Elfnein was already waiting for them in the room next to the aptly dubbed 'date room'. Their maid outfits were all ready to wear and the first two dishes of the planned four course meal had just been delivered and covered to keep them warm and fresh. The date room itself was already decorated as Elfnein even brought in fresh flowers along with the paper flowers. All that was now needed was for the six of them to change into their maid outfits.

"Hurry everyone! Ogawa-san will be arriving with Tsubasa-san and Maria-san in fifteen minutes!" Elfnein told them as Kirika, Shirabe, Hibiki, Miku and Chris all rushed inside the room.

"Alright! Good job Elfnein." Kirika praised as she removed her spy glasses. Hibiki already had her shirt halfway off as no one really cared about modesty since they were pressed for time. Shirabe almost lost her balance as she pulled off her skirt, only to be caught by Chris who already had her maid outfit halfway on. Kirika flailed with her top as she couldn't pull it down properly and Miku had to valiantly rescue her from the threat of suffocation. Due to the chaos in the room, Elfnein couldn't find her shoes and it took a brief hunt over the whole room before she found them underneath Hibiki's discarded shirt.

Fifteen minutes passed before one could say that the six of them looked presentable. They also had to clean up the chaos in the room as it looked like a whirlwind passed through with all the clothes strewn about. Just as they finished with their task, the communicator that Elfnein was using came to life.

"They're here." Ogawa's voice declared simply before it cut off.

"DESS!" Kirika yelped as she started panicking and running around. Like a chicken with its head cut off. "What do we do, what do we do, what do we-" Kirika was abruptly cut off from her panicking when Chris grabbed her by the collar and yanked. Kirika made a garbled sound of a pterodactyl screeching as she was roughly stopped in her tracks. Her arms windmilled to keep her balance and not fall on her butt.

"Stop panicking you idiot! We're here now so stop being stupid!" Chris thundered as she let go. Kirika laughed nervously as she rubbed her neck. Chris was right though. It wouldn't do good to anyone if she panicked right now when the dinner that they've all prepared so much for is happening.

"We can do this Kiri-chan." Shirabe then stood before Kirika and held her hands to soothe her. Shirabe's smile was both calming and encouraging. "Okay?"

"Sorry Shirabe, Chris-senpai. I just got really nervous all of a sudden." Kirika said sheepishly and bowed her head a little in apology.

"Come on Kirika-chan! We can't keep Tsubasa-san and Maria-san waiting right?" Hibiki grinned as she patted Kirika on the back encouragingly.

"Right!" Kirika nodded as she calmed down. "Everyone, let's go!" Kirika said as she pointed to the door that led to the date room. And so, Shirabe opened the door and let everyone else in. Miku and Elfnein had outdone themselves as the room looked appropriately romantic with all the flowers and candles they put in. The table for two was in the middle and the fancy plates and cutlery they borrowed from Aoi arranged neatly on it. A shiny candelabra and fresh flowers were arranged in the middle of the table.

Kirika and Shirabe moved quickly to light all the candles around the room and on the table. They then made their way in front of the door that led to the hallway. This was where Maria and Tsubasa were to enter. The six of them arranged themselves in a straight line right in front of the door.

"They'll be here soon." Elfnein murmured, sounding a little nervous yet excited. Just as she spoke those words, the door opened, revealing a surprised Maria and Tsubasa as they stopped dead in their tracks and gaped.

"Welcome home, Ojou-sama!" All six of them chorused as they had practiced countless times and bowed lowly before straightening up with. All of them had welcoming smiles except for Chris of course as her smile was more of a pained grimace than anything.

"W-what's this?" It was Maria who recovered first as she cautiously stepped closer to the others, looking around the room in wonder. Tsubasa followed a few seconds after as she recovered from her own shock too.

"Surprise!" Hibiki and Kirika chorused with huge grins.

"We didn't really get to celebrate when the two of you came back home so this is our very late welcome back party!" Kirika explained, having readied this excuse days ago.

"We've prepared dinner for you two." Shirabe smiled, gesturing to the table for two behind them.

"So that was your plan." Tsubasa mused, smiling a little. "I have to ask though. Why are you all dressed like that?" Tsubasa asked, puzzled.

"Why? Do you not like it?" Shirabe pouted, looking a little upset.

"No! No, of course not." Maria denied immediately, elbowing Tsubasa not-so-gently on the stomach. Tsubasa grunted a little, half-glaring at Maria. "You all look wonderfully cute!" Maria really sometimes sounded like a proud mom. There were pleased blushes and smiles all around at Maria's earnest compliment.

"We're going to be your servers today so we have to take our jobs seriously and dress up, right?" Hibiki grinned brilliantly, proudly puffing out her chest.

"So that's why you forced us to go watch a movie, so that you can prepare all this." Tsubasa realized. Well, she wasn't entirely right but no one bothered to correct her or else they might find out they actually spied on them earlier.

"Did you like the movie?" Miku asked curiously.

"Well… It was certainly… Interesting." Maria hesitantly commented.

"I didn't know you were into those kinds of movies, Tachibana." Tsubasa turned to Hibiki who smiled sheepishly in response.

"I'm just as surprised as you are. I didn't really expect it to end like a murder thriller. I so wanted to punch Satoru's face to the ground." Hibiki blabbered on.

"Oh? You've watched it already?" Tsubasa asked curiously. Chris discretely stepped on Hibiki's foot with a warning glare. Hibiki 'eep'ed as she got the message from Chris loud and clear. Hibiki could only laugh nervously as she stopped herself from saying anymore.

"We actually watched it a few days ago." Miku smoothly cut in to save her partner from saying anything that might compromise their earlier spy mission.

"You two should sit down!" Elfnein invited as a way to move the topic away from the earlier discussion. "Here Maria-san." Elfnein pulled on the chair with a bit of effort and smiled at Maria so that she could sit.

"Thank you, Elfnein." Maria said graciously as she sat down at the indicated seat.

"Here senpai." Chris moved quickly so that she copied Elfnein, offering the seat to Tsubasa.

"I'm grateful, Yukine." Tsubasa said softly as she sat. Hibiki and Miku then took a pitcher of water each that was at a side table and filled their glasses.

"Please be patient as we will serve your meal. If you need assistance, please don't hesitate to ring the bell." Shirabe intoned as she indicated the small bell that was on the table, looking very serious as the six of them bowed and shuffled out to the next room.

"I felt real nervous there." Elfnein shared as she giggled a little. "Pretending to be a maid is actually fun." There were nods of agreement from the others, except for Chris who only grumbled under her breath.

"According to our list, first up is the bouillabaisse." Shirabe said as she peered on the handy dandy list the cooks made for their reference on which to serve first. Unknowingly, she totally botched up the pronunciation of the foreign dish.

"That doesn't sound very appetizing." Chris made a face at the strange name.

"But since it's a foreign dish, I'm sure it tastes good…" Shirabe tried to sound assuring but with the way she trailed off, she didn't really sound very confident.

"It smells good though." Hibiki commented as she took off the covers of the indicated dish. There were two bowls of the soup and Shirabe smiled in relief when she saw that the bowls were of differing sizes. She had specifically requested for Maria's portions to be bigger since she really loves food. Hibiki's mouth started watering involuntarily at the nice smell.

"Don't you dare drool over that." Chris growled right behind her and Hibiki gave a startled squeak.

"I'm not drooling!" Hibiki denied, a little miffed but she discretely wiped away said drool from the corner of her mouth.

"Oh! There's a bottle of chilled wine here." Miku spoke up as she noticed a bottle of wine being chilled inside a bucket full of ice.

"Huh? We didn't ask for wine…" Chris trailed off as she came closer to inspect Miku's claim.

"There's a note." Miku saw a small folded note right beside the chilled wine and she carefully took it to take a peek at the message.

For Maria. Just something to officially welcome her to SONG. – Tomosato Aoi, Sakuya Fujitaka, Ogawa Shinji and Kazanari Genjuuro. PS – Tsubasa can have some but only one glass.

"Ohh! Maria-san didn't really get a welcoming party right? It's a welcoming gift for her!" Hibiki realized as she read the note from behind Miku. With all that had happened because of Carol, they just didn't have the time for it.

"Then we should serve the wine too." Shirabe said with a smile. She felt grateful that Genjuuro and the others were so thoughtful and welcoming to Maria.

"We should serve the soup soon. We can't have them wait for too long." Elfnein reminded them as the minutes trickled by.

"Oh, right." Hibiki sheepishly scratched her head. Miku then gave her the silver tray and Hibiki held it so that Miku can place the two soup bowls on it. Miku then carried the ice bucket with the wine carefully. With Miku guiding her, Hibiki carefully walked towards the door. Elfnein pushed the door open so that the two of them can enter the date room again.

Tsubasa and Maria quieted as they entered, their faces mostly curious. Miku carefully placed the bowls of soup on top of their plates.

"Thank you, Kohinata, Tachibana." Tsubasa thanked them warmly while Maria's eyes were already shining as she looked down at her slightly bigger bowl of soup.

"Maria-san, we've also got some wine for you." Hibiki said cheerfully as Miku held up the wine bottle. "Courtesy of Master and the others."

"Oh! Thank you. I would need to thank them later as well." Maria said gratefully as she allowed Miku to pour her a glass.

"Tsubasa-san, if you want, they said we can give you one glass." Miku then turned to Tsubasa who looked intrigued and curious.

"Alright. Thank you." Tsubasa didn't seem to have any reservations about consuming alcohol as she nodded and Miku poured her a glass as well. She then promptly left the wine bottle on the table.

"Enjoy your meal!" Hibiki chirped as the two of them bowed and promptly left.

"Success!" Hibiki cheered as soon as the door swung shut. "And I didn't drop anything!"

"You did really well Hibiki." Miku praised as she smiled at her partner.

"Hehe, with you helping me Miku, of course I'll do well." Hibiki declared as she winked.

Kirika then stood on her tiptoes as the door had a little window so that she can peek in at the couple and watch them eat. As they sat there conversing and with the really nice atmosphere around them, it really looked like they were on a fancy dinner date. But then, she realized that there was something very important that they were missing. Something that they totally forgot and was very essential to any romantic dinner.

"This is a disaster!" Kirika dramatically exclaimed so suddenly that Hibiki almost dropped the empty tray she was holding.

"What's wrong, Kiri-chan?" Shirabe asked in concern. Everyone else looked at Kirika, curious at the horrified expression on her face.

"I can't believe we totally forgot about it! What are we supposed to do?!" Kirika was panicking again as she hopped up and down like a rabbit on drugs.

"Hey, calm down already." Chris quickly placed her hands on Kirika's shoulders to still her. "What's the matter anyway?" Even Chris would actually say that the dinner was going well. She could not fathom why Kirika was in such a tizzy.

"Chris-senpai! We forgot the music!" Kirika all but yelled as she quite suddenly also took hold of Chris' shoulders and started shaking her forcefully.

"W-what the h-hell?! S-Stop t-that!" Chris' threat didn't really sound all that threatening with how her words were barely even discernable because of Kirika shaking her so hard. Thankfully, Kirika listened to her as she stopped shaking her but she still had this panicked look on her face.

"What kind of a romantic dinner would this be if there's no romantic music?!" Kirika exclaimed loudly as she fretted. Shirabe gasped behind them as she realized that Kirika had a point.

"Kiri-chan's right, we're missing music! Especially since the two of them love music a lot." Shirabe didn't panic like Kirika had but there was a deep frown on her face. How could they have forgotten that? With all their careful preparations, they missed something so vitally important!

"What? You guys are worrying about this now? It's not like the two of them would mind if there is no music!" Chris pointed out in disbelief. It's not like it's that big of a deal.

"There should be an orchestra in there, or just a few violins and a piano or something since we're aiming for the ultimate romantic dinner date!" Kirika insisted on her point. "What if they wanted to dance or something?! We wouldn't be able to see that because there's no music!"

"Miku can play the piano…" Hibiki suggested thoughtfully.

"But we don't have a piano here." Miku pointed out the obvious immediately with a shaky smile.

"Look, we can argue about this all we want but don't forget that we still have food to serve." Chris reminded them flatly, managing to finally pry away Kirika's hold on her shoulders. Twenty minutes had already passed since the soup was served and it was about time for the next course to be served. Kirika then stood on her tip toes once again to peer through the window. It seemed that Maria and Tsubasa were already finished with their soup.

"Ah! It's Chris-senpai and Elfnein's turn to serve the food!" Kirika yelped in realization.

So their discussion was put on hold as Chris and Elfnein brought out the Caesar Salad as instructed by Shirabe. Kirika fretted as she watched Elfnein get the empty bowls and place the plates of salad carefully in front of the two idols. Where were they supposed to get music now? If they had been prepared then Kirika would have rented a band or something. Or maybe at least just set up some speakers and prepare a playlist of romantic songs. Where else could she get a music player out of nowhe-

"I got it Chris-senpai!" Kirika practically pounced on Chris as soon as she put down the tray she was holding on. That was it! It was perfect! "We can use our Symphogears to play music!" Kirika exclaimed.

"Why are you so dead-set on this, and why do you keep on jumping on me?!" Chris demanded as she had no choice but to catch Kirika in her arms. They almost fell down if it weren't for Chris' hard effort to keep her balance.

"I don't think the Commander would appreciate it if you used the Symphogear without a good reason…" Elfnein pointed out softly as she arranged the empty bowls to the side for easy pick up later.

"But this is a good reason! This is an emergency!" Kirika argued.

"We'll just get scolded by the old man! You know that we aren't allowed to use our Symphogears just for kicks!" Chris exploded as she was already feeling a little pissed off with Kirika's insistence. At that, Kirika pouted and started sulking as she was chastised.

"I thought it was a good idea." Kirika mumbled, crestfallen.

"None of our Gears are suited for romantic date songs anyway…" Hibiki commented thoughtfully as she genuinely thought over Kirika's suggestion.

"How about we serenade them? It's almost the same thing anyway." Shirabe suggested as she patted Kirika on the head to make her feel better.

"Don't you dare bring me into this again. I'm not singing for anyone." Chris scowled, cutting them off before they even spoke as they both looked at her at the same time. With all that's happened, Chris was 100% sure that they'll manage to drag her into something unpleasant again if she doesn't speak out immediately.

"Boo." Kirika pouted a little more as she was just about to ask Chris. She then looked hopefully at Hibiki and Miku.

"It's… kinda awkward serenading two idols." Hibiki said as she scratched her cheek ruefully. "I mean I can sing with the Symphogear just fine but it's a little intimidating to sing for them both without it you know? They're two of the best singers in the world!" Somehow, singing with the Symphogear was a markedly different experience. With the Symphogear, one has to sing to be able to fight and so it was a necessity for its users to sing. Singing then was normal and familiar to all of them. But singing for an audience was nerve-wrecking and there is the fact that Tsubasa and Maria were professional singers.

"Especially since we aren't as good as they are." Miku added as she nodded to Hibiki's sentiment. Singing with them was fine, but singing for them was a little… embarrassing.

"But, but…" Kirika tried to appeal to them but she couldn't really think of anything as she understood their concerns very well.

"Didn't you two sing just fine in the school festival last year? Why don't the two of you do it?" Chris reminded wearily.

"D-DESS! That was different!" Kirika flushed as she remembered that. Shirabe went red as well. "We weren't really thinking since we just wanted your pendants…" Now that she thought about it that was really embarrassing. That had been a spur of the moment thing especially since they mostly just wanted to antagonize and challenge them at that time.

"And we didn't know the people then. It didn't really matter much." Shirabe reasoned.

"So you don't mind a large crowd of strangers but when it comes to these two you just fold like cheap accordions?" Chris asked in disbelief before shaking her head. "And it's not like they haven't heard you guys sing before."

"No, thank you." Shirabe said firmly.

"Um… If you want, we can play music over the HQ speakers…" Elfnein suggested after a beat of silence.

"Oh! Yeah, we can do that!" Kirika exclaimed in relief as a very easy solution came from Elfnein.

"But wouldn't the music play all over the sub if we did that?" Hibiki asked curiously.

"I think there's a way to have sound to come out of a specific speaker from the bridge." Elfnein answered. "I'll just call on Aoi-san if she can arrange it…" Elfnein then took out her communicator to speak with Aoi. A knock on the door came as well, and Shirabe opened it to find one of the cooks in the sub with a large tray. It was the entrée of their four course meal! Thanking him profusely, Shirabe carried the tray in.

"You need music right? Leave it to me!" Instead of Aoi, it was Fujitaka's confident voice that floated from the communicator. Kirika could only sigh in relief as she calmed down once more. It was nice that they had the support of even Aoi and Fujitaka.

"Kiri-chan, it's our turn now." Shirabe then told her partner as it was time for the entrée to be served. Kirika nodded to her as she pushed the door open. As Shirabe told Chris a few days before, Kirika was clumsy when it came to not tripping when she happened to have something in her arms that she did not want to spill. Once, Kirika had tripped and spilled the pot of curry she was holding on to back when they were still with the FIS. Their heli smelled like curry for days and Dr. Ver unfortunately (fortunately?) slipped on the spilled curry. Dr. Ver may have deserved it but Kirika knew that she couldn't risk a repeat of that and so Shirabe was the one who carried the tray.

"Thank you for waiting!" Kirika chirped, a huge smile on her face as she approached the table with Shirabe following demurely behind her. Maria and Tsubasa looked up from their conversation and both of them smiled. And then, music started playing from the hidden speakers in the room. Kirika's smile faded while Shirabe paled when the familiar strains of music reached their ears. The two of them stopped dead as Just Loving X-Edge echoed throughout the room. Kirika and Shirabe could only look at each other in abject horror.

"A song?" Tsubasa wondered as the two idols heard the music as well.

"Isn't that… Your battle songs?" Maria asked with furrowed brows. She recognized it fairly easily despite having heard it only a few times before and Maria was quite familiar with Kirika and Shirabe's voices. She glanced at Kirika and Shirabe, and then at Tsubasa with a puzzled expression on her face. Why was the song even playing?

Knowing that they have a job to do, Kirika forced a smile on her lips as she stiffly nodded and took Shirabe's elbow so that her frozen partner would move. This was definitely more than a little embarrassing… Even though they had heard them sing countless times before that was all in battle. Kirika could only cringe a little as she heard her own singing. Hearing it like this embarrassed her. Beside her, Shirabe did not look any better. Kirika can practically feel the questioning and curious gazes burning through her and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"…We thought that music would be nice for the dinner." Kirika sighed admittedly, her face pink as she carefully replaced their empty salad plates with the entrée that is baked salmon on a bed of fragrant rice pilaf. "We requested music from the bridge and well, this played." Kirika shifted uneasily as she was too embarrassed to look at the two idols in the eye.

"I see…" Tsubasa murmured as she nodded appreciatively to Kirika. Tsubasa did not add more to that as she probably noticed that their two servers were a little withdrawn.

"This looks absolutely delicious." Maria said warmly as Shirabe nudged Kirika and pointedly looked at Maria's now empty wine glass. Remembering that it was their job to refill that, Kirika gingerly took the wine bottle and refilled Maria's glass. Obviously, their faces were still red with embarrassment. Maria and Tsubasa then looked at each other and Maria gave her an imperceptible nod.

"You both seem distraught." Tsubasa then said observantly. Kirika and Shirabe both flushed darker at the observation.

"Ahaha, well… It's embarrassing having to listen to our own songs." Kirika admitted as she sheepishly scratched her head.

"Why? I like your songs very much." Tsubasa told them bluntly. Now, the two of them blushed to the roots of their hair at the rather blunt compliment and from Tsubasa no less, the singer that they admired from way back when.

"I never told you how much I enjoyed listening to your 'Orbital Beat' before, have I?" Tsubasa had a small yet sincere smile playing at her lips now and both Kirika and Shirabe had to wonder how they were still standing with all the blood rushing to their faces. Tsubasa's sincere words made them really happy and embarrassed and everything in-between.

"I've always loved your songs too since they're so characteristic of you two." Maria praised them as well, her smile both motherly and proud. "So you shouldn't feel ashamed or embarrassed of them."

Feeling a lot better at their praise that wasn't just meaningless flattery, Kirika and Shirabe both smiled now as they bowed to the two idols. "Please enjoy your meal." The two chorused.

"And thank you." Shirabe smiled, feeling a little bit better now as they both bowed and left the two to their dinner.

When they returned to the other room, the others didn't comment on the song still playing, knowing that it would just embarrass Kirika and Shirabe if they did. There were audible sighs of relief from the two of them when the song finished. Another song then started playing and Miku visibly flinched and paled when Waikyou Senshoujing can be heard clearly through the room.

"H-how do they still have that?!" Miku asked, aghast. Hibiki could only pat her comfortingly at her back.

"I think that's enough songs from us." Chris sighed as she took the communicator. "Hey! Stop playing our songs damnit!" Chris yelled into it.

"What? But you guys wanted romantic songs!" Fujitaka sounded innocently confused. Kirika, Shirabe and Miku all groaned in response to that. Miku had to hide her face with her hands, mortified. So now their songs were classified as romantic. Well, he wasn't really wrong…

"We didn't mean our Symphogear songs you dimwit! Just change it already to something more normal or popular or something! Why do you even have recordings of our songs anyway?!" Chris all but exploded.

"Oh, right. I'll get on it." Fujitaka sounded disappointed that their songs wouldn't be playing anymore. "It's part of research of course. We've got recordings of everyone's Symphogear songs." Fujitaka then explained. Chris felt a shudder run through her frame. She was suddenly very glad that her song hasn't been played.

Miku breathed a sigh of absolute relief when the song changed to a random pop song one could easily hear over the radio. "Oh thank goodness that's over."

"I don't really understand why you don't like your songs playing." Elfnein then commented with a sad little frown. "I like your songs."

"Ah well you know… It's embarrassing and all." Hibiki said sheepishly. A loud growling sound then came from Hibiki's tummy. Everyone else looked at her and Hibiki blushed under the scrutiny.

"…I'm hungry." Hibiki said as she held onto her stomach with her sheepish grin.

"Oh, we haven't eaten dinner yet." Elfnein blinked as she looked at the digital clock in the room. It was already 8:22pm. They were so worried and busy over the dinner for Tsubasa and Maria that they forgot about themselves.

"I think there's still dinner in the dining hall. I wonder if we can have some sent here…" Shirabe trailed off as she was reminded that she was hungry too.

"We'll just have food sent up with the dessert." Chris said as she took the communicator from Elfnein to contact the cooks. "Just bear with it for a bit." She told Hibiki who nodded glumly.

To pass the time, Kirika, Shirabe and Hibiki stood on their tip toes to peer through the small window on the door to watch Maria and Tsubasa. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't hear what they were saying but it was at least a relief to see that the two of them looked like they were enjoying themselves as they talked and smiled at each other.

"They really get along well." Hibiki commented as she smiled a little to see Tsubasa relaxed. She had begun noticing lately that Tsubasa wasn't as uptight whenever she was alone with Maria. As the senpai of pretty much everyone else, she always appeared as the responsible and reliable one. Kirika and Shirabe gave vigorous nods of agreement to Hibiki's comment.

"I've never seen Maria laugh like that before." Kirika said rather fondly as she watched Maria laugh outloud, even banging the table for emphasis.

"I… don't think I've seen that either." Shirabe frowned, a little alarmed at how uncharacteristic Maria was behaving.

"Maybe Tsubasa-san told a real great joke..?" Hibiki suggested skeptically, having never seen Maria act in such a way before either.

"Hey you three, the dessert is here and so is our food." Chris called out to them and the three of them turned back, totally missing the now concerned look that Tsubasa was sporting over Maria's antics.

"Yay! Food!" Hibiki cried out in happiness as they each had a plate of curry waiting for them. Without preamble, Hibiki snatched her plate and a spoon before shoveling her food to her mouth.

"You guys can eat already. I'll deliver the dessert." Chris of course allowed everyone else to eat first as she is the senpai around here as she took the tray that had two plates of molten chocolate cake with a scoop of ice cream on top.

"Oh! I'll help you." Miku immediately volunteered. She wasn't all that hungry yet anyway. Chris nodded as Miku opened the door to let her through and followed her. Before anyone else could say or do anything, Maria gave one look at Miku before she suddenly stood up, her chair almost falling over before she suddenly launched herself at Miku and tackled her into a hug designed to crack ribs.

"Serenaaaaaa!" Maria wailed as Miku felt like she was being squeezed to death. Both Chris and Tsubasa could only gape at the unexpected action. "I've really missed youuuu! Why did you leave meeeee!?"

"Ah, Maria-san… I can't breathe…" Miku gasped in distress, her voice muffled as her face was buried in Maria's impressively large chest.

"H-hey! You're gonna kill her at this rate!" Chris exclaimed as she hastily put down the tray she was holding to pry Maria away from Miku. Tsubasa also stood up to help and they barely managed to save Miku from suffocation.

"You okay?" Chris asked Miku in concern.

"I'm fine." Miku smiled ruefully as she smoothed out her rumpled maid outfit.

"Tsubasaaa." Maria whined as she latched on Tsubasa's arm like a leech. Since Tsubasa was only a few centimeters shorter, there was no danger of her suffocating since her face was nowhere near Maria's chest.

"Maria, you're drunk." Tsubasa chastised just a little bit. Maria only pouted cutely like a little kid. It didn't really suit her much. Chris peered at the wine bottle that was given to Maria and found that it was already empty.

"She's already emptied the whole thing!" Chris exclaimed as her face scrunched up in a weird combination of concern and displeasure.

"I didn't think that wine is strong enough to get someone drunk." Tsubasa sighed as she felt perfectly fine as she had only one glass.

"Of course it's strong enough! Especially when you're going to drink the whole bottle like that!" Chris exclaimed and she yelped when Maria latched onto her this time.

"But I'm not druuunk." Maria whined as she patted Chris' head. "Your hair is so fluffy." Maria then giggled. "Like a… a rabbit!" She then smiled widely, pleased at her comparison. "I've always wanted to touch iiit." Maria continued on patting Chris' hair

"S-stop that!" Chris exclaimed sharply as she tried to take a hold of Maria's wrist to stop her from ruining her hair. However, Maria wasn't at all deterred and she kept on fluffing Chris' hair. Now, Chris was feeling even more embarrassed and angry. "I said 'stop'!" Chris thundered as she slapped Maria's hand away. Maria was temporarily stunned before tears filled her eyes and she started crying.

"W-wahh! Chris hates me!" Maria wailed. Immediately regretting her actions, Chris looked guilty and panicked as she looked at the other two for help. She was met with identical looks of disapproval on both Tsubasa and Miku's faces.

"H-hey! I don't hate you!" Chris exclaimed frantically, not really knowing what else to do to stop Maria from crying.

"But you do!" Maria sobbed before clinging to Miku again. "Serenaaa, Chris hates meee!"

"There, there Maria-san." Miku patted Maria's back awkwardly as she made sure that she won't be in danger of suffocation by making sure that her face won't be smooshed into Maria's breasts again.

"You don't call me that." Maria sniffed. "Don't you call me Maria-neesan?"

"…Maria-neesan." Miku amended and Maria squealed in delight, temporarily forgetting about Chris. Her happiness was short-lived however when she turned to Chris who was awkwardly standing there. She then burst into tears again.

"Yukine… Do something…" Tsubasa urged as she looked like she didn't know what to do and how to deal with Maria's drunken emotions. In fact, it seemed as though she couldn't look at Maria's crying face.

"…Alright already, geez." Chris mumbled and came closer to Maria cautiously. "…Sorry." Chris then mumbled, her voice could hardly be heard but she bowed her head a little in apology. Maria stopped crying as she sniffled a little at Chris' apology. She then patted Chris on the head again. This time, Chris did not reprimand her and so Maria smiled in delight as she continued her actions.

"Fluffy, fluffy." Maria hummed as she also pulled Chris into her embrace. Now, Chris and Miku had no choice but to stay still as both of them were being tightly hugged and their heads patted by Maria. Tsubasa could only sigh in relief as Maria had stopped crying. She was now happily smiling and murmuring something that all of them were fairly sure was not English or Japanese.

"Miku? What's taking you so long?" Hibiki then came out of the other room. Kirika and Shirabe also followed her, wondering why Chris and Miku had not yet returned. The three then stopped dead at the unusual scene of Maria embracing a helpless Miku and Chris.

"Uh…" Kirika then looked questioningly at Tsubasa.

"Maria's drunk." Was the only explanation Tsubasa could offer.

"Oh." Shirabe said in understanding. She had never seen Maria drunk before and so Shirabe watched her curiously.

"You didn't get to eat your dessert!" Hibiki gasped, looking affronted as she spotted the untouched desserts.

"Things happened." Tsubasa merely shrugged.

"THERE'S DESSERT?! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME?!" Maria practically screeched, making everyone jump before she finally let go of Chris and Miku to snatch one of the plates and dug in.

"…This is the last time you're drinking this much wine." Tsubasa scolded lightly. Maria pouted but did not protest as she was too busy stuffing herself with the cake.

"We should've used the cake to distract Maria-san." Miku chuckled softly. Maria then glared at her, her cheeks puffing out in indignation. "Maria-neesan." Miku corrected and Maria smiled once more.

"Maria-neesan?" Hibiki repeated, her eyebrow raised.

"She thinks I'm Serena-san." Miku told her.

"Really?" Kirika didn't really know if she should laugh or feel real bad. "She really is drunk."

"Sorry to cut the dinner so quickly." Tsubasa apologized. "But I think Maria should go and rest now."

"Yes, I think that would be the best too." Shirabe nodded in agreement. If Maria was starting to see Miku as Serena… Well, she definitely needs to rest now.

"She's such an insufferable drunk." Chris scowled as she ran a hand through her hair to make it presentable again. All of Maria's patting and fluffing totally mussed up her hair.

"She is rather clingy and emotional but she's not that bad." Tsubasa laughed a little before a haunted look stole over her face. "You would not want to see the commander drunk." No one wanted to comment on that ominous warning.

"Could you call on Elfnein as well? We'd like to thank all of you for the wonderful dinner." Tsubasa then requested after a moment of silence. Hibiki nodded before skipping to the other room to get Elfnein. When Elfnein entered, Maria quickly squealed and launched herself at her, easily picking up the little alchemist and squeezing the life out of her.

"M-Maria-san?" Elfnein gasped.

"You're so cuuute Elfnein!" Maria squealed.

"Hey, why didn't you react that way when we came in?" Kirika asked with a small pout. Maria suddenly looked stricken at Kirika's words before tears once again gathered in her eyes.

"I'm sorry! Kirika, Shirabe, Hibiki!" Maria wailed and attempted to gather the other three into her arms. Somehow, she managed the feat and the four of them were now being squeezed tightly. "You're all cute okay? Don't ever doubt that!" Strange gurgling and squeaking sounds were the only answer to Maria's comment as the four of them couldn't breathe.

"Maria! Please don't kill them." Tsubasa admonished with an amused smile as the four of them were let go as Tsubasa placed her hand on Maria's shoulder.

"But I'm not." Maria whined and then clung to Tsubasa's arm.

"I have a feeling I shouldn't have said that." Kirika coughed a little, finally being able to breathe again.

"Maria usually gives the warmest hugs but that's a little…" Shirabe trailed off as she caught her breath.

"Feel our suffering." Chris muttered under her breath.

"So." Tsubasa cleared her throat. "We would like to thank all of you for this wonderful dinner." Tsubasa said, her speech formal.

"It was the best dinner I had ever, ever had." Maria nodded, looking serious even as her words were very uncharacteristic.

"It was our pleasure!" Hibiki chirped happily.

"I apologize that it had to be cut short." Tsubasa then bowed to them in apology and Maria mimicked her before bursting into laughter, as if she found the act extremely funny.

"It's fine. Just get her to bed or something already." Chris waved away the apology as she pointedly looked at Maria.

"I'll give her a hangover cure tomorrow morning." Elfnein smiled widely. Tsubasa gave a nervous chuckle as she remembered how Chris, Kirika and Shirabe were confined in the infirmary because of her flavor enhancer before.

"Okay guys!" Kirika then looked at the others with a glint in her eyes and they instantly understood. They all then bowed to the two of them. "Please take care, Ojou-sama!"

"Thank you." Tsubasa bowed one last time while Maria exclaimed something they couldn't understand, giggling all the while before she was whisked away by Tsubasa.

"Well that is officially over!" Kirika announced in relief. There were a few minor hiccups along the way and the appearance of Drunk!Maria was definitely not something they were expecting but one can consider that the dinner was a success. "We've done it everyone! Operation Love Love Idol Connection is a success!" Kirika gave them the 'V' for victory sign and everyone clapped, even Chris.

"Thank you so much for helping us." Shirabe told them with a sincere smile. "This wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for everyone here."

"You're welcome! It was really fun too." Hibiki grinned brightly while Miku and Elfnein nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, so what are you guys going to do next?" Chris then asked as she crossed her arms.

"Huh?" Kirika asked, confused. "We'll clean up?"

"I didn't mean that, you idiot." Chris growled. "What are you going to do after?"

"I don't get what you mean." Shirabe asked, mirroring Kirika's confusion.

"What, isn't your goal to get the two of them together?" Chris asked with raised eyebrows.

"Isn't this enough?" Kirika asked, looking genuinely lost.

"What? That was one date! Or two if you count the movies. I think that's hardly enough for them to get together like you want." Chris pointed out with raised eyebrows.

Kirika and Shirabe looked at each other for a few more seconds as the reality of Chris' words sunk in. They were so focused on the dinner date that they thought that if they succeeded then it equates to Maria and Tsubasa getting together. Chris made them realize the horrible truth; their victory here was just one battle, they were still far away from winning the war.

"EHHHH?!"


Meanwhile…

Tsubasa sighed in relief when she finally managed to get Maria in her room. She had to support Maria as she was drunk and not really in a position to walk unaided. When Maria insisted on walking on her own, she just ended up stumbling and almost faceplanting on the floor.

Tsubasa then gently lowered Maria on her bed amid Maria's sleepy giggles and murmurs of incomprehensible words. When she stood back up, Maria looked up at her with lidded eyes before she grinned widely. Tsubasa didn't really expect it when Maria's hand shot forward and pulled her down and she ended up on top of Maria.

"Maria!" Tsubasa gasped as she was captured in Maria's tight embrace.

"Stay with me." Maria purred as she nuzzled Tsubasa's cheek. Maria was obviously drunk, sleepy and clingy but her antics only made Tsubasa amused as Maria would never be this touchy feel if she was sober. It was a little cute but it would probably be better if Maria wasn't so sensitive and emotional while drunk. It shocked everyone else to see Maria like this and Tsubasa's lips curled into a small smile as she remembered the priceless look on Chris' face when Maria started bawling.

"Alright." Tsubasa chuckled softly. Tsubasa then tried to stand back up to remove her shoes and Maria's but Maria gave out a soft whining sound and tightened her hold. "Could you at least let me remove our shoes?" Tsubasa requested softly. Maria grumbled low in her throat but let Tsubasa go and Tsubasa stood up to quickly do her task. When she was finished, Tsubasa gently nudged Maria aside so that the older woman would move and she could remove the blanket that Maria was lying on. Tsubasa then covered Maria in the blanket before she also slipped underneath it as it was still pretty cold in the sub even if it was almost summer. Tsubasa was now lying beside Maria and she embraced Maria's waist almost possessively. Maria hummed in contentment as she easily settled against Tsubasa.

"You need to go sleep now." Tsubasa murmured as she nuzzled Maria's neck.

"…Okay." Maria didn't raise a fuss as she too smiled widely before she settled into Tsubasa's embrace to go to sleep.

"Good night Maria." Tsubasa murmured in her ear and Maria responded in kind before the couple fell asleep.