"Damn it! Did you guys intentionally lead me here after planning it? You people..."
Blushing, Aina Yoshiwara finished ordering, and amid the meows of the cat-eared maid, she covered her head in shame, feeling like she was about to explode.
Who on earth came up with this kind of embarrassing service place like a maid café? It serves him right to make money; the emotional value provided is too much!
"Actually, we didn't plan ahead."
Placing his hand on the armrest, although it was impolite, Kohei Imamura couldn't suppress the malicious smile on his lips.
"After all, something like this can be understood with just a glance, how could we possibly need inefficient means like language!"
"I strongly agree!"
"That's right, Aina! This is the bond between us!"
"Then can't you guys think of anything good!"
It's too much, they're taking advantage of the fact that she can't join their team voice chat.
However, since the deed was done and the food was ordered, Aina Yoshiwara couldn't just turn around and leave, so she decided to just eat dinner and then talk.
"Also, don't these girls feel embarrassed? After all..."
"Welcome home, Master!"
"...it's like this."
Pointing to the cat-eared maids at the door, Aina Yoshiwara's face showed intense disdain—
Men are all creatures like this. As long as there is the smile of a beautiful girl, they will become cheerful no matter what, it's super disgusting!
They don't know that true love should be peaceful in daily life, but occasionally erupt in a magnificent romantic trip, looking down on all living beings from a hotel skyscraper and merging together...
"Ah, Aina seems to be thinking about something again?"
Seeing the steam rising from Aina Yoshiwara's head, Miyazawa Yu ordered another drink, shrugged while biting his straw, and explained: "Of course they feel embarrassed, after all, they have to wear such embarrassing clothes and say strange lines."
"But accordingly! The maids' salaries are ridiculously high, you know, after all, business is good and the meals are overpriced. Look!"
Searching for the shop's recruitment advertisement on his phone, Iori Kitahara handed it to Aina, scaring the latter, who was imagining strange plots, half to death.
"Ah! Ah? Oh, three thousand Japanese... yen per hour!"
"That's right! It gets even higher if you add commissions from special services and photos!"
Miyazawa Yu pushed the embarrassed Aina back into her seat, spread the menu out again, and tapped the magic that makes omurice delicious.
"This single item costs five hundred yen, and the young lady probably gets seventy or eighty percent of that, plus half the omurice's profit share, that's about five hundred yen."
"It's so profitable!!!"
Aina was shocked! Honestly, this is much faster money than working in agriculture or part-time jobs.
And the base salary isn't low, so even without customers, the income is higher than that of ordinary waiters or convenience store cashiers.
To be honest, it made her feel a little tempted!
"Right? So there are gains and losses; gaining money means losing worries, that's the truth!"
Seeing Aina finally getting enlightened, Miyazawa Yu crossed his arms and nodded seriously.
These young ladies earn their money through hard work. They are completely engaging in poverty relief! This is high-quality male charity that should be greatly praised!
"Um... one omurice, and a Sky Blue Water Blue Lemon Seaview Special Drink."
"No problem, Master, do you need the omurice to be..."
"Please make it two servings."
"???"
A familiar voice. Miyazawa Yu was currently teaching Aina the legitimacy of coming to a maid café.
He suddenly heard the voice of the customer who sat behind them sound a bit familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere.
Quietly standing up and looking back, he saw that the customer Aina had just despised was the boy he had met briefly in the Shuchi'in Academy Student Council.
He remembered Miyuki mentioning his name, it was something like...
"Student Yū?"
"Hmm? Ha!"
He had just come to his usual spot to comfort his body and mind, rewarding himself for making it through a day without being killed by Senpai Shinomiya. Yū Ishigami was first stunned when he heard someone call his name.
Then he suddenly realized that a maid café was not the place to be recognized by acquaintances, and why was the killer senpai from the student council two days ago calling his name!
Why! Is he being hunted down?
"I'm sorry! Please spare my life, I didn't see anything!"
His pupils shaking with fear, Yū Ishigami, having just escaped the wolf's den, fell into the tiger's mouth and could only beg for mercy on the spot.
"Yū? Did that guy Mitarai come to Tokyo too? Ah! He's a strange high school student, what did you do to him, Yu?"
"Exactly! School violence?"
"You two jerks have no right to talk about me!"
Miyazawa Yu wasn't sure why Ishigami looked like he had seen a ghost when he saw him, but as a senior who ran into a junior he had met once outside, the proper etiquette must be followed.
Ten minutes later, watching Miyazawa Yu pay for his order, Yū Ishigami, seated between Iori and Kohei, knew he couldn't escape.
"Um... don't worry! We are good people. If Yu did anything bad, just tell us directly! We will stand up for you!"
"Aina, don't talk bad about me behind my back, I didn't threaten anyone, right?"
"Yes! I was absolutely not threatened!"
Isn't that the exact expression of someone being completely threatened?
Looking at Yū Ishigami's face, which looked barely better than a dead person's, the other three all muttered silently in their hearts with their half-moon eyes.
Sitting back next to Aina, Miyazawa Yu looked at Yū Ishigami and asked helplessly: "So, are you also here to play in Akihabara, Student Ishigami? Is everything okay with the Shuchi'in Academy Student Council?"
"It's fine, the financial reports are done, so I can leave school for the remaining time."
"Hmph~ Financial reports? Student Ishigami, are you the student council accountant? That sounds impressive!"
Hearing the somewhat unfamiliar term, the closest thing Aina Yoshiwara could remember to finance was perhaps keeping track of her father's field income.
She didn't expect high school students nowadays to be so capable, doing reports before they were even old enough to drink.
"It's nothing, really, just gathering the sponsors' money into the account and evaluating the club expenditures to make reasonable shifts in focus. Senpai would definitely be more adept at it."
"Ah—that's true."
So humble. She didn't understand what the other person was saying at all, so Aina Yoshiwara couldn't keep face and could only manage with an "Ah, yes, yes, yes" format.
And it wasn't just her, even Iori and Kohei's expressions froze for a moment—
Damn it! They are actually being surpassed by a high school student, is this what a prestigious high school is like, the sense of defeat is so strong!
"Uh... Senpais?"
He never expected his single sentence to create an awkward silence. Yū Ishigami's expression momentarily showed anxiety, but it quickly returned to an almost cold indifference.
After all, this is normal. People like him are better off alone; interacting with others only brings trouble to friends around them.
He should just make an excuse to go home after eating. He can order the game online...
"It's okay!"
"Hmm?"
"I said it's okay, their defeat only lasts for a small moment, so Student Ishigami doesn't need to be so disheartened!"
Miyazawa Yu could tell that Yū Ishigami's mood had clearly dropped. He was all too familiar with the expression on the other party's face: the loneliness of someone unaccepted.
He himself had a similar tendency when he was first found by the System in high school, but he slowly healed after finding the organization.
"But Senpais..."
"Hey, Student Ishigami, do you know the essence of what a best friend is?"
"?"
Suddenly asked a philosophical question, Yū Ishigami was momentarily stunned, but he quickly composed himself and answered seriously: "It should be a like-minded companion who can move forward together?"
"Wrong! Dead wrong!"
Punching Iori in the face, Miyazawa Yu smiled and stood up to meet the instantly enraged Iori who lunged at him, a martyr's expression like Jesus on his face.
"A friend should be someone who constantly drags you down but can still have fun with you!"
"Die, Yu!"
"Iori, you jerk! You know not to hit the face when we're outside!"
"Who cares about you!"
Stunned, watching the two senpais wrestling, Yū Ishigami felt his worldview being reshaped by the large hand named Pab.
Can this kind of fist-to-fist emotion truly be called friendship?
"Hey! You two be careful not to break their tableware!"
"Heh, causing a scene in front of a cat-girl maid, how scandalous!"
"..."
Seeing that the remaining Aina and Kohei looked completely unsurprised, Yū Ishigami could at least be certain that this was definitely not the first time this had happened!