Chapter 4 / If She's Staying Around, She Should Probably Be Helping Out

The entire day went by when I was asleep. By the time my eyes were open and I found myself able to rise up from my bed, uninterrupted by the contrasts of my weakness, night already fell through the skies. It was too much a relief to get through that fever without causing too many problems, but sleeping for almost the entire day was making my stomach peckish.

I pulled myself out of my bed, only to find Archer standing next to the door. Her figure was quite distinctively, even in the dark, but there was no use in being surprised the second time. What did she say this morning? She needed to keep an eye on me to ensure that I was safe?

Hitting the light switch next to her, I gave out a muffled yawn. My body was still tired with a sluggish weight to it, so I couldn't make any fast and sudden movements. With a thankful smile, I glanced over to Archer. I never really did appreciate her help today in earnest and its entirety, being barricaded by the obstructing illness. Not only did she bring me up, she helped feed me and keep my little sister company while I was down, preventing her from worrying about me too much.

"Thanks for today, Archer."

"There was nothing done worthy of praise."

"Maybe to you, but I still appreciated what you did. Thanks again."

She kept silent, but some words of appreciation might not be what she wanted to talk about the moment I woke up. Even so, if we were going to talk more about the Holy Grail War, or rather for me to learn a bit more, I certainly can't do it on an empty stomach.

"Just meet me down by the kitchen area. I'm going to wash up, with haste, before heading down for some food. Servants might not need to eat, but I'm not exactly a Servant here." Despite my effort at a light-hearted joke, Archer didn't crack a smile. She merely nodded, understanding my request and promptly did as she was told.

I wished she could smile as much as she could with me as she did with Shiro. Surely, that meant she had a soft spot for children, right? Maybe it was better to keep telling myself that, rather than trying to figure out the truth. It might have been more distressing than I could imagine.

I didn't take long in the washroom before heading down. My mother and my sister were both unseen on the second floor, meaning that dinner was probably finished and they were back in their rooms. Kuko wasn't around either, so I can only guess he was staying with Shiro. The time seemed right for that, leaving myself to make a meal with what was leftover in the fridge. It looked like my mother made some beef stir fry and left it for me, but there was far too much for one person's portion.

If anything, it looked like it was meant for two people. Since the dining room was built right into the kitchen, it was easy to call out for Archer.

"Did you eat with Shiro and my mom?"

"I did not. I merely kept to myself, looking to tend your former state as per request to your mother. She did say that if you were to wake up, I should eat alongside you, but if not, I would take the food for myself and reheat it in the microwave."

"Well, something tells me that you didn't tell them that Servants don't need to eat, and it would be a waste to leave the other portion out like this. You wouldn't mind helping in finishing this, right?"

"I see no quarrels about it."

"Alright, I'll get everything sorted out."

Passing the meat into the microwave, I scooped out two bowls of rice and brought it over like I was doing another order. Utensils were handed out, placed neatly next to the bowl, and afterwards, I found some refreshments in the form of cartoned ice tea. Archer said she didn't have a preference for beverages, so I poured a glass out for her.

"You appear to be very proficient in these movements."

"Huh? Oh, you mean sorting food out to a table? There's nothing you could call proficient in what I'm doing here. It's just similar to how I would perform at my job downstairs. I work as a waiter for my dad's cafe, so it would be weird if I sucked at sorting these things out."

"There's a certain way that you move that suggests that you're no stranger to the act. You've been helping out for a long time?"

"Technically, I've been watching these experiences ever since I was a child. My father already had this cafe when I was born, so I was raised in such an environment, especially when my mother started to return to her own workplace after her maternity leave was done. It left my dad to take care of me as he ran his cafe. I formally started the moment I turned of legal working age with no real training required, so that was definitely a load off my dad's back."

After the microwave finished heating up the stir fry, I brought it over to the table. It looked as nice as it would be if my mother had finished taking it out of the pan; it smelt just as delicious as well. Archer got a whiff of the meat and vegetables as it was brought. Her ears twitched in the scent. She must have thought it was a pleasant fragrant, despite not having any hunger built into her.

It was nice to see that despite what Archer said, she could still enjoy herself in these meals. It made me wonder if Archer finished up that apple pie from last night, but I think it was best left to silence that concern. Clapping my hands together, I said my thanks before I began to eat. Archer did the same in a delay, copying the proper mannerisms.

Archer even knew how to use her chopsticks properly, but that was probably something that I shouldn't have doubted. She simply looked so much like a foreigner, that little detail flew over my head.

"Is there something wrong?"

I didn't realize that my eyes kept on Archer as she started to eat in a meticulous manner. There was apparently some amusement for me, simply watching her eat, but perhaps that rested on plain curiosity. Nevertheless, I shook my head before I could get a chance to blush.

"N-Nothing. Sorry about that."

Since we were eating together like this, it might have been considered as a date. It was a shame that the atmosphere didn't really suggest such a thing, but I'm inclined to believe that was what my mother was trying to score for me. Without the romantic mood, it was slightly awkward as we ate in silence. I tried to figure out something to say in the meantime, but there wasn't any real need to have meaningless banter.

"Archer. About your name, you weren't really clear on that. That's something like a code name for Servants, right? You said that it wasn't your real name, so I can only assume that it would be the case."

"You would be correct on that insight. Archer is merely the class of spirit origin that I belong to. It primarily serves to protect my true identity from our opponents, for my identity holds my weakness. They could then use it against me to place us in a major disadvantage."

She mentioned something along those lines when I first asked for her name, but I didn't realize it held such gravity to the war. There was no way I wanted Archer to lose this battle, so I suppose it was fine in not knowing what her real name was. If it would minimize our chances at losing, that would be effective since as she had me as her Master, she needed all the edges that she could grab.

"Do the other Servants have code names?"

"Indeed. Although, these names that you refer to as code names are what should be called as our classification or class names. Each one of the seven Servants summoned into the Holy Grail War have their own class name that they use to conceal their true name and to each, they follow a set attribute in order for us to at least be prepared against opponents."

To those, Archer continued to elaborate the classes as we continued eating.

The class names and their attributes were explained to me and considering that we could go up against any of the listed, I did my best to make a mental note for all of them. There were the potential chances that our opponents may deal with each other, but we wouldn't know who we would be up against until we found them. Once a Servant of that class was defeated, we wouldn't need to worry about meeting another one of the same class because they were uniquely summoned as such.

And so, the classes were as follows.

[Saber], [Archer], [Lancer], [Caster], [Rider], [Assassin], and [Berserker].

They all sounded pretty frightening to go up against, but if I were to fight in this war alongside Archer, I needed to make up for my strength with some knowledge and wits. It was the only way I could be of any use to her, as far as I could tell. And if she was an [Archer], her advantages lie in engaging in long-range combat and although it wasn't impossible for her to fight in close arms, it was unfavourable.

With all this talking about fighting, Archer was fully intended to take action once we find someone else that was among the participants of the Holy Grail. It seemed like she wanted to say something further about that, but she held her tongue, switching topics almost immediately.

It was still a bit difficult to wrap my head around it. It was like it was some type of video game and these mechanics were being explained to me in the tutorial or an instruction manual. The only difference was that I didn't have the luxury to test things out for myself to learn it with more engagement. The moment that we do face off against somebody, I'll be forced to play it by ear.

"I believe it'll be wise for us to retreat and avoid direct combat if we do ever encounter a Saber or an Assassin. For the former, the naturally powerful parameters of Saber would prove to be difficult for me to deal with. As with Assassin, their stealth and skills would place you, as the Master, into a very dangerous position if they were to evade my detection and discover your location."

"Wait, but if they won't be able to sense them, couldn't they just kill me off before we even see them? Like, what's stopping them from sneaking through to put their weapon to my neck?"

"Nothing. You'll just have to place confidence that my detection skills are better than their concealments, but do not fret. I'll be sure that no Assassin will be able to reach you."

Something about that puts me at ease, despite the abusity at how lightly my life was being held right now. Putting my life up as something equivalent to a chess piece on a board, it was still unbelievable, but it was perhaps that disillusion that caused me to treat the Holy Grail War more lightly than I should have. After all, I did decide to stay in this war for the sake of a girl, which might not have been the best decision I've made in my years of living.

Putting it like that makes me sound crazy. Huh.

"It's with that in mind that I would suggest a certain course of action for our time together in the Holy Grail War."

"And that would be?"

"As an Archer, I possess the special ability of [Independent Action]."

Yes, these are indeed words. Obviously, I can understand their individual definitions of independent and action, but not exactly the entire terminology as it was being used. Despite that, I merely nodded as Archer continued to explain.

"In such cases, I'll be able to act on my own judgement. Without the need of requiring your magical energy, you won't need to put yourself into danger in order to survey your surroundings as much. My hopes are that you may serve without stepping into the frontlines, if you are keen on persisting in your role as a Master."

"So if I'm understanding this, you want me to stay away from the fighting? Is… that our strategy?" It certainly appeared lackluster on my end, especially with what I said the other night. Being delegated to something like a cheerleader might have been demoralizing, especially for Archer herself, who might have wanted a partner that could act in tandem with her.

"Do you have any knowledge on combat?"

"Not particularly."

"Then you are to stay away from the fighting. That much is obvious. There's no need to act with your weakness and with no knowledge on fighting, you could not match against another participating Master, much less an enemy Servant."

"What else am I supposed to do?"

"If I have a need to use my [Noble Phantasm], I'll require a Master in order to use it without heavy drawbacks. My [Independent Action] is not strong enough to sustain that ability of mine. Although you may presently lack the magical energy to supply a [Noble Phantasm], I sense enough untapped energy that I could use to fire it off without worries. Surprisingly enough."

Noble… Phantasm…? With a blank stare, I must have looked confused after hearing so many unknown terms being thrown at me and this time around, Archer had noticed.

"A [Noble Phantasm] is a powerful attack or an ability that Servants can use in order to defeat our enemies, if that explanation is simple enough for your understanding. Every Servant has a different [Noble Phantasm], all situated on the symbol of our existence. If you do see one, I would suggest that you keep note of it, because that will hint at the true identity of a Servant. However, I suspect that if you do somehow see one, you won't be around for much longer."

"In other words, I'm… a battery?"

"In layman's terms, that is correct."

So I've been promoted from cheerleader to a battery for an ultimate attack. I'm not sure if I'm wholefully accepting of this new role. It definitely felt wrong to have Archer go off and fight by herself while I sit at home, twiddling my thumbs while hoping she'll come back home like I'm a housewife to her husband-like business.

"Is there really nothing else I can do? Can't I be by your side?"

"Do you want to die?"

Her question held weight to it, slamming all of it onto my shoulders without a moment of hesitation. That was an obvious concern to answer, especially because there was no one in this world that wished for their own death. Even with that laid out before me, the yearning to do more for Archer was still being caressed in my heart.

"I-I mean, it wouldn't hurt if you taught me some basic self-defense, right? On the off chance that I do somehow get involved in a fight, I would be able to buy myself some time. And maybe, I could even help support you… if it's easy enough?"

Archer remained silent for a few moments, as if contemplating if there were any ulterior motives. With a defeated sigh, she finally noticed my stubbornness. She may have believed that although there may have been other motivations in play, it would not hurt for me to know how to fight.

"That is fine. Starting your next availability, we will start some basic close-quarters training, but only if you promise it will be meant for self-defense. Although, I don't know much about it to begin with, so do not expect anything advanced."

"Alright. I'm looking forward to our training."

We finished up our meals, but I didn't get a chance to ask her how it was. The entirety of our prior conversation consumed my thoughts, leaving no room for those mannerisms. She remained at the dining table while I cleaned up. Washing the dishes, wiping the table, sweeping the floor - it was all simple chores to do as the last one using the dining room for the day.

"Oh? You're up on your feet already, Kurogane?"

My father called out to me as he passed the kitchen, making a detour to see how I was doing. With his hair somewhat wet, he probably came out of the shower minutes prior. I finished up the last part of the cleaning, so I was able to turn my full attention to him.

"Your mother told me what happened. Nearly gave me a heart attack when I was told that you collapsed. Thought I was going to have to temporarily leave the kitchen to the aides, so I could bring you to the hospital."

"I appreciate the concern, Dad. As you can see, I'm all healed up from my fever," I provided a smile, ensuring him that nothing was holding me down anymore. "There's no need to worry."

"It's better to have my worries misplaced than correct. Anyways, we got a bit of a concern that I've realized when you couldn't come down for your shift. It's been a long time since you got sick like that, so my eyes were really opened to find out that we were actually understaffed."

"Huh? Seriously?"

"Yeah, especially since one of our other waiters had given in his two weeks the other day, so I'll have to find someone to help out in the front with you. You might not need the help, but it's to provide enough shifts that someone would be looking to take up the job request."

"Oh, that guy was talking about that with me. He had his eyes on a dream job with a certain company, so he must have gotten hired there. Good for him, slightly inconvenient for you. I could take up more shifts if you want, Dad."

"No, no. Although that would be great, I can't solely depend on your hours and even with that, I have to keep in mind that you still have school. If I get too used to you having shifts all over the place, it'll be difficult to find another person by summer's end."

"If you need some assistance, I'll be content with lending my hand." Archer walked up to our conservation, peering in to hear my father's woes. "I am the one to stay here without much in return for you, so I believe it would make sense if I were to provide my keep, so to say."

"Are you sure about this, Archer?"

"Well, the cost of having an extra head underneath our roof would increase, so it wouldn't have been irrational to think that I should be asking for a small fee or a rental price. Though, I wasn't too keen on doing that, since you're Kurogane's guest, but if you're offering to help out with the cafe, I see absolutely no reason to ask for rent."

"Precisely, and I'm certain your son will be able to teach me proficiently."

Just take the compliment and stay quiet, Kurogane. It's probably one of the few true compliments you'll receive from Archer in a while.

"If that's the case, I'll work everything out in the background. All you'll need to worry about is starting tomorrow. I'll have Kurogane teach you the ropes of running the front and we'll get a uniform for you in the next few days."

"If you're okay with this, then I'll guess I'll help you out in that regard, Archer."

It was rather surprising to see Archer wanting to help out, but he was probably thinking that she shouldn't have been freeloading here. Something about that may have been slightly more suspicious in some perspectives, but if that was the case, my parents wouldn't have picked up on it.

Was there another reason why she wanted to work alongside me? If anything, I'd have to mark it up for the same reason as why I found her looking at me while I slept last night. She wanted to keep me safe, so I had to be in her line of sight. Of course, there shouldn't have been any other reasons.

"That was settled relatively quickly," my father bolstered, having a hearty laugh. "I didn't think that would happen, but I'm satisfied that it did. I'll see you tomorrow morning, you two. Make sure you'll be in a teaching mood, Kurogane."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it."

My father bid us a good night as he headed downstairs. He probably had something to do, once he was finished with his shower. I needed to take my own shower first, but as I walked up the stairs to the third floor, I stuck myself with a realization.

"So if Servants don't need food or sleep, do… uhm, Servants have to clean themselves with showers and baths…? Or whatever?"

"Cease the thought immediately."

"C-Ceasing it now!"

It's not my fault I started to imagine it instinctively! Damn it! The image just coincidentally flickered through my mind for a brief moment, just on the basis of asking the question! There weren't any ulterior motives behind that innocent question, Archer! Please believe me!

"To answer your question, we do not need to. Although…"

"A-Although…?"

"... Never mind. It is nothing worth mentioning."

"If that's the case, then I… supposed that's that."

After taking my shower, while Archer stood outside the washroom door to wait, I wore my sleeping clothes to be comfortable. Seeing the room that was supposed to be meant for guests briefly, it was still fairly unprepared for Archer to stay in. Everything was unclean and there were boxes of storage lying all over the place. We haven't even taken in the bed sheets for the room yet, so there was no way I could allow Archer to sleep in here for—

Right, she doesn't need sleep. Even with that knowledge, it was a bit distressing to know that Archer wasn't intending to get some rest for herself. Sleep may not be necessary, but it wasn't as if she was fully incapable of sleeping, right? She was able to eat food just fine, despite no need to consume it.

Preparing my bed, that was all I could think about as Archer merely took a seat at my desk. It was where she was going to stay until my eyes opened up in the morning and somehow, I heavily disliked that. Something was telling me that this was wrong, having the girl I loved to be treated like some type of tool. Before I knew it, I ended up heading to one of the closets in the hallway, much to Archer's curiosity, and dragged in a futon.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to be sleeping on the ground. Take the bed, Archer."

"I told you. I have no need for—"

"Then consider it as a selfish request of mine." I patted out the futon, trying to get it straight, so it was comfortable to sleep on. "I don't want you to be up like that, sitting there to wait for the morning to come. You need some time to relax and sleeping helps with doing that."

"I cannot be alert if I'm sleeping and much less so, acting as quickly."

"Yes, yes. I know we're technically in a war right now, but what's making you constantly think about the war? Is it wrong to take things easy from time to time? Is your wish for the Holy Grail so important that you would cast away the little moments of peace for yourself?"

Archer was quiet. The cat caught her tongue, causing her eyes to dwindle away from me. If she was being stubborn, I would have to respond in kind. I grabbed some extra blankets from my own closet, primarily reserved for the cold winters, and draped them on the futon while pulling out an extra pillow.

"Look, you don't need to listen to me, but I'm going to leave the bed for you if you want it." As I slid myself into the blankets, I could still see that Archer hadn't moved from my desk. "Archer, it's not bad to take things easy sometimes and while we're not up against any enemies right now, we should enjoy it while it lasts. From how you speak of the Holy Grail War, it doesn't sound like we'll get good rest once it properly kicks off."

Archer remained silent, but that was enough from me. After all, I don't want to force Archer to do something she's uncomfortable with doing, but it merely made me wonder what type of life she had if she never wanted to accept such downtimes.

"Good night, Archer."

She didn't respond, but when my head sunk into the pillow, there was a whisper fading like the wind. "You really act… just like him."

I wasn't able to catch what she said. Oh, well. I'm too tired from sleeping all day and I didn't want to mess up my sleeping schedule with how much I was in bed. It probably wasn't my concern anyways, so without any more hesitation, I drifted off to sleep.

The morning was less eventful than yesterday. Archer was still sitting at the desk as I left her during the night, but I noticed that the bedsheets were much straighter than how I usually do it. That being said, I wasn't going to mention anything about it. If she wasn't going to say something, there was no need to bring it up to cause some commotions.

"Big Sis! Big Sis!" Having her hair tied into her regular twintails, Shiro was already filled with energy upon the morning's dew, excitedly moving around during breakfast. "Can we play today again too!?"

"I'm sorry, little Shiro," Archer sheepishly smiled. "I promised to help out your father with his cafe business downstairs. I'll be working as a waitress until the foreseeable future."

"Oh, really? So you're going to be working with Big Bro! That's so cool! I want to help out Daddy in his cafe too, but he says I'm too young to help out!"

"Because Japan has something called child labour laws," I joked to myself aloud as I provided Kuko with his breakfast. Shiro didn't understand what I meant by that, as she cucked her head to the side. "Can't exactly be playing around with that or else Dad might get in trouble, but you could always take a seat in one of the booths and watch Big Sis Archer do her best on her first day on the job. Maybe she can take some of your orders for lunch. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"For sure! I definitely want to watch Big Sis!"

"My, my, I guess that's what Shiro is going to do for today," My mother clapped her hands rather whimsically, smiling with a gentle warmth. "I'll be leaving Shiro in the care of you two for today, alright? Be sure to keep an eye on her while you two work the front."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it."

I already look after her pretty often, so it wasn't much of an ordeal. It was going to be my first time training someone else while needing to look after Shiro though, but I'm hoping that Archer will be able to pick up on the fundamentals rather easily. She held a very competent air around her, so I'd be surprised if she had trouble with things such as waiting tables.

My mother occasionally helps out in the cafe, but my father's income for our family is more than enough for my mother to be a stay-at-home housewife. That being said, keeping Shiro down in the cafe gives her time for herself to do some chores, some cooking, or to take some relaxation moments for herself. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what she does all the time.

After breakfast, I got changed into my uniform and since Archer's uniform had to be ordered from a certain store, Archer didn't have anything to change to, so she kept that verdant outfit of hers. It wasn't exactly up to the uniform's colour thematics, but my father said to not worry about it. Her uniform would come in for pick-up in a few days, so she'll have to either wait until then or work as is.

Archer decided on the latter and thus, I brought her down to the front about an hour before the cafe properly opened for the morning. As she took the time to teach me about the Holy Grail War, I'll return the favour, although incomparable in weight, in teaching her how to perform this job.

"As customers come in, you'll have to greet them over to their seats. It doesn't have to be anything personal, merely saying welcome is enough to let them be at ease. You'll hand them the menus if they need it and you wait on standby until they have their orders decided for themselves. Take note of it and bring it back to the kitchen where the kitchen staff will get it finished in a few minutes or so."

"It does not seem difficult."

"Alright, then let's have a practice run."

I walked over to the door and pretended to be a new customer to the cafe. There were a few seconds of silence before Archer realized what was going on, promptly acting on the lesson.

"W-Welcome. Please have a seat."

Her hand guided me along perfectly to some empty seats, but I shook my head.

"Archer, you need to put some energy into those pleasantries. If you speak in such a tone, some people might feel discouraged and their experiences won't be as great as it could be. You don't actually have to care about them, you just have to act like you do."

"That sounds rather questionable."

"Trust me. That's the maxim of all part-timers. You frankly don't get paid enough to invest yourself in every interaction and my dad's cafe isn't any exception. Fake it until you make it, is how some people would say it. Though, I'm not sure if I used that proverb correctly…"

"So you want me to put up with a false smile?"

"I'm not saying that. The core of it is merely changing your tone to something that makes you seem more approachable and friendly, not one that would sound like you could take down the customer at any given moment." That was a bit of a joke, but if I had to lean her over to one of those directions, it certainly could be heading towards the latter rather than the former.

Perhaps it would be slightly difficult for her to instinctively change it, especially if I was the person she was greeting, so I gestured to Shiro who was sitting nicely at the counter.

"Hey, Shiro. Do you want to help out Big Sis Archer for a bit?"

"I do, I do!" She quickly jumped off her seat, almost stumbling over her excitement. It caused me to flinch and instinctively move over, just in case she couldn't catch herself, but she was lucky to have done so. I noticed Archer had the same idea, so I sheepishly chuckled in that sight.

She leapt forwards to me with sparkling eyes. Archer couldn't resist smiling in the young girl's innocence, but it was a sight I was usually akin to. It was just brighter than usual.

"So you saw how I walked in, right? I want you to do the same thing and act like a customer for Big Sis Archer to practice. Can you do that?"

"Yep! I'll do it right away!"

Shiro ran up to the door and spun around dramatically before pressing both feet firmly onto the ground. She waddled into the cafe, puffing up her chest which was pretty funny to see, to say the least. I think she misunderstood how a customer is supposed to act when they're walking in, but the presence of Archer might have diluted that vision.

"I am here to eat!"

And they certainly don't announce things like that, but I didn't say anything to ruin the mood. Archer seemed to be having fun with Shiro's acting skills, so I merely wore my emotions on my sleeve and smirked, trying to focus on how Archer would speak now.

"Yes, of course. Welcome to the cafe, little Shiro. Please have a seat."

With a graceful smile, cheered on by the blessings of a child, I found myself at a loss for words, being unable to tear my eyes away from the divine sight. My sister must have been thinking the same thing, because her face was almost as replicated as mine, both with widened eyes and dropped jaws.

Archer looked at the both of us, slightly confused, but she probably already knew what was happening somewhere deep down. "Is there a problem of some sort?"

"N-No, I, uhm…"

"You smile so beautifully, Big Sis! I like your smile a lot!"

Oh, bless your innocent heart, Shiro. Having no need to filter your thoughts. A your big brother could say the same things without being a nervous mess, he is envious that you have such a natural gift.

"I-In any case, that was a good one." I needed to turn my face away in order to recover from my rose-stricken cheeks. "P-Perhaps… a bit too effective…"

"What do you mean by that?"

If Archer gave that smile to any other guy, there was no way that they wouldn't have fallen in love with her at first sight, right? Or was that just my anxiety building up, not wanting Archer's heart to be swept up by some other random stranger? The more I thought about it, the more my heart started to ache, so maybe it wasn't the best idea to persist in that wallowing distress.

"N-Never mind that."

I shook my head, trying to get myself back into the teaching role.

"Anyways, you should be good if you remember how to greet people like that. They'll certainly feel like they're in a welcoming environment. My father always wants the customer to feel like they're simply heading into a second home, or visiting a friend's place. While we do have to act like a business to some regard, that doesn't change the message he wants us to send. It's important to keep it in mind, Archer."

"Of course. I shall do my best in acting appropriately for that cause."

"We probably have to go over the idea of handing them a menu, but don't forget to have some small talk with the customers if they're in the mood to speak. Employees should act naturally in their interactions without going off to talk too much about anything in particular. You still have other customers to tend to, so some quick conversations are preferred."

Archer nodded, allowing me to head off to another topic. I was placing some confidence in her ability to talk with strangers, but I personally didn't think it was too difficult to expect since she didn't come off as an introvert. Just someone that has a cold shoulder.

"The second important thing is knowing the menu. As a waiter, you should know what's being made in the kitchen and keep a mental track of who ordered what on the site. Of course, you'll be writing down these orders on a notepad as they're giving it to you, but it's good to have everything in mind, so that you can be that much quicker."

Bringing her one of the menus, I opened up the small book to let her see the laminated pages. Not all of them had pictures, only the popular items did, but they certainly had a small description underneath to tell customers what they would be getting and for what price. It was good to off-handedly study menu items in some freetime, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if you didn't.

It was just important to recognize what dishes belonged to which names. In that way, no customers will mistakenly get wrong orders, or even worse, get someone else's orders. Archer gave the menu a glance, but it would be fine if she gets some things wrong. It would be difficult to know about an order if it couldn't be matched with a clear visual.

The rest of the lessons went by quickly, requiring me to explain that we were also the ones to deal with payments, cleaning up tables, and front counter drinks or appetizer snacks. However, she didn't need to learn how to do that final part since I'll be handling it for the time.

"It's probably going to be a slow day, so go at your own pace. Don't worry about anything else, because I'll pick up the slack. I;m used to running the front by myself, so this is actually easier for me."

"Alright. I'll do what I can."

Before I knew it, it was already time to open up for the day, set off by the flipping of the sign.

Riku watched her as he sat in his usual seat, sharing the peering sight with me. He never actually worked here, but being my friend and someone who frequented the cafe very often, he was at the point where if I asked him to help with a shift, he could do it without fault. That was to say, if he would even accept a random shift to begin with.

"A new employee, huh? I heard one of the guys was leaving, but to find someone else so quickly, it's almost baffling. It's like you just randomly picked her off the street and thrusted the job onto her."

"I… guess you can say we were lucky."

Archer was doing pretty well for herself on her first day. Despite having a few mistakes here and there, the regular customers were wholefully understanding of her new settings. They were even enjoying themselves, watching the new waitress go back and forth, trying to figure out what next she should do.

Shiro even ended up coming in a few times to nudge her along the right direction when it looked like she was feeling overwhelmed by orders. My sister never actually saw orders on the paper, she simply knew based on the familiar faces and what she would usually see before them. She would carry things to the kitchen as part of a table clean-up for Archer. It would have built some confidence and satisfaction in my father in seeing that, but that'll be brought up for another time. For now, I simply watched, tending to my own job while surveying the tag team of Shiro and Archer.

Seeing my sister go out like this, such a sight was soothing for the hearts of customers. Shiro is having fun, just like any normal day, and part of it is largely contributed from Archer's presence. If my sister was happy, I had no place to disturb it. If anything, I'd be the one to protect it, only making sure she was being safe at the same time. Archer did a really good job on making sure Shiro wasn't overstepping her boundaries either, so I merely needed to watch.

I should have been feeling glad this was the case.

"We need a few smoothies for Table Five."

"I got it, Archer. Which ones?"

"It's… I believe it is mango, strawberry, and blueberry."

"Alright. Don't forget to write those things down. My father likes to keep a record of what's selling on the day, so that he could adjust plans accordingly."

"I've already written them down. I was simply trying to recall them from mere memory. It'll certainly be faster than reading it off when I become more used to it."

"A-Ah, I… guess that's good."

Shying away, I turned my back in order to get started on those orders. Three smoothies shouldn't take me too long, but it was always better to get them out as soon as possible. It was however difficult to believe that we were even working together here. It was merely her taking up the job in front, leaving no real room for me to step in and guide her along.

As someone that's trying to teach her, it might have been easy on the shoulders to know that she didn't need help from me. Somewhere inside of me, I kinda wanted her to depend on me, even for the daily jobs like this. All I was starting to do was exclusively be on the watching side of things, belittling to nudges and reminders that she silently accepted.

If anything, Shiro seemed to be helping her more than me.

I certainly thought she was going to be a good addition to the team, but I never really expected for her to be better than the average entrant to the job. If I didn't know any better, it was as if she was already accustomed to the environment. Everyone seemingly benefits, but my heart is hanging rather heavily.

Was I being a bad person in thinking that?

"Hey, Kurogane! Pay attention to the blender!"

"H-Huh? Ah, crap!"

In being lost in my own thoughts for a single moment, my mind wandered elsewhere, completely oblivious to what was happening before me. The blender wasn't held on tightly enough and with the vigor that the blades were mixing the ingredients, some of it started to come out. If it weren't for Riku's call, I would have only noticed it had been doing that when it would become half empty.

"What's wrong with you? It's rare for you to space out like that."

"I'm… I'm not really too sure," I lied, trying to shake my head dismissively. "Damn it, I wonder if they'll mind having a bit less than usual. No, I probably need to get started on a new one for them."

"Make sure you actually use mango this time. You almost went for the banana."

"... O-Oh, thanks."

I brought the leftovers to a separate cup on the side, leaving for something extra I'll take for myself, and started a new one promptly. As I did so, I kept peering over my shoulder, trying to see if Archer was doing fine during my temporary dismissal. Instead, she had been looking over to me, seeing how I messed up on the order. A quiet frustration climbed up my neck, forcing me to break away from her eyes before I could even think about what she could be saying in her expression.

"Oh? I see what's going on." Riku's smug chuckle emerged behind my back. "Trying to impress someone, huh? Got your eyes set on a certain new employee?"

"That's not it."

Riku noticed the stress in my voice, ceasing any further advances in his joke. I appreciated his concern, but perhaps it was a joke that could have shaken me back to the normal spin of things. There wasn't a method I could find that could express that necessity though.

At this point, it was best for me to finish up the order as soon as possible. I stacked the three smoothies onto the tray and brought it out to the customers. Before I could approach them, Riku tugged on my shirt and pulled me back a bit.

"She said Table Five, man. Not Table Seven."

"Seven… It wasn't seven." My mind must have shifted instinctively towards the Holy Grail War and how there were seven participants. "R-Right, that was a close call. Thanks again."

"Seriously. You don't make these types of mistakes. You sure you don't want to take a few minutes to yourself? I can cover the counter for you if you need me to. The smoothies are easy to make, if you just tell me the measurements."

"I can do it, so don't worry about it."

Riku released his grip, sighing heavily. He spun back to face the counter, slumping his arms down while scrolling on his phone.

"Alright, your funeral. Do what you want to do, but don't come crying to me when you end up making another mistake. I already counted at least a handful so far in the time I've been sitting here, all went without being mentioned to you."

"Huh? What?"

"... Never mind. Forget I said anything."

Miraculously, I managed to get the drinks to the customers without passing through another problem. The distance might have been short, but with that wayward cloud in my head, I wouldn't have been surprised if I somehow tripped. I should have been thankful that wasn't the case.

It definitely felt like a long day, but I did my best to keep up with the work's flow. There shouldn't have been a need for me to try so much since I was technically the veteran here, but it was more difficult than I expected it to be. Another employee came in to take over for us, leaving Archer, Shiro and I to do whatever we wanted we wanted to do now.

Shiro pulled Archer upstairs to have some more playtime, but I told them to go on ahead. Coming up with an excuse to need to have finished up something else for my father, that couldn't be further than the truth. I merely found myself at the backside of the house, sighing in a sluggish fashion. If I was old enough to smoke, the mood would have suggested that I should be taking out a pack right now, but all I have is the messed-up order to sip on. Maybe that in itself was ironic.

"So what the hell was your problem back there?"

Riku came around the corner of the building, groaning the moment he saw my wallowing expressions. He seemed disappointed, not by my emotions, but my attitude.

"Hey, Riku? Do you think I'm dependable?"

"What? Are you seriously asking that question? C'mon, have a little confidence in yourself. Are you really worried that the new employee might show you up at doing a better job than you can?"

He tiredly scratched his slicked-back hair before a seat next to me. I could only smile bitterly as my mouth excused itself from the conversation by sipping down my drink. Now that I got a good mouthful of it, I noticed it was lacking some sugar and felt too liquidy. It was probably a good thing I messed up this order.

"I just… kinda feel a bit uncool in front of her today. I was supposed to be showing her the ropes to the job, but she ended up naturally being good at it. It kinda shot my chance to look dependable."

"Oh shit. I was joking back there!"

Only then, did I realize some of my true emotions slipped out for Riku to hear. I burned up with a fluster, but there wasn't any way to convince my friend that I haven't fallen for Archer. The only thing I could do was to turn my face away in embarrassment, evading the sight of my friend's widened eyes.

"You finally got a crush, huh?"

"... M-More or less, I suppose."

"She does have quite the appearance, so I wouldn't blame you. I think I would have been crushing on her a bit if I didn't already have Eriko by my side."

Speaking of which, it did concern me that Riku acted like this was his first time hearing about Archer. He didn't even refer to her by anything outside of the 'new employee'. I would have assumed Eriko would have mentioned it to him by now out of sheer surprise, but nothing was placed on the table for him. Though, I suppose I shouldn't really get into those details with him right now.

"But was that really all it was? That was enough to throw you off your game? Trying to look cool and dependable at one's employment?" He gently punched my shoulder playfully. "You know, there are a bunch of different ways to look dependable than some lame method of being good at your job."

"Calling my job lame now, huh?" I jested, trying to lighten my own mood.

"Don't worry," he chuckled, "you know I've been there. Trying to look cool in front of Eriko when we were first starting to date, but you shouldn't really force yourself into a role that isn't you."

"I know that's obvious. It's pretty much the key instruction to a healthy relationship."

Though, Eriko already had a good opinion from their friendship before they got together. I wonder how Archer thinks of me right now. A strange guy, suddenly offering a marriage proposal within their first minute of meeting, only to present himself as rather incompetent in the following days. Simply thinking about that filled my stomach with butterflies.

In other words, it was much easier said than done for me to impress Archer. In any case, I'm really just satisfied if she saw me as a favourable person for now, rather than needing to reciprocate my feelings in a similar way. Damn it. Why does this have to be difficult in execution?

"I've been telling you this for a while, but you're already a great person. Just keep pushing forward and you'll get there eventually, right? You won't have any regrets at the end of this if you do that, whether that new employee does end up returning the love or not."

"Just keep… pushing forwards. Have no regrets?"

What does it even mean? To have no regrets? Was that even possible?

Nevertheless, Riku's attempt at encouragement lifted my mood a bit. He was right in saying that I should stop trying to paint an unnatural image for myself, but it'll have to be something that I need to keep in mind for the rest of Archer's stay here.

The summer breeze felt a bit colder than usual today. Maybe it was all the ice I used to drown the drink when I left the front counter. Maybe it was everything getting to my head.

"So? What was it that caught your attention for the girl?" Riku nudged, shifting his seriousness to a whimsical attitude. "Was it just because she was a really beautiful girl? I really doubt that, since it's you we're talking about? Or maybe it really was a love at first sight thing, huh?"

"Oh, shut up. It was just…"

It was… just…

… I'm not sure. I couldn't explain why I fell in love with her at first sight. If it was simply that, it would have been quite the empty reason to outright propose to her, even without knowing how her personality would play with mine. I remember hearing that love was inexplicable sometimes and I feel like this was something that would hover along those lines.

Thus, that would be what people call falling in love at first sight.

But was that really all to it? Was my love, taken at first sight, so severely infatuated that I would literally propose to her the first second I got a hold of myself without any prior experience? And I said it almost so naturally, only realizing that I've made a grave error after I said it.

Perhaps that was my stupidity thinking again. I allowed my trailing words to result in a sheepish laughter, letting Riku assume his own conclusion to my answer.

"Oh my! Thought I would never see the day." Riku hung his arm around my neck, cheering with a boisterous laughter. "Don't worry, bud. Eriko and I will help you out, every step of the way. You're going to impress your new crush so much, she's going to be the one asking you on the first date! Put in confidence in yourself, because if you won't, we will!"

"Y-Yeah. I appreciate it, Riku."

We both laughed to ourselves until my failure of a drink was emptied out. That was my reminder to at least stay true to myself, rather than trying to be someone I wasn't. Despite that hopeful insight, it would only take a few days for me to realize the severity of what I was actually signing up for, in that staying true to myself wasn't always the best thing to do over logic and reason.