“A regular-sized Hot Maple Latte and Iced Cocoa, right? The total will be 780 yen.” (Haruto)
It was past 5 p.m.
Haruto, dressed in the uniform of the book cafe, smoothly handled customer service with a friendly demeanor. He skillfully operated the register, made drinks, and saw off another customer with practiced movements.
Having worked six days a week since high school, it was a workplace where he initially kept messing up, but now he had integrated into the business as a valuable asset.
“Alright, five more hours…” (Haruto)
He glanced at the time displayed on the register, mustering up the determination to continue working for an additional 30 minutes.
Then, a familiar face entered the store.
“Haruto-san! Yahoo~~ I’m here again today.” (?)
“Oh, good afternoon, Shirayuki-san.” (Haruto)
“Finished with your classes for today?” (Haruto)
“Yeah! I only have one class in the afternoon today (regional dialect). I mean… I only have one class, so I’m full of energy (Tokyo dialect).” (Aya)
“Haha, it’s okay to speak in your usual tone. Nobody teases you here.” (Haruto)
“…W-well, because Haruto-san keep spoiling me like that, my dialect hasn’t changed even after two months.” (Aya)
“Please don’t falsely accuse the waiter in such ways.” (Haruto)
From this conversation, you can tell that she is a new first-year student who came to Tokyo from a rural area to attend a university. She’s working hard to suppress her dialect because she doesn’t want to be teased by her new peers and prefers not to show it outside.
“So… what will be your order for today? The usual?” (Haruto)
“Of course! A large Strawberry White Mocha! I have… exactly enough money.” (Aya)
“Got it.” (Haruto)
“Can you draw something on it too?” (Aya)
“Latte art, right?” (Haruto)
“Un! Thank you.” (Aya)
Whenever she comes in and the store isn’t all that busy, she always asks me to, “Draw something on the drink!” According to her, it adds to the charm of being a regular customer.
“By the way, what are you going to draw today…? The day before yesterday, it was a dog, right?” (Aya)
“The day before yesterday, it was a tanuki1.” (Haruto)
“…That was a dog, wasn’t it?” (Aya)
“It was a tanuki.” (Haruto)
“Huh? R-Really?” (Aya)
While tilting her head, Aya quickly took out her smartphone from her pocket and showed a picture of the latte art from the other day on the screen.
“Yeah, it was a tanuki. Look at the thick tail.” (Haruto)
“S-So it was a tanuki..” (Aya)
While staring at her smartphone with wide eyes, there’s an expression on her face that seems to say, “Seriously?”
“By the way, Shirayuki-san, do you always take a picture of the latte art?” (Aya)
“Yeah, seeing it kind of cheers me up~” (Aya)
“Because of the bad drawing?” (Haruto)
“T-they’re unique!” (Aya)
She swiftly covers up with a light-hearted tone.
“Thank you but… well, the art speaks for itself ahaha.” (Haruto)
He’s aware that he lacks artistic talent. Nevertheless, the fact that his drawings managed to capture her heart well enough for her to photograph them is already a win in his books.
“But you know, I’m confident in today’s art. I’ve been practicing them a lot lately.” (Haruto)
“Really!?” (Aya)
“Yup. Watch as I draw a frog.” (Haruto)
“Mmm, I’m watching.” (Aya)
“(Since you’ve been practising, wouldn’t it have been better to keep it a secret and surprise me when you draw it?)” (Aya)
Although it was a missed opportunity, Aya just smiled and thought to herself, “That’s just like Haruto-san”.
Unaware of such thoughts, Haruto’s pen raced across the cup as he finished the drawing.
“Oh, oops… Sorry, I messed up. The eyes got squished.” (Haruto)
“Ah, I see. You’ve been practicing drawing frogs that got punched.” (Aya)
“…” (Haruto)
“Hehe, just kidding.” (Aya)
“Shirayuki-san, it’s a bit rude to ask, but… can I redo it once? The drawing’s bothering me.” (Haruto)
He couldn’t replace the cup just because he made a mistake. When he asked to redo the art on the same cup, he received an unexpected response.
“Of course~! But, you can just draw it on a new cup…” (Aya)
“Eh?” (Haruto)
“That way, I can treat you to a drink, Haruto-san.” (Aya)
Aya, with her hands behind her back, leaned forward with a carefree smile. While being tempted by her cute expression to accept her offer, Haruto held on to his pride as the older person.
“While I appreciate that, I can’t let you go through that much trouble…” (Haruto)
“It’s a thank-you for always taking care of me! Besides, you’re always indulging in my whims, so… if you won’t let me treat you, then, um… yeah!!” (Aya)
“’Yeah’?” (Haruto)
“Well… umm… yeah!!!” (Aya)
It seemed like she intended to suggest some sort of punishment game, but she couldn’t come up with one immediately. She covered it up by nodding enthusiastically.
“So… you’re really okay with doing that, right?” (Haruto)
“Yeah, that’s right.” (Aya)
“Well, in that case… I’ll take you up on your offer. Thank you very much.” (Haruto)
“No problem! Thank you for everything as always.” (Aya)
Shaking her head from side to side, she let her milk tea-colored hair sway, and with one corner of her mouth lifted, she crafted a mischievous, devilish smile.
“In return, make sure to show the results of your practice, okay?” (Aya)
“Hey, putting that kind of pressure on me is unnecessary…” (Haruto)
“Hehe, I’m doing it on purpose, you know?” (Aya)
“That’s mean… But, I really did practice, so it should be fine. All right.” (Haruto)
Changing his expression to a serious one, he started moving the pen on the new cup but then…
“Oh…” (Haruto)
The sound of surprise escaped from his mouth as he looked at the final product.
In the end, what Aya received was a cup with a frog drawn on it, just like the first one, with squished eyes.
In the end, Haruto had succumbed to the pressure.
“Um, well… This is…” (Haruto)
“Did you want to match with me?” (Aya)
“I, uh, wanted to match you.” (Haruto)
“Hehe, don’t say such embarrassing things.” (Aya)
“You’re the one who made me say it, Shirayuki-san…” (Haruto)
He replied, enduring the embarrassment. If admitting to it meant he would be forgiven for the mistake, he had no choice.
“Well, here you go, sorry for the wait. This is the Strawberry White Mocha you ordered.” (Haruto)
“Thank you! Well then, good luck with the rest of your work, Haruto-san.” (Aya)
“You too, Shirayuki-san.” (Haruto)
“Of course~!” (Aya)
“Haha, let’s both do our best.” (Haruto)
“Un~!” (Aya)
That was their last conversation at the register. After Aya received her drink, she sat on an empty seat and took out her laptop from her bag.
Seeing this, Haruto moved on to serve a new customer who had just entered the cafe.
=====================
It was 10:05 PM.
“Good work today, Haruto-san.” (Aya)
“You too, Shirayuki-san.” (Haruto)
Having finished his part-time work and changed into casual clothes, Haruto met Aya in the parking lot of the closed book cafe.
He couldn’t recall when it started but it had become a habit for them to leave the cafe together until the point where their paths diverged, especially when both of them remained at the cafe until closing time.
“How’s your video editing work been progressing?” (Haruto)
“Well… honestly, it’s a bit tricky.” (Aya)
“Ahaha, sounds tough.” (Haruto)
“Yeah… It’s hard because I’m not used to it. Even if I try my best, at most, I could only manage two videos a month…” (Aya)
“Still, that’s impressive. There aren’t many university students who can edit videos, and you’re juggling it alongside your studies.” (Haruto)
“Thank you…” (Aya)
This was not just flattery.
While he hadn’t inquired about the specifics of her video editing work, he had recorded and edited gameplay videos for ABEX so Haruto himself was familiar with the challenges of editing such content.
“It must be tough, thinking about thumbnails and deciding where to cut.” (Haruto)
“Yeah, thumbnails are like headlines for videos, so I have to make them catchy to grab people’s interest. And depending on where I cut the video, it can change the video’s appeal… By the way, Haruto-san, you seem to know a lot about this?” (Aya)
“Ah… well, actually, I have a friend who works in editing, so I’ve heard various things from them!” (Haruto)
His eyes widened as she questioned him, and he made up an excuse on the spot.
It’s common for content creators to edit their own videos.
If he was producing videos that didn’t offend people, it would be one thing, but he was posting videos that focused on acting toxic. He couldn’t risk being exposed.
The moment he got caught, it would make working with others uncomfortable, people would keep their distance, and he would likely be met with disdainful glances—a series of worst-case scenarios entered his mind.
“By the way, Shirayuki-san, what do you plan to do when you get home? Your university assignments?” (Haruto)
“I’ll be gaming again! I’m all about games at home.” (Aya)
“Oh, is that so? When you say games, are they puzzle games or simulation games?” (Haruto)
“I-Is that how you see me?” (Aya)
“I just thought you’d be into more peaceful games… Was I wrong?” (Haruto)
“The games I play are actually the opposite. They are games where you shoot and defeat enemies. Or a simpler term for it would be FPS2.” (Aya)
“Wait, you play FPS games!?” (Haruto)
“That’s right!” (Aya)
Illustration of MC and Aya
TL Notes:
Thanks for reading!
I definitely got something about the dialect wrong when translating xd
I somehow couldn’t tell that it was the main heroine in that illustration lol. I thought it was a fellow part-timer side character or something.
Seeing how well the two of them get along well with each other, maybe they’ll get together by the end of this vol…? That’s just me being hopeful though.
I hope the ln version is a bit different that the wn
Thanks for the chapter!
Dang, he looks cool. Way too cool. Ayaya is a perfect match for him, definitely.