[Weekend morning.]
Logically speaking, without the pressure of schoolwork, Van should be able to sleep in.
But just like usual, he got up early and made himself a simple breakfast.
After all, sleep was something that, to him, could exist or not exist, it didn't really matter.
Also, there was one more thing. Van had no money. He had to go work to earn some.
Looking at the completely empty fridge and the shriveled wallet, after cursing a certain cabbage-head a thousand times, Van pushed open the door of the apartment.
After several transfers on public transport, Van successfully arrived at the destination of this outing, which was also his part-time workplace: a café named "Cat's Tail."
Pushing open the café door, what greeted him was a pink-haired girl wearing cat ears.
"Customer, welcome t—oh... it's Van."
Seeing that it was Van, the pink-haired girl immediately dropped her formal smile. "You're late today~ Better be careful or I'll tell Margaret!"
Seeing the bad-smiling pink-haired girl, Van, not wanting to get his pay docked, decisively used his go-to method that never failed.
"Diona, I know you're the best. After all, you're going to be the world-famous coffee master someday. Surely you won't make things hard for someone like me, who has no coffee talent at all, right?"
Looking at Diona, whose face started to flush red, Van pulled out the finishing blow, "Right, I heard you've been researching a few new coffee recipes lately. I can be your taste tester~"
Looking at Van's sincere expression, Diona felt warm inside.
Not because of anything else, but because the coffee she made tasted terrible. For some unknown reason, any coffee made by Diona would inexplicably have an alcoholic smell.
Even though during the entire brewing process, she absolutely did not use any alcohol or alcohol-related ingredients.
As a result, no one in the "Cat's Tail Café" was willing to drink Diona's coffee.
This was a huge blow to Diona, who loved coffee.
Of course, someone might raise a question, would any café even hire a barista who can't make good coffee?
To this, the boss Margaret had this to say, "Well, what can I say? She's just too cute~"
Then Van appeared, and under the astonished gazes of everyone in the café, calmly drank Diona's coffee.
When others cautiously asked Van how it was, Van slowly put down the coffee cup and smiled as he said, "I can feel 'heart' in this cup of coffee."
Thinking of this, Diona's face flushed even more red, and she stuttered, "W-What... don't think you can say stuff like that and... forget it, since you really want to drink it that badly, I'll reluctantly agree~"
After saying that, Diona bounced away, leaving Van smiling silently where he stood.
Because of that incident, Van was treated with amazing kindness by the café staff. They all saw him as an extremely gentle person.
After all, in their eyes, Diona's coffee was on the level of a god-slaying weapon.
But Van himself just thought they were being overly dramatic. A cup of coffee, that's all. He'd seen things much scarier than that.
As night approached, Van also finished his work for the day.
Just as he was about to head to the locker room to change clothes, he noticed a "little tail" following not too far behind.
Seeing a certain pink-haired girl hiding in the corner of a wall, Van smiled and walked over.
On Diona's side, she was still struggling to think of a reason to invite Van to taste her new coffee.
Even though Van had said that morning he could be her taste tester, Diona still found it hard to bring up.
After all, who knew if he was just being polite?
Just as Diona was hesitating, a voice suddenly came from above her head:
"Diona, so this is where you were."
Facing the sudden appearance of Van beside her, Diona jumped like a startled kitten.
"Meow~!"
Seeing Diona's completely red face, Van didn't tease her anymore and got straight to the point:
"Diona, it's been a busy day. I'm a bit thirsty, could I trouble you to brew me a cup of coffee?"
Hearing someone actually ask her to make coffee, Diona's eyes lit up quite a bit.
But then she suddenly remembered that this guy had just made her look silly earlier.
So Diona deliberately turned her head arrogantly:
"Hmph~ I'm super busy, okay? Where would I find the time to make coffee for you..."
Her words nearly made the male staff member wiping the table nearby burst into laughter.
Busy?
Her so-called "busy" meant acting as the café's mascot all day and accepting treats from female customers.
In his eyes, whether Diona was busy or not was questionable, but she was definitely well-fed.
On the other hand, maybe because she remembered Van was the only person in the entire Cat's Tail café willing to drink her coffee, Diona hurriedly added, "I-I mean, if you really insist... then I might be willing..."
"I knew it, Diona's the kindest and cutest. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to make coffee for me." Van pressed his palms together and smiled.
"You!" Diona's face instantly turned beet red and she quickly turned away, walking toward the counter:
"Wait there, it'll be ready soon!"
Van looked at the pink-haired catgirl standing on tiptoes on a chair, working hard to brew coffee, his face full of a doting smile.
Honestly, he didn't even know why he felt this way toward Diona.
Maybe... it reminded him of another interesting little cat?
Van thought. He wondered, in that era and that world, had that little cat achieved her dream. Did she have enough sunshine to bask in, enough time to nap in the afternoons?
———
Van said goodbye to his coworkers at the café and began his journey home.
While waiting for the bus, he stopped by a nearby convenience store and bought a discounted bento.
As for taste, Van didn't really care, since he couldn't taste anything anyway. The main thing was, it was cheap.
After surviving the evening rush hour on the bus, Van finally arrived home.
To be honest, whether it was because his body hadn't recovered or some other reason, just one rush-hour ride had drained Van both mentally and physically. It even felt harder than dealing with Herrschers.
He then complained that he was being way too dramatic. After all, compared to the ever-looming threat of death from the Honkai, rush hour traffic seemed like child's play.
Looking at the steaming hot food on his table, and the beautiful night scenery outside the window, Van felt that everything would move toward a better direction, except...
[Ding-dong~ Your specially followed content creator @MiHoYo's No.1 Idol Ai-chan has posted a new update! Come check it out!]
Van, 'I have an 8 a.m. class tomorrow!'
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