Already, one hour had passed since Souta came to this store.
With plenty of cast members and no end to it, a feast-for-the-eyes time flowed on.
A cast member like Mia who would stay put and chat with him didn’t show up after that, but just boldly watching women in swimsuits was enough for Souta to feel pure bliss.
Strangely, the same cast member never came to ask Souta for a greeting twice, but after that, several still exchanged greetings with Souta that carried a meaning of “thanks for coming in.”
Most had a light back-and-forth after the greeting, but among them, there was no cast member with enough impact
for Souta to firmly remember their name and face.
She called out in a unique intonation, “Ohayo-hayo1, I’m Matsuri, nice to meet ya.”
Yet another new cast member came to greet him with a unique intonation.
She was Matsuri, with a horse’s body from the lower belly down.
If you’re talking about impact, her looks were more than enough.
”Ah, nice to meet you,” Souta replied.
Big in a different way from Mia, she looked down at him from above, and continued speaking in her quirky dialect.
She leaned over. “Hey lad, I ain’t seen your face before, first timer?”
She came right beside Souta and bent her front legs, taking a low posture.
From that state, she spread both arms and finished the usual greeting with a hug and cheek-to-cheek contact.
”Yeah, first time here,” he said.
Even after finishing the greeting, Matsuri kept her low posture and went on talking with Souta.
”If we get close, I could even let ya ride on me back, y’know?”
Matsuri grinned and pointed at her own back.
Her coat was beautiful and it looked like it’d be comfy to ride, but he had never once in his life ridden a horse.
”Oh? Your glass is empty. Want summat?”
”Ah, then the same as before.”
”The same? I dunno what ya were drinkin’… what were ya drinkin’?”
Whether she was good at getting into someone’s space or not, she asked with a tone like they’d been friends forever, pushing right in.
”Ah, beer.”
”Beer, huh. Hold on a sec, I’ll put the order in.”
Saying that, Matsuri started working the watch on her left hand.
Looking around, he saw that most of the cast members wore
something like a wristband on their left hand.
Under the wristband, a watch was camouflaged so it couldn’t be seen, and he figured out they were using so-called wearable devices to order and get information.
One thing Souta had been wondering about got solved.
The name tag he got at the entrance had his nickname and name written on it, but most of the cast members already knew Souta’s nickname before looking at it.
As for Alka, who appeared from behind, there was no way she could have seen the name tag, yet she suddenly called him by his nickname, which he thought was really strange.
The reason the same cast member didn’t come for a second greeting
could also be guessed – this item was probably giving them that information.
”Right, I put order in, so wait a bit more, yeah?
If you’re thirsty, I can go get it for ya?”
”You don’t have to go that far.”
She gave off a pushy impression, but he didn’t feel any real bad intent from her.
”Sou2, you’re cute.
In this store, ya can’t hold back, yeah? Be bold and selfish.”
Matsuri petted Souta’s head with a “there there” and grinned.
Her smile seemed to have the effect of making the people around her have fun, and he thought she was someone he could feel a different kind of goodwill toward than Mia.
It should have been a calm, easy time flowing by, but suddenly, like a storm, the flow of the air changed.
”Sorry to keep ya waitin’, nya3! Did ya see it? Did ya watch Mii’s dance?”
A cast member suddenly hugged him from behind.
One of the cast members whose name Souta remembered – Mio had returned.
”Ah, U-um,” Souta offered a flustered half-answer.
At Souta’s flustered half-answer, Mio bent her mouth into a “heh” shape.
”Lying ain’t cool, nya! Even though Mii sent ya looks several times, ya were droolin’ over Mia-nyan, nya!”
He thought the store had been dark, but once he accepted that she wasn’t just a normal person but some kind of cat, he figured she had good night vision.
The time Mio was dancing on stage
was exactly when Mia was next to him keeping him company.
”Th-that’s..,” Souta faltered, trying to pick his words.
He tried to pick his words, but couldn’t come up with a good line, so Souta faltered.
Mio put her hands on her hips, leaned forward, brought her face close to Souta’s, and kept pouting as she went on.
”Cheatin’ ain’t okay, nya! Well, I’ll let it slide this time… I got a box, so let me go, nya!”
”A box?” Souta asked, tilting his head.
Another word he was hearing for the first time made Souta tilt his head.
Without explaining anything to him, Mio reached out her hand and urged him to move seats.
As Souta stood up led by Mio, Matsuri, who had bent her front legs
and taken a low posture, returned to her usual stance, and threw a word at the backs of the two walking away.
”Right, I won’t get in the way. Mio, don’t be too rough with a first timer, yeah?”
She spread both hands open and waved each finger as she saw them off.
That was her own special goodbye gesture.
”Big service for first-timers is Mii’s motto4, nya!”
”Is ‘motto’ used like that?” Souta asked.
”As long as it gets across, it’s fine, nya!”
Pulling his hand along, Mio moved to the place called a box.
Even saying “moving seats,” it wasn’t that far – just a bit to the side, a space divided by a low partition with a four-person sofa against the wall, and across a small table, two single stools were placed on the other side.
Inside the divided partition, up to six people
could sit – that seemed to be the place called a box seat.
As soon as Mio sat down, she made Souta, whose hand she was pulling, sit next to her.
It was a bit harder to see the stage than the previous seat, but the chair’s comfort was really good.
”This is a box seat?” Souta asked.
Compared to sitting in a single chair, the distance to the cast member was way closer, and Mio rubbed her body against Souta’s while purring in her throat.
Not just this gesture – in many places, Souta recognized her as a cat.
Her ears, her tail, the details and quality were outstandingly good, and seeing her up close, he was sure her eyes and teeth were all something a bit apart from human.
”Sou-sou, ya need a reserve, nya. I did the paper work before goin’ on stage, nya!”
Not just rubbing her body against him, Mio rained kisses all over Souta.
His neck, his ears, his cheeks – her lips.
She showed affection that was almost too much playing around.
Souta just let it happen, but it didn’t feel bad at all.
The seat next to them and the one past that were also divided
by low partitions into box seats like this one, but unfortunately those stayed empty.
On both tables, an object engraved with “RESERVE”
was placed, and there was no doubt people would show up there later.
Trivia:
- Mio’s complaint that Souta was drooling over Mia lines up exactly with the stretch of time she was dancing on stage, showing she watched him the whole performance instead of focusing on her own act.
- The wristband device quietly explains why no cast member ever greets Souta twice and why Alka knew his nickname from behind, turning a small mystery into a piece of worldbuilding rather than a throwaway detail.
- The empty box seats with RESERVE objects on the tables hint that the club runs on a booking system beyond just walk-in greetings, and that other customers are expected to appear later.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ A playful, stretched-out version of the Japanese greeting “ohayou” (good morning). It signals Matsuri’s casual, teasing tone rather than a literal time-of-day greeting.
2 ↩ The honorific “-chan” is an affectionate, informal suffix usually used for children, close friends, or cute things. It shows Matsuri treating Souta with familiar warmth right away.
3 ↩ A cutesy variant of the cat sound “nya” (meow), used as an affectionate suffix. It reinforces Mio’s cat-themed speech and playful idol persona.
4 ↩ Mio uses the English loanword “motto” (meaning a personal rule or creed) in a slightly wrong way, which Souta points out. The joke is that she cares more about being understood than being correct.