“…”
“How do you feel?”
In the staff room, Niijima Yukina looked at Akiba Sakura, who was slumped over the table exhausted after serving just one customer, a slight smile playing on her lips.
She walked over to Sakura’s side and gently patted her back, asking about her experience.
“It’s… it’s okay, Manager…”
Akiba Sakura lifted her head to look at Niijima Yukina, the light makeup on her face already half removed.
“It seems that customer was quite a handful. With that long fringe, I thought he’d be a typical shut-in, but he turned out to be unexpectedly difficult?”
“No, he really is just a shut-in… besides going to school, he usually just holes up at home.”
Akiba Sakura weakly complained about Yuuma Tsugumu.
Not long ago, she had been serving him non-stop until his phone was finally charged and she was freed.
Before leaving, Yuuma actually said he wanted to sign up for a VIP membership here.
Sakura couldn’t take it anymore at that point and immediately wanted to chase him out, telling him not to come back next time.
Unexpectedly, the guy looked happy instead and said he’d definitely be back.
‘I treated him like that, and he still insists on coming back. Is he a masochist?!’
“Oh?”
Hearing Sakura’s reply, a flicker of doubt passed through Niijima Yukina’s eyes.
“Do you know him?”
“Ahhhh! I don’t know him, he just told me all that…”
Hearing Niijima Yukina’s words, Akiba Sakura immediately straightened up and shook her head vigorously.
“I just scolded him a little, and he spilled his entire life story to me, haha…”
Akiba Sakura pretended to be nonchalant as she scratched the back of her head.
“Oh ho?”
Watching Sakura’s reaction, Niijima Yukina nodded to herself as if she ‘understood’.
“Is that so?”
“Mhm, mhm, yes, that’s exactly it—”
Akiba Sakura also nodded seriously, mimicking Niijima Yukina’s expression.
“Alright, I never said I didn’t believe you, Sakura-chan.”
Niijima Yukina looked at the clearly guilty Sakura before her, whose eyes were darting everywhere, the amusement in her own eyes deepening, but she showed no intention of exposing her.
She reached out and gently smoothed Sakura’s slightly messy sideburns, her tone very gentle.
“Look what that guy did to our Sakura-chan, she’s all worn out, even her face is flushed.”
Niijima Yukina’s tone was natural and casual, as if she were just mentioning it in passing as she continued—
“Since that customer, Yuuma Tsugumu, is so troublesome, if he comes to the shop again, just leave him to me to serve.”
Akiba Sakura’s head shot up, her eyes instantly going wide, her voice tinged with urgency.
“Huh? No, no, Manager! Really, it’s not necessary! He’s just a regular shut-in, I… I can handle him!”
She was panicking inside.
If the Manager personally served Yuuma, and one day that stupid small fry noticed something was off and realized the ‘school idol’ and childhood friend he went to school with every day was the same ‘sharp-tongued’ maid at this shop, she might as well find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
‘My image would be completely ruined then! Manager, please don’t meddle!’
Seeing her this vehemently reactive, the last trace of uncertainty in Niijima Yukina’s heart vanished completely—
‘As I thought, these two definitely have some kind of inexplicable relationship.’
She subtly shook her head, masking her all-knowing smile, and pretended to be considerate as she sighed.
“I just thought, you rush to the shop for your part-time job right after school every day, which is already tiring enough. Having to deal with such a draining customer on top of that, I was worried you might not be able to handle it. But come to think of it, that customer’s school uniform seemed…”
“Ahhhh—”
Akiba Sakura suddenly stood up, flustered, cutting Niijima Yukina off.
“It’s decided then! No need to trouble yourself, Manager, I’ll serve him myself!”
“Mhm?”
Niijima Yukina wasn’t so easily brushed off.
Her gaze, full of interest, swept over the instantly flustered Sakura, as if looking at a little kitten.
“It seemed… to be the exact same style of uniform as the high school you attend, right?”
As soon as the second half of that sentence was uttered, Akiba Sakura froze completely on the spot, waving her hands frantically.
“That’s not true! It’s just… uh… just a similar style! Lots of high school uniforms look alike these days!”
As she spoke, she herself felt her confidence waning, her voice growing softer and softer.
She simply lowered her head, pretending to be indifferent as she straightened her maid uniform, not daring to meet Niijima Yukina’s eyes anymore.
Niijima Yukina chuckled softly and didn’t press further, crossing her arms and giving a slight nod.
“Alright, alright, maybe I just saw wrong—Since Sakura-chan insists on serving him herself, I won’t interfere, okay?”
Hearing this, Akiba Sakura had just breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Niijima Yukina leisurely add:
“However, if there comes a day when you can’t handle it, or… if your identity is accidentally exposed, you can come to me anytime.”
Akiba Sakura’s body stiffened.
She whipped her head around and met Niijima Yukina’s smiling eyes.
The other party hadn’t explicitly pointed out anything, yet she had clearly seen through everything.
“I won’t get exposed!”
Akiba Sakura muttered stubbornly.
“That idiot is super dense. Even if I stood right in front of him now, he wouldn’t recognize me!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she herself paused, instinctively covering her mouth—didn’t that just amount to admitting she knew him?
“Oh ho?”
Niijima Yukina’s smile grew even gentler.
She stepped forward and reached out to ruffle Sakura’s hair.
“Is that so? Then I’ll be looking forward to it.”
She understood perfectly well, having seen it clearly herself—
That boy named Yuuma Tsugumu earlier only had eyes for the ‘bratty girl’ in the maid uniform, completely failing to recognize her as his childhood friend.
And while Akiba Sakura acted all disdainful on the surface, she was panicking internally, desperately trying to hide her identity from him.
‘It’s so great that I hired Sakura-chan… I even get to watch a good show… she’s truly my little blessing~’
The staff room lights shone on the two of them—
Right now, Akiba Sakura wished she could find a corner and bury herself on the spot.
“Manager, this… I…”
The more flustered she became, the more amusing Niijima Yukina found this girl, the smile in her eyes nearly overflowing.
“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you.”
The Manager gently patted her shoulder and turned to walk towards the staff room door.
“Hurry up and finish removing your makeup, it’s getting late, you know? If you don’t hurry, it’ll be dark soon~ A cute kid like you could easily get targeted, you know?”
“Huh? Oh!”
Hearing Niijima Yukina’s words, Akiba Sakura felt a weight lift off her shoulders and quickly went back to removing her makeup.
Niijima Yukina just smiled and shook her head, then pushed the door open and walked out.
‘Well—there’s a good show to look forward to in the future. I wonder what Sakura-chan really thinks of that boy?’
Niijima Yukina just wanted to quietly be an ordinary observer, her mind set on seeing just how long it would take for these two awkward individuals to finally pierce that thin layer of paper between them.
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