Chapter 413: Check, Drama Scum, Ryo (Patreon)

The first thing Jhin did after returning to the company was tuck Kazami Kazuki under his arm, carry her into the chairman's office that had barely ever been used, and punish her thoroughly.

Having heard from Nymph that Jhin had been ambushed, Takina was asking Chisato how things had gone.

"Ahh~ By the time I got there, Jhin-nii had already taken care of all of them. I didn't have to do a thing."

"Who were the enemies?"

"Lilybell."

"Lilybell?" Takina knit her delicate brows. "Why would they attack the Store Manager?"

Chisato held up a hand and measured a tiny gap between her forefinger and thumb. "They've got a little personal grudge with me..."

"I see..." Takina didn't press further. She stood, ready to go ask Nymph for the virtual-space combat analysis data she'd been promised.

"By the way, Takina, how's the training you've been doing? Going well?"

At the question, her body gave a violent shudder, and her voice came out a little unnatural. "So-so... I have things to do. I'm going now."

"Oh, good luck."

Sachi Komine came over carrying a plate of cake. "Chisato, there you are. Here, this is the dessert Jhin made."

"Thanks." Chisato took the plate and asked, "Where's Jhin-nii?"

"He went to find Kazuki. He said we should rest up first and head back to the café."

"Mmm-mmm... Then let's go back once Takina's done." In an instant, the delicious cake made Chisato feel like an idiot for agonizing so much earlier. Why hadn't she come back sooner for dessert?

"Okay."

...

Now that the two of them had changed their relationship, Chisato no longer dragged Jhin off to romance movies. Everyone in the café breathed a sigh of relief. At last, they wouldn't have to suffer through those clichéd films anymore.

Afterward, Nymph hacked into the DA headquarters' data management AI, [Radiata], and altered the [Death] records of the three Lilybell members to show they had died from failed missions.

The funny part was that no one inside DA noticed anything wrong. They didn't even check whether corresponding mission records existed. In their eyes, the Lilybell, who had no household registration and were nothing but tools, weren't worth the time.

Kurumi had been dragged off by Kazami Kazuki to do data analysis. Chisato had Sachi Komine helping with her training, and Takina was honing herself with virtual reality technology. Jhin realized that he had somehow become the most idle person of all. After Izumi Sagiri saw through his attempt to sneak a little carrot juice into her cake, his latest effort to correct his little sister's picky eating failed once again.

"It's the weekend, so let's go to STARRY first!"

Having made up his mind, he changed into casual clothes and headed for STARRY, messaging the girls of Kessoku Band ahead of time.

Kessoku Band group chat.

Jhin: "I'm coming to STARRY!"

Nijika: "Oh ho ho~ Isn't this Mr. Busy Jhin? You've finally deigned to visit a little place like ours?"

Jhin: "Well, I did promise Nijika. Right, Bocchi-chan?"

Ichi-chan: "Ah... Mm, you're right."

Nijika: "Bocchi-chan, you don't have to agree with everything he says! Hurry up and snap out of this man's good-looking spell!"

Ichi-chan: "But Jhin really smells nice."

Nijika: "?"

Ryo: "LOL. How can you say that to Bocchi-chan? She's already at the point where she can't live without Jhin."

Kita: "Ryo-senpai, that's a bit exaggerated. But Bocchi-chan really does get restless if she goes too long without seeing Jhin."

Jhin: "That won't do. Bocchi-chan, let's bring back our old habit of an hour-long video call every night!"

Ichi-chan: "Ah... um, my mom will say I'm staying up too late."

Jhin: "Then I'll just come over to your house for an hour every night."

Ichi-chan: "I-I think that should be fine."

Nijika: "(Deadpan) Ahh~ Jhin, you don't need to come over. I'm already full."

Jhin: "Sorry, but I'm already outside the door."

The door of STARRY swung open hard, and Jhin bellowed inside at the top of his lungs. "Wife! I've come to see you!"

Thud! Hitori Gotoh collapsed onto the table at those words, her bright red face puffing out wisps of steam.

Seika Ijichi gave him a flat look. "I know you two are lovey-dovey, but do you have to be this loud about it? You're even yelling 'wife.' What if there were other customers here and they got the wrong idea?"

PA-san doubled over laughing and gave him a thumbs-up. "Ignore Seika. I like how direct you are. Feel free to say it more often."

Ryo caught a flicker of shyness and delight cross Ikuyo Kita's face. Her pupils shot wide as if she'd been struck by lightning, and her suspicious gaze began darting back and forth between Kita and Jhin.

Don't tell me Ikuyo, too...

The word "wife" dredged up Nijika's memory of that wedding dream, and she nearly leapt out of her chair in fright. Luckily, she kept her emotions under control and her expression barely changed. She put on an air of exasperation. "Stop showing off. What do you want to drink?"

"Milk coffee, specially made by Nijika's own hands."

"Have your girlfriend make it. I don't provide that kind of extra service." Nijika turned her head away in feigned anger.

Ryo, however, moved with astonishing speed. She whipped up a cup of coffee milk and handed it to him, then stretched out a small hand and said tersely, "Tip. Thank you."

Seeing Jhin actually pull out money, Nijika hurriedly slapped Ryo's hand away. "STARRY doesn't have a rule about asking customers for tips. Don't get any funny ideas!"

"But I earned this with my labor." Ryo grumbled, though she dutifully stepped away. After all, Nijika held the power over her paycheck, and if she got greedy over Jhin's tip and had her wages cut, she'd come out the loser.

"Aww~ What a shame, Ryo. You didn't get the tip."

"No shame in it. This is simply my job."

"Is that your honest answer?"

Under Nijika's death glare, which clearly said "say what you really think and I'll dock your pay," Ryo stiffened and answered in a solemn voice, "One hundred percent honest. Not a single lie."

Jhin heaved a sigh full of regret. With a rub of the fingers holding the cash, he revealed a check behind it with a huge sum written on it. "And I was so close to financial freedom."

"Ms. Nijika, you cannot use my wages to threaten a hardworking, diligent employee like me into saying things against my conscience. I nearly strayed down the wrong path just now, but fortunately Jhin stepped in in time and set me back on the right road."

She spoke with such a straight face that she almost sounded sincere. Then she dashed over to Jhin and snatched the check, which seemed to shine with ten thousand rays of golden light. Only when she unfolded it did she see that, apart from the amount, it had nothing else filled in.

In short, Jhin had fooled her.

Nijika saw Ryo's reaction and knew she'd been played. She grinned wickedly and teased, "Why are you frozen, hardworking Ryo Yamada? Didn't you just get exactly what you've always dreamed of? Looks like you don't care about the measly wages here at STARRY. How about I just fire you?"

Ryo promptly wrapped her arms around Nijika's leg. "I'm so sorry!!!!!"