The following morning, Hana, Mitsuki, and I manage to wake up bright and early without any mishaps. We meet each other in the hallway outside our rooms with faces full of anticipation.

"All right." Mitsuki says, looking at her watch. "It's twenty minutes before eight. Let's start walking out there now." Yeah, for some reason, the high school student dorms are super far away from our school. Kudos to the person who planned out the school map…

We walk as fast as we can to school, not wanting Hayate to wait. We haven't seen him yet this morning, so I'm not sure if he's already left before us, or if he's leaving later than us.

When we get to the front of the school, we find Hayate already waiting for us, sitting on the steps leading to the school doors. "Morning!" He greets us, standing up at our arrival.

"Good morning, Hayate-kun." I smile at him. "Are we on time?"

"Just in time." He replies, looking at the watch on his wrist. "The bus should be here any minute now." I hear a loud meow in the distance. "There it is now."

After the bus comes to a silky stop in front of us, we file onto the bus in single file. Mitsuki and Hana sit next to each other while I slide in next to Hayate.

"Hayate-kun." Hana turns around to face us. "What's our employer like? Do we have to go through any interview?"

"Well…" Hayate looks around suspiciously, even though there's obviously no one on the bus this early in the morning. He motions for us to come closer, and then whispers, "Rumor has it that the owner of the Howalon shop, Yamaguchi Tsukasa-san, is a former member of the Anti-Alice Organization."

"Goodness!" I shoot a meaningful glance at Hana and Mitsuki. "This wasn't in the briefing!"

"Yes," Hayate whispers urgently. "We intentionally left it out of our report. Yamaguchi-san is a good man. If Persona found out he used to be the AAO's main hitman, he wouldn't be able to live in peace. And the students of Alice Academy would never forgive us for taking away the source of their favorite candy."

"Why did Yamaguchi Tsukasa leave the AAO?" Mitsuki asks.

"Yamaguchi-san's wife, Yamaguchi Ryuko-san, was the reason behind his defection." Hayate explains. "Ryuko-san is an Alice Academy graduate. They met when Ryuko-san was working as a waitress at a restaurant in Central Town. Because of his love for her, Yamaguchi-san faked his own death and started up his own business with her, making Howalon sweets."

We pause for a few moments, savoring the sweetness of their romance. "What are their Alices?" Hana asks when the moment is over.

"Yamaguchi-san's Alice is Magnification." Hayate says. "It allows him to see things at various magnifications. His Alice is so strong that if he runs it at full throttle, he can see cells with his naked eye."

"Holy wow!" I exclaim. "I see why he was hired to be a hitman…"

"Yeah." Hayate agrees. "He's using his powers for good now. Somehow, his Alice is integral to the Howalon-making process. I'm not sure how, since it's apparently a trade secret."

"How about his wife?" Mitsuki inquires.

"Her Alice is Dexterity." Hayate replies. "She can contort her body in any way, and also stretch all parts of her body. As you've probably figured out, she's really good with her hands."

By this time, the bus has stopped. The bus driver calls out, "Central Town!"

"Our stop, guys." Hayate stands up. "Let's go. I'll take you to the Howalon shop."

Hana, Mitsuki, and I step out into an Alice wonderland. There are quaint, colorful buildings everywhere we look. A cute cobbled stone path leads into the heart of the town, and on either side of the path grows various stores and restaurants, each selling their own unique items. We walk past a grocery shop owner setting out his wares for the day, and I hear the talking fruits before I even see them. An apple chatters excitedly to his banana neighbor about how his sister ran away to get ripe with a melon just yesterday. When I turn my head the other way, I see a toyshop with multitudes of stuffed animals displayed in its windows. The shop owner there appears to be waking them up, although there is one little teddy bear trying to sneak a few more moments of shuteye. The rest of the shops begin their day in the same fashion, as the little town begins to wake up and buzz busily.

"It's amazing." I breathe in awe, my eyes darting from each new attraction to the next.

"It's almost too much to take in." Mitsuki agrees.

"Come this way!" Hayate calls, walking at a brisk pace down the stone path, hands in his pockets. "Hurry, or else we'll be late!"

I reluctantly tear my eyes away from the wonderful sights and follow Hayate's slightly slouching form towards an amazingly pink, fluffy-looking building. The door of the fluffy building opens, and three familiar-looking people dressed in pink uniforms, a girl and two boys, walk out, each carrying a table and setting it down. They file back inside and quickly come back out with chairs, arranging them around the tables. The girl glances up, and catches my eye. A spark of recognition jolts between us. It's Agent 005!

She quickly looks down and slightly shakes her head. Beside her, the two boys notice her movement and follow her gaze. Now that I'm closer, I recognize Agent 004's square glasses and Agent 006's curly hair. Agent 006 elbows Agent 004 in the ribs quickly, and shakes his head almost imperceptibly. Agent 004 hisses in pain and shoots Agent 006 a dirty look, mouthing "I KNOW" to him.

"Morning, Kumiko-san!" Hayate calls, waving at her. "Need some help setting up?"

"Thanks for the offer, Hayate-kun, but it's alright," Agent 005 smiles at Hayate. "I got these two idiots to help me today."

"I'm not an idiot." Agent 004 declares haughtily. "I am Hikaru, the Great One. You all should be bowing down to me. My awesomeness outshines even the sun." Dude, even undercover, his pigheaded personality still shines through.

"Just stop, Hikaru." Kumiko, Agent 005, says tiredly. "Why don't you take a page from Daichi's book and shut up for once?"

Agent 006 backs away with his large hands up. "Don't drag me into this, Kumiko." He says with a sheepish expression. "I don't want to fight with Hikaru today."

"Where's Yamaguchi-san? I've brought the girls with me today." Hayate asks.

"Yamaguchi-sensei and Ryuko-sensei are inside, prepping for the day." Kumiko replies. She peers at Mitsuki, Hana, and me with a curious smile. With an upraised eyebrow, she asks, "So you three are the new recruits? What are your names?"

"I'm Sakurai Karin. Nice to meet you." I force a smile on my face as I bow to Agents 004, 005, and 006. So they're pretending not to know us, huh? They're probably doing this to not blow their covers, and hopefully not to blow our covers as well. "This is my sister, Sakurai Mitsuki," Mitsuki bows silently to them, "and our cousin, Narita Hana." Hana also quickly bows.

"Have you had any experience working in the food service industry?" Daichi, Agent 006, asks. All three of us shake our heads.

"Well, let's see what Yamaguchi-sensei says." Kumiko says. She motions towards us. "Come on, I'll take you guys in to see him." Kumiko looks at Hayate. "Are you coming too, Hayate-kun?"

Hayate nods. "I'll stick around until these girls are hired for sure."

We all walk inside the Howalon shop, with Kumiko leading the way. "Yamaguchi-sensei!" She calls out loudly. "The potential new employees are here!"

We hear a loud clatter coming from a door leading to the back of the building, and a large, burly man bumbles out, dusting pink sugar from his hands.

"Where are you guys?" He asks frantically, whipping his head back and forth vigorously.

"Look down, Sensei." Kumiko sighs. She whispers to us, "He forgets how tall he is sometimes."

"Hello." He inclines his head slightly with a big grin on his face. "I am Yamaguchi. Are you three the girls Hayate-kun was talking about?"

"Yes, hello." The three of us bow back to him, showing him respect. "We wish to seek employment at your bakery."

"I am Sakurai Karin, and this is my sister, Sakurai Mitsuki." I gesture to Mitsuki.

"I am Narita Hana." Hana introduces herself.

"Are you related too?" Yamaguchi-san asks, smiling knowingly.

"Yes." Hana smiles back at him. "I'm a cousin." Yamaguchi-san's smile is contagious. He has a kind face, although it is weather-beaten and has a few scars. He looks like someone who has been through many dangerous situations, but lived to tell his tale.

"Hello there." A small woman emerges from the same door Yamaguchi-san had come from.

"Good morning, Ryuko-sensei." Kumiko greets her.

Ryuko-san smiles at Kumiko to acknowledge her greeting, then turns and surveys us. "They look so young and cute, don't they, darling?"

"My wife, Yamaguchi Ryuko-san." Yamaguchi-san blushes as he introduces her.

"Nice to meet you." We bow to her as well.

"Nice to meet you too." She replies back. "Now darling!" To our great surprise, the small woman slaps her husband on his large, muscular arm. "Time to get back to work! The bakery opens early today! I can't start weaving the threads together until you're done spinning them! Hikaru-kun! Daichi-kun!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Hikaru and Daichi snap to attention. I watch this in awe, for this small, little woman had managed to somehow subdue Hikaru's big mouth that could not under any circumstances be tamed.

"Go help Yamaguchi-sensei spin the sugar crystals." She barks out orders like an army general.

"Yes ma'am!" Daichi and Hikaru immediately file up into a single-file line and march to the kitchen orderly.

"Hayate-kun!"

"Yes ma'am!" Even Hayate-kun stands rigidly like a private awaiting orders.

"Go wait outside."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Wow." I mouth to Mitsuki and Hana. "They're all whipped!"

"All right girls." Ryuko-san turns to us. Instinctively, we all straighten our backs for proper posture. For some reason, it feels really difficult to slouch or do anything out of place in front of her. "What we really need right now is service for the customers waiting in line. Every day, there's always a long line of customers, and sometimes we can't make enough Howalon for everyone because either our apprentices or my husband and I have to come out from the kitchen to ring up orders or entertain the guests while a batch is cooking. So, I was debating with my husband about what to do, and this is the answer we came up with." Ryuko-san holds up a finger to signal for us to wait as she leaves us momentarily and comes back with…

"Oh my god." We gape at what she holds out to us. It's basically a really frilly pink maid uniform, ribbons and lace everywhere. If I wear that thing, I'm going to look like a cloud of pink cotton candy…

"Yes." Ryuko-san says proudly. "It's quite appropriate for such a cutesy Howalon shop too, isn't it? Now you three can wear these and serve the customers during opening hours. After the shop closes, you can change into the same uniform as the other three apprentices and help us prepare for the next day." We stand there, utterly silent, staring at each outfit she had passed out to us. Seeing a lack of reaction from us, Fumiko-san shrugs and continues with her briefing. "You will be paid a wage of 1,000 yen an hour. We expect you to show up for work everyday, although considering you three are still students, we will allow you to come in as soon as school ends and leave early at 7 PM since your studies are important. On the weekends however, we expect you to arrive nice and early at 6 AM to help prep before the bakery opens at 7 AM. You will be allowed to leave when the workday ends at 10 PM. Of course I will provide you with lunch on the weekends, but you're on your own for dinner." She casts a piercing gaze over us. "Are these terms acceptable to you?"

Mitsuki and Hana both elbow me, motioning for me to ask the big question that all three of us was wondering. "Um, Yamaguchi-san…"

"Call me Ryuko. Yamaguchi-san is my husband." Ryuko-san prompts.

"Ryuko-san." I correct. "Your terms are very generous…"

So I say, but mental me rolls my eyes at how much we have to work for so little pay… No wonder they couldn't manage to hire anyone before us…

"But before we accept," I continue, "We just wanted to know. What is Howalon?"

Ryuko-san gapes at us. "Have you guys been living under a rock?" She asks us incredulously.

"Well," I laugh sheepishly. "We have just transferred into Alice Academy recently…"

"Darling!" Ryuko-san calls into the kitchen. "Quickly, have Daichi-kun spin three pieces of Howalon! Our new employees have no idea what Howalon is!"

A loud crash comes from the kitchen, followed by a loud masculine yell, "WHAT?"

"Exactly!" Ryuko-san calls back.

Daichi hurries out, looking rather harried and with pink sugar in his hair, holding a plate with three little pink puffballs. He offers one to each of us before skedaddling back to the kitchen.

"Try it." Ryuko-san urges.

After taking a bite, I'm instantly in heaven. The consistency is a bit like cotton candy, although it has a richer, sweet taste. It melts on my tongue almost immediately, and I can feel this sense of complete happiness invading my body. If a food critic had tried Howalon, that food critic would've given Howalon five stars indeed.

"This is amazing!" Hana exclaims, looking at her Howalon puff in delight.

Mitsuki finishes hers off with gusto. "I think this might be the best candy I've eaten in my life."

I am just at a loss for words. The only word I manage to squeak out before tossing the last bite of Howalon in my mouth is, "Heaven."

"Isn't it?" Ryuko-san says, with a smug expression on her face.

"How do you make this?" I ask with awe.

"A trade secret, my pretty girl." Ryuko-san winks at me. "After you've worked here for a while, perhaps we'll let you into the kitchen to see how we make it. But for now…" Ryuko-san gestures to the fluffy maid uniforms. "Time to change and get ready for opening!"

I mentally groan as I look at the maid uniform. It is kind of cute, but I feel a little uncomfortable wearing something so…eye-catching. Any chance I can accidentally burn this thing?