>25< The Maid Café

Chapter 25: The Maid Café

After arriving in Akihabara, Zaimokuza decided to find a place to eat, since it was already noon. Naturally, he opted for a maid café, as it was one of the highlights of the area.

After browsing around, he settled on a maid café named "Chayu." Upon entering, he was greeted by a scene filled with various beautiful maids serving customers, all dressed in their picturesque uniforms.

"Welcome, Master!" a gentle voice called out to him from the front.

A petite girl with purple hair styled in twin braided pigtails greeted him.

Zaimokuza looked at the girl, studying her closely, as if he recognized her from somewhere.

Although the purple-haired maid considered this new customer quite handsome, she felt it was rude for him to stare at her for too long. A slight vein throbbed on her forehead, but as a maid, she maintained her composure and smiled warmly.

"Um, could you please stop staring at me?" she asked gently.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Zaimokuza averted his gaze and scratched his head. "Ah, I'm really sorry! You just look like a senior from my school."

The purple-haired girl panicked a little; if her schoolmates found out that she was working in a maid café and reported it back to their school, it could create quite the problem.

"What are you talking about? That's a bit unclear," she stammered, averting her gaze as if avoiding eye contact would keep her safe.

Seeing her flustered reaction brought a smile to Zaimokuza's face, and he continued, "Ah, I remembered! You're Asumi Kominami, the senior from the Electronic Music Club, right? I saw your performance at the opening ceremony in the gym; you're really skilled at playing the electric guitar!"

Asumi froze, realizing she had been recognized.

"Wha—? So, you're a first-year student this year! You should be using respectful language with me, you little brat!" she exclaimed, clearly flustered, trying to divert the topic with a forced tone.

Seeing her reaction, Zaimokuza couldn't help but smile mischievously.

"I'm here to eat, of course! Since I'm the one dining, I should be treated as a guest. So, Kominami-senpai, you should call me 'Master,' okay?"

Zaimokuza's teasing tone made Asumi flush with irritation.

"W-What? Are you trying to tease me, you underclassman?"

"Absolutely," Zaimokuza replied without hesitation, much to Asumi's annoyance.

At that moment, a dark-haired maid approached, her black eyes shining with curiosity. "Asumi-chan, what's going on?"

"Oh, manager, it's nothing really!" Asumi quickly replied, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

"In that case, make sure to take good care of this customer," the dark-haired manager said, smiling at Asumi.

With a twitch at the corner of her mouth, Asumi responded, "Yes, manager. I understand." She shot a glare at Zaimokuza, who was still smirking.

After showing Zaimokuza to a table, she asked, "So, what's your name? I'll make sure to remember you this time."

Setting down the menu, Zaimokuza took a moment to glance at Asumi. "Oh, I'm Zaimokuza Yoshiteru, a first-year high school student. By the way, Kominami-senpai, you look really cute in that maid uniform."

Asumi blushed at the compliment but tried to act nonchalant. "Hmph, even if you compliment me, you won't get off scot-free for teasing me."

Zaimokuza chuckled at the feisty demeanor of the small maid. "So, do you have any good recommendations for food?"

"I'd recommend the 'Heart-shaped Omurice,' how about that?"

"The heart-shaped fried rice where the maids write with ketchup?"

"Looks like you know your stuff! Do you often visit maid cafés?"

"Nah, I learned about it from anime. This is actually my first time in a maid café."

"I see! Is there anything else you would like to drink?"

"I'll have a glass of orange juice."

"Got it! I'll get that for you." She jotted down his order, ready to head to the kitchen when Zaimokuza teased her again, "Oh, Kominami-senpai, aren't you supposed to say 'Please wait a moment, Master?'" He pointed at a nearby maid, who had just finished taking another customer's order and said, "Please wait, Master."

Asumi turned bright red and snapped, "I know, I know! Please wait a moment, Master. Ugh!" With that, she dashed toward the kitchen like a whirlwind.

Zaimokuza chuckled at the scene, shaking his head as he pulled out his phone and began scrolling.

A little while later, commotion erupted from a nearby table.

A blonde maid with twin ponytails angrily said, "Sir, please delete that photo! Our café does not allow photography."

The hefty man, unfazed, responded, "What's the big deal? It's just a photo; I'm not going to lose any weight over it."

The blonde maid glared at him furiously, clearly drawing the attention of other customers in the café.

Soon after, the dark-haired manager came over, asking, "What's going on?"

"This customer took a sneak photo of me, and from beneath my skirt!" the blonde maid exclaimed, her distress evident.

It was clear that if the hefty man had just taken a simple picture, she wouldn't have reacted that strongly. But it seemed like he had crossed a serious line.

The dark-haired manager quickly grasped the situation and said sternly, "We cannot tolerate that kind of behavior here."

"I'm sorry, sir, but could you please delete that photo? It's a matter of personal privacy," the maid said politely.

The hefty man, clearly irritated, shot back, "It's just a photo. What's the big deal? I'm a paying customer, so watch out or I'll file a complaint against you!"

"However, sir, the photo you took is clearly problematic," she replied firmly.

"What's the problem? Aren't we here to enjoy good service and look at beautiful girls? It was just a snapshot, and now you all are making a fuss about it!" He attempted to rally other customers to his side to dissuade the café staff from taking action.

"Yeah, it's just a picture. What's the harm? Don't disrupt our meal!" Some uninformed patrons nodded in agreement with him.

Just then, Asumi emerged from the kitchen. Seeing the commotion, she turned to the short-haired, light-brown girl beside her and asked, "Senpai, what's going on?"

The girl explained the situation to Asumi. Upon hearing it, Asumi's anger flared up, and she started to step forward to intervene, but someone pulled her back.

"Asumi-chan, don't go over there. Isn't it chaotic enough already?"

"But... But..." Asumi hesitated, unsure of what to do.

As the girls looked on with concern at the overweight man, a sigh broke through the tension.

"Ugh, all I wanted to do was have a meal. Why do I keep running into situations like this?"

The others instinctively turned to the source of the voice and saw a silver-haired young man rising from his seat and walking toward the commotion.

The hefty man noticed and sneered, "Who are you? Mind your own business!"

Zaimokuza silently moved in front of him, and the oppressive atmosphere from him made the man hesitate.

Before the man could hurl another insult, Zaimokuza abruptly snatched the man's phone from his hand. As the hefty man opened his mouth to protest, he was met with the sight of Zaimokuza effortlessly crushing the phone in his grip. The man's expression went from hostility to shock, leaving him unable to speak.

The surrounding guests gaped in astonishment at Zaimokuza.

Zaimokuza tossed the shattered phone onto the table and then reached into his pocket, pulling out a wad of bills. He tossed the bundle of money at the hefty man's face, saying, "Here, this should cover your losses. I'd say it's enough to buy you a few new phones."

The bills scattered about, floating to the ground like autumn leaves. The man's face darkened as he glared at Zaimokuza.

The café staff watched anxiously, with Asumi wanting to step in and pull Zaimokuza away, but bystanders held her back.

"What? Is that not enough for you?"

The hefty man growled, now enraged. He swung a fist at Zaimokuza, prompting the girls in the café to cover their eyes and scream.

However, the anticipated impact never came. Zaimokuza had caught the man's fist in his hand, looking annoyed as he said, "I told you to just take the money and leave! Why do you insist on making things worse for yourself?"

With that, he increased the pressure on the man's hand, causing it to hurt severely, drawing a similar howl of pain from him as the previous thug.

"I'm sorry! I was wrong! I'll just take the money and go! Please!" The man pleaded, his cries echoing the earlier thug's cries.

Hearing this, Zaimokuza finally let go of his hand. The hefty man, now dazed and desperate, scrambled to pick up the scattered bills and bolted out of the café in embarrassment.

Zaimokuza returned to his seat just as Asumi darted over, her expression filled with concern.

"Are you okay, Kouhai?" she asked anxiously.

"Ah, I'm fine, Kominami-senpai. How could someone like him possibly hurt me?" Zaimokuza replied dismissively.

The blonde-haired maid with twin ponytails walked over, a grateful smile on her face. "Thank you so much, sir. You really helped out."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. Just a small effort on my part," he said with a shrug.

"My name is Hinata Natsumi, nice to meet you. If there's anything you want to eat, just let me know; this time, it's on me," she offered generously.

"Sure! Then I'll have Kominami-senpai recommend some good dishes for me. I'm Zaimokuza Yoshiteru, by the way—Kominami-senpai's underclassman!"

"Hmph! I didn't expect someone like you to help others; it's quite surprising," Asumi remarked, unable to hide her disbelief.

"Nah, Kominami-senpai, stop being tsundere and just give me a compliment!" Zaimokuza teased her, grinning.

"I'm not being tsundere! You annoying kohai!" Asumi replied, her cheeks slightly flushed.

After finishing his lunch, Zaimokuza received thanks from everyone and promised to visit again when he had the chance. With that, he began to explore Akihabara.