POV: Teruhashi Kokomi
At a convenience store
I haven't seen Kusuo for a while now since the break started. You would think we would spend time together at that time. Well, I can just visit him and ask. I can even read this magazine while I'm at his house.
I was too immersed in my thoughts to took at the cashier. I got careless and accidentally touched his hand
T: Oh, sorry.
Wait, why am I apologizing? I'm Teruhashi Kokomi, the girl everyone falls for. I blushed a bit earlier too. I look at the cashier's face and saw an overly familiar face.
T: Kusuo?!
S: Hey.
T: What are you doing here?
S: It's a long story
T: Well I'm curious enough to know.
S: A few days ago was the anniversary of the neighborhood association. And my mother suggested to let the younger generation take the jobs of the current committee members so they can get a vacation.
T: And being her son, you were her primary target?
S: Yes.
T: Have you been doing well so far?
S: After letting them explain the basics to me, I've just been doing things they allowed me to do, which isn't a lot.
T: It wouldn't hurt to tell me these things.
S: I didn't think you would be interested.
T: I might not, but I still want to know where you've been for the last few days
I put my hand on his.
T: I missed you.
He slightly blushed, smiled and held my hand.
S: You're right. I'm sorry
We shared a moment of silence together.
S: Anything I can do to make you feel better?
I took my time to respond.
T: Can I stay with you while you work?
S: I don't see why not.
Suddenly, the store door opened and the bell chimed. We quickly stopped holding hands. We see a guy in sunglasses, a scarf, and a cap. And he looks too suspicious to be a normal customer.
T: Do you think he's here to rob the store?
S: I don't think so. Check his arms and hair.
He's wearing arm bandages and has light blue hair. It's Kaido-kun!
T: Has he noticed we're here?
S: I'm sure he doesn't want to either.
We watch Kaido slowly walking to the magazine section and take some shounen and seinen magazines. He also took some note books, pens, pencils, brushes and ink.
T: This place sells brushes and ink?
S: We're not supposed to.
I walked away from the cashier and leaned to the fridge door so Kaido wouldn't notice me.
Kaido drops everything on the counter and pushed them to Kusuo. Kusuo silently scans all of the items while Kaido waits, not even looking at Kusuo in the eye. Kaido paid for it, let out a soft thank you, lightly bowed and walked away.
T: Seeing how suspicious he was, it looked more like an illegal deal than anything.
S: At least he was polite.
T: Did he notice us?
S: Probably not.
T: Seeing what he bought, I didn't think it was necessary to be secretive about it.
S: It's probably what he's going to do with it.
T: What?
A few days later,
Kusuo told me that he would be working at a ramen shop. I wonder how he would do. When I entered, a crowd was gathered at the front counter, I managed to peek at the source, and I see Kusuo stretching the dough for the noodles. For a part time worker, Kusuo seems a bit too good at making noodles. The dough he uses hasn't been separated once, it almost looked like slime or rubber. I just watch him serve ramen to a horde of people without a single word.
T: Good job
Kusuo's eyes darted to me in slight surprise.
S: Thank you.
T: Really, people would think you work full time.
S: Well, I had to do extra since one person ran this place. Makes you respect the owner more.
T: It really does.
I just watch him clean after the rush hour.
T: You know, I like watching you work hard at a job, makes you look more like an adult
S: Do I rarely look like an adult?
T: You always look mature, but your lifestyle is quite idle to be an adult.
S: That's how you view my attempt at a normal lifestyle
T: I do usually go out of my way to bring you places, which is ironic for someone who can teleport anywhere.
S: I did bring you to the best places in Okinawa, and I know I shouldn't spoil you
T: Makes sense.
Our conversation was interrupted by stomping noises outside the restaurant. A rough voice greets the place as he pushes the door.
Nendou Riki: Hey Boss, can I have my usual?
It's Nendou.
I panicked and I turned to Kusuo, that is wearing green glasses attached to a fake nose and moustache. I was so close to burst out laughing but I managed to hold it in.
T: Is that going to work?
S: We'll find out.
N: Eh, who are you?
Nendou looks intently to Kusuo.
N: You don't look like the boss, but you look familiar.
He's so immersed in his thinking that he hasn't noticed that I'm here.
N: You're probably the boss' apprentice. You look like a pal I know, but he wouldn't work here.
Didn't expect good reasoning from him.
N: Also you have a nice moustache.
Never mind,
T: Good afternoon, Nendou.
Nendou turns and finds me sitting right next to him.
N: Oh...Teruhashi-san. What are you doing here?
T: Just dropping by here for lunch.
One week later...
I decided to take it one step further and asked Kusuo if I can work with him. He allowed me and decided I would work with him at a family restaurant. We were also greeted with a familiar face.
Kuboyasu Aren: Oh hey, Saiki, Teruhashi-san.
T: Oh, Kuboyasu-kun. What are you doing here?
K: My parents recommended me to get a job, so I can be more independent. What about you two?
T: I didn't just want to spend the break idling by. Saiki-kun coincedentally filling in for his mother's friend.
K: I see. Well, looking forward to working with you two.
T: Same here.
Senior Worker: All right! Time to divide the work between you youngsters!
W: You look strong, and you look sharp. You two will fit very well as our waiters.
I finally changed to my work uniform and overheard Kuboyasu talking to Kusuo.
K: Woah Saiki, you're looking good in the uniform.
I looked to Kusuo and the white long sleeve and black vest really fits Kusuo's composed image.
T: Sorry I'm late.
K: Don't worry about i-
Kuboyasu froze when he saw me.
K: Oh...Teruhashi-san, you look great.
T: Thank you.
I looked to Kusuo.
T: What do you think?
S:...You look good.
Him pausing means that I look pretty to him. I'll take it. After talking, the senior worker shows up to assign me.
W: For you young lady-
He turns to me and flinches.
W: Oh...so bright!
After rubbing his eyes, he continued.
W: I can't let a pretty girl like you run around and tire herself like the other two.
After a few minutes of thinking, he thought of a plan. He pulled out a sign, wrote on it and gave it to me.
"1 Meal and Drink = 1 Picture/ 1 Photo / 1 Interaction"
W: You're going to be our mascot, young lady.
I was brought to the front of the store, and he briskly walked away. Is this going to work?
It did. A bit too well.
Almost every guy that walked past the restaurant walked in for the promotion. Some of them wanted to greet me, some of them wanted to shake my hand like I'm an idol, some of them just wanted to take a picture with me. Even though I'm not directly helping them, I'm just happy I'm able to contribute in my own way. I glanced inside to see how Kuboyasu and Kusuo is doing. They both managed to find their own roles. Kuboyasu was in charge of dealing with the dishes and the more physical labor, while Kusuo deals with the customer's order and occasionally helps with the cashier. I'm glad that they manage to keep up with the crowd.
It's also cool to see that Kuboyasu and Kusuo occasionally help each other out. Since Kuboyasu is more involved with the kitchen, Kusuo sometimes ask him about the food that's coming later than usual. And since Kusuo is more involved with the customers, Kuboyasu sometimes ask him about the table numbers.
One group that stood out were a group of middle school girls that actively wanted to talk to Kusuo and Kuboyasu. I know they're both loyal but I couldn't help but feel a little worried.
Girl 1: Have you seen the guy who brought the food around?
Girl 2: I did, he looked so strong and cool.
Girl 3: He was nice to talk to too.
Girl 4: What about the pink haired waiter?
G2: He looked so cool too, I saw him take so many orders but we got our food so fast.
G1: He wasn't really much of a talker though.
G3: He does have to take a lot of orders so maybe he doesn't want to get distracted.
G4: Hear this, when I said thank you, he smiled at me too.
G1: What?!
G3: So cool!
Saiki Kusuo? Smiling at strangers?
A few hours later...
W: It's a miracle! We haven't had that many customers ever since we opened! Here, I added extra pay for you three too! You can come back any time.
K&T: Thank you so much!
K: All right, it's been a long a day, so I'm going to go home. It's been a pleasure working with you guys.
T: Likewise.
T: Let's go.
S: Sure.
When we were walking home, I decided to start a conversation.
T: Did you have fun?
S: Not particularly. It was very busy.
T: Is, that, so.
S: What's with the distrustful tone?
T: I heard from some customers that you smiled at them.
S: Me? Smiling at strangers?
Same way I said it.
Kusuo started to trace his memories.
S: Oh. That.
He doesn't sound guilty.
T: So what was that about?
S: When I was taking that order, someone outside was doing a little dance.
That's when I remembered, for a period of time, there were no customers outside so I just danced a bit out of a whim because I was bored.
THAT'S SO EMBARRASSING!!!
I stopped talking for a bit then I continued,
T:...so that made you smile?
S:...Of course...you were cute.
Both of us were to embarrassed to keep talking