Tsumi arrived at Kikimaru café at about 4pm in the evening. Although she still had a lot of work to attend to, she had taken out time in her busy calendar because today was a special day.
'Kyle is opening his new café today…' She stared up at the building and smiled.
The building looked great, and the exterior design was flawless.
"I was right, Gege does have great buildings, although his personality is distasteful."
"Gege?" Haru asked as he walked up to her, adjusting his glasses. "I never liked him, he always seemed a little shady."
Tsumi shrugged. As long as the job was done right, she didn't care, he could be the devil himself and she wouldn't bat an eye.
Their relationship ended with business after all.
She turned to Haru and smiled brightly, her excitement evident. "What do you think? Did Kyle pick the right spot?"
Haru averted his gaze from hers, his cheeks already flushed red.
'Hmm, what is wrong with him?'
"Uhum…" he cleared his throat. "The location is excellent. Not only does it have a parking lot, it is also close to many businesses who are all potent customers."
He paused briefly.
"Frankly, I am impressed by his business sense."
While Tsumi and Haru chatted, they stopped before entering the shop, then Tsumi frowned.
"Isn't that Gege's sienna? Don't tell me he's here…"
Haru frowned. "It is definitely his sienna, I'm afraid avoiding him won't be possible."
"Tch." Tsumi hissed. "Keep him away from me."
"Yes ma'am."
The interior of the café was beautiful as expected, and nearly every single seat in sight was occupied.
Tsumi had not even moved an inch when one of the café staff walked up to greet her.
"Good evening, welcome to Kikimaru café!" she said in a lively voice, her skirt fluttering with each light movement.
"Hmm?" Tsumi stared at her closely.
'Who is this cute new girl?'
Kyle had told her that he had hired a new worker, but she was supposedly Chinese. He had never once mentioned this one to her.
'Is he hiding her from me?'
Tsumi stared at her for some time before asking. "Darling, what is your name?"
"Himiko." The girl smiled. "What type of seat would you like?"
'Why would he hide her from me? Is he doing something in secret? Is she the reason he is always back so late? Don't tell me, does Kyle have a girlfriend—?!'
"Miss Kato?" Haru's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, only then did she realise she had been staring.
She was about to ask another question when Kyle burst out of the kitchen, smiling when their eyes met.
"Tsumi, I've been waiting for you," he said as he got to her. "Have you been waiting long?"
"No need to worry…" Tsumi grabbed his hand and pulled him to her chest, wrapping her arms around him like she was his property.
"…I just got here."
She was staring at Miko, a victorious smile on her face as she watched her.
'That's right, Kyle is mine. He's not ready to have a girlfriend yet so you can just get lost.' She fumed like a protective mother.
Himiko blinked, then her eyes narrowed as she stared at Tsumi, the air between them crackling with animosity.
Then she grabbed Kyle's arm and tugged on it, prompting him to leave her embrace, but Tsumi held on tightly.
Only after a few more seconds did Kyle manage to wiggle free.
Then he sighed as he stared at Tsumi. "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you both. Tsumi, this is Himiko. And Himiko, this is my sister, Tsumi."
"Y-your sister?" Himiko muttered.
Kyle smiled. "Yup, this is my sister."
"Oh…" she said in a low voice, then laughed nervously.
"It's nice to meet you, Miss Tsumi," Himiko said, her fingers still clasped tightly on Kyle's arm.
Tsumi frowned and held Kyle's second arm, pulling him towards the stairs. Himiko was about to follow suit, but Tsumi smiled devilishly before speaking.
"Seven lattes, seven cups of coffee and seven assortment of snacks, all packed and ready to take away."
Himiko frowned but she did not argue, instead she turned around and left to fulfil the order.
While Tsumi smirked victoriously.
Kyle took them up to a special VIP room set aside for them, and shut the room to the door.
When they were settled, Tsumi folded her arms around her chest and asked plainly. "Who was that girl just now?"
He raised a brow. "Who? Miko?" Kyle asked while organising the table.
'So he even has a nickname for her?'
Tsumi took a long breath, then smiled. "Yes, her," she said in a flat tone.
Kyle had a small smile on his face as he spoke. "Oh, she's someone very important to me."
Tsumi froze up like a log, her eyes widening to their limit as she stuttered. "J-just how special are w-we talking about?"
"Hmm, I'll say very special I guess?"
"Hah—!" Tsumi let out a light whimper, her normally inexpressive face showing signs of betrayal.
Then Kyle smirked and relaxed deeper into the couch. "You are extremely important to me as well…"
As the words left his mouth, Tsumi's bad mood crumbled, her cheeks blushing lightly.
"Uhum…" she cleared her throat, trying to curtail her smile. "Of course I am, it only makes sense that way."
Tsumi ended up chatting with Kyle for quite some time before she had to get back to work, and so she left.
By now, the fuzz of the party was finally dissipating after a long day of work. The workers were exhausted, and they were even running out of a few ingredients.
Kyle waited until it was about 7pm before deciding to close the shop for the day.
"Let's clean up, after that, we can all go home. You all deserve it."
All the girls cheered as they grabbed the cleaning implements and began working.
Solvane had even come down at a point and was sitting on one of the tables, munching on a pastry.
Her head was covered with a hat to shroud her ears, but her fangs could still be seen leaking out from underneath her lips.
Just as they were rounding up with the cleaning, the bell at the door chimed and three men in black walked into the shop.
Seeing their arrival, Sakura walked up to the men and bowed courteously. "I'm sorry, we are closed today, but we can give you…"
She stopped speaking the moment she noticed something was wrong. Not only had they not spoken a word, it was almost as though they were searching for something.
Sakura frowned. "Excuse me, how can I help—"
Before she could complete her sentence, the large man grabbed her and pulled her to himself.
There was a flash of silver, and then a dagger was placed right at her neck, the cold blade dangerously grazing her skin.
Kyle placed the rag he had been using on the table and began undoing the buttons of his cuffs.
"Gege," he called out, his voice cold.
He had sensed him by his smell the moment he stepped into the room, and the only reason he let Sakura confront them was because he knew she was no longer a pushover like she once was.
One of the men stepped up from behind them and pulled off his hood, revealing that he was in fact the realtor.
Kyle's face hardened. "You better have a hell of an explanation for this—"
"Get your hands off her!" Akiko screamed from the other side of the room, interrupting him, her voice reverberating over the walls.
Kyle immediately turned to see her eyes glowing a bright green colour, her hair floating in the air as though suspended by a thousand strings.
She did not take a single move, neither did she utter any word, but just from a simple gaze, something in the room changed.
The man suddenly let go of Sakura, who didn't even seem to be scared one bit, and crumpled to the floor, holding his throat with both hands.
"KEK!!"
Gege and the second unknown man fell to their knees as well, gasping for air, then blood began to flow down their nose, just before they collapsed, unmoving...