Kotori awoke slowly to find herself wrapped in Umi's arms and cuddled closer. It was rare to see Umi doing things like this and Kotori wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible. She rested her head against Umi's chest and bathed in the rays of sunshine that pierced through their curtains. It was quiet, it was peaceful, much different from living in the city.
"...Kotori…?" a sleepy voice broke the silence, Umi had woken up. Kotori carefully separated from her arms and sat up to greet the drowsy girl with a kiss on the forehead.
"Good morning, Umi~" she said gleefully as she got out of bed. Umi rubbed her eyes, still half asleep and rested her forearm over her eyes to lessen the impact of light she woke up to. "It's about time we get ready to open up, sleepy head." Kotori persisted.
Kotori grabbed a towel and headed towards the bath, "I'm going to go ahead and get the bath ready, feel free to come and join me at any time." she said jokingly.
"O-of course I wouldn't do that!" Umi bolted up from her bed with flushed cheeks. Kotori began laughing as Umi's cheeks wouldn't return to normal. Unable to deal with Kotori's jokes so early in the morning, Umi jumped back in the bed and covered herself with the blanket.
Umi stayed under the blankets until Kotori's laugh was barely audible before she emerged from the covers, "Gosh… Why does she have to tease me like that so early in the morning…?"
Umi swung her legs to the side of the bed and sat up looking at the mirror. Her hair was a mess. She got off the bed and walked over to the dresser to retrieve her brush when she heard Kotori calling out, "Umi! The bath is ready~"
"I-I'll wait until you finish Kotori!" she responded while brushing her hair rapidly and catching a snag, causing her to yelp in pain.
Umi took a deep breath and sat on the bed, continuing to brush her messy bed head. Before she knew it, she was lost in thought thinking about the restaurant. Today was the grand opening and there was no way to get rid of the nervous feeling she's experiencing. It wasn't long before she came back to reality to see a concerned Kotori staring back at her.
"O-oh Kotori, you're finished already?" Umi spoke quickly. Looking around she could see Kotori wrapped in a towel before her cheeks started heating up once again. She stood up quickly and sped to the bath, "I guess I'll be using the bath now," and disappeared from the room leaving Kotori alone.
"I wonder what happened with Umi just now…" Kotori shrugged and pranced over to her closet to pick out her outfit for the grand opening. "I guess she's just as nervous as I am," she giggled awkwardly to herself.
Kotori reached for the maid outfit that she used to wear when she worked at a cafe in Akihabara. It's been awhile since she has worn the uniform, all she could do is hope that she hasn't gained enough weight to render the clothing unwearable.
Kotori slowly put on the outfit and felt a little tightness around her chest and waist area. She had underestimated her growth since she last wore the outfit in high school, but it was still wearable. Kotori heard footsteps from behind and turned to face Umi who was wearing a large shirt to cover up.
"It's been a few years since I've seen you wear that, Kotori." she said while inspecting Kotori from head to toe.
"Yeah, it's gotten a little tight around my chest and waist," she replied nervously with a smile.
"You look wonderful, don't worry about it," Umi said in a reassuring tone. She proceeded to walk past Kotori and reach into the closet for a simple white dress shirt. She buttoned her shirt quickly and reached for her black dress pants which she slipped into quickly. Umi paused for a second before reaching for a jacket.
"I think the dark blue one would look good," the voice said happily from behind. Umi didn't second guess the girl's suggestion, her fashion sense was much better than her own. Umi reached over a few hangers and retrieved the jacket, sporting it more confidently after hearing Kotori's words.
Umi turned around and was instantly hugged by the maid, "I-is something wrong Kotori?!" she blurted out in response. She held Kotori close instinctively and checked to make sure that she wasn't hurt.
"Nothing, you just look beautiful." she said sheepishly. Umi blushed and pushed Kotori back to arm length and looked away to hide her face.
"L-lets get ready to open up," she exclaimed, pacing quickly towards the staircase. Kotori watched her leave the room before heading over the dresser to style her hair in the way she always did. She finished up her hair by tying it with her favorite green ribbon to stay in place. Kotori did one last check up in the mirror and quickly trotted down the stairs following her love.
Kotori reached the bottom floor and entered the door into the restaurant. She looked around the restaurant to find Umi standing by the entrance, waiting for her.
"Hey Kotori? What time is it?" Umi asked, still staring through the entrance doors. Kotori looked to the wall clock hanging behind the counter to affirm the time.
"Um, almost 9am…" she replied to the questioning girl.
"We should be opening soon right? There aren't any people waiting outside for opening…" Umi said in a saddened tone. She continued to move around from window to window in search of any people. "K-Kotori, why aren't there any people here?" she asked frantically.
Kotori walked up and held Umi firmly.
"Umi, just calm down a little," she pulled Umi to the side and sat her down, taking a seat next to her. Kotori reached out and intertwined Umi's hand with hers, "It's still early out, and we live in a smaller town now. Just give it some time alright?" she pleaded in hopes of calming Umi down.
Umi took a deep breath and leaned against Kotori's shoulder, "You're right…" she placed her free hand over their joined hands. "I just have to calm down, I'm sure we'll get a lot of customers today." Umi rested her head on Kotori's shoulder and closed her eyes.
Kotori poked Umi on the cheek playfully, "Hey Umi, no falling asleep here. We're going to open up really soon." Umi opened her eyes and got up, taking a step towards the entrance.
A few silent minutes accompanied by the ticking of the wall clock passed.
"Okay, its 9am," Umi stood at the entrance and flipped the sign from closed to open. She took a deep breath and positioned herself behind the counter; Kotori followed and took position right next to Umi.
30 minutes passed.
1 hour passed.
The first sign of life finally appeared through the windows. The couple watched intently as the person walked by, slowly passing the entrance and disappearing from their sights. They sighed together and waited.
Another hour passes and more passing faces were seen. No one was entering the restaurant.
3 hours have passed since opening. Kotori sat at the counter play with her hair as Umi tapped on the counter humming to herself. The sudden silence was broken by the sound of a ringing bell, startling the couple and turning their attention to the entrance.
"Hurry up Elichi, I want to give this new restaurant a try!" yelled a light voice. A purple haired girl stood by the entrance holding the door, her hair was tied into two low twintails. Another girl soon appeared through the windows running towards the one by the door. This one was blonde and had her hair tied in a ponytail.
"Geez Nozomi, slow down a little, I can't walk too fast in these shoes." said the girl while panting. The girl named, "Nozomi" held open the door so that this strangely named "Elichi" could walk in.
Umi and Kotori stood together and bowed to the two girls as they turn their attention towards them.
"Welcome to Ocean Flight" the two said in unison. Kotori moved behind the counter and got the two girls seated at a table near the counter.
"You're our first customers of the day!" she said happily handing the two of them the menu.
"I haven't seen you two around here," said the blonde. She glazed through the menu and continued to speak, "When did you two move here?"
"We moved in a few days ago, we've been busy setting up the restaurant so we haven't been able to tour the town a little more." Kotori replied. She looked at the purple haired girl as their eyes met. She smiled and spoke up,
"Hi, nice to meet you! I'm Tojo Nozomi" she said energetically.
"Ah, my name is Ayase Eli, it's a pleasure to meet you." the blonde added.
Kotori bowed in response, "Pleased to meet you, I'm Minami Kotori…" she looked up and gestured towards Umi.
"Good afternoon, my name is Sonoda Umi." she bowed in return.
Kotori looked to Nozomi and Eli asking, "So, let's start off with drinks," she took out a notepad and a pen, "What would you like?" she asked readily.
"We'll be fine with 2 coffees," Eli proclaimed.
Kotori wrote down the order swiftly and clicked her pen, "I'll be right back with the coffees, until then, please take a look at the menu and decide on something you would like." she said with a smile prancing over to the counter. She grabbed two cups and filled them with coffee, placing them on a tray accompanied with a small bowl of sugar cubes. She turned elegantly and drifted over to the two girls, placing the tray down on the table and serving their coffee, setting down the small bowl of sugar cubes on the center of the table.
"Here are your drinks, have you decided on what you would like to order?" she asked.
Nozomi looked at Eli, "I'll have the Grilled Meat and Elichi here will have the Fried Shrimp," she exclaimed for the both of them.
Kotori wrote down their orders with the same grace as before and continued to ask, "and would you like to order dessert ahead of time?"
"Do you have anything with chocolate?" the blonde asked eagerly.
"Elichi here really likes chocolate," Nozomi laughed. She continued, "I'm okay with anything, how about you choose for me Elichi?" she said teasingly.
"N-Nozomi!" the blonde yelled out.
Kotori laughed at the scene and said, "We do serve chocolate cake here if that's okay with you?"
Eli nodded and asked, "There wouldn't happen to be any caramel in the chocolate cake right? Nozomi doesn't really like caramel."
Kotori shook her head, "Nope, no caramel in them."
Nozomi nodded and declared, "Then we shall have two slices of chocolate cake!"
Kotori wrote down the dessert orders, "Alrighty then, your order should be ready in 10 minutes." she walked over to the counter and handed it to Umi with a smile, "Here's our first order, Umi."
Umi grabbed the order from her hand and moved through the kitchen doors to prepare the orders. Umi worked swiftly and gracefully in the kitchen, she fired on the grill and started heating the oil. Umi moved over to the large refrigerator and retrieved a slab of meat which she cut into several thin slices, placing them on the grill. The kitchen was filled with a sizzling sound as the meat cooked on the grill.
She hovered her hand over the oil to check the temperature and made her way over to a clear counter where she started getting the tempura mix prepared. With the mix prepared, she moved over to the sink to wash off her hands before returning to the fridge to bring out the large shrimp. Umi returned to the tempura mix and started on covering the shrimp with it. After she finishes coating the shrimp, she brings it over to the oil where she carefully drops the shrimp, allowing it to cook.
She returned to the grill and flipped the meat, the side that was once raw and red became brown and decorated with grill marks. It was in a matter of a few minutes before the orders she received would be completed.
Umi moved over to the cupboard, retrieved two plates and moved to the rice cooker to decorate the plates with freshly made white rice. She placed the plates on a clean counter and retrieved the finished shrimp and meat. She decorated one plate with the grilled meat and the other with the fried shrimp. Umi grabbed the two plates and used her back to open up the kitchen doors, placing the orders on the counter and ringing the bell to signal to Kotori.
"The orders are done Kotori" Umi exclaimed.
Kotori stood up from Nozomi and Eli's table and hurried over to the counter to get the dishes. She took one in each hand and carried them over to the two girls, "Alright, we have the grilled meat for Nozomi…" she set the plate down gently in front of Nozomi, "And here's the fried shrimp for Eli~" she bowed and said with a soft voice, "Enjoy your meal."
Nozomi took a big whiff of the freshly made food, "Mmm~ It smells amazing, doesn't it Elichi?" she eagerly grabbed her tableware and began eating her grilled meat. Nozomi let out a satisfied squeal as she bit into the meat and ate, "Oh my- this is so good!" she chewed happily, "The meat is well seasoned, it has the right juiciness and it is perfectly cooked!"
Nozomi continued to eat her food very expressively.
Eli watched as Nozomi ate her food before bringing up the shrimp to her mouth. Eli took a small bite and her eyes lit. "The tempura coating is nice and crispy, and this shrimp…" she took another bite and chewed, savoring the flavor. "This is the best fried shrimp I've had in this town."
The two girls ate happily and shared each other's food. Umi and Kotori watched the girls as they ate their food so joyously. Kotori nudged Umi's arm and flashed her a big smile, "They really love your food, Umi~" she said happily.
Umi rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment as she continued to watch Nozomi and Eli.
"Oh right, the cake!" Umi rushed back through the kitchen doors and opened the oven to reveal a cake that Kotori had prepared the day before. She reached in and placed the cake on the counter, brandishing a knife to cut the cake into several pieces. Umi grabbed two small plates and placed a slice of the cake on both.
Umi placed the cake back into the oven and carried the two small plates through the door. She placed the plates on the counter and looked at Kotori with a thumbs up. Fifteen minutes passed and the two lone customers in the restaurant sat leaned back against their chairs, satisfied with their meal. Kotori took that as a sign and grabbed the desserts to serve. She walked over to the table,
"How was the food?" she asked them.
"It was amazing," replied Nozomi.
"It was definitely a surprise," said Eli.
Kotori set the cakes on the table, "Here's the cakes you ordered, we hope you enjoy!" Kotori bowed routinely and went back to Umi to retrieve their bill, "I think we made a good first impression, Umi" she whispered to her.
Umi calculated their bill and handed it to Kotori, "I'm glad that they enjoyed it" she smiled. "It's a relief to finally see something positive today," Umi sighed in relief. Kotori grabbed the bill and returned to the table. The cakes were gone, quickly eaten by the two girls. They sat with satisfied expressions on their faces.
"You two look happy" Kotori exclaimed.
Nozomi and Eli nodded in agreement, "We'll be sure to come back here often, this is the best food we've eaten in months." said the purple haired one.
"Definitely better than Nozomi's cooking." Eli said jokingly.
Nozomi kicked Eli's leg from under the table, "H-hey!"
Eli laughed and replied, "I'm kidding Nozomi, sheesh don't take it so seriously." she turned to wink at Umi.
Kotori handed them the bill and the two girls gasped in shock, "Wh-why is this so cheap?!" Nozomi exclaimed. "We've been to many restaurants around here and their prices were way higher than this!"
Eli spoke up, "If anything, they should be reversed. This was too good to be priced this low."
Kotori laughed awkwardly, "We didn't really want to overprice our food too much."
"You should raise it a little higher!" replied Nozomi.
"We'll think about it" Umi spoke up from behind the counter.
The two girls left their payment and tip and left together, "We'll be coming back here often," said Nozomi.
"And welcome to the town, you two" Eli finished.
The day carried out with customers coming in every now and then, leaving with satisfied looks on their faces. The wall clock struck 7pm and it was only an hour until closing time. Kotori leaned over the counter and let out a deep breath using her hand to keep her head up.
"I think we had a pretty good day, don't you think so, Umi?" Kotori asked.
"It started off really slow, but once Nozomi and Eli came in, things started looking up," Umi replied with a relieved expression. The couple continued small talk and were suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the bell and a loud voice yelling,
"Umi! Kotori! Guess who kept her promise!" yelled a familiar and energetic voice.
"Is this the place, nya?" said an unfamiliar voice.
"Nico Nico Nii has arrived!" another girl sang.
The couple turned around to see Honoka accompanied by two unfamiliar girls, the one to the left had short orange hair and the other had black hair tied into twintails. Honoka rushed up to the counter and the other two soon followed.
"I told you two I would come," Honoka said cheerfully.
She rubbed the back of her head and continued, "I'm sorry we're late though, Mom is still sick so I had to man the sweets shop again today. I just got off." Honoka paused for a moment, "Oh let me introduce you to Rin and Nico!" Honoka pulled the short orange haired girl in front of her, catching the girl by surprise.
"H-hey watch it Honoka, nya" said the girl. She looked at Umi and Kotori before speaking up, "Hello you two, my name is Hoshizora Rin. I'm a fitness instructor over at the local recreation center-" She was cut off and pushed away by the smaller girl.
"And I'm Yazawa Nico!" the girl exclaimed. "I'm working as a magazine model for a big name corpora-" she was interrupted by a karate chop to the back of her head from Honoka.
"She's just a local model, don't believe her lies." Honoka said embarrassingly.
"H-hey! I was making my first impression, stupid Honkers." Nico rebelled.
"What was that?!" Honoka took a hold of Nico's cheeks and pulled them apart. Nico proceeded to respond in the same way to Honoka.
"H-hey! Don't cause a scene here!" yelled Umi.
The two girls instantly stopped due to Umi's thundering voice.
Kotori looked at the girls apologetically, "I'm sorry, Umi doesn't like it when people joke around like that." She stood up and bowed, "My name is Minami Kotori and this is my partner, Sonoda Umi," Kotori gestured to a table, "Would you three like to have something to eat before we close up?"
The three girls nodded and were seated. Kotori did her usual routine of starting off with drinks and taking orders.
Rin ordered a protein loaded meal with water to drink.
Honoka ordered a plate of curry and rice with tea.
Lastly, Nico ordered a low carb dish and a soda.
Kotori proceeded to get the drinks while handing the orders to Umi so that she could get to work and finish before closing time. While Umi worked in the kitchen, Kotori took the opportunity to sit with the 3 girls and chat.
"So, you said that Umi is your partner. How did that happen?" Nico asked pointing at the ring around Kotori's finger.
Kotori blushed and played with her ring, "We're not legal yet but… We hope that we can sometime in the future." she smiled at the thought.
Rin sat up and leaned closer to Kotori, "Do you need a wedding planner?! My friend Hanayo could help you plan it!" she said eagerly.
Kotori backed away and waved her hands denyingly, "Oh, no, no we can't get married yet. We don't have enough money for a wedding." she looked down a little gloomy. Kotori continued, "We saved up enough money to move out here and start our own restaurant…" she looked up with a dejected expression, "We've sacrificed everything for this restaurant so…" her words began to trail.
Honoka cleared her throat, "Well, I'm sure that this place will do great!" she looked at Nico, "So how's Maki doing? Busy at the hospital like always?" Nico looked at Honoka in shock.
"W-why are you bringing her up?!" she exclaimed.
Honoka looked at Kotori, "Maki is her love-" Nico lunged at Honoka to shut her mouth.
"I told you, it's not like that!" she yelled.
Kotori couldn't help but laugh at the two and looked to Rin, "The friend you mentioned earlier, Hanayo?" Rin nodded. "I'd love to meet with her one day, maybe do some planning just in case." Rin smiled and replied,
"I'll make sure to tell her about you two and the restaurant, nya."
Umi came through the doors, causing Nico and Honoka to quickly return to their seats to avoid getting yelled at by her again. She placed the plates on the counter and Kotori got up to retrieve them, she lifted her chin towards the table to signal Umi to come and sit with them. Kotori turned and Umi followed.
"Here are your orders, enjoy your meals~" she said happily.
Umi and Kotori sat next to each other at the table and watched as the three girls devoured their meals in enjoyment.
Honoka spoke with her mouth full, "So how did you two meet?"
Umi blushed and Kotori nudged at her, "I've spoken with all the customers today, how about you try for a change?" Umi nodded reluctantly.
"Well, we met at a university in Tokyo a couple years ago," she looked at Kotori, "She was studying fashion design, and I was in a completely different department for business and management." Kotori nodded and the other three girls listened intently.
"We would often take the same bus home, and naturally we began to become friends," Umi continued, "We lived in the same apartment complex, but the rent was starting to wear down on the both of us. It was hard to manage our schooling and work, so we eventually decided to live together in one apartment," Umi let out a natural chuckle.
"It was awkward at first, if I could be honest," she took a grab of Kotori's hand under the table. "It was a small apartment, only one bed so," Kotori laughed, interrupting Umi's story.
"Oh my, I remember when we had to live in that small apartment together," Kotori continued the story without Umi's permission. "You all should have seen how it was at first," she looked at Umi, "She was so chivalrous by letting me sleep on the bed every night while she slept on the ground in a futon," Umi blushed.
"But now that I think about it, she probably slept- no not "probably", she DID sleep in the futon because she was too embarrassed to sleep with me." Kotori couldn't help but giggle like a schoolgirl at the thought.
"So the closer we got, the more I began to play little tricks on her," she smiled impishly, "I would sneak into her futon and sleep next to her," Kotori couldn't stop giggling, "And then-" she chuckled, "And then-" Kotori couldn't get the words out of her mouth. She finally settled down and continued, "She would always wake up before me, so when she saw me sleeping next to her she would always react in these hilariously cute ways." she giggled slightly, "I guess you could say that Umi became like an alarm clock for me." Kotori smiled brightly and looked at Umi whose cheeks were flushed bright red.
"So, I'm guessing that Kotori was the one who confessed to you, Umi?" Nico asked abruptly.
Kotori nodded and hugged onto Umi's arm.
The loud trio had already finished their meals and seemed satisfied.
"Thanks for the food, nya," Rin said,
Nico snorted, "I mean, I guess this is better than MOST people's food."
"Just say you like it…" Honoka added quietly.
"What did you say…?" Nico replied.
"Ahem!" Umi cleared her throat and cleared the animosity between the two of them. The trio got up and so did the couple.
Honoka spoke up, "Anyways, your food was amazing Umi. I think I could get used to eating this every night, especially since it's right next door." She began walking to the entrance and the other two followed. Rin turned around to say to the couple,
"I'll be sure to come here often after a good workout, nya" she paused before continuing, "Oh, I'll also make sure to tell my friend Hanayo about you two." Rin looked at Kotori and winked.
"I'll try to help out by getting your restaurant mentioned in the local magazine if I can," Nico added.
The two walked out leaving Honoka alone with the couple, "Have a good night you two! You'll fit in nicely with everyone here, especially with the wonderful food you make." Honoka left through the entrance and Umi followed to lock the entrance.
She sighed and turned to Kotori, "What a long day, huh?"
"The first of many," she replied with a gleeful tone.
"I've got to go back and calculate today's earnings and expenses," Umi said, walking towards the kitchen doors.
"Okay, I'll get to cleaning up the restaurant for tomorrow then," Kotori replied with her ever so cheerful voice.
The two worked diligently on their duties and met at the counter when they finished. Kotori hugged onto Umi while she wrapped her arm around her shoulder, Umi turned off the light and the two of them returned upstairs to their bedroom. They prepared for bed and quickly drifted to sleep with anticipation towards the next day.