Chapter 43: Happenings at the Cafe
Palette Cafe is a super popular cafe located on the first floor of the school building.
This cafe is a branch opened by a major corporation on campus.
The prices are quite expensive for high school students, making it not something you can afford to drink often. For students at other schools without part-time jobs, coming a few times a month would be the limit.
However, because students attending this school are paid points based on their class points, many students can still freely enjoy the cafe, provided their financial situation isn't too dire.
For instance, right now, groups of girls are constantly gathering to enjoy the after-school hours. At a glance, Palette is almost entirely filled with girls, giving off a "No Boys Allowed" vibe. If it weren't for the occasional sight of handsome, normie-type boys walking in with girls hanging on their arms, Hikigaya would almost think it was a women-only shop.
'Hachiman suggests adding a "Men Welcome" sign at the entrance! It would definitely increase customer traffic!'
"...It's so crowded," Hikigaya said, hesitating to proceed, looking at the people laughing and chatting inside.
'Seriously, do I have to go in? The concentration of normies here looks super high.'
"Hikigaya-kun, is this your first time coming after school? Ah... right, because you don't have friends."
Yukinoshita asked feigning innocence, deliberately poking at Hikigaya's sore spot.
"...Yukinoshita-san, I have a question I'd like you to help answer." Hikigaya ignored Yukinoshita's sarcasm and found a different angle to counterattack: "Why do girls always walk side-by-side in groups of four or five?"
Hikigaya was absolutely certain this was a question Yukinoshita Yukino could never answer. It's too cruel; she doesn't have enough friends to line up in a row.
Seeing the smug curl of Hikigaya's lips, Yukinoshita glared at him with icy eyes.
"Hikigaya-kun, Yukinoshita-kun, it's better not to stand at the doorway. I've already reserved a private room."
Sakayanagi, wearing a black beret, stood next to the two, looking troubled. She gently tapped the floor in front of her with her cane, interrupting their bickering, and gestured for Hikigaya to hurry inside.
Kamuro, standing behind Hikigaya, didn't say anything but gently pushed Hikigaya's back, then took the lead and walked toward the entrance.
The group entered the shop, greeted by the cooling relief of the air conditioning. Hikigaya looked around. Most people here were girls gathered together discussing trendy topics, along with a few couples being affectionate.
Compared to them, Hikigaya, with his dead fish eyes, looked distinctly out of place.
"I say, did you see that? Some students are working here as waitstaff..."
"Seriously? Doesn't the school rule prohibit students from working part-time?"
"I asked them. They said it's a Service Club activity, and they're just volunteering."
"How can a club have such a grotesque name... Are the person who founded it and those members out of their minds? They're already rushing to prepare for school exams, and they have time to come here to 'volunteer'?"
"...Let's hurry to the private room."
Listening to the girls' discussions, Hikigaya looked at the lightly chuckling Sakayanagi, the smiling Yukinoshita, and Kamuro, who was forcefully covering her mouth but still let out a suppressed "Pfft" laugh, and he covered his face in shame.
After Sakayanagi told the server the room number of the private room, the group was led into an elegantly decorated small room. The room was lined with wallpaper featuring beautiful patterns. A brown square table stood in the center, illuminated by a warm yellow chandelier. Beige-white sofa seats were placed on both sides of the table.
Yukinoshita offered the innermost seat to Sakayanagi, then sat down gracefully like an elegant young lady, placing both Sakayanagi's and her own school bags by her feet.
Kamuro, on the other hand, plopped down heavily onto the innermost seat opposite Sakayanagi, carelessly rested her two school bags against the table leg, and then pulled out the chair next to her, leaving a gap for someone to easily walk in and sit down.
Only after doing all this did she look up, only to find Sakayanagi and Yukinoshita looking at her with slightly furrowed brows.
"...What is it?"
"No, nothing. Hikigaya-kun, please sit down." Sakayanagi gently shook her head.
"You guys talk first. I'll go order at the counter..."
'I don't know why, but I just feel like if I sit down now, I'll be scorned by Sakayanagi and Yukinoshita.'
"Hikigaya, you sit down. I'll go order." Hearing Hikigaya's words, Kamuro pressed her hands on the table, looking like she wanted to stand up.
"No, well, I'm closer to the door... Kamuro-san, why don't you and Yukinoshita-san tell Sakayanagi-san about the negotiation with Class D yesterday first." Because Yukinoshita was
looking at him with an increasingly strange gaze, Hikigaya quickly made up an excuse to decline Kamuro's meticulous service.
"...Got it. I want a Mocha and a Blueberry Cake." Although her face was still cold, Kamuro obediently sat down after hearing Hikigaya's words and stated what she wanted.
Watching the strange interaction between Hikigaya and Kamuro, Sakayanagi gave a knowing smile.
"What would you like to drink?"
"I'll just have Black Tea." Yukinoshita said, as if it was obvious—that takes nerve.
"Let me see... A Caramel Macchiato and a side of cookies, please. Thank you very much, Hikigaya-kun." Sakayanagi's cute little face was adorned with a happy smile.
'That is probably the best 'thank you' I've ever heard.'
Hikigaya ordered the meals the three girls wanted at the counter, and also ordered a Cappuccino and Honey Waffles for himself. He looked at the printed bill, his expression somewhat peculiar.
'U-Um... is this one of those situations where I shouldn't ask why?'
One cup of coffee is almost 1,000 points. Are we still in the bubble economy era here?
Not long after, Hikigaya received the food from a senior student volunteering for the club activity and brought it back to the private room.
"You took too long," Yukinoshita complained, then took the hot Black Tea from Hikigaya and gently blew on it to cool it down.
Hikigaya put the items down, sat in the seat next to Kamuro, and asked: "Are you guys done chatting?"
"Yes. Thanks to your absence, the progress was very smooth. Thank you." Yukinoshita candidly expressed her gratitude to Hikigaya.
'That is probably the worst 'thank you' I've ever heard.'
"That's good. What's the situation now?" Hikigaya took a sip of coffee, then turned to Sakayanagi and asked.
"Katsuragi-kun went to negotiate with Class C's Ryuen Kakeru yesterday, but in addition to the exam paper, he also wanted us to provide them with private points equivalent to 200 class evaluation points monthly before he would hand over Class C's command right to us. I felt the price was a little too high, so I had Katsuragi-kun terminate the negotiation with Class C."
"And Yukinoshita-kun exchanged the exam paper and 1.6 million private points for the right to command Class D's actions in one Special Exam. She already received the contract from Class D's Hirata-kun this morning."
"Our preparations are complete."
Sakayanagi briefly explained the situation, then smiled lightly as she summarized.
Kamuro forked a small piece of blueberry cake and put it into her mouth, saying unclearly: "So that means... chew, chew... all we need to focus on now is the midterm exam... chew, chew... and then later, by looking at the change in points for Class B and Class C, we'll know if the upperclassmen interfered, right?"
"Kamuro-san, please don't talk while eating..." Hikigaya couldn't help his lips twitching slightly.
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