"You're right," I said, voice calm but pointed. "I didn't want to trouble you, so I said I was fine. But these hags are pissing me off, so how about we call the cops?"
"Huh?!" The hot barista let out a surprised grunt.
Guess my sudden switch from polite schoolboy to trash-talking punk caught him off guard—cute face and all. The two hags' eyes went wide with shock too.
"They groped my ass—that's assault," I continued, staring them down. "And trying to push you into prostitution? Hey, are you underage? Could that be attempted abduction or something?"
Words like "ass" and "prostitution" aren't ones guys toss around lightly in this world, so the hags started squirming. The barista looked stunned for a second, then burst out laughing.
"Ha! You're a riot! Hold on, I'll call the police right now," he said, grinning.
"Wait, no, hold up!" one of the hags blurted, her face paling.
"Then get out," I snapped. "You're loud as hell, bothering everyone else here too."
"F-Fine, we're leaving!" the other stammered, jumping up from her seat. Both lowered their heads like they thought they'd been let off, scurrying toward the door.
Good thing this place is pay-up-front. If it was a tab system, I'd have stuck them with my bill as a nuisance fee. "Don't come back!" I called after them. "If I see you here again, I'm calling the cops—straight away!" They vanished from sight, and I let out a long breath.
Snapping back to reality, I turned to the barista and bowed. "Sorry about that," I said. "Telling customers never to come back was probably a bad move, huh?"
Straight-up bad for business. But he just shrugged. "Nah, you helped me out. Those two started showing up recently—real troublemakers. They'd nitpick everything when other staff dealt with them, always demanding me. Honestly, I felt bad for putting my coworkers and the shop through that."
The blonde guy gave a tired roll of his shoulders. "Got it," I said. "If they're gone for good, I'll swing by more often to make up for it."
"Hell yeah, do that!" he said, lighting up. "We don't get many guy customers. Let's be buds. How old are you? I'm a senior this spring—third year. You're not older, right? That uniform's from Nichigaku, yeah?"
"I'm a second-year, just started," I replied. "Yup, Nichigaku—Dayflower Academy. And you, senpai?"
I'd overheard them call him Shima, but it's weird to use a stranger's name right off the bat. Since he's older, "senpai" felt like a safe bet.
"Whoa, 'senpai' from a dude? That's new!" he said, grinning wide, clearly stoked. "My school's a bit farther out. They ban part-time jobs, so I sneak here by train to work. Pays for my fare too."
"That's rough," I said, impressed.
Our chat was a bit too casual for staff and customer, but his vibe—open, no pretense—made it feel natural. Then the café buzzed louder around us.
"Shima-kun's already a treat, but that uniform kid's gonna be a regular?" one girl whispered.
"When's the next open slot for the back tables?" another asked.
"No way, they're booked three months out," came the reply.
Makes sense. The place was packed with young women, probably here for Shima. A wild-looking hottie with a knack for standing up to jerks? No wonder he's got fans. In this world, guys who face down two women like that are rare, I guess.
It's a weird feeling to wrap my head around. If I flip it to my old world's logic, it's like a female staffer saving a girl customer from creepy guys. But that'd make me think, Where were the male staff? Here, though, it's different—Shima's getting heart-eyes from everyone, not just for being cool but for being him.
"Shima-chan, you were awesome!" a customer called.
"Another iced coffee, Shima-kun!" another added.
Even the female staff who'd watched pitched in thanks. Seems like a hot guy move is still a hot guy move, no matter the world.
"My shift's done," Shima said to me. "Next time you're here, I owe you a drink for today. Tell me your name then, yeah? Don't let that café au lait I made go cold. Big table's free now too." He cleared the booth the hags had left, quick and practiced, then grabbed my tray and set it down for me.
"Take your time," he said. "See ya. Come back, alright?" With a lazy wave, he headed to the counter, where green-aproned girls—his coworkers—swarmed him with squeals and thanks. Then he slipped into the back.
"Sure thing," I said, waving back.
(A/N: Thank you to my Patreon Harldov for supporting the novel. Patreon is currently 25+ chapters ahead, link to patreon is in the synopsis of this novel. Check it out if you want more to read or if you want to see the free character pics.)