[QKazu] Omurice Maid with Love

by Nisie

Summary:

!! SLIGHTLY POST CHAPTER 4 SPOILER for the characters!!

After returning from Shinjuku, Hinagiku found out that Nagisa and Hina Cafe are in trouble. In order to save the cafe, they come up with the plan to have the boys and girls crossdress as girls and butlers and make a profit.

May contain an extra NSFW chapter in the future. Chapters are updated daily except for the extra chapter.

Notes:

This is derivative works from the game and anime Tribe Nine.

I SWEAR THIS STARTS AS A JOKE FIC AND JOKE IDEA SO HOW DID IT BECOME THIS BIG

Chapter 1

“Is it finished, Gotanda-kun?” Aoyama Kazuki struts in with his trademark smirk. Q was following him from behind, his eyes seemingly focused on a certain part of Kazuki’s hair that was bouncing up and down as he walked. The two of them have arrived at G&O Company’s research laboratory located in Shinagawa.

Standing before the two of them was a tall man in a business suit, Gotanda Yutaka, and his most trusted secretary, Oi Minami. Behind the two of them was a display case covered in a white sheet.

“Of course. Just as you requested, our G&O research team has perfected the new analyzer gear.” Gotanda fixed his glasses.

A few days ago, Kazuki had made a special request to the Shinagawa tribe to create an analyzer gear that would help him collect and track specific data. The number of drones that Zero unleashed had started to increase, and Kazuki noticed that they were starting to evolve. It will be useful if he could collect data while he’s fighting and analyze it on the spot. Gotanda agreed with the idea and immediately asked Minami to help him develop this device.

Today, the first batch of the beta product was finished, and Kazuki was here to test it out. Q was tagging along because he was also interested in this new XB Gear that Gotanda developed.

“Now, please take a look with your own eyes!” With an excited grin, Gotanda fixed his glasses and snapped his finger to signal to Minami, who was standing prepared to unveil the cover.

Kazuki and Q both made an audible “Oooh” sound as they unveiled the product. Kazuki, in particular, was excited about it. G&O Company is well-known for its innovative technologies in developing XB Gear. In fact, Kazuki’s Sly Serpent was also a product of G&O Company. So he had been looking forward to this new analyzer gear.

Except that what he saw was something he wouldn’t ever expect.

It was cat ears.

To be precise, it was a headphone gear that was shaped like a cat's ears.

Kazuki’s face went from surprised to confusion, and then lastly to disappointment. He had expected a visor or glasses akin to what Mita uses for displaying data, but never cat ears as cute as these. It was very well made that it even looked like an actual cat’s ears with fluffy fur.

“Gotanda-kun… I’ve always thought that you were a bright person. But was I mistaken? Were you actually a freak? Or is this a joke? I asked for a high-tech gear to analyze enemy data, not an accessory to look cute like Hinagiku-san’s cat ears.” Kazuki sighed in disappointment.

Gotanda gasped in shock. “P-please wait! This is not a simple cat ear accessory! It has been equipped with all the analysis functions you wanted, and I even upgraded it with real-time sensory transmissions with this tail!” Gotanda grabbed the tail, which also looked almost like a real-life cat’s tail.

“Aoyama-san… I thought you liked cats? We took your personal preference into account when developing this gear. I’m very sorry for our miscalculations…” Oi looked very dejected, and Kazuki almost felt bad for rejecting the product.

Taking their feelings into account, Kazuki sighed and decided to give it a try anyway.

“Well… design aside, I won’t complain if it gives me what I need…” Kazuki picked up the cat ears. It’s designed like a headphone, so Kazuki easily slipped it onto his head. To his surprise, he could hear noises that he normally couldn’t hear as soon as he wore the headphones.

“Oh, you can turn on the gear by tapping the side button!” Gotanda guided, and Kazuki tapped on it as he was told. In an instant, a projected screen appears before his eyes, enveloping them like a visor.

“Please try checking on Togoshi here.” Oi directed Kazuki to the little drone robot standing next to her. When Kazuki focused his vision on the small drone, he could see some information displayed. The drone’s name and other details that Kazuki wanted to know. Like its name or its functionality. It’s as if the gear itself could understand what Kazuki is thinking and display what Kazuki wanted to see.

“Incredible… It’s operating on its own…” Kazuki muttered as he looked around the room. His gaze fell on Q. The display first showed the name Otori Ojiro when Kazuki focused on Q. But then, as Kazuki corrected himself, the name changed to Q. Kazuki’s eyebrow dropped slightly, and he looked a little sad as soon as the name changed. Luckily for him, the visor-like screen blocked his face from being seen by Q.

“To be precise, it is operating on your brain’s input, Aoyama-san.” Oi explained. “The gear’s function was only to help analyze your brain and its trail of thoughts. It can’t show you information you don’t know, but the super chip inside it will help you compute the information faster than any human brain could achieve, and then redisplay the data to the projected screen.”

“Also, the ear design is not only for decoration. It functions as a sound receiver that is much more sensitive than human ears, and it will transmit the data directly to your brain through neuron waves through electromagnetic fields.” Gotanda grinned as he wrung his hands.

Q suddenly stepped up. “Is it safe to use?” He looked very concerned. “I don’t have expertise in such a field, but… will it not burden the brain if it’s transmitted directly?”

Minami nodded and answered for him. “To be honest, we have yet to have enough data on how it will affect the brain. We have done some stress tests, and it seems like it should be usable for about 2 hours of use per day, but for your safety, Aoyama-san, please restrict its usage to only 30 minutes of use every session.”

Kazuki nodded. Q was staring at him intently as if to warn him not to try anything funny. Kazuki saw the glare and just gave him his usual wink. “I understand. Anyways, I get why you chose the ear design, but what’s with the tail? Surely it’s not just fashion either, right?”

Gotanda answered him with utmost excitement. “You’re absolutely correct!” Kazuki could see the sparkles glinting from Gotanda’s glasses. Gotanda then showed him the tail part. On the base of it was a round suction cup-like sticker. It was probably meant to be attached to the skin directly.

“This tail part is an extension of the cat ear gear… Now, if you please, excuse me…” Gotanda took the tail with him and walked closer to Kazuki. Then, in one swift movement, he suddenly crouched down and lifted Kazuki’s shirt from his back and quickly attached the tail.

“Wh-” Kazuki shuddered as a new sensation suddenly entered his spine. Gotanda has attached the tail at the end of his spine, and it instantly made Kazuki lose his balance. He would have fallen with the sudden dizziness if it weren’t for Q catching him as he fell forward.

“Gotanda, what did you do?” Q almost glared. Gotanda quickly replied to him with a business smile. “Please wait for a bit, it takes a while to get used to it.”

Then all of a sudden, the cat ears on Kazuki’s head twitched, and the tail started to move on its own. The long, fluffy tail swished upward as soon as Kazuki got adjusted to the new sensation.

“This is…” Kazuki muttered. It felt weird, but Kazuki could sense the presence of someone behind his back. “...could it be… an antenna?” Kazuki muttered.

“Bingo! As expected of Aoyama-san!” Gotanda looked very pleased. “The cat’s ears have the function to receive signals in lower frequencies than what humans are capable of. Combine it with the tail that transmits electromagnetic waves, and you will be able to detect the presence of hidden enemies, even unseen ones!”

“Think of it like echolocation. With the ears alone, you can already hear better. But combine it with the tail, you’ll instantly have the exact location of anything.” Oi added. “And that’s not the end of it. Aoyama-san, can you demonstrate how you usually fight with your Sly Serpent?”

To Oi’s prompt, Kazuki then took out his XB weapon. It wasn’t a weapon that anyone could use. It requires complex motor skills to operate it without injuring oneself, and Kazuki has been one of the few who are capable of using such a weapon. Now, like always, Kazuki readied his stance, then practiced a few slashes until he jumped and found himself jumping more gracefully than ever.

He stopped after one jump and blinked at the ground. His jump felt different. It felt like his movement was stopped mid-air, and he landed in a perfect balance so easily, too. Then he tried again. Gradually, his jumps and backflips reached a new height, and it didn’t put a strain on his body. In fact, it felt like he was doing even better than before despite the higher reach.

“Amazing… It’s like something is telling me how to move better… Did you also incorporate functions like a cat’s tail?” Kazuki looked genuinely impressed.

This time, Minami is the one who smiled proudly. “Yes! I’ve analyzed your fighting stance, Aoyama-san. And it seems like you often twist your body around to gain momentum for your moves. It’s very prone to injuries. Then, when Gotanda-san came up with the idea of making the analyzer in the shape of cat ears, I came up with the idea of making a tail as an extra gear for enhancing your motoric system to support your movement.”

Kazuki’s tail swished. “Hee… both of you have really outdone yourselves… the design still looks weird, though.” Kazuki smiled, casually throwing jabs at them. On the other hand, Q’s attention was stuck on the tail attached to Kazuki’s back. His eyes followed the tail’s movement, and before he knew it, his hand had reached out to touch it with a light pinch.

“HYA?!” Kazuki yelped in surprise. His spine suddenly felt ticklish. It felt like someone had just touched him on his sensitive spot, and he quickly turned around to pull his tail away from Q’s hand. It resulted in Q getting slapped by the tail in the process.

“Ah- sorry, Q-” Kazuki’s ears flopped down. Q made a face like a galaxy had appeared behind him. The soft fur slapping his face felt unreal.

It was a dangerous sensation.

“Kazuki, I think it’s time you took that off.” Q warned. It had not been 30 minutes, but it might be dangerous if the device continued transmitting electromagnetic signals. But what’s more dangerous was, the image of Kazuki being cute in those cat ears and tail is transmitting an entirely different sensation to a certain part of his body.

“Ah, that’s right. This is just the first test run. We still have to monitor the potential side effects on your body. Now, if you please, Aoyama-san-” Gotanda then sent him a link via NINE. It seems to be a link to a questionnaire.

“As long as it didn’t take me three hours to complete-” Kazuki sighed and then removed the gear, and Q felt that his chastity was saved.

“I won’t make the same mistake anymore, Aoyama-san!” Gotanda protested, but Kazuki disregarded it. And just as they thought, they should regroup with the rest of the Trash Tribe in Neo Chiyoda, a NINE notification suddenly popped into Kazuki’s phone.

Hinagiku: Excuse me, everyone, but I am in dire need of help… If anyone is free, please come to Hina Cafe immediately…

And it was immediately rained with concerns from the other tribe members. Q and Kazuki included. “I don’t know what happened, but I think we should hurry back.” Kazuki suggested. Q nods in agreement, and the two of them hurried back to Neo Chiyoda City.

—

After beating the XG in Shinjuku, Yo’s team had originally planned to regroup and introduce Hikaru and his sisters to the rest of the Trash Tribe’s members directly, especially to Kazuki and Q. They planned the reunion to be held in Hina’s cafe since Hinagiku couldn’t be away from her other work as a maid for too long.

However, when they returned to the cafe, they were surprised to see that the place has been trashed, and there was Nagisa, the maid who was in charge of the place while Hinagiku was away, crying alone in the corner.

“N-nya nya?! Nagisa-chan?! What happened here? Were you attacked? Are you alright?!” Hinagiku rushed to her aid.

The ninja maid, whose face was hidden by the talisman paper, noticed her and immediately ran into her embrace. “H-hinagiku-san!” And she burst out crying and then told them the whole story.

Everything was supposed to be in order when Yo and his companions headed to help Miu and Jio, who were facing the Numbers in Shinjuku. Hina’s cafe was then left in charge by Nagisa, the veteran maid who was only second to Hinagiku in terms of popularity in the cafe. At first, everything went well. Some customers may have been disappointed by the fact that Hinagiku wasn’t there, especially those who were hardcore Hinagiku fans, but the business itself still went well.

However, just a few days after Hinagiku left, someone who claimed that they had bought the place suddenly came up with a few men in black suits and ransacked the place. Of course, Nagisa tried to immediately contact the store owner, but she had been unable to do so since the previous store owner didn’t answer her calls. And so, as this new ‘owner’ showed her the proof of his ownership of the cafe on a legal document, Hina’s cafe was immediately closed down.

Nagisa tried to hold down the fort, and with that, she had an agreement that they had to make a certain amount of profit target within a week. But the number was so crazily high that it’s almost impossible to achieve with their usual sales.

And worst, it didn’t help that a new butler store had opened just across their cafe. It had a crazy grand opening that it boomed hard and took away all of their customers with their trademark “Yare yare, Ojou-sama, it’s time to go to bed” line and a crazy lineup of handsome men.

It will be impossible to make a large sum of profit on such short notice and with a ransacked place. Whatever the reason is, the new owner truly intends to close Hina’s Cafe permanently.

“All of us were so afraid and we don’t want to lose this place, so we agreed to accept the quota… but then he destroyed the place, and he tricked us to sign a contract that says if we can’t meet the quota in a week, all of us will be working in bikini maid instead and have to do special services to our guests…” Nagisa sobbed. When Nagisa signed the contract, there had been a second hidden paper glued to the first paper that she didn’t notice that there was an extra term, it seems.

Hinagiku burned with anger as she heard the story. She flipped her finger and yelled hysterically. “H-HOW COULD HE?! WHERE IS HE! I’M SO ANGRY NYAAA!!!!”

“C-Calm down, Hinagiku! Right now, saving the store should be our most important priority!” Ichinosuke tried to calm his sister down. But Hinagiku resisted in his arms, she was so ready to burst out of the store, and perhaps committed an action that results in someone's death.

“I agree with Ichinosuke-kun. If there is such a lovely lady in need of help, then I want to do my best to help.” Hikaru chimed in as he crouched down to Nagisa and handed her a handkerchief. “Tears do not suit such a pretty girl like you, so please cheer up.” And Nagisa’s heart was shot instantly by his charm, and her nose bled in an instant. It seemed like she already had a high fever in the first place due to stress. Hikaru’s charm just delivered the last blow. She won’t even be able to work at this rate, so Hinagiku let her go home and rest and told her to leave everything to them.

“But… how can we make such a large amount of money in such a short amount of time…?” Yo muttered.

“For now… perhaps it would be best that we ask for the business experts like Gotanda or Todoroki…” Miu sighed.

“I agree with Jujo. And, while we’re waiting, we should do some cleanup. We can’t make any customers like this.” Jio pointed out. Miu glanced to his side for a short moment, but then turned her face away. “Yes, you’re right, Jio.”

And so was the origin of Hinagiku’s NINE chat. After her explanations in the chat, some of the members who were able to help arrived at Hina’s cafe. Though with how dire the situations were in other cities and the importance of their other work, in the end, the only ones who were able to help were just Q and Kazuki, who had hurried back to Hina’s cafe to assess the situation, and the rest of the team, who had just returned from Shinjuku.

“Hmm… I get the situation now. With the current owner missing, our best bet right now is to make that quota and then negotiate with the new owner, right?” Kazuki placed a hand under his chin to think.

“It won’t be a problem to get back the number of your usual sales with Hinagiku-san’s popularity. However, we will need more than that to meet the quota, especially for your female customers who were taken away by that newly opened butler cafe.” Kazuki tapped his finger on his folded arm. They will certainly need some sort of strategy to get their customers back.

“Then, how about we also dress up as butlers? Hikaru is very handsome, and I’m pretty sure that he can attract customers.” Hiyori raised her hand and smiled as she made the suggestion.

“I agree. With Q-sama’s divine presence, we will definitely be able to attract a lot of female customers!” Ichinosuke chimed in with excitement.

“Me?” Q blinked in confusion. He never thought he was handsome enough to attract women. If there’s anyone whose face is attractive, Q would immediately think of Kazuki first.

“Ichinosuke-kun… If Q gets more popular, then someone might come and steal his heart, you know?” Kazuki grinned. He was teasing Ichinosuke, but there’s a far more important reason why Q shouldn’t be showing his face in public. A reason that Q himself didn’t realize, and Kazuki will do everything in his power to keep it a secret.

Ichinosuke looked shocked and immediately groveled, defeated. “T-that is true… but to hide Q-sama’s divine presence… I…What should I…” And Kazuki decided to leave the poor ninja to his dilemma and glanced at his sister instead. Normally, Hinagiku would have agreed with his opinion and even jumped in on mounting Q’s handsomeness, but she looked very distracted and very stressed right now.

“A strategy that will make the girl’s heart flutter…” Yayoi muttered. “Then… how about doing it the other way around?”

All pairs of eyes turned to Yayoi.

“I think… Hikaru in a maid's dress will be cute.” Yayoi smiled.

“You mean…Crossdressing…huh?” Yo immediately tried to imagine it. Hikaru aside, he glanced towards Koishi, who would definitely make people’s hearts flutter to see him in a maid's dress.

“...That might work.”

“Ehh?!” Koishi noticed Yo’s intense stare and blushed immediately. “W-wait, that will be too embarrassing!” Koishi protested, but everyone else had unanimously agreed that Koishi would definitely look good in a maid's dress.

“In that case, we can help out as butlers too! I’m sure Miu-chan’s cool beauty will capture the hearts of the customers, too!” Hiyori clapped her hands together.

“I don’t particularly mind, but… will this really be enough?” Miu muttered with a worried face. She had once worked wearing bunny suits, so wearing butler outfits shouldn’t be difficult. In fact, she’s glad that she gets to wear a suit rather than a maid's outfit. She didn’t see it, but upon hearing Miu would be dressing up as a butler, Jio had stolen a glance at her with an indescribable expression.

“We won’t know until we try. At any rate, we have to do everything that we can right now. Hinagiku-san, is there any way we can procure the costumes in our size as soon as possible?” Kazuki exclaimed. Hinagiku finally lifted her face.

“I-I think you can acquire them from Pachimate. But… is it really alright? Everyone… I’m really sorry for involving you in this…” Hinagiku muttered with a guilty face, but then she was immediately called out by Q.

“Hinagiku.” Q walked over. “Don’t worry about it, too much. You’re a precious comrade to us. And you’ve helped us a lot, too. This time, it’s our turn to help you. Let’s get through this together.” Q said with a small smile. And she immediately beamed with happiness.

“Y-yes, Q-sama! This Hinagiku will do her best!” She said with a sob and teary eyes, then she turned towards everyone else and gave a formal bow. “Everyone… I… I don’t know what to say. This place is really important to me… I’m really sorry for the trouble…”

“Don’t sweat it, Hinagiku-san. This place is really important to us too. We want to protect this place as much as you do.” Yo nodded, and Koishi immediately followed after him. “That’s right! Friends should help each other!” He chirped.

“Everyone… thank you, nya!” Hinagiku finally smiled.

“Well, in that case, Yo-kun, can I leave the procurement of the costume to you? I’d like to make some preparations and some other plans, you see..” Kazuki made a dark smile. And, with how often Yo had worked with Kazuki before, he was sure that Kazuki must have had a plan in mind and… most often, he’d rather not hear what that plan was.

So with that decided, Kazuki took Ichinosuke and Hikaru with him somewhere. Yo was left with Hinagiku, Hiyori, and Q to procure the dresses while the rest of them stayed in the cafe to clean up or stock up for the cafe.

“Kazuki-kun said that we should choose the costumes that stand out the most, hmm… Hina is thinking, how about we make some varieties of maid dresses? That way, everyone’s unique charm will stand out more, Nya!” Hinagiku hummed as she browsed through the dresses.

“I agree. I think the Victorian Era maid outfit will suit Hikaru.” Hiyori placed one hand to her face as she daydreamed of Hikaru in a long maid's dress. Oh, she couldn’t wait to dress him up. Yo was looking at the dresses with a blush. He had agreed on the plan, but he had forgotten that he was also part of the crew who would be dressed in maid dresses as well.

“Yo-kun, how about this one for you?” Hinagiku approached as she carried a cheongsam-styled maid dress. Yo looked at how short the dress was and blushed madly.

“Hinagiku-san…that… Isn’t that too short?” Yo gulped at the length of the dress. Will it fit him? Won’t it show his hips? But Hinagiku pointed at him instead. “No, I took the liberty to get your measurements, Yo-kun. This dress will suit you perfectly! I’m sure that you’ll be popular with both the master and the ladies!” Hina chirped, so Yo just resigned to his fate.

“Hina-chan, how about this one for Koishi-kun?” Hiyori called and pointed to a very frilly lolita dress. Yo watched as the two girls chattered in excitement and decided to scoot closer towards Q. With Q’s build, and some convincing from Kazuki about the danger that would fall on Q if his face were seen by residents of Neo Chiyoda, Q was miraculously saved from participating in the crossdressing party. He was mainly accompanying Yo to help them carry out their purchase.

But then there’s Q, with a serious face, browsing through the varieties of maid dresses. Yo thought he could make small talk between the only guys in their group right now. But with how intensely Q was browsing through the dresses, Yo decided to take a few steps back from him as well.

“Um… Q-san… What are you doing?” Yo asked with sweat dropping from his forehead.

“...Ah? Kazuki asked me to pick out his dress for him… But, I don’t really understand fashion, so… this is really difficult…” Q answered genuinely. Then he picked one out. It has paw prints on the apron, and it has a cleavage window in the shape of a cat’s face around the chest area, but Q didn’t seem to realize that and just thought that Kazuki would probably like it because it has a cat face on it.

“What do you think, Kuronaka?” Q asked him. Yo gulped and suddenly felt like someone screamed HEAVEN OR HELL at him all over again. Words popped into his mind. He had to decide his destiny right here, right now.

“...I…think anything that you choose will make him happy, Q-san.” Yo scratched his cheeks and chose the safest option to let Q decide it himself. Q looked happy when he said that, though.

“Is that so? I hope he likes it then.” Yo could see Q smiling. Yo didn’t mention that the dress’s length was also very short, that it will probably show Kazuki’s thigh later. If he was going to wear a very short dress, then he’d rather have company.

“Q-sama~ are you done with picking Kazuki-kun’s dress?” Hinagiku suddenly approached. The girls seem to have finished their part, too. Yo noticed that there’s an extra black kimono amongst them. To which Hinagiku later answered, “Ichinosuke oniichan probably can’t settle if he’s not wearing traditional clothes, so Hina thinks I should customize his with a kimono, nya!”

The girls then made another stop to purchase wigs, accessories, and everything else. Q and Yo returned carrying a bunch of boxes and shopping bags in their hands. When they returned, the cafe had been cleaned up like new and looked ready to operate again. Kazuki and the others have also returned and seem to be setting up something on the side. It looked like a makeshift photoshoot studio.

“Oh, welcome back, Yo-kun. I suppose you’re done with the shopping? I have a request that I would like to ask you.” Kazuki greeted them with his usual smile. Ichinosuke and Hikaru were helping him set up the studio.

“A request? What do you want me to do?” Yo nodded and then inspected the setup. It has makeshift lighting from flashlights and a white screen attached to one of the walls.

“Hmm? If we’re going to fight, then we have to go all out, right? Yo-kun, did you know that amongst all of us, you still have a reputation here in Neo Chiyoda? So I’m thinking… can you advertise us? In your maid dress, of course.”

And there it is, Kazuki’s evil plan. Much as Yo already anticipated.

“Ad…vertise? You mean like-” Yo didn’t like where this is going.

“Broadcasting an ad, of course. I had help from a certain annoying guy, too.” Kazuki chuckled, cleared his throat, and then declared out loud. “Zero, come out, you’re here, aren’t you?”

And then, using his usual portal, one white round manju appeared out of nowhere and bounced towards Yo’s feet.

“You called, I rolled, what’s up?!” Zero chirped playfully in his usual happy tone and did a little dance around Yo’s feet.

“Zero?!” A few people screamed at once, and Yo even took out his bat immediately. But Zero did nothing and just cried fake tears at their reaction.

“I haven’t even done anything, and yet you act like I just killed somebody… you’re terrible!” Zero pouts as he made a little circle with his small legs.

“What are you doing here… And what do you want?!” Yo gritted his teeth. He didn’t trust anything that Zero said. Any occasion with Zero involved is bound to be troublesome.

“Eeeeeh~ But I’m here because Kazuki-kun asked me to.” Zero sighed, and then Kazuki replied to him with an annoyed tone. “Can you not talk like we’re friends. You’re the one who offered your help in the first place. I’m just taking that offer for granted.”

“Kazuki…” Q muttered in a wary tone. He hoped Kazuki knew what he was doing. And Kazuki glanced back at him with an understanding nod.

“He appeared out of nowhere when we were talking about the methods to broadcast a promotional video to the entire Neo Chiyoda’s channels. We needed a way to hack into the television network, but Saizo-kun is unfortunately busy with another mission.” Kazuki sighed and explained the situation.

Zero then clapped his hands together and kicked his little feet like a kid. “Ehehe! It seems like you guys are doing something fun, so I decided to help!” Then, his tone turned to something a little more serious. “Besides, if you guys are distracted too long in the side quests, it won’t be fun for me. So I’ll help you out this time so you can quickly defeat the other numbers and then fight me~” He hummed with a slightly deeper tone.

“So he said. Anyway, we shouldn’t waste time. Any second is a dime, now. We’re missing manpower in the kitchen too, so Jio-kun has agreed to help. That makes us five to dress up as maids and the girls to serve as butlers. Q, you should help Jio-kun in the kitchen too. There are a lot of potatoes to peel. For everyone else, you should hurry up and go get dressed. Miu-san is waiting in the backroom to help with the makeup.” Kazuki chuckled.

Yo was hesitating, and he’s still wary of Zero, but Kazuki is right that they shouldn’t waste any time. So, without further ado, the servers started to get changed.

—

When Yo unpacked the maid dress, he didn’t realize that Hinagiku and Hiyori had prepared his underwear- a very frilly girl’s panties, a black bra, and some padding for his chest as well. He squeezed the white stuffing pads with his hand as he wondered how he would use them. And he regretted that his mind wandered off-track to think that the padding looked slightly like Zero in his manju form.

Yo felt sick thinking about it.

“No way… I’m not using these. I’m not-” Yo muttered to himself with a pale face as he grabbed his head.

“Yo-kun, do you need some help?” Hikaru’s face popped from the side. When Yo turned towards him, he saw Hikaru, already finished wearing the underwear, complete with the stuffed bra. With his beautiful face, he looked completely like a woman.

Yo’s mind froze instantly.

“Eh? Hikaru-san… are you actually a girl?” Yo blurted out.

“No, I’m completely a man down there, Yo-kun.” Hikaru chuckled, then he pointed at the padding and the black bra Yo was holding. “Do you need help with those?” Hikaru offered. Yo hesitantly gave a nod.

“...please help me.” Yo said with a small voice and a very red face. Hikaru just smiled kindly and then helped him. Hikaru instructed him to put his hands up, and then he helped Yo wear the bra first before stuffing it. His chest felt weird and heavy. Is this how girls feel every day?

“Hikaru-san, you seem to be very well-versed about girls' underwear…” Yo ended up commenting as Hikaru adjusted the straps for him. It took Yo some time to gather the courage to even touch girls’ underwear, but here’s Hikaru navigating around them like he touches them every day.

“Haha. I grew up with two of the most beautiful ladies I’ve ever met, you know.” Hikaru smiled confidently. “Come on, let’s not keep the others waiting, shall we?” He prompted.

With lots of difficulty, Yo donned the white cheongsam maid dress. Yo had to pull the dress downwards several times to adjust the skirt’s length until he felt comfortable. Then he put on the white stockings and the slip-on black flats. With that, his transformation is complete.

When he exited the changing room, he saw Miu, already dressed in a butler suit with her hair tied into a high ponytail, powdering on Koishi, who looked like he was very embarrassed in his dress.

As Yo expected, Koishi truly looked like a girl when dressed like this. His body was already lithe in the first place, and he has a feminine look. Hinagiku seemed to have picked up a wig for him, and she was helping Miu brush the wig to tie it into twintails. She then gave Koishi the maid headdress, and with one last touch-up from Miu, Koishi had completely transformed into a cute lolita-styled maid, even complete with a small beast-lookalike doll that Hinagiku accidentally found while they were shopping earlier. Yo felt slightly jealous that Koishi’s dress was not as short as his to show his thigh.

Yo decided not to ask the gender question again and just accepted the fact that his friends have really pretty faces.

Since looking at Koishi was too dazzling, Yo turned around to see Ichinosuke, brushing his hair and then professionally tying it into a braided half-bun, and then put it into place with a long hairpin with a shuriken-shaped decoration that Hinagiku had bought for him. It’s just one beauty after another, Yo thought.

“Whoa… you can do your hair, Ichinosuke-san?” Yo looked very amazed, since Ichinosuke had done it so neatly and cleanly that it looked like a professional had done it.

Ichinosuke turned to him and gave him a grin. “Well, I had Hinagiku teach me how to take care of my hair. And I help out in Hina’s cafe from time to time, so I have to take care of my appearance.” He said as he fixed the black kimono dress he was wearing before putting on the frilly white apron. He was wearing a geta to complete the set as well, and Yo had to say, he looked completely beautifully handsome in that, even if it felt weird to describe him in both.

“Hmm, where is Kazuki-kun?” Hikaru then sat down next to Yo. With practiced hands, Hikaru quickly did his makeup and pulled his hair into a waterfall braid style. Hikaru was already tall, but the long Victorian maid dress and the high heels made him look even cooler and smarter. Especially with those additional fake glasses.

Unlike how he thinks Koishi is cute and Ichinosuke is beautiful, he felt scammed that Hikaru looks way smarter than he actually is.

“Ah, Aoyama-san is already done with his dress, so he’s already outside to do some preparations.” Koishi answered. He looked even more petite as he hugged the beast-lookalike doll. The twintail and the lolita fashion truly suited him.

“Kazuki-san is already done? Then, I should head out too-” But when Yo was about to leave, he was stopped by Miu.

“Wait, Yo. You haven’t applied makeup.” Miu warned. Her glare scared him.

“That’s right, nya! I prepared some cute hair buns for you, too!” Hinagiku said as she showed him the hair bun with fake braided hair rings.

Yo gulped. The two girls standing before him right now were eyeing him like a hunter to their prey. And they looked even fiercer than all of the numbers he’s faced until now. So, as he screamed, “Tsuki, save me.” internally, he sat down and surrendered himself to the girls.

When Yo opened his eyes again, it felt like he had seen an illusion in the mirror.

Who???

Reflected in the mirror was a doll-like face, with long eyelashes that Yo never had before, pink, glossy lips, cherry-blushed cheeks on pale skin that Yo didn’t remember having. Yo blinked once, the eyelashes fluttered, and it felt slightly ticklish.

“W-who?!” Yo blurted out.

“I think I did a pretty good job.” Miu smiled triumphantly. “Yo, your face is actually quite small, huh?” She commented

On his head were baos, one in white and one in black, that matched his hair. When Yo saw it, he felt like he looked like a panda, but the two fake braided looped hairs hanging from the bun were cute, especially with the ribbons attached to them. This looked like a hairstyle that Tsuki would look good in if she styled her hair this way. Maybe he should suggest it to her later, he decided.

“Now you’re done, nya! Yo-kun, you’re so cute!” Hinagiku chirped as she made a little squeal.

“I’m nowhere near as cute as you, Hinagiku-san… Are you sure that us dressing in this kind of getup will really get the market?” Yo sighed.

“Are you doubting my makeup skill, Yo?” Miu asked with a little disappointed sigh. And Yo bantered back almost immediately. “N-no! Of course not!”

Then she chuckled. Was she just teasing him earlier? “Fufu… then, it’s best you gather some confidence and go out there, right?” She placed a hand under her chin. Yo only realized this now, but the usual cool beauty Miu is emitting an entirely different aura. It was captivating. No wonder Jio fell hard every time for her.

…Come to think of it? Where was he? Normally, he would have been here to gush about Miu or talk about how beautiful she is…? Maybe he’s too busy in the kitchen. Kazuki did assign him to help out with the cooking after all.

Without putting too much thought, Yo thought he’ll finally start his days in hell, but little did he know, he was nowhere near the entrance of it yet.

“Yo-kun, I see you’re done changing?” Kazuki chuckled when he saw Yo’s dress. Yo’s eyes met with Kazuki, who was wearing the dress that Q had picked out for him earlier. Yo’s eyes automatically panned to the cat face-shaped hole on his chest.

Then he saw it.

The contour between the two peach mountains baked cake that was fake breasts on his chest. Even when Yo knew they were fake breasts, the line was still visible, and it made Yo’s face flush red. And it didn’t stop there either. Kazuki’s cat-like eyes were highlighted even more with Miu’s magic and looked even sharper- sexy, even. It didn’t help that Kazuki was looking at him with half-lidded eyes and a smirk that almost looked like an invitation.

His skin was pristine with a faint blush. Kazuki was placing his gloved hand, now also decorated with an arm cover and ribbons, under his chin. When Yo inspected more closely, Kazuki was also wearing a collar- A collar?!, with a bell attached to it. Then his eyes rolled downwards. Kazuki’s skirt length was almost the same length as the china dress he was wearing, but on his thigh, Yo saw a black line of laced garter belts, holding the thigh-length black stockings that just highlighted Kazuki’s pale-skinned thigh further.

Crowning his head with the maid's headdress and several white pins to keep the headdress and his hair in place, and a long white ribbon decorating his side, Kazuki looked dangerously alluring.

And the way he walked over to Yo wasn’t helping either. Kazuki always strove to be in his top form under any condition except for when he wants to overwork himself to death, and now is one of those times where he’s dedicating himself to the role, placing one leg in front of the other, gracefully making a princess walk down the aisle.

Once he was close enough, Kazuki made a kitten-like smile and tilted his face downward. “I hope you’re prepared for what we’ll do next?”

Yo felt his tension bar maxed. It’s almost unfair that all of his friends were this pretty. Yo’s movement lagged like a robot as he turned his face away and prayed loudly inside his heart. “Tsuki, come back, PLEASE.”

Somewhere in Minato, Tsuki sneezed hard as she helped Mita and the others.

Somewhere in the back area of Hina’s cafe, Q sat down and questioned his life choices. He had seen how Kazuki looked when he finished changing. Kazuki looked so divine and pretty that he almost threw Kazuki back into the dressing room on instinct, or even wrapped him in the tablecloth from the nearest table. But Q couldn’t move. His eyes were fixated on Kazuki’s face, ever so beautiful, and Q wanted to take him away immediately.

“Q?” Q remembered how Kazuki had called him cutely. It echoed in his memory. Kazuki had him in just one word.

Then Q decided to run away to the kitchen and looked around for anything to distract himself. He took the nearest object he saw, and the poor potato he grabbed was immediately crushed into bits.

“Q, can you please peel them off first before you crush them? I appreciate your help, though.” Jio commented from the side as he watched the poor potato turn into dust in one crunch. They would make nice mashed potatoes. And there goes Q, quietly peeling the potatoes and crushing them to bits.

“Takinogawa…” Q muttered while peeling the potatoes slowly- the cuts were uneven, though, and Q may have skinned the potatoes more than necessary.

“Yes?” Jio replied absent-mindedly as he stirred the roux of the curry soup he was preparing.

“Your unwavering heart is amazing.” Q said. Jio had no idea where that came from at all. “Thank you?” he replied, and then decided to just leave Q alone to his small task of destroying the potatoes. Yayoi watched the two interact as she used her ice pick to prepare the ice cubes, unbothered by the atmosphere.

Now, somewhere back at the cafe’s entrance, Yo was still looking away from Kazuki. He was hoping for a certain blonde twintailed girl to appear with her usual smile at the entrance and hopefully distract him from the current situation. But he knew that Tsuki was far away right now.

So he has to face it alone.

“Relax, Yo-kun, we haven’t even started anything.” Kazuki made a teasing grin, then motioned Yo to follow him.

“Kazuki-san… how are you so fine in this getup?” Yo asked. None of his friends seemed to be bothered by it. Ichinosuke thought that this was a noble duty that he had to do to save the store where his sister was working. Koishi was embarrassed at first, but he seemed to feel more relieved to be relied on and told that he would help the store a lot with his appearance. While in Hikaru’s case… there’s probably no other thought in his head except to save a girl in distress.

“Haha, that’s funny, Yo-kun. Are you implying that I like to dress like this?” Kazuki’s face quickly turned dark. His eyes glint under the shadow of his bangs. If looks could kill, Yo would have received an instant death by now.

“I’m sorry!!!” Yo immediately straightened his back and apologized like a soldier being reprimanded.

Kazuki sighed. “Anyways, now that you’re here, I will need your help, Yo-kun.” Kazuki motioned for him to follow, and he guided Yo to stand in front of the makeshift studio. Yo felt the lights beaming on him. Are they going to record a video? He remembered Tsuki asking for help to record a PikPak dancing video before. Maybe that will help buzz some views.

But then Kazuki cleared his throat and shouted out loud. “Hera Hera TV-chan~”

Instantly, a white television-like box flew in from the entrance and floated in front of Yo. Yo’s face went pale at the sight.

“Kazuki-san… this is…” Yo glanced at Kazuki, who made a sly fox’s smile.

“I did say Zero is helping. We’re going to do a livestream, Yo-kun. Between all of us, you’re the only one who has the highest popularity after our XB. So, do your best and promote the cafe, will you?” Kazuki waved his hand.

Yo was taken aback. He was not ready for this. He didn’t even know what to say? He blanked out in front of the white TV box recording him and reflecting his stream on its screen. He could see running texts from the chat as he streamed. It seemed like people still hadn’t recognized that it was him.

Huh? What’s this stream? 

 

         ～～(つˆДˆ)つﾉ>｡☆)ﾉ

                                                                                                    Hi everyone!!

 

Wow, it’s been a while!!

                                           Hey, who is this cutie pie?!

 

                   Huh isn’t this Kuronaka? 

                                                                                        What are you talking about bro?? 

88888888888888888888888888

     Yay! 

                        STREAM?! AND FROM A CUTE GIRL?!

 

That Kuronaka that streamed with Magata?!

 

                                           OH NO SHE’S SO CUTE I’MMA  EXPLKODE

                                                                                                                  Who is this?????

 

                                                                 5555555555555555555555555555555

 

WAIT IS THIS KURONAKA ?!

 

                                                                                      TRASH TRIBE KURONAKA?!

Where’s the other handsome guy?

 

wwww

 

                             omg yo in cute outfit i love ･ﾟ･(●´Д｀●)･ﾟ･"

 

KURONAKA HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT ARFAGEGAGRGATF

 

Wait, what is he doing? 

 

                                                                     Does he… swing that way?

 

                                                              KURONAKA MY MAN I BELIEVED IN YOU

Ohhhhhh he touched my tralala

“Wow, Yo-kun, the numbers keep getting up even without you saying anything.” Kazuki snickered as he watched the comments fly by. Ichinosuke and Hikaru were on his sides, peeking a glance at his phone screen, while Koishi cheered from the side. The girls were also watching, with Hiyori smiling at him like a mother watching her son, Hinagiku trying to give him hints on what to do, and Miu trying her best to hold back from bursting out laughing.

“Uhh..uhhhmmm…” Yo looked very lost. The comments rained down the screen, and the viewer count kept getting up. He didn’t remember having this many viewers at first. Last time he tried streaming alone, he couldn’t even reach 10 viewers-

“Nyaa! Everyone! Thank you for waiting!” Seeing how Yo froze for a good one minute on screen, Hinagiku decided to jump in and help him. Unlike how she usually appeared on stream, this time Hinagiku was wearing a white long frilly-sleeved shirt and a black vest. There’s a very large bow wrapped around her neck, facing her left side. She had a frilly white waist apron that almost covered her short, puffy black pants. She had knee-high black socks and leather boots tied with black ribbons. Her long ponytail was braided into loop rings on her back, and she still had her trademark maid headdress with cat ears.

HINA-CHAN?!!

 

                   OMG SO CUTE!!!!

 

HINAGIKUSAMA!!!!!!!

 

                                                                               HINACHAAAAN OMG OUJI OUTFIT?!?!?!?! 

 

           HINACHAN HSHS

 

KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

                                 SO CUTE SO CUTE SO CUTE

HINACHAN IS BACK!!!! AND SHE SLAYS WITH THAT OUTFIT

 

Ah………………… queen…………………

 

                                                             Pls marry me pls marry me plsplsplsplpslpslpslps

And then there are more unhinged comments, but Hinagiku didn’t care about them at all and kept her professional maid smile. “How is everyone doing? It has been a while, nya! But your beloved and dearest maid Hina has returned! I will be waiting for everyone at Hina Cafe-o! And look and behold, we have special guests, too!” And then Hina motioned for everyone to come over.

The comments burst and almost covered all of the screens when all of them joined the stream and waved to the camera. Hinagiku signaled to Yo with a wink. Yo gulped, then slowly, very very slowly, raised his hand towards the camera and made a heart shape with his hands.

“P-please come and support us…” Yo blushed madly.

And some people were banned from the comments section. Men and women of all genders flooded the screen with their comments and encouragements that looked like they could get them arrested if only police existed in Neo Tokyo.

Combining Hinagiku’s hardcore fan numbers and Yo’s popularity, regardless of good ones or bad ones, has given them a peak viewer count, and the “Cross-dressing Hina Cafe” has become a trending topic in Neo Chiyoda’s network.

“Well, that covers the first step in getting customers, I suppose. Now is when the battle starts… Everyone, I hope you’re prepared for this.” Kazuki warned. Everyone looked determined, except for Yo, who was still suffering from the mental damage from making a heart pose in a livestream to the world.

“Then, listen up, this is what you need to do.” Kazuki fixed his glove, and a cheeky smile was apparent on his face. He has a plan, and this is the second time Yo knew he was not going to like it.

Yo learned once again just how amazing Kazuki was when it comes to making plans. Implementing a crossdressing outfit for the staff was just the bait to get people coming.

First, to keep the customers staying loyal and coming back, Kazuki had help from Jio, who was the best cook amongst them, and chose an easy-to-prepare menu to be served. He had accepted the job with a “I’ll take it as my mission.” and a serious face.

Hina Cafe’s Omurice was one of the best-selling menus at Hina Cafe. But since they’re already going to promote the special maids, Kazuki asked Jio to come up with a limited-edition menu, which could be sold at a higher price and make the customers feel more special. And better, with Yayoi’s skill to prepare drinks, they decided to make themed drinks too. It would lessen Jio’s burden as the main cook, too, if they just needed to prepare drinks.

So while Yo was gone, Jio came up with some easy recipes to serve aside from Hina Cafe’s Omurice.

Kuronaka Yo’s XB Set - Perhaps it looked like it was the simplest one of them, but it was shaped like a ball, using specially cut seaweed to make the patterns of an XB ball. It comes with green tea and miso soup too.

Aoyama Kazuki’s Logic Set - A pair of mayo-dressed tuna fish sandwiches using brain bread as the base, toasted in the oven in a special way that will leave a cat face imprinted on the sandwich. It’s served with a butterfly-pea herbal tea and a slice of lemon to play some magic with the tea to change its color from blue to purple.

Kohinata Koishi’s Healthy Set - A bowl of chicken caesar salad with croutons and a mashed potato with gravy from all the potatoes Q destroyed with his bare hands. It’s also served with a chilled banana kiwi smoothie to accompany.

Akiba Ichinosuke’s Bombing Set - Curry Rice served with round meatballs shaped after Ichinosuke’s smoke bombs. It even had a replica of the kanji bomb attached to the meatballs using special cut seaweeds. It also comes with a cold-served mugicha.

Yotsuya Hikaru’s Elegant Set - A creamy squid ink pasta with white sauce and fresh shrimps. A sparkling grape juice on the rocks is served together. For each plate, a single red flower and a special hand-written greeting card from Hikaru will be served.

For the butlers, Yayoi took part and prepared the list of special drinks and desserts instead.

Akiba Hinagiku’s Lovely Set - A slice of Strawberry sponge cake with plenty of cream and strawberry slices. The strawberries were arranged well with the cream, which made a cat shape topping on the cake. And Hina Cafe’s special blend of tea to serve with.

Jujo Miu’s Cool Beauty Set - A piece of molten chocolate lava cake served with vanilla ice cream and raspberries, and a spoonful of strawberry jam for extra flavor. It goes very well with a cup of black coffee to balance the sweetness.

Ochiai Hiyori’s Sweet Charm Set - Jiggly chilled blueberry pudding topped with colorful mini macarons and whipped cream. It’s served with vla poured on top of it. It’s paired with a non-alcoholic blueberry mojito mocktail.

And yes, Kazuki made Hikaru prepare a lot of those greeting cards. And Yo didn’t know how, but it seems like Kazuki had managed to procure a lot of red roses from Madam Rose.

After he asked Jio to prepare the list of ingredients and work with Q, Yayoi, and the remaining Hina Cafe’s staff to prepare the menu, Kazuki asked Hikaru, who had experience in giving the best satisfaction to his customers as a host, to come up with activities they can do as Maids to increase the engagement with the customers. At which Hikaru is more than delighted to help.

One of those activities was what Yo was currently training with Hinagiku.

“Yo-kun! Put more power into your hips! Ready? It goes like this!” Hinagiku huffed as she moved her gloved arms to make a big heart shape, and then twirled around with a jump and winked at Yo. “Moe moe, Play Ball!” She said very cutely while Yo failed to follow her movement and almost slipped when he jumped. He can feel the chill on his exposed hips, and he’s SO not used to it.

“I…I can’t-” Yo whined. His face is redder than a tomato. This is supposed to be a “Magic Spell”, which the maids do when they serve the customer’s food. Hinagiku is pretty strict with training, and for the third time of the day, Yo wished that Tsuki were here for mental support.

“Well, Hinagiku-san. Yo’s slightly embarrassed motion has its own charm, so don’t you think it’s fine if he sometimes fails to deliver the spell?” Kazuki jumped in to help since Yo looked like he was about to burst out crying after his ninth time failing the spell.

“Mou!! But even Kazuki-kun is not doing this seriously. You’re supposed to make a cat pose and give a ‘Nyan!’ like this when you serve your sandwich!” Hina posed to make paws with her gloved hands, but Kazuki just chuckled and waved his hand. “I’ll do it if they manage to beat me in chess in three minutes, though? I’ll even throw in a special service for free~” Kazuki chuckled.

“Worry, not Hinagiku! My ‘Moe Moe de Gozaru’ will surely excite the hearts of our customers! This Akiba Ichinosuke will not fail you!” Ichinosuke grinned as he performed a ninja art pose with his hand.

“Um, is it alright if my spell is just ‘Do your best, please enjoy the meal, master?’” Koishi raised his hand. Hikaru patted his shoulder and gave him a nod. “It’s alright, Koishi-kun, you’re cute enough that people will be swayed by your charm. It might be better if you don’t say anything else. Otherwise, there might be a bloodbath in the cafe.”

“But Hikaru… your ultimate wink will surely captivate the hearts of the customer,s too.” Hiyori pouted. Yayoi agreed with her with a silent nod. Both seemed to be a little dissatisfied that their beloved brother would soon be monopolized by the customers.

“By the way…is it really alright that I don’t help serve the customers?” Yayoi asked. Back in the host club they worked in, she would always work together with Hiyori. But this time, she was given the task to prepare drinks instead, since most of the Hina Cafe’s employees had run away or quit after the new owner showed up. They only have a few staff left to help Jio prepare the food in the kitchen, so they need someone experienced to help in the drinks bar.

“It’s alright. Yayoi is the best at making the perfect drink. You are the most amazing when you’re being yourself.” Hiyori smiled and patted her little sister’s head. Yayoi smiled back in return. “I understand. Thank you, Hiyori.”

Q, who had been helping with the food preparation, also finally braved himself to get out and face Kazuki. For some reason, he could understand what Hiyori and Yayoi are feeling, and he pouted with them too when he thought that this sight of Kazuki would be seen by a lot of other people… while he’s stuck helping in the kitchen.

“Don’t make that face.” Kazuki seemed to notice that Q is sulking, though. “Jio is going to need all the help in the kitchen. You can do it, right?” Q felt that it was unfair for Kazuki to ask him that way because now Q could only answer “Of course.”

Now that they have finished the preparation, Kazuki grouped everyone again to brief them on their positions and tasks for the last time before the shop opens. “Alright, are you ready?” He grinned, and everyone nodded at him with a determined look.

“Alright, let’s start-”

“BOMBERRR!!!” But before Kazuki could finish, a round white plush dropped at the center of them.

Zero twirled around, complete in a small maid dress of his own and a headdress. He looked very cheerful and even spoke in a higher pitch and cuter tone than usual. “Ehehe! It looks fun, so I want to join, too!”

“ZERO!?!?!” Some people screamed, and a lot were pale-faced. Yo deadpanned at the sight.

“Don’t you dare ruin our effort…” Yo groaned. But Zero, in his mascot form, just whined back at him. “Nooooo, I promise I won’t do anything!” And he made a little shy gesture as he stood up. “Hehe, I’m sure that this cute me will attract more customers, don’t you think so?” There’s a blush on his cheek, and Yo wanted to puke.

“Well… As long as he behaved, I guess he could stand on the side road with a plank and be a mascot.” Kazuki groaned. “Best we ignore him. Let’s go, everyone.” He cleared his throat and then balled his fist once again.

“It’s maid time.”

Notes:

By the way, the yare yare ojousama is a reference to this
https://youtu.be/FoO7Pmx0bE4?list=RDFoO7Pmx0bE4

I draw the zero maid myself, is he cute enough? www

Chapter 2

Working as a Maid is apparently tougher than it looks.

 

Thanks to Hinagiku’s popularity and the livestream that Yo made, the customers immediately lined up in the cafe. All of them were curious about the cross-dressing maids and especially waiting for Hinagiku’s return to the cafe. At first, they were all baited by Hina’s name, but as they arrived and saw the list of the maids, they gradually start to get interested with the others. 

 

For example, the bunch of older women squealing and admiring Yo’s cuteness as he served them their food and tea. Yo remembered that he had to do the magic spell when he served. These kind ladies were waiting in anticipation as he put down the onigiri from his tray. 

 

“M…mo.” Yo hesitantly lifted his finger and then made a small heart motion with his fingers. He was trembling. The embarrassment was too real. The breeze between his hips was not helping him concentrate at all. 

 

“Hooray! Hooray! Hang in there, Yo-Kun!” Behind him, Zero was there, in his maid outfit, twirling and dancing on the counter. He was acting like a mascot of the cafe, much to Yo’s dismay. 

 

But his annoyance towards Zero managed to get Yo’s brain gears turn and made him able to finish doing the fanservice. 

 

“Moe…moe…play…ball?” Because he was looking down in embarrassment, only his eyes rolled up, and it added extra cuteness that made the ladies scream and hug each other. They thanked him while crying, and Yo had no idea how it came to this. 

 

All he knew was that he wanted all this to be over so he could strangle Zero as soon as he was done. The only reason he let Zero roam around freely was that he was actually helping to attract customers with his cute appearance. 

 

“Kyaa, what is this cute round thing?! Is it a plush?!” One of the customers squealed.

 

“I want one! No, I want ten!!”

 

“Hey, let’s take a picture with it! Ready? Cheese!” 

 

Yo listened with a pale face. If only these people knew that this adorable white doll-like creature was the cause of the Governing Rules that happened in every city, taking the lives of so many people that they could no longer count. 

 

He decided just to let sleeping dogs lie, and then glanced to the side to see how the others were doing. 

 

Yo was worried for Koishi, who looked the most defenseless among them. But contrary to his belief, Koishi seemed to be doing just fine with the male otakus who were too shy even to face him properly. It seemed like Koishi’s petite appearance and lovely face had awakened the desire to protect within the otakus. When customers with dirty minds come into the cafe, these otakus who had converted into Koishi’s knights would glare at them and protect Koishi from the hands of people with bad intentions. There was even a fan club forming behind their back and a code of act was formed and spread amongst Koishi’s fans. 

 

Carrying a tray of food with one hand while holding his beast-like doll with the other was hard for Koishi. Especially since Koishi was walking with heeled Mary Jane shoes. So when he was carrying a glass of water to the customers, Koishi tripped over his own feet and almost fell forward when he tried to catch the glass of water. But luckily, Yo saw everything and sprinted to catch him before he could fall. 

 

“Koishi!” Unfortunately for him, Yo ended up tripping over the puddle of water and pushed Koishi down instead. 

 

“I-is this!? No way! Yo-kun! Kyaaaa!! You’re a lucky sukebe!” Zero was overjoyed when he saw Yo, pinning Koishi to the ground with one leg between Koishi’s legs. Yo’s face gradually became redder and redder as he realized the situation and the position he was at. 

 

“A-ah, I’m sorry, Kuronaka-san!” Koishi cried beneath him. It just made the situation look more compromising. But his brain was freezing. His body is not listening to him. He couldn’t move until- 

 

“Ah, Yo-kun, I can see your pants-” Zero rolled and kindly used his own body to block the view of everyone else who was staring with eyes that looked like they could pop out from their sockets at the scene of Yo’s visible frilly pants since his skirt was so short. “Heyyy!! Scram! Scram! This is a family-friendly venue! And this view should only belong to me, myself and I alone!” The ball huffed as he guarded Yo’s visible peaches with his own body. 

 

And Yo finally came back to his senses and immediately stood up. “I’ll… grab a mop to clean up.” And he moved like a robot to get away from the scene. 

 

Somewhere on the corner of the cafe, they have somehow set up a tatami set with a low Japanese table. Ichinosuke was sitting gracefully like a geisha as he entertained his guests. When customers order Ichinosuke’s special menu, they will be allowed to play a little challenge with Ichinosuke. The challenge was to play the traditional Konpira Fune Fune game while singing the traditional folk song that almost seemed out of place for a maid cafe, but it suited his costume well. 

 

They play by taking turns taking the cup or touching the cup if the cup is placed on the table. They have to make a fist motion if the cup is taken by the other player. And if they win, if the other player makes a mistake with their hand motion. A bunch of people saw this as an easy challenge, but so far, it has been so hard to beat Ichinosuke, as he’s very perceptive with other people’s movements. In the end, nobody has been able to beat Ichinosuke yet, but he still smiled at them and gave them a little compensation of a photoshoot for a consolation prize. 

 

Though that consolidation photoshoot session comes with another price, and therefore makes more profit for the cafe. That was also part of Kazuki’s plan. 

 

In a different part of the store, Hiyori was happily feeding a customer a macaron. Her butler's outfit was pure white with frilled sleeves. She has a Victorian laced jabot decorated with a golden chain and an amethyst gem. Her hair was styled in a half-bun decorated with white feathers. Her outfit certainly gave the vibe of an angelic princely type.

 

Men and women fell for her beauty. And she started taking more requests, like giving them a lap pillow as long as they pay the “extra fees”. Normally, Hinagiku wouldn’t allow such an act, but since they were desperate for money, this time she turned a blind eye to it. 

 

Then Yo saw Hikaru guiding a bunch of ladies with professionalism. He moved with grace and carefully guided them to their seats before handing over his small present, the single bouquet of red roses, and the greeting card as he winked at them. The ladies served by him were easily swooned, and they all rushed to buy his photocards, to the point they also fought each other, and Hikaru had to put himself in the middle to break the fight. 

 

“Hey! I called on Hikaru-chan first! I get to do a photoshoot first!” One lady shouted. 

 

“I bought three photocards! I should have more priority! Hikaru, tell her!” Another lady shouted. 

 

“What are you talking about, ladies?! It’s OBVIOUS that I should have the highest priority! I bought ten Hikaru-chan lunch sets and twenty photocards! ” A man with nerdy glasses shouted at the two of them. 

 

“Ahh, I’m sorry, but I have no interest in men. And I must prioritize the ladies-” Hikaru said, and he got his feet stomped by Hinagiku for almost breaking their code of service against customers. In the end, Hinagiku managed to control the situation and let them wait in line. 

 

Then Yo glanced at the mountain of corpses stacked next to Kazuki. They were all defeated men who tried to challenge Kazuki’s game. Like Ichinosuke’s set, those who ordered Kazuki’s set can also challenge Kazuki for a little ‘fanservice’ . Kazuki’s game was a simple game of chess. But they only have three minutes to play, and they have to beat Kazuki before their time runs out. But it seemed like Kazuki managed to floor everyone with his skills. 

 

Yo silently sympathized with those who failed to defeat Kazuki. He’s seen how Kazuki traumatized each member of the Trash Tribe with Chess, after all. The only one who could play on par with him was probably just Q. 

 

Unlike Ichinosuke’s set, who still allowed them to take a photoshoot afterwards as long as they paid the extra price, Kazuki was playing hard to get and didn’t reward him at all. The only service he’s been giving to his customers is the sadistic look on his face every time he defeats someone in chess. 

 

But even so, it seemed like he had made a new cult on his own. Countless men lined up to play against him, and a few even declared they wanted to be stepped on by Kazuki, who just smiled back at them and told them, “ Gross .” with eyes colder than the ocean water at 3 am. 

 

They were somehow still happy about it, though, and it started to worry Q, who sometimes glanced from the kitchen to see how they were doing, because this was exactly the situation he didn’t want Kazuki to be involved in. His concern turned into reality when he heard the men scheming to win against Kazuki.

 

“Bro, are you sure it’ll work?” His friend asked. The green-haired VR-faced boy grinned back at him. “Trust me, I paid for the most expensive premium service of this NineGPT. All I need to do is just install it on my visor, and it will help me win any chess game with a breeze!” The boy clenched his fist. 

 

“Isn’t this cheating, though…? Will they even allow it?” His friend gulped at him, but the green-haired boy yelled back at him. “Bro, I’m DESPERATE, okay?! Ever since I saw Kazuki-kun from that stream with Magata… that cat-like azure eyes… that slim waist that every man would dream to hold… that pale fair skin around his exposed neck… WHO CAN SAY NO TO THAT! I’VE BEEN DREAMING OF THIS DAY!! FOR THE DAY I CAN SEE KAZUKI-KUN’S DEFEATED FACE… JUST IMAGINE IT, BRO! HIS USUAL CONFIDENT LOOK, NOW REPLACED WITH A FLUSTERED LOOK!!! IMAGINE HIM SAYING NYA TO YOU!!!” The boy became more excited with every second. His imagination went overboard and all over the place. 

 

The mop that Q was holding snapped in two. 

 

Technically, it’s not like cheating is not allowed. They didn’t have written rules about using AI to solve the challenges. They probably didn’t think that someone would be willing to go this far. 

 

But when the boy’s turn came up, Kazuki noticed how the boy’s intelligence was beyond how he acted. He quickly noticed the visor. 

 

“Fuun… I see.” He thought to himself. They were moving the chess pieces at a rapid speed that made it hard for the audience to predict who was winning. He wasn’t losing, but he couldn’t win either. They keep exchanging “checks” every second now. The best he could do was probably to defend and make it a draw with the timeout-

 

But Kazuki disliked the idea of even getting a draw with a person who cheated. 

 

So with a sleuth hand, he moved some pieces around, confusing the AI. 

 

“H-huh?” The boy with the visor noticed how his AI was breaking. 

 

“What’s wrong? It’s your move.” Kazuki smiled with curled lips that almost made it look like a cat’s lips. 

 

“U-uh… wait-” The boy tried to move his pieces, but it’s clear that his level of intelligence couldn’t save the game. And then, with the AI breaking and him unable to fix his moves, Kazuki declared. 

 

“ Checkmate . Too bad, huh?” Kazuki grinned. 

 

“H-how? That… you must be cheating! There’s no way I could lose!” The boy pointed at Kazuki and caused another uproar. 

 

Ahh, this is becoming annoying. 

 

Now, he could apologize for cheating before the boy caused a huge uproar and hurt the store’s reputation. But Kazuki is too petty to let a cheater get his way. 

 

Then, while he was thinking about how to handle this customer, Q appeared, along with the broken mop. His face was dark, and his eyes shone under the shadows of his bangs. 

 

“Pardon me…” Q muttered, but his voice was low enough that he sounded almost like a monster. “He doesn’t like cheaters…” Q was growling as he patted the customer’s shoulder lightly . Or so he meant to do, but the visor boy felt the weight of the entire hell and its residents resting on his back. 

 

“T-th-th-that’s right! AHAHA!! OF COURSE!!” The boy felt as if he turned around, he would be murdered on the spot. The bloodlust was seeping into his spine. So in the end, he just attempted to laugh it off, put his order into takeout, and bolted. 

 

“Come on, Q… you’re scaring the poor guy.” Kazuki chuckled. Q didn’t say anything in return. He felt annoyed for some reason. And the poor mop was a victim of that annoyance. In the end, he gave a pouty look at Kazuki before walking back to the storage to find a new broom.

 

“Huh… I wonder if he’s angry?” Kazuki commented to Yo, who watched how the scene unfolded. “Hmm… Q-san also likes to play fair and square, so maybe that’s why.” Yo replied, also unrealizing the underlying meaning behind Q’s annoyance. 

 

It seemed like even though some of the guys were traumatized by Q’s appearance, a lot more masochists just got riled up as the hurdle to get Kazuki’s fanservice increased. That day, none of Kazuki’s set customers managed to get a single fan service from him. 

 

The other girls, on the other hand, seemed to be holding out on their own, too. Hinagiku is already popular with her base fans. But Miu’s appearance seems to have made a new fan base amongst the ladies, too. She looked like a pretty knight in her suit. Her hair was styled up in a high ponytail. She had a brown vest and a long white shirt with a wine colored tie, and then a half cape that covered her right side. 

 

Unlike the crossdressing maid group, the butlers don’t have special fan service except for drawing on the Omurice if they ordered the Omurice or taking a photoshoot together if they pay an extra fee (which is very expensive, but apparently some people still wanted to take them). 

 

“Miu-chan, can you draw a cat for me?” A middle-aged man asked as he ordered Omurice from Miu. But as Miu took the ketchup bottle, she spotted how there was a pen that was suspiciously sticking out from his pocket. Miu recognized that it was a secret camera and it was recording the activities in secret, which was against their terms of service. Secretly taking pictures or recording them was not allowed in the cafe. 

 

So with the ketchup bottle she was holding, she poured almost half of the bottle onto the omurice in rage as she warned him. “Dearest customer, unauthorized recordings are not allowed here. Please kindly leave.” She warned with a cold glare, the omurice served to him looked like it was drenched with blood now. The man panicked and raged back at her. 

 

“W-what?! How dare you-!” And he was about to grab her until a stronger hand grabbed his and lowered it. Jio was standing behind Miu. 

 

“Dearest customer, we are very sorry about this. But for the safety of our staff and other customers, I ask you to kindly leave this venue, or we should we settle this with XB? Oh, but mind you that we have experienced XB players here. Surely you’ve heard of Trash Tribe before?” Jio smiled, but his eyes weren’t. They were glowing red, almost full of murderous intention. 

 

“...T-tch!” The man pulled his arm and then stormed away. Jio sighed as he cleaned up the plates. “Are you alright, Jujo?” He asked. 

 

“Y-yes… Thank you…Jio.” Miu looked surprised at his actions. But Jio just stared at her with an emotionless expression before taking the bloody omelette away. “There might be more nasty customers, so please be careful.” And then he returned to the kitchen like nothing had happened, leaving Miu watching his back with a slightly lonely look on her face. 

 

Yo looked away. Normally, Jio would probably overreact and make sure that every inch of Miu’s body is unharmed. And he would probably complain dramatically on the fact that such a nasty man managed to almost touch his dearest beloved Miu. But with his revival in Shinjuku, something changed in Jio, and Yo didn’t know how to handle it, nor whether he should keep it a secret from the rest of the Trash Tribe or not.

 

But someone did notice. 

 

Kazuki glanced at Yo’s face and then Miu’s. It didn’t take an expert to deduce that something happened in Shinjuku. And… as someone who had experienced firsthand the change of behavior in his dearest and beloved partner, Kazuki could easily make a guess. 

 

“I’ll take out the trash.” Kazuki announced to the team as he took a bag of trash through the back door. However, nobody realized that he also grabbed Zero, who had been lazing around and let people snap a picture of him like he was a mascot cat on the corner of the cafe, by his head, and shoved him into the trash bag. 

 

“Mooou!! You’re so mean! Kazuki-kun! I’m not trash!” Zero yelped as Kazuki took him out of the bag once they were in the back alley. 

 

Kazuki folded his arms and tapped on it as he smiled back at Zero, unbothered by his yelps. “Ahaha! I have to take you away unnoticed, and I don’t have a lot of options, see?” Kazuki smiled back at him. He was petty, and he would be petty towards Zero at any chance he could have. 

 

“Don’t forget that I can still shoot you dead anytime I want, you know…” Zero grumbled at him. 

 

“But you won’t because it won’t be fun for you, am I right? I’ve thought about what you said at that time a lot, you know… I’ve started to figure out some things on my own.” Kazuki waved his hand. 

 

“Oh? Then let us hear them, then.” Zero hummed. 

 

“Did Jio die and get revived? Was that why he was behaving this way?” Kazuki walked past Zero so that they were not facing each other. He was facing the street instead. Watching as people walk past them like nothing happened. 

 

Like how life will keep moving on, and those who were forgotten will always be left behind. Nobody knows what happened to Trash Tribe members as they fight against Zero. 

 

“Ohoho! Even though Yo-kun had not told you anything, you figured it out on your own! As expected of you, Kazuki-kun!” Zero cheered and even flapped open a celebratory fan. “And then? What will you do about it? Are you going to get angry at me again?” Zero asked as he fluttered his tail. 

 

Kazuki gritted his teeth. 

 

Another one slipped out of his grasp without him noticing. 

 

Kazuki may not have known Jio deeply. But Jio is a comrade. A precious comrade of the Trash Tribe who had fought together with them. 

 

They all had the resolve to commit to their mission to stop Zero, no matter what it takes. But… it wasn’t easy to see the life of your friends disappear one by one. 

 

It will never be easy.

 

“How many times has it happened?” Kazuki asked, grabbing onto his left arm. He thought he was ready to accept reality, but listening to Zero and having it confirmed directly from his mouth had a different weight to his anticipation. 

 

“Why not make a guess? You’ve managed to come up with this theory yourself this far. Isn’t it more exciting to find out by yourself?” Zero bounced. 

 

Kazuki gritted his teeth, then turned around to face Zero. “Haha… so that’s it… We’re your pawns, weren’t we? What are you trying to do? What are you making us do?” 

 

Then Zero stopped jumping and disappeared into his portal. Before long, he reappeared with his human form and a twisted smirk on his face. “Fufu, something fun, of course~♡” He inched in, almost pinned Kazuki to the wall. 

 

“It has been a while since he forgot, but you can see that Q-kun is doing better without his previous memories, can’t you?” Zero smirked. His words stabbed Kazuki like a sharp knife towards his chest. 

 

“Guh…” Kazuki couldn’t say anything back, because deep down, he knew Zero was right. Q has smiled more after he forgot his past as Oujiro. Without the weight of his regret and sins, Q had started to see light. He had picked up XB again, and he could even laugh with his friends. But still… 

 

Otori Oujiro is part of Q too. The efforts and courage that Oujiro put for his redemption, all the struggles and their memories together, they were part of his life too. It was unfair for Oujiro if it was simply taken away from him, even if Q doesn’t feel anything about it. 

 

And that’s why he couldn’t forgive Zero for putting it so lightly. 

 

“Ah, but it’s very painful for you too, isn’t it? Being forgotten… even though you’ve done so much for him…” Zero grabbed Kazuki’s chin with his fingers and lifted Kazuki’s face slowly. 

 

“Should I make you forget, too? Maybe that will make you actually focus more on your mission.” Zero offered. 

 

Kazuki immediately slapped his hand away. 

 

“Don’t you dare .” He growled, with the lowest and rawest voice he has ever made, and bared his teeth like a wild animal. 

 

Zero grinned in return. “That’s the spirit.” He said before disappearing into his portal. “I had fun today, I look forward to your growth, Trash Tribe…” 

 

Kazuki watched as the annoying guy disappeared and slumped his shoulders. “...Where did I go wrong…” He muttered to himself. When did it even start? Had he also died? Did he forget something as well? Was their decision to step up against Zero a mistake? Or was it a mistake when they decided to let Tsuki and Sui join them? Was his decision ultimately what dragged them into this hell? How much more are they going to suffer-

 

But as he drowned in his thoughts, a large shadow loomed behind him. Kazuki realized too late as the shadow approached, and he was about to attack whoever crept behind him. Except, he found out that the person standing behind him was Q. 

 

“Q?! What are you doing here?” Kazuki awkwardly lowered his fist. He was glad he didn’t punch Q yet. 

 

“Kazuki… you’re taking a while to take out the trash. I thought something had happened. I was worried, so I came to check. Are you alright? Your face looks pale…” Q said as he placed one hand on Kazuki’s cheek, tucking the strands of his hair behind his ear. 

 

“Ah… I’m alright. I’m sorry for worrying you. Let’s hurry back, we have customers to serve.” Kazuki quickly dropped the topic and moved, but Q held his hand, stopping him from going. 

 

“Q?” Kazuki turned around, and he saw Q looking hesitant to say something. There was something that Q wanted to say ever since he first saw Kazuki in that outfit, be he wasn’t able to do that in front of everyone else. So now was a perfect time. 

 

“That…” Q sighed, then walked closer, and then he suddenly hugged him. Q was holding him tightly that Kazuki was almost lifted from the ground. 

 

Huh?!

 

Kazuki’s mind froze as he processed what Q was doing. He tried to squirm to break free, but Q wouldn’t let go. Then, with a flat face, Q added a warning to him. “Kazuki… you look too cute in that. It’s dangerous for you to wander alone in those clothes. Don’t go off on your own. Let’s go back.” And then he finally let go of Kazuki. 

 

But Kazuki was still processing what had just happened. He blinked slowly in surprise. 

 

“W-wait, Q… why did you suddenly- Hey!” Kazuki chased after him, but Q sped up. There was a blush on Q’s face, and he didn’t want to show it to Kazuki yet. Q had been annoyed the whole day with all the events that happened, and being unable to stay close to Kazuki while he’s dressed up like this was just torture. Therefore, he decided to take his chance to hold him if even just for a few seconds. 

 

Q’s grip was warm, and Kazuki could still feel it on his skin. Kazuki felt his face heat up. That was an unfair, sudden attack. There’s no way Kazuki could be prepared for that. 

 

But… Q’s body was warm, and that was all he needed to feel better after that exhausting conversation with Zero. 

 

Well… the day is still long, maybe he could think of a way to pay Q back later. 

 

—

 

Back in the store, nobody seemed to have realized that Zero had disappeared. Way too many customers are lining up now that Kazuki feels bad for disappearing for quite some time. But it was quite obvious that some of them were getting tired too. 

 

It was visible from the sweat that had started to pool on their faces, especially on Jio, who had been cooking all day long. Miu noticed and then walked over to him to wipe his sweat with her handkerchief. “Take some rest, Jio.”

 

Jio looked surprised when she suddenly appeared in the kitchen. It seemed like she was there to fetch the customer’s order, but she noticed how tired he looked and decided to bring a towel and bottled water too. “Don’t forget to hydrate, okay?” Miu smiled at him, then quickly went back to the dining area with a tray of the customer’s food. She left Jio staring at her, his heart thumping slightly, and he didn’t understand why. 

 

“...Must be the heat.” He concluded. 

 

However, for some reason, her kind smile couldn’t escape his mind. And unconsciously, he had reached out his hand to reach out to her. However, before he could touch her, she had already walked away, and only a strand of her ponytailed hair brushed his fingertips. 

 

“Mi-” He called, but stopped. What was he about to say?

 

“Hm?” She heard it, and she turned around. ”Did you say something, Jio?” 

 

“Oh…um…” Words escaped his mind. “You take a break, too.” He could only say. And she smiled once more before leaving the kitchen. It made him feel warm. 

 

‘I’m glad, Miu… not everything is gone.’ Yayoi thought to herself as she watched Jio and Miu’s interaction in silence. Yayoi had been there, ice picking as she listened to the two’s exchange. She didn’t understand romance, has never experienced it herself too. But seeing Jio and Miu together made her want to cheer on them secretly.

 

“Ahh!! Yayoi-chan! Your hands are red!” At least, until Hinagiku ran over to her and placed her hands over hers. Hinagiku was just carrying the dirty plates back to the kitchen when she noticed Yayoi’s fingers turning red from holding ice for too long. 

 

“It’s fine, I’m used to ice. Hina, you should go back to serving the customers.” Yayoi told her. Compared to where she used to work, this cafe is much warmer. 

 

“It’s not fine!” Hina snapped and immediately took Yayoi’s hand to her cheeks as she pouted in an attempt to warm her hands even further. “See! It’s very cold! Please don’t push yourself too hard, nya!” Hinagiku huffed and kept Yayoi’s hand attached to her cheek. 

 

Yayoi was surprised. She blinked once… then twice, and on the third, she chuckled at Hinagiku. “Yes. I will keep that in mind.” Yayoi smiled. 

 

Hinagiku’s hands were very warm. 

 

As the last child, she always had Hikaru on one side and Hiyori on the other. They have always been her most important and the only people she needed. They were enough to keep her warm. But as she met Miu and the others, she watched how the Trash Tribe interacted. Gradually, the ice in her heart also started to melt. 

 

“I’ll take over, Hina-chan, I think you’re asked in table number three.” Hiyori, who had just returned to the kitchen, saw her and then patted Yayoi, who seemed clueless about how to handle the situation. 

 

“Nya nya!? Omigosh! I should not make my masters and ladies wait! Yayoi-chan! Make sure to keep your hands warm, okay?!” Then she bolted away to serve her customers. Hiyori chuckled at her energy and glanced at Yayoi, whose eyes were stuck on her reddened hands. 

 

“Are you okay, Yayoi?” Hiyori asked. This is the first time she had ever seen her sister look so dumbstruck. 

 

“Hiyori…” She clenched her hands slowly. “The people in Trash Tribe… are very nice.” She commented. Hiyori smiled and then hugged Yayoi from the side. “Yes, they are very kind.” She agreed.

 

“I… think I want to stay with them a little longer.” Yayoi smiled. 

 

“Me too.” Hiyori chuckled. He could understand that feeling very well. As someone who was born and raised in Shinjuku, their life has been hard. Hikaru had been their only source of comfort and safe space. The three of them managed to stay alive and well because they all had each other, but… after meeting Trash Tribe, it felt like they were finally able to smile more. 

 

This must have been what Miu felt when she joined Trash Tribe, huh? 

 

“Let’s do our best, Hiyori.” Yayoi placed her hand over Hiyori’s hands, which were wrapped around her shoulder. “You’re right, Yayoi. For Hikaru, and everyone else in Trash.” She chuckled. 

 

As the activities went on and their sales went up, one of the guests seemed to finally realize that one of the maids was Shinjuku’s famous host, and Hikaru’s name became a new trending topic on social media. A bunch of Neo Chiyoda’s ladies swarmed the cafe, and amongst them was Hikaru’s die-hard fan who broke in and cut the line to risk her life just to meet him. 

 

“HIKARU-KUN!!!” The girl ran towards him. But then she bumped into Ichinosuke, who had just finished his game. Ichinosuke tried to balance himself, but the high geta he’s wearing made him trip, and he couldn’t stop himself from falling. 

 

However, a moment before he fell, a rose whip was suddenly shot in his direction and wrapped itself around Ichinosuke’s waist. He was pulled backwards and spun as the whip released him. And then, he landed splendidly on Hikaru’s hand, with their hands clasped together, and his back slightly bent. Hikaru hovered above him. 

 

Somewhere, an echoed “𝓞𝓱♡” sound was heard as the scene unfolded. 

 

“Are you alright, Ichinosuke-kun?” Hikaru asked, and Ichinosuke swore he saw roses and glitter behind Hikaru’s face. It was like something straight out of a shoujo manga, and it made his heart accidentally skip a beat. He had never felt this way ever since Oujiro called his name for the first time.

 

“Y-yes, I am indebted.” Ichinosuke answered, and Hikaru patted his back with a smile. “I’m glad you’re alright.” And smiled oh so innocently, unaware of how the other customers were side-eyeing them, and screamed both internally and externally. Some people even already started to draw them together in even more compromising positions in their minds.

 

It left Ichinosuke confused, and comedically enough, Q and Kazuki returned exactly at the time when Ichinosuke twirled into Hikaru’s arms, which made Ichinosuke burst out in embarrassment even further. 

 

“Q-sama?!” Ichinosuke gasped and immediately bowed down towards Q. “MY HEART HAS NOT BEEN SWAYED! MY LOYALTY WILL ALWAYS ONLY BELONG TO YOU!” He panicked and screamed. 

 

And then everyone gasped. 

 

“Ah…” Q also didn’t know what to say. He certainly stood out now. He felt uncomfortable under the stares of the people and unconsciously inched closer towards Kazuki, who sighed at the scene. 

 

“Ichinosuke-kun, that part is wrong, isn’t it?” Kazuki chuckled, trying to control the situation. Ichinosuke gasped once again. Did he overstep his boundary? Certainly, his beloved Q-sama is his supreme lord while he’s just a mere retainer. And saying all that in front of his beloved Q-sama’s most important partner was definitely overstepping his line. 

 

“F-forgive me, Kazuki-dono I-” Ichinosuke was about to smash his head to the ground to formally apologize, but to his surprise, Kazuki just clapped his hands. 

 

“It’s our Master and Ladies, righto?” And Ichinosuke almost couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Kazuki was speaking in a way Hinagiku would. And his smile was so bright that it instantly captured the hearts of everyone who saw the scene. 

 

Including Q, whose eyes looked like he was about to snap from reality on the sudden change of behavior from his childhood friend. 

 

Having another master was a taboo thing in Maid Cafe. The moment they become maids, their loyalties belong only to the customers. That was what Hinagiku learned when she first became a maid. With how Ichinosuke declared his loyalty to Q earlier, it could cause an uproar from the customers, especially those who asked for Ichinosuke’s service. Hinagiku could understand where her brother was coming from, though. She also couldn’t abandon her one and true master. It was hard for her to call the customers ‘masters’ when she first started this job. 

 

Now, all of the customers’ eyes were eyeing Ichinosuke with judging eyes. Some people felt uncomfortable. Some of the customers who had just become his fans started to feel uneasy that Ichinosuke was being judged by other people. They’re all worried for Ichinosuke. 

 

“Everyone, please forgive us. Ichinosuke-kun is still learning as a maid. We are still clumsy with our words, but our hearts will always only belong to our masters and ladies! Right, Hinagiku-san?” Kazuki linked his hands together, and his eyes sparkled with fake puppy-like eyes as he passed the baton to Hinagiku, who understood the assignment immediately.

 

“That’s right, nya! Our masters and ladies are our beloved and dearest, most important people! We love you the most! Ichinosuke-oniichan is incredibly loyal to his masters, so it’s very hard for him to put down his loyalty to the previous customers, but that also means that Ichinosuke-oniichan loves all of his masters, doesn’t he?” Hinagiku cued. 

 

Ichinosuke lifted his head. “Y-yes! I love my masters very, very much!” He grinned sheepishly. 

 

“Nice save, Kazuki.” Miu praised, but she was about to run into another laughing fit. She wouldn’t ever forget how Kazuki had acted earlier. Oh, she definitely has to tell the other Trash Tribe about this. 

 

“Ahaha, Miu-san, I’m going to stop sharing my cat wallpapers if you ever tell this to someone else.” Kazuki was smiling back at her. And she just clicked her tongue and pouted away. 

 

Well, that was one problem solved. Or so Kazuki thought, but then he didn’t realize the stare that Q had been giving him. It was the way Kazuki pleaded with puppy-dog eyes to the customers. A sight that Q has never, ever imagined, let alone seen before. 

 

It was so out of character for him and yet- 

 

“Our hearts will only belong to our masters and ladies.” Kazuki’s words echoed in his head, and Q balled his fist so hard that it started to hurt. What was this feeling of annoyance? Was it because Kazuki was acting ridiculously? It felt like there was more to it. Something else made Q feel uneasy, yet he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly made him feel this way. 

 

But while Q was still wandering in his sea of thoughts, Hinagiku suddenly announced to the customers. 

 

“As an apology, Hina and the others will give our master and ladies a special performance, nya!” Hinagiku smiled and took the spotlight in a cute pose. Hinagiku had signalled to all of the servers to distribute penlights to all of the customers. 

 

Once Yo and the other maids finished distributing the penlights, they all moved backstage. 

 

Right before he moved, Q was given a blue penlight by Kazuki, who then placed a finger to his lips as if to tell him to keep it a secret from everyone else before he joined the rest of the maids backstage. 

 

The cafe’s lights were suddenly turned off, and a spotlight was turned on towards the stage. Hinagiku and the other two girls were there, lining up on the stage. They were posing, and as Hinagiku gave the signal, a bopping music suddenly played, and the cafe’s lights shot colorful lights onto the disco ball that started spinning around. 

 

Plenty of die-hard otaku lined up at the front of the stage, and Q was clueless as he watched them grab their penlights and make their stance. He was worried that they were going to start something, but as soon as Hinagiku started singing, these otakus started yelling and swinging their penlight around. 

 

“UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

 

What if everyone around

Decided to go skipping all across the town?

And what if they collided in the city streets

And everyone held hands and looked up into the sky, now?

If everyone would look around from where they stand

And open up and learn to give and take a chance

Then that will be the hope to chase away my cries

So don't worry and move forward with your head held high, -igh -igh

 

As expected of Hinagiku, even though she was the only one singing, she was still able to captivate the whole crowd. But it’s not just because of her, though. Miu and Hiyori are also doing their best to dance, and their confident look on their faces just captivated the hearts of the customers. 

 

And then the chorus entered, and then all of a sudden, the curtain behind them was lifted up, and the maids were there, switching places with the girls. 

 

PONPON, let it out

C'mon, let the crazy show

 

Yo came out first, jumping awkwardly while being conscious about his short skirt to the front of the stage, replacing Hinagiku’s position, and did his best to make a cheering pose with his hand. He tried to follow the lyrics, but since they only managed to train for a few times before they started the shift at the store, Yo was lagging in the singing and then immediately scurried to the back to switch positions. But the customers, and especially Yo’s fans, found that his effort to do his all and his awkwardness very adorable, and they cheered like crazy for him as they waved the white light pen. 

 

Because if you don't

Life would be so dull, you know

 

Ichinosuke was next, gracefully moved his hand. He had a paper fan with him. Who knows when Hinagiku purchased it, but it had an elegant phoenix design, the symbol of the Chiyoda Tribe on its glory. He snapped the fan open, twirled it before snapping it closed again, and showed a brilliant grin. He was singing the lyrics and thought of how much his life had changed from his previous empty days waiting for his master’s return. There was an audible, synchronized gasp as Ichinosuke flapped open the fan before the crowds shrieked and waved the red light pen for him. 

 

Headphones on my ears

Rhythm's got me jammin' here

 

As Ichinosuke exited the stage, Koishi cheerfully moved to the front. His twin tail bounced as he waved to the customers, captivating their hearts and making the Koishi defense squad swoon and cry over his cuteness. Koishi seemed to have fun dancing to the rhythms. That day, the Koishi defense squad swore that they would protect Koishi no matter what happened. It seemed like there were more male fans than females waving green penlights for him. They were also working very fast, as some of them already had a fan with Koishi’s face printed on it. 

 

Way-way, open road

Gotta make it on my own

 

After Koishi, Hikaru joined the front. He twirled, did a little dance, and threw a kiss towards the audience. Several men and women got nosebleeds as they saw the imaginary heart being thrown at them. Q still didn’t understand why they were all behaving like this. His friends are indeed dancing cutely, but to nosebleed from it and cry… Q couldn’t comprehend what was going on in their mind. But he started to recognize how these ‘fans’ were waving the light sticks. For Hikaru, the people holding the lavender colored lightsticks cheered while fawning over him. 

 

PONPON, can't you see

Boundless possibilities?

 

Then, when Kazuki appeared at the front, Q finally understood why these people sounded so desperate and so happy when his friends were dancing. Kazuki wasn’t particularly making any cute movements. In return, he was holding onto his skirt, flapping it to the side so that it lifted the skirt slightly to show his thighs, and he moved his hips around so that his skirt would flutter. Q found his eyes stuck on the sight. 

 

Is this the effect of being a ‘fan’? His heart thumped loudly. At the same time, the crowd’s cheer is making him feel uncomfortable. He didn’t want to see Kazuki being fawned over by someone else. He should have been proud that his friend is getting popular… but… 

 

Ah… It’s irritating.

 

Then, with the cue from one of the otakus, all the guys who carry blue penlights moved to the front. Somehow, he felt like he didn’t want to be beaten by the other guys, so despite the awkwardness, Q moved to the very front and then started to move in sync with the others, swinging their penlights in a rotary motion as they chanted together. “KA-ZU-KI! KA-ZU-KI!” 

 

Kazuki noticed how Q had somehow joined the wota group. He had given Q a lightstick so he could have some fun waving it around, but he never imagined that Q would go all out dancing. Q was dancing awkwardly and tried his best to follow the otaku’s movement. His face looked confused, but he was waving the blue stick at Kazuki. He was staring at Kazuki with a face that looked like he wanted to say, “Do your best.” 

 

Kazuki’s eyes widen at the sight, and he ended up letting out a huge smile at Q. All this time he had been making fake corporate smiles. But seeing Q’s effort and desperate face, a genuine small laugh escaped his lips. However, it was also seen by the small group of Kazuki’s fans, and they all screamed as if a Goddess had just descended on them. Nobody expected the genuine smile. And that day, the fans who had thought that Kazuki was a sadist started to believe that all this time, Kazuki was just a tsundere character. 

 

Don-don, hear that beat?

Sounds like it's your heart to me

 

Hiyori took her time taking over the crowds. With a half-lidded gaze, she placed two fingers over her lips, kissing them before blowing a kiss towards the audience. Then she made a finger heart and smiled towards the people holding out purple penlights for her. Like how Hikaru’s thrown kiss made people's noses bleed, this time, it made people faint on the spot. Their souls leave their bodies. Like brother, like sister, it seems. 

 

Poi-poi, make a change

Throw bad history away

 

Miu also burst out laughing at the sight of people being knocked down by her friends’ fanservices. Especially the boys. She was unable to dance properly to the song because she was laughing, but her smile was so cheerful that all of her fans holding the magenta colored penlight rejoiced at the sight.

 

Jio, who had come out of the kitchen to watch the show, was captivated in that short moment. The sight of Miu, dancing and laughing freely, made his heart burn. Did he really overwork himself? Was it fatigue catching up with him? But… when he saw Miu, being cheered on by other people except himself, he felt ashamed. Sad, even. And he wished he could have a penlight. 

 

At that time, something poked him from the side, and then there was Yayoi, holding out a penlight for him. It was magenta colored. Miu’s color. 

 

Then, Jio bravely stepped to the front, standing next to Q and the other guys, holding out Miu’s penlight color. 

 

And bravely danced with the otaku team. 

 

‘...what am I doing?’ Jio asked himself as he effortlessly followed the movement of the otakus. He didn’t really understand what he was doing, but he understood that this is what people do to cheer the maids and butlers singing on stage. And he took it as another effort he should do to make their mission of making a profit in the cafe a success. He will not fail this mission. He never failed any mission. Not when he’s working with Jujo, no. 

 

Slow and steadily

Ah-ah, you make me happy

 

Then, finally, the rotation returned to Hinagiku, who took over the spotlight with fluent and effortless dancing. She finished with a jumping twirl and made a huge heart motion with her gloved hands. As she finished, all the otakus holding pink penlights also made a heart movement with their hands, mimicking her pose as they cheered on her. 

 

“Everyone, thank you for watching us, Nya! Our Master and Ladies’ love towards us makes us really happy and makes us want to do even better for our Master and Ladies! Hina and the others will do our best to serve you!” Hinagiku exclaimed with a wink. And the crowd passionately cheered. 

 

The audience was so touched. They certainly had a blast. Even with a bunch of people crouching down on the floor and breaking down in tears, and some even coughed up blood when they saw their favorites dancing, Hinagiku could conclude that today’s event was a success. The cafe has regained its busy crowds. No, perhaps there are more customers than usual. They might be able to get their quota if they can keep this up!

 

But just as Hinagiku started to look forward, one customer suddenly yelled in protest. 

 

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” A large man wearing a white T-shirt with Nagisa’s face printed on it that got stretched out because of his oversized weight and round, swirling glasses threw his penlight to the floor and stomped his feet on it. He was fuming and repeatedly yelling hysterically. He looked very angry at them. 

 

“WHAT IS THIS? WHAT EVEN IS THIS?! WHERE IS NAGISA-CHAN?!” He yelled out loud and stormed in. The other customers were scared of him, so they made way. Then he stopped right before Hinagiku. 

 

“Was it you? HA! I should have known that a bitch like you would pull this move against Nagisa-chan!! Just when I thought I could finally have her all to myself… you and your merry band of clowns pulled this disgusting move!!” He clicked his tongue and lashed out at Hinagiku, who was holding back from lashing back. 

 

“Listen up, you amateurs! This is a MAID cafe! Not a crossdressing cafe! You ruined the concept! You didn’t even let Nagisa-chan be in the spotlight! Instead, you hire these ugly bitches! Have you no shame in what you do to this shop?!” The man kept on lashing. 

 

“I’m sorry, master… but Nagisa-chan is sick, so I can’t let her work today-” Hinagiku tried to calm him down, but he swatted her hand away harshly. 

 

“SHUT UP YOU UGLY BITCH! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!” He yelled. Ichinosuke almost snapped. Or perhaps, he already did. His sclera turned black, and he had already drawn his kunai out, ready to throw it at the man. But Koishi and Yo held him back before he could commit any crime. 

 

“Please let me go, Yo-dono, Koishi-dono. That wretch insulted Hinagiku. I shall not allow that to pass!” Ichinosuke tried to break free from the two’s hold. But each of them held onto both of his arms. “P-please calm down, Ichinosuke-san! If we cause a scene, the store will be in danger!” Koishi whined. And Ichinosuke knew that deep down, Koishi was right. That’s why, even Hinagiku, who would have snapped much, much earlier, still stood her ground. That’s just how much Hinagiku wanted to protect this place. 

 

Then Hikaru stood up. “With my utmost respect, sir… You’re disturbing the other customers. For now, let’s talk somewhere else-” Being the most experienced when it comes to customer service, Hikaru decided to butt in and try to defuse the situation. 

 

“SHUT UP YOU SLUTS!” The man lashed back. This time, Miu had to hold Hiyori from snapping. So does Jio, who also managed to get hold of Yayoi before she could stab the man with her ice pick. 

 

“You thought I didn’t know you? You’re from Shinjuku, aren’t you? For someone who sells their bodies to get money, how dare you sully this holy place!” The man looked disgusted at Hikaru and then at Hiyori. He took a step back and gave them a look as if they were the dirtiest thing alive. 

 

“You bast-” Hikaru could take any insults thrown at him. But the moment that man eyed Hiyori with disgusted eyes, his rose whip was pulled out, and it wrapped around his left arm. Veins popped on his face. He was ready to whip the man out of this universe.

 

“Hikaru-kun, Ichinosuke-kun, calm down. Don’t be easily provoked. He’s baiting you. Do you think it’s wise to fall into the hands of someone like this?” Then Kazuki’s voice broke the tension. He calmly walked over towards the man. There was no hint of anger in his face, but his eyes stared right into the man’s soul. He was smiling so confidently that it annoyed the man as well. 

 

“What do you want… I have no business with a twink like you! Go suck someone else’s dick off!” The man shouted. Then a loud crash was heard. When they all turned around, there was Q, apparently crouching down with his fist connected to the floor. The floor around his fist was cracked, and it even made a hole. Red sparks were flying around his arm. He was definitely more annoyed than when the otaku boy cheated against Kazuki. 

 

Kazuki glanced at Q and shook his head, signalling him not to do anything. Q grunted in return. “Kazuki…I…” Q growled. He couldn’t forgive the man. He won’t let the man get away that easily for insulting his friend and his dearest partner. 

 

“Be a good boy and let me handle this, will you?” Kazuki mouthed to Q, who took a long, deep breath, then stood up. He was still glaring at the man, though. He’s insulted his friends, and Q was already building up his anger meter. It almost went over the limit when the man decided to insult Kazuki. But he trusted Kazuki. So for now, Q will let Kazuki handle the situation. But he will let the man know that he’s living on borrowed time and Kazuki’s mercy. 

 

“Mr. Customer, you were talking all high and mighty about the sacred grounds of the maid cafe, but aren’t you the one sullying this place in the first place?” Kazuki dropped all formalities, placed one hand on his hips, and then grinned confidently at the man. 

 

“W-wha?! Is that how you talk to your customers?! In Maid Cafes, the customers are your masters! You’re supposed to treat me with respect !” The man argued. 

 

But Kazuki made an audible sigh instead. “Oh, really? I’m a pretty high-class maid, you know. I’m pretty pricey, and I’m not as kind as the other adorable kids here. I will choose which master I want to serve. You’re not treating us with respect, so why should you be given respect back? It’s common courtesy that even kids can do it, ah, but could it be… You haven’t learned it? You don’t look like someone who’s received much education, I suppose… It’s pretty obvious with that pea-sized brain you have. My deep condolences.” Kazuki made a mocking smile. The man looked baffled by the storms of insults and sarcasms. 

 

The sudden change in development also made the rest of the tribe, especially the Shinjuku trio to gawk at his barrage of verbal attacks. “It’s out… Kazuki-san’s special attack.” Koishi commented as he gulped in fear. 

 

“H-how dare you! You’re all just fakes! Dirty sluts! What do you even know about working as maids?! You guys can’t compare to the brilliance of Nagisa-chan! She should have been the poster girl instead of that ugly pig!” The man pointed at Hinagiku again, but Kazuki grabbed his finger and squeezed it enough to almost twist it in the other way and break his hand. 

 

“The rest of us are indeed just helpers, but… Hinagiku-san alone is different, you know. Did you know? Apparently, the previous owner changed this cafe’s name to Hina Cafe because they had acknowledged Hinagiku-san’s skills as a maid. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Nagisa-san is an incompetent maid, though.” Kazuki forcefully made the man lower his hand and stepped closer. Hinagiku wondered how Kazuki knew that, but perhaps it’s not weird for him to know all sorts of gossip. Kazuki is a sneaky person, after all. 

 

“But I suppose someone with a very small brain, as you couldn’t see it, hmm… I know! How about you order my set? The sandwich’s base bread is famous for making your head smarter, you know!” Kazuki chirped again. All eyes watched in awe as Kazuki fearlessly countered the argument. 

 

“T-That was just favoritism from the previous owner! It’s obvious that Nagisa-chan is the cuter one! I bet she will look even cuter in a bikini… This store should only belong to her and her alone! There is no need for any other maids! Nagisa-chan should be in the spotlight!!” The man then pulled his hand away. Kazuki blinked at the clue the man accidentally slipped, and he grinned. 

 

“Hee.. but one person can’t operate an entire store alone, you know… All the maids here are working together to support one another. Hey, do you really like Nagisa-san? That’s cruel of you to shove all the responsibilities only to her alone. Or perhaps… do you secretly hate her? Maybe you’re a sadist? Hey, which one are you?” Kazuki hummed. 

 

“N-no! Of course, I love her! S-s-she doesn’t have to work! All she has to do is just stay cute and stay by my side! That’s what a maid’s job is!” His words started to stutter. Kazuki knew that his logic was crumbling. It’s easier to pull a checkmate now. 

 

“Huh… isn’t that just terrible? Staying still and looking cute is no different than being a doll. If you think of maids like that, aren’t you insulting a maid’s job too much? Do you hear that, everyone? Does this man even deserve to be called a master?” Kazuki turned around to the audience that had started to gather. A lot of the other customers, especially the hardcore maid-enthusiasts, agreed with Kazuki. 

 

“Why don’t you enlighten us, Hinagiku-san? What exactly does a maid’s job entail?” Kazuki glanced at Hinagiku with a wink. 

 

“Right… Us maids, we’re not here just to look cute… Taking our masters’ feelings into account, looking after their needs, and serving them our special dishes are the most basic jobs, but… In Hina Cafe, our motto is to make our customers go home with a smile! Our meals are hand-made by the maids themselves! From the moment our customer steps into our store, they become our master, nyaa! And we maids will dedicate ourselves to doing what it takes to make our masters happy! We will listen to our masters’ troubles, and we will use our maid power to cheer them up! That’s what the maids in Hina Cafe do! After all, our masters’ happiness are our happiness, nya!” Hinagiku declared. 

 

The three siblings of Shinjuku smiled when they heard her speak. “Somehow, it didn’t sound too different from being a host, didn’t it?” Hikaru commented. 

 

And it gained a cheer from the crowd as well. A lot of them are calling Hinagiku’s name. “That’s our Hina-chan!” and “We love you, Hina-chan!” echoed in the room. 

 

“And yet, as a master, you completely disregarded all that hard work. It’s not just Hinagiku-san’s. But also Nagisa-san’s hard work. But you don’t care about all that, do you?  You don’t actually care about Nagisa-san… You’re just a selfish person who likes attention. You’ve never actually loved anyone.” Kazuki inched closer and then whispered something to his ear. 

 

“That’s why you’re still a virgin, aren’t you?”  

 

Checkmate

 

“SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!” The man screamed in rage and grabbed Kazuki by his shoulder. Q immediately reacted to it and wanted to stop him from doing anything funny, but then, within that split second, he saw Kazuki glance at him. 

 

And he smiled at Q. 

 

SMACK

 

“Kazuki-dono!”  “Kazuki-san!”

“KAZUKI!”

“Aoyama-san!” “Kazuki-kun!”

 

A clean punch was delivered to Kazuki’s face, sending him backward. It made him fall onto the ground. Kazuki stayed still as the pain seeped into his cheek. The crowd screamed at the violence that happened. A few people panicked. The guys who were Kazuki’s fans wanted to step in and do a payback to the fanatic man, but Q stepped in much faster and tackled the man to the ground. 

 

He didn’t say anything, but his sclera had turned red, and black strands of hair appeared in his much puffier hair. Red aura engulfed him. Q could easily murder the man with one hand. But Kazuki yelled back at him. 

 

“Stop! Q!” The man must have been in luck because Q’s fist stopped right before it connected to his nose. 

 

“Kazuki… don’t try to stop me… he doesn’t deserve to-” Q growled. But Kazuki then pointed to the side. Something white was floating around them. It was the Zero-shaped TV, and it was turned on. Which means, the whole scene was broadcasted to the network of Neo Chiyoda. 

 

“W-w-what?!” The man panicked as he looked at the TV. There are several comments running on the stream. 

 

OI WHAT DID THAT UGLY PIG JUST DO?!

 

               Did he really just call the maids sluts?! Unbelievable….

 

                                                                                  KILL HIM!!! BURN HIM!!! CHOP HIM UP!!!

୧(๑•̀ᗝ•́)૭ WE HAVE TO DEFEND HINA-CHAN!!

 

                                                         ヽ(#`Д´)ﾉヽ(#`Д´)ﾉヽ(#`Д´)ﾉヽ(#`Д´)ﾉ 

 

go fuck a tree

 

           Hina? A pig? Your eyes must be made out of manure.

LEAVE THE MAIDS ALONE YOU BASTARDS!!! I SWEAR I WILL COME PERSONALLY AT YOU!!!!

 

I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT IF I COMPARE YOU TO A FROG, THE FROG WILL GET OFFENDED AT THE MERE THOUGHT. GOD ITS ACTUALLY CRUEL THAT I THOUGHT OF THE FROG. I HOPE THE FROG IS ALRIGHT!!!

 

GO HOME!! 

 

                     Oi did that maid just fly? Is she alright? Wait, that’s a he isn’t it?

 

                                                                                                                     DIE FATSO!!!

 

IS KAZUKI-KUN ALRIGHT????? PLEASE TELL ME HE’S ALRIGHT!!!! HE’S MY NEW OSHI

 

And there are countless mean comments calling names at the man. The man panicked and watched as the words fly. It wasn’t long until someone managed to dox his actual name, occupation, and age and spread it on social media. The news ranked at the top within a few minutes. 

 

And there goes his social life. 

 

Kazuki smirked at him with a bruised face. He had been rage-baiting the man to act. Since it would be bad if any of the trash members got baited and attacked the man, Kazuki decided to turn the man’s poison against himself. Well, that was dangerous since Q almost got baited, though. 

 

“Y…you…..” The man trembles. Countless eyes stared at him. The anxiety seeped into his bones. It felt like he was standing on a podium naked and everyone else was judging him. 

 

“You’ll remember this!!!” The man finally screamed and then shoved everyone out of their way before he bolted outside, and everyone ceremoniously sighed.

 

Kazuki lifted his body to sit. Q was by his side, crouching down, and supported him as Kazuki rested his back on his arm. Yayoi had quickly run back to the kitchen to get an ice pack and handed it over to Kazuki. Koishi came afterwards with a medical kit, and he immediately checked on the injury.

 

“Aoyama-san, are you alright? Are you feeling any dizziness? Please let me know if anything hurts!” Koishi said as he examined the bruise on Kazuki’s face. Luckily, the man wasn’t as tough as he looked. The bruise wasn’t deep. It only left a slightly red mark on his face. 

 

“I’m fine. I let him hit me on purpose. Don’t worry about it. Thank you Koishi-kun.” Kazuki chuckled. With how Kazuki was smiling at him, Q knew that it was on purpose. Dodging a lousy punch like that should have been child’s play to Kazuki. But he still didn’t like the fact that Kazuki let a guy like that punch him in the face, so he let a small grunt of dissatisfaction as he tightened his grip on Kazuki’s shoulder. 

 

Kazuki noticed, of course. He’ll apologize properly to Q later, but they have a store to save, and the store can’t operate if they gather around him like this. “Anyways, Hinagiku-san, can you help calm the situation? The show must go on.” He hummed to Hinagiku, who snapped out of her worry and immediately went into her professional maid mode. 

 

“Of course! Everyone!! I’m sorry for this commotion! But the bad customer has left, nyaa! As an apology, let Hina treat you to a tasty drink, okay?” She clapped her hands. Yo and the others also knew that they have to go back to their stations. So one by one, each of them returned to serve the customers. 

 

In the end, Kazuki was scolded by Koishi and told to take a 30-minute break to compress his face with ice. He stayed close to Q, who continued his task in the kitchen, helping Jio prepare the apology drinks. 

 

Q was supposed to cut watermelons and blend the red part of the fruit into juices. Normally, someone would just cut the watermelon into smaller pieces and then scoop the red part out with a knife. But Q couldn’t calm down, so he punched the watermelon to cut it open instead of cutting it with a knife. Then, using a spoon, he carved it out messily after it was cracked open. 

 

And Kazuki was watching with amusement while contemplating whether he should teach Q how to cut a watermelon or not, because he also didn’t want to anger Q further at the moment. He wondered if Q was that angry, or perhaps he was just that clumsy in making preparations. 

 

“Q… um- about earlier-” But Kazuki tried anyway, because the atmosphere was awkward, and he didn’t want Q to stay angry. 

 

“I shall let you know that I did not approve of that method.” Q commented. 

 

Ahh, he’s completely angry. 

 

Kazuki sighed. “You know if we attack the man, we’ll put the masses against us, don’t you? It’s a good thing that he’s such a simpleton and fell for the bait. This kind of wound will disappear in a day, don’t worry-” Kazuki tried to explain, but Q glared at him instead. 

 

“I know that, but I still disapprove of it.” Q said, almost pouting. 

 

“Then… do you prefer if it were Hinagiku-san or Ichinosuke-kun who got hit instead?” Kazuki bantered. 

 

“That’s not what I mean…” Q looked away, and Kazuki looked guilty for suggesting it in the first place. 

 

“Sorry, that was over the line.” Realizing his mistake, he approached Q and leaned to his side instead. Q could feel Kazuki’s hair brushing his arm. “Sorry for making you see that.” He muttered in a much softer tone. 

 

It made Q lower his eyes and let a long breath out. He turned his face towards Kazuki once more to inspect the bruise. He could still see the redness, but it wasn’t as terrible as it was before. The ice must have helped lessen the swelling.

 

“Does it hurt?” Q asked. He used his fingers to trace the corner of Kazuki’s lips, carefully not to press the wound. 

 

“Not really, this kind of wound is nothing.” Kazuki could smell the scent of the watermelon, and he chuckled at that, so he playfully licked Q’s finger.

 

“...? What are you doing?” Q was confused by it, though. 

 

“Hehe, tastes like watermelon.” Kazuki smiled playfully. It’s not like he liked watermelon that much, but seeing Q’s confused face amused him. However, Q thought he wanted a watermelon instead, so he scooped a spoonful of it and fed it to Kazuki. Seeing Kazuki’s eyes widen slightly when he discovered the watermelon was sweet made Q remember that one cat video he once watched with Kazuki.

 

And then he finally smiled. 

 

“Is it good?” Q asked before he set the spoon he used to feed Kazuki to the side and used a new spoon to carve the watermelon out. 

 

“It’s sweet.” Kazuki just answered, then continued to be amused by how Q is struggling to cut the watermelon. When the spoon finally snapped after Q used too much strength, Kazuki sighed and took over. “Come here, let me teach you.” 

 

The two continued to make small talk as Kazuki helped Q cut the watermelons and taught him the proper way to cut watermelons. Q thought it would be much faster using his hands, and then they ended up doing a small competition on who could cut the watermelons faster. 

 

All while ignoring the other two workers, Jio and Yayoi, who were listening and trying to ignore the two being flirty-not-flirty in their little world. With a contented sigh, Yayoi just quietly took the watermelons that Q cut out and then blended them into a quick watermelon lime mocktail and served them to the customers.

 

— 

 

After a few more long hours on the battlefield serving as maids, they finally closed at 10 pm. All of them were grouped in the resting room, slumping across the floor as there weren’t enough seats, with their energy drained for the day. The only ones who still have any energy left are the two Akiba ninjas and the Host siblings from Shinjuku, who were used to serving customers in their daily lives. 

 

“My feet are jellies…” Yo muttered. His cheeks hurt from all that smiling. He’s not used to smile this much in a day. His mind wandered to Tsuki, who seemed to always be able to smile no matter what the situation. He felt more tired than after he fought drones or played XB. 

 

“Good work, everyone, nya! We bought dinner! It’s been a long day, you must be hungry!” While they did have time to snack during their shift break, there was barely enough time to eat. They had to take turns to eat, and they could barely eat in peace. Yo wondered how Hinagiku and the other maids survive working in such an environment before. 

 

The dinner being served was the leftover menu that they had served. But since they didn’t get to taste it themselves, everyone was overjoyed and picked the menu they liked. Yo took his own lunch set because he didn’t really have any energy to eat anything else that was too fancy. A simple onigiri that is easy to chew is perfect when he’s tired. When he sipped the tea, he was surprised to find that it wasn’t a normal green tea, though. 

 

“Hinagiku-san, this is…” He muttered when he looked at his teacup. 

 

“Ah, you noticed, nya? Yes, it’s Hina’s perfected tea blend!” She chirped. It was the updated tea blend that Hinagiku came up with herself. Yo was overjoyed. Today had been stressful for him. It’s one thing after another, and when Hinagiku served him his favorite blend of tea, Yo felt like he was finally home. Finally holding something he’s familiar with. He took the Japanese tea mug and sipped on it, savoring every last drop. And then, let out a sigh. “I’m glad to be alive…” Hinagiku thought of her grandfather when she saw the scene. 

 

“This curry rice is so yummy! Oh? But this is a funny-shaped potato-” Koishi happily munched on Ichinosuke’s curry set, but some of the potatoes were cut unevenly in size, and some were even very thinly sliced. 

 

“Ah… that might be my fault…” Q muttered. That must be the potatoes he cut that were unused because the sizes were way too weird and uneven. To take responsibility, he was also having the curry set and an extra Kazuki’s sandwich set on the side. Though, to be precise, that was half of Kazuki’s dinner because Kazuki insisted he only wanted to eat half. Q could see that Kazuki was also tired on the way he leaned on Q while absent-mindedly nibbling on his sandwich and fiddling with his floating monitors, seemingly watching some sort of statistical data of something. 

 

“Q-sama! These potato cuts were creative and divine!!” Ichinosuke immediately praised. He had initially thought that the potatoes were cut in a lousy pattern. But after realizing that Q was the one who cut it, Ichinosuke now wanted to find a way to preserve these potatoes forever. 

 

“Ichinosuke-kun, you should eat them. Q cut them with love, you know.” Kazuki teased, he could read what Ichinosuke was thinking on the way Ichinosuke stared at them so intently. 

 

“Y-yes!” Then Ichinosuke grinned and savored them very, very slowly. 

 

“Hey, hey, Ichinosuke-kun. Once you’re done, will you teach me that fune fune thing you’re doing?” Hikaru then popped his head from the side. It seemed like he was interested in Ichinosuke’s Konpira Fune Fune game, to which Ichinosuke just grinned and nodded at him. “Certainly! It’s a game that my siblings and I used to play when we were small.” 

 

The two then proceeded to play the game, Hiyori and Yayoi watched over from each of Hikaru’s sides, amused by the game. As Ichinosuke starts to sing the folk song and they take turns placing hands, they find out how Hikaru was pretty bad at following the rhythm, so he ended up touching Ichinosuke’s hands.

 

“Oh- sorry-” Hikaru blinked as he placed his hand on top of Ichinosuke’s instead of the cup. “No worries, Hikaru-dono. We can try again.” Ichinosuke grinned and then continued the song. 

 

But Hikaru was apparently very bad at games that use rhythm, so he ended up moving his hand too fast, and now their hands touched again, with Ichinosuke’s hand on top of his this time. “Ah- mmmggh…” Hikaru pouted this time. His cheeks puffed up like a squirrel's, and Ichinosuke couldn’t help but laugh. 

 

“Hikaru-dono! It’s alright! How about you sing the song with me so you can get a grasp of the timing?” Ichinosuke offered, and Hikaru tried to sing along. But then, as Hikaru attempted to grab the cup, he grabbed Ichinosuke’s hand instead. “Oops-” and apparently, since he grabbed his hand too fast, he ended up pulling Ichinosuke towards him,

 

And successfully made their foreheads crash onto each other instead. 

 

“Owww, I’m so sorry! Ichinosuke-kun!” Hikaru sobbed with teary eyes.  

 

‘Hikaru, you’re so bad at this.” Yayoi commented. “Your hands are moving too fast.” Hiyori added. Hikaru pouted at his two sisters. “This is hard!!” Hikaru whined. 

 

“HAHAHAH! Hikaru-dono! You’re truly an interesting individual!” Ichinosuke laughed out loud, probably the loudest one he’s let out in a while. Hinagiku watched over it with a warm smile. When they reunited with their master, it became their most joyful event in their entire life. But since they respected their master over their own lives, the kind of joy they felt were different than what Ichinosuke is feeling right now. 

 

The three of them had always been together, and they barely make any friends outside of their personal lives, and especially Ichinosuke, as he kept blaming himself over what happened in Neo-Chiyoda, being unable to stop his master and unable to stop the cruelty that happened to his former coworkers. 

 

But spending time with Trash Tribe, they gradually opened up. Hinagiku learned the joy of making friends and laughing freely with Trash Tribe. And seeing his brother has learned the same, it made her feel warm. 

 

And it wasn’t just her who felt this way. Miu had been looking at the interaction with warm eyes as well. Trash Tribe has been a place for her to return to, to belong to. 

 

She put down her salad bowl to glance at Jio, who was silently eating the squid ink pasta. He noticed her glance and put down his bowl. “Is something wrong, Jujo? Is it not to your liking?” He asked, pointing to her unfinished salad bowl. 

 

“No, that’s not it…” Miu muttered. The usual Jio would definitely smile with hearty eyes and say something like ‘Oh, Miu, you love the Trash Tribe, don’t you? You’re too kind!” 

 

She never thought she’d miss that annoying personality of his. Then she scooted over to him and reached out her index finger to wipe the leftover cream from his cheek, proceeding to lick it off her finger. “You have cream on your face.” She chuckled. 

 

Jio stared at her with a surprised expression. A faint blush appeared on his face. “...You should have just told me.” He turned his face and covered it with the back of his hand. 

 

Miu let out a light chuckle. She wondered if Jio would return to his annoying persona. That Jio looked like he enjoyed living his life, unlike this current persona, who was being too hard and too reserved on himself. 

 

“Fufu.” Miu then took another spoonful of mashed potatoes. “This is delicious, Jio. Good work.” She praised. Jio have always supported her before, have always protected her. 

 

So, whether the love he had for her before was fake or not, it will not matter anymore. 

 

All she had to do was make him fall in love with her again. 

 

And this time, she’ll teach him how to finally and truly become happy. 

 

She swore it secretly to her heart as she finished her bowl. 

Notes:

I hope you noticed the song that is used in this chapter-
But in case you don't, https://youtu.be/yzC4hFK5P3g

Chapter 3

Hikaru eventually gave up trying to play the game. It was Koishi's interest in games that motivated him to live up to his name and challenge Ichinosuke. It turned out that Koishi was good at it, and eventually, they became more and more competitive, with the game continuing for almost five long minutes. Ichinosuke’s and Koishi’s expressions grew fiercer, and everyone else watching them chanted, “Oooooooooh!” as their hands moved faster and faster. 

 

In the end, Beast popped out from Koishi’s bag and captured the cup. 

 

Laughter echoed in the room once again. Q felt bliss as he watched them laugh. Was it because the tribe that he started with Kazuki had become so much bigger? Or was it because he’s just happy they finished the eventful day in peace? Either way, he was happy to see them and turned his face to the side to see Kazuki, who was resting his head against his shoulder. 

 

On the other hand, Kazuki was deep in his thoughts as he moved the floating monitors around. Q peeked over his head to see what Kazuki was doing, and then he realized that Kazuki was calculating on their profits and was doing some more simulations to reach the target quota. 

 

“Kazuki, you should take a break.” Q muttered, now getting worried for the smaller boy. 

 

“Hmm? I am taking a break. I’m resting my head on your muscles.” Kazuki argued and continued to adjust some numbers to run more calculations. It seemed like they had barely managed to hit their daily target. It might be hard to meet the target quota by the end of the week. Q knew from the way Kazuki was putting his hand under his chin, Kazuki was probably making plans in his head. 

 

“Kazuki… You can at least try to finish that sandwich first.” Q pointed out. Even after giving half of his sandwich to Q, Kazuki had yet to finish his half of the sandwich. Q noticed how it was just resting on the plate Kazuki put to the side. Kazuki probably put it to the side when he needed to type with both hands and then forgot about it. 

 

Like always. 

 

And like always, Q picked up the sandwich and then hovered it around Kazuki’s mouth while he was thinking. 

 

“Eat.” He told him, and Kazuki didn’t even look at the sandwich and just opened his mouth, obediently taking a bite of the now-cold sandwich. 

 

“Mm…” Kazuki mumbled in response to Q’s order as he slowly munched on the sandwich with a bored expression. 

 

In the end, Kazuki only took two small bites before he dodged the sandwich Q was holding up for him and said, “I’m full, you can finish it if you want.” And then he gently lowered Q’s hand. Q expected this. In fact, he was surprised by just how normal it had been for him to accept that Kazuki is not going to eat anymore. 

 

But today had been more tiring than usual. So Q was convinced that he should make Kazuki finish his sandwich. And by now, he’s known a few very effective ways to make Kazuki submit to him. 

 

Q shifted his body and then pulled Kazuki by his waist so the latter would sit on his lap. At first, Kazuki didn’t resist. He was too tired to argue, and everyone else wasn’t paying attention since they’re all distracted by Beast being pampered and played with as Hinagiku put the maid headdress on him. Hinagiku was squealing and took pictures of Beast with the maid's headdress. Yo nodded silently in agreement. He’s cuter than Zero. 

 

“What are you doing, Q? Let me go.” Kazuki whispered in protest. He didn’t want to be seen like this. He felt like a child on Q’s lap due to their size difference. And most especially, not while he’s still wearing the maid dress. 

 

But Q ignored him and put the sandwich in front of him again. “I’ll release you once you finish your sandwich.” Q didn’t let go of his other hand, holding onto Kazuki’s waist. Here goes one of the most effective ways to make Kazuki listen to him. 

 

No.1: Embarrass him in public. 

 

“Eat.” Q tried again, nudging Kazuki to eat. Kazuki stopped his work and took a large bite, driven by anger and embarrassment. He didn’t like being seen like this, and Q’s strong arms wrapped around his waist just made him feel more conscious of everything. So he started munching as fast as he could and even swallowed before he properly chewed on it.

 

“Uu…” The food almost got stuck in Kazuki’s throat because he swallowed too fast. Q quickly grabbed a water bottle and gave it to Kazuki so he could dislodge it, then continued to pat his back as Kazuki chugged the water. 

 

“Take it easy… remember to chew 32 times.” Q said as he continued to rub Kazuki’s back. Kazuki sighed and pushed the sandwich away again. He’s become enemies with the sandwich now. He didn’t even want to see it anymore. 

 

“Enough of this torture… or are you that perverted? Does it amuse you to humiliate me like this?” Kazuki pouted. Now he’s going to throw a tantrum, but again, Q was used to this. It’s been like that since they met two years ago. 

 

Hm?

 

That didn’t sound right. 

 

He felt like he should have known this from a very long time ago. 

 

Anyway, he knew how to handle Kazuki when he was in this mood. Once he confirmed that nobody was looking at their way, he kissed the back of Kazuki’s neck, then whispered an apology. 

 

Effective method no.2: Genuine Apology. 

 

Q had long learned that despite his venom-like words towards others, Kazuki was, in fact, empathetic to many things. Genuine feelings and words moved him despite his best efforts to ignore them or turn a blind eye. Kazuki was capable of distinguishing real feelings and fakes, and therefore, while he was cold and cruel to those who held malice towards him or his friends, he would listen to his friends’ words and wouldn’t turn his back on them. 

 

Like how he would always be there for Q. 

 

Like how he decided to let Tsuki and Sui join them even though they will just become a burden for the Trash Tribe’s mission to infiltrate 24 City. All because he saw how desperate they were in looking for Yo. 

 

“I’m sorry…” Q whispered, his lips lingered at the back of Kazuki’s neck. He would kiss further down, but the collar that Kazuki was wearing was in the way, and Q was staring at the hindrance in the same way he would do a staredown with a Scheeze. 

 

“I’m just worried for you… Kazuki, you’ve barely eaten anything. I don’t want you to faint… not after you got hurt…” Then Q wrapped his hand tighter and buried his head on Kazuki’s shoulder. 

 

As expected, he could feel how Kazuki’s shoulder relaxed, and he was leaning his weight towards Q. “I understand.” Kazuki said, with a voice that almost sounded like a purr.  

 

Q felt like he was cheating with how easy it was for him to persuade Kazuki. He remembered how the other members often complained about how Kazuki was being difficult with them. But, as far as Q remembered, Q never had that difficulty… except for the cases where he wanted to persuade Kazuki to eat or sleep. 

 

He wondered if this was because they were lovers that Kazuki always treated Q differently from everyone else. It’s almost embarrassing how much Kazuki doted on him despite the latter being in denial when Q once asked him. But wasn't Kazuki being too lenient with him? Q’s mind started to wander with the thought of Kazuki giving that privilege to someone else. His mind drifted to the events of the day, recalling how Kazuki was serving other people, smiling at them. 

 

That’s not good…

 

I can’t let anyone else have him.  

 

Not when he’s finally back in my arms.  

 

“...Kh..Q…” Kazuki muttered in a quiet voice. When Q realized it, he found himself sucking on Kazuki’s skin. His teeth sank into the skin, leaving a mark. When he let go of Kazuki, there was a noticeable blue-ish mark that almost looked like a bruise. 

 

Ah-

 

“Q… I hope you understand what you’re doing…” Kazuki snarled. His skin throbbed from the bite. He was looking out in case anyone was watching them. Thank goodness nobody seems to have noticed yet. When he noticed Q making playful bites, Kazuki didn’t say anything. He thought it was just Q’s impulses, ones that Kazuki was already used to, ones that Kazuki noticed Q would do when he was stressed or absent-minded. However, he didn’t think that Q would use his teeth. Especially not in public-

 

“Sorry… I didn’t notice,” Q apologized. 

 

“You…” Kazuki sighed. Well, today has been tiring for both of them, and Kazuki realized that Q had been uneasy all day. He wanted to be angry, but at the same time, he knew that Q hadn’t done it on purpose. He had noticed that Q had this habit to unconsciously reach out to him when he was stressed out. Most of the time, Q just hugged him, like what he did this afternoon. But in the rare times when Q was very stressed out, it became something that is much more close, much more intimate… like Q wanted to claim him. 

 

Hmm

 

Well, it was partially his fault for not stopping it before it became a bad habit. He’s in a teasing mood now after all those steals Q made to his base. So he shifted his position to lead sideways and then pulled the collar of Q’s hoodie with a little bit of force to make Q’s ears reach his lips. 

 

“If you wait like a good boy, I’ll service you later.” Kazuki teased with a smirk. Then thought internally that he should probably prepare a stamina drink after this.

 

It made Q’s shoulder tense and his face as stiff as a stone. He let out a small grunt in surprise. And Kazuki was delighted with this result. 

 

“Heheh, your face is red.” Kazuki chuckled, happy that he got the upper hand for once. Then he reached for the last bite of the sandwich on Q’s hand, and then licked Q’s fingers clean as he made a playful smirk. “You can bear with this in the meantime.” 

 

Q gulped hard. 

“Kazuki-” Q was about to say something in return. The tension was unbearable. The voice that called to him was like a poison coated in honey. It was very sweet and… very tempting. He reached out his hands to Kazuki and then-

 

BOOM

 

An explosion happened outside the store. 

 

“N-nyanya?!” Hinagiku shrieked as she jumped like a surprised cat. All of them immediately reached for their respective weapons and dropped whatever activities they were doing. Kazuki also immediately went out with his sly serpent, leaving Q bewildered. Q stared at the emptiness where his hand had tried to reach out before, then made an audible, disappointed sigh as he picked up his nail bat and went out, ready to crush whatever it was that interrupted them. 

 

But that frustration quickly disappeared the moment he saw gigantic worm-like drones erupting from the ground. He recognized them. He had fought them once at the Magata Building before. They were Magata’s drones. 

 

There are dozens of them coming out of the ground, and they were attacking everything in sight, destroying the roads and the people who passed by. And amongst them, a larger-sized one, a deadly red alert, seems to be approaching Hina Cafe.

 

“No, you don’t! Nyaa!” Hinagiku was the first to react, charging her gloves as she waited for the tentacle drone to approach her, then she threw a charged punch at it once it was close enough. However, the drone made a loud beeping sound and immediately retracted its body to the underground, avoiding Hinagiku’s attack completely. 

 

“Nyani?!” Surprised at its sudden disappearance, Hinagiku lost her balance and skidded a few steps forward. As she tried to break herself from falling, the drone immediately appeared behind her again, ready to pancake her into the concrete.

 

“Hinagiku!” Ichinosuke tried to rush to her. But he had forgotten that he wasn’t wearing his usual outfit and almost tripped over his own dress as he dashed forward. It lagged his movement. He was too late. He grimaced when he thought of Hinagiku getting hurt. 

 

But a thunderous roar blasted from his side as something exploded. Q had made a large leap from Ichinosuke’s side towards Hinagiku. With one jump, Q had stood between the drone and Hinagiku, protecting her from harm. Shooting red sparks at the tentacle, along with a swift blow from his nail bat. It managed to slam the drone into the ground, rendering it inactive. 

 

“Are you alright?” Q glanced towards her. 

 

Ba-thump  

 

“Q-Q-sama!?” Hinagiku cried in a voice mixed between joy and worry. She was happy to see his majestic side and elegance in battle, and she was especially moved by how he looked like the super ikemen protagonist protecting the heroine- 

 

Hinagiku immediately shook her head and told herself: She is NOT the heroine. She is his servant, and it should be her duty to protect him instead. This is something she had drilled into her mind. “Thank you for saving me… I’m sorry for my carelessness…” She bowed repeatedly to him while also trying to shake off the thought of his elegant figure. 

 

“Hinagiku! Are you alright?!” Ichinosuke finally reached her side. Though the face on his face wasn’t a face of concern, but a slightly pouty look. Hinagiku knew exactly what he was thinking. “Yes, but Ichinosuke-oniichan, you are jealous, aren’t you?” She teased with a judgmental look. 

 

“Nonsense! As Q-sama’s retainers, it’s our job to protect him! But I’m glad you are unharmed nevertheless!” Ichinosuke said. This time, he looked completely relieved. And it made Hinagiku embarrassed by the brotherly love. 

 

“...? Uh…” Q wanted to deny being their master. They are comrades, and comrades protect each other. It’s not anyone’s duty to protect anyone. “No, I…” Q couldn’t find the right words to correct them, especially not when they are bickering with each other.

 

And that was his mistake, because he didn’t realize that his attack didn’t completely immobilize the giant drone. After a while, the drone reactivated and began to assemble itself again. Q had fought it before, and it wasn’t this tough the last time he fought it. He had thought that he had destroyed it as it didn’t move after he slammed it down. The drone had moved faster than he could react. But thankfully for him, he had someone who was always there to watch his back. 

 

“There are better places to take a break, you know?” As soon as the drone attacked, a blue aura enveloped him and stopped the drone’s movement before it could hit him. A deflect server had been deployed somewhere and channeled its power into him, enveloping him in powerful energy that shielded him from harm. 

 

Q could hear Kazuki chuckling as the latter ran towards him and made several lightning-speed slashes onto the drone’s head. He then landed right on top of the tentacle drone and stabbed his sly serpent into its ‘eye’. It seems to be very effective as it suddenly stopped moving and began to break apart.

 

Kazuki then did another jump before he lost his footing, assembled his sly serpent into its spear mode, then thrust it down onto its base body. There was a ball of pink crystal emitting energy that was exposed to the open as soon as the drone broke apart. Kazuki knew that it was the core of the tentacle, and his sly serpent had pierced right into it. It exploded with the impact, but along with it, Q saw something else. 

 

Black laced panties. 

 

The explosion had made a strong gust of wind, which blew Kazuki’s skirt his way, and flashed his underwear. It made Q freeze like a stone. The image of Kazuki’s visible buttocks adorned by the laced panties couldn’t escape his mind. 

 

“Q? Are you alright? You looked like you just saw a ghost.” Kazuki saw him staring with his eyes wide open. 

 

Q then suddenly slapped his own cheek. 

 

“?! Q?! What happened? Why did you suddenly-“ Kazuki gasped and rushed to check Q’s face. It worried his two retainers too, but they seemed to think that it was an effect of the enemy’s attack and started to look around instead. It appeared that he was fine, and his face showed even more determination than before. 

 

“I’m fine… Kazuki… and the rest of you, it might be better if you don’t fight.” Q advised, then proceeded to pull Kazuki by his hand and guided him away from the battlefield. 

 

“What?” Kazuki was flabbergasted. He managed to destroy one enemy, so why did Q pull him away when he’s such a valuable fighting power? “What’s with you so suddenly…” He started to pull back his hand in protest, but Q’s grip was apparently stronger than he thought. He walked past Ichinosuke and Hinagiku, who were watching them with fantasies filling their mind as they watched Q and Kazuki bicker like lovers. 

 

Then Q stopped, turned to face him, and walked closer to whisper to his ear. “When you jump… I can see your underwear…” Q said, covering half of his embarrassed face with the back of his hand.

 

Ha?

 

“Pft- Haha! What, are you embarrassed to see that, Q?” Kazuki chuckled at the innocent thought. He thought it was adorable that Q became embarrassed, and completely disregarded Q’s warning. “It’s fine, I’m not bothered about it. Besides, Hinagiku-san and Tsuki-chan used to fight in skirts too, don’t they? They were completely fine fighting in skirts.” He waved his hand. 

 

In both cases, they wore extra bloomer pants or short pants under their skirt, Q thought. He didn’t want anyone to see Kazuki’s panties, but he couldn’t say anything back. 

 

“Actually, that gave me an idea.” It pinged Kazuki’s mind with how Q reacted. Q aside, there might be more otaku who would be delighted to see them fight in maid dresses. A devilish smirk appeared on his face. 

 

“Hinagiku-san, can you help me out a bit?” Kazuki winked at her. This snapped Hinagiku from her fantasy of making Q the perfect protagonist wanting to protect a certain blue-haired heroine.  She quickly brushed the thought away and scooted over as Kazuki motioned his hand if he was calling a cat to come closer. “Nyes?” 

 

“It’s the perfect opportunity to stream, don’t you think?” Kazuki chuckled. Hinagiku blinked at him. “O? What do you mean?” Violence and fights were never her first choice when it comes to streaming. But she could see the angle he was trying to bring. Since they first streamed their advertisement, people are interested at the new maids. And when they hear the name Trash Tribe, naturally, some people will know that they are the group opposing Zero. So, if they stream Trash Tribe members fighting in cute maid and butler outfits… it might just be the breakthrough they need. 

 

“Leave it to me, nya!” She made a peace sign with her glove, and Kazuki smirked. 

 

“Alright, operation battle maids, start~” Kazuki hummed playfully, then called out loud into the sky. “Hera Hera TV chan~” 

 

In an instant, a white Zero TV box came down from the sky and started streaming. Hinagiku easily pops onto the screen with her cheerful smile and makes an introduction. 

 

“Everyone!! Hina has a big announcement! Currently… our cafe is under attack!” She made fake tears and linked her hands together like a prayer. “But! Thanks to everyone from Trash Tribe, we are currently fighting back against these drones that went out of control!” She said and then guided the camera to stream the others’ fight. 

 

The camera zoomed in on Koishi, rushing towards the people injured and immediately opened his medicine bag and pulled out bandages to do first-aid treatment to the injured. “It’s okay, everything will be fine…” He smiled at the injured otaku boy, who immediately blushed and fell in love with Koishi’s assuring smile. 

 

The stream started to flood with some comments like how an angel had descended upon them. Some started to cheer on them, some started to fall in love with Koishi. Hinagiku was very pleased with the outcome, but then she noticed the stream panicking and screaming, “Look out!”. It was when Hinagiku noticed one of the tentacles had approached Koishi. 

 

“Koishi-kun!” She yelled to warn him, but when Koishi turned around, the tentacle was already there. Koishi yelled and placed his hands before him to protect himself. He was bracing for the attack, but then he felt cold air touching the tip of his nose. 

 

Around him, ice walls surrounded him, blocking the tentacle from attacking him. And standing before him was Yayoi, with her ice pick in hand. Ice emerged from the ice pick, creating an effective ice sword. She was glaring with dark expression on her face. 

 

“Disgusting.” She made one comment and then dashed forward. Using her trusted weapon, Glacial Pierce, like a fleuret, she stabbed each part of the tentacle with precision, breaking every part effectively, and disassembled them from their connections to one another and left them broken with buzzing sparks flashing out of them. 

 

“T-thank you!” Koishi stared with awe as he bowed to thank her. Her eyes rolled to the side, and she began to fiddle with her fingers. “It’s nothing…” There was a faint blush on her cheek. From her side, Hiyori was smiling warmly. 

 

“Fufu, Koishi-kun, you can continue your treatment. We’ll watch your back. Right, Yayoi?” Hiyori said as she smiled at Yayoi, who nodded back at her. “Of course, Hiyori.” 

 

“Excuse meee!” Then, out of nowhere, came a loud yell. Hikaru had swung in from across the street, holding onto his rose whip, which he hooked to the street signs. On his hand was another injured person, a lady this time, who had fallen and scraped her knee. 

 

“Koishi-kun! It’s an emergency! This lady hurt her leg!” Hikaru said with a very serious face. The lady on his arm was blushing because she was carried with only one arm and held so close to his chest. “U-um… It’s okay, it’s just a small scratch-” She tried to pull away from him because obviously, there were more people who were in worse situations than hers, and being held like this was embarrassing. 

 

“Such a wound does not deserve to adorn a beautiful lady like you…” Hikaru sighed as he held her hand. The lady instantly fell in love with his charm. Koishi watched everything, and he could have sworn that he saw glitter and roses behind Hikaru’s face. 

 

And then the comment section in the stream blasted once again with people spamming blush-faced emoji everywhere. 

 

“Hikaru, I love you when you’re being such a gentleman, but why don’t you use your head a bit?” Hiyori was smiling, but there was poison in her words. For some reason, Koishi was reminded of a certain blue-haired strategist as he saw her dark smile. 

 

In the end, Koishi was able to treat everyone without worry thanks to the power of the Shinjuku trio. The three of them were working perfectly in sync, moving to fill in one after another, leaving no chance for the drones to react as they barraged them with multiple attacks at once. 

 

However, the drones didn’t stop coming. Despite their joint effort to break the drones, they quickly reassembled themselves and attacked once again. And soon enough, another deadly red alert appeared. All three siblings were quickly grouped in position. 

 

“Well, this one looks different. Be careful Hiyori, Yayoi!” Hikaru said as he readied his rose whip. On his right, Hiyori had already pulled out her Icarus’ Sun, the glorious wine bottle filled with the golden wine that is her favorite weapon of choice. The liquid inside it was pouring out of its bottle, but it didn’t drop to the ground. Instead, it floated around her like a floating shawl. On his left, Yayoi was standing prepared with her ice pick. The temperature around them became much colder, and then, from the gust of cold, bat-like ice wings emerged from her back. 

 

“Let’s go.” Hikaru signaled. The instant he said that, Yayoi made a mad charge forward, an ice path emerged as she swung her ice pick, and she slid on the ice as if she were skating. With a trained movement, she stabbed the ice sword into one of the drone’s connected bodies. But it wasn’t enough to defeat it, so as the drone went berserk and attempted to slam down at her, she clicked her tongue and slid towards a different direction on her ice path. 

 

Hiyori followed not far behind. When the giant tentacle drone slammed down, Hiyori was ready to parry it with her liquor shawl. “Fufu, aren’t you a naughty child?” She chuckled as she swung her hand. Her liquor bottle floats to follow her movement and slams against the head of the drone. It seems to have staggered the drone slightly, and Hiyori saw her chance. 

 

“Yayoi!” She called, and Yayoi immediately stabbed her ice sword into the ground. A trail of ice spikes emerged from her sword towards the drone. Upon contact with the drone, it exploded into giant ice spikes, freezing the drone’s body and preventing it from escaping. 

 

“Hikaru!” Yayoi then passed the baton towards Hikaru, who smirked at the drone. “Leave it to me!” He then swung his rose whip at the drone’s head. Once he secured a hook on its head, Hikaru pulled the whip by force and slammed its head down to the ground. 

 

“Hiyori!” Hikaru then returned the baton back to Hiyori, who jumped from his back, “Naughty ones must be punished!” she exclaimed as she held her liquor bottle high above her. As she swung her hand downwards, the liquid bottle followed, and it slammed down hard on its head, crushing it into pieces. The rest of its body crumbled with it. 

 

The crowds cheered on the three beauties. The comments in the stream went wild, and the number of views went up. Hinagiku took the opportunity to introduce them as the guest maids of Hina Cafe, not missing every single chance to promote the cafe. Tomorrow, they will surely get more visitors thanks to this. 

 

Seeing how the Shinjuku team managed to beat down one of the big ones made Yo more motivated and determined. With his line drive bat, he ran towards the remaining tentacles. It was much smaller compared to the one that Hikaru and his siblings managed to defeat, but it still posed as a threat in large numbers.

 

Yo opened the attack as he leapt forward and slashed his bat, treating it like a sword. The XB gear then activated and expanded itself into a long sword, exposing its inner part that was glowing in blue particles that enveloped the entire bat.

 

It wasn’t hard to beat the smaller tentacles, with only a few strikes. Yo managed to break one of them. But as he jumped to the other one, the tentacle’s movement suddenly changed. It immediately escaped underground and appeared behind Yo and wrapped itself around his legs. With one swoop, the tentacles lifted him upside down in the air. 

 

“UWAH?!” Yo panicked and immediately dropped his bat to hold his skirt with both of his hands to prevent it from falling and reveal Kuronaka junior to the world. Panic rose to his face as he was completely defenseless. He tried to break free, but the tentacle drone was attached with a very strong magnetism that Yo couldn’t break free from.

 

Unfortunately for Yo, the stream caught him in his most embarrassing moment. The chat was flooded with eyes emoji. Some even begged for the camera angle to be adjusted because they could almost see what was underneath his skirt. 

 

This is bad… Yo thought as he watch the world turn around and start to feel dizzy from behind held upside down. He was lifted higher and higher. Then, just as he was about to resign to his fate and felt the tentacle pulling him down to throw him flat to the ground, a bolt of pink lightning flashed through him and cut the tentacles of his legs, freeing him from its grasp. Yo felt himself falling, but not into the hard concrete. His face met with something soft. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Miu, carrying him in a princess carry, with her gas mask on and her eyes completely dyed red. Pink energy flared from her headband, forming an animal like ears. 

 

“M-miu-san?!” Yo yelped in a muffled voice. He was held so tightly that his face was practically buried underneath her chest. Yo panicked for the second time and tried to pull himself away as soon as she landed. He felt a shiver in his spine and immediately looked for the blonde man who was ready to probably murder him on sight. 

 

Yo yelped when he saw Jio nearby, but contrary to his expectation, Jio wasn’t shooting him death glares but instead, a look of concern. 

 

“Are you alright, Yo?” Miu asked as she helped him fix his dress. Seeing how he was alright, Jio sighed in relief and just smiled at him as he joined them. 

 

“Y-yes, thanks to you.” Yo bowed his head down slightly. He found it weird that Jio is not reacting to him, though. Even though his face was practically buried into Miu’s chest…

 

“I’m glad you’re alright.” Jio said to Yo, still with a very calm smile, that Yo didn’t know whether he should be scared or not now. Then his expression turned serious when he turned his face to Miu. “Jujo, can you feel it?” Jio asked 

 

Miu nodded back at him. “Yes… Something is weird. We’ve fought for a while, but… the number of enemies didn’t drop...And they are getting stronger, somehow. It’s like… It’s like they can read our movements.” She said as she glanced at the battlefield. 

 

There, she saw Ichinosuke throwing bombs at the tentacles and burning the smaller tentacles. Hinagiku followed right after him with a smash from her glove. With the two’s joint effort, the tentacle was able to be defeated. Its bodies crumbled into small pieces. But not long after it was scattered on the ground, it started to light up again and assembled itself. And this time, it dodged Ichinosuke’s bombs by shooting beams of lasers to destroy the thrown bombs. 

 

“This is…” Miu muttered as she saw the scene unfold. 

 

“They’re regenerating, huh…” Kazuki’s voice suddenly joined them. Just like Miu, it seems that he had also figured out the situation. It looks like the deadly red alert seems to be regenerating as well. After they first defeated the deadly red alert drone, it showed up again and attacked the Shinjuku team. And now even after it was defeated by Hikaru’s team, it re-appeared again and was being fended off by Ichinosuke and his frog drones.

 

Q was standing behind Kazuki with his back facing him. With the way Kazuki was quietly observing the enemies’ movement with his lips slightly parted and his hand under his chin, Q knew that Kazuki was definitely formulating a plan. In that case, it’s his duty to keep watch. 

 

Breaking the drones wasn’t hard. After breaking its head, it usually lost its functionality and scattered its bodies, rendering them useless. However, this time, they keep regenerating even after the head is destroyed. Even if they broke the bodies into pieces, it will eventually gather the still functional pieces and then created a new tentacle drone. 

 

And from Kazuki’s observation, these drones are not simply attacking them. They are learning . These drones were reading their combat abilities and acted according to it. It gets stronger every time it gets destroyed. Hence why it was able to dodge their attacks and even countered. They were able to defeat it before, but after their data has been collected, it’s starting to get harder to defeat the drones after it read their movements. 

 

They were made by Magata. And according to Oujiro, his skills are top-notch when it comes to sentient weapons. Kazuki could easily conclude that they are learning because of the AI that Magata developed or by controlling these drones. But these drones are essentially robots. And robots cannot move without a program behind them. There has to be a logic behind their replications, and it must have been processed somewhere. 

 

What’s more, Kazuki could tell that they were being targeted for a reason. These drones were not just randomly coming to their place and attacking random people. They were clearly aiming to destroy Hina Cafe. But with the destruction of U-DX robot, Magata no longer exists. Therefore, there must be someone else who can control these drones.

 

The question is… who? And also, how did it do it?  To control a large number of drones, one needs a supercomputer to process all the data, one that should be on par with the systems that reside in the U-DX robot. No such thing exists anymore in this city, so unless they’re in the level of Zero, which possessed a huge military power and even a satellite, it’s almost impossible to be able to control this number of drones. 

 

Then, Kazuki saw how Yo comedically ran past him, being chased by five tentacles at once. “GO AWAY!!!” Yo shrieked as he made a mad dash. It seems like he got a little bit traumatized from the earlier event and ran quite far away from the rest of the group. “Yo-kun! Stop! Come back!” Kazuki shouted at him as he ran to chase after Yo. 

 

“I’ll get him.” Q was faster to get to Yo as he leapt and swung his nailed bat towards the tentacles chasing after Yo. Red thunder spread from his bat, creating a splash of electricity that damaged all five at once. All five drones immediately focused their attention on Q. When they all swarmed him at the same time, Q jumped to dodge and managed to escape from their attack, then immediately counterattacked as he saw Kazuki closing in with his sly serpent broken to its twin swords mode. 

 

The two of them moved in parallel motion from opposite directions. Barraging slashes from their weapons to the grouped up tentacles, leaving the drones no chance of escaping. Then, as they circled the drones and met at one point, they swung their weapons together and defeated all five drones together.  

 

Yo gasped in awe as he watched their teamwork.  Then sighed in relief as he wasn’t chased anymore. He took Q’s offered hand with gratitude as he stood back up. 

 

“Hey, it’s dangerous to act on your own, don’t break the formation. You’ll be outnumbered on your own, you know? Pandas are solitary animals, but you’re not a panda, aren’t you?” Kazuki teased, yet still gave him useful advice. 

 

“R-right… I’m sorry…” Yo held a hand to his head, wiping the cold sweat. The panda comment made him realize he was still wearing that cheongsam dress and the hairbuns. His legs felt very chilly. He really missed his comfortable hoodie. 

 

“It’s fine, let’s go back to the others. Hmm?” Then Kazuki noticed something. Nothing happened after Q defeated these drones. Why? They always regenerate after each one of them is defeated. But they didn’t this time. Because they are far away?

 

Hmm~

 

A cat-like smile appeared on Kazuki’s face. 

 

“Kazuki?” Q called when Kazuki suddenly stopped moving. 

 

“It takes a cat to chase a mouse…” Kazuki muttered with a confident grin, then fixed his glove. “Q, Yo-kun, I’ve got a plan. But I will need you to hold back the drones without destroying them. Can you do it?” Kazuki asked. There was no hesitation in the two of them. 

 

“Of course.” They both nodded at once, and Kazuki smiled once again. “Good, I’m counting on you guys!” Then he ran in the opposite direction towards Hina Cafe. 

 

With Kazuki gone, Yo then took charge of conveying the strategy to everyone else. “Everyone, don’t destroy the drones yet! Immobilize them by any means, but don’t destroy them!” 

 

“That’s easier said than done, nyaa!!” Hinagiku protested as she grabbed the tentacle with her gloved hands. But it was writhing on her grab. In an instant, she felt like she was catching eels in a festival game. 

 

“Tekkamaru! Lend me your strength!” Ichinosuke quickly moved his hands and made hand signs to channel his ninjutsu to call his giant toad partner. With a successful ritual, the giant toad appeared out of nowhere and slammed down on the deadly red alert that he was keeping busy, keeping it in place with its body weight, and preventing it from running away. 

 

Jio used his venom to cripple the body of a different new Deadly Red Alert that appeared bit by bit. Miu summoned her turret and adjusted it to hit every other tentacle, but maintain the power of its shots so the tentacles were not destroyed and only knocked away instead. 

 

Hikaru had created a garden of thorns to surround Koishi, protecting him in place as he maintained the attention of a new Deadly Red Alert that rose after the destruction of the one he had just defeated with his siblings. His sisters, Hiyori and Yayoi, were kept busy to fend off the smaller tentacles coming their way. 

 

Yo continued to play whack-a-mole with the tentacles. He’s determined not to fall for the same trick again, and this time he carefully observed the ground to predict where they would pop out next and whacked their head with his baseball bat before they could do anything. 

 

Q observed the battlefield calmly. Supporting those who are in immediate need of help. He had no trouble dodging all of the tentacles’ attacks. As per Kazuki’s instruction, he didn’t break the tentacles, as he knew they would easily break in one swing with his bat. He opted to run around in circles, keeping their attention on him as he dodged their attacks. 

 

Still, it’s getting harder because these tentacles are not giving up. Even if he managed to buy time and parried their attacks, the numbers are still increasing, and it’s starting to wear not just him, but everyone else. 

 

Kazuki…

 

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Then, as if his prayer had been answered, Kazuki’s voice appeared behind him. 

 

“Kazu-” Q sighed in relief to hear him. Kazuki had disappeared for quite a while, and Q was starting to worry. But when he turned around, he saw a sight he would never expect. 

 

Cat ears.

 

He saw Kazuki with cat ears. The same one that Kazuki was wearing this morning. The same one that G&O company developed for him. It flickered as Q stared into it, a sign that it was activated. Then his eyes rolled down. The tail was also there, coming out from his back. Kazuki had probably made a hole on the dress so the tail could come out from his dress. 

 

“Kazu…ki?” Q blinked. His mouth agape. 

 

Meowwwwwwww

 

An imaginary cat’s cry echoed in his mind as Kazuki stood before him with his hand resting on his hips, cat ears flickering on his head, complete with the tail swishing around lazily. 

 

“This? I took it with me when Hinagiku-san contacted us. Gotanda-kun needs more data to perfect it, so I figure I’ll do a test run with the actual environment. I didn’t think the opportunity would arrive this soon, though.” Kazuki chuckled, then walked past Q, his tail brushing against Q’s legs as if teasing him. 

 

Q’s eyes were stretched wide. 

 

He prayed that a Judge Robot was still active somewhere to take those gears away because they’re definitely going to distract him in this fight. 

 

With a deep breath, Q tried to reason with himself. Kazuki is wearing those gears not because he wanted to. Those gears help him analyze the situation better. 

 

It’s not Kazuki’s hobby. It’s not Kazuki’s hobby. It’s not Kazuki’s- 

 

“I found it!” As Q chanted to himself, Kazuki suddenly yelled. His tail stood up as if he were excited, but it was actually using its echolocating function to detect the enemy. It took Q some effort to resist the urge to touch that fluffy tail. He remembered how soft it was when it slapped his face before. 

 

It’s not Kazuki’s tail. It’s just a gear. It’s not an actual tail. 

 

He continued to chant to himself, then gulped down the saliva he didn’t know and pooled inside his mouth. “What did you find?” He asked, hoping to maintain a normal conversation. 

 

Kazuki smiled at him. “The hiding mice~” He answered, then signaled Q to come with him as he ran towards a specific tentacle drone. A few drones were coming after them, but Kazuki ignored them as he chased after his target. Q chased after Kazuki, but it was hard to focus on the battle as his eyes were distracted by the tail that was coming out from Kazuki’s back. It was bouncing up and down as Kazuki ran. 

 

As Kazuki managed to catch up with the drone that he was chasing after, he quickly leapt. His jump was higher than usual, and he used the street signs as a step tool to reach a higher height. This was probably because he had that tail gear to help him measure his surroundings in more detail. Then, he combined his Sly Serpent to use it like a spear to stab the tentacle drone. In one swift motion, the drone’s head was pierced, and it broke down. 

 

“Now Q! Destroy the rest!” When Kazuki yelled, he split his sly serpent into twin swords mode and then sprinted towards the other drones to unleash a barrage of slashes mercilessly. 

 

“...Understood.” Q didn’t really understand why Kazuki was targeting these drones in particular when there were tougher drones to defeat, such as the Deadly Red Alert that Jio and Ichinosuke were facing. But he understood one thing: Kazuki’s plan would never fail him. 

 

With full trust, Q smashed his nail bat with maximum energy. It was a good outlet to unleash his pent-up uneasiness that he’s been feeling ever since Kazuki appeared with that cat ear gear. Soon enough, the drones around them were pulverized into bits. It wasn’t enough to satisfy Q, though. 

 

“Will this do?” Q asked. When he glanced towards Kazuki, Kazuki appeared to be looking at his surroundings, the destroyed drones didn’t regenerate like they usually do, and a satisfied smirk appeared on his face. 

 

“As I thought.” Kazuki chuckled. Q waited for him to explain his plan. “These drones were sentient weapons controlled by AI that Magata developed. They possess a certain level of intelligence to study our movement and act based on the result of their analysis. It will probably continue to evolve if we don’t defeat it. To be able to process all that information, there must be a strong processing unit somewhere. But the U-DX robot was already gone. These sentient weapons shouldn’t be able to do that. So the question is, how?” Kazuki prompted. Q’s eyes grew slightly larger as it dawned on him. 

 

Kazuki waited for Q to answer him with a confident smile. He fully trusted that Q would be able to get on quickly. “They were not operating under a single unit… No, perhaps they are all operating as one single unit.” Q answered. A satisfied grin appeared on Kazuki’s face. 

 

“As expected of you.” Kazuki clapped his hands. “That’s right. They are working in clusters. Dividing the processing work amongst them. At first, it looked like each one was operating on their own, but they shared the same line commands. From how these drones keep coming at us, it’s obvious that someone is targeting us. And whoever that is, they were able to control the drones. But controlling all of them at once is impossible because these drones were not made to be controlled remotely. Each of them acts on their own AI. However, do you know how AI works?”

 

“They feed on data and process it with complex algorithms to make predictions and analyses?” Q may not be as resourceful as Saizo, but he’s seen how Magata preached about AI before. And he felt like he had heard about it more. When was that, though? He didn’t remember. 

 

“That’s right, but there is one thing that differentiates us from AI.” Kazuki pointed to his head. “That is, conscience. They might look like a living being that possessed intelligence. But they are essentially just a collection of complex codes. They were unable to distinguish malice. When a bad model is implemented in their learning, it’s easy to influence their program. The person who targeted us probably discovered a way to break into the AI and used the backdoor to implement the command to attack us.”

 

Then opened up his floating panels. It showed each of the Trash members' faces listening to his explanation. “Then here’s the last question. Now that you know their method of operation, how do we defeat them?” Kazuki asked through their communication device. 

 

“Yes! Here! We charm them with our beauty and influence them to stop fighting!” Hikaru raised his hand as he answered. 

 

“What a brilliant deduction! That will certainly confuse the enemy and your comrades as well.” Kazuki smiled. That was sarcasm, but it seems like the bullet that he fired dodged Hikaru completely. “Why, thank you for the compliment!” Hikaru replied with a satisfied smile. 

 

Ah, yes, another weirdo that joined his trash pile. 

 

Everybody could tell that the plan was not going to work, but explaining it to Hikaru would take more time, so they decided to let him be for now. 

 

“Then! We should pulverize all of them at once. We’ll teach them a lesson for messing with us and grind these dodgy snakes into dust.” Hinagiku bumped her gloved fists together and ground them together with a dark smile. Ichinosuke also grinned next to her with confidence. “Yes, with Q-sama’s strength, we can definitely do it!” 

 

“Ahaha! I appreciate the enthusiasm, but we would have done so if we were capable of doing that, won’t we?” The two ninjas then continued to blab about Q’s greatness, which Kazuki chose to ignore this time for the sake of actually keeping everyone here alive. 

 

Then he spotted Yo, who was deep in thought, and then mused to himself. He may have made a poor judgment, but from what Kazuki had seen in Minato and heard of how the boy performed in Shinagawa from Q, Yo was a budding leader, an unpolished gem who’d shine brighter than a diamond when treated correctly. And Kazuki was willing to make that bet. 

 

You can do it.  

 

He silently cheered on Yo, waiting for the boy to come up with a plan. He watched over Yo like a mother over her children. Then, when Yo’s eyes widened, Kazuki’s lips also curved into a smile. 

 

“Hold on… they’re not physically connected, so how did they actually transmit data to one another? If they divide the processing work, then if we defeat them while they are calculating, won’t the data be corrupted?” Yo asked. Despite his amnesia, he had a better understanding of technology than Ichinosuke. 

 

But he wasn’t an expert, and he wasn’t sure if he was asking the right question or if that question would just make him sound dumb. But when he looked at Kazuki’s satisfied grin, it told him that he was on the correct path. 

 

“Exactly as you said, Yo-kun. These drones may be robots, but they do possess intelligence better than the monkey-brained humans. They won’t risk using a linear strategy that is easily ruined when one of them is destroyed.” Kazuki nodded, then brought up his floating screens. A map of the area was drawn there, and little red dots appeared on the map. 

 

“That’s why they created dupes. The ones that attacked us were not its real body. They can easily make new ones from other parts. But in return, they are moving simultaneously. In other words… the ones who are moving differently from the rest are the real bodies processing data and giving orders.” 

 

“That’s where this comes in.” Kazuki then pointed to his visor. His tail swished up excitedly 

That Yo almost got distracted. He wanted to ask him what was with that getup, but there’s no way someone like Kazuki would wear something like this without a purpose, so Yo just blindly trusted in Kazuki’s judgement. 

 

“The real body will always be hiding. But using this gear that Gotanda-kun and Minami-san developed, I can analyze their move pattern, the distance between the drones, and find out their hiding spot…” Kazuki muttered as he messed with his screens, running calculations faster than his brain could do. The gear helped him process the data, and within seconds, a new dot appeared on the map.

 

“Just follow my command, I’ll definitely lead us to victory.” Kazuki grinned confidently. 

 

“Our first target is close to you, Miu-san, Jio-kun.” Kazuki declared. The two immediately understood Kazuki’s point. Putting on their masks, the two jumped between the walls in the alley and cut their way into the position marked by Kazuki using the building’s rooftops. 

 

“Found it. It spotted us.” Miu declared. A single tentacle drone was hiding between the alleys. As soon as it saw Miu and Jio’s shadow, it dug its way underground and ran away. It would be hard to track where it was going, but Miu and Jio were far more experienced. It’s easy for them to detect its movement, even without the help of gears. 

 

“How simple.” Jio commented, then leapt from the building and landed right in front of its path. The drone tried to go past him, but then Jio kicked the ground, making a small crater and provoked the drone to come out. 

 

Sensing the danger approaching, the drone then called for allies. More tentacles appeared around them. It attempted to surround the two, but they easily stood back to back and cover for each other. They’ve always been together, after all. 

 

The two fought as if they were an extension of one another. As soon as they wear down the new drones, Jio then Miu deployed her turret. It made walls made of light reflection that traps the drones within it. Her turret then shoots a large amount of light bullets rapidly that bounces between the light walls. The light walls pulverized the extra drones. And now, only the main body remained. 

 

Jio didn’t waste a single second and dashed forward. A blob of toxin coated the drone as Jio charged through it. The blonde then continued to run past the drone and ran up the walls. 

 

“Jujo!” He yelled and did a backflip. Miu followed him and jumped alongside him. With their legs stretched forward, the two dropped a deadly kick that destroyed the weakened drone completely. 

 

The mark on Kazuki’s map disappeared completely, and it also made the surrounding drones in Miu and Jio’s area went haywire. Losing its ‘leader’ all of a sudden made them unable to compute anything and just moved randomly from a broken program. 

 

“Good work Miu-san, Jio-kun. I’ll leave it to you to clean up that part.” Kazuki smiled and then moved to another screen. Hiyori and Yayoi were on the screen. “Make your ice-wall in that next alley, Yayoi-san. Then the drone that Hiyori-san is chasing will run into a dead-end.” With Kazuki’s instruction, he easily guided them towards the other ‘core’ bodies, trapping them like a rat in a cage.

 

“Koishi-kun, one of them is running your way. It just ran past you. Can you stop it?” Kazuki asked while moving his screens to check on the other drones’ movement. Koishi gasped at the sudden instruction and tried to chase after the drone. 

 

But he was quickly out of breath. He didn’t realize that running in a fluffy skirt is hard because it was so heavy. This made him get ambushed by the drone instead. But as Koishi shrieked at the sudden attack, shining eyes glittered from his bag.  Then, a large cat-like shadow came out from his carried bag and clashed with the drone. With a roar, it pulled the drone out of the ground and ate it, leaving nothing behind, not even a speck of dust. 

 

“Beast!” Koishi sighed in relief when the large shadow then comically reverted its size into its compact form and snuggled against Koishi. 

 

“Alright, that’s three of them. Keep this up, everyone. Hinagiku-san, it’s your turn now. But be careful, it’s accompanied by a big one.” Kazuki instructed. Hinagiku took it into account as she chased after the mark that Kazuki informed her. She could spot her target running away. But at the same time, she’s also being chased by a Deadly Red Alert. 

 

She had been fighting side by side with Ichinosuke before. But they separated ways when Ichinosuke went to chase after a different core body. Kazuki had told her to be careful, but she had her pride, too. She was not as strong as her brothers. But she was also part of the Akiba ninja legion. 

 

Angry as she continued to be chased by the Deadly Red Alert, she suddenly turned around and punched the large drone right in its root. It wasn’t enough to kill it in one punch, so she tried to land another. But the deadly red alert had already learned about her attack pattern, so it was able to dodge the next attack easily. It continued to dodge Hinagiku’s attacks no matter what she did. 

 

“MUGINYAAA!!! STOP RUNNING AWAY!” Hinagiku yelled with anger, then wrestled with the Deadly Red Alert once again like sumo players. But then the deadly red alert’s eye shone, preparing to shoot its laser beam. Hinagiku gritted her teeth. There’s no way she’s getting ridiculed by this thing again. If it had already read her movement, then she would just have to be more creative to defeat it. 

 

So she grabbed onto its head tightly, then with all her might, she jumped and pulled her entire body upward. Something that she wouldn’t have ever done before because her skirt would be in the way. But now that she’s wearing a butler outfit, she doesn’t have to bother about that. She kicked the Red Alert’s head she was clinging to, then linked her hands to hammer down the Red Alert. 

 

“Yosh! I won, nya!” She hums with satisfaction. But then she remembered. The Deadly Red Alert wasn’t her original target. It was just a distraction. The real body was still somewhere, and if she didn’t destroy it in a hurry, then the Deadly Red Alert would reconstruct itself again. “Oh no-” She gasped and turned around. The smaller tentacle that was the main body had attempted to escape, and she was too far to chase after it. 

 

“Leave it to me! Hina-chan!” 

 

Then, a new voice suddenly joined their communication channel. From the sky, an eye sigil appeared. Hinagiku recognized that arte. It was a shared technique that all of them in the Akiba Ninja Legion have learned. The teleportation jutsu! 

 

“Nagisa-chan?!” Hinagiku smiled brightly as Nagisa appeared from the sigil and stabbed her wakizashi into the tentacle. 

 

“I’m sorry I’m late, Hina-chan… But my fever has come down now… I saw your stream, Hina-chan. And I thought, I can’t stand still resting at home. So I’m here to help! I also… I also want to protect Hina Cafe!” She said. Hinagiku couldn’t see her expression as Nagisa never showed her face behind that paper mask. But, she could tell from her voice that Nagisa is just as determined as she is. After all, Hina Cafe is their home. 

 

“Alright! Let’s do this together, Nagisa-chan!” Hinagiku chirped. She had forgotten about the live stream, to be honest. But now that she looked at it again, they were currently the top trending stream in Neo Chiyoda. And seeing how people were cheering on them motivated her even more.

 

Ever since then, Kazuki had issued numerous commands. Running calculations and directing the rest of them to defeat the real drones. He looked very satisfied to see the number of the drones decreasing. 

 

Only Q remained behind to stay close to him while the rest spread out to chase after the real bodies. Kazuki could sometimes get lost when he was thinking, and there was also one other thing that he was worried about. The gear that Kazuki was using had a limit of only 30 minutes per use. Anything more than that might have a side effect. Q remembered Minami’s warnings perfectly. 

 

Then, finally, one of them came close towards him, so Kazuki chased after it himself. It was just a small tentacle drone, and it wasn’t even surrounded by the fake drones. Defeating it would be easy. But just as Kazuki leapt, his vision went blurry, and he wasn’t able to land properly. He felt something cold pouring down from his nose. When Kazuki tried to wipe his nose, he saw droplets of blood on the ground. 

 

Oh…

 

Looks like this is the side effect. 

 

Kazuki must have overused it because he suddenly felt dizzy. As his movement swayed, the drone shot a laser at him. 

 

“Kazuki!” Q grimaced at the sight. Blood… Kazuki was bleeding. Something immediately snapped inside him as soon as he saw that. Red poured into his eyes, and then turned his entire sclera red. Red aura enveloped his entire body. And he charged forward towards Kazuki.

 

By miracle, he managed to pull Kazuki out of harm’s way in time. However, the laser had damaged Kazuki’s dress. To be precise, it had shot through the chest area. Had Kazuki been a woman, he would have suffered actual injuries around his chest. Luckily for him, the causality this time was only the fake breasts, and Kazuki stared at the burnt silicones with fear. 

 

“That was dangerous…” Kazuki muttered. His head was still throbbing like crazy, but he still needed to find the rest of the drones. He tried to stand up, but then wobbled. It’s as if his legs had lost strength all of a sudden, and he bumped his back into Q. 

 

“Ah- sorry, Q-” Kazuki apologized, but then felt as if the world had shrunk. Then he realized that it happened because he was lifted. Q had picked him up by his waist and rested him against his shoulder. Then he adjusted Kazuki’s position so he could lift Kazuki with only his right arm. 

 

“Hold onto me and don’t let go.” Q commanded as he picked up his nail bat with his left arm, then chased after the drone that Kazuki was chasing before. 

 

“Q?! Put me down, it’ll be hard for you to fight like this.” Kazuki struggled and attempted to jump down, but when Q noticed that, his grip on Kazuki’s thigh tightened instead. His nails dug into Kazuki’s skin so deeply that they would leave a mark later. 

 

“Shut up.”  

 

Q glared at him. His eyes were red. And that made Kazuki flinch. For a moment, he thought that the old Oujiro, the one who was still under Tenshin’s control, had come back at that moment. 

 

Q was angry. No, he was furious. He knew that the gear was dangerous. He knew that Kazuki would be exposing himself to danger. And yet, he allowed it to happen. As a result, Kazuki almost got hurt, and he was angry at himself for even allowing that to happen. So he’s not taking any chances anymore. With full anger, he smashed the drone to bits. 

 

“Q…” Kazuki could understand that Q was angry because he had been reckless. But now is not the time for that. There are still more drones to defeat, and Kazuki had to find them. He’s the only one who can. 

 

“Don’t move anymore. I’ll carry you wherever you need to go. That gear is already pushing your brain to its limit, so don’t do anything else.” Q glared at him. And he was correct. The gear was there to compute and process information beyond human capability. But it also operated by reading and transmitting neuron signals to Kazuki’s brain. The stress must have pushed Kazuki’s body as well. 

 

“...I understand.” Kazuki sighed, but then let out a soft smile. He kissed the crown of Q’s head and gave him a short embrace. Q was just getting angry because he was worried about him. He must have worried Q a lot today. So this time, he’ll indulge in Q’s kindness and depend on him for a bit. 

“There’s only one more left. Yo-kun, it’s on you.” Kazuki turned his attention back to the monitors and contacted the others through their communication channel. He pointed the enemy using his maps for Yo, who nodded back at him from the screen. 

 

Unfortunately for them, the drone is escaping towards the Ancient Sanctuary. It will take a long time for them to take a detour to find the entrance to climb up. 

 

“No! It’s running away!” Yo yelled as he sprinted as fast as he could. He cursed himself when he tried to remember where the nearest entrance was to reach the Ancient Sanctuary. Neo Chiyoda’s map was like a small dungeon on its own. 

 

“Let us help, Yo-kun!” Then came Hikaru’s voice from his back. Ichinosuke was also following not far behind, running on the walls with his Ninjutsu. Hikaru had linked his rose whip to a nearby hanging street sign and then pulled his body to swing on the whip. He grabbed Yo with one hand and smirked at him. 

 

“Alright, catch! Ichinosuke-kun!” Once he swung towards the maximum height, he threw Yo towards Ichinosuke just like a rag doll. Yo still couldn’t process what was happening. One second he was spending every oxygen in his lungs to chase after the drone. The next second, the world turned upside down as he was floating in the air. “UWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” He screamed his lungs out. Being thrown like a baseball was not written on his agenda today. 

 

Ichinosuke was on standby on a nearby building’s rooftop. He caught Yo by the hand, then spun like a spinning top, adding centrifugal force before throwing Yo back to the sky. “Yo-dono! Everything is up to you now!” He yelled with his trademark grin. Yo’s eyes swirled. The world is spinning now. 

 

Yo felt like he was thrown from 1st base and now to 2nd base. He’s almost catching up to the drone that’s climbing on the floating debris into the ancient sanctuary. But there was not enough force. At this rate, he’ll fall before he can reach the drone. 

 

“Kuronaka!!” Then comes Q shouting from below. He was still carrying Kazuki with his right arm, but on his left hand was Kazuki’s sly serpent, combined into one. Q ran as he was aiming towards Yo, who was thrown up into the air. And with a powerful swing, Q threw the combined Sly Serpent like a Javelin. 

 

Yo saw it flying towards him, then matched his timing with the thrown javelin to use it as a step stool to jump on it and gained the extra distance that he needed to reach the drone.

 

“UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!” Then, when Yo laded the Ancient Sanctuary, he made a mad charge and sliced his bat against the tentacle. The line drive bat used up all of his tension and converted it into powerful energy to slice the tentacle into minced bits. 

 

And that concludes everything. 

 

With the last ‘core’ drone pulverized, the remaining drones shut down on their own. Neo Chiyoda’s streets were safe from the rampaging drones for the night, and they all regrouped at Hina’s Cafe, resting from the tiring battle. 

 

Koishi immediately went to treat everyone’s wounds. Hinagiku wrapped up the stream. She was very happy with the number of viewers who cheered and congratulated them. Of course, she didn’t forget to promote Hina Cafe before she ended the stream. Nagisa was sitting next to her as she then filled in on what had happened today to Nagisa. 

 

“Huh? Where’s Ichinosuke-san and Hikaru-san?” As he rested on the sofa, Yo then noticed that Ichinosuke and Hikaru weren’t around. It seemed like they hadn’t returned to the cafe either. 

 

“Ah, I asked them for a favor.” Kazuki chimed in. He was currently held prisoner by Q, who clung to him from his back. Q was personally monitoring Kazuki’s condition so that he didn’t move at all, and also draped his jacket over him, since otherwise, Kazuki’s chest would be visible for the entire world to see because a part of his dress was burnt by the laser earlier. 

 

“A favor?” Yo wondered what it could be, and then Kazuki explained. 

 

—

 

Somewhere within a sealed abandoned building, someone was biting on his nails as he watched Hinagiku’s stream from his laptop. 

 

“Damn it!!!! Even though I spent a fortune on this app!! SHIT SHIT SHIT!!! DAMN YOU ALL!! USELESS DRONES!!! GARBAGES!!” The man, whose body was as large as an overweight pig and wearing Nagisa’s face-printed T-shirt, panted in anger as he kicked his laptop and threw a tantrum. It was the same man who made a scene in the cafe earlier. 

 

“I almost had them… I almost made them submit to me… This is not supposed to be the plan!!! They were supposed to surrender to me and just submit to me!!!” The man yelled to himself. It was then that two shadows appeared with their back against the moonlight shining from the window. 

 

It was Ichinosuke and Hikaru. 

 

“According to my deduction… The criminal of this case… is you!” Hikaru pointed with his rose. Ichinosuke blinked. As he remembered, it was Kazuki who asked them to track about this weird signal he caught with his analysis gear from when they were fighting. 

 

According to Kazuki’s calculations, this signal should be the source of the commands that controlled the drones in the first place. Whoever is behind this signal might also be the culprit who drove the cafe into that nasty contract. Kazuki chose to ask the two of them because they were strong and had the most mobility. So… it was actually Kazuki’s deduction. But, Ichinosuke was not going to let himself ruin Hikaru’s moment. 

 

“So it was you… the one who sent those drones to us…” Ichinosuke cracked his knuckles. “Tell me, what is your motive? Was it revenge?” Ichinosuke’s sclera went black. Anyone who tried to harm his lord is unforgivable. And those who tried let alone those who tried to harm his family. 

 

“Y-y-you! The sluts from earlier!!” The man panicked and took a few steps back, then as his feet bumped to his bag, the man quickly rummaged something from his bag, as if he had just remembered something. 

 

“You can’t hurt me!” The man then showed a piece of paper to the two. It was a certificate of contract sealed and labeled with an official stamp, complete with Nagisa’s fingerprint stamp on it. 

 

“That’s right!! I’m the new owner of your pathetic cafe!! Just so you know, if you try to harm me, then my men will immediately close down your place!!!” The man laughed. It managed to hold Ichinosuke and Hikaru back. It would be easy for them to just steal the paper, but it wouldn’t stop the man from shutting down Hina Cafe and possibly do more threats and disturb the Cafe’s daily operations in the future. 

 

Both Ichinosuke and Hikaru gritted their teeth. Kazuki had sent them out to check the signal and apprehend whoever was sending the signal, but he had perhaps forgotten that these two were also among the most gullible and righteous members of the tribe, that it didn’t occur to them that they could just threaten the man to give back the contract. 

 

“What should we do… challenge him to XB?” Hikaru proposed, but there were only two of them here. They don’t have enough people to play XB. 

 

“That’s right… You can’t harm me… so just go back to your ugly habitat!!!” The man laughed and then attempted to flee. But then, loud footsteps echoed in the hallway and it stopped the man from running. 

 

“Humph… Pathetic poor people.” 

 

Out of nowhere, an illusion of a large statue dropped on the man. Crushing him to the ground and preventing him from moving. From the shadows of the hallway, Todoroki Eiji walked calmly with his trademark golden suitcase in hand. 

 

“Y-you are?!” Both Ichinosuke and Hikaru had never seen Todoroki in person. But they’ve exchanged NINE chats, and they knew very well that this man is the man behind every money-related operations for Trash Tribe. 

 

“Really, you poor people can’t do anything without me.” Todoroki walked closer and stepped on the man. “First, you get into a pathetic contract, then you execute such a roundabout way to solve the issue. This is why I hate poor people and their naivety!” Todoroki sighed.

 

“T-todoroki-dono, please wait! If you harm that man, then Hina Cafe will-” Ichinosuke panicked. The man underneath Todoroki grunted and barked at the blonde. “That’s right!!! I’m the new owner of that cafe! If you harm me, then-”

 

“Owner? Do you mean me?” Todoroki then pulled out a different paper from his suitcase and threw the paper to the ground for the man to read. Signed on the paper was Todoroki’s name, certifying that he’s the new owner of Hina Cafe. 

 

“N-no way, H-how??? I’m supposed to be the new owner, so how did you?!” The man read the paper with disbelief. 

 

“Hmm? It’s easy. I did a background check, and you weren’t the actual owner, weren’t you? It was your father’s. So? I just negotiated with your father and bought back the company. To be honest, he folded so easily that it’s not even a worthy opponent for me.” Eiji grinned as he spread out some kane to make it into a fan and flapped them towards himself. 

 

“A…amazing… Money really can solve everything-” Hikaru gulped. He didn’t think it was this easy to get the cafe back. Whoever this Todoroki guy is, he’s definitely not to be underestimated. 

 

“If it’s not for Aoyama telling me I could make a profit with this, I wouldn’t even bother coming.” Eiji sighed, then stepped away from the man and crouched before him. 

 

“So how about it? How about making another contract with me?” Eiji grinned, and the man grimaced back at him. “Pay me and we’ll ensure your safe return to your father. Otherwise, you’ll probably face the wrath from these two, hm?” Todoroki fixed his glasses. Ichinosuke and Hikaru stood behind him with a sinister smile on their faces. 

 

And so, the man sobbed as he resigned to pay Todoroki for his safety. 

 

“And just like that, we don’t have to work as maids anymore tomorrow.” Kazuki concluded as he ended his call with Todoroki, who told them that he would just sell the Hina Cafe back to its previous owner when they found him. He would even throw a discount for it as long as he had a share of profit from Hina Cafe’s profit, effectively making more money by investing in the cafe.

 

Ichinosuke also mentioned in the call how he will work with Saizo to find out about the program the man used to control the drones and swore that he will put an end to the drone invasion and make sure nobody else can do something like this again. 

 

“Amazing… No wait, if we had this option, then what’s the point of working as maids? Won’t it be easier to have Todoroki-san buy the cafe in the first place?” Yo sighed. All his effort, embarrassment, and dignity sacrificed today… was it really for nothing? 

 

“It’s not really for nothing. It’s hard to convince Todoroki to work for us, you know. Thanks to your cute appearances and huge effort, I managed to show Todoroki some data that would convince him to move and use his money.” Kazuki chuckled. 

 

“T-thank you so much! Nya!! With this, Hina Cafe is finally safe!” Hinagiku was overjoyed. Nagisa, who was sitting next to her, also sobbed in relief. Their home is finally safe. 

 

Seeing their cheerful smile, it made Yo think that all of their effort weren’t for nothing.

 

“It’s a shame, though, you were all so cute in these dresses…” Hiyori muttered. “You could make money by working part-time sometimes, what do you think?” She suggested. 

 

“N-no thanks… no more…” Yo grimaced.

 

And once again, laughter filled the room. With this, their work as maids is officially over. 

 

And tomorrow, their fight with Zero will resume. 

Notes:

And that wraps up the main story!!!! I hope I did justice for the shinjuku trio. I had some help for how their attacks look like in game, but mostly were made up from the XB scene screenshots from the official website.

As for the extra story, it's going to be very NSFW so if you dont' like it you can stop reading here XD (And it's QKazu only)
I'm still writing it so you will have to wait a little bit for it. Maybe i'll post it on Ojiro's birthday.

Notes:

I FINALLY FINISHED??? WRITING??? This took idk how many days to write T - T
I'm really living in trying times when my company decided to layoff some people off my office too and here I am writing this to cope with my life.

I'm sorry for any mistakes, English is not my main language.

Reading comments motivates me to write more so i'd be happy if you could leave some and tell me what you think o/
If you like QKazu or want to see me rambling about them, you can say hi to me: @qkz_iroiro