“Sakura-chan~ You’re finally back~”
“Huh? Senior Hoshikawa!”
Just as Akiba Sakura had finished changing into her maid uniform and was about to go find Hoshikawa Chinami for makeup, the latter rushed over in one stride and hugged Sakura, sniffing deeply.
“Sniff sniff, I need to replenish my Sakura energy~”
“Alright, Senior Hoshikawa!”
Akiba Sakura smiled helplessly, then looked curiously at Niijima Yukina, who was also standing nearby.
“Manager, what’s wrong with Senior Hoshikawa?”
“Who knows what nonsense she’s getting into again?”
Niijima Yukina also looked speechlessly at Hoshikawa Chinami, who was still hugging Sakura and rubbing her face against hers, her expression somewhat stiff.
“Chinami, if you think my iron fist doesn’t hurt enough, then go ahead and keep rubbing and wasting time…”
“!”
Hearing this, Hoshikawa Chinami quickly withdrew her hands and obediently ran over to the makeup table to sit down.
“What are you talking about, Manager? I’m always ready to help Sakura with her makeup! When have I ever wasted time?”
“…”
“Everyone’s still the same as always…”
Akiba Sakura smiled as she watched Hoshikawa Chinami bow down to Niijima Yukina’s majestic presence.
Niijima Yukina shot a helpless glance at Hoshikawa Chinami, then turned to look at Sakura, her tone instantly softening.
Her eyes unconsciously fell on Sakura’s legs—
“By the way, Sakura, how’s your leg injury? Does it still hurt? If it’s not fully healed, go back to the staff room and lie down for a while. You don’t have to force yourself to come to work.”
As the manager, Niijima Yukina usually seemed strict, but she always took care of everyone in the shop, especially Akiba Sakura, who looked like a sensible and obedient little girl.jpg
Akiba Sakura quickly shook her head and demonstrated her walking to Niijima Yukina.
“Thank you for your concern, Manager. I’ve already rested for two days, I’m much better! It still hurts a little today, but walking doesn’t bother me at all, and it won’t affect my work.”
To prove she was fine, she even gently tiptoed a bit, but the movement was slightly too large, and a faint sting came from her ankle.
She furrowed her brows instinctively, but quickly pretended nothing was wrong.
Hoshikawa Chinami sat at the makeup table with her ears perked up.
When she heard them talking about the leg injury, she immediately leaned in, her face full of exaggerated concern.
“Sakura, how could you be so careless! If your leg isn’t better, don’t push yourself! What if there are aftereffects? If you can’t play with me anymore, that would be terrible!”
“I really am fine, Senior Hoshikawa.”
Akiba Sakura smiled helplessly.
“It’s just a little pain, it doesn’t affect anything.”
Niijima Yukina watched Sakura’s forced ease and sighed helplessly.
“Alright, I know you’re sensible and don’t want to hold up the shop, but you’re not allowed to push yourself. When you go to serve customers after makeup, if your leg hurts again, no matter how busy you are, you must stop immediately and go back to the staff room to rest. Got it?”
“Mm-hmm, I understand, Manager!”
Akiba Sakura quickly nodded obediently, gratitude in her eyes.
Hoshikawa Chinami chimed in, patting her chest and said—
“Manager, don’t worry! I’ll keep an eye on Sakura! If she dares to push herself, I’ll immediately drag her to the staff room!”
Niijima Yukina glanced at her and replied curtly:
“Take care of yourself first. Don’t slack off on makeup later and turn Sakura’s face into a tabby cat.”
“No way!”
Hoshikawa Chinami immediately retorted, pulling Sakura’s hand and heading to the makeup table—
“Come on, Sakura! I’ll draw you a super cute maid makeup, guaranteed to make the customers’ eyes light up, especially that one!”
“That one?”
‘Wait, which one is that one?’
A bewildered Sakura was pulled to the makeup table by Hoshikawa Chinami and directly began to have her makeup done.
And Hoshikawa Chinami’s ‘that one’—Niijima Yukina naturally knew who that was.
Niijima Yukina opened the staff room door and walked out, seeing Yuuma Tsugumu still sitting in the corner.
‘To be honest… this customer came quite early today, even earlier than Sakura…’
But Niijima Yukina roughly knew the reason—mainly because Sakura was injured, so her speed in coming to the coffee shop would definitely be much slower than before.
‘Should I… go talk to him?’
For some reason, Niijima Yukina suddenly wanted to chat with the young man in front of her.
After all, she knew that Yuuma Tsugumu and her staff member Akiba Sakura were acquainted, so she wanted to talk to him and at least learn his name.
No sooner said than done. Niijima Yukina was a woman of action.
Niijima Yukina straightened her uniform collar a little, walked naturally to Yuuma Tsugumu’s usual corner table by the window.
At that moment, the little maid who was about to take Yuuma’s order was patted on the shoulder by Niijima Yukina.
Niijima Yukina gently raised her hand to signal:
“You go attend to other things. I’ll take care of this customer.”
“Okay, Manager.”
Yuuma Tsugumu looked up, not paying much attention, and slowly sipped his Raw Coconut Latte.
Niijima Yukina came to the table and slowly sat down, looking at the other’s face hidden by long bangs.
“Pardon me, sir. I am the Head Maid of this shop—Niijima Yukina.”
“Head Maid?”
Yuuma Tsugumu put down his cup and looked at Niijima Yukina, who had a lovely face, with some confusion.
“Is there something?”
“Nothing much. I just noticed you’ve been coming quite frequently lately, almost a regular, so I wanted to come and greet you. Would you mind telling me your name?”
“Yuuma Tsugumu.”
Yuuma Tsugumu answered succinctly, without any extra pleasantries.
Niijima Yukina silently memorized the name, a faint hint of teasing curling at the corner of her lips:
“So it’s Yuuma Tsugumu… Come to think of it, Tsugumu seems to particularly like having Sakura serve you? I noticed you’re much more active when Sakura serves you.”
Hearing the name ‘Sakura,’ Yuuma’s fingers holding the cup paused.
‘Sakura…’
At Soft Cat Cafe, every maid wears a name tag with their name on it.
And the name tag of that bratty girl maid who usually arrogantly called him small fry was apparently ‘Sakura.’
Realizing this, Yuuma understood who she was talking about.
He just nodded and hummed, his tone unreadable:
“It’s… okay, I guess?”
‘Let’s stop here for today. Asking too much might annoy him. It might be better to ask Sakura the remaining questions… At least, I now know the name of the young man in front of me.’
So Niijima Yukina quit while she was ahead, smiled, and slowly stood up—
“Then I won’t disturb you. Sakura will be out soon. Pleasure doing business with you today!”
With that, she turned and left, leaving Yuuma Tsugumu sitting alone in his seat.
‘??? This head maid came just to ask for my name?’
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