The main job in the Evening Rain Café was serving customers.

The confectioneries served at the shop were purchased from an acquaintance of the onii-san and cooking wasn’t necessary. However, he said that he made the drinks himself.

There was proper equipment to make coffee, tea, herbal tea and juice to serve to customers.

 

「Do you know how to brew tea?」

「I have some skills in brewing green tea.」

 

Though I said that, I haven’t properly brewed green tea in the last few years. I just put the tea leaves into the pot and poured hot water in.

If I said that, it would be considered blasphemy against the tea leaves.

Anyhow, it seemed that he was quite passionate about drinking tea.

 

「Ah, um, since I learned about tea ceremony a long time ago, I could make Matcha.」

「Tell me about it.」

「I’m sorry, but I’ve forgotten.」

 

The onii-san started muttered that might have been able to bring in some traditional confectionery onto the menu if he had Matcha.

The combinations of confectionery and beverages seemed to have been decided after considerable thinking.

To be able to do some things to help, I thought it was the best.

 

「Because I don’t have much experience, I’m not sure if I will be able to do it well.」

「Well, I’ll teach you what you need to know.」

「Yes, thank you, sensei!」

 

When I said that, the onii-san had a startled look.

If I’m not mistaken, the previous female customer had called him ‘sensei’ earlier.

 

「Aren’t you a teacher?」

「That is–」

 

School teacher, lawyer, accountant, chief priest, dietician, doctor, politician, I tried guessing various jobs, but he said that he wasn’t any of them.

I looked around while groaning.

Then, what caught my eye was a piece of Hanshi with the menu of today written on it.

 

–Today’s items, Sheath Cake and Darjeeling Tea.

 

Looking at the beautiful calligraphy written with exquisite balance even though it was written in katakana, it came to my mind.

 

「Ah, I got it, you’re a calligraphy teacher!!」

「……No, well……yes, you’re right.」

 

Woo~, I got it right!

It seemed that the onii-san was doing a mix of being a calligraphy teacher and the manager of a cafe.

Because his main business was always busy, he only opened the shop on rainy nights.

 

「That aside, what is a Sheath Cake? Isn’t it Cheesecake?」

「It’s Sheath Cake, not Cheesecake.」

「How interesting.」

 

It seems to be a confectionery found in Nagasaki as well.

As I was interested, I asked if I could order it and was told to wait here.

After a few minutes, as with last time, the onii-san came with the confectionery and beverage on a kitchen cart.

What kind of cake was a Sheath Cake? My expectations rose.

 

「–Oh!」

 

The cake placed on the table was rectangular and had peaches and pineapple placed on top of it. It looked like an ordinary fruitcake, but it seemed to be called a Sheath Cake.

Next, a saucer and cup was placed on the table and tea poured. When he asked how many sugars, I said one. He took one sugar cube out from a jar with a pretty floral design and dropped it into the cup.

I looked on absentmindedly at those series of actions.

 

「What’s wrong? Are you not going to eat it?」

「Ah, yes. Thanks for the food!」

 

What to say, I was excited to be served by a good looking and polite onii-san.

If business hours were during lunch, I thought that it would become popular with housewives and female university students in the area.

Returning to reality, I decided to try the Sheath Cake.

I slid the fork into it and found it to be fluffy.

Putting into my mouth, I felt surprised.

What to say, the fresh cream was smooth. The flavour was light.

And, surprisingly, there was a thick custard cream in between the layers of sponge cake.

The two sweetnesses didn’t fight and balanced each other well.

The yellow peach and pineapple boiled in syrup, the fresh cream and custard and the sponge cake were all combined to produce an elegant taste.

 

「This, I really like it!」

 

As the onii-san was nearby, I told him my impression. But he had no reaction. However, I didn’t mind.

 

The Sheath Cake’s sweetness and Darjeeling tea with its slightly bitter flavour were very compatible. I unintentionally indulged myself in the elegant feeling.

 

The cake and tea melted away together.

 

After eating it, a question came to mind.

 

「That reminds me, this, why is it called a Sheath Cake?」

 

This time, I had my notebook and pen in my hand when I asked the onii-san.

Hearing that, he nodded and explained it to me.

 

「The early Sheath Cake had a shape similar to that of bean pods, but translating it from English, it was mistaken as a sheath for a sword and became Sheath Cake.」

 

It seems it was accidentally called sheath instead of pod.

However, Sheath Cake has a better sound to it than Pod Cake and gives a ‘What is that!’ feeling.

 

「This is interesting.」

「The people who first made it seem to have noticed their mistake a few years later.」

「Heh~~」

 

Now, I no longer had the misunderstanding that Sheath Cake was from a misspelling of Cheesecake.

A long time ago, Sheath Cake was created in a period where strawberries were expensive and hard to buy, it was a familiar cake to the people of Nagasaki.

 

「It was delicious. Also, thank you for your valuable story.」

 

When I tried to pay, the onii-san only requested 500 yen this time as well.

 

「Umm~, I would like to ask, will your shop be able to continue like this if you sell at that price?」

「This isn’t a shop aimed at making a profit.」

「I-Is that so.」

 

It seems he had various circumstances.

I took out a 1000 yen note to pay. In return, he gave back five 100 yen coins.

I hung my bag over my shoulder, stood up, and gave a bow. Then, I asked about his earlier offer.

 

「Was the offer of hiring me really real?」

「Did you think it was a joke?」

「A little bit.」

 

Because, although this was only the second time I had met him, he offered me a job on the spot. If I thought about how I had been consecutively rejected for part time jobs, this offer couldn’t possibly be real.

 

「Why did you decide to hire me?」

「I said it already. I was looking to hire someone.」

「Yes, but, I haven’t even done an interview.」

「Deciding on hiring someone, anyone will do as long as I can contact them and they are agreeable to work with.」

「I see.」

 

To find work at a shop that I had wandered into by accident, I found it too be a happy coincidence. I thought it was like a dream

I turned towards the onii-san again.

 

「Thank you and please treat me well, onii-san!」

「……Onii-san?」

「Ah!」

 

I unintentionally called him ‘Onii-san’, which was I had been calling him in my mind.

Rather, I noticed that I hadn’t introduced myself properly yet.

 

「Pardon me, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Hidaka Otome.」

「I know.」

 

Because I had given my name and phone number the first time I came, the onii-san knew who I was.

On the other hand, I didn’t know anything about this onii-san.

 

「Umm, how should I call you?」

 

Sensei?　Shopkeeper?　Owner?

 

When I asked, the onii-san took out a business card case from his chest.

 

I was about to receive the business card that he presented to me, but he lifted it away as soon as I tried to take it.

 

「–Eh?」

 

Suddenly having a ‘Maybe not after all~’ pulled on me, I was dumbfounded. Despite his stiff expressions, could he actually be a rogue?

Looking at his face, he didn’t have a mean look, but rather, looked flustered.

 

「Ah, um~~」

「N-No, it’s different, this is a business card for my main work.……」

 

It seems that the business cards of his main work were only to be handed out to related people.

The onii-san took a receipt out from his pocket and started to write something with a brush pen that he had also taken out from his pocket.

I thought that it was very much like a calligraphy teacher to carry around a brush pen.

What was written on the back of receipt was the onii-san’s name and phone number.

 

――Mukai Jun　Phone Number　＊＊＊＊－＊＊－＊＊＊＊

 

「Mukai, Jun-san, is it?」

「You’ll know when you read it.」

 

It seemed that I couldn’t confirm that was the way to read his name. I felt that he was a very difficult person to deal with.

 

「Then, I’ll call you Owner Mukai.」

「Do as you want.」

 

He told me more information about my job on rainy nights.

It seems customers didn’t come very often.

 

In that case, why would he hire me……?

 

Well, thinking that it was fine, I decided to celebrate that I had found a part time job.

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