His twin brother Kamui thought he was stupid and that Subaru should just dump the bastard, but he always tagged along. He claimed it was for Subaru’s protection.

So when the clock struck midnight and it became April 1st, they began their search. Like every year, Kamui hoped they wouldn’t find the store. But like every year, they did.

Kamui was the one who spotted the cute little cafe nestled between a Korean barbecue place and a bookstore. It was morning rush hour, and with the amount of foot traffic Kamui almost didn’t see the small sign out front.

Shigatsu Tsuitachi Cafe! (Cats coming soon!)

He knew Subaru hadn’t seen it. Kamui didn’t want to point it out. That guy was no good, and Subaru was better off without him. But he worried that if he didn’t tell Subaru and Subaru found out later, he would be angry. Or worse, sink into a deep depression like the first time that guy disappeared.

Kamui didn’t want that.

So he stopped Subaru with a tap on the arm and pointed.

It took a second for Subaru to see what Kamui was pointing at. When he did, his blue eyes lit up. The next instant his face went white with dread as he realized that now that he had found the store, he would have to go in.

It was the same every year. He was good at the anticipation, the planning, the looking up vacant storefronts to guess where the store might pop up this year and creating a search pattern based on it. But when the actual moment came, his natural shyness and anxiety caught up with him. After all, it had been an entire year since he last saw Seishirou. Maybe he wouldn’t want to see Subaru.

Maybe he’d have forgotten Subaru entirely.

But Subaru wanted to see him.

So Subaru squared his shoulders and crossed at the light. When he pushed the cafe door open, Kamui was right on his heels. A little bell tinkled overhead, announcing their entry, and Subaru’s nose was hit with the strong scents of flowers, baked goods, and tea.

“Welcome!” a cheery voice called as Subaru’s vampire eyes adjusted to the brighter artificial light. “Oh, it’s Subaru-san and Kamui-san! Long time no see!”

“Good morning, Sakura-san,” Subaru said shyly. Last year she had been dressed in a simple black uniform, but today she was wearing a frilly white apron over a ruffled pink dress with a big white bow at the throat to match the cutesy decor of the cafe. If Subaru had to guess, he would have put her at fourteen years old. But like him, the years didn’t seem to touch her.

It was the same for the others who worked at this mysterious store.

Subaru looked around while Sakura-san guided them to a table, allowing Kamui to pass him. The cafe’s interior matched Sakura-san’s fluffy pink and white aesthetic. The other server, Syaoran, was dressed in a pink button up shirt with a grey vest and trousers. His tie was white, like Sakura-san’s bow. He was serving some faces that Subaru recognized from previous years, and he waved to Ryuu-ou and Yuzuriha, who both waved back enthusiastically.

But Seishirou was nowhere in sight.

Subaru’s spirits plummeted and he stared at the lacy tablecloth as Sakura-san handed out the menus. “Just call me once you’re ready to order!” she said, and flitted away to welcome the next customers.

As soon as she was gone, Kamui kicked Subaru under the table. Subaru looked over at him in surprise. Kamui was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest, his expression both bored and annoyed.

“Don’t sulk yet,” Kamui said. “They’ve got to have a kitchen in this place, right? Maybe that guy is back there.”

Reassured, Subaru smiled. “You’re right,” he said. He couldn’t give up hope yet. It was too soon.

A middle-aged woman sitting nearby had ordered a full-size cake for herself. As she moved to cut a piece, the cake exploded. Kamui and Subaru both flinched as gobs of icing splattered their table.

The woman screamed in surprise as a round white creature burst from the cake. “Hi! I’m Mokona! ‘Nice to meet you’ shake!” the rabbit-like creature cheered as it held out a paw to the woman, who screamed again.

“What is the meaning of this!” she yelled at Syaoran.

“What is the meaning of this!” Mokona echoed in a sing-song voice. Her chant was picked up by the other Mokona, identical except for colour. The pair held hands and continued to chant as they danced in a circle around the ruined cake.

“Why was there an animal in my cake?” the woman demanded.

Syaoran was beginning to look flustered. “I- but, that’s what you ordered,” he said.

The woman laid into him. “I did not! Who would order an animal in a cake? This is disgusting!”

People were staring. Sakura-san was clutching her stack of menus to her chest and staring at Syaoran like she wanted to help him, but she had just been called over to take an order for a big table.

As the woman continued to shout, Syaoran’s identical twin brother Tsubasa slipped out of the kitchen in a chef’s outfit. Tsubasa came to stand behind Syaoran and put a supportive hand on his shoulder. He was smiling, but Subaru could see the anger simmering underneath. Or maybe he just knew it was there when it wasn’t visible. After all, he too had a protective twin brother.

“Ma’am, you ordered the Birthday Surprise. Is that right?” Tsubasa smoothly interrupted the woman’s tirade.

“Yes, I-” the woman began, turning to rip into her new target.

“Well, it clearly states in the menu,” Tsubasa said, taking the menu off the woman’s table and flipping to the correct page, “That Mokona will leap out of the cake to sing happy birthday to you. By ordering this cake you agreed to that.”

“You agreed!” the Mokonas chanted, continuing their dance in the opposite direction. “You agreed! You agreed!”

The woman sputtered. The next thing that came out of her mouth was, “Bring me your manager!”

Syaoran and Tsubasa exchanged a look. Syaoran still looked nervous, but Tsubasa didn’t leave him. Tsubasa raised his voice. “Kimihiro!”

Watanuki stuck his head out of the kitchen. “Yeah?” He was related to Tsubasa and Syaoran somehow, but Subaru wasn’t sure of the exact link.

“Please ask Sakura-chan to come out when she has a minute.”

Subaru was distracted from what happened next by the tinkling of the bell over the door. It was Seishirou, and he was carrying a large crate.

Subaru stood up so fast he almost knocked his chair over. “Seishirou-san!”

Seishirou peered at Subaru over his glasses, and Subaru’s heart rate picked up. Nerves. He was oblivious to everyone except Seishirou. He was even oblivious to the low rumbling growl coming from Kamui.

There was a beat before Seishirou smiled during which Subaru’s anxiety nearly sent him through the ceiling. “Subaru! How are you?” Seishirou asked. He set the crate on a nearby unoccupied table. The crate was making noise. There was something inside, something alive. Possibly several somethings.

“I’m well,” Subaru said, flushing with pleasure. “It’s been a long time. Have you been well?”

“Hm. Well enough, I suppose,” Seishirou replied.

Kamui had stopped growling and was squinting suspiciously at the crate. There were definitely several somethings moving around in there. “What’s in the crate?” Kamui asked.

“Cats. For the cat cafe,” Seishirou said.

Kamui and Subaru both blinked, then looked back at the crate.

It was a very big crate.

“How many cats?” Subaru asked at the same time Kamui said, “Must be some large cats.”

Whatever Seishirou’s response was going to be was interrupted by a shriek so high and shrill that the cats in the crate went silent.

“Is this a joke?!”

The three stopped their conversation and turned. The drama on the other end of the store was still playing out. The woman who had demanded the manager had finally got her, but still wasn’t happy.

The manager of Shigatsu Tsuitachi was Sakura-chan, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Sakura-san. She also appeared to be ten years old. This seemed to be what the woman was upset about now.

“I’m the owner of this store,” Sakura-chan said with her characteristic bright smile. “I understand that you had some concerns about a cake?”

The woman sputtered with rage. “The owner! A child like you?” she snapped. “You think I’m an idiot?” She grabbed Sakura-chan by the arm and pulled.

Sakura-san gasped and dropped her menus, starting forward to rescue her boss. Both Tsubasa and Syaoran were moving in as well, but Seishirou moved with uncanny speed. He ripped the woman’s hand off Sakura-chan and moved between them. He was still smiling, but it had gone from benign to threatening in a mere instant.

“Boss, should I escort her out?” he asked without turning to Sakura-chan.

“Yes, please, Sei-san,” she replied. Syaoran and Tsubasa clustered around her, but she waved them off, insisting that she was all right.

After the woman was thrown out the front door and seemed unable to get back in, the cafe staff gathered around the crate. “So these are the cats?” Sakura-chan asked, looking up at Seishirou.

“Indeed.” His smile was back to being benign, but Subaru didn’t think anyone would forget how he had just thrown a woman across the entire store and out the door.

“Where did you get them?” Watanuki asked.  He was trying to peek through one of the air holes, and jerked back when he got a hiss in response.

“Oh, here and there.”

“Here and there?” Tsubasa was as suspicious of Seishirou as Kamui always was, which meant he was Kamui’s favourite.

Sakura-chan didn’t seem to mind the questionable origins of the cats. “Well, please open the crate and we’ll take a look at them,” she said.

“Of course.” Seishirou pried the top of the crate off with a crowbar. Out spilled at least a dozen cats, eager to be free from the box they had been forced into.

A snarl came from the crate.

They stared.

“Is that a mountain lion?” Watanuki demanded. He backed away from the crate, hands up as if that would somehow fend it off.

“It is, technically, a cat,” Seishirou replied.

“Oh Sei-san,” Sakura-chan sighed. “I think you should put that one back.”

“All right, Boss.” If he was disappointed, it didn’t show.

The mountain lion disappeared fast. Disturbingly fast. Kamui kept looking at Seishirou like he thought Seishirou had taken it out to the alley and killed it. Or set it loose in the middle of Tokyo. Subaru wasn’t entirely sure that he hadn’t.

Sakura-san returned to their table with an apologetic smile. “Sorry for the wait. Are you ready to order?” she asked. 

Subaru hadn’t even glanced at the menu. “Um.”

“I’ll have the cherry blossom tea and strawberry chiffon cake,” Kamui said, and Subaru blinked. He hadn’t thought that Kamui had looked at the menu either, but he must have because Sakura-san was smiling and taking it from him. “And you, Subaru-san?”

“I’ll have the same,” Subaru said, too embarrassed to ask her to give him another minute.

The regular house cats were running and playing through the store. Ryuu-ou sat on the floor and was immediately mauled. He laughed as he disappeared under the swarm of cats. Rather than helping him, his friend Yuzuriha was snapping photos with her cell phone and announcing that she’d show them to Souma later.

A cat hopped into Kamui’s lap as Seishirou brought their order out. “Where did you get the cats?” Kamui asked again.

Seishirou repeated his answer. “Here and there.”

“This one has a collar.” Kamui’s fingers rubbed the metal tag inscribed with the cat’s name and the phone number for its humans.