Kuromi and Assaf-sensei have no need to change their clothes, so they follow me directly to my room. On the way there, I ask Assaf-sensei the question that’s been bothering me for a while.

‘Sensei, haven’t you and Kuromi met before?’

‘Indeed I haven’t. I’ve tried to form a contract with her not long after I stole the ring from Hades, but she didn’t even want to see me.’ Assaf-sensei replies.

‘My apologies for my rudeness back then. However, please understand that I have no reason to bond with the thief who stole me. ’

Assaf-sensei merely shrugs. ‘Fair enough. By the way, what’s with the maid uniform?’

‘Madoka-sama suggested this outfit so that I could better appease master.’ Kuromi replies.

‘My, my. You have some acquired taste, don’t you, Akira-kun?’ my teacher/girlfriend chuckles.

‘I have no comments in that matter.’ I simply say.

After we get to my room, I get some fresh uniform from my closet and head to the bathroom so that I could get changed.

‘There’s no need to be shy, Akira-kun. You could just change here.’ Assaf-sensei tells me.

‘Thanks, but no thanks, sensei. Kuromi, make sure that she doesn’t try to barge in.’

Kuromi looks utterly confused.

‘But, who will go inside with you to help you get changed?’

‘I don’t need any sort of assistance just to get changed, alright?’

To be safe, I locked the door of the bathroom right after I go in. And to make sure the two of them don’t touch anything personal of mine while I’m inside, I get changed at lightning speed. I even have to make do without a bath.

As soon as I got out, I caught them standing right in front of my closet.

‘...What are the two of you doing?’ I demand.

Kuromi stretches back her hand guiltily, which was inches away from the door knob.

‘I was just trying to check on your clothing, master.’

‘What kind of clothing, specifically?’

‘Your underwear.’

I look wordlessly at Assaf-sensei, who’s definitely responsible for Kuromi’s actions. She stares back innocently.

‘She asked me the best way to get to know you better. I told her that looking at your underwear collection is the fastest way.’

‘How so?’

‘We could deduce your personality from the way you treat your underwear.’

I let out a tired sigh.

‘Just stay away from my closet please.’

‘If you insist.’

‘Yes, master.’

I walk over to the kitchen to start preparing dinner, since it’s nighttime now. There’s a lot of people coming over, and I’m quite tired, so I decide to make a simple stew. Before I get started, I made sure to store my ring inside the vault.

‘Do you require my assistance, master?’ Kuromi asks.

‘It’s fine. I can handle this. You just sit tight with sensei.’ I reply.

‘Pardon me for being blunt, master, but I find it blasphemous that a maid is just sitting around and do nothing while her master do all the work.’

I want to point out that it’s even more blasphemous that a Goddess is helping a mere mortal to do house chores, but I decide to keep it to myself. She looks very determined, so there’s no point in trying to talk her out of it.

‘All right. In that case, help me peel these.’ I say while handing her some potatoes and carrots and a peeler.

‘Yes, master.’

She’s very clumsy with the peeling, but I need to remind myself that she’s a Goddess that has never done anything like this, so I slowly guide her on how to do it right. After a while, she starts to get the hang of it. I leave her to peel the rest of the spuds so that I can take care of other things.

We work quietly until someone rings the doorbell.

‘Can you get the door, sensei?’

Assaf-sensei slowly gets up from my couch. ‘Of course.’

It’s Oomori.

‘Hey there, Oomori. Dinner’s going to take a while, so you can watch TV or play some games while waiting.’ I tell her.

‘It’s okay, I’ll just sit down and wait.’ she tells me while sitting down in front of the kitchen.

For some reason, she looks very nervous and restless. She keeps looking around like she’s expecting something to pops out and attacks her.

‘Um, is something wrong?’ I couldn’t help but ask.

‘Oh, it’s fine. Really. It’s just that this is the first time I’ve entered a boy’s room.’ she replies.

‘That’s surprising. I’ve always thought you’re the kind of girl who hangs out with boys a lot.’

‘I am, but I’ve never been close to any of them to the point where I actually visit them at their house or room.’

‘Even so, there’s no need to get nervous, is there?’

‘You’re right under normal circumstances, but…’

She starts twirling her index fingers.

‘But what?’ I ask after she didn’t continue.

‘N-Never mind! More importantly, is the food ready yet? I’m starving!’

‘Yes, yes. I’m sure you are. Just wait for a bit more, okay?’

‘Okay~’

Eventually, everyone arrives at my room. There’s only ten seats at the counter, so I as the host have to sit down at the couch once the cooking’s done.

Takayama, Miyahara and Shimazaki, who arrived at the same time, are in awe of my huge kitchen.

‘You know, you remind me of that model who has tons of shoe racks to put all the shoes she bought and only leaves a tiny corner for her bed.’ Miyahara says.

‘Bah, at least a kitchen is much more useful than some shoe racks.’

‘By contrast, everything else you have is simple.’ Takayama comments while looking around.

‘That’s because I pretty much don’t care about anything else. Well, aside from game consoles.’

‘Shizuku, on the other hand, is obsessed with bath salts. You wouldn’t believe how many of those she keeps inside her bathroom.’ Miyahara casually says.

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Takayama smacks his shoulder in an attempt to shut him up, but it’s already too late. That revelation almost made me drop the knife I’m holding. I look at Oomori. She looks back at me.

Unfortunately, Ichika beat us to the punch before we could do the usual teasing.

‘Please elaborate on how did you manage to come by that information.’ she requests coldly.

‘Wait, we didn’t do anything indecent! I just visited her at her room, and all we did were watching a movie together. I knew those bath salts existed because I saw them when I was going to the toilet.’ Miyahara quickly explains.

‘Is that truly all you did? Just watching movies?’

The couple nod vigorously.

‘In that case, I could overlook the fact that the two of you were alone in the same room.’ Ichika passes down her verdict.

‘Wait, seriously? You’re not going to punish us for breaking a school rule?’ Miyahara couldn’t believe his ears.

‘Yes. After all, I myself have no rights in criticizing others when it comes to going to the room of an opposite sex.’

Sakuya is the last one to arrive. Usually, she’s one of the first ones to arrive, but not this time.

‘What kept you, senpai?’ I ask her when she comes in.

‘I needed to talk to my father about arranging accommodation for Kuromi-san.’ she replies.

‘What did he say?’

‘Well, he said that dormitory rooms are strictly for students only. If Kuromi-san wants a room, the only ones available are the apartment units that the staffs of the Academy live in.’

‘I do not mind either way, as long as I have somewhere to stay and allowed to be near my master.’ Kuromi says.

‘Alright then. I’ll take care of the paperwork myself. You’ll probably get a room before tonight ends.’

Kuromi bows at Sakuya. ‘Many thanks, and my apologies for increasing your workload.’

‘You’re welcome. And there’s no need to apologize. Helping people out is what we do, after all.’

‘That will not do. I am basically a freeloader at this point. You have mentioned that the apartment is for staffs and workers, yes? Perhaps I could pay you back by becoming one of them.’

Sakuya looks at me, since I’m technically her master. I simply shrug.

‘Just let her do what she wants, I guess.’

‘Alright. Since your master has spoken, I’ll ask them to arrange a job for you.’

‘Once again, thank you very much. And thank you, master, for allowing me to work for someone other than you.’

‘It’s fine. It’s not much of a big deal, anyway.’ I say to her.

Meanwhile, the preparation of the stew is almost done. The only thing left to do is to cook it inside the pot for a while.

‘Akira-kun, can I switch on the television? I want to watch the news.’ Sakuya asks me.

‘Sure. The remote control is over there.’ I point towards a drawer.

‘Thank you.’

Sakuya takes out the remote control and turns on the TV. She then changes the channel until the screen shows the channel she wants to watch.

The news channel is mostly reporting on things we already know: the inhumane experiments that the Ryuuouji Bio Lab had been doing on homeless and vulnerable people, the involvement of lots of rich corporations in the experiments, and each and every single branch of the lab had been raided and forcefully shut down effectively.

Lots of arrests have also been made. The researchers that have involved themselves with the experiment, their sponsors, members of Lost Children. That said, the main perpetrator of this incident, Ryuuouji Tatsuma himself wasn’t caught. That said, I couldn’t help help but smirk in satisfaction when the camera changes its view to show the Yamagata couples being dragged away from their mansion.

‘We’re innocent! Innocent, we tell you!’ Mother Yamagata was shrieking.

‘I’ll hire the best lawyer to get us out of this! After that, you can bet that all of you will receive severe complains for giving us such a rough treatment!’ Father Yamagata shouts.

The camera manages to capture Amaya-san as well. She’s openly grinning at the sight of her parents getting dragged to the police car.

‘Wow, she’s not even pretending to be sad.’ Sakuya remarks.

‘I don’t blame her. Her parents are plain insufferable.’ I say.

Miyahara turns his body to look at me. ‘You’ve met them before?’

‘Just once. I would do practically anything to remove that memory from my brain.’

As soon as the Yamagata couple are being sent away to the nearest police station, the reporters on the scene start surrounding Amaya-san and bombard her with questions.

‘How do you feel about the arrest of your parents?’ one of them asks.

Amazingly, her eyes, which were completely dry just a moment ago, are suddenly watery. She lets out a loud sob.

‘I know my parents have indirectly participated in a horrible act, but I sincerely plead that the public won’t berate or humiliate them for it. I’m sure that all they wanted to do is to ensure that I live a good life, and the thought have clouded their judgment.’

‘Now that the Yamagata Pharmacy is basically finished, do you have any plans from now on?’

‘Oh, I’m not sure. I might have to start making a living on my own, since most of my parents’ money and assets are being frozen, including the magnificent mansion I’m living in right now.’

‘Does that mean you will be living elsewhere?’

She lets out another sob and starts to cry.

‘It’s as good as certain. Oh, woe is me! Wherever should I stay? I’m just a weak little girl who won’t be useful to anyone! Will there be a soul kind enough to let me stay at their house?’

Well someone’s a drama queen. And I’m pretty sure that a certain humanoid Destroyer is more than happy to let her stay at his apartment.

The interview didn’t last for long as Amaya-san had a mental breakdown and proceeded to ran towards the mansion she will lose soon. I’m sure that she faked it so that she doesn’t have to deal with those pesky reporters anymore.

They didn’t mention a single thing about the Shimazaki and the Ishibashi family, so I ask Shimazaki about their situation.

‘The two families are pretty much like the Yamagata.’ he replies. ‘Each and every one of the companies they own are closed down, the people that donated to fund the experiments are arrested. You know, the usual. They’re basically finished.’

He pauses.

‘Well, my family was finished to begin with. They just accelerated their doom with this farce.’

I remembered what Father Yamagata said back in the secret meeting he had with those lab staffs. Looks like all those things he said about Shimazaki’s family was true.

I find it kind of sad that Shimazaki isn’t even reacting in the slightest about the downfall of his own family. You would think that he’ll jump for joy like what Amaya-san is probably doing right now, but he looks so empty and devoid of any expression.

He’s probably still trying to figure out whether to celebrate the fact that the people who had been treating him like dirt are goners, or to mourn for them regardless since he wants to remain loyal to them, even though they were not kind to him.

‘What about Ishibashi-san? How is she faring?’ Yui asks him.

‘I called her before coming here. Saki is absolutely shocked that her family would involve themselves in something like this. It took me a while to calm her down.’ he replies.

‘Poor thing. It must have been very tough for her.’ Sakuya sympathizes.

I ask him the question that’s probably on everyone’s mind right now.

‘What about your engagement? Are you going to call it off?’

He shakes his head.

‘No. Our parents might have make us engaged to each other for their own selfish reasons, but it doesn’t mean that I’ll abandon her when she needs me the most.’

‘Hold it. I need you to be clear on this subject. Are you doing all this out of duty and responsibility, or is it because you love her?’

His reaction completely surprised me. Shimazaki Shinra, the well known hunk at the Royal Blade Academy, who always ignored the advances of countless female students, is actually blushing right now.

‘Well, I, um…’

And he’s stuttering to boot. I think I just witnessed two miracles in a row.

‘All right, say no more. Your reaction told me everything I need to know.’

‘Huh? Are you sure?’

‘Totally. Besides, it’s much better to tease you when Ishibashi’s here as well. Isn’t that right, Oomori?’

‘Yup!’

Shimazaki rolls his eyes. ‘I can’t wait.’

While we’re talking, the camera changes it view back to the news station, where the news anchor reports that due to the shut down of numerous multimillion corporations, the economy around the world is in a huge turmoil. Yup, just like the original anime.

‘Lots of people’s going to be jobless and/or homeless from now on.’ I say to no one in particular.

‘It is tragic, but there is nothing we can do about it.’ Ichika says.

‘I guess not.’

After a few more minutes, the stew is ready to be served. I ask Kuromi to get the plates. The problem is, there’s so many of us here this time that the usual number of plates aren’t enough, so some of us have to eat the stew while having it served on bowls meant for miso soups.

We eat our dinner quietly while continue to watch the news.

Next, the news anchor talks about the main highlight of the incident.

‘The founder and head researcher of the Ryuuouji Bio Lab Ryuuouji Tatsuma (67) is still at large. He is wanted by the authority for conducting extreme body modifications on the homeless and squatters around the world, among other things. He is also wanted for ordering the kidnapping of said homeless and squatters so that they could be used as test subjects...’

‘I’m still frustrated that he got away.’ I say.

‘We all are. Who knows what other diabolical schemes he is planning right now.’ Ichika says.

‘Well, if he’s smart, he’ll be moving to the Bermuda Triangle and never shows his face ever again.’ Assaf-sensei says.

Eventually, the news stop reporting on the incident and reports on the weather instead.

‘All right! It’s going to be sunny tomorrow! That means we can go to D*sneyland, Kagenashi-kun!’ Oomori exclaims in excitement after watching the weather report.

‘Hold on, we’re going there tomorrow?’ I ask in disbelief.

‘Of course! Tomorrow’s a Saturday, remember? That means no school!’

‘Um, yeah. But it still doesn’t mean that we have to go there on the first chance we got.’

‘Kagenashi-kun, just accept your fate already. It’s easier that way.’

I sigh. ‘And I shall do just that. Fine. Tomorrow morning it is.’

‘It’s a deal, then! And don’t you dare run away!’

‘What’s the point of that? I pretty sure more than half the people gathered here are more than happy to make sure that I can’t.’

Sakuya chuckles. ‘You know us so well, Akira-kun.’

Yippee. I better stock up on paper bags while I still have the chance.

After we’re done eating, Kuromi helps me with washing them, while I’m in charge of wiping them dry with a towel. As for the others, they’re getting ready to go back to their own room (house in Yui’s case) except for Sakuya, who’s in charge of bringing Kuromi to the staff apartment.

‘Thanks for having us over tonight, Kagenashi-kun.’ Takayama says to me before she leaves.

‘No problem. We could do this again sometimes.’

She nods in agreement. ‘Definitely.’

After Kuromi and I are done with the dishes, she follows Sakuya to her new room. Right before they leave, the Goddess curtsies at me.

‘I bid you a good night, master.’ she tells me.

‘Yeah, good night. Good night to you too, senpai.’

‘Yes, good night.’

Now that I finally have my room all to myself, I go inside my bathroom once again to take a shower. After that, I go to bed directly. Like I said just now, it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.