Chapter 33: A New 'Procedural Update'

My phone buzzes on my nightstand.

I grab it. It is not an 'Unknown Number' anymore. I saved her contact info after the dojo invitation. I saved it as 'DEMON'.

DEMON: Change of plans.

My heart does that stupid, inefficient lurch. I text back, my fingers fumbling.

Shoujo: Change of plans for what?

DEMON: The 'procedural update' for your wardrobe. The mall is inefficient. Too many variables.

I cannot help but smirk. 'Variables,' she wrote. She clearly means Hina. She means the one "variable" she could not just analyze and dismiss.

Shoujo: So, no new clothes? My 'problematic' appearance remains?

The reply is instant.

DEMON: The update is now. Be outside your apartment building in five minutes. Wear your school uniform. Do not be late.

I just stare at the text. "Now?" It is almost 7 PM. "Wear your school uniform?" This is insane. This is her.

I do not even think about disobeying. I am already in my uniform from school, but I splash water on my face and run a hand through my hair. I look adequate.

I get downstairs to the street, and exactly four minutes later, it glides around the corner. It is not the black limousine from my kidnapping. It is a different car, a black, unassuming-but-clearly-expensive Lexus. It pulls up, and the back door opens.

Ayako is inside. She is not in her uniform. She is in the black dress from the mall. Her "other uniform." Her hair is down. She looks dangerous.

"Get in, Minatawa-kun," she says, her voice all business. "You are on time."

I slide in, and the door shuts with a heavy, expensive thud. The driver is invisible behind a partition. It is just us. The car smells like her, that clean, soap-like, cold scent.

"So, where is this 'update'?" I ask, trying to sound casual. "You are not buying me a new school uniform, are you?"

"No," she says, not looking at me. She is looking at her phone. "Your school uniform is your cover. It is your armor. It is what makes you invisible. What you wear outside of it... that is the liability."

The car drives for twenty minutes, heading deep into the high-end Ginza district. The streets are lit up, and the stores look like they cost more than my entire apartment building. The car pulls to a stop in a quiet side street, in front of a building that does not even have a name. It just has a heavy, dark wooden door and a small, brass plaque.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"Where my family acquires its uniforms," she says. "A private tailor. Come."

She gets out, and I follow. The driver stays. We walk to the door, and she does not knock. She just pushes it open.

The inside is incredible. It is not a store. It is a lounge. Dark wood, leather chairs, and quiet, classical music. An old man with a tape measure around his neck and tiny, circular glasses looks up from a desk. When he sees Ayako, he freezes.

"Ojou-sama!" he says, bowing so fast he almost falls over. "We... we were not expecting you! My apologies!"

"It is an unscheduled visit, Tanaka-san," Ayako says, her voice smooth. "This is Minatawa-kun. He is an associate. He requires correction."

The old man, Tanaka-san, looks at me. He scans me, his eyes sharp. He takes in my school uniform, my beat-up sneakers.

"Ah," he says, his entire demeanor changing. He is a professional now. "A 'correction'. Yes, I see. He is an athletic build. Good shoulders. But... problematic."

He is using her words. Does everyone in her world talk like this?

"He needs 'blending' attire," Ayako commands. "Something dark. Something practical. Something that does not scream 'delinquent'. And... he needs a formal suit."

"A suit?" I blurt out.

Ayako pins me with her gaze. "Every asset in my concern has a formal suit. You are an asset. Do not question the procedure."

For the next hour, I am a doll. Tanaka-san and two assistants swarm me. They measure everything. My arms. My legs. My chest. My scar.

"Ah, recent," Tanaka-san mutters, his fingers tracing the scar on my arm. "And... two fractured ribs, healed. You are hard on your uniforms, young man."

I am so flustered I cannot even speak. Ayako is just sitting in one of the leather chairs. She is drinking a tiny cup of tea that one of the assistants brought her. And she is watching me. Her gaze is analytical. Cold. But it is not cold. She is observing. She is... I do not know.

Finally, Tanaka-san steps back. "The 'blending' attire will be simple. Black slacks. A dark, high-quality shirt. A jacket that allows for movement. The formal suit will be midnight blue. Peak lapel. It will be... adequate."

"Good," Ayako says, standing up. "Have them rushed. I need them by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, Ojou-sama?" Tanaka-san gasps. "That is... that is..."

"A problem?" Ayako asks, her voice dropping ten degrees.

"No, Ojou-sama!" the man squeaks. "It is an opportunity! It will be done! We will work all night!"

"Excellent." She turns to me. "The 'procedural update' is half-complete."

She walks to the door. I just follow her, feeling like a mannequin. We get back in the car. The partition is still up.

"So... a suit?" I say, my voice hoarse. "What, am I going to a wedding?"

Ayako turns, and in the dim light of the car, her face is all shadows.

"No, Minatawa-kun," she says, her voice low. "We are going to work."

"Work? What work?"

"My father has a pest problem in one of his gardens. He has asked me to inspect it."

My blood runs cold. This is it. This is the "Oasis" from the Yakuza meeting.

"You... you are taking me?"

"You are my anomaly," she whispers. "You are my asset. And you are the only one in my world who is not in my world. You are my cover."

She leans in. "You wanted to know what I am? You are about to find out."

"I... I thought this was a 'date'," I whisper, my voice shaky. I am trying to tease her. But I am terrified.

She just looks at me. And in the darkness, I see the shadow of her smirk.

"This is the date, Shoujo."