As soon as we stepped into the hall, we intended to start training Kobayashi right away, but, as usual, Tachibana Iori was immediately surrounded by Suzakura High School students. Naturally, I ended up being the one mainly responsible for teaching her.

…Our customers were Suzakura High School students, and our newcomer was also from Suzakura High School. It was truly a case of a tiger at the front gate and a wolf at the back.

“…Kobayashi, are you ready?”

“Grrrr…!”

Kobayashi bared her fangs, trying to intimidate me. Dressed in the maid uniform worn by Cyberia’s female hall staff, she looked adorable—honestly, not scary at all.

“You can’t do that, Kobayashi. When you’re on the floor, you always need to be aware that the customers are watching you.”

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

Surprisingly, Kobayashi was quite obedient. She mentioned this was her first part-time job, so maybe she was just nervous. Or maybe she was embarrassed about the maid outfit.

“As long as you act normal, you’ll be fine. Most of the customers are from Suzakura High School, so just relax.”

“Yes… Understood.”

“Come on, smile, smile.”

“Ahaha…”

When I put on a smile, Kobayashi followed suit. It was still a little awkward, but she’d get used to it soon enough. She seemed to be a naturally energetic person.

As I guided Kobayashi through the hall, Tachibana Iori, having finished dealing with the customers, came over to check on us.

“Natsuki, how’s it going?”

“Tachibana-san. Thanks for handling the customers.”

“It’s no problem. They’re all good kids who come here.”

Tachibana Iori could casually say cool lines like that without it feeling forced—that was what made her so remarkable. Thanks to that, Kobayashi was blushing, completely mesmerized.

Tachibana Iori crouched slightly to meet Kobayashi’s eye level. She was about 20 centimeters taller.

“Ririmu, make sure to listen carefully to what Natsuki tells you. After all, I was trained by Natsuki too… in a very hands-on way, in all sorts of things.”

“Wait—!?”

Tachibana Iori deliberately acted shy and turned away in embarrassment. Seeing that, Kobayashi glared at me with teary eyes—the kind of look you’d give a beast.

“Eeek!? Senpai, that’s the worst!”

“You’ve got it all wrong! I didn’t do anything! Tachibana-san, could you stop messing with Kobayashi!?”

My desperate plea was in vain. Tachibana Iori showed no sign of remorse and simply returned to the customers with a cool expression.

“A little teasing is fine, isn’t it? Especially since Ririmu will be taking up so much of your time for a while.”

Her unusually quiet voice, so different from her usual lively tone, was drowned out by the store’s background music, never reaching my ears.

◆

“Yamabuki Natsuki…! Seducing our dear Iori-sama…!”

“So envious… Ah, so envious…!”

Eavesdropping on customers’ conversations wasn’t a good habit, but I couldn’t just ignore what I had just heard.

“Who belongs to whom now?”

“—!?”

They never expected to be addressed. Both of them looked startled, eyes wide.

“Ah, I-Iori-sama…!”

“Uh, um…”

“Thank you both for coming. Do you need a water refill?”

Their glasses were empty. Technically, it was self-service, but I felt like making an exception this time.

“N-No, we’re fine! Please don’t trouble yourself!”

“Alright. By the way, I happened to overhear your conversation.”

Sensing the shift in atmosphere, the two stiffened and sat up straight.

…Well, this was awkward. I wasn’t trying to intimidate them.

“Don’t worry, I’m not mad. In fact, I really appreciate your feelings.”

“R-Really…?”

“Of course. I could never dislike the adorable people who come here.”

Hearing that, they both visibly relaxed. That was one problem resolved.

“It’s just that… Natsuki is the one who taught me how to work at Cyberia. If the people I care about at Suzakura High School hated the person I owe so much to… that would make me a little sad.”

To be honest, I regretted what happened at Aotaka Festival. I never expected Natsuki to end up drawing this much attention.

The same applied to the situation with Ririmu—causing trouble for Natsuki wasn’t what I wanted. Acting without thinking ahead, simply following my heart, was an immaturity of mine that I now resented.

But… even if I had known this would happen, I probably still would have run to Natsuki’s side.

…Because in that moment, Natsuki was just that cool.

“You’re right… I’m sorry. We didn’t think about Iori-sama’s feelings at all…”

“As long as you understand now, that’s enough. So don’t look so sad.”

I knelt down to match their seated eye level. When I gently patted their heads, the gloomy expressions on their faces cleared away.

“Ah… it’s like a dream…”

“U-Um! We’ll tell our friends about today! That holding grudges isn’t a good thing!”

“Thank you. That would really help me.”

As I stood up and started to walk away from their table, a small voice called out to stop me.

“Um… can I ask you just one thing…?”

“What is it?”

Turning back, I saw the speaker looking up at me hesitantly, tears glistening in her eyes.

“Iori-sama… do you… like Yamabuki Natsuki…?”

For a brief moment, my heart skipped a beat. Hearing it said out loud like that…

“…Would you hate it if I did?”

“…Yes. I’m sorry, Iori-sama…”

“You don’t need to apologize. Don’t worry, it probably won’t turn out that way.”

…It seems like this feeling of mine won’t be getting much support.