Manga Club × Dessert Shop Collaboration Project

When there were many customers, Kushida and the other girls would proactively help carry trays, and when it was quiet, Tsukishima would slip into the kitchen to learn. Time passed fairly quickly.

"Alright, that's enough for today. About three hours a day is fine—you still need to focus on your studies."

The Boss Lady glanced at the sky and stretched.

Tsukishima packed up his things and smiled. "Boss Lady, we're on the same wavelength. I was thinking the same thing, but not about studying—about drawing manga."

The Boss Lady's face filled with surprise. "Manga? What genre? Can I take a look?"

"I haven't started yet. Right now I'm practicing my drawing skills and getting familiar with the tools. If you want to see it, you'll have to wait a while."

"In that case, your time..."

"No problem, I've already planned it out. School ends at 5, I work here for three hours until 8, take a short break, start drawing around 8:30, and sleep by 10. As for daily homework, I finish most of it during breaks and lunch."

"Hmm, it sounds a bit tight. Are you sure that's okay? Isn't it exhausting?"

"It's fine, much easier than before. You know how competitive this school is—I came here partly to take it easy."

"Is that so..."

"By the way, Boss Lady, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"What is it?"

"About the manga. The Manga Club wants to borrow your Dessert Shop to promote and distribute their manga, and collect feedback. The club president is willing to pay a certain amount of points, and they could also set up a stand outside."

Tsukishima objectively repeated Yamada's request.

The Boss Lady rubbed her chin, thinking. "But what's in it for the Dessert Shop? And how would the cooperation work? What about hygiene in the shop, hygiene for the manga, and how do we keep manga-reading customers from disturbing regular ones?"

So the school doesn't prohibit student groups from commercial partnerships with on-campus shops?

But if the cooperation goes too deep, how do we ensure clubs don't sabotage each other over a good project?

Tsukishima quickly understood. Clubs aren't companies—they're students studying, so they can't consistently produce high-quality output.

Thus, they'd always be in a weak position in partnerships, unless the Student Council demands it or students use personal background to threaten. Otherwise, the owner always holds the initiative.

Tsukishima spoke up. "This school's competitive culture puts a lot of psychological pressure on students, so they need some entertainment. There are facilities like karaoke on campus, but they're expensive."

"So we could create a Manga Afternoon Tea Set. Customers who order it can rent manga to read in the shop or take home."

"Compared to karaoke, our prices are cheaper and more convenient, better suited for students who don't have many points but are still stressed."

"As for hygiene... we could set up a Reading Area in a corner, slightly separated from the dining area, maybe with a partition, and provide placemats and hand sanitizer."

"Have the Manga Club provide laminated copies, along with wet wipes and alcohol for students to use."

"After closing each day, the Manga Club takes the remaining manga back for unified disinfection and brings them back the next day. We only handle the lending and return registration."

"As for impact on other customers, we can limit the Reading Area. If it's full, customers can take the manga to read elsewhere, but they can't enter the regular dining area to avoid disturbing others."

"For the Dessert Shop, this adds a unique feature that attracts more customers."

"For the Manga Club, it gives them a promotion channel and feedback collection point."

"For students, it's another way to relax."

"For the school, it counts as part of students' social practice."

After saying this, Tsukishima rubbed his chin and suddenly frowned. "I wonder if there's a programming club at school that could help build a lending system or something. If not, could I make one myself?"

"Manual registration at first, then switch to a lending system once I learn?"

The Boss Lady patted his head and said softly, "Alright, you're overthinking this. Is programming really that easy to learn? How many things have you taken on already?"

"Drawing manga, making desserts, plus regular studies—add programming to that, and we'll be meeting in the school infirmary before long."

"Besides, you're just the middleman right now. Why think about all this? Just toss my questions to that president to figure out. Don't take on extra work yourself, got it?"

"Especially when there's no benefit!"

"Now, go home and practice your manga. I'm waiting to see it."

Tsukishima nodded, moved his head out from under her hand, and put on a serious face. "Boss Lady, you shouldn't touch a man's head casually. Do it too much and I won't grow!"

The Boss Lady stifled a laugh. "Enough joking. Get going."

Tsukishima smiled, waved, and disappeared into the night.

As soon as he reached the dorm, he saw Hirata Yosuke blocking his door.

Tsukishima pulled out his key card and opened the door. "Come in."

He set his bag on the desk and sat in the chair. "What's up?"

Hirata Yosuke rubbed his hands together, his face showing difficulty and pleading. "Well, this month our class only has 50 class points, and each person only has 5,000 personal points. It's only mid-month, and many students have already spent all their points. I heard you're working part-time, so..."

Without hesitation, Tsukishima replied directly, "800 points an hour, not much, but I get free desserts, so I save on dinner. As for the conditions, you'd probably need to ask the Chairman for approval?"

"The document the Chairman gave me was a special permit. I'm not sure what it means. If you have other questions, Hirata, it's best to ask the Chairman. You could also check with the Student Council. I don't know if the rules have been updated."

He didn't dislike Hirata Superman—after all, he was the kind of person who burned himself out for the whole class.

Hirata immediately looked grateful: "I see. I never expected you to go find the Chairman, Tsukishima. That's really impressive. Thank you for being willing to share that information."

Tsukishima smiled. "It's nothing much. I don't really understand the details of it myself. Is there anything else?"

Tsukishima was clearly hinting that it was time for the guest to leave.

Hirata hesitated for a moment before speaking: "If you have any extra points on hand, Tsukishima, I hope you can help out some of the students in our class."

"As long as we beat Class C in this midterm exam, we'll get 100 class points, and everyone will receive 10,000 personal points. Then we can pay back the points we borrowed from you."

Tsukishima didn't respond.

Hirata stood up and gave a deep 180-degree bow: "Thank you for being willing to share the part-time job information, Tsukishima! I'm counting on you!"

Then, without another word, he turned and left.

Buzz~

Tsukishima's phone rang. He pulled it out.

[Kushida]: Tsukishima part-time job pic.JPG

[Tsukishima]: You really have too much free time. With that kind of energy, why not study? You'd get into Tokyo University by now.