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That’s weird, this should be my break time but I don’t feel like I’ve taken a break at all. I know exactly why. It’s because I’m dealing with these fools.

「What~, so you could talk like that after all. You’re so mean, Koto-chan.」
「Who’s fault do you think this is? Also, don’t call me Koto-chan.」

Giving me a nickname in the few minutes we’ve met, just how much does she like Kotone? There’s no way that she’s noticed that I’m on the inside, but there’s a high chance that she sees Kotone and me the same way.

「C’mon, it’s fine, isn’t it?」
「Just pay up and leave. I told you we’re in the middle of break from the start, haven’t I?」

It’s a bother to be polite to them now. It’s pretty obvious that they’ll urge me to stop if I do it anyways. That’s why I’m not treating them as a customer anymore.

「Mr. Owner, coffee for four please!」
「Listen to me……」

I can see that they have no plans on leaving. And with how the owner is already preparing, I’m sure he’ll allow them to stay here. Probably in exchange for the signature.

「Damn, other than her looks and gender, they’re practically the same.」
「Normal people wouldn’t just tell their customers to leave, after all.」

Yeah, yeah, true enough. I’m the same on the inside, so it makes sense that what I’d say would be similar from before. I don’t really plan on hiding it either. Still, I won’t officially confirm that I’m Souji. I don’t imagine they’d believe it even if I do. No, actually, they might believe it, huh.

「So, why aren’t you leaving yet? Aren’t you in the middle of some meeting?」
「We still have some time left. Also, as revenge for lunch.」

I have no idea where they came from but I guess it’s somewhere that won’t take much time to walk from here. Still, revenge for lunch, does the manager even know about it?

「Your manager doesn’t know your food preferences?」
「She just replaced our previous one, you see. She still hasn’t figured us out completely.」
「Why the change?」
「I’m tired of dealing with you lot. Seriously, give me a break. He said.」

Don’t you laugh while saying that. Just how much trouble happened for the guy to be done with it. And to the new manager. My condolences.

「Unreasonable, right?」
「Nope, it’s understandable. Here, coffee. And sign here please.」

I passed them two autograph cards. One probably for Kaori and the other for the cafe display.

「Alright! I’ll sign with all I have for Koto-chan!」
「Just sign normally.」

You doing something weird directly correlates to trouble, so please stop it.

「Since we’re all here, why don’t we all sign?」

After signing, she passed it to the next person, and then the next. Seeing them sign like this, I guess they really are celebrities now. Still, their personalities are regrettably problematic.

「And there! All finished. Take care of it, okay?」
「I’ll relay the message. Owner, hanging it at some random corner is good enough, yes?」
「Unconcerned!?」

You think this is worth slapping into a picture frame? I don’t know how Kaori would keep hers though. I should email her about it, just to be sure.

「Say, Koto-chan. Just to confirm, have you ever gone to Tetchan?」
「An acquaintance brought me there.」

I don’t see the Koto-chan calling ever going away soon. And, as to be expected I guess? It looks like Tetchan’s shopkeep told her about Kotone. About someone who visited that was similar to me and so on.

「So it really was you. Well, it’d be weird to have so many people similar to each other after all.」
「That Souji person is a man, right?」
「That’s right. There being a girl that’s similar to Sou is weird, but you really are just like him, excluding the looks.」
「Should I be happy about that? Or sad?」
「「「Be happy.」」」
「Thought you’d say that!」

Normally you wouldn’t be happy. I mean, a girl that’s just like a man? Or is she saying that before this I was already girly? That’d piss me off either way.

「Koto-chan, how old are you?」
「17.」
「No need to fudge the numbers, okay? We won’t judge.」
「I actually am 17.」
「「「You’re kidding, right!?」」」

You all are so rude! Do I look that old? More importantly, question the fact that I went to a pub.

「Hajime, help me out here. I can’t deal with them all by myself.」
「Man, this is so relaxing.」

Don’t just relax there, fool! Don’t push everything to a group outsider. Okay, I can understand that you’ve been dealing with them by yourself since I passed. But that doesn’t mean you can leave this role to someone you’ve just met.

「Highschool girls are really feel older these days, huh.」
「Isn’t it that Kotone is just special?」

Okay, Shinpachi. Meet me out on the back. I’ll beat the crap out of you. I’ve gotten used to most things because of you lot, so I just don’t get shaken easily. On the flipside, that’s also the reason why people see me as older than my actual age.

「Shinpachi seems to be the type hated by women.」
「Oh, I know right?」

Isami agreed with me, but it’s a fact that Shinpachi is unpopular. It’s because everytime he confesses, he goes 「Make curry for me.」 and spouts that sort of nonsense.

「How many of you are married?」
「Only Toshizou. Shinpachi and I don’t have even a shadow of a chance in that regard.」
「And Hajime?」

Or rather, Toshizou. Join in the conversation, would you? Don’t just talk only when the whole group is reacting. You seem decent because of that, but I know that you’re pretty playful yourself.

「If I have to say anything, it’s Just date with the new manager already.」
「Normie.」
「Shinpachi, unsightly.」

If you’re so jealous about it, then be more careful with your words. He doesn’t actually look bad, so if he gets his act together, he’d likely get a girlfriend easily.

「It’s because of you fools that she finds me reliable. Don’t you know how much hardships I’ve endured?」
「At this point, why don’t you equip the manager with a slapping fan?」

Being that I’ve used the slapping fan to smack you fools to shape before, it should be persuasive. Since you guys couldn’t be stopped by words, all that’s left is direct action.

「Having her take the same role as Souji is pretty awful, if you ask me.」
「Just how awful is it.」

I know though. If you don’t sense when they’re about to run wild and preemptively crush them, it’s pretty tough to deal with. Asking that kind of role from someone who has barely known them is pretty harsh, agreed.

「At this point, please just be their supervisor, Kotone.」
「I absolutely refuse. Besides I’m still a student, I’m not thinking about full employment yet.」
「Then when you need full employment, come to us. Like, seriously.」
「Again, why are you saying that to someone you just met?」
「「「「Since you’re easy to get along with!」」」」

I’m embarrassed and a bit happy to hear their reply. Honestly, they really haven’t changed a bit. Still, fix that habit of being terribly blunt with who you talk to. That causes problems, you know.

「If you get my parents’ permission, then I’ll consider it. Well, it’s impossible though.」
「Damn it. If only you were a regular citizen, we could have brought you with us by force.」
「That’d be kidnapping after all.」

I knew even Hajime had at least one screw loose. A celebrity kidnapping someone is an instant out.

「But aren’t there a lot of student idols?」
「Isami, don’t bring that topic back up. Are you saying that knowing just how difficult it is to keep up with school and work?」
「Well, yeah, I understand since I’ve met with those sorts of people before. But you’d probably be able to do it easily, Koto-chan.」
「Please don’t expect too much of me.」