The two took the bus past several stops, got off and arrived at their destination.
"You really outdid yourself, finding such a part-time job for Reita."
Murakami Yuu surveyed the shop before them - a café with a wooden sign carved with [Cat Latte], featuring large areas of transparent glass walls through which many little furballs could be seen running around.
Iizuka Takeya answered casually.
"It just looks decent, but at the end of the day it's still service industry work. The hourly wage isn't that high either. Let's go in."
A female server helped open the door for them, greeting them in a soft voice. She first bent down to help them put on disposable shoe covers, then led them to wash and sanitize their hands at the sink.
The interior décor leaned toward a forest style, with tables, chairs, light fixtures, and hanging paintings all in wood tones and green shades.
The indoor space of about two hundred square meters was divided into two sections - the left side was a normal dining area, while the right was the cat greeting area.
There weren't many customers. When the two entered, a couple happened to be leaving, so the shop was very quiet at the moment, giving them almost the feeling of having the place to themselves.
Naturally, the two headed toward the cat greeting area.
Totsuka Reita was there with a small broom cleaning cat hair from the sofas and tables and chairs.
"Ah, you're here."
"How does it feel serving the cat overlords?"
Murakami Yuu joked, picking up a friendly Ragdoll cat that had been rubbing around his legs, stroking its head. The latter stuck out its small pink tongue 👅 and gently licked the buttons on his chest.
"Not bad. They're cute and healing. Compared to serving humans, serving them is much easier."
Totsuka Reita spoke softly but his hands didn't stop moving, since he was still on work time.
Iizuka Takeya looked somewhat enviously at the Ragdoll in Murakami Yuu's arms. He then locked onto a British Shorthair standing on a table nearby and reached out wanting to interact with it, but was directly ignored. With a few small jumps, it moved to a wooden board on the wall and lay down again, looking down at Iizuka Takeya from above with a very proud expression, one small paw extended and swaying in the air.
"This guy..."
Iizuka Takeya looked gloomily to the other side, where a big fat orange cat lay on the ground, lazily resting its chin on a ball of yarn.
"No choice, I'll settle for you."
Just as he lifted his foot, he received a hair-raising hiss from the cat, successfully making Iizuka Takeya freeze in place. He disappointedly sat down beside Murakami Yuu.
"What's with them? Really a bunch of unfriendly creatures."
"Really? I think they're quite cute."
Murakami Yuu smiled as he tickled the chin of the Ragdoll in his arms, causing it to close its eyes and make pleased gurgling sounds.
"I said before that after Takeya helped me find a part-time job, I'd treat you to a meal. Are you eating here, or waiting until I get off work?"
"When do you get off work?"
Iizuka Takeya asked.
"About two more hours."
"Forget it then, that's too long. I'll leave after staying a bit. I just came today to see what you're like at work. Since you're satisfied, I'm relieved.
Yuu, what about you? Going straight home, or want to go play video games together?"
"Not today. I'll head straight home. Sakata-sensei wants me to turn in a campaign speech, and I still haven't looked at the student council documents."
Murakami Yuu kept his head down. The Ragdoll in his arms had been petted by him until it exposed its belly, making muffled meowing sounds with all four paws waving in the air - looking quite debauched and overwhelmed.
Iizuka Takeya noticed that on a cat climbing frame two tables away, another Ragdoll of similar coloring was staring intently in their direction without moving.
"Reita, can we take photos here?"
"Yes, just remember to turn off the flash."
"Got it."
Murakami Yuu took out his phone and pressed the shutter. After thinking for a moment, he sent the cat photo to Kiso Yukina.
After about a few minutes, he got a reply - an expression pack of googly eyes:
[It's a Ragdoll kitty! So soft and fluffy and cute! I want to pet it! Murakami-kun, are you at a friend's house?]
[No, I didn't have anything to do after school today, so I'm passing time at a cat café now.]
[That's so nice. I want to hold cats too.]
[Focus on studying classical literature at home first. There'll be opportunities in the future.]
Because of her unsatisfactory monthly exam results, Kiso Yukina had been ordered by her father to study hard at home for a while. She had told Murakami Yuu this news via phone message before.
[Mm, I will. But I can still come out this weekend. Can I come to your place? Just like before... Yuu, you teach me to cook...]
As Murakami Yuu looked at Kiso Yukina's message and thought, the cat in his arms was dissatisfied that he was neglecting it and placed its head on top of the phone screen.
Murakami Yuu smiled wryly and petted its head, edited a message and sent it back:
[Sure, but I hope you can accompany me out that day.]
[Eh? To do what?]
[Let's go to a pet store together. I suddenly want to get a cat.]
After a few seconds:
[Okay, looking forward to it.]
[Well then, I won't disturb your studying.]
[Mm, be careful on your way home.]
The conversation ended. Murakami Yuu tucked his phone back in his pocket.
"Speaking of which, Yuu..."
Totsuka Reita finished his cleaning work and was now trimming a hanging spider plant.
"Did you give some girl my phone number when you got hit on outside and found it troublesome?"
"Eh? That girl actually called?"
Murakami Yuu remembered - that day when he bought beer, he did indeed do that.
"Not just called - she thought I was you. That impatient attitude made me once again recognize this face-judging society."
Totsuka Reita was somewhat indignant.
"Eh? Then what? Then what?"
Iizuka Takeya was very interested.
"Then I just chatted with her casually for a few evenings, experienced what it feels like to be a popular guy, and blocked her when she wanted to meet up for deeper communication."
"That's it?"
"What did you want? If I really went and she discovered I wasn't the actual person, wouldn't she despise me to death?"
"True enough."
"Sorry, sorry. Won't happen again."
Murakami Yuu apologized with no sincerity, then looked at the sky outside.
"It's getting late. I should head back."
"I'll head back too then. Reita, good luck with work."
"Mm."
The two walked out of the cat café. Murakami Yuu looked back - the Ragdoll he had petted all over was crouching by the window watching him.
Murakami Yuu smiled and waved at the Ragdoll. Suavely, the Ragdoll also raised a small paw and patted the transparent glass.
This damned overflowing hormones could even charm cats.
Witnessing all this, Iizuka Takeya was stunned, looking at Murakami Yuu with only lofty admiration in his eyes.
He thought about the cat from earlier that had only watched from afar but didn't dare approach.
Sorry, the feeling of being shown up must be unpleasant. I won't bring this guy here again in the future.
...