Michiko Yamato-Warakuma High Class 3-3- Monday 20/4/15 Morning

Michiko was reading a book regarding world history. She was interested and fascinated by how much the world was different back then. Michiko wondered if she could ever live in such an era after almost two decades living in comfort in the present time. It was then she heard an announcement being made. It was regarding Matthew Yamamoto, a classmate of hers. It would seem he was finally found safe and sound. Michiko smiled to herself knowing one of her classmates did not meet an untimely demise or something just like...
Michiko shook her head.
"I should focus on my work...not flashbacks..."

And so, the school day starts for Michiko.

---

Michiko Yamato-Warakuma Mall- Monday 20/4/15 After School

And it ended not long after.

Michiko was now at the mall to pick up some ingredients for dinner. Living alone means she needed to do everything herself. She was initially planning to head to Junes but remembered she needed to buy a new notebook for personal use...make then several new notebooks. One for financial records, schedules, school, etc. Ever since her grandfather died a few years back, she had to look after the shrine by herself. Her father offered to pick her up and return home but she refused. No way she was going back to the family household. The reason for that...would save that for another time.

Anyway, Michiko was heading to the book store when she saw people gathering around for some reason. Moreover, she heard somebody screaming. Curious, she walked towards where the crowd of people to find out what was going on. Two young men, one of them was not wearing a shirt for some reason, she recognized to be from her highschool were posing ridiculously. She noticed two girls there too and their nose were bleeding. Michiko noticed other people in the crowd holding their noses. She recalled these kind of scenes happen in anime and manga but never thought it was possible to happen in reality. Michiko wondered why her nose was bleeding. Maybe it was because she was focusing more on the weirdness of the scene unfolding in front of her instead of the two young men in their silly poses. The shrine maiden fought back her urge to laugh. The security guards should really come soon before things get even weirder.

Michiko went over to the blonde girl, who was wearing some kind of unique outfit, who was still covering her face.
Is this what people call...cosplay?
"Are you alright?" asked Michiko with a look of concern on her face.
She then gave a pack of tissues to the girl.
"You should wipe that nosebleed before it ruins your outfit."

This was definitely not happening, there is no way this could happen in reality. Could it? Noboru's muscles shined like those of buff male characters in the animes she watched, those of which were supposedly advocated towards the young male audience. Was this a dream? Was she still in the comforts of her bed, dreaming? But why did the crimson liquid trickling down her nose feel real?

Just as Shizuka was debating whether this was reality or a dream, a serene, female voice with a tone of concern was heard before her to which she cautiously uncovered her eyes once more. A maiden with long, dark tresses stood in front of her, offering a pack of tissues to cleanse the dripping nosebleed she was having. The female in maid costume gratefully received the offering with a bow of appreciation before wiping and covering her nose with tissue pressed down on it with her hand. "T-Thank you kind stranger, if you hadn't offered me your tissue, the costume would have indeed been stained. .....Though I suppose it would still be in line with our current theme..." Shizuka mumbled the last statement to herself.

Speaking of which, she had almost forgotten that she was on her way to her part time job before any of these distractions. What time was it anyway? Shizuka gazed down to check her wristwatch. .... 4:50 P.M. Her shift was about to begin in 10 minutes! A sudden panic ran through her as she bowed towards the maiden she had just met a second ago. "O-Oh my goodness, I-I'm about to be late! Apologies for my sudden leave without any proper introductions but perhaps we shall meet again, farewell miss!"

For a moment, she had forgotten about the shirt rip accident and turns her head towards Noboru and Hisako once again, "Apologies to you two as well, I must be leavi--" Dancing pecs. Shining muscles. Two attractive males posing. SPLURT. Even with the tissue placed down on her nose, blood gushed out and onto her maid uniform. Out of pure embarrassment of such a display, Shizuka runs away towards the direction of the cosplay cafe with more tissue pressed onto her face.

Akari cackled to herself. There were events going on in the mall and she didn't even have to do anything about it. However, it was time to maximize on this opportunity happening in front of her. She hid in a bush, snapping multiple pictures of the ongoing scene, making sure Noboru was in the shot. She got a picture of The girl in the outfit staring at him, a close up of her bloody nose, and then a close up of Noboru flexing his muscles. Then she went to work building the grounds for future fun.

She looked at her list. First on there was a man called Kazuki? He sounded wierd, but she sent the picture anyway, with the caption look at what your friend is doing.

Next up was... Chiaki. Ohohohohohohoohohohoho. THat would be a fun time. She sent the picture to her as well, with a different caption this time. You can thank me later if you want. Enjoy it.

Next up were all her friends. She sent the picture to a long list, and before she could even put her phone away, it lit up, buzzing like an angry beehive.

Her work here was done.



Hisako shook her head. She had fallen to the ground, and blood was still coated to her lips and nose. The memories were still stuck in her head, and she had loved every second of it, no matter how embarrassed she acted. The maid girl had started running off, and a small bit of blood was on the ground were she had been standing was left. She decided to look up, and it was the biggest mistake she had made. Noboru and another handsome man were standing there posing in the most sexual way possible, while Noboru was flexing his chest. She couldn't handle it. The blood sprayed a fountain's worth, and rocketed her head back against the ground.



Noboru finally stopped flexing, and looked in his bag. One shirt left. In all the havoc, it had gained a tear, but it would do for now. The shirt had been ripped from the bottom half downwards, exposing his midriff. What a pain. Money wasted for no reason at all, but this had given him an idea for a new outfit while fighting shadows. He would have to test it out later. He turned to Rui.

So what now?

"My work here is done, farewell warrior of the ripple", by the time Noboru turned to Rui, he was already standing normally, waving and bidding goodbye as he disappeared into the crowd. Police had arrived, and Rui was swift to leave before they did. The entire affair wasn't difficult to explain though, just a few warnings and Noboru was left off. Meanwhile, Rui who had disappeared into the mall was turning up around the 'culture' section where the music store he visited was. Just outside the main building was a cosplay cafe, there were very few in these kinds of areas, but with stores like Animate beginning to open around here, something like this would only naturally follow suit. He looked down and saw a trail of blood, it was fresh. He recognized the girl at the end of the trail though, he saw her while he was posing. In fact she was one of the girls trying to tend to Noboru's deceased shirt.

As he walked closer, he noticed her uniform was bloodied, visibly with her face being the source... That's a shame, blood doesn't clean easily... He walked close enough to speak to her, what should he say...?

> Are you okay?
> How would you rate that performance?
> You could do a yandere maid cosplay now

Hmmm...

> How would you rate that performance?

She ought to recognize him, so she should know what he was referring to. He hadn't seen her before... Based on general area and population, this girl was probably a student at his school. Rui had time to kill, there was no urgent reason he was here today.

By the time Matt opened his eyes again it was already monday. He woke up remembering his strange dream last night, it only seemed to make sense due to what happened the day before… Though at he looked good in a tux vest and bowtie.
“...the magician huh”
After Matt was found awake the rest of the day was spent checking his condition and being visited from the police. He also had some visitors, namely the ones who saved him and after Rui asked about the police he just ran through what Rui probably expected as Matt couldn’t see the culprit or anything in the dark… and he couldn’t mention the Strange events of Sunday.
Then Rui left and Matt just spent his time staring at the ceiling.
“at this rate i’ll probably lose work” He mumbled as the door opened again. Matt looked over and broke out in a cold sweat… It was Noemi.
“It seems you had visitors this time… but, to be here again after a week. I hope you don’t plan to leave that bed yet.” She spoke in her cold tone that made Matt even more nervous.
“o..of course i don't plan on it… see? i feel like resting some more” And with that Matt pretended to fall asleep. He couldn't let her see the mag under his pillow... he would surely die.

Monday 20th April, 2015: After School

Leiko Hamada: Warakuma- On the Outskirts of Town

Leiko always chose one particular place for their meetups, for innumerable reasons. Namely, the quiet, refined cafe of her choice gave them both the peace of mind to speak openly with one another without any fear of being overheard by nosy high schoolers. Additionally, the quality of tea that they serviced was simply to die for, so much so that Leiko hadn't even brought any of her friends there, fearing it was a little rich for their tastes.

That, and the place just felt like...theirs.

"How is your studying coming along?" Leiko finally broke the silence as she finished taking a sip of her herbal tea, peering over the rim of the cup at the person before her. "Not getting in the way of your writing, I hope?"

The handsome male cracked a grin as he shook his head in response, his bangs falling into his eyes before he swept them away with a fluid, delicate motion. "My grades are holding up fine. As for the writing...well, nothing can get in the way of that. Not even my parents, although they are quick to encourage me towards something more solid...like teaching or med school." The skin on his nose wrinkled as he spoke of them, leaning back in his seat lazily as he eyed Leiko with a friendly smirk. "And what about you, Miss President? How is your little club coming along?"

He always had that annoying habit of teasing her, and it only managed to make her even more irritated as the auburn haired girl shot him a surly look. "Drama is going quite well. There are a few people I have my eye on for the leading roles this year already." At the thought of her responsibilities, a smile managed to warm her face. "Being President feels...good. I like being in control. I call the shots, and no one tells me what to do. Well, besides that irksome Masatomo idiot." She voiced his name with a hint of disgust. "But I can manage characters like him."

"I'm certain you can," the boy laughed, the sound of his laughter so infectious that it caused Leiko to follow suit. "You've always been so bossy. I'm surprised that you let the teachers teach you and not the other way around."

"Oh, I'm not that bad," Leiko rolled her eyes, tutting quietly as she began to pick apart her velvet cake. "Anyway...this might sound a little strange to you, but have you heard anything about the recent disappearings in Warakuma?"

The surprise was evident on the boy's face, and he followed quickly with a small nod. "Yeah. I heard that two high school students disappeared from your school this month. They were found though, right?"

"Yeah." Leiko's teeth began to bite into her bottom lip before she continued. "One them was a senior...and the other was a member of my club. I don't know him very well or anything but..." She broke off her sentence with a solemn shake of her head. "It's starting to bother me a little. I haven't told any of my friends or anything but...I have a terrible feeling that it's not going to stop."

"Leiko." The boy uttered her name with the utmost sincerity, akin to that of an older brother. "It's going to be fine. Just promise me that you'll take care of yourself...and don't put yourself in harm's way, alright? Try not to walk home alone if you can help it. At least until the police find out what's happening."

A sudden warmth enveloped Leiko's hand as the boy placed his over hers, and Leiko's worried frown immediately melted away into an easy smile. "Don't worry Rin. I'll be fine."

---

Saya Ueno: Warakuma High: Class 2-1 - Archery Range

Saya was in an undeniably good mood that day, so much so that even her closest friends had commented on her unusual glow. She sailed through the day with a cheery smile and an uncharacteristic enthusiasm for the day ahead as she worked diligently and laughed with her fellow classmates without a care. Only a few could really guess the real reason for her high, (and that reason beginning with a capital R), and it wasn't until the bell rang for the beginning of clubs that Saya began to show signs of deflating.

"What's the matter Saya-chan? I thought you were dosed up on the love bug." One of her friends grinned at her as Saya began to gather her things with a slight frown. "Shouldn't you be excited about seeing your special someone?"

"Can you be quiet?" Saya moaned self-consciously, eyes fluttering strangely to the door as a blush painted her cheeks. "I'm kinda nervous about Archery right now actually. I didn't go on Friday...and I haven't really practiced or anything since I had that mad moment of luck..." Should she bail again? It wouldn't look particularly good for her if she did, but making a fool of herself seemed worse too...

"Well, you can always come shopping with us instead?" Her friend suggested sympathetically, but that only caused Saya to remember that she had barely any money left after her outing with Rokoru the day before. Not only had she splurged on more clothes than she could fit in her room, but she had treated him to the occassional snack and beverage, if only to help him tolerate the trip. If she spent any more any time soon, she would have to start working more regularly at her parents' place, and Saya felt like she had little free time as it stood.

"No, it's fine. I'll suck it up and go," Saya shot her friend a weary smile and a thumbs up. "Wish me luck!"

---

When Saya arrived at the range, she couldn't help but notice that some of the seniors were starting some kind of tournament amongst themselves, albeit with a more laidback feeling than the one that was held the previous Wednesday. Having had her fair share of such excitement, the girl walked over to the lockers to retrieve her equipment before finding a good spot to practice. Deciding on her usual lane (hey, familiarity was good, right?), she picked a bow from her quiver and assumed her shooting stance, making an extra effort to beat down her nerves and stop looking so darn worried about shooting a target. Just as she pulled the string taut however, she noticed her neighbour land a clean, impressive hit on their own target. Letting out a low whistle at the impressive shot, Saya looked over to compliment the person in an attempt to become more friendly with her clubmates. "Wow, that was really good. How did you get it to go so straight like that, umm...?"

It took Saya a moment too late to realize who she was speaking to as she finally caught the face of her neighbour. Oh. Oh no.

Akira.

"Ahh...umm..." Crap. Crap crap crap crap cra- "Yeah! That wasn't bad, Kiragakure-san," she laughed unsettingly, before sharply looking away and desperately focusing herself back on, well, anything.

Toma Tanaka - April 14th, Late Evening

Toma sat in his room, at his desk, papers and pencil shavings scattered in front of him messily. He leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his soda as he looked out his window. He paused for a moment, staring at his reflection. The bruise on his upper-cheek was still there, of course. The boy briefly wondered how long it would take for it to disappear.

Hunching back over the desk, he decided that it didn't really matter. At least not as much as his right wrist, which was now wrapped up in compression-bandages.

With a stubborn frown, he picked up his pencil again with his left hand. Putting the tip to paper, he fought to answer the next math question, his hand refusing to cooperate with him. It was a simple question, but it took him a full minute to get his answer down.

Sitting back, he stared at his writing. It looked like it belonged to a three-year-old who was missing its thumbs. With an exasperated sigh, he tossed the pencil across the room and sunk into his chair, hand running through his hair.

As Toma eyed the paper, his door was knocked on. He looked over, to see his father standing at the doorway. Toma, tired from Track club, immediately felt himself waken, and he sat up, an uncertain look on his face. It wasn't often that his father left his workroom, and it was even more uncommon for him to come up to Toma's room -- when he had something to say, he always said it during supper.

"Hey, Toma. Do you have a minute?" the man said with something of a sheepish smile, though it wasn't very noticeable.

"Um, sure," Toma said, turning around in his seat to face his father better. "What's wrong?" He stared at his father's face, and was surprised with what he saw. The usually stone-faced man looked as his son often did -- disheveled and tired.

"Good," he said with a small smile. "I promise I won't take too much of your time." He stepped further into the room, scratching the back of his neck. "I, uh... are you okay? Your cheek, I mean."

Toma was somewhat in shock, seeing his normally unwavering father acting like this. The question snapped him out of his stupor. "Oh, yeah, no, it's fine. It only hurts a bit when I touch it. And smile, I guess."

His father gave a small, forced laugh. "That's good." He paused again, looking like he had a weight on his shoulders. "I... I wanted to say sorry. For hitting you."

The boy's eyes widened as he realized that his father felt guilty; even enough to cause him to lose sleep, by the looks of it. Toma had put both of his parents through hell because of his own idiocy. He quickly pushed himself off of his chair and hugged his father tightly.

"Don't worry about it," he said with a laugh. "You shouldn't be sorry about disciplining your kid when he acts like an ass. It's fine." He let go and stepped back, a reassuring smile on his face.

His father gave a frown. "It's not fine. I shouldn't have hit you. I--"

Toma cut him off. "You live and you learn then, I guess. No use in spending all your time thinking about the past, right?" He gave his father a bright smile.

The man opened his mouth to respond, but thought twice and returned a small, relieved smile. "Okay, I'll let you get back to work then." He paused. "I love you, Toma."

"Love you too," Toma answered. As his father walked out of the room, he didn't look as tired.

What the hell? Why had his father done the apologizing and he the forgiving? Senseless.

As Toma closed the door, he felt anger well up inside him. He wanted to break something, preferably himself. He had to be better.

Throwing a tantrum wouldn't do anything, so he picked up his thrown pencil and sat back down, ready to continue struggling with his left hand.

---

April 20th, After School

Harvester had turned up after being missing for a few days. While Toma hadn't felt as desperate to find the boy whom he had never met nor seen as he had with Noboru, he still did a bit of searching. It was nice to know the guy was okay.

More worrisome was the fact that two similar apparent kidnappings had happened in a short span of time. The circumstances surrounding both the disappearances and reappearances were equally mysterious. The whole thing had Toma's attention.

But for now, there was one other, slightly more pressing issue: Golden Week. A full week of no school. Toma was already having trouble keeping busy. If he didn't figure things out quickly, this next week would be downright awful. It's not like he had a ton of friends here that he could make plans with -- beyond Aiko, it was hard to call anyone else anything more than acquaintances. It wasn't exactly how he had hoped the new school year to begin. Had he not been friendly and open enough? Maybe. He had been sort of quiet and broody the past several days.

Something to work on and fix, then.

Another thing to work on: finding a job. That was getting desperate. Toma was running stupidly low on money, lower than he had ever been since his first paycheck several years ago. And of course, working would be a good way to spend Golden Week.

So Toma found himself wandering around Warakuma again, walking into stores and politely asking if there were any job openings.

A dozen 'no''s later, the boy found himself standing outside of a small convenience store, a cold soft drink in his left hand. He held the can up and pressed it against the bruise on his cheek, giving a little sigh from both the cold and exasperation. The bruise had begun yellowing out, and would be gone completely soon enough. His wrist, however, was a little worse off than that. He still couldn't move it. Clearly he had done worse than simply sprain it, as he had originally thought.

With only his left hand, Toma nimbly cracked the drink open, and took a sip. That was the one advantage of not being able to use his good hand: he was getting fairly adept at using his left. He certainly wasn't ambidextrous, but being forced to use his weak hand for almost a full weak now, he found it cool that he could see an improvement.

The boy's phone vibrated in his pocket, causing him to put his drink down and fish it out. A text from another male in his class, with pictures attached. He opened them.

What.

An... interesting scene. Toma's first thought was that this probably wasn't something that he would want to show to others, had he been one of the four people depicted, but... it looked like the shirtless Noboru and the other boy were... striking poses? Which implied they weren't too embarrassed by the mob surrounding them. So maybe they were okay with the pictures being sent around?

Toma sent the compromising photos to Aiko. "is this something he usually does" was the message.

'Phew... A few minutes later, I certainly would have been marked late.' Shizuka stood at the front of the cosplay cafe she was currently working for as some sort of a welcoming maid to the customers, as well as an advertiser for anyone who seemed to hold interest for the cafe. By this time, the blood that dripped from the earlier incident was starting to dry and thankfully, the recent theme for the cafe was maids with guns. Bloody maid uniform would stand out in normal occasions but the blonde was instead praised by how much enthusiasm she had for the theme. A plastic replica of a rifle was cradled in her arms to finish her costume.

"Welcome home, maste-- Oh! I-It's you from earlier!" The practiced lively greeting was abruptly interrupted when she recognized who approached the bloodied maid. It was the boy who was posing with Noboru earlier. Shizuka hadn't caught his name but the two faces responsible for the bloodied maid outfit were etched onto her memory, at least for the next couple of days. "How would you rate that performance?" The deep blue eyes (from the contact lenses) blinked in surprise, of all things the male could have said, he had to say something to remind the poor girl of her embarrassing moment just minutes ago.

"Um... I-If it could cause me to erm... e-embarrass myself in such a way, I could say it was unique and we-well... delightful? It was certainly memorable, I would like to add. And.... familiar? I must've seen it in an anime but I couldn't quite put my finger on it." One could tell by the tone of her voice and how she spoke that she was awkward and unsure about her response as she gripped onto her rifle tight within her arms.

Her reaction was priceless, it was kind of adorable, but she looked like she was going to burst. He changed the topic, he didn't know there was a cosplay cafe here, it was likely new.

"Anyways... My name is Rui Shinichi, I'm a second year at Warakuma High", he introduced himself.

"I didn't know there was a maid cafe here though... Do you work here?", she definitely did, she was holding all the hints, but he wanted to get the talk in another direction. So did she maybe. The theme today looked like maids with guns... A fairly normal thing, but impressive considering there were very few stores around here that offered good replicas or toy guns.

As the male student introduced himself, Shizuka politely curtsied, with one of her arms while the other held onto the rifle, before introducing her own self. "I'm referred to as 'Shizu-chan' in my line of work and yes, I currently serve as a waitress here. Would you perhaps be interested in a cup of freshly brewed tea, master?" She flashed the signature smile shared among dozens of maid outfitted waitresses but that did not necessarily mean it lacked sincerity. While a portion of them were forced to be such, Shizuka chose to be here out of her own interests. That aside, seeing as Rui approached her while at work, it didn't stop her from advertising the cafe. But she was to be cautious the next time she saw him in school as the average Shizuka if she wished to keep her identity from anyone.

"Ah, it is not specifically a maid cafe but a cosplay cafe. You've just happened to stumble here at a maid and butler theme week, master. That is correct, it had just been recently made, about a couple of weeks ago. Being a neighbor of our capital city, Tokyo, certainly has its perks." This was indeed convenient for Shizuka here, being able to interact with her fellow "otakus" outside of the rare conventions being held in Warakuma. Working in Tokyo could have been a possibility but an unreasonable one at that, seeing as she was still a student and there was distance to be accounted for.

Akira Kirigakure // Warakuma High // After School // Archery Range
Monday, April 20th, 2015

Keeping his focus completely on the target and toning everything else out, Akira fired one shot after another like a machine. That was, until he heard a sound next to him that snapped him back to reality. Amusingly enough it was Saya Ueno, who didn't seem to realize it was him, of course that's based on her previous interactions with him. Though, this would be proven true as she fell back on the usual routine.

With a chuckle, "Practice, and lots of it. If you're serious about it, that is." And not just trying to impress someone, well, even that can be used as motivation to improve. Though, it doesn't concern me. With a deep breathe, he loaded another arrow, pulled back and fired another bullseye before lowering the bow. "Taking a deep breathe doesn't hurt. Need to find a way to relax yourself or you might end up shooting someone instead of the target with as nervous as you look." he laughed.

Rui hadn't really been in his share of cafes like these, since they were always quite expensive, but seeing as he was here now... He looked around a little before responding to Shizu. She went right back into work mode after he changed the topic though, the adaptability was remarkable... This is the kind of person that was used to changing their... Sides, so to speak.

"Alright then, I guess I could use something to eat", he agreed to go in. There wasn't much else he was planning to do today. There was plenty of time left in the day, so he could check this place out before going off and idling the day away with something else. He waited to be shown into the cafe by Shizu.

Monday 20th April 2015: After School

Saya Ueno: Warakuma High- Archery Range

Saya had braced herself for Akira's scathing reply, and she was more than a little surprised that he actually provided her with a genuine, not-a-jerkass response. Well, mostly. The whole 'shooting someone' thing caught her attention but she was surprised enough not to take even a little offence. "I...see," she murmured back warily, fingers pattering away at her wooden bow as she looked over at his perfect trajectory, the arrow lodging firmly into the red dot. "You know, you shouldn't talk down to me, Number One. I'm Number Two, remember? I'm your greatest competition," she suddenly spoke with a burst of confidence, looking over at him mischievously. "Turn your back, and I might even be a better shot than you someday."

She didn't really know where all this bravado was coming from, but she really did want to fit into the club without too much conflict. As mean as Akira was at times, Saya didn't want Rokoru to think she was stirring trouble within his club on purpose. And hey, she couldn't stay a victim forever. If she wanted to become a more confident archer in the club, she needed the personality to match.

"Splendid! Please, allow me to escort you inside, master." Shizuka clasped her hands together with an upward curve upon her lips as Rui agreed to coming inside the cafe. Adjusting her hand back onto the rifle replica, the other pressed the glass door inward as a short, polite bow was given to the male student as a cue for him to enter. Upon entry, he was greeted by all of the staff, dressed in maid and butler clothes, with a "Welcome home, master!" Of course, just like the maid who had invited him inside, all of the waiters and waitresses had toy guns or replicas of their own, such as revolvers, pistols, and machine guns. To match the interior with the theme, the general appearance of the cafe gave a European aura with wooden tables and fanciful chairs, simple yet elegant wallpaper and curtains, brightly lit chandelier, and tea sets of high quality.

"Master, please take your seat wherever it appeals to you." When the dark haired male settled down on a chair, Shizuka continued as she neatly placed the menu atop his table, "Here is our menu for the week in accordance to the current theme. Please notify me once you've selected your order. Excuse me." With another short bow, the blonde quickly leaves Rui's side and towards the counter area. If Shizuka were to take down orders with the rifle replica in her arms, it'd be a nuisance so she puts the strap from the rifle onto her shoulder, slinging it at her back. Reaching into the pocket of her apron, she picks out a notepad and a pen then patiently waits for the student's order.

Alexei Dragunov: April 19, Sunday | Warakuma Mall.

After parting ways with the shy girl Alexei made his way to his sister. It wasn't hard to find her in the crowded stall since her height and his viewing angle were much different than the others. Sorting out a few things that she had intented to buy, they made their way to the counter and made the pay out. The cashier handed her another bag and called it complimentory so Alexei left it at that.

The smile on his baby sister's face was enough to allay any queries he may have had on the sudden gift. After getting a few sandpapers and few other supplies from the hardware store they went home. The spree had cost him about hundred thousand yen but he'd put it down as a time well spent.

Elena on the other hand was extremely happy with her purchase of the day. They were all set for golden week now.

His knives were getting dull and with his obstinate nature to cook for his sister he needed them in peak condition. He immediately got to work as they got home. Affixing the rougher sandpaper on the makeshift block he had made himself. The Yamagiba and Deba were his primary ones so they needed to be frighteningly sharp. The Usuba could be done later. Elena on the other hand got busy with adjusting the clothes and ironing the ones that were washed. Usually, her brother won't let her do household chores his reasoning being the time just interrupted her study time. But she had finished all the school work the day before and the extra reading was finished in the morning so she could manage helping him out even if he'd object.

The day ended smoothly as they ate dinner with their mother at the hospital and also showed her the gown and the swimwear they got her for their probable visit to the beach.

---

April 20 | After School.

The day dragged on, the classes were over. Inoue had stuff to do at home and Sagat didn't seem interested in practice so they decided to let it go. They also needed to talk with the Judo club to lend some of their used mats. Alexei's takedowns were a bit hard and though he was careful while handling Inoue, the latter still felt the hit when she got grappled. Some extra cushioning won't hurt. Already there were a few bruises on her fair skin from the usual assault she was under whenever she sparred with these two. The guys at the dojo seemed to meek to go hard on her.

Maybe they feared her trainer or just thought that she wasn't strong enough to take their hits. But she could vouch for the fact that Sagat's half serious kick was still in a different league altogether.

Alexei picked up his bag and decided to go check Manga club, maybe Akane would still be there. She usually hangs out alone. As he walked up to the club, he opened the room to find only her inside, playing on her DS.

"Oy! your roster shows much more people than they are always in here." he said in a joking tone. Dropping the bag on a nearby table.

"By the way, what did you think about MMA club, would you join?" he asked to her curiously.

"And, do you need any help with betas or backgrounds? I do a good job on those." he offered.

The interior was as he had expected, it was maids after all, despite the also-guns theme. In any case he was seated at a table, and considering this place was new... Everything was quite well-kept, and there were very few customers. That should change if they do things right though. As he was seated, he was given the menu, and he took some time to read it... There were a few new dishes to promote the new theme, it also said that these are limited time and are only for the particular theme. The rest were the cafe's standard... What should he order...?

> Hamburger with chips 900 yen
> The Bunker Buster Cake Special 1200 yen
> I'll have you (Courage +)

> I'll have y-

Knowing these cafes they probably actually were prepared for these responses and make you pay exorbitant amounts for it... Rui thought again, and considered there was enough weird for today already. He went with the Bunker Buster Cake, and a side of TaP Soda. It looked interesting.

> Bunker Buster Cake Special

"I'll have the Bunker Buster Cake, and a TaP Soda please", he answered, after what seemed like a few seconds.

When the customer seemed to have made up his mind on his choice, Shizuka returns to his side with her trusty pen and notepad on hand. "So that'll be one order of Bunker Buster Cake Special and one order of TaP Soda. Please await for your orders while we prepare them for serving. Excuse me." As she finished scribbling the orders onto the notepad, the waitress bowed once again before leaving the table to hand the paper of orders onto the pick-up counter. Since they were not too difficult of an order, the cake already been baked and just needs to be sliced and decoration final touches, they were to be served in a short while.

While preparations were being made in the kitchen, Shizuka took upon herself to entertain the male student as she was hired to do but in her case, being able to freely talk about her interests was rewarding enough. "Greetings again, master! How do you like the cafe so far? Is it comfortable and pleasing to you?" She paused to let the other respond first before continuing, "Do you happen to have any interest in anime or manga? I mean I suppose even people who don't associate themselves with such could still appreciate cafes such as this." Since she usually wasn't as chatty out of her peers or people of similar interest, Shizuka wasn't too accustomed to starting interesting conversations with strangers. Hopefully working in this sort of environment could help her earn experience to socialize more.

==~==

To anyone else observing Mako Moritomi as he trudged through town, it would seem like nothing was wrong in the world. In reality, he had to try very hard to restrain his impulse of angrily stomping his way through Warakuma after he left the school in disgust with himself. It was a bad day for practice, apparently.

No rhythm, no focus, no energy- a complete waste of time, really. He sighed- days like this came every so often, when his frustrations caught up enough with him that not even fighting could break him out of his irritations, but it was still aggravating whenever it did happen. One of the few joys he had in his young life, and his damnable temperament kept on stealing it away at the most inopportune moments.

Could be I'm just bothered by the thought of that... girl, the other day at practice. Or my reaction to it. Either way, it might do me some good to take a day off of practice. So he strolled along, looking for something to occupy his mind and his time, when he came across something in the mall he hadn't noticed before (always a pleasant surprise for the young man).

A cafe? Haven't seen this before. Is it new? Or maybe someone's just made the decor more... eye-catching? Either way, now that the building had caught his interest, it was worth checking it out for the sake of it. Perhaps it was just what he needed to get his mind off of his less pleasant thoughts. As he strolled towards it however, he began to notice that it was more of a distraction than he had initially assumed.

A cosplay cafe...? He stopped in his tracks for a moment, before a wide grin creeped across his features. How marvelous. He confidently strode the rest of the way toward the cafe, throwing the doors open with aplomb appropriate to the situation at hand.

A gun theme. Incredible. Where did they get all these wonderful replicas?

"Greetings!" he crowed in his most pleasantly bombastic voice. "How is everyone this fine day?"

She was asking about his interests. Honestly, he was and still does watch and read these kinds of things, anime and such that is. In fact he draws it regularly still, and sometimes during class. She was asking about a few things though, so he attempted to address those. Honestly the decor was a tad lacking, but that kind of thing usually enriched as a cafe was open longer, due to patrons and employees personalizing or spicing it up a little over time. Next was the uniforms and honestly this girl Shizu looked pretty nice in it. There weren't too many, as in, there were barely more than three waitresses from what he sees. Just barely.

"Yeah, everything is pretty well-kept", he responded.

"Yeah I do. When I lived in Tokyo it was a common interest for me... And still is", he could tell she was a little awkward, mostly because he's seen people in this profession in action. They usually made a personality for themselves to sell, but this girl seemed to be more raw. That wasn't an issue though, this was still a small town... Well, not for too long based on all the construction...

"How about you then?", he questioned back.

The blond maid nodded in relief, since she was the one responsible for dragging the male student into the cafe in the first place. If it were not acceptable by his standards, she would be guilty for her actions but that was not the case. What Rui said next piqued her interest as living in Tokyo sounds like an exciting experience with all the events and tourist spots for an avid anime/manga fan. Her expression lit brightly in interest as she responds, "Tokyo sounds like a wonderful city! Unfortunately, I've yet to take a visit there since my parents usually busy themselves with their work. Well, it's great to know you feel the same about the interest as well." A soft giggle escapes her lips, being glad to know there were more people of her age still into such interests than what she predicted.

"As for me, definitely! As such, I display my passion for it through cosplay, I've even learned to tailor my own costumes like the one you see before you." She made a gesture with her arm to emphasize the bloodied maid costume she wore. Just a moment after her statement ended, another maid pardons her intrusion to deliver the orders of the customer. That was certainly quicker than she had anticipated. A slice of rich, dark chocolate cake covered in camouflage patterned matcha frosting with a cute, bazooka chocolate decoration atop the cake was placed before him, along with TaP soda in a proper glass with bendy straw. To prevent herself from disturbing him from enjoying his cake, Shizuka bowed and excused herself, "I do hope you will find your cake to your taste, master. Enjoy!"

It was only a couple of minutes before the doors to the cafe threw open with an excited voice, slightly startling Shizuka to a faint flinch. The waitress settled herself down as she recited in unison with the other staff, "Welcome home, master!" Seeing as the rest of the crew were busy with the other customers at the moment, the blonde approached the new customer, "Please help yourself to a seat of your liking, master! A curve on her lips as Shizuka settled the male to a seat. Taking a quick glance upon him and she could tell he was another student from Warakuma High, the uniform being evident. Was this the new hang out spot for the Warakuma students? She shook off the silly thought and handed him a menu. "Here is our menu and as you can see, we have a number of items to match our current theme! Please take your time."