Finally, a break. Yosuke grabbed his headphones and mp3 player from his locker and having no place else to go, decided to walk around the store. But this time he could at least play customer instead of his father's lackey. Where was Saki-senpai working today? He glanced at the schedule on the break room wall and frowned.
Women's clothing and accessories.
He sighed. Couldn't really look like he was just browsing in THAT section, but hell, he had a good twenty minutes to kill before he had to get back to the customer service desk where he'd been stuck all morning. He took the elevator up to the next floor and tried to stay at the edge of the section, pretending that the umbrellas were drawing his full attention.
Yosuke couldn't see Saki-senpai anywhere. Not at the cash register, not hanging clothes on the racks in his line of sight. Maybe he'd have to breach the border. He turned up his music, pretending to be fiddling around with his mp3 player as he walked past racks of blouses and skirts. Still no Saki-senpai, but she was the last thing on his mind seconds later as he saw someone familiar.
Yukiko Amagi from his own class. Even though she was wearing a hooded cardigan, it was obviously her picking through the bins of panties behind the rack of brassieres. Yosuke gulped. Should he talk to her? She usually ignored him - apparently the new guy in class thing wore off after a few months.
He pulled his headphones down and turned the volume down low, gathering what courage he had to approach her. "Um, good afternoon, Yukiko-san."
She dropped the pair of panties in her hand and blushed scarlet, nearly hiding behind the table of bins. "Hanamura-san!" she squealed.
Oh shit, he thought. This wasn't his best plan. Approaching a girl in the underwear department? He was going to come across as a pervert for sure. But...he still had his employee smock on, so maybe he could salvage the moment...
"Hi, uh...Miss Amagi, how good to see you," he replied polite as could be. "If you're interested in these bins here, we do have a personal shopping service here at Junes. Um, if you need custom fittings for undergarments I'd be happy to..."
Her eyes widened. Shit, what had he said? Ohhhh crap...
"For your information, I do not need your help." She moved around the table and stomped on his foot. "If you'll excuse me..."
Ow, she really stomped hard. Must have been all that time she spent hanging around that crazy Satonaka chick. "I didn't mean me! I meant..."
But by now, Yukiko was halfway to the elevator. And then he felt a tap on the shoulder. "What are you doing up here?"
His heart sank. Turning around slowly, he saw Saki-senpai looking at him the same way Yukiko had - like he was one of those creeps who read hentai on the train in front of everyone. "I was just leaving."
He walked away, vowing to stay out of the women's section for the rest of his life.