This was my first time exploring this district. To sum up everything into one word, it would be ‘Akihabara’.

There was no spot you could turn to where you wouldn’t see a single anime banner, figurine, or cosplayer. Heck, even the safety cones on the street had anime ads pasted on them.

It was an otaku’s dreamland.

“Up here.”

Willow led us deep into a shady alley. It wasn’t mouldy, smelly, or anything like that. More like, a purposefully designed secret shortcut only veterans would know.

Then the impact hit me all at once when we were pulled into a boutique store.

Instead of your usual shirts and jeans, they were selling… an entire suite of maid uniforms.

A uniform from the Victorian age? Oh, there over in the corner. How about one from the dark ages? Ah, that one there which comes with a holster and fake sword. How about fantasy? We have it too. Do you want a cute one, a mature one, or one suited for assassination?

An old man would go senile from all the choices.

“Oh, customers. How wonderful it is to see you all.”

Willow warned us to be careful of the shop owner, saying that she had a ‘peculiar’ personality.

At first glance, the shopkeeper seemed like this beautiful young lady completely immersed in her role-play.

But…

“We’re lucky that she’s not cosplaying as a succubus maid today.”

Willow heaved a sigh of relief.

“Dear me, what are you saying Miss Willow? It’s not good to talk behind the back of your dear maid now?”

The owner showed a modest chuckle.

“Oh Miss Reliana, could you help me pick out outfits for these dear guests of mine? They all need uniforms for work in due time.”

“But of course, I shall see to it. Could you furnish me with the specification?”

“Our school festival. We’re running a maid cafe.”

“Splendid. I assume it would need to be attractive, neither too ostentatious?”

“Would it be possible to rent them instead?”

Reliana smiled.

“Of course my dear. It just happens that we have a rental option for maid uniforms of this particular design, what do you think?”

“What do you think girls? Does this look good?”

“Wow! The fabric is so silky.”

“Do they come with headbands and high socks?”

“I’m surprised by how legit they look.”

“Actually, couldn’t I just buy my own?”

“Me too actually.”

“How many would like their own set, how many would like to rent, please let me know.”

Elliot ♀ who was observing from afar suddenly looked at me with an expression I couldn’t put into words.

She looked like she wanted consent for something.

Do you need consent for something like this? Guilty conscience? I simply nodded, whatever it was going through her mind then.

She moved towards Willow as if in a trance.

“As for you darling, do you also need a maid dress disguise? I’m sure many would find you attractive in such an outfit, no?”

Fuck…?

When did she come up behind me…?

“U-Uh, no thank…”

Before I could finish, I felt her vice-like grip dig into my shoulder.

“You never try you never know?”

Her breath tickled my ear.

“N-No…”

What the fuck…

“Please take your time, I have some special request to attend to.”

“Hey—mff?!”

I was, out of sight, dragged by the demoness into a separate room. Fancy full-body mirrors, armchairs, cosmetic tables, artificial wigs…

She had me stand straight and started taking my measurements.

“Now then, let’s see…”

“H-Hey. I have no intention of dressing up as a maid!”

“Ara, ara? Aren’t you running a maid cafe? If a male happens to cross-dress, it would help a lot in the sales, no?”

“No way! It’ll only disgust the…”

She placed her fingers on my lips.

“Hush darling, don’t be shy. I can tell what you want deep down inside.”

Tell what I want deep down inside…

It must be because you keep imagining what it’s like to be a girl.

I remember Elliot ♀ saying something like that.

Is that true? Could I actually have such a weird fetish?

No.

It can’t be…

There’s no way…

“Oh yes it is. Otherwise, why would you put up such little resistance? Normal people would’ve scolded me by now. Or perhaps…”

She placed the measuring tape aside.

Then bent over and shook her abundant breasts in front of me. There was a card placed in between the crack.

“…You were expecting something from a beautiful servant like me?”

I didn’t know why, but my instincts were telling me that if I grabbed the card, it would mark the end of something inside me.

Yet as if denying my own thoughts, my hands moved on their own. I was just about to reach it when…

Knock. Knock.

Her expression loosened at the sound of the door knock.

“Mnn… how unfortunate.”

She released me. Taking the card away from her breast and putting it into her pocket, she unlocked the door.

“Excuse me, could I have Elliot back?”

On the other side was…

Ellis Cole?

Her expression was cold as she stared at Reliana.

“But of course.”

Ellis glanced at me once and then turned back. She didn’t say anything, but I could tell she was telling me to follow her.

Escaping the demoness’ den, I heaved a deep sigh.

“Hey, where did you go?”

Elliot ♀ asked.

I noticed that she was holding a brand-new maid costume in her hand.

So she… seriously decided to buy one?

“Elliot, come here quickly already!”

Ellis complained.

“Alright, alright.”

“This is the total price. Since a good number of them decided to buy for themselves, the rental would only amount to…”

Of the fourteen girls here, only four of them chose to rent. Those that decided to buy it would fork up the fee themselves… I was dumbfounded.

“What a shame. I could’ve given the rental completely free if he only took the card.”

Reliana said disappointingly… while squirming.

…Took the card? Willow suddenly smacked my head.

“Ah! Why didn’t a virgin like you take the discount ticket! Even Oliver, who already has me, got it last time!”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

So that thing she placed between her breasts wasn’t her phone number, but rather a discount card?

Fuck?

“…Fuck what?”

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

We left the demoness’ den after paying for the deposit and outfits.

One of us will have to pick up the five rental uniforms a few days before the culture festival day.

Aria wasn’t here, so her’s had obviously be rented.

Of the four that didn’t buy, Ellis was among them.

I didn’t understand why she didn’t get one. I thought she liked these sorts of things?

“So what the hell happened back there? Your face was all red.”

“Huh? Why do you want to know?”

I didn’t understand why Ellis was talking to me all of a sudden.

“What? So you mean I can’t talk to you?”

“No, sorry, I just… no. Nothing happened inside there.”

“You always treat me like this.”

She clicked her tongue.

“…”

Right. I’ve always treated her in this manner, haven’t I?

Assuming the worst, I often brushed some conversations aside just because I didn’t want her to make a fuss out of things.

“…She tried to seduce me.”

“…What?”

“That discount ticket, whatever, she put it between her breasts.”

She laughed… snorted.

“Wow, as expected of you.”

“What did I do wrong there? Trying to pick a fight or something? ”

“No. Nothing.”

Now she was treating me the way she hates me to treat her. That’s seriously unfair.

I looked up at her hair. More specifically at…

“I thought you threw it away.”

I said.

“What?”

“That hairpin.”

She scowled in confusion.

It took her a few seconds to realise what I was referring to. When she did, she touched the gold butterfly pin once.

“…You gave it to me. Why would I throw it away?”

“…”

Why exactly would you not throw it away…?

What are you trying to imply with those words?

“We’ll cooperate just this once. After this is over, I don’t want to talk to you again.”

Some things were best left in the dark.

But what if that ‘something’ was coming out into the light?

Should it be pulled out or… pushed back in?

What then?

I don’t know.

This feeling.

This conflicting feeling…

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

Who is Ellis?

My first love.

She was also the person who I gave my first kiss to, and whom I experienced my first breakup with.

Our relationship began during the first year of junior high school, it lasted almost two and a half years before it broke down.

Before we knew it, we didn’t just become estranged from each other. We started to hate each other.

I was immature, and so was she.

It was enough of a blessing that I got to date my childhood friend. Most people never even got to kiss their first crush.

I don’t know how it all went wrong… or when it all went wrong.

So when I saw her wearing that pin, I don’t know why but… the thought of ‘what if’ crossed my mind.

“…Hey Elliot!!”

Elliot ♀ screamed into my ear.

“What the fuck, did you have to yell so loud?!”

I glared at her.

“You weren’t responding, so I had to. What’s up? Thinking about what happened between you and that sexy maid we met earlier in the day?”

“Shut up.”

I turned away and covered my head with the pillow.

“You’re acting abnormal. Like you’re lovesick or something.

Lovesick?

I’m acting lovesick?

Over what?

Ellis?

No way in hell.

“Elliot, what the fuck. What’s going on with you? It’s scary that the male me is more emotional than this me you know?”

Elliot ♀ complained.

“Give me some time to sort things out…”

“…It’s not about the maid thing isn’t it?”

“…It’s not.”

“Then…”

Then you should know what I’m talking about. Since you saw me talking to her so much earlier.

“…Alright. I won’t try to interfere too much but, if you need any help, you know that I’m here.”

“So you guessed it huh?”

“Well of course.”

“As expected of me.”

“Don’t worry. You’re not the only one troubled.”

“Really?”

I paused and thought about it, wasn’t it abnormal that Elliot ♀ wasn’t as chummy with Ellis as of late?

“Is it about the same thing too?”

“Nah. I’ll deal with mine, you deal with yours. If things get too tough, then I’ll tell you. It’s still manageable now.”

“…You’re making me suspicious.”

“Don’t think too hard about it. Simply, if you need an ear, I’m here. Good night.”

“Right… same here I guess. If you need me to hear you out, feel free to tell me. Good night.”

The sound of her phone softly playing in the background. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

Ellis Cole.

Why the hell am I thinking about Ellis Cole?

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

“Morning.”

“Good morning.”

We started greeting each other as of late.

Since we were seat neighbours and all.

“Elliot, I heard from the other class that you need to submit some kind of report to the student council.”

“Richard-sensei said he would take care of that for us. I don’t think there’s any other class hosting a maid cafe like us, so we’re probably safe.”

“I don’t think so either.”

Which means there won’t be competing agendas. We were free to do the maid cafe however we liked.

“Elliot, Ellis, what do you think of this design?”

It was Tility.

Our cute, short, baby-face class president whom the boys would die over if she wore a maid outfit.

Too bad she ended up being part of the technician team. No amount of persuasion would make her wear a maid uniform.

She showed us concepts of the cafe and the materials needed to decorate the class.

There was another reason why she was among the few girls who had been left out of the service team.

Her talent in designing.

I heard she wanted to become an architect, following in the footsteps of her father.

“What do you think?”

“Where are we going to get the white cloth?”

“I have a lot of these materials lying at home. My father already gave me permission to use them.”

“Then how much funds do you need to get the rest of the supplies?”

“What I need aren’t funds, what I need are people willing to stay back to help me build and carry the furniture. That you don’t worry about, I’ll just ask the boys under the technician team to stay back to help out.”

“Alright. Then that resolves the cafe setting. Elliot, has Oliver said anything about the menu?”

“Well…”

I secretly took out my phone and showed her the images Gordon took of the mini cake samples he made yesterday evening.

“…I thought phones weren’t allowed in class…”

“Wow! These look good!”

“He said the cost and price of the cakes hadn’t been decided yet. He’ll bring the cakes today for taste testing, but said not to let too many people know since it’d be difficult.”

Ignoring Tility’s complaint, I told them about the taste tasting session later during break. Oliver needed only a few people, but I thought a few more opinions wouldn’t hurt.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

Break time.

“Elliot, let’s go.”

I called out to Elliot ♀, who was talking to Aria.

“Oh, okay.”

“Where are you going?”

Aria asked.

She seemed to have noticed Ellis behind me. Tility had already gone first with Oliver and Gordon.

“It’s kind of a secret.”

“A secret only you three know about?”

“Not really.”

Elliot ♀ sent me a sharp sidelong gaze.

Well. I’m sorry I spilled the news to Ellis and Tility! If you want more cake then we could just order it separately from Gordon!

“You’ll know about it eventually since it’s got to do with the maid cafe.”

“Be sure to tell me about it.”

She smiled.

“Okay…”

I don’t know if it’s because I hadn’t interacted with Aria in a while, but her smile looked somewhat odd.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

We went out of class and headed to the roof where the cake testing zone had been established.

“When did you two get so close I wonder?”

Elliot ♀ asked with a cold gaze.

“…”

“…”

Neither Ellis or I could answer her question. The current relationship we have was only a temporary thing… right?

Yeah, there’s no way that’s true.

Ellis quickly rushed up to Elliot ♀ and grabbed her hand.

“…What?”

“Let’s leave him in the dust.”

She said.

“Huh? But why heeeh…!”

One dragged the other as both of them ran ahead of me.

Seeing their intimacy like this was unusual.

I imagined that this was what their original relationship was like if I didn’t exist.

If I didn’t exist, huh?

I shook my head at the thought.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

“Green tea milk and tiramisu cheesecake.”

“Green tea milk cheesecake and chocolate velvet cake.”

“So all in all, 2 slices of green tea milk, one tiramisu, and one slice of chocolate velvet?”

““Yes.””

Elliot ♀ and I couldn’t just let this opportunity pass.

The cake Gordon made was too good to not have another bite.

Darn it. I knew I shouldn’t have told Ellis and Tility about it.

“Wow, wow, wow. You two are pre-ordering already?”

Oliver seemed to find our pre-emptive strike quite excessive.

“They like cake, just let them be.”

Ellis said with her fork still stuck in her mouth. It was obvious she wanted more when there wasn’t any.

“You like cake too, don’t you Ellis?”

“Though not as much as you…”

“Add one more tiramisu. That’s for Ellis.”

“Hey wait! You didn’t need to do…”

I glared at her once. She stammered to a stop.

“It’s fine. It’s just one slice, plus, it’s your favourite isn’t it?”

“…I’ll pay for it myself. Gordon, tell me the price when you have it.”

“I will.”

“I’ll pay for it.”

“No. Why would you pay for something that’s mine?”

“Wow, calm down, calm down. What’s up with you two huh?”

Oliver cut in between us.

“Ellis, just think of this as our treat.”

Elliot ♀ followed up with a supporting remark.

Ellis pouted.

“…Then it can’t be helped.”

But I could secretly tell she was happy.

Because it was one of her habits which I’ve grown to know since a long time ago.

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

It was finally the day of the culture festival.

As presidents who arranged the whole maid cafe, Ellis and I had the role of supervising the others.

“You’re wearing this.”

“What…?”

For some reason, on the morning of the special day. Elliot ♀ threw a shopping bag at my face.

I checked the contents.

“…Since when?”

“Willow told me to keep a secret. Since you’re the team leader, you should have something special.”

“Is this even the right size?”

“Didn’t that sexy maid take your three sizes back then?”

“…”

Right. It couldn’t have been otherwise.

Fuck you and your grin.

…

“Dear me, what do we have here?”

““Mom…””

She kept snapping photos of me and Elliot ♀ as we stood side by side.

Elliot ♀ was wearing a button-up maid uniform with a headband, while I wore a light blue vested Sebastian-type butler uniform.

We must look like those retainers of nobility that come out of manga.

“Your father must be so excited to see you both in these costumes.”

Mom chuckled.

““Ugh…””

Father is coming back home today. Mom will pick him up from the airport and he’ll be just in time to visit us at the cultural festival later.

“Well, then you better support us a lot.”

“Buy more cake to take back home.”

“Oh if you two say so.”

Jasper who just came down the stairs in his pyjamas was rubbing his eyes. He bumped into the two of us just as we were about to leave, stopped and stared for a full minute.

“Wow, I can’t wait to tell my friends about this.”

““You dare…””

──•~❉᯽❉~•──

“Elliot.”

“Yeah?”

“You know, I just realised something.”

We were coming up to the station.

“Are we really going to hop on the train w-wearing this?”

Elliot ♀ picked up the frilly hem of her maid dress and raised it a little. Her shy expression was quite a sight to see.

“We’re going early today, I don’t think there’ll be that many people on the train yet.”

“Ugh, but it’s still so nerve wrecking.”

“Even if there are, I mean, aren’t you proud to look so pretty?”

“Wow, giving a compliment to yourself, how gross.”

“Gross? I’m giving genuine praise to you damn it.”

“Haha! Then you should look at yourself in the mirror!”

We continued bickering like that until we reached the train station. Sure enough, while there were several sneaking glances sent our way, it wasn’t too severe that we had to pay mind to it.

“Hey, Elliot.”

She suddenly grabbed the edge of my vest.

“What?”

It was unusual.

“…What do you think about Ellis now?”

Her voice was barely audible. I almost didn’t catch it.

What do I think about Ellis now?

No.

She’s asking how I feel about Ellis now.

“I don’t know.”

I don’t know how to feel about that girl.

I broke up with her, so I don’t have the right to say I want to return to the way things were.

“I see…”

“That’s not it, isn’t it? What you actually mean to confirm is that she hasn’t given me her reply too, correct?”

I said.

“…”

“Just like I had to assume she rejected me because she never told me the answer. You had to assume she rejected you.”

Were the events that took place the same between us? Perhaps there were deviations.

“Normally, if a confession isn’t rejected, that would mean the person doesn’t want to let go of you right? So isn’t that a positive sign? Why did you think of it as rejection?”

“Don’t dodge the question.”

“Yes, that’s the truth.”

I was the one who decided to break up with her.

I was the one who thought our relationship couldn’t last.

It had been almost half a year, and I assumed that Ellis had given me her reply through a lack of response.

That we were officially over.

But… if we looked at things from her perspective…

“You’re expecting something from her today, isn’t that right?”

I asked, looking at her, Elliot ♀.

Just as it has for me, something must’ve been brewing between her and Ellis.

Something was going to happen today.

She shook her head.

“I don’t think she likes me.”

“What if she did?”

Hypothetically. I mean, Ellis has changed after all.

“In that case, what would you do?”

Elliot ♀ reflected that same question back to me.

What would I do?

The culture festival.

Two years ago on this very day, I confessed to her.

If Ellis said she wanted a restart… what would I do?

So that’s what Elliot ♀ would do huh?