My Beautiful Childhood Friend Is Working in a Maid Cafe For Some Reason - Chapter 61

As I slept, I could hear my phone ringing loudly from somewhere.

I fumbled around with my hand, grabbed my phone, and brought it to my ear.

Who could be calling this early in the morning? I wondered as I answered.

“Hello…”

Annoyed that my sleep was being interrupted, I grumbled into the phone. The voice I heard was a familiar one.

“Oh, Yusuke?”

“Mom?”

The caller was my mom.

If this were when I still lived at home, it would definitely be sleeping time. I started to worry that something big had happened.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m coming to your place today.”

“…Huh? That’s it? I mean, why!?”

“Why? Do I need a reason to see my beloved son? See you later.”

“Wait, hold on—”

She hung up on me abruptly. I couldn’t make sense of it, so I put down my phone. There was still plenty of time before I needed to get up, so I decided to go back to sleep. Grabbing a thin blanket, I closed my eyes, but my phone rang again.

Now what? Annoyed, I answered the call with a harsh tone.

“Mom, enough already—”

“—Uh, Y-Yusuke? It’s me…”

“Yukina!?”

I hadn’t checked who it was before answering. Reflexively, I shot up in bed.

I mean, come on, I couldn’t help it… I never expected a call from Yukina.

“Well, um, Yusuke… I prefer being called ‘Mama’ rather than ‘Mom’…”

Her small, hesitant voice mumbled from the other side of the phone.

“Yukina, speak clearly or I can’t hear you.”

“~~~! N-Never mind!”

Even though I couldn’t see her, I knew. Her voice was trembling, and she sounded flustered.

“So, what do you want?”

It was so early in the morning. Unless it was something important, I was going to hang up and go back to sleep. I made that promise to myself as I asked.

“Good morning.”

“…Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

If that’s all she called for, I’m hanging up right now. And going back to sleep!

“W-Well, Yusuke, you’re always barely making it on time, right? So, I thought you might not be able to wake up, and I wanted to help wake you up.”

I wanted to tell her it was none of her business and hang up immediately, but since she was doing this for me, I couldn’t brush her off rudely.

“Oh… it’s fine. I’m making sure to wake up on time. Can I hang up now? I’m going back to sleep.”

“Wait!”

Just as I was about to pull the phone away from my ear, she stopped me.

“Um, since we’re already talking, can we chat a little longer?”

Honestly, the surprise of hearing from her had completely wiped away my drowsiness. I still had time before I had to get up, so I decided to take her up on her suggestion.

“Sure. Do you always wake up this early, Yukina?”

“Yeah. Girls have a lot to do.”

“Hmm.”

Since I was up anyway, I figured I might as well get ready while we talked. I got out of bed. Today, I woke up early, so maybe I’ll try making lunch.

“Actually, I just got out of the shower, and I’m only wearing a towel.”

“Pfft!”

Everything I’d been thinking about flew right out of my head.

W-Wait, what!? Just a towel!?

That means… on the other side of this phone, Yukina is wearing nothing but a towel… right?

Images of Yukina from that time came to mind naturally.

I shook my head, trying to get rid of them.

“D-Don’t say stuff like that!”

“Huh? Why are you so flustered? Did you… imagine it?”

Yukina asked as if she knew everything. I’d imagined every little detail, and I could feel my cheeks getting hot.

“W-Well, if you say that, of course I’ll imagine it.”

I accidentally admitted it, making my face grow even hotter.

“S-So you did… W-Well, I’m going to dry my hair now. I’m hanging up.”

Yukina abruptly ended the call. I felt awkward continuing the conversation, so I decided to hang up as well.

Then—

“Y-Yusuke… don’t do anything weird in the morning…”

“I won’t!”

She had to get that in.

“Well… I’ll see you at school!”

The beeping of the disconnected call echoed through my quiet room. They say waking up early is good, but I didn’t feel like I gained anything.

In the end, I didn’t feel like making lunch anymore, so after getting ready, I headed to school earlier than usual.

“Huh, it’s rare for you to get here before me, Yusuke.”

As I sat at my desk, Haru, who had just arrived, spoke to me with a curious expression.

“Today’s special. I got woken up.”

“Woken up? By who?”

“My mom. She called me early in the morning.”

“Wow, that sucks.”

Haru didn’t seem too concerned and looked forward. The truth is, it was Yukina’s call that woke me up, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

As usual, time passed, and after finishing my day, I quickly packed up to go home.

“You’re in a hurry.”

“My mom’s coming over.”

“Oh, really? Maybe I’ll visit your place too.”

“Come over next time. See ya.”

I parted ways with Haru and headed out of the classroom when someone called my name. I turned around and saw Yukina.

Out of instinct, I almost imagined Yukina’s uniform becoming transparent, revealing what was underneath, but I quickly shook my head.

“W-What is it?”

“Is there a club meeting today?”

“No, not today.”

“I see…”

Did I just imagine that little hint of disappointment?

“Yusuke, you’re in a rush. What’s going on?”

“Oh, yeah, my mom’s coming over.”

“Your mom!?”

Yukina’s face lit up instantly. I wondered why she seemed so happy, but since I wanted to go home as soon as possible, I let it slide.

“Well, anyway, see you later.”

As I raised a hand in farewell, Yukina raised her hand back.

“Yeah, you should hurry back. Bye-bye.”

I left the classroom and rushed home.