Albert opened the heavy door of the maid cafe. It slammed shut behind him.
Clang.
The small brass bell stopped ringing. The warm smell of sweet vanilla and fried eggs vanished instantly, replaced by the damp, cold smell of the back alley.
Albert stood in the dark street. The air was cold against his face. He gripped the strap of his school bag tightly.
He walked slowly and nervously. His eyes darted to the dark corners and the narrow spaces between the brick walls. He was expecting the blonde girl to walk up to him.
He was fully prepared for her to block his path, look at him with desperate eyes, and beg him to keep her secret.
He took another step. He waited.
But as the seconds ran, there was no one.
He kept walking.
It was almost a full minute of walking down the narrow, dimly lit street, but absolutely no one stepped out of the shadows. The alley was completely empty. The only sound was the distant hum of traffic from the main road.
He stopped near a flickering streetlamp. He sighed.
He let out a long breath that turned into white mist in the cold night air. He felt a strange mixture of relief and disappointment.
He was glad he didn't have to force himself to talk to a girl in a dark alley, which was a good thing for someone with his lack of social skills. But a small part of his chest felt entirely hollow.
No heroine came. The anime trope he had prepared for was probably a complete lie.
He adjusted his glasses and started walking toward the main street.
Then suddenly, a voice called out to him.
"Excuse me."
It was a female voice.
Albert froze. His muscles tensed up immediately.
This is it.
She waited. When I was about to let my guard down, someone called to me. It was a perfect ambush tactic. She waited until I thought I was completely safe to strike.
He took a deep breath, mentally preparing his coolest response, and turned around.
But when he turned around, it wasn't the blonde girl from his class. It was a middle-aged woman, probably in her early forties. She wore a thick, dark coat over a neat blouse. Her face was calm, with soft, tired lines around her eyes.
"I'm the manager of the maid cafe," the woman said. Her voice was steady and polite.
Albert blinked, completely thrown off balance by the unexpected person. He quickly straightened his posture.
"I am Atherton Albert," he introduced himself politely.
The woman's eyes widened slightly. She reacted to the unusual name. "Atherton? That is quite an uncommon name for a boy in this city."
"It is a long story," Albert said flatly. "It has to do with the history of my name and family registry laws."
He didn't want to waste time explaining the legal details to a stranger in an alley. He just wanted to know why she was following him.
"Are you the owner, ma'am?" Albert asked.
The manager shook her head gently. "No. I am employed there. I just handle the daily operations and manage the staff."
Albert stood quietly for a moment, waiting for her to state her business. The cold wind blew past them, rustling a discarded plastic bag against a nearby dumpster.
"Do you need something?" Albert finally asked.
The woman pulled her thick coat a little tighter. She looked down at the pavement before looking back up at him.
"Actually, it's about Miku-chan," the manager said. She lowered her voice slightly. "I mean, Tendo Kyoko. I saw your uniform and school bag when you walked inside the cafe. I think you understand."
Albert nodded slowly.
I see. So that's how it is.
The heroine didn't ambush me herself. She was too embarrassed or too scared to face me, so she sent her boss to do the dirty work. It was a highly logical, low-risk move on her part.
"Would you please keep it a secret for a little while?" the manager asked. She bowed her head slightly in a gesture of sincere request.
Albert frowned.
A little while?Why did she put a specific time limit on it? Is she talking about the school rule? If part-time jobs are banned by the school board, they are banned permanently. Why just a little while? Is she perhaps talking about that exception rule?
The manager noticed the confusion on his face.
"In Zenith Academy, there is a special rule," the woman explained carefully. "If a student achieves the rank 50th in your grade, working part-time will be allowed. Miku-chan is currently aiming for that."
She paused, letting the information settle in the cold air. "But since it's still the first day of school, there is no ranking yet. The exams haven't happened. Until she earns a spot in the rank 50th, please don't tell anyone about her part-time job. She could get in serious trouble with the disciplinary committee."
Albert ran the numbers in his head.
I see. It's not that she is embarrassed about working in a maid cafe. It's about the school rule.In the opening ceremony this morning, the principal had clearly stated the population size of the campus. There are exactly 4,000 first years.
Rank 50th out of 4,000 first years?
That meant she had to score higher than 3,950 other top-tier students. She had to place in the top 1.25 percent of the entire grade. That would be incredible. It required immense academic power and flawless study habits.
"She must be smart," Albert said.
The manager smiled. The tired look on her face vanished, replaced by a bright look of genuine pride.
"She is," the woman said softly. "Actually, she is my niece."
Albert didn't react outwardly, but his mind immediately flagged the detail. Another Tendo. This woman was her aunt, which meant she was also part of the massive cluster of people sharing that exact same surname today.
"She is the pride of our family," the manager continued, her voice full of warmth. "In middle school, she always got perfect scores. She was always at the very top of her grade. I was hoping she can get rank 1st here at Zenith, or just even in the top 10. That would be good."
She looked back at Albert. Her expression turned serious and pleading again.
"So please, young man, keep it a secret, will you?" She reached into her thick coat pocket. "I can give you these."
She pulled her hand out and offered him something.
Albert looked down. She handed him three pieces of discount vouchers. They were incredibly stylish. The paper was thick and glossy black, with the cafe's logo stamped in high-quality gold foil right in the center. The edges were perfectly cut. They looked like expensive VIP passes for a luxury hotel, not cheap coupons for an underground cafe.
Albert hesitated. He stared at the shiny gold foil reflecting the dim light of the streetlamp. He looked at the aunt's hopeful, desperate eyes.
He slowly reached out and took the thick papers from her hand.
I accepted the bribe.
The realization settled heavily in his mind. That's why I am obliged to agree now. I am officially part of a transaction.
I will agree even without a bribe anyway. Keeping quiet required zero effort. He didn't talk to his classmates anyway. But accepting the physical reward meant he was bound to the deal. It wasn't just silence anymore; it was a contract.
"I won't tell anyone," Albert agreed.
The woman smiled with deep satisfaction. The tension completely left her shoulders.
"Thank you so much, Atherton-san," she said, bowing again. "Please be careful on your way home."
They said farewell. The manager turned around and walked back down the dark alley toward the hidden steel door of the cafe.
Albert stood alone under the streetlamp, holding the gold vouchers in his hand. He slipped them into his pants pocket. He turned toward the main road and started his walk back to his empty house.
It was not what I expected for.
---
The next day. Morning.
The bright morning sunlight poured through the large glass windows of Classroom 1-4. The room was loud and chaotic. The students were full of energy, already forming their social circles and chatting loudly about their plans for the week.
Albert sat in his isolated seat at the very back of the room. Row 8, Column 4.
On his right, Maya was leaning across the gap between their desks, talking happily to Leo. Leo grinned, spinning a pencil perfectly between his fingers as he listened to her. They looked completely relaxed and comfortable, entirely at home in the noisy environment.
Albert was the exact opposite of relaxed.
He stared straight ahead. The wooden desk directly in front of him was entirely empty.
The blonde girl is still not there.
He kept his eyes glued to the front sliding door of the classroom. His hands were resting flat on his desk. His palms felt slightly damp with sweat.
The door slid open. A group of loud boys walked in. Then a pair of girls complaining about the crowded morning train.
Then, the door opened again.
Albert saw it in his peripheral vision. A flash of pale color.
It was her. Tendo Kyoko.
His heart beat raced.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The loud noise of the thirty other students in the room seemed to vanish, completely drowned out by the heavy, rapid thudding in his own ears.
She walked into the room. Her posture was completely straight. Her face was blank, showing absolutely no emotion. She looked like an ice statue walking through a noisy room. She didn't look at anyone.
She walked down the aisle. Straight toward the back row.
Straight toward him.
Albert gripped the edges of his desk tightly.
Is she going to talk to me now?
She knows I took the bribe. She knows her aunt talked to me in the alley last night. This is the moment she confronts me. This is the exact moment she makes sure I keep my mouth shut.
He was nervous. The distance between them was closing rapidly. Five desks away. Three desks away.
What should I do if she suddenly talks to me?
Panic flared in his chest. He needed a script. He couldn't just improvise a conversation with a girl like her.
How should I react? I should draft mentally 10 possible responses right now and pick the best one. Do I act friendly? Do I act cold? Do I pretend I forgot what happened last night?
His brain scrambled to form words, but his thoughts were a mess.
She reached Row 7. She stopped right in front of his desk.
Albert stopped breathing.
She reached out and pulled her chair out. The wooden legs scraped loudly against the floor tiles.
She sat down.
Albert stared at the back of her bright blonde hair. He waited. He waited for her to turn around. He waited for her to lean over his desk and whisper a threat or a plea.
She opened her school bag. She took out her math textbook. She placed her pencil case neatly on the corner of her desk.
She never turned around.
The warning bell rang. Kuzumi-sensei walked into the room, looking as tired as he did yesterday. Homeroom began.
Albert sat frozen in his seat. He watched her back.
Homeroom ends. The morning classes started. The hours dragged on slowly. The math teacher wrote long equations on the chalkboard. The history teacher read facts from a thick book.
Kyoko just took notes. She sat perfectly still. She didn't glance back once. Not even a quick peek over her shoulder to check if he was looking at her.
The morning class ends. The bell of lunch time rings.
Ding-dong-ding-dong.
The classroom instantly exploded into noise. Chairs scraped against the floor. People shouted lunch invitations to their new friends across the room.
Albert watched her closely.
The girl stands up. She pushed her chair in neatly. She picked up a small bento box from her bag.
She walked normally down the aisle toward the front door. She stepped out into the crowded hallway and disappeared from his sight.
She never turned or talked to him.
---
Endnote of Chapter 16
Subject: Part-Time Jobs (Arubaito) in Japanese High Schools
In standard Japanese high schools, part-time jobs are strictly banned. The educational board dictates that a teenager's only acceptable labor is academic study, and violating this rule results in immediate suspension or expulsion.
Zenith Academy enforces this exact same baseline, but they weaponize it through Section 10 of the Rulebook. The administration offers a complete exemption from all labor bans and dress codes exclusively to the Top 50 ranked students.
It is the school broadcasting a silent, ruthless challenge: You want your freedom? Buy it by crushing your peers and conquering the top 1.25%.
---
Logic Engine Log of Chapter 16
Constants:
*Tendo Kyoko's competitiveness and her aim for Top 50 (or Top 1).
Variables:
*Tendo Kyoko's part-time job is an active, unprotected variable.
*Bribe (Transaction).