Why Not Make Both Twins 'Girlfriends'?-Chapter 3Volume .3 - An Order Has Come In...?
An Order Has Come In…? 3
As Sakuto was watching the twin sisters, Yuzuki quietly entered his field of vision.
“Your nose is stretching out…” (TN: drooling or gawking)
“It’s not…”
“Hmm…”
“What?”
“Nothing…”
Yuzuki seemed, for some reason, to be in a bad mood.
That’s when Matori said with a beaming smile, “Alright!”
“Since it’s about time for more customers to come in for a break, let’s get pumped and do our best!”
***
Just as Matori had said, around 2:30 PM, the number of customers surged. Everyone took their positions and started attending to them.
Soon after, Matori called out to the kitchen with an order sheet.
“Chikage, we’ve got an order. Two servings of yakisoba and one cold Chinese noodle.”
“Got it!”
Chikage, who was in charge of the kitchen, took out the pre-prepared ingredients from the refrigerator and started cooking one dish after another.
The kitchen was small, so only one or two people could fit in, but for now, Chikage was managing fine on her own. Sakuto wandered around the counter area, occasionally assisting Chikage.
“Sakuto-kun, could you please help with the toppings?”
“Okay!”
Sakuto relied on his memory of the images he had seen to decide what and how much to put on each dish instantly.
For the yakisoba, there were four toppings: green seaweed, red pickled ginger, mayonnaise, and bonito flakes, and he had to follow the instructions on whether to add them or not, so he placed them accurately based on the order sheet.
“Matori-senpai, two servings of yakisoba and one cold Chinese noodle are ready!”
“Okay!”
As Matori carried the dishes away, Sakuto noticed Hikari, who was taking orders at a table, being approached by two college-aged men.
Sakuto couldn’t help but watch intently—
“Hey, do you want to hang out with us after this? Maybe later tonight?”
“I’m sorry, but my boyfriend is actually here, and we have plans to hang out together after this.”
“Really? For real?”
“Yes. Thank you for inviting me──So, what would you like to order?”
She responded with a smile, but Hikari was in full social courtesy mode.
She deflected with a smile and conversation skills, making sure they wouldn’t approach her further.
Her ability to handle the situation was so adept that it was hard to believe it was her first time serving customers, and Sakuto breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Yuzuki, who was serving a family, was smiling at a little girl.
“Wow, you swam in the sea for the first time? That’s amazing, weren’t you scared?”
“Nope! Ehehe〜♪”
As usual, she seemed comfortable with children, having made friends with the little girl. The girl’s parents were also smiling as they watched the two of them.
Then, a pair of college-aged girls with brown hair and tanned skin approached Sakuto.
“Excuse me, can we take a commemorative photo with that instant camera?”
“Yes──Matori-senpai, could you please take a photo with the instant camera?”
“Sure!”
As if to say that Matori-senpai was the one for cameras, Sakuto passed the request to Matori.
Matori took the camera and guided them to the front, where the cats were lounging, and took a photo with them.
By the way, the instant photos cost three hundred yen each (including tax). Additionally, if customers handed over their camera or smartphone, they would take photos for free, which apparently served as free advertising for the shop when customers posted on social media.
After a while, the two college-aged girls left with satisfied smiles on their faces.
When Matori returned to the shop, Sakuto called out from the counter.
“Thank you. Did the photo turn out well?”
Matori handed Sakuto the instant photo, saying, “Of course.”
“What’s this?”
“I took it to put up in the shop. Once it’s developed, write the date with a permanent marker and stick it on that corkboard over there.”
“Understood.”
Before long, the image on the film began to faintly emerge.
Between the two smiling girls making peace signs, the cats from earlier were faintly visible.
Sakuto, curious, asked Matori a question.
“Matori-senpai?”
“What is it?”
“Are these four cats originally the shop’s pets?”
“Nope, they’re strays. They’ve been around here for a while. Kind of like our guardian spirits? Some people come from far away just to take photos with them.”
“Wow…”
“On social media, a beach house where you can take instant photos with cats in swimsuits is kind of popular, you know?”
It might indeed be rare.
Sakuto finished writing today’s date on the photograph and pinned it to the corkboard.
***
After a while, Sakuto went to the back of the store to take out the trash. That’s when he heard Chikage’s voice talking to someone—
“Understand? This isn’t because I’ve let my guard down or anything!?”
──Tsundere? To whom?
Sakuto peeked around the corner of the wall to see who Chikage was talking to.
Then—
“That’s why… here you go.”
Chikage placed a food dish on the ground, and the cats came over with a “meow,” gathering around it.
It seemed she had been conversing with the cats.
“…Chikage?”
“Ah!? Sakuto-kun!?”
Perhaps embarrassed to be seen, Chikage’s face turned bright red.
“Are those cats the guardians of this shop? Were you feeding them?”
“Yes… They were meowing behind the shop, and I thought they might be hungry…”
“I see. And the cat food?”
“It was left here by the store manager. There was also a dish, so I just…”
Looking down again, Sakuto saw four cats alternately sticking their faces into the dish, crunching on the cat food. It was quite a charming scene.
“Can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Mashiro… Did you once have a cat with that name, Chikage?”
“!? …Yes. How did you know?”
“Well, just a guess──”
──Although he said that, he thought to himself, ‘I knew it.’
“When I was in elementary school, I found a pure white kitten. I named it Mashiro and took care of it but…”
This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
Chikage stopped speaking, but Sakuto could imagine the rest.
“So why did you become afraid of cats?”
“…Why indeed? After Mashiro was gone, I suddenly became scared.”
“I see…”
“By the way, the white one is missing… where could it have gone?”
While Chikage looked around restlessly, Sakuto thought about how he might help her overcome her fear of cats.
She said she was afraid of cats——
But from the way she fed them, even if just casually, it didn’t seem like she truly hated them.
Not hate, but fear—
(I thought it was a mistake to bring her here at first, but maybe not…)
Sakuto hoped that this trip might help Chikage overcome her fear of cats.
