Teh Disclaimer: I owns nothing. Not even my hands. They own me.
Author's Note: A random and useless fact vaguely related to the story, the reason why it's called Cat's Eye Galaxy is that there is this thing in space called the Cat's Eye Nebula. There is because of more than one thing. In Olive, I have more than one story being written, so I put impromptu titles to write at the top of the page to distinguish between them. But most of all, it is because I am an astronomy geek and I liked the sound of it.
This was deleted at the last minute from the top of chapter one, but basically all the countries of Tsubasa are on one world. For example: Celes is in the northern region of the world, while Oto is in a more temperate area and Nihon has a warmer climate. By the way, if you get uber confused, read the number-thingies. They are your friends. *nods solemnly*
Onward!
~Indentured Servant~
"This feels nostalgic." Touya said looking down at his uniform, "Too nostalgic; it's like the owner was spying on us or something."
"Cheer up, your majesty, I personally like it. It reminds me of the first time I called you that name."
"'Reminds you'? It shouldn't merely remind you, it's the same exact uniform! It even has that grease spot from when you-" Touya cut himself off blushing, "you know." (1)
Yukito smiled slyly, "No, I don't know, tell me."
"You know very well what I'm talking about!" his blush increased, "You're the one who did it!"
"If you mean lacing your cup, no; the 'only an apron' thing, however…"
"What?! Sakura said you laced the cup and that apron thing was her friend's idea!"
"I wasn't expecting you would have to do it too."
"You mean in that storage room…"
"You bet, but I had no idea it was a two-way thing. Though in the end the results quite nice."
"Knowing them it probably wasn't-hey! What do you mean 'the results were quite nice'?!"
"Hmm, I wonder where the owner is." Yukito said changing the subject.
"You wanted to meet the owner of this humble café?" Touya clutched his chest as Fai once again popped out of nowhere. "Well, if you're so interested;" he said smiling as he leaned back against the counter, "then I guess I'll have to tell you. Hold on, Kuro-wii! You missed a spot!"
Touya would bet everything he owned that the blonde only called the man over to build suspense. There was no spot, a fact angrily stated by the irritated janitor. "Ah well, must have imagined it." Fai turned back to the new workers, "Okay, the owner is-"
The door burst open as two males entered the café in a rather violent manner. Of course they didn't notice where they were; the two were a bit busy focusing on their fight. (2)
One of them had round-ish glasses and a sword, which he was using to parry blows from his opponent while at the same time, jumping back to avoid getting impaled by the other's attacks which were with what could only be described as elongated claws.
The young man attacked with enough force to, when the swordsman dodged it, cleanly slice through one of the wooden tables. The bespectacled one ducked under a swipe meant to behead him and aimed a slash at his opponent, missing and chopping through a barstool leg instead.
He barely moved from the claws' path in time, causing them to stick in the wood of another table. The swordsman had already started to make a slash at the other's undefended side. The one with slit-pupiled eyes tore out his claws and raised them above his head for a finishing blow.
Faster than he could notice, his wrist was caught in mid-air. No matter how hard he jerked, he could not break free. In addition to this, Fai had also forced the bespectacled fighter's hands down so his sword tip was pointed against the ground.
"I would appreciate it," he said in a low voice, "if you didn't disrespect my property by haphazardly ripping it apart as you please." He released them and then, in a complete change in attitude, smiled brightly and said "Okay?"
The two nodded slowly in unison. Touya and Yukito both gulped, their new boss can be scary when he wants to. Really, really scary.
"Who are you two? And you have a good reason for making all this mess I have to clean up."
The younger-looking one, apparently back to normal as his eyes were no longer golden and slit-pupiled and his nails were normal length, turned to Kurogane, "I am Kamui and this utter and complete-"
"My name is Seishirou."
"I'm Fai; that's Kuro-pii; his majesty, Touya; and his royal advisor, Yukito." The blonde owner pointed to each one in turn and Touya once again said he was 'not a king, stop calling him that'.
"Now," Fai said putting his hands together, "since we're all acquainted, let's talk about damage cost." The two groaned while Fai merely smiled, "Today you start paying off the price of new flooring, two large mahogany tables, and a barstool."
"What?!" Kurogane exclaimed, "You're enslaving them too?!"
"I prefer the term 'indentured servant'."
"Whoa, I do notrecall saying I would work for you!" Kamui complained, "Especially with that man!" he said pointing to Seishirou.
"Might I emphasize the 'mahogany' in 'large mahogany tables'?" Fai replied, smiling in a 'you don't have any choice whatsoever in the matter' manner. The already employed workers exchanged glances; Touya may be a king, but Fai was the one who delivered divine judgment.
Kurogane should have expected something like this when he saw Fai say he would 'forcefully remove excessively rude patrons' with a grin on his face. His boss continued, "If you do not wish to work in close proximity, then Seishirou can work at the bar and Kamui can help out in the kitchen with my little sister. Chi's quite the angel, I'm sure you'll get along."
Angel, indeed; Angel of Justice more like, if she's in any way similar to her brother.
Sensing the foreboding atmosphere and coming to the same conclusion, Kamui nearly backed out right then. Unfortunately, his pride would hear nothing of that. He had never really intended to not work there; he may act somewhat crude at times, but he was well-bred and raised as a gentleman. Though he disregards a largemajority of his teachings, Kamui still honors his debts until every single yen (3) was paid back. However, he was now seriously rethinking his principles.
That didn't change the fact Kamui was now under the reign of Fai, and soon Chi as well. Needless to say, the others certainly didn't envy him in the least. "Fine, I shall do it; as long as I do not have to wear a ridiculous uniform."
"Yay! New employees! It's almost time to open, so get to work."
~~Earning Infamy~~
(4a)
"Try to take a piece of my cake again; this fork goes through your neck, creep."
"I love you too, dear." he leaned to the right to avoid the flung knife aimed at his head.
"I don't know why I even put up with you." She grumbled, stabbing at her food.
"Because we're soul mates, dearest. After all, we're having children."
Cake splattered all over his right lens and she pointed a piece of silverware threatening at his throat, "I dare you to call it that again." She growled.
"Stop brandishing a spoon at me, it's unbecoming of someone as beautiful as you." He said trying, but failing to completely succeed in wiping his glasses clean, "My dear." he added, replacing them.
"Creep." A knife suddenly embedded itself in the table where his was about to place his hand. "Thanks." She called over to its general direction of origin.
"Thank Kuro-pii, not me." a smiling blonde waiter said back, dodging a mop aimed at his head.
"This is a strange cafe." he commented on a dark-haired man chasing the lanky waiter, yelling death threats.
"You picked it, not me."
"I suppose so."
Yuuko looked down at her cake, "Hey! You ate it!"
Clow Reed only smirked.
(4b)
"Did you enjoy your food?" Yukito asked the two.
"Ah, yes. It was quite satisfying."
"Indeed, it was very good. What I could eat of it, that is;" she glared at Clow, "this creep kept stealing it."
Yukito laughed, "I'm glad to hear that. I'm sure Kamui would be too, that was the first cake he made himself." 'and without Chi's knowledge' he added mentally, hoping the younger Fluorite didn't find out and do something her brother might do to the vampire.
"I might like to meet him; he must be quite a natural."
The white-haired waiter sweatdropped, "I don't believe that's the smartest of ideas…"
"Ah well, nonetheless, the food was excellent. I'll definitely visit again."
"We appreciate it." After the two left, bickering like an old married couple, Yukito called clear across the entire place, "Your majesty! Dish duty!"
An affirmative "Off with your head!" answered back as Touya walked over muttering about 'conniving bipolar bosses'. Apparently Fai had neglected to mention their jobs as a waiter wasn't set in stone, because just as often they have to clean the tables.
Though the two most recent sla-, employees, seemed to have found their niche. Really Kamui was only suited for behind-the-scenes jobs as he wasn't a…people-person, but Seishirou made a superb bartender. This was best exhibited by the current situation.
A man at the bar (5)pushed his glass forward for a refill. However, when nothing happened he looked up to see Seishirou nonchalantly cleaning a spoon with a rag. "Hey, barkeep."
"Yes?" he said picking up another piece of silverware.
"My glass is empty."
"I am well aware of that."
"Then why isn't it being refilled?"
Seishirou sighed, stopping his cleaning to point with the utensil at a sign reading 'Patrons are not permitted to consume excessive amounts of alcohol'; under which was a taped sheet of paper, handwritten words reading 'Get drunk elsewhere' with a scribbled-out word that, if you squint and tilted your head, began with 'b' and ended in 'ds'.
"I have already overestimated your alcohol tolerance. No more for you."
The man slammed his fist down on the counter, "You can't do that!"
"Oh really?" The light reflected off Seishirou's glasses as he slowly spun the knife he had been previously cleaning around his fingers, "Do you wish to confirm the rumor that we keep a sword under the bar? Because," he stuck the knife down on the counter, leaning in close to say with a predatory smile, "I assure you, I'm quite skilled in the wielding of a blade a bit more dangerous than a butter knife."
The poor man scrambled away and Seishirou smiled brightly at him, saying cheerfully as he rushed out the door, "Have a nice hangover!"
Fai walked up to him, "As much as I appreciate you ridding us of that almost-drunk. I'll have to charge you for damaging my property." Seishirou followed his pointed gaze to the knife's tip embedded in the wood, "…again."
Seishirou smiled maliciously, "I don't care, it was worth the look on his face."
The bell over the door rang, and a bespectacled young man entered, looked around, and then muttered something that sounded like "She would like this place."
A girl walked up to him, "Umm, hello. Are you here to eat something? Or are you meeting a friend?"
"I came here on a…recommendation; so I guess I'm here to get something."
The girl smiled, "That's great! I'll find you a seat." She said, taking his hand to drag him to an empty table. "I'm Sakura, by the way."
"Umm, Watanuki. Err, aren't you a little young to have a job? That's illegal some places, you know." Not that something as trivial as the law would stop his employer from forcing him into unpaid service.
Sakura laughed, "No, I don't work here, but my brother and his friend do."
"Who's this, hime?" Fai asked, using his amazing ability to pop out of absolutely nowhere to scare the wits out of the poor boy.
"Oh, this is Watanuki; I was going to get him to a table since everyone's busy and all."
"Thank you, could you continue, please? You were right; we're a bit shorthanded at the moment. We really need to expand." He said the last part almost to himself.
"O-okay." She answered, but Fai had already left.
Watanuki glanced around at the customers talking, laughing, some were even showing off. It was right about the time he heard a 'your majesty' followed by an 'off with your head, dearadvisor' and a man wearing goggles entered saying that this was a café worthy of his Primera that Watanuki realized why Yuuko had ordered him there. It was truly a place after her own heart.
And he had just been sucked into it. At least Doumeki wasn't there.
A/N: Big-ish News! Cat's Eye Galaxy has entered its 60th notebook page! I have a lot of it still planned out, but I've been too lazy to type-up anything, plus I've been working on a so far 40 page purely drama fic. On loose leaf! I need a separate binder for it! It's strange how I can juggle a story with really no actual humor in it, a story with no drama in it, and school. X_X I have no life.
1: Despite there being a 'bad word ban' on this fic, there is not a ruling out of implications. Lack of dirty words does not prohibit unclean thoughts. Nothing bad, but I prefer ten year olds not get a hold of it. Because I toe the line like a drunk! *big smile*
2: Told ya this wasn't your normal AU. Be warned, I suck at fight scenes. Especially using only pronouns.
3: Since Oto uses yen, I'll have that as the universal currency. So, no, I am not trying to imitate Japanese culture like some worthless idiot. Oh, and Kamui is in fact nobility. Because it's practically an unstated fact in my opinion.
4a:I know there are only pronouns up to a certain point, it's meant to be that way for effect on the notebook paper page. There is a special reason for this, thus I'm keeping it in its exact original format, grammar errors and all. So don't complain about this part's correctness. Or any parts correctness for that matter.
4b:This reason is –drumroll— this section was what inspired me to write this entire fic. So thank the smirking creep, it's his fault. By the way, the format looked perfect written on paper. If it's any consolation, it drove my proofreader insane and she kept trying to pull an Inkheart: What's changed on the paper is changed on the screen.
5: No, I don't know who he is; I never thought up a character to go with him. In that case, pick your favorite potentially mean drunk from any CLAMP-dom and insert him here. Also, let's ignore the canon-Oto's 'bar, no kiddies' rule, shall we?
Anyways, I know I said last chapter I would give a polite way of speaking to someone; however, it definitely be in the next chapter. By the way, the last chapter, as well as this one, is seven pages typed. Think how many written pages that is! ('Cause I'm too lazy to count.)
By the way, if you review to point out errors, make sure they're of critical importance and not junk like "you made an extra/forgot a space". It annoys me to see people only using their reviews for the sole purpose of nitpicking grammar errors, such as comma usage in compound-complex sentence structure, which not even the computer picks-up. That's just about other people's stories. If you write a review just to tell me I have slightly awkward wording, I will find you.
Okay, rant over.