The Story of a Man Who Vowed to Not Let Any Man Come Between Yuri, Only to Find Himself Caught in Between Them - Chapter 16: Unexpected Approach

Chapter 16: Unexpected Approach

On that day, I experienced something incredibly surprising.

I arrived at the department store as usual, ready to begin my part-time job as Tsukki. Little did I know, fate had something unexpected in store for me.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Yuka Minase.”

“I’m Mai Aizawa. Please take care of me!”

As I approached, two girls dressed in the store’s uniform introduced themselves as Yuka and Mai. To my surprise, the crowd around us erupted in cheers, welcoming the new hires with open arms.

“So, from today on, Minase-chan and Aizawa-chan will be joining us as part-time workers. Their main job will be to assist Sakuya, but there may be times when we need to call them in to help where we’re short-staffed. So, I hope both of you can be flexible and adaptable.”

“Understood.”

“Yey!”

As I watched this exchange, a slightly older man nudged me in the shoulder.

“I heard those two girls are Sakuya’s classmates?”

“Uh, yeah…”

“Haha, then they should get along well and be able to work together smoothly. It’s also a hot season from now on, so they might even help you cool off.”

“Well, that’s… wait what!?”

“Oh, oh… What’s wrong, Sakuya? Do you need to go take a dump or something?”

Should I just punch this guy in the face?

But really, that doesn’t matter right now. I stepped in front of the two girls.

“So, what brings you two here?”

“We just wanted to try out working part-time too.”

“Yup, yup♪ And when we were discussing where to go, we thought it would be great to come to this place where Sakuya-kun works.”

They explained it to me in detail afterwards, but apparently they had been discussing working part-time recently, and had already talked to the old man and old lady without my knowledge.

“It’s great to have new members, especially such pretty girls. But let’s make sure we don’t show any incompetence in our work, okay guys?”

“I know!!”

“I need to show off my cool side to the JKs!”

“…These people, seriously.”

“So, does that mean we ladies don’t bring you guys any energy?”

“N-no, that’s not the case at all!”

“The presence of you older sisters gives us energy too!!”

…Sigh, it got really noisy all of a sudden.

As the commotion settled down, each employee and part-timer went to their respective positions, leaving me alone with the girls.

“That seriously surprised me, though.”

“Fufu, sorry about that.”

“But you know what? That’s how much I wanted to spend time with you, Sakuya-kun.”

“Um…”

I felt a twinge of unease at her words. If I didn’t know about their relationship, I could have misunderstood the situation. Did she have feelings for me or something? The thought sent shivers down my spine.

“I felt the same way as Mai. It’s nice to watch you from afar, but I wanted to spend more time with you like this.”

“…Um, are you trying to make me fall for you?”

“Fall for you? What do you mean?”

“Oh, you mean fall in love?”

The two of them smirked, and I understood that I had missed the mark.

I quickly turned my back to them, my face turning bright red, and grabbed Tsukki’s costume.

“Can you guys just wait outside? I’ll change now.”

Since there was no changing room for Tsukki’s costume, which was kept in the meeting room because of its size, I always changed when everyone else had left.

“Oh, okay.”

“We’ll be waiting!”

With a sigh, I hurriedly changed into Tsukki. It was a little refreshing to know that someone was waiting for me in Tsukki’s form, as they were waiting for me outside.

“All right, let’s go then.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m excited!”

Leading the way, I walked outside and began explaining the job details to them. Even though I was just mimicking my usual routine, they seemed to have a rough understanding of it, probably from watching me all this time.

“It’s my first time doing part-time work, so I’m really looking forward to it. I’m glad Sakuya-kun is giving me a chance to explore a world I don’t know.”

“Me too. I heard part-time jobs can be tough, but having Sakuya-kun by my side makes me more excited.”

“…”

As the two smiled and exchanged words, it was a beautiful sight. However, I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous about their compliments towards me.

(…This is bad. I feel my heart racing for some reason.)

I was grateful to be inside the mascot suit.

Anyway, we began the part-time job together.

“Are you those big sisters who used to sit over there?”

“Yes, we’ll be working with Tsukki from today.”

“That’s correct! Nice to meet you!”

The children and adults seemed to like the two beautiful girls, but some of the younger children still kept their distance from Yuka and Mai. Instead, they clung to me. I smiled and ruffled their heads, reassuring them that Yuka and Mai were kind people, and they would become accustomed to them eventually.

“Don’t worry, those two are really nice people. We’ll be working together more often from now on, so take your time to get used to them, okay?”

“Okay!”

“Yeah!”

The kids were well-behaved.

As Tsukki, I did my job by their side while watching Yuka and Mai, but I wasn’t particularly concerned about anything.

“Whew, it’s getting pretty hot, huh?”

“Yeah, Sakuya-kun, are you okay?”

“…It’s too hot.”

We took a break and sat on a bench together. The temperature was rising as summer approached, and it was becoming even hotter inside the costume.

“Even at times like this, you won’t take off your head?”

“The children’s dreams will be shattered, you know.”

“Well, that’s true, but… I think it’s better to release a little bit of heat.”

To avoid heatstroke, it’s advisable to take frequent breaks when it’s hot, but we haven’t been strictly instructed to keep our mascot costumes on at all times.

“Well, it’s okay to take it off a little bit.”

I checked that no one was around and removed my head slightly.

“Phew…”

Since I was sweating a lot, the feeling of the outside air was indescribable.

Nevertheless, I always keep the head on, so I can put it back on quickly. Yuka wiped the sweat from my cheek, and Mai cleaned it with a handkerchief.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“… The sweat smell… cough! It’s really hot, isn’t it?”

“Not just hot, it’s really scorching.”

During this season, it’s crucial to take care of the inside of the mascot costume as well. If you don’t take any action, it’s natural for it to get dirty, and most importantly, the sweat smell becomes unbearable.

“By the way, why did you guys…?”

“Hai-hai~ Don’t say things like ‘Don’t let me come between you.'”

“Mmph!?”

As I was about to speak, Mai covered my mouth with her hand. She poked my cheek with her finger and pressed her palm against it firmly.

“It’s not a big deal. Let’s just not bring it up.”

“…Okay.”

There didn’t seem to be much point in saying anything at this point. But I never thought I would end up working this closely with Yuka and Mai.

“Thanks, both of you.”

“Yeah~”

“You’re welcome~”

…Damn it, why is my face feeling so warm? Is it just the heat?

“Hey, could you lend me that for a moment?”

“Huh?”

As Mai took the mascot head from me, she suddenly put it on her own head for some reason. I didn’t really want her to wear Tsukki’s head, which was filled with my sweat and scent, so I tried to take it back, but Yuka stopped me.

“Mai has always admired it. She’s been wanting to wear Tsukki’s head for a while.”

“What kind of admiration is that?”

“Oh, wah♪”

No, seriously, I want it back. Doesn’t that mean it’s so smelly that it makes her body shake? Mai quickly returned it, but her face was bright red, as if she had a high fever.

“…It smells nice.”

After Mai wore it, Tsukki’s head actually had a pleasant scent.