Sorry about that. It looks like Chapter 97 was missing, but I've fixed it.
Chapter 101: Maid Cafe (Long Chapter)
"Just thinking about Saki Kawasaki makes me unconsciously remember 'black lace.' I guess I really am a guy after all..."
Hachiman's expression didn't change, but his eyes narrowed slightly.
Chishima Akishin glanced at Hachiman. He lifted his bamboo sword and gave the boy a light tap on the head, frowning. "What are you thinking about? Your expression looks a little perverted."
"Nothing... I wasn't thinking about anything."
Hachiman denied it instantly. After waiting a few seconds and hearing no response from Akishin, he turned his head—only to see a fist suddenly flying toward him.
Hachiman raised his hand to catch the punch, pulling it down and pressing it away.
"Sensei, do you really have this much free time on your—"
Before Hachiman could finish his sentence, the fist he was pressing down suddenly rotated. It gripped his wrist like an eagle's claw, twisting and pushing until Hachiman's own arm was pinned against his chest. Then, that same hand balled back into a fist and stopped right at the tip of Hachiman's nose.
Everything happened in an instant. Hachiman blinked, slowly lowering the left hand he had just reflexively raised. His face paled slightly as he leaned his head back to create some distance from the fist.
Akishin withdrew his hand and flashed a broad grin. "Nice reaction, but your ability to adapt on the fly is still lacking just a bit."
Hachiman stared at the ground, taking a deep breath. Once he had calmed down, he spoke with a lingering sense of dread. "Sensei, did you do something? These past few days have been terrifying. Just now, I genuinely felt like I was going to be killed..."
"I didn't do anything. I just had a bit of a nightmare a few days ago. Don't worry, things should go back to normal in a few days." *Probably.*
It had been four days, but his aura still hadn't faded much. During these four days, Akishin hadn't gone to the training hall to fight, yet the side effects from that day refused to vanish.
This made Akishin afraid to get too close to Shizuka-chan, which left him feeling quite depressed.
Furthermore, whenever he taught his classes, the atmosphere below the podium was deathly silent. When he called on students to answer questions, those with weaker mental fortitude looked like they were on the verge of tears.
It was as if he were a Demon King!
When he asked the students why they were afraid of him, they would stammer without giving a clear reason; the bottom line was just that they were scared.
Only Hachiman, the "lucky kid" who was frequently exposed to this shroud of aura, could speak to him without being too affected—provided Akishin wasn't intentionally targeting him, of course.
Like what just happened.
Even though there was an influence, it wasn't overwhelming. No one treated Akishin like an anomaly; after all, he held the title of a Kendo champion. People simply assumed it was a natural part of his intensity and respected him even more for it.
Besides, for the students, there were things in school far more terrifying than Akishin, like the Principal or the Board of Directors.
The two of them continued drinking their coffee while looking out toward the field. After a workout, being brushed by a comfortable breeze was a pleasure akin to heaven.
There were still ten minutes before the period ended. No need to rush.
After setting down his empty coffee can, Hachiman looked up at the sky. A few clumps of white clouds floated lazily, drifting gently with the wind.
Hachiman asked in a low voice, "Sensei, what kind of thing can make a person's personality change drastically in a short amount of time?"
"Are you talking about your classmate, that Kawasaki girl?"
"Yeah. Kawasaki Taishi's request was for his older sister to go back to the way she was. He said she turned into a delinquent, always coming home at dawn and never listening to their parents..."
Hachiman narrowed his eyes, thinking back to the events of two days ago. They had already tried animal therapy and even 'love' therapy, but unfortunately, nothing worked. Today, they were preparing to ask a teacher to intervene.
Saki Kawasaki wasn't an ordinary girl. Like him, she had seen through the illusion of youth and stood upon the unglamorous foundation of reality.
According to Taishi, Saki was so diligent in middle school that she managed to get into Sobu High, and she was always kind to him. The same held true during her first year of high school, but everything changed when she entered her second year... He just wanted his sister back.
Akishin smiled and asked, "How can you be sure her personality changed drastically? There's a high chance she's coming home in the morning because of a part-time job."
"What kind of job allows a student to work until dawn...?"
"There are plenty," Akishin cut Hikigaya off. "As long as you fake your age, you can get jobs like that. Bars, hotels, and cafes—some stay open until the early hours."
Two of Akishin's four years in university in his previous life had been spent exactly like that. To make money, he worked at bars during the night.
During the day, aside from lectures and self-study, his entire time was spent sleeping. He only got four or five hours of sleep a day.
Those were incredibly difficult times. His relationship with his roommates turned sour because of it; someone even speculated if he was doing some kind of 'special' work...
Even a professor had specifically sought him out to ask what was going on.
In university, the impression he gave others was that of a weirdo.
"Hikigaya, it's very difficult to change someone's personality in a short time. There's a saying from our neighbors in China: 'Mountains and rivers are easy to change, but a person's nature is hard to move.' It means a personality rarely changes unless something happens that has a massive impact—especially something negative."
Akishin looked at Hachiman with a smile that made the boy feel a bit of a chill. "Do you understand? So you shouldn't just recklessly say someone has changed. Sometimes, it's just that you haven't seen that person clearly yet."
"So, Sensei, you think Saki Kawasaki is out working at night?"
"It's highly likely."
"...I was thinking the same thing."
Hachiman thought for a moment. Essentially, this was the only logical reason he could come up with. It wasn't like he was suspecting her of any 'inappropriate' work...
Akishin asked, "Is there anything at school lately that requires a lot of money?"
"Nothing!" Hachiman thought for a second. Indeed, there was nothing. He reaffirmed, "Nothing at all. Sobu High doesn't charge random fees, and if there were such a thing, you teachers would be the first to know."
"...True enough."
Akishin felt a bit sheepish. Aside from teaching, he rarely touched other school affairs; others didn't bother him for fear of disturbing his peace.
He asked again, "Then what about factors outside of school? What grade is Kawasaki Taishi in?"
"Third year of middle school. Same class as Komachi."
"And what are students in that grade doing? Preparing for high school entrance exams? If he wants to enroll in Sobu High, the tuition is expensive; then there's cram school... you should ask about the Kawasaki family's financial situation."
Hachiman reflected for two seconds, then said, "So Saki Kawasaki is doing this for her younger brother's cram school fees?"
"Maybe not just that."
Akishin raised his hand, pointing toward a bulletin board not far away. It was plastered with cram school enrollment posters. "If Kawasaki-san wants to go to college too, she'd have to sign up for cram school herself."
Hachiman stared at the bulletin board, then nodded. "Alright. I'll ask Taishi this afternoon."
He knew the boy was currently in class, so he planned to wait until the afternoon to ask.
Akishin patted Hachiman on the shoulder and said softly, "If you run into trouble, you can find me. I'm quite free this week. Chishimaya is temporarily closed."
"Eh! Why closed? Are you renovating?"
Hachiman knew how much Chishimaya made—Akishin had mentioned it casually while chatting—closing for a week would mean losing a lot of money.
"Not a renovation. Kondo and Kaiko asked for leave to go home this week. Without shop assistants, the shop has to close, obviously."
"Sensei, you could call me. I could even bring Zaimokuza along..."
"Forget it. I want to rest for a week too. Maybe I'll close the shop for good soon, who knows... It's dismissal time. Let's head back."
Tossing the empty coffee can into a trash bin several meters away, Akishin brushed his palms together. Carried by the gentle breeze and accompanied by the school's dismissal bell, he walked toward the school building.
3:30 PM.
Welcoming the beginning of the sunset, Akishin walked out of the school building. He saw the bulletin board and took a moment to head over and seriously look at the cram school promotions—he had never attended one himself.
"Do cram schools provide scholarships too? Is it because this one is school-managed? If the grades are good, this would suit that Kawasaki girl."
After examining the flyer carefully, Akishin smiled nonchalantly and continued walking out of the school. Many students ran past him, leaving trails of laughter behind.
Shizuka-chan still had to work overtime; she had volunteered for some extra tasks. Akishin wanted to help, but she refused, saying she didn't want to become dependent on him.
This was Shizuka-chan's pride, and it held other meanings as well. Akishin couldn't quite see them, but he respected her choice.
"Chishima-sensei."
As he was walking out of the school, Hachiman called out to him.
Akishin turned around. To his surprise, under the reddish glow of the sunset, several others stood beside Hachiman: Yui Yuigahama, Yukino Yukinoshita, Saika Totsuka, Yoshiteru Zaimokuza, and Hachiman's younger sister, Komachi—her trademark 'antenna' hair was very easy to spot—along with a boy with bluish-black hair.
His hair color matched Saki Kawasaki's; he had to be her younger brother, Taishi Kawasaki.
"What are you all doing here? Haven't finished the request yet?"
"Not yet." Hachiman stepped forward, introduced Kawasaki Taishi to Akishin, and then explained, "Kawasaki won't talk to us at all. Even though I mentioned Sensei's speculation, she wouldn't admit it and just left."
"Her younger brother was right there, and she still left?"
Akishin looked at Kawasaki Taishi. The boy took a fearful step back as Akishin stared at him—if what Hachiman said was true, Saki should care deeply about her family.
With her brother there and her lie exposed, she shouldn't have just walked away, right?
Hachiman said a bit awkwardly, "Taishi hadn't arrived yet at that moment."
Akishin looked at Yukino, who was the center of this little group. "So you're all here to..."
Yukino walked to Hachiman's side and said, "We were waiting for you, Chishima-sensei. Taishi said a strange shop called looking for Kawasaki-san. We decided to go check it out ourselves. Hikigaya-kun suggested we wait for you so we could go together."
Hachiman added in a quiet tone, "Didn't Sensei say he was very free lately? I wanted to ask for Sensei's help."
"So, the call came from a shop manager named Angel or something?"
"Correct. Then I did some investigating. Within Chiba city, shops that have 'Angel' in the name and operate until dawn... there should only be two places."
Half an hour later, in the subculture district (also dubbed Chiba's Akihabara) not far from Chiba Station, the group of five stood in front of a cafe with a pink sign featuring a cute maid that read: *Maid Coffee, Angel Inside.*
Due to time and location factors, Hachiman had sent Komachi, Taishi, and Totsuka home first.
Akishin stared at the cafe and murmured with a smile, "A Maid Cafe, huh? I've only ever heard of them. I've never actually seen one in person."
Would a maid come out and call him "Master" while blushing?
Probably, since it is a Maid Cafe... He felt a bit curious about how Shizuka-chan would look in a maid outfit... *No, don't think about that.* With Shizuka-chan's personality, she definitely wouldn't wear it, and it would be disrespectful to her.
Hachiman looked at Akishin in surprise and said, "Sensei has never been to a place like this?"
Akishin tapped Hikigaya's head and scolded, "What do you take your teacher for? It's not like I'd go to a shop like this on purpose... But since we're here, let's go in and see. Today is my treat, order whatever you want."
Then, he stepped straight inside.
Zaimokuza cheered, while Yui puffed out her cheeks while looking at Hachiman, whose face showed a hint of excitement...
Yukino Yukinoshita pointed at a job recruitment poster. "This maid shop seems to allow girls to try the 'maid experience' as well."
"..."
"Welcome back, nyan! Master, wan~!"
Akishin took all this in as he sat down, greeted by the maids. He observed the shop; the interior design leaned toward a Western style with wooden floors and crystal chandeliers on the ceiling. The dining tables were a pale pink, accompanied by high-backed chairs.
He also looked at the maids walking back and forth; wavy black skirts, white aprons, and beautiful lace along the hems and sleeves. There were black bows on their backs, and they called every customer "Master."
Being a maid was a profession that had existed since the days of social stratification, becoming widely popular during the Victorian era as a symbol of the upper class.
However, as lifestyles changed and human rights were prioritized, maid culture slowly vanished.
Then, maid enthusiasts in Japan wanted to revive the culture, but they failed.
In the early nineties, they began a revival plan in the 2D world. Initially, it didn't go smoothly because the popular themes at the time were 'younger sister' and 'lover.'
It wasn't until the late nineties that many maid-themed works appeared, causing the number of maid fans to skyrocket.
One of the representative works was *MAID in HEAVEN*.
Since then, works often featured combinations like 'Maid + Sister' or 'Maid + Childhood Friend,' creating a new generation of the maid image.
True to Japanese nature, they processed the original image and created variations; cat-eared maids or witch maids began to appear. Business boomed, and it became one of Japan's signature industries—at least half of which was related to the adult entertainment industry.
The Maid Cafe before his eyes was a mix of cat-ear maid costumes and regular maid costumes. It seemed like a respectable place.
If it wasn't respectable, Akishin would have immediately taken Hachiman and the others away and given Zaimokuza a thrashing—this place was Zaimokuza's recommendation, after all.
Before long, Hachiman and Zaimokuza also came in and sat with Akishin.
A maid wearing cat ears and red-rimmed glasses brought over the menu. It was filled with hand-written dish names that screamed 'teenage girl,' like "Nyam-nyam~ Delicious Omurice," "White Curry☆," "Cute Cake♪," and the like...
Besides the general menu, there were additional services like "Moe-moe Rock-Paper-Scissors," "Commemorative Photo," "Sobu Line Game," and other options.
*Wait, why do you have to pay to play Rock-Paper-Scissors with a maid? Is this place still living in the bubble economy era?*
Hachiman wanted to criticize it, but since Akishin was treating, he simply ordered three Cappuccinos—one for each of them.
"Master, thank you for waiting so long."
Soon, three Cappuccinos were delivered.
"If Master wishes, we can draw a pattern like a little kitty on your Cappuccino. Would you like that?"
"No thanks."
Hachiman immediately rejected the maid's suggestion. Zaimokuza seemed to crave it, but his water glass was shaking...
Even though the extra service was rejected, the maid didn't show the slightest hint of annoyance. She maintained her beautiful smile and said, "Understood, Master. Please wait a moment, okay? ♪"
A true professional. Every movement was brisk, competent, and full of energy, making people feel quite comfortable.
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