Kawaragi Momoka was somewhat tired as she tidied up the dessert shop.
Because Asakura had put a batch of rabbit dango in the dessert shop's freezer and asked her to help with the trial opening, today she was both playing the guitar outside to attract customers and acting as a waitress and cashier. She was incredibly busy and didn't get much rest all day.
However, since Asakura had stated beforehand that all the day's revenue from the trial opening would be Kawaragi Momoka's personal income, she had no complaints.
"I feel like this can't go on..." Kawaragi Momoka leaned on the mop, sighing tiredly.
It was only a trial opening, and there weren't many customers or rabbit dango, but even so, she was still a bit overwhelmed working alone.
It's worth noting that Kawaragi Momoka wasn't some sheltered young lady with no work experience. After leaving her original band, to make a living, she occasionally worked odd jobs in various places and actually had quite a bit of experience with waitressing and cashier work. Yet, even with that, it was still difficult to keep up.
Thinking about how, once that the boss truly promoted this dessert shop, the customer flow would be many times greater than today, Kawaragi Momoka couldn't help but feel a sense of despair.
"Maybe I should ask the boss to hire another person?" Kawaragi Momoka mumbled.
Just then, a faint but prolonged 'creak' sound made her straighten up.
Did a customer come? But the rabbit dango were already sold out. They were unexpectedly popular. She should ask the boss to prepare more tomorrow.
Thinking about tomorrow's arrangements, Kawaragi Momoka, dragging her tired body, walked from the back kitchen to the front counter, but she didn't see the customer she expected.
However, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something disappear around the corner of the adjacent hallway.
It felt like a fluttering sleeve or skirt hem.
Kawaragi Momoka frowned.
To go to the back, where the staff lounge and storeroom were, without her permission as a staff member, would be incredibly rude if it were truly a customer.
A thought flashed through her mind: Could it be a thief?
Kawaragi Momoka tightened her grip on the mop handle, pondering whether to call the police, and cautiously walked towards the corner, afraid that the suspected thief might be hiding in an unseen corner, ready to ambush her.
When she peeked around the corner, she only saw something disappear into the depths of the hallway.
However, compared to the brief glimpse of what looked like a skirt hem earlier, this time Kawaragi Momoka saw it more clearly.
It was a black-haired girl wearing a Gothic Lolita dress.
However, the other party's 'inhuman' feeling was too strong—after all, generally speaking, no one would wear such clothes in daily life—which made Kawaragi Momoka feel an inexplicable panic.
But as the only employee of the rabbit dango Dessert shop, she still bravely walked towards the corner where the other party had disappeared.
In her impression, there should only be the back door of the shop there, nothing else. If it were truly a thief, leaving directly through the back door would be a bit too strange.
Before Kawaragi Momoka could figure it out, the sound of a door closing came from ahead: it seemed that the mysterious girl had indeed left through the back door.
Could it be that the other party was just someone who simply wanted to pass through?
Kawaragi Momoka couldn't help but think so, but then she immediately dismissed the idea herself.
The rabbit dango shop was a standalone commercial building, not connected to the adjacent shops 11 and 13. Behind it was only a not-very-wide alley, mainly used for trash bins and some spare cardboard boxes. It had no value as a shortcut—it might even be faster to walk from the front door of the shop.
Kawaragi Momoka, who had already arrived at the back door, thought this and couldn't help but open the back door to look out. The dark alley was as messy as ever, but other than that, there was nothing unusual.
Kawaragi Momoka felt a chill down her spine.
Her movements were already quite fast. Theoretically, unless the girl in the Gothic Lolita dress immediately ran out of the back door at the speed of a sprinting athlete, she should still be in the alley when Kawaragi Momoka opened the door.
No, if she thought about it carefully, there were many obstacles in the alley, so even a typical sprinter probably couldn't run very fast, and a girl wearing such an obstructive long dress didn't look like an expert who could parkour at sprinting speed...
Could it be a ghost?
Once this thought emerged, it lodged itself in Kawaragi Momoka's mind and couldn't be driven away.
If she thought about it carefully, this place was indeed a bit strange.
It was like some people seemed unable to see this shop, and only when she attracted customers and happened to talk to them would they suddenly realize, as if waking from a dream, with an expression of 'How is there a shop here?'
And this shop... or rather, it seemed there were quite a few snakes around this street. She had seen them under the vending machine before, and she could vaguely see snakes in the roadside drainage ditch. She had also seen snakes crawl into the water pipes in the alley behind.
Furthermore, when she chatted with the the boss, he had subtly mentioned that he hadn't acquired this shop through official channels. It felt as if someone had specifically sold it at a low price, and the the boss had taken it over.
Could it be that this shop was actually some haunted house with supernatural phenomena, which is why the the boss was able to acquire it? Thinking about it, given his age and his family situation that she knew of, it was unlikely he could legitimately buy a shop. He was probably tricked...
Maybe she should have a good chat with the boss about this tomorrow.
Kawaragi Momoka, feeling a prickle on her scalp, returned to the shop, preoccupied with her thoughts.
Meanwhile.
Gokou, unaware that she would cause someone to be anxious and unable to sleep all night, arrived at the Clubroom through the Round Table Hall.
However, the Clubroom, which usually had people in it, was empty today.
"It's not empty, I'm a person too!" Hoshino Ai from the poster on the wall protested to Gokou.
Gokou asked her where the club room Asakura mentioned was.
Although Hoshino Ai on the poster had never been there herself, her postcard had once been taken to the Service Club's club room by Gotō Hitori, so she knew the exact location.
After telling Gokou, she couldn't help but ask, "Is it really okay for you to come here dressed like this? It's a normal high school outside, you know?"
"If it were normal times, it might be a bit troublesome, but Takuma said it doesn't matter today..." Gokou said indifferently as she left the Clubroom.
Through the hallway window, the entire courtyard of Soubu High School was visible.
Normally, only students wearing proper uniforms would be walking there, but with the school festival approaching, many students were trying on the clothes they would wear on the day of the festival while preparing for it. As a result, the courtyard was now a chaotic spectacle.
In comparison, Gokou's Gothic Lolita dress actually looked relatively normal...