Akiba Sakura quickly turned on her camera, and she could clearly see the person on the other side freeze for a moment.
“Um… hello?”
“You’re the one!”
Just as Sakura was about to explain her strengths, the other party suddenly let out a loud, unexpected shout, startling Sakura so much she jumped.
“Huh? Huh? Huh?”
Less than five seconds had passed since Sakura turned on her camera.
The girl on the other side of the phone screen immediately clapped her hands excitedly and passed Sakura’s interview.
“But I thought you had to be over 18?!”
“Eh— Did I say something like that?”
The manager of the Soft Cat Cafe pretended to look confused, then smiled gently.
“I know you’re here for a part-time job. You’re still a high school student, right?”
“Yeah!”
“I saw the school uniform hanging in your wardrobe behind you. We have a girl at our shop who used to go to that high school too… Ahem, anyway—for part-time work, 16 is perfectly fine! And…”
The manager of the Soft Cat Cafe narrowed her eyes, then continued with an expectant look, “Has anyone ever told you that you have a real maid-like aura?”
‘A maid-like aura? What on earth is that?’
“Well, just take it as me saying you’re very cute!”
Seeing Sakura’s utterly bewildered expression, the Soft Cat Cafe manager laughed and explained, then seemed to remember she hadn’t introduced herself yet.
“My introduction might be a bit late. I’m Niijima Yukina, currently serving as the manager of the Soft Cat Cafe. Please take care of me from now on, Sakura-chan~”
“Ah, me too!”
“…”
—
“…”
Time quickly flew to the afternoon of the next day after school.
Today, Sakura didn’t dawdle.
She packed her handbag and was the first to head to the classroom’s back door.
She looked back at Momoka Aoi and Yuuma Tsugumu and said urgently:
“Tsuguo-kun, Little Aoi, I have something to do today, so I can’t walk home with you. See you tomorrow!”
With that, Sakura plunged headlong into the crowded corridor without looking back and disappeared.
“Huh?”
Hearing Sakura’s words, both Aoi and Tsugumu were stunned.
‘Wha… what’s going on?’
“Did you two have a fight?”
Aoi, watching Sakura vanish into the sea of people, thought for a moment before turning to ask Tsugumu.
The accusatory tone of her question made Tsugumu’s brain short-circuit.
“No, why would you jump to the conclusion that I fought with her?! We barely spoke a few words to each other at school today!”
“That’s you—not Sakura!”
Aoi rolled her eyes, then looked at Tsugumu with an expression of exasperation.
“Today, just like always, it was Sakura who initiated conversation with you, and you replied with that attitude of yours, like someone owes you a few million! Maybe starting today, Sakura, hurt by your attitude, is going to cut ties with you!”
“…”
Tsugumu opened his mouth to say something but didn’t know how to refute it, so he chose to remain silent.
“…”
Aoi precisely caught Tsugumu’s aborted attempt to speak, and it made her even angrier inside.
‘Yuuma Tsugumu, Yuuma Tsugumu, now I understand why Sakura hasn’t been able to get closer to you. What on earth are you playing at?’
Before she was sure about Sakura’s feelings for Tsugumu, Aoi hadn’t paid much attention to these details.
But now, having decided to be their ‘single pusher,’ Aoi had spent the entire day carefully observing Tsugumu and Sakura.
Combining their interactions since starting high school, Aoi was pretty sure of one thing—Sakura was genuinely putting in the effort.
In contrast, Tsugumu always responded to Sakura with a lukewarm, even cold, attitude.
‘Their relationship used to be pretty good. Did something happen between them?’
Aoi didn’t dwell on this question, so the thought vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving only the proposition of ‘how to help Sakura conquer Tsugumu.’
“Do you want to go see what Sakura is up to?”
“No.”
Tsugumu shot Aoi a look, then picked up his bag and headed for the corridor.
‘This blockhead!’
Looking at Tsugumu’s retreating back, a fuming Aoi said fiercely behind him:
“Fine, don’t go! I’ll go by myself!”
Tsugumu didn’t turn back or respond, simply walking out of the classroom and heading downstairs.
“…”
“…”
‘It’s the first time… it’s been this quiet.’
On his way home, Tsugumu stood alone at a zebra crossing, waiting for the traffic light.
Usually at this time, there would be a girl chattering away beside him, killing time while they waited for the red light.
But today was different—
Today, there was no one he knew around.
‘…’
For some reason, Tsugumu felt a growing sense of irritation in his heart, and it only got heavier as time passed.
Tsugumu knew the reason, but he didn’t want to admit it.
He didn’t want to admit that Sakura not walking home with him would make him this agitated.
‘Maybe starting today, Sakura is going to cut ties with you!’
Remembering Aoi’s words from earlier, his original irritation was now mixed with a sliver of fear.
Just then, the pedestrian light turned green—Tsugumu noticed the crowd starting to move forward, and he followed along like a robot.
‘That suits me just fine.’
That was the sentence Tsugumu had wanted to use to refute Aoi.
The words had been right at his throat, but for some reason, saying them had felt incredibly difficult at the time.
Lost in his swirling thoughts, Tsugumu walked aimlessly, not even noticing that at the intersection where he should have turned left, he had gone straight instead…
After walking a considerable distance, Tsugumu finally came to a realization.
‘Forget it, Yuuma Tsugumu. Since you’ve decided to do this, don’t think about turning back. Since you’ve chosen to distance yourself from Akiba Sakura, now is the best opportunity… Wait, where is this?’
Tsugumu stopped and looked around at the somewhat unfamiliar streets, frowning slightly.
He finally realized he had missed his turn home.
Without realizing it, he had walked into a somewhat unfamiliar district.
Although he had grown up and gone to school in this city, Tsugumu had mostly stayed within his own district and hadn’t traveled or played much outside it.
As a result, he basically needed to use his phone’s navigation the moment he left his district.
“Just my luck… sigh!”
Tsugumu let out a long sigh, then took out his phone, only to see the screen displaying a large red battery warning.
‘Crap, I didn’t charge it yesterday…’
Now Tsugumu was in trouble.
The way home involved several turns, and ever since he missed the first turn and took the second, everything had gotten messed up.
He had no idea now whether he needed to go straight or what to get back.
‘Do I have to ask for directions all the way home?’
Tsugumu sighed again, then looked around, hoping to find someone with a friendly face to ask.
That’s when he noticed a coffee shop whose decor stood out starkly from the surrounding stores.
“‘Soft Cat Cafe’?”