By the time the members of the Light Music Club left the recording studio, it was already past noon.
Mio had gone through countless takes while recording the vocals, but that was only to be expected. Fortunately, they had managed to finish successfully in the end.
After leaving the studio and heading downstairs, Sato bought some drinks and handed them out.
"You worked hard, Mio."
He gave her a can of orange juice. Mio accepted it and softly thanked him.
"Ah, I'm so hungry..."
Yui groaned weakly as she trailed along beside them.
Hearing that, Sato took out his phone and checked the time. It was already two in the afternoon.
They had arrived in the morning and still hadn't eaten lunch.
He himself wasn't particularly bothered, but everyone else was clearly getting hungry.
There weren't many places around Hanamachi that he knew well. The only one he was really familiar with was...
...
"Welcome home, Master!"
At the Meru Maid Café, Sato led the way inside, followed by the bright-eyed members of the Light Music Club.
"Amazing! So this is the legendary maid café?"
"Wow! Everyone looks so cute!"
"But... why is Nohara-kun so familiar with this place?"
Suddenly, Kotobuki Tsumugi's question drew everyone's attention back to Sato. Several pairs of beautiful eyes fixed on him.
With a completely natural expression, Sato replied,
"Because I come here all the time."
"Tch."
Ritsu clicked her tongue in disappointment.
If Sato had denied it, that would have been much more interesting.
The more he denied it, the more excited she would have been.
The maid serving them had a round face. Since he had visited so often, Sato found her vaguely familiar.
She recognized him as well.
However, the moment she saw Sato walk in with yet another group of girls, she froze.
T... These are another group I've never seen before!
The way she looked at him instantly changed, as if she were staring at a scumbag.
Still, maintaining her professional smile, she said,
"This way, Master."
After they were seated, Sato accepted the menu from the round-faced maid and handed it to Ritsu.
"Go ahead and order. This place mainly serves coffee and desserts. There aren't many full meals, just things like omelet rice. But this is the only place around here that I really know."
Sato sat across from Ritsu by the window. Mio sat beside him, while Nakano Azusa took the seat closest to the aisle.
Across from them sat Ritsu, Yui, and Tsumugi.
The three of them huddled together over the menu, chattering excitedly for quite a while before finally making their choices.
"I'll have the omelet rice and a lemon cake."
"I'll have spaghetti and German sausages."
"Curry rice and a strawberry parfait!"
The round-faced maid hurriedly wrote everything down, silently complaining to herself.
So they actually came here just to eat?
Still... what exactly was the relationship between this boy and all these girls?
She couldn't help feeling curious. After all, while working here, she had seen this young man come in several times, each time with different girls.
It didn't take long before everyone finished ordering.
Sato looked around the café before stopping the round-faced maid.
"Is Gabriel not here today?"
"Hm?"
"Master, you know Gabriel?"
"Yeah. You could say we're neighbors."
The maid nodded in understanding.
"I see... But Gabriel skipped work today."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
After she left, Sato fell into thought.
Gabriel had actually skipped work.
Did that mean she'd somehow gotten rich again?
Then he suddenly remembered.
During spring break, Gabriel had gone back to Heaven. Electronics were prohibited there, so she probably hadn't been able to use a computer or anything like that over the holiday.
That meant she hadn't spent any money on gacha, so naturally she wasn't short on cash right now.
But after slacking off for so many days, her room must have become an absolute disaster.
Which meant...
He could probably recruit another free laborer.
Thinking of that, Sato couldn't help smiling.
When he came back to his senses, he realized the girls were all staring at him.
He coughed awkwardly.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"That smile you had just now was terrifying!"
"Sato, you were definitely thinking about something awful, weren't you?"
"It kind of gave me chills."
The girls all chimed in one after another.
Naturally, Sato denied it outright.
"I wasn't, I didn't, don't make things up!"
None of them believed him.
Before long, the food they had ordered began arriving. Several maids carried trays over one after another.
When the last person approached, Sato suddenly heard an exclamation.
"Nohara-kun?"
He looked up and saw Minami Kotori.
What puzzled him, however, was the expression on her face.
At that moment, Kotori was looking at him with undisguised delight, leaving him completely baffled.
What was going on?
Was she really that happy to see me?!
Sato didn't deny that he had a bit of charm, but he certainly didn't think he had the same effect on girls that catnip had on cats.
There was obviously something strange about Kotori's reaction.
"Minami-san, is something the matter?" he asked, looking at her in confusion.
Everyone else also stopped what they were doing and looked back and forth between the two, wondering what kind of relationship they had.
Kotori turned around and quietly said a few words to the other maids who had stopped walking.
The maids looked at the pair suspiciously before slowly leaving, repeatedly glancing back while whispering among themselves about what their relationship might be.
Kotori took a few deep breaths, finally managing to compose herself.
The girls from the Light Music Club stared at her with wide, blinking eyes, the curiosity on their faces completely undisguised.
Kotori suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Lowering her head slightly, she asked softly,
"Could we talk over there?"
"Huh? Sure."
Sato paused for a moment before nodding. He stood up and followed Kotori to a quiet corner.
As soon as the two of them left, the girls from the Light Music Club immediately began chatting excitedly.
"Who is she?"
"Does that even matter? What's important is what they're doing!"
"Senpai, are you saying this is... a confession?!"
"Hehe. Who knows?"
The group enthusiastically speculated among themselves.
Only Mio looked absentmindedly in the direction the two had gone before suddenly lowering her gaze to look at her own hand.