(Second person POV)
"...I didn't agree to this," you mutter, glaring at Catherine who was trying to adjust the bow that was tied around your waist.
"Well, you did agree to get paid to do waitress work..." she murmured in reply as Lucas helped find any parts of the maid uniform that were out of place.
"Yeah, I did, but not while wearing this!" you snarl, throwing your arms into the air, nearly hitting the teen in the process.
"Careful," the male sighed, adjusting his thin-rimmed glasses and brushing some of his messy strands of hair off of his face, "You could have undone the apron."
"Also, why is he here?" you hissed to the older woman who simply chuckled awkwardly at your remark, unsure of how to respond.
"I work here," the other answered with an unimpressed expression on his face, "I'm the manager when Catherine isn't around so you should treat me, and the others, for that matter, with a little more respect."
Rolling your eyes, you didn't say anything else and just kept quiet as they made adjustments to your outfit here and there, with the older of the two giving you compliments and praises while the latter seemed to be more focused on the uniform.
"Ah, we're done here, (y/n)," the lady with onyx-black hair beamed, clasping her hands together with pride. "How is it?"
Moving around with a sigh, you answered, "As good as it can be in this thing..."
"Oi," Lucas muttered, knocking you on the head with his knuckles, an annoyed scowl on his face, "At least say it nicely. She went and got it tailor-made for you."
"N-now, now," Catherine interjected with a worried smile, stopping the two of you before you could get into a fight, "It's not that bad, really. (y/n) is just rather... cold, to outsiders, and Lucas cares too much."
"Yeah, right." the two of you huffed at the same time, causing you to glare at him while he turned away, seemingly not noticing your glower.
With a sigh, you decided you might as well drop it. After all, arguing will just decrease the amount of time spent gathering information on Lloyd, and with every moment you waste, he could be closer and closer to danger.
"I'll head out now," you mutter, walking out of the changing rooms while Lucas stayed behind, much to your relief.
"Good luck!" Catherine encouraged as you headed out, barely hearing the other teen's hum of agreement as you went.
Stepping out from inside the room and into the kitchen, you caught sight of Mateo, with his usual bushy, snow-white beard and his equally white, toothy grin cooking. Next to him was Vanessa, her azure-blue eyes concentrated on the dish she was making and not noticing your presence. Rea, on the other hand, seemed to catch sight of you almost immediately, giving you a small wave before turning away again.
...They seem to be in a good mood, you thought to yourself as you emerged from the back of the store and into the dining area where Zoe was already serving away, running here and there and taking orders.
Noticing you, she stopped in her tracks, almost cartoonishly skidding to a stop before turning to you with a bright grin. "Yo! Rookie! How've you been?" she asked, her short raven-black hair swishing around as she spoke, "Good, yeah? So, basically what you need to do is go and direct them to a table, take the customers' orders, and greet them with something cheery, like 'Welcome! How have you been this morning!' or 'Wassup, bro?! What can I getcha?', y'know?"
No, I don't know- you were about to mutter when the sound of the bells on the door chiming cut you off as a male that seemed no older than twenty-one stepped into the café. Giving you a slap on the back, Zoe pushed you toward the customers with a grin, giving you a wink that wordlessly said 'We're counting on you!' Just as you were about to grab her and ask her what exactly you were supposed to say, she dashed away, pretending to have something to do behind the counter.
That little... you hissed internally while Koun simply snickered, fashioning a dress similar to yours out of the mist surrounding her. With a sigh that was inaudible to the client, you walked over and greeted, "Welcome to Café Rosé. How many people are in your group?"
"Just me," the male with messy charcoal-black locks responded before looking you up and down, seemingly analysing you. "I haven't seen you before. Are you new here?"
"That's none of your business," you replied, cutting him off before he could dig deeper into you whilst leading him to a table for one. "The menu's here. Wave when you're ready to order." You gestured to the leather-bound booklet that had the store's name etched on the cover in gold before walking away to the counter.
"Ah, (y/n)!" Vanessa grinned, seemingly forgiven (or forgotten) that incident with the cleaning spray, "This is for number twelve. Can you give it to them on the round wooden trays?"
Nodding, you took one of the many boards and placed the order on the surface before heading over to table number twelve. "Your orders, madam, sir," you announced to the two elderly occupants of the desk who seemed pleased with your service.
"Ah, thank you, dearie," the old lady beamed before handing you a twenty-dollar bill, "This is for your fast service."
Looking from the money to her, you were just about to tell her that she had to pay at the counter when she slipped it into your hands, giving you another gummy smile and a pat on the shoulder before returning to her meal. ...What am I supposed to do with this...? you muttered to yourself, your feet absent-mindedly leading you toward the front desk when you caught sight of the two men you had escorted to a table.
Putting the money into your pocket, you decided it would be most efficient if you gave the payment to Catherine after taking the guy's orders. "What can I get you?" you asked, pulling out a notepad and a pen.
"Hey, you're definitely new, right?" the male asked again, though this time it seemed to be more rhetorical, "I saw you fumbling around with the tip-"
"Are you going to order or not?" you sigh, getting annoyed that this person was wasting your time.
"Alright, alright, chill," he laughed, scanning over the menu once more before smirking, "Can I get your phone number?"
Crushing the pen that was in your hand, you growl, "No you may not. I will repeat it slowly one more time so that your puny brain may understand. Are you going to order or not? If you're just here to waste everyone's time, then you can get the hell out and-"
"Ah-hahaha!" Zoe suddenly fake-laughed, pushing you toward the counter whilst facing the customers, "I'm so sorry about that! She's new and doesn't understand what customer service is! I'll come back and take your order and, hell, I'll even give you a discount-"
"N-nono," the male interjected, making the girl stop in her tracks, "I want her to stay, this new employee of yours. I like her."
"...Huh?" both you and Zoe uttered in complete disbelief and shock.
"A-are you serious...?" the latter muttered, staring at the male in confusion as she stopped pushing you.
"Mhm," the other replied while you just stared at him in bewilderment, causing him to catch your gaze and give you a wink, making you cringe internally.
Wait, I didn't know this place had such kinky mother fuckers- Koun mumbled, looking from you to the man and back to you again.
"A-alright then," the shorter female awkwardly grinned, handing you a napkin to wipe the blue ink off your hands and a new pen before patting you on the back, "I-I'll leave it to you then, (y/n)! Tell me if there's any trouble!"
With a sigh, you recovered enough of your composure to ask, "So are you going to order?"
"I already did," the other smirked, giving you another wink, "I want your phone number."
...You know what, maybe I could use this person... His perseverance could come in handy when trying to find information... you thought to yourself as you muttered, "Fine. Here." Writing down Cole's number on a piece of paper from your notepad, you added, "But only call me if you find something on one of the four Fangblades, these shiny daggers with a snake skeleton pattern carved on it."
"You're a collector of antiques, huh?" the 'customer' grinned, typing the number into his phone without hesitation, "That's pretty rare for a girl and kinda boring. I'll show you way more interesting stuff if you're interested~"
"No." You cut him off, your neutral, tired expression settling on your face again while Koun floated over the guy's shoulder to take a look at what he was typing.
He labelled the number 'Cutie from the café', the spirit snickered while you simply ignored her, making a mental note to ask her what 'cutie' meant.
"Fine, fine," the man relented, his irritating voice snapping you back to reality, "I'll be sure to text you if I find anything~"
...Mission success...? you wondered to yourself as the customer finally began ordering food, This guy doesn't seem too reliable, but that's better than nothing. If I just make multiple people search for the blades, then I'll be able to find Lloyd faster...
(Time skip - 15 hours)
Finally finishing closing up shop, you stretch your back as you heard your joints pop causing Rea to give you a look of concern that you wouldn't have been able to tell if it weren't for your aura sensing.
"Are you alright?" she asked, her face not showing any of the emotions she might have been feeling, "You worked pretty hard today without any breaks."
"Yeah, I'm okay," you reply, feeling somewhat satisfied now that there were multiple people searching for the Fangblades and Lloyd. "It wasn't that bad. Just took a bunch of orders and served a bunch of food. It's not that tiring."
"Tell that to Vanessa," Lucas muttered, seemingly appearing behind you out of nowhere, "She can't go for twenty minutes without needing to sit down."
"Hey!" the girl addressed yelled from across the room, "I can go for a while, thank you very much!" Changing her tone to a softer one, she beamed, "But I am pretty surprised though. I can't believe your mean attitude attracted so many customers."
How did she...? you wondered when Rea seemingly read your mind and murmured, "Word travels fast in this place 'cause Zoe and Mateo can't keep their mouths shut."
"Oi, that's super mean, y'know!" the middle-aged man yelped, contrary to his tough-looking demeanour, "I'm very quiet, okay?!"
"Yeah, yeah," the other rolled her eyes, a soft smile crawling onto her seemingly constantly tired face as she moved to the male and patted him on the torso due to the significant height difference between the two. Rea was tall enough to just barely reach your shoulders while Mateo was at least four heads taller than you.
"We can't treat him too badly," the blonde smiles, still patting the older man's side, "He's our head chef so if he quits then we won't be able to cook as fast."
"Okay, wow, I-" the male begins, throwing his hands into the air for dramatic effect, only for you to tune his voice out as you feel an odd sense of peace here. It was as if time had stopped, and for a moment, just for a single moment, the world was no bigger than this café.
But it was. It was so, so much bigger, and with it was the pile of even larger problems. The Serpentine are still on the loose, Lloyd is still captured, Sensei is still missing, Master Wu is gone without a trace, and there are no leads to the four Fangblades.
"Hey, (y/n)," Zoe's familiar voice piped up, bringing you out of your mind that was cluttered with half-baked plans and troubles, "You're coming again soon, right?"
"...Yeah," you answer, seeing the group seeming rather pleased with some (namely Vanessa, Mateo, and Zoe) showing the glee on their faces, and others (Rea and Lucas) were much less easy to read. Had it not been for your aura vision and the small smile on their faces, you would have passed them off as being unaffected by the decision.
"Alright, everyone!" Catherine called out from the kitchen, a bright beam on her face, "Here are the leftover desserts from today and I'll see you guys tomorrow at five!"
With noises of acknowledgement, the five other staff members leave with their boxes of pastries while you stayed behind for a little longer, wanting to see if there was anything else your boss needed you to do.
Noticing that you haven't left yet, the lady asked, "Oh? You're not going back home yet, (y/n)?"
"...No, I just wanted to see if there was anything else I should do," you answer, looking over the glistening stoves that you had just wiped mere moments ago.
"No, everything's done and ready for closing," the other answered, a proud smile on her face as she looked around the café. Seemingly remembering something, she reached into her pockets and handed you a set of keys and a small device you recognised as a smartphone, though much smaller than the one the customer from this morning had.
"Here are the keys to your room, the front door, and the back door," the woman smiled whilst placing the phone in your other hand, "And this is for you so that I could contact you without having to search everywhere for you. I've already added all of the others' numbers and my own in it if you don't mind."
"But I didn't ask for this..." you muttered, about to hand the objects back to the female when she placed her hand over your gloved ones, wordlessly conveying that you should keep them.
"Just think of it as a little gift," she beamed, "Besides, you're living in my house and helping me outside of work, so you should have something in return." Pausing for a moment, she murmured, "Of course, it's an older model and I'll understand if you don't want it-"
"No, I don't hate it," you cut in, finally deciding to keep it as you remembered how your friends also gave you gifts. "...Thank you," you murmured, stashing the objects away into your pocket because you didn't want to use your elemental powers in front of Catherine, not when the two of you were perfectly fine seeing each other as normal human beings, even if you were anything but.
"...Is there anything bothering you?" the lady inquired, her concern practically written all over her face.
"No, I'm fine," you answer, pushing your worries away so that you may deal with them later by yourself. There was no need to involve others as it is far more comfortable and much easier to fix them yourself-
"If there's anything wrong, just tell me, okay?" the other smiled, gently patting you on the head, "I'm here for you, (y/n), no matter what it is. Even if you can't tell others, you can tell me and I promise to keep it a secret for you."
"...Why?" you ask, looking at her in suspicion, your harsh glare seemingly taking her aback, "Why are you doing this? I have nothing to give to you in return for you helping me, so why are you?"
Without hesitation, the woman answered, "Well, helping others is just the right thing to do. By helping you and cheering you up, you'll become happy and because of that, I'll become happy too." Before you could ask why again, she added, "And... this might be a little immature and a little presumptuous of me, but, you're... kind of like a child to me."
...Is she calling me immature? you wondered to Koun who simply stared at you with a deadpan look.
Pushing the thought to the back of your head, you mutter, "...I see..." even though you didn't.
"If that's uncomfortable for you then I won't say that again, but it's what I really think so I believe it's best that I told you," she smiled, giving you one last stroke of the head before ushering you to the door. "Now, go and see your friends," she beamed, waving you goodbye as you absent-mindedly walked to the alleyway you usually teleported away in, "Remember, if you want to talk to someone about anything at all, feel free to come to me!"
...Are you ever going to take her up on that offer? your spirit companion sighed, seeming extremely bored as she floated alongside you.
...I don't know... you answered, analysing Catherine's words that were still bouncing around in your mind like some sort of spring, But the odd thing is... She patted me on the head. Something that hasn't been done to me since... he disappeared... That's physical contact, right, since she didn't have any gloves on and I didn't have a hat on either... It's not a matter of sex or age, as I'm not okay with Master Wu, Mystake, Nya, or any of the Ninja coming into contact with me... so why her? What makes her so different? Why do I feel less uncomfortable with her patting me on the head compared to the others? ...Does this mean... I can tell this anomaly the things that I don't tell the others because she won't be affected by it...?
Author's note:
Thank you so much for reading! This chapter was 2887 words long and I hope you enjoyed it! Let's move on to the memes now~
Memes:
Incorrect quotes:
Catherine: Everyone deserves mercy!
You: What about those who don't stop for ducks on the road?
Catherine:
Lucas: Most people deserve mercy.
Second one:
You: Hey, can I ride you?
Cole: *Flusteredly spits out water* W-what...?
The rest of the Ninja & Nya: *Stares menacingly at Cole*
Koun: *Gives you a thumbs up* Good choice. It's not Kai so I approve.
You: I asked if I could ride you. I've ridden Zane before and it was surprisingly fun.
Kai: *Whips head around* ZANE, YOU BASTARD-
Zane: W-we didn't do that sort of thing!
You: Yes we did. I got onto your shoulders and you carried me around the deck.
Cole:
Koun:
Kai:
Zane:
Jay:
Nya:
Zane: Y-you mean the piggyback ride...?
You: That's what it's called?
Cole: Oh my god...
Kai: YES, THAT'S WHAT IT'S CALLED-
Number three:
You: Fuck, I wanna die...
Lucas: Language. Catherine's here.
You: Heckity heck, I crave death!
Fourth:
You: *Sigh* What are you? Two?
Kai: Yeah, two heads taller than you! *Starts sprinting*
You: GET BACK HERE YOU COWARD!!!
Kai: IWASJOKING! I WAS JOKING-
Fifth:
Jay: Okay, okay, what would happen if zombies ate my brain?
Cole: Well, it'd be a light meal.
Jay: HEY!
Number six (I'm feeling generous & I have the time lol):
Koun: Would you stab a friend in the leg for a million dollars?
You: Okay, so here's what we do. You stab me in the leg multiple times, and once it heals, we split the money.
Koun: Oh! Good thinking! You stab me too so then we have more money.
You: Yeah. Screw the system.
Last one:
You: I've never been in a snowball fight.
Zane: Really? I can show you how. It's pretty simple, actually.
You: Is there a point system or is it just to the death?
The Ninja & Nya:
Koun: I'd do to the death any day!
Just a quick reminder that if the text is italicised for the reader, then it means you're thinking. However, this doesn't apply to the other characters and if the text is italicised, it means they are adding dramatic effect. For other characters, there will both be a label before their line of thinking as well as italics. I hope this isn't too confusing! That's all for today and I hope you enjoyed it! I'll see you all in the next chapter!