NOVEL NEXT Chapter 84.2
Healing Place Leaf
After Tsunami-san's coaching session and with plans to receive guidance from her through massage to help her relax after her workout, the situation took a sudden turn.
Tsunami-san received a call for help from her workplace, and everything changed.
Tsunami-san spontaneously offered to provide massage guidance at the shop. Although I had reservations about it, I couldn't bring myself to decline, as I felt guilty about potentially breaking our promise.
I had talked to Tsunami-san on Izu's beach about wanting to own my shop someday, despite my current enrollment in a massage school. It seemed that Tsunami-san had remembered this, and she thought working at the shop would be a good experience for me.
(Oh well. I guess I have no choice but to go along with it.)
At 4:00 PM, I arrived at the Healing Place Leaf, the massage shop located within the super sento where Tsunami-san worked.
After being introduced to the staff and receiving a brief lecture from Tsunami-san, it was time for practical experience. It was surprisingly quick. Even though it was a weekday, the shop was busy.
By the way, they didn't have staff uniforms in my size at Healing Place Leaf, so while everyone else was wearing wine-red staff uniforms, I remained in my white lab coat, which I wore from my massage school.
Guest check-in was done by the staff at the counter near the shop's entrance. We, the massage therapists, guided the clients assigned to us based on the instructions given at the counter, starting the customer service process.
My first client happened to be an elderly gentleman, probably in his sixties. To avoid intimidating him with my muscular and tall physique, I lowered my posture and quickly directed him to lie on the massage table.
"Welcome! Please, have a seat on this bed. There you go, there you go!"
"Wow, you're a big guy, mister!"
"Well, I do work out. So, which parts of your body are bothering you today?"
"Well, my lower back and shoulders have been aching…"
"Alright, I understand. Let's focus on relaxing your shoulders and lower back, then."
I had always struggled with social interaction due to my social anxiety, but I've been making improvements lately, partly thanks to leveling up and interacting with sociable college girls.
So, I didn't feel nervous at all about providing customer service. In the past, I would have been very anxious, but having gone through countless battles in dungeons had toughened me up considerably. Now, I hardly got flustered by most things.
However, after working for about two hours and massaging three clients while receiving advice from Tsunami-san, something unexpected happened that rattled me.
Guess who walked into the massage shop with a female companion? It was none other than my former coworker and my least favorite person, Kei Myou.
Kei Myou immediately noticed me, even though I had tried to blend into the background. Ignoring the reception staff at the counter, he boldly entered the shop and stood right in front of me.
"Hey, isn't that Ezuki? What are you doing here? Are you working part-time or something?"
Among the two types of attire available for guests in the facility, Kei Myou and his companion had chosen yukatas to wear. It was a nice choice for the atmosphere, but as usual, he was wearing an excessive amount of jewelry, including necklaces and earrings. Honestly, it completely ruined the ambiance.
(That guy… He's still doing his macho routine within two seconds of meeting me. Some things never change.)
Kei Myou had a tendency to assert his dominance over people he didn't like. He used to pick on me all the time when we worked together at the company.
Wait a minute, though… It's only 7:30 PM. How did they come to a super public bath on a weekday with a female companion? Even when they left work early by simply writing [Meeting with ○× Corporation, going home afterward.] on the board, my former department would keep us working overtime endlessly.
"Welcome! First, please go to the counter for registration."
I had a lot I wanted to say, but I had already quit the company. So, I replied to Katsurana with a smile and a standard greeting, free from the past.
"Ugh…! (Grumble)"
It seemed that my attitude didn't sit well with Kei Myou, as he turned red again and started complaining loudly to the reception staff, saying things.
"Why are you hiring and using someone like him?"
Oh boy, Kei Myou. Thanks to you, I now feel incredibly uncomfortable.
Clients who were receiving massages turned their heads to see what was happening, and even the other staff members providing massages wore concerned expressions.
In the midst of it all, I suddenly noticed someone looking at me.