Shino’s POV
   Shino wanted to be a student of Kitajoshi for as long as she can remember. She has heard that each and every one of the students there are set out for life the moment they graduate. They would be given a fantastic job, or at least an excellent husband that other girls would kill for. There was only one problem: her family is not rich. Based on Kitajoshi’s standard, the parents of their students must be at least multi-millionaires. Her father works as a normal businessman, while her mother is a housewife. As such, Shino has to settle for Matsubara High, an elite co-ed school that welcomes both the rich and the common.

   Even though she couldn’t get into Kitajoshi, she could at least take a look around the wonderful school by visiting them when they’re having their Cultural Festival. Two of her friends are also interested in going there, so they depart to Kitajoshi together. The festival is being held on a Saturday, so they didn’t have to wear their stuffy uniforms.

   “So, where should we go first?”

   “Definitely the student council’s office. I heard that they’re doing a maid cafe.”

   “A bunch of ojou-sama trying to act like maids? That we gotta see!”

   “By the way, Kitajoshi is collaborating with another school, right?”

   “Yup. I think it was Yokosuka High.”

   Shino stiffens up at once. Her two friends gasp after realizing what they just said.

   “N-Not that we’ll be going there, of course!”

   “Yup! Totally! The standard of that school is way too low for us!”

   “...I don’t care.”

   Shino is smart and athletic. Her rank in exams are always in the top 5, and she was won multiple gold medals during the sport meets of her school. She is also the ace of the Tennis Club that she joined. She is considered pretty too, and she thinks so herself. Otherwise, she would not be confessed by more than ten male students ever since she was a middle school student. Which is why she could never accept Jin as her elder brother.

   Jin isn’t smart and athletic like Shino. His academic results are terrible, and he has never won any sport awards. He’s not even handsome. Overall, he’s just a plain guy doomed to live a plain life. If he’s really lucky, he might end up getting a girlfriend. That’s a really big if, though.

   Frankly, Shino is ashamed of him. She’s pretty sure that the sentiment is shared by her parents. Whenever there are guests that came over to their house, Jin was told to stay inside his room until they leave. Some guests are probably convinced that Shino is the only child in the Minase family. Jin was never brought along when they were travelling overseas either. The only exception was when they went to Hong Kong. They were invited there by one of father’s friend, and he knows that Jin exists, which is why father had to bring him along.

   After Jin moved out and starts to live alone, the atmosphere of the house has become much better. Good riddance, she says.

   “Oh look, three cuties!”

   “Hey there, can we have a second?”

   Shino turns her neck to see who spoke. It was two men. She takes a quick moment to check them out. Both of them are young, quite handsome, and they’re wearing branded clothes. Sons of rich families, perhaps? The only issue that Shino has for them is that they look quite frivolous. They probably waste their time flirting with girls instead of paving paths for the future of their family. Definitely not boyfriend materials. Still, manners are required of her.

   “How may I help you?” she asks them politely.

   “We were just wondering whether the three of you want to join us for tea?”

   “Tea? But it’s still morning.”

   “Ah, you know what he means. Let’s go have some fun together!”

   Shino sneaks a glance towards her friends. Both their faces have gone pale. Most likely, this is the first time they got hit on. Not Shino. She got hit on so much that she’s become quite experienced in turning persistent men away.

   “We’re sorry, but we already have plans.”

   “No worries. We’ll just join you!”

   “Exactly! Where are you headed?”

   Shino suppresses an urge to sigh. Looks like these two are the type that refuses to take a hint. Oh, well. At least there are only two of them. Her friends can entertain them while she runs away. Just as she was about to sacrifice her friends, she saw someone unexpected crossing the street right opposite them. It’s Jin, her elder brother that she didn’t see in years. Their eyes met. Yup. It’s him all right. As usual, the mere sight of him annoys Shino to no end.

   This time, Shino could barely stop herself from grinning gleefully. Now that he’s here, she can use him to distract the two men in order for her and her friends to run away. The two men get a new punching bag, and Shino doesn’t have to ruin her reputation for being someone who sacrificed her friends for self-preservation. Everyone wins.

   Before Shino could even think up of a plan to turn the men’s attention to Jin, he did the most unthinkable thing. He actually came over.

   “What business do you have with my younger sister and her friends?” he asks the two men.

   “It doesn’t have anything to do with you.” the first man tells Jin.

   “Exactly. Now run along. We’re going to have lots of fun with them.” the second one agrees while shooing Jin away.

   “Are the two of you hitting on high school girls since girls your age ignored you?”

   …Huh? Did he just provoke them? That Jin, who was too cowardly to fight back whenever she took his stuff without his permission?

   “What was that, you brat?” one of them asks while grabbing Jin’s collar.

   “I’ll have you know that we’ve managed to hit on more than ten girls this week alone!”

   “Inside your head?”

   “No, you idiot! That’s it! You’re going down!”

   Shino didn’t know what happened. One second, the man raised his fist and was about to punch Jin’s lights out. On the second, the man flew off and landed on the ground a few hundred feet away from them. He wheezes and gasps for air while clutching his stomach. Shino looks back at Jin. He’s staring at the second man impassively. His posture is completely the same as before he was grabbed. She swore that she didn’t even blink, and yet the man is somehow all the way over there.

   “W-W-What did y-y-y-you do?” the second man asks while stuttering and trembling violently.

   “Would you like to find out?” Jin asks back calmly.

   “No t-t-thanks.”

   The second man goes to help the first man up. Together, the two of them quickly leaves the scene. One they’re out of sight, Jin turns and leaves without looking back nor addressing any of the girls. Shino was so stunned with the turns of events she couldn’t speak for a few seconds. Eventually, it was one of her friend who spoke first.

   “What just happened back there, Shino?” she asks Shino.

   “How on earth would I know? I’m just as surprised as you are!”

   “Didn’t you said that he was a total weakling?”

   “Well, he was! I have no idea that he’s so strong now! Anyway, let’s forget about him and head to Kitajoshi already. We’ve wasted enough time as it is.”

   “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

   After walking for around ten minutes, the three of them have finally reached Kitajoshi, the school for rich girls.

   “So this is Kitajoshi…”

   “It’s much bigger than the time I saw it on TV…”

   “Alright girls, let’s stop gawking and go in already. The line to go inside the student council’s office is probably very long, so we need to start lining up as soon as possible.” Shino tells them.

   They ask around for directions to the student council’s office. Turns out all they had to do were follow a huge crowd that were also heading there. Shino was right. The line is long. Very, very long. It might take them half a day in order for them to go in.

   “Shall we go somewhere else first?”

   “Nah, let’s just wait. I doubt the line will decrease anytime soon.” Shino insists.

   And so, the three of them start to line up. Even after half-an-hour, the line is barely shortened. Shino is starting to regret her decision.

Jin’s POV
   “You should have come here with us, Minase-kun.” Wakaba tells Jin the moment they meet up at Kitajoshi.

   “Exactly. Do you know how many places we visited before you arrived?” Watanabe agrees.

   “I don’t have a habit of waking up early in the morning during the weekends.” Jin tells them.

   “Oh, you’re just like Esty! I had trouble waking her up every weekends as well.”

   Sure enough, the demon in question is yawning while looking half-asleep. Even so, she’s still munching on the stick of chocolate banana on her hand.

   “Can we just go to the student council’s office now? I want to get this over with.”

   “Of course. Please lead the way.”

   Both Jin and Estyshana have already been to the student council office before, so they could lead the way without any issue.

   “Watch where you’re going, Esty.” Wakaba chides Estyshana.

   “I can’t help it~. I can barely open my eyes, you know~.”

   Strike that. Jin is the only one doing the guiding.

   “So, are you sure we can get a seat the moment we got there?” Watanabe asks to confirm as they’re closing in on their destination.

   “Pretty sure. The vice president of the student council herself sent me a message and allowed us the privilege.” Jin replies.

   “She also allow us to bring our friends along…” Estyshana adds drowsily.

   “Still, it’s kind of amazing that the two of you actually knows the president and the vice-president of Kitajoshi. How did you even get to know them?” Wakaba asks.

   “I want to know too! I was asking it when they first appeared at our school, but you managed to weasel yourself out of it!” Watanabe agrees while getting uncomfortably close to Jin.

   Even without looking, Jin could tell that Estyshana has stiffened up. Her drowsiness are probably all gone too.

   “I don’t really know them. I knew their father, and through him, them.” Jin says.

   “What about Esty-chan?”

   The demon got all tongue-tied. “I, um…”

   “She was there with me when I got introdueced to his daughters.” Jin lies smoothly.

   “...! Yup, that’s right!”

   “You know, what you said and Esty-chan’s reaction don’t really add up.” Watanabe points out suspiciously.

   Jin shrugs. “I’ve already told you. Whether you believe me or not is up to you.”

   Even if Jin didn’t remember the route, he could tell that they’re near the office as the line to go in there is ridiculously long. Seriously, don’t all these people have anything better to do?

   Hmm? Is that Shino and her friends? Ah, so they’re here for this as well. Whatever, it’s not his problem. As for them, they’re busy staring at their own phone and didn’t notice him passing them at all.

   Jin goes to the entrance directly, earning a death glare from the person standing right in front of it. As Aldenia promised in the LINE message she sent, there’s an empty table at the middle of the office. He saw Aldenia and Audrey being busy while wearing the maid uniforms they were wearing the other day. Then, Audrey notices Jin. She quickly comes over.

   “Welcome home, Master Minase.” she tells him gracefully.

   “Hey there. I’m here with Von Mantus, and we brought two of our classmates with us.”

   “Hello~.” Estyshana greets the maid lazily.

   “It is good to see you as well, Lady Estyshana.”

   Audrey smiles and curtsies at Wakaba and Watanabe.

   “Greetings, ojou-sama, and welcome home.” she greets.

   Watanabe stares at Audrey with her mouth wide open.

   “I can’t believe it. I’m being greeted by a real ojou-sama who dresses up like a maid…” Watanabe mumbles.

   “Stop staring at her, Anri. Don’t you know it’s rude?” Wakaba chides.

   “Are all of you ready to be taken to your seat?” Audrey asks all of them.

   “We are.” Jin confirms.

   “Understood. Please follow me.”

   They were brought to the empty table, and menus were handed out. Jin takes a look at it. The menu is exactly the same as the one that was shown to him when he came here the first time.

   “Wow, and here I thought that the price of the products here will be expensive. It’s actually quite decent.” Watanabe says as she’s looking through her copy of menu.

   All of them placed their orders. Jin only ordered a cup of black tea. However, when the things they ordered arrive, Jin also got a slice of cheesecake.

   “Um, Audrey? I don’t think I ordered this.” Jin tells Audrey since she’s the one who served them.

   “It’s on the house, master.” Audrey informs him with a wink.

   “Oh, I see. Thanks.”

   “Please enjoy it to your heart’s content.”

   Jin notices the three girls who are sitting on the same table as him are all staring at him intently.

   “Is something wrong?” he asks them.

   “Aren’t you kind of close with her?” Watanabe asks.

   “And how come you’re the only one with free food?” Estyshana complains.

   “That’s not really important right now, Esty.” Wakaba says to her.

   “It is to me!”

   “Just order one yourself.”

   “Hmph! Fine, I will!”

   “Am I?” Jin asks Watanabe while ignoring Estyshana’s outburst.

   “Yeah, you’re calling her by her first name.”

   “I had to, okay? How else am I supposed to differentiate between the sisters?”

   “Oh, right. The vice president is the younger sister.”

   “Yup.”

   Speaking of the younger Graylock, she comes right over when she finally doesn’t have to serve customers.

   “Are all of you enjoying our service so far?” she asks the four of them.

   “We are.” Jin tells her as he finishes the last of his cake.

   The others nod in agreement.

   “I’ve been observing all the maids here. All of you are being very good at it.” Watanabe adds.

   Watanabe is right. Each and every one of the maids here are very professional. It’s kind of hard to believe that all of them were used to being served back at their own home.

   “That’s good to hear. Somehow, I managed to coach all of them in the matter of one week. It’s a good thing all of them are quick learners. Most importantly, though, it’s all thanks to Minase that I could coach them at all.”

   “But I didn’t do a thing.”

   “Sure ya did. It was thanks to you that I could get some reference on being real maids.”

   “To be fair, you should have gone to a real maid cafe instead of just browsing through mangas about maids.”

   “...Oh, right. I didn’t consider that option at all. In any case, I owe you a big one. And so do nee-san, although she refused to tell me what.”

   “Al, stop having a leisure chat with our master and mistresses! We have others to serve, remember?” Audrey chides.

   “Oops, my bad! Well, I have to get back to work. Enjoy the rest of your time here.”

   Even though Aldenia has said that, they didn’t overstay their welcome as they’re still lots of customers waiting outside. Speaking of waiting customers…

   “Where are you going, Minase-kun?” Wakaba asks as Jin gets up and heads to the opposite direction of the exit.

   “I got something to do first. You girls head outside first.”

   “Okay. We’ll be waiting for you.”

   Jin walks straight towards Audrey who’s clearing up a table.

   “Can I talk to you for a minute, Audrey?” he requests.

   Audrey stops what she’s doing at once.

   “Of course. How may I help you?”

   “After you or your colleagues cleared out the table we were sitting, is it okay if you let a certain group of people who’re lining up outside take our place?”

   “I suppose it’s fine. May I know their name?”

   “One of them is Minase Shino. I don’t know the names of the other two.”

   Her eyes widen at once.

   “Minase? Does that mean…?”

   “Yup. She’s my younger sister.”

   “I see. Yes, I can at least do that much. Is there anything else?”

   “Yeah, I need two more favors. First, can you look for them after we’re gone for at least fifteen minutes? Second, can you keep quiet that I asked this favour from you?”

   “Of course. I don’t know the reason, but I’m not going to question them, either.”

   “Thanks. Well, I’ll be leaving with my classmates now.”

   “Yes. I have great hopes for the establishment that your class has set up for tomorrow.”

   “Well, don’t expect too much from it. Hey Aldenia. I’m leaving.”

   “Oh, sure! See you tomorrow!”

   After Jin leave the student council’s office with his classmates, they decide on what to do next. At least, everyone except Jin.

   “Well, I’m going back to my place.” he tells them.

   “Already? But you just got here!” Watanabe points out.

   “I didn’t even want to come here. I only did because the younger Graylock won’t stop bugging me until I do.”

   “You could at least walk around with us for a little bit.” Wakaba tells him.

   “Yeah, you totally should Jin!” Estyshana agrees.

   “Says the one who was half-asleep.”

   The demon averts her eyes and tries to whistle, but fails.

   “Come on, just a little while will do!” Watanabe pleads.

   Jin sighs. Guess he’s not getting out of this one.

   “...Fine.” he agrees reluctantly.

   “All right! Let’s go!”

   He sighs again. He just hope that he won’t bump into Shino and her friends again.