2
“Good morning.”
The restaurant wasn’t open yet. The lights on the floor were still out, and the heat had only just been turned on—so it was barely better than being outside.
He ducked behind the lockers to change into his uniform.
This corner of the break room doubled as the men’s changing area.
As he stepped in, a tall boy stepped out—having just finished changing.
“’Sup.”
Their eyes met. This was a friend of his from school, Yuuma Kunimi.
“Yo.” Sakuta took his turn in the shadows. “So cold,” he grumbled, changing as fast as possible.
“Don’t see you on morning shifts often, Sakuta.”
“Same goes for you. No practice?”
“Morning practice is at noon today.”
“You’re working a shift before you go do club stuff? Have you lost it?”
“It’s Kamisato’s birthday next month.”
Saki Kamisato was Yuuma’s girlfriend. She was in the same class as Sakuta and really had it in for him.
“How much you gonna pour into that?”
“That’s not fair. I’m not buying anything that expensive.”
“It’s the feelings that matter.”
“Says the man who didn’t even learn Sakurajima’s birthday until the day in question,” Yuuma cackled. “And she was filming in Kanazawa, so you took a Shinkansen all the way out there just to say, ‘Happy birthday!’ You’re way crazier than I am.”
Yuuma was having a good laugh about it, but none of that had been funny for Sakuta at the time.
“You said you had to borrow money for a return ticket from her? How much does it cost to Kanazawa and back?”
“Thirty thousand round trip. Plus the hotel…”
“So you’ve been spending way more.”
“The memories are priceless.”
“The expenses are real.”
“That’s why I’m on a morning shift.”
He stepped out from behind the lockers, tugging his apron strings.
“Then let’s break a leg.”
Yuuma got off his stool, punched his and Sakuta’s time cards, and left the break room. Sakuta followed.
Paying back his debt to Mai would take the bulk of his vacation wages.
“Just promise you won’t end up a gigolo, Sakuta.”
“Is a househusband acceptable?”
“You’ll have to check with Sakurajima on that.”
“Will do.”
It was noon, start of the lunch rush. Yuuma had wrapped up his shift and gone off to basketball practice.
“The rest is all yours!”
“Heartless bastard!”
He was replaced by a student a year below them at school, Tomoe Koga. A petite girl, only five feet tall. She wore her hair in a fashionably short, fluffy bob, with cute makeup to complete the look. She finished changing into her uniform and joined him on the floor.
“Oh? You’ve been here all morning, senpai?” she asked the moment she spotted him.
“You’re rolling in late? The nerve.”
“This is my shift!”
“……”
“Wh-what? Something on my face?”
“Nah, it’s just…”
“Just what?”
“Hmm, best not to say.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, if I do, you’ll one-hundred percent accuse me of having no tact, so I’ll just think it.”
“Thinking tactless stuff is also bad!”
“In that case, might as well say it. Koga, has your face swollen up?”
“Ugh, I was afraid of that!”
She tried to hide her face with her hands.
“All that New Year’s mochi gave you mochi-soft cheeks, eh?”
“You’re the worst! You’re terribad! Don’t look!”
“First a peach butt, now mochi cheeks! Your girl power’s skyrocketing!”
“I’m gonna lose the weight! And when I do, you’d better say sorry!”
She puffed up her cheeks in protest but then realized that made her look even rounder, so she quickly deflated.
“That happens, I’ll buy you a cheeseburger.”
“I don’t need more calories! I need respect!”
“Then I promise I’ll eat your cheeseburger for you. You get to watch.”
“Just imagining that is infuriating, so I’ll eat the damn cheeseburger.”
“So how many pounds you gotta lose to make this happen?”
“Uh…well, I’m eighty— Don’t make me say that aloud!”
“I won’t tell a soul.”
“You’re the soul I don’t want knowing! We’re on the clock—do your job!”
“Sure, sure. Quit dieting and take some orders.”
“I’m not dieting now!”
Fuming, she stalked off toward a waiting table. By the time she got there, she was wearing a professional smile.
“Kids are so restless these days.”
Sakuta figured he should probably focus himself. He spotted another customer who had just come in.
“Welcome!” he said, grabbing a menu and heading over.
He quickly realized he knew her.
It was another friend of his, Rio Futaba. It was winter vacation, but she was in their school uniform anyway.
“Not often you come here, Futaba. Kunimi’s already gone.”
“Practice, right? I passed him at the station.”
“So you were at school experimenting?”
Rio was in the Science Club and had the distinction of being the sole member. Which meant she had to show real results. She spent a great deal of time doing experiments to meet those expectations.
He led her to a table.
“Please hit the button when you’re ready to order,” he said. Very by the book. He took a step away.
“Wait, I’m ready.”
“Go ahead.”
He took his order pad out of his apron pocket.
“The carbonara,” Rio said, pointing at the top picture on the pasta page.
“Okay, one carbonara.”
“…No, sorry, let’s go with this one.”
She pointed at a veggie-heavy tomato sauce.
“Ah yes, the one with two hundred fewer calories, of course.”
“……”
His statement had been entirely accurate, but it earned him a frosty glare.
“Is there a diet craze running through the female population?”
He’d just been talking about this with Tomoe.
“Almost certainly. Always is, post-holidays.”
“You look just like you did before vacation.”
He certainly couldn’t see a visible difference.
“It’s the places you can’t see…,” she muttered.
“Oh, I get you.”
Sakuta’s eyes drifted to her blazer. It did look a bit tighter. Her blouse was definitely struggling to contain everything underneath.
Rio wasn’t much taller than Tomoe, but her bust scored a clear victory. Tomoe didn’t really have much in that department.
“The world is not fair.”
As he despondently stared at Rio’s chest, he realized she had her phone out and was taking a picture of him.
“Ma’am, we ask that patrons refrain from taking photos in the restaurant.”
“This is evidence.”
“Of what?”
“Of you ogling me. For the report I’ll file with Sakurajima.”
“Uh, Futaba.”
“What?”
“I’ve got a date with Mai after this shift.”
“So?”
“I’ll get scolded, so…keep this between us?”
“That smirk on your face suggests you’d rather I tell her.”
“I do love Mai’s scoldings.”
“That’s why you’re a rascal.”
Rio sighed, then gave up and put her phone away.
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