GJ Bu

The same family restaurant. A little earlier than the usual time.

Kyouya and Mao sat at their usual seats.

Mao fell onto the table in a slump. She was spent, completely exhausted.

"Ah, d.a.m.n... I don"t want to go to work..."

"Come on, Prez. Get it together. It"s too early for the May Blues."

TL Note: Because the new school year starts in April in j.a.pan, you"re said to get "May Blues" after about a month of trying hard and losing motivation.

"This is more like April Blues..."

"There"s nothing like that."

Kyouya sighed while looking at the suit wearing girl in front of him who was, at least by appearances, a proper working citizen.

Mao had started working at the beginning of the month.

"Also, you called me Prez... Stop that. You"re doing it on purpose, aren"t you? You"re definitely doing it on purpose!"

"Of course I"m doing it on purpose. If you want me to stop, then go to work."

"No... I don"t want to go... You"d understand if you started working, what kind of h.e.l.l it is. You can"t beat this game."

"I"ll start working next year when I graduate. I"ve already had a few interviews."

Kyouya was already a fourth year university student at the front lines of job searching.

"Y-yeah... Do you best... Wait, no, don"t do your best, since I"m not doing my best either."

"No, let"s both try to do our best instead."

"The jam packed trains, that"s acceptable. That"s fun. But the office is no good."

"What about it is no good?"

"People are always bad mouthing me and spreading rumors in the break room. And they reject me when I ask them to eat lunch together."

"That sounds terrible. A company hierarchy, huh? Otome Shintou had a song about that too. What a terrible thing."

TL Note: Otome Shintou is an idol group.

"And, and, they bully me, you know? Like, "I need 50 copies of this in 5 minutes!" and then hand me a whole pile of stuff to copy. That"s not physically possible! There"s no way, right!?"

"That does seem unreasonable."

"And when you think "Yay! It"s 5"o clock!" and get all excited, then there"s suddenly supplementary lessons afterwards."

"I think that"s called overtime."

"I"m complaining over here, shut up and listen to me. What a horrible guy, interrupting when a woman is complaining about her day."

"Yes, ma"am. I"m listening. Complain all you like."

"Also, my manager s.e.xually hara.s.ses me."

"I won"t forgive him. Let"s go report him."

"Huh? Why are you so fired up all of a sudden?"

"I won"t forgive any s.e.xual hara.s.sment! I"m strongly opposed to it! Tell me his name and position!"

"I-I said s.e.xual hara.s.sment, but it was more like, that, you know. Like, "Mao-chan, you"re so tiny and cute! I wish you were my daughter!" like that. Just some teasing about my height complex..."

"Ahh, that kind of stuff... Well, he is guilty, though."

"Is he? Really?"

"Because, Prez... Mao, I"m the only person who"s allowed to call you cute."

"..."

"..."

The slightly awkward silence continued on.

Mao sipped her drink from her straw, while Kyouya opened his menu and glanced at it absentmindedly.

"One kids" meal. Also, "the usual" as well."

The waitress, as if to break the silence, arrived at their table.

She set the two plates in front of Kyouya and Mao.

"Huh? What? This—"

Kyouya asked incredulously as his eyes darted between the plate of food and the waitress" usual smile.

"Yes, it"s the usual."

The older lady grinned. He hadn"t ordered it, though.

"Yay! The kids" meal! Mao loves the kids" meal! Thank you, miss!"

Mao held her spoon the way a child would and started gobbling down the food.

It had already been 5 years since they began frequenting this family restaurant, longer than they"d been in the clubroom for. Mao was still acting out her teenage Mao-chan persona. If she wasn"t found out at first, now after 5 years, she surely must"ve been. But the waitress" professional smile never wavered for even a second.

Well, in any case, Mao, who had gained back her usual vigor, beamed at Kyouya.

Wait, at this time of day? Did they usually have kids" meals available in the mornings?