Volume 1 - CH 47

With Himekawa beside me, chewing on her pasta, I slowly open the piece of paper handed to me.

Inside is a table, on which are written the members of my part-time job.

It is a shift list that I am familiar with.

Perhaps it has been changed because Himekawa has decided to join my shift.

Certainly, even though they called me to inform me of the change, it was a hassle to check the schedule.

I checked my own shift and found that there were almost no changes.

However, there was one change.

“Hey, I’m getting an extra day off, have you heard anything?”

“I talked to the manager and asked him to give me and Tendo a day off.”

I looked at Himekawa’s schedule on her shift, and sure enough, both of us are off.

We are both supposed to be off on Saturday, but is the shift okay?

“Why are we off?”

Himekawa looks at me with a scowling eye.

She sighs shallowly and puts the fork in her hand on the table.

Then she leans forward and points to the date written on the shift chart I’m holding.

“Do you remember what day this is?”

Hmmm, what was this day?

I think for a moment, but I have no idea.

“Um, did something happen on this day?”

Again, Himekawa points to the date.

“It’s the movie! It’s the day the previews are scheduled!”

Oh, I forgot.

I was going to ask the manager if I could take the day off the next time I came to work, right?

“How could we both take the day off? The manager wasn’t mad at you?”

Himekawa returned to his seat and began to talk proudly.

“Depending on the test scores, something might happen on this day, so I asked him if I could take the day off just in case.”

It is true that depending on the test scores, we might all go to the movies together, but you didn’t tell them the important part, did you?

From the manager’s point of view, he’s going to interpret that as a possibility that you might be given a make-up test depending on the test results.

“I see. So what did the manager say?”

“Well, He asked, “Does Tendo have a bad score?” so I said, “Well, Tendo may be on the edge.” Of course, I said ‘just barely’ in the sense of whether or not you could reach my score.”

Himekawa-san… Could it be that you’re good at twisting words?

She was certainly not lying, but she didn’t say it clearly enough, did she?

“I understand. But you don’t have to worry about the manager. He understands our situation and gives us a break. Next time, tell him the truth.”

“I understand. I’ll do that next time.”

“But that was my bad. I’m sorry you had to talk to the manager instead of me.”

“No, that’s not true. I thought it would be better to talk to the manager as soon as possible.”

“You’re certainly right. Thanks, that’s great.”

The truth is, I was supposed to be the one to adjust the shifts, but Himekawa took care of it for me.

I think she’s acting pretty fast, or maybe she’s more proactive than before.

I take the shift list in my hand and move to my room.

I replace the shift list that is stuck in my room and took a picture of the shift list with my phone.

Back in the dining room, Himekawa has finished eating her pasta and is putting away the dishes, filling the kettle with water, and starting to boil the water.

She’s also going to have her cake and eat it too.

“Thank you for the food. The pasta was delicious.”

Himekawa smiles at me and stands in the kitchen.

The kitchen, where I was alone until recently felt cold, but now it feels warm.

Is this what I like about staying at a boarding house? I feel warmth in the house.

“That’s good. If you have any requests for dinner, let me know. I’ll cook with you next time.”

“Yes! I’m looking forward to working with you.”

Himekawa turns to me and bows her head lightly.

I’m a little embarrassed and it makes my body itch.

“Let’s have some cake! Let’s split it all in half!”

I prepare a cutting board and a knife and take the cake out of the refrigerator.

I open the white box and find three cakes.

Shortcake, cheesecake, and Mont Blanc.

By the way, I like Mont Blanc the best.

I wonder what Himekawa likes?

“So, which do you like best among these three kinds?”

We looked into the box together and checked the contents.

“I like shortcakes, especially shortcakes with big strawberries on them. What about you, Tendo-kun?”

“I definitely prefer Mont Blanc. And Mont Blanc with big chestnuts on top is the best.”

“I like strawberries and Tendo likes chestnuts. We are very similar, aren’t we?”

We look at each other and smile a little.

I quickly move the cake to the cutting board and pick up a knife to cut them.

My head says, “Cake cutting. It’s our first time working together!” I hear an announcement in my brain.

That’s not true! I’m the one holding the knife, and it’s not a whole cake, to begin with.

Come to think of it, it seems that the only part of the wedding cake that is real is the part that can be cut, and the rest is fake.

If you prepare a cake where you can eat the whole thing, it will be hard to eat, and most importantly, it looks expensive…

Wedding… Bride… Himekawa in a wedding dress…

I had such a fantasy for just a few seconds, and my body stopped moving.