"Kamisaka is taking so long..." Saitama groaned, propping his chin on his hand and sounding incredibly bored.
"Maybe I should just go out there and take care of those delinquents myself," Ainz offered, speaking with terrifying seriousness.
The red orbs in his hollow eye sockets flared, glowing dangerously bright.
"I think it would be best if you didn't go out, Ainz-san," Reiko said with a gentle, slightly strained smile.
She was naturally cheerful and lively, and while she had initially been curious about the massive skeleton, they had quickly become friendly acquaintances over the course of the evening.
Still, she knew a bad idea when she heard one.
"Yeah, Suzuki, you'd probably scare people to death," Saitama added, scratching his bald head.
Ainz let out a heavy, rattling sigh. "Saitama, I told you, call me Ainz."
"Ah! Sorry, sorry, I forgot again," Saitama laughed sheepishly.
At the end of the counter, Kaguya—who had been perfectly silent this entire time—shifted restlessly.
She was still waiting for her candied apples, and the delay was clearly testing her fragile patience.
Standing beside her, Hayasaka keenly picked up on her mistress's unusual demeanor.
"Kaguya-sama, would you like me to go out and check on the situation?" Hayasaka asked, her tone calm, crisp, and entirely respectful.
Kaguya paused for a few seconds before giving a single, sharp nod.
Hayasaka immediately stepped away from the counter, walked briskly to the door, grabbed her black umbrella and stepped out into the pouring rain.
...
Out in the street, the arriving police officers were looking at the chaotic standoff with deeply troubled expressions.
They immediately recognized the bruised and battered boys.
Hosen.
A notorious, violent gang of underage delinquents.
In many ways, dealing with these kids was actually much more of a headache for the police than dealing with actual yakuza.
Because they were minors, they were heavily protected by the law, allowing them to act with near-total impunity.
As long as no one was killed, the police were often forced to go easy on them.
The officers quickly assessed the situation and realized that the Hosen gang had entirely started the trouble.
But they couldn't just mass-arrest thirty high schoolers without a major incident.
To make matters worse, the entire street of adult club workers, bouncers, and hostesses had completely surrounded the boys with baseball bats and pipes in hand.
All the police could do was try to de-escalate the tension and resolve it quietly.
"Um, everyone, please disperse for now!" the lead officer called out to the furious crowd of red-light district workers.
Not a single person moved.
The officer sighed heavily, rubbing his temples.
This was a nightmare.
He glared at the shivering, bleeding Hosen boys huddled in the center of the mob. If it weren't for the fact that these brats were minors, he would have loved nothing more than to arrest every last one of these good-for-nothings!
"Hey, our boss is bleeding out over here! Aren't you going to do something about it?!" one of the Hosen underlings yelled.
They had managed to drag the unconscious Matoba Toushi into their huddle, but he was still unresponsive.
Seeing that the police were hesitating to arrest them, the boys grew even more arrogant.
They knew how to play the system.
"SHUT UP!" the officer shouted back, but the delinquents showed no sign of backing down.
Standing under his umbrella, Yuto frowned slightly.
'Just as I thought. The police can't handle this.'
Beside him, Aunt Hanako's brow furrowed into a deep, furious scowl.
She snorted coldly, tightening her grip on her smoking pipe, refusing to order her people to back down.
"Excuse me. Who is in charge here?"
A calm perfectly unreadable voice suddenly cut through the shouting.
Everyone turned to look as a blonde girl in a maid uniform smoothly made her way to the front of the crowd.
It was Hayasaka.
"I am. What is it?" the lead officer asked, frowning at the strange sight of a maid in the middle of a gang standoff.
"I have someone on the phone. I strongly suggest you listen to them," Hayasaka said calmly, holding out a sleek smartphone.
The officer hesitated for a moment before taking the phone.
He pressed it to his ear.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone in the street, the man's expression shifted from irritated, to puzzled, and finally, to sweating horror in just a few seconds.
"Are you finished?" Hayasaka asked indifferently when he lowered the device.
"Yes! Please forgive me for disturbing you! I am deeply, deeply sorry!!!" The officer's attitude had instantly shifted.
He bowed to the maid at a perfect, trembling ninety-degree angle.
The entire street was stunned into silence.
"Take all the Hosen members away! Arrest every single one of them!" the officer roared to his men, his voice cracking with panic.
The Hosen boys were shocked.
The people of the red-light district were also shocked.
Yuto was completely floored. He stared blankly at Hayasaka.
'Just what kind of terrifyingly powerful young lady did I pull out of the rain?!'
The police completely ignored the Hosen boys' frantic shouts and protests, aggressively shoving all thirty of them into the backs of the cruisers.
Before driving off, the lead officer actually made sure to bow to Hayasaka one last time.
With the threat gone, the people of the red-light district gradually began to disperse back to their clubs.
Hanako gave Hayasaka a long, evaluating look of surprise but didn't ask any questions.
She simply gave Yuto a few stern instructions to stay safe before heading back to her parlor.
"Hayasaka-san... thank you," Yuto said, still feeling somewhat dazed by the sheer display of power.
The maid shook her head slightly. "Please don't be polite. This is merely a small token of gratitude for taking in Kaguya-sama. Please return to the restaurant now, Kamisaka-sama. She is still waiting for her meal."
Listening to her perfectly polite words, Yuto's internal confusion only grew.
'Seriously... who the hell did I save?'
...
Swish—
Yuto stepped back into the diner, and every pair of eyes immediately turned to him.
"Ara, it seems the little matter is resolved," Yukari noted with a faint, knowing smile.
Yuto smiled back and nodded.
Yuuka discreetly looked him up and down to make sure he wasn't hurt.
The moment he glanced in her direction, she quickly averted her eyes, the movement so subtle that no one else noticed.
"Kamisaka, are you sure everything is alright?" Ainz asked.
Having a ten-foot skeletal face stare directly at him with glowing red eyes was still a bit unnerving, Yuto was used to the human Suzuki, and it was taking some time to adjust to the terrifying Overlord of Nazarick.
"Yeah, it's fine," Yuto reassured him with a smile.
"Is that so? That's good." For some reason, Yuto swore he detected a distinct hint of disappointment in the undead king's voice.
'Ainz, what exactly were you hoping to do out there?!'
"Kamisaka, I'm starving..." Saitama whined, already slumped face-down on the counter, utterly defeated by his empty stomach.
"Alright, right away," Yuto laughed, pushing open the counter door to step back into the kitchen.
Before he crossed the threshold, he stopped and turned to look at Kaguya.
Hayasaka was already sitting quietly beside her again, her expression utterly calm, as if she hadn't just commanded the Tokyo police force with a single phone call.
"Thank you, Kaguya-sama," Yuto said softly.
If it hadn't been for her intervention, who knows how chaotic things would have gotten out there.
Even though Hayasaka claimed no thanks were necessary, Yuto wasn't the kind of person to accept such a massive favor without acknowledging it.
Hearing his gratitude, Kaguya's expression didn't change at all.
She remained as indifferent and aloof as ever, like a beautiful iceberg that would never melt.
Yuto stepped into the kitchen and quickly got to work.
He chopped a fresh apple into perfectly sized chunks, rolled them in the light egg batter, and dropped them into the hot oil until they were golden brown.
He caramelized the sugar, expertly pulling the delicate sugar threads, all in one smooth, practiced motion.
It barely took any time at all.
He carried the steaming hot candied apples out and placed them gently in front of Kaguya. Alongside the plate, he set down a small dish of ice-cold water.
Candied apples were meant to be dipped. When the scalding hot, sugar-coated fruit was briefly swirled in the ice water, the caramelized shell would instantly harden, making the crispy coating even crispier while creating a unique, satisfying texture.
Earlier, Reiko's portion hadn't needed the ice water because the apples had already cooled down while she told her story.
Yuto broke apart a pair of wooden chopsticks and laid them beside the plate.
"Candied apples. Please enjoy."
With that, he immediately returned to the kitchen.
Saitama was basically dying of hunger, and Yuuka's sunflower cake was almost finished steaming.
There was no time to waste.
Kaguya silently picked up the chopsticks. She lifted a golden piece of apple, briefly dipped it into the ice water to harden the sugar shell, and placed it in her mouth.
She chewed gently, and her dark eyes slowly fluttered shut.
In that single, quiet moment, she finally understood why the other girl had shed tears over a simple piece of fruit.
It was so sweet.
So incredibly, overwhelmingly sweet that it actually made her heart ache.
In her entire controlled impossibly wealthy life... where had she ever tasted a flavor so full of genuine, unconditional warmth?
"Kaguya-sama..." Hayasaka spoke up, her voice uncharacteristically hesitant.
"Let's go," Kaguya said, slowly opening her eyes.
The shimmering layer of moisture that had briefly gathered in her dark pupils vanished instantly, as if it had only been an illusion.
She stood up, her damp black hair trembling slightly against her shoulders.
"Yes, My Lady," Hayasaka immediately stood as well.
"Kamisaka-sama, thank you," she called out, pulling a thick stack of ten-thousand yen bills from her blazer and placing them on the counter.
When Yuto came out from the kitchen and saw the massive stack of cash, he couldn't help but feel a little exasperated.
'Do all these elite families just throw money around like this?'
Hayasaka turned to follow her mistress out the door.
But just as the two of them were about to step out into the rain, Yuto called out to them.
"Kaguya-sama! Won't you consider a take out too?"
He gestured to the plate of beautifully golden candied apples sitting on the counter.
She had only taken a single bite of it.