Miki Okudera

Kyosuke Hojo mechanically followed Tanaka into the locker room, mechanically changed into the waiter uniform, and mechanically began working.

Until the restaurant closed and his stomach growled loudly, he was still pondering a question:

Who am I? What am I doing?

No wait, what Kyosuke Hojo was actually thinking was: Didn't I come here to eat? Why did I suddenly turn into a waiter? Could it be exchanging labor for food? But Mom didn't tell me about this?

Working as a waiter was far less exhilarating than practicing kendo, and since this was his first time doing such work, Kyosuke Hojo sat in a chair completely unwilling to move, watching the other waiters clean up. Perhaps out of consideration for him being a newcomer, the others tacitly allowed him to slack off.

"Okudera, you guys really worked hard tonight," a man who looked like the manager walked over and said.

"Thanks to the new waiter, otherwise tonight wouldn't have gone so smoothly." Miki Okudera brushed back a strand of stray hair and smiled at Kyosuke Hojo, who was sitting in the chair.

"A new waiter? But didn't the new guy who was supposed to start today already tell me he wasn't coming?" the manager asked, puzzled.

"Then who is he?!" Okudera asked in astonishment, covering her small mouth.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the restaurant turned to look at Kyosuke Hojo.

Kyosuke Hojo also looked down at his own hands. So, had he been drafted into hard labor yet again?

"I'm sorry, I am truly, truly sorry." Miki Okudera crossed her hands over her lower abdomen and bowed repeatedly in apology.

Why did this happen?

Miki Okudera groaned inwardly. The boss's relative had simply come to the restaurant to have a meal, and she had bossed him around like a waiter the entire evening.

Kyosuke Hojo was devouring his food ravenously. After twirling a huge forkful of spaghetti into his mouth, he finally looked at Miki Okudera—or more precisely, at the sudden expanse of bare skin revealed by her neckline.

So dazzling!

"It's fine, I share some of the blame too. I didn't make things clear to you."

After making a strenuous effort to swallow the mouthful of food and taking a sip of water, Kyosuke Hojo spoke.

The manager had long since vanished. That workplace slickster knew all too well that matters like this were best handled personally by the charismatic Miki Okudera, which would make the resolution much more effective.

"No matter what, you worked the entire night. Would it be alright if I give you my wages for tonight as compensation?"

When she said this, Miki Okudera felt a sharp pang in her heart. That handbag she had her eye on would have to wait a little longer to be purchased.

"There's no need for that. Consider it an interesting experience." Kyosuke Hojo flatly refused. Although he was getting dangerously close to the red, spending a woman's money... well, at least not yet.

"That will leave me with a troubled conscience, so please give me a chance to make it up to you." Miki Okudera placed one hand over her chest and said.

She felt genuinely guilty. Although this young man before her had been accidentally roped into working all night due to her mistake, he had not uttered a single word of complaint while working, and upon learning it was all a misunderstanding, he showed no intention of blaming her whatsoever.

"In that case..." Kyosuke Hojo put down his knife and fork, crossed his arms over his chest, and looked Miki Okudera up and down.

Could he be about to make some improper request of me? Miki Okudera felt a bit nervous, and then she saw Kyosuke Hojo break into a gentle smile.

"Then how about this: whenever I come here to eat in the evenings, will you keep me company and eat with me?"

"Huh?" Miki Okudera almost thought she had misheard. What kind of compensation was this? Was he compensating her?

"If I eat with you, the food will taste even more delicious." Kyosuke Hojo stabbed a piece of foie gras and gestured with it toward Miki Okudera.

"If the restaurant isn't too busy..." Miki Okudera blushed slightly. She had not expected a single sentence from a boy so much younger than her to make her feel so shy.

"It's a deal then!" Kyosuke Hojo finished his last bite of food, then glanced around the restaurant. The entire dining hall was empty except for the two of them.

"By the way, Okudera-senpai, aren't you going home yet?"

"Just call me Okudera. I'm waiting for you; after you finish eating, I'm responsible for locking up." Miki Okudera pulled out her keys and jingled them.

"Then you can call me Kyosuke. Can the tableware just be left here?"

"Wait a moment, I'll take these to the kitchen." With that, Miki Okudera quickly picked up a large stack of plates and headed toward the kitchen.

Kyosuke Hojo started up his motorcycle and pulled up to the restaurant entrance. Miki Okudera was locking the door, and Kyosuke Hojo waited while admiring the scenery.

"Do you need a ride home?" Kyosuke Hojo asked.

"No need, I live in Bunkyo Ward. The subway gets me there quickly enough."

Miki Okudera had already changed out of her uniform and put on an off-the-shoulder short-sleeved top, revealing her straight collarbones. On her lower half, she wore skinny jeans paired with a white belt, exuding a strong sense of fashion.

"Bunkyo Ward? I live there too, near Sendagi Station," Kyosuke Hojo said.

"I live over by Ochanomizu University," Miki Okudera said with some surprise.

"Then don't stand on ceremony, let's go together." Kyosuke Hojo extended the invitation once more.

Miki Okudera hesitated for a brief moment before accepting. Leaving aside the Rocket 3-R, for a fashionable urban woman like her—and a former gal at that—the attraction was already there. Simply based on the favorable impression Kyosuke Hojo had left her with today, she couldn't bear to refuse repeatedly.

"Put on my jacket. The temperature at night is still quite low." Kyosuke Hojo took off his jacket and handed it over.

"Oh, thank you." Miki Okudera took the jacket. The moment she put it on, a lingering masculine scent made her face flush even redder.

"Hold on tight, I'm taking off."

Kyosuke Hojo was gradually discovering the wonderful appeal of a motorcycle—not the freedom of speeding through the streets, but the jolt of intimacy every time he gave a girl a ride.

Soon, guided by Miki Okudera, Kyosuke Hojo arrived beneath an apartment building. Because Bunkyo Ward was densely packed with schools, there was an abundance of apartment buildings.

"Well then, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Kyosuke-kun."

Miki Okudera stood in place, clutching the sleeves of the jacket and watching Kyosuke Hojo's taillight gradually fade into the distance.

Ah, she forgot to return his jacket. Oh well, bringing it to him tomorrow would be the same, and it would give her a chance to wash it for him tonight anyway.

Miki Okudera turned and walked into the apartment building.

Meanwhile, Kyosuke Hojo had also returned home.

He turned on the television and casually dialed his mother's phone number to share the comical mishap of the evening with her.

Beep~

His phone popped up with a notification: Yamauchi Sakura had sent a message.

The moment Kyosuke Hojo tapped it open, a close-up photo of Sakura popped up.

Ninety percent of the photo was filled with Sakura's grinning face. Her chestnut-colored eyes, rippling with light under the sunshine, seemed to sparkle, and her eight snow-white, neat teeth—quite a rarity in Japan—clearly showed how happy she was. It was hard to tell whether she was happy because she was having fun or because she was happy to be sending a photo to Kyosuke Hojo.

"Kyosuke, I went shopping in Akihabara with my classmates today! I saw so many cosers! I never expected the diplomat's daughter to actually be willing to accompany me to a place like Akihabara—the blonde-haired ojou-sama I told you about last time. What do you think, pretty isn't she?"

Upon reading this, Kyosuke Hojo looked closely at the photo again and finally spotted a flash of gold in the gap of Sakura's V-sign. Forget her face; only a tiny sliver of hair was visible.

"I don't know if she's pretty, because my eyes are entirely filled with you," Kyosuke Hojo replied helplessly.

"Heeheehee, Kyosuke, you're way too cheesy. Next time, say things like that a lot more~"

Looking at the message, Kyosuke Hojo could almost picture Sakura's cheeky, smiling expression.

"Get some rest early. Don't eat too much late at night, and don't give your liver a hard time!"

"Got it! Goodnight, Kyosuke!"

Kyosuke Hojo couldn't help laughing out loud as he looked at the pouting cat sticker at the end of the message.

"Goodnight, Sakura."

After taking a sip of water, Kyosuke Hojo thought for a moment and sent a message to Shoko.

"Shoko, do you want to go out and hang out together this Saturday?"

He knew that if he didn't take the initiative, that little ditz was hardly likely to summon the courage to invite him. By the time she finally worked up her resolve, Kyosuke Hojo might already have other plans and couldn't go. Therefore, it was better for him to take the initiative.

"Okay!" Shoko replied instantly, as if she had been guarding her phone the entire time.

And indeed, that was pretty much the case. As early as Friday, Shoko had wanted to invite Kyosuke Hojo to hang out together over the weekend. But when chatting in the group chat, she learned that Sakura had already booked Kyosuke's weekend in advance, leaving her with no choice but to drop it.

Consequently, Shoko had felt a bit unhappy throughout both days of the weekend. Even when Naoka took her to hang out at the Meow Meow Club where she worked part-time, those cute cats had only cheered her up just a little bit.

Right now, she was lying in bed holding her phone, agonizing over whether to strike first and invite Kyosuke Hojo out for the following weekend.

A message consisting of a dozen characters was written, deleted, rewritten, and deleted again, until Ueno Naoka beside her couldn't bear it anymore and felt like hitting the send button for her.

To her surprise, Kyosuke-kun had actually taken the initiative to message her and invite her out.

"Let's ask Naoka to come with us." — Kyosuke Hojo

"Naoka, Kyosuke-kun invited us to go out together next weekend." Seeing this message, Shoko felt no resentment at all; instead, she immediately turned her head to look at Ueno Naoka, who was removing her makeup.

"I have a part-time job this weekend. You and Kyosuke should go just the two of you, and have a great time." Ueno Naoka focused intently on wiping away her eye shadow.

"Naoka says she has a part-time job this weekend." — Nishimiya Shoko

"Alright then, you can start thinking ahead about where we should go. Goodnight, Shoko." — Kyosuke Hojo

"Mm-hmm, goodnight, Kyosuke-kun."

Working part-time since middle school? Is Naoka really that strapped for cash?

Putting away his phone, Kyosuke Hojo thought with some puzzlement, deciding to ask her about it sometime.

Also, he wondered where Naoka worked part-time so he could go support her business.