"Minato, are you okay? I'm sorry, it's my fault."
I immediately reacted to Arisu's unusually apologetic voice.
"It's not your fault. I just found Tanaka senpai physically repulsive, that's all."
"But... you also defended Yuzu."
"Yuzu... oh, Kureha. I didn't mean to defend her."
That's right, I didn't mean to defend her. It was just about my own feelings. Even though I'm not her friend, childhood friend, or boyfriend.
I just couldn't stand the thought of her being eyed up by another guy. That's all.
"Don't worry about me. And after threatening him like that, Tanaka senpai won't come near us for a while."
"You care more about me right now."
"Well, either way, it's good you got rid of a scumbag like him."
I didn't want to be worried about or thanked, so I said something dismissive and sent Arisu away. She still looked like she wanted to say something, but the bell for first period rang, and she reluctantly went back to her seat.
Good grief. I got emotional. I'll have to be careful from now on.
The only thing I'm worried about is whether Yuzu will say something to me later.
---
"Hey, do you like Arisu?"
After school, Yuzu came to my place as usual. Normally she would go take a shower right away, but today she sat on the bed, fiddled with her phone a bit, and asked me that.
"You heard my conversation with Tanaka senpai?"
"Well, you were pretty loud. And since you didn't deny it, you must like her."
"No way. I just hate guys like Tanaka senpai."
"You're jealous because he's handsome? That's pathetic."
"Maybe. But I can't stand people who think being good at sports makes them great. That kind of attitude doesn't work in the real world."
Even as I said it, it stung a little. I'm aware that I used to be like that myself.
"So that's why you quit sports?"
"I just hit my limit. What about you? Would you have played if our school had a softball club?"
"I chose this school knowing it didn't. I never intended to play."
Yuzu tossed her phone onto the bed with a bored look and started taking off her jacket.
"You have work, right? If we don't hurry, you'll run out of time."
"Well, the towels are in the usual place."
"I don't need one today. Let's just do it now."
"There's still time."
"Do you not want to?"
"No, not really."
Yuzu, who usually never comes close to me without showering first, started taking off her clothes and wrapped herself around me today for some reason.
The feeling of our slightly sweaty skin sticking together was fresh. More excited than usual, I held Yuzu as if to release something.
I had completely forgotten about the plushie sitting in the corner of the room.
---
"Ahhh."
"Oh, you look tired for once. Playing around with women too much?"
"That's not it, Asou san."
Night. The restaurant was unusually slow. The manager was off today, and I was a little nervous about manning the store with just Asou san until the replacement employee arrived, but she seemed to have regained some of her former cheerfulness.
"So you've gotten over that guy?"
"Well, yeah. He was persistent even after that. At the end, he sent me this ridiculously long message. It just turned me off."
She showed me her phone. There was a message so long it hurt my eyes.
Honestly, it was creepy.
"So it turned out he was the crazy one."
"Yeah, exactly. But guys like that are scary because you never know what they'll do. Can you walk me home?"
"Sure, I guess."
"Oh, thanks. My parents are both at a party tonight and won't be home until late, so they can't pick me up."
While we chatted like that, no customers showed up at all.
We were spacing out when finally the entrance bell rang.
"Welcome."
A guy with brown hair, college aged, came in alone. I didn't think anything of it at first since I see people like that at this hour often, and was about to show him to a seat. But when I saw Asou san hurriedly hide in the kitchen, I understood who he was.
"Please call me when you're ready to order."
After showing him to the very back seat, where the kitchen was hard to see, I returned immediately. Asou san was crouched down, pale.
"That's him, isn't it?"
"Y-yeah. But why did he come here?"
"To see you, obviously."
"But I never told him I work here. Do you think he followed me?"
She was genuinely frightened. So she was just putting on a brave face. Inside, she must have been stressed from his persistent messages.
"Well, he can't tell you're here. I'll handle it."
"S-sorry. Thank you."
The call bell rang immediately. I left the kitchen and went to the back seat.
Then,
"Um, isn't there a girl named Mariko here?"
The guy looked around nervously and asked.
"I don't know, I just started working here."
In this situation, I had no choice but to play dumb. But he seemed convinced she was here. His attitude suddenly changed.
"Hey, are you trying to protect her? Are you Mariko's new guy?"
It was such a ridiculous accusation that I wanted to smack my forehead. Well, I was protecting her, that was true.
"Excuse me, your order..."
"Shut up. Just bring her out. I just want to talk properly. Hey, Mariko, I know you're in there! Hey!"
The guy started yelling for Asou san loudly. I told him, "Please be quiet, you're disturbing the other customers," but there was no point.
"There aren't any other customers! You remember what happens when you mess with me!"
As he started making a scene, I thought about grabbing his head like I did with Tanaka senpai earlier.
But this was my workplace. I didn't want to cause trouble and get fired. More than anything, I didn't want any scandal while the manager was away.
"Excuse me, I'll call the police."
When I calmly told him that, he clicked his tongue, knocked over his water, and stormed out of the store.
"Sigh..."
As I wiped up the water he spilled on the table and floor, Asou san timidly came over from the back.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine. Are you okay, Asou san?"
"I'm fine. I'm sorry, that was unpleasant for you."
"You don't need to apologize. The one who made me uncomfortable was that guy."
"B-but still..."
"You're not involved with him anymore, right? Then you don't need to feel bad about it. Anyway, the replacement employee should be here soon. Let's get ready to go home."
"Okay."
Asou san went to the back. I relaxed a little.
Honestly, this kind of thing keeps happening lately. Are all guys these days like this?
Or is it just that there happen to be a lot of them around me?
Or maybe...
I'm just as bad as they are.
Thinking that in the quiet store, I scratched my head with my damp hand.