A true warrior doesn't fear awkwardness. He stares into the abyss of life—and shrugs.
At least, that's what Natsukawa Kanade told himself as he stiffly handed over the small stack of slightly questionable books to the girl at the register. His face was calm. Stoic. Like a battle-hardened samurai preparing to meet his fate.
As long as I don't feel embarrassed… then it's everyone else who will feel awkward instead!
He clung to that logic like a drowning man to a floating log.
Yes—he had his reasons. Logical ones! He'd even gone as far as rehearsing them in his head on the spot. "It's for a friend." "I was curious." "I tripped and accidentally grabbed them." But deep down, even he knew these were weak excuses. Uso da. Lies wouldn't save him now.
No… it was better to stand tall and accept it. To be honest with himself. If someone dared to judge him, maybe he could even turn the tables and argue from a moral standpoint! Like, "Everyone has needs, okay?!" and walk away a philosophical victor.
Of course, that was the fantasy.
Reality? Reality was Yukinoshita Yukino raising her head for exactly half a second, glancing at the books, then at him, and blinking with that usual calm, glacier-like gaze.
It wasn't even disapproval that stung. It was the complete indifference—as if his reasons didn't matter, as if she had already expected this sort of thing from him.
But Kanade wasn't blind. He caught the brief flicker of something in her eyes. A quiet, almost imperceptible disdain. The same cool sharpness that she showed to people she couldn't be bothered to deal with.
It was over in a moment, but it hit harder than a slap.
Still, he couldn't just blurt out, "Oi! You're looking down on me, aren't you?!" That would only make things worse and sound like a guilty conscience. He'd basically be admitting defeat, like that blonde delinquent from earlier.
So instead, he stood there. Awkward. Burning alive inside.
The next ten minutes felt like eternity. Kanade drifted aimlessly around the front of the store, sometimes pacing by the door like an overgrown dog waiting for its owner. He couldn't stand still, couldn't focus. Every passing shopper who glanced at him made it worse. Some looked at him curiously. Some at Yukino behind the counter. None of them said a word—but their expressions said enough.
He was being silently judged.
Like a boyfriend who got caught doing something dumb and was now forced to wait for his girlfriend to finish her shift as punishment.
Just as Kanade was about to question his entire life's choices, a warm voice from the back room cut through the silence.
"Yukinoshita-san, you can clock out now. Thanks for your hard work today."
It was the store manager—a kind-looking, balding middle-aged man who smiled like someone from a morning drama.
"Thank you, Manager," Yukino replied with a respectful bow, her posture as perfect as ever. It was the kind of polite deference you gave someone you genuinely didn't mind working under.
As the manager turned to leave, his eyes landed on Kanade—who was awkwardly hovering nearby.
"Ah, welcome! Do you need any help with something?" the manager asked kindly.
Kanade blinked, unsure how to respond. Say he was just browsing? Say he was loitering? Admitting "I'm waiting for Yukinoshita to get off work" felt way too sus. The implications would spiral in every possible direction.
Fortunately, Yukino didn't share that same hesitation.
"He's waiting for me," she said plainly. "He's just… a friend."
"Just" a friend, huh… Kanade mentally winced. That word stung a little more than it should've. He resisted the urge to cover his face and groan out loud. Seriously, you had to emphasize the "just"? What, do you feel giri (obligated) to explain why we're even associated?!
The manager paused, eyebrows raised ever so slightly—but then chuckled with a knowing look.
"Ah, sou ka… friends, huh? I see, I see. Ah~ young people… youth is such a wonderful thing…"
He nodded sagely, like he'd just seen the final episode of a romance anime.
Kanade couldn't help but smile. The man's tone was too harmless to be annoyed by, and just like that, the awkward fog hanging over him cleared a little.
Yukino, however, wasn't as amused. She narrowed her eyes slightly, gave the manager a brief nod, and excused herself with a cool, "I'll go change."
As soon as she disappeared into the back, the manager leaned in a little toward Kanade, clearly ready to gossip.
"So… young man, what's your name?"
"Natsukawa Kanade," he replied politely. "You can just call me Kanade."
"Kanade-kun, huh… So tell me—have you known Yukinoshita-san long?"
There it was. The manager's eyes may have been squinting, but the curiosity behind them was sharp. He was 100% fishing for details.
Kanade sighed inwardly. Yare yare… so it begins.
"…We've known each other for a while," he said, trying to keep his tone neutral, just like Yukino would.
"Ohh, is that so?" the manager replied with an amused grin. "I'm just a little curious about the depth of your relationship."
"…"
That's not "a little," old man. Kanade kept his face straight. "We're… friends. Definitely friends."
For now, anyway.
"…That definitely sounds special, though?" Kanade deadpanned inwardly. Still, he kept his expression as calm and neutral as possible, matching Yukinoshita Yukino's usual tone of distance. "We should indeed be considered friends…"
Strictly speaking, it was the kind of "friendship" where one used to pursue the other, and the other... tolerated it. But after everything that had happened, Kanade felt like Yukino didn't really hate him anymore. Maybe she even kind of acknowledged him. She had, after all, officially referred to him as a friend. That had to count for something, right?
"Knowing each other… it has been a while," he added, nodding slightly. It was true. They hadn't been particularly close for most of that time, but their acquaintance stretched back far enough to make the statement technically correct.
"Ohhh, I see, I see…" The manager nodded sagely, rubbing his chin. He looked like the kind of kindly older character who shows up in slice-of-life anime just to poke their nose into young people's business—but in a lovable way.
"So, are you classmates? Same class? And how did you two meet, hmm?" the manager asked, like he was drawing out the juicy details of a forbidden romance subplot.
Kanade gave a slightly strained smile. Why is this ojii-san so into this?
"We go to the same school," he replied. "But we're not in the same class…"
The manager nodded again, eyes sparkling. "Sou ka… sou ka…"
"As for how we met…" Kanade hesitated for a moment. It wasn't really the kind of story one could romanticize. But dodging the question would just make things more awkward. After a moment of silent mental agony, he gave the simplest, most honest answer possible:
"Because Yukinoshita is really cute…"
"…Ha?" The manager tilted his head, clearly amused.
"I mean—!" Kanade rubbed the back of his neck. "She caught my eye. That's how I noticed her at first. It wasn't complicated. Just… She was so striking, I couldn't help it."
Of course, the original intent wasn't exactly pure. It was like admiring a work of art from a distance and then slowly realizing that the painting talks back and occasionally roasts you to your soul's core.
"But as I got to know her," Kanade continued with a slight, fond smile, "I realized that Yukinoshita isn't just beautiful on the outside. She's actually… really adorable on the inside too."
She was brilliant—her memory and intellect were off the charts. But at the same time, she'd get lost in the most straightforward places. Her mind was sharp enough to master almost anything quickly, but her stamina was hilariously pathetic. And her obsession with doing things "correctly" made her overly stiff at times. Oh, and let's not forget the sarcasm—so much sarcasm. Honestly, if it weren't for the difference in tone and gender, she'd basically be the human version of a tsundere oni-chan.
Still, those contradictions, the juxtaposition of strength and awkwardness—that was what made her irresistibly charming.
"Yukinoshita-san wa hontou ni kawaii desu, (Yukinoshita-san really is cute)" Kanade finished, as if giving a formal verdict.
The manager nodded in agreement, chuckling. "You've got good eyes, Kanade-kun. I thought the same thing when she first started working here."
He leaned forward a little, dropping his voice conspiratorially. "Ever since she joined, our daily sales have jumped. People come in just to see her. They'll pick up the most random books—ones that usually collect dust—just to impress her, I think. She's like our store's lucky charm."
"Eh… That's impressive." Kanade blinked.
"Right?" The manager laughed. "And she's a fast learner too. Picked up the job within a week. I barely have to do anything now. Honestly, I sometimes feel like I don't deserve such a capable helper in a place like this."
He gave a mock sigh and leaned back. "If there's one tiny issue, though… it's that she has a bit of trouble with customer-facing work. You know, the smiling part. But even that has become a selling point! Some folks are into that cool, icy charm. I swear, some of them couldn't care less about books—they just want a glimpse of Yukinoshita's frost queen aura."
As he said that, he subtly glanced at Kanade with a knowing smile.
"…" Is he talking about me now? Nande ya ne…
"To be honest," the manager continued with a laugh, "Yukinoshita is basically the poster girl of this place now. I never realized being beautiful could boost business this much."
Kanade gave an awkward chuckle, half-exasperated, half-resigned. "I can see that…"
But in truth, he was a little impressed. Yukino was really… something else.
And the manager wasn't done. He clearly liked having someone to talk to. He started rambling about the bookstore, weird customers, staff schedules, and even the shop's cat that wandered in during summer but ran away after Yukino glared at it once.
Kanade looked toward the back, silently pleading: Yukino, please come back before I get adopted into this man's family…
Then suddenly, the manager's tone shifted, a subtle drop in levity that caught Kanade off guard.
"You know," he said thoughtfully, "I'm actually really grateful to Yukinoshita. She brought life back into this sleepy little place. She doesn't say much, but just by being here, she makes things brighter."
Kanade nodded slowly. That sounded like Yukino, all right.
"And that's why I wanted to talk to you," the manager added, fixing Kanade with a surprisingly serious gaze. "I needed to know what kind of guy you were. If you were just another punk trying to take advantage of her…"
He trailed off, then chuckled. "But I guess you're all right, huh? Not many young guys would stick around listening to an old man ramble this long. You've got a good heart."
"Ah… iie, I just…" Kanade scratched his cheek, a bit embarrassed. It wasn't like he wanted to sit here listening to a long monologue, but the situation didn't exactly give him much of a choice. That said, the old man's words were starting to hit a little differently now.
"There really are a lot of bad guys out there," the manager sighed, his tone dipping into something more solemn. "Inside this store, I can watch over her, keep things in check… But once she walks out those doors, I'm powerless, you know?"
Kanade's gaze subtly shifted. That sudden seriousness in the manager's voice made one thing very clear—Yukino's earlier comment that "there aren't many customers like that" was probably a lie. Or at least, not the full truth. From the sound of it, a lot of creeps had come sniffing around, and Yukino… probably hadn't wanted him to worry.
He clenched his fists slightly under the table.
Ever since they were younger, Yukinoshita Yukino had always attracted unwanted attention. Whether it was because of her looks, her cool aura, or just how unreachable she seemed… the world had never been especially kind to her. Even now, in high school, things hadn't changed. It was like the universe had an endless supply of jerks ready to throw malice her way.
"I understand," Kanade said quietly, but firmly. His expression was now serious, his voice filled with a rare gravity. "I'll protect Yukinoshita. No matter what. I swear on my honor."
Truthfully, he didn't need the manager's request. He'd already made that vow long ago—to be the one who would stay by her side, until the day she no longer needed saving. That promise hadn't changed. It never would.
"…That said, please take care of her when she's working here, Manager," Kanade added after a pause, softening his tone. "That girl may seem perfect, but she's surprisingly clumsy in unexpected ways."
He was about to say more—maybe share a small anecdote or something—but then he froze. His words died on his tongue.
Because out of the corner of his eye, he saw her.
Yukinoshita Yukino.
At some point, she'd appeared at the edge of his vision—quietly, like a cat slipping into the room unnoticed.
Naturally, she wasn't in her uniform. It was the weekend, after all. But that only made the sight of her in casual clothes even more rare, and, well… precious.
Kanade blinked a few times. Casual Yukino mode was a rare species—one he'd only encountered a few times. She was usually too quick to reject his invitations, unless he came up with a clever excuse like, "I need help picking out a birthday gift." Honestly, a few of his friends had mysteriously celebrated three birthdays last year alone.
Totally worth it.
Today, she wore a crisp, white shirt with a soft, beige jacket layered over it. On the bottom, a skirt with subtle black and white stripes. It wasn't flashy—maybe even plain by some standards—but on Yukino? It was perfect. Clean, refined, kawaii in a way that still radiated her usual cool aura. A real-life tsundere snow queen, standing right there.
Natsukawa Kanade's internal monologue immediately screamed, Yukino-chan wa maji tenshi da yo!
His thumbs itched to shoot up. His brain was already drafting compliments. Ooh, good outfit coordination. 10/10. Fashionable and cute! But just as he was about to open his mouth, a realization crashed into him like a meteor.
Wait… didn't I just say something along the lines of "Yukinoshita is kinda clumsy sometimes"…?
Oh no. Oh no no no.
His eyes slowly shifted to meet hers, praying—begging—for mercy.
"Uh… Yukinoshita," he said cautiously, putting on a hopeful smile. "When did you… happen to start listening?"
Please lie. Just once. Say something kind. Maybe she only caught the tail end?
Yukino's cool eyes met his. Calm, emotionless… and ever so slightly terrifying.
She didn't respond. Not to him, anyway. She just turned slightly and gave the manager a small, respectful nod.
"Arigatou gozaimashita. I'll be heading back now," she said, her voice smooth like glass.
And just like that, she turned and left.
Kanade: "…"
Yabai. He was finished. This wasn't just stepping on a landmine—he'd triggered the whole minefield.
Caught red-handed. Roasted in 4K. It was the end.
The girl he'd been praising one second—and lowkey teasing the next—had caught him mid-badmouthing session.
And judging from her silence, the Yukino snowstorm was about to roll in.