Nanase-san had clearly called the Owner ‘Shinonome-sensei’.

What did that mean? My mind couldn’t keep up with the events.

Nanase-san stopped saying anything! She looked at me and the Owner alternately.

 

「I’m sorry, sensei. I thought you were by yourself……」

「I was too careless.」

「Hidaka-san is small, so if she was behind sensei, she would be completely hidden.」

 

The Owner gavea deep sigh and told Nanase-san to sit down.

 

「–I haven’t told you anything all this time.」

 

He pointed to a chair for me to sit on.

 

As Nanase-san said diagonally in front of me with an apologetic expression while the Owner sat in front of me with a frown before telling me some surprising information.

The Owner was a professional novelist working under the pen name of Yohko Shinonome.

 

「……Is this a joke?」

「I can only say it’s the truth.」

 

But, I couldn’t believe it.

A novelist who I had been a fan of since elementary school was right in front of me, and he was the man I was dating.

Seeing me like that, the Owner took out a square leather case from his pocket and offered a business card.

The business card had ‘Writer Shinonome Yohko’ written on it, and at the bottom there was the email address with the name Yohko I had seen before!

 

「Ah, so you were using your pen name in your address,」

「Yes.」

「So that’s why you couldn’t tell me.」

「I didn’t intend to hide it from you like this, but you didn’t notice at all.」

 

Nanase-san also said that the Owner was telling the truth and there was no doubt that he was Shinonome Yohko.

If both of them said that to me, I had to believe them.

 

I thought he was a mysterious person, but to be a novelist.

But thinking back, there were hints in many places.

For example, he didn’t give me his professional business card, the publisher’s editor Nanase-san would visit the Evening Rain cafe, he had taken photos of cliffs and morning markets and I had never seen him teach calligraphy.

I had dismissed those mysteries with the words ‘the Owner is strange’ and tried not to think too deeply about them.

 

「I thought you would have noticed.」

「I’m sorry, I hadn’t noticed at all.」

「You’ll never be the assistant of a detective.」

「I think so as well.」

 

Although I was a bit dull, I thought that there would have been a limit.

 

「But, why did you pretend to be a calligrapher?」

「I thought your dream would be broken if you found out the author of the books you had been reading wasn’t a woman but a man.」

「No, no, that wouldn’t happen.」

 

When I asked why he published books under a woman’s name, I was told something surprising.

 

「Because the style of writing feels like a woman’s, so my first editor suggested that it would be better to use a female name than a male name.」

 

His debut work had been a record of the efforts of a dietician at a school canteen. It was a fascinating story about a working woman.

The Owner, who was a high school student at the time, decided to publish the book under the name of Yohko Shinonome, following the advice of his editor.

 

The Owner told Nanase-san he would go get his manuscript.

I was left dumbfounded.

 

「Hidaka-san, sorry about this. It must be difficult for you to believe this all of a sudden.」

「Yes, I was surprised, in fact, I’m still half convinced.」

「I was surprised when I first met him as well.」

「Did Nanase-san also think he was a woman?」

「Yes. Shinonome-sensei didn’t attend publisher social gathering and very few people in the industry knew that he was a man.」

「Hah, that’s true.」

 

Even Nanase-san, who was a book lover, seemed not to have realised that Shinonome-sensei was a man.

 

The Owner returned when the conversation entered a pause.

Nanase-san received the manuscript with both hands and said that she would come again before leaving.

With only the two of us left, the atmosphere turned into one where neither of us said anything.

「……Was it much of a shock?」

「It wasn’t that much of a shock, but it was a big surprise.」

 

Do I have no choice but to slowly accept this?

I was still greatly confused.

 

「Well, it was the same for me.」

「Owner as well?」

「I still can’t believe that a female college student I met has been a reader supporting me for many years.」

 

He said that he realised quickly because name <Otome> was very rare.

 

「I had always been encouraged by your letters. So I thought it was my turn to help–」

 

So that was why the Owner hired me, who was struggling to find a part time job.

But when the truth became clear, I greatly admired the way things turned out.

 

「From the contents of your letters, I had always imagined you to be a literary girl who lived in the Showa era.」

「Wearing glasses and with three strand braided hair?」

「Ah.」

 

The image he had from my letters drifted into my mind……

The Owner said that he was surprised because I was just an ordinary female college student.

 

「Still, there was a possibility of a different <Hidaka Otome> who was sending separate letters.」

「Every day, you would talk about your respect and admiration for Shinonome-sensei.」

「I know, but that image isn’t something that can be overturned easily.」

「I thought that as well.」

 

I liked the Owner, who wasn’t Shinonome-sensei, and the Owner liked me, who wasn’t the one sending the letters.

The parts that we were attracted to in each other were in different places.

Without thinking too hard, he decided to open a relationship with me pretending he didn’t know anything.

 

However, since it was a rare opportunity, I told him directly.

 

「I will continue to support you, Shinonome-sensei.」

 

After I said that, the Owner smiled nicely at me and said ‘thank you’.

 

「But, it’s a weird feeling to think that the Owner has been reading all the letters I’ve sent so far.」

「From now on, you can directly pass the letters to me.」

「That’s a bit.」

「Why not?」

「No~, that’s embarrassing.」

「Maybe you don’t quite believe it yet?」

「I believe you.」

「You sound sound unsure.」

 

The Owner said that he would show me the letters I had sent as proof.

I was so embarrassed that I begged him not to do it.

 

◇◇◇

 

After finding out various things, I asked to change my 1,500 yen hourly wage back to a proper hourly wage.

But, the Owner wouldn’t agree.

So I asked him to give me some additional work.

Because of that, the Owner proposed a day job.

The first was cleaning the room on the second floor of the Evening Rain, which was used as an office and workspace by the Owner.

The second was to cook food.

The two above tasks would not be paid hourly.

I said it would be okay once a week, but every day wouldn’t be possible. But when I found the time, I would go to the Evening Rain to clean and cook food.

 

He ate the food I cooked silently without complaining.

I thought cooking food for a person with a chef’s license was a bit strange……but the Owner didn’t seem to cook for himself and almost always went out for bread and coffee.

When I heard that, as I was aiming to become a dietician, I felt a sense of mission to provide a balanced diet for the health of the Owner.

 

I was asked to clean his study today.

In the study there was a fluffy carpet that made me not want to walk in with shoes. The cleaning was very simple.

When I went into the room with the cleaning tools, I found the Owner writing on his personal computer.

 

「Would it be better to clean up later?」

「No, it’s fine now. Don’t worry about me.」

「I think a lot of dust will come out though.」

「Then please just wipe the windows.」

「I understand.」

 

The study window was just wiped a few days ago, so it wasn’t that dirty, but it must be done if I’m told.

 

I spent about 30 minutes cleaning the windows. As I was filled with a sense of accomplishment, I heard my name called and turned around. The Owner was sitting at his study desk and beckoned silently with his hand for me to come over.

 

The Owner watched me patiently as I went over to him.

 

「What’s wrong?」

「You don’t seem to care about the manuscript at all.」

「Yes.」

「Are you really my fan?」

「I’m a fan of Shinonome-sensei not Mukai-san–hya!」

 

The Owner suddenly pulled my wait and made me sit on his lap.

I almost saw the manuscript and covered my face with both hands.

 

「You’re not going to look at it?」

「Because it’s bad for other fans~~!」

 

The manuscript seems to be the latest work in the 「Detective Nakajima Kaoru」 series which had just recently been adapted to film.

I was really interested in it, but it was something I shouldn’t see, so I desperately looked away.

I heard the sound of the computer closing so I moved my hands away from my face.

The Owner held me down on his lap and didn’t move at all.

Rather, he hugged me tightly.

 

「Am I heavy?」

「You are heavy.」

「Eh~!」

 

The Owner said he didn’t like it when I told him to let me get off.

I could feel his face buried in the back of my neck and my face gradually grew hotter.

 

I mean, I’m still holding the cloth I used to wipe the window!

I grasped the washcloth tightly from the embarrassment I was feeling.

 

It was just before 6pm.

Outside was already completely dark.

 

How long should I stay quiet for?

Just as I was thinking that, I was kissed between my neck and chin.

 

「Hiii~~!」

 

As a tingle ran down my spine, I gave an unintentional cry. I heard a surprised voice say to me ‘……what an unromantic cry’.

 

Although I thought that the Owner was a light-hearted person, after we started dating, I found that he wasn’t.

I’m happy, but the stimulation is too strong for me, who has had very little romantic experience……!

 

I heard a helpful sound coming from outside the window.

 

「……Rain, is it?」

「O-Oh, the shop! I have to prepare to open the shop.」

「Let’s take a break today.」

「T-That’s no good!」

 

Slapping the Owner’s arm, he loosened his grip.

I stood up from his lap and straightened out the wrinkles on my skirt.

 

「Owner, what’s the menu for today?」

「Castella with fresh cream and black tea.」

「Okay.」

 

I immediately went downstairs to get things ready.

When the shop was all ready, I took out an umbrella and went outside to the gate to hang up the wooden sign.

 

The cafe that offered delicious traditional confectionery, the “Evening Rain Cafe”, would be open while it rained tonight.

Would today’s menu be appreciated by customers?

When I thought about that, my cheeks naturally slackened.

 

The shop was rarely filled with customers. But I felt that was fine.

The goal was to provide a relaxing space.

 

After a while, I heard the clang of the bell and the door open.

I hurried to meet the customers.

 

「–Welcome!」

 

At the shop, which only opened on rainy nights, there were always regular customers who enjoyed themselves with a smile.

 

The Dutch Slope’s Western Cafe End.

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