Chapter 17 | Friendly hangout

-17-

I had a good night’s sleep and woke up after the alarm went off, like usual. Washing face, changing clothes, and eating breakfast were all things I did in the morning.

 

Today was a Tuesday, meaning that I had a bunch of classes. Let’s see, Homeroom period first, then I’ve got English for the second period, Japanese for the third period… And I don’t remember the rest. Welp, it’s a start at least.

 

I walked with Kaoru to school, we talked a bit about how school is boring and that me being cute was important. 

 

Getting to the school, I could see dozens of other students also arriving. Seems that no one wants to be late on their second day of school.

 

I went to my locker, I had my schedule and textbooks in there. I took a glance at my schedule. English, Japanese, Chinese, Arts and culture, Math A, and P.E class. Welp didn’t seem to be too much of a hassle to work through, and it’s probably only gonna be introductory classes.

 

I entered the classroom, it was homeroom period right now so no need to be formal or anything. I met up with Riri and her friends, they were talking about who would become a class rep and what clubs they should join.

 

“Hello.” I greeted them.

 

“Oh hey Misaki! Do you have any clubs your thinking of joining? Yuki and I are thinking of joining one!” Riri said in a cheery voice as usual. I was getting used to the dazing energy radiating from her, but I wasn’t completely used to it yet.

 

“Mmm… I’m with the go-home club.”

 

“That’s a shame.” Atsu replied, she had a disappointed expression on her.

 

Of course, I couldn’t tell them that I was working at the cafe after school, that would probably end up just weird. Quick make a reason for not joining one if they ask!

 

“Well, mind joining us for a snack at the local cafe later? There’s this one cafe I’ve been eyeing and they’ve got so many cute cats there!” Atsu said, was there more than one cat cafe in town?

 

“Which cafe?”

 

“Cafe del gato!”

 

Everything just stopped for a second. Cafe del gato. That’s the cafe my Dad runs, oh this could get really awkward if they find out.

 

“Sounds interesting, maybe I’ll tag along?” I said with a bit more nervosity in my voice.

 

It’s not like I didn’t want them to visit the cafe, because it’s really nice there but the problem is that I work there a few days of the week, luckily I’m not working on Tuesdays or Thursdays but it could definitely still get awkward if Dad just randomly pulls one of his goofy things while I’m with my friends.

 

After getting some time to talk to other students in my class, Michiru-sensei entered the classroom and everyone got into their seats and quietened down.

 

“Alright class, as you probably have heard we are going to be voting a class representative and a vice representative today, but first I’ll need to take attendance.”

 

The attendance went smoothly, and it was time to choose a class representative, not that it would matter for me though, I wouldn’t be involved in this matter too much. Plus, I’m not quite sure whether I could handle the pressure of being a class rep.

 

The votes were tallied and we got the results, Apparently, a strict girl named “Konoha Yuuji” had been elected as the class representative, she herself had matte black hair tied up into a ponytail, glasses that gave her a strict look, and an aura of discipline around her.

 

I honestly don’t want to involve myself with her.

 

But of course, I have noticed that she has been giving me glances or stares at some point or another, which kind of made me uncomfortable at times.

 

Progressing through the different classes, English and Japanese was a breeze, but Chinese literature was rather bothersome since well, it’s Chinese., nothing too hard since it was really just about being able to do some simple calligraphy. Then came the lunch break.

 

The cafeteria was offering a range of different meals. I chose a bowl of fish ramen for today. I made my way to the table my friends were sitting by, and sat down next to Riri.

 

“Hey Misaki, so about earlier, you with us?”

 

“Alright, yeah.” I lied, sure I didn’t want to be there while having friends but I also don’t want to be left alone in class, that would just suck.

 

Of course, I had anticipated that this could happen meaning that I was at least somewhat prepared. But then again, maybe it was better to just tell the truth? It’s not like I work there everyday either.

 

I resigned to my fate, while chowing down on tasty ramen.

 

The next period after that was Art and Culture, apparently these two subjects have been rolled together to have a shorter school day overall. Then came Math, it was just rehearsing what we had learnt previously and introducing a few new concepts. Strangely I didn’t think of it too much, as I breezed through the few math questions as if it was no more than basic addition and subtraction.

 

And then came P.E class. Of course I had my change of clothes, they consisted of blue jogging pants with white lines running down, kind of like adidas, and a sport shirt and light running jacket, also kind of like an adidas jacket… I think the supplier of these clothes might be adidas.

 

The theme of the P.E class today was to measure the general fitness of everyone in the class, surprisingly during both the 50m and 100m sprint I managed to get top five, not bad if I say so myself.

 

Since the P.E class was the last class of the day I quickly changed back to school uniform and waited for Riri, they were gonna visit the cafe.

 

Sigh 

 

They eventually finished changing clothes, and we were on our way to the cafe. I wanted to try and tell them about how I was working there part time, but my courage lacked meaning that I didn’t get the opportunity to do that.

 

While Riri and her friends were talking, I was being pretty quiet the entire time.

 

“...”

 

“Misaki, is there something on your mind?” Riri asked, with a voice of concern.

 

“Eh? No, I’m fine.” But in truth I wasn’t, I was mentally screaming at myself.

 

We eventually arrived at the cafe. Hopefully the message I sent to dad had reached him. 

 

Pling!

 

We entered the cafe, apparently Dad didn’t receive my message since he greeted me in such a casual way.

 

“Misaki! Why’d you come here today? You don’t have a shift today-” He stopped as soon as he saw I was with my new friends.

 

I was blushing, this was embarrassing. Now that the cat is out of the bag I might as well confess.

 

“Umm. Guys, so uhh I kind of work here part time.” 

 

“You do?” “That’s really cool!” “Aww man, you get to spend time with these cats?”

 

Well, maybe I had raised my expectations a bit too much but surprisingly they were all fine with it.

 

“But it sure is fitting though, a catgirl working at a cat cafe.” Riri said, well she wasn’t wrong.

 

“Hehe…” I nervously laughed.

 

“So uh, take a seat?”

 

The group remembered the reason they came here, and chose a table next to the window to sit down by. They took a look at the menu, and chose the drinks they wanted to try out. I had already tried all of them and even knew how to make some of them, so they asked me for some recommendations.

 

“Misaki, which one of the drinks would you recommend?” Atsu asked me.

 

“Hmm… probably the mango, it’s sweet and a bit sour, just like you!” I joked about the last part of the sentence, trying to do my best in recommending drinks.

 

They settled on their drinks and I brought the note to Dad, he then made the drinks and I brought them over.

 

“Misaki, you’re not having any drink?” Yuki asked.

 

“Yeah, I’ve already tried most of them.” I answered.

 

Of course, trying out drinks was not the only thing they were here for, the cats were also one of the reasons for why they had come.

 

We hung out, talked about some fashion and what clothes would suit me the best. Really, Atsu and Yuki really wanted to learn a bit more about me. The clock hit 6pm and the trio headed home.

 

This has been another great success!

 

I had managed to avoid a major crisis and bonded with my friends just a bit more! But where was Kaoru right now? I’m fairly certain she was supposed to work today…

 

End of chapter 17

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