46 What's Your Work?

Surprisingly, there were a lot of otakus and shop-goers that visited the manga store that Ken and the other guys have visited today. Surely, there's no way that their schoolmates and friends can be here, right?

Ren's outburst has already been predicted by Ryo, so it's time for him to play his trump card!

Speaking of which, that guy is already starting to make his way to the sliding door of the said store when Ryo suddenly said something that made him stunned into his place and slowly turned around to face him once more.

"You're into Yuri stuff, right?"

That sentence alone echoed repeatedly in Ren's head countless times and shocked everyone else in the group.

Ryo carefully examines the blank look of this guy and he can't believe that he was right all along! To think that he had only guessed it by carefully observing his body movements earlier!

It was only known to a few people that Tanaka Ryo has this ability to know what's playing inside people's minds just by keen observation, a thing that pisses off Nakano Yuna most of the time.

When Ren failed to respond, Ryo continued, "You're afraid that we might know so--"

"Alright! Alright! You win!" Ren cuts him midway and was the first one to storm inside the store. "Let's go before you can say something else!"

Ryo and the rest of the group were speechless for only a few minutes before they followed their vice-president into the store and silently prayed that their friends wouldn't see them here.

***

Meanwhile, the girls are now finished fitting their swimwear and are getting ready to pay for it. Amidst of them all was Sakura who is getting slightly uneasy to know that someone is willing to pay on her behalf.

"Here you go," Nakano Yuna widely smiles as she hands over the paper bag to Sakura containing the swimwear of her choice. "Your swimwear."

Almost hesitantly, Sakura reaches for it and shyly says, "T-Thanks."

While all of these are happening, Watanabe Rin had just finished paying for hers when she sees this scenario and didn't let this chance slip by to say something quite nasty about it.

She sighed a pretentious dreamy sigh before saying, "Oh how I wish I could also have a good friend who's willing to pay for my things."

To support her statement, one of her cronies, Endo Aiko, came to her aid and added, "But Watanabe-san, you're already rich. You don't have to rely on someone else's money, right?"

Sakura can't help but curl her right palm into a fist as she happens to hear their conversation beside her that is obviously aimed at her. And Yuna beside her looks like she's so ready to kick their asses at this point.

Smirking, Rin replied, "Right, I almost forgot. I don't have to worry about expenses at all."

Endo Aiko laughed heartily when she and Rin were satisfied enough to see that hurt look on that stumbling block's face just now.

Nevertheless, to get on her enemy's good side, Watanabe Rin contained her laugh and played the good friend, or else he would have no way to snatch the man of his dreams from her, but only to be close to her.

"Geez, what are you saying there Aiko-san? Don't go talking like that to Hayashi-san, you stupid b*tch!"

Endo Aiko, who doesn't get her friend's real intentions at first, looked mortified with the sudden harsh words that came out of Rin's mouth. What a sudden shift of her mood!

"I-I… I'm sorry, Watanabe-san!"

"Hayashi-san is my good friend now, so you don't have the right to say things like that to her. You hear me?"

"Y-yes…"

Even Sakura and Yuna were somewhat startled by this sudden change in her current mood.

On the other hand, Yui was pleased with Rin for what she did and complimented her for that.

After all of them have already paid for their individual purchases, they immediately left the store. As for Sakura, she fishes her phone out of her pocket and secretly glances at the current time.

What the hell, it's almost seven in the evening already?!

As soon as Sakura returns her phone to her jeans pockets, she carefully looks at the people she has been shopping with today. Even if she wants to spend some more time with them, she has a job to do now.

Sadly, that is another disadvantage of being poor.

When Yui was already suggesting a restaurant that they all can grab food at the moment, Hayashi Sakura seized this moment right away and told everyone that she has to go now to her part-time job.

With curious looks that she has received from everyone, Sakura then knew that she has to make up a nice fine part-time job that they all can't judge about.

Like… maybe being a waitress in a coffee shop would suffice?

"I don't know you're still doing a part-time job, Hayashi-san," Rin blurted out when everyone else didn't say something. "As far as I know, the school is giving allowances to its scholars, right?"

That's right. However, in Sakura's case where she needs to pay for her rent and other necessities, the allowance that the school gives her won't really be enough for her.

While keeping a straight face, Sakura replied to Rin: "Yes, we receive allowances, but I have to cover my own rent and other necessities. I'm a woman who can sustain herself most of the time just by working a part-time job."

'How about you?' She wanted to ask but couldn't bring herself to do it. 'How does it feel like to enjoy the wealth that you didn't earn for yourself? Does it feel really nice, huh?'

Watanabe Rin felt somehow defeated with her statement and added, "Since we're dealing with part-time jobs here… What's your work then? As a friend, it's okay to be curious about it, right?"

Sakura could almost feel her patience snapped but she tried her best not to scream all her frustrations in front of this girl.

She's not even my friend to begin with! What is she blabbering about just now?

"I really don't need to explain myself to you, but fine." Sakura kept her irritation in check and exhaled them all in one breath.

"I'm a waitress at a coffee shop, happy?"

The tension between Hayashi Sakura and Rin grows as others remain silent. Knowing that she must hurry, Hayashi Sakura waves her hand without waiting for Rin's response and bids goodbye to the other club members before hurrying away.