"Shirou, one burrito set, two salads, one fish-and-chips, one cheese burger and a pepper steak well-done!" Kano's orders were barely audible over the sounds of the deep-fryer, the oven and stove running on high, but I was still able to hear him with a little use of Reinforcement on my ears.
"Coming right up!" I pulled back my sleeves higher than before and set about creating the dishes for the customers. It has been a very trialing morning, and it looked like I was going to work overtime for the day.
It has been a week now since the Rating Game between the Gremory Group and the Phenex Group, and during that time, I have been working my ass off just to make up for the days I could not come because of the training. Kano certainly did not hold back; he immediately put me into cooking duty and had me work for a few days straight. At least I could use this opportunity to relax and try out some of my experimental dishes on the way.
This morning however was exceptionally crowded; the people have been coming in non-stop, all the three assistants had been called in to help out, and we even had to bring out all the remaining tables in storage and asked for a few more from neighboring stores. They were gracious enough to loan them to us, on the condition they get to eat some of my creations.
It was just as well that I am working right now, this way I could be distracted by all that had happened since the Rating Game.
It seemed that I had underestimated the popularity status that Raiser had as the favorite of the Higher Clans; roughly two days after the Rating Game, both Rias and Sona came to me with troubled expressions and told me that I would need to lay low for the time being, since some of the Devils had started to go nuts from the news. Evidently there was a reporter that was with the witnesses, and while they were more or less silenced, the reporter used Twitter to broadcast the clip where Rias mentioned my involvement with their training.
I was more surprised at the fact that Devils were using phone apps in their world than the possibility of me being hunted.
In any case, because of said reporter, it seemed the higher ups were now starting to utilize their resources to find out who I was, and there were a few big-shots that made the two girls go out of their way to warn me beforehand. So I decided to limit my contact with them and just behaved like a normal student, while going about with my job.
For the time being, there had been no grave issues. There have have no mysterious watchers near me, no assassin coming for my neck or anyone trying to tail me between my workplace and the apartment. It was pretty boring actually.
... Man, my life became more screwed up than I thought if I was actually looking forward for some action.
Well, it was not like I have been idle in my time. I have been trying to repair the Kaleidou-Amulet with whatever I had on me, but it had been a slow and somewhat agonizing process to do so, since I do not have all the necessary parts to fix it. If worse comes to worse, I would have to consider going to Rias or Sona to see if they have anything similar.
Though I really, really hope that I do not need to do so. They would no doubt use my desperation to try and get me into their Peerages.
"Shirou, how are the orders?!" Kano's urgent voice broke my thoughts and reminded me that I had a lot more cooking to do.
"One burrito set, two salads, one fish-and-chips, one cheese burger and a pepper steak well-done. All coming your way!" I yelled back as I pushed the orders through the window.
"Okay, next set of orders! Two Buffalo Wings, one spaghetti, one jambalaya, one double cheese burger, two soups-of-the-day, one taco set and an Eggs-Benedict special!"
Ah come one! What was with the crowd today?! There were never this many people that would come about to the shop! Forget working overtime, we were going to be working all the way past midnight if this does not die out!
There was only one thing to do. That much I decided as I took a cloth to tie up my hair and took off my shirt to handle the heat.
"Trace. On."
Time to cook up a storm.
...
"Whew! I thought we would never close the shop for the day." Kano flopped on the chair and mopped his brow.
"Indeed, I don't think I have ever cooked that much for quite a while." I let out a contented sigh as I laid back on the chair, the soft cushioning helping to ease my tired back muscles. Using Reinforcement on my muscles for a few hours straight was really straining, and I was really thankful for the soft cushioning of the chairs.
"Well, at least our business is booming as usual." Kawako beamed as she came back after locking the door and putting down the signs. "It has been such a long time since we were this crowded, it reminds me of the time when this shop was first opened."
"Was that the case?" I asked politely while leveling my eyes at her.
"Indeed boy. I was a young man roughly your age when the shop got opened by my old boss. It was practically packed to the roof with customers that more often than not, we had to close shop earlier than normal because we ran out of ingredients to cook with!" Kano shook his head while chuckling at the memories. "But still, it was a good thing it lasted this long, because this was where I met the girl of my dreams."
"Oh dear~" Kawako leaned forward and lightly pecked him on the cheek. I could only smile lightly at the affection they shared for one another. It was rather heartening to see such a loving couple. It was folks like these two that made me feel that my actions were worth the pain and suffering.
"But you know Shirou." Kawako turned to me with a rather teasing light in her eyes. "I had noticed that many of the customers that came today were the girls from the nearby district."
Uh oh, I know that look.
"Hmm... Good point. They did try to see you during the past few days, and they were so disappointed." Kano took the opportunity to tease me. "Then when I mentioned to them that you were back, they were pretty adamant to meet you. But you only talked to them for a short while."
Oh no, they have ganged up on me.
"Erm, that's because I was busy." I lightly squirmed in my chair at their teasing. It was a bit of a problem when a few of the girls I had met after taking up the job started to come around to visit, and it was admittedly a bit tiresome.
I mean, I was supposed to be in my twenties right now, I felt like I was robbing a cradle.
"Ara~ but I thought you would be happy that girls would be coming to the shop." Kawako remarked cheerfully.
"The only reason they come to the shop is because I helped them out out of their problems, so they just want to thank me. That is all."
"Oh~ is that so?" Kano's smile almost resembled Raiga's smile when he was about to go on a teasing rampage. "How about that girl from the supermarket down the street?"
"That was because I helped her with dealing with some of the hooligans that come around every so often."
"How about Adeline from the flower shop?" Kawako-san threw in her bit.
"I helped to get rid of the guys that come to harass her a few times and helped her sell some of the flowers."
"Sayaka Miyabi from the Kendo Club of First High University?" Kano took his turn.
"Because the male seniors of the Judo Club were harassing her group and they needed some help, so I took them on in a competition."
"The girls from Hanou Academy?"
"They were having issues with their rival school counterparts, and since one of them knew me from another incident, she got me to help them out."
"How about that Saegusa girl?"
"She was trying to help out her younger sisters from some hooligans, and I was around to stop things from getting out of hand."
"Oh dear Shirou, you really are innocent when it comes to females, huh?" Kano smirked at me as Kawako chuckled lightly.
Not sure how to reply that question, after all my relationships with girls were a little messed up in the past, and regarding the innocence, perhaps it was best I did not tell them about that one night stand with Saber and Rin while escaping Berserker.
Before Kawako could continue with her attack, the chiming of the doorbell indicated that someone was outside the door.
"Now who could that be? We are already closed for the day." Kawako got up to check the person while Kano stayed back to continue teasing me. At the least there was reduced firepower towards me.
Still, I can't say that I did not enjoy the occasional teasing. If anything it kind of reminded me of my younger days when I worked at the other pub, and how I dealt with some of Raiga's guys back then. It was rather relaxing and at the least, put me to ease.
"Shirou, some friends of yours have come to visit!" Kawako's voice echoed in the shop as she called out from her side.
'What?' I frowned slightly as I got up and made my way to the door. I don't recall telling anyone about my workplace, I did not see the need to do so. So who...
A familiar scent momentarily made me pause in my movements and stopped short of turning the door handle.
Why were the devils here in the district, here in front of the store? Was I too careless in my preparations? Have they come to try and take me by force? Would they try to hypnotize the residents to kill me so that they could resurrect me?!
...
Hey guys If you want an extra chapter you, need to throw some power Stones ;)
...
if you want to read ahead of the public release you can go to my p atreon :
p atreon.com/Aerle