“It’s not much different from a high school party. Except that there’s alcohol,” she said.
“Ah, so there is alcohol involved...”
“Yup! There were so many girls, and it was so much fun! A total eye candy harem. Man, everyone was so sexy...and when they all got drunk and let their guard down...”
“You sound like some middle-aged man,” I muttered.
“Butts, definitely... Boobs are good too, but I prefer butts...”
What the hell is this gyaru saying? Is she actually some old perv in disguise? But I guess university students really do drink when they party. I should be careful when I’m drinking with Nanami.
“You had your Christmas party too, right?” Yu-senpai asked, interrupting my thoughts. “We totally should’ve just combined our parties.”
“I dunno, having a bunch of university students there might’ve been too intimidating. We would’ve gotten overwhelmed,” I confessed.
“You think so? We’re all nice girls, so we probably would’ve had a lot of fun. A lot of the girls are single and don’t mind younger guys too. They might even take one home if they can.”
I had a feeling that Hitoshi would seethe if I told him that, so I knew I had to keep that to myself. If I told him what an opportunity he had missed, he would probably cry tears of blood. After all, he’d wanted me to invite them in the first place.
Maybe I could set up something in the future?
“How about we plan something next time there’s an opportunity? One of my friends is looking for a girlfriend too,” I suggested.
“Ooh, sounds great! Will I finally get a high schooler boyfriend? My first boyfriend and a younger guy...how juicy,” she said excitedly. She sounded like a total player, but at the same time she just revealed she’d never had a boyfriend before. That, too, was completely unexpected. I mean, she was so pretty and seemed so popular. Though Nanami was the same way too, so maybe Yu-senpai also had her reasons.
Hey, wait a minute. Aren’t she and Shoichi-senpai childhood friends, though? If that’s the case...
“I feel like Shoichi-senpai is pretty good-looking,” I began. “You don’t see him as potential dating material?”
“Ah, nah. Not gonna happen. He and I can only think of each other as brother and sister. We even sat down once and seriously talked about us maybe dating, but we concluded that that wasn’t gonna work,” she explained.
“You discussed it...?”
A part of me wanted to hear what kind of a discussion they had, while another part of me most definitely did not. But hearing an anecdote like that really brought it home to me that they were childhood friends.
I guess it didn’t always work out like in romance manga, though, where childhood friends could be with each other unconditionally.
“Besides, Shibe-chan seems to be hitting it off with the manager lately,” Yu-senpai added.
“Really?!” I exclaimed.
“Yup. The whole team stops by here sometimes, and I usually see him sitting with the manager. Except, well...”
“Except...?”
“He’s a popular guy, so I bet you he has a hard time figuring out actual like from something like friend like, or idol like. He probably doesn’t even know the manager likes him.”
Ah, yeah, I think I can see that. They had been like that when we all went to the summer festival as well. But I couldn’t help wondering about how those two had progressed.
If there was something I could do to help, then I wanted to support senpai. I bet he and his teammates were doing their best at the competition right about now too.
As I thought about senpai, who was far away from us in that moment, I raised my hand slightly to touch my Santa hat. I was wearing this yesterday too. I guess I just have to get with the program.
“Today is Christmas, after all... I guess this is pretty appropriate,” I murmured.
“Now that’s the spirit! Then let’s bring on the holiday cheer with our special uniforms!” Yu-senpai said.
“Let’s do it,” I said, pumping myself up for the work ahead. And since Nanami would be away for some time, I also considered whether I should pick up some more shifts over the break. I’d probably still have free time in the evenings, and besides, I could never have too much money for what was coming up ahead. Working more would be exactly what I needed. Though I knew that in years prior, I probably would have spent all my time playing games instead.
People can really change, I was thinking—at least until more and more customers kept coming. I guess even this small restaurant could get busy on Christmas Day.
Actually, I don’t know that I’ve ever been this busy in my entire life. I don’t think I have the bandwidth to think about anything at all.
In the midst of the commotion, Yu-senpai really impressed me; she worked just as hard without letting on at all just how busy she must have been. From chatting it up with the regulars to gently declining people hitting on her, she handled everything seamlessly.
I worked hard, too, hoping that I was contributing more than I once was able to—and by the time I realized it, quite a number of hours had passed.
“Wow, it really is pretty busy today, huh? I feel like we’re just getting a break now,” Yu-senpai said.
“It’s not even dinnertime, is it?” I remarked. “Do you think it’s so busy because it’s Christmas today?”
“Yeah, that’s probably it...”
There were fewer customers in the restaurant, so we finally had a moment to catch our breaths and chat. I was pretty tired already—would I be okay for my date with Nanami later? I didn’t think I lacked stamina, but maybe working used up a different kind of energy.
“Oh, another customer’s here. I’ll go greet them,” Yu-senpai said.
“I’ll go clear some tables,” I replied.
My shift is over soon, so maybe I can go home once and then meet up with Nanami. Just as I was thinking that, though...
“Oh, hey, Nanami-chan! Here for a visit?” I heard Yu-senpai say.
“Tee hee, I thought maybe Yoshin’s shift would be over soon, so I came to pick him up.”
“I see, I see. Right this way, please!”
I turned toward the entrance slightly while wiping down a table and saw that Nanami had arrived, wearing her winter coat.
This is maybe the second time she’s come to visit me at work? Are Otofuke-san and the others here too? It seemed, though, that Nanami had come by herself.
She must have spotted me, because she broke out in a smile and gave me a demure wave.
And even though I was still on the clock, I couldn’t stop myself from waving back.