Kaname didn't consider the cafe to be a big hit. The customers were actually buying enough to sustain the cafe and give her some decent profit. This was far better than what she had expected. She suspected that some of her father's business partners sent men down to check out the cafe, which generated part of her profits. Then one afternoon, one of the big bosses came to the cafe personally alone. She was the widow of a yakuza boss who held up the whole clan when her husband didn't manage to escape from a fatal gunfire ambush during a transaction.
"Where are your guards?" Kaname asked as she served up a cup of espresso.
"I'm supposed to be at a meeting with this Italian businessman right now, but I sort of decided it was too much trouble," the woman said with a loud hearty laugh. "I'm sure my secretary can handle it!"
"You better watch out who you leave the important work to," Kaname warned as she served up strawberry shortcake. "Especially since you're in this business."
"Is that a warning or are you just simply nagging at me?" the woman asked with a serious look on her face. The boss of a yakuza clan is asking for her advice. "Did something happen?" Kaname asked as casually as she could.
"You know... " The woman considered for a while. "Never mind."
A confidential, expensive and potentially fatal situation, thought Kaname, based on her the experience.
"It's kinda nice that you have a cafe out here. A good place to think through things quietly," the woman changed the subject smoothly.
"Yakuza thinks?" Kaname teased as she cleaned the counter top habitually.
"Come on, you know how it can be mentally tiring sometimes," the woman said. She tried to change the topic again. "I remember one of the younger men saying that you wanted a contemporary cafe. What ever happened to that idea?"
"Women's minds are fickle," Kaname shrugged her shoulders. There was no reason to talk about something that doesn't exist.
"What are you talking about? We all know you are stubborn to an almost annoying degree," the woman laughed again. "Is it that old building behind the cafe? It's just like you to -"
"What did you say?" Kaname asked.
"I was saying that it's just like you to try to accommodate everyone..."
"Not that! What did you see?"
"... That old building behind the cafe?"
It's the first time that Kaname had heard of anyone else talk about the shop. She simply stared at the woman as if she had suggested to close down her illegal business and surrender herself to the police.
"What?"
"...Nothing," Kaname said then wondered if she'd be sabotaging the shop's business if she didn't say anything. "Maybe you could check it out when you leave. I heard that it's a shop but I've never visited it at all."
Kaname didn't know if the woman had listened to her advice in the end. A few more customers visited and by the time she had finished serving them, it was late evening. The street becomes dead quiet every night without even any signs of pests or stray cats or dogs. The cafe never had customers in the night and she would wait until her Butler comes over to pick her up.
Kaname decided to wait for her transport outside the cafe tonight for a change. She closed the cafe a little earlier then leaned against the wall of the cafe as she surfed the Internet on her smartphone. After a while she got bored and decided to take a video of her cafe on video. She took down the whole length and height of the cafe, including the cottage. The shop showed on the smartphone's preview screen in the background. She wondered if anyone could see the shop in the video.
As she was about to stop the recording, the video suddenly distorted with static and the phone rebooted. "What?! " Kaname said agitatedly, tapping the screen impatiently. Her brain worked quickly as she tried to troubleshoot:
Smartphones shouldn't do that.
The video was not saved and none of the apps were broken.
Camera app works fine.
Let's try the video recording again.
Then the static happened again and the phone rebooted. Kaname looked up angrily and jumped when she saw the tall man in the black suit standing at the entrance. He was right behind the entrance of the shop, his head arched in as if he was trying to peek into something beyond the cafe.
"Hey!" Kaname said angrily. She's in a bad mood and she simply wants to get rid of this nuisance. The tall man did not give her any notice. "Hey! You there!" she said loudly.
"Excuse me."
It wasn't the tall man talking. Kaname looked to the other end of the the street. There was a big fish tank that sat in a cart, with small fishes swimming in the tank in circles. But that wasn't important. There was a rabbit next to the cart. A rabbit standing on next to the cart. On its hind legs. Only two legs.
"May I enter the shop?"
And it spoke.
"Are you alright?"
No, she's not. Either she's imagining things or... She can't think of any other reason why she could be seeing this. The cottage gate creaked opened and Kaname turned to see Watanuki standing behind her.
"Please enter," Watanuki said to the rabbit.
The rabbit went behind the cart and pushed it through the entrance. Kaname stared as it grabbed the handle with its front paws and walked in casually with its hind paws. Like a human.
"Kiseru Rabbit comes over periodically to check on my kiseru. It needs maintenance every once in a while," Watanuki explained. "Please allow him entry whenever he comes. He can't come in without explicit permission."
Kaname just watched, dumbfounded, as Watanuki returned to the shop after the rabbit. Right at the next moment, the familiar black limousine pulled up in front of the entrance.
"Are we ready to leave, Mistress?" the Butler asked.
"Red, I assume?" Kiseru Rabbit asked as he opened the box of kiseru stem.
"Yes," Watanuki as he watched the rabbit replaced the stem profesionally.
Kiseru Rabbit laughed and said "It's been a long time since I've seen humans stare at me like that."
"She's a good lady," Watanuki said simply.
"Yes, she is. What's that small building in front of the entrance?"
"Her cafe."
"I didn't think there'd be a cafe in front of the shop."
"... Me neither. I didn't see her coming."
"Even someone as powerful as you? " Kiseru Rabbit said as he passed the kiseru back to Watanuki.
"You're flattering me," Watanuki said as he looked at the kiseru lovingly. "You are as good as ever. "
The rabbit simply smiled. "Thank you."
Watanuki took out a neatly wrapped bento and handed it to Kiseru Rabbit. "Your payment, as usual, if you don't mind."
"Nope. This will always the perfect payment. Well, I shall be leaving now. I have another residence to visit tonight, " Kiseru Rabbit said as he packed up his tools. "And as usual, don't overdo that dream thing that you've been doing."
Watanuki smiled helplessly. "I'll take a break once I've finished this current job."
Kiseru Rabbit grunted an acknowledgement as though he was skeptical about Watanuki's response.
"Good luck then. See you again."
