[Warning 15+]
Part Five
―Even If, I Can't Treat You with That Same Energy Anymore
Chapter 180
Go-with-the-Flow Himeko
―Even If, I Can't Treat You with That Same Energy Anymore
Chapter 180
Go-with-the-Flow Himeko
Himeko casually threw up a hand in a crisp little salute, her eyes widenin' as soon as she spotted Kazuki.
Behind Himeko were her middle school buddies squealin' with excitement, "Eek!". Among them, Saki stood alone with a slightly tense expression, wearin' a stiff smile.
Havin' your family (little sis) see you at work was embarrassin'ly awkward after all.
Especially with Saki and Himeko's other buddies there—last time was a coincidence, but this time they had come knowin' Hayato'd be workin', which made it even worse. He glared at Himeko with half-lidded eyes and spoke in a hushed voice.
"What are you girls even doin' here?"
"Well, I wanted to show Saki-chan the cute uniform here... ...wait, Haru-chan's not here?"
"Haruki's not here today. She's helpin' out the Student Council."
"Student Council?"
Himeko tilted her head with a blank, clueless look at the unfamiliar term.
Himeko then desperately tried to connect the Student Council to Haruki, furrowin' her brows in thought.
Right at that moment, a customer inside the shop was seen gettin' up from their seat.
Takin' advantage of the perfect opportunity, Hayato gave Kazuki's shoulder a pat beside him, basically dumpin' the responsibility onto him.
"Alright, I'm takin' the register. Kazuki, handle Himeko and her buddies."
"Gh! O-Oh, right. Himeko-chan, girls, right this way please."
"Okay~ But wow, Kazuki-san, that outfit really looks good on you too. You look totally like a host!"
"Um, is that a compliment? Well then... 'Thanks for comin' today. I've reserved a special seat just for you today.'"
"Ahahahahaha! Kazuki-san, you really do sound like a host!"
Kazuki put on a playful act like that while guidin' Himeko and her buddies to an open table.
What a versatile boy, Hayato thought to himself while ringin' up the register, when his eyes met with Saki's, who was at the back of the line. She shyly gave him a little wave.
Though taken aback for a second by a gesture Hayato couldn't have imagined from Saki's usual image, he reflexively gave a small wave back.
At that, Saki blinked in surprise, her cheeks flushin' red with embarrassment as she hurriedly scrambled after Himeko and the others. Seein' that heartwarmin' sight, a smile naturally crept onto Hayato's lips.
"Hey Hayato, once you're done with the register, bring out table number five's order!"
"Gh! On it!"
Iori's voice shoutin' from the kitchen snapped him back to reality.
Even while pickin' up the order and deliverin' it, Hayato cast a glance over at Himeko's table to see how they were doin'.
"What should I get today!"
"W-Woah, this is amazing, Hime-chan! There are so many kinds...!"
"...My final choices from the last time I came were this, this, this, and this..."
"Ahaha, Kirishima-chan's already totally absorbed in the menu."
"Geesh, stop it~"
"Though honestly, it really is tough to choose. They change things up dependin' on the season here, too."
"Eh~!? ...Back in my countryside hometown, the only difference was mugwort in spring and chestnuts in fall. They just used whatever grew around the area."
"Wait, 'grew around the area'!? Now I'm actually curious about that!?"
Go-with-the-flow Himeko, starin' intently at the menu.
Saki, surroundin' the menu while gigglin' and makin' a racket with her middle school buddies.
A completely ordinary, warm, and friendly scene of a group of girls that you could find anywhere.
Looks like Saki was doin' just fine at her new school. Hayato let out a sigh of relief.
Then, catchin' a break in their convo, Kazuki brought over some cold water.
"Here you go. Have you girls decided what you want? I'd really recommend the matcha kuzukiri parfait today. We're offerin' a free kinako toppin' today only, too."
"Oh, guess I'll go with that then~"
"Me too then. I've been curious about it for a while, and if there's a freebie, how can I say no?"
"I'm totally jumpin' on the bandwagon with Honoka-chan and the girls!"
"U-Um, as for me~..."
Smoothly pitchin' a sweet deal to the indecisive girls, Kazuki instantly steered the whole flow toward orderin' the matcha kuzukiri parfait.
Always so tactful, Hayato sighed again, this time for a completely different reason.
"How about you, Himeko-chan? You were eatin' it the other day sayin' how delicious it was, right?"
"Mmm~ I'll pass."
"Gh!?"
"Wait, Kirishima-chan, even though it's such a good deal today?"
"Because I ate it the other day! Today I gotta try somethin' new and branch out!"
"A-Ahaha..."
Among them all, Himeko was the only one who completely failed to read the room.
Rejectin' the recommendation with a totally blunt expression, Himeko folded her arms while hummin' in thought. Her eyes stayed glued to the menu.
Kazuki's mask of a smile cracked and froze solid.
Hayato pressed a hand to his achin' temple with a heavy sigh.
Suddenly, Hayato felt eyes on him right at that moment.
Lookin' up to see what it was, Hayato spotted Saki holdin' a menu in one hand, askin' Kazuki a question.
"Um, among these, i-is there any menu item that Hime-chan's Big Bro makes?"
"Gh!? O-Oh yeah, if it's shaved ice, Hayato-kun's made that before so I think it'll be fine... ...right, Hayato-kun?"
"H-Hey!? Well I mean, sure, if it's shaved ice even I can be trusted with makin' it, but..."
"Th-Then I'll have this fluffy Uji Kintoki, please."
"Big Bro's makin' it!? Then I'll have the same thing! That was one of my final choices last time, though~"
"So two fluffy Uji Kintoki shaved ices and three matcha kuzukiri parfaits then. Please give us just a moment."
Kazuki quickly wrapped up the order and walked away with a smile.
For some reason, the whole flow had turned into Hayato makin' shaved ice.
When he got back to the kitchen, Kazuki, who came in to pass along the order, apologized to Hayato with a sheepish look.
"Sorry, even though it's busy, I ended up makin' Hayato-kun go out of his way to make shaved ice."
"Nah, don't worry about that. If anythin', I feel bad leavin' you to handle the floor by yourself for a bit... ...I mean, sorry about Himeko. Good grief."
"Ahaha, it's fine. Sounds just like Himeko-chan, she's a tough one to handle."
"Well, Himeko's been a handful since way back."
"Since Himeko-chan's so tough to handle, I'll leave servin' her and her buddies to Hayato-kun."
"Geh. Waitin' on my own little sis gives me all kinds of weird vibes, though!"
"...Well, I just took an order from my buddy's little sis, so now it's Hayato-kun's turn."
"Alright, alright, got it."
Hayato couldn't really argue when it was put like that. Hayato let out a sigh tinged with resignation.
Kazuki pumped himself up with a quiet "Alright!", then disappeared back out to the floor to deliver table one's completed order.
"So anyway, Iori, I'm gonna make two Uji Kintokis."
"Yeah, thanks, man. Honestly, my hands are totally in matcha kuzukiri parfait mode right now, so I really don't wanna make anything else. That anmitsu from earlier took way more hassle than it should've."
"Haha, gotcha."
Givin' Iori a quick heads-up, Hayato got straight to preppin' the shaved ice.
Even though there were plenty of toppin's, it wasn't anythin' overly complicated.
Is this enough? Hayato wondered to himself as he shaved just a tiny bit extra ice than usual, drizzled dense matcha syrup over it, and neatly arranged shiratama, red bean paste, plus black sesame and vanilla ice cream on top.
"Iori, is this lookin' good?"
"Mmm~ it's good, but not quite. Top it off with this and... ...alright, perfect."
When Hayato, who was still pretty green at the job, asked Iori to check his work, Iori casually popped a swirl of soft-serve ice cream right on top.
As Hayato stared in surprise, Iori flashed a wide grin.
"You sure that's okay?"
"Servin' just your little sis and the shrine maiden girl the plain old standard version would be kinda lame, wouldn't it?"
"My bad... ...I mean, thanks, man."
"Hehe, don't mention it!"
Iori was usually a goofy boy, but you couldn't hate him when he was so thoughtful about stuff like this.
With a wry smile, Hayato was about to carry the shaved ice and the parfaits Iori made over to Himeko's table, feelin' a bit tense, when Hayato suddenly froze in his tracks. Hayato's eyes were glued to the two bowls of shaved ice.
Then Hayato set the tray back down for a second.
"What's up, Hayato?"
"Nah, just... ...knowin' Himeko, I bet..."
"Oh, gotcha."
Seein' Hayato start pullin' out tea cups, Iori nodded in understandin'.
And after pourin' some hōjicha tea from the pot, Hayato headed toward their table once again.
"S-Sorry for the wait!"
"W-Woah!" "No wonder it was recommended!" "I gotta take a picture!" "Heh, Big Bro, not bad!" "There's way more here than I thought!"
Cheerin' erupted the moment Hayato served them, and everyone reached in.
And when everyone let out sounds of delight like "Mmm~", Hayato couldn't help but smile right along with them.
"Ow, pain--!"
"~~~~!"
And havin' scarfed down the shaved ice so eagerly, both Himeko and Saki were grimacin' from the instant brain freeze.
Hayato gave a wry smile, thinkin' called it, as he set down the warm hōjicha he had prepared right in front of the two.
"Here, please have this if you'd like."
Then they gulped down the hōjicha just as eagerly, only to yell in unison this time, ""Hot!"", drawin' laughs from everyone around them.
As Hayato turned around with an exasperated look, his eyes met Kazuki's, who was watchin' with a warm smile.
"Way to be prepared, Hayato-kun."
"...I kind of wish they'd calm down just a little, though."
"Ahaha!"
Author's Notes:
Meow~. (Smashin' that like button~)