Prologue
As he took a deep breath, he caught some grit on his tonsils causing the boy to cough and wheeze coarsely.
He reacted to this irritation by bending over and allowing his stomach to lurch deeply in and out from the abnormally deepened panting.
On instinct, he tried to lay his palm onto the wall on his right to keep himself from falling from his violent trembling – only for the intense heat on its surface to painfully scald it.
He winced and withdrew his hand.
The damp towel that covered the lower part of his face was eventually better filtered the unhealthy smoke that surrounded him, allowing the boy's breathing to normalise.
He cleared his throat and opened his eyes in an intense glare.
– Only to look at the dancing orange tongues of flames sticking to the walls on either of him.
They crawled up to the ceiling, flickering wildly about. The flowing nature of it seemed elegant, yet taunting.
Wisps of black soot coalesced from its very tips, combining with the heavily accumulated smoke in the room, resulting in the darkness of its cloud to thicken even further.
The heat scorched the boy; the skin on his face, arms and legs felt tingly, his own eyes burned not from the irritation of the smoke but from the intense hotness that surrounds him.
Whatever he needed to do, he has got to do it fast.
He tightened his grip on the small figure that lay on his other arm.
The boy cradled it closely to his own body. As a response, it nuzzled itself tightly towards him, seeking protection from the hell that was threatening it.
The poor thing was struggling to breathe, just like him.
Unfortunately, they only have that single damp towel – and it was the one he needed right now to move about without pain.
He looked down at what he was holding.
It was a quick glance; the boy did not want to prolong their stay in this deadly environment.
Its small body was tense and rigid. The little one gripped at his shirt tightly, shoving it close to its chest as it buried its face in him.
"I'm gonna get you out," he promised.
Though he wasn't sure if he could be heard amongst the numerous, loud crackling sounds of the fire, the boy determined that assuring his frightened companion was worth the attempt.
He took one last deep breath, the itch on his throat worsened but he resisted the urge to begin coughing roughly again.
There was no time to waste.
He took off the wet towel and laid it gently on her face.
She squirmed uncomfortably at first before she realised how it was helping her with her breathing. She then hugged it close to her nose and mouth.
Resisting his natural instincts that were screaming for him to turn tail and rid himself of this unbearable heat that he swore was causing his very blood to boil from within him, he proceeded further into the literal hell.
Determined and persistent, he shielded his face with a bracing arm and trudged forward as he held his breath.
A bright, glaring sun was baking Yokohama Japan one Wednesday afternoon.
The residents in the city were going about their daily tasks and routines.
This was especially true in the populated municipality of the Naka-Ku ward where everyone – children, teens and adults alike – went through the typical mid-week madness.
One particular individual, however, was able to relish the fact that he does not have to partake in any work, at least for today.
The street was devoid of all but one car that was cruising by.
"Mhm…Yup, that's right… "
Miyureno was driving his spacious 7-seater car as he was talked on the phone, acknowledging every other word spoken by the person on the opposite end.
"So that should be it, right?"
"Pretty much," Miyureno replied flatly.
He glanced around for any oncoming traffic before making a left turn at a junction.
"By the looks of it, I should be able to tidy things up and send the report by the end of the day."
"Huh?" the man on the phone exclaimed in shock.
"B-but we have 5 days to clear this report, at most! There is no need to rush. There's more than enough time!"
Miyureno let out a light chuckle.
He pressed on the brakes to allow his car to come to a slow halt at yet, another traffic light.
He tapped the fingers of his free hand on the top of the gear-stick as he waited patiently for the light to turn green.
"I know. But if I don't stay on top of these reports, they'll stack up real quick. You know how frequently these calls come by."
The caller gave up on convincing Miyureno.
Giving their last few words of farewell, the two promptly wrapped up their conversation and ended the call.
Miyureno took his phone off the side of his head and glanced at it to check on the time. It was 2:12 in the afternoon.
Compared to the other countless days when he would be making the trip down these same roads, he would say that he was earlier than usual.
The traffic light eventually turned green, allowing him to step on the accelerator.
Here's to hoping that today isn't that busy of a day at the café, he thought to himself.
Going down a block of buildings, his destination eventually came into view.
The 2 storey brick-walled building, with its warm pink window awnings and the wood walls of the first floor gave the humble café shop a homey-feel. It sits in stark contrast to the towering squared office buildings nearby.
Surrounded by rich greenery and beautiful shrubs blooming with yellow flowers, Patisserie La Soleil looks very alluring to the weary workers that happen to pass by.
After not being greeted by such a sight for the longest period of time, Miyureno couldn't help but smile fondly at it.
He found a nearby parking spot so he killed the engines and yanked out his keys.
He brought down his car's sun visor. In the usual routine that he does, the young man looked at the mirror etched onto the visor to see his wavy, black hair slicked upwards and backwards on his head. He swiped a few stray strands of his hair back into their proper positions and checked the rest of his face.
His pupils, illuminated by the sun, shone chocolate brown where it would otherwise pass off as black when he was under less intense lighting.
Nothing else seemed out of place. Satisfied, he folded the sun visor back up to his car's roof.
He grabbed his laptop bag from the passenger seat to his right and promptly left his car.
Glaring from the intense sunlight, he quickly aimed for the café's white double-door entrance.
With the attire he was in right now, the intense heat will cause him to perspire profusely in no time. He donned a plain light-blue crew-neck tee-shirt and baggy black jogging pants with comfortable running shoes to top it off – his usual get-up for a nice, relaxing day at the pastry shop.
Pushing past the doors, he was greeted by the cool air inside.
The sounds of the soft chime of the bells filled the room.
Glad that the interior of La Soleil is unlike the blazing conditions outside, Miyureno sighed in relief.
He quickly glanced around the café, noting that the tables to his left were sparsely occupied by customers.
At this time of day, it was a normal occurrence; the few who were there seemed to be pre-occupied with whatever conversations they were having as they delightfully enjoyed the freshly-baked goods and aromatic beverages that were set on their table.
To his right were the displays for the wide assortment of pastries. A single woman was browsing through for something that she might fancy.
From the looks of the contents within the displays, it seems like lunch-hour had the café making great business: there was only a few of each type left for sale.
Dine-in or takeaways aside, what really livened up the atmosphere of the place was the main concern of Miyureno.
He began looking for the café's iconic attendants…
"Miyu-san!" he heard a familiar high-pitched and cheery voice greet him to his right.
Sure enough, he turned to see one of the café's iconic waitress and mascot, Chocola.
The wide-smiling catgirl was dressed in her usual La Soleil waitress-maid uniform that was personally tailored for her.
Her white dress had ruffled ends at the seams of its skirt and arms and was partly covered by a fitting black blazer that wrapped her torso while settling itself on most of her skirt. It did not cover her chest, therefore forming an upside-down heart-shape.
A pink ribbon rests at the base of her neck where two ends of the blazer came together above her chest; the iconic catgirl bell hung below it, thoroughly polished and shining brilliantly silvery-blue. The blazer was also held together at her torso by maroon heart-shaped buttons.
An apron with two cute pink ribbons at its top rested squarely in the centre of her dress and a big, bouncy bow was tied behind her back to keep it in place.
Chocola also sported black thigh-high stockings that tapered off at the top with cat-ear-like shapes and she had a pair of shiny maroon heeled work shoes to complement it.
On her right chest, a pink name tag is pinned with her name 'Chocola' written on it.
"Nyaaa~!" she mewed jubilantly as she wrapped his waist in a hug.
Chocola, in Miyureno's point of view, was the most melodic in speech amongst all the catgirls here. The ever-optimistic kitten's innocence never fails to shine through as she shows unrestrained affection to others.
"Chocola has missed you! You've been gone for a while, nya~! Way-way-way too long!" she chimed happily while looking up at him with beady amber eyes that shimmered with delight.
She let go of him and took a step back.
Standing on the tips of her toes, she looked like she was going to burst from her bottled up enthusiasm. The kitten hugged her round serving tray to her chest tightly.
Miyureno chuckled and smiled at the warm reception he received from the young catgirl.
"Hi Chocola! It's great to see you again. I've missed you too."
His response incited a wide grin from her.
"So the traitor has returned…"
Judging from the flat, unenthusiastic tone of the cold voice coming from his left, Miyureno could easily guess who it could be.
Like a yin to a yang, if there was Chocola, there should be…
"Ah! Vanilla," Miyureno said, shocked.
The white-haired twin-sister to Chocola was standing threateningly close to him. She stared at him with narrowed, sceptical eyes – as though she had caught him red-handed for something.
Miyureno tugged at his collar nervously.
Vanilla was also wearing the La Soleil maid uniform with her own colour palette.
Though similar in features, Vanilla's maid uniform only differed from that of Chocola's by the colours: where her sister had pink, Vanilla would have cream blue and where Chocola had black stockings, Vanilla wore white ones.
Her catgirl bell was a beautiful, shimmering gold.
"Wh-what are you looking at me like that for Vanilla…?"
The small catgirl huffed and crossed her arms, the two long tails of her elegant white hair bounced in response.
She looked rather perturbed.
"So it seems that your two-timing-café-hopping has ended badly for you," she mused.
"…and now here you come running back. What do you take us for? La Soleil is a strong, independent pastry shop who has no need for playboys like you. So shoo~… Shoo~!"
She waved her hands to him mockingly.
Miyureno chuckled shakily as he scratched the back of his head.
But… the last café shop I visited was La Soleil…
He struggled to find a proper response to her sly accusation.
"What's going on there? Chocola? Vanilla? What did I tell you about crowding around the customers at the doorstep? At least let them in first. Geez…"
A berated voice spoke out from behind them.
As the twins shifted to turn their attention to whoever it was, Miyureno's line of sight to the person became unobstructed.
His eyes fell on the eldest catgirl in the family, the short Munchkin Cat was grasping onto her trusty clipboard.
"You kittens… I swear, Kashou-san doesn't seem to be doing much in helping me manage the two of you- "
She stopped mid-sentence when she looked at him, taken slightly aback.
"Oh…" she blinked.
"Miyureno-san. I didn't think you'd come back so soon."
"Azuki! Really? Buts it's already been six months, hasn't it?"
"I mean… yes but it didn't seem that way."
Whatever sign of irritation she had in her voice a moment ago dissipated momentarily. The catgirl was just filled with plain shock now.
She sighed and placed a hand on her hip.
"Perhaps managing the catgirls here has me so pre-occupied that time is now flying by… In any case, Kashou would be happy to see you again."
Azuki assumed her usual deterministic glare and passive smirk.
She crossed her arms in an authoritative manner as she directed her next words to her two younger sisters.
"You two, you shouldn't swarm him like that. What did I tell ya about being too overly-excited about greeting customers? Thankfully, it was just Miyureno."
"Nya-!" Chocola exclaimed, Azuki's comment caused the distressed catgirl to justify herself in a fit.
"Chocola hasn't forgotten what you've said, onee-chan! I-its just-"
She proceeded to twiddle with her fingertips as she continued shamefully.
"Chocola got excited at seeing Miyu-san, that's all!"
"Mm..!" Vanilla gave a sharp nod.
As opposed to her expressive sister, Vanilla merely looked intensely at Azuki rather than being flustered.
"We just wanted to give him a good talking to for cheating on us! If it were to be anyone else, we would give them their space! We swear!"
I haven't been cheating on anyone, though… Miyureno thought inself-contained dismay.
He grimaced at how Vanilla managed to make a love-affair out of his absence.
The joint retorts of the twins cornered the short-haired Azuki.
"Uwah…! Okay! Okay! I was just sayin'. Just be careful next time... Damn it. No need to get so defensive now…"
Azuki let out a sigh before averting her attention back to him. She gestured for him to follow her.
"Come. Let me show you to your table. I bet 'cha want the same place as always?"
"Yup! If that's alright with you," Miyureno said.
He followed her to the extreme left side of the café and to a booth that was right beside the large window panels.
It was Miyureno's favourite spot for when he used to patronize the pastry shop a few months ago.
Outside, there was a big open space for the rest of the lot belonging to La Soleil before it led to a wall of bright green trees and big, puffy bushes. The office buildings towered in the distance behind it.
Ignoring the concrete towers in the background, the view – in Miyureno's opinion – was the best one throughout the whole shop. For days on end, he could just take time off his work and gaze mindlessly out the window to give his mind some time to unwind and relax.
"Of course it's alright, silly. Do you even need to ask? It's not like I can say no…" Azuki commented in her usual wryly tone.
Miyureno chuckled agreeably to her point.
Just like Chocola and Vanilla, Azuki's character and personality was very distinctively unique to her.
That's the case for most catgirls actually.
She was the most boisterous of the Minaduki family.
Even though she may come across as rude rather often, she always limits herself to teases and insults to converse with those around her. She has a lot of pent-up energy which she sometimes unleashes by going into frequent fights and quarrels with the other catgirls.
Being rather aggressive, it's pretty safe to say that she can be akin to a wildcat.
If Miyureno were to give her some kind of redeeming quality, it would be the way she would take responsibility to manage her younger sisters in and out of the café.
To him, it shows that, aside from her hard exterior, the catgirl had some semblance of affection to others. Miyureno has yet to find out the extent to her caring and tender side, however – she is good at hiding it, no less deny it.
With that in mind, he made sure not to let this opinion of his be made known to her.
He very much cherished the integrity of his skin and would like to keep it that way: unscratched, unharmed and 'un-bleeding'.
He sat down on the comfy cushion of the booth.
Before taking her leave, Azuki assured him that she'll call for a particular waiter to come by and attend to him.
She then proceeded to the register and disappeared through the door leading into the kitchen behind it.
Meanwhile, Miyureno took out his laptop and then began to set up his laptop in front of him, inserting the wire pins of his charging cable into an electrical plug located below the table.
When the login screen popped up to prompt him to enter the password and access his account, Miyureno paused.
Hmmm… Is it? No…
He questioned himself as he typed in numerous possibilities to the code but getting denied after every single one.
He heaved a sigh of defeat and reluctantly began to fish out his wallet from his pocket, leaning awkwardly to one side to allow his hand to squeeze into the tight space.
"Why does the password have to be so complicated? How troublesome…" he muttered under his breath.
Taking out his black leather wallet, he picked through the many cards he had slotted in it and found the one he was looking for.
Referring to the characters and numerals etched on the card, he typed in his account password again. This time, the process was successful.
He navigated to the intranet of his workplace and identified the link labelled 'Report submissions' and clicked on it.
A lengthy list of reports loaded onto screen.
"Oh! Miyu-san is on his laptop! Are you doing one of those reports again?" he heard someone in-front of him ask curiously.
Miyureno looked up to see Chocola. Her head was popping out of the divider between his booth and the one in-ahead of it.
"Do you have any new stories to share? You know I love your stories, right? Right?" she prodded in excitement, popping her head out even more as though she was about to launch upwards in anticipation.
"Do you have another one of those catgirl-stuck-in-a-tree stories? Or-or! Those ones with bushes or trees on fire! Or! OR…!"
Before she could continue listing any more in a manner seeming like she could blow up in any moment, Vanilla popped up in the same manner beside her and interrupted her.
"What about those stories where you lay your perverted hands on women and claim that you are just saving their lives?"
Her statement caused him to flinch.
"Or those where you take advantage of sleeping women to kiss them?" she continued tonelessly.
Miyureno flinched even more as the catgirl listed out the inappropriate claims so loudly – and in such a matter-of-factly expression that made it sound like it's an already given fact.
It was like taking jabs to the stomach.
"Vanilla! I never said such things! You've just interpreted those stories wrongly-!"after raising a short fit, he composed himself and cupped his hands elegantly on the table.
"A-and she wasn't sleeping… She was unconscious! She wasn't breathing and her heart stopped beating, a clear sign that-"
"-she was in the mood." The blue-eyed kitten said flatly, overriding his answer and giving a whole new meaning to it.
Miyureno ignored it and continued, louder this time to assert his point, "AND… it's not kissing! It was CPR! Mouth-to-mouth!"
Vanilla's crystal blue eyes narrowed yet again.
"Sureee…"
"EH! You don't believe me-?"
The catgirl he was trying so hard to convince began to sink slowly below the divider and out of view, her face looked expressionless yet heavily judgemental.
"W-Wait! Where do you think you're going! You have it all wrong, I tell you!" Miyureno exclaimed while hunched over his table and a fist up in the air.
His veins were popping out on his forehead as frustration took hold of him.
Chocola laughed at his flustered expression. She hopped off her booth and came over to his, taking a seat opposite to him. Vanilla re-appeared and followed her sister.
The two were now sitting together, looking at Miyureno. They stared at him with unwavering focus; intent eyes clearly giving away their desire to hear more from him.
Miyureno sighed and crossed his arms as he looked down at the table, "I'm sorry girls; there hasn't been much action so far. Just another regular case of a dust bin catching fire because of someone throwing cigarettes into it," he waved his hands dismissively.
"…nothing that would excite you…"
"Nyaaa~" Chocola mewed as though she was whining.
"But Miyu-san has been gone for so long! How can so few things happen in all that time! Chocola feels disappointed!"
Vanilla nodded her head curtly and turned to look at her sister.
She began to pat her head gently.
"Yoshi, yoshi~ (there, there~). Miyureno-san doesn't deserve our immense trust and attention. For failing to explain his long disappearance, I shall proceed to discard of him so that he doesn't continue to break Chocola's precious heart, no he won't~!"
Miyureno felt a pang within his heart at the obvious difference in treatment the catgirl was showing to him and Chocola.
Vanilla rested her head on one hand which cradled the top of the table. She looked out the window with bored eyes.
"It seemed like years since we last saw you and that is all the work you've done so far? How lazy of you, Miyureno. You made me and Chocola so excited. Such a waste… Tsk tsk~"
A bead of sweat trickled down Miyureno's forehead as he chuckled shakily.
"But I really have been busy, though. Even if I haven't been attending to calls or incidents, it's because I have been in training for the whole of 6 months. I could've sworn I told you two about it. And I've only been gone for 6 months… what are you two saying?"
Miyureno explained his situation in a desperate bid to re-gain the respect of the two young catgirls in-front of him.
For what purpose does he want to convince them? He himself wasn't certain. Pride, maybe? Dignity? Is there any point trying though?
He shrugged to himself.
Chocola squeezed both her hands close to her chest, clasping them tightly as she heatedly refuted.
"But Miyu-san~! You know catgirls experience time differently! Especially if we haven't been with someone for some time! It may seem like a few months for you but to Chocola, it feels like it's been much-much longer than that!"
"Mm! 6 months is definitely a lie!" the other half of the pair added.
"Yes! Feels like years instead!"
"3 years, at least, Chocola!"
"No! It's more like… forever-forever-forever!"
"So so long that I'm beginning to forget how it was like having him around, Chocola!"
The two continued to trail off as they descended into a seemingly never-ending cycle of exaggeration.
But you two are a year-and-a-half old though… Miyureno sighed, unwilling to put in any effort to snap the two from their imagination.
"W-what the? What is going on here? I only left Miyureno-san for a few minutes and it seems that you two are making him uncomfortable again. I swear, if you kittens aren't going to restrain yourselves, you'll have another thing coming I tell ya!"
Azuki came back from the kitchen and abruptly snapped Chocola and Vanilla back into reality.
"Nya-!" they both yelped.
"Oh, Azuki," Miyureno said.
He looked at the catgirl who was now shaking her head at her two young siblings.
"They were just asking if I had any stories to share from work. You know, the usual…"
"Of course they were. That's almost-always why they surround you whenever you are around… or were around…" she waved her hand to the side as she proceeded to address Chocola and Vanilla.
"Anyways, what stories were you hoping for? Kashou-san has just explained not too long ago that Miyureno here was just back from months of training at Tokyo. It would be plain bad-luck if he would get caught up with so many things to do when he's just returned home, don't you think so? Chocola..? Vanilla..?"
Like a mother nagging at her children…
That kinda makes her sound like an old hag, huh?
Miyureno smiled lightly at his own remark.
The two nodded their heads in defeat, seeming guilty about their excitement.
Seeing the once-excited twins now looking glum made his insides churn. After all, he knew that they were just acting out of pure excitement and happiness from seeing him after a period of absence (Despite the odd way Vanilla expressed this excitement…).
"Azuki is right. You can't expect so many stories when I just came back a few days ago. Though, I understand why you two would be excited. I've been missing my favourite catgirls since the last time I was here. It'd make sense to be very delighted to see everyone again."
Chocola and Vanilla's face brightened up as they looked at Miyureno.
He was gave them a warm, heartfelt smile.
Chocola then bounced in joy.
"Yay! Vanilla, did you hear that?! Miyu-san said he misses us!"
The catgirl was tugging at the hem of her sister's sleeves. Waving herself side-to-side in pure glee, she let out her thoughts happily.
"We missed you too! Missed you very much! Mhm! Mhm!"
"Yes. Yes. We would never take La Soleil's main source of profit for granted after all~!" Vanilla added.
"Aha… do I really spend that much here, though?"
"Anyways, to call us your 'favourite catgirls' is a lie. We all know who gets all your attention around here," Vanilla went back to shooting a smirk at him.
Before he could manage a retort, Azuki sighed at him and shook her head, "Baka… (Dummy...) I was trying to get their backs off ya. Don't come crying to me now if you feel that they're being a handful to you again…
"Anyways… speaking of Pull-May, she isn't back from their shopping at the moment. So I guess I'll be taking your order."
"Oh? Maple?"
Miyureno just remembered that Azuki has a habit of playing around with her sister's names.
For Maple and Cinnamon, she would just reverse the order and call them Pull-May and Mon-Cinna.
For the twins, she would address them together as ChocoVani sometimes.
Coconut… she would just call her Nuts as a joke.
He wasn't sure why she does any of that but that's just her way of doing things. Maybe it's just the privilege of being the eldest getting to her.
He continued, "I mean. That's alright. I know Maple is normally the one who attends to me whenever I was around but it does not have to be her all the time."
"Now, now. No need to get so unsettled, Miyureno!" Azuki mockingly said out loud before she began to smirk mischievously.
"I just thought it woulda' fit the occasion for Pull-May to do it. After such a long period of separation, the re-union won't just be nostalgic, but romantic too~! Kekeke…!"
Miyureno narrowed his eyes in disbelief. His mouth hung agap.
"What are you on about, Azuki…"
The 3-year-old catgirl continued to snicker behind her clipboard despite his reaction.
He huffed and sat back with his arms crossed in playful annoyance, "So… are you going to take my order or not?"
"Hehe. Of course... Of course… I was just having a laugh."
She wiped a tear and cleared her throat before asking, "What would you like to have for today, Miyureno-san?
After giving it much thought, he eventually said, "I guess I'll have… a cup of Fining's Ear-"
"-Earl Grey tea with a slice of syrup-glazed walnut cheesecake," all three catgirls recited in unison.
Azuki went ahead to snicker while she scribbled his order on a piece of paper on her clipboard.
"Nya-haha! Miyu-san's taste hasn't changed one bit nya!" Chocola happily pointed.
"Is it that obvious…?"
"Miyu-san, everyone knows that you will always order Maple-oneechan's recommendation." Vanilla said, holding her head high as though she has struck factual gold.
"Heh… You're just so predictable Miyureno. I guess if any good comes out of your return to La Soleil…"
As if there wasn't any good with my coming here, Azuki… he wondered in the midst of her statement.
"… It'd be being able to fluster Pull-May again. Kekeke…"
"I suppose that's quite an unusual sight for everyone huh…" Miyureno admitted, recalling the American Curl's usually cool façade.
Azuki simply smirked as she walked off back to the kitchen with his order.
As for Chocola and Vanilla, they continued to accompany Miyureno as he began to work on his report for the day now that the commotion has died down.
A/N
TaRouTaRhoe, 12 May 2018
I hope you have enjoyed the beginning of this story and that it is not so long-winded/hard to read.
My intentions for this story is not to rush into things because I believe that Maple is a character with so much depth and complex personality that it would be a waste to just suddenly having fall for a person without much effort. Anyways, the best romances, in my opinion, are those that delve deep into the emotions of the characters, and that is exactly what I intend to do!
However, I also want to add in light-hearted moments around the place as well. I'm sure this chapter reflects the two directions I'm going with the story so you pretty much get a good idea about the style of this fanfic from here.
So, if that's what you're into then look forward to the other chapters!
Reviews are much appreciated (and needed to help make this story all the better!)
Subsequent chapters are in the works so stay tuned!
Until next time!
