My Beautiful Childhood Friend Is Working in a Maid Cafe For Some Reason

“Th-thanks for waiting… You can look now.”

About five minutes later, Yukina came back and told me to open my eyes.

I could see that the amount of stuff in the living room had slightly decreased.

I knew it… She must have dropped something. It was lucky I was the one who found the underwear. If it had been another guy, what would have happened? Then again, she probably would have cleaned it up herself in that case.

“Y-you need to make sure you clean up from now on!”

“I-I know.”

We continued sorting out what to keep and what to throw away. Fortunately, there were no more surprises like finding underwear, and we were making steady progress.

Yukina was beside me, diligently folding what looked like the jerseys she usually wore and piling them up.

“Hey, all I’m seeing is jerseys. Do you only wear jerseys?”

“So what? Is that a problem?”

“No, it’s not a problem, but…”

“Then what? You wear jerseys too, Yusuke.”

I didn’t think wearing jerseys was a bad thing. They’re comfortable and easy to move in, and I wouldn’t mind wearing them all the time. But what about a girl her age only owning jerseys?

“What do you do when you go out?”

“I wear jerseys.”

“I-I see…”

Now that I think about it, she did go to the convenience store in a jersey.

“D-don’t you ever feel like dressing up?”

“It’s not that I don’t. But I wear my school uniform, and I go straight to my part-time job from there, so I don’t really need to.”

“What about your days off? Don’t you go out with your coworkers or something?”

She doesn’t have any friends… At least, not that I know of.

“Nope. I haven’t gone out with anyone in years. I mostly stay in on my days off.”

Yukina answered flatly.

She didn’t seem to mind at all, but I felt like there was a hint of sadness in her voice.

“…Why don’t you make some friends?”

“What’s with you all of a sudden?”

Yukina flinched.

I had a feeling I might have upset her.

“Well, if you made friends, you could go out together and have fun dressing up, right?”

“I don’t need friends. I’ve never felt the need for them.”

“But you had some friends when you were younger, right? And even now, if you said you wanted to make friends, lots of people would want to be your friend, wouldn’t they?”

Yeah. Making friends would be easy for Yukina. If she just said, “Who wants to be my friend?,” lots of people would want to.

If that happened, she wouldn’t be alone anymore, and she could enjoy going out and dressing up… It would be way more fun than hanging out with me.

I only said that because I thought it would be good for her.

But for some reason, Yukina got really angry and shouted at me.

“Stop being so persistent! I said I don’t want any!”

“S-Sorry, Yukina…”

Seeing my surprise, Yukina quickly apologized with a small “Sorry.”

“No, I’m the one who should apologize for being pushy…”

“A-anyway, I don’t need friends, and I don’t need to dress up.”

“I see. Well, I shouldn’t have said anything about friends or fashion, since I’m no expert in either.”

I mean, I’m not totally clueless about friends since I have Haru, but still.

“H-Hey, Yusuke, do you think I’d look good if I dressed up?”

She asked without stopping what she was doing.

Yukina dressed up, huh…

Wait, no, no. I can’t let my thoughts stray back to the underwear from earlier.

I shook my head to clear my mind and seriously imagined it. I don’t know much about fashion trends, so I just pictured her in something like what I’ve seen in TV dramas.

“…Yeah, it would suit you.”

It was just in my imagination, but it looked really good on her.

It’s only natural since Yukina has a high baseline of beauty.

“Gross.”

“Hey!”

I guess I looked creepy to Yukina, imagining her with my eyes closed.

Seriously, who asked you to imagine it, anyway?

But it seemed like her mood had improved, and she was back to her usual self.

“Do you want to see me dressed up, Yusuke?”

“Huh? I mean, it’s whatever.”

Do I want to see Yukina dressed up?

I’d be lying if I said no, but I don’t really feel a strong desire to. Just catching a glimpse would be enough. After all, I’ve seen her in a maid outfit, and nothing really beats that!

“Answer me properly. You really want to see it, don’t you?”

“I told you, it’s whatever.”

“Say you want to see it.”

“I said…”

“It’s an order!”

Ugh… When she says that, I can’t resist. This girl really knows how to get her way…

“…I want to see it.”

“See? I knew you wanted to. You’re so stubborn. Just say so from the start.”

“You’re such a terrible person…”

“Did you say something?”

“N-No, I didn’t…”

Scary… She gave me a real death glare for a moment.

“If you want to see me dressed up so badly, then I’ll go out with you sometime.”

“No, just show me a picture of you dressed up. Why do we have to go out somewhere?”

“Yusuke… What are you planning to do with that picture?”

“Nothing! I didn’t even ask for a picture. Just show it to me, and I’ll give it back.”

Honestly, I don’t want any more pictures of Yukina. I already have too many, and they’re just cluttering up my space. I can’t throw them away because I’m in them too.

Plus, it’d be weird to have pictures of a girl who isn’t even my girlfriend. It’s kind of stalker-ish, and I’m not a stalker. So, I don’t need them.

“Okay, fine. Just show me when you dress up sometime. I’m a little bit curious.”

“…I’ll give it to you.”

“Huh?”

“I-I’m saying I’ll give you the right to go out with me somewhere.”

“No thanks.”

I know that’s a trap. I hate shady business practices, and there’s no cooling-off period.

“You don’t get to refuse. It’s an order, so take it. And make sure to use it.”

I hate pushy sales tactics!

Yukina’s eyes were burning with determination to make me accept.

“…Fine. Someday, I’ll use it.”

The word “someday” is so convenient.