Time flies, doesn’t it? After many summers of slacking off, we’re going to get a summer job like we did all the way back in the first route, so long ago.
“Good morning, sir!”
“Let me start by showing you where everything is. I’m sure you’ll be able to remember everything soon, so please ask if you can’t find something.”
He shows me around the cafe, explaining everything inside. The shop is small and he keeps everything very tidy, so I’ll be able to remember it all.
“Well, then. What do you think?”
“It’s very nice! I almost want to move in!”
“Come, now, it’s far too plain for a young lady such as yourself!”
“Actually, compared to my hou—”
As before, someone bursts into the cafe in quite a hurry.
“Excuse me…!”
“Ryouta!?”
“Tera? Wh-what are you doing here?”
“A friend of yours, miss Tera?”
“Oh, yes. This is Ryouta. You came for the job too, Ryouta?”
“Yeah, I saw that it starts at noon, so I thought I could fit it in after my other job… But if you’ve already got the position then that’s that.”
“Umm… mister Urushihara, could you use two people…?”
“Hmm… Sadly, my cage is too small to have that much work to do.”
This time, in a display of our unending love for Ryouta, we’ll concede the job to him.
“Mister Urushihara, do you think you could take Ryouta instead of me?”
“Tera…!?”
“I don’t see why not, but…”
“I don’t really need the job, but Ryouta does. Don’t worry! He’s a hard worker!”
“Are you sure, Tera? It’s not really fair to you…”
“I do feel a little bad leaving on my first day, too, but…”
Ryouta works several jobs every summer to support his mother. Mister Urushihara is a real gentlebird, and Ryouta deserves to be treated nicely. This is for the best.
It is a pretty nice gig, so making things that much easier for Ryouta is the least we can do.
“I know you’ll do a good job, Ryouta.”
“I… thanks, Tera.”
“Well, then. Our encounter has been as transient as a comet’s tail on the horizon, but I am glad I met you. Please do stop by. I will always be here, miss Tera.”
“I will! Thank you, mister Urushihara!”
Quite a bit less eventful than our last stint in employment, but no less heartwarming.
“So many booths! How are we supposed to choose?”
“Use your hunter-gatherer instincts, Tera! Let’s go find something to eat. I’ll pay!”
“What? No fair! I’m paying for yours!”
“It’s a deal!”
“Hmm… yakitori sounds good right about now!”
”!?”
Yakitori, lit. “grilled bird”, is kind of like a Japanese chicken kebab. Once again, please do not try to think about the logistics of this world.
And so I spent a happy evening with Ryouta. Maybe we can go again next year! I love me some yakitori.
With the summer festival passed by and no job to keep us down, school is back soon enough.
“Hey, Tera?”
“Ryouta! What’s up?”
“Want to walk home together? Though, if you were going somewhere else…”
We can choose here, but we have no reason not to go with Ryouta.
“The most elegant of seasons…”
“Hey, look, a swallow!”
“The most elegant of birds…”
Truly, the protagonist has a way with words.
“Oh, there’s its nest!”
“They’re supposed to be done rearing chicks by the start of summer… I guess all birds are changing, now.”
“I guess so. The chicks are really small… … that reminds me of something from a long time ago.”
“Me too. … thank you, Tera.”
When I was young, I found Ryouta freezing on the ground after falling out of his mother’s nest. Doves breed all year round… no wonder they’re everywhere.
“That was how we met, right? When I found you flopping around in the dirt and carried you back up to your nest.”
“Th-that’s mean!”
“Thinking about it, if I hadn’t walked by then, you’d be dead.”
As if Ryouta didn’t have enough childhood-friend points cached up to be hopelessly in love with the protagonist, he literally owes his life to her. It’s a slam dunk for us, really.
“Though, you’re still not exactly the healthiest bird around!”
“Yeah… thank you, Tera. If you hadn’t found me then, I wouldn’t be here now. I remember it as if it were yesterday. Ever since, I’ve… I’ve always loved your kindness and monkey tree-climbing genes.”
They’re our best qualities!
“And you’re just the same as you were then. Never change, okay?”
“Ehehe…”
And so we make our way home, thinking about what Good Friends we are in the setting sun. How… friendmantic.
I don’t have anything to do, so I guess I’ll go look around. Where to go, where to go! Let’s see…
A bemaided Ryouta accosts us.
“What’s up, Ryouta?”
“Are you free right now? We’ve got way more customers than we expected, and we could really use another waitress…”
“Y-you’re right… where are they all coming from!? Leave it to me, Ryouta! I’ll give them a taste of my SUPER MAID technique!”
One of the lesser-known hunter-gatherer traits.
And so I never ended up looking around the festival. Only maids now!
I… think that’s a meme. Let’s not look at it too closely. Almost a month later, we’re wandering the city in the evening.
Huh? Who’s the cute girl handing out fliers?
On closer inspection, we find the bemaided flier girl to be a familiar face.
“Wh-what are you doing, Ryouta!? The festival’s over! Or is that… is that what you always wear!?”
You’d think the protagonist might know her childhood friend better.
“No! No! This is my job!”
“What kind of job is that!?”
Well, someone’s gotta hand out those fliers.
“Y-you’re misunderstanding! It’s just a transvestite cafe!”
Y’know, just that.
“I’m not misunderstanding at all!”
“We need the money… Here, you take a flier, too!”
We can tell Ryouta he should find a better job, like some kind of asshole, or we can promise we’ll ask for him when we visit, like a good supportive childhood friend. Honestly, I don’t know why the game asks sometimes.
“I’ll make sure to ask for you.”
“Thank you! I’ll be waiting, Tera! Oh, and my name at work is ‘Coolene’, so address me with that.”
“Coolene? Okay! See you later, Coolene!”
I’ll tip you big, little lady!
Reactionary as she is, the protagonist is a kind and loving person at heart. We’ll leave things there for now, and return before too long to finish Ryouta’s route. We’re so close, no stopping now! Until next time, everybirdie!