Shoko-san was humming a happy little tune to herself. She was out shopping in Kami, by herself. When they’d returned home from Tokyo, Paul-san had given her a bus pass, and a weekly allowance and told her she could do whatever she liked with them.
So now she was happily walking through town, sucking on a peppermint candy cane, her miko robes trimmed with green sparkly tinsel and a Santa-san hat on her head. The shop owner had even altered the hat for her, so her ears poked through two holes.
She considered herself the happiest Kitsune alive right now! She even had a whole two thousand yen left to spend, enough for a used video game for Aimi-chan perhaps, as long as it wasn’t a popular one.
Shoko considered the matter carefully. She wanted to get presents; that was what one was supposed to do for Kurisumasu, and Paul-san had said she could do what she liked with her allowance. But if she wanted to get nice presents, she’d have to either save up, or find more money somehow.
It was a bit of a conundrum, because she also wanted to spend her allowance too. Shoko found money complicated, until recently she hadn’t really had any use for it. If she needed food, she worked for it. The local farmers knew that if they found a pail of milk on their doorstep, it was because she’d milked the goats for them, and taken some for herself. Sometimes she’d do chores that obviously needed doing, like weeding or painting, and they’d leave out things for her, like bacon or cheese.
But now she had money, she could buy what she wanted.
She still did things for the people living around her, because that’s what one did. It was good to help people, and she enjoyed it. Before Paul came, Shoko had often hidden nearby after she’d finished doing something like the weeding, just so she could watch people’s reactions when they found what she’d done. There were times she’d skipped away from a place, hugging herself in glee.
Money however, meant that she could do more, not less. If someone was short of few eggs, instead of having to spend an hour or two collecting them on a neighbours farm, she could buy them from a store.
Although it was still more fun to collect the eggs herself. Just it was quicker the other way, which meant she had more time to do things… and people still were pleased to find even store bought stuff on their doorstep.
The really good part though was that now she didn’t have to hide, she could ask them what they needed, and give it to them directly. The bus pass had come in handy, because now she could collect a shopping list from the older neighbours, and head into town to get stuff for them. She’d gotten more head pats recently, than she’d ever had before, and now instead of people leaving plates of fried tofu out, she could sit at the table and eat!
Money also meant she could buy things for herself, like pocky, rather than trading with Tomaso for it… but she still gave Tomaso funny-looking bugs and other things she found, because that’s what Tomaso liked and Shoko liked her reaction when she found her something interesting. Just nowadays Tomaso could invite her into her house, and they could look up information on whatever-it-was together!
Only just yesterday Tomaso’s mother had even brought them both a plate of cookies and a glass of milk each, as they’d sat at the kitchen table looking up stuff in Tomaso’s books. Oddly enough, she’d thanked Shoko for being friends with Tomaso… Shoko hadn’t quite understood why though. But apparently humans had peculiar ideas about what people should be like, and Tomaso had problems making friends. Tomaso’s mother had tried to explain, something about Tomaso being autistic.
Shoko had shrugged, saying it was nothing. Tomaso was different, but no more than any other Yokai, and she was friendlier than a lot of humans were. Tomaso’s mother had gotten an odd look on her face at that point, but had nodded and thanked her again.
Thinking of Tomaso, Shoko decided to walk past the book store in town, and see if they had any books on the natural world for her. Buying one would be a big gift, the large ones with full colour pictures were not cheap and it would mean Shoko would have to save up even more of her allowance. But Tomaso would enjoy it so much that it would be worth it. She hardly ever smiled, rarely said anything at all… but if you knew what to look for, Tomaso’s moods were as easy to read as the sky and wind were, and just as reliable as the smell of rain on the wind, so Shoko could tell when Tomaso was smiling on the inside by the way she half closed her eyes. But a gift like that might even make her smile just a bit. Shoko got a warm happy feeling inside just thinking about!
A few minutes later, and Shoko had her nose pressed up against the glass front of the book store. There in the window was a HUGE book on wildlife, with glorious colour pictures…
Shoko bit her lip, it was a perfect gift for her friend… but it cost nearly six thousand yen! That was nearly half as much again her weekly allowance, even if she didn’t spend any of it! Shoko sighed, she already knew that the bookseller wouldn’t let her pay a bit each week. She’d asked just yesterday for Jiao when they’d been shopping for school books together. Paul had said he’d buy Jiao’s as well as hers in the end, although he’d glared at the book store owner.
Shoko crunched the last of her candy cane, sighed and walked away from the store, wondering what to do. As was usual when she wasn’t paying attention to where she went, her feet ended up taking her some place she hadn’t been, and Shoko looked up, and found herself wandering down a side street she hadn’t seen before. She smiled to herself, happy that her feet had decided she should explore instead of worry.
There was a cafe nearby, with a delicious smell coming from it. Shoko went to look, almost laughing as she read the name. The place was called The Yokai Cafe! It’s sign almost, but not quite, like the The Ok Cafe’s sign board in the anime of the same name. There was a chalk board outside it with the words ‘Grand Opening’ on it.
She looked at the price list in the window, and was tempted, but as she debated the relative merits of a french cream horn over a strawberry parfait, she suddenly forgot all about treating herself. There in the corner of the window was a small sign; “Help wanted: 3 afternoons a week. 1¥k per hour.”
Shoko hurried inside, and stopped as a bakeneko in a maid’s uniform came up to her.
“Welcome to The Yokai cafe! My name is Etsu, how may I serve you?”
Shoko blinked, and then grinned.
“You’re a real cat spirit?”
The girl nodded, smiling back.
“Yes! We’re all real yokai here...and I know who you are! You’re Shoko, from Yokai Metal, you’re famous! Anything you want is on the house...”
Shoko shook her head.
“Oh, no. I should pay like everyone else, it’s only fair… but that’s not why I came in. You have a sign saying help wanted? I’d like a job please.”
The girl’s green eyes widened and her long white tail with the black tip stiffened out of surprise.
“But...you’re famous! You’re a star, why do you need a job?”
Shoko sighed.
“I only get four thousand yen a week allowance, and I want to buy presents for my friends.”
The girl’s ears flattened and her tail dropped.
“Being a famous musician doesn’t pay well?”
“I don’t know... Paul-san says I’m not allowed more until I know how to handle money. Which is fair I suppose, I never had any before.”
“Oh! I see… well, I suppose there’s no harm in asking Kokoro-sama, she’s the owner of the cafe. No-one else has applied yet, but today is only our first day open.. so.. anyway. This way if you please miss.”
Kokoro turned out to be an oni. She was in the kitchen, smartly dressed in black trousers, white shirt and tie, with a green apron. She had a pair of spectacles on, and was very carefully making tiny spun-sugar flowers to go on top of some confections of mostly cream and flaky pastry. She peered at Shoko and the cat girl maid over the tops of her glasses.
“No customers in the kitchen, I know I told you that Etsu-chan.”
“But boss, Shoko-san is applying for the job.”
Kokoro dusted the powdered sugar off her hands… although you could hardly see where it was since her skin was almost the same colour, and pushed her glasses up into her short black hair as she regarded Shoko thoughtfully.
“Oh. I see. Well, show me your hands Shoko-san please.”
Shoko held her hands out, turning them over when Kokoro indicated. Shoko had no idea what she was looking for, but whatever it was, she seemed to find Shoko’s hands acceptable.
“Etsu-chan, please show Shoko-san the proper way to hold a tray, then you copy her Shoko.”
Etsu picked up a tray, placing several glasses on it, and balanced it on the fingertips of one hand, carrying it aloft. She weaved around the kitchen table with grace, before placing the tray down.
Grinning at Shoko she said,
“Your turn Shoko-san.”
Mildly puzzled Shoko picked up the tray, and copied what Etsu had done. She even added a bob of a bow at the end, since she wanted to make a good impression.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Kokoro-san studied her thoughtfully.
“How good are you at adding up and subtracting?”
“Eh? I can do sums in my head, even big numbers, and get them right. I’ve been helping Paul-san with the temples ledgers. I know how to use an abacus.”
“Ah, most people use calculators...but an abacus could work as a nice feature too…. Ok, when can you start?”
Shoko thought for a second, and shrugged.
“Well, I don’t have anything else planned for today… So, now?”
Kokoro-san smiled slowly.
“I like your spirit! Ok, we don’t have a uniform for you yet, so we’ll start you with something easy. I’ve a stack of flyers that needs handing out; if you can get those done by lunch time, we’ll count that as your first shift. How’s that sound?”
“Ok!”
After Kokoro-sama had explained what she was supposed to do, Shoko-san set off with a satchel full of flyers and leaflets, distributing them around town… concentrating on where journalists might be, but only handing the ones with discount coupons to people that seemed friendly. Kokoro-sama was counting on their curiosity about Yokai to bring them in, but she wanted to make her cafe known as a yokai friendly place too, which meant not too many reporters, and not the bothersome ones.
Shoko wondered how Kokoro-sama would take care of reporters who were bothersome, but she figured that the slim short-haired woman was an oni after all… she could throw them out the door quite literally. With one hand!
Shoko quietly giggled to herself at the mental image. It would be like something from an anime! She wondered if she should get some chalk, and mark lines at one metre intervals so Kokoro-sama could keep score of how far she threw them… maybe she’d ask when she got back.
Shoko had almost finished handing out the flyers and was heading along the sea-front to the Ocean Life Centre when she ran into an unexpected situation that made her stop and stare. There was a tall young woman walking along the sea-front in the opposite direction to Shoko. For a moment Shoko thought it was Katsu, they looked so alike… but her hair was as white as Katsu’s was black, her eyes were a shade of light grey that was almost steel-coloured, and she was completely naked.
Shoko wasn’t the only one staring at her because of that.
The other thing that made Shoko stop and stare was that despite appearances, the odd looking woman utterly did not feel like she was human. Her aura was a yokai of some sort… Shoko couldn’t tell what though, she’d never encountered anyone whose aura felt so strange. It was dense, almost palpably solid, and hard and gave off the sense of tremendous power and sadness. But for all that, she seemed oddly fragile and although her face was expressionless, she radiated bewilderment and confusion. The way she kept looking around also made Shoko think she was either lost, or looking for something… or probably both.
Shoko looked around, but there didn’t seem to be anyone looking after the young woman, and she didn’t like the looks she was getting from the young men. She considered calling Paul-san, but he’d said he was going to be busy today. So Shoko decided to deal with it herself.
“Excuse me, are you lost?”
The woman looked down at Shoko, as if she was trying to remember if she knew her or not… and then slowly shook her head.
“No. I know where I am.”
“Oh. That’s good… have you lost something?”
Besides your clothing that is... Shoko thought to herself. Up close the woman looked a lot like Katsu did, and not just because she was tall, their faces were almost the same too. The woman slowly nodded.
“Yes, I have… but… I don’t remember what.”
Her voice was odd too, it was flat, monotone...and yet… she sounded puzzled. Shoko looked at her for a moment. Could this actually be Katsu, somehow? Paul-san had said she’d turned up, changed somehow. Shoko hadn’t seen her, she’d been resting at home since the day before yesterday.
Shoko studied the woman thoughtfully, then shrugged.
“Ok! I’ll help you look. First things first, you need clothes.”
“Why?”
Shoko blinked… whoever, or whatever she was, she was either some yokai from somewhere very remote and unused to human society, or she’d lost her memories if she was actually Katsu.
“Um.. well.. I guess to keep warm and because it’s rude to walk around naked….”
“Oh. Then I need clothes.”
Shoko started to weave an illusion around the woman, but she looked around and then strode towards the group of young men nearby. Shoko’s eyes widened as she walked up to them, looking up and down first one, then another. She stopped in front of one that was almost as tall as she was.
“I need your clothes. Your jacket, shirt and trousers. Take them off.”
The young man laughed at her.
“I’ve got a better idea. Let’s all go for a ride, and we’ll give you something to keep you warm..”
The young man put his hand on the odd woman’s arm as his friends closed in around her. Shoko got two steps towards them, and suddenly the rude young man came flying over the heads of his friends. By the time Shoko had run over, the only person standing was the white haired version of Katsu.
“You shouldn’t have done that!”
“Was that against the rules of engagement? He initiated combat first...”
“Not the point, yokai aren’t allowed to fight humans like that!”
“Yokai? Is that what I am?”
Shoko didn’t know what to say to that… she just stared at the woman, who was calmly removing the jacket from the unconscious youth. It wasn’t until she started tugging at the belt of his trousers that Shoko recovered.
“Stop that!”
“Why? You said I need clothing.”
“It’s stealing! Besides, I don’t think they’ll fit you… Here, stand still a moment.”
Shoko grabbed a denim jacket from the hood of the car and rewove it using magic, then passed the resulting skirt over to the young woman.
“Put this on, then we should go...”
The young woman studied the skirt for a moment as if she’d never seen one before, which was possible Shoko thought, then fastened it around her waist. She zipped the green nylon jacket up as far as it would go, which was only about half way before her curves stopped it.
“This jacket is inadequate to cover me.”
Shoko looked at her, and sighed. Somehow, she looked even more naked now.
“I can see that. It will have to do though. We can’t stay here, let’s go!”
“Go where?”
“Away! Anywhere that’s not here. After that, umm…..”
Shoko fell silent as they walked, hurriedly, away. Where to take this odd yokai? She pondered… her first thought was to take her home, but the more she thought about it, the less she was sure that was a good idea. At least, not right away.
If this was Katsu, her parents would be looking for her… and while if that was the case Paul-san or Kiko could call them, there were reporters lurking around outside the temple still. Paul-san had told her it was important they didn’t find out that Katsu was part of their family, not just yet. So she could have a normal human life still.
Shoko didn’t understand why that was important, but both Inari and Paul-san had said it was, so she decided that perhaps risking exposing maybe-Katsu to the reporters wouldn’t be a good idea. Perhaps she ought to take her to her home instead.
Except of course, Shoko didn’t know where the Yamato residence was either…
In the end she did the only thing she could think of, which was to head back to The Yokai Cafe, with could-be Katsu in tow.
The cafe was busier than when Shoko left earlier, Etsu was busy serving, so Shoko found them both a table by the kitchen door, and slipped inside to find Kokoro-san.
“I’m back, Kokoro-san!”
“Oh Shoko-san… that was quick! There’s a lot of customers.... would you mind helping serve?”
“Ok. Can I use the phone first please?”
“Ah, of course, you’ll want to call Holmes-sama and let him know where you’ll be, yes?”
“Yes, and I need to make another call as well if that’s ok...but I need to look up the number for that and I don’t know how.”
“Oh… call directory enquires. Dial 104, and ask. This isn’t going to cost a lot is it?”
“No. It’s a local number I need, the Yamato residence.”
“Oh, ok. Don’t take too long, we could do with the help really… the flyers worked!”
Shoko grinned.
“Yay!”
Three quarters of an hour later, and Shoko, who was wearing an apron and helping serve, heard the bell jingle on the door. Looking up her eyes widened slightly… Katsu had walked in, with Inari. Shoko glanced over at the corner where the faux-Katsu sat.
“Well, that answers one question.” She muttered to herself, before hurrying forward.
“Mother Inari, Katsu, thank you for coming. I didn’t know what else to do!”
Inari ruffled Shoko’s hair, smiling at her as she spoke.
“You did well, daughter mine… We’ll take care of the false one from here.”
Shoko suddenly had a bad feeling…
“Okāsan! She’s done nothing wrong, Inari-sama… she’s just sat there quietly, eating. I… I don’t think she means any harm.”
Inari and Katsu exchanged a look, and Katsu remarked.
“I would like to speak to the person who is wearing my face. See who she is.”
Inari nodded slowly, then glanced at Shoko, and then over at Kokoro who was peering out through the kitchen door nervously.
“Mm. Talking is better than fighting, and I think the proprietress would prefer it if we didn’t destroy her cafe on the day it opened. Besides, I think I’d like to try some of those pastries...”
Shoko took that as her cue and launched into work mode, getting Inari and Katsu seated at the same table as not-Katsu, while taking their orders.
Shoko hurried through to the kitchen, where she was pulled aside by Kokoro, who hissed at her.
“Hst! Shoko, is there going to be a fight?”
Shoko shook her head.
“Okāsan Inari likes the look of your pastries too much.. and I think Katsu is too curious.”
Kokoro nodded looking relieved.
“Ok… good. Having two Goddesses in my cafe on opening day is nerve wrecking though. Not to mention whatever that… doppleganger... thing is.”
“She’s lost, that was she is. I think, I could be wrong, but I think she’s a fragment of Katsu’s power that got broken off somehow...”
Kokoro scowled at that, which despite her being an oni, only managed to make her look mildly displeased. Her face wasn’t really built for it, as it seemed to naturally settle into a smile instead.
“There are stories about that sort of thing… cautionary ones.”
Shoko nodded slowly, she’d heard the same stories too, then shrugged.
“Still… I think this is one of the ones where the moral is, don’t make assumptions. She doesn’t seem to be a bad person. I can’t imagine any part of Katsu being a bad person really. Besides, anyone who enjoys a chocolate torte that much can’t be all bad...”
“Well, that’s true, and she’s polite as well. I suppose we’ll just have to see. Still, saying Inari eats here is going to be good for business! Ok, let’s get to work now!”