Chaika Hanabatake's Secret: The Macho Maid's Love Consultation Room - The Macho Maid in Love and an Ominous Shadow

A spring evening. In the back alleys of Rainbow Hills—a academic city sprawled along the outer edge of the Tama Hills—a single figure stood. The person, hood pulled deep over their head, gazed from a distance at an old two-story wooden café. On the signboard, "Elf's Tavern" was written in both Elvish and Japanese. The figure took out a smartphone and compared the photo on the screen with the building. In the photo, a tall person wearing a maid outfit was captured. "...Hanabatake Chaika. No mistake about it, then." The low murmur was so hoarse it was impossible to even determine the speaker's gender. The figure slipped the smartphone back into their pocket and slowly turned on their heel. A spring breeze swept through the back alley, and only the footsteps they left behind were swallowed by the asphalt. No one noticed their presence. This town is a place where different races and humans live together. The Interspecies Coexistence Treaty, adopted by the United Nations in 2005. Three years later, Rainbow Hills was designated as Japan's model city. Of its population of approximately eighty-five thousand, a full fifteen percent is composed of other races—elves, vampires, beastfolk, angels, and the like. But even in such a town, shadows fall. The door of the Elf's Tavern opened with a light jingle. "Welcome." A low, composed baritone resonated through the shop. Standing behind the counter was someone with a truly magnificent physique clad in a maid outfit. Height: 186 centimeters. Weight: 92 kilograms. Chest measurement exceeding 130 centimeters, and the muscles of their arms seemed to strain against the sleeves of the maid dress, pushing them out. Yet what adorned that body was a custom-made 3L-size maid outfit decorated with frills and lace. A large-ribboned headdress adorned a long silver braid. Elf-specific pointed ears peeked out from between the silver hair. "Ah, Chaika-san. Today too... you look, um, beautiful." "Oh my, you flatter me." Chaika hid their mouth behind a lace glove and gave a soft chuckle. That gesture was so delicate, so graceful, so utterly maidenly that it was hard to believe it belonged to that muscular, well-built body. "So then, what kind of story do we have today? Another love trouble?" "...Yes." The one who had come was a female student attending Nijisanrise Academy. She clutched the blazer of her uniform tightly and sat down at the counter seat, eyes cast downward. Chaika gently set a cup of herbal tea before her. "Elven herbal tea. It'll calm your heart. It's on the house." "Th-thank you very much..." Quiet jazz played in the shop. The walls were adorned with traditional elven woodcarvings, and antique-style furniture was illuminated by soft lighting. A few regular customers watched the "consultation room" across the counter from afar while enjoying their coffee and cake. This Elf's Tavern was a three-minute walk from the academy's back gate. It was the students' secret hangout, and Chaika's counter had, before anyone realized it, spread by word of mouth as a "love consultation room." Chaika leaned both elbows on the counter and met the girl's eyes. Large purple eyes gazed gently at her from behind long lashes. "Now, tell me everything." "...There's someone I like. A classmate. But I can't work up the courage. We've just stayed friends all this time..." Chaika listened quietly to her words. Elves are born with an "empathy ability." If the distance between them and the other person is within two meters, they can sense that person's emotions through their skin. However, overusing it depletes mental energy—what's commonly called MP—and brings on headaches and nausea. It's a convenient power, but it can't be abused. (She's already come to her own answer, really. She just wants a push on the back.) Chaika sensed this. "Love, you see, is all about timing." Chaika chose their words slowly. "Before the person you like falls for someone else, you have to make your move. Because love—if you wait, it runs away. I'm an elf, and I'll live four hundred years, but even so, I know that chances at love aren't infinite." "Chaika-san..." "Try talking to them tomorrow. That's all you need to do. The results will follow on their own." Tears welled up in the girl's eyes. "When I talk to you, Chaika-san... my heart feels lighter. Thank you. I'll do my best." "Yes, do your best. I'm rooting for you." Chaika smiled softly. In that instant, for just a fleeting moment, a maiden's face surfaced on that macho visage. The regular customers, seeing that smile, somehow wore expressions of relief. When you come to this tavern, your heart somehow settles. That was because Chaika's very presence created the atmosphere of this shop. After the girl left, another regular called out. "Chaika-san, thanks for your hard work today too." "Oh my, thank you. The cake set, the usual?" "Yes, please." As Chaika prepared the cake with practiced hands, they suddenly glanced toward the shelf behind the counter. There, a custom-made beer mug far larger than the other glasses sat, placed a little apart from the rest. Capacity: 1.2 liters. It was a gigantic glass, more than three times the size of a normal cream soda glass. (That glass is for him.) Deep in Chaika's chest, something tightened. Kenmochi Touya. Second-year at Nijisanrise Academy, ace of the kendo club. A skilled competitor who had won consecutive regional tournaments and placed in the top eight at the prefectural tournament. A serious, clumsy boy who devoted himself to practice six days a week. It had already been three years since Chaika started working at this shop. Touya had first come here in the spring of his first year. When Touya ordered a cream soda, Chaika had, for some reason, served it in a specially large glass. Even they didn't understand why. They simply wanted to watch that clumsy-looking boy from closer. Since then, whenever Touya came, Chaika made his cream soda in that big mug. Adjusting the amount of ice, the carbonation of the soda—all to Touya's liking. (I'm an okama elf. I'm not worthy of Touya-kun.) Chaika had murmured this to themselves countless times in their heart. An elf's lifespan of four hundred years. Themselves, living five times as long as a human, and Touya, living a life of barely a hundred years. This lifespan gap was the fundamental wall between interspecies romance. No—before even that, they were a man with a woman's heart. At that point alone, it was different from ordinary love. (I can understand his feelings too, with the elven empathy ability. Touya-kun only sees me as a shop clerk. That's fine. That's...) Chaika gently took the large mug from the back of the shelf. "...Someday, if I could convey my feelings to Touya-kun with this glass." They had dreamed such a dream before. But it wouldn't come true. In their long elven life, they had seen the end of such loves many times. Love that transcends race is sometimes beautiful, sometimes cruel. Chaika began wiping the glass carefully. That was when it happened. Outside the shop window, some kind of shadow flickered for an instant. "...?" Chaika raised their head and looked outside. It was a spring evening, and it was already dim outside. Streetlights were beginning to dot on, one by one. There was no one in the back alley. Only the branches of the roadside trees swaying in the wind were reflected in the window glass. "...Just my imagination." Chaika tilted their head and began wiping the glass again. But deep in their chest, a small unease remained for some reason. (What was that just now...?) An elf's senses are sharp. Something—a bad premonition. But Chaika couldn't tell what it was. Closing time, ten o'clock, was approaching. The last customer left the shop, and Chaika was cleaning up behind the counter. Outside was completely dark now. Only the light of the Elf's Tavern floated alone in the back alley. That was when the smartphone vibrated. The notification sound echoed through the quiet shop. Chaika took the smartphone from their apron pocket. On the screen, a notification from the academy's contact app was displayed. "Shizuka Rin—transfer procedures complete." The moment Chaika saw those words, their hand stopped dead. "...Rin-chan." Shizuka Rin. Touya's ex-girlfriend. The girl who had suddenly dumped Touya a year ago and transferred to another school. That Rin was coming back. Chaika wore a complicated expression. "Touya-kun's... ex-girlfriend, wasn't she." Why return now? No one knew the answer yet. Chaika stared fixedly at the smartphone. The light of the screen reflected in their purple eyes. Their long silver hair swayed quietly in the darkness of night. Outside, the spring night wind rustled the roadside trees in the back alley. And a short distance from the Elf's Tavern, that hooded figure had stopped again. "...Shizuka Rin, huh. Things are getting interesting." The figure murmured this and vanished into the darkness of night. Without anyone noticing their presence. The light of the Elf's Tavern floated alone in the night. Chaika gently returned the large mug to its original place on the back of the shelf. "...I wonder if Touya-kun will come tomorrow too." That murmur reached no one. But in that voice, a certain feeling was surely contained. Knowing it would never come true, and yet still wishing for his happiness. That was the quiet shape of love of Hanabatake Chaika—an elf with a maiden's heart housed in a macho body. The night deepened quietly. In the town of Rainbow Hills, yet another small love story was about to begin to move.

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Episode 1

Name: Chaika Hanabatake's Secret: The Macho Maid's Love Consultation Room
Author: Novelia

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