Shun felt the warmth from the girl's embrace behind him.
He gave a helpless little smile.
What was she doing?
Did she think he was pitiful?
There really was no need. Those few ex-girlfriends of his were, at the end of the day, just some little flutters of youth.
As he grew older and saw more of the world, he stopped caring.
"Alright, that was the maid's special bonus service. Did you like it, Mr. Gojo?"
Kurumi let go of him and smiled brightly.
"A very reasonable ten thousand yen."
"Heh."
Shun pretended he had heard nothing and continued looking through the menu.
He casually ticked a few desserts that girls would usually like, then handed the menu back to Kurumi. "These."
Kurumi took the menu, glanced at it, and said in surprise, "Mr. Gojo, how did you know I wanted to eat these?"
Most of what he ordered were the café's signature desserts, very good in taste, just a bit pricey.
Even with her staff discount, Kurumi rarely ordered them for herself.
"Could it be that you have actually been secretly watching me for a long time, and today you came to rescue me because..."
Her twin tails seemed to move with a life of their own as her imagination spun wildly.
Shun once again ignored her self-spun drama.
"I just have an older relative at home who likes this kind of thing."
He was referring to Gojo Satoru.
Satoru was a complete dessert maniac.
Supposedly, it was because people who used their brains a lot needed constant sugar intake, which was why he turned out that way.
Shun, however, believed the guy was simply greedy for sweets.
His own brain workload was huge too, and he did not particularly crave sugar.
"Eh? Really?" Kurumi asked. "Is this relative a man or a woman?"
Shun gave her a sidelong glance. "You are asking a few too many questions. Go get things ready."
"Hai, hai, Master."
She nodded and gave him a little bow. "Then please wait a moment, Master."
With that, she took the menu and jogged off toward the kitchen.
Shun rubbed his eyes and muttered under his breath, "Did she intentionally pick a size too small for that uniform?"
After the girl left, Shun walked over to the manager and pointed at a poster on the wall.
On it were printed several "companion play" tickets.
Customers could pay to have a maid accompany them for board games.
Naturally, this was the most expensive service in the shop.
Spending tens of thousands of yen for a few hours was not unusual.
"If I order this, does that mean Tokisaki won't have to work for a while?"
The manager was clearly stunned by his sudden question. "That depends on whether the maid is willing or not."
"As far as I know, Kurumi-san has never once accepted a request for that service."
Shun nodded. "Then if I buy out her remaining work hours for today, that is allowed, right?"
His decisiveness left the manager momentarily speechless. "If She herself agrees, then yes, that is fine."
Shun nodded again and directly bought several of the companion tickets.
For an ordinary person, that would be quite a hefty expense.
For Shun, it was nothing special.
Thanks to the techniques he had developed, his assets over the years had, in some ways, already surpassed Satoru's.
Seeing the way he casually ordered, many people nearby began whispering among themselves.
The other maids cast envious looks in Kurumi's direction as well.
To be booked out completely by such a handsome customer... that was something they would have loved too.
Of course, there were also people waiting to see Shun get rejected.
After all, Kurumi had always worked as a normal server here and had never accepted any companion play request.
The manager, on the other hand, just marveled at how generous he was, and her suspicion about Shun and Kurumi's relationship deepened.
Before long, Kurumi came over carrying a dessert.
"Master, your strawberry parfait~"
She deliberately drew out the name, as if hinting at something.
This parfait would only have a soul if eaten together with her.
"The other desserts are still being prepared, so you will have to wait a bit."
Kurumi placed the parfait down in front of Shun.
He pointed at the seat opposite him. "Sit."
"Eh?"
She tilted her head slightly, confused.
Shun jerked his chin toward the poster on the wall. "I bought out the rest of your work hours for today. Sit down and eat."
"Eh? Eh? Eh?"
Kurumi stared at him in shock. "you actually ordered that?!"
He nodded. "I did say I was treating you to food. There is no reason for you to just stand there and watch me eat."
Shun was, in his own way, very serious about keeping promises.
Kurumi blinked a few times, then suddenly said, "I think I might understand why you can talk in ways that make people so mad, yet still have plenty of women chasing you."
"Because I am rich?"
He was very self-aware.
Kurumi shook her head. "Because you are very gentle."
"Heh." Shun let out a cold little laugh. "The so-called evil gentleness, is that it?"
Who was she trying to fool?
"Heehee, I am being serious." Kurumi smiled and sat down across from him. "Then I will not hold back."
The moment she sat, it sounded like several hearts shattered around them.