"Well, that should be it," concluded the man, putting away his notepad.

Haruki glanced over at him.

Her new boss, Tamazaki Kenji, looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was tall and scrawny with dark brown hair and matching eyes. It looked like he hadn't found time to shave in a while, and his white shirt was buttoned wrongly, but she wasn't planning to point it out. It also appeared to her that the small frown on his face was always present.

Overall, he seemed like a stressed business man with far too much to do, and the vibe he gave off didn't make Haruki feel particularly comfortable. However, he did run a nice café that attracted a lot of customers, so she assumed he was really an alright man. Or at least an alright business man.

"We have a lot to do these days, so I'd like to put you to work as soon as possible," he informed as he browsed through some papers on his desk.

"I'm ready to start anytime," she declared, offering him a small smile that he was too preoccupied to notice. She didn't feel like she was getting along with her boss very well, but as long as she worked effectively she'd be able to keep this much needed job.

"In that case I'll get one of my workers to coach you. Show you around the place and update you on the routines and such," he explained, "The rest you'll figure out as you work."

"Yeah," she laughed, "The best way of learning is through your own mistakes, I've heard."

He gave her a sharp look.

"Let's just hope you don't make any."

With that, he got up and led her out of his small office and into the café, where they were preparing to open.

"Banba!" he called out loudly, "Get over here!"

A silver haired girl, who was cleaning a table by the window, jumped at the harsh voice and rushed over to them.

Haruki's golden eyes widened when she recognized the waitress standing before her. She could never, not even in her wildest dreams, imagine Banba Mahiru working as a waitress. The few times she'd tried talking to her she'd frozen completely, not even being able to mutter a simple reply to her greeting.

"This is Banba Mahiru. Up until now I've only had three waitresses working part-time here, so Banba has had lots to do. She knows her stuff, so she can teach you everything you need to know about this job."

Mahiru jerked back upon hearing this. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but then changed her mind. Either that, or she just wasn't able to force the words out, like in school.

"Sagae is your responsibility now, so make sure she doesn't screw up," he lectured, giving her another one of those unnerving glares of his.

"Y-yes, Tamazaki-san," stuttered the timid girl, looking even more frightened than usual. Haruki didn't think he meant to be such an asshole. It really didn't seem like he was. To her, he simply seemed like he wasn't very good at expressing himself in a more polite and sophisticated way.

"Very well then. I'll be heading out for a while," he declared, "Oh, and Sagae?"

"Yeah?" she replied, raising her eyebrows in question.

"This is a busy place, so no slacking off, okay?" This time he didn't sound fully as harsh. Sure, he definitely meant what he said, but there was this joking undertone in his voice that made her feel like maybe she could get along with him well enough.

"Aye aye, boss," she grinned and did an overdramatic salute.

By their lunch break, Mahiru had managed, despite a lot of stuttering, to cover the most important information Haruki needed to know, like where things were and how to treat the customers.

"Thanks for helping me out," Haruki spoke, "Especially since you didn't really want to."

"N-no!" the girl piped up, "It's not that I didn't want to, b-but I wasn't sure I was the best to teach you…"

Haruki let out a short laugh that seemed to reassure Mahiru, if only just a little.

"What are you talking about? You must know this place better than I know my own house, and it's a really small house," she smiled.

"I… I'm happy I could be of help," she said as she looked down shyly, but the redhead still noticed the smile spreading across her lips. "And sorry about the boss."

For a second, she stopped to wonder if that was the first sentence she'd spoken to her without pausing or stammering.

"I don't mind. He pretty fixated on his business, but he seems like he means well."

Mahiru simply nodded in agreement.

Haruki still found herself wondering why she even worked here. Sure, she knew the job pretty well, but there was no way she could be comfortable being around so many people all day.

"Say, if you don't mind me asking," she paused, "Why do you work here?"

"I'm… well… saving up for college. I can't afford it otherwise," she replied hesitantly.

She could understand that. Of course, she wanted to get a higher education too. However, for her it had never been a possibility.

"Not everyone can be rich, I guess," she sighed bitterly.

Life really was unfair. While people like Isuke could live in a luxurious house, buy everything she wanted and pay someone to be her fake girlfriend, Haruki and her family had to work their butts off to barely scrape by.

"What about you?" Mahiru asked, but then seemed to regret it, "Y-you don't have to tell me… Sorry for asking."

She let out an unsteady laugh as she decided she was trustworthy enough to tell, at least if she didn't go into detail.

"It's fine! It's… family reasons, that's all…"

"I see…" she muttered, thinking it was best not to push Haruki into spilling any details. She wouldn't want that herself, so she doubted the other girl would either. "Are you hungry?"

She had just noticed that she wasn't eating anything, and it was a perfect chance to change the subject into something less depressing.

"Y-you can have one of my sandwiches… if you want?" she offered, holding out a sandwich for her. It was simple convenience store food, since she'd been in a hurry this morning, but it was better than not eating anything.

"Are you sure?" Haruki asked, obviously feeling a little bad about accepting the small gift. Mahiru got the feeling that she didn't like taking help from others. Then again, most people didn't like being a treated like a charity case.

"I-its fine," she encouraged. She'd brought enough food, and she was on a diet, so she really shouldn't eat all of it herself.

After a while, the wild haired girl accepted the food gratefully.

"Thanks," she said as she took a bite of the sandwich. Again, Mahiru looked down timidly.

"I-it's nothing…"

"This is so lame," Isuke complained.

She was at a party hosted by the leader of the Hanabusa Financial Clique, Sumireko's father. Mama and Papa had forced her to go, seeing as they had been personally invited by the Hanabusa family.

There really wasn't much to do there. Most of the guests were middle-aged business people who were about as interesting as her school books. After they had finished eating dinner, which had been obligatory, she and Sumireko had settled in a corner to try and kill some time by talking, but the time was passing at a painfully slow pace.

"I must agree," spoke Sumireko, "I've been at far too many of these parties already. There's nothing to see here."

Spotting an opportunity to tease the blonde, Isuke smirked deviously.

"I bet you'd rather go ogle Banba in her cute waitress outfit," she teased with false innocence in her voice.

Sumireko was normally very composed and hard to tick off, but it seemed Isuke had struck a nerve.

"Isuke-san, that is so inappropriate!" she nearly shrieked, barely able to keep her voice down and avoid drawing unwanted attention to herself.

"What?" the pink haired girl grinned, batting her eyelashes innocently, "I'm only speaking the truth." Hearing that, Sumireko's cheeks turned bright red, complimenting her classy red dress.

"I would be grateful if you attempted to refrain from saying things like that," she scolded, trying to calm down.

"Why? You're so much fun to tease," she giggled. Around Haruki, she was always the one being taunted, so she enjoyed messing with Sumireko whenever she could. That's the way she was used to things being, so embarrassing her only felt natural. "Speaking of Banba; why don't we go see her?"

Sumireko's eyes widened.

"What? Right now?" she asked, "We can't just leave in the middle of the party, and do you even know where she is?"

"We'll just sneak out. Not like anyone will notice a few missing guests," she shrugged simply, "And as for Banba, she works at the same café as Haruki."

Haruki had only started working at the café last week, and Isuke had been opposed to it, considering Haruki already had a job. She didn't want her girlfriend to overwork, and she also didn't want her to be too busy to hang out with her.

Was their economical situation really that dire? If so, she would have wanted to support them with some money, but there was no way Haruki would ever accept that. She was too much of an independent, righteous, self-sacrificing idiot to do that.

Anyway, while talking to her on the phone she'd mentioned Mahiru working as a waitress along with her.

To Isuke, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. She would get away from this lame party, she could play matchmaker for Sumireko and Mahiru, and she'd get to see Haruki, whom she hadn't seen in person since last week.

"I still don't think we should go…"

"Why not? Like I said, no one will notice," she reassured.

"But I…" Sumireko began, but stopped mid-sentence. Not that Isuke needed her to finish. It was easy enough to understand what she meant.

"You know, the important thing is not to give up. Even though she rejected you, it doesn't mean you shouldn't keep trying," she uttered, "But she is withdrawn, so maybe you shouldn't be so bold."

"I give up," Sumireko sighed, "Let's go."

"My, my, weren't you listening to Isuke just now?" she giggled, "I said you shouldn't give up."

"Didn't you want me to go?" This confused her a little. Whichever way she looked at it, Isuke was clearly contradicting herself right now.

"I do, but I don't want you to always be so easygoing."

"I seriously don't understand what goes on in that head of yours…" Sumireko sighed tiredly, making the other girl grin in amusement.

"That's probably for the best. I'll meet up with you after I've changed, okay?"

Isuke couldn't help but roll her eyes at how rigid Sumireko was. She had been in the same class as Mahiru for over a year, so why would this be such a big deal? Yeah, she had just asked her out and been rejected, but this was ridiculous.

They settled on a random table and waited for one of the waitresses to come over.

Mahiru was nowhere to be seen at the moment, and Haruki was frantically writing down the orders of a family of five on her notepad. The kids were yelling out everything they wanted, obviously before they had quite decided what to order, and Haruki had to cross out several thing on her list and write down new ones. Their parents unsuccessfully attempted to make them quiet down.

After a while, they finally managed to order and Haruki came over to their table, still looking at the mess in her notepad.

"Welcome. May I take your orders?" she muttered, the politeness sounding strange to Isuke.

"Hmm… I'd like an apology and maybe a kiss," she snickered playfully. Haruki's head shot up, and she didn't know if it was because of her words or if she recognized her voice.

"Isuke-sama!" she nearly yelled, "What are you doing here?"

"Had to see you in that cute waitress outfit," she smiled, making Haruki laugh embarrassed.

"Not really me, is it? Maybe I should have taken the job at the construction site."

"As sexy as that would be, I think I prefer this," she concluded.

A groan could be heard from the counter and Haruki glanced back over her shoulder. Following her gaze, Isuke spotted a grumpy looking man glaring at them.

"So… I kinda have to take your orders and get a move on now," Haruki apologized laughing, "Or else the boss will be pissed."

"Well, I just ate, so I'll have a coffee. And you?" Isuke asked the girl next to her, who still looked rather tensed, despite the fact that Mahiru wasn't even there.

"I'll take a cup of tea, please," she replied politely.

"Coming right up," the waitress grinned cheekily, hurrying back into the kitchen.

"You're lucky," Sumireko remarked after a minute of silence.

"Yeah, Haruki is great."

"I meant both of you, though," she corrected with a smile. The compliment took Isuke by surprise. She'd never thought Haruki to be lucky to have her in her life. If anything, she'd been afraid that she'd end up hurting her. Someone so stupidly kind and caring as Haruki didn't deserve that.

She wanted to argue on that, but didn't have the time to because a waitress approached them with their drinks.

"H-here you go. I hope you enjoy," stammered the silver haired girl, placing the cups in front of them.

"Nice seeing you, Banba," Isuke spoke with forced friendliness in her voice, "Why don't you sit down and talk for a while?"

Mahiru started panicking, waving her arms and stuttering replies that didn't make any sense. Isuke wondered if it was because she was embarrassed to talk to Sumireko or if it was because she was a little scared of her.

"I c-can't!" she rushed, "We have a lot t-to do and-"

"Just for a minute," she cut her off calmly, "Bet you could use a break."

She pulled out the free chair and gestured for the girl to sit down, giving her a look that made it clear she wouldn't take no for an answer. Unwillingly, Mahiru sat down, slowly inching the chair further away from the pink haired girl, which Isuke didn't mind as it brought her closer to Sumireko.

"Isuke-san, I really don't think you should trouble Mahiru-san like this," Sumireko pointed out, feeling sorry for her and worrying that it would get her into trouble.

"It's fine," Isuke laughed, "Isn't it, Banba?"

"I… guess," she agreed, assuming no other answer would be acceptable. Sumireko gave her a sympatric look in hopes of making her feel more at ease. She knew Isuke was only trying to help her, but her methods were all too rough and she was convinced it would not have a positive effect on Mahiru. "Umm… Was there anything you wanted?"

"Yes, Sumireko was wondering about that other day when-"

"Isuke-san!" she hissed, cutting her off, "I was just… I wanted to apologize if I was being too forward that day. I didn't mean to push you or anything of the sorts. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

Well, that had gone better than expected. She was glad that she'd been able to turn what Isuke started saying into an apology.

"I-it's fine, really… You don't need to apologize," Mahiru whispered.

"In that case, do you want to go do something sometime?" she asked carefully, "Not like a date; just as friends, of course."

The girl was silent for a while.

"But that… Even so… it doesn't mean it won't…" she mumbled to herself, "And I can't… if it leads to…"

Isuke gave the babbling girl a weird look and a tap on the shoulder. She jerked away, but seemed to be brought back into reality.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we should hang out, Hanabusa-san… Because I don't want to go out with you."

"Don't want to"? No, that couldn't be true, Isuke figured. It was as clear as day that she had feelings for Sumireko, yet she kept rejecting her this harshly. There would have to be a very good reason for it, but she couldn't imagine what that reason was.

Mahiru pretty much ran back into the kitchen after that, and Sumireko got up from her chair as well. Before she could get anywhere, Isuke grabbed her by the wrist, holding her in place.

"She didn't mean that," she stated firmly, "It was just an excuse."

It had to be, right? A way to get rid of her without telling her the real reason. An easy way out, one could say. If that's how it was, it was just too cowardly. Sumireko didn't deserve such a cheap yet painful lie.

"It's okay, Isuke-san, but I think I should call it quits here," she said, forcing a smile onto her face.

Isuke did have a point when she said not to give up too easily, but it was important to know when enough was enough, as well. If you didn't know that, it would only cause you even more pain and suffering, and Sumireko felt like she'd had enough of that now.

Not knowing what else she could say at the moment, Isuke felt like she had to let her go. Slowly, she released her arm and watched as she exited the café.

A moment later, someone laid a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Haruki.

In that moment, all she wanted was to wrap her arms around her and bury her face in her soft red hair. She felt like she had ruined everything for her new friend, and the guilt hurt so much she wanted to cry, but Haruki didn't seem to notice that.

"Isuke-sama," she said in a hushed voice, "You're causing a scene." Taking a look around, she realized all the guests had their eyes glued on her. "I think you should leave now. The boss says it's bad for business, so…"

She looked at her apologetically, but Isuke didn't have the energy to answer.

"Sagae, get back to work!" hissed the boss, his eyes shooting daggers at them.

"And maybe you shouldn't visit me at work anymore." She looked over that the boss, who nodded firmly. "Sorry."

With that, Haruki went back to taking orders and Isuke headed out.

Sure, she knew she'd caused a scene and had been a nuisance to Haruki. And that she'd gotten Sumireko's feelings hurt again… Yet, she'd hoped to seek comfort in Haruki after all that. She had expected for Haruki to be all considerate and consoling.

Heck, how selfish wasn't that?

She'd just screwed up and now she expected everyone to feel sorry for and comfort her? That wasn't fair at all. It wasn't fair to Haruki, or to Sumireko or even to Mahiru. It was plain selfish.

"You really screwed up this time, Isuke," she muttered to herself sadly.

So, this chapter turned out way more gloomy and depressing than I had planned, but oh well. It seems no matter how hard I try to, I just can't give these characters a break, can I? xD

I know it took a while to publish this, but I haven't had internet access in several days, and there is a chance I won't next week either, so please bear with me.

So, see you next time. (Whenever that will be.)