A few hours earlier.

  "You're up earlier today, Potato?"

  "Mhm. We're open a bit early today, see."

  One thing that hasn't changed over these eight years is that I still hate early mornings, as much as I sound like a broken record.

  But you've already heard me complain about it so, so much for a three-paragraph tangent that the author omitted from the first draft because it was extraneous only to say that the reason Giotto's is open earlier is due to us having a meeting later today.

  So with the morning still a bit young, Rin and I left the house with her four wheels while I took off with only my two feet on the way to work.

  Then a few meters away from the restaurant, I noticed that the landlord of the commercial space across the road that has been for rent is taking a visit to the building. Despite the place having been vacant for some years now, it has been a long while since I last saw him do an inspection.

  ~ ~ ~

  And now that the resto is closed and the meeting has started… I don't like how Hiro is staring me down with his introductory words.

  "Well, let's start with short-term stuff first. About the seasonal menu we have for fall…" he just started as if he didn't give me a look.

  Just like any meetings, I still find it amazing that Sean can speak and write the minutes at the same time. It went on normally with the usual back-and-forths and a healthy agree-to-disagreeing moments until things are either concluded or postponed for the next meeting.

  But I couldn't whisk away that image of Hiro directing his eyes at me, even when the meeting is just flowing normally like usual. Still, it's part of my job to participate, especially now that outside cooking, I've pretty much learned a lot of things that is beyond the work hours for a while now.

  And so, Hiro finally stood up from his seat after having gone through the itinerary, and after beating around the bush for so long…

  "I've been in discussion with Sean to use the commercial space in front of us for a cafe, and it's probably time to let that out to you."

  Well, yeah, the first order of planning still comes from those two since they have equal ownership as a partnership business, and it's common in Giotto's to announce things all at once down the organizational ladder. Despite having a branch and all, our main establishment in Orio isn't really that big in terms of staff, but enough for operations to run smoothly.

  But for them to announce that we are going to open a cafe, or at least have been planning to, came across as a bit of a surprise to the team as we've been just a restaurant all this time. Needless to say, it had risen some questions among us.

  "I think the elephant in the room here is that… how is that going to affect Giotto's main cash flow with how close it is, head chef?"

  "Well, we got the data of demand from a survey across different areas of Ginga as well as collecting messages in our suggestion box, and it turns out that we have a different demographic than what we have here."

  Then, the monitor beside him turned on with several graphs displayed on the screen from a survey that has been conducted in the past two months, and Hiro continued.

  "The characteristics of our target market has actually changed a bit. When we were starting, they would be people looking for our differentiation of having Japanese and Italian food, but since we've eased on that, it's become more generalized as the resto got more known. But of course, it's not like we're able to accommodate a lot of markets, anyway.

  What we've overlooked all this time is that despite our area being very commercial, there is actually a low number of cafes around, and people are defaulting to either the existing coffee shops or ours—being an indirect competitor.

  And to no one's surprise, the cafe's demand comes from the age range of early to late 20's. That said, it did appear that the age of early to middle 30's are also interested with it. So, Sean ran a feasibility on it, and it looks like the potential of us establishing that is high."

  It has been a while since we had a meeting this heavy on the business side, and even I'm surprised I was able to follow most of what Hiro was saying, which I wouldn't be able to years ago unless if I actually took management in Blue Ink. If anything, these things are right up Jean's alley.

  "Before we even go further with this discussion, we'd like to hear anyone's opinions and cast a vote to agree or disagree."

  "Have we decided on a general theme?" asked Chef Yuzu.

  "For now, what we're envisioning is something that contrasts with Giotto's a bit. The resto has changed to generally 'a place to eat' and frankly, we haven't really done unique events, so the cafe would likely be a 'place to chill'. It's not as if it's going to be very separate here anyway. To probably put it simply, Giotto's would be fast, while the cafe would be slow."

  "I think I'd want to know how profitable the concept will be, because I feel like we still really need to expound on that," frankly, Jean stated.

  "Ideas are very much appreciated. Hate to say something very business-like, but we need something that's to going keep making people come in and go back."

  Not like I had an idea at the top of my head, but with the sight of Hiro ominously looking at me earlier, I raised my hand and asked.

  "What are we going to do with staffing if we push through with it, then?"

  "Hiro and I have actually been considering you managing it, Gin."

  Ah, there it is.

  "Uh, I honestly feel like there are better people in our team for that."

  "Thing is with you, Gin, is in spite of all the stuff we drilled into you, you still think of yourself as 'just a cook'. You're way more than that now, and you've always been more than that since we hired you.

  Your creativity has spawned some interesting ideas, and while not all of them are exactly good, some works. And I'm talking about it in your life. Also, what the heck, you ran a popup shop of Giotto's in Blue Ink in their Open Event, and it was a landslide success.

  You're an artist, you're our chef, and now we trained you in the business side of things. It wasn't randomly that Sean and I taught you about those things—we knew that with that formula, you can breathe some new life in Giotto's."

  "You make me sound like a shonen protagonist when I finally realized my roots."

  "Say what you will, but of course you putting down yourself hasn't changed much.

  Anyway, we have a barista in our team that can teach the future cafe crew after all and even attend practicums. Still, this is just a meeting and I'm not expecting we'll reach a verdict immediately. But for anyone who is in agreement or not, sign this paper here."

  It was an unexpected shift to the one I thought about what's going to be Giotto's future, and because of Hiro and Sean's sudden proposal, I decided to withhold from signing whether I am in favor with the new changes or not.

  With that, the meeting was adjourned for the time being.

  ? ? ?

  In one of our days off, after a quick visit to several doors in Yuuga's apartment, Rin and I made our way to Yona, the cafe we frequently visit and where Yukihime had to help once.

  And as it is still summer, it just made sense that they would have a seasonal menu being promoted everywhere. I should say, with Haruka having past relations to the biggest businessman of Orio, it checked out that he had put so much on marketing without it being overwhelming.

  As it happens, the owner himself is taking orders on a somewhat busy hour, and while it's not yet totally crowded, I took the opportunity to ask some questions.

  "Oh, so the QR code was for the menu?"

  "It was Aomine's idea. He found us a service where once orders are finalized, it will generate a one-time code that the waiter can scan. While physical menus are still a thing, it makes things faster for us. It's our compromise for not having a fully digital system."

  "This is cool tech… Then, can I have one of your recommendation?"

  "Would you be alright with a blueberry float?"

  "Can I also get one for a dessert?"

  "How about… Pavé style green apples?"

  "Wait, you mean like potato pavé?"

  "Yup. It's essentially the same process, but it's sweet and minus the fat."

  "I'll take that with… a mango cube, then. I'm kinda curious how you're able to make a pie in that shape."

  With our orders confirmed, it indeed generated a bar code with all the orders and the receipt.

  "That was definitely a unique menu item, isn't it?"

  "It's more of Claude's alley since we don't do French stuff, but I've never tried it at home thinking about it."

  "Maybe try not to use duck fat because that seems a bit excessive."

  "I'll go with tallow, at the very least."

  It felt strange for me to stop myself from getting completely immersed within the cafe, as every time I get taken over, I needed to snap out of it and give the establishment a thorough observation from the small details down to their visible operations.

  Regardless, it was good to have experienced one of Yona's events even if just for a single day as it gave me a frame of reference. It would not however mean that it's the only place I should take as a basis, but if I find that Yona's simply cut above the rest, then I will have found it to be our strongest direct competitor.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Then in the following days where I don't have restaurant work, I would be walking alone with a laptop and a pen tablet on my bag, going from establishment to establishment to try assess and observe their operations.

  And it might be late to realize, but it already felt like I was already doing the work I did not yet sign up to.

  ? ? ?

  One of the good things that happened this year is that we were finally able to revive the cross-family dinners that we used to always have a few years back. What has changed is that the family has gotten bigger as the Sakato family finally has an in-law now, while the Akanami's now have Mahiru.

  On a full attendance, we have 12 in one or many tables, so it has been agreed upon that the place of dinner will be depending on our numbers.

  "Oh, Gin. Have you told Ringo about our plans?"

  "I… didn't see the reason why I should?"

  "You could have at least told her, you know. Even before bringing it up to Sean, I talked to Yu about the possibility. It's not like we're so strict to not talk about it with immediate family."

  "I just didn't think I should say anything that's still under wraps."

  "Fair, but she also has service experience just like you. More so, I'm curious with her insights as someone who was from CCI."

  "I was just getting more food and what's got Hiro-nii worked up so suddenly?" right on time, Rin sat back down with another plate on her hand.

  "Just let it out, Gin."

  "Ah, yeah. So Hiro wants to assign me in management of a cafe extension of the resto. Or maybe an annex?"

  "Ooohhh, that's like you doing your own debut," she interestedly compared and clapped at the thought.

  "It's not set in stone yet, since we haven't formulated a clear vision of it, but once it's concrete… we'd probably be pouring the literal one on the site."

  "Currently, what we'd like it to be is to contrast with Giotto's 'fast', so slow or chill. But that's not enough to differentiate," Sis added. "Just like any brainstorming, most ideas are rejected in favor of the unique ones."

  Believe me, it was surprising to hear Hiro say 'cringe' in some of those ideas.

  "Right now, the most agreeable concept is that the cafe would turn into an izakaya every Friday night, then we're considering experiments on how spices would work on drinks especially for seasonal ones."

  "Got anything in mind?"

  "Hmm… Doesn't seem like you're aiming for a concept cafe… so maybe something that has the community's involvement? And I think the izakaya idea is already good since I don't think a lot of cafes around the area adopts that.

  Also, I personally would appreciate it if the shop will be adapting environmental practices."

  "See? You should have told her sooner, lil bro."

  "You're literally her sister…"

  "Ah-!"

  We were caught off guard by a sudden and short yelp that came out of Rin as she stopped from eating.

  "Thought of something again, Rin?"

  "Nope."

  "Your 'nope' doesn't seem like a nope."

  "It's nothing related."

  She says, but all I can see on her face was the pure excitement brought by her flushed cheeks and trembling lips resisting a smile to come out. Looking away when she met any of our eyes, she continued eating, although restlessly.

  After the dinner, she immediately jumped onto her phone and then stormed back to their house seemingly on a rush. Just when I thought I was the only one confused, I looked at Hiro and Sis only to find them shrugging at me.

  "What? You're usually the one that gets a read on things like that quickly."

  "No, I'm drawing a blank as well."

  ? ? ?

  With a still incomplete concept, I now find myself back in my alma mater checking on the plants in the rooftop before I was to go to my appointment in the Art Room. It's not something we did back then, but it seems like Art Club is now doing summer activities.

  This time, Mato invited me as a guest instructor for the current club.

  To my surprise, some students were able to recognize me with the honorific "Sir Gin" which I haven't heard in a while. Despite not being my students as they used to be in junior high, it does appear that they still knew me.

  More than ever, it does seem like Blue Ink's Art Club is leaning further towards the digital medium, which made things easy for me. I haven't really touched much traditional materials, so it worked that they wanted to see my workflow as a frame of reference. Thankfully, I have two separate workflows with one being of Capy_nina, and this is definitely one of those times where I'm glad I did that as the way I draw has already been flaunted in my live streams one too many times.

  Then during a short recess, Mato tapped my shoulder while leading me to a corner of the room and spoke at a low voice.

  "Probably not the best time to hear this, but I've got bad news for you, Gin."

  "Uh-huh…"

  "I know it's been, what, nine years but the Art Room's centerpiece will be replaced soon."

  By centerpiece, he meant the graphite drawing that I did in my third year that has been in the Art Room's wall since 2017.

  "When you say it like that, I can't believe it's been almost a decade when I made that drawing. I'm curious what's going to replace it."

  "It's kind of the same size as your artwork but it's a compilation of storyboards."

  "That's certainly something. Is it ready to be displayed?"

  "They're still in the process of compiling it."

  "I really want to see it now. Man. And I guess the dust that accumulated behind of my drawing, too."

  "Stop being gross."

  (!)

  "Also, Mato… I still technically have ownership of that artwork, right?"

  "The school never claimed it, so yeah."

  "I guess I'll have to come back later after this session…"

  "…?"

  ~ ~ ~

  Upon entering my house from the front door, Rin jumped from a jolt after nearly giving something large hanging around the hallway a kick.

  "Goodness, Gin… Bring your things in."

  "Oh, I thought you were to come in from my room."

  "Sir, I just parked my car and I'm going to do the reverse of what you just said because it's more convenient that way."

  "Whoops."

  "What was that, though?"

  "My display piece from the Art Room got replaced, so I took it."

  Before even managing to turn the faucet on, she ran back to the hall and unwrapped the cloth covering the large frame.

  "What, it really is," she exclaimed as she carried it in to the living room. "Is this going beside your uncle's painting, then?"

  "No way, no way. My uncle's piece is too good for that drawing to be hanged beside it. I have a place for it though, but I'm keeping that in storage for now."

  ? ? ?

  The next day, I came back to work… but instead of holding a knife or a ladle, I had a tape measure on my hand.

  Across the road, the shutters of the commercial space opened up halfway as the landlord permitted Giotto's to inspect the unit. That said, the resto could only allow myself to go as it is a busy hour, and so I am on my own to measure and take note of all the dimensions of the space. And I am dreading that the floor area is in two floors.

  Still, while it may not be nowhere near as spacious as Giotto's diner area, it doesn't mean that it's so small that it would only fit just a few tables. Perhaps it's a tad smaller than Yona, but there is still another floor to make room for.

  It felt like the longest hour of my life, as even if I had to suffer the time and gravity in the Accelerated Room, I didn't have to endure the sweltering heat and insane humidity of the summer. Regardless, after I finished with the measurements, I went back to the restaurant only to walk past the kitchen and instead joined Sean in the staff room where I opened my laptop and looked back and forth on my screen and the notes I took while my mouse did not produce an audible click despite how much and how aggressively I tapped on it.

  And when the evening came, the bosses called for a meeting to those who currently had their shifts today.

  Once again, the paper asking for everyone's signatures has been slid onto the table, having a majority of the staff agreeing to the expansion, while only a few blank spaces can be counted on one hand.

  Without a word, I snatched the paper and put my signature in agreement to the establishment of the cafe.

  "H-Huh… Didn't expect you to be so assertive suddenly."

  "Well, I kind of already finished a very rough draft of how the floor plan would look like right when I got back, and this is how I see it."

  Once I plugged in my laptop into the monitor, it immediately showed the 3D model of the commercial space accurate to its real-life counterpart. At first glance, it just looks like an ordinary cafe because it is. It was the limit of what I can do before it gets sent to the restaurant's hired architect to spruce things up, but I believe that not a lot would change from my initial concept.

  "So… before we even proceed to anything else, can we take it that you're willing to head the operations of the cafe, Gin?"

  I only nodded, to which it was received with a brief applause.

  "Following that, are you willing to step down as a sous chef?"

  "Oh, I guess that's what comes after, after all. I suppose I couldn't possibly divide the work in a day, but tell me you're still allowing me in the kitchen, Hiro?"

  "It's not like we'll have both shops open at the same time. I'll now take that as a yes, and while I already have someone in mind to take on the work, your opinion is just as valuable in this case."

  "I can trust Chef Yuzu on the job, really. While I may have more experience in Giotto's culture, she simply just has way more culinary experience than me that I sometimes end up learning from her in real time."

  "You heard the sous chef. Now, if there are any objections?"

  Unanimously, the staff said agreed to the possible shift in the kitchen team, where even Jean said yes to it, while it felt like there is a friendly and healthy competition going on to improve the most critical side of the restaurant crew.

  "On that, you will have to wait for a memo to see if the changes will be official.

  But now, I'll be handing the stage to Gin if there is anything he'd like to say about this."

  Thus, I changed seats and sat between Hiro and Sean while the screen of my laptop is still projected in the large monitor behind me.

  "Not long ago, we've had an internal survey on who are willing to work late, granted that their work hours will be adjusted, and it seems that more than half of the team are open to it.

  Once the confirmation that the cafe will push through comes out, I'd like to encourage the concept of the cafe turning into an izakaya every Friday night or maybe even the weekends. While not unprecedented, I haven't seen a lot of businesses around do that.

  But as for the cafe side of things… the concept in my head is honestly driven from my personal ideas and inclination. I think it's no secret that aside from my work here, I do art. And because of, well, insider info and generally friendly relationships with Stylo Studio, I managed to learn a bit of the creative landscape here in Cotona over the past few years, and I want to capitalize on it.

  Firstly, the cafe will still be a cafe where I'll need everyone's help in formulating a differentiating menu that will set us apart because frankly, marketing isn't really my strong suit.

  Secondly, I want to envision the cafe as a creative space. With the emergence of artists in the province due to the versatile and globalized Stylo Studio, their pull had begun to slowly turn this place into a creative hub, and it would be nice to see us be the first adapters of the concept that allows for networking and collaborations.

  Fortunately, I made some connections recently that could potentially help in bringing people here.

  Another thing is that… call it social responsibility but I'd like to partner with Blue Ink High School especially since I have prior experience in their creative organizations, and do something with that link for the students.

  As for the model that I made, I purposely kept the interior bare bones because I also have plans for it where the interior or at least the walls will slowly come to life with time.

  I should probably make a document, but I was kind of in a rush earlier. Nonetheless, I'd like to hear everyone's ideas and feedback."

  Before I even realized it, I had found myself on my feet in front of all the staff members, watching me talk nonstop for who knows how long.

  Suddenly, a whack sounded loudly on my back.

  "See? Knew you could do it," Hiro chuckled.

  The next moments honestly felt like a blur. Discussions proceeded and all voices have been heard, but at the same time, so much things still just did not feel real to me at the moment.

  The meeting concluded having finally reached a decision on the future of Giotto's, and with the way things stand, it appears that I am going to have less time in the kitchen.

  ? ? ?

  A week later.

  "Aaaaaahhhhh, I'm pooped."

  By the time I was able to come home, a car has already been parked outside my house, and the lights inside are on.

  With Rin sitting at one end of the couch, I immediately dove in on the empty spot face first.

  "Your mental and physical stamina are just that different, huh."

  "My head hurts…"

  "How are things going?"

  "We're on track to being registered because we concentrated on getting all the requirements. Though, those two never told me that I was going to be signing a partnership agreement."

  "Wait, do you mean you share ownership of the cafe?"

  "Yeah…"

  I then pulled myself up from the comfort of the couch and climbed the stairs once I washed my hands.

  "I'm gonna go take a shower then I'll be streaming for an hour or two. How about you, Rin?"

  "You're still going to stream? You usually just chill after you have a big day."

  "One thing I realized when all I was doing were desk work and administrative stuff is that it just doesn't have the element of creation in it. Now I kind of understand when vtubers tell their chat that streaming is like their form of rest."

  "I totally get that. Aren't you glad our current jobs steer us away from those mundane tasks?"

  "And that's why I want to push through with my vision of the cafe so that I can balance out the administrative things that I'll have to deal with."

  In my few steps up to the second floor, Rin stood up and turned off the main lights prompting to follow me up.

  "How about I set up a collaborative canvas in your PC?"

  "Are you sure? You'll be on stream, you know."

  "It's fine. It's just me drawing and I'll keep my mouth shut."

  "If you say so…"

  "Oh! You just said that the cafe has been almost registered. You never told me the name of it if that's the case." needless to say, she was kind of bummed that she was not in on such an important thing.

  "Ah, that…

  It's Rei Hatsuna."

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