Insensitive Bocchi-kun ~Reluctantly Heading to School Today~ [Dropped] - Chapter 25: Part-time job (2)

Chapter 25: Part-time job (2)

“Welcome…!!”

“I’d like a Teriyaki Burger Set, please.”

“S-sure. One Teriyaki Burger Set, right? What would you like to drink?”

“I’ll have an iced coffee, please.”

“Got it.”

“Oh, and please add a chocolate pie as well.”

“U-understood.”

No way… Why is she here?

Arisa Shibuya… She stood right in front of me, waiting for her Teriyaki Burger Set with a composed expression.

It was different from when Yamamoto followed me before… Could it have been a coincidence?

But this place was quite far from school, so it seemed unlikely.

Perhaps her house was nearby?

By the way, do I really look so different with glasses and a different hairstyle?

I didn’t see much of a difference myself, but my part-time coworkers often said I looked like a different person…

Given her reaction, it was hard to believe, but maybe that was really the case.

Has she not noticed me yet?

“Thank you for waiting. Here’s your Teriyaki Burger Set.”

“Thanks.”

She went straight to an empty seat inside the shop.

If she had noticed me, given her recent behavior, she would have definitely interacted with me in some way.

Maybe I was just being self-conscious…

Anyway, it was really quiet today, with not many customers at all.

Well… I guess it happens sometimes.

Wait, she seemed to be enjoying the burger so much. It looked incredibly delicious…

The Arisa Shibuya in front of me right now had the brightest smile I had ever seen on her.

Contrary to appearances, did she actually like hamburgers and junk food?

Or rather… was she really enjoying it?

Also, I was surprised she had ordered Teriyaki.

“Kento~ What are you looking at?”

As I unintentionally let my gaze wander to Arisa, I heard a girl’s voice from next to me.

“Oh, sorry. It’s nothing.”

No good. I needed to focus on my work.

But really, there were no customers today.

“Kento… Is she your type?”

“No… not really.”

“She’s quite beautiful. On par with me, I’d say.”

“…”

The girl who had just spoken to me was Ran, a Chinese girl. She appeared to be a first-year student at another high school, brought here due to her parents’ work.

She had recently joined this part-time job.

Considering her fluency in Japanese, it seemed she had been living here for quite some time.

“Say something, Kento.”

“Well… I guess so.”

She seemed strangely pleased with my response. Ran was undeniably as beautiful as Arisa Shibuya, if not more so.

It felt a bit awkward to make such comments about someone, especially oneself, but her beauty was undeniable, so my words were not a lie.

“Kento, have you decided on your shift for next week?”

“Oh, yeah, I already submitted it.”

“I see. I’ll double-check it then.”

“…”

I heard some words from Ran, who wasn’t even the store manager, and couldn’t quite comprehend them. Double-check…?

Come to think of it, I had coincidentally been having overlapping shifts with this girl quite frequently lately. Well, whatever.

“Mamiya-kun, since there aren’t many customers, can you do something else for a bit?”

“Yes! Understood, Manager.”

“What’s with this treatment…”

“…”

I could feel Ran giving me a sharp glare.

Indeed, I could easily switch on the mode to interact with adults like the store manager or regular customers, but it was difficult for me to speak cheerfully to someone like Ran, someone closer to my age.

Perhaps it was because I had been a loner at school for so long that I automatically switched to my loner mode when it came to people around my age.

In reality, it was embarrassing to act friendly towards Ran and the others here, only for them to later discover that I was a loner at school.

I consciously made an effort to interact with them in a way that didn’t reveal any difference from my usual self at school.

Well, for now, things seemed to be going well that way.

Well… I guess it’s fine.

While contemplating such matters, I suddenly felt someone’s gaze fixed on me from somewhere within the shop. Instinctively, I turned my gaze in the direction of that feeling.

Ah…

What met my eyes was Arisa Shibuya, holding a potato in her hand, looking directly at me. She was clearly staring at me. Why?

“Mamiya-kun, can you handle this task for me?”

“Y-yes, Manager.”

The moment the manager uttered my name, it seemed like Arisa’s body, fixated on me, trembled slightly.

“That girl. She’s been looking at Kento since earlier. Do you know her?”

“N-No, not really.”

In truth, I did know her. Yet, she continued to stare at me. This time, she held a chocolate pie in her hand…

“I’ll be right back.”

Wait, why…

“W-wai…! Welcome—”

Wait, this couldn’t be happening. Why were customers arriving at this precise moment?

As I attended to the customers who entered the store, I observed Ran walking towards Shibuya-san.

“One Filet-O-Fish, right? Understood.”

At the corner of my vision, I noticed the girls engaged in a discussion. Shibuya-san would occasionally glance in my direction.

“And large-size fries. Understood.”

Now, Shibuya-san’s expression of surprise was mirrored in my eyes. I-I had a bad feeling about this.

“Thank you for your patience. Please enjoy your meal.”

The customer I had served finished and moved away from the register. And now… Arisa Shibuya stood right in front of me.

“Y-you’re really Kento Mamiya.”

“…”

“You look completely different from how you usually do.”

“…”

“I heard it from this person… What do you mean you don’t know me, Kento Mamiya!”

“…”

“I mean, you clearly noticed me, didn’t you? Then you should have called out to me when you were at the checkout!”

“…”

I knew she hadn’t noticed me…

And Ran, why did you have to do something unnecessary…

It was really unnecessary…

Also, why was her face turning red?

Had she eaten something spicy or…?

And she was being as loud as ever…

“J-Just say something, Kento Mamiya!”

“Ma’am, please lower your voice a bit as it may disturb other customers.”

I respond to her with a smile.

“T-that’s not what I mean! A-and your smile… it’s unfair!”

Hmm? What do you mean?

Well, the last part of her sentence was too quiet to hear properly. What’s with this inconsistent volume of her voice…

“By the way, Kento, what exactly is this girl to you?”

“Huh… Just a girl from the next class over.”

Simply nothing more or less than that.

“W-what’s that supposed to mean? Just a girl? W-we even exchanged Line contacts!”

“If it’s Kent’s Line, I know it too.”

“And what are you to Kento Mamiya? A-and you call him Kento, his first name?”

“Huh? Me? I’m Kento’s partner. We often work shifts together.”

“P-partner?! W-what does that mean, Kento Mamiya!”

Wait, what did you mean by “What does that mean?” What were we talking about?

It was true that Ran and I often had shifts together, but… was there a partner system in this job? And why was Shibuya-san getting so worked up about it?

“What’s the matter, Mamiya-kun?”

“Oh, nothing, Manager.”

I realized I had spoken a bit too loudly…

“Well, Kento Mamiya, I’ll be looking forward to hearing more about it at school. About everything, including your appearance!”

“…”

With that, she hastily left the store… Seriously?

What was she going to ask me?

“Kento, it seems like you’re having a tough time.”

Well, I didn’t really understand.

Ran-san… It’s probably your fault.