The storm followed me all the way into the mountains. By the time I reached the inn, my umbrella had collapsed, my shoes squelched with every step, and the paper deed clutched in my hand was nearly ruined by rain.
The place looked… dead.
The sign above the gates was cracked, its letters half-erased by time: Nine Lives Inn. Windows were boarded up, lanterns rusted, the wood dark with rot.
I let out a sigh.
"So this is what I inherited…? Figures Grandpa would leave me a haunted house."
The floorboards creaked under my weight as I stepped inside. Dust. Cobwebs. Empty silence. I was already imagining the real estate agent laughing when I tried to list this wreck.
And then—
"Welcome home, Master~!"
Something slammed into me with enough force to send us both crashing to the floor. My head rang, and when my eyes refocused… golden ones stared back. A girl. A cat-eared girl.
Her smile was sharp, mischievous, her tail flicking like an excited kitten. "Nyahaha~! You made it! You're the new owner, right?"
"WHAT?!"
I scrambled back, pointing at her ears. "Wh—Why do you have—those?!"
She tilted her head, ears twitching. "These? Oh, you mean my ears? I was born this way! I'm Sakura, the inns' chef!" She puffed her chest proudly, tail swishing.
"This inn hasn't had a guest in decades!" I shouted. "How can there be a chef?!"
"Because we never left, duh!" Sakura grinned.
Before I could process her nonsense, another voice cut in. Smooth. Refined.
"Sakura, restrain yourself. You're frightening him."
I turned—and froze.
A second girl approached, moving as though she floated. Long raven-black hair framed her face, her cat ears perfectly poised. She carried herself like nobility, her sharp eyes calm and commanding.
"I am Hime," she said, bowing slightly. "I have tended this inn for as long as I can remember. And if you truly hold the deed…" her gaze pierced me, "…then you are now our master."
"Master?! Hold on, I didn't sign up for—"
Whump!
A pillow smacked into my back.
"Can you all keep it down…?" A sleepy voice drifted from the corner. There, sprawled across a futon, was a third girl. Silver hair messily framed her face, her ears drooping lazily. She yawned, curling deeper into the blanket.
"Nana," Hime sighed, "must you always sleep at such times?"
"I was dreaming of tuna…" Nana murmured, before promptly dozing off again.
I stood frozen. Three girls. All with tails. All acting like this was perfectly normal.
My voice cracked. "Okay—someone explain what the hell is going on!"
Sakura hopped up onto the counter like an actual cat, grinning. "Simple! The Nine Lives Inn is home to nine of us—cat spirits bound here until our master restores the inn's glory. That's you, nya~."
Hime folded her arms, more serious. "Inheriting the deed made you the Keeper of the Nine Lives. You cannot simply walk away."
"And if I do?" I challenged.
The lanterns flickered. Shadows stretched unnaturally across the walls, nine sets of glowing feline eyes watching me. A chill shot down my spine.
"You won't," Hime said simply.
Before I could argue further, the front door burst open with a loud BANG.
"Move aside, peasants! I smelled a human!"
A fourth girl strode in, dripping rain, her emerald eyes blazing. Her black hair clung to her cheeks, and a pair of daggers glinted at her belt. She gave me a once-over, then scoffed.
"This weakling is supposed to be our master? Hah. Pathetic."
Sakura hissed, tail puffing up. "Nyra! Don't scare him already!"
"I'm not scaring him. I'm testing him." Nyra smirked, leaning in close enough for me to see her sharp fangs. "If he can't survive me, he won't survive this place."
I staggered back, slamming into a wall. My heart pounded.
Four cat girls. All in one night. All looking at me like I was the key to their fate.
I gulped, clutching the deed tighter.
Maybe Grandpa wasn't crazy after all. Maybe I was.
And my life would never be normal again.
"Alright, Master!" Sakura suddenly clapped her hands, her tail flicking eagerly. "To celebrate your arrival, I'll make you a feast!"
"Wha—wait, you can cook?" I asked, remembering the dust and cobwebs coating the entire building.
"Of course!" she grinned, puffing out her chest. "I'm the chef! Just leave it to me, nya~!"
Before I could object, she darted off toward the back kitchen. Pots clattered, pans banged, something exploded.
Hime pressed a hand to her forehead with a sigh. "This will not end well."
We all peeked through the doorway.
The kitchen was a battlefield. Flour clouds filled the air like smoke. Sakura was tossing vegetables into a pan without chopping them, a fish tail was sticking out of a boiling pot, and she was humming cheerfully as flames licked the stovetop.
"Behold, my masterpiece!" she cried, holding up a blackened, vaguely food-shaped object that sizzled ominously.
"It's… smoking," I muttered.
"It's flambé, nya~!" she corrected proudly.
The "masterpiece" slid off the plate and hit the floor with a splat.
Nyra burst into laughter, doubling over. "This is your chef? No wonder this place fell apart!"
"Shut it, hunter girl!" Sakura snapped, brandishing a frying pan like a weapon.
"Do not fight in the kitchen," Hime scolded.
And then—
Thump.
Everyone turned.
Nana, who had apparently followed us into the kitchen, was now curled up on a sack of rice, snoring softly.
I blinked. "She fell asleep? Right now? In the middle of this?"
"She always does that," Hime said with the patience of someone who'd seen it far too many times.
Sakura's ears twitched indignantly. "But I worked so hard on this meal!"
"You worked hard on starting a fire," Nyra smirked, flicking her tail.
Flames suddenly roared higher from the stove.
"Gahhh! My masterpiece is alive!" Sakura shrieked, trying to beat the fire down with her pan.
I groaned, dragging a bucket of water over. "What did I just get myself into…?"
As the fire hissed out, smoke filling the room, Nana rolled over in her sleep and mumbled, "Tuna…"
I stared at the chaos—the would-be chef covered in soot, the warrior laughing, the noble shaking her head, and the napper drooling on rice—and realized this was my new reality.
The Nine Lives Inn wasn't haunted.
It was cursed.
And I was its new keeper.