Does This Love Suit Your Taste? - Volume 1 Epilogue

Epilogue 1

 

Before going to work, I let out a small sigh while changing into my Maison uniform in front of the mirror in my room.

Three days have passed since the day I confronted Kazama.

The incident caused by Kazama was discovered uneventfully by a security guard who was patrolling that night because of the door I had broken.

The next day, with Kazama’s confession and Shirahime’s testimony, Kazama was expelled.

On the other hand, although I became the true hero for saving Shirahime, I got penalized with a week’s suspension and a reflection essay for breaking that door.

 

I could have protested, but for me, a suspension is practically a holiday.

The idea of being officially excused from school for a week was appealing in its own way, so I silently accepted the punishment.

 

However, that’s not the only problem.

It’s good that I accepted her, but the future where Maison becomes the property of the Shirahime family hasn’t changed at all.

 

“Seriously, why did I even bother to do that…”

 

Looking back, my actions were contradictory. I wanted to protect Maison, yet I was sending salt to the enemy that threatened that dream… (敵に塩を送って)

——What exactly did I want to do?

 

Moreover, the mystery only deepened.

Why does she stubbornly refuse to be selfish, choosing instead to please others and live that way?

What connection does the Shirahime family have with Maison?

And personally, I’m also curious about the reason she cut her hair.

 

Regardless, there’s no use crying over what I’ve inadvertently brought upon myself. I have no choice but to figure out how to keep Maison going.

Maybe then, some things will become clear.

 

As I’m lost in thought, it’s about time to start preparing for the store’s opening. Mabuchi-san has begun cooking, and Ichigo should be at the store downstairs by now.

After getting ready and descending from my room to the store floor, the unexpected sight in front of me halts my thoughts.

Sitting at the counter table of the store was a woman with familiar blonde short hair.

 

“Yahoo, Toui-kun♡”

 

There she is, the cause of all my troubles—S-Hime, aka Shirahime Rira.

It seems like she came straight from school after classes, as Shirahime was still in her uniform.

 

“What did you come here for…?”

 

Shirahime leisurely sipped her milk tea through a straw in a glass, which appeared to be made by Mabuchi-san.

 

“Rira-chan said she really wanted to see Toui’s face. So I invited her over since there might be a little time left before the shop opens.”

 

Ichigo explains as she comes out of the dressing room and ties her hair into a ponytail.

“Besides, I wanted to make up with Rira-chan too…”

 

Shirahime, leaving me frozen, rests her cheek on her hand at the counter, watching Ichigo enter the floor.

 

“Don’t worry about it, Ichigo-chan. What Ichigo-chan said was out of concern for Toui-kun. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

 

After taking a sip through her straw, Shirahime wiped the condensation off the glass with her thumb.

 

“Anyway, I’ve decided to live true to my own feelings. That’s all there is to it. You’ve allowed me that, Toui-kun, and no matter what Ichigo-chan says, my feelings won’t change now. Ichigo-chan, me, and Toui-kun should all just move forward on the paths we believe are right. Right, Toui-kun?”

 

Shirahime sent me a meaningful wink.

Sure, that’s the world I wish for, but there seemed to be a deeper meaning in Shirahime’s eyes, and my heart unexpectedly skipped a beat.

Is it really okay to agree with her?

 

“Uh, well…”

“S-still, Toui is going to inherit Maison! Right? Right!?”

“Ah, well, I wish I could…”

“That’s right! Come on, say it clearly!”

“Oh, yes…”

 

As I falter at the edge of the counter table, Ichigo grabbed my right arm and peered into my face with a sulky expression.

When I averted my gaze from her eyes, Shirahime, who had stood up from the opposite side, took my left arm.

 

“What, Toui-kun… won’t you marry me…?”

“Wait a minute, Rira-chan! Don’t just say whatever you want! We agreed to be friends, but I’m still not satisfied with the whole shop situation!”

 

Ichigo pulls on my arm again, not wanting to be outdone. My elbow sinks into a soft sensation.

 

“Do I need Ichigo-chan’s permission to marry Toui-kun? Why?”

“Grr…Hmph, I see… So this is your true nature, Rira-chan?”

“That’s right. I’m this kind of girl. But Toui-kun says he’s okay with it…♡ Right, Toui-kun♡?”

 

Then, Shirahime pulls on my arm even more boldly this time.

This girl… has she become unexpectedly daring?

 

“Toui! Don’t drool over her!”

 

Squeeze-

 

“Really, Toui-kun, if you just say the word, I could do even better things for you♡”

 

Squeeze- squeeze-

 

“T-that’s not okay, Toui! Absolutely, absolutely not!”

 

Squeeze- squeeze- squeeze…

 

“Ah! Enough already! Cut it out!”

” “Eek…!” “

 

As my arms were about to start feeling congested, I brushed off the hands of the two and took some distance.

 

“O-Okay, I’m going outside! Ichigo, you better get back to work quickly! And Shirahime, go home if you’re just going to be in the way! And you, perverted chef! Stop watching and get back to cooking!”

 

At my words, Mabuchi-san, who had been peeking out from the kitchen, simply smiled mischievously and faded back into the kitchen without a word.

Meanwhile, Ichigo glared at me with a huff, saying, ‘Geez…’ and Shirahime, watching the scene unfold in the shop, let out a chuckle with a smile.

 

“Seriously…”

 

I quickly start getting ready to open the shop.

 

After that incident, her ladylike demeanor is still intact, it’s like nothing happened.

In fact, she’s even started to stand up to Ichigo, and she’s overcome her weakness of playing the nice person with anyone but me when inside this shop.

Shirahime, having come full circle and now completely defiant, is a new kind of trouble.

 

After turning on the breaker for the shop’s front lights, I dragged out the customer bench for those waiting to enter and the blackboard menu sign from the back of the shop and started rewriting the daily special menu with chalk.

 

It’s nearly opening time at six in the evening.

The sky lowers its curtain of night, and lights begin to illuminate the city.

It’s almost opening time at 6 PM. The sky darkens as the night falls, and lights start to illuminate the town.

Then, the shop’s doorbell rings, and Shirahime comes out of the shop with her bag slung over her shoulder.

 

“Toui-kun”

“…Hm, you’re leaving?”

“I wanted to talk to you a little before going home.”

“…O-okay”

 

When I nodded, Shirahime squatted down next to me, who was crouching in front of the blackboard.

 

“Did you properly write the reflection essay?”

“What am I supposed to reflect on? I even helped you out.”

“Haha… That’s true.”

 

Shirahime giggled shyly.

 

“…Sorry. For making you save me.”

 

But once again, Shirahime’s words seemed to carry an undertone of self-deprecation.

 

“There you go apologizing again. That’s a bad habit of yours, you know.”

 

When I looked towards Shirahime, Shirahime was facing me. Feeling a bit embarrassed to maintain eye contact for so long, I averted my gaze to the blackboard again.

 

“Rather than saying sorry, I’d be happier if you said thank you.”

“You’re right, thank you.”

“…Yeah.”

 

The conversation ends, and silence falls. Then after a while, Shirahime speaks again.

 

“…Maison, you haven’t given up?”

“Of course not.”

“That’s impressive.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“It’s a compliment. I even respect you for it, and I’m trying to learn from you.”

 

Shirahime began speaking while gazing at my writing.

 

“You know, when Toui-kun told me It’s okay to be selfish, for a moment, I really thought about living my life just as I please.”

“…Yeah?”

“But still, for Papa’s sake—and for everyone else’s sake, I wanted to make this engagement work. Doing that for them… I think that’s my own will. It’s not because someone told me to. It’s my own feelings. So, if Toui-kun is ready to fight against this arrangement, then I definitely won’t lose either. Because that’s something I learned from you, Toui-kun.”

 

Shirahime smiled. It was a different smile from her usual polite one, a smile that seemed to reflect the clear weather of Shirahime’s heart.

 

“Hey, Toui-kun.”

 

Then Shirahime pressed down on my shoulders, causing me to unexpectedly fall on my back.

Straddling me as she covered me, she knelt on the ground,

 

—Mmmfh.

——And our lips met. The kiss was fervent yet fresh, soft, sweet, and slightly tingling.

 

After releasing my lips, Shirahime tilted her head and mimicked my manner of speaking with a smile blooming on her face to ask,

 

“Do I suit your taste, Toui-kun?”

“You… what are you talking about… what does that mean?”

 

I glance around to see if anyone is watching.

Fortunately, there were no passersby in front of the shop. It seems like Ichigo inside the store hasn’t noticed either.

Then, I turn my gaze back to Shirahime.

 

“That’s… how am I supposed to answer when you suddenly ask me something like that…” (Toui)

 

Shirahime’s face, illuminated by the orange light of the streetlamp, was slightly flushed. Her beautiful eyes were moist and trembling, yet she was looking straight at me.

The atmosphere was somehow different from the ‘obligatory’ kisses we had shared before.

 

“…I see.”

 

Saying that, Shirahime stood up, straightened her uniform skirt, and adjusted the strap of her shoulder bag.

 

“Then, make sure to savor it even more from now on.”

 

 

With a bright smile, Shirahime waved at me, saying, “See you again at school,” and then left the shop without looking back.

At that moment, I realized why I was trying to keep my relationship with Shirahime going.

—Ah, I like her smile.

 

Then, I heard the sound of the store door opening, and Ichigo appeared outside to check on me.

 

“Hey Toui! How long are you going to talk with Rira-chan… Huh? Did Rira-chan go home?”

“Ah? Uh, yeah…”

“…Hm, something happened?”

“N-No, nothing…”

“Hmm~! Suspicious!”

“I-I said nothing’s going on! You don’t need to know!”

“…Always keeping secrets from me, huh. Alright then~. Geez, if that’s the case, don’t stay outside forever and come back in soon.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

 

After adding 『Dessert: Riz au Lait ~with Lemon~』 at the bottom of Course C, I flipped the sign on the door to 『OPEN』 and returned inside Maison.

 

◇

 

After Shirahime left, nothing out of the ordinary happened, and I began closing up Maison after ending the day’s business.

As I returned inside the shop after seeing off the last customer and was about to head straight to the kitchen as usual, Ichigo stopped me.

 

“Hey Toui~, look at this~”

 

What Ichigo dragged over to me was a wooden chair with a wobbly leg.

 

“It’s the chair at table five… it happened when a customer sat on it just now. This is no good anymore, right?”

 

It seemed that the metal fitting at the base was loose.

 

“Definitely… it’d be dangerous if someone sat down and fell over.”

 

Then I reported it to Mabuchi-san since I couldn’t fix it.

 

“Ah, it’s not that I can’t fix it, but well, losing one chair isn’t going to be a big problem for us. Our place isn’t exactly thriving.”

“Don’t say things like that.”

 

I retorted, at least trying to be on the shop’s side against this chef’s self-deprecation.

 

“Well, well… Here, Toui, I’ll give you the key to the warehouse in the back, so could you put away this chair?”

“Huh? Warehouse…? By warehouse, you mean…”

“You don’t know?”

 

Well, it’s not that I don’t know. There’s an old domestic storage warehouse behind the shop.

 

“No… I mean, does that even open? I’ve never seen anyone touch it.”

“Yeah, the smaller one attached here is the key for it.”

 

Mabuchi-san gave me the key to the front entrance of the shop I was familiar with.

There were two keys on it: the main entrance key and another small key that I never knew what it was for.

I never imagined that it would be the key to the warehouse… and here I am, supposedly living here.

 

After finishing the closing procedures outside, I went around to the back of the store to put away the chair.

The area was very dark, surrounded by other buildings and out of reach of the streetlights.

Reaching the warehouse and using the key to open the door, I coughed lightly as dust flew around.

 

“It’s packed in here… There’s no space for a chair…”

 

Inside the old warehouse were items from when my father was the chef and Maison was thriving.

There were plastic poles and chains for lining up, as well as cultivation sets and fertilizers for flowers that used to be planted in the now empty flower beds—items unnecessary for the current Maison.

 

Trying to make space for the chairs, I attempted to remove the stakes used for guiding plant vines, which were stored at the very front, but due to their length, I accidentally hit the shelf above.

 

“Whoa!”

 

Because of that, the shelf’s bottom came off, and everything stored on top came tumbling down on me.

 

“Cough… This is the worst…”

 

A piece of paper flutters down to me among the avalanche of junk.

 

“…What’s this? A photo?”

 

As expected, it seemed to be a photo. I could vaguely make out that it was of a person, but it was too dark to see who it was.

Before heading outside, I took my smartphone out of my pocket to use its light to see what was in the photo.

 

“Camille-san…? ——And… this is…?”

 

The composition of the photo slowly made sense in my head, and I was left speechless as I understood everything.

 

The photo showed the former Maison chef, my benefactor Camille-san, standing in front of Maison and making a peace sign at the camera.

──And there, smiling and hugging Camille-san’s waist, was a small girl with short blonde hair resembling Camille-san.

 

 

 

***

TL: Hiraeth