by Kat Cotton
He nodded but kept his head down. Then he took a deep breath and straightened himself up. “This might be stupid, but I’m doing it.”
I gave him the thumbs-up.
The management office for the café was on the 11th floor of the building. The café itself was on the 12th. I went to the café. I’d look a bit stupid going to a place like this myself alone when it’d be full of nerd boys, but at least I wasn’t the one in a maid’s outfit.
As I waited to be seated, I debated sending the maid photos to Nic. I didn’t, though, because this reconciliation between Kisho and me was too frail. I didn’t want to screw things up. And Nic wouldn’t be able to resist teasing Kisho about it.
I went to the front desk.
“Just one?” the girl said.
I nodded.
At least this place was touristy enough to have English-speaking staff.
She got out a sheet with instructions and prices. I had to pay a hefty admission fee, then buy an overpriced drink. I could also pay extra to have my photo taken with one of the maids. No, thanks. Not unless that maid was Kisho.
To be honest, for the money they’d charged, I expected a much nicer decor. The room was like a re-purposed office with a few tables and chairs banged in it and some homemade posters taped to the wall advertising special events. A couple of flimsy lamps stood around to provide mood lighting.
That got me thinking. I had that whole reception area in my office back home with nothing going on it. I could make a fortune out of that. And Kisho already had the maid outfit. He could serve overpriced drinks to people. I was sitting on a goldmine. Clem’s Maid Café.
One of the maids showed me to my table, slap-bang in the middle of the place.
“Actually, I’d like that one,” I said, pointing to a table in the corner where I could see the entire room without spinning awkwardly around.
The whole place stank of nerd. That smell guys get after a three-day gaming marathon with no shower breaks and a steady diet of savory snack foods. A little bit of unwashed socks thrown in. A sickly-sweet air freshener added a layer over the top that didn’t conceal anything. If you were a fox, you’d probably love that stinky nerd smell.
The entire café only had five other customers. Two guys who looked like gamer nerd sat near the window. The two sitting in the middle of the room were more the anime nerd type. A single guy sitting near the wall had making miniature models written all over him. I bet if you got close enough, he’d have scraps of glue and paint on his fingers.
A maid approached him for an order, and he blushed bright red. He seemed unable to get words out, but the maid ignored that, doing cutesy poses. He couldn’t look at her. Poor guy. He’d probably never spoken to a living female who wasn’t related to him before.
Five maids worked in the place, which seemed like a poor customer-to-staff ratio to me. Those skimpy outfits left nowhere to hide a fox tail without it being noticed.
One of the maids came over to my table. She wore cat ears and a cat tail.
“Nyan nyan,” she said, and did a gesture with her hands like a cat rubbing its face. At least she didn’t hiss at me like those cats in the cat café.
“You can cut the cutesy stuff with me. You realize this whole concept makes you a tool of the patriarchy.”
“Nyan nyan.”
I decided that was cat language for, “I know I’m oppressed, but I need the money.”
“Fine, I’ll have a chocolate parfait.”
“Nyan,” she replied.
As she walked off, I checked out that cat tail. Using a fake cat tail to disguise your actual fox tail would be really clever. Then I realized that the cat tail was sewn onto the outside of her uniform. Also, I really looked like I was checking out her butt. She didn’t seem to be the kitsune. There wasn’t a thing that was foxlike about her. She was all cat.
I wondered if Kisho had found out anything. The sooner we got out of here, the better. This place creeped me out. Like, it was supposed to be all cutesy and fun, but everything was just awkward. I mean, my maid only talked cat language, which was easier to understand than Japanese but still weird.
A little while later, my chocolate parfait arrived. That thing was massive. Even with my sweet tooth, it’d be a challenge. I’d had apartments smaller than that parfait. I’d had boyfriends with fewer layers, too.
This place stayed open until late. If our kitsune worked here, she could be on any shift between now and midnight. I didn’t want to make multiple trips here. If I had to eat multiple parfaits, I’d end up too fat for demon fighting.
I took a bite. It wasn’t anything special, to be honest. Far too sickly sweet, and it had cost a fortune. Maybe I should’ve ordered the plain but overpriced iced tea.
A hush went through the room, and heads turned to the doorway.
Kisho. He’d passed the interview? He must’ve, because he walked over to a table and cleared some dishes.
I tried not to smile, but he seemed so out of place, especially because the other maids were tiny. He kept scratching his neck, a sure sign of his nervousness.
My maid came back over. “Nyan nyan,” she said again.
I could read her name tag this time. Mai.
“Mai, you know I can’t understand cat,” I told her.
“Where are you from?” she said in actual English.
I told her, and she asked me a few other questions. As we talked, I watched Kisho. I really should’ve been watching the other maids to see if any of them were suspicious, but I couldn’t help myself. He looked so damn cute in that uniform. What would I have to do to get him to wear it while we had sex? No matter what the price, I’d pay it. That was a whole new fantasy to add to my repertoire.
If the nerdy boys had been awkward with the girl maids, that was nothing on how they were with Kisho. He approached a table. The two guys shrank into the corner.
“Nyan nyan,” Kisho said.
He even did the cat hands. I wished I could take video for Nic. And for myself.
I stifled my giggle.
“He’s replacing me,” the maid said. “It’s my last day here.”
That explained why she’d gone from being a cat to a normal human.
“Really?” If she was leaving, she might spill her guts about the others. I couldn’t come straight out and ask about fox tails and other weird stuff, but I could snoop.
“I only started working here to earn some extra cash. I need to go to a concert.” She said the name of the group, but I’d never heard of them. “It’s almost impossible to get tickets, so I had to get them from a scalper. They cost a fortune.”
“Damn scalpers. Your English is great. Have you lived overseas?”
“I was an exchange student in the States for a year. I’ve only been back a few months. Even now, I forget to speak Japanese sometimes, but my English is slipping away. I need to practice.”
“Sure, talk to me. Tell me about this group you want to see.”
She got her phone out of her pocket and showed me a picture of the group. “They are famous Japanese idols,” she said with a grin. She pointed to one. “He’s my favorite.”
I glanced at the picture, then looked closer. The one in the middle was so pretty. Insanely pretty. Prettier than Nic. The one she liked was taller but not nearly as good-looking.
“Can you send me a copy of this photo?” I asked her. Oh, I’d wave that under Nic’s nose when I got home. He’d be like the evil stepmother when she found out she wasn’t the fairest of them all.
She got my number and forwarded the photo to me.
“I picked up my tickets before work, and I’m quitting after this shift. I shouldn’t really be talking to you, but since it’s my last day, I figured I might as well. It’s so slow today that I’m bored out of my mind.”
I smiled at her. “What’s it like working here?” I asked. “It must get strange.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not that bad. At least there’s a total hands-off policy. Better than
working in some sleazy bar.”
“True.”
She sat down at the table with me. “Most of these guys would freak if a real girl got close to them, anyway. They’re harmless. But I don’t want to be a fake cat for the rest of my life.”
“Want some parfait?” I asked, pushing the dish toward her. I couldn’t eat the thing.
She shook her head. Smart decision.
“What about the other girls? Does it get catty?” I couldn’t resist that.
“Most of them are nice. There’s a new girl who is a bit strange. Hana.”
I took another bite of my parfait, but it was really just too extreme. I put the spoon down. “What’s strange about her?”
“She won’t get changed in front of anyone else, and she acts all stuck up. She’s nasty too, bullies a few of the younger girls.”
Wouldn’t get changed in front of anyone else? That might just be our kitsune. She’d not want anyone seeing that fox tail.
“Is she working now?”
The maid looked around the room. “Yep, that’s her. Over there with your friend. He is your friend, right?”
I nodded. No point denying it. And that maid, Hana, had her hand on his waist. She seemed to be training him in something, but there was no need to put her hand there.
“This parfait is way too sweet. Does Hana like sweet things?”
That was the clumsiest segue ever, but liking sweet things was another kitsune thing. I looked at Hana again. She did have foxy features. A pointy face, high cheekbones, close-set eyes. I’d almost guarantee that she was the kitsune.
Then she walked in front of one of the lamps. She cast a fox shadow. That was enough evidence for me.
I wasn’t sure what the next step should be, though. We couldn’t just capture her and force the treasure from her.
“I should go,” Mai said. “My shift is almost finished.”
The anime nerds got up to leave.
Kisho walked over to clear their table. He piled the dishes up in his arms, then walked to the kitchen. The kitsune rushed over to help him, but the dishes smashed to the floor. They shattered into a million pieces, and Kisho just stood there, staring at them.
I might’ve been wrong, but I could’ve sworn she’d bumped him. That Hana chick. The kitsune.
All of a sudden, a middle-aged man in a suit came out of the back room.
“You’re fired!” he yelled at Kisho. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
Kisho might not have wanted the job, but he flinched as though the guy had struck him. I wanted to comfort him, but I also wanted to keep my eyes on that fox. She’d done it. I just knew it. Why, though?
The kitsune grabbed his hand, and they ran from the room.
Hell, I needed to get out of here too. I went to the counter but had to wait for the anime nerds to split their bill. Shit, they could hurry. I needed to tell Kisho that Hana was the kitsune. We couldn’t lose sight of her now.
Finally, it was my turn to pay.
Before I could get the money out of my wallet, I heard a scream.
“My ticket. My precious ticket.” Mai ran into the cafe, tears streaming from her eyes. “Someone stole my ticket.”
The other two maids put their arms around her. I couldn’t hear what they said. Poor Mai. She’d been so excited about that concert. Her heart would be breaking.
She’d probably just put it somewhere for safekeeping, though. I always thought things had disappeared from my bag and went into a total panic but later remembered I’d put them into a different pocket to keep them safe. She’d find it.
Now, I had to get to Kisho.
Chapter 13 Clem: Kitsune
“So, what’s your story?”
“I have a name. Hana. And I have no story.”
Hana had been with Kisho when I caught up with him outside. We’d ended up at a bar, the three of us in a booth. I sat on one side and she sat with Kisho on the other. Sitting a little bit too close for my liking.
“Will you lose your job?” Kisho asked.
She shrugged. “I didn’t like it there, anyway. I only worked there for kicks, but it stopped being fun about two days ago. Bunch of sluts with their short skirts and flirty ways.”
Whoa, that was harsh. The whole maid café system seemed screwed up and catering to male egos, but that wasn’t the fault of the girls who worked there. Mai seemed really nice. I hoped she’d found that ticket.
“Maybe they need the money.”
She laughed. “They like the attention. But those chumps who come into the café aren’t real men. Who wants their attention, anyway?”
Kisho reddened a little. Maybe because he was still wearing the maid costume.
“Not you, honey,” she said, stroking his arm. “You’re all man. Look at your arms.” She leaned over and whispered something in Kisho’s ear, the whole time looking for my reaction. “Oh, you two aren’t a couple, are you?”
Kisho and I didn’t look at each other, and we didn’t answer. Of course we weren’t a couple. We hadn’t even been talking to each other until yesterday. But I didn’t want the kitsune putting her paws all over him, either.
“It’s complicated,” I said.
She sat back and flicked her hair. Eww, gross. I guessed she was only an animal, but that was laying on the flirting way too thick.
I wanted her to leave us so I could tell Kisho she was the kitsune, but she glued herself to his side. I also wanted Kisho to tell her to tone it down, but he did nothing to stop her. Did she have her hand on his leg? I couldn’t tell, not unless I peered under the table.
Kisho didn’t say that we were together. But then he didn’t mention Nic, either.
The kitsune lit up a cigarette.
“Oh, sorry, do you mind?” I said. Maybe she’d leave the table to smoke elsewhere. “I quit smoking a while back, and I’d rather you didn’t.”
She grimaced at me with her foxy little face, all pointy chin and big eyes. Then she said something to Kisho in Japanese. He laughed. What the hell? That had been a reasonable request. But she stubbed her cigarette out.
“Sorry,” she said. “I thought since we were in a smoking bar, it would be okay. There are a lot of people smoking here.”
They weren’t sitting at the same table, smoking right in front of me. I didn’t want to get into it with her, though. Not now that she’d put her cigarette out.
I plastered on a smile. I’d be nice to her. I had to make the attempt so I could get this case solved. We had the kitsune, but we had no way of getting the information out of her. The best thing would be to play nice. She might be a bit strange, and I sure didn’t like the way she talked about the other girls at the maid café, but I barely knew her.
We got a round of drinks, and she kept almost touching Kisho.
“So, what are some fun things to do in this city?” I asked her. I figured that would be a good lead in to spending more time with her, if nothing else. “We might want to check out some bands and clubs while we’re here.”
“Sure. If you want, I can take you.” But she looked at Kisho as she said that, not even giving me a glance. “Otherwise, you’ll end up going to some deadbeat tourist places. Are you free tonight?”
“No.” That might’ve been a bit abrupt, but I needed to get Kisho alone.
“What about you?” she said to Kisho, a smile spreading over her face. Erk.
“We have a phone call with our... umm... business associate tonight,” I said.
I shot Kisho a look to remind him that we had to check in with Nic. I infused that look with a substantial threat of be there or I’ll tell him about the maid thing.
“Yeah, tonight’s not good. But tomorrow, definitely,” he said, and smiled at her.
She grinned. “Give me your number, and it’s a date.”
“It’s not a date,” I muttered under my breath.
Even before Kisho and I became estranged, I’d always held back with him. If I pushed too hard, I worried I’d overwhelm him, but thi
s damn kitsune sure had no qualms about throwing herself at him. I took a deep breath. I wasn’t a jealous person. I’d never really understood jealousy before. But that icy hand squeezed my heart when I saw her with him.
But I knew nothing about her. She might be like that with every guy she met. If we went to a club with her, with a ton of other guys around, she might be less focused on Kisho.
I smiled.
She talked to Kisho in Japanese again. I picked at the label on my beer.
“Oh, sorry,” she said. “I keep forgetting you only speak English.”
“No problem,” I said with a fake smile.
Kisho got up from the booth. “Back in a minute,” he said. “More drinks?”
“I’ll go with you,” I said. I’d tell him about Hana at the bar.
“That’s okay,” he said. “You stay and keep Hana company.”
“No, really, you’ll need help with the drinks.”
“I’m fine. Really.”
As soon as he’d left, she lit up another cigarette.
I shot her a look, and she gave me one back. That look said she didn’t give a fuck about what I thought now that Kisho wasn’t here. I fanned her smoke away from me.
She didn’t talk. She got out her phone and played with it as though I didn’t even exist. Everything about her attitude grated on me. It was like being back in high school.
Her phone rang. She checked the display, then answered.
“Yeah, I have the ticket,” she said.
She fished something out of her bag and set it on the table, smoothing it out. I tried to act like I didn’t care, but I could read the band’s name since it was in English. The same group Mai had wanted to see.
I didn’t want to jump to conclusions or make false accusations, but it seemed a mighty big coincidence that Hana had the exact ticket that Mai had lost. It wasn’t like the kitsune hadn’t stolen before. Her sticky fingers were the whole reason we were here.
