“…Commander.”
“What is it?”
“You asked during the game if I had any thoughts about dating.”
I might be thinking about it more today because of that conversation.
Honestly, I don’t know why you brought it up either.
“Ah, yeah? Why are you bringing it up again?”
“…I was just curious. Do you have any thoughts on that?”
I asked simply out of curiosity.
Yeah, it wasn’t meant to imply any hidden meanings. I was just waiting for the menu to arrive.
Thoughts about coming to this pork cutlet restaurant had been on my mind, and I felt a bit flustered for various reasons.
I don’t know why I’m feeling so swayed when it’s just something others see.
“Well… I don’t think there’s anyone around me.”
“That can’t be true! The agents working on the ship are all pretty, aren’t they? I think they look quite amazing.”
“Hmm…”
Immediately, the pretty Midori and Dolores from the office came to mind.
Both had the same silver hair by chance… but each had different charms.
Midori was slightly shorter, cute and full of energy, while Dolores, though ordinary in height, had a bigger bust than Midori and a gentle voice as a silver-haired maid.
Of course, the Commander definitely wasn’t in a relationship with either, but still, they were beautiful.
“I don’t think so yet.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, I don’t often spend time with the agents. It’s mostly just the people working in the office.”
Well… that’s true.
The Commander didn’t have many people he regularly met.
After all, these days, there haven’t been any operations to focus on; everything was centered on office work.
Of course, operations would start up again soon anyway.
“Honestly, aren’t you the one who spends the most time with me?”
“Ah…”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“…….”
Good point?
I honestly didn’t know.
Thinking about what the Commander said, it really did seem like I spent the most time with him.
“It’s not really the time for dating.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, right now is when we need to focus on work, not relationships. Dates aren’t really in the cards when there’s so much to do on the ship.”
“Things are more stable now, aren’t they? I honestly think we have less work and things are easier than before.”
The situation on the ship has improved compared to when we first started working together. So why do you say such things?
When the Commander and Midori and I were working, it was definitely less hectic than before.
Things had been notably lighter this week compared to last, so I wondered why he felt otherwise.
Especially since I recently secured proper funds, there wasn’t really much reason to have a lot of operations.
“There will be new agents soon, and then we can have different external operations.”
“That’s true, but will you start immediately when they arrive?”
“Well, we don’t need to take it slow. I’d rather hurry up for that reason, to recruit more agents.”
“Hmmm…”
Sure, the Commander’s perspective wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t expect him to think that way.
I was just planning to adapt slowly and then use them properly afterward.
“Well, if that’s what you’re thinking, then we should do it that way.”
Regardless, he was in charge, so if he said it should be done like that, then it would be.
I’m just here to help, so that’s that.
“I’ve put the recruitment up already… so I’ll probably decide on the new agents by next week.”
“That seems right.”
“Do you have a personal preference for what type of agents you want?”
“I have no clue about that. I was thinking of asking you again.”
“…….”
Until just a moment ago, the Commander seemed more serious about work than I expected, but that thought vanished in an instant.
It was just… so absurd in many ways.
Well, since he was like that, I guess it’s my job as his Vice Commander to look after him.
“You shouldn’t say that to the other agents.”
“Do you think I’d have the chance to say that to anyone else? This is just because it’s you.”
“…Yeah, do as you please.”
I decided not to overthink things.
People were watching us while we were out, and while that bothered me a lot at first… I chose to just let it go.
After all, the Commander was the Commander, and I was me.
Even if people think we have that kind of relationship, there’s no way it could ever become one.
I mean, I was a man, and the Commander was a man, right?
Sure, it used to be my gender, but that didn’t mean I’d suddenly like men.
“And this time, the agents will be a bit more expensive.”
“Do as you wish. After all, we made quite a bit of money this time, didn’t we?”
“Anyway, just to let you know.”
As we kept talking, the food finally arrived.
In fact, we had talked more than I expected and spent quite a bit of time sitting there.
So naturally, the food had to come out sooner or later.
I thought the pork cutlet took a little longer than I thought… or did it?
“But Commander.”
“What is it now?”
“Hmm… it’s nothing.”
I thought briefly about what to say, but decided against it.
It wasn’t really necessary to say anything, anyway, and since I was hungry, I switched my focus to eating.
*
“How was it?”
“It’s delicious. For something picked by you, Commander, it turned out to be surprisingly tasty.”
“Is that so? Well, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it.”
It was the Commander who chose the restaurant, but I got to enjoy it even more than I expected.
We had gone to a pasta place before, but that time was my choice; this time, it was the Commander’s.
Before entering the restaurant, I was very self-conscious about all the people staring at us, but now, I didn’t care anymore.
After all, the Commander and I really weren’t that type of couple.
Though objectively speaking, a stunning woman and a handsome man strolling together would spark misunderstandings.
“Hey, Lindera, how about we hit a cafe afterwards?”
“Aren’t we going in right now?”
“Now that we’ve come this far into the area, isn’t it a bit boring just standing outside?”
“Uh… if you say so, Commander…?”
I suppose we have to.
My original plan was simply to eat and then go back to gaming, but now we’d be going to a cafe unexpectedly.
I would’ve never guessed the Commander would be the one to suggest going to a cafe, but it wasn’t a problem.
“I thought we were just going to play games in your room.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“…Yeah.”
It was slightly embarrassing to answer, but yes, it was fun.
It was actually more casual and enjoyable than I expected.
Of course, the most important aspect was that it wasn’t difficult while playing, right?
“Well, I’m glad to hear that. Once we go inside, we can chat about it while enjoying our drinks… ”
“Let’s head in quickly.”
Feeling slightly shy, I just wanted to get inside.
It wasn’t often I had said it was fun playing games with the Commander, so that added to my unease.
Of course, it’s not that previous games hadn’t been fun… just that I hadn’t played them, really.
“What would you like to drink?”
“I’ll have something sweet.”
“I already know that. You always go for the sweet stuff.”
I had a rough idea of the Commander’s taste.
He usually ate a lot of sweet things, so it was impossible not to know.
When he drinks coffee, he puts in enough sugar to match what I and Dolores would put in our coffees together.
“That’s true…”
“Why do you seem so surprised? Let’s just order quickly.”
“…Fine, you go ahead and pick first. I’ll take my time.”
I didn’t get why the Commander was suddenly hesitating to answer, but for now, it was my turn to choose something to drink.
Just having coffee was fine, but today, I felt like trying a refreshing cold brew instead of the regular.
After all, I just finished eating, and having something warm wouldn’t feel right after.
Something cool felt like it would be easier to digest.
“I’ll take… a cold brew, please. And this one will be…”
“…a banana latte.”
“Please make that a banana latte.”
Sure, I could order some cake or something to eat, but I really didn’t feel like it.
We were just going to chat, and I had stuffed myself plenty with the pork cutlet already.
Neither of us looked like we wanted anymore, anyway.
“Commander, why are you suddenly looking at me like that?”
“Just… I feel like I’ve spent more time with you than I expected.”
“What?”
“I just suddenly felt that way.”
Now that we sat down, he kept staring at me, and it made me curious.
But seriously, what was that about?
Out of nowhere, saying he thought we spent a lot of time together.
“Suddenly, what does that even mean?”
“…It just seemed that way because it looks like you remember my taste better than most.”
“Seriously? It’s only been a few months. Are you that forgetful?”
What an odd thing to say.
We’ve been working together for months, drinking coffee together all that time.
So I really couldn’t understand why the Commander was saying this.
He knew I liked bitter coffee more than sweet, right?
“It’s just what I thought. I used to always drink bitter coffee before.”
“…?”
“Yeah, let’s just leave that. It’s not important.”
“Got it…?”
But seriously, this wasn’t a job that had only been a few days; it was months of work together! How could he be so unaware?
It wasn’t like the Commander had complicated taste; his preferences were pretty straightforward.
He just liked sweet flavors; that was all.
I thought I remembered there being girls who liked him, so it didn’t make sense that he wouldn’t know his own preferences… right?
Or was it not so?
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