NekoPara Volume 1

Chapter 7: Almost Open

"Yay! Master! Master!" Chocola said. "Look, look over here! Fuwahh! These clothes are really nice! They're super cute! Chocola is moved! Chocola is really moved, Master!"

"Chocola, you're super cute," Vanilla said, "flip your skirt up just a bit!"

"Like this? Like this?" She asked, flipping her skirt up.

"Ah. Master is looking at you with perverted eyes, Chocola."

"Nooo! Master, you pervert!"

"Stop fooling around!" I said to the two of them. The two catgirls showed of their uniforms they had just received comedically. They were black, maids-like dresses and skirts with lots of bows. Chocola's had pink lining and bows, and Vanilla's was light blue colored with bows of the same color. They had thigh-high leggings that had cute cat ears on the front half, Chocola's were black and Vanilla's were white. They each had a heart-shaped name tag with their names on them. And to top everything of, they also had headbands. Swamped with work, I turned away from the two catgirls.

"Master, do you think Chocola in Masters' shop uniform?"

"Ahh, yeah, it looks really good." I responded. "Although it was last minute, I'm glad that we found something decent."

"Yep, yep, good, good." Vanilla said nodding. "I was the one who chose these though."

"Ahh, it looks good on you too, Vanilla. I'm counting on you two, you know!"

"Well, we'll do our best to the extent of our ability." Vanilla said.

"Yay! Master praised us!" Chocola cheered. "From tomorrow on, let's do our best as shop catgirls, Vanilla!"

"Since Master did prepare these uniforms for us, I guess I might as well. I will try." They walked on over to me.

"Come on Master, you aren't being honest!" Chocola said with a smile. You should also give Master some eye-candy by flipping your skirt a bit, Vanilla. Come on, come on!"

"Nyaahh... I'm not that kind of catgirl-- ahh, stop, Chocola! Wait... I said don't... nyaah?! Th-That isn't my skirt-- N-Nyaaaahhh?!"

"My catgirls sure are energetic." I said to myself. I looked at the frolicking catgirls out of the corner of my eye as I wiped the trays and tableware. "We open tomorrow, huh?" The necessary ingredients were already in the refrigerator and the decorative plants for the shop had arrived. I figured there would be more excitement to all of this, but naturally, that wasn't the case. "Time did fly when we were trying to get everything prepared though." I reached for the business cards that had just arrived that morning.

"Meow meow meow?! Master, what are those? Just what could those be?" Chocola asked.

"Ohh. Could those be those things called business cards?" Vanilla asked.

"Amazing! That's amazing, Master! It even has the shop's address and phone number on it!" Chocola said.

"It's a single card that tells you everything about the shop." Vanilla said. "You have no sense of discretion in an era where everyone is protective of their privacy."

"No, that's exactly what business cards are used for." I said. She knew about protecting personal information, but not about business cards? Well, it was true that it would be a pain if I was in some sort of strange business or something.

"Congratulations!" Chocola cheered. "Congratulations, Master! With such a pretty business card, soon they'll all be gone and replaced with a shop packed with guests instead!"

"Ahh, it would be nice if everything went like that." I said. I rubbed the high-spirited Chocola on the head as if that dream had already been granted. If she was already this genuinely happy about things, I began to feel like it all might go well. It really was reassuring to have someone else here along with me. I found myself thinking about that all again. I noticed Vanilla staring at me in the corner of my eye.

"What's wrong, Vanilla?"

"I want one. Is it okay to take it?" She asked.

"Ahh, I don't mind." It was rare for Vanilla to want something like that. But I imagine even catgirls like to have mementos. I had several hundred cards, so it really wasn't a big deal.

"Oh, oh! Chocola too! Master, Chocola wants one too!"

"Okay, I had a lot made so go ahead and take however many you'd like." I said as Chocola took the box of cards. "Hey, wait! You can't take all of them! That's not what I meant by take however many you want!" I watched Chocola take the box and go. Maybe English was hard for them to understand.