Saiki tilted his head in confusion.
[What's wrong? I don't remember doing anything bad.]
(Maybe she's still mad about me eating two pieces of her cake last time...)
Ijichi Seika: "Was it you who told Nijika to change the menu and add some food items like coffee jelly, cake... fried noodles, yakiniku, buffet, all that stuff?"
[Wait, coffee jelly and cake are one thing, but I never mentioned any of the later ones.]
"Who cares what you say? Anyway, you did say it. Do you know how much trouble this causes?"
[Didn't you say this place operates like a regular café? And I only made a suggestion. I didn't say you had to do it. The final decision wasn't even mine, right?]
Ijichi Seika: "Of course. Preparing all that stuff would take so much time, money, and manpower. In the end, we only added coffee jelly and cake."
Saiki let out a sigh of relief.
[Oh? Then that's good.]
"Good my ass! To make those desserts, we had to set up a little kitchen at the front counter. It's such a hassle."
Saiki: ...
[What's the problem? Didn't you already decide on it?]
Ijichi Seika: "Now that we've done this, if customers start ordering them, it'll be a pain. We're already short on staff. When it's quiet, Nijika and the sound engineer can handle the desserts."
"But when it's busy, it's trouble..."
(What does this have to do with me? Someone asked for my opinion. You're the only one who would blame me for this...)
Ijichi Seika tilted her head toward Gotoh Hitori. "Um, you're the guitarist who performed in the cardboard box, right? What was your name again..."
Ijichi Seika trailed off halfway, racking her brain. "It's... it's... Mango Mask?"
[You don't remember people's names at all.]
Gotoh Hitori froze instinctively upon hearing the new nickname. [Th-this is a new nickname. I like this manager.]
Gotoh Hitori clasped her hands together and smiled happily. "Man-man-man... Yes, I'm Mango Mask."
(This isn't even a nickname. And that's not your name.)
"You're not called that at all..."
From the stairs below, Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo walked over casually.
Ijichi Nijika: "Sis, seriously, stop giving people random nicknames!"
"Sis... Nijika's sister?"
Ijichi Nijika took a small step forward. "Yeah. Didn't I tell you before? My sister is the manager of 'Starry."
Gotoh Hitori thought back. It did sound vaguely familiar, but her heart had been pounding too hard at the time to really listen.
Gotoh Hitori: "S-so that's how it is."
Ijichi Nijika: "Exactly. So don't be nervous, okay! Sis..."
Ijichi Seika opened her lips without giving her little sister any face. "Here, you call me Manager. And no mixing personal feelings with work."
"Jeez, don't scare her like that."
Ijichi Nijika: "I'm not scaring her. Oh, right, what was I going to ask again..."
[You forgot that fast? Weren't you asking for someone's name?]
Ijichi Seika suddenly realized. "Oh, oh, right. That pink-haired one... what's your name?"
[Pink-haired, who are you calling?]
Gotoh Hitori said nervously, "I-I'm... I'm called Bocchi-chan."
"Bocchi-chan? Weird name, whatever. So, Bocchi-chan, can you make coffee jelly, cake, that kind of thing?"
Gotoh Hitori: "Um, I'm not really good at that..."
Ijichi Seika looked disappointed and rested her cheek on her hand. "Sigh, you can't? That's useless..."
Gotoh Hitori immediately bowed repeatedly in apology. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I'm just plankton, sorry..."
Ijichi Nijika stepped forward to comfort her. "Jeez, Sis, you don't have to say it like that. You're a total cooking idiot yourself, you know."
"Tch."
Ijichi Seika turned to Saiki. "Hey, punk, can you make coffee jelly and cake?!"
[I'm a customer here. Why are you talking to me like that? I'm not here to work.]
"So much nonsense. Just say yes or no. If you can, why don't you work here too? How about a temporary gig?"
Ijichi Nijika finally noticed Saiki. "Eh, Kusuo-kun, you're here too? When did you get here? I didn't even notice."
[I got here ages ago.]
Saiki felt a wave of speechlessness. He was sitting in such an obvious spot, and no one had noticed.
(Did I somehow pick up Shiraishi's aura?)
Gotoh Hitori looked at Saiki expectantly. "Sa... Saiki, are you going to work here too?"
[Me... I'll pass.]
"Eh, why?"
Saiki explained.
[I'm worried that if I make it too delicious and the customers get hooked, then if I stop coming, whenever they order it again and it doesn't taste the same, they won't want to buy anymore. Then this place would go out of business again.]
Ijichi Seika pointed a finger at Saiki. "As if a punk like you could make our shop go under just by making coffee jelly. Stop talking nonsense."
Ijichi Nijika also persuaded him. "Yeah, Kusuo-kun. Even if you make it super delicious, it won't cause any problems. And this confidence of yours... it's way too much. It's almost like Ryo's random overconfidence."
Yamada Ryo ( *ˊᵕˋ)✩︎‧₊: "I'm not that good."
(No, this isn't a compliment.)
(Okay, maybe I exaggerated a little. It's not that serious, but it would still affect the vibe a bit. Orders would drop.)
Ijichi Seika: "Whatever. It's only the first day anyway. Not many people will order that stuff. Nijika can handle it alone. Let's get to work."
Ijichi Nijika rolled up her sleeves. "Okay! Kusuo-kun, you wanted coffee jelly, right? I'll make it right now."
Saiki felt a bit of anticipation. "Mm, thanks."
Ijichi Nijika went to the small kitchen at the front counter, fiddled around for a while, and came back with a cup of coffee jelly. She handed it to Saiki. "Here, Kusuo-kun. Try it. I've practiced a lot, but this is the first time I'm making it for an actual customer."
Saiki took the coffee jelly, picked up the spoon, scooped a bite, and put it in his mouth.
Ijichi Nijika asked curiously, "How is it?"
Saiki took another bite.
[Mm, pretty good.]
"See?"
Ijichi Nijika put her hands on her hips, her nose proudly sticking up like Pinocchio. "I've been practicing for a long time..."
"Um... that..."
Gotoh Hitori raised her hand from the side. "What should I do?"
"Oh, almost forgot. Bocchi-chan, come here."
Ijichi Nijika took Gotoh Hitori on a tour of the front counter, pointing things out step by step. "Okay, you'll handle taking drink orders. Quinine water is here, beer is at the service counter, base liquors are in the cabinet back there."
Gotoh Hitori looked panicked, like a student about to be called on by the teacher during roll call. [Too fast. I can't remember all this.]