"Nishikata, are you here for a drink and a rest too?"
Takagi stood at the entrance of the kitchen, holding a disposable cup and had just taken a sip when she noticed Nishikata walking toward her.
Nishikata stopped in his tracks, shook his head, and got straight to the point: "No, I'm here to ask if Miyamura can come out to deliver an order."
"What's going on?" Takagi's gaze went past Nishikata in front of her and looked toward Kawai sitting at table five.
She had been paying attention to him, and hearing him say this, she guessed the general reason, but she was a bit surprised by how bold (or clueless) Nishikata was.
Was he not afraid of being beaten to death by Shouko with a spatula the moment he entered the kitchen?
"That person specifically requested Miyamura, and it seems she's a friend of Miyamura and Nishimiya, so I just wanted to ask. If not, it's fine."
Nishikata didn't understand her half-smiling, half-not expression.
"Alright then, you can go ask him." Takagi suppressed the corners of her mouth that wanted to curl up.
Putting everything else aside, she was looking forward to the expressions of Miyamura and Shouko when Nishikata went in to ask. Wasn't this indirectly messing with all three of them?
She silently apologized to Shouko in her heart and moved away from the entrance, making it convenient for him to lift the curtain and walk in.
"Okay."
Nishikata walked forward without hesitation, lifted the blue curtain that read 'Staff Only, Do Not Enter' with one hand, and stepped inside.
Takagi chose not to follow him in, but instead lifted half of the curtain to observe the three of them.
"Nishikata, why did you come in? Is there something wrong with the food?"
As soon as Tsuna said this, he naturally attracted the attention of everyone in the kitchen.
"No, I just need to talk to you about something."
However, Nishikata waved his hand, and they withdrew their gazes, continuing to busy themselves with their work. After all, their tasks weren't finished yet, and as long as it wasn't a complaint, it was fine.
"What is it?" Tsuna handed his task of serving food to a girl beside him and walked over to him, asking in confusion.
And Shouko, seeing that he had something to talk to Tsuna about, naturally couldn't suppress her curiosity. She walked over to the two of them, pretending to drink water, to eavesdrop (and watch).
"Hmm..." Nishikata thought of that girl, organized his thoughts in his mind, and then slowly began:
"It's just that there's someone outside who says she's your friend and wants to specifically order your omelet rice."
He noticed Shouko leisurely drinking water nearby and swallowed the word 'heart' that was about to come out.
"Friend?" x2
Tsuna looked helplessly at Shouko, who had also spoken out in confusion, and waved at her.
How could he not understand what Shouko meant? Instead of letting her eavesdrop from the side, it was better to call her over to listen directly.
Anyway, she didn't have any orders right now.
"Yeah, she said she was the class monitor when you and Nishimiya were in sixth grade." Nishikata looked at the two people who were full of confusion and scratched the back of his head. "Could it be she's not...?"
"Can I say yes?" Tsuna lightly nudged Shouko beside him, who looked like she wanted to stab someone, with his shoulder.
Shouko didn't speak but stared intently at Tsuna. Her meaning was already very clear.
Moreover, she had already thought it through. If Nishikata's fried rice was made by her later, she would accidentally put in too much salt...
And of course, there was the one in front of her who was flirting around. When the time came, she would definitely take half of the ingredients from his fried rice and add it to her own.
"Nishikata, could you please tell her that I'm busy?" Tsuna confirmed his hands were clean, raised his hand to cover her murderous gaze, and requested.
"Okay." Nishikata nodded, thinking that the two in front of him were just having their usual interaction, and ignored it. He turned around and walked out.
And when Nishikata went out, he didn't see Takagi, who had been resting and drinking water there earlier, so he walked straight toward table five.
As for Takagi, since she didn't see what she wanted to see, she went back to work.
It was a bit of a shame. She didn't get to see the scene of Shouko picking up a spatula and swinging it at Nishikata. Honestly, she was still looking forward to it a bit.
"I see..." Kawai was a bit disappointed, but there was still one more day tomorrow, so there should still be a chance.
She hesitated, steeling herself to ask further: "Then... then... then... how will that standee at your entrance be handled after it's over? Can it be sold?"
".…."
"..."
"Regarding the standee at the entrance, it was already agreed upon at that time that it can only be sold or given away with the person's consent. You can ask Miyamura about it then."
Nishikata just wanted to escape from here quickly now. He understood now, and he also understood that he had almost died in the kitchen just now.
Miyamura and Nishimiya weren't flirting or anything like that; Miyamura was saving him...
"Alright then." Kawai stood up, gave him some random excuse, and left.
Nishikata also stood rooted to the spot, only letting out a sigh of relief and retracting his gaze after watching the other person walk away.
Within a few minutes, a girl with long black hair walked in. It was Ueno Naoka, and unfortunately, he was called by Ajitani to serve her again.
"Hello, here is our menu."
"Okay, thank you." Naoka reached out and took it, getting straight to the point without hesitating like Kawai:
"I want to order that requested heart omelet rice."
"Okay, Master, which maid or butler would you like to request?" Nishikata skillfully took out a small notebook and a pen from his pocket.
"Miyamura Tsunayoshi." Ueno Naoka said without hesitation.
"..." Nishikata's hand paused while writing, and he drew two lines directly over the requested heart omelet rice for table five.
"Master, Miyamura has gone to be busy and might not be back for a while."
"It's okay, I can wait."
"Hmm..." Nishikata was at a loss for words for a moment.
"Miyamura was called by a teacher to help out with the track and field club, so he likely won't be back today."
At this moment, Takagi, who couldn't stand watching anymore, walked forward to explain, while also not forgetting to reach out and poke Nishikata from behind.
"Alright then..." Naoka nodded regretfully, her movement of just standing up paused, and this time she asked cautiously: "Then you guys--"
"I'm very sorry." Takagi guessed what she was going to say and directly interrupted: "The standee at the entrance can only be given away or sold with the person's consent."
"Alright then..." Ueno Naoka didn't hesitate this time, took her bun, and left.
"Phew..." Nishikata watched the other person's retreating figure and let out a deep breath. "Thanks, Takagi."
"You're welcome." Takagi left this sentence and turned to leave.
Time flew by, and it was noon. Shizuka walked in, holding the hand of Yuzuru, who was frantically taking pictures at the entrance.
"Auntie, should I go call Miyamura and Shoko-chan out?" Takagi walked forward and asked in confusion.
They had met Tsuna's mother a few times but hadn't interacted with her. Even if they didn't know her, they recognized the little black-haired girl she was holding.
It was Shoko-chan's cute younger sister.