"Come on! Let's go in. Get out of this rain." The girl let out a small giggle as she shoved me into the doors.
"H-hey!" I protested, surprised by her sudden aggressive nature.
"No need to be shy! Everyone here is friendly!" She insisted with a loud voice as she gave me one last shove through the doors.
Ring.
I looked up, noticing the bell above the door. Almost immediately after, a voice rang in my ear with twice the volume.
"Welcome home, meowster!"
~Eh?
Before me stood three girls wearing strange outfits. Each of them had animal ears.
Unlike Mia, who had blonde hair, the three of them had fairly darker hair colors. Black, brown, auburn.
I believe these were the right colors.
~What is this?
"Guys! Nobody told me we were doing maid costumes today!" Mia pouted.
~Maid costumes, huh. Interesting. But what's with the animal ears… Are they animal spirits?
"What do you mean, Mia? We specifically told you today was going to be Nekomimi Maid Day. So where's your cat ears and maid costume?" The brown haired girl questioned her, placing her hands at her hips as she leaned forward. Her face suggested she was angry, yet for some reason I couldn't take her expression seriously.
"I didn't bring it!"
"Oh?" The auburn hair tilted her body to the side, looking behind Mia to peer directly at me. "Seems you brought us a customer, though!"
"Oh right!" Mia clasped her hands together. "Let me get you some food, Yoiyami!"
She ran behind the counter, her pale golden hair vanishing as she disappeared around the corner.
As soon as she was gone, the three other girls closed in on me.
"Yoiyami, huh? So that's your name?" The black haired girl said.
I stepped back.
~These three… Seem dangerous.
"Awh, come on. We don't bite." The one with auburn hair reached her hand out to me.
I took another step back. I could feel my hands tingling, sharp pains in the tips of my fingers.
With a glare, I shot the girls a look, a warning to stay back. Yet they did not heed.
I grabbed my arm, stopping myself from casting any magic.
~I can't use magic here. I'll blow my cover!
"Come here, cutie!" One of the girls said as they pounced onto me.
…
"Yoiya, you're so cute! So cute! So so cute! Kawaii!" The girls shouted out in harmonic tandem as they cuddled and nuzzled against me.
"Hey! I got the-" Mia came out of the kitchen slowly, balancing plates of food on her hand. She looked at us dumbfounded by the sight before her eyes.
Staring back at her with a blank face, trying my hardest not to get annoyed by the attention I was receiving, I muttered a couple of simple words.
"Help me."
Mia flashed a smile and giggled as she did before. "Alright, girls. I think he's had enough coddling from you three."
"Okay…!" They said, once again in perfect sync. However, their disappointment was dreadfully obvious.
~Ugh. How do the inner gods of the mortal realm deal with these humans giving them so much attention. Alas, I guess they might as well since those gods have to live alongside them.
In the time that had passed, the three girls had begun to call me Yoiya and I had learned all of their names.
Hati, was the girl with auburn hair. The one with black hair was named Serbi. The brown, Lois.
And apparently, from what I could gather from their random chatter, the owner of the cafe was Serbi's father and was named Fen.
I let out a sigh.
"Yoiya." Mia called out to me as she set the food on one of the tables. "Come eat."
~Great. Now she's calling me Yoiya, too…
I averted my gaze and quietly walked to the table, taking a seat almost reluctantly.
"Ah, don't be like that! Enjoy the food! I'm certain you'll like it!" Lois said, lightly slapping my shoulder.
I looked at the array of food suspiciously.There appeared to be… some kind of leaves in a bowl with orbs. Blood, perhaps. Then there was this juicy looking golden brown thing on a plate of crimson liquid. More blood, maybe? Next, stood a golden circle with red inside of it.
"What's with all the blood?" I asked, with a look of confusion painted across my face.
The girls looked at each other and began to burst into laughter.
"Oh, Yoiya! That's not blood!" Mia said, wheezing as she tried to let out the words.
"Here."
I turned my head, only to have a blood orb stuffed into my mouth with a fork by Lois. I reluctantly chewed.
It was extremely juicy. Tasty.
"What is this?" I asked, my jaw still swiveling around as the juices from the little ruby orb burst inside my mouth, wetting my taste buds with delight.
"Baby tomatoes," Lois said.
"Tomatoes, huh? Good."
"Try the rest of the food, too. Yoiya! Mia's cooking is the best!" Hati exclaimed.
~What was that rule against primordials eating their creations? Ah, no matter. I'll be living in the mortal realm for now on… So I better start acting like a mortal. I can't have God or another primordial catching on to my presence here.
I picked up the fork. The girls watched me with exponential anticipation.
Sticking the needle-like blades of the silver tool into one of the golden chunks of– whatever it was and plopping it into my mouth.
I quickly chewed it, using my teeth to grind it into miniscule shreds. The blood-esque liquid lathered against my tongue, creating an explosion of taste inside my mouth.
With a single gulp, I swallowed the remains.
"He smiled!" Serbi exclaimed.
Serbi, Hati, and Lois leapt up and down in pure joy.
I placed my hand on my cheek, only just realizing I was smiling.
~But… Why was I smiling? Was the food that delicious? Or… something else?
Mia smiled, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment as she let out light chuckles.
"Geez, guys. It's not a big deal."
The girls were praising her for her 'spectacular cooking'.
I took another bite of the food.
With a simple, nearly unnoticeable smile, I murmured my thoughts with a soft, relaxed voice.
"Yeah. I guess it is pretty spectacular."
"Huh? You say something, Yoiya?" Mia asked me.
I quickly turned away from her, muttering. "No way."
Mia giggled, placing her hand against my wrist. "I'll take you home once you finish your food."
With that same blank stare, I looked into Mia's dark, yet glistening eyes. In them, I believe I found true peace.
~Home…
~I wonder what mortal homes are like…
And with that thought in mind, I began to stuff my face with the delicious food in front of me.
…
Deep in the heart inside a metropolis atop one of the largest island nations on Earth, I found myself with Mia at a place she called an 'apartment complex'.
With a simple turn of a key and a little click, she unlocked one of many doors as she held thin white rectangles in her armpit.
With a little bump with her hip as she turned the knob, the door opened wide and she stumbled inside.
"Come on in, Yoiya."
I walked inside. There was a variety of objects scattered about, and boxes stacked neatly in a corner.
But these inanimate points of existence did not interest me at the time, as I was lost in thought.
~A variation of what's said to be one of the original worlds, one of the first to be created. A world governed by humans and overseen by God, a primordial that is rumored to be one of the first primordials to ever exist. To be considered such a legend in such a way in a place where time and space are irrelevant— Superior greatness like that is to be respected. Now I am here, in that very realm— Living on planet Earth as a mortal.
"Perhaps life can be fun, after all."
A small smirk grew on my face.
Then, I felt a small bump behind me.