“I like you.”
The moment the confession slipped out, Hiiragi Shuichi felt a little dazed.
‘This doesn’t feel real.’
‘No… No…’
‘Was she joking again?’
‘Maybe she meant it as friends? But we aren’t exactly friends…’
‘What am I supposed to say?’
‘Should I turn her down?’
Hiiragi Shuichi fell into a state of confusion.
“Hey, Shu, quit slacking off!”
“Ugh!”
Xiaomu Dianzhang suddenly popped up from behind the display case near the counter, startling Hiiragi Shuichi.
Xiaomu Dianzhang’s brows rose as his gaze shifted.
He looked at Aoba Tomoyo, who seemed dazed, then pointed toward a table nearby and spoke quietly.
“Tomoyo, there are still some dishes the customers left over there.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll take care of them.”
Aoba Tomoyo smiled and replied calmly before leaving the counter.
As Hiiragi Shuichi watched Aoba Tomoyo walk away, Xiaomu Dianzhang took the opportunity to glance toward the stairs and spotted Komuro Ayumi ducking back out of sight.
He couldn’t help sighing.
‘Sigh, Ayumi… This is all your dad can do for you.’
‘The rest is up to you.’
“Ding-a-ling—”
The wind chime at the shop entrance rang again.
Hiiragi Shuichi instinctively started to say, “Welcome,” but the words caught in his throat halfway through.
The customer who’d just entered was completely unexpected.
“Oh my, Shuichi? What a coincidence.”
Aoba Mother came forward slowly, wearing a light blue kimono.
Her geta clicked against the floor as she walked with graceful steps.
Her hair was pinned up neatly at the back of her head, like an enormous peony.
Hiiragi Shuichi couldn’t help thinking, ‘What is she, a geisha?’
“Good evening, Aoba Mother. Would you like some bread?” Hiiragi Shuichi asked somewhat stiffly.
But Aoba Mother ignored him completely.
She looked anxious, as if she were focused on searching for something and hadn’t heard what Hiiragi Shuichi said.
Hiiragi Shuichi instinctively looked toward Aoba Tomoyo.
Aoba Tomoyo’s expression was calm as a still lake, without the slightest hint of surprise, as though she’d expected this all along.
But she didn’t greet Aoba Mother right away, either.
‘So when she said she might not be standing here tomorrow, it was because she knew her mother would come looking for her…?’
Even though he’d concluded this had nothing to do with the Notebook, Hiiragi Shuichi didn’t feel relieved.
After spotting Aoba Tomoyo, Aoba Mother quickened her pace slightly and came to stand in front of her.
“Tomoyo, I didn’t expect you to be here. We’ve been looking all over for you…”
As she spoke, she reached out and took Aoba Tomoyo’s hand.
“Come on, Tomoyo. Let’s hurry back.”
“They’re waiting for you at the banquet, and we can’t stay away for too long…”
Before Aoba Mother could finish, Aoba Tomoyo pulled her hand away, making her expression tighten slightly.
“I… I need to change, Mother…”
At Aoba Tomoyo’s words, Aoba Mother’s briefly stiff expression softened again.
Only after Aoba Tomoyo went to the changing room did Aoba Mother speak to Hiiragi Shuichi.
“…So Shuichi works here. What a coincidence.”
“Yes, the manager’s been kind to me. Would you like some brea—”
“What a coincidence.”
After ignoring Hiiragi Shuichi, she deliberately interrupted him again.
Hearing her say “coincidence” made Hiiragi Shuichi’s hair stand on end.
Her tone clearly said, “I know exactly why you’re here,” but he couldn’t figure out what she meant, and it made him a little uneasy.
He also didn’t understand why Aoba Mother kept sizing him up.
That snake-like face of hers gave off a strange sense of pressure.
Even when her expression was calm, even gentle, she couldn’t stop that presence from coming through.
“Shuichi, do you know proper etiquette?” Aoba Mother asked suddenly.
“Sorry, Aoba Mother, I’m not sure what you mean.”
“What kind of etiquette?”
“Oh, my apologies. I forgot you came from the countryside…” Aoba Mother said, sounding somewhat embarrassed.
Though she said she was sorry, Hiiragi Shuichi couldn’t help hearing, “You uncultured country bumpkin.”
He forced a smile, his face twisting into a grimace.
‘Why am I smiling?’
‘This is disgusting… She’s obviously putting me down, isn’t she?’
“Shuichi, you’ve been looking after Tomoyo while she’s here. How has she been doing lately?”
“We don’t think this job suits her.”
“You should ask the manager about that.”
“I’m just a cashier, so I wouldn’t know.”
Listening to Aoba Mother, Hiiragi Shuichi felt that “you’ve been looking after her” meant, “Did you bring her into this job without permission?”
And “we don’t think this job suits her” meant, “She shouldn’t be working here at all.”
So maybe, put together, Aoba Mother’s real meaning was, ‘You dared to lure my daughter away?’
Hiiragi Shuichi had planned to shift the responsibility to the manager and tell her to ask Xiaomu Dianzhang, hoping that would get him off the hook.
But Aoba Mother replied with a hint of sadness.
“Oh, so no one’s been looking after Tomoyo here… How pitiful.”
What she clearly meant was, “How dare you not look after my daughter?!”
‘Damn it…’
‘What’s this old woman’s problem?’
‘No matter what I say, it’ll be wrong…’
Hiiragi Shuichi felt miserable.
He couldn’t understand why every woman who’d appeared in his life lately had turned out to be such a pain.
Unable to think of anything to say, Hiiragi Shuichi kept his mouth shut.
Just then, Aoba Tomoyo pushed aside the curtain to the kitchen.
She’d changed back into her Metropolitan High School uniform jacket.
She walked up to Aoba Mother and quietly said, “Let’s go,” then turned back and glanced at Hiiragi Shuichi, looking reluctant to leave.
Aoba Mother gave a slight nod and reached out as if to take her daughter’s arm, but Aoba Tomoyo had already started toward the entrance.
Just as Aoba Mother was about to follow her, a tall woman in a sharply tailored suit entered from outside and whispered something in her ear.
Aoba Mother turned back and asked Hiiragi Shuichi.
“Shuichi, would you be interested in attending a banquet?”
“Huh? Um… I don’t think I’d be suitable, would I?”
“I’m just an uncultured country bumpkin who doesn’t know proper etiquette.”
There was a slight edge to Hiiragi Shuichi’s voice, and Aoba Mother’s eyes narrowed for an instant.
He really didn’t understand why this old woman wanted him to go with them.
This was their family business, wasn’t it?
What did it have to do with him, Hiiragi Shuichi?
Aoba Mother shook her head.
“Not at all. People from the countryside know how to make a living.”
“Tomoyo needs a male escort for the banquet, and the one who was supposed to go with her…”
“Since Tomoyo didn’t go before, another family took him.”
“All right, Shuichi… Once Tomoyo gets there, I think she’ll want you to come along too.”
Hiiragi Shuichi heard that beautiful yet dangerous voice again, after so long.
It was suffocating, yet alluring, making him want to drown in it of his own accord.
But he was still on the clock…
Aoba Mother seemed to have read his mind, so she said:
“Don’t worry. As Tomoyo’s escort, you’ll earn enough in one hour to cover a month of work here.”
This…
Hiiragi Shuichi glanced back toward the kitchen.
Xiaomu Dianzhang noticed them and deliberately rubbed his head.
“Oh dear, so busy, so busy. Looks like I won’t have time to watch the counter tonight…”