My Beautiful Childhood Friend Is Working in a Maid Cafe For Some Reason - Chapter 16-17

Chapter 16: Alone in the Nurse’s Office With My Childhood Friend (1)

A day had passed since yesterday, a day filled with things I didn’t want to remember.

Even just walking down the hallway, I could feel stares and hear whispers behind my back.

Well, I knew this was going to happen… The spread of rumors in this school is no joke. It’s not surprising that by now, almost every student knows about it.

I should have just taken the day off, even though I came to school. I seriously considered skipping, but I couldn’t stand the thought of doing it because of Yukina, so I dragged myself here.

When I entered the classroom, all eyes were on me at once. I don’t have many close friends in this class, so no one said anything, but being stared at was uncomfortable.

“Hey, Yusuke. You’re in a tough spot, huh?” Haru spoke to me as I sat down, trying to keep his voice low so others wouldn’t hear.

Seriously, you’re partly to blame for this, you know?

“I know…”

“When did you make up with Yukina-chan?”

“Make up? Yukina and I weren’t even fighting. Besides, what happened yesterday was just a series of coincidences.”

I glanced over at Yukina, who was staring at the blackboard, completely unfazed by the stares she was getting.

Can’t you feel anything? It’s unfair that I’m the only one feeling this way!

“…But seriously, how do people even know it was me? Sure, there might be some third-years who were in the same class with me before, but more than half the students in this school shouldn’t even know who I am, right?”

I could count the first and second-year students I know on my fingers. Even among the third-years, I don’t know that many people.

Unlike Yukina, I’ve tried my best to stay out of the spotlight and keep it a secret that we’re childhood friends. Thanks to that, I’ve been able to live peacefully until now… So how did people find out it was me in the cafeteria? It’s a mystery.

“This is why.”

“What the…!”

Haru showed me the screen of his smartphone in response to my question.

The name of our high school was displayed in big letters, and it looked like a bulletin board.

And right at the top, there was a picture of me, Yukina, and Tadokoro from yesterday. It even had our names and classes listed. I could sue for invasion of privacy!

“Someone who was there must have taken the picture and posted it.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Because of that…”

Don’t they know taking pictures without permission is a crime?

Don’t they know how fast information spreads on the internet?

There’s no escaping this!

“There’s all sorts of stuff written about you, Yusuke.”

“What…”

“Things like ‘Two-timing jerk’ and ‘A pervert who makes his junior dress as a maid and do all sorts of things while being involved with Yukina Himemiya.’”

“None of that has any basis in reality!”

The rumors about Yukina were scarce, but the ones about me being a pervert and a terrible person were spreading like wildfire.

It’s a relief that there weren’t many rumors about Yukina… but either way, this is the end of my peaceful school life.

“Haha… Haha…”

“Hey, Yusuke? Where are you going?”

“I have a headache, so I’m going to rest in the nurse’s offfice… Tell the teacher for me.”

“Oh, okay. Take care.”

I left the classroom and headed to the nurse’s offfice, my legs barely supporting me.

“Excuse me… My head feels like it’s going to split open, so can I rest here?”

I opened the door to the nurse’s offfice and asked the teacher inside. She kindly said I could sleep in one of the beds, so I crawled in.

Sigh… What should I do now?

I’ll go back to my parents’ house and take a break from school to recover… How many years would I have to repeat the grade to graduate without anyone knowing?

I’m too exhausted to even think about this anymore… I don’t care about anything anymore…

I had trouble sleeping last night because I was thinking about today, so before I knew it, I had fallen into a deep sleep.

So when I woke up, I didn’t realize where I was for a moment.

Oh, right… I came to rest in the nurse’s offfice… What time is it now?

“Are you awake?”

“Huh…”

I turned my eyes to the direction of the voice.

It wasn’t the teacher’s voice. It was the voice of the person I didn’t want to hear from, the one who was causing me so much trouble. I didn’t even need to look to know.

“S-Sa… Yukina…”

For some reason, Yukina was sitting in a chair next to the bed.

—

Chapter 17: Alone in the Nurse’s Office With My Childhood Friend (2)

“Why are you here…?”

I couldn’t understand why Yukina was sitting next to me as if she were taking care of me. Well, she wasn’t really taking care of me, just watching me.

“I-I’m not here for any special reason… I came because I had something to talk to the teacher about, and then she asked me to watch over you. So don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not like I was worried because you hadn’t come back yet or anything!”

Yukina turned away from me. My head still wasn’t clear, so I decided not to think too much about it.

“Oh, okay. I’m awake now, so you don’t need to stay here anymore. I’ll wait here until the teacher comes back… By the way, what time is it?”

“It’s lunchtime.”

Lunchtime? I guess I’ve been sleeping for about four hours… I must have been really tired. Well, thanks to that, I’m feeling a bit better now.

“Thanks, Himemiya-san. I’ll let the teacher know that you’ve gone back to the classroom when she returns.”

“It’s fine. I don’t have anything to do in the classroom anyway… I’ll stay here for a bit longer.”

Honestly, there’s no point in her staying here, and it would be troublesome if more weird rumors start spreading, so I’d prefer if she went back. But since Yukina doesn’t have many friends, I feel bad saying that… Also, with her cheeks slightly flushed, she looks kind of cute, so I can’t be too harsh.

So, I’ll try to be gentle about it.

“I just don’t want to be a bother to you, Himemiya-san… You know?”

If I say it kindly, she might take the hint without getting upset. Plus, I’m technically still considered a patient right now.

“Himemiya-san, are you listening?”

Yukina remained silent and didn’t respond. If she’s not going to say anything, there’s no reason for her to stay here, right?

“…My name.”

“Huh?”

“When it’s just the two of us, you should call me by my name like you used to… Why do you call me Himemiya-san…?”

What? Out of nowhere, she’s talking about names?

Does it really matter whether I call her by her last name or first name?

“Well, you’re Himemiya-san, aren’t you?”

“…Yes, but still!”

Her body trembled… Is she going to say something else? What does Yukina really want? I haven’t been able to understand her actions at all since yesterday.

“It’s not like I want to be close to you like we were before. But when you call me Himemiya-san, like I’m a stranger… it makes my chest feel uneasy.”

A stranger…? But we’re not family or anything, so why does it matter what I call her?

Besides, I don’t really want to be alone with Yukina anymore, so whether it’s her last name or first name, it doesn’t matter to me.

“I-I’ll also call you by your name when we’re alone… Y-Yusuke.”

…!

It’s been a long time since she’s called me by my name…

Why does this feel so strange?

Back then, it was normal for Yukina to call me by my name. Until we became distant, she would always affectionately call me “Yuu-kun, Yuu-kun.”

But after we grew apart, she started using my last name, and now she doesn’t even use my name at all, just “you.”

That’s why, hearing Yukina call me “Yusuke” so casually for the first time in a long time left me feeling confused.

“H-Hey, is it bad…?”

Yukina asked, looking up at me slightly.

I’m not strong enough to say no in this situation. And, although it’s pathetic, I can’t deny that there’s a part of me that’s happy about this.

“O-Okay… Yukina.”

“…Yeah.”

I’m not sure if she’s happy about being called by her name, but for the first time in a while, it felt like I saw her real smile, not a forced one.

Over the past few days, I’ve come to realize something about Yukina.

She seems to have developed a tsundere personality. She used to be all lovey-dovey with no hint of tsun. But based on her recent behavior, I’m pretty sure she’s grown into that tsun phase.

And now, after hearing her call me by my name, it felt like I saw the dere side of her again. I’m not sure if she’s really softened up, but she looks cute, so I’ll take it.

But don’t get me wrong. Just because we started calling each other by our first names again doesn’t mean I want to go back to being close like we used to be.

It’s just that we decided to call each other by our first names because calling each other by our last names or “you” makes us feel awkward… That’s all it is.

Now, there’s no reason for Yukina to stay here. She should head back to the classroom.

“So, are we done here? If there’s nothing else, you should go back to the classroom—”

“There’s still more.”

More!?

Honestly, I don’t have anything else to talk about.

“So, what is it?”

“Well, um…”

Yukina fidgeted, looking like she was having trouble saying something.

This part of her hasn’t changed since before.

Yukina has always had a hard time saying what she really wants to say. Just like how I eat slowly, Yukina takes her time to express what’s really on her mind.

If I think about it, it’s easy to understand… But I forgot… Maybe she wanted to say something back then, too?

“I-I want to apologize for what happened yesterday!”