Corruptions Are Best Exposed In The Autumn!

Chapter 12 - The One Who Can Kick Balls

"Lily, please, can't I apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Meyer today after work?"

I filled my water bottle from the tap and massaged my right shoulder. It was almost closing time, and the last customer had just left. Being a Wednesday, our shop was overfilled to the brim by people from opening until closing. A variety of folks - businesspeople, college students, elders - made a stop at our place today. I wiped some sweat off the side of my head and walked over to a trashcan next to where Lily stood.

"Fine, if it really makes you happier," she complied, making me pump a fist into the air.

"T-Thanks!" I cheered. "I don't know if I could ever make full amends by reversing the damage my father's done, but..."

"Just shut up already!" Lily shouted, tying the trash bag next to me while I filled the can with a new one. "And also, if you're so keen on apologizing on behalf of your father, then why didn't you just come last night instead?"

"Ahaha," I chuckled, struggling to answer with confidence.

Explaining Eleanor and Leo would just further complicate things...

"B-Because-"

"Less talking, more cleaning!" Julian hollered from the front counter.

"Y-Yes sir!" We both tightened our bodies and shouted back, and focused our attention on wiping down the espresso machines so we could depart earlier.

"Kai, are the snacks and baked goods ready for tomorrow?" Lora poked her head out of the storage room after putting Sesame into his cage.

"Oh, shit," I muttered. "No, I still have to finish making them..."

Lora sighed and closed her eyes. "That's fine, please make them before you leave. I'll leave an extra pair of keys on the table. Be sure to close and lock the shop after."

"Sounds good."

Lily glanced over at me. She had finished wiping everything down and was already wearing her black coat, ready to leave. "Forgot a task, huh?" She teased, boasting a grinning, smug face.

"It's fine, this is what I get for being so distracted from work recently," I answered, taking out the baking tray.

"Oh, and by the way..." Lily reached behind her and pulled out my red scarf. "I found something falling out of your scarf."

In her hands was what seemed like a small slip of paper.

"Huh?" I paused and walked over. "Wait, that's..."

"Yeah, a ticket to tonight's women's soccer league match. I didn't know you were into this sorta stuff..." Her smug face returned, and she brought a hand to her mouth, holding in a laugh.

"N-No, I..." Before I could reject her tease, my eyes gazed at the ticket for another second; it finally hit me: Did Rin sneak in a ticket to her match?!

Today was rather warm, so I didn't bother wearing my scarf in the morning. Instead, I shoved the scarf in its folded state into my backpack before coming to work. Thank goodness Lily found the ticket when it fell out of my bag.

"I'm just interested in sports, that's all!" I swiped the ticket from Lily's hand, surprising her.

"Woah, I didn't know you wanted to watch women play that badly, perv."

I shoved the ticket into my back pockets and continued setting up the baking tray, lining it up with parchment paper to place the cookie dough.

"I'm not a perv! I just used to follow the sport a lot."