(Maguro's POV)
Apparently, when humans say "we'll be ready to open in two weeks," they mean "we'll cry into the floor and still not know where the mop went."
In our case, it was worse.
Because our mop had been possessed by a cleaning spirit and tried to sweep Chiyo into the espresso machine on day three.
"You enchanted the broom again," Chiyo hissed.
"I just told it it was doing a great job," I said.
"Stop complimenting inanimate objects."
"I told the toaster it was brave. Is that bad?"
"It tried to toast a spoon!"
It took twelve full days.
That's twelve days of haunted dishware, Takashi's DIY "protection salt" made from crushed pretzels, and me accidentally summoning bubble currents when I got excited.
On Day 4, I sneezed and the milk foamer floated away.
On Day 7, I tripped and emotionally manifested a jellyfish on the register.
Takashi called it "blessed café ambiance."
Chiyo called it "fish nonsense."
I called it progress.
We painted the walls, dusted the ghost out of the cash drawer (her name was Mildred, she was polite), and decorated with shells I found by the shore. I also glued googly eyes to all the mugs.
"Why," Chiyo said, staring.
"So the coffee feels seen," I said proudly.
"I feel haunted."
Finally, it was Opening Day.
I stood in front of our freshly rebranded café
"THE FIN & BEAN"Coffee. Chaos. Possibly Cursed.
The sign was crooked. The lights flickered. And our promotional flyers still had Takashi's face on them, winking dramatically under the words:
"TASTE DESTINY (and maybe ghosts)"
"I only printed 300," he said, proudly slapping one onto a lamppost upside down.
Chiyo sighed. "I'm quitting."
"You're dead. You can't quit."
"Watch me."
Inside, everything looked mostly ready.
Except the register was growling softly, a chair was levitating (again), and our specials board still had Takashi's handwriting, which said
Today's Vibes:
Haunted Macchiato
Foggy Mocha
Existential Croissant
I turned to the others, clutching a steaming mug.
"Everyone ready?"
"No," Chiyo said.
"Let's do this!" I cheered, flinging the door open.
Our first customer was a man in full armor.
Like, actual clanking metal, sword on the hip, "hello peasants" energy.
He stomped inside, looked around, and said
"Good inn. I request an ale, hot stew, and a place to rest my weary bones."
I gasped. "A knight!"
"I am Sir Bartholomew, Guardian of the Northern Spiral."
Chiyo floated over with a receipt printer and smacked it on the counter. "This is a café. We sell lattes, not jousts."
"I will duel for my espresso," he said solemnly.
"Please don't."
Next came a woman with ears like a fox, nine tails that shimmered behind her, and a very expensive-looking phone.
She blinked at the place, sniffed the air, and walked in like she owned it.
"I saw your café on GhostTok," she said, tapping her screen.
"It said haunted cafés are trending."
"Oh my cod," I whispered. "Are we trendy?"
Chiyo looked her over. "You're a fox spirit, right?"
"I'm a kitsune. I came for cursed wi-fi."
"…It's not cursed."
"Then I'm leaving a two-star review."
Third customer, a nervous tourist holding a map upside-down.
"I was looking for the aquarium," he said, stepping in.
"You found something better," I said proudly, sliding him a sea-salt caramel cookie. "Would you like a coffee, emotional support fish, or a haunted nap?"
"…Seven croissants, please."
We all stared.
"…Okay," I said.
By noon, the café was full of oddballs.
A bard with a lute asked if we had oat milk "blessed by moonlight."
A goblin-looking guy demanded espresso "with an extra shot of rage."
A wizard left his staff in the umbrella bin and it started zapping the vending machine.
Takashi was handing out business cards shaped like coffins.
Despite all the chaos, people were laughing. Drinking. Eating jellyfish-shaped cookies I'd baked at 3am using "gut instinct and vibes."
Someone said they liked the cursed latte art. Someone else cried into a ghost croissant and said it healed them.
Even the espresso machine hissed happily instead of threatening Latin.
During a quiet moment, I leaned on the counter and sighed contently.
Chiyo floated beside me.
"You know," she said, "this could've gone a lot worse."
"I only made one chair explode."
"And only three customers saw the floating teacup."
"I think that added to the charm."
She smirked. "You're lucky your airheaded optimism is mildly contagious."
"Thank you! I try not to think too hard."
"…That's obvious."
Then the front door slammed open.
A man in sunglasses shouted, "I heard this café is powered by dark bean sorcery!"
"No comment!" I yelled back, throwing a cookie at him.
Chiyo groaned. "You need a PR ghost."
But I couldn't stop smiling.
I may have come from the sea with no clue how the land worked. I may have slapped a broom with kelp and summoned a crab during staff training. I may still not fully understand taxes.
But I had a café.I had customers.I had a ghost partner.And a weird exorcist.And maybe… a little bit of magic.
"Hey," I said to Chiyo, holding up a crooked mug with googly eyes. "To us?"
She raised her ghost cup.
"To the Fin & Bean," she said.
"Long may it weird."
To be continued…