Late afternoon had already arrived by the time they reached the internet café.
The building looked the same as ever, with faded paint and a front light flickering weakly. But outside, several customers were already waiting with irritated looks on their faces.
"What took you so long to open?!" "I've been waiting since noon!"
Mikoto walked straight through the complaints without even glancing at them. Ana stopped for a moment and bowed politely.
"Sorry. We're open now."
Mikoto had already reached the door, his hand on the knob, when he stopped.
"...Ana."
"Yes, sir?"
"I'm hungry. Order sushi."
Ana let out a sigh. "How much?"
"As much as you can buy with the money you got from that thug earlier."
"...Understood."
She immediately took out her phone after opening the café door.
—
The café came back to life the moment the door opened. Chairs scraped, keyboards clattered, players' voices filled the room. Mikoto did not care. He went straight into the small back room, sat down, and reflexively turned on the CPU.
The machine powered up. The fan started spinning.
He looked ahead.
The monitor... was broken.
"...Ah."
"Wow, your internet café is pretty busy."
The voice came suddenly from beside him. Mikoto did not turn. He grabbed his Mitendo Swoosh, lay back, and launched his game.
"You're not surprised? Did you already figure it out when you stole my bike?"
She got no answer.
The woman stepped closer, then looked at the screen.
"Whoa—you play Pukimon?! Seriously? Your Mugicarp... evolved into Mega Gyadragon?!"
Her eyes sparkled. Mikoto remained silent, only moving his character across the screen.
—
BANG.
The door opened. Ana walked in carrying a pile of sushi, then stopped when she saw the woman beside Mikoto.
"...Sir. Am I seeing illusions again right now?"
Mikoto sat up and immediately grabbed some sushi.
"No. She says she's the owner of the bike we rode earlier."
"Oh... good. Then we don't need to return it."
"If there's still money left, buy me a new monitor from the shop next door."
Ana nodded, then turned and left again.
—
A few minutes later, the room was filled with large plates of sushi. The table, the chairs, the floor—everything was covered.
Mikoto sat in the middle of it all, eating while watching anime on his phone.
The woman looked around.
"...All of this is for you?"
No answer.
She moved closer, her hand slowly reaching for one piece—
PLAK!
Her hand was slapped away hard.
"That's mine," Mikoto said flatly, still chewing.
"Seriously? I just want one!"
"No."
"I haven't eaten! And you know, I'm exhausted from chasing you after you stole my bike." The woman looked annoyed, puffing out her cheeks.
Mikoto paused for a moment. "Fine. But only one."
The woman took a piece of sushi and ate it.
"Mmm... This is so good!"
When she reached for another piece—
PLAK!
Her hand was slapped away again.
"I said one," Mikoto said, still chewing his sushi.
The woman grew irritated.
"What kind of man gives a woman, who chased a thief for kilometers, just one piece of sushi as compensation? At the very least, you should give me this whole plate! No—five plates!"
Mikoto ignored her.
The woman got even angrier and reached for more sushi anyway.
Mikoto immediately shoved all the plates farther away. A small tug-of-war broke out. Sushi fell. Plates slid around.
"You're unbelievably stingy!" "That's mine."
—
BANG!
Ana came in again, this time carrying a new monitor.
"...Sir, the monitor—"
WHAM!
A plate flew through the air and smashed into it.
It shattered.
"What did you do to my monitor?!" Mikoto shouted while clutching several pieces of sushi and stuffing them into his mouth.
"You're the one who threw it!" The woman also crammed several pieces of sushi into her mouth.
The room grew even louder.
Ana said nothing.
She simply closed Mikoto's room door from the outside, then returned to the operator desk.
Ana looked at her monitor.
The screen was on—an image of the orphanage, children standing in front of it.
The noise from the room still drifted out faintly.
A memory flashed through her mind.
A cramped room. Cracked walls. The smell of dampness. A small child sat in the corner, watching the other kids push and fight over something. Laughter and crying echoed through the narrow room.
Then—
red light. Heat. Smoke filling the room. Fire crawling across the wooden walls. Someone screaming a name. The door closing.
And never opening again.
Ana blinked.
Back in the internet café.
The room was still noisy. Plates were scattered everywhere, sushi lying on the floor.
"You're so stingy!" "That's mine."
BANG!!
The door to the room was kicked open. The woman stood there, and behind her several plates of sushi hung motionless in the air.
Mikoto kept chewing his food.
With a quick flick of her hand, the plates flew out of the room. They spread across the main area and landed perfectly in front of the customers.
Not a single one missed.
"Help yourselves," she said casually.
For a moment, no one said anything. Then the complaints outside turned into laughter. The customers immediately rushed for the food.
A few minutes later, the atmosphere outside returned to normal.
Inside the room, everything went quiet.
The woman crossed her arms and looked at Ana.
"My name is Emily Iriya. Vice Captain of the Sleeping Blossom Guild. I came here to recruit you."
"No."
Mikoto cut in without even turning around, still eating.
Emily glanced at him.
"I wasn't talking to you."
"She's my employee," Mikoto replied flatly. "I'm not interested."
Emily's smile thinned.
"That has nothing to do with you. I'm recruiting her, not you."
Mikoto finally turned to look at her.
"If she leaves... who's going to run my internet café?"
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
Silence.
"...You're weird."
Mikoto went back to eating.
BOOM!!!
An explosion shook the building. Glass shattered. The walls trembled. Smoke rushed in from outside, and panicked voices rang out from the main room.
Ana stood up immediately.
Emily spun around at once.
Mikoto turned toward the explosion with an annoyed look on his face.