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CHAPTER 23 – REPORTING AT THE CAFE [2]
As a former man, I don’t really find gazes from other boys much of an issue1 but I guess it’s really different in the eyes of females. I wouldn’t know until it actually happens, I guess. Incidentally, last year Kotone didn’t attend swimming class at all. She seemed to hate showing skin to anyone other than her father.
「I’ll try to be careful about it.」
「I really can’t trust that answer.」
That’s rude. Though yeah, I really have no idea what to be careful about.
「Well, break time’s about to end.」
「Then I’ll be holing up in the back now.」
「Come help every once in a while, Kaori.」
「Kotone’s there to help, isn’t she?」
Like the owner says, it’d be nice if she’d help every once in a while. Honestly, it should have been Kaori who’s the poster girl of this cafe, not me. Still, that’d get rid of the very reason I’m working here, so I’m not saying that. While thinking that, I turned the door sign to open, and a customer immediately arrived.
「Big sister, we’ve come as promised.」
「Sis, good day.」
It’s the twins I just said goodbye to this morning. True, I did say that they can see me at the cafe but why immediately on the same day? Were they really the type to take action quickly?
「And mom is here too?」
「Is there an issue with me being here?」
「Well not really, but didn’t we just see each other?」
「They were begging to see you, you see?」
The twin’s ability to take action is nothing to sneeze at. And Nana, don’t just freeze there, come here. If you can’t serve your role as a stopper, it’ll be a problem. Misaki isn’t of any use after all and Sakiko has her hands full dealing with Misaki.
「Anyway, just come in. You all really stand out, mainly because of Nana’s clothes.」
Seeing how she’s in her uniform really shows that they hadn’t planned to come here. At least be cautious and wear civilian clothes.
「Welcome, Kotone’s mother, right? So then these two are…」
「My younger siblings.」
「Kisaragi Kotoha.」
「Kisaragi Tateha.」
We answered nearly at the same time. That’s pretty sibling-like and all, but I’m honestly surprised. I didn’t expect us to get along after all.
「What’s your order?」
「「Cake and cafe au lait.」」
「I’ll have cake with black tea.」
「And Nana?」
「I cannot possibly-……」
There’s really no need to be reserved here. On the contrary, just sitting down in a cafe without ordering anything is actually a bother. And it seems like mom knows it too, as she shot Nana a stern gaze.
「Then I will have a cake with black tea as well.」
She read the room and ordered. After making sure that she’s sitting down with them at the table, I serve them their orders. Since more customers have started coming in, I can’t busy myself just dealing with them this time around.
「Big sister, are you always dressed like that?」
「Yeah, that’s right.」
「Sis, you don’t have waitress clothes?」
「We don’t have any of that. Right, owner?」
「Actually, we do.」
We do!? Up until now, I’ve been doing everything from kitchen work to serving customers with just an apron over casual clothes, so I actually thought that there’s no work uniform. Still, I’d rather not wear one. The school uniform’s skirt is already enough for me.
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「But you see, what we have is made to fit Kaori. It’ll likely be off for you.」
「I see, the height difference, right?」
「No, the chest.」
Is that so? Dear little sis is shaking right now, but let’s ignore that. It’s a good thing that Kaori and Saori don’t really care much about their body figure, so only my little sister reacts this way. Well, that also doesn’t solve anything, yeah.
「I don’t really need one, to be honest.」
「Hmm, still, wouldn’t it be better to have a work uniform prepared-」
「It’s not necessary.」
I instantly refused. Since if I gave a vague answer here, the owner would probably have one made for me one way or another. And you three, don’t look that disappointed.
「It’s fine, isn’t it? It’s not like it’s troubling me or anything.」
「Still, I don’t think it’s good to wear the same clothes all the time.」
Well, it is true that I’m always wearing my starting white shirt and jeans. Until summer comes, I don’t plan to buy clothes. Actually, I can live through summer with the same shirts. But I guess that would be pushing it.
「Perhaps I should have your clothes delivered then.」
「Please don’t, mom. I’m absolutely not wearing them, they’ll just take up space.」
Is this some form of harassment? Even if they send me those, considering my age, I can’t really sell those clothes to a second-hand shop. They’ll seriously just take up space.
「For me, I like the rough look the best.2」
「Hmm, there seems to be a demand among the customers, though.」
Hearing the owner’s words, I turned to look at the customers and some of them were giving their thumbs up. Glaring at them, they quickly averted their eyes, but I already remember all of you. I’ll keep my eyes on them.
「Lady Kotone, you’re blending in well.」
「They don’t know me from before, you see?」
If they had known about Kotone beforehand, at worst my presence could have ruined this cafe’s business. Still, Kotone is only well-known to the academy and the people of high society. Not much to the regular folk. Moreover, there’s too big of a difference between mine and Kotone’s outward image.
「Rather, I’m surprised that you’re working.」
「I see you can run off your mouth now, Nana.」
「F-forgive my discourtesy.」
Well, that’s how it would feel for the people that knew Kotone prior. That’s exactly why there’s a low chance that those people would realize that it’s me even if they see me. After all, Kotone has never shown her face without make-up. The make-up was practically a disguise.
「Sis, this cake tastes the same as yesterday’s.」
「It’s made by the same person, you see?」
「The cakes here never fail to taste delicious. It’s a shame that I can’t come here every day.」
「The old shops are going to be troubled.」
It’s big trouble if a valued regular who always ordered from your business suddenly stopped ordering, you know? It would still be understandable if the customer’s tastes have changed or if there’s no one who’d eat in the family anymore. But who knows how they’d react if they learned that they lost to an average cafe.
「To begin with, if you come here frequently, it’s possible that he’d notice, you know?」
「Well true.」
I know that it’s just a joke. Still, please think a bit more about how there’s no telling what could happen if father discovers this. As well as that he might have already known everything.
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References
Lyly: You were also pretty feminine (or at least androgynous) based on your own flashbacks, so I’m pretty sure you had some gazes on youLyly: My fellow tomboy enjoyer