Chichiri’s mewing and scratching persisted. Tasuki grumbled and finished his business as quickly as possible. He flushed and barged out of the bathroom, glaring at Chichiri who was staring back at him innocently and shouting, “Kuso! What is the matter with you, you baka neko? Can’t I get a moment of privacy around…”
“Konichiwa!” a voice came from the other side of the front door. A man’s voice. “Is this the residence of Tasuki, the manager of Yume Matchmaking?”
“Ah? Ha…Hait!” Tasuki replied back, hurriedly putting on his pants. He gave Chichiri an accusing look, “Why didn’t you tell me there’s a customer?”
Chichiri pouted, giving him a That’s-what-I’ve-been-trying-to-tell-you look. Tasuki rolled his eyes and went over to answer the door, putting on an award-winning smile. The man was about an inch taller than him and had bluish-black hair and deep set eyes. Quite handsome-looking, and practically a jaw-dropper for most girls, but he’s nowhere more handsome than his previous client, Yui’s boyfriend Nakago. Tasuki let him in and invited him to take a seat. Chichiri, as he was trained to, prepared the tea for both him and the client. He may be part cat, but he is also part human, and human movements and tasks like walking upright and holding objects were no stranger to him, only that he didn’t really want to use it that often because of his cat nature as a majority. Tasuki brought out the tea and sat down in front of him, offering him the tea and asking, “Doshimasta? What’s your story?”
The man then introduced himself by the name Tamahome who worked at a local restaurant nearby Seiryu University, one of the many main fine universities in the region. He had fallen in love with one of his best friends’ sister from that college named Miaka Yuki since she first started studying there and became a customer at his restaurant. He showed Tasuki a picture of her with her girlfriend and Tasuki had to admit that she was a looker. With her dark brown hair tied in two buns and sideburns, together with her brown eyes and her small girl-next-door stature, she was definitely an eye-catcher for anyone interested. The more surprising thing is that this Miaka Yuki was actually a friend of Yui Hongo, the friend in the picture with her who was his previous client!
“They were childhood best friends back then, but Yui was a more gifted student than her, which is why they’re not studying in the same university,” Tamahome explained. “Miaka had been my regular customer since then and always ordered large portions of her favourite food. So regular was she that I knew almost all the time what she wants and how much she wants it. And, anno…I guess you’ve heard it a number of times in your line of work but…I really love her and I want to make her mine…”
“Say no more, my friend,” Tasuki held up his hand and gestured Chichiri to come closer. He picked him up and dropped him onto Tamahome’s lap and said, “Here you go. Carry him around, press the pendant button every time I assign him to you and he’ll do all the rest. Rental rates apply. Remember to feed him regularly and return him to me by the end of the day!”
--:--
Chichiri sat quietly on the counter, watching the comings and goings of customers in and out of the Suzaku Restaurant, ordering their usual food. He watched as Tamahome went back and forth from the counter to the kitchen to the customers’ seats and back again. Being a waiter sure was a tough job, what with the walking around. Chichiri wanted to help but he reminded himself that he was on a mission, and nothing else. Occasionally though, Tamahome stole a glance at the smiley face of Chichiri, doubtful and unsure about Chichiri’s credibility in helping him with his love life. He had to convince his boss to keep Chichiri, giving him the same excuse Yui did. Secretly, he wondered why Tasuki send a neko to do a man’s job.“Ohayo, Sou Kishiku-kun!”
Both Chichiri and Tamahome turned towards the voice that came from the entrance of the restaurant. There, accompanied by three more girls, was the girl in the picture that was shown by Tamahome yesterday: the one and only Miaka Yuki. She was wearing a light-blue dress and a sun hat to protect herself from the scorching summer light, with white sandals to match. She wasn’t tying her hair into buns like the picture though, but into two braids that hung lazily on her shoulders. With her cheerful smile and laughter among the girls, it was as if she had brought summer into the entire restaurant.
“Ah, ikarimasen,” Tamahome greeted her, his face blushing like a fresh tomato. Miaka walked straight towards the counter and sat right in front of him.
“Anno, Sou Kishiku-kun, the usual, please!”
“Which usual?” Tamahome asked, holding his ordering notebook and pen. “You have almost more than 10 usuals in this restaurant, you know.”
“Ah, hai, hai, gomen! Err, the special one. The one that has fish fillet, French fries, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. Oh, and hot chocolate please! Extra large!”
“Hai, Yuki-san. One double portion of Suzaku special and a hot chocolate. Got it,” Tamahome wrote down the order, then gave Miaka a weak smile and said, “And, please, I thought I told you to call me Tamahome. You’ve been my regular customer for so long now.”
“I’d call you that if you stop calling me Yuki-san,” Miaka smiled back cutely, sending Tamahome’s heart racing. He didn’t agree immediately, but went off to give the order to the chef and bring in the food for the other customers. Miaka didn’t seem to notice his reaction much though. She continued to chitchat with her friends as Tamahome went about with his business. When her order arrived, she attacked it straight away, eating with great gusto. Within minutes, she finished her food and was asking for seconds, with her friends sweatdropping beside her. Even Chichiri watched in surprise at Miaka’s monstrous appetite. Tamahome humoured her and did whatever she asked, and after four servings later, she paid for her food and thanked him before leaving the restaurant. Chichiri turned to Tamahome, giving him a ‘What do you see in her?’ look. Tamahome gave him a bashful grin.
“Not the most graceful of women now, is she? Well, I guess that’s exactly what I love about her. She doesn’t pretend to be someone she’s not. She’s just so original and wouldn’t settle for anything else fake. She’s got a heart of gold that no one could ever counter. I suppose you’re wondering why she called me Sou Kishiku instead of Tamahome, eh? Sou Kishiku is my real name. Tamahome is more of a necessary name carried down by my father’s side of the Chinese ancestral background, which means ‘Ogre Zodiac’. The main reason why I like her wasn’t because of her looks, it was because of her heart of gold. Her brother Keisuke—my best friend—was taking me for a drink when I met her. She was just across the street and saw us, and when she was about to greet us, she saw a dog in the middle of the busy road with nonstop incoming cars from every direction. Poor dog didn’t know where to run and where to hide. Everywhere was a landmine for it.
“All of a sudden, Miaka just ran out into the busy road regardless of the traffic and reached out to save the dog. She almost got hit by a four-by-four and a huge cement truck just to get that mutt off the road. She got a sound scolding from her brother for her recklessness but she didn’t care. She said as long as the dog was alright, nothing else mattered. That’s when I knew I’ve found the person I wish to live the rest of my life with. It was pretty much just like that, a snap of the finger and I was hooked on her. Her brother introduced her to me and it was that day when she told him that she had just been accepted to the Seiryu University. I knew then that I’d be seeing her a lot often because their university is just two blocks away from here. I got my wish to see her almost everyday, but never got the wish to have her heart. I guess it’s true that the way to the heart is to the stomach only applies for men, doesn’t it?”
Chichiri mewed as Tamahome continued to have that faraway look in his eyes as he stared at the door, although he knew Miaka had been long gone. Only when the chef rang the bell signifying his completed dish that Tamahome came back to his senses and carried on with his work.
Chichiri knew then what he had to do.
--:--
Another busy day in Suzaku Restaurant. This time, Tamahome didn’t bother to look out for Chichiri. Either it’s because of the slight trust he had towards him or it’s because every seat in the restaurant was filled with customers for that weekend, it wasn’t a clear thing. One thing’s for sure; that Chichiri was left alone to fend for himself.“Ne, Koji-san! Remember to send this Suzaku special to Byakko Lawyers’ Inc.,” Tamahome called out as he put the catered food on the counter, then turned to Chichiri with a warning look in his eyes and said, “Don’t you dare eat it while I’m not looking!”
Chichiri gave him an innocent smile before turning around in search of Koji the cater boy who was supposed to bring out the order. The blue-haired gangster-looking young man seemed to prefer hitting on high school girls in uniform than making his paycheck worthwhile. Chichiri stole a glance at the plastic bag containing the order and soon had an idea of what to do with it. He may not be allowed to eat it, but he definitely was not disallowed from other things.
As soon as Tamahome walked away from the counter to take orders from customers, Chichiri grabbed the plastic bag in his mouth and raced out of the restaurant in a flash, faster than you can say “You stole my food!”. Following Tamahome’s description of where Seiryu University was, he quickly wove in, out and around startled passers-by and surprised shopkeepers. He jumped off rooftops and climbed through lampposts and other high structures and landed on his feet gracefully like all cats do. After two blocks, he finally reached the infamous Seiryu University Tamahome had been talking about. It was as big as any regular university, with a tall, greenish statue of a dragon in the middle of the domain, with the words ‘Seiryu University’ engraved on a plate possibly made of white gold.
Chichiri was in luck. He had just come across the ringing of the bell signifying the end of class. Everyone was walking out of the building chitchatting about their day in class. He looked and sniffed around, trying to get the scent of Miaka he had memorized back at the restaurant. Many people, mostly women, saw him with the plastic bag in his mouth and recognized him immediately as the ever fabled man-cat in the market. They started to gather around him and fuss about him like some groupie over a rock star or something and began to smother him with numerous scents, making him unable to figure out which is which. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t pry himself away from them.
“Nandeska? What’s with the commotion here?”
Just when he thought things were going to get worse, it served him for the better. The crowd seemed to draw attention to more people, one of them being Miaka Yuki, the girl he had been looking for. She was in a white body-fit dress with her usual buns on both sides of her head. She was accompanied by two other guys—one who had a lighter version of her hair colour with a slight resemblance of her in a black T-Shirt and white jeans, and the other who was slightly shorter than the former, had black hair and was wearing rather trendy clothes and shoes and a pair of sunglasses. Chichiri had to assume that the guy who resembled a little of Miaka was her brother Keisuke.
“Eh? That’s the man-cat I saw in the restaurant yesterday. The one Sou Kishiku-san said he help baby-sit for a friend,” Miaka exclaimed as she pushed through the crowd to see what the girls were fussing over. Chichiri’s hair was ruffled into a total mop of mess, his clothes horrendously pulled and tugged into untidy conditions and even his wear-proof socks Tasuki both for him to move around easily without shoes were torn because of the manhandling. The guy with sunglasses reached over and picked him up, a surprise look on his face judging by his raised eyebrows.
“Nani? Ne, Keisuke. He’s so light. I’d expect him to be heavier than this,” the sunglasses guy said, turning towards the light-brown hair guy. It seemed like Chichiri was right to assume that he was Keisuke, Miaka’s brother.
Chichiri had no time to lose. He let out a muffled mew and struggled to reach over to Miaka, stretching his neck towards her with the plastic bag in his mouth. Keisuke noticed and took the bag.
“Ne, Miaka, I think he wants to give you this,” Keisuke said as he handed the bag to her. “Isn’t this the logo of Tamahome’s restaurant?”
Miaka took the bag and opened it. Inside was one of her usual favourites: the Suzaku special. It wasn’t the usual portion she often ordered, but it was still the one she liked. Keisuke and the sunglasses guy had to each give her a warning look before she started devouring the entire thing on the spot, just in case there was something inside that food that wasn’t supposed to be there. Such is her monstrous appetite.
“Who gave this to you, kitty? Ne, who told you to send this to Miaka?” Keisuke asked in vain. Not that Chichiri could answer him in human words anyway. He turned around and saw that Miaka had stole a taste without his knowledge and exclaimed in horror, “Miaka! What have I told you about eating food from strangers!”
“It doesn’t taste like it’s being drugged or anything. Honestly, it tastes just as the same as what Suzaku Restaurant cooks. Here, oni-chan, Tetsuya-san, if you don’t believe me,” Miaka said nonchalantly as she took another taste. So far, so good. Nothing bad happened.
“Trust Miaka to taste things to confirm something,” the sunglasses guy by the name Tetsuya shook his head and sighed, smiling weakly. Keisuke sighed too in tiredness. He seriously wondered if Miaka was his real sister at all. Tetsuya took a taste and said, “Well, no foul play here. If I say so myself, I think a secret admirer ordered this for Miaka, or else no one would’ve known specifically what she liked to eat from Suzaku Restaurant.”
“Secret admirer, huh? More like stalker, I might say,” Keisuke sweatdropped.
Miaka only stared at the food in wonder while absentmindedly patting Chichiri’s head.
--:--
Since that fateful day, it was routine for Chichiri to steal off other people’s orders to carry it to Miaka at campus. Sometimes it would be the Suzaku special, the Noodle Supreme, the Breakfast Surprise or even the Cheese Galore; all of them Miaka’s favourite. Chichiri became a regular guest in the Seiryu University and was soon known as the Catering Cupid as he came everyday to cater for Miaka from her so-called ‘secret admirer’. Because of Chichiri’s constant catering, Miaka seldom went over to the restaurant to have her meals anymore, which rather devastated Tamahome whose hired services depended on awaiting her arrival. The disappearance of food remained a mystery to the crew of Suzaku Restaurant and no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn’t put a finger on Chichiri who was the real thief behind all this. It began to threaten Koji’s job and the cater boy started to take his job more seriously, but Chichiri managed every time to at least grab an order for Miaka.About two weeks later to the day, Chichiri soon noticed that Miaka was beginning to break, in a good way, that is. She often awaited him at the dragon statue for the food and whenever he approached, she would blush and take the food with a blissful look on her face, and that bliss was not just because she got to eat. Chichiri would sometimes stay behind and watch her eat and he would listen to her talk about who the secret admirer be or why go through all the trouble just to get her attention or what her dream prince should be or about the saying ‘The way to the heart is through the stomach’ truly applied to both men and women. Chichiri knew that it was high time she and Tamahome got face to face with the real deal.
--:--
“You want me to write a love letter?”Chichiri nodded, an envelope with a heart-shaped sticker on it. Tasuki and Chichiri had reviewed the video from the mini-camera on his pendant and were figuring out what to do to pull the string between Tamahome and Miaka together when Chichiri suddenly disappeared and came with the envelope. Tasuki knew what that meant: a love letter was in order; it’s just a matter of what kind.
“Like what? A date letter?” Tasuki asked, answered by a shake of the head. “Or a confession letter?”
Chichiri nodded. Tasuki started writing as good a confession letter as possible, picturing himself in Tamahome’s shoes. As he wrote, he said, “Anno, Chichiri, you really make a good Cupid, you know that? I didn’t have to even break a sweat. I just need to rent you out and the cash just keep rolling in. You’re an angel, Chichiri. A neko, but an angel nonetheless. I owe you big time, my friend. Really big time. This is the least I can do to help make your job easier.”
With the envelope still in his mouth, Chichiri purred and rubbed his head on Tasuki’s shoulder affectionately.
--:--
“Nani?”Chichiri had a catering as usual, but with something extra: an envelope with a letter in it. Today’s food was fish and chips, but Miaka didn’t start on the food first. She took the envelope from Chichiri and opened it. The letter was written on scented paper and was pink. She sat down and read what it had to say:
Dear Miaka Yuki,
I’m sure by now, this is almost the 3rd week that I have assigned my man-cat to cater for you.i know it’s not exactly enough to fit your appetite, but it is the least I could do to express myself.
As you might guess, I’m your secret admiere. I have been having this crush on you since th first day I met you. The day you risked your life to save that little dog off the traffic road was the day you took my breath and heart away. There is nothing else that can compare to your heart of gold. You may not be perfectly beautiful and I know you may think that there are other fishes in the sea far better than you, but I rather choose you. If I were to die and relive this whole life again, I wouldn’t change a thing. I’d rather have you than a lifetime supply of wealth and happiness because a life with you is a happier, richer life.
I know just by words is not enough to express myself. Look for me at Suzaku Restaurant. I’ll be waiting for you. Aishiteru-ne…
Yours sincerely,
Sou Kishiku Tamahome
“Heh? It’s…It’s Sou Kishiku-kun all along?” Miaka exclaimed in surprise. She turned to Chichiri and looked at him questioningly, wondering if this were true. Seeing Chichiri’s nod, she took another look at the letter and whispered, “Funny. I actually feel relieved that it was him. I guess…I guess I’ve always known. I just didn’t bother to accept it.”
She quickly finished her food and asked Chichiri to accompany her to Suzaku Restaurant. Chichiri readily agreed with a mew and a nod. With the man-cat in her arms, she made a run for it all the way to the restaurant. By the time Tamahome took a breather after long hours of work and actually realized Chichiri was missing, Miaka had already barged in with him.
“Ah? Yuki-san? Chichiri-chan? W…What will you order…” Tamahome was in the verge of stammering when Miaka suddenly dropped Chichiri and approached the counter.
“I’m not here to eat…well, not yet. I’m here to ask something serious. Did you or did you not cater me for the last two weeks?”
“Na…Nani?” Tamahome was caught offguard. All the staff looked at him almost immediately with accusing looks on their faces.
“So you’re the one behind the missing cater food!” Koji exclaimed, pointing at him angrily. “I should’ve known it was you! You’re trying to get me fired or something?”
“And for a girl for that matter!” a waitress scolded. “Don’t you think it’s better to just make up an excuse and ask the cook to make one for you instead of stealing other people’s orders?”
“That’s gonna cost you your salary,” the cook, who was also the restaurant owner, popped his head out of the kitchen and warned in a dark tone.
“Nandayo? I didn’t…!” Tamahome protested at the accusations thrown at him in such full force, but Miaka waved everyone’s argument away exasperatedly.
“Na, na, chottodo mitaiyo! Never mind who really took the catering for me. It’s still came from the same source anyway. I just wanna know, and you gotta tell me honestly. Are you really secretly admiring me?”
Tamahome blushed redder than the reddest tomato you could ever find. He glared accusingly at the innocent-looking Chichiri, blaming him for all this happenings. He was about to scold him for embarrassing him and making him a fool when he noticed Chichiri’s raised eyebrows. Then he realized that this was it. This was his chance. This was what Chichiri was hired to do. It may seem a little unorthodox, but it was still his job and he did it. If he were to blow this chance and not play along with it, he would not only waste his money he paid for hiring Chichiri, but also the love of his life. It’s now or never.
“Ha…Hai…I…I am your secret admirer…” Tamahomr replied, his eyes couldn’t look any lower.
“Yokatta…” Miaka smiled in relief and wrapped her arms around him. Needless to say, kisses between them and cheers and claps from both the staff and customers of the restaurant ensued.
Chichiri smiled widely. Big, fat cheque ahead!
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