Calling me your master the moment we meet? That is pretty forward, is it not?
Faced with this situation, even I, who pride myself on having rich experience in being secretly admired, could not help feeling a little at a loss, and instinctively cast a pleading look toward Nero.
Fortunately, although Nero was stunned, she was still quite reliable, frowning deeply.
"What the hell are you saying to Sensei, you weirdo?!"
"Huh? What is weird about it?"
Asuna looked genuinely confused.
"I am a maid, so of course I have to have a master."
Damn it, that actually sounds kind of reasonable.
If the maids of C&C really must have a master, then naturally the responsibility would fall on me.
I looked eagerly at Nero.
"We are just wearing maid outfits! We are not real maids!"
Nero met my gaze, then quickly looked away, her face turning red.
"Even if we take ten thousand steps back, you cannot be this rash about it, right?!"
Asuna grew even more puzzled.
"What are you talking about, President?"
"That is exactly what I should be asking you?!"
Seeing that Asuna was completely impervious to reason, Nero ultimately had no choice but to let out a long sigh.
"Sigh... Sensei, please do not mind her, she is always like this."
"That is not true at all, I have always only ever had one master."
Even from where I stood, I could clearly hear Nero grinding her teeth.
"Um, Asuna," I hurriedly spoke up, "why do you call me master? I mean, why me?"
Maybe she fell for me at first sight... useless card, hurry up and heat already.
However, Asuna blinked and said strangely.
"The master is the master."
I still did not quite understand, but I felt my guess was probably not far off.
Nero forcefully suppressed her anger and ruffled her orange red hair.
"Forget it... Asuna, why are you here anyway?"
"Mm.. because I felt like something good would happen?"
Asuna's face once again bloomed with boundless energy.
"And then I ran into master."
"...Wait, then what about me?!" Nero bristled again.
I realized that Asuna was truly skilled at stirring up Nero's emotions.
Presumably, within C&C there must be someone responsible for soothing things over, otherwise with Nero's temper...
Well, it was hard to say.
"Oh right, President, what are you and master going to do?"
"We are just..." Nero was about to answer, then sensed something off and shot back, "Why are you asking, it has nothing to do with you, right?"
Asuna excitedly covered her mouth, her eyes full of curiosity.
"Huh? Could it be, you are on a date?"
"A date my ass! That is absolutely not it!"
I do not know if it was just my imagination, but Nero looked a bit fierce on the outside and shaky on the inside right now.
Asuna's expression grew even stranger as she dragged out her words.
"Heeey, that is pretty suspicious."
Nero was so angry she trembled all over and finally raised her gun.
"You bastard, are you doing this on purpose to pick a fight?! Aaaah, I cannot take it anymore, today I am definitely going to teach you a lesson!"
"Hahaha, oh no, did I go too far and mess things up?"
Asuna directly hid behind me, laughing happily.
"Master, please save me, an angry President is so scary."
...You are using me as a human shield, are you not?!
Of course Nero would not point her gun at me, she lowered it and shouted.
"Asshole! What kind of move is hiding behind Sensei! Get out here!"
"No way, ahahaha."
Next, accompanied by shouting and laughter, the furious Nero and the completely carefree Asuna began an intense chase around me.
During this time, there was naturally no shortage of various kinds of physical contact. I only symbolically tried to break them up, while thinking about something not particularly important.
Being forced to take part in what would look to outsiders like playful roughhousing between two students in maid outfits.
After today, what kind of rumors about me would spread online next?
...It did not matter anymore.
After an unknown amount of time, Nero finally gave up and said bitterly.
"Damn it, using Sensei like that... Asuna, just you wait, I will get my revenge sooner or later."
"I am sorry, Nero, I know I was wrong, please forgive me this time, okay?"
Nero pondered for a moment, then snorted coldly.
"Fine, since your attitude is sincere, I will let it slide this once. Do not let it happen again."
I felt that Nero was a little too easy to appease.
Look at Asuna's smile, that was clearly the expression of someone who knew she was wrong and would totally do it again next time.
"Then then," Asuna asked with great interest, "what are you actually going to do?"
Nero hesitated.
"...I am just accompanying him to a shop I recommended, to buy a silk scarf."
Asuna's eyes lit up.
"Is that not ju-"
Thankfully, I reacted quickly and covered Asuna's mouth.
"Huh? Sensei, what are you doing all of a sudden?"
Nero tilted her head in confusion.
"It is nothing, a mosquito."
After calmly saying that to Nero, I suddenly recoiled as if electrocuted, staring at Asuna's innocent face in shock.
If not for the damp sensation still lingering in my palm, I might have thought it was just my imagination.
This girl actually licked it.
"Hehe, in that case, I will not disturb you two anymore."
Asuna's smile was bright and charming.
"Master, see you next time."
Nero thought for a moment, then flew into a rage.
"...Hey! Are you not going to say goodbye to me before leaving, do you have a death wish?!"
"Huh? President and I are so close, whether we say it or not does not really matter, right?"
"...It seems, maybe, probably, that is true?"
Although still somewhat displeased, Nero reluctantly accepted this reasoning.
So, just like when she arrived, Asuna left with light and cheerful steps.
"Sorry, Sensei, we took up so much of your time."
I shook my head.
"It is fine, to keep my promise with Nero, I specifically cleared out a lot of time."
Meaning that I shoved most of the work onto Ako.
Once again, I marveled at how useful Ako was.
Nero stared at me for a while, then laughed.
"Heh, I see. Still, my break is not very long either, so let us hurry."
The delinquent looking girl paused, then continued.
"Of course, I will accompany you properly until the very end, I will definitely help you pick a silk scarf you are satisfied with."
"Haha, then I will not hold back."
Nero added.
"You cannot be too picky either."
I nodded.
"Do not worry."
As long as Nero could enjoy the joy of sharing her interests, I would already be satisfied.
In the end, after arriving at the shop Nero recommended and carefully selecting for a while, I chose a silk scarf embroidered with a sun crown and a falcon, which particularly appealed to me.
After I put it on, for some reason Nero stared at me blankly for a long time before coming back to her senses, then strongly recommended that I go dye my hair blond, or get a pompadour.
After I flatly refused, on the way back she sighed regretfully for a long time and kept sneaking glances at me, making me seriously suspect that she might have a crush on me.
Unfortunately, the card was truly useless.
In the end, we parted ways at the station.