The Employer's Privilege: The Cafe Head-Patting Operation?

Her voice was soft and delicate, carrying a faint tension and probing note that was hard to detect.

Tatsuya Sakuya looked up.

Standing beside his desk was none other than his employer, Karuizawa Kei.

She wore a burgundy school blazer trimmed in gold, a light blue shirt, and a dark blue bow tied at her collar.

Below that, she had on a white pleated skirt with light blue knee socks. Her golden hair was tied into a high ponytail, the standard uniform look she wore in class.

At that moment, she held the math mock exam paper that had been handed out not long ago.

Tatsuya Sakuya leaned back and examined the girl before him.

"Oh? Karuizawa."

"I thought the first thing you'd do after school was go discuss the latest gyaru magazines with your friends."

"None of your business."

Karuizawa Kei gave a huff and jabbed the exam paper onto Tatsuya Sakuya's desk.

"I just came to test you, that's all. See whether you know how to do these."

In truth, Karuizawa Kei was terrible at studying, especially math. She could even be said to hate it a little.

She had come to Tatsuya Sakuya entirely with her own motives in mind.

For one thing, as the employer, she had to display her privileges in certain areas.

For another, she was genuinely awful at math. To her, it was practically an incomprehensible textbook, and Tatsuya Sakuya was the only solution she could think of for now.

On an even deeper level, she hadn't publicly announced that he was her boyfriend, and he hadn't provided any substantial help either.

Yet he had received real, tangible points. That really annoyed her.

"Test me?"

Tatsuya Sakuya seemed to have figured out Karuizawa Kei's intentions. He saw through her without exposing her and casually took a sheet of scratch paper from the desk.

"Fine. Which one?"

"This one, this one, this one, and this one..."

Karuizawa Kei leaned closer and pointed out every question she wanted to ask about.

Tatsuya Sakuya was a little surprised. Karuizawa Kei had practically pointed out every question in the math section. He teased, "My dear Karuizawa, why not just say you want to test me on all of them?"

Karuizawa Kei snorted.

"What, you won't even do this much? Then my rental—"

"At your service. I love helping classmates, especially pretty girls."

Tatsuya Sakuya cut her off, with other considerations in mind.

If she mentioned the rental boyfriend arrangement...

Would the weirdos in class think he was being kept?

If that happened, where would he even put his face?

They returned to the first question on the paper.

Question 1:

"For this question, we just need to—"

Before Tatsuya Sakuya could finish, he was interrupted.

"Students, due to the school's schedule, we have no choice but to take up some of your time to make up for our progress."

The calculus teacher had somehow already taken the podium and was ready to begin class.

"After all, we're far behind the other classes."

"Please return to your seats and prepare for class."

"Meet at the cafe after school."

Seeing that class was about to begin, Tatsuya Sakuya arranged a time and place with Karuizawa Kei in advance.

After school, at Palette Cafe in Keyaki Mall.

"Here, this is for you."

Karuizawa Kei handed a cup of iced Americano to Tatsuya Sakuya.

"Arigato. Then I'll gladly accept."

Tatsuya Sakuya took the iced Americano from Karuizawa Kei and nodded meaningfully as he thought to himself.

To avoid ever returning to the days when she was bullied, Karuizawa Kei had chosen to become a gyaru-type girl.

That gyaru style had quickly made her the leader among some of the girls in class.

But at heart, she was the sweet-girl type.

"Don't get any weird ideas. I only gave it to you because the second cup was half price."

"Hey, don't misunderstand. It's not like I bought it specifically for you!"

"At most, consider it repayment for teaching me."

Seeing him lost in thought, Karuizawa Kei began explaining herself.

"Fine, fine. Weren't we supposed to go over the questions? Just so you know, I don't know how to do everything."

Tatsuya Sakuya sounded somewhat helpless.

"Let's start with this one."

Karuizawa Kei pulled out the exam paper she had prepared long ago.

Several dozen minutes passed.

"Did you understand?"

Tatsuya Sakuya had more or less carefully explained most of the math problems on the paper from start to finish.

"Probably, maybe, perhaps... I didn't understand any of it!"

Karuizawa Kei knew she was a math idiot, so she bluntly admitted her ignorance of the subject.

"You didn't understand any of it?"

Was my explanation really that bad?

Tatsuya Sakuya was clearly surprised and even began doubting himself.

A student with good grades was not necessarily good at explaining problems.

As the saying went, everyone had their own specialty.

Tatsuya Sakuya could only comfort himself that way. Not overthinking it was the right choice.

"That's not true. I understood a few questions."

Karuizawa Kei answered with a serious expression.

"Then should I explain them again until you understand?"

"Or until you can at least grasp the general problem-solving approach?"

Tatsuya Sakuya believed that if he did something, he had to see it through and not give up halfway.

"Dame, no. My head hurts so much. Math is like astronomy to me."

"I need to rest a little. Right now, knowledge simply can't enter my brain."

Karuizawa Kei, who deeply loathed math, had already forced herself to absorb as much as she possibly could.

"Wake me up in ten minutes."

"Karuizawa, time's up."

Tatsuya Sakuya woke her as Karuizawa Kei had requested earlier.

But Karuizawa Kei did not respond immediately. She was clearly sleeping very peacefully.

Tatsuya Sakuya decided not to disturb her rest any further and merely watched her quietly.

After a while, he grew bored.

I need to find something to do.

Tatsuya Sakuya suddenly thought of a good idea. He had never patted a girl on the head before, and he hesitated inwardly.

Pat her head? What if she suddenly wakes up?

Don't pat her head? I'm her rental boyfriend in name, so this should be one of my rights, right?

He first considered which hand to use.

Should I use my left hand or my right?

Then came more thoughts.

Should I pat her head and immediately run away?

No, that would make me look way too guilty.

I'll just do it in one go and pat her head.

As for what happens after that, I'll deal with it afterward.

He slowly moved his hand toward Karuizawa Kei's head.

Suddenly, Karuizawa Kei moved.

He immediately pulled his hand back.

That was close. If I'd gone in fast just now...

Something definitely would've happened.

The operation would have failed on the spot.

But Karuizawa Kei did not wake up. It had merely been an unconscious movement.

Should I try again?