As soon as the bell had rung, Naegi had suddenly jolted awake. The boy realized that he was probably asleep throughout the whole class and it had already ended without any teacher noticing him fast asleep on his desk. As amazing as that was, the luckster didn't have the time to treasure his little achievement. He stretched his arms forward and as he looked as his hands, he noticed that Kirigiri-san's hair was entwined around his fingers. He swiftly removed his hands, careful not to accidentally pull on the detective's hair. As soon as that was done, he picked up his backpack and quickly stood up and approached Kirigiri.
"I-I'm sorry for touching your hair Kirigiri-san!" Naegi suddenly apologized and bowed as he knew that she didn't exactly like it when people invaded her personal space.
"What are you apologizing for? You asked if you could and I let you touch my hair." The detective replied coolly, waiting for his response.
"I-I did?" The luckster quickly stood up straight. His eyes widened and his face reddened.
"Yes you did. In fact it was manipulative of you to just-" Before Kyouko could finish her sentence, Naegi decided to speak up before his brain could process the information properly. He didn't mean to do such a thing! Why couldn't he remember what he did? Now he definitely had to make it up to Kirigiri-san! The luckster's thoughts were a mess as he yelled an apology.
"I-I'm very s-sorry Kirigiri-san! I didn't mean to manipulate you in any way!" His voice boomed across the room and it redirected all of their classmates' attention to the two of them. Kirigiri's cheeks had turned the slightest shade of pink as she had accidentally put the both of them in this rather embarrassing situation. She was only supposed to tease him to get a reaction. (Any reaction from the luckster as he always looked adorable anyway, and he looked even cuter when he was confused... Not that she would ever admit that to him or to anyone, for that matter.) From the corner of her eye, she could see Asahina and Maizono snickering whilst Togami had the most scandalized look on his face.
"I was only joking, Naegi-kun. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to." The detective tried to say as smoothly as possible to mask her embarrassment. After saying that, she had exited the room as if nothing had happened, keeping her stoic expression in tact… Or at least she hoped that it looked that way. Naegi, on the other hand turned redder than ever. Shortly after that, he quickly realized that he had to get to work and so he clumsily excused himself out.
When Kirigiri was nearing the gates, she didn't expect to see Maizono and Celes there ahead of her, especially because knew that she had left earlier than everyone else. The gambler's gaze was on the approaching detective while the idol was busy answering a call. The detective, despite her curiosity to know how exactly the pair got there ahead of her, decided that it wasn't that crucial to know and dismissed the thought.
"Now then, shall we go?" Celes had spoken up immediately after Kirigiri had dismissed her earlier thoughts. The detective simply nodded in reply. She was quite impressed that the lolita could read her, but expected no less from someone like the Super High School Level Gambler. She did have to read her opponents' thoughts in order to win after all.
"My driver should arrive right about…" Maizono said as she walked closer towards them, placing her phone back in her bag. When she had stopped walking, she continued her sentence.
"Now." She said and smiled as a car behind her had suddenly come to a stop. Kyouko blinked once, twice, and then sighed in acceptance as she followed behind the idol and the gambler to get in the car.
Besides the various food and drink options that Maizono had kept talking about on their ride to the place, Kyouko did not find the maid cafe they were going to appealing. It was just basically a normal cafe that charged a higher amount because of the 'high quality' service their staff would provide. The idol also added that the servers looked adorable, while the gambler told her that the waiters would follow your every whim, but Kirigiri could care less. The detective thought it was impractical; the most notable difference with the servers in a maid cafe would be their costumes, and that didn't really do much to make their services better or more efficient. In fact, Kirigiri figured that the servers would have a harder time moving around due to their uniform. But Celes insisted, telling the detective that she had to experience being there first before making any judgments. Kyouko had to agree with her as the gambler did have a point, however, and so, the detective decided to just wait and see everything for herself.
When the trio had arrived at their destination, the large double doors, which were made out of glass and had various designs engraved on it, were opened by two of the servers who had politely beckoned them into the cafe. The female server had bowed and dismissed herself in order to serve the other customers while the male server had attended to them.
"Here is the table you've reserved, Miss Celestia. Please take your seats, my masters." The tall man with silver hair said courteously as he pulled the chairs back to let them take their seats.
"Thank you, Ikki-san. However, I recall that you weren't the butler I requested today." The gambler said and smiled at him.
"I am well aware, my master. Your butler will be with you shortly." Ikki replied curtly as he bowed and left to attend to the other customers.
"To know the servers that well and to request for one… I wasn't aware that you could do that. You must go here often, huh? I've only been here a few times myself.." The idol said as she turned her gaze from the waiter that had just left to Celes.
"Yes, I do go here quite often after school. Their royal milk tea is simply divine. Although about what you had mentioned earlier, you only can request a server when you have a reservation."
"Why would you go to such lengths of reserving a table and a server?" Kirigiri inquired as she observed her surroundings. She knew that Celes did have her preferences, but paying for an additional reservation fee along with her order simply cost too much for one meal. Though the detective knew Celes was wealthy, she still thought it was quite impractical to do so. To add to that, the cafe was quite far from the school so it wasn't very convenient to just go here. Before Celes could answer her question however, a new voice had spoken up.
"I apologize for my delay, my masters." He paused for a moment and some shuffling could be heard. The detective could already tell that it was their requested waiter, but she did not bother to turn her head to face him as she was focused on taking in and observing everything else around her first while waiting for the server to stop talking so that Celes could answer her inquiry. She had ignored the fact that the waiter's voice sounded somewhat similar to Naegi-kun's as the possibility of him actually working here when he already had a job was quite low. However, it was still possible so she didn't completely rule that out from her mind. Though, that would actually explain why he seemed so busy all the time.
"Here is our selection of dishes and beverages. Please do take as much time as you wish to choose your order, my masters. Once your selection has been made, you may use this bell to call my attention so I may take your orders. Enjoy your stay, my masters." Kirigiri, after her brief observation, had switched her gaze to the requested server who was currently bowing, head facing the ground as his back was slightly bent. Lavender eyes widened slightly as she realized that it was Naegi-kun who was serving them. Although, it did take her a while longer than usual to recognize him because his ahoge was nowhere to be found and his the way he presented himself seemed a lot more… confident. He was speaking very clearly and without even a single stutter just a while ago. Even if the detective wasn't fully paying attention to him, she was still able to catch bits and pieces of what he had said.
At that point in time, Naegi decided to raise his head while he was still bowing, readying himself to stand up and serve the other customers. However, this action had accidentally aligned his face to Kyouko's. Their gazes met and Naegi couldn't control the redness spreading across his face. Kirigiri was caught off guard by his action and slightly blushed as well. Naegi's ears burned at their closeness; it was like the world had slowed down for a moment. The luckster always knew that Kyouko was beautiful, but it was even more evident now as he was able to see her up close. His brain had gone completely haywire at this point. Just a while ago, he tried his best to muster all the confidence he could because he was about to serve Kirigiri-san, but now he was too stunned to even move.
Their little staring contest ended however, when Kirigiri had looked away and coughed. It took all of the detective's willpower to stop staring at him and she wasn't exactly sure why it was so hard to. She normally wouldn't have any difficulties when it came to distancing herself from others, but Naegi seemed to be the only exception. Kyouko could already tell that she treated him differently from the others. She had realized from there that she had a growing crush on Naegi, which was frustrating to discover since she seemed to not have control over her emotions as she usually would. But now, it was getting even worse. The detective could only hope that she would be able to control her emotions better in the future, but that didn't seem very likely.
"I'm sorry for causing you discomfort, my master." Naegi said as quickly and as professionally as he could when his brain started to function somewhat normally again. He then excused himself so that he could serve the other tables. So much for luck, he mused.
While Kirigiri was pretending to scan the menu that was handed to them to see if anything was to her interest, Maizono spoke up. "Naegi-kun's just so adorable, isn't he?" Kirigiri took her eyes off the menu that she wasn't able to read, and then tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear. She knew that what the idol had said was directed at her, but the detective refused to acknowledge it. Celes, on the other hand, smiled at Maizono.
"He is quite attractive in that ensemble, I must admit. I believe he would also do a fine job at being an actual butler… Ah, but he would need some more training." The gambler replied.
"I'm guessing he went up a rank in your books then?" Maizono smiled as she inquired.
"Perhaps he has... But I'm curious as to what you think, Kirigiri-san. You've been quite silent this whole time." Celes covered her mouth with her hand after speaking and giggled slightly into it as she anticipated the detective's reply.
"I guess so." She simply stated, feigning indifference. Celes was almost as, if not, just as sharp as Kyouko, and so the detective had to tread carefully.
"I didn't think detectives made guesses." Was the gambler's reply as her smile grew.
"Your question was subjective, therefore an exact conclusion for that wouldn't be possible." Kirigiri answered as she crossed her arms.
"Then what do you think, Kirigiri-san?" Maizono inquired as she leaned forward. It was at that moment that Kyouko concluded that going with them was definitely a bad idea, especially now that their intention was made clear and the pair made no move to hide it. Luckily for the detective, her phone rang just in the nick of time, interrupting the whole conversation as she excused herself and then went outside of the cafe to answer her call.
"...Right now, I don't have much details on it yet, but the information I have on it is quite… worrisome. If you're busy today, you can come by the office tomorrow and I'll give you the files." A deep and husky voice could be faintly heard from the phone. Despite the fact that this was her boss that she was speaking to, Kirigiri disliked the fact that he usually said more than what she thought was necessary, but this time the detective was thankful for the distraction.
"I'll drop by tomorrow. Thank you for informing me, Mr. Kirijo." Was Kyouko's brief reply.
"Thank you for your continuous work, Detective Kirigiri. Your talent in the field is much appreciated, and I'm sure you know that." Mr. Kirijo had said before ending the call. Kirigiri then put her phone back in her pocket and walked back to the cafe since she had journeyed all the way to the back of the cafe to take the call.
"I really can't thank you enough for this— " Naegi's voice could be heard from a short distance. The detective leaned back until she had come in contact with the wall near her and crept closer to the source of Naegi's voice.
"Don't mention it Naegi-san. Although, I believe you should keep quiet about where this came from. It was… quite difficult to get this." Another voice, a woman's, Kyouko supposed, replied.
"Really!? I'm sorry for the hassle, but thank you so much senpai! And I'm also sorry for assuming that Kuzuryuu-senpai was your boyfriend a few weeks back.." The luckster answered timidly. Kirigiri cocked her head to the side to peer at who Naegi was conversing with. The luckster was conversing with a school mate, the Super High School Level Swordswoman. While that shouldn't be much of a problem, it was quite concerning. Kirigiri had recently discovered that she used to be a hitman for the Kuzuryuu clan, and what she had just told Naegi-kun sounded rather... strange. Also, what was the item she handed to him? She wondered as she crept closer to see better. Unfortunately for the detective, however, she was unable to see what the swordswoman handed to the luckster as he held it behind his back.
"You're welcome and don't worry about it, that was just a simple misunderstanding and you were in a hurry… Anyway, I must go now. I have some more errands to run." Kirigiri truly wasn't expecting Naegi to be speaking with the Super High School Level Swordswoman. She was a year higher than them and she was also known to have a cold personality, which was somewhat similar to her own personality. Kyouko was quite astonished that Naegi could make friends with just about anyone. Although with his bright personality, she shouldn't be so surprised.
"Ah Pekoyama-senpai, same time next week?" Naegi suddenly inquired. Kyouko's curiosity was piqued. What was he talking about? She mused while she continued to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Of course… I'll be there. Thank you for reminding me, Naegi-san. I'll see you then." Pekoyama said as she turned around to leave. Kirigiri briskly left the area and went back in the cafe to avoid arousing suspicion. While she was entering the cafe, the detective couldn't help but to wonder why they would see each other again, presuming that they had gotten together the week before that based on the luckster's words. Were they… dating? Kyouko's eyes slightly widened at her own thought, but she quickly dismissed it as soon as it came in her head. The idea made her feel… jealous, but she had other things to attend to, and she was just Naegi's friend to begin with. She wasn't supposed to feel jealous.
While she was away, Celes and Maizono had already ordered for her and informed her that they would pay for the order as it was her first time there. Other than the frequent playful jabs and teasing that the pair would subject the detective to, Kyouko, in the end, found out why Celes loved frequenting the cafe. Other than the service, which was excellent— and it was not only because Naegi-kun had served them, all of the staff on duty were very polite and always attended to their customers' needs quite well. In addition, the Luwak coffee and blueberry cheesecake that the pair had ordered for her was, exquisite, in the detective's opinion. Kirigiri noticed that Maizono giggled while Celes had an amused glint in her eyes when Kyouko's facial expression had completely changed for a fraction of a second after taking a sip of the famous Luwak coffee. The detective noted that unless they were observing her closely the whole time, they shouldn't have noticed that. But then again, she should have expected that after being invited so suddenly despite not being too close to the both of them.
When Kyouko arrived home, she didn't expect to feel this tired just from dealing with both Celes and Maizono. She knew they weren't as oblivious as her other classmates, but their minds were far sharper than what she prepared herself for. Despite the fact that they did tease her quite a lot since they knew how she felt about a certain luckster, they did seem somewhat… supportive of the idea of them being together, which was strange since Kirigiri thought that the idol was interested in Naegi. She also recalled that Celes once stated that she wanted nothing to do with men in a romantic sense while staring right into her eyes. And if that wasn't a sign of interest in her, then what on earth—
Sighing at her jumbled thoughts that she had forcibly stopped from continuing, she shucked off her jacket and hung it on the coat rack. The detective then greeted and pet her dog that was obediently sitting down and happily wagging its tail. A smile graced Kyouko's features as she did. The husky always managed to brighten up her mood. Kirigiri then decided that she would take her mind off of unnecessary things for now as she had homework to complete and cases to investigate. Time didn't stop for anyone after all.
AN: Soooo I kind of wrote this in a rush of happiness because of the hope arc and so much ideas came into my head and sooo this will extend with one more chapter! Hooraay (actually chapter 2 just became way too long and i decided to split it and because im not done editing last part of the chapter, I'll probably publish it by later or tomorrow.)
So yay, and other than that, I'd really appreciate it if you guys would give me feedback on how I write the characters (especially Kirigiri because I don't think I give justice to how amazing her character is) so yeah, feedback, may it be positive or negative is greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading! :)
