Chapter 223: Watching a Movie with a Slave
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 223: Watching a Movie with a Slave
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Beep—!
Renka tapped her card on the time clock, then headed into the changing room to get into her uniform.
Today, she would be working alone for about two hours before the owner came in.
Let's have fun and work hard.
Steeling her resolve, she quickly finished the opening preparations and put on some soft music.
Perhaps because it was early morning, there weren't many people on the street outside the window.
The cafe was, of course, quiet. Customers would probably start trickling in after about an hour.
Will more people come than yesterday? It would be tough on her own, but she'd have to manage somehow until the owner arrived.
Swoosh.
Just as she was thinking that, the cafe's automatic door slid open, revealing a female customer who looked like an office worker.
"Welcome to Cafe 24!"
Renka greeted her with a bright face, briefly wondering when the woman who seemed interested in Matsuda would show up, before taking the customer's order.
She passed the time handling the sparse, occasional customers. Feeling that a good while had passed, she glanced at the clock.
Matsuda should have been here by now, but he was nowhere to be seen today.
Peaceful.
With that annoying guy gone, it felt like a breath of fresh air.
What was Matsuda doing right now?
Considering she hadn't received any of his usual teasing messages, he was probably sprawled out, sleeping soundly.
Swoosh.
As she was lost in thought, another customer entered.
Erasing Matsuda from her mind, Renka greeted the man in the suit.
"Welcome to Cafe 24."
"One blended coffee, please. Iced. To go."
"One blended coffee, got it... Huh?"
Renka flinched mid-sentence.
Why had such a mechanical voice just come out of her?
Matsuda's words telling her not to be nice to male customers had suddenly popped into her head, making her sound like a part-timer who had lost all motivation.
If the owner had seen that, he probably would have been angry.
Realizing her slip-up, Renka quickly changed her tune.
"My apologies, one blended coffee. That will be 300 yen...!"
"Huh? Ah, yes... Thank you."
Fortunately, the male customer didn't seem to mind her attitude.
Renka let out a silent sigh of relief. She subtly avoided the gaze of the man, who had started looking at her with interest after seeing her flustered, and packed the portafilter with coffee grounds to extract the espresso.
Then, she filled a cup with ice, mixed in water, put on a lid, added a sleeve, and gave the man a bright smile.
"Here's your coffee. Enjoy!"
At that, the man brought a clenched fist to his mouth and cleared his throat before taking the cup and leaving the cafe.
And to top it off, he glanced her way several times before walking out.
Used to such stares, Renka paid it no mind and began wiping up the water that had splashed around the espresso machine.
Since Matsuda wasn't here today, she decided she would stop by Akihabara after work to browse for figures and otaku books.
But what if she ran into Matsuda there?
He seemed to have taken a great interest in subculture lately... The fact that they had run into each other by chance twice before suddenly made her anxious.
Should I hide myself better...?
Even though Matsuda had already found her out, there was still a risk that other students from the academy might recognize her. She figured she should probably try to hide her identity properly.
As Renka worked at the cafe, burdened with various worries, she was suddenly reminded of Matsuda from yesterday.
His face—no, his mug—that had swooped in so suddenly and made her heart jump.
Even though it was obvious he was just trying to tease her, she hadn't felt angry, but for a moment, her heart had fluttered.
But that was only because it was the first time she'd ever been that close to a guy. It wasn't because Matsuda was handsome or anything.
Having decided on that, Renka suddenly felt the urge to curse out MK. She moved to a blind spot of the store's security camera and fiddled with her innocent phone.
Maybe she was a little bored.
* * *
"Junior! Have you had lunch yet?"
Hearing Chinami's refreshing voice felt like it would give me the energy to get through the day.
I plopped down on the veranda, the cold wind hitting my face, and answered.
"Not yet."
"Oh, I see. Your voice sounds a little subdued. Did you just wake up?"
"Yeah."
"Oh my... Why did you sleep in so late?"
"Because it's vacation."
"Mm-hm. That's true. Mya? Grandma...! I'm full...! I'm going to get fat at this rate..."
Chinami's words were cut off by a gasp of surprise.
Following that, I heard the voice of an old woman with a folksy accent.
"What do you mean, get fat? You're nothing but a skeleton."
"Ah, but I can't..."
"It's just a snack. Just eat this much."
"Okaay..."
From the sounds of it, her grandmother had brought Chinami a snack.
Hearing Chinami's dejected tone made my desire to grope her butt grow stronger.
I wish she'd come back soon.
"Sounds like your grandmother is feeding you well, huh?"
"Yes... It looks like I have no choice but to eat more daifuku. I already had fifteen earlier... I shouldn't have said I was hungry..."
To say something that was practically a cardinal sin to a grandmother... This was Chinami's fault.
A grandmother who, upon hearing the words "I'm hungry," would serve up a feast with a fiery glint in her eyes...
It was a common trait among all grandmothers who doted on their grandchildren.
Anyway, fifteen daifuku... Chinami was secretly a big eater.
"Couldn't you just keep them in your room and eat them a little at a time?"
"That's a good idea. I should do that."
"Can you send me a picture when you're done eating?"
"Wh-what...? I can't do that...!"
"Why not?"
"My, my tummy is all puffed up... It's so full right now..."
Mm-hm... For some reason, that sounds kind of lewd.
When Chinami gets back, I'll have to make her even more stuffed.
After a rather long call with Chinami, I hung up and sent a message to Renka.
[Have you eaten?]
[I ate. Don't contact me.]
A reply came back immediately.
She must have just finished eating and was on a short break.
[Is the owner watching the cafe by himself?]
[y]
[Answer properly.]
[yy]
[Are you really going to be like this?]
[He's watching it by himself.]
[You only listen when I scold you. I'll book the tickets for our movie tomorrow.]
[I told you I'm not going.]
[I'll book them and tell you the time, so be ready. I'll come pick you up.]
No more replies came.
Renka falling silent after seething at my steamrolling tactics could be taken as consent, right?
If you don't show up, I'll hand down a severe punishment.
It was cold from being outside for so long, so I hurried back into the house.
Then, I gently shook Miyuki, who was dead to the world on her warm futon, lost in dreamland.
"Miyuki. Wake up."
"....."
"Miyuki."
"....."
"Hey. I said wake up."
Miyuki, who was only letting out rhythmic breaths, finally reacted after I shook her a few more times.
Fumbling with her hands, she grabbed my ankle and shook her head.
"Nooo, I don't wanna..."
"Let's eat."
"We ate... at the ramen shop this morning..."
"Then at least get up. It's lunchtime."
"Ugh, really...!"
Letting out a cute, whiny complaint, the first thing Miyuki did was clutch her lower abdomen and scrunch up her face.
I gently massaged her inner thigh and said.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
"Yeah..."
Considering that Miyuki had enjoyed a pleasant massage yesterday, walked around just fine, and even took a shower, it couldn't hurt that much.
She might have some muscle soreness, but it wouldn't be severe.
In short, Miyuki was exaggerating.
I slipped my hand behind the back of the pouting Miyuki and gave a little push, sitting her upright. I gently pressed on her inner eyelids, then...
Tap, tap.
...I tapped her lips, which were dry from just waking up but still plump and soft, with my finger and asked.
"Aren't you going to study?"
"Study...? I have to..."
From her expression, it wasn't that she found it annoying, but she clearly wasn't keen on it.
Mission accomplished. All I had to do now was give her a little push.
"Should we just take today off and rest?"
"...But I can't..."
"Hey, I even got exactly 10th place on the final exams. Couldn't you let it slide for the first week of vacation? Miura was 11th, too. We're improving fast and the results are showing, so I don't think you should push us too hard."
"You think so...?"
"Of course. Rest up today, and we can set a date for next time. Call Miura now."
"Then... we're definitely doing it next time, okay...?"
"I told you, I know."
Wriggling, Miyuki crawled onto my lap as I sat cross-legged.
Cuddled against me, she moved her limp arms to grab her phone and called Tetsuya.
I could faintly hear the ringing in my ear.
It was cut off before it could even ring twice, and Miyuki spoke in a weak voice.
"Yeah... Tetsuya-kun... Ah, it's not that... I'm feeling a little under the weather today, so I think we'll have to study next time... Huh? It's not that bad... I'll be fine if I rest a bit... Thanks for worrying. And I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah... Okay. Got it... Let's have dinner with your mom's family later..."
There he goes again, pestering her to have a family meal together.
When the hell is this bastard Tetsuya going to learn his place?
He probably never will unless Miyuki or I tell him outright, right? That's just the kind of guy he is.
"I'll call you... Yeah..."
After ending the call with Tetsuya, Miyuki clung to me like a cicada, refusing to let go when I tried to get up.
I grabbed her by the waist and pushed her away.
"Let go for a second. I'm going to brush my teeth."
"I have to, too... Let's go together..."
"You have to let go so I can get up and we can go together."
"You can carry me... dummy..."
To be acting this cute without a shred of guilt for breaking her study promise with that loser childhood friend, she must have been very satisfied yesterday.
I clicked my tongue as if to say she was hopeless, then slid my arms under her butt and pushed myself up with my legs.
Then, with her dangling from my body, I headed to the bathroom.
It was an utterly peaceful day. I'll enjoy it, and then tomorrow, I'll get to bicker with Renka.