into our school building. My apologies, but you can list your excuses to those stationed in the front office.”
After indifferently informing the man of their course of action, the homeroom teacher that was called approached the man, so Amane took Mahiru by the hand and exhaled silently.
The likely outcome is that he would be forced to leave the premises as the school would also be notified of his failed molest attempt. Amane couldn’t help but be stunned thinking back to how the man wasn’t even familiar with the visitor application system used for the festival. It held records of all the visitors invited by each student using the application forms they were handed out beforehand, and only those listed who had a clear identity would be allowed to enter. If they let their guard down for even a moment, they would be able to identify the suspicious individual, and the student who invited them would be lightly punished. Due to this, there weren’t many students that intended to misuse their invitations. Even so, flirting fell into a gray area in terms of rules, and unless they were overly persistent or dramatic, it was unlikely that they would receive a harsh punishment.
Amane remained curious as to how the man was able to enter but placed his faith in the front office’s ability to extract information. The following year, at the earliest, Amane predicted that showing their wristband as proof of invitation would be mandatory before entering a class.
The man was trying to say something, but Amane wanted nothing to do with it, and promptly ignored him. After confirming that the customer had left the classroom, escorted by the homeroom teacher, he turned to face the remaining guests looking his way and smiled as if nothing had occurred.
“My dearest apologies for the disturbance. Please continue to enjoy your tea.”
Amane bowed gracefully, and the rest of the staff followed suit, establishing an atmosphere in the room that marked the end of the commotion. Having confirmed that the conversations had started to pick up once more, Amane silently squeezed Mahiru’s hand and escorted her to the side.
“Huh? A-Amane-kun?”
“We’ll be changing shifts soon, so go take a break first. If you wait a little bit, I’ll go get changed with you shortly.”
He glanced at his classmates, seeking confirmation, and decided it wouldn’t be a problem as they gestured for him to go with their hands. He lowered his head gently and brought Mahiru into the back, where he prepared a chair for her to sit on. He caressed Mahiru’s head, who seemed a little flustered as if the shock hadn’t subsided yet, and Amane once again set out for the front, thinking that even though they were on the verge of swapping shifts, it wouldn’t do for them both to skip out on work.
✧ ₊ ✦ ₊ ✧
Since it was the end of his shift, Amane headed back into the back room and found Mahiru sitting on her chair, waiting for him. She was also holding a paper cup full of coffee, likely given to her by a classmate as a way to help her calm down.
When she noticed that Amane had returned, her gaze softened, evidently relieved, and Amane’s expression relaxed in the same way.
“Welcome back, Amane-kun.”
“I’m back. Have you calmed down?”
“…It’s not really something you need to worry about.”
“It’s natural for me to worry about you.”
At the time, Amane felt like Mahiru was slightly distraught, and escorted her there, but he didn’t think that his decision was wrong. He patted Mahiru’s head once more, and she looked a little dissatisfied. She lowered her eyes in embarrassment as she sipped at her coffee. After making sure her cup was empty, Amane placed his own hoodie on Mahiru’s lap.
Their school was always air-conditioned to a suitable temperature, but as it was fall, it was getting colder and colder as the days went by, and many students carried coats about on them. Amane was one of those students but brought it for Mahiru to wear instead.
“Here, put this over your outfit. You’ll stand out even more if you walk around dressed like that.”
If she were to walk around dressed as a maid, she was bound to attract attention. And besides that, outside of their café, pictures were allowed to be taken, so Amane had prepared it in advance so as to not cause any unnecessary uproar. Thanks to the difference in height between Amane and Mahiru, his hoodie would cover her all the way down to her thighs, so she wouldn’t stand out as much as long as she took off her apron. Even with that, though, it was only natural for Mahiru to stand out thanks to her graceful appearance.
Mahiru obediently removed her apron and fit herself into Amane’s hoodie, zipping it up. She appeared to be in a better mood than she was moments before. Mahiru rolled up the extra-long sleeves and brought her nose toward it, breathed in, and beamed—Amane wished she wouldn’t do such a thing. Her smile was bad for his heart.
Itsuki, nearby and about to tackle the afternoon shift, adjusted his necktie and smirked at him, seemingly noticing what happened. Amane frowned in response, which caused him to smirk even more. Amane’s face looked even more annoyed as he felt like he was on the losing side, but he reluctantly accepted their looks after seeing the flutter in Mahiru’s eyes. Not wanting to withstand it much longer, Amane pulled out his uniform from his bag in his locker and placed his jacket and waistcoat inside after taking it off. With this, he was sure not to stand out when walking down the hallways.
Mahiru realized his intentions to get changed, and stood up, putting her apron in her own locker before grabbing her uniform.
“Well, we’re switching out. I’ll leave the rest to you.”
“Alright, man. Let loose and flirt to your heart’s content.”
“Shut up. Don’t go around flirting in the café.”
Amane frowned once more at his light reply, but feeling the warmth of Mahiru’s hand, he couldn’t bring himself to grimace much longer and left the classroom to change into his uniform with an indescribable look on his face.
✧ ₊ ✦ ₊ ✧
Stepping out into the hallway, they noticed that the tension was higher than usual. The excitement was palpable. Although the visitors had to be invited through applications, there were still a large number of guests roaming around, so it was a natural outcome, but seeing the usually hushed hallway so bustling was rather unsettling for him.
“Look at all the people.”
“Seems like there are more guests than usual.”
“Well, that’s all there is to it, then. Someone suspicious could easily slip in under the receptionist’s radar and enter.”
Their school’s cultural festival was on a much larger scale than the norm. That was bound to be the reason for the large number of outsiders looking to experience what the students had to offer.
Mahiru lowered her head in response to ‘someone suspicious,’ and Amane moderately strengthened his hand’s grip.
“…Are you okay, Mahiru?”
“Ah, y-yes. I was surprised, but it was merely an attempt.”
Mahiru shook her head side-to-side in a panic after realizing Amane’s worries. However, Amane knew that if she was really fine, she wouldn’t have such a look on her face.
“I’m sorry, I should have watched out more.”
“You’re busy too, Amane-kun. It’s all because I let my guard down in the first place…”
“Whether you let your guard down or not, there will always be guys like that. That’s why we should’ve been careful and deterred it from even happening.”
There were some things that couldn’t be prevented, no matter how careful one was. Molesting was something hard to catch, and hard to prove, there was little one could do to prevent it entirely. Mahiru seemed to be blaming her own carelessness as the primary reason, but there was nothing for Mahiru to blame herself over. It was something that could happen to anyone without warning.
“You’re not to blame, Mahiru. They’re the ones at fault, thinking that it’s acceptable for them to impose their lust and desires on a girl simply because they’re attractive. Everyone deserves and should be treated with respect, regardless of gender or physical appearance.”
“…Yes.”
“So please don’t act like you’re at fault.”
Amane softly whispered to her, and Mahiru lowered her eyes before leaning her body against his arms.
“…You don’t touch me often, Amane-kun, but I only wish to be touched by you. You alone.”
Mahiru’s voice trembled as she whispered softly. Amane gripped her hand tighter to lift her spirits.
The surrounding stares were burning through him as they strolled around, but since everyone in the school knew about his relationship with the Angel, it was already too late. It wasn’t pleasant for him to be seen in such a state, but he was slowly getting accustomed to it nonetheless.
“Not often? I don’t remember ever touching you in a weird way.”
“Sometimes when I come to wake you up, you sprawl over me half-asleep.”
“Could you please call out to me right there and then? You’re making me sound like a pervert.”
The sudden and shocking revelation made him instinctively look at Mahiru, discerning that she was beginning to regain her vitality, her face looking full of life. Mahiru wore a mischievous smile as he turned toward her.
“I’m your girlfriend, I don’t think touching my body makes you a pervert.”
“Even so…”
“I don’t mind.”
“Don’t be too soft on me, now. I’ll definitely end up touching you.”
“Don’t you want to touch me?”
“I mean, I’m a guy too, so I want to touch you in various ways, but it’s still too early just yet.”
Of course, he had a desire to touch her, but Amane knew that a man’s reason was fragile, so he vowed not to touch her more than necessary. He was well aware that Mahiru herself didn’t mind. She preferred to be touched by Amane. She often mentioned how it was comfortable to share their body heat, and how she would be thrilled when he touched her. However, because he knew how quickly the situation could escalate if he went too far, Amane had to restrain himself, this was especially true if he touched her as much as he pleased.
Turning away, either understanding or brushing aside Amane’s thoughts, she giggled away and snuggled up to him tightly.
“Hehe. Please understand, Amane-kun. It’s not that I dislike it.”
“…I know that very well,” he replied.
He knew he was allowed since Mahiru loved him, but hearing her say it so clearly was bad for his heart. I’ll touch her all I want when I can take responsibility, Amane quietly thought as he caressed Mahiru’s palm, as she was smiling cheerfully at his side.
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