In an underground carpark, there sat a pink convertible. A sensible-looking man wearing a peaked cap and a pair of clean, white gloves sat inside, leafing through his newspaper as he took periodic sips from a steaming cup of coffee in his cupholder. He had arrived only five minutes ago and was waiting for his boss to call him. When he next looked up, his phone was buzzing. He unlocked it, nodded to himself, and stuffed his newspapers into the glove compartment. Then he switched on the engine and drove out of the carpark.
There were five girls waiting for him at the pick-up point. Behind them was the glitziest lobby the man had ever seen. He had never been inside, of course – he was just the driver – but whenever he drove by to pick the girls up, he’d roll down the window and take a deep breath. It just smelled expensive. His boss was the first to open the door and slide in. As she did, her hand lashed out and rapped against the opaque partition separating the front from the back. The man waited for her to finish rolling the partition down.
“The café.”
The man nodded. He could think only of one café that he had fetched them to before. Once the others had piled into the back, he rolled up the window regretfully and drove off.

The monkey at the counter did a double-take when they walked in. So did they. Faith tilted to the side and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Isn't that the senior-"
"Wasn't he at the-"
"-took down six guys on his own-"
"-hey. Hey. Hey."
They looked up. The monkey at the counter raised an eyebrow at them. "I can hear you, ya know. Gonna order?"
They looked at each other and shrugged. Minnie took in a deep breath and opened her mouth: “One caramel frappé, one white chocolate mocha, one kombucha, one pumpkin spice latte, and one hot chocolate.” As the monkey took down their orders (his name escaped even Max), she glanced around at the others, eyebrows raised.
“Make that an iced chocolate,” Edie said.
“What gives?”
Edie shrugged as Hailey dumped a wad of notes on the counter. They trooped over to their usual seat, which was a booth in the back. “I dunno. Just felt like it, I guess.”
“I love coming here,” Max was telling Faith, who was nodding sagely. “It's mainly because of the barista - the usual barista, I mean. I feel so tall whenever I see her. Isn’t she cute? Don’t you just want to pinch her cheeks and pat her head?”
"-surprised he's working here," Hailey was saying, not looking up from her phone as she typed. "Thought he'd be drowning in offers after that stunt." She sniffed. "Then again, didn't- wasn't- one of you said he got arrested in the US or something."
"Shouldn't we be speaking in Japanese?" Minnie whispered. "He can speak English, you know."
"He can speak Japanese too," Edie pointed out. "And it's not like we're ever going to, like, meaningfully interact with him ever again."
"Not unless we keep coming."
"What are the chances?"
Faith rolled her eyes. "Uh, pretty high, actually. If he's works here when he's not in school, then he'll be here whenever we drop by after school."
"It's not like we come here that often."

"Oh! Oh!" Max craned her neck. "He's off! And the small barista is back!"
Minnie checked her wristwatch. "So we've got to be around when he's not in, which is..."
"Whatever," Hailey snapped, thumping her palms on the table lightly. "Anyway, what I was saying is..."
"Takeda finally shut up?" Edie asked insouciantly.
"YOU shut up, you-"
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with H spending every waking moment texting her lover."
"He's NOT my lover-"
"Oh, really?" Faith crowed, whipping out her phone. "I don't think he'd be happy to hear that-"
"Since when were you texting my boyfriend?"
"Uh, guys?"
"-can't seriously be suggesting that-"
"Guys. Guys."
The five of them quieted. Minnie was staring at the pinball machine in the corner, and in particular at the white-haired girl approaching it. She glanced up, feeling their eyes on her, and froze. So did they.

"What the fuck is SHE doing here?" Hailey muttered.
"Just look away," Minnie hissed, returning her gaze at her phone.
"We should probably stop coming here," Faith said in a small voice, twisting her body in such a way that her back was turned to the girl at the pinball machine, who seemed to be doing her best to ignore them.
"Vibe's off," Max agreed, shaking her head. "First the monkey, now her. And our order isn't even ready-"
"She's looking at us," Edie said, and when the others turned to Yui, shook her head in exasperation. "No, not her. The barista."
"Someone has to take our order," Minnie began.
"Can't leave our stuff here, what if she steals it? Faith, stay behind."
"Don't leave me here-"
"Me, Hailey and Minnie will go," Max said briskly, rising to her feet and squeezing past Faith as the skinny girl grasped at her sleeve pathetically. "Edie, stay."
"K."

They approached the counter, where the barista was waiting. "Sorry about that," she said, not sounding very sorry at all. "The barista who took your order, he's new. We don't usually force customers to wait for their orders."
"We thought he was going to serve us at our booth, actually," Minnie said, voice light.
"Oh, not that old argument again," the barista muttered, then raised her voice. "This isn't a restaurant, ladies."
Max elbowed Minnie. "Yeah, of course," she trilled. "But, um, I was wondering, see..." She glanced meaningfully over her shoulder at the figure at the pinball machine. "Well, you know, that girl in the corner, she goes to the same school as us, and we've heard a few things about her..."
"Oh, Yui." The barista shrugged. "She's okay."
"You're on first-name terms with that-"
"Yeah. She likes the pinball machine. Doesn't usually order anything to drink, though. She prefers the cheesecake. On that note, could I interest you in some-"
Minnie grabbed warningly at Hailey's shoulder as the shorter girl's face turned an interesting colour. "No thank you," she said. "We'll just take our order. Thanks!"

Hailey took a few calming breaths as they returned to their spot at the booth. Edie hadn't looked up from her phone. Faith wiped at her forehead. "I think," Minnie said, sounding strangled, "that we should stop coming here."
Max nodded, eyes fixed over Minnie's shoulder. "You don't say. Cain and Train Boy just came in."
Edie's spine, normally compressed into a slouch, straightened with a pop, startling a soft shriek out of Faith. "Seriously?" She huffed as she got visual confirmation. "Might as well have class here." Her eyes tracked the pair as they ambled across the café. "Oh, and they're with her."
Hailey pushed her mug away. "I've lost my appetite."
Faith shrugged, her glass of kombucha empty, and made a shameless grab for Hailey's mug. "More for me."
"Let's just finish our drinks and get out of here," Minnie muttered.
This was duly done. When they were out of the café, they picked a random direction and started walking as Hailey removed her phone from her clutch and dialled her chauffeur. She'd only just locked her phone when Max hissed something under her breath and the five of them withdrew into a nearby alley smoothly, moving in a seamless shuffle that spoke to at least a decade of friendship. "What?"
"That's Myoga," Edie whispered. "And he's with-"
"Nyoro."
"And a younger girl. Like, much younger."
"Let's never come back."
"Let's."
A loud bang from behind them cut them off. What looked like a dozen arms had emerged from behind a dumpster. The girls shrieked and broke into a run.