My Beautiful Childhood Friend Is Working in a Maid Cafe For Some Reason - Chapter 95

“Yuu-kun. Summer vacation starts today!”

The day after the closing ceremony, in other words, the first day of summer vacation. Yukina rang the doorbell early in the morning, and that’s the first thing she said to me.

She must’ve come straight out of bed…

She seemed unusually excited about it really being summer vacation, as her hair was even messier than usual. It looked like she didn’t care about fixing it at all.

“Yukina… I’m still sleepy.”

It was exactly 7:00 AM. That was 30 minutes earlier than I usually wake up for school.

Yawning and rubbing my eyes, Yukina waved both her hands apologetically.

“Oh, right. Sorry, Yuu-kun.”

“Wait, hey.”

“Hm?”

While she apologized, she naturally slipped inside my house. When I tried to express my confusion, she just gave me a puzzled look.

“Why are you coming in?”

“Because it’s summer vacation?”

“…That’s not an answer.”

“Hmm, but I told you, didn’t I? I want to be with you as much as possible, Yuu-kun. So I decided I’m going to hang out in your room every day during summer vacation.”

“What?”

I did plan to hang out with Yukina over the break, but I never agreed to her basically moving in. Wait, what does “hang out every day” even mean? Is she staying over?

“…You’re going home, right?”

“If you want me to stay, I’ll be here the whole time.”

I remembered that time we argued, and she started talking about living together or even getting married—some pretty big stuff. So, is this supposed to be some kind of practice? For Yukina, at least. No, wait, that’s not it. She’s just here to hang out.

Well, leaving my random thoughts aside, the idea of her coming over every day still made me uneasy. But I had already decided to accept whatever Yukina wanted. I, and no one else, made that decision. Quietly, I closed the door.

“If you’re still sleepy, it’s fine. You can sleep, Yuu-kun. I’ll just do whatever.”

She said that, so I returned to bed, but I just kept tossing and turning, unable to sleep. I couldn’t stop worrying about Yukina doing something reckless.

Once, when I had a cold, she made porridge for me. That was sweet of her, but when I looked at the kitchen afterward, it was a complete disaster. I still don’t understand how she couldn’t put things back in place.

I reminded her to behave, so it should be fine, I told myself as I closed my eyes. I stayed up late last night, so I was pretty sleep-deprived.

Before I knew it, I had fallen into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, a couple of hours had passed. I decided it was time to get up and sat up in bed. I turned to my side and saw Yukina sitting there, leaning against the bed, lightly snoring.

If you’re tired, you should’ve just slept more, I thought, scratching the back of my head. I didn’t want her to hurt herself by sleeping in a weird position, so I hesitantly put my hand on her shoulder.

“Yukina.”

She jerked awake with a start.

“I-I’m not asleep! I’m not! Really!”

She amusingly repeated “I’m not asleep” over and over again. She was clearly half-asleep.

“Yeah, yeah. Yukina wouldn’t be the type to mess up someone’s sleep in the morning, then take a nap herself because she got tired, right?”

“Y-Yuu-kun, don’t tease me… You’re being mean…”

“Oh? But you weren’t sleeping, right?”

“T-That’s right. It’s not like I got sleepy from watching how peaceful you looked while sleeping…”

She pouted, glaring at me, unaware she had just confessed. She didn’t look scary at all, but if I teased her any more, she’d probably get seriously upset, so I decided to stop.

“I’m hungry, so how about we eat?”

“Yes! I’m starving!”

“Alright, I’ll prepare something. Wait a minute.”

“Okay.”

I went to the living room and had Yukina sit down. First, I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and then thought about what to make for breakfast. After that, I’d figure out what to do next.

“Yukina, what do you want to do later?”

It was almost noon, and we were finishing a light meal. While I did the dishes, Yukina was busy staring at her phone.

“Hmm, I don’t have any ideas.”

“Me neither.”

I couldn’t think of anything either. If I were alone, I’d probably just laze around and kill time. But when I’m with Yukina, I have no idea what we should do.

“…Maybe we should go shopping.”

“Shopping?”

“Well, if you’re going to hang out here every day, we’ll need more groceries.”

Why do I think like someone’s mom so quickly? That kinda stings.

“You’re like Yuu-kun’s mom.”

“Stop. I already realized that, and it’s making me sad.”

“But that means you’ll be dependable in the future.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, nothing! Nothing at all!”

She pressed her cheeks with her hands, squealing happily.

What’s going on with her… Oh.

I started to understand, and my cheeks got warm. I wasn’t going to say it out loud, though, or I’d just embarrass myself. Yukina, you idiot. And just what does she think we are…? No, I better not think about that. It’s too much to handle.

We headed to the supermarket near the apartment that we usually go to. I grabbed a basket and started putting in whatever we might need.

“Stop filling it with just cola.”

“But I love it! I’ll pay for it with my own money, so it’s fine, right?”

“Then get a separate basket.”

“Nope.”

Nope? If she keeps adding bottles of cola, it’ll make carrying the groceries harder. I’ve got food to buy too. She could at least help me out a little.

We moved to the snack aisle, and Yukina began adding her favorites to the basket. Suddenly, she started giggling.

“What’s up?”

“Oh, I just thought, doesn’t this feel like we’re newlyweds right now?”

“New…lyweds?”

That was quite a powerful statement. I started imagining Yukina as a newlywed bride… No, no, stop it. That thought just makes things worse.

But, let me just say, there’s no way we look like newlyweds. At best, we probably look like a happy couple. A boyfriend tagging along while his girlfriend excitedly picks out snacks… That’s the more accurate image.

But she looked so happy, humming and smiling to herself, so I didn’t say anything.

After paying, we headed back to the apartment. My arms were heavy, weighed down by all the bags. Next to me, Yukina carried an ice cream in a famous container meant to be split in two. She’d bought it herself because it was hot, and she wanted something cold. She happily cracked it open and began eating.

“Here, Yuu-kun. Let’s share.”

She offered me the other half.

But there was no way I could grab it, so I just stared at it.

“I can’t eat it like this… Are you trying to mess with me?”

“No, silly. Open your mouth. I’ll feed it to you.”

I looked at her in disbelief. We were outside, after all. No one was around now, but someone could pass by at any moment. A public “ahh” like this would be pure humiliation.

“If you don’t hurry, it’ll melt.”

She brought the ice cream closer to my mouth, leaving me no way out.

“…I-I’m just doing it so it doesn’t melt, alright? For the ice cream’s sake, that’s all.”

I made up some excuse, though I didn’t really understand it myself, and took a bite. The cold sensation spread through my body.

“Tasty?”

Of course, it was good. I nodded without thinking.

“Hehe, I’m glad.”

Yukina walked ahead of me, clearly enjoying herself.

I followed quietly behind. The cicadas were buzzing loudly, making it feel like summer. Out of nowhere, Yukina turned around.

“Hehe, this is fun.”

Memories of my childhood came rushing back. Before we grew distant, the two of us, along with Akari, used to play together during summer vacation. We’d stay outside until the sun went down. Those were good times.

Maybe even back then, just being with Yukina was enough to make me happy. With that same feeling rising inside me, I felt grateful for these simple, everyday moments.