「 See you next time! 」
After the pastries were sold out, Katsuko-nee and the girls came back from the storefront to the bakery, Anya’s with them.
「 Oh, Nikita-san! 」
Anya’s known on TV as Nikita Gorbachev, and so her fans call her that.
「 I’m hungry now! The other two will stay there. See you later! 」
Anya goes inside the bakery.
Edie and Mitama remain on the storefront to take photos with the ordinary students.
「 I’m now a student of this school too so there’s no need to rush taking photos of me and yet… 」
Mitama said, but…
「 It’s your first day so don’t mind it too much 」
Edie said.
「 Mitama-san, are you not going to wear our school uniform? 」
A freshman girl asks Mitama.
「 Yes, I’m told to put this on instead for some reason 」
Mitama answers, pointing at the pure white school uniform she’s wearing.
「 But, this is wonderful 」
「 Ah, Mitama-san, can I take a selfie with you?! 」
「 I don’t mind 」
Mitama replies with a smile, holding the Japanese sword in her hand.
「 Edie-san, I saw the video of your match! 」
Edie has boys gathering around her.
「 The video of the fight will also be on broadcast this Friday. Go watch it okay? 」
Edie replied with a smile.
「 Is your next match already settled? 」
「 The next one would be on the end of the year, the plan is to go to America 」
Our pastry is sold out but there are no signs of the crowd disappearing.
「 It’s good that we’re sold out, but we’re on a delicate period. If we start baking extra bread now, it won’t be ready until the end of the lunch break
Katsuko-nee looked at the clock and said.
「 That’s enough. I already worked enough. Man, I’m so tired, so hungry 」
Kana-senpai said.
Usually, the salesgirls take turns in their lunch, but…
Today, Mitama, Anya, and Edie attracted too many customers with their great energy.
They didn’t have time to take turns.
On the other hand, we’re sold out right away so we still have time for lunch.
Kana-senpai and Megu had to eat quickly as they still have the fifth period to attend to.
Ai and I are on the bakery course and so it’s okay for us to skip the fifth class because we’re cleaning up the bakery.
Nei and Yukino usually skip classes whenever they please.
Mitama and Tsukiko are in the Nadeshiko department. Their break time is after the lunch break of the ordinary students.
Katsuko-nee’s not a student.
「 Lunch is on the fridge over there 」
Katsuko-nee points at the reserve fridge.
「 I put them in the car with the pastry this morning so take it out 」
Yeah, I wasn’t there during the transfer today so I didn’t know, but…
Last night, Kana-senpai stayed over the mansion so there’s no way for her to prepare her lunch at all.
「 It’s the popular cold soup spaghetti and potato salad, eat it 」
「 Here are the plates! As for the spoon and forks, oh, I brought them from the mansion 」
Nei said.
「 Did Katsuko-san make these? 」
Kana-senpai asks.
「 No. Mana-chan and the girls did. Mana-chan, Arisu-chan, the twins, they woke up early and made them 」
Mana, Arisu, Rie, and Eri.
「 They’re not going to school yet they say 」
Agnes and the girls are going to the school for the young ladies starting today.
But, Mana and the girls will go to their middle school on Wednesday.
「 There’s some for you too 」
Katsuko-nee told Anya, the drill sisters, and Grace-san.
「 I’ll prepare tea. Is Japanese tea okay with you? 」
Megu asks Anya, the foreigner
「 I don’t mind it. These girls should be okay since they’re Asians too 」
Anya replies, but still asks the drill spear sisters.
「 Yep, they’re okay. I mean, These girls are indifferent about food 」
They’re only trained as assassins on that organization with their crazy boss.
「 I’ll join you. Tsukiko-chan, can you ready the plates for everyone? 」
「 Yes 」
「 Save some for Mitama and Edie too 」
I said.
「 I know. Those two are really good eaters after all 」
Katsuko-nee smiles.
「 I don’t know how much these sisters eat so I’ll just make a big share. I already know about Anya-san since she came here before, and Grace-san, she ate dinner and breakfast with us so I can guess the size of her portion, but… 」
「 I-I’m sorry 」
Grace Marinka-san is aware that she’s a heavy eater.
「 Well, let’s eat! I’m already starving! 」
Yukino who didn’t do anything speaks so composed.
「 Wait 」
I open the door to the cafeteria.
「 Edie! Lunch! 」
「 Oh, got it! Coming! Mitama, let’s go 」
「 Indeed. Well then, everyone, we must eat as well so if you’d excuse us!
Mitama told the students gathering around her.
「 Eeh 」
「 Mitama-san!! 」
Mitama seems to have gathered fans from both sexes.
「 See you again, everyone 」
Mitama enters the bakery with a gallant look.
Edie also went in and locked the door.
Now the bakery is a locked room.
It’s soundproof so none of the voices here will leak out.
「 Mitama-san sit there, Edie over here 」
Megu prepared seats for the two
「 Let’s eat 」
We started eating our lunch.
◇ ◇ ◇
「 Ngu, ngu, hmmm 」
「 Mogumogu, hamuu!! 」
Dolly and Anna seem to have taken a liking to the soup spaghetti.
They’re eating it fast.
We’re also making progress with our meal.
「 Really, every time I come to Japan, I always think about how good the food is at your place 」
Anya said with a smile.
「 Mana-chan and Ruriko are so advanced that I want to give them a license, the twins also have good sense when it comes to cooking 」
Katsuko-nee said.
「 Those girls should become chefs! Like, having the twins as chefs would be interesting, right? 」
Yukino said.
「 Oh, good idea. We should invite Mariko and her big sister to invest in opening a French restaurant or something 」
Kana-senpai has hit it off with Mariko so well that instead of mentioning the Kouzuki house, she mentions Mariko, the daughter of the founder of Torii Electronics, and Kaan Momoko-neechan’s name.
「 I wonder what kind of business should I start with Mariko? I haven’t found the right one yet 」
Kana-senpai says. Grace-san;
「 You’re all rich. You even have a mansion and this private space in the school 」
「 Oh? We didn’t start out with a lot of money you know, only some of the girls are born from rich families 」
Katsuko-nee said.
「 Yes, that. Megumi’s parent’s home was quite poor 」
「 Hey, Yukino 」
「 But it’s different now. Both my foster father and mother are working for the Kouzuki group now, away from the Shirasaka house 」
Megu told Yukino.
「 I see. That’s great 」
Yukino kept her mouth shut because it reminded her of her parent’s home.
Shirasaka house had been in a state of limbo since the head of the family changed.
The TV station is under the Kouzuki group’s control and their main business, newspapers, is hanging low.
Yukino’s mother on the mother’s side had to retire because of the Shirasaka Sousuke incident. He can’t stay in Tokyo and is now living in a rural area.
Yukino’s mother is no longer a food critic. I heard that she’s moving into the house she had an affair with.
Kouzuki house and Minaho-neesan don’t allow them to ask about Yukino and Mana’s status.
Yukino’s grandfather and mother recognize Yukino and Mana as dead, along with Shirasaka Sousuke.
「 Our family is composed of people from all walks of life 」
Katsuko-nee told Grace-san.
「 But, I think I’ve earned my living now using my body. Bad men took a lot of things from me before. I’ve taken it back, and I’m rewarded for what I’ve lost 」
「 I don’t understand 」
Grace-san can’t imagine that Katsuko-nee had been turned into a prostitute in the past.
「 To me, it only looks like you’re renting a corner of this school to play bakery 」
I stood up.
Then I bring in the portable safe containing the sales from the store that Katsuko-nee brings.
「 Take a look at this. Is this a play to you? 」
I opened the safe and showed her what’s inside.
Our pastries are sold out, and the safe is filled with thousand yen bills and coins.
「 That’s nothing much, isn’t it? 」
Grace-san said.
「 Yeah, our pastry here is cheap and our customers are students. As you can see, not even a ten thousand yen bill is present. Our business is only open during lunch breaks and you can’t say that we make a profit 」
「 That’s why I’m calling it a play 」
Grace-san stares at me.
「 But, this money is money we earned by working. The money we made ourselves 」
Not losing, I stare back at Grace-san.
Then.
「 Anya, Edie, translate this for me. I’m talking to Dolly and Anna 」
I look at the drill spear sisters who continue to eat.
「 Sure 」
「 Okay 」
Good.
「 First, both of you saw us bake a lot of pastry here, haven’t you? 」
I said. Anya translates.
Dolly and Anna nod.
「 Then, you also saw us sell all the pastry, haven’t you? 」
There’s a monitor in the bakery that shows what’s going on in the storefront.
The drill spear sisters were watching Katsuko-nee and the girls sell pastry.
「 All that pastry turned to this money. Do you understand? 」
I showed the inside of the portable safe to the sisters.
Dolly and Anna nodded.
「 You make something, sell them to other people, make money, and use that money to feed your family and live. That’s another way to live 」
Edie translates it this time.
「 You girls lived a life where you’re ordered to kill someone in exchange for food, clothing, and shelter. But, don’t you think that life would be unpredictable? If your assassination fails, you’ll be the one eliminated. Even if you succeed, you’ll never know when your owner will abandon you 」
Anya translates for me and the drill sisters look at me with a serious face.
「 The reason you were forced to live like that is that the only thing you know is to kill people. However, it’s hard to convert your skill of killing people to money. The only people who want that kind of work are dangerous and bad. Even if you put your life on the line and get the job done, they won’t pay you back for your labor. Isn’t that right? I can tell that you girls are frustrated and angry at the situation you’re in 」
That’s why when Kyouko-san attacked the organization in control of them…
The drill sisters went and killed the boss of the organization.
「 But look, if you had the skill to make pastry instead of killing people, you can earn this much every day. You can have this money 」
I took the bills from the safe and flap them in front of them.
The drill sisters just came to Japan.
They don’t know the value of Japanese bills.
If I show it to them like this, they’ll feel like the money in the portable safe is quite expensive.
「 You can make bread every day, sell it, and gain money. Simple flour can be sold for a higher value through our labor. Nobody controls you. We don’t take lives. There’s nothing to fear, nor the need to cross dangerous bridges 」
The drill sisters stare at me.
「 And as you can see, even I can do that work. It’s nothing hard. Even you girls can make it 」
I…
「 You can continue as you have been, as assassins, relying only on your skills to kill people. But, you can’t just kill without reason, you need to find customers who are looking for assassins and get paid, right? That’ll make the bad guys exploit you. If that goes on, they’ll only give you things that’ll keep you barely surviving, and there won’t be a future for you 」
I talk to the sisters with perseverance.
「 But if you have the skills to make the pastry, then it’s easy to find people who want good bread. That means that you can easily sell bread to earn money. Money comes in every day. No, if you make more, then you’ll sell more, meaning, you gain more money. If you know that you can earn money every day without fail, you can see a solid future where you’re not exploited by others. Am I wrong? 」
Edie told the sisters, and then…
The elder, Dolly said something.
「 She’s asking if you want them to toss their spears and make bread 」
Edie said.
「 Wrong. That’s not the point, your spears are necessary to protect yourselves. You don’t have to abandon it. What I’m saying is that it’s going to be hard to survive with that alone 」
I look at the sisters in the eye and tell them clearly.
「 If you don’t want to be controlled by others, then learn another skill. It doesn’t have to be bread, you can make money with your own skills, without anyone controlling you. If you have the skill, then your lives will change. That’s what I want you to understand 」
The sisters looked at each other.
Then, they exchanged lines.
Then, the elder sister said something.
「 They’re asking if you make this much money every day 」
「 Yeah, every day. From Monday to Saturday, this is the income 」
I replied.
「 But, this shop is small. We’re intending to expand to a bigger store someday. That’ll allow us to make more a day and sell for longer. When that happens, the income will increase 10 times 」
「 No, a hundred times more 」
Katsuko-nee added.
「 Even if it’s only during lunch break, we’ll sell a hundred times more than now. I’m confident 」
Anya tells them that, and the sisters’ eyes opened wide in surprise.
「 That life also exists. And you girls can live that kind of life too. You can change your life starting now 」
I want them to understand that.
Showing them the process of turning the wheat flour into bread.
Letting them watch us sell all the pastry.
I want the sisters to know that there’s life other than being assassins.
「 Auuuuuu!! 」
「 Kuuuuu!!! 」
Dolly and Anna look at each other, talking about something.
