Chapter 159

“And so? Everything worked out with the job in the end?” Itsuki asked him about it the following day at school, so Amane was honest and nodded. Itsuki replied with a casual shrug. “You had Kido’s introduction, so I was never worried, but if it’s all settled, that’s good to hear. Oh, I am curious why you look like you have something to tell me.” “Well, yeah. She’s kind of an intense person, the aunt.” “Guess she really must be for you to say so. Now I’m curious about her!” Itsuki laughed as he leaned his weight back in his chair. Amane also gave a wry smile, but he intended to keep the rest a secret for the time being. If he told Itsuki, he would undoubtedly show up at his workplace immediately. At the very least, Amane wanted to keep his friends from coming to his workplace until after he had started the job and gotten settled in. That was true even in Mahiru’s case. When he’d told Mahiru that morning, she had sulked quite a bit, and he’d had to spend about ten minutes doting on her to get back in her good graces. Now Mahiru was sitting over at Chitose’s desk talking. For some reason, Chitose was looking their way and grinning, but he knew reacting would only amuse her, and that thought irritated him, so he deliberately ignored her. “Well, I think the owner is a little strange, but it seems like I’ll be able to work there, no problem. And Kido said if I need anything, I can turn to Kayano for help anytime.” “Ah, Kido’s boyfriend, right? That low-key macho guy?” “I think you might get a funny look if you mentioned that to Kayano himself…and then he might give Kido a death glare, but…” It seemed like Souji would focus his ire on Ayaka, who had planted that perception in their minds, rather than on condemning the two of them for thinking that way. Rather than acting ashamed, he imagined Ayaka would simply say, What’s wrong with that? Amane mostly felt bad for Souji, who had to put up with Ayaka spreading rumors about him behind his back. In fact, Ayaka wasn’t in the classroom. Either she hadn’t gotten to school yet or she was with Souji. “Anyway, I feel better having someone I know there, and from what I heard from the owner, it sounds like her regular customers are on the older side and relatively calm, so I shouldn’t have too much trouble.” “Hmm, that’s good to hear. At any rate, having your job all set is a happy thing. But next time you need something, come talk to me!” “Yes, yes, I’ll turn to you, my dear, close friend.” Itsuki still seemed to be holding a tiny bit of a grudge. Amane patted him on the back, and he frowned like he was trying to hide his embarrassment. Then he whacked Amane on the back much harder in return. This was one of Itsuki’s ways of showing friendship, so as he coughed, Amane laughed, saying, “You jerk!” as he gently pressed a fist to Itsuki’s cheek. As he launched his minor attack against Itsuki, Amane let his gaze slip over to Mahiru, who huffed and looked at them, slightly dissatisfied. She was protesting what he had told her that morning about postponing coming to his workplace. However, she did seem to understand the reasoning, and thanks to the time he had spent spoiling her that morning, he was satisfied Mahiru would restrain herself, so he didn’t think there would be any issue. Itsuki had followed Amane’s gaze and suddenly poked fun at him. “Just as lovey-dovey as always, huh?” When Amane frowned, Itsuki broke into a wide grin as he gently brushed Amane’s fist away. “That reminds me, yesterday Miss Shiina and Chi and your mother went shopping, right? I heard from Chi that they had fun picking out clothes for you, but what did Miss Shiina buy?” “…Do I really have to tell you that?” “Oh! My dear, close friend leaves me out again!” “I knew you were still holding a grudge… Fine. It was a pair of full-body cat pajamas.” Amane puckered his lips up when he recalled the contents of the paper shopping bag Mahiru had handed him the previous day, and Itsuki burst into raucous laughter. Indeed, Shihoko and Mahiru had purchased Amane a full-body pajama set with a hood with cat ears. There was no way Amane, who was taller than average, could put on the cute pajamas, which were so obviously meant for a girl, or so he had thought, but they’d said, “There were sizes for guys, too!” Indeed, the pajamas they had produced were large enough that they’d fit him no problem, which had left Amane cradling his head. “Y-you, in cute pajamas…?” “Shut up. To make up for it, Mahiru’s gonna wear rabbit pajamas, so it’s fine.” At his age and with his build, it would be beyond embarrassing to wear a childish onesie, but Mahiru had looked at him with such a sparkle in her eye that he had no choice but to go along with it. He probably would have firmly refused if he had been expected to wear it all by himself. But Mahiru must have known that would have been unfair because she had made sure he knew she had one, too. Apparently, she had purchased her own one-piece pajama suit. It was light pink and had a rabbit design. With the terms established that Mahiru would wear her own set and that she would not take any pictures, Amane had agreed to put on the pajamas. It sounded like they would wear them the next time she stayed over. The pajamas would give Mahiru a much more wholesome appearance than the negligee from last time, so that would be easier for Amane to endure in several ways and might actually be a blessing in disguise. “I’ll have to get Miss Shiina to take a picture of you in your pajamas and send it to me.” “Hey, don’t even think about it! I already told her, absolutely no photos.” “Oh, come oooon! It’s okay, I’m sure you’ll look cute, so cute!” “I can see you’re about to burst out laughing. Ass.” Itsuki insisted it’d be great even as he struggled to control his expression, so Amane slapped him on the shoulder. Itsuki didn’t fight back. He was too busy holding back a laugh that made his whole body tremble.