Aside from the first day of school, every other day was filled in on the agenda.
Working as a cashier at the convenience store earns Tooru an hourly wage of 1,000 yen. That’s more than enough income for a high schooler.
He glances at his watch—nearly 7:00. It’d be nice if he could get off work without a hitch.
As soon as that thought crosses Tooru’s mind, the person working the other register suddenly speaks up. That would be Sasaki Takato, 25 years old, Tooru’s superior. Some people would say that he’s someone “without a proper job.”
“You’re almost finished, right? Good work today.”
“Thank you, you too.”
“My job’s never done. But more importantly…”
Takato points behind the magazine display.
“Is that your friend? She’s super cute, dude.”
Tooru then looks towards the magazines and through the window. Standing outside is Satsuki, waving with a smile.
Why is she here? Tooru questioned, right before he recalled yesterday’s events.
Speaking of which, did he did tell her about his work schedule? He refused her offer to pick him up after work, so why is she here?
“She’s an… acquaintance. Only since yesterday, though.”
“Hmm…”
“Wh-What is it?”
“You must’ve been smooth. She your girlfriend?”
“She’s not my girlfriend. We just go to the same sch—"
The clock strikes seven and its chime interrupts the conversation.
“Alright, you’re a free man. Say hi to your girlfriend for me, alright?”
“I told you, she’s not!”
Tooru calls out as he walks into the break room. He quickly changes and heads outside where Satsuki greets him with a smile.
“Hi, Tooru. I know you said no yesterday, but here I am anyway.”
“That’s fine, but… are you okay? No one bothered you or anything, right?
“I’m fine, thank you.”
As Satsuki politely bowed, Tooru scratched the back of his head; it was a little embarrassing for him.
He notices a plastic bag from a pharmacy hanging down from Satsuki’s hand.
“Uhh, what’s in that?”
“I was thinking of cleaning your room today.”
Yikes.
A girl cleaning a guy’s room? That’s far from good.
It’s not like there’s anything in Tooru’s room that he’s too young to buy, but to have Satsuki come clean his room like she’s his housekeeper made him a bit nervous.
“C-Clean my room? You sure about that?”
“I’m sure. I got a little fired up and that’s why I bought a whole bunch of tools.”
Thanks, but no thanks, was what he was about to say, but he didn’t exactly want to say no to an offer like this.
“Alright, shall we head home then?”
“Let’s go!”
Satsuki flashes a tender smile.
The mess was quickly taken care of.
It’s not even 9:00 yet and the room is pretty much all done. Anyone can tell she’s got experience cleaning and tidying.
“Could you use the sticky roller to clean the carpet? The floor is all clean so that’s the only thing left to do.”
“I don’t know what to say… but thank you so much.”
Speaking of floors, that’s where Tooru’s jaw dropped to. He couldn’t believe this rebirth of his room.
To think that there had been so much to clean for a bachelor pad. No, rather, it was surprising that it was so easily cleaned up.
He was no match for Satsuki who doesn’t show even a hint of being tired.
Satsuki has her hair tied up in a single bunch. She’s beautiful with a completely different air than when she wears her hair down. Yes, almost as if Tooru suddenly had a sister.
But her looks only aroused his curiosity. A pure sense of it looks good on her.
“Is that your personal apron?”
“Yes, I brought it from home. Is it alright? It doesn’t look weird or anything, does it?”
Satsuki twirls around once.
The cutest girl in town showing off her apron is absolutely drool-worthy. No way it wouldn’t look good on her.
“It looks great on you.”
“R-Really? If so, then I’m glad…”
Her bashfulness just makes you want to protect her. Tooru, now softly smiling, sees her completely as a little sister.
Now then, with cleaning almost out of the way, is there anything Tooru can give Satsuki as thanks?
Not that he’s proud of it, but Tooru can make the bare minimum of rice and miso soup.
There’s a bit of leftover rice and green onion for the soup, but if Satsuki has already had dinner, then it wouldn’t mean much.
But still, this isn’t nearly enough for a girl that has done so much for him. If it were his classmates instead, then they wouldn’t have the right to complain. But Satsuki’s a girl. No way she’d be happy with this.
As Tooru grunts in frustration, he sees Satsuki heading towards the kitchen.
“Miyamoto? Don’t worry about cleaning the kitchen…”
“I was going to check your fridge, just in case. I may not look like it, but I’m pretty good at cooking, you know?”
Ugh, who wouldn’t just want to hug her tight? Still, that’s news to Tooru. He can barely stomach his own cooking.
As his fantasies play out in his head, Satsuki opens the refrigerator door and fixes a gaze at a particular spot.
Tooru was confused as to what she found in there.
He doesn’t remember having anything special. If there were anything in the fridge, it’d be nothing more than a few ingredients and condiments.
She squeezes the door handle tightly. Then, Satsuki slightly blushes and looks over to Tooru.
“Umm…”
“Hmm?”
“I was wondering about the pudding…”
It immediately clicked for Tooru as soon as Satsuki spoke.
Two days ago, they brought in a new product to the store—this Lots of Strawberry Cream! Custard Pudding—so the manager handed them out. Tooru doesn’t really have a sweet tooth, so he threw the pudding in the fridge and forgot about it.
There’s definitely a best before date on it, even if it’s not the day when he got it. It might be a good gift for a girl.
“Ah, go ahead and eat it if you’d like. I’m not a big fan of sweets.”
“I-Is that right? I-If you’re sure, then I’m taking you up on your offer…”
Her eyes lit up as she reached for a spoon from the cutlery drawer. She then stomps back right up beside Tooru and adorably smiles. Rather than her usual fleeting smile, this time, she looked more like a child on Christmas Day.
Peeling off the lid releases the cloyingly sweet scent of strawberry cream.
Satsuki takes a big whiff of it before scooping out a big mouthful.
“…!”
“H-How is it? I hope it’s not too awful.”
Tooru briefly worried about the pudding not being Satsuki’s taste, but that worry was quickly dispelled.
“This is amazing!”
“O-Oh! I’m glad.”
“Is this a new product? I feel like I haven’t seen it on the shelves until very recently…”
“It seems like it. My manager made me take one.”
“I see…”
Satsuki holds the pudding with both her hands and takes a breath before going for another bite.
Seeing how happy she seems to be, Tooru looks at her with relief. Suddenly, though, his eyes were met with hers.
“You said you don’t like sweets, right? Don’t you want to try some?”
“Y-Yeah, I’m…”
“It honestly isn’t as sweet as it smells. Are you sure you don’t want a bite?”
It can’t be! Is this the legendary “say ‘ah’” moment?
Tooru’s face flushes beet red.
Satsuki is being completely innocent, which in turn makes him feels worse.
He could have easily said no and asserted that he doesn’t like sweet things, but Tooru sure does like her sweet smile. Surely, there’s no way she doesn’t realize her own beauty.
And then this—an indirect kiss. An indirect kiss!
Satsuki doesn’t seem opposed to it. And though he hasn’t done it since elementary school, even Tooru has shared his drinks with girls.
He couldn’t crush her heart with his shyness and hesitance.
Oh, whatever. Being pressed by Satsuki, Tooru takes a bite of the pudding.
“… better than I expected.”
Hearing his thoughts made Satsuki even happier.
“Right?! Hehe, aren’t you so glad you tried?”
She digs back in with the spoon that Tooru had brought to his lips. Maybe Satsuki just isn’t the kind of girl to fuss over anything like that.
Tooru doesn’t have the guts to point it out and make them both blush. He simply quietly watched Satsuki finish the pudding.
“Sorry to make you take me all the way home, especially since I live so close.”
“I wouldn’t have if you lived any farther. And thanks again for helping me so much today.”
“I was more than happy to, since it’s for you.”
With a grin on her face, Satsuki flexes and shows off her biceps.
I’m not sure, but it feels like we laughed a lot today. I didn’t know that having someone over could be so pleasant.
“Well then, good night. Take care going home, okay?”
“You take care too.”
She waves back to Tooru before she turns around.
There’s no way he would know what kind of burdens that petit figure carries, but to have her laugh by his side was enough for Tooru.
After making sure he could see her no more, Tooru headed on home.
: // // /ch003/ /next/