The place Kirino Kousaka had chosen for their meetup was a maid café in Akihabara.
"That girl's tastes really haven't changed at all, even after all these years..."
Ruri Gokou sighed softly as she entered the café to the cheerful greetings of the maids. She found a seat further inside and sat down.
"Master, may I take your order?"
Taking the menu from the maid with a polite smile, Ruri glanced over it before replying,
"I'll have a plain milk tea for now. I'm waiting for a friend, so we'll order the rest once she arrives."
"Understood, your milk tea will be ready soon! Please wait just a moment, Master!"
After jotting down the order, the bubbly maid skipped off energetically.
Watching the girl's retreating figure, Ruri muttered to herself,
"The maids here have all changed again..."
She had visited this café several times before, but none of the current staff were the same as on her previous visits. The turnover in this line of work really was as fast-paced as ever.
Since she had arrived a bit earlier than the scheduled time—and Kirino was coming all the way from Chiba—Ruri wasn't in any rush. While waiting, she took out her phone and opened the company's group chat.
Even though it was Saturday morning, the group was still buzzing with activity. People had been chatting since early in the day.
Scrolling through, Ruri noticed even the boss, Ichin, was chatting with everyone.
If she remembered right, he was returning tomorrow—he'd been away for over a week.
"Looks like he went with Utaha and her parents? Man, must be nice to find someone that compatible that quickly."
She sighed to herself while browsing the chat, looking at everyone's breakfast photos.
After catching up, Ruri joined the conversation.
Noticing Ruri pop up in the chat, Hajime Shinoda, who was mid-discussion with others about the recent cooler weather and plans to go clothes shopping, sent a message:
Hajime: Ruri, weren't you meeting a friend today? Have you seen her yet?
Ruri: I'm already here. That girl lives in Chiba, so she needs time to get here. And knowing her, she'll probably end up staying at my place tonight too. Total hassle.
Now that she was twenty, Ruri no longer had the social anxiety or shyness she once did. While she still wasn't overly talkative, she'd grown comfortable enough with everyone at the company to chat openly.
Meanwhile, far away at home in Shanghai, Ichin, having just finished breakfast with Utaha, looked at the chat and chuckled as he typed a reply:
Ichin: Says she's annoyed, but still lets her friend stay over. Isn't that classic tsundere behavior? Eriri vibes, anyone?
As expected, that stirred things up, and it didn't take long for Eriri to appear.
Eriri: Shut up! It's bad enough you're calling Ruri tsundere—why are you dragging me into it too?!
Utaha: But Eriri, you are a textbook tsundere. Want me to list a few prime examples?
Seeing Utaha join in, Eriri instantly backed down.
Eriri: Hmph, whatever! I'm going to play games now, leave me alone!
Although she had lost her cool when they first called her a tsundere, Ruri couldn't help but laugh out loud when she saw how easily Eriri got baited into showing up again.
Everyone in this company is seriously interesting.
"What are you laughing at all by yourself?"
A familiar voice rang beside her. Ruri Gokou looked up and saw a tall, stylish girl with long light brown hair standing next to the table.
Shaking her head, Ruri said, "Nothing. Just reading the group chat. Long time no see—come sit down."
"Alrighty~"
Kirino Kousaka sat down across from Ruri with practiced ease, called over a maid, ordered a drink, and then even added two slices of cake for the both of them.
"Hehe, the maids here are still as cute as ever."
After stealing several glances at the maids, Kirino turned to Ruri and said,
"It's been, what, almost half a year since we last met? How've you been? You mentioned on the phone that you're interning at a game dev company?"
"Yeah, it's been nearly six months now. Other than classes, I spend the rest of the week at the company. Things are pretty fulfilling."
Taking a sip of her milk tea, Ruri asked, "What about you? You seem busier than ever—those magazine shoots just never stop. Your studies aren't suffering, are they?"
Kirino raised her chin proudly. "Hmph, are you underestimating me? When have I ever done poorly in school?"
"Oh really?"
Ruri smiled slyly. "Things like that have happened before, haven't they? Back in high school, you were so busy with modeling work your grades started slipping, and your dad almost banned you from modeling entirely."
"That was ages ago! Don't bring that up now!"
Kirino's cheeks flushed red as she smacked the table a few times.
"That kind of thing definitely won't happen again! I even got a scholarship last semester! If you've got the guts, try getting one too!"
Ruri narrowed her eyes and replied, "Scholarships? I got one in both my freshman and sophomore year. But now that I'm working, as long as my grades don't drop, I'm not worried. The scholarship's not my priority anymore."
Ever since she got her part-time job, the salary alone far outweighed the value of a scholarship. Her focus at school now was on advancing her skills, not chasing awards.
"Speaking of work…"
Kirino took a sip of the juice the maid had just brought and looked curious.
"You still haven't told me which company you're interning at. Don't tell me it's Capcom? Or maybe Square Enix?"
"Neither. Those companies have super high standards. No way they'd take on someone like me, a third-year undergrad."
As she spoke, Ruri pulled out her phone, opened her photo album, and showed Kirino a logo.
"You should know this one. I saw on Steam you played Hollow Knight and Slay the Spire."
"Wait—what?! That company?!"
Kirino's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Are you serious? I love the games they've made! I already pre-ordered Persona for next year—both the Steam and Switch versions! Don't tell me… you're actually part of the dev team?!"
The corners of Ruri's lips lifted slightly. Seeing the way Kirino's eyes were practically sparkling made her feel just a little taller.
"Yeah, I'm part of the dev team. But if you're looking for inside info, I can't tell you anything. We're under NDA agreements."
"Aww, I see. Then forget it."
Kirino had really wanted to ask more, but considering it was an unreleased game still in development, she knew it wasn't appropriate to pry.
"Then tell me this—what's the company like? I watched the last livestream, and is it true the company's CEO is that young? He's super handsome too!"
...
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