Chapter 10

Sayori woke to notice Natsuki still snoring beneath her, chuckling as she stood to stretch.

Looking outside she noticed it was getting dark outside.

Looks like we slept all day...

Sayori shrugged, making her way quietly down the stairs to get something to eat.

She grabbed a random apple, noticing she was running low on groceries.

No biggie... I'm sure I can earn a bit of cash cleaning the bathrooms at Mendy's this weekend.

Sayori worked unofficially at the Mendy's Dev managed.

Dev was a friend of Sayori's mother who used to be in the same bad business before deciding to improve her life.

Sayori saw Dev as a motherly figure since she was always doing things she was sure a mother should do for her such as give her praise and taking an interest in her hobbies.

Speaking of Dev...

Sayori left Natsuki a note saying she was free to stay since it was already so late before sliding on her shoes to leave.

She walked at a leisurely pace towards the restaurant that felt like her second home, opening the door to greet the workers as usual.

"Hey Sayori!"

"Yori, my man!"

"Sup girl?" The workers all greeted her with smiles.

"Hey, guys! Is Dev still in?" Sayori asked, taking a seat in an empty booth.

The place was almost deserted save an elderly couple in the far corner of the room finishing their food.

"Yeah, I'll get her for you, babe." a waitress said, slipping into the back room.

"Sayori! What brings you by so late?" Dev asked, her brown eyes twinkling as she gazed at the young girl.

"Hey, Dev..." Sayori smiled.

"Something on your mind, love?" Dev said, taking a seat across from her.

Sayori sighed, pressing her fingertips together out of habit.

"It's just... A girl..." Sayori said slowly.

Dev squealed, seizing Sayori's hands and squeezing them.

"Well tell me all about her!" Dev beamed.

Sayori smiled as she began going on and on about how wonderful the brunette was.

"This Monika girl sounds wonderful." Dev said, rubbing the backs of Sayori's hands with her thumbs.

"Thanks, Dev. Hey, while I'm here... Got any odd jobs I could fill?" Sayori asked.

"Sayori, hun. I keep telling you! If you'll only wait until you're sixteen I could hire you for real. You know, like legally." Dev explained for the billionth time.

"I know... But I just need a bit of money right now!" Sayori exclaimed.

"For what?" Dev asked.

"Groceries. What do you take me for, huh? A shopoholic?" Sayori teased.

"No no. I was just making sure it was for something important." Dev explained.

Dev sighed, shaking her head lightly.

"Fine. You can work drive thru till closing, okay?" Dev said.

Sayori nodded eagerly, grabbing her honorary employee apron and hat gifted on her birthday and raced to the window.

She took the headset from the girl just working there, who was eager to call in early anyway.

"Hi! Welcome to Mendy's! Order when you're ready!" Sayori chirped happily as someone pulled into her lane.

"Uh, yeah. I'll need two 4 for $4 deals. Both with a Diet Coke, fries, Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, and chicken strips." a distorted feminine voice began.

"Okay. Anything else?" Sayori said, adding the data.

"Yeah. One chocolate and one vanilla frosty, a garden salad, and a chicken sandwich with mayo." the voice finished.

"Okay! Your total is $18.78! Pull up to the last window and your food will be ready in a sec!" Sayori turned off her headset as she raced to get the drinks ready.

She grabbed the bags of food from the boy behind her, nodding in thanks as she finished filling the Frostys.

"Sayori?" a familiar voice called from the car's driver side.

Sayori froze as she turned, nearly dropping the items from her hands.

"You work here?" Monika asked.

In her car sat Yuri as well as two girls Sayori assumed were her friends.

"M-M-Monika! U-Um... I, uh..." Sayori stuttered, blushing deeply.

"Yori! Hurry it up! We've got a line forming!" one of the cooks commented, snapping Sayori from her daze.

"Here you go. $18.78, please." Sayori held out a hand for the money after passing along the food and drinks.

Monika handed her the money in exact change, waving before she pulled away.

"So that was her, huh?" Dev, who had been watching the scene with much interest, called as Sayori jumped in surprise.

"I-I um-!" Sayori stuttered, her blush deepening.

Dev laughed, shaking her head.

"Okay okay. Let's get back to work now, alright?" Dev said, having had her fun of teasing her friend's daughter.

~~~

"Here you go, love." Dev handed Sayori 20 dollars.

Sayori took the money with a smile, shoving it into her back pocket.

"Thank you, Dev!" Sayori said, giving the woman a hug.

She hung up her apron, placing her hat back on the shelf before walking back home.

It was dark by the time she arrived, Natsuki sitting on the couch to watch her favourite animovie, Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade.

"Where'd you go?" Natsuki asked, pausing it.

"I was with Dev." Sayori said.

Natsuki nodded, knowing how close Sayori and Dev were.

Natsuki didn't really know the woman, but was glad that someone other than herself was helping to look after her airhead friend.

"Anything interesting happen?" Natsuki asked, knowing sometimes Sayori would bring back stories of the workers' blunders.

"I.. Uh... Monika stopped by..." Sayori said, scratching her neck.

"Woah, really? What'd you say?" Natsuki asked.

"I, uh... Handed her the food and she drove off.." Sayori said in defeat, lowering her head.

Natsuki sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Well, at least you saw her, right?" Natsuki said, not wanting to make her more embarrassed.

Sayori weakly nodded.

"I'm going to bed. We've got school tomorrow." Sayori said, trudging up the stairs.

"'Kay. I'll be up a bit longer." Natsuki said, resuming the film.

Sayori closed her door, dragging her feet before plopping down onto her bed.

She sighed deeply, now both physically and socially exhausted.

Sayori drifted off to sleep with a cringy replay of her interaction with Monika playing on a loop in her head all night.