Chapter 283

Chapter Twelve Familiar Café

“Welcome.”

Ash lowered the manga “Detective of Wind City” he was reading and walked from the front desk to the service area when he saw Erika being carried in by Lily and Lei.

Ash also came closer to take a look. Upon seeing this, it startled him. Erika’s legs were bent with her hips raised high, and the red swollen area was hard to look at.

“How harsh.”

Even though he was angry and had really hit hard, he didn’t expect it to be to such an extent.

“Erika!”

The watery-eyed Lei pulled on Erika’s clothes, almost making his glasses wet from tears.

“Erika, don’t die!”

“I won’t die… Lei…” The teary-eyed Erika on the sofa said grumpily, “but I’m about to die from pain…”

“Help! Help!”

Two fairies were clinging to her back, trying to cool her off to ease the pain, but it was all for naught.

“Disgusting!” Erika hugged a small Spider-Man stuffed toy on the sofa and imagined it as that hateful enemy. She continuously hit the soft toy with her small hands.

“That hurts, yes! He actually hit my bottom, the lady Erika’s! Now I’m so upset, I can hardly talk.” As she spoke, Erika’s voice started to choke with sobs.

“Just because I bumped into his face with my butt! Small-minded, I curse him never to have a girlfriend! I want to kick him up into space and make him live there like the sun!”

It hurts… It hurts so much… How can I tell Peach-senpai and my mom and dad?

“What a deep-seated resentment,” Ash responded indifferently as if it had nothing to do with him.

“So you lost again?” Ash’s words froze the Girl.

“Is this how the enemy does it? Wow… It sure looks painful.”

Ash pulled a chair close and gazed at the tearful Erika until she turned away with a huff.

“If you want to laugh, go ahead…”

“Pffft—” Seeing Erika, who was usually full of arrogance, now looking like a defeated kitten, Ash couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha—”

“You—” Erika, not expecting the laughter, felt suffocated with anger. Her large tears fell from her eyes. “You laughed at me, laughing so happily! When I tried so hard…”

This boss… Is as detestable as Timons!

The sweet scent relieved Erika’s anxiety, lifting her gaze to see a large cup of fruity ice cream dominating her view.

Desserts always held an irresistible allure for women of any age.

“‘Colorful Ice Cream Special,’ specially recommended by Shimizu! This is a recipe I learned after a lot of effort from an old man.” Ash pushed the ice cream toward Erika, exaggeratedly and used Lily’s handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

Looking at the “Colorful” ice cream wasn’t just Erika; faint whispers of swallowing could be heard from the others.

“Now, eat this to get your spirits up. Next time, let’s show that enemy what for.”

“Thanks…”

The grudge against Ash dissipated quickly, especially after tasting the sweet flavor.

How sweet, delicious!

Hmm, the boss doesn’t seem so bad, quite handsome too.

“All of this was done by the person calling himself the Kamen Rider, Timons.”

Lily explained for the melted Erika, and the voice made her turn to the TV.

“Who knocks on the door? The case awaits, Welcomewindycity~♪”

On the TV, the double-colored Kamen Rider was riding a motorcycle through their city, fighting evil.

“He claims to be a Kamen Rider…too. How different they are!”

“They were born to protect this beloved planet~♩”

Ash clicked the remote, changing the channel.

“There might not be a fake, they could be real?”

“Are there really such ruthless people in the Kamen Riders…?”

“If you ask me,” Ash thought for a moment and nodded, “there actually are quite a few.”

Hearing this, Tsukikage Lily sighed deeply.

“Ugh, really, you big anime fan, Tomi!”

Erika grumped, putting Spider-Man in front of her, as she growled. “When I’ve already been beaten like this by Kamen Rider, you still watch them? How awful!”

“Erika…” Lei glanced uncertainly between the boss and Erika, not knowing how to respond to her friend’s outburst.

“Enough, I’m not teasing anymore.” Ash shut off the café’s TV regretfully. “I said I’d support you; it’s part of my job. Let me handle—?”

Ash’s reaching hand was tightly grabbed by Lily, the grip strengthening.

“Yaaah!?”

At the sight of Ash’s reaching hand, Erika screamed, burying herself into Lei’s arms, forgetting the pain.

“Don’t touch it!”

“Boss…”

Seeing the disapproving glances from even Lei, who usually trusted Ash, and the sharp-eyed look from Lily, he felt the backlash.

What? This time, I truly meant no harm, only to help.

“Boss, men and women shouldn’t be so direct… If you touched it earlier, we had no choice but to visit the police station.”

“…I forgot.”

I forgot it was inappropriate.

“Can you forget something like this?!”

Vibrant Erika, now wincing from pain, commented sarcastically, while Ash, smiling, left his hand untouched.

“Alright, enough joking.” Handing a spray bottle to Lily, Ash fetched some ice cubes from behind the counter.

“Spraying and icing will help reduce the swelling soon.”

Erika weakly agreed and embraced Time-Liner and Kuuga plush on the sofa.

“The boss has everything.”

Facing the感慨, Ash gave a slightly mysterious smile.

“Nasta Coffee Shop lacks nothing.”