LIGHTNOVELSTORY chapter 40
40. Unexpected Philance Blue
“…Haah.”
As I looked down at my own incompetence, I noticed three meal tickets lined up on the table. In this restaurant, you’re supposed to hand over your meal ticket at your seat and order your preferred customization. Usually, a staff member comes to me as soon as I sit down.
“Are they busy?”
I looked around the restaurant, thinking that maybe I had been forgotten, and made eye contact with a staff member who was wiping down an empty table with a cloth. They didn’t seem particularly busy, but maybe they were hesitant to come over because we were talking? That was rude of me.
“I’ll be right with you.”
Before I could say anything, the staff member said that and came over to us. At Minakami, the manager is always in the kitchen and a single part-timer works the floor. Since I visit on a somewhat regular schedule, I usually see a familiar face, but today’s part-timer is someone I’ve never seen before.
I don’t usually pay much attention to the faces of part-timers, but the reason I can say with confidence that this is the first time I’ve seen them is because their hair is blindingly silver.
“Sorry for the wait. What would you like to order?”
He looks about the same age as me, but he’s definitely not a classmate in my grade. If there was a guy with short, bluish-silver hair, he’d be so unique that I would definitely remember him.
As I looked closer, I noticed that he was also quite handsome. He has the beautiful face of an idol… no, a model, and his pale skin makes him look like a prince. Even I, a man, think he’s beautiful . His features are so perfect that I don’t even feel jealous of this face-winning guy.
It’s strange to see such a handsome man wearing a black ramen shop apron and smelling of grease while taking our order.
“Make mine firm, thick, and large.”
“Oh, me too.”
As I handed over the meal tickets for two, I glanced at Peach’s expression. Sure enough, Peach was also paying attention to the clerk’s good looks.
“I understand.”
Even after the handsome man left, Peach’s gaze was fixed on his face. It can’t be helped. Peach is a high school girl, so of course she’s going to follow a handsome man with her eyes.
I always thought Peach liked manly men, but maybe she prefers beautiful men like princes. If Peach were next to that handsome man, they would look like a handsome man and a beautiful woman from a fantasy world.
“….”
But isn’t she looking a little too much?
“Peach?”
“…Yes, what is it, senpai?”
Peach’s gaze returned to me when she noticed my voice.
“That clerk was handsome, wasn’t he?”
“Was he? I’m sorry, I don’t really know.”
I tried to expand on the conversation, but she evaded me. She was clearly following him with her gaze, but maybe she didn’t want to be thought of as a who was distracted by the handsome man in front of her. I don ‘t really mind.
“I see. He was really handsome. I wish I had been born as handsome as him.”
“Don’t say that. I actually like your face, senpai.”
I was encouraged by her silly self-deprecation. Well, I can’t imagine myself as a handsome man, and I’d rather have the middle body of me than just a handsome face.
“The restaurant’s getting empty.”
I noticed that it was the end of the university lunch break, and a group of college students who had hurriedly finished their large meals were leaving the restaurant in a noisy manner. The only ones left were two rather vulgar-looking men at the next table and a group of three boys who had been lined up behind us. Since no new customers were coming in, it seemed like the line was gone.
“It might be empty than usual today.”
When I usually come for a late lunch, it’s a little more crowded than this. Well, it’s close to the university’s test period, so everyone is probably busy. I shouldn’t be relaxing either, but world peace is more important than my own grades, so this is a necessary break in terms of priority.
“Do you come to this restaurant often, senpai?”
“Yeah, with that guy Isaki from earlier…”
As I answered, I noticed that my pocket was flickering.
“Hmm? Looks like someone contact me.”
I took my phone out, thinking it was probably a call history, and unlocked it to see 37 notifications on the LINE app.
“…Ah”
I tapped the icon, suppressing a bad feeling, and the chat with ‘Uguisu-san’ was right at the top. I hadn’t noticed that I had received so many messages and calls because I had turned off the sound and vibration.
“What’s wrong, senpai?”
“Uguisu-san is… No, never mind. I’ll just call her. Go ahead and eat the ramen if it arrives.”
I decided it wasn’t something I needed to report to Momo, and stepped outside the shop with just my phone. Uguisu-san sometimes sends a lot of messages like this when she’s worried. Every time this happens, I have to either call her or go see her and talk to her, but I never expected it to happen while I was meeting with another hero. If I spend too much time with Uguisu-san, Momo, who’s quick on the uptake, might get upset.
“Akane-san is pretty bad, but Uguisu-san is also quite shy.”
I wish the four girls who shared the same goal of world peace would get along a little better and work together. If they were closer, we wouldn’t have to sneak around like this or avoid talking about other heroes.
Despite being called a Sentai hero team, our so-called champions of justice are completely individualistic, and I’ve hardly ever seen them have a proper conversation. When I think that all of this falls on my shoulders, I get a glimpse of how scary the relationships between women in a group can be.