Cats and the Camellia Train - Chapter 7

Location: Student Council Room

Leo: Comrades, huh~. Hearing that makes me wanna meet those guys ♪

Keito: In that case, get out of here already. There’s nothing left for you to tell me, right?

Leo: That’s true, but! You’re kind to your comrades, so why do you treat me so coldly?

Well, if Keito were to treat me with kindness, that’d give me shivers in its own way, though ♪

Keito: Hmpf. In that case I’ll give you some hot tea to warm you up.

Leo: Ugyah!? Don’t hold up the tea as if you’ll pour it on me! You’ll scald me~!

Keito, are you in some kinda good mood? Otherwise, you wouldn’t pull a prank like this?

In any case, thanks for the tea! I don’t really know why, but my throat is parched~. Sip, sip… Ooh, it’s warming me up~ ♪

Keito: Your throat is parched because you were humming to yourself while composing. Kanzaki, thank you. I’ll have some tea as well.

Leo: Hm? Keito, you weren’t the one who made this tea?

Keito: Right. He poured it for us as soon as we were done talking. It’s a great help having such a sensible kouhai.

Leo: I totally get that~. At our place we also have a junior who’s excessively sensible. I often stay over at the Kyudo Club, and he always has livingware and such ready for me.

Keito: Are you talking about Suou?

Leo: Eh, how’d you know? Amazing, are you some kind of esper!?

Keito: ...Bastard, it’s unthinkable but could it be that you’ve forgotten I’m a member of the Kyudo Club as well?

Leo: Huh…? Err….

Ah, you’re right! Now that you say it, wahahahaha ☆

Keito: Incorrigible… I really wonder what’s going on in that head of yours.

Whatever. In any case, even though the kyudo hall is extraterritorial*, don’t treat it as your living quarters. Keep order in the hall, even when you sleep over there. You’re too slovenly.

Souma: Fufu. Hasumi-dono and Tsukinaga-dono sure are close.

Keito: Is that how it looks? I’m reluctant to be thought of as close with a problem child like this, though.

In any case, Tsukinaga, the ones who were going to work as waiters were you and Narukami, and Nito as well, right?

Souma: Hmm. The ringleader of “Rabittsu”?

Narukami-dono said he’d look for the remaining “weitaas”, and sure enough, with Tsukinaga-dono and Nito-dono, we have enough people.

Leo: Yep, yep! Naru happened to come to me to consult about a matter relating to Knights, so I heard about it~.

It’d save him the trouble of recruiting people, so I nominated myself.

I am a cat lover after all. Well, I’ve never done customer service before, so I’m not sure what to do but, who cares. Since the customers are cat lovers as well, we’ll surely get along  ♪

Keito: They’re customers, so being too buddy-buddy with them isn’t praiseworthy.

Leo: You’ve totally become a straight-laced person, haven’t you.

Anyway, you’re also planning to accept the job as a waiter, aren’t you, Keito? Since you’re a fellow cat lover~ ♪

Souma: Ooh, so Hasumi-dono is a cat lover as well!

Keito: I don’t particularly like or hate them. Don’t say stuff that’s uncalled-for, Tsukinaga.

Leo: Eh~, I didn’t say anything that’s uncalled-for, though?

Ah, that’s right! Just a while ago, Little John gave birth to kittens. Back then, I took a picture of Keito with the kittens. Wanna see?

Keito: Eh? W-when did you take such a picture!?

Stop it, don’t show him that. It’s not like it’s objectionable to be showing that picture to people, but don’t show him that.

Leo: Wahaha, you’re becoming frantic~! ….Hm? Oh-oh?

Hm~, it seems like I lost my smartphone along with my writing tools! Wahaha, I wonder where it went~?

Keito: Don’t go losing important stuff so easily! Also, once you find your smartphone, delete that data immediately.

Leo: Do you hate it that much? I get it, I get it. I’ll stop showing it to people.

Or rather, the conversation’s gotten derailed so I’ll bring it back to the point. Keito, you’re accepting the waiter job, right?

Souma: It might be an impertinent remark, but I think Hasumi-dono and Kiryuu-dono are too busy for that. The two of them will pour their energy into the “raibu”, and I’ll be the only one helping out.

Keito: ...Kanzaki, what are you saying?

Souma: What I’m saying is that I’ll be the only one accepting the “weitaa” job?

Keito: I see. Good grief, you’re incorrigible.

Souma: Eh? Did I say something unnecessary? I- It’s inexcusable! I’ll apologize, I’m prepared to commit seppuku and resign!

Keito: Don’t commit seppuku. Kanzaki, don’t you want to appear in the live and work the cat café?

Souma: Y-yes. But I’d feel sorry if I asked you the unreasonable of you two, Hasumi-dono.

Keito: Hmpf, don’t underestimate us. We’ll do both the live and the waiter job with ease.

Besides, the client would probably also prefer one unit to do both jobs.

Since we’re accepting the job, we’ll execute it perfectly. Akatsuki is going to participate as waiters, too.

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

*For anyone who missed it/forgot, Keito abused his authority to make the kyudo hall extraterritorial in order to chase out delinquents who were harassing Little John. Leo explains it in detail in Robin Hood.

Cats and the Camellia Train - Chapter 8

Location: Cat Café in the Streetcar

- A few days later, in the cat café -

Leo: Wahahahaha ☆ Don’t lick my cheek, it tickles ♪

Hm? What’s wrong? You want me to pet you, too? Of course, I’ll pet you lots and lots, too!

Ooh, you’re laying down with your belly showing… You trust me, huh? That makes me so happy~! Fluff fluff, fluff fluff...♪

Keito: Tsukinaga, don’t bury your face in that cat’s belly, it’s shameful.

Leo: Who cares if it’s shameful~♪ Keito, come on and join in! It feels so good I might just fall asleep like this~ ♪ Aah, this is pure happiness...☆

Keito: Hmpf, I’m used to cats thanks to Little John. There, there...♪

Leo: Huh? As soon as Keito approached him, he turned the other way and ran off somewhere?

Now that I look closely, it’s only around Keito that there are no cats whatsoever… Could it be you’re being hated?

Keito: Don’t say weird stuff like that. If I were hated by cats, it’d be strange for Little John to be attached to me. It’s just by chance that there are no cats around me.

Leo: Eh~. But there’s so many cats here, so shouldn’t there be at least one of them approaching you?

Leo: You’re making such a scary face, that’s why the cats are scared of you. Smile, smile, good fortune and happiness will come to those who smile~♪

Keito: H-Hey now! Don’t pull on my cheeks! Incorrigible.

Good grief… When it comes to how bad our facial features are, Kiryuu is above me, though.

Kuro: Hasumi no Danna, I heard that. I was born with this face, so I can’t help it, okay.

But I wonder why these guys are so attached to me. They’ve been crowdin’ around my legs for a while and I can’t move.

Uh-oh, here comes another one… Sheesh, you’re still just a kitten. It’d be awful if you fell and got yourself hurt, so I’ll hold you.

Hm? Little Miss, why are you gigglin’ to yourself?

Aah, are you tryin’ to say I was being needlessly anxious about the cats hatin’ me? Certainly, rather than bein’ scared, they seem to be real attached to me.

Maybe they’re not afraid of me because they’re used to people?

Well, for now I’m just glad the cats aren’t scared of me. I’m not so sure about the people, though?

 

Kuro: Hm~. If I keep standin’ the cats are gonna climb up my legs, so I guess I’ll sit down for now.

Sheesh… Respect the order of things and wait on my lap, you guys. Don’t cut in line, get along.

Arashi: Kyaan! What’s with this heart-pounding scene!

Kuro: Uwah, Narukami. Don’t come closer while wiggling your hips like that. I got so surprised I almost dropped the cat.

Arashi: Ah, I’m so sorry. Ufufu, seeing the cats being so attached to Kiryuu-senpai made my heart beat faster.

Look, that kind of thing often happens in shoujo manga, right? You think he’s a delinquent, but then you see him picking up a kitten that’s been abandoned in the rain and realize he’s actually a kind person~, scenes like that ♪

Kuro: Shoujo manga? I don’t really get what you’re sayin’...

Arashi: Oh my, could it be that Kiryuu-senpai doesn’t really read those kinds of books?

Kuro: I guess so. I have a little sister, but she’s more the type to read shounen manga rather than shoujo manga… So I’ve never really had the opportunity to read one.

Anyway, Narukami, can I entrust some of these cats to you? They’ve swarmed me completely, and I’m at a loss for how to deal with ‘em.

Arashi: Ufufu, that’s an easy task. Neko-chans, come on, come o~n ♪

Keito: (Hrm~m… I have a tendency to be overly meddlesome, so maybe that’s why I’m being hated.)

(Thinking that, I’ve been keeping still and waiting for the cats to approach me, but they still don’t come near me.)

(Just what is the cause of this? The cat café is going to open soon, and we’ll be working as waiters.)

(It’d be unfavorable if the cats kept avoiding me, so I need to find the reason for this and come up with a countermeasure.)

Nazuna: Keito-chin, what’s wrong, you’re looking gloomy? There’s a wrinkle between your eyebrows~?

Keito: I’m the same as always. That aside, Nito, you seem to be well-liked by the cats, too.

Is there a trick to being liked by them or something?

Nazuna: Hm~m, you mean like avoiding their gaze? Just like humans, they can’t calm down when they’re being stared at.

Keito: Aah, that’s certainly true. Apparently I make people nervous just by standing there, so that’s something I pay attention to every day.

Nazuna: Sniff, sniff… Keito-chin, did you burn incense?

Keito: Incense…? Aah. This morning, I burned an incense stick while chanting sutras, so that’s probably what you’re smelling.

Nazuna: Hmm, so that’s what it is. Wait here just a moment, Keito-chin.

Keito: H-hey! ...Hrm~m, there he goes. What did he suddenly set his mind on doing?

………………

(A whole bunch of cats followed behind Nito. If I got close, they’d all run away, so I hesitate to go where the others are.)

(It can’t be helped, guess I can only sit in my chair and watch the others frolic with the cats.)