Ryouga's first day of work at café Barian starts on a rainy monday afternoon.
A time Ryouga would usually use to continue his way to rank one in the competitive ranking; though 7 isn't so bad, either.
The other ranking— the charisma duelist ranking is, well, fine, but it's mostly about entertainment and not about being good at this card game, so Ryouga doesn't bother with it.
(But Shark is still #32 in the ranking, a rank kept up by his fans to fit his image. He could be higher, and he's slightly glad he's not.)
He doesn't know what he did to deserve having to wear a maid outfit.
(Being a poorass high school student who wants the newest duel disk, maybe.)
The amount of dudes in skirts in this café is both fascinating and also terrifying, because whatever café Barian's business model is, it's working and Ryouga thinks he should be paid more.
The dude with blue and pink hair next to him argues with his duel disk loudly.
"Is this really necessary, Ai?"
"I can leak those pictures of you, too, you know, Play—"
"Don't use that name!"
Ryouga raises an eyebrow, and the dude turns to look at him (his name tag reads 'Yuu-chan', but all maid names are fake names as a security measure anyway).
(The face is familiar, but Ryouga can't quite pinpoint why.)
"So," Ryouga says. "How does this place work?"
"I'm new, too," says Yuu.
"Isn't that Shark?" Yuu's duel disk's eyeball sure is talkative.
Ryouga freezes the slightest bit. "Don't call me that, here."
"Both of you are no fun. Yuusaku never wants me to use his—"
"Shut up." Yuusaku places his hand over the eyeball.
Are AIs supposed to be that emotive, anyway?
As per Mr. Heartland's and Don Thousand's— those are fake names, right? at least Ryouga hopes so— orders, Ryouga gets to work, trying to not pay too much attention to the other people working there.
(How on earth did they get Blue Angel to cosplay as her actual avatar and work there? No one buys that 'just a cosplayer' thing.)
The bells ring, signaling that a new customer entered.
"Welcome home, master~" Ryouga says and bows.
(Again, he feels like he should be paid more; but this is already the best-paying part time job in the city, so.)
"I didn't know you're into that, Nasch~"
Ryouga freezes up.
You want that duel disk, behave yourself, he tells himself, slowly assumes a normal position and looks at Vector. "Would you like a seat by the window? Or does it not matter?"
"That one in the corner," Vector says, then he smirks. "And you will serve me."
Piece of garbage.
In the same corner, there's another surprise waiting.
"Numbers Hunter?"
"Shark?"
Ryouga stares at the Numbers Hunter blankly, then mechanically motions for Vector to please sit down next to him and his long-haired companion.
A glance at the table tells Ryouga there's science.
So that's what the Numbers Hunter does in real life.
His avatar looks exactly like his real self, with the only difference being the fancy long coat.
Suddenly someone slaps Ryouga's ass.
"What the fuck, you creep-"
IV. Of course.
"Excuse my colleague," IV says with a smirk, "He's still new to this." IV is making a lot of intense eye contact with the silver-haired dude.
"If you're here to flirt, don't slap my ass," Ryouga hisses, picking up the Numbers Hunter's and his companion's used dishes. "—Would you two like anything else?"
"Omelette rice," the Numbers Hunter says almost immediately.
"For me, too," Vector says from the sidelines, acting all innocent. "With a personal message, of course."
"Oh yeah, I want the message, too."
Both of them smirk. Wonderful.
Ryouga rolls his eyes, then looks at the silver-haired one. "What about you?"
"I'll take omelette rice from Tho— I mean, IV."
IV grins all satisfied, and the Numbers Hunter looks at his companion judgmentally for a long five seconds.
"Chris, you seriously need an intervention."
"Oh, Kaito," IV laughs. "Let him have fun. I do, too, after all."
Ryouga raises an eyebrow and moves to get the orders.
Two plates of omelette rice and the ketchup messages 'I hate you' and 'Asshole' later, Ryouga is on the way back to their table, except he bumps into Yuusaku and barely prevents dropping the plates.
"Be careful—"
Yuusaku's face is tinged red ever so slightly, and from a few tables over, a man smiles and waves. "No need to worry, he just likes me a lot."
"I don't, you—"
Yuusaku is interrupted by his AI. "Hey, Yuu-chan, didn't you wanna prepare the karaoke?"
That AI is just as much of a piece of shit as Vector, Ryouga decides.
Yuusaku stomps off, mumbling something about Hanoi and whatnot, and the man chuckles.
(The man and his companion look like bad news, and that combined with Yuusaku's comment about Hanoi—)
Turning left, Ryouga sees SOL technology's Zaizen Akira being served by Blue Angel, and then the pieces come together.
It's gotten interesting.
"What took you so long, Nasch?" Vector is sipping at Kaito's drink, much to Kaito's disdain.
"Had to come up with something appropriate," Ryouga says through gritted teeth. "Can't you annoy Kaito or something?"
"I would, but he's no fun. And these two—" He points over at IV and Chris with his thumb. "Are too busy with each other."
"Shut up," IV hisses, currently massaging Chris' shoulders.
Chris seems to try hard to not seem pleased, but he clearly is.
Ryouga rolls his eyes. "What's wrong with those two?"
He sets down Kaito's and Vector's plates.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Kaito smirks.
"Sorry for the wait, master," Ryouga says, performing a curtsy.
Awful.
"The feeling's mutual, Nasch," Vector replies to the message on his omelette rice. "And that's why you'll sing for us. Something embarrassing. Dualism of Mirrors by Petit Milady?"
"Make that a duet with Kaito." IV laughs, and Chris nods supportively.
"Me?" Kaito shakes his head fervently. "No, no. I'm passing."
Got you, asshole.
Ryouga smirks. "What's wrong? Are you scared, master?"
The surrounding customers give their support.
Vector pushes Kaito down from his seat and giggles. "I'll have your drink. You go sing with Nasch."
Singing is still terrible, having to actually play the bass for this is terrible, but at least Kaito is suffering in the same boat.
(Ryouga enjoys singing, but not when Vector is looking under his skirt to make him uncomfortable while everyone else insists how cute he is.)
Kaito's singing voice is, not bad.
Ryouga is a bit surprised the Numbers Hunter isn't higher in the charisma duelist ranking.
Yuusaku— he definitely looks like Playmaker, as Ryouga realizes— is trying to take a peek at his customer's duel disk while simultaneously... flirting? that's what it is, yeah, and while Ryouga would usually not care, he'd rather not sing anymore, so—
"Hey, Yuu. Wanna sing a duet with your master?" Ryouga smirks.
"I refuse," Yuusaku says instantly, but the man behind him nudges him.
"I'll pay extra."
"I don't want to."
From Yuusaku's AI, Ryouga can hear a faint "Yuu-chan, you should try at least~"
Kaito supports this idea, too, apparently, because he lowers his voice a bit and goes, "If you don't do it, we'll tell your secret to everyone."
Yuusaku looks shocked for a second, then gets up from his seat. "Fine."
Back at Kaito's seat, Kaito seems entirely too satisfied. "Well, now we've confirmed that."
"It was obvious from the start that this kid is Playmaker," Vector yawns.
Ryouga raises an eyebrow. "You two aren't—"
"I'm just collecting info," Kaito shrugs. "SOL pays me and Chris a lot for it. Though we should probably keep this one secret for a while."
Chris nods. "That AI is safer in Playmaker's hands for now."
Is this café even serving a purpose other than serving as a battleground for Hanoi and SOL?
Ryouga nods. "What about Vector?"
"I just wanna see it burn. Anyway—" Vector smiles innocently. "Nasch, why don't you get your guitar and play one of these sappy songs you used to like in middle school? I think we deserve an encore."
"I hate you."
"You still kept that name, though." Vector smiles and takes another sip from Kaito's drink— almost empty. "A name we came up with together."
"I hate this job as much as I hate you, so isn't it appropriate?"
"Is that your kind of fanservice?" IV sits on Chris' lap, gazing over at them lazily.
"Fanservice my ass, you—"
Before they can keep on bickering, Kaito interrupts, "Vector. Buy me a new drink."
"Fine, fine~"