Tokyo, Ginza 4-Chome Intersection
"So where are we going now?"
Chisa looked at Iori, puzzled. She still didn't really know what they came here for.
She only came because her old man said, "Young people should get out more."
"Are we looking for Kamishiro or Nanaka-san?"
Aina asked too, though her eyes hadn't left the trendy stores around — clearly she was itching to shop.
"Nope, this time we're splitting up!"
"Splitting up?"
"Yup! Everyone probably has places they want to see. So let's go our separate ways!
I already messaged Nanaka-san, we'll regroup in the evening."
Iori explained like a thoughtful older brother from the neighborhood, always thinking about the group.
However...
(???)
Aina and Chisa didn't believe him at all!
"Stop acting like you're some considerate older brother — you don't even have that character trait."
"What are you two hiding from us?"
"You two are being really rude! At least believe me a little! Kohei, back me up here!"
Iori called on his feral hound for help!
...Except this "feral hound" was clearly just socially anxious.
"So many people so many people so many people…"
"..."
Iori fell silent and shoved the "hound" back behind him. Seems like his condition had worsened.
Wasn't the school festival even more crowded than this?
And next time, when your social anxiety spikes, could you not stare at the maid on the sidewalk?
They're all bad news — just looking to scam you out of money!
Of course, if you're like Iori and already broke, then there's nothing to scam.
As long as he stayed poor, no one could take his money!
Kamishiro Shiro was the exception.
"Ahem, don't ask about it. It's a guy thing."
"A guy thing?"
Hearing this, Aina couldn't help but think of a certain iconic Tokyo location.
"You're planning to go to Kabukicho, aren't you?!"
!!!
Even someone as innocent as Chisa knew what kind of place Kabukicho was.
Instantly, her eyes toward Iori were full of contempt — more disgust than if she'd seen a cockroach.
Even passing pedestrians gave them a "I get you, bro" kind of look.
"Of course not! Your minds are seriously full of trash!"
Realizing the attention, Iori roared in frustration. He'd only been thinking about messing with Kamishiro — not this kind of thing!
But now that she mentioned it…
He was kinda tempted.
But the real problem was...
He had no money!
The pay from his part-time job barely covered the round-trip ticket here.
(╥_╥)
"It's your fault we assumed this — look at how you usually act…"
Seeing Iori's frustration, Aina realized she'd misunderstood and blushed as she quietly explained herself.
"So if not that, then what exactly is this 'guy thing'?"
Back to the original question. Out of excuses, Iori had no choice but to come clean.
"Sigh…"
He slumped his shoulders.
"Okay fine, Kohei and I are here to find Kamishiro and squeeze some cash out of him."
"Kamishiro?"
"Isn't he with Nanaka-san?"
The girls were confused. They came to Tokyo because they heard Kamishiro and Nanaka-san were off on a trip together. Weren't they?
"I asked Nanaka-san already. Kamishiro said he had to go work."
If the two were still together, Iori would've already stormed over to where Nanaka-san was. He wouldn't be lost in Ginza right now.
He went off for work?
The girls gave Iori a strange look — suddenly realizing the vast difference between people.
Some people are already financially independent at 20, coming to Tokyo for work.
Others are 20, drowning in debt, cut off from their family allowance, and shamelessly trying to extort the independent one.
(?°?д°?)
"You guys are looking at me like I'm trash again!"
Iori felt completely judged. He's the normal one here, okay!? Kamishiro's the rare exception!
(;?＿?)
To protect his fragile little ego, Chisa and Aina averted their eyes.
"So you're trying to squeeze Kamishiro just because he's loaded?"
"Of course not!" Iori suddenly became extremely animated.
"He's probably out there flirting with girls right now — maybe even in a love hotel!
Just thinking about how I helped him fix his relationship problems back in the shop, and now he's out there living it up… it makes me want to kill him!"
"..."
Seeing this idiot with bloodshot eyes and pitiful energy, Chisa and Aina got curious — what kind of job did he have?
They kinda wanted to go check out his workplace now.
But if what he said was true… they could kinda understand.
It's just...
"How do you know Kamishiro would actually give you money?"
After all this time, even they knew Kamishiro was stingy.
Trying to extort money from him? Might as well rob a bank.
"Oh, that."
As Kamishiro's childhood friend, Iori knew what kind of person he was — but he had a plan!
He casually took out his phone while explaining:
"When I was talking with Sakurako-sama, I learned about their high school forum."
"Wait! Why are you calling her Sakurako-sama!?"
Aina immediately spotted the red flag.
(.;゜;:益:;゜;.)
Iori realized he slipped up.
Crap! He said it too naturally!
In a panic, he waved his phone, "Ahaha… you misheard. I meant Busujima. Let's keep looking at this forum!"
Aina stared at Iori suspiciously.
What kind of job was this idiot doing?
She felt like she had to start being wary of this Busujima — what if she was another Kamishiro-style playboy girl?
Crisis mode: activated.
Damn it, Iori… you're just some random guy!
Luckily, Iori quickly changed the subject and everyone's attention returned to his phone.
There, on A Certain High School forum, a pinned post read:
"The biggest scumbag in our school's history: Kamishiro Shiro!"
The post strongly condemned Kamishiro's outrageous behavior and negative influence during high school.
Even the attached photo was in black-and-white...
The comment section was a flood of curses — even the few defenses were drowned out by the sheer volume of hate.
All were boys and girls who had been hurt by Kamishiro~
For the first time, the group had a clear picture of Kamishiro's high school life.
Boys in their adolescence, helplessly watching their goddesses fall into the arms of a scumbag.
Girls who gave their youth away, only to be ditched when he found someone new.
After reading it, they all felt like Kamishiro deserved to be put on a guillotine.
It was hard to imagine how he even survived high school — modern society must have saved him.
Aina was seriously considering warning Kiyoko.
There's no way she could handle someone like that.
Damn, this guy was a mega player.
This is what they call the "Hundred Kill Conquest" — absolutely terrifying.
"Well? What do you think?"
"Damn it!"
"Straight to the gallows!"
"Draw and quarter him, definitely!"
With the group fully on board, Iori's face lit up with a dangerous smile,
"What do you think — if I threaten him using his current address, will I succeed in extorting him?"
Chisa and the others glanced at the forum post.
Even though it had been over six months, people were still commenting.
"Totally doable!"
"Then why don't you just sell his address directly?"
Chisa, who for once had her brain switched on, suddenly raised a sharp question:
"If everyone hates Kamishiro that much, wouldn't just selling his address be worth a ton of money? No need to resort to threats."
"Yeah, right? If we all pool together, we could probably get a lot!" Aina, now enlightened, also felt that this approach might be more effective than blackmailing that stingy miser.
(???)
Iori fell silent. As a scumbag, of course this idea had crossed his mind right away—and he had even tried it.
But...
He silently opened another forum thread.
"Don't accept bounties! Absolutely DO NOT accept bounties! Any reward-based thread might be a trap set by that bastard Kamishiro Shiro!"
The post thoroughly detailed how Kamishiro had orchestrated a fake bounty scenario and scammed them out of 100,000 yen.
"..."
At that moment, they once again marveled at Kamishiro Shiro's uncanny survivability.
"Then there's only one question left!"
Kohei, whose bloodlust toward Kamishiro now exceeded his social anxiety, had a glint of red rage in his eyes.
Just imagining Kamishiro being surrounded by so many high school girls—and the thought that this scumbag might have started that lifestyle back in middle school—was enough to send him into a spiral of darkness.
"How do we find that scumbag?!"
Exactly.
Tokyo is huge. The four of them could search for days and still not find Kamishiro.
At this moment, everyone's gaze instinctively fell upon their team's scheming mastermind.
"Hmph, don't worry!"
Living up to his title, the devious Iori already had a plan!
He grabbed his phone and, with suspicious ease, made a new forum post:
"Shocking! Scumbag Kamishiro Shiro spotted on the streets of Tokyo—rumored to be checking into a love hotel with his girlfriend?!"
The moment this post was published, it blew up like a wild stallion, galloping straight into the trending list—
"Tokyo F4 Leader: Is this for real? Or is that bastard Kamishiro fishing again?"
"Toma Doesn't Want Bad Luck Today: Probably real, since it's not a paid post."
"I'll Always Love Loli Komoe-sensei!: Who cares if it's real or not, it's the weekend—let's hunt!"
"Komoe-sensei: That's rude! (╥_╥)"
"High School Godfather: I'm checking every love hotel now—Kamishiro must DIE! (???皿??)??3??"
"Future Diary: DM me if you find him—there's a reward!"
"Need a Rental Girlfriend? DM me—black stockings pics as a bonus!"
"Little Loner: Huh? What's going on?!"
"Yamanaka Sawako: No gatekeeping, folks! If you find him, announce it here!"
"Understood, Ms. Yamanaka!"
"Let's move!"
"He actually dared to come back to Tokyo?! That bastard's dead meat this time!"
…
Watching the post explode with replies, Iori nodded in satisfaction. "See? We don't even have to look for him ourselves."
Chiaki and the others gave him a big thumbs-up. When it came to scheming, no one topped Iori. If Kamishiro ever found out about this, he'd definitely come to kill him.
Well, if Kamishiro could even survive, that is.
Meanwhile…
Completely unaware that he'd become the target of a battle royale, Kamishiro Shiro was leisurely strolling through the crossroads of life—
Thinking about where to go next.
That Anteiku coffee shop was a no-go—if he went there, he'd be spotted by Hanabi for sure.
The safest option would be to crash at an old friend's place.
But…
He didn't really have friends like that.
Only "friends" like Kiyoko Kamio, with overly close relationships... but after half a year of no contact, suddenly showing up because of this? That would be a bad idea.
He didn't want to escape the tiger's jaws only to fall into the wolf's den.
Just as he was wandering aimlessly, he spotted a café named STILE.
The name wasn't particularly special—but the sign outside was:
"Maids of every archetype available!"
A knowing smirk instantly spread across Kamishiro's face.
(λ?_??)
So cafés were this competitive now, huh? A simple maid café wasn't enough anymore—they had to cater to every kink.
Time to evaluate how qualified their "archetypes" really were.
With a critic's gaze, Kamishiro stepped into this clearly less-than-reputable café—