When his eyes opened, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling. No, wait. This was the upper floor of the café. As he went to glance around, he saw Rose. This was pretty much expected now. Still though, a lot happened these past few days. He went to look out the window on the other si- okay, May was here too. A lot has really happened these past few days.
"Nn…" May's ears were still out, twitching a bit as she rolled over onto her stomach, stretching out like a cat before plopping back down and snuggling up to him. Isha thought of a way to get up without disturbing him, but Rose would know anyway once he got a certain distance.
Glancing back out the window, the sun wasn't up yet. However, he was able to see clearly, as the the sun was never needed in the first place. Isha turned his head back to the ceiling. In all honesty he wanted nothing more than to be alone right now. He needed to process what he saw. What it meant for him, and what he was going to do about it.
He felt Rose stir and glanced over at her as her eyes opened a bit, looking at him and then getting readjusted. Isha then realized, he didn't remember going to sleep. He began to retrace his mental footsteps to yesterday. But everything after Rei's prayer just drew up a blank. Maybe it was better he didn't know?
'You've chosen a route of blissful ignorance.' He remembered what the other him said. 'You don't exactly try, you're just curious.' Isha felt his face go blank as he recalled, staring up at the ceiling.
"That's just an excuse…" Isha mumbled to himself, repeating what he said.
'And that, Isha, I why I detest you.' Isha felt a tear run down his cheek as he stared at the ceiling, thoughts going through. Did he hurt the old man? No, May wouldn't be this close. May wasn't hurt, that's good. What about the Rei woman?
Isha paused at the thought, then closing his eyes. He'd just ask the two when they awoke. But no matter what occurred, Isha needed to train. That was something obvious to him.
So, he just lay there, eyes closed as the dark became light. He heard May stir near him, stretching again. As may stretched, she let out a half mewl half yawn sound, getting up and laying on his chest, nuzzling into him.
Isha pursed his lips a bit, keeping his eyes closed as she buried her face into his shirt. After a bit longer he heard Rose stir. Rose picked her head up a bit, saw May, and huffed, getting as close to Isha as she could.
He didn't really understand them. He felt conflicted in many ways. He felt Rose stir again, inching towards him.
"I know your awake." She whispered into his ear, laying back onto him. Isha didn't reply, not wanting to talk right now. She huffed again and rested her head on his arm. After a few minutes the sun began to hit them, causing May to scrunch her nose.
"Nn… nyot yet nya…" She murmured, facing away from the sun, pulling the blanket over her head. The blanket spread over Rose and up to Isha's neck. She then began to purr, covered by the darkness.
After a bit more, Rose huffed, poking her head out of the blanket.
"You're not getting up are you." She stated, looking up at him. His eyes were still closed. "Fine then. Drastic measures it is." She disappeared into the blanket.
Isha furrowed his brow as he felt her move around. He than heard whispering. He wasn't able to hear what it was saying, but he heard the whispering all the same.
"Fwah!" With a sudden movement May bursted up out of the blanket, a smile on her face as her tail flicked. "Ishya Ishya!" She bounced on his torso, Rose watching the weapon she unleashed.
Isha slowly opened his eyes, staring up at her. She was beaming down at him, ears perked up.
"Byath tyme nya!" Isha sighed softly. Shouldn't they be more cautious of him? He was certain the other him didn't do any good. "C'myooonn nya!" She grabbed his shirt and shook him a bit. Isha let out a sigh and sat up. Seeing his blank face, her ears went down a bit.
"What did I do yesterday." Isha demanded, looking from May to Rose. May's tail went down, as her head soon followed, playing with the hem of her pajama shirt.
"Nyothing really nya…. Grandpya stopped you…" May replied, glancing up at him.
"Nothing happened, as she said, Mr. Ilan took care of you. Or the other you, rather." Rose smiled bitterly, putting a hand on his shoulder. Isha just stayed quiet for a bit, thinking to himself.
Rose huffed and tugged his arm, May copying her. Isha just let them, lost in thought as they dragged him into the bathroom. By the time he noticed it was too late.
"Huh?! H-hold on, wait a moment. I never agreed to this!" He exclaimed as May locked the door and Rose began to use her supernatural powers. "W-wait hold on you guys! This is unfair!"
"Too bad~" Rose replied, beating him in the struggle for his pants. Now undressed he just sighed and let them get in the bath May had started.
"Yay nya!" May exclaimed, hopping in, along with Rose. The bath wasn't as big as Isha's, but it wasn't too small to be uncomfortable. The other him was right. He really did just let himself be pulled around.
After the bath was over, Isha helped dry them both off before drying himself. May seemed to have prepared this the night before, or Mr. Ilan. They were both likely participants. But either way, Isha had a basic uniform for the café.
He put the clothes on, helping Rose and May into their own. He then went to get his phone from where he presumed the girls placed it last night. Isha felt a bit of relief as he saw Zoey hadn't messaged or called him, going downstairs with Rose in tow.
It was about nine in the morning, a stream of customers just beginning to form. May was already cooking, her tail and ears hidden. When Mr. Ilan spotted Isha and Rose he greeted them with a smile, waving him over.
"How far away can she be from you?" Mr. Ilan asked, taking a step from the line after dismissing his self for a moment.
"I think five feet?" Isha replied, tilting his head at Rose. She nodded in response.
"Mhm, five feet." She confirmed, smiling softly. Mr. Ilan nodded, twiddling his mustache.
"Do your best to not make it obvious. However, it is a little strange considering she was nearly stuck to you just two days ago…" He directed them, mumbling the last part to himself. Isha went a bit rigid as he overheard that, taking a breath to calm himself.
"Got it sir." He replied, pretending to not hear the last part. "So, cleaning tables, delivering food, and assisting them as need be?" Isha asked, tilting his head. Mr. Ilan nodded.
"That will be it, yup! Now let's not keep these customers waiting." And with that Rose and Isha went to work. The customers would order at the counter, take a number, and bring it to their seat. Isha and Rose would deliver food according to the number, as well as clean up after and receive tips here and there.
The first few hours were rather busy, and if it weren't for her ability, Rose would have broken quite a bit of dishes. She wasn't too used to carrying stuff around, especially not quickly. Thanks to the number of customers, Isha and Rose were able to find reasons and excuses to be within the range limit.
There was also May who helped quite a bit, making sure at least two orders were done at a time so Isha and Rose could have the excuse to get the food together. The only thing that Isha didn't like was the feeling of being watched. He didn't care for it at all.
However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find out what it was. At least not with the discreet methods he used.
Once it hit noon it slowed back down, letting Isha and Rose take a breather.
"Hey, old man. Do you really have to do this by yourself every day?" Mr. Ilan smirked at Isha's words.
"Today was actually an easier morning." He replied, brewing some coffee. Isha blinked a bit in response.
"You're kidding… right?" He asked Mr. Ilan in disbelief.
"No, not at all. Morning is the busiest, lunch is decent and compared to them dinner is near nonexistent. There's always a decent flow, but the size of the flow is different. Having you two has made today a whole lot easier." Mr. Ilan smiled at them, pouring coffee for the two of them.
"We're not to busy, so feel free to check on the customers as it seems to be needed, and when the new customers come in." Isha nodded at his directions, blowing on the coffee before taking a sip.
"Blegh…" Isha looked to his left where Rose was sitting, coffee going from her mouth and back into her cup. "Bitter…" The closed her eyes and scrunched her nose.
"Didn't you drink coffee yesterday? And I'm pretty sure you stole some the day before from me." He furrowed his brow a bit at her.
"Those were sweeter…" She huffed. Isha thought about it. He suppose she did have a point, yesterdays and the day before were sweeter. Mr. Ilan came over, smiling softly as he set down sugar and cream for her.
"That's because yesterday I added some cocoa beans with the blend I used. The day before was a bit of sugar cane." Isha tilted his head at the old man.
"You did? You don't just use coffee?" He asked a bit surprised. Mr. Ilan shook his head.
"There are many more things that can be added to alter the taste. Wouldn't it be a waste to not se them?" He replied, twiddling his mustache as he laughed a bit. A customer came up to pay the bill, him and the woman accompanying him taking their leave.
"I suppose that's fair…" Isha replied, nodding as he sipped his coffee. He glanced over at Rose who was stocking her coffee with enough sugar and cream to give a normal person a heart attack.
"Sweet sweet. Oh, so sweet!" She cheered to herself. Isha froze for a moment, stuck in a pose where he was about to take another sip. Mr. Ilan was laughing silently to himself.
"Okay there future diabetic… Let's go clean that table…" Isha set his cup down after managing to bring himself back and began to walk towards the table. Rose huffed and set the spoon down in the sugar bowl, not having a choice but to follow and help.