Chapter 433: Kato Megumi with Shoulder-Length Hair (Patreon)

Kato Megumi wore the same outfit she'd had on when she first met Jhin: a white beret and a white dress under a pink smock. She carried a document envelope. Her hair, though, had grown a lot since then, from chin-length to shoulder-length.

"What a rare guest. I never thought you'd come to the café on your own." Jhin brought over a cup of black tea and set it in front of her.

"Thank you. Do I really come that rarely?"

"Since that time you came with Pecorine and the others, I think you've only been here three times with other people, right?"

"You remember it very clearly." Kato Megumi took a sip of tea. There was no sugar in it, yet a sweet taste still slid down her tongue and settled somewhere deep inside her. "This is what Eriri asked me to give you."

Jhin took the envelope and squeezed it a couple of times. It was two or three centimeters thick, which convinced him it was the manga manuscript they'd agreed on. He flipped it into his storage space, then looked the beauty in front of him over carefully. Something about her already felt a little different.

"May I order?"

"Of course."

"Hmm… it's a bit hard to choose." Even with Jhin staring straight at her, Kato Megumi stayed perfectly composed and leafed through the menu at her own pace. After a little agonizing, she picked the tiramisu and the strawberry cream ice cream.

When Jhin came back carrying the food, she finally seemed to react, as if a beat slow, and called out his earlier behavior. "You don't use this way of looking at other girls too, do you?"

"It's not that bad. Here, your dessert and ice cream."

"Thank you. So you mean you only look at me like that?" Kato Megumi said, her tone calm, though it was easy to misread.

"Of course. Megumi knows what I'm doing when I look at her like this, so it won't cause any misunderstanding."

"If possible, I'd rather you didn't look at me like that outside. It feels like it would cause unnecessary misunderstandings."

Hearing that, Jhin grinned and sat down across from her. He watched her scoop up her ice cream bit by bit and teased, "Could it be that you're embarrassed?"

"I'm a normal girl too. If you stare at me like this, of course I get embarrassed."

"But you're not even blushing."

"You still love seeing girls in a fluster, don't you?" Kato Megumi licked the cream off her lips with the tip of her pink tongue, and a troubled look crossed her face. Even she felt a little uneasy being watched so closely while she ate. "Don't you have other things to take care of?"

"You're today's first customer, so naturally I should look after you properly."

"I'm a little worried about the female customers who come to your shop."

"Megumi, if you say things like that, I'll sue you for defamation."

"I'm only stating facts."

Jhin shrugged. "Fine, I'll go. By the way, ever since you let your hair grow out, you've been getting more and more dazzling."

Kato Megumi's spoon paused for a moment. Then she answered in a flat tone, "Thank you for the compliment."

"Jhin! I'm here for work!" Only Satania, that adorably dim-witted demon, could shout a work greeting with such cheer. She walked up to the two of them, said hello to Kato Megumi, and then asked him, "Where's that hamster outfit?"

"It's in the changing room. Sachi, take Satania over there!"

"Understood. Miss Satania, please follow me."

"Ooh."

Jhin looked away and saw Kato Megumi blinking her dark, lovely eyes. "Why is Satania working part-time at the café?"

"There's a bit of a story behind it. It's only a short stint at my place. Do you want to try it?"

She watched the oversized hamster come out of the changing room. Whatever interest she'd had faded, and she shook her head. "Moving around in a mascot suit would be too hard for me. I'd probably be too tired to move after a few minutes."

"Okay, then take your time. I'm going to go explain the job to Satania."

"Mm."

Seeing him finally leave, and free to eat in peace, Kato Megumi let out a small sigh of relief. She raised her left hand and pinched her burning earlobe, muttering softly, "He didn't notice, did he…?"

Unused to the mascot suit, Satania was clumsy in it. She nearly swept every bottle and jar off the counter with one "Squirrel Tail Swing." Luckily Takina had noticed the awkward newcomer early on and caught the squirrel tail in time, sparing her the tragedy of paying to go to work.

"Satania, are you getting used to it?" Jhin patted the squirrel head.

"You don't have to pat my head, I can hear you fine! There's even a little fan inside. It's not as stuffy as I imagined. Pretty nice, actually."

"Good. Your job is to hold up the wooden sign outside and attract customers. If it gets too tiring out there, you can come sit in the shop for a while, or interact with the customers, either one is fine."

"Got it! Leave it to me, Lady Satania, to bring you a huge crowd of customers!"

"Don't go overboard." Jhin gave her head two light chops with the edge of his hand, to keep this idiot demon from stirring up trouble in her excitement. "If you do well, I'll make you an extra kind of pineapple bun for lunch today."

"Understood!"

The mascot squirrel instantly stood ramrod straight and saluted him. Then it shouldered the wooden sign and marched happily out of the café. Chisato, who had just finished a DA commission, passed it in the doorway. "Jhin-nii, did that Satania come to work?"

"She did. Good work out there. Go rest in the break room for a bit before you change and start your shift."

"Ah… okay, then I'll leave it to Takina to work a bit harder for a while."

Takina said confidently, "No problem at all."

"Ohh~ Ever since you officially became the signboard girl, your presence is completely different. Damn… at this rate, my position as the number one signboard girl is in danger."

"Hurry up and rest."

Jhin gave Chisato's waist a push. The moment he did, her whole body went rigid, and she hurried off into the break room. From her reaction, he guessed she might be hurt, so he told Sachi and Takina what to do and followed her in.

Chisato had never expected him to follow her directly. She had just taken off her jacket and shirt, exposing her slender, snow-white back and waist, and a very obvious bruise ran across it. Even though she grabbed her clothes to cover up the moment she heard the door open, he had already seen it clearly.

"Jhin-nii… why did you come in?"

Jhin ignored her question. Frowning, he turned her around so her back was to him. "Hit with a blunt weapon? Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Caught, Chisato knew there was no hiding it. She obediently lowered the clothes in her arms, then lifted the hair at the back of her neck. There was a bruise there, too.

"I'm sorry…"

"Why are you apologizing to me?"

"I've been trained for this, and I still got attacked from behind because I was careless."

Jhin was silent for a moment. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he pressed hard on her bruise.

"Ah! It hurts!"

"Was it because you treated an enemy, and his companion sneak-attacked you?"

"No… it hurts, it hurts! Jhin-nii, I was wrong! It's just like you said!"