Karaoke night

"I take it there's some significance as to why these outfits are essentially a color swap of your uniform," Zuina asked.

"Two big reasons. One, to denote that your primarily servers, and the second is so that you can swap over to cooking with ease should we need more hands in the kitchen," Rika explained.

"So, we are to both entertain and cook?" Benihime asked.

"Appetizers only. Itsuki, Rika and I are the only ones that may cook everything," Masaru grumbled.

"For now, at least. I'll drill some of the harder stuff into you in my spare time," Rika smiled.

"I'd prefer cooking over serving, but I suppose if even you three serve, I must as well. Though why was I given a uniform that matches yours, Rika?" Matcha asked.

"Because I think you'll be doing more cooking than serving considering your skillset. In fact, I actually want to try starting you out on kitchen duty."

"Rika! Ugh, you are responsible for any failures she concocts then," Masaru huffed.

"Well nice to see you're still just as nice as before," Matcha glared.

"Hey, you should be glad the all-cooking Masaru allowed you to cook," Waki smiled.

"Well, now that the full team is here, let’s get to it! The restaurant is now open!" Rika announced.

...

Things went relatively smoothly. Waki did flirt with Matcha a bit too much but made up for it by helping out in the kitchen when things got busy.

"Hmm, you actually are fairly competent despite your appearance and demeanor," Masaru noted.

"Wish you'd said that praise to me back when you thrashed me at Tabemono," Waki replied.

"Sorry, but I don't recall ever seeing you there."

"That's cause back then I had long black hair that reached the floor and was gloomy and creepy, heck I was like that before Rika showed up and told me I'd be getting my cooking license back. Of course, she first had me do something about my look and attitude and well, guess I'm a punk gyaru now."

"Long black hair... HUH!? No way, you’re that same creepy girl!?"

"Hey, it was totes a change for the better. I'm way more confident now thanks to Rika. You're lucky to have her for a woman."

Masaru decided to end the conversation there and returned to cooking.

...

"You all did good today. Congratulations on your first day," Rika smiled as the restaurant closed.

"Good job Matcha. You really did a good job in the kitchen. Waki was also surprisingly decent. Perhaps we could even give Benihime and Zuina a go at cooking duty," Itsuki mused.

"Y- You're praising them!?" Masaru gasped.

"Yes. They may not be at our level, but that doesn't mean I won't praise them for their efforts and results."

"Well thanks. Honestly, it does feel kind of nice to be cooking again," Matcha smiled.

"So wanna hit up a karaoke place to celebrate?" Waki asked.

"Not a bad idea. There's one right across the street. Let’s all head over," Rika smiled.

...

At the karaoke bar, Masaru and Itsuki sat nervously as the others got into it. Neither of them had been to karaoke before.

"I wanted to try one of these places out last time but didn't get the chance. Time to go all out!" Mimi shouted as she took the mike.

"Where are our drinks dammit!? I want more!" Matcha groaned as she finished her third cup of beer.

"Cmon girl, save some for the rest of us," Waki giggled as she cuddled up to Matcha and grabbed Itsuki's untouched glass of beer.

"I'll have them just give us the whole keg. I brought some snacks they can sell for bargaining," Rika smiled.

"Huh? Rika what do you mean bargaining!?" Masaru shouted.

"It's called building good neighborhood relations. We supply some good snacks, they provide discounts."

"It's not a bad plan. Chefs need to build up good relations with vendors and suppliers. Come to think of it, how is the restaurant's drink menu fairing?" Itsuki asked.

"I was able to get a deal with the country's largest beer producer," Masaru stated.

"Water's pretty much the least gourmet thing he approved of, and even that's from a nice spring. But there's a bunch of drinks I want to add, but with cook-offs on hold until we get to a comfortable financial spot, they'll have to wait. As for the sweets, I made them with my own food stash at home so no need to worry," Rika stated.

...

As Rika walked out with Mimi to grab some more refreshments, Mimi suddenly went pale and stopped Rika from rounding a corner. Rika got the message and joined Mimi in stealthily peeking around the corner.

At the front desk, a large menacing figure clad in a black cloak stood before the attendant. His skin was dark green, and the sides of his face along with the top of his head were littered with horns. He also had menacing dark purple tattoos covering his face. Most shocking of all was the fact that he had six additional arms sprouting from his back. Three were cybernetic while the other three appeared to be organic.

"Oh, no. It's Murr Mantis," Mimi whispered as she went pale.

"Who?" Rika asked.

"An assassin, that's been genetically modified."

Four small plane propellers then appeared in the top two and top bottom arms attached to Murr Mantis' back. They were then lit with electricity as they began spinning around rapidly. Murr Mantis then summoned an umbrella in his front two hands and began twirling it around. The attendant began to sway back and forth as if she was in a trance.

"That guy's umbrella can hypnotize you while his propellers can shred you to bits. We need to retreat and get everyone out of here," Mimi warned.

"So, you're saying I can't beat him?" Rika asked.

"YES, I'M SAYING YOU CAN'T BEAT HIM! Sure, I'm immune to his hypnosis thanks to my latent ability, but I could never beat this guy in hand-to-hand combat. Marzi was the only one in the old team who could even hold this guy off."

"Marzi? The old woman from back then that was killed instantly?" Rika asked as Mimi continued to drag her away.

"Yes, though she was much stronger in her prime."

"Speaking of prime, I'm stronger than-"

"NO! Last time you thought you were tough, I ended up nearly dying to save you!"

"But-"

"Ri-chan!"

Murr Mantis suddenly turned and leapt towards the hall the girls were hiding in. He immediately sliced a chunk of the wall and stared down the girls. "Huh? One of you looks familiar but I can't remember why. Well, whatever, I'll just wreck the place," he shrugged as he began twirling his propellors again. Before he could twirl his umbrella, Rika smiled and picked up Mimi before running away.

"HUH!? Why are you carrying me!?" Mimi stuttered.

"Cause I wanna make sure you don't get sliced up like last time," Rika smiled.

"Hoh, so you're tapping out? Well guess you two are retired," Dastard smirked as he suddenly appeared and began clashing with Murr Mantis.

"Wow, that thief guy's good," Mimi mused as she and Rika headed back to the karaoke room.

"A thief huh? I've heard you've been robbing our organization," Murr Mantis sneered as he assumed an offensive position.

"You're long past a mantis' lifespan. Time to send you to hell. I'll even decapitate you disguised as a female mantis," Dastard taunted.

Rika and Mimi quickly retreated to the karaoke room only to find everyone was out cold. "Shit! Knockout gas," Rika gasped as she and Mimi covered their faces with their hands.

"My apologies, but I felt the need to put them to sleep so that you could better escape with them," Dastard called out.

Waki groggily woke up and stared at Rika. "So, we bein targeted?" she asked.

"Yeah, we gotta go. A powerful foe's already here." Rika nodded.

"Well, it's just knockout gas so they should be fine," Waki grinned as she stepped out and gazed at the fight between Dastard and Murr Mantis. She smirked and quickly pulled out some poison needles and hurled them towards Dastard's backside. Dastard dodged at the last second, causing all the needles to land in Murr Mantis' neck. Murr Mantis immediately yelped in pain and fell to a knee as Dastard kicked him square in the face, sending him flying away. "Wow, what a weakling, guess he's weak to poison," Waki smirked.

Like Rika, Waki was also a former assassin. She had a high immunity to poison as well as knockout gas and chloroform. She was also deeply indebted to Rika thanks to her saving her a few years ago. She quickly grew close with Rika and followed her when she enrolled in Tabemono Gakuin. It was there that she first met Matcha and developed a crush for her. Waki was a fine chef thanks to primarily being the cook of her household. However, she was initially expelled after losing to Masaru in a cook-off. The loss ate at her, though she still kept in touch with Rika and refused to turn back to the life of a full-time assassin. After the remedial course was announced, Rika met up with her and taught her how to make her prized mochi surprise dish. She also had her get a makeover in order to spruce up her image, though Waki ended up going a bit overboard with the gyaru act. Luckily, it all worked out, and she was able to help everyone pass the remedial course.

"HUH!? Is this some sort of television shoot!? Shit, I gotta do my makeup," the karaoke bar attendant cried as she snapped out of her hypnosis.

"Of course, it is. Oh, and I've already stolen all the money in the cash register," Dastard stated as Murr Mantis scurried away in terror.

"That was some nice fighting Mr. Thief, but how'd you get around his hypnosis?" Mimi asked.

"Because I have made you hypnosis immunity my own," Dastard boasted.

"Huh!? How do you know about my ability!?" Mimi cried.

"AH! I am Dastard! The dastardly thief! I only announce my presence once I've already stolen and secured my target at a safe location! I have stolen... the dossier that explains your secret ability! Thus, I was able to master it!" Dastard stuttered as he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"EHHHHH!?"

"Ugh, don't tell me she doesn't realize it's her old friend," Rika groaned.

...

The next day, an exhausted Rika and Mimi walked to the restaurant. "Ugh, what a night. Thanks to that sleeping gas, we had to carry everyone back to the restaurant and wait for them to wake up," Rika groaned.

"So is Waki a spy too?" Mimi asked.

"She's an ex-assassin like me. All the others are normal as far as I know."

"Ah."

"Ugh, maybe I need to do more training. My body's been sore since I've been using my assassin techniques on top of all the cooking I do."

"I've actually got one more piece of advice to teach you," Mimi proudly huffed.

"Is it from Hylda?"

Mimi crossed her arms and let out a proud laugh. "Not in the slightest; this one's a Mimi original!"

"What is it?"

"When you get tired or get hurt, just chug some milk and you're good as new," Mimi proudly smiled.

"Huh?"

"I mean, every time I drink milk, I feel re-energized. My wounds also heal and even my hair grows longer too."

"Then that's probably unique to you. When I drink milk, I don't feel any different, nor does it heal me," Rika stated.

"Oh, yeah I guess that kind of makes sense. Thinking back, none of my teammates seemed to be able to heal from drinking milk either... DOES THAT MEAN I JUST TOLD YOU SOMETHING USELESS!?" Mimi cried.

"No worries girl. It was you telling me not to repeat history that got us all out safely," Rika smiled.

"You really became a sexy spy, Ri-chan," Mimi smiled.

"And you actually are still beautiful despite technically being 64."

"Hey, I'm really only 18. Frozen years don't count anymore!" Mimi pouted.

"Well can't argue with that. Even though we kept the month and date of your old birthday the same, make sure you remember to say you were born in 1998 instead of 1952. Also don't mention that you were frozen to anyone.

"No need to fear. I'm not the brightest, but I'm still a good spy- er, ex-spy. I can read rooms, keep myself safe, save the day, protect my friends, and never betray those close to me," Mimi smiled.

"I'm glad you're my friend Mimi," Rika smiled.

"Same to you, Ri-chan," Mimi smiled back.