Dinner was over.
With no customers around, we sat in our seats, gazing out at the scenery outside.
The setting sun outside the window dyed the sky a shade of orange-red.
The clouds looked like roasted, melting cotton candy.
Warm yellow light streamed through the glass, casting long tree shadows across the floor.
On the dining table, the plate of omurice was already more than half empty.
At some point, Sis Shiyu had curled up on the barstool again, her blue-green tail lazily sweeping the floor.
Ling Xiaoxiao suddenly stared out the window and murmured, “It’s getting dark…”
Her pink-and-white bunny ears drooped slightly, and her fingers nervously twisted the apron strings.
“I should go home. It gets a little dangerous if I stay out too late.”
“You mean, if you go home late, it’ll be dangerous if some thug targets you?” I couldn’t help teasing, recalling that scene of a certain super-strong bunny lifting a mattress single-handedly.
“Click your tongue! Big mouth! I’m going home!” Hearing me say that, Ling Xiaoxiao got up, intending to leave.
“Don’t go~!” Seeing this, I quickly grabbed her paw, my cat tail wrapping around her wrist and shaking a little. “And even if you go home, you’ll be alone, right?”
Sis Shiyu lazily lifted her eyelids, the tip of her fox tail brushing past Ling Xiaoxiao’s ankle: “Just stay here. I’m actually looking forward to our first night together.” She yawned as she spoke, then closed her eyes again.
Hearing that Ling Xiaoxiao was about to leave, Yue Ran immediately came over too. “Yeah, Xiaoxiao,” she reached out and poked the trembling tip of those bunny ears, “you really helped out at the shop today. Just think of it… just think of it as experiencing something new, okay?”
Ling Xiaoxiao’s ears twitched, and she lowered her head even more. “B-but I didn’t come here to apply for a job…” Her voice was as soft as a mosquito.
“Then just be a temp worker!” I shook her arm, acting spoiled, my cat paw patting the table. “Sis Shiyu already said the guest rooms are super comfy!”
Ling Xiaoxiao secretly peeked at me, then at Yue Ran. The pink-white tip of her tail swayed slightly behind her.
Was this little wagging tail a sign that her resolve was wavering?
Yue Ran suddenly clapped her hands and laughed. “Oh, I have an idea!” She rummaged through a drawer and pulled out an envelope, pressing it into Ling Xiaoxiao’s hand. “Here’s today’s temp worker wages. I was going to give it to you when you left~ There are empty rooms upstairs, and the bedding is all freshly sunned—smells like sunshine!”
“Eh?! R-really?” Ling Xiaoxiao took the envelope, her expression even more conflicted.
“Yeah, Yue Ran just went upstairs to get the room ready for you. And you’ve already accepted your pay, so why not stay the night?”
Ling Xiaoxiao bit her lower lip and hesitated for several seconds before finally giving a soft “Mm,” the tips of her bunny ears tinged with pink. “Then… then I’ll trouble you for just one night…”
“Yay!” I hugged her neck in excitement, swinging her back and forth, my tail nearly knocking over the water glass on the table. Yue Ran laughed and rubbed both our heads, while Sis Shiyu still leaned sleepily on the bar. I kept hugging Ling Xiaoxiao’s body, shaking her excitedly.
My cat tail was whipping like a little whip, and suddenly, the café felt so quiet that I could hear the sound of my tail brushing against the floor.
Ever since turning into a catgirl, I just couldn’t sit still; my paws always wanted to mess with something.
“So bored~” I suddenly bounced up from the sofa, my cat ears twitching as I suggested, “Since there are no customers now, why don’t we play a game?”
Ling Xiaoxiao’s bunny ears shot straight up: “P-play what?”
I glanced around the shop at the things we had, and very quickly, a good idea popped into my mind.
“Let’s play a three-legged race! Two people per team, tie your ankles together, and whoever grabs the hair tie on the bar first wins!” The losing team has to give the winners a massage~”
Yue Ran was polishing a cup. When she heard, she smiled and set the hair tie on the bar. “Sure, but if the bell rings, we have to stop immediately, okay?” She shook her brown bun. “After all, we still have a business to run~”
Sis Shiyu had opened her eyes at some point, her blue-green fox tail lazily curling around the barstool leg. “A massage, huh…” She yawned and stood up. “Sounds a bit boring, but it’ll pass the time.”
After a moment, Yue Ran brought out some supplies from the storeroom as I’d said. I cut up a piece of paper into four equal strips, then wrote “1” on two slips and “2” on the other two.
“Whoever draws the same number is on a team!”
I shuffled the slips, my tail nervously thumping on the floor behind me.
Well, as long as I can rig it a bit, as long as I don’t end up on Yue Ran’s team, anything is fine!
Just as I was plotting all this in my mind, Ling Xiaoxiao suddenly spoke up, raising her little hand high above her head.
“Wait, I object!”
Crap! Suddenly, I had a bad feeling.
Everyone turned their attention to Ling Xiaoxiao as she spoke her mind.
“I request the manager shuffle the paper slips. Otherwise, Guiyun might cheat!”
“Cheat? Do I look like someone who would do that?”
I frantically waved my little hands, the furry cat ears on my head perking up as my face flushed with guilty red.
Darn it! I really am that kind of person! Ling Xiaoxiao, this little rascal, knows me too well!
Hearing her proposal, Yue Ran struggled to keep from laughing as she took the paper slips from my hands. “Since someone’s requested supervision, as the manager, I guess I’ll have to step in.”
My carefully crafted plan had failed before it even began. This rabbit was my nemesis! What rabbit? She’s obviously a rabbit spirit!
Grinding my molars, I slapped the slips onto the bar, the tip of my tail flicking up dust on the floor in annoyance. At that moment, I felt like a thief caught red-handed, my ears so hot you could fry an egg on them. I bared my little fangs at Ling Xiaoxiao, trying to salvage a shred of dignity with a fierce expression—only to see her suddenly bring her face close, her pink-white bunny ears almost touching my nose.
“Bleh~” She pressed her tongue against her cheek and made a funny face, her drooping bunny tail spinning with pride. “I knew you’d try to pull something, so I’ve been watching you all along.”
Looking at those cunning red eyes sparkling with mischief, the more I looked, the angrier I got.
“Hmph! What are you so smug about!”
But just then, a new worry suddenly struck me.
Now that I couldn’t rig the draw, what if I actually ended up on Yue Ran’s team by accident!
As I was still thinking about it, Yue Ran had already finished shuffling. I randomly picked a slip and unfolded it—it’s a 1.
One in three chance. My luck couldn’t possibly be that bad, right?
But reality always likes to slap you in the face. Sis Shiyu lazily unfolded her slip, “Mine says 2.”
Ling Xiaoxiao slowly opened hers, and I immediately leaned over to look.
My whole body froze. Hers was a 2 as well, which means…
“Looks like we’re a team, Xiao Guiyun.” Yue Ran picked her slip open and waved it in front of me.
My tail shot straight up like a flagpole, and I stood there as stiff as a wooden plank.
Meow!! How could this happen?
“What are you spacing out for?” Yue Ran suddenly bent down close to me and said, “Bring your foot over.”
I instinctively shuffled over, and she tied a pretty ribbon around our ankles. By the time I realized what had happened, our legs were already bound together.
Ugh, does this mean I really have to team up with this person now? QAQ…