"A crowd of intellect hurried forward,
We continued through what it destroyed."

— Number Nine,
Kenshi Yonezu

ー・ー

"Asano Gakushuu."

I held back a smirk when I saw his proud stance stiffen. Arrogant  people like him knew when others look down or praise him, so when he met my line of sight accented with my held up chin, it would be as if he was above everyone but me.

With his mindset and upbringing, he probably thought that by showing himself with
his number of loyal followers, he could finally show the difference of our status. He might have thought I'd lower myself and suck up to him now that I'm no longer privileged.

Well, he's wrong.

"Making a scene inside a reputable café chain like a childish seven-year old, aren't you afraid of staining your reputation?"

He disregarded my statement with gritted teeth as he finally spoke to save his dignity. "I see you've degraded yourself even more since the last time I saw you. So you're working as a host now?"

I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly, still facing him, disinterested. "Isn't it obvious? As you can see your highness, I'm currently on break and am entertaining guests. So if you came here just to bicker, then kindly see yourself out."

Asano's left eye twitched in annoyance before willing himself to calm down. He ran his hands through his strawberry blond hair before giving off a regal aura, catching the attention of Wei Guren, the barista on-duty, and Mimosa who were chatting by the counter, awaiting an order.

"Hey, you two," Sakakibara Ren, who was practically Asano's right-hand slave called out in a snap of the scum's fingers.

Mimosa bowed politely at him while Wei stayed on his post. "Welcome to Melancholia. Can I help you with anything, sir?"

"Take a time off and let this slacker replace you. I'm willing to pay you handsomely for his services."

The girl's eyes widened in surprise. She probably never encountered a person as troublesome as Asano, and Wei was unwilling to deal with him this early. Mimosa blinked twice before reverting back to her professional demeanor, replying back with a humble smile. "My apologies, but Melancholia has established a strict shedule and a warning in accepting bribes. If you have any valid concerns, you can file a complaint to our management."

Seo Tomoya, another one of Asano's Virtuosos reacted haughtily, trying to tower over poor Mimosa. "Don't you know Asano Gakushuu, son of Chairman Asano and heir to Kunugigaoka Institute?! You dare mess with him you lowly peasant!"

Gods, these idiots. It's a good thing the amount of customers at this moment is little.

"With all due respect sir, but if you plan to keep on obstructing our business, whoever you are, this peasant is kindly asking you to leave," Mimosa stated with an exasperated expression, trying so hard not to yell. They're still prospect customers, and their backgrounds are no joke, so commoners like us still need to treat them in moderation.

Wei and I could tell that Mimosa's patience was gradually reaching its limit, but we were oriented to keep resistance at minimum in times like this. Usually, dealing with customers like Asano and his crew were part of Isogai's job, but this particular scene was a special case.

Araki Teppei stepped forward and glared hardly at the girl to intimidate her. "Get me your manager."

Mimosa inhaled sharply, lightly skimming through her maroon hair in annoyance. "The owners are currently out on a business trip. You could access Melancholia's official website and email account for concerns rega—"

The former cut her off. "I demand you to get whoever's in charge, now!"

"Now look here you—"

On cue, I stood up and walked towards Mimosa, tapping her gently on her shoulder. I sent her a knowing look that made her immediately back down, frowning and clearly still intent on giving the group a piece of her mind.

"No need, it's time for my shift. The Assistant Manager need not to get involved," I especially whispered the last sentence to her.

"Wei, Mimosa, compensate the customers present with a 20% discount to orders between ¥2000 and ¥1500." I heard them respond so I turned to face the idiots then stared at them intently. "Now, would you like to finally follow proper etiquette or continue humiliating yourselves?"

As if my words dropped a bomb, their faces froze and reddened in embarrassment as they realized their venture. You see, the best way to teach people (especially teenagers) with a sense of self-entitlement a lesson was to attack them directly where it hurts the most; their pride. Being born in a wealthy family and raised as if the world was in their hands, it would trigger them to an extent if someone made them realize that there are some who wouldn't bow down to their will— whom they cannot control.

I proceeded to my designated area, gesturing for Mimosa to take over as the commotion died down. She was more than thrilled to do so, finally able to demand payback. She smiled sweetly, mostly towards Seo and Araki who managed to incur her wrath then said,

"Now may I take your order, gentlemen?"

The rest of the group looked at each other, then to their almighty Asano Gakushuu. The latter glared at us, then nodded to his henchmen in utter defeat. He conveniently welcomed himself by Nagisa's table, on the seat where I sat earlier to get back at me (and maybe badmouth me while he's at it).

'So petty,' I thought. You still have a lot to learn before you could match me in a game of wits, Asano.

For the rest of the hour, transactions were made smoothly as they cannot bear to be embarrassed once more. And due to the unusually slow pace of business despite the events earlier, I somehow ended up helping Nagisa tutor the pink haired punk again once I finished with Asano's caramel mac​chi​a​to. So, I'm deliberately sitting with my self-proclaimed sworn enemy.

The blond's minions were seated strategically, as if waiting for the right moment to pounce on me if I dared to make a move against his highness. Unfortunately, I'm not as ridiculous to publicly shame the prestigious Kunugigaoka's heir. He could do that to himself with his eyes closed.

"The structure in that sentence is wrong," he said out of the blue, clearly squinting to find mistakes I might have made. I rolled my eyes at his pettiness, while Sakura faced us with a deadpanned expression.

"You should use a comma to indicate the clear pause."

"You're only making the sentence longer. I think it's better to use a semicolon since both are independent clauses. That way, it isn't repetitive."

"Are you challenging me?"

I groaned inwardly. Isn't he supposed to be the educated one here?

Thankfully, before a fight could break out, Nagisa averted his attention with a clink of his cup. Plastering an innocent smile, he started to converse with the drama queen.

"So, Asano Gakushuu-kun right? You and Akabane-kun seem to get along quite well."

Yes! My savior!

Everyone in that damn school knows the animosity Asano bears towards me. Saying we're close would be trampling on his pride as a rival, and I will gladly relive this moment for the rest of my life.

"Are you blind?" the strawberry blond scoffed, looking offended. "Never in my life will I associate myself with a lowlife like Akabane. Why do you even know him? You look decent enough to know when a person is troublesome."

I'm honestly asking myself that too.

The bluenet's expression turned sour, but immediately masked it with curiosity. "Is that so? Then why are you here?"

Asano took a sip from his drink, then deliberately placed it with a hardened expression.

"I was ordered to retrieve Akabane Karma."

His lilac eyes gazed at me with remorse.

"You're going back to Kunugigaoka with me."

ー・ー

scrivener's memo:
Thank you so much for your continual support in this experimental mess. I hope you enjoy reading as you keep yourself safe! Feel free to give constructive criticism whenever.