This is sooo stupid.

I glanced across the room, and Tori smiled, nodded, and gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up.

This is the dumbest thing I've ever done. But I straightened up, walked over to the counter, grabbed a menu, and with confident steps, approached the table where the couple sitting next to us were seated.

The girl was eating some kind of dessert with whipped cream, and the guy was drinking what looked like green tea. I walked up to them with the confidence of someone who had worked in this restaurant for years and asked:

"Did everything taste good? Would you like to order anything else?" I tried to sound as professional as possible. I wanted to add “Nya” at the end, like the girl who served us, but decided against it—waay too embarrassing.

They looked at me, their eyes widening slightly—there's no way they’d mistake me for a real waiter. They’re definitely going to think this is some kind of prank...

"Ah, thank you, the tea is very good. Amelia, how’s your dessert?" the guy asked, turning to his companion.

Amelia had her mouth full of dessert and couldn’t respond right away. She looked a bit flustered, glancing between me and her friend as she quickly tried to swallow.

I smiled, knowing it was time to move on to the second phase of Tori’s "plan," if you could even call it that.

"It looks like your girlfriend is enjoying her dessert as well," I said, trying to maintain an innocent smile.

Amelia turned bright red, and before she could manage to swallow, she started choking and ended up spitting her dessert—whipped cream—all over the table.

The guy just burst out laughing at the scene.

"No, no, we’re not together, we’re just friends..." he replied, still chuckling.

Amelia, still trying to regain her composure, swallowed the rest of what was in her mouth and loudly exclaimed, waving her hands as if to emphasize her point, "Friends, just friends!"

I decided to push a little further.

"From where I’m standing, it looks like you’re VERY close friends," I said, giving them a playful wink.

Suddenly, I felt a shift in the atmosphere, as if the air around us had subtly changed. The restaurant seemed to brighten, almost as if it was filled with a lighter, more vibrant energy and— was it just me, or did everything take on a slightly pinkish hue?

Both of them looked visibly embarrassed and flustered, their heads lowering in unison as if trying to hide. Amelia mumbled something under her breath—it sounded a bit like, "It’s not like that..." Her voice was barely audible, and her cheeks turned a deep shade of red.

For a brief moment, I could’ve sworn I saw tiny pink flowers blooming around the girl, like something out of a cheesy romance anime. I figured this was the moment Tori had mentioned—the cue to initiate "phase three."

"I wonder if you two know those suspicious people sitting at the table in the corner of the restaurant..." I said, pointing towards the "suspicious" trio dressed in brown coats. I still couldn’t figure out how they hadn’t been noticed yet.

The couple leaned out from their table, following the direction of my pointing finger. As soon as the trio of their "stalkers" realized that Amelia and her friend were looking their way, they jumped in their seats, hurriedly pulled their coats over their heads, and turned away in the opposite direction, trying to blend in even more awkwardly.

"I noticed they've been watching you two the entire time and were acting pretty suspiciously..." I added, keeping my voice low but laced with concern.

Amelia suddenly slammed her hands on the table and stood up with a burst of energy. "WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE?" she shouted, her voice echoing through the restaurant, before sprinting in their direction.

The guy sitting with her just shook his head and started laughing quietly, clearly amused by the whole situation.

I felt something shift in the air again, like another subtle click, though I wasn’t sure what had changed this time. But I guessed that this marked the end of "phase three." Time to head to the restroom, wait a few minutes, and then return to our table.

I still couldn’t believe I was going along with this ridiculousness, but I had to admit—I felt that something changed, something real. Maybe Tori wasn’t just messing with me after all.

----------------------------------------

10 minutes earlier:

"So, what’s this big task you want me to do for you?" I asked, trying to sound more curious than skeptical.

"I wouldn’t say it’s a task strictly for me, but yes, when you complete it, I’ll benefit from it as well," Tori replied with a mysterious smile.

"And?" I pressed, wanting more details.

"Hold on a moment, our order is coming," she said, glancing up just as the waitress approached our table.

A moment later, the waitress arrived with our drinks and food: a chocolate shake, a coffee, and an omelet. I figured the coffee was Tori’s choice.

"Nya, if you need anything else, feel free to call me, enjoy your meal, nya," she chirped before scurrying away as quickly as she had appeared.

Good-looking cat-eared waitresses dressed in maid outfits, huh? Yeah, it still makes me cringe a bit, but I have to admit, it’s not a bad sight.

Tori took a sip of her coffee, letting out a contented sigh. "Oh yes, that’s exactly what I needed... Now, where were we? Ah, the plan! So, do you see that couple sitting near us?"

"The tall guy with blue hair and the short girl with purple hair?" I asked, glancing over at the couple in question.

"Yes! Exactly them!" Tori’s eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief. "Did you notice anything unusual about them?"

I furrowed my brow, taking a longer look. "Besides the fact that they have brightly colored hair for some reason? They just look like an ordinary couple to me."

"But they’re not a couple, and that’s the problem. We need to help them become one as soon as possible," she explained.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Exactly what I said. I’ve got a simple, multi-step plan that’ll make our clueless victims realize their feelings for each other," she said with a grin, clearly enjoying the idea.

I looked at Tori like she had completely lost it.

"This has to be a joke, right? You can’t be serious—there’s no way this is the part of the ‘training’ you mentioned."

"Hu hu, that’s where you’re wrong, my naive student. And I think you’ll quickly learn to trust me in these matters. But before we get to that, tell me—did you notice anything else weird about that couple?"

This whole situation was just stupid.

Yet, I answered her question:

"Yeah... something else is ‘weird’ as you said it. They’re being stalked by three friends in brown coats. They’re sitting in plain view on the other side of the restaurant," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Huh, well done, Joshua! 10 out of 10 points. I didn’t expect you to be so observant. Now, let me explain our plan!" Tori said, grinning.

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"I don’t think I’m going to agree to this plan of yours..."

"Oh, hush and listen up. You’re going to play the role of a waiter here at this café," she said, ignoring my protests.

I looked around with growing skepticism.

"I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this is a cat-maid café. I don’t exactly have a cat costume or a maid outfit, and I’m pretty sure all the waitstaff are women..."

"You need to have more confidence in yourself! I’m sure you could pull off pretending to be a woman if you really tried!" she teased, clearly having way too much fun at my expense.

I let out a deep sigh, feeling a migraine starting to build between my temples.

"Alright, I’ll hear you out, but I’m reserving the right to refuse this plan of yours."

"Refusal has been denied," she replied in a flat, monotone voice before continuing, "So, here’s the deal: it’s good you dressed up a bit today. I’m sure that, with some confidence and a little acting, you’ll pull this off just fine. Step one: You need to walk towards the kitchen, but don’t actually go in. Wait around there for a couple of minutes, grab a menu, then head over to their table and ask if everything tasted good. That’s the first part. You need to be 100% confident and project what I call ‘waiter aura.’ I’m sure you’ll nail it."

Yeah, right—what the hell is a ‘waiter aura’? I thought, rolling my eyes internally.

"Next, you need to steer the conversation toward suggesting they’re a couple. How you do that is up to you—I’m sure you’ll come up with something. The final phase of your task is to point out the trio that’s been stalking them. Make sure they realize their friends are following them. After you pull this off, go to the restroom, wait a few minutes, and then come back to me as if nothing happened."

I sat there in silence, trying to process the "brilliant plan" my new "friend" had come up with. Normally, I’d assume Tori was trying to prank me, setting me up to embarrass myself.

I really hope that this is not the case there.

But given what I just saw—the restaurant twisting into some kind of surreal nightmare—this hardly feels like the time for a joke. The memory of these warped faces sent a chill down my spine again.

Wait a second—I didn’t even ask her if she saw the same thing I did. Ugh, how much of this was just in my head, and how much of it was real?

"Just tell me something," I paused, trying to figure out how to phrase the question, "What exactly happened after I asked you that question just before I started screaming at you? What did you see?"

Tori paused for a moment, her smile fading just a bit as she considered my question. "The better question is, what did YOU see? From my perspective the restaurant went dead silent, and everyone was staring at us. It was creepy but that’s pretty much the standard package in situations like this, as you’ll eventually learn. But the full brunt of that ‘attack’ was on you, not me, so I didn’t experience it all—you did. From where I was sitting, it looked like you freaked out after asking the question, jumped up like something bit you, and started yelling at me."

I winced at her description. "Ugh, sorry about that. What I saw was… something really terrifying. Everything warped, people’s faces started melting, and the atmosphere felt like a nightmare come to life. It didn’t feel real, but it didn’t feel fake either."

She nodded as if she had expected my answer. "I figured it was something like that. It’s pretty typical for this kind of… interaction. But don’t stress over it too much. Like I said, you’re not losing your mind. At least for now. But! Don’t worry your pretty little head about that stuff. What’s important is the task at hand! This is a crucial mission, Josh! You need to stay focused!" Her enthusiasm was almost comically out of place given what we were discussing.

I'm about to make a complete fool of myself, aren’t I? But if this somehow helps me figure out what’s really going on… I just hope this isn’t some kind of joke at my expense.

"Alright, I’ll do it. But if we get kicked out of this restaurant, it’s totally your fault."

----------------------------------------

Now.

"Mission accomplished." I announced, standing by our table and bringing my hand to my forehead in a mock salute, as if reporting to my commanding officer.

"Sit down and be quiet before they notice you and you ruin everything," she hissed, gesturing sharply at the chair.

"Alright, alright, I’m sitting. So, how do you rate my performance on your oh-so-important mission?" I asked with a smirk.

"Well, Josh, I’d give you a solid 8/10. There were a few places where you could’ve really played up the act more, but you did hit the key points," she responded, nodding approvingly.

"So, are you finally going to explain what the hell that was all about?" I asked, leaning forward, genuinely curious and more than a little annoyed.

"And again, I’d love to explain everything, but I can’t quite do that just yet. But I can give you a hint. Tell me, what did you feel when you hinted that they were a couple and saw their reaction?"

"Besides embarrassment?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, besides the embarrassment. Trust me, when working with me, embarrassment is far from the worst thing you’ll have to deal with," she said with a smirk, but something about her tone sent a chill down my spine.

"To be honest, it felt like… the lights got brighter? And more… pink? Like someone flipped a switch. I’m probably not describing it well, but it really did feel like some kind of switch was flipped, twice even."

"Yeah, I can see how it might’ve felt like that from your perspective. And that’s exactly what I wanted. As you can tell, something shifted. Thanks to that, I can now tell you a bit more without… side effects."

"So now you can actually tell me something useful? Alright then, let’s hear it" I said, leaning in, eager for answers.

"I’ll tell you what you need to do to make sure those side effects of our conversations don’t hit you as hard. It’s exactly what you just did."

"Huh? What do you mean? Are you saying I need to play cupid for random couples?" I asked, genuinely baffled by her suggestion.

"Hah, close, but not quite," she replied, a sly smile playing on her lips. "You need to find people who stand out. Think about that couple—what made them unique. And no, I’m not talking about their hair color or height difference, although those are clues that can help you spot the right people."

I leaned back in my chair, trying to digest what she was saying. "So, I’m supposed to find people who… stand out? Haven’t you heard the saying that everyone’s unique? Doesn’t that mean everyone stands out?"

"That’s not what I mean, and you’ll understand soon enough," she said, a hint of impatience in her voice. "At least, I hope you do. Without this skill… well, let’s just say things could get really difficult for you. What matters isn’t just finding these people, but what you do after you find them. You need to dive straight into their lives and mess with things, stir things up.”

I gave her a skeptical look, raising an eyebrow. I wasn’t even sure how to respond to that.

"Don’t give me that look, I know how it sounds. I could give you a detailed guide on what to do, different techniques to rack up ‘points,’ but honestly, it boils down to this—you have to get involved in the lives of people who stand out and change their story somehow. How it plays out is different for each of us, which is why it’s hard for me to explain exactly what you need to do."

"Get involved and change their story… huh, like here, they probably would never have ended up together, but thanks to us, they realized their feelings?" I asked, trying to piece it together.

As we talked, that weird tightness returned, the uncomfortable feeling that had attacked me before. But now, it was dulled, as if it was trying to reach me but wasn’t as strong.

"Not exactly," Tori continued, shaking her head slightly. "That couple we meddled with today would’ve ended up together eventually anyway. All we did was speed up the process a bit. I think you need one more example, and I just happen to have an idea whose life we can mess with next."

"You keep saying ‘we,’ like you actually did anything," I muttered, half-joking.

"Hey, I came up with the entire plan and convinced you to carry it out. I’m the brains, you’re the brawn of this operation," she replied, flashing me a broad grin.

"Whatever. If this is what it takes to get me in on your whole conspiracy, then fine," I said, though as soon as I mentioned “conspiracy,” that uncomfortable pressure and tightness crept back in. But just as quickly as it came, it faded—much faster than it did in earlier situations.

It seems like Tori is right, but I’m not sure if I’m thrilled about it. The idea of doing more stuff that’s just as embarrassing doesn’t exactly fill me with excitement.

----------------------------------------

"I consider this date a success! It was a pleasure working with you, Josh! Well, except for when you yelled at me, but I totally get why you reacted that way." Tori said as we stepped outside the café. True to her word, she paid for everything, which honestly made me feel a bit awkward. And now, with her mentioning my outburst, I felt even more embarrassed.

"Yeah, it was… an interesting experience. So, what’s next in my ‘training’?" I asked, trying to shift the focus.

"I’ve got a few things to take care of first. I’ll get in touch in a few days, and then we’ll plan the next steps. In the meantime, I have a little homework for you."

"I hate homework," I laughed, trying to keep the mood light. "But fine, as long as it’s nothing too weird."

"It shouldn’t be too bad… I think," she smirked. "Just try not to get into any trouble until I get back, okay?"

"What kind of trouble could I even get into?"

"Well, Josh, the thing is, I’m pretty sure you’re going to start noticing more strange things around you. And we wouldn’t want you stumbling into something you can’t get out of."

"Uh… any specific things I should avoid?"

"Hmm, it’s hard to say, but if you see any suspicious people, or if something weird or creepy catches your attention… just steer clear of it for now until I’m back, alright?"

"You don’t have to tell me twice. I’m not exactly the kind of guy who goes looking for trouble."

"Good! At least for now. Hold off on seeking out trouble until I’m around—we’ll go looking for it together!"

Ugh, I really don’t like the sound of what she’s implying.

"Okay?" I replied, a bit confused and honestly starting to feel exhausted by all of this.

"Alright then, it’s been fun, but all good things must come to an end. Until next time!" she waved before, just like last time, running off in the opposite direction.

She didn’t seem in a rush earlier—I was kind of hoping I could at least walk her home.

"See you… next time?" I muttered quietly, mostly to myself, before heading home.

After getting home, I collapsed onto my bed, and a sudden wave of warmth and comfort washed over me, I could feel myself relaxing completely. Moments later, for the first time in what felt like ages I drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep…