After the commotion caused by those ill-natured men who could hardly even be called customers had settled.

I was in the staff room writing a report to submit to the manager.

Whenever there’s trouble it’s reported like this to the higher-ups.

"That was scary wasn’t it Ryo-sama~ Ah but here I should call you Reo-chan right?"

My coworker in a nurse outfit... Mikuriya Yui-chan entered the staff room.

A university student a little older than me.

With her fluffy brown hair and laid-back demeanor she’s quite popular in this shop.

Though she’s so absent-minded she’s not very good at her job.

"How’s the situation in the shop?"

"It’s all fine now~ Back to normal."

"That’s good."

"It really was a disaster wasn’t it~ Maybe I should start boxing so that doesn’t happen again~"

She makes little punching motions going shush shush but just from how she moves you can tell she has zero athletic ability so she’ll probably never reach a useful level.

"Yui-chan don’t push yourself. Just leave it to me."

"Wow that’s so Prince-like of you~"

"They say that here too..."

"It’s fine isn’t it~ Being popular. By the way back in high school I was called the useless sleeping princess~"

"That’s extremely dishonorable but it describes you perfectly doesn’t it"

"It doesn’t~ I didn’t sleep that much in class~"

So you’re not denying the useless part.

"Still that small kid had guts didn’t they~ I could only watch."

"No, that wasn’t courage. It was just recklessness."

"By the way you disappeared with that kid alone~ what were you doing~?"

"Of course I gave him a proper lecture."

"Ah poor thing..."

"Not poor at all."

Honestly Hayama-kun annoyed me.

Because he tried to do something he couldn’t.

Hayama-kun has never once gotten into a fight and has never even thought about it.

It was far too much for him.

He needs to properly distinguish between what he can and can’t do.

...That’s what I lectured him about and he seemed to be listening but then he came up with excuses like, "Takatsuka-san has helped me before... I thought I had to do something. I didn’t want Takatsuka-san to get fired."

That’s insulting.

Just dealing with customers like that wouldn’t get me fired by our manager.

I can handle my own problems.

I’ve always done things that way.

Yes, without relying on anyone I’ve managed everything on my own.

So...

No one has ever gone that far for me before.

And for it to be Hayama-kun of all people, someone shorter than me and who looks so weak...

Damn it, what is this?

All I want is to make Hayama-kun mine.

I just want to make him weak , make him obsessed with me and dote on him like a pet.

I’m above.

He’s below.

That’s how it has to be but...

I can’t forget the sight of his back when he stood in front of those two idiots...

"Huh, Reo-chan what’s wrong~? A cold?"

"W-why do you ask?"

"Your face is red~ like a monkey’s butt."

"T-that’s not true! I’m perfectly calm!"

"Is that so~ Well if you say so~ Ufufu. It’s rare to see you like this Reo-chan~"

This is bad.

Yui-chan seems to have noticed something.

She may be slow but she’s strangely perceptive at times.

"By the way it was you who asked me to guide that kid to the private room right? Hmm, so that’s how it is~"

"It’s not like that. I just wanted to tease Hayama-kun."

While I was working the floor I saw Hayama-kun through the window talking with what looked like two male classmates at the entrance.

I didn’t expect him to actually come to our shop but since he did I wanted to give him proper service.

So I instructed Yui-chan to guide him to that private room.

But if she’s going to tease me like this maybe I shouldn’t have asked.

"Come on back to work. Don’t pretend to worry about me just to slack off."

I push Yui-chan’s back as we leave the staff room.

There’s still time left in our shift.

I work at this concept cafe Luage four days a week.

Officially it’s to earn money but really the main reason is to kill time.

I’m not short on money.

Thanks to that person who thinks they’ve fulfilled their parental duty just by giving me money.

For the rest of my shift I planned to go about things as usual.

I’m known here for being good at my job.

Today too I intended to fully show the skills of the number one most popular.

* * *

But...

For some reason I kept making mistakes that day.

I messed up orders, broke dishes I had collected halfway and even tripped in front of customers.

Why?

These are mistakes that would normally never happen.

After finishing my shift in a completely worn-out state from repeated mistakes when I went into the changing room Yui-chan who was changing looked unusually happy.

"I get it~ If you get saved like that of course your heart starts pounding and you can’t focus on work~"

"I told you it’s not like that."

My locker is next to Yui-chan’s.

Since we usually finish around the same time we sometimes show each other our favorite underwear but today I’m not in the mood for that.

"...I don’t fall in love."

Yui-chan tilts her head.

"But you’ve had lots of girlfriends so that doesn’t really work does it~?"

"That’s different. I have my own circumstances."

"Even though you’re younger than me sometimes you feel more like an adult than I am~"

"If you keep spacing out like that you’ll end up a virgin your whole life."

"Ah that’s harassment~"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I'm heading home early today. I really don’t feel well."

I quickly finish changing, swipe my employee card and leave the shop.

It’s already night and I walk through the lit-up streets heading toward the station.

On the way I pass a mother and daughter walking hand in hand.

"Mommy, will daddy come home early tomorrow?"

"Yes. It’s your birthday after all. He said he’ll come home even if he has to drop work. He did the same last year right?"

A conversation between a young mother and a little girl.

To most people it would probably seem heartwarming.

"...Hmph."

To me it’s just annoying.