Want to be human, but cube-like

...This guy! Isn't he a little too overly familiar?!

"Well then, if there's nothing else, Alex and I will head back now."

Shoko, who managed to restrain herself from immediately pulling Alex away, chose to politely say something to Aine.

"Are we going back to the burger joint?"

Unexpectedly, Aine, who was prepared, immediately picked up where she left off.

"I spent quite a while choosing a phone, and I'm getting a bit hungry. Since we have this opportunity, could we go to a burger joint together and try your burgers?"

With her hands clasped together, Ai Yin smiled sweetly and tilted her head to ask.

"...Yes, you're very welcome."

Xiangzi, who really wanted to say no, nodded with a forced smile.

More than ten minutes later...

"What a cool look!"

Standing in front of the hamburger shop, Aine looked up at the destruction caused by the giant hamburger that had crashed down and exclaimed in amazement.

"Right? I told you it looked really cool, but Xiangzi doesn't seem to like it very much."

Alex, who also strongly agreed with this view, stood next to Aine and said.

"Can I take a picture and post it on my social media? Ellie, want to join me?"

A slightly excited Ai Yin took out her phone and asked.

"sure."

Alex, of course, did not refuse, so Aine took one of her hands, and the two stood close together in front of the burger shop, taking a picture with the giant burger as the background.

"Isn't Xiao Xiang coming to film with us?"

After she finished taking the picture, she waved to Xiangzi beside her, acting as if she didn't consider herself an outsider at all.

"...I don't need to."

Watching Aine rubbing against Alex's arm, Xiangzi closed his eyes and turned his head to speak.

That pink-haired lecher! She definitely has ulterior motives towards Alex!

Alex needs to experiment with the ingredients she buys to avoid any sauces that might not be suitable and could affect the original flavor of the burger.

So when they came back, they didn't turn the sign to the "Open for Business" side, and they didn't plan to serve customers at noon. If they tried the ingredients and found no problems, they might open for business in the afternoon.

Aine, who returned with the two, is currently the only customer at the burger shop.

She sat in the chair in front of the counter with great interest, watching Alex busy in the kitchen, occasionally refreshing the status update she had just posted online, and chuckling to herself.

[Where is Chihaya-senpai? What a beautiful girl!]

I know this burger joint! I heard it just opened yesterday. It's located in Ikebukuro, the decor is very unique, and I've heard the food is delicious.

[Did the guild leader manage to get a photo with the store manager? That's amazing! I went to this store yesterday, and the store manager is really beautiful. And judging from the way the blue-haired employee addressed her, the store manager seems to be a foreigner.]

[Hey? Could you share the address? I'd like to go take a picture and try it out!]

"Hehe~ Everyone seems quite envious..."

Looking at the comments popping up under her posts, Ai Yin smiled and muttered something to herself.

"Click."

A glass of ice water was gently placed in front of Ai Yin, the ice cubes rolling inside making a soft, rustling sound.

"I'm very sorry, but at the moment we can only provide ice water and hot water. Soft drinks are not available at the moment."

Maintaining his standard smile, Xiangzi walked to the counter and spoke to Ai Yin.

"And here's the menu."

She handed the menu to Ai Yin and glanced at the phone screen that Ai Yin hadn't bothered to cover. Although she still had a smile on her face, there wasn't much of a smile in her eyes.

This

That guy is totally showing off the photo of her and Alex to his friends!

"Okay, thank you, Xiao Xiang~"

Seemingly completely unaware that Xiangzi actually had a bad impression of her, Ai-yin accepted the gift with a smile.

"Huh? Does that mean we can choose our own ingredients and mix and match them as we like?"

After glancing at it casually, Ai Yin asked in surprise.

"Yes, but since it has just opened, there aren't many ingredients available."

"Well……"

How about we try adding each one? But we definitely wouldn't be able to finish it all, right?

I don't know how big the pieces of meat are. Would adding an extra serving be too much?

Hmm... which one should I choose?

Ai Yin began to struggle with her decision. She stared at the various types of meat on the menu and fell into deep thought.

Seeing that Ai-yin seemed unable to make a decision in the short term, Xiangzi returned to the kitchen.

"Alex, how is it? Can we use the sauce we bought?"

She glanced at the cutting board in front of Alex, where there were three or four small dishes filled with various sauces that had just been squeezed out, and a plate of diced cooked chicken next to them.

"I'm not quite... sure, Xiangzi, why don't you try some?"

Alex, who seemed quite hesitant, stepped aside when she heard Xiangzi asking her a question.

Somewhat puzzled, Xiangzi took out a pair of chopsticks from the cupboard, dipped the cooked chicken pieces in sauce, and tasted each kind from left to right.

Because she didn't know which one was better, Xiangzi bought the salad dressing and mayonnaise based on online recommendations. She bought the brand with the highest ratings for both.

After comparing them carefully, I feel that the effect is not as great as I imagined, and the taste is just average. It can only slightly enrich the texture of the chicken, but it doesn't drag it down. It just doesn't make the chicken taste better.

"Did you make this ketchup yourself?"

When Xiangzi tasted the last dish of sauce, she paused for a moment because Alex had mentioned that the shop could now make its own tomato sauce, so she hadn't bought any.

"Hmm, it's just finished, how is it?"

Nodding, Alex looked at Xiangzi, waiting for her response.

If we were to ask Xiangzi for his opinion...

Differs greatly.

Frowning, she picked up another small piece of chicken, dipped it in the other sauces she had bought, and compared it with the homemade tomato sauce she had just eaten.

If eaten alone, the other sauces are fine and should satisfy customers' needs. However, if the ketchup is on the menu and customers have tried it, then the other purchased sauces will seem somewhat inferior compared to the ketchup.

Or rather, it will emphasize a feeling of being processed by modern industrial technology.

The solution is to choose one of two options.

This homemade tomato sauce will not be added to the menu for now, or perhaps we should just skip the store-bought sauces.

"Let's just add this one type of tomato sauce to the menu for now. We can't use the ones we bought."

Obviously, Xiangzi wouldn't serve the customers the sauces that tasted relatively bad.

However, that would be a waste of money.

Or, why don't you take them back and use them yourself?

After hesitating for a moment, Xiangzi wanted to say something more.

"Good~"

Before Xiangzi could continue speaking, Alex nodded readily and dumped several dishes of sauce. Before Xiangzi could even react, she had already thrown all the sauces she had bought into the trash can.

I always felt that she really disliked these things, but she couldn't make a decision because Xiangzi bought them.

"that!"

At this moment, Aiyin outside seemed to have finally decided what she wanted, and she raised her little hand and called out to them.

With a helpless glance at the sauces he had just bought in the trash can, Xiangzi had no choice but to walk out.

"Then let's add the ketchup to the menu."

Alex casually picked up the menu she had prepared earlier for updating, added a few lines, and after thinking for a moment, did not put a price tag on the ketchup.

She put down the menu, turned her head, and looked through the kitchen window toward the counter.

Xiangzi was talking to Aiyin sitting next to him. After a while, Xiangzi finished entering the order into the system and left to clean and wipe the dust off the other tables.

They'll be opening for business soon.

“Aine…”

Looking at the pink-haired girl, Alex murmured the name softly.

Is it really just a coincidence?

Where does that strange sense of familiarity come from?

Why could she find something familiar in Aine?

Snapping out of her reverie, Alex glanced at the order that Xiangzi had entered into the system and displayed on the kitchen screen. With a more focused and serious attitude than ever before, she finished making Ai Yin's burger.

"Here you go, this is your hamburger."

Carrying the plate, she personally delivered it to Ai-yin's table, and Alex sat down as she did so, saying...

"Okay, thank you, Ellie~"

Putting her phone away, Ai Yin eagerly picked up the hamburger. Her eyes lit up when she smelled the rich aroma of the meat.

"It smells so good~ Then I won't be polite!"

With her chin resting on her hands, Alex tilted her head slightly and quietly watched Aine's somewhat adorable eating habits without saying a word.

"Hmm... Allie?"

After taking several bites, Aine noticed that Alex had been staring at her, which made her blush. She slowed down her chewing and called out softly in confusion.

Why are you staring at me?

"I just think Aine is very pretty."

After thinking for a moment, Alex spoke her mind.

"Eh?"

The very straightforward question left Aine momentarily speechless, and she avoided eye contact.

"Um... thank you, Ellie looks beautiful too!"

Ai Yin slightly raised the hamburger in her hand, using it to cover her lips, which were glistening with meat juice, and her cheeks, which were tinged with a faint blush. She quickly praised Alex's beauty as well.

"However, calling her Aine... feels a bit strange."

With a slight smile, Alex did not continue the topic; instead, she changed the subject.

"Is it because of Ellie's mother?"

After hesitating for a moment, Ai Yin asked softly.

"His name is exactly the same as mine... That's really strange."

Ai-yin said with a smile.

"After all, we're the same age. I guess Ellie might be a little troubled by this?"

She recalled Alex's height, and couldn't help but glance at the towering peaks covered by the sweater right in front of her. She swallowed again, her throat still full of hamburger meat.

They must be around the same age, right?

"Hmm... Every time I call Aine's name, I always think of my mother."

Nodding, Alex relaxed her elbows that were propping her up on the table, laid her arms flat and crossed them in front of her, relaxed her body, rested her head on the table, turned her cheek to the side, and said in a slightly complicated tone.

"In that case... Ellie still..."

You can call me Chihaya, that's fine too.