Meanwhile, inside the shop, Kotegawa Nanaka was locked in a quiet stare-down with Sayaka, using her silence and presence alone to assert her stance.
"...I didn't bully him. Although he slept on the sofa, he at least had a pillow."
To Kotegawa Sayaka, her daughter's gentle gaze was incredibly lethal. After a few awkward fidgets to hide her embarrassment, she finally couldn't help but speak first.
There was no helping it; her eldest daughter was the spitting image of her father. Even without saying a word, that tender, watery gaze could always make the cold, proud cedar bend its branches.
"It's no use looking at me like that... Chisa! Why haven't those boys come in yet? Is it that hard to play difficult customers?"
"..."
The look of adoration Chisa had for her mother was ruthlessly shredded. Chisa narrowed her eyes, feeling like she was definitely being used as a punching bag. Indeed, when it came to family hierarchy, her sister had things completely under control.
On the other hand, the heart that had been held high in suspense due to her strict mother relaxed slightly.
Compared to an ice queen who liked to say nothing and hide all her thoughts behind sunglasses, a mom who could be "broken" and "defanged" felt much more approachable!
"Um... I'll go urge them!"
"Hmph, forget it. Since they're 'customers,' maybe being late is part of being difficult?"
"..."
Chisa's hand froze on the door handle. She swore that if Iori dared to toy with her so inconsistently, she would definitely use whatever was handy to strike the back of his head.
But she decided to let her mom slide. Hiding her slightly itchy fingers behind her back, she stood obediently alongside the local staff, waiting for the inspection.
Fortunately, Yuu and those bastards didn't make her wait long. Kouhei, who had somehow changed into a full set of Lalako fan gear, pushed the door open and walked in stiffly.
"Good morning!"
"Good morning, sir. Did you sleep well last night?"
The dark-skinned lead immediately stepped forward to greet him with a sweet voice, bowing slightly until Kouhei had fully entered the shop. She then turned around and gave a thumbs-up to set an example for the others!
"It's okay, Chisa-chan. Greeting guests is simple, just show them a smile..."
"Good morning~"
Noticing that Chisa was tense—her beautiful eyes narrowed into a sharp line mimicking the manager—Kujo Maki turned around and whispered the basic procedure with a smile.
However, as a female voice came from behind, Maki turned to greet them before she could finish her sentence. Except...
"Good morning to you too! It must have been—pfft!"
With her chest swaying, Yoshiwara Aina floated past with a terrifyingly heavy "shiki-beast" makeup. The second Kujo Maki looked the makeup-monster in the eye, her breath got stuck in her throat.
But as a well-trained service professional, her vocational discipline forced her to stiffen her body to keep the laughter from escaping.
Even so, her body trembled, and tears were nearly squirting from her eyes!
"?"
A giant question mark rose above Aina's head. She thought she wasn't being particularly difficult; she usually looked like this when meeting Yuu and the others. Was it funny rather than scary?
"Um, Maki, you missed a sentence asking about the guest's well-being!"
"Pfft! But..."
The lead coughed twice. She hadn't expected Maki to fail her debut after such strict training. Maki realized her mistake and immediately tried to compensate!
"Is there something wrong with your brain?"
"Wait! Who greets someone like that! How can you lose your composure just by seeing a customer's face?"
"I'm sorry... it's because that makeup is like a ghost's."
A hardcore otaku and a makeup freak?
Looking at Maki receiving her lecture, Kotegawa Chisa stood by the door with a cold gaze—fine. If it was just this level of self-expression, she absolutely wouldn't lose her cool!
Based on the momentum of the first two, Iori and Yuu would most likely enter either naked and drinking or striking bodybuilding poses. Mere child's play.
As a companion who lived with them, she had completely mapped out the bottom floor of these scumbags' standards!
"Good morning." x2
"Hello. You must be tired from your travels?"
Tense, Chisa's eyes emitted scanning beams—Drinking? No! Undressing? No! The two of them entered at the same time and were actually fully clothed? How was that possible!
"Um, excuse me, is there anything I can help you with? A bottle of Spirytus, perhaps?"
Abnormal! Extremely abnormal! As a server, Chisa rushed to the counter, pulled out two bottles of Spirytus, and reluctantly bowed as she handed them over.
She really was witty, identifying the "customer's" needs at a glance!
"Wait! Chisa, who comes to a diving shop needing Spirytus!"
"But..."
Generally speaking, they wouldn't. Chisa turned to her mother, feeling a bit wronged. She might not understand customers, but she understood scumbags perfectly!
"Honestly."
Disappointed in her second daughter—and perhaps to escape Nanaka's gentle gaze—Kotegawa Sayaka stood with her hands on her hips in front of the two troublesome guests.
"Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Mana... Manager... your facial expression management is terrible!"
"Whoa, it's a total 'interrogation' attitude..."
Shocked by the hostile vibe, the two junior staff members only dared to whisper on the side, hoping their insignificant advice might influence the Ice Queen.
However, it had little effect. As an ice queen who rarely smiled even at her daughters, asking Sayaka to smile at these two heartless "daughter-stealers" was like asking for her life!
That's right, it was "times two." Don't think she hadn't noticed the sparks between Iori and Chisa; as a mother, some things can be seen from the slightest body movements!
"Hello, Manager. As you can see..."
Not retreating an inch despite his mother-in-law's attitude, Miyazawa Yuu smiled. Under everyone's watchful eyes, he wrapped an arm around Iori's waist and said affectionately: "As you can see, we are a very loving married couple!"
"Pfft! Gahaha! Haha, ahahaha!"
Kujo Maki finally lost it. She began slamming her head against the doorframe, trying to use pain to sober herself up, but it was useless!
Why? Why were these guys so funny? Do they have no sense of shame?
Especially when that guy Yuu said "loving couple" with such a serious face—the expressiveness! The tension! It was simply unparalleled!
"Pfft~ Maki, calm down. We are professionally trained staff..."
"Senior, you're one to talk. Even Chisa can't take it anymore, right?"
"Eep..."
A pathetic sound escaped Chisa as she clamped both hands over her mouth. Only then did she manage to avoid losing her composure like Maki, but it was so hard to hold back!
These guys... they always managed to pull off something huge when you least expected it! Faced with this situation, even her mother...
Her eyes were unreadable behind the sunglasses, but Sayaka's cheeks were undoubtedly puffed out.
Looking at the serious expressions of the two bastards, she bit the soft flesh on the inside of her cheek to manage a normal nod and asked, "Mhm. A very loving couple indeed. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"The thing is~"
With absolutely no self-awareness of how embarrassing he was being, Miyazawa Yuu sighed. He hooked his arm over Iori's shoulder and complained with a tragic face, "It's like this, Manager. My beautiful wife's mother—my mother-in-law—does not approve of our marriage~"
"SO???"
Feeling something was wrong, Sayaka's puffed-out cheeks, which had briefly looked cute, quickly deflated. Chisa, who had just snapped two photos with her phone, felt a bit disappointed.
"Therefore, our elopement to go diving is a secret. Manager, please keep our secret. If my mother-in-law comes looking for us, you must say..."
Under the freezing gaze, Miyazawa Yuu swallowed and wiped away a non-existent tear from his face. "Say that we are truly in love, and that we are no longer here~ Ehe~☆!"
"Crunch!"
The lollipop in her mouth was crushed. Kotegawa Sayaka finally realized what it meant for the "dagger to be revealed once the map is unrolled." All that babbling from this bastard was just to set her up for this!
Nanaka! Look at the "fine" man you found!
"..."
She had thought her young boyfriend would suffer a loss against her mother, but the counterattack came fast and fierce. Facing her mother's death stare, Kotegawa Nanaka smiled and quietly hid behind Chisa.
For some reason, seeing her mother being misunderstood like this actually made her feel a bit guilty.
"I understand. This establishment promises to protect all customer privacy. I wish you a long and happy marriage!!!"
"Arigato. How I wish those words came from my mother-in-law's mouth. Sob sob sob..."
"Hiss..."
"Manager? Are you okay?"
Pushing Iori along, Miyazawa Yuu left behind a word of gratified thanks and happily walked past his mother-in-law.
Steam hissed from the corners of her mouth. Seeing Sayaka had reached a total "red-hot" state, the lead girl hurriedly rushed over to slap ice on her face for physical cooling.
"I'm fine... continue!"
Forcing the words through her teeth, Kotegawa Sayaka floated away with bloodshot eyes like a ghost, heading off to who knows where...