Kapitel 34: Cafe' Raiders

Hayashi Sakura was feeling refreshed somehow after spending the remaining seconds of her relaxation after classes at the new and improved club room of the book club. She stretched her arms in delight as she slowly opened her eyes while her head was lying on the couch's armrest.

"Looks like someone has a good rest…" says the guy sitting on the leather chair that is facing across the couch.

Suddenly, all that drowsiness that is left from her sleep instantly goes away by the time Sakura recognizes the owner of that husky voice.

With a wide-eyed expression, Sakura asked, "W-what are you doing here?!"

"Have you already forgotten that we have signed in the same club the other day?" Mori Ken can't help but smirk at Sakura's amusing reaction. He somewhat finds it cute to see the girl this way, that's why he likes to tease her ever since their childhood days.

A frown soon forms on Sakura's lips and looks at Ken without enthusiasm. "What I mean is that… shouldn't you be home by now or whatever you're doing after classes? Ito-san didn't call for a meeting, as far as I know, but she gave me permission to stay here for a bit."

"Well, I can't just leave you here by yourself, can I?" Ken shows her that famous smirk of his that gets most of those teenage girls in St. Therese screaming for him but annoys Sakura for some reason. That's when Sakura realized that it's only her and this guy who is here in this room at the moment.

Before Sakura could react, the boy added, "Ito-san left early, saying that there's something that she has to attend and left the key to me since you were still sleeping at that time."

All that urge to shout at this guy immediately departed from Sakura after hearing his valid excuse. Speaking of time, she casts a swift look at the wall clock that has been hanging on their wall adjacent to where she is currently sitting and…. holy mother of toast! It's already past six in the evening and she has to make a run if she wants to make it in time for work.

With haste, Sakura gets up right away and faces the guy once more with her eyebrows hunched together. "Geez! Why didn't you wake me up sooner? I gotta make a run for work if I don't want to end up super late!"

This caught Ken's attention at the mention of the word 'work'.

"Work? What work?"

"None of your business!"

Without waiting for his reaction, Sakura starts to make a run towards the door when something makes her stop midway through it and faces Mori Ken, who is still genuinely confused about what's going on.

"I'm sorry but can you lock the club room on your way out for me? I really need to hurry right now." Sakura's voice is surprisingly calm now that makes Ken stunned for a bit.

With a reassuring smile, Ken replies, "Sure. You can count on me…"

"Thanks, Mori-kun."

Ken was then caught off guard as Sakura smiled back at him before taking her leave a few moments later. It took him a while before he recovered from it.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Ken says to himself as he covers his red-stained face, "Geez. That girl is really something…"

***

La La Land Cafe is currently in a bit of chaos as more customers enter its establishment to see their favorite maids, especially the in-demand Patty. Hayashi Sakura was serving nonstop from one customer to another to make sure that all guests who are waiting next in line would be served as fast as she could.

"One omelet rice and a strawberry parfait, please."

Of course, Mori Ken did not take long to appear at the cafe with that dashing presence that stands out immediately among the crowd. Even in his white shirt and khaki pants, Mori Ken turned out to be a king.

Sighing at the back of her head, Sakura reluctantly writes down his order on her mini notepad before scurrying away towards their kitchen where she waited for his order in the next couple of minutes.

"Have you heard? A lot of maid cafes nearby have been raided and some of the poor maids inside were sexually assaulted by unknown thieves for three consecutive nights already,"

While waiting for the order to come, Sakura unintentionally hears her workmate Strawberry's conversation with their boss, Ms. Cookie at the cash register near to where she stands right now. That immediately piqued her interest and walked a little bit closer to hear a bit more of what they are saying right now.

"Yes, that's why I've added more locks to our main entrance and to our back door as well in order to ensure that our cafe will be safe after closing time." Ms. Cookie's answer made Sakura exhale in relief. At least they all can stay safe during the night.

The bell in the kitchen suddenly rings, catching Sakura off guard, indicating that her master's order is ready to be served. She immediately runs her way towards the counter and hesitantly picks up the tray to deliver it to Ken's table.

However, as she passed by the two once more, Sakura hears her boss saying, "In the meantime, please tell the others to keep an eye on all the customers that are entering here and report to me immediately if you see anyone being suspicious."

'Keep an eye on all the customers... ' Sakura repeats the sentence inside her head. 'Got it!'

At Mori Ken's table, he darts a bored glance at the cafe's surroundings and carefully watches people entering and exiting just to kill time. He developed this habit every time he doesn't have anything to do.

He was merely passing the time when suddenly, two shady-looking gentlemen who are both wearing a cap in their heads that slightly covers their faces and in their casual attire are now entering the cafe with a smug look painted across their faces. Ken doesn't mean to be a bit judgmental, but there is something off between these two that only he-- among all the people present here-- could somehow feel.

However, his thoughts were soon disrupted when the maid he has been waiting for finally returned with his order.

"Here's your omelet rice, master…" Patty lifts a plate of omelet rice and carefully places it on top of his table before going for the parfait. "And here is your strawberry parfait."

Peeling his glance away from those thugs, Ken grins at the maid before him and thanked her for delivering his meal towards his table.

When Sakura was about to walk away to serve those new gentlemen who arrived at their cafe, Ken grabbed Sakura's hand out of nowhere that surprised the maid in a way she had never imagined.

"Be careful around them…" Ken says almost in a whisper before the girl could even react to what he did.