The Gyaru Sitting Behind Me Liked Me. Might Be No Hope For Me Anymore

>Looks like the shift got mixed up, so I got a day-off today.

>I'm free, so I'm gonna go visit your workplace, okay?

Suddenly such a message came from Shino. It was when Sandai was looking at news on his phone during his break time.

"Eh…"

The liquid running down on Sandai's forehead was cold sweat…

Sandai had been regularly adjusting his shift so that Shino would absolutely not come to his workplace.

For this reason, Sandai previously had told Shino, "You can come visit if you have time," despite there being Hajime and Omaki who could make Shino run into a weird misunderstanding.

And all of that, because of the slipup on the side of Shino's workplace, had quickly come to naught.

However, when trying to think about it, it had been a situation that could happen. The chances of it developing in this way hadn't been zero.

Sandai had been foolish, for making light of it and thinking it would never happen.

He would love to pretend not to have seen the chat if possible, but Shino would simply suddenly show up even if he were to do that.

Sandai ran his brain in full throttle and thought up a method to make Shino give up visiting.

But without even coming up with such a convenient bizarre plan or something, at the end of the day, Shino would be visiting.

The method Sandai took as a last resort was nothing but explaining the situation to Hajime and Komaki and getting their cooperation.

"So your girlfriend, does she get jealous that easily? She didn't seem that kind of girl from the photo, though."

"I've heard Yuizaki-san is the possessive type, so I don't particularly doubt it, but… it feels like, 'so she's finally coming,' I would say."

Sandai had talked about Shino's personality to Hajime before, so he was able to quickly get Hajime's cooperation. However, Sandai had never actually talked about it to Komaki, so she looked half in doubt.

Though, seeing that Sandai was an honest guy who would regularly do his work seriously, Sandai managed to have Komaki to believe him also.

And so with that, it seemed they would be cooperating. Maybe this was the result of accumulation of credibility and trust on a daily basis, too.

Sandai felt once again that what was important to people in the end was honesty, and that he should strive to be as sincere as possible on a daily basis.

2

For how to deal with Shino's jealousy, the important thing was not to show their closeness. It was extremely simple, but it would be easy to tell visually, and Shino would also be less likely to have unnecessary suspicions. 

The agreement Sandai had gotten from Hajime and Komaki was: no conversations other than the minimum necessary for work-related ones while Shino was present.

It was almost time for Shino to show up.

When Sandai looked at Hajime and Komaki, they gave a nod. Komaki would stay indoors in the office, apparently trying not to show herself up in the first place. As for Hajime who would have to work beside Sandai no matter what, it seemed he would be going with a slightly gloomy impression.

Now then, Shino turned up with a smiling face before long.

"Yoohoo."

"You're here."

"I'm here~. Fufu, you're in the aquarium issued work clothes. Gotta preserve it in a photo since it's new."

Shino was slightly excited from seeing Sandai in his work clothes for the first time. She began to take photos in various angles with her phone.

"I'm still in the middle of work more or less, so don't get too… okay?"

"I see. You're right. I'll just quietly watch until you're done with work… Hmm? What's with that girl there wearing the same work clothes as you?"

Having spotted Hajime doing cleaning nearby Sandai, Shino narrowed her eyes. Hajime started at Shino's gaze, but he immediately went back to cleaning.

"It's a pretty big aquarium. So we're working in a pair."

"Is that so?"

"That's right. Also, over there is not a girl but a guy."

"No way! I mean, I can only see a girl, you know? There's a smell like that new product, too."

Having his face peered into by Shino, "Hello," Hajime responded smally, perhaps judging he couldn't really ignore this.

Along with a different way of talking than usual, Hajime's voice sounded about two octaves lower. He was hanging in there bringing out the gloominess.

"You're a girl, right?"

"W-What is it?"

"I was just wondering why you're pretending to be a guy when you're a girl."

"I'm a guy."

"There's a nice smell coming from you, though. That's the smell of a new shampoo from Anna Sui or Jill, isn't it?"

"Eh? Ah… I do have an older sister, a-and I've been using that."

Shino was indiscriminately coming at Hajime.

Sandai would love very much to go and help Hajime, but… he didn't know how Shino would react if he were to poorly step in, so all he could do was to leave everything to Hajime.

I'm counting on you, Saeki, Sandai muttered in his mind and began to do his own work.

"Err, you seemed to be on good terms with Fujiwara-kun earlier. Could it be, girlfriend?"

"That's right."

"I'm envious of Fujiwara-kun. His girlfriend is an amazingly beautiful girl, and I'm sure he doesn't even look at other women."

"You think so?"

"I do think so."

"I see. Sorry for interrupting your work."

"Not at all."

"Lastly, I've got a favor to ask… don't approach Sandai weirdly or anything like that, okay?"

"M-My personality is like this, and I don't even talk to Fujiwara-kun that much. I don't feel comfortable. Then, I have work to do, so…"

Seeing that Sandai had also taken a slight distance from Shino and Hajime after beginning to do his work, he wasn't able to hear what kind of conversation it was.

Though, Hajime seemed to have gone through it without a problem. Shino moved away from Hajime, and started to watch Sandai from a distance with a smile.

Perhaps having something she couldn't miss no matter what, Komaki would also occasionally show up and pass by Shino in the hallway.

Although Komaki didn't come to talk to Sandai as requested, every time passing by Shino, somehow Komaki would be making a different, weird expression.

Though, maybe that bore fruit, as halfway through Shino started to recognize Komaki as just a weird person making a weird face even though at the start Shino had been sending a glare-like gaze at Komaki as well.

3

"Haaah~ I'm tired."

"I'm tired, too. Yuizaki-san was much prettier in person than in photo, but in all kinds of sense the pressure was absurdly strong, too."

"I get that. I also got glared at."

"It seems she really loves Fujiwara-kun, isn't it?"

"That's how it seemed."

Having gone back to the employee room at the end of his shift, Sandai lowered his head to Hajime and Sandai again.

"That has been really helpful. Komaki-san, thank you very much."

"Don't mention it."

"You too, Saeki. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Sandai clocked out, and then hurried to the toilet to get changed. When he headed towards the exit, he found Shino waiting for him.

Shino peered into Sandai's face with upturned eyes for a full 5 seconds, and then unhurriedly faced forward.

"Thank you for your hard work. Let's head back after eating something. It'll be my treat today."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"…I see. Then I guess I'll take you up on your offer."

He went through the difficult situation safely.

Such a conviction sprouted within Sandai, and at the same time a sense of relief welled up. What a relief.