At the restaurant, Yuzuru mainly worked weekday dinner shifts.
Somewhere between 17:00 and 22:00, he’d be scheduled for around three to four hours.
That day, he was on from 17:00 to 20:00.
Having finished changing, Yuzuru stepped out of the staff room and headed for the floor—
“Hey, hey—how’s it going with your girlfriend? Things working out?”
A man with androgynous features called out to him.
Hasegawa Hiromi.
The manager of this restaurant.
Yuzuru owed him a lot—he was flexible with shifts and generally looked after him—so he’d already told him that his White Day confession had gone well.
…Naturally, he’d kept quiet about the fact that he’d proposed to his fiancée.
“Yes, things are going well.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Hiromi smiled cheerfully—
—and then leaned in to whisper in his ear.
“So—how far have you gotten?”
“…How far?”
“Oh, come on, you know. How far along—A, B, or C?”
“That’s a pretty old-fashioned way of putting it.”
“I am old.”
He looked young, but Hiromi was around the same age as Yuzuru’s mother.
Incidentally, he was married—with two kids.
Not exactly unusual for the owner of a reasonably successful restaurant.
“…Does A mean up to kissing?”
“More or less.”
“Then I’ve cleared A.”
“…And B?”
“How far does B go?”
“Everything short of actually going all the way.”
“…Yeah, not that far yet.”
At that, Hiromi’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh? With how things are these days, I figured you’d at least be at B.”
“I try to keep things respectful.”
“That’s fine, but if you overdo it, you might get dumped.”
“…Well, I won’t deny I might be a bit cautious.”
Yuzuru was still a high school boy.
His family situation and relationship might be a bit—no, quite—unusual, but his desires were perfectly normal.
Of course he wanted to do this and that with his girlfriend.
However—
“Is your girlfriend the cautious one?”
“…Yeah. Something like that.”
Hiromi nodded, understanding.
“I see. Well, considering she’s your girlfriend, she’s probably from a good family, right? Makes sense she’d be reserved.”
Yuzuru couldn’t deny that Arisa came from a good family.
But whether that was the reason she was reserved—he wasn’t so sure.
It was more her personality. She could be a little timid.
“Well, I can’t exactly tell you to just push her down. Take it slow—but don’t miss your chances. Atmosphere is everything. Atmosphere.”
“Got it.”
(Atmosphere… how do you even make that?)
Thinking that, Yuzuru headed out to the floor.
About two hours into his shift—around 19:00.
“Welcome—…ugh!”
His professional smile stiffened.
Some very familiar faces had just walked in.
“Is making a noise like Cao Cao running into Guan Yu really appropriate for a waiter?”
“You’re customers!”
Ayaka and Chiharu.
Clearly here to mess with him.
“…I told you before. I don’t mind you coming, but causing a scene would bother the restaurant—”
Of course, they weren’t the type to actually cause trouble.
Still, having his friends watch him work was… a bit embarrassing.
He tried to chase them off with a perfectly reasonable excuse—
“Yuzuru-san… we came.”
The moment his fiancée, Arisa, peeked out with a playful little smile, he immediately withdrew that “reasonable” argument.
“I’m surprised. …If you’d told me in advance, I could’ve prepared something.”
“I wanted to surprise you. …Was it a bother?”
“Of course not! Not at all. …And it’s not busy today. You’re very welcome—party of three!!”
Right this way.
Yuzuru ushered Arisa—and the other two—inside.
“Isn’t this waiter changing his attitude depending on the customer?”
“That’s awful.”
He ignored the complaints from the “extras.”
After seating them, Yuzuru briefly headed to the kitchen and bowed lightly to Hiromi.
“Sorry. Some friends showed up.”
“The girls from before, right? They’re very welcome. They ordered expensive dishes.”
Ayaka and Chiharu had come once before with Soichiro.
And they’d obediently followed Yuzuru’s recommendations—ordering very pricey items.
Well-mannered, well-bred customers were always welcome.
Still, something caught Hiromi’s attention.
“That brown-haired—or blonde?—girl is new. …Is she the one?”
“Yes. She is. My girlfriend—Yukishiro Arisa.”
Yuzuru felt his voice catch slightly.
Pride and embarrassment mixed together.
“Oh my, she’s gorgeous! No wonder you’re head over heels.”
Hiromi, clearly excited, thumped Yuzuru’s back repeatedly.
Yuzuru gave a wry smile outwardly—
…but inside, he couldn’t deny the pride he felt hearing his girlfriend praised.
“When you’ve got time, introduce her to me properly.”
“Of course.”
Just then, an order came in.
Yuzuru returned to their table.
“Have you decided what to order, ma’am?”
He asked Arisa with a polite smile.
Arisa, cheeks faintly flushed, shook her head and held out the menu.
“Could you recommend something?”
“Certainly. Today’s recommendation is—”
Yuzuru responded attentively to his “customer,” Arisa.
Meanwhile, the other two looked displeased.
“Hey, aren’t you favouring just one person?”
“I am a god. A living god! Customers are gods—and I am the god of gods!”
“Please place your orders.”
After taking their orders, Yuzuru confirmed everything—no mistakes.
He turned to head back to the kitchen—
“…What is it?”
His sleeve was tugged.
Caught off guard, he responded instinctively.
Arisa looked up at him, eyes slightly moist, cheeks rosy—
and spoke softly.
“Um… your uniform… I think it looks really nice…”
For a moment, Yuzuru was taken aback.
Then, belatedly—his face warmed.
“…Thank you very much, ma’am”
With a smile, he gave her a polite bow and stepped away.
Arisa, lowering her gaze shyly, gave a small wave as he left.
…
On the ring finger of her left hand, a ring glinted softly.
