Disclaimer: It's a work of fiction and just having fun with my favorite SNS pairing

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The evening crowd at the restaurant was remarkably more than usual, many rounds of Shinko Matcha were used to congratulations and merriment, probability finding it fitting to honor our victory with a drink that was named after our team.

Could it have been Mitamura's plan all along?

Naw, that's too subtle, isn't it?

I mean think about it: win or not, the name "Shinko" would have been broadcast many times over the speakers while the games were played. Coupled with how well received our new drink was, the result was a full restaurant.

Perhaps we had to thank Yukihira's efforts in leaving a good impression on all teams for getting everyone on our side. Giving credit where it's due, his magnetic personality played a big role for our popularity.

I glanced over to the redhead: Though he maintained a friendly demeanor, one that a casual acquaintance would feel as if they reconnected with a long lost friend, I felt that he had something in his mind ever since Fujiwara pulled him aside on our way back to the restaurant. It didn't take a genius to surmise that their talk may be about and that I am very likely not welcome to join.

Thinking back on what I did in the heat of the moment, I can't say that I regretted what happened... I also can't say I was proud of the fact I did something that even surprised myself.

"Are you alright?", I casually asked Yukihira who was checking tickets at the pass as I waited for my water jug to fill. He threw up his signature grin and assured me airily as he went off to deliver some orders. I frowned, I'm not gullible, you know; that was so out of character.

Wonder what was the talk about for Yukihira to be like that? Though I am sure Yukihira was not a pushover to be bullied easily, this was new for me. Can't really explain it, but it did not sit well with me at the thought of Yukihira getting treated that way much less Fujiwara being the cause of it.

Curiosity: I just wanted to know what's going on. I-It doesn't mean anything more… Honest!

It was later part of the evening when I finally managed to corner Yukihira while he washed the dishes, "I know something's up." I placed the last of the soiled glasses into the sink, "what happened?"

There was a pause as he kept washing robotically; a vexed, far off uneased look similar to what he had during our stagiaire, probably thinking of what to say. "I think…" I piqued as he began, looking forward to satisfying my curiosity... "Never mind." he busied himself more intently at those words.

Huh? I placed a plate down and turned to him, "What do you mean never mind?"

"It's nothing."

"You may be experienced in the restaurant business but there is something that is bothering you."

"No there isn't,"

"Then why aren't you using soap?"

He looked at his pile of rinsed but still dirty dishes. His usual demeanour immediately returned with an apologetic chuckle while fixing his mistake. I was not going to be charmed into letting this moment go simply from his boyish grin that was holding back a laugh by biting his lower lip.

No, wait! I didn't mean to use 'charmed'… Ahem, stay on topic: "Hey… so?"

He glanced over and considered me a moment before returning to his washing, "Yumiko was… upset," he paused, weighing his next words before finally setting a soapy plate down, "I have no idea why."

HA! Of course you don't. "What exactly happened?"

"I thought she would be happy for our win," he shrugged, picking up the scrub to work on a stubborn stain, "but I guess that she was angry about something."

My actions from the moment of victorious euphoria flashed in my mind and my heart skipped a beat, I had an idea what Fujiwara may have been upset about but this was between both of them: Sorry, Yukihira, you are on your own for this.

After all, why should I be concerned how their relationship turns out...

"I was figuring out how to deal with this. I mean… I don't have the experience." Yukihira, pridefully independent and sure of his abilities, just acknowledged a weakness.

And it was over a girl.

Something felt heavy in my chest. I, too, am clueless on what to do, having no experience; besides, there was some undefined reason holding me back to help… Silence fell between us as we carried out our clean up tasks, lost in our own thoughts.

Fujiwara arrived just as I was sweeping the floor. I let out a long exhale to calm the butterflies in my stomach as she made her way towards me. "We need to talk." it did not sound like a request and left no room for argument.

I exchanged a look with Yukihira; it was very odd seeing him lost and uncertain… it was not his personality and style; and that was something that made me frown at the cause that stood in front of me. "Yeh, we do."

Stiff upper lip.

We left the restaurant and I walked along with her. Yukihira had read the situation and hung back at the shack.

It was a warm evening however, the silence between us was cold as we waited for the opportunity to begin our private conversation. I have many things to confront her about and I'm sure the same goes for her to me.

It was a 5 minute walk and we entered through the doors of the local hot spring's restaurant, that same hot spring that the volleyball tournament top prize was for, and sat at a table far away from the staff. Although I had observed that the staff noticed our entrance, no one came to greet us as they busied themselves diligently cleaning up in the place for the night. It was a curious situation but I was more focused on the blonde in front of me and the matter we were about to discuss.

"I think you should have an idea what this is about." Fujiwara started

"Yukihira." My simple response was replied with a light nod from her. "What did you say to him?"

"I understand that both of you are living together in that shack," she ignored my query, "and I don't want to consider if there's anything to it." arms folded and legs crossed, she was making a point: "What I want," is that a resting bitch face? "is to nip this in the bud."

"There's nothing to "nip" between Yukihira and me." I hardly hid my annoyance.

"Then explain what was that at the end of the game?"

I knew that that was the main issue, "We just won and were celebrating!" I exasperated.

It fell silent and the moment stretched as we stared each other down. The restaurant staff, likely sensing the tension, kept a wide berth. "So why did you agree to come speak with me?"

This was my chance to take control of the situation, "I don't like the way you're treating Yukihira." Her eyebrows raised slightly but she waited for my explanation, "He has one passion: cooking; anything out of that is new to him." paused for a second for those words to sink in, "He's a straightforward, honest, and eager person." Thinking back on how he was back in the shack made my irritation surface again that I pressed both hands on the table while leaning forward to make a point, "Whatever you're doing is affecting him."

"And why does that concern you?"

Huh? "W-What?"

Fujiwara was stoic, maintaining that resting bitch face while uncrossing her arms to place her hands in front of her, all business like, "and, why, does, that, concern, you?" deliberate emphasis was placed on each word.

Why? I mean… she had a point: Why am I so upset to see him so… down? He's just my school mate right? We may have had our stagiaire together and voluntarily posted here for a summer job. Perhaps it's through the Mere Exposure Effect of time spent together that we became familiar with each other; that I began to see Yukihira as more than a eager boy who only dreams of reaching culinary excellence:

I saw a hardworking Yukihira putting in effort to master a new sport; I saw the lazy Yukihira that read my light novel, with his chin on the table; I saw a fearless Yukihira stepping in to confront hooligans, I saw an elated Yukihira when we won that tournament… and I saw a vulnerable Yukihira who needed help. It makes me want to see him succeed; want to see him bravely march on; want to look out for his well being.

And all these accumulated to this conversation of me drawing a line in the sand on his behalf.

It's because he's my-

"Friend…" I muttered, and followed with a declaration, "Yukihira Soma is my friend." my voice was firm and sure, "As his friend, whether you're his girlfriend or not, I will not stand idle while he's in a slump," I looked at the blonde pointedly, "much less when I know the cause of it."

Fujiwara considered my words in silence, likely seeing the point I'm trying to make, "Friends, eh… and there's nothing more to it?"

"Nothing more to it." although, I can't explain the sudden urge to look away from her piercing stare.

There was a pregnant pause while we stared down at each other. She concluded the session, "Let's see that it keeps that way." She made a motion to stand.

"Wait." I interrupted her and stood up, "Did you get my point? With Yukihira's personality, he doesn't need any drama; he would be better off and happier without toxic behavior."

Fujiwara clearly heard my words on how I thought their current relationship was, but had not pursued. She instead obliged, "...Alright." than turned and continued towards the restaurant's main doors.

She's...handling this surprisingly maturely.

I followed suit, noticing courteous nods by the staff members we passed on the way out, an odd contrast of treatment from the fact they left us alone at the booth despite coming in past opening hours. "Is it alright to just walk in and out of here?" I just had to ask.

"It's fine," Fujiwara said airly, "My family owns the place."

That new fact was on my mind on my way back to the shack. Well, that may explain why she couldn't join the tournament and why she was so available to meet in the evenings.

I got to the residential floor and found Yukihira at the table with supper laid out, clearly awaiting for my return and anxious about my talk with Fujiwara. "So how did it go?" He poured a cup of warm tea for me, for which my parched throat and chilled body due to the night air was thankful for.

"Things should be back to normal between both of you." I replied as we dug in.

"Did she say what made her mad?" I weighed the options on my responses, and opted for the half truth, "no, but don't worry about it." I assured him; to which he visibility relaxed. Indicating the trust that he placed on my words.

The atmosphere gradually became relaxed as we casually chatted about the day while we dined and me simultaneously using his phone to check for any updates on my secretary work. We praised each other for our performance at the volleyball games; We decided to celebrate our tournament victory at the end of our two week stint; had a short gossip about Fujiwara's family owning the hot spring; and discussed how well received our drink was. We finally ended with a talk about the new staff joining in tomorrow.

There was a break in our chat and I was typing away a reply to the final mail in comfortable silence when I heard him chuckle, "Heh heh," I looked to him questioning his expression, to which he simply replied from the sink at the kitchenette, "Oh, nothing, I'm just thinking," a small pause as he placed a washed pot aside, "somehow, I feel the most relaxed around you."

I didn't know how to respond to that but I know that my face was warming up. So I let out a hum of acknowledgement and put a show of bringing his phone closer to me in an effort to use as cover.

His phone suddenly vibrated, and the words "Fujiwara Yumiko" appeared on the screen.

"I can finish up in the morning," I said as I passed the phone to him. His demeanor switched the moment he saw the caller's ID; can't really describe it. He muttered a thanks and excused himself to his room, leaving me to clean up the rest.

I didn't mind.

Afterall, he was in for a long talk.

Our second week went by pretty quickly now that we are already settled in and familiar with the restaurant duties. The bruise on my forearm was already mostly healed but we kept it on as it did help us stand out as restaurant staff now that the peak summer season has arrived. Along with the word of our drink as a cure in the summer heat, business had picked up significantly.

I was thankful for the promised additional manpower which came in the form of a local middle school boy and girl pair of friends. They were keen learners and easy to teach, making it easy for us to get everything running smoothly under the guidance of Yukihira and myself.

Now that we're placed in charge and Mitamura-san was involved elsewhere, our swimming lessons were placed on hold to look after the ship during the afternoon break, so we instead took time to experiment in the kitchen together, or I started with the daily administrative paperwork when Fujiwara came by to whisk him off somewhere

On the topic of the Fujiwara matter: Yukihira's drama with her seemed stable for now. However, I felt a shift in Yukihira's attitude about it; he lacked his usual casual cheer, almost like he was being careful not to tick her off or something… Honestly though, once this week is over, is it really possible for them to continue a relationship? Have they actually talked about it?

Then again, that's none of my business.

It was on a Thursday noon, just after the lunch rush, that Yukihira was handed a camera by Mitamura-san and was told to go to town and snap as many photos as possible for some local magazine.

I was in the middle of service, on the way to the outside sitting area with the gifted straw hat on my head, order pad on one hand and a tray of drinks on the other when he called me to look over and snapped the moment I looked towards him, "hey, I wasn't ready!"

He looked at the preview screen and chuckled, "don't worry, it looks good"

"Let me see it." I can't have an unflattering shot published.

"Don't worry, it looks good." Yukihira repeated, now widely grinning.

"Hang on," I delivered the drinks to their destination and returned back to Yukihira who was looking through the photos under a nearby palm tree. "Ok, hand it over."

He flipped through the photos and turned over the camera to me. I was captured turning towards the camera, and the order pad raised with my mouth slightly opened to acknowledge him. My deep blue flower patterned bikini contrasted my light skin and my bare midriff was scarcely covered by a dark green sarong I had decided to put on that day.

"I told you it looks good."

Which part of it does!? "No, delete it."

"Why? It looks good."

"No it doesn't; It made me look fat!" my midriff was exposed and I wasn't ready.

We did a little back and forth, Yukihira, being taller than me easily held it just out my reach and was having a little fun at my expense, I made attempts on the camera of course, until I heard our male junior remark, "They're flirting again," to which his female friend tapped him on the head with the order pad.

I immediately gathered myself and cleared my throat to reclaim our dignity as their mentors, "We're not." A redirection is in order, "Are all the tables cleared, Ayasaki-kun?" he breathed a 'whoops' and proceeded with this task, "Katsura-san, feel free to go on break when he's done."

"Will do." our female junior smiled gently, "By the way Arato-san, I've got a guest at my section who had ordered a drink and has been there for awhile; he seems… I guess, suspicious?" She tilted her head subtly to the guest in question who was wearing a cap and sunglasses even when they had been seated indoors. I paid more attention to the subject...

And broke into a hearty grin.

Despite how they tried to hide their identity, I recognized who it was: Aida Shion.

Note: Thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate it and drives me to carry on despite my new responsibilities! I hope to write something that people enjoy and your review let me know what works and what doesn't; it also serves as a motivation! I love this community!

Stay safe and look forward to how Aida Shion shakes things up!