//------------------------------// // Arc 6.1: Chapter 43 // Story: Student 32: Sunset Shimmer // by Show Stopper //------------------------------// “WELCOME TO 3-A’S MAID CAFE ENSEMBLE!” “...okay. Is this about teasing Wildfire, annoying me, or genuinely making money during Mahorafest?” Ayaka, Kazumi, and the cheerleading girls were all dressed in various maid outfits and posing cutely as Sunset opened the door to the class. She spied Satsuki and Kaede further back wearing suits and mixing drinks. “You’re thinking too small,” Haruna said, pulling her aside as Kazumi pulled the door closed behind her. “You see, with this Maid Cafe Plan, we get to do all three at once!” “But mostly,” Yuna added, “it’s about cheering up Negi-kun. We figure some classic over-the-top 3-A shenanigans are just what he needs to pull himself out of his funk.” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you lot were self-aware enough to refer to your usual irritating antics as ‘classic.’ Still, a maid cafe’s pretty tame by 3-A’s standards.” Yuna and Haruna shared conspiratorial grins. “Oh, don’t worry,” Haruna chortled as the door started to open again. “There’s plenty more to come.” “WELCOME TO 3-A’S MAID CAFE ENSEMBLE!” Sunset looked over her shoulder just in time to see Negi’s flabbergasted expression before he was swarmed by maids. Eh, whatever, she thought, shrugging. The more they can cheer up and distract him, the less I have to do so. She stepped aside, content to watch as the girls badgered Negi into being their “practice customer.” “This is going to get out of hand quickly, isn’t it?” “Well, it is our class.” Akira joined Sunset in watching the class, Ako following along behind. “Of course, the class rep has no idea what a maid cafe really is. Yuna and Haruna are just hyping her up and milking her for cash to make all of these outfits.” “Still, it does look fun,” Ako added. “I mean, I’d be too embarrassed to dress up like that, but we’ll need some people to prepare the tea and snacks.” “Well that’s a shame,” Sunset said with a teasing grin. “You’d look adorable in a maid uniform.” Ako blushed while Akira shook her head with a smile. “Anyway, the plan seems to be working. Negi-sensei seems to be in higher spirits and-” “Oops! The bottle opener dropped between my breasts! Negi-kun, would you get it for me?” Akira and Sunset both sighed. “And so it begins,” Akira muttered. “As we all knew it would,” Sunset agreed. “By the way, what did you think of the homework? I didn’t see anything on there that you should have-” “Ookochi-chan! Over here!” Sunset rolled her eyes as Akira was pulled away behind a hastily-erected changing curtain. She turned to Ako. “As I was saying, there wasn’t anything you two should have had problems with.” Ako nodded. “It wasn’t that bad, not after what we went over on Friday. You’ve been a big help, Nichi-chan! Although,” she hesitated but ultimately continued, “I think maybe you should tutor Makie-chan separately. She spends most of our sessions totally lost.” Sunset groaned. “Yeah, that girl needs another hour of one-on-one lecture just to get the basics. And I hear that Wildfire gives all of the Baka Rangers extra lessons anyway. Maybe it’d be more efficient if I just helped with those.” Ako nodded. “Of course,” she said hopefully, “that would mean reconciling with Negi-sensei.” “How many times do I have to say it?” Sunset griped. “Wildfire-” “Look, Negi-kun! We have lots more costumes for you to see!” Sunset’s retort was cut short as the changing curtain was pulled aside. Ku-Fei, Satomi, and Chao had joined the maid brigade, though their outfits had a distinctly chinese style. Yuna wore a more classic maid outfit, though with a mini-skirt and cat ears. Makie wore a japanese-style dress rather than a traditional maid outfit, and Akira stole the show, dressed as a bunny-girl. “...I’m suddenly very enthusiastic about this idea,” Sunset admitted staring unabashedly at Akira’s half-exposed chest. “You would be,” Ako sighed. “What the heck is this?!” Asuna shouted, storming up to Yuna. “This isn’t even maids anymore!” “Eh? But we want to try on different clothes,” Yuna defended. “Besides, we can also let Negi-kun experience the wonders of the adult world. Two birds with one stone.” “Have you noticed that most of the class has stopped calling him ‘sensei?’” Sunset mused. “I mean, I hope for his sake they keep up the honorific outside of class, or the other teachers will start getting on his case.” “Nitta-sensei, maybe,” Ako agreed. “But I think the rest of the teachers would be okay with it. I know that Takahata-sensei doesn’t mind it. Maybe-” “Ako!” Kazumi interrupted them, pointing at the girl. “Miniskirt nurse with cat ears!” “Wait, what?!” “Nichibotsu! Sexy Librarian!” “...sure, that fits.” “N-N-Nichi-chan!” Ako stammered as Kazumi ushered them behind the changing curtain. “You can’t seriously be going along with this!” “It was bound to happen sooner or later,” Sunset said, quickly stripping and examining the outfit that Yuna handed her. Nodding in approval, she began putting it on. “This whole thing’s got Haruna energy behind it, along with 3-A’s usual nonsense energy; it’s unstoppable at this point.” “B-but,” Ako protested, barely noticing as Yuna assisted her in changing, “this is just too embarrassing for me! Besides, I’m not beautiful like everyone else in class!” “The twins are being dressed as kindergartners,” Sunset pointed out. “I think ‘cute’ is as important as ‘beautiful’ or ‘sexy’ to them, and you’ve got cuteness in spades.” Ako’s blush returned. “Mou. Stop saying that! I’m-” “Stop flirting you two, and get out there!” Yuna pushed them, sending them stumbling out from behind the changing curtain with the latest batch as Haruna rushed Yue and Nodoka to take their place. Sunset looked around her group, her gaze full of approval. Mana was dressed as a shrine maiden and seemed more annoyed with the shortness of her skirt than anything else. Misora was dressed up as a nun, similarly in a miniskirt. Setsuna was even more red-faced than Ako, forced into a school swimsuit and cat ears. Ako’s nurse outfit made her look even more adorable than usual, and the twins’ kindergartener outfits looked odd only in contrast to the more adult outfits surrounding them. Sunset herself was dressed in a very tight dress-shirt and vest with a mini-skirt showing off her legs and half-moon spectacles perched on her nose. Yuna and Kazumi stared, their faces ashen. “We went overboard,” Kazumi breathed, “didn’t we?” “Akira in a bunny-girl outfit was overboard,” Sunset snarked, adjusting her spectacles imperiously. “This is a nose-dive into a fetish cafe.” The more extremely-dressed girls blushed even harder at this and made a beeline for the changing curtain, only to be shoved aside by Haruna as she emerged. “You two are so tasteless,” she said. “Well, the girls in our class have high specs, so I get the temptation. But that also means that all of this is just to be expected. Frankly, it’s boring.” She stepped out fully, Yue and Nodoka accompanying her. “THIS is all we need!” The three of them were dressed far more conservatively than even the original batch of maids, their outfits more resembling waitress uniforms than maid outfits. Nodoka in particular pulled off the waitress look well, her stuttered “W-welcome,” pulling the look together perfectly. “Ooh!” Yuna and Kazumi cheered as Ako, Setsuna, and Akira finally managed to flee behind the curtain. “That’s it!” “It’s certainly a different flavor of cute,” Sunset agreed. “Still not really ‘maid,’ though. Really, they haven’t been maids since the first set.” “LISTEN UP, YOU IDIOTS!” The class’s attention was instantly grabbed by a familiar - though seldom-heard - voice. Chisame had thrown on a classic maid outfit and was pointing accusingly at the class as a whole. “You idiots have no idea what you’re doing! Even that first group is no good if all you do is look the part! From now on, Chiu-san will teach you all the true meaning of a ‘maid cafe!’” The door slammed open behind her. The class went silent. Chisame slowly turned and stared up in distraught horror as Nitta glared into the room. “WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING SO EARLY IN THE MORNING?!?!?!” ***** “I hope Nitta-sensei wasn’t too hard on Negi-kun.” "I hope we get to see more of 'Chiu-san.' Who knew Chisame was a net idol?" "I hope Haruna manages to get more of those outfits." Ako and Akira rolled their eyes while Yuna nodded in agreement and Natsuki blushed. "I still can't believe you two managed to trick the class rep like that," Natsuki scolded. Yuna rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "I mean, it was only half a trick. Most of the outfits were real maid outfits." She looked away, looking for a way to change the subject. "Gee, our food sure is taking a while, huh?" The study group sat around one of the tables in front of Chao Bao Zi, having taken a break from their usual study schedule to sample Satsuki's cooking. The plaza was packed, and Sunset and the others had had to wait half an hour just to find a table. “That’s not surprising,” Ako said. “Yotsuba-san’s cart was well-known even before Chao-san transferred in. Her treats have only made it more popular.” “Should be worth the wait, though,” Sunset opined. She took a deep sniff of the air and hummed in delight. “Based on the smell alone, I would have been willing to wait twice as long for a table.” “That’s what we’ll face once the festival actually starts,” Akira informed her. “During the lunch and dinner rushes, it isn’t unusual to have to wait for an hour or two for a table. We’d better enjoy this now while we- huh? Negi-sensei?” Sunset turned to look behind her. Indeed, Negi was walking by, talking with Asuna as they made their way back home. Though he was visibly less depressed than he had been the last week, he still carried an air of heaviness about him. “Aw,” Yuna whined. “The plan didn’t work after all. I was hoping Negi-kun would cheer up a lot more than this.” “Unfortunately,” Akira said, her eyes turning back to Sunset, “I doubt his spirits will be easy to lift until the root problem is dealt with.” Sunset groaned and stood. “Alright already. I get it. I’ll talk to him.” She turned and made her way towards the street. “Oy! Wildfire!” Negi flinched at the name, but stopped and turned to Sunset with worried surprise. “N-Nichibotsu-san? Wh-what-” “That’s close enough!” Asuna stepped between Negi and Sunset, glaring at the latter with her arms spread wide. “Anything you want to say you can say from there!” Sunset returned her glare and advanced, stopping only when she was face to face with the angry girl. “Stand down, guard dog. This is between me and him.” “The last time you had something ‘between you and him,’ you punched him to the ground!” Asuna snapped. “I’m not letting you anywhere near him.” Sunset grit her teeth at the mutters and glares that now surrounded her. “And if you let him speak for himself, he’d tell you that he deserved it. Now butt out! I understand your protective instinct, but you need to learn when to put it aside and let Wildfire face things himself.” “Asuna-san,” Negi said, trying to step around her. “I-it’s-” “Stop calling him that!” Asuna shouted. “How dare you! You think I’m going to trust you after what you did?! Negi’s not the only one who you hurt, you know! Konoka’s been depressed ever since then too! The whole class is suffering because of what you did to Negi! And you want me to trust you again?!” Sunset growled and gripped Asuna by her shirt, pulling her close until their faces were an inch apart. “Why do you think I’m bothering, huh?! You think I like seeing Konoka depressed? Or seeing Honya torn between supporting me or comforting Wildfire? Even Yue and freaking Chisame are being brought down by this! But what I have to say to Wildfire isn’t the sort of thing I can shout across a crowded street!” “WELL THAT’S JUST TOO BAD, ISN’T IT!” “YOU IMMATURE LITTLE-” Their approach was rapid. Sunset barely had time to step back from Asuna before the weapon slammed into the ground between them. Ku-Fei glared from one girl to the other, lifting her giant chui - its shaft almost as long as she was tall, its head the size of a beach ball - over her shoulder. Satsuki stood beside her, a strange aura surrounding her. “Kagurazaka-san. Hikaru-san.” Sunset tensed at the quiet voice, readying herself for a fight. Satsuki looked up, her brow furrowed, her face scrunched up in a pout. “Fighting is not allowed at Chao Bao Zi.” Sunset’s heart stopped. She stared at Satsuki, slack-jawed, a single word running through her head. C-c-cute!!! Sunset rushed forward, wrapping her arms around Satsuki as all tension faded from her. “So cuuuuute!” she squealed, rubbing her cheek on the top of the shorter girl’s head. “Oh my gosh, you’re like an adorable little koala bear! Trying so hard to look stern and fierce! Kya! I’ve never seen anything so adorable in my life!!!” Ku-Fei and Negi stared in confusion at Sunset. Asuna tried to keep up her anger, but her pout and twitching arms gave away her temptation to join Sunset in cuddling the chubby chef. “Wh-what?” Satsuki stammered, too confused to be embarrassed. “I mean, look at this face!” Sunset released Satsuki and turned her towards Asuna. “So stern. So serious. And such chubby, adorable, pinchable cheeks! Oh, I just want to eat her up!” Satsuki recovered from her shock and started trying - unsuccessfully - to push Sunset off of her. “Wh-what are you talking about? I am being serious. Every time I’ve stepped in to stop a fight, no-one’s ever continued because they don’t want me to get angry.” She turned to look at Ku-Fei. “Right?” Ku held Satsuki’s eyes for only a second before looking away, rubbing the back of her neck. “Er, yeah. Definitely aru. It’s definitely not that you’re just too adorable for them to stay mad aru.” “That’s right.” Sunset stepped back a bit, bending down to Satsuki’s level and patting her head, smiling endearingly. “You’re a fierce, strong chef who no-one would ever dare cross.” Satsuki stared from Sunset to Ku to Asuna. Her gaze went to her customers, all of whom studiously avoided eye-contact. “How about this, Asuna!” Sunset turned to the girl in question. “I’ll take Wildfire back behind Chao Bao Zi. We’ll be able to talk without being interrupted, and Satsuki-chan will hear us if things go the way you’re afraid they will. And we don’t even want to imagine what will happen if big, bad Satsuki-chan gets really mad, right?” She put her hands together in front of her, bowing slightly to the other girl. “Come on, what do you say?” Asuna blinked owlishly at Sunset, still reeling from her sudden change in tone. “Um, I mean, I guess that-” “Great!” Sunset grabbed Negi’s arm and began pulling him over to the train-car. “I promise I’ll give him back soon, safe and sound and in one piece!” “Ku-Fei, it isn’t true, right?” Satsuki was trying to force herself into Ku’s field of view, her expression growing steadily more desperate as the martial artist ardently refused to meet her eye. “Th-they stop fighting because I intimidate them, right? It’s not just because they think I’m cute, right?!” Sunset pulled Negi behind the train-car and finally let go of his arm. “There we go,” she said with a satisfied smirk. “That should be enough to keep Asuna from interrupting us, and everyone else will be too focused on trying not to look like they’re spying on Satsuki’s break-down to eavesdrop.” “W-wait!” Negi stepped back from Sunset, staring up at her in shock. “You planned that?!” “Nope! Not at all!” Sunset rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “And… I do feel kind of bad for shattering Satsuki’s view of herself like that. I’ll need to make it up to her. It’s just…” She squeed again and hugged herself, a blissful expression covering her face. “She was just so adorable! I haven’t seen anything that cute since leaving Equestria! Heck, even the land of sickeningly saccharine smiles might not have anything on her!” “I… I see.” Sunset waved him off. “Sorry, sorry. It’s kind of a girl thing. Or, maybe a mare thing, since everyone else seemed to be able to restrain themselves.” She frowned and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Then again, maybe it’s just that it’s Japan. The people here are really uncomfortable with physical affection.” She winced. “Another thing to apologize for, I guess. “On that note,” she turned her attention back to Negi, “don’t think that I pulled you aside to apologize to you. I still don’t regret how I stopped you or what I said.” Negi winced and nodded, looking down dejectedly. “Y-yeah. I didn’t think so.” “But…” Negi looked up as Sunset rubbed the back of her neck in irritation, “...it looks like it affected you more than I meant it to. Maybe I was too harsh. Maybe you’re too sensitive. Probably it’s some combination of the two. Whatever it is, you’re stuck in a deep depression, the whole class is miserable because of that, and it’s a direct result of my actions. So!” She sat down, crossing her legs and her arms and glaring at Negi. “We’re going to talk this out. Just you and me. We’re going to figure out what this means for me, for you, and for us going forward. Got it?” Negi stared at her for a minute before offering a small smile - half relieved, half wary - and sitting down as well. They sat facing each other for a minute, neither saying a word. Sunset cursed herself as she sat there, wishing she’d put more thought into what to say. All she had were half-formed thoughts and a few specific bits of a speech. She had no idea how to start. Surprisingly, it was Negi who broke the silence.