Chapter 18
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Chapter 18: Maid Outfits Are Best With Long Skirts And Lace-Up Boots V
“What’s wrong?”
The girl looked at me curiously while pointing to the seat next to her on the bench. It didn’t seem like she mistook me for someone else. But still, her face was unfamiliar to me.
Her chestnut-colored hair was tied into a short ponytail. Although her long eyelashes around her well-shaped eyes gave her the appearance of a mature woman, her carefree smile was exactly like that of a child. I’m not sure how to describe it, but if I said she was like a modernized Japanese doll, she might get mad, but that’s the kind of image she gave. She had a small lunchbox on her lap, and from her short skirt, her white legs peeked out. I began to feel a bit uneasy, wondering if she noticed me staring.
“On a day this nice, why is everyone stuck inside the classroom?”
“Well, that’s up to them.”
“Come on, sit down. I’ve been lonely eating by myself today.”
Following her suggestion, I sat down next to her, and as she smiled brightly, I took another closer look at her face. I still didn’t know who she was.
Classmate? A former middle school friend? A student from my dojo?
I went through all the possible connections in my head, but none of them matched her.
“Sorry, but… who are you again?”
“Huh, you don’t remember? Oh, well, I do look different from last time.”
She spoke as if she understood, then looked around. It seemed like everyone else on the rooftop was focused on their lunches and not paying attention to us. After confirming that, she leaned close to my ear and whispered softly.
“Rei-sama, thank you for always looking after me.”
Hearing her voice, I looked at her face again—and finally, I remembered.
“The kimono shop employee!”
“Did you remember?”
Back then, I was overwhelmed by the dimly lit store and the unfamiliar luxury fragrances. Besides, when I saw her at the shop, her hair was long and black.
“It’s understandable that you didn’t recognize me. I talk all formally at work.”
She laughed while brushing her hair back. Her demeanor was so different now that I would’ve believed her if she told me she was someone else.
“Uh, how do you know my name?”
“I asked Rei. They mentioned we went to the same school, so I was planning to tease you one day. But I didn’t expect to run into you like this. Do you feel like it’s fate? Do you always eat here? Oh, and don’t call me ‘sama’—just call me Minato.”
I had only asked one question, but I got three times the answers, leaving me a bit confused. The fact that this calm, composed store clerk was actually my classmate was shocking enough.
“No, it’s just that the weather was nice today.”
“Yeah, I totally get that feeling. Today’s one of those days where you just want to skip all your classes and nap here, right? Well, I always feel that way, though. Oh, and you’re probably thinking that my hairstyle is completely different, right? That was a wig I wore to match the shop’s atmosphere. I don’t like that gloomy style either, so it worked out perfectly.”
Minato laughed cheerfully as she continued talking. For someone like me, who’s not great at making conversation, it was a relief that she would keep talking as long as I gave her a response. Still, I couldn’t help but notice that she hadn’t touched her lunch at all since we started chatting.
“Still, I can’t believe you’re a boy even with the school uniform on.”
“Please believe me.”
“Is there some family situation that forces you to cross-dress for school or something?”
My family doesn’t have any strange customs like that. I didn’t want to disappoint her curious look, but there was no point in lying.
“Not at all. My family’s just middle-class, unlike Rei-sama or you, Minato-san.”
Considering she worked at that shop and seemed close to Rei-sama, Minato was probably from a distinguished family as well. Why was someone like her attending a public high school in the countryside and having lunch with an ordinary person like me?
Then, suddenly, I looked around the rooftop. Of course, there were some mixed-gender groups sitting together. That probably meant… yeah, that kind of thing. From the outside, maybe we looked like that too.
If Minato-san was indeed an “Ojou-sama” like Rei-sama, would there be any problems with someone like me sitting next to her? What if I ended up getting attacked by someone like Kanshou or Bakuya?
“What’s wrong?”
“No, um… why do you work at that shop?”
I tried to shift the conversation to something I was genuinely curious about. I had already sat next to her, so at this point, I figured that if I was going to get dragged into something, it would happen regardless of what I did. Though, I hoped for nothing to happen.
“Does it seem strange? That shop is my family’s business. If I don’t help out, I’d have to commute somewhere else. My parents don’t want me working at the front, but since it’s a long-standing traditional shop, I can’t wear hair like this—they say it’s about dignity and tradition. It’s a hassle, really.”
“That sounds tough. In that sense, my family has it easier.”
Even after quitting kendo, neither my grandpa nor my mom had said anything to me. Though I considered myself a half-hearted person just freeloading at the dojo, no one ever criticized me for it. They probably just thought I should do what I wanted. At the same time, I felt uneasy knowing that I wasn’t included in their plans for who would carry on the dojo’s legacy.
“Not as tough as what you’re going through, Nao-kun.”
“That might be true.”
“But why did Rei latch onto you? Rei can be pushy and selfish, but she’s not a bad person.”
At that age, being pushy and selfish seemed bad enough. If Rei-sama ever heard my thoughts, I could only imagine what she’d say.
“It’s a long story.”
As I began telling Minato about all the bad luck that day, I started feeling genuinely sorry for myself. To pause the conversation, I took a sip of tea from my water bottle.