One thing that Takina loved about living with Chisato were there ‘little adventures’ before going to the cafe, and before getting back home.
They’re little adventures because they’re always small things that a normal person wouldn’t bother with, but Chisato would because she genuinely loved to help others. Whether it’s helping the old woman cross the road, taking a lost child to the police box, or helping some children who got their balloons stuck up a tree, they will do it because Chisato can’t ignore it.
One time, Takina dared her to try and ignore the things that were happening around her. Takina was impressed at how much self-control Chisato had, but in the end, she couldn’t just look away from an old woman who had heavy groceries and couldn’t go down the stairs. From then on, she went back one by one to the ones she looked away from and helped them.
“If you got paid for every single thing you do, I think you’d be a millionaire by now.” Takina looked at Chisato who carried the old woman on her back while Takina carried the groceries. “Obaasan, is it over here?”
“Obaachan!” A girl who looked about ten ran towards them. “I told you, I was gonna help you with the groceries. I was so worried when I got back and you weren’t there.”
“I wanted to get started in cooking earlier so I went early. Thankfully these two kind young ladies helped us.” Chisato brought down the old woman as her grand daughter took the groceries from Takina. “Thank you, you two.”
Chisato grinned at them. “No problem~ Please take care now!” She took a step forward and patted the head of the grand daughter. “You’re a great grand daughter for helping your grandma. Good girl, good girl~”
The girl blushed and nodded. “Th- Thank you.” She nodded at Chisato, then at Takina and helped her grandmother home.
Chisato stretched her arms and back as they walked back the path they came from. “Hm~ I already feel plenty rich just by seeing these people’s smiles.” She turned to grin at Takina who only sighed at her.
“That is something you would say.” Takina smiled back at her. “What should we do for dinner?”
“Ah~ How about curry?”
These ‘little adventures’ were fun, but of course, there were days where they couldn’t really do anything about them. It’s not always that they had the leisure to walk down the streets and help everyone. Having to move safehouses meant taking a different way back from the cafe, and that also usually meant needing to go back straightaway to prepare for the next day’s missions. However, no matter how much Takina enjoyed their little adventures, what Chisato does for herself in private were still things that she should be paying more attention to, instead of other people.
“Chisato. I had a call from Yamagishi-sensei.” Takina had a hand on her waist as she stared down the other girl who was lazily lying down on the tatami mat of the cafe, taking a break.
“Mmmmfweeehhh… It was so busy…” Chisato pouted as she rolled to her stomach. “Yesterday we helped a bunch of people on our way to the cafe, so I couldn’t go~”
“Having your health checked is important too. Please go tomorrow.” Takina scolded her. “No sweets for tonight.”
“Ehhh?! Not that…!” Chisato wailed as Takina hmph’d at her and left her in the break room.
“Aren’t you a bit too strict with her?” Mizuki chided from one of the empty tables of the cafe. “Well, she has always been the same way, but I feel like it’s been the same situation every time between the two of you lately.”
“Do you really think so?” Takina thought about it for a moment. “I will… observe it.”
Takina then observed her treatment with Chisato, Kurumi, and often times with Mizuki as they all worked in the cafe. Personally speaking, she thinks that she treats every single one of them the same way.
“Ah~ Is that so? Then…” Chisato moved in to whisper into one of the female customers, who was a regular that often came by every thursday, from university. “Your sweets and coffee for the day will be in the house!”
“R- Really? I feel bad, I really think that I should be–“
“Non, non. Today, I’ll be treating you, so good luck with your thesis. Okay?” Chisato smiled at her and the girl sipped her now even more delicious coffee with tears in her eyes. Chisato turned around to fetch her order of sweets and almost ran into an angry looking Takina. “Eh? Ah… T- Takina?”
Takina only walked away, towards the break room, and immediately Chisato knew that it was a sign that she should follow her.
“Takina?”
“I told you to stop using the cafe’s money as your own. You’re not allowed to just suddenly give customers a discount.” Takina sighed as she scolded Chisato.
Chisato just played with her fingers like a child being scolded by their parent. “B- But~ She said she hasn’t been sleeping lately between her part-time and writing her university’s thesis, so I thought it would be nice if just this once she’d get a huge discount since it’s only one of her days that she could somewhat relax.”
“Then who will be paying for her share today?”
“I- I will…?”
“With what money?”
“Th- The one I will earn later in our missions today!” Chisato grinned at her. “Please~ Takina! I’ll work hard~”
Takina just sighed in surrender. “Fine.”
“Yay~ I’ll do my best, so don’t be angry, okay?” Chisato escaped from the break room and started making sweets. Right behind her, Mizuki entered the break room and saw an exasperated Takina.
“Something wrong?” Mizuki raised an eyebrow.
“Did Chisato always give such big discounts for people? I feel like I understand her less and less.” Takina sighed.
“She always did those, but she’d always return those money by doing small deeds around the town. She mostly never kept any of the money she earns because she always just gives it to Mika to use for the cafe.” Mizuki took a seat at the break room. “She was always a hard worker, but since you came, I feel like she’s been doing much more than she usually does. It’s not a bad thing, we earn more, and the cafe is much more lively now. However, going at this rate, how long do you think until she burns herself out?”
“Burn herself out? From what?” Takina asked, confused.
“Do you really not see it?” Mizuki sighed. “This is why one should never meddle in the affairs of other people. She’s doing her best, more than she usually does, because she wanted to be of use to a certain someone. Praising a person goes a long way, you know?”
“Eh?” Takina only blinked at her.
“I hope you can figure it out on your own before something happens and you don’t get an opportunity to let her hear what she wanted to hear, you know?”
“If you could just tell me–“
“It’s important that you figure this one out yourself, and do it out of the kindness of your heart.” Mizuki smiled at her. “Ahn~ Look at you, Mizuki, what a kind Onee-san~!”
Takina pondered it for a long time. Chisato has always been the same way since before she came, but recently, she’s been doing more than she was, for what? Above anything else, Takina thought that Chisato doing more than usual was because the cafe was important. Was there something else?
They have been doing things as they usually do for quite some time now, the cafe was no longer in the red because of the amount of saving and work they did… Looking back into it, there was indeed something that nagged in the back of her mind.
“See? Did you see that? I only fired one shot!”
“Well done.”
“I got a compliment~!”
“A compliment…” Takina said the words as if they were alien.
“Hm?” Mizuki leaned her elbow onto the table at the break room after taking a sit. “Do you remember the last time?”
“The last time?”
“You complimented her.”
It was odd that Takina was confident with her memories, but she couldn’t think of one. Not a single one, not recently. Not after doing that work for the Chinese mob.
“Mizuki.”
“Oh? Have you finally awoken to the charms of the Onee-sa–“
“…Please teach me a way to repay her.”
“Huh?”
“With that said… I’ll be staying at Chisato’s home today, so I’ll be going on ahead.” Takina bowed at everyone in the cafe and was out the door before Chisato could even react beyond her usual “Waitwaitwaitwaitwait!”
“Takinaaaa!” Chisato chased after her to the door but she was gone immediately. “What the–? Fast…” She went back in and stared at the ground for a moment, thinking.
“Shouldn’t you go and get changed so you could chase after her?” Kurumi raised an eyebrow as she looked at Chisato who was still wearing the cafe outfit.
“You’re right, of course, you’re right, but I don’t understand… She didn’t even ask me if she could stay over. She just declared that she’s staying over…” Chisato narrowed her eyes as she thought about the possible reasons. “…Did I do something wrong…?”
“No, no, why would you go there?” Mizuki raised an eyebrow at her.
“Eh? We have no more threats for now, so I don’t see why Takina would want to go over at my house other than because I did something bad and she’s going to scold me for it…?” Chisato tilted her head in confusion.
“Oh brother, she’s whipped.” Mizuki smacked a hand to her face, followed by a sigh.
“Wha?! What do you mean whipped?! Who is whipped?!” Chisato slammed her hands at the counter. “I am totally not whipped. I am totally capable of being a leading Onee-san… When needed!”
“Sure, sure.” Mizuki only scoffed at her. “Well, why don’t you go home and find out?”
“Ehh… I don’t just want to go to the war without being prepared. I want to figure out first what I did wrong.” Chisato pouted and walked towards the changing room. “I was so sure I did things properly today…”
“Didn’t you just secretly give a discount to that one customer today?” Kurumi laughed at her.
“I just gave her a free choco chip! It costs nothing! Zeeerooo!” Chisato gritted her teeth at Kurumi and closed the door.
Mizuki sighed. “…I wish you the best Takina, looks like she’s really broken to the core now.”
“This goes here… And this here… Okay…” Takina looked at herself in the mirror and blushed at how she looked like. “…Is this really going to work…?” She heard footsteps from the fake room above and immediately exited the toilet.
She walked towards the secondary door beyond the stairs and waited patiently despite her heating up chest and cheeks.
“Takina? I’m ba–” Chisato opened the door and dropped her bag to the floor, the magazines and her gun clattering on the ground behind her.
“We- Welcome back, Chihyato–!” Takina closed her eyes as she silently cursed herself for biting her tongue at the most crucial part, her name! “W- W- Would you like a dinner, a bath or…?”
Chisato shook her head. “Wai-wai-wai-wai-wait…!” She blinked so rapidly as she frantically moved her hands in front of her as if trying to shake an illusion if it was one.
“E- Eh?” Takina took a step back as she stared at an extremely bewildered Chisato, with her mouth open. “D- Did I do it incorrectly?”
“D- Do what incorrectly?”
“Dinner, bath, or… me?” Takina looked at her innocently both hands raised forward like they were paws, combined by that sexy ponytail, the owl apron over her lycoris uniform… topped by those cute black cat ears.
“Urghhggwahh…” Chisato suddenly took a step backward, a hand clutched to her chest as if something hit her. She accidentally stepped onto one of her magazines that clattered after she had dropped her bag. “Ah! Ow, ow, ow, ow!” She hopped around hugging her foot as she panicked and then turned to Takina again who only looked at her in confusion, still in her previous positon. “Say, nyan?”
Takina only blinked at her. “N- Nyan?”
“Aarrghhuwaghhhhh.” Chisato fell on all fours on the floor as she smacked the ground with a fist. “C- Cute… Cute…!!!!!”
“Ch- Chisato? Are you okay?” Takina crouched beside her and patted her back. “Does your heart hurt? Is there anything I can help with?”
Chisato knelt up to look at Takina’s face and noticed that protruding tail from behind her… Th- Th- There’s a tail!!!!!! She suddenly smacked her chest wildly as if choking into something, air, something, oxygen. “Ack, ack, urghhh.”
“Chisato? Are you okay? You’re kind of worrying me.” Takina tried to help her stand back up to her feet. “Are you feeling better?”
“Can we do that again?” Chisato asked as she looked away and pointed at the closed door.
“What do you mean that?” Takina asked innocently.
“I’ll come through the door again, and then greet me.” Chisato didn’t even wait for Takina to respond and just robotically walked back to the door, opened it in one motion, then closed it behind her.
Takina only tilted her head to one side and quietly moved away the scattered bag, gun, magazine on the floor.
“Takina, I’m back~” The door suddenly opened and Takina got back up to her feet.
“We- Welcome back, Chisato! Would you like dinner, bath, or me…?” Takina put up her hands forward again in a nyan position as she looked at her innocently.
“AARRGHHHHH. IT’S REAL!” Chisato turned around to the door, leaning an arm towards it as she smacked it repeatedly with her fist. “What has gotten to my Takina-chan…?”
“Eh? Um… Y- Yes, it’s real? What are you doing? What have you been doing?” Takina walked towards Chisato who looked like she had seemingly broken down. “Chisato?”
“…Is this it, Kami-sama? Is this going to be my last day on earth? Please tell me so I can enjoy it to the fullest–“
“Please don’t just suddenly die without saying anything.” Takina suddenly scolded her as she stood with a glare behind her.
“Ah, even that sexy scolding voice sounds so sexy, wait, did I say sexy?” Chisato looked up at the door as if praising it.
“Chisato, please face me.” Takina turned Chisato around who only looked at her in awe.
“Yes, Takina-nyan.” Chisato smiled at her.
“N- Nyan…?” Takina suddenly looked up her head and realized, that’s right, she was wearing cat ears, and cat tail… “N- Not that. Chisato, Chisato. Earth to Chisato!” She placed her hands onto Chisato’s shoulders and shook her.
“Thank you, dear Kami-sama, for this very adorable Takina that you have gifted to me tonight–” Chisato stared into space as Takina shook her.
“Chisato! Please come back!” Takina continued to shake her but she kept on saying random things, so she was left with nothing else but… a strong head butt into her forehead. “Ah… Ow…”
“Ow… Eh? Takina? Eh?! What are you doing here?! C- Cat ears?!” Chisato shook her head and looked at Takina, then to the cat ears, then back to Takina. “Wh- Why do you have cat ears?”
“I- I’d like to explain but, did you want to eat dinner first?” Takina looked at Chisato as silence engulfed them, then the sound of their stomachs growling.
“Ahhh~ I ate so much!” Chisato relaxed on her chair as Takina picked up the plates and placed them on the sink. “Takina.”
“Yes?” She started running the plates under water as Chisato watched her every move.
“Say nyan.”
“No.”
“Ehhhh~” Chisato pouted as she leaned her back onto the chair. “…Are you going to tell me about those yet? They’re cute though. I’m happy.”
Takina’s hand stopped from washing the plates as she looked towards Chisato, then back to the plates. “Y- You think they’re cute?”
“Yeah~ They look so good on you. I guess it’s because you’re definitely like a cat.” Chisato gave her a silly grin. “Where’s your tail connected at?”
“It’s just connected around my waist.” Takina answered quickly as she cleaned the dishes with a blush on her cheeks. “And th- thank you…”
Chisato looked at her with a silly smile as she watched her clean the dishes. “Takinyaaan~”
“P- Please stop.” Takina quickly put the plates onto the dryer and removed the owl apron and hung it where it usually was. “Ch- Chisato.”
“Y- Yeah?” Chisato wasn’t sure why she found herself stutter after hearing Takina’s clear voice with those cute cat ears.
“Um… I realized that I’ve been hard on you the past few days…” Takina took a seat in front of Chisato as she rested her hands on top of the table. “So I asked Mizuki-san, what I could in order to show my appreciation for the things you do.”
“And it resulted to this?” Chisato nodded. “Mizuki, huh…”
“H- Have I done something I shouldn’t have?” Takina sadly looked at her hands on the table. “Is it not working?”
“Not working? You’ve got to be kidding me. I appreciate it! I’m really happy! You’re really cute, and I’m really happy, but you know… Showing appreciation for someone or something is kind of like an ‘at the moment’ kind of thing.” Chisato scratched her cheek. “Like, if Kurumi helped out the cafe because there were plenty of customers, you tell her, thank you. I don’t know if you get what I mean, but that… but I still appreciate it! I mean, I love it! So much.”
“I think I understand what you’re trying to say.” Takina smiled at her. “Thank you, Chisato. Um… I’ll try to be more appreciative from now on.” She reached for the cat ears above her head but before she could remove it, Chisato was already right by her side holding her hand. “Chisato?”
“…Could you wear it for the rest of the day?” Chisato asked her with a smile. “I mean… this is my reward right? For being a good girl.”
“W- Well… It is…” Takina looked away with a blush and was suddenly pulled into a warm hug. “Chisato?”
“Then, please be my Takinyan for the evening. Say nyaaan~”
“I won’t say it.”
“Please? Just once? Pretty please?”
“No…”
“Pleeeaaassseeeee?”
“N- Nyaaan~”
“Ahhnn~ So cuuuuuteeee~”
“I- Is it fine already?”
“One more last?”
“I already said it!”
“Please?”
“F- Fine… Nyaaan…?”
“Ahhhh! Takinaaaaa.”
“Please don’t make weird noises, nyan.”
“Urgh…”
“Nyan, nyan?”
“I think I’m gonna die.”
“Please don’t die, nyan.”
“Takina… You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
“What could you mean?” Takina playfully smiled at her. “Nyan?”
“Ahhnnnnn~~ Takinaaaa~!”
(A Reward/END)
