"Come to think of it, although I've always had similar questions, where do the rabbit dango in our shop actually come from? The baking oven in the back kitchen doesn't seem to have been used at all."
At the bar, Shiina, who was resting, held a water glass with both hands to rehydrate. Her fingertips unconsciously rubbed against the cup, and her amber eyes held pure curiosity as she looked at Momoka opposite her.
"...I don't know."
Momoka crossed her arms and leaned against the back of the bar. At this moment, the Manager was no longer wiping cups; she deliberately kept a straight face, her tone crisp as if refusing to continue the topic.
"Eh..."
Shiina, holding her cup, was clearly stunned for a moment, widening her eyes as she looked at her, her tone filled with undisguised surprise: "Are you still angry? Like a child..."
"You're the child!"
Perhaps it was because Ms. Mahiru's 'looking at a child' gaze, which carried a bit of tolerance and a bit of doting, was simply too glaring, Momoka immediately bristled and retorted.
She stood up straight suddenly, and her speaking speed accelerated a bit:
"The answer is 'I don't know', because every morning, the day's portion of rabbit dango is just sitting nicely in the fresh-keeping cabinet!"
"I see..."
Shiina responded softly, subconsciously tilting her head. Her hair slid down her shoulders, her amber long hair swaying slightly under the light like soft silk.
Momoka watched this scene and couldn't help but sigh inwardly—at school, there must be many boys who would be charmed by this action and her little expression.
I don't know how the boss managed to lure this child into the Rabbit House in the first place.
It's just a pity that, unlike her soft, cute, and docile appearance, this child is actually quite black-bellied inside.
"Don't you think it's strange?"
She shook her head, cast aside those irrelevant thoughts, and asked back instead.
"What's strange about it?"
Shiina blinked, not reacting for a moment: "I remember that many dessert shops collaborate with bakeries, where professional pastry chefs bake all the cakes needed for the day every morning and send them to the dessert shops—in fact, most chain dessert shops operate on this model, right?"
"That may be true, but you have to know, I live in the shop."
Momoka shrugged, her tone carrying a bit of helplessness.
"...The thought that someone could deliver things to the shop without me noticing at all, and then leave without a trace, makes me feel subtly uncomfortable..."
Speaking of this, she subconsciously rubbed her arms, as if she had really gotten goosebumps from her own imagination.
"If it were the manager, I feel like you could swing the guitar and whack the intruder on the head—"
Shiina put down her cup and added with a serious face, while also raising her hands to make a baseball-swinging motion.
"I wouldn't do that!"
Momoka immediately retorted, slapping the bar twice with a 'bang bang', making a crisp sound.
Subsequently, she seemed to deflate suddenly, her shoulders sagging slightly, and she sighed:
"And it's not that I want to speak ill of the Rabbit House, but this place is actually quite wei... er, mysterious."
"Where is it mysterious?"
Shiina immediately became interested, leaning forward slightly, her gaze fixed tightly on her.
"For example, I can occasionally hear some movement by the back door, but when I go over to open the door to look, there's nothing outside."
Momoka lowered her voice a bit, and when she spoke, she subconsciously glanced toward the back door.
"It must be mice."
Shiina gave the answer quickly, almost without thinking.
After all, the back of the Rabbit House is completely different from the bright and beautiful Toyama Shopping District in the front; it's a dark alley, and no matter how well the cleaning is done, things like mice are unlikely to be completely eliminated.
"...And it's not just the rabbit dango; even the ingredients used to make sundaes, like cream and ice cream, are automatically restocked after being used up..."
Momoka continued counting on her fingers, listing those abnormal phenomena one by one.
"It must be that Asakura-san noticed the usage, so he just restocks regularly!"
Shiina placed her hands on her chest, her tone firm, her expression as serious as if she were stating some undeniable fact: "As expected of him!"
"Aren't you a bit too blindly trusting of him?"
Thinking of someone's lazy and casual style on weekdays, Momoka couldn't help but complain, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly.
"It's the Manager who underestimates Asakura-san too much."
Shiina looked directly at her, her tone solemn, and she even nodded gently to emphasize: "Although Asakura-san looks very young, he is a very capable person."
Momoka suddenly felt that she couldn't win the argument against her, so she had to helplessly shift her gaze and continue the topic:
"Then, besides that, there's also the back kitchen area... Although you and Kita also clean it often, in fact, even before you came to work here, it would often become very clean overnight..."
Speaking of this, she spread her hands and shook her head, making an expression of 'You can't explain this one, right'.
"Regarding this point, please just assume there are mysterious kitchen elves helping out."
Just then, a male voice with a bit of lighthearted laughter came from the side, interrupting their conversation.
"Boss?"
"Asakura-san!"
Almost simultaneously, the two voices overlapped in front of the bar.
Shiina was slightly stunned at first, then turned her head in the direction the voice came from; Momoka also subconsciously raised her gaze, looking over the bar towards the shop entrance.
The two of them looked toward the entrance in unison.
Beside the glass door, Asakura had already pushed it open and walked in. He carried a bag casually slung over his shoulder (inside were some bento boxes for dinner that Kaju had packed for him after hearing he lived alone). He paused at the door, flashed a familiar smile, and then raised his hand to wave at them gently.
"Yo." His tone was light, as if he had just stepped out to buy something and returned.
"Weren't you going on a trip?" Momoka spoke up first.
She didn't pay attention to the 'mysterious House-elves' mention Asakura had made earlier—a statement that clearly sounded like nonsense—but instead narrowed her eyes to scrutinize him, her tone carrying a hint of appraisal.
"Yeah, that was the original plan, but a lot happened afterward. How should I put it…"
As Asakura spoke, he placed the bag on a nearby chair and pulled out another chair to sit down.
"I've had quite a rough summer," he said, his expression calm, though his tone carried a touch of helplessness.
Asakura, intending to harvest—I mean, replenish his magic—replied solemnly, "So I plan to come back and rest for a while."
"Asakura-kun, would you like some rabbit dango? Would you like black tea or coffee to go with it?" Shiina had already walked out from behind the counter. Standing before Asakura with her hands folded naturally in front of her, her tone was gentle and eager.
Her voice was soft and natural, with no intention of deliberately closing the distance, nor was there any sense of formality or sycophancy; she simply wanted to do something for him.
"I'll pass on the rabbit dango. Back when we were developing new flavors, I ate quite a lot of them…" Asakura gave a wry smile, seemingly recalling that tasting experience.
The House-elves had great culinary talent; even when developing new items, there was no need to worry about grotesque flavors like 'honey octopus legs'.
However, the little guys were too eager. They made a mountain of prototypes, and since Asakura wasn't very good at refusing such overwhelming, almost humble kindness, he had ended up eating all the new flavors of rabbit dango.
The result was that his stomach felt uncomfortably full all afternoon. "Just black tea is fine." Asakura said, nodding gently at Shiina.
"Okay!" Shiina immediately flashed a bright smile, replied, and turned to head back behind the counter. She deftly took out the tea set and began carefully brewing black tea for Asakura.
The hot water made a faint sound as it was poured into the teapot, and the elegant aroma of tea soon filled the shop.
On the other side, Momoka had slumped back against the counter. Resting her chin in one hand with her elbow on the surface, she said lazily, "Well, do whatever you want. Anyway, the word 'summer vacation' has nothing to do with a working adult like me."
"Is that so? I had actually planned to give you an extra two days off for the Obon festival." Asakura narrowed his eyes slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips, his tone meaningful.
"Paid?" Momoka's eyes lit up instantly, and she perked up significantly.
"Yes, paid."
"I was wrong! Please give me the time off!"
She straightened up almost immediately, clasped her hands together, and apologized with a sincere expression. The speed of her attitude change made one wonder if the dejected person from a moment ago was just an illusion.
"You really are terrifyingly realistic…" Asakura shook his head helplessly, though a smile remained on his lips.
At this moment, Shiina walked over with a tray and gently placed a cup of freshly brewed black tea in front of Asakura. "Oh, thank you, Shiina."
Asakura reached out to take the cup, his fingertips sensing the warmth. He first lowered his head to inhale the tea's aroma, then took a gentle sip. The next moment, his expression visibly relaxed, and a look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes. As expected, the tea brewed by the girl was still excellent.
"Huh? Isn't that Asakura-kun?" Just then, an exclamation came from Anon at the booth.
Upon seeing Asakura, her friends also whispered things like, 'It really is him,' 'If you look closely, he's actually quite handsome… is he?', and 'Anon's taste might be a bit different from ours.'
Anon just glanced helplessly at the Traffic Light Trio, her best friends, before continuing to speak to Asakura: "What a coincidence!"
When she said this, she was actually feeling quite happy inside—the reason she chose Rabbit House to treat them instead of a more common family restaurant was that, more or less, she had a lingering thought of 'it would be nice if I could run into Asakura.'
"It's not a coincidence." But Asakura shook his head.
"Huh?"
Anon was taken aback.
"I came here specifically to find you," Asakura continued.
"F-find me?" The pink-haired girl's eyes widened, and she subconsciously pointed at herself, her expression looking even more incredulous and sweet.
After all, in the club, while she wasn't exactly invisible, her presence was indeed not as strong as the other Chihaya.
The Traffic Light Trio exclaimed:
'Could it be mutual affection!'
'Is Anon's spring finally here!'
'You'll have to step over my dead body to take Anon away!'.
Well, although one person's comment was a bit strange, Asakura didn't mind.
He just snapped his fingers and said to Momoka, "I'll cover the bill for their table."
"Why not just say it's on the house?"
Momoka rolled her eyes: "Also, that expression and gesture of yours are subtly a bit greasy."
"Eh, really? I was quite confident about that…" Asakura was shocked: "Isn't that how it's done in shoujo manga?"
"What kind of shoujo manga are you reading…" Momoka sighed.
"Things like 'One ○ Love', 'Boys Over ○ Flowers', 'Heavenly ○ Heart'." Asakura replied.
"Those are all outdated works from the 90s," Momoka retorted: "Though they are classics, I suppose."
"It's okay, I've also watched other pure love anime—" Asakura said confidently. "By the way, 'Clannad', 'Toradora', and 'White Album' are also twenty-year-old relics."
"Nani?!" Asakura was horrified: "Has it really been that long?"
"Where on earth does your confidence come from…" Momoka looked at him helplessly.
"At this point, I have no choice but to be direct! Chihaya, are you free later?" Asakura asked Anon directly.
"Eh, me?" Anon was stunned for a moment, then hesitated: "But I've only watched anime like 'Your Lie in April', 'Plastic Memories', and 'Anohana'—"
"Damn it, so trendy. Is there really a thick barrier between Anon and me?"
"This kid is also quite old-school," Momoka whispered: "Aren't these all works from ten years ago?"
Asakura: "Huh?"
Shiina, who never watched anime, stood to the side, unable to join the conversation like a minion. No, that wasn't the point.
"It has nothing to do with anime. If you're free later, come upstairs with me after you finish eating." Asakura pointed to the second floor: "I have something I need your help with."
"Eh?" A blush spread across Anon's face, and she looked even dazed. The Traffic Light Trio also started whispering in shock because of Asakura's explosive remark: 'Eh, isn't the upstairs of Rabbit House supposed to be the staff dorm? A bedroom! A bed!', 'Are they going to fast-forward straight to a physical relationship? This is too exciting!', 'Anon! Don't do it, Anon!'.
Why did it sound like there was a comment from an incompetent husband mixed in there?
Anon's face turned even redder, and she couldn't utter a word, her lips trembling. If this were an anime, she would definitely have transformed into a steam-girl by now, with a huge cloud of white steam rising from her head.