· Mikiya's Salary

In the early morning, when the first rays of sunlight shone into Garan no Dou, the model employee Kokutou pushed open the door right on time and arrived at his workstation.

"Good morning, Mikiya."

Shirou yawned as he greeted him, holding Nintendo's newest handheld game console in his hands.

"You stayed up all night again, didn't you, Shirou? Kids should go to bed early and wake up early—you need to take better care of yourself!" Mikiya instantly transformed into Old Man Mikiya, lecturing him.

"Shut up, shut up! Since you're so free, Mikiya, go make me a cup of coffee—the stronger the better. I'm about to clear the game!" Shirou said weakly.

He'd spent the whole night replaying all his favorite handheld games from back in the day. He used to be the best in his class at King of Fighters, but now there wasn't even anyone left to play games with him. All he could do was play these nostalgic strategy-raising games like Pocket Monsters.

"Kids shouldn't drink coffee!" Mikiya said to Shirou.

"No, Mikiya, don't actually treat him like a child. If he wanted to, he could turn Kanbiko City into a pile of rubble in two hours. That's the kind of monster he is." Touko said to Mikiya with weighty meaning.

"Huh? No way! Destroying Kanbiko City in two hours is way too exaggerated!" Mikiya trusted Touko's words, but he still widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Ah, I can't do that." Shirou's own denial let Mikiya breathe a sigh of relief, but his next sentence nearly gave Mikiya a heart attack. "But if it's just killing everyone in Kanbiko City, I could manage that in two hours."

"Hey! Don't say something so terrifying so calmly!" Mikiya shouted at Shirou. Though they hadn't known each other long, Mikiya had already figured out Shirou's personality—a bit twisted, but unexpectedly a good guy at heart. Someone like that would never hurt others easily unless he lost all hope in the world.

"I don't care. The monster who can kill everyone in Kanbiko City in two hours wants coffee. Mikiya, go make it now, or I'll go on a killing spree!" Shirou deliberately said in a fierce tone.

"Yes, yes, I'm going right now!"

"Hey, Mikiya, when you make coffee, don't forget to make one for me too." Touko gave a timely order.

A little while later...

"Gah, strong coffee really is bitter like nothing else!" Even though he said that, Shirou's expression didn't change at all. Under the caffeine's effect, he slowly regained his energy, set the cup aside, and prepared to watch a good show.

"Miss Touko, shouldn't you be paying me this month's salary?"

Shirou could tell that Mikiya was probably short on money, as expected. Otherwise, with his personality, why would he ask for his salary?

"Sorry, Mikiya, your salary will have to wait until next month." Even though she said that, there wasn't a hint of apology on Touko's smiling face.

"What? Salary next month? How did this happen?" Mikiya asked frantically.

"Nothing happened. The reason your salary is next month is simply that I don't have any money to give you right now." Touko took a sip of coffee and said calmly.

"No money? How is that possible? Didn't Shirou bring you five million last month? And last week, didn't you just get eleven million and sixty thousand yen deposited? How can you have no money?"

"There's no 'and sixty thousand'!" Touko took another sip of coffee and said flatly.

"That's not the point!" Mikiya kept freaking out. "The point is, why don't you have any money? Where did all your money go?"

"Oh, I bought a Victorian-era Ouija board earlier." Touko remained calm.

"Huh? That thing even you don't know what it's for? That shouldn't have cost six million!"

"Watch your words, Mikiya. Even if I don't know what it's for, it's still an antique. Besides that, I also bought a clay statue of the King of Heroes from the Neo-Babylonian era."

Isn't that the oldest figurine in human history? Hey, speaking of which, isn't Gilgamesh himself in that church in Fuyuki City? Shirou sat to the side, silently complaining.

Touko's words made Mikiya wilt like an eggplant hit by frost. Having already cut ties with his family, he couldn't ask them for money now either.

Just as Mikiya felt he was probably done for, Touko suddenly called out to him—

"Oh, right, Mikiya..."

"What? What is it, Miss Touko?" Mikiya's face changed instantly, making Shirou sigh for him—Sigh, Mikiya, you're still too naive!

Sure enough, Touko's next words completely crushed Mikiya's hopes.

"Mikiya, if you're still a bit comfortable financially, why not help me out a little too? As you can see, I'm really penniless right now."

Mikiya's smile froze on his face, and then Shirou, sitting not far away, burst out laughing: "Hahahaha! How about that, Mikiya? Didn't I tell you? Your boss really did blow all the money, and now she's borrowing from you! What did I say? Nailed it! Haha..."

Shirou's cheerful laughter made Mikiya's face even darker. Damn it, I'm this miserable and you're just standing there making sarcastic comments... Hey, wait.

Mikiya suddenly had a jolt. Right, why did I forget about this kid? Sure, Shirou's young, but he's definitely loaded!

Ever since Shirou came to Garan no Dou last time to deliver money to Touko, for nearly a month now, he and Fujino had been eating and drinking well. Word was someone else had moved in a few days ago. And still, there wasn't a single sign of him being short on cash. If he didn't have solid financial backing, Mikiya would eat his hat!

Thinking this, Mikiya put on a fawning smile, sidled up to Shirou, and said, "Um, Shirou-san, you know my financial situation. If Miss Touko doesn't pay me, I really won't have any money..."

"Ahh—" Shirou sighed. "I get it. But even if I lend you money, it won't last you long. After all, I already converted my cash into various ingredients a while ago."

Even so, Shirou couldn't bring himself to completely refuse Mikiya, his first male friend. "How about this: I can't give you effective financial support, but I can cover your food and lodging. Come eat at my place tonight!" Shirou invited Mikiya.

"It's not exactly what I imagined, but thanks for the help." Being able to solve the most important food problem was already enough for Mikiya, especially since Shirou's cooking was the best of anyone present.

"No need to thank me. My house is big enough, with a few empty rooms. And more importantly, there are only three people living there—especially just me as the only male. It's a bit inconvenient. It'd be nice if you came, Mikiya."

"Wait, I have a question." Touko cut in.

"Huh? What?"

"You said tonight Mikiya's eating at your place, right?"

"More precisely, unless something unexpected happens, this situation will last until next month, when you pay Mikiya his salary."

"And you're the one cooking, right?"

"Get to the point!"

What Shirou hated most was Touko beating around the bush with him, because if he wasn't careful, he'd get played by this woman.

"Okay, the main point is, I'm flat broke now and will probably have to mooch meals off you at your place. No problem, right?"

"Of course!" Shirou didn't hesitate for a second at Touko's request to freeload, because— "But since you dare to come mooch, you'd better be ready to get fleeced, Touko~miss~"

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