Summer Vacation Arc: 59 Beachside Hut and a Part-Time Job

Summer Vacation Arc
59 Beachside Hut and a Part-Time Job

Having lost the beach volleyball match, Fuuga and Yuuri were incredibly depressed.

“If Kusuhara-san was with us, we might have won.”
“It’s Shoutarou-kun’s fault!”

It seemed that they were so frustrated that Shoutarou, having taken Meru away, was dragged through the mud.

“Even if I didn’t take Kusuhara away, you people who were surrounded by girls would have left Kusuhara as she was. Furthermore, do you not think that if Kusuhara joined a team, those girls would have made a fuss about wanting to join, too?”

Shoutarou spoke plainly while pushing his sunglasses up. Since it was the undeniable truth, Fuuga and Yuuri both immediately shut up.

“In any case, a loss is a loss. Fuuga, Yuuri.”
“You’re being bad losers, you know?”

The victors, Hayate and Laila, were in a very good mood.

As such, the six of them went to have lunch.
Since it was a wide beach, there were a lot of beachside huts. They were in various states, from those flourishing to those dying out.

“Where should we go?”

Meru asked.
However, the beachside hut that everyone was looking at was the same.

If a group of guys this good looking was to go to one of the beachside huts, so many people would come that it would be full to bursting. That being the case, it would be good if they went to a deserted beachside hut where no one was going.
Above all else, they wouldn’t have to wait for the food to come out.

“There is good, right?”

Hayate pointed to a small, worn-out beach hut at the edge of the sandy beach and asked for their opinions. The place where they would have lunch was unanimously decided.

Peeking into the store, no one was immediately visible. Hayate took a step into the store and spoke in a slightly louder voice, asking, “Is anyone here?”

In response, there came the sound of noisy footsteps as a young couple came downstairs.

“Customers!?”
“Uwawa, people this cool!”

The couple’s eyes sparkled and they immediately led the group to the best seats where they could see the ocean.

“Is it just the two of you running this shop?”

When Laila asked that, the couple nodded while smiling bitterly.

“Before, there weren’t that many beach huts, so we had our own employees, but…”
“Recently, a lot of fashionable huts aimed at young people have popped up… Our workers all drifted over there as well.”

The couple said, “This topic isn’t any fun! Please, enjoy yourselves,” took their orders, and disappeared into the kitchen.

“Since there isn’t anyone coming here, I wondered what kind of place it would be. But it’s an unexpectedly clean and quiet place.”

Shoutarou said while looking around the establishment. Everyone nodded in agreement. It didn’t have the liveliness and the flashy decorations of those flourishing beach huts. The menu in particular was normal, and if you called it uninteresting, it would be uninteresting, but it was a store with a very good atmosphere.

“It’s such a waste.”

Yuuri muttered what everyone was feeling.

Everyone then began to chat idly. While their conversation grew lively as they chatted about topics like Meru’s family and the previous beach volleyball match, they heard a sudden loud sound.

“Honey, are you ok!?”

They could hear the loud voice of the wife from the kitchen.
Meru and the others went to go see what happened, heading to the kitchen.

“Uwah, are you ok!?”

Fuuga rushed over to the fallen husband.

“Ahh, our customer! I’m sorry. I threw out my back a little…”

The husband said as he rubbed his lower back. It seemed that he strained his back the moment he picked up the pot. While paying great attention to her husband, the wife deeply apologized to the executives.

“I’m terribly sorry, but I can’t serve everyone’s meals with just me alone.”

She lamented, “Even though you came here.”

“Please don’t worry about us.”

Hayate said with a smile. However, next to him, Shoutarou suspiciously put his sunglasses back on.

“We’re fine with that, but what will you do about the guests from here on? If the master can’t move, you can’t operate, correct?”
“That’s true. It’s as Shou-chan says.”

The wife looked down. Even if they said that, there was no way around it.
Although they couldn’t be said to be flourishing, it wasn’t that they wouldn’t get even a single customer. However, it was unfortunate to miss those few important customers.

And above all else, this happened because they were making the dishes the executives had ordered. It couldn’t be said that they were unrelated.

“Then, we will help out.”
“““““““Eh.”””””””

The executives and the couple were surprised by Hayate’s suggestion. Without giving heed to any of that, Hayate immediately began to issue instructions.

“Fuuga and Yuuri will attract customers. Laila, Shoutarou, and I will work inside.”
“Um, and me…?”

When Meru timidly raised her hand, Hayate smiled.

“You’ll be in charge of cooking with the wife. Ma’am, is that alright with you?”

The wife nodded in response to his question.
Even if they wanted helpers this strong, they probably couldn’t get any.

“If Fuuga and Yuuri succeed in drawing customers in, I’ll forgive your debt.”

When Hayate said that, both Fuuga and Yuuri lifted their arms in joy.

For the time being, after making lunch for the executives, Meru tried making all of the dishes on the beachside hut’s menu.
When she had the master give them a taste, he gave an enigmatic evaluation that they were better than his own.
Everyone finished eating and stood up.

“Alright, then let’s work hard.”

Hayate clapped his hands together and everyone took their places.

Like that, the executives’ part-time job started.

Several minutes after their part-time job began, the previously empty interior was already full.
This was thanks to Fuuga and Yuuri’s hard work.
It probably wasn’t just an illusion that there were a lot of female customers.

The two attracting the customers were cool, and the staff inside were also handsome, so rumors about the place immediately spread on the beach.

“Ruu-chan, number seven added two plates of yakisoba.”
“‘Kay.”

Laila told her the order in the back, and Meru added noodles to the iron griddle. It was her first job working in this kind of disorder. Normally, she should be constantly busy, but with her godlike tricks, the orders hadn’t piled up up to now.
The wife understood that as well and felt comfortable leaving Meru to do the cooking alone while she devoted herself to washing dishes.

“Here. Number two’s fried squid and karaage, number four’s grilled corn, french fries, and four plates of yakisoba.”

Furthermore, with Meru’s memory, she never made a mistake on the sequence of orders. She was the perfect employee.

“How are the three serving customers doing? Especially Katsuragi-kun.”

Meru asked the wife who was washing dishes next to her while making the yakisoba. She went to peek up front a little bit ago.

“They’re doing their best. It seems that Katsuragi-kun is bussing tables and mainly serving the male customers.”
“He’s not serving the female customers?”

Meru asked with a wry smile. The wife thought for a little while before answering.

“When Kamishiro-kun and Hiiragi-kun are busy, he sometimes helps out with the quiet girls who don’t squeal even when he looks at them.”

Meru was a little surprised hearing that. She expected that he was firmly rejecting the women, but it seemed that he was putting a little effort forth. The wife smiled seeing that Meru looked impressed and relieved.

“Is Katsuragi-kun not good with girls?”
“Well, it seems that way.”

When Meru answered with a helpless expression, the wife’s face lit up enthusiastically.

“Then, Meru-chan is special?”
“…It’s not like that.”

Meru answered, recalling her conversation with Shoutarou a few hours prior.
The wife made a strange face, but soon smiled.

“But, if I was a little younger, I would probably be jealous of you. You can be together with that group of handsome guys. You’re special after all, right?”
“…That’s not how it is.”

Meru smiled wryly while transferring the yakisoba to the plates.

“Here’s number seven’s two plates of yakisoba.”
“Got it. Next up is number one’s shaved ice, one each of strawberry and melon, and number three’s two soft serves, orange juice and cola.”

Hayate listed off the orders while reading his notes and Meru listened, organizing the preparation order in her mind.
Seeing her like that, Hayate looked worried.

“Meru. Isn’t it tough alone? If so, I can send someone to you.”
“I’m fine. You also figured that and left it to me, right?”

When Meru smiled, Hayate said, “You’re right,” and returned a smile.

“Or rather, it’s more difficult over there, right?”

Though they were customers, most of their purpose for coming was the guys. Because of that, they talked to them about many things other than their orders. It was to the extent that she knew that despite being in the kitchen. Since they were covering for Shoutarou, Hayate and Laila were probably having an even rougher time.

“It’s fine. Well, I made the suggestion expecting this much. If you compare it to the student council affairs, it’s not much.”
“Since Rengetsu-kun and Aidou-kun are pulling in customers, huh. This big of a crowd certainly is within expectations.”
“Plus, when it fills up, we can pull Fuuga and Yuuri in to help, so there’s no problem.”
“I see. Then that’s good. Then, um… Number one, shaved ice, one each of strawberry and melon, number three, two soft creams, orange juice, and cola…right? I’ll hurry and prepare them.”

Meru accurately repeated the orders off the top of her head without looking at the memo. Hayate smiled, saying, “As expected,” and disappeared into the interior.

After that, Laila and Shoutarou also came in order to check on Meru.

“Ohh! It’s packed!”

The husband who was lying down in a room in back adjoining the kitchen opened the sliding screen slightly and checked on the service.

“Yeah. It’s really a big help.”

The wife who was washing dishes said earnestly. If it were possible, she’d want them to come all the time from now on.
The customer attraction was wonderful, and their handling of customers was also the best.

“At any rate, that girl is amazing. Even I would be kept busy without a second to rest with all of this.”

The husband said with admiration as he watched Meru cooking while talking to Fuuga and Yuuri. It seemed that they came to talk to Meru while they got a drink of water.

Fuuga was smiling very happily as he talked to Meru. Yuuri also had a smile. Even though it didn’t seem to be a particularly entertaining topic, they looked like they were having a lot of fun.
He saw them pulling in customers earlier, and at that time they were talking energetically with women. Their smiles didn’t seem like customer service smiles, and they didn’t feel out of place at all.
However, looking at their faces now, it was obvious that their smile shortly ago were customer service smiles.
It wasn’t just those two. The other three were also like that.

“I think she’s special after all.”

I’m not special.
Meru had clearly said that, but that wasn’t how the couple saw it.

The beach hut was also packed the whole time after that.

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<TLN>

It’s Ouran, y’all. It really is and I’m here for it.

26 chapters left in the summer vacation arc!

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