Snapshots
The past...
Just another day at work.
Just another day at work.
Just another day at work.
If she focused on that phrase, Nene found, she could still go through the motions of getting up (not that she had slept), getting dressed (not that she had done much more than grab the first clean outfit she found), catching her train (not that she had registered the announcement of its arrival), and getting off at her destination, just like every other day before this one. Just another day at work.
Another day at work... but without Yoko, this time. Yoko, who had walked away with a smile, not just from Liebe but from Nene herself. Yoko, whose departure had left only the constant whine of questions that had been swirling through Nene's mind nonstop in the hours since: Did I do something wrong? Was I not good enough? Did I misunderstand something? Did I just not make her love me enough? Did she love me at all? Was it only a game for her?
Was Sumika right about everything?
In the last sixteen hours she had replayed their entire relationship in her head at least a dozen times, looking for any moment in which it could have gone wrong, looking for any moment in which she could have done something differently, searching, scouring, seeking the one thing that would make her come back, the one thing that would convince Yoko that she was worthy of another chance, the thing that would change her mind, and if she only looked hard enough...
We had fun, didn't we?
Nene found herself at the back door to the cafe without having been aware of climbing the stairs. She reached for the door handle, knowing that it would be open, knowing that Mai and Sumika would already be here, knowing...
Just another day at work.
She took a breath, let it out slowly, then opened the door and stepped inside. Mai was the first to notice her, waving from her desk and calling salutations, her unassailable smile still in place. (Though perhaps a touch dimmer than usual? Was Mai upset with her too?)
Sumika, like Mai, was already in uniform as she sat at the break table, an open book in her hands, but her scowl indicating that she was very much not reading it. She spared Nene the briefest glance, her expression not changing, before turning back to her "reading."
"Salutations," Nene said quietly, before quickly retreating to the changing booth to get dressed. Just another day at work.
By the time she emerged, Mai was waving her over, having seated herself at the table opposite Sumika. Nene hesitated: the remaining chairs were either next to Sumika, or in a position where they would be able to see one another across the table. She took another long breath, willing her suddenly racing pulse to subside, and gingerly took the chair beside her former schwester.
"Well, here we are again," Mai said brightly. "For the time being, it looks like it will just be the three of us again, but we handled it before, and I'm sure we'll do it again."
"We're busier now than we were then," Sumika said in a low voice. And if Nene weren't such a romantic fuck-up, we wouldn't be in this mess.
"True, true," Mai admitted. "But until such time as we can find a replacement for Gotou-san, I'll be counting on both of you to keep up the good work." Especially you, Nene-san, since this is all your fault.
Nene shifted uncomfortably in her seat, but said nothing. Just another day at work. If she said it enough, maybe it would drown the others out.
"Meanwhile, though," Mai continued, "the unfortunate truth is that our customers will be asking questions about the sudden departure of Goeido, so I wanted to go over our official story. We will tell them that Goeido is preparing for exams, and had to take her leave of Liebe to focus on her studies. Nene-san, if you're willing, I would like you to continue wearing your kreuz for the time being, and after some time passes we can say that Goeido graduated, so you can take it off then. Would that be okay?" Not that I care if it's okay, of course. You'll do as you're told so we can try to clean up this mess you made.
"I can do that," Nene whispered.
"Good, good," said Mai. "Now, obviously our long-time customers know about the... um... history between the two of you, but once memories have faded a bit, I think we shouldn't wholly discount the idea of the two of you renewing your previous..."
What? Why the hell would I do that? Who would want HER back after what she pulled?
I'm not asking you to be her actual friend, silly. That would be ridiculous.
Not as ridiculous as the idea of being her lover. Yeah, like THAT was ever gonna happen! No freaking WONDER Gotou used her and ran. That's all she's good for, right?
Well, you know how it is with these queers. They don't have the common sense to play the role without taking it too far.
By this time the only thing louder than their voices was the sound of Nene's own pulse in her ears. "Just another day at work," she croaked, trying desperately to speak over them.
I mean, LOOK at her! She's useless to us now! All she's gonna do is mope around the salon like the jilted fool she is!
Ah, but it'll be good for the drama! Why let all this delicious pain go to waste? This will be a great opportunity for the salon, won't it, Nene-san?
The edges of her vision were starting to go black, so Nene desperately squeezed her eyes shut. Just another day at work.
Won't it, Nene-san?
Just another...
Won't it... "...NENE-SAN!"
When Nene could see again, she found herself curled up on the floor. Someone – Mai? – was holding a paper bag over her mouth and nose, and the first thing she managed to focus on was its rapid expansion and contraction as she gasped for breath.
She was hyperventilating.
The first voice she heard was Sumika's, coming from somewhere above. "What... what the hell?"
"Slow breaths, Nene-san," said Mai, holding the bag to her face with one hand and gently rubbing the fallen girl's back with the other. "You're okay. You're safe."
Gradually, the full-body clench began to release as she continued to breathe in her own stale air, and the whine in her ears faded to a distant, almost tinnitus-like background tone. She hadn't had a fucking panic attack since the day she'd come out to her family, and now she'd just done it in front of her employer and the girl she'd been so desperately in love with not so very long ago. What could they be thinking of her now?
Mai removed the bag from Nene's face once her charge had settled slightly. "Sumika-san," she said gently, "would you be a dear and hang up the closed sign out front? I think Liebe will be taking the day off."
The panic came crashing back, and Nene tried to force herself up, but only made it as far as her elbows. "No! Don't close the salon! Please!"
Even as blurred as her vision still was, Nene could still make out Mai's gentle smile. "It's fine, Nene-san. I'll call the reservation-holders and offer them coupons for their next..."
"No!" Nene shrieked, trying to lunge forward to grab her diminutive boss's shoulders. "I'm fine! I'm fine! I just need a minute..." She needed this job. She couldn't go back to the convenience store, and the thought of having to crawl home to...
"Jesus, Nene-san, you can't go out like this!" came Sumika's voice, and whether it was reproach or concern in her tone, Nene couldn't bear the sound of it.
"It wouldn't be the first time we had to close for an emergency," Mai went on assuring her. "Take today to rest, and..."
"Please!" Nene cried, finally grasping Mai by the front of her uniform. "Don't close the salon! Please, don't let me ruin everything again!"
For a while, the only sound was Nene's ragged sobbing. Eventually, though, Mai nodded softly. "Sumika-san, please go wipe down the tables."
"What? We can't just..." She broke off for a moment, then went on. "Besides, I wiped them down after closing yesterday!"
"Sumika-san," Mai said again, more firmly, "please go wipe down the tables."
After an excruciating pause, Sumika's footsteps receded along the linoleum floor, and the service door to the salon swung open and closed.
"I just need to wash my face," Nene whispered. "I'll be fine. Please."
Mai gently put her arms around the younger woman, and only then did Nene realize how much she was shaking. "Nene-san, listen to me. Sumika-san and I can handle the salon today."
"But I can help..!"
"If you'd like to help, how about this? Can you handle doing the food and drink prep while Sumika-san and I take care of the customers?"
Nene blinked a few times before it dawned on her what Mai was offering. Up to this point, the three of them (or four of them, until recently – and there came another stab to her heart with that memory) had taken care of their customers from arrival to departure: seating them, taking their orders, preparing their food and drink in the kitchen, serving them, and seeing them off. This would be hellish for only two waitresses, but with someone else preparing the orders...
"I'll do it," Nene nodded. "I won't let you down, Mai-san."
Somehow, she made it through the shift.
The music helped. Normally, Mai didn't allow them to play the radio in the kitchen while there were customers in the salon, but this time it was Mai herself who turned it on, leaving the volume low enough that only Nene would be able to hear it. Between that and the mindless, rote busy-work of food prep, along with endlessly tidying and cleaning every exposed surface to fill the time between orders, she managed to get through it without thinking of... much of anything, really.
For the first few customers, Sumika had tried to engage her vocally, but after a few whispers from Mai, both of them simply left her written order sheets at the pass-through, and she prepared them one after the other. Distantly, it occurred to her that they were working with an unusual (and certainly uncharacteristic) level of efficiency.
By the time closing rolled around, though, Nene was more than feeling the weight of thirty-six hours without sleep. At Mai's behest, she got out of uniform first and rested at the break table while Mai herself and Sumika took care of cleanup in the salon. The kitchen only required the briefest of maintenance thanks to Nene's continued attentions throughout the day, and soon enough, it was time to shut things down for the night.
With her head buried in her arms as she lay half-collapsed against the table, Nene heard rather than saw Sumika approaching, but she did not look up. The clack-clack stopped short of the table, paused for entirely too long, then receded, and Nene heard the curtain of the changing booth slide open, then closed.
"Excellent work today, ladies!" said Mai, punctuating her words with an expressive sigh. "Even in the face of adversity, the flowers of Liebe come through. I think we've all earned this weekend."
Weekend? Oh, right... It was Sunday, and the cafe was closed Mondays and Tuesdays. So at least now Nene would have two more days to recover. That is, if she would even be allowed to come back afterward.
And even then, this also meant two days alone with her thoughts...
The curtain swished opened again. "Mai-san, what about..." Sumika began.
"Sumika-san, thank you for your excellent work today," Mai interrupted her. "Head home, get some rest, and I'll see you on Wednesday."
"But Mai-san, we can't..."
"Leave the locking-up to me, Sumika-san," said Mai, the smile never leaving her voice, though even in her near-stupor Nene could hear the hint of warning in her tone.
Well, then. At least she wouldn't have to endure the added humiliation of being chewed out and possibly fired in front of Sumika.
With a terse sigh, Sumika relented. "Fine. I'm off, then." She paused, sighed again, then said the rest with a notable hitch in her voice. "Take... take care, Nene-san..."
More footsteps, then the big outer door opened and closed. Nene heard the scooting of chair legs against the linoleum as Mai took the seat opposite her.
"Nene-san," Mai whispered. "Are you asleep?"
"No," Nene tried to say, but her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. "I'm awake."
"Good, good," said Mai. "Nene-san, we've been working together for quite some time now, and over those months I've become very fond of you. Your happiness, and... well, your emotional health in general are very important to me."
Nene gave a short huff that could charitably be called a laugh as she followed this speech to its logical conclusion. "But... you have a business to run."
"Um... yes?" Mai replied, sounding genuinely confused. "That wasn't what I was getting at, but... Nene-san, would you please look at me?"
Surprised by these words, Nene slowly lifted her head and looked up at her boss. Mai had her elbows on the table, and was holding her face against the heels of her hands. Her expression was hard to read, as always, since she never seemed to drop out character, but she at least looked sincere in her concern.
Then, she said the very last thing Nene would have expected: "I owe you an apology, Nene-san."
Nene blinked several times. "W-what..? But I was the one who..."
"Please hear me out," Mai went on, her voice as low and serious as Nene had ever heard it. "I hired you, a single lesbian, and asked you to come here to work in my cafe where you would be play-acting romantically-charged scenes with other women, without even considering the idea that it could spill over into real life and lead to heartbreak. I have completely failed you as an employer by placing you in this position."
"B-but..." Nene stammered. "Mai-san, you... you didn't make me fall in love with Yoko-san! You didn't make me hurt Sumika! That was my doing, not yours!"
Mai smiled a little wistfully, and for just a moment, her mask seemed to drop. "I'm a little jealous, Nene-san. I only wish I'd been as mature at your age."
Before Nene could follow this thought, though, Mai was right back to the role of concerned boss. "Now... there is some truth to what you said earlier: I do have a business to run, so I'd like to make you an offer, if I might be so bold?"
"An... offer?"
"An offer," Mai repeated, lacing her fingers and setting her chin on her joined hands. "You see, our current model with Liebe is unsustainable. Having everyone doing every task at all times is only going to hurt us as we get busier. The kitchen especially is becoming downright crowded with two or more of us fighting for dishes and teapots at any given time. The truth of the matter is that I've been considering hiring a full-time cook... and I think today was a perfect example of what a good idea that would be going forward."
Mai closed her eyes for a moment, looking strangely contemplative, then looked up at Nene again. "That job is yours, if you want it. If working the salon with Sumika-san would be too painful after... recent events, well... you don't have to. We can tell the customers that both Yoko Goeido and Nene Saionji have elected to concentrate on their studies, and you'll never have to answer any awkward questions from customers, or deal with any will-they-won't-they with your former schwester.
"All of that said, though? Please, Nene-chan, don't feel like you have to do this. If this place has become an unwelcoming work environment, that's my fault as your employer, and you have every right to shove that offer right back in my face."
With that, Mai pushed her chair back, stood, and to Nene's continued shock, bowed a full ninety degrees to her. "Nene Nishidera, I apologize for my part in your pain. I hope you will allow me the chance to make things right to the best of my ability."
Nene opened and closed her mouth a few times before she could manage any words. "I... but... can I... can I think about it?"
"Of course," Mai smiled, rising to meet the other girl's eyes once more. "Though if you could have an answer for me by Wednesday, I would be grateful."
That said, Mai took her turn in the changing booth, leaving a stunned Nene to process what she had just heard.
She wouldn't have to leave the cafe. She wouldn't have to go back to play-acting Class-S bullshit with the straight girl she'd fallen in love with and then betrayed. She wouldn't have to find another job or... go home...
That last thought was enough to make the decision for her, and the moment Mai emerged from the changing booth in her street clothes, Nene stood wobbily, faced her, and gave her a full bow in reply. "Mai-san, if you will have me, it would be an honor to continue with Liebe in any capacity. I will do my best as your full-time cook."
Mai's smile was radiant, and also a touch relieved. "If today was any indication, your best will be more than enough, Nene-san."
"Thank you."
"Come on, let's lock up. Would you like me to walk with you to the train station?"
"I... would like that, thank you."
"Oh! And this means I get to go shopping! I can't have my new chef not look the part, after all!"
Author's Note: The day after writing this chapter, I went back to the source material and discovered that, based on a single panel in one of the later volumes, Liebe did have actual kitchen staff before Nene, so I've already blown a hole in canon-compliance. But considering what's going to happen in the next chapters, I suppose I can't dwell on that too much. Thank you for reading along as my mind spews out headcanons and speculations about Actual Best Girl Nene and Other Actual Best Girl Sumika.