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In the end, it's not Hiruma's dubious and nefarious influence on her, someone bullying Sena, or an associate with the kids from Zokugaku that drives Mamori over the edge, but the drawn face of sweet old Mrs. Kariya telling her that their famous cream puff shop may be going out of business soon.
“We've had a few customers complain online about food poisoning, and it's been bad for business.” Mrs. Kariya imparted to Mamori, handing her usual order of a few dozen cream puffs with a small sigh. “We've tried to reach out to those customers in order to apologize and reassure them we strive to make the best product possible, but it's been difficult getting a hold of them.”
Mamori's years of thwarting bullies, and then later on having to try to instill discipline in a lawless school run by one 'Mr. H.', had given her one of the best lie detector known to man. She had seen those online comments herself, and had been interested to note that a small bakery had opened a few streets down not too long after they had started appearing. Mamori thanked Mrs. Kariya profusely for the cream puffs, rounding the corner before she whipped out her cellphone. It probably was not a good sign that she could hear Hiruma-kun's distinctive cackle ringing in her ears as she pressed the second number on her speed dial.
“I'm not allowing this any further. Hunt them down.”
- - -
“You sure we shouldn't call Yo-nii?” Suzuna-chan asked crisply, stirring the straw in her drink idly as they watched the ( suspect ) bakery across the street, one eyebrow raised. While there was a good chance that Hiruma-kun already knew about their stake out, about Kariya Cream Puffs being in danger, and who the culprit was, Mamori had no desire to rely on him for this sort of thing. For one, she wanted to make sure her suspicions were correct before unleashing a demon on innocent people. For another, she wanted to do this quietly, meaning no guns would be involved. But perhaps most of all, she didn't want to owe Hiruma-kun anything if she could possibly help it.
“We've already did most of the leg work. All we need to do is confirm that it's the owner's son.” Mamori replied sensibly, lowering her shades to watch the youth in question. She wasn't worried about him noticing their observation, since his face had been practically glued to his cellphone for the last few hours.
It had been simple enough to have some of Suzuna-chan's more flirtatious ( and buxom ) friends go in and gush about the bakery and learn that business wasn't as booming as they thought it would be, how this was just another in a long line of businesses that the boy's father had started that would most likely fail. Mamori might have suspected the father or the mother if both of them hadn't seemed to have problems with technology, with the cash register being about the best they could manage. Yukimitsu-kun, after a bit of research and a few well placed questions, had been able to confirm that the boy's father was in fact prone to starting businesses as much as those businesses were prone to going bankrupt.
“How are we going to do that? We can't just ask him.” Suzuna-chan said with a small sigh, propping her cheeks up with her fists as she leaned forward to take a few sips of her drink, discouraged.
Mamori thought about the various ways they could go about confronting the would-be suspect, when it struck her.
“If we could get his mail address, we could compare it to the one leaving reviews, right?” Mamori said slowly, turning the idea over and over in her mind thoughtfully.
The expression on her face must not have been a good one, because Suzuna-chan straightened immediately, her face halfway between awe and caution. “Mamo-nee, I'm sure I could ask one of my fr-” Mamori held up a hand firmly to stop her, already standing up to dig cash out from her purse.
“Don't be silly. I've already asked you for too much.” She paused, not one to want to weigh out any terrible scenario, but just in case- “If it looks like I might be in trouble, I'll give you this signal, okay?” She flashed a quick sign, a few times until Suzuna-chan nodded in understanding, but she still didn't look too thrilled about it.
She gave the other girl an encouraging smile, before she put her money down on the table, squared her shoulders, and crossed the street.
- - -
Ryota Saito was painfully unassuming, to the point that Mamori would have believed in a heartbeat that he was one of Ishimaru-kun's many siblings. He looked up to greet her politely, if with a bit of a mumble, before busying himself with the display. Mamori's heart went out to him despite herself, since the cream puffs here weren't bad. She was sure given enough time, that the business would find a good customer base and that they wouldn't have to resort to such underhand tactics.
As Mamori had crossed the street, she had played out all sorts of situations mentally to prepare herself. She knew that the flirtatious route would go over well, but she wasn't confident in her ability to pull it off. Threatening was out of the question. Stealing Saito-kun's phone was likewise dismissed. Impersonating someone who had come to work on their computers would out her quicker than anything else. So that left her only one tried and true method, the strongest play she had in her arsenal.
She marched right up to the counter, crossing her arms over her chest as she cleared her throat to get his attention.
“Saito-kun, I apologize if this seems abrupt, but are you familiar with this screen name?” Mamori dug out the first page of her extensive notes on the reviews, slapping it down on the counter between them. Saito-kun's flinch was enough to give him away, his gaze darting side to side.
“Look, your boyfriend already came in earlier this morning asking the same questions.” Mamori felt her face pull despite her best efforts, a chill running down her spine. Before she could properly defend herself, Saito-kun added sulkily, “I'll take down the reviews right now.” With one hand, he flipped open his phone, showing her as his reviews were wiped clean from Kariya's homepage. All the wind knocked from her sails, Mamori could only frown at the screen as if she expected the reviews to pop back at any time, startled when Saito-kun plucked his phone back from her grasp and handed her a box of cream puffs instead. “There's the goodwill gesture. Stop by again next week for the next installment.”
“You really don't have to listen to that guy, who is not my boyfriend by the way! So long as you leave Kariya Cream Puffs alone you don't have to give me these.” Mamori said, her retort sounding weak to her own ears as Saito-kun firmly escorted her out of the store. Suzuna-chan was nowhere to be seen, but a flashy head of spiked blonde hair stood out like a sore thumb.
Hiruma-kun gave Saito-kun a toothy grin, prompting the boy to disappear quickly, leaving Mamori to scowl at the Deimon Quarterback alone.
“I could have taken care of this on my own. You didn't have to interfere.” She scolded as Hiruma-kun reached into the box of cream puffs to shove one indelicately in her mouth to quiet her. It was too delicious not to eat, but it didn't mean she had to be placated by it.
“Ke! I barely had to do a thing.” He smirked, smugly pleased and completely self-satisfied. “It's the least a boyfriend could do.”
Mamori almost choked on the cream puff, and Hiruma-kun laughed so hard at the expression on her face, she had to stick him in his beloved mobile oxygen capsule just to be sure he was getting enough air.