First Steps Toward the Goal!

"Eh? I'll go and ask the manager, but they did say that they needed more hands, so I think it'll totally be okay."

Amane immediately contacted Ayaka, taking advantage of the fact that he had the next day off too. He had exchanged contact information with her during the preparation phase of the cultural festival just a few days ago.

Just as he was worrying where he would work for a part-time job, Amane remembered Ayaka's invitation from the other day. Amane then decided to accept her offer, both to learn more about how society operated and to improve on his lack of interpersonal skills.

Amane stood by the entrance to his apartment complex. He wanted to surprise Mahiru, so he made the call in a place where she wouldn't hear him.

Amane thought that even the tolerant Ayaka would be troubled if he were to suddenly follow up on the offer, especially considering that he had turned down her initial invitation, but Ayaka had instead responded positively. Amane was simply left bewildered.

"Well… erm, what about the interview?"

"You'll probably have to do one, even with my help, but I suppose they'll accept you quickly without any problems. You'll be introduced through me, so they'll know there's no problems with your personality or anything like that. Despite how I look, I'm a very serious girl when it comes to my part-time job; the manager even places their trust in me."

Amane was not at all surprised by the statement, but it seemed that Ayaka was rather trusted at her job, after all. This was likely due to her personality; earnest, amiable, open-minded, and not to mention bright. He understood this even from the little time he had known Ayaka, and it came as no surprise to him that she was well-liked.

Amane could vividly imagine Ayaka puffing out her chest as he heard an,

"ahem," resonate through the phone. He couldn't help but be amused.

"Frankly, I don't mind introducing you, but are you okay with this part-time job in particular, Fujimiya-kun?"

"Well, I've gotten used to customer service now, after all."

"Hm? Not in that way. Was Shiina-san okay with this? Or rather, did you explain everything to her?"

"N-Not yet. I haven't discussed it with her as of now."

"It won't do any good if you haven't already talked it out with her properly, don't you think? I doubt you'll be short of cash if you end up working here, but I wonder if Shiina-san will get jealous or something~?"

"Ugh. That's…"

Right now, Amane was asking to be introduced to a part-time job. And working at that job was, of course, Ayaka.

The café in question was the café that lent them the costumes for the cultural festival they had just held. In other words, this was the café where employees served customers while wearing those very costumes. Naturally, Amane too would be wearing a costume if he were to get hired, just as he did during the festival.

There was the option of working without telling Mahiru, but she would be devastated once she learned of it. No matter how Amane sliced it, he would be running the risk of hurting her feelings.

A female customer had asked Amane for his contact information back during the cultural festival, and Mahiru sulked. Knowing this, Amane was not in favor of doing anything that would make her feel uneasy. Of course, the very possibility of Amane cheating wasn't even something he would ever consider, and Mahiru herself believed that he wouldn't do so, but this was a problem born from emotions; logic was a different matter.

"Why'd you suddenly feel like starting to work in the first place?"

Ayaka had only asked him a simple question, but Amane kept his mouth firmly shut.

If Amane were to ask Ayaka to keep the reason a secret from Mahiru, she would respect his wishes. To tell her that it was for the purpose of saving money for a ring, however, proved too embarrassing for him.

Everyone he knew was likely aware that Amane pampered Mahiru too much for his own good—he was even aware of it himself. But even so, he hesitated to explain that he wanted to present her with a ring.

However, if he refused to tell her, Ayaka wouldn't be the least convinced, and it was not a good idea to hide things from her to begin with. She was someone who offered him a helping hand.

"...Actually, erm. Could you not tell anyone, especially Mahiru, about this?"

"Ah— I guessed it. You want to give Shiina-san some kind of present.

Something for Christmas, perhaps?"

"R-Rather than for Christmas… Well, it's preparation for next year. Erm, I'd like to get her a ring…"

Amane ground out the last of his response, and hunched over as the resulting silence stretched on.

Impatient, Amane waited for Ayaka's reply. He wondered whether he was moving too fast right now, him still being a student and all. After a good ten seconds of silence, "Ah… I've been dealt a heavy blow through the phone," Ayaka whispered gently before continuing, "So that's how it is. I understand your intentions, Fujimiya-kun, and I am now convinced."

"...Yeah. Erm, it's something that I want to obtain properly. With my own hard work."

"I see, I see. Then perhaps you should avoid working at my place. Though you're just doing your best for her, I doubt Shiina-san would be happy knowing her boyfriend is working at a place where he has to interact with a lot of women."

She made a valid point, so Amane replied, "That's true. Sorry for not thinking about that." He considered heading back to his apartment and taking another good look at the job listing website, but then heard a voice saying, "But instead…" from the other side of the phone.

"If you don't mind working at a different coffee shop, I can still introduce you. There's this coffee shop managed by my aunt; it's rather quiet and the customer demographic is older, so I think it'll be a good fit for you personality-wise."

"That'd be ideal, but… you haven't worked there yourself, Kido?"

Amane believed that if she had those connections within her own family, there was no particular reason not to work there. However, Ayaka seemed to be having a hard time choosing her words. "Ah, yeah…" her voice sounded strained on the other end of the phone.

"Hmm… Well, you see; I'm like… not good at dealing with my aunt..." "Yet you're going to introduce me to her? I'm really sorry about all of this." "Ah, no, that's not what I meant, okay? My aunt… how should I put

it... She's really, really fond of cats, I guess?"

"Does she dote on her cats?"

"That's right. My aunt is really close to my mother, and since I'm her daughter, she spoils me a lot, but… she dotes on me so much that it is rather smothering, and I feel like it is impossible for me to do anything by myself when I'm there. Besides, when it comes to running a workplace, changing your attitude towards an employee and giving them special treatment isn't good; the other employees might get mad when they see it."

Ayaka was more troubled than against it. She was likely treated in the same way Shihoko tended to treat Mahiru.

Shihoko would spoil Mahiru deliberately, knowing that Mahiru was firm and independent in nature, though Mahiru was likely affected differently when compared to Ayaka's case.

"That's why I'm not working for my aunt, but instead for an acquaintance of hers. It might be strange for me to say this about myself, but I take pride in the fact that people are fond of my personality."

"Yeah, that's true. You're pretty friendly and you attract the people around you."

"Shiina-san will get jealous if you say stuff like that lightly, so don't do it often. My situation aside, I can confirm the offer with my aunt if you're okay with it, Fujimiya-kun, and if she accepts you, how about getting a tour around the workplace? That way, you can decide properly after getting to see the workplace, and you might find it easier to start working."

"That'd really help me out, but… are you sure it's okay for you to go that far?"

"It's okay, it's okay. I know that you love Shiina-san, so please let me help you out. I'll even give you advice on picking the ring if you want, you know?"

"...Well, I might ask you when the time comes. Chitose, too."

"Hehe. Leave it to me."

It was ideal to consult a woman's opinions regarding rings, and most importantly, Chitose had been watching over and supporting him and Mahiru since the beginning. Amane was well aware of both of these things, and there was no way he wouldn't ask Chitose to tag along. If possible, he wanted the assistance of both of them.

Despite that, Amane wouldn't buy a ring until the far future, so they only made vague promises, "I'll contact you later, or give you a report at school," Ayaka said as she hung up the phone.

✧ ₊ ✦ ₊ ✧

"...A part-time job?"

Once Amane returned home and called out to Mahiru, who was relaxing on the sofa, she seemed quite surprised when she looked back at him.

"Why so suddenly, and why now? We will be taking the entrance exams next year, and besides, we should be starting to review for them soon."

Amane expected this objection from Mahiru, though he also knew that he couldn't bring himself to hide his plans, so he was simply straightforward, and told her just that he intended to get a part-time job, without going into details. However, Mahiru's question was a valid one.

Amane wanted to hide his full plan from Mahiru until he was able to accomplish his goal, but he was well aware that beginning to work in the second half of his second year was rather unnatural, especially given that he would soon begin preparing for his final exams.

"Ah… Well, there's this one thing that I really want to buy." "Something you want?"

"There's also the benefit of gaining social experience," Amane continued, "Of course, I don't plan to hinder my studies by taking a lot of shifts, and besides, I think I'll have saved up enough money by the time the school halts club activities, so I should be able to put all my effort into studying before the entrance exams are held. Thinking about my grades, they should be around the same level as those who study while doing club activities; it all depends on how much effort I put in, and I have no intention of slacking. I won't blame my job even if my grades start to drop."

Since Amane was not part of any clubs and had no part-time job, he had more time to study than students who participated in club activities. This gave him more options, but if he were to begin working now, the amount of effort he would need to expend would certainly increase.

Amane was aware that he was rather good at academics, but if he were to spend a lot of his time working, the amount of effort he put in up until now would not be enough to maintain his current grades.

However, Amane had absolutely no intention of giving up on attending college or his future with Mahiru. Instead, Amane intended to work even harder on his own than he did before. He planned to study harder and pay closer attention during class, trying to absorb more information at once.

Even if this meant taking on a heavy burden, Amane had no intention of compromising or backing down.

When Amane stared at Mahiru with an earnest gaze showing his determination, she looked down, furrowing her brow as if she were troubled.

"No, there's no need for me to interfere with your decision, and if you're thinking that far ahead, I'll respect your choice, Amane-kun. Erm, it would be lonely to spend less time with you, but…"

Mahiru let out a slightly lonely smile, which caused Amane's resolve to waver slightly, but this wasn't a decision he could back down from. He gave her a smile of his own.

"I do feel sorry about this. In exchange, when I get time off work I'll prioritize spending that time with you, Mahiru."

"You always put me first, Amane-kun. You should prioritize yourself sometimes, too, okay?"

"Prioritizing my own feelings only leads to me putting you first anyways, Mahiru, so it's fine—"

Fundamentally, Amane wouldn't be satisfied if he simply prioritized himself in everything that he did. Being together with Mahiru was the only way he could feel a sense of fulfillment; Mahiru's happiness was Amane's happiness, too.

Amane understood that he loved Mahiru so deeply that her happiness was exactly the same thing as his happiness, and although chasing such thoughts left him feeling rather restless, it was undeniable that Amane only felt most fulfilled when seeing the person he loved living so happily.

That was why Amane could stare at her so directly. He did not intend to abandon Mahiru or neglect her in the slightest. Knowing that his words came from the heart, Mahiru firmly pressed her forehead against Amane's arm, half- hiding a worried frown.