CH 111.2

「Shall we go?」

「...yes」

Aika nods her head in acknowledgement, and steps out of the partition. The other two girls also had already finished getting ready and were waiting for Chihiro and the others, dressed as maids.

Their outfits were of the same design but without ribbons. Whether they have ribbons or not is not clear to him.

「Wow!」

「Are you Izumi-kun?」

Chihiro was about to fall into useless thoughts when he was greeted by cheers from his classmates.

It is difficult to get used to the unreserved stares from the opposite sex, and his cheeks are stained red without realizing it.

Aika sees Chihiro and giggles, pointing at his name plate. 

「It's not Chihiro-kun now. Right, "Chisato-chan"?」

「...um, yeah」

He nodded his head.

As she said, the plate that Chihiro put on is written "Chisato". Aika's name is "Aika" as it is, and the other two are also using their first names.

Genjina...? might be a bit too much, so he calls it "maid name". （*源氏名: "professional name" used by hostesses and geisha）

Still, for Chihiro, the difference in names is important to switch his mind.

「I see. I'm sorry, Chisato」

「Good luck, Chisato-chan!」

Yet, hearing these words out loud makes him want to run away.

「Well, I've come this far, I guess I have to do it」

「Yes, yes. We're embarrassed, too」

「Chisato-chan isn't the only one」

「It's okay. I'm here for you」

It was shortly thereafter that the maid visited the changing room alone to announce the shift change.

* * *

「Then, please, after you」

The three maids push Chihiro into the classroom.

Looking around, the number of customers has changed and is now down to two groups. The male student who is paying the bill at the entrance has changed as well.

And when he looks up Chihiro and the others, he gives them a fresh smile.

「Thanks for your hard work. Hmm?」

He blinks quizzically after saying greetings.

He looks straight at Chihiro's face. He seems to be embarrassed to look directly at Chihiro's face, or maybe he blushes a little as he observes Chihiro.

"...what is this?", Chihiro's thought.

He looked back at Aika and the others with a puzzled look on his face, and they were standing still and smiling at him.

「Takatsuki-san, is that girl from another class?」

Kamishiro, a male student, asks Aika with a restless expression on his face. The two girls laugh and look at each other.

「...Hmph」

「I won」

...oh, so that's what it is.

Chihiro chuckled, somewhat satisfied.

He doesn't know when the girls agreed to this, but it seems that they saw it as a chance to make fun of the two boys. Maybe Maisaka and the others had arranged it at the shift stage.

Sigh...

He has no choice but to sigh and talk to them.

「...Kamishiro-kun...are you taking a break from your work as a member of the public morals committee?」

「Hmm? Yes, but do I know you from somewhere? I wonder if I've seen you before...come to think of it, your voice sounds familiar...」

Kamishiro still doesn't seem to recognize him.

Giggle...

Aika smiles and holds Chihiro's shoulder.

「Kamishiro-kun, this is Chihiro-kun」

「...Izumi-kun?」

「Uh, yes」

Chihiro nodded, his gaze locked on Kamishiro.

As was the case with Hana, no better way to reveal himself.

Through their gazes, Kamishiro's feelings and embarrassment are conveyed to Chihiro. At the same time, Kamishiro must have realized that Chihiro had "read his mind".

「...Are you really Izumi-kun?」

After looking away from him, Kamishiro muttered quietly.

He looked angry and sulky, and Chihiro stood there in silence, unable to find the right words to say to him.

Then he received a sideways glare from Kamishiro, who continued to speak bluntly.

「Why are you dressed like that?」

「Why...? I mean, because that's what we decided in class」

「In class? I see... it's Maisaka's work. I was curious because I've never seen such a beautiful girl before」

Hearing his mutterings, Chihiro understood.

...however, the last word still...

Anyway, Kamishiro was away at a public morals committee meeting when the class decided on the class program. Even after that, he usually left the classroom right after school, so he probably did not know about Chihiro's cross-dressing.

「...Wasn't it a mistake to see your name in the girls' column of the shift list?」

「No, I think it's normal to notice that」

When Chihiro interrupted him, he glared at him again.

「Why do you do such strange things?」

「...Is it that weird?」

「No, it looks good on the outside, but... no, it's out of tune」

Kamishiro exhales and shakes his head.

Well, he can understand how he feels.

From his point of view, Chihiro's behavior seems inconsistent. In fact, he is not doing this cross-dressing willingly, so his understanding is not wrong.

「In a way, I'm doing my best, too」

「......」

Kamishiro's reply was delayed.

He choked on his words as if lost, then slowly opened his mouth.

「Oh, I'm sorry. If you keep talking there, the customers can't pay the bill, so I'd like you to change places while you still can」

Riko's reserved voice interrupted them, and in the end Kamishiro kept his mouth shut without saying anything.

And so, the transition went on without a hitch, despite the bumpy start.

The maid café in 1-C basically consists of six people, three girls and three boys. Two of the boys are in charge of cooking and one of them is in charge of cashier, while the girls are mainly in charge of serving customers and serving as waiters.

The reason why there are four girls in Chihiro's group is that it is the time when the cafe is expected to be busy. One of the additional girls will work as a waiter for a while, and will return to serve customers when the peak hours approach.

「Okay, you two」

「Good luck with your customers.」

So the two girls went out to call in, and Chihiro was left with Aika to serve the customers.

「Let's do our best」

「Okay」

Well, when it comes to serving customers, all he does is take orders, pass them on to the cooking team, deliver the finished food and drinks, and pass on the order notes to the cashier...

However, there is a sense of uneasiness when there are only two people instead of four, and they look at each other.

Then, Riko, who had just left, appears.

「Oh, that's right. Izumi and Takatsuki-san」

「Hmm?」

「Eh?」

「You both look great. Good luck」

When Riko smiled at him without any evil intentions, he felt that he had to "do his best" this time.

* * *

The day started off well, but the customer service staff was still very busy.

「Welcome back, Master」

「Excuse me. May I take your order?」

「Two orange juices, cheesecake and cookies. Understood. Please wait a moment」

「Kamishiro-kun, this one, please」

Chihiro greets each visitor politely, bowing and writing down the order on a memo, taking the items on his way out after informing the cooking team of the correct order, and handing the memo to the cashier before leaving the restaurant.

Although there was plenty of time to spare at the beginning of the shift change, it was surprisingly tight for the two of them as the number of customers and the turnover rate began to increase.

The reason for this may have been the unfamiliarity with cross-dressing and his high voice, which prevented him from performing to his full potential...

「Ah, here it is!」

「A cute maid will serve you, and a cool-looking girl will pay your bill」

Although Chihiro understood that it was a backhanded act, he felt a desire to kill Maisaka's tactics to attract customers.

And then...

「Welcome back, Ojou-sama」

「...fufu. Hello, Aika」

Fukami Maria, a girl with beautiful black hair and jet-black eyes, visited the maid café with a calm demeanor.