───● Thinking About the Tsundere OL ●○●

Having finished tutoring, I was on my way home.

While riding the train, I recall what Shiori-chan told me.

‘In the end, isn’t the person’s own feelings the most important thing?’

A harmless, very ordinary answer. But it also feels like it strikes at the essence of the matter. Without overthinking it, first comes my own feelings.

I was able to reconfirm that part… but after all, the emotion of “fear” I felt toward Seira-san at that moment is also unmistakably my own feeling. That’s why I can’t easily reach a decision.

I arrived at the station. I could have gone straight home, but I headed toward the bar where I work.

“Welcome… oh, it’s Masato. Huh, you’re not on shift today, are you?”

“Good work today. I’m not on shift, but… Ah, is Yuusee-san serving right now?”

“Ah, he was seeing off a customer just now, so he might be in the back?”

Yuusee-san is a senpai who taught me various things when I started working here. He’s been working at the bar for a long time, and while he’s still young, I think he falls into the veteran category in this industry. Well, sometimes I see him looking incredibly beat up, so he’s experienced in good ways and bad.

The reason I came to work on a day I don’t have a shift. That was because I thought I’d consult Yuusee-san. In this world, many men have slightly warped values. Among them, Yuusee-san is someone whose way of thinking is relatively similar to mine.

I wanted to ask what a senpai who works at the shop and is also friendly toward women would do.

I knew Yuusee-san was at the shop today when I checked the shift schedule yesterday. So, I’ll have him give me a little advice.

Entering the back staff room, I found Yuusee-san fiddling with his smartphone while sitting on a chair.

“Good work today!”

“Huh? Masato? It’s Saturday today, right?”

“That’s right, but… do you have a little time right now?”

“Sure. Mind if I smoke while we talk?”

“Yes!”

I follow behind Yuusee-san as he starts walking toward the back exit.

As we walked, I told Yuusee-san the sequence of events. Since Yuusee-san knows Seira-san, he seemed to understand the general situation without me needing to explain in too much detail.

“And that’s how it is… I wondered what you would do, Yuusee-san.”

“…I see.”

While talking, we had already reached the back exit, and Yuusee-san lit a cigarette. Since this shop doesn’t have a smoking room, this space by the back door serves as a pseudo-smoking area. A simple ashtray was placed lonely on the railing.

“Probably, if I were to teach you the ‘correct’ thing, I should say ‘wash your hands of it here.'”

“You think so too…?”

“I’ve seen it before too, but she’s seriously into you, Masato~. My long years of intuition are saying that if it gets any worse, it’s gonna get dangerous.”

“Yuusee-san’s intuition is a little scary.”

A little while ago, when he came to work with a bruise on his face, I was genuinely surprised. Ahaha, Yuusee-san laughed, and then…

“But I’m not a serious guy, so I might say something incorrect. Is that okay?”

“Yes. That’s included in why I came to ask you.”

I know that in a binary of correct or incorrect removing emotion, it’s probably not correct. But I wanted to hear a story outside of that framework.

“If it were me, I’d properly tell her, ‘I didn’t mean to reject you,’ and then try to get her to come to the shop again~.”

“Tell her, you say.”

“Yup! Probably, from her side, it was a shock. I mean, distance was put between her and her favorite boy, right? She’s probably like, ‘I can’t go to the shop anymore~!’ so I think it’s important to convey, ‘That’s not it, I just got a little surprised.'”

After saying that and laughing, Yuusee-san exhaled smoke into the night sky.

“After all, isn’t it nice? They wouldn’t designate you if they didn’t think ‘I love him~!’ or ‘He’s my bias~!’ I draw a line at the start too, but to a greater or lesser extent, you can’t intentionally hate someone who thinks well of you, right?”

“That’s… true.”

Yes, that’s it. After all, I can’t hate her… and I even think I want to get along if possible.

“So, tell her properly. Like, ‘Please don’t do anything more than this in the shop.’ I think she’ll feel relieved if you convey that to some extent.”

“I see.”

“If you do that, the instances of being pressured more than necessary should decrease, and Masato won’t have to feel uncomfortable. Depending on the person, some might still be persistent, but then you just have to give up and keep your distance. If you tell Aika-san, she’ll ban them immediately.”

“I really don’t want it to come to that.”

I try thinking about it. Now that he mentions it, I may have never properly conveyed things to Seira-san. That might be my fault.

“No well, if you think normally, keeping a certain distance is common sense, so it’s not your responsibility, Masato, okay?”

“…Was it showing on my face?”

“Yup, totally.”

Kerakera, Yuusee-san laughed, tossed the finished cigarette into the ashtray, and then ruffled my hair roughly.

“I’ve thought this for a while, but Masato, you’re too serious! That girl who’s into you is cute, why not try sleeping with her once?”

“Huh?!”

This person, he suddenly started saying something outrageous?!

“Hahaha, what an innocent reaction~. It’s surprisingly not bad, you know.”

“That’s incredibly hard to comment on!”

I might have made a mistake in who to ask after all… Just as I was thinking that.

“Yuusee, what are you blowing into Masato’s ear?”

“Geh.”

Turning around, Aika-san was standing there holding an electronic cigarette, her eyes not smiling at all.

“Ah~ um~ I finished smoking so I’ll go tout for customers outside~! Well Masato, that’s how it is! Isn’t it fine to let loose a little?”

Leaving just those words, Yuusee-san left as if fleeing from Aika-san.

“You let loose too much! Honestly… good grief…”

“Ahaha…”

Certainly, Yuusee-san has a lot of trouble due to that personality, but the people around him are often smiling. I guess he’s the type you can’t hate.

“So? Was he talking about that regular?”

“Umm… yes.”

Switching on her electronic cigarette, Aika-san broached the subject. Her expression wasn’t exactly a happy one.

Haa, Aika-san let out a single sigh.

“I want you to live a healthy and safe life. So, if she stops coming because of that, honestly, I welcome it.”

Murmuring that, Aika-san looked me straight in the eye.

“But Masato, you surely don’t like leaving it like this.”

“Umm… yes.”

I know painfully well that Aika-san is worried about me. Even so, I didn’t want to choose the option of leaving things as they were.

“I don’t intend to act like a guardian or anything, and you’re probably popular at school too so maybe it doesn’t matter much. But I don’t want you to meet with danger involving this shop.”

“…Yes.”

“Masato, you were frightened before, weren’t you? A normal man would think he doesn’t want to get involved ever again, you know?”

…Certainly, that might be normal. …But.

“It’s true, I was scared at that time. But… how do I put it, that’s all.”

Memories with Seira-san revive in my mind.

She was gloomy at first, but I was happy when she started talking happily.

Her figure, trying hard to claim she didn’t like me even though it was obvious, was adorable.

When we went to eat together, it seemed to be her first time being escorted in her life, and she was genuinely happy.

She gets extreme when she drinks, but even that was cute, like a child saying selfish things she usually can’t say.

Because I know she had painful experiences in the past, Seira-san, who has a kind heart… is someone I can wish happiness for.

“Just because of that, I don’t think I can hate her.”

Hearing those words, Aika-san quietly exhaled vapor from her electronic cigarette.

“Is that not just sympathy because you think she’s pitiful? Half-hearted sympathy will only end up hurting the other person, you know.”

“I can’t say there isn’t any sympathy. But… I can state clearly that it’s not just that.”

I was a little surprised myself that those words came out so smoothly.

“If you go that far, I won’t say anything more. Honestly, regarding the shop’s sales, it helps if that girl is here. But…”

Click, the sound of Aika-san’s heels. Aika-san closed the distance between us by one step.

“Think properly. Understand that the light you radiate appears far more dazzling to women than you think.”

Pon, she pats my head. Aika-san’s kindness soaked into my heart.

“It’s fine to make a mistake in your choice. However, if you think things are going south, contact me immediately. I will do anything I can to help you.”

“…Thank you so much, really.”

I really can’t match this person. In the future, when I get a proper job and start earning money, I have to repay this favor.

“What that girl did isn’t praiseworthy… but as a fellow woman, I understand her feelings a little. If I were ten years younger, I might have made the same mistake.”

“…I can’t really imagine that.”

“Even I was… actually, let’s stop. That phrasing sounds like an old lady.”

Saying “See you,” Aika-san returns to the shop.

Aika-san, laughing quietly, is amazing because one could easily think she could still pass for her twenties.

“…Alright.”

I haven’t perfectly understood my own feelings yet. But asking Shiori-chan, and talking with Yuusee-san and Aika-san. I felt like I understood just a little bit of what I wanted to do.

To contact Seira-san. I took out my smartphone.

(T/N: Thanks GranNord for supporting the series)