POINT OF VIEW : HIROAKI KUZNETSOV

“Mr. Kutsetnov! My car already had breakdown three times after replacing battery at your place! What are you going to do about it?!” complained a customer.

“Even if you yell, I can’t do anything.”

“What?! That’s how you treat your customer?!”

“I told you, your alternator is faulty. You’re the one refused to replace it, don’t blame me.”

“Your alternator is way more expensive than the battery, how are you going to explain it?! Manager, where’s the manager? Let me talk to him!”

“What…? This is my workshop and I’m the manager…”

Ah… you know that. A problematic customer that no one wants to deal with.

“Let's say are going to buy another battery without the alternator but that will cost another 5000 yen and eventually surpass the alternator’s price. I know few people that is not smart but I never meet someone this stupid… hah.”

“Did you call me stupid?! You got guts saying stuff like that to your customer!”

“Well, you called it.”

“Urghhh…. I don’t want to buy anymore battery! I’m claiming the warranty!”

“Warranty doesn’t cover what is deemed the customer’s own fault.”

“How is that my fault? It’s the machine’s fault!”

“It’s YOUR machine fault, YOUR alternator.”

“Then, I’m claiming the alternator’s warranty too!”

“Your alternator is out of warranty period, Mr. Customer.”

Worrying the situation, the customer slammed the ground with his foot.

5:06 p.m.

Looking at my watch, I asked.

“So? What’s going to be? There’s less than an hour left before the end of our operating hour. If you want, I can finish replacing both battery and alternator before time runs out, this is the thing I can promise.”

Suppressed by his sense of defeat, he asked.

“..Er… how much is the cost again…?”

“17 000 yen for alternator and 5000 yen for battery, that totals 22 000 yen. Well, you can buy just another battery over and over again, that ingenious way will profit me more though.”

Clicking his tongue, he gave in.

“Tch, I have no choice… I’ll take both. You’d better finish by today!”

Once heard, I breathed in and put a big smile.

“Yes, yes, thank you! Please relax at out café and self-serve your drink!”

He went to the café.

Sigh…

“What was that, Aki?” a voice echoed from inside the workshop.

“Ah… that, the specific customer who comes every time and complains restlessly.”

“Oh… that uncle?”

“Umm.” I nodded.

“Forgive him, even though he is being a pain, he always comes here and buys our stuff.”

“That’s not I am mad, it’s just … pain… In addition to that, our price is very reasonable and we have place to relax. I don’t think he should refuse our service.”

“Right.”

Oh, sorry for late introduction.

My name is Hiroaki Kutsetnov, aged 19 years. My first name is Hiroaki and last is Kutsetnov. Yes, a half-Russian and half-Japanese born in Moscow, from Moscow and currently living in Nagoya. I’m owning an automotive workshop, a cafe, and a bar, all in one, here at my residence!

We live in a triple storey house and has a vast backyard with a garage. The ground floor was turned into a café and our resident is at 2nd and 3rd floor. This is why it is possible to do our business.

The girl who just talked to me is my cutely cool little sister, Kano. In the same situation as me and aged a year younger than me. We’ve been living together since from the Mother Russia.

Anyone wonders why I called her a cutely cool little sister? Have you wondered how half-Russian and half-Japanese looks like? UuuuuUUUuu

Watch this.

“What were you doing?”

“Replacing the HRV’s rear axle.”

“Eh, wait? I thought the vertical jack we ordered has not arrived yet?”

“It has not yet, I thought of working out a little this afternoon, so you know…”

“You lifted and assembled it by yourself…?”

“Something like that.”

For your information, that thing is heavy especially for Human!

Think about it.

She has a sensual body and quite the looking for 18-years-old girl.

“Nothing to surprise me eh? By the way, I’m going to replace this City’s alternator and battery. Can you fetch me the parts, 130 ampere output alternator and 36B battery.”

“Sure.”

While waiting for Kano to get the parts, I disassembled the battery, the belting and temporarily removed hindrance like wires and tubes then proceeded to remove the alternator.

“Here.” Uttered Kano as she put down two boxes of brand new alternator and battery.

She then lightly massaged her shoulders and cracked her neck left and right.

“Got some sores?” I asked while unboxing those spare parts.

“Kind of… I should get ready to open the cafe.”

For the information about our local services, we opened workshop from 12 p.m. until 6 p.m. Depending on our situation, we might open it earlier or later after I finish class in University. Kano will always be done with school at 3 p.m. After 6 p.m., we will rest until 8 p.m. and officially begins to open our café until 11 p.m. Everything after that will be adult-only coherence until 2 a.m.

During workshop operation hours, the café becomes a waiting area for customers as we prepared self-served drinks.

That’s all to it.

Well, we are like super packed with our life while being able to learn how to live in it.

“Why don’t you rest today? Not to mention you still have the University entrance examination to undergo.”

“I refuse.-” She blatantly denied.

“—I don’t want to slack off while you do all the work. Furthermore, we promised to our parents to do it together, right?”

“Ha, just don’t overdo yourself.”

“Thank you so much for the advice, I’ll be very careful brother Aki.”

She left the scene.

“What a hardworking little sister…” I whispered to myself.

After that, I continued my previous intent to replace the alternator and battery, tested it and ultimately released the car to the rightful customer.

…

Time skipped until the opening time of our café.

We have already worn our café working attire, me in my butler outfit and my little sister in maid outfit.

7:58 p.m.

As we are ready to open our café.

Right now, I’m staring at my little sister as she flipped the notice board at the entrance from ‘close’ to ‘open’.

She walked deeper inside the café and stopped before entering the kitchen. She intended to ignore me but eventually my stare caught her very attention.

“…From the moment I went down after getting changed, I feel like some perverted eyes are observing me. Just… it’s just a ‘just’, I’ve been wondering… why is that?” she asked while ferociously staring at me.

“I noticed… Ummm…. The maid outfit is getting little too tight, isn’t it?”

She looked at her own body and tried to pull the fabric near the chest area.

“You’re right, lately I feel hard to move in this attire.”

“Ha ha ha! I’m sure you’re getting fatter…---!”

Zap!

A punch flew directly toward my face.

I blocked it with my palm.

“….”

Gulp.

I was speechless.

“And I’m sure that I’m just adding muscle.”

“….S-sure… You’re just adding muscle.”

If that punch hits me, I would take emergency leave for days!

She pulled back her fist and tenderly stretched it.

“The fact that my punch never hits you frustrates me to death.”

“..Ha…ha…” I laughed wryly.

“—Violence doesn’t solve a thing.”

“I’m pretty sure it can fix the unfit gears inside your mouth.”

“… What gears? You mean jaw?”

“Those are basically the same thing.”

“No it’s not! And you will break the jaw, not fixing it!”

“I mistook the word ‘break’ with ‘fix’… my bad, tehee.” she said as she winked.

What?! Did you mistake your intent too?!

8:11 p.m.

Ding-a-ling

Customers entered the cafe.

Kano rushed to the entrance and greeted them.

“Welcome to Eternal Café. A table of two?”

“Yes.”

“Let me lead you there.”

An uncle with an auntie.

It’s the regular couple who come almost every night.

“Are we the first again?” the auntie started conversation once seated.

“Yes!”

“Ha ha…” the auntie laughed softly.

“—I see you full of energy every time.”

“Thank you so much! May I take your order?”

“Well then…. give us the usual stuff.”

“Usual stuff, okay! Please wait a while!”

Kano then came to me and ordered.

“Two ryokucha and…--“

She took notepad and wrote something down.

“—miso - ramen.”

“—I’ll be off to kitchen now, I’ll leave the incoming customers to you!”

“Got it.”

She took off to the kitchen.

We separate our task. I handle the drinks while Kano handles the food. Since I’ll be here until 2 a.m. to mainly serve alcoholic drinks as bar is open starting 11 p.m.

It’s balanced.

I brewed the green tea and served it to the couple.

“Two ryochuka.”

“Thanks.” Said the auntie.

“You’re welcome.”

“It must be hard for both of you to operate this café alone. Do you ever consider to get new employee to ease things up?”

“No, no. It’s fine. Besides, the café is not that hectic for additional manpower.”

And… hiring new worker will reduce our basic net income.

Hell naw.

“I see.”

“Enjoy your stay.”

As I walked back toward the bar, the phone ringed.

I answered the call.

“Hello.”

“Hello Hiroaki.”

That voice…!

“..Ohhh~ Hikushiro! Long time no see!”

Hikushiro, an old friend of mine, aged the same and an Animalia.

“Yes, same here.”

“Did you miss me? Is that why you called me?” I put on sarcastic tone.

“Parts of it maybe.”

“How’s your travel around the world? Got any beauty that interested? He he…!”

“I did.”

“Oohhh! How’s she? An Animalia too?”

“A Human…”

“Wow, you advanced further than I expected!”

“… But… she died… though.”

“….Oh… I’m sorry to hear that…”

“HAH! GOT YOU! I WAS KIDDING.”

Pffft…!

“You fucking jerk.”

“Hahaha…! Relax, I didn’t find anyone yet. I still have my little sister to take care of.”

“I really recommend to consult doctor about your sister complex.”

“… Yes, screw you too. I don’t want to hear that from you.”

“HA HA HA HA HA….!”

We both laughed together.

“—By the way, I heard you opened a café?”

“Yes, it’s true.”

“Will you hire my little sister? She needs a job.”

“Huh? What about you guys’ travel?”

“We are kind of short on money you see.”

“I don’t mind to do it for old friends… but ummm….”

Like I say it will reduce my net worth….

“Please, imagine a café with cat ears girl, wearing maid outfit. Not a bad deal right?”

Damn you Hiku, you’re abusing your race’s special traits!

Sounds very interesting, instead of forcing Kano to wear fake cat ears which she will absolutely refuse, I may get a girl with real cat ears and attracts more customer!

But…! That…!

What equation should I choose in this circumstances?

Cuteness > Money

Or

Cuteness < Money

“…Umm…….mmmmmmmmmm….”

“Please.” His voice turns serious.

“……”

“—Alright. However, don’t do something problematic.”

“Thanks…. I remember that. She will arrive at your residence around early midnight.”

“Noted.”

“Thank you so much, Aki.”

“Okay, goodbye and take care.”

“Goodbye.” And he hung up the call.

I rested my arms on the bar, observing the café.

No one’s here yet except the earlier couple.

“Who was it?” Kano came asking me after delivering the ramen to customers.

“Apparently, Yuki will come Japan tomorrow and work at our places.”

“Eh? That kind of story development is so sudden, don’t you think?”

“Who doesn’t?”

“Yuki eh…”

She paused a moment.

“--Getting to see our old friends are exciting, isn’t it?”

“I might agree…. But! I warn you, don’t do something weird to Yuki!”

“I will definitely not. I’m just an employer hiring an employee.”

“There’s a thing called, getting worked out while on the job…?”

“You mean… having sex with co-worker?”

“I’m not an expert yet to say such phrase to someone…. Out loud.”

It’s a trap!

“Me neither.” I ignorantly stated.

Triumphantly she smiled.

“Such a wonderful siblings.” Greeted the auntie once she finished eating.

“Auntie and uncle had already done?” responded Kano.

They both nodded.

“Your tea and ramen is delicious as always.”

“Ahaha, thank you. Your words are most appreciated.”

“2000 yen is fine?”

“Yes, it’s the price.”

The auntie paid us the exact amount of note.

“Thanks for the food.”

“You’re welcome and thank you for coming! Come again!”

They left, waiving their hands while we politely bowed until their presence disappeared completely.

….

Soon after that, portions of handful customers walked in and ate dinner here or even strolled around to relax. After 11 at night, only two adults stayed and were still having conversation.

Those shady guys, they might be talking about nasty and dangerous stuff.

We don’t shelter those guys but they are our precious customers. Rumors say that it is safe to talk things here rather than back alley. Everyone knows we won’t bother anyone with their business. Time to time, those people send job request to us to deal with firearms, drugs or even kidnapping.

Of course we accept the request as long as the pay is legit.

11: 07 p.m.

Ding-a-ling

A Japanese girl with long hair, and mild appearance in casual attire came in.

“Go home, it’s past curfew time. We don’t serve minors here.”

I tried to cast her away as soon as she reached the bar.

“Oh my, I thought my body is matured enough… I’m very confident, especially my boobs.”

She took a seat erotically.

I playfully stared at her breast and mocked.

“My little sister has bigger boobs and she’s only a high school girl.”

“Too bad, I came here for a request.”

“Yes it’s too bad that you are a minor to come 7 minutes late past curfew. Come back again tomorrow before 11.”

“How come you know that I’m a minor?”

“Heh, nothing can trick my eyes. Based on your body and your ‘prideful’ breast, you are without doubt 16 years old.”

She got stoned briefly.

“…Though, hear me. This is emergency… I need you to accept this job.”

“Yes it is emergency.”

“Huh?”

“It will become emergency when I dialed 110.”

“…But…!”

“AND… those guys over there will not be pleased if I did so.”

She stopped urging and turned her sight towards those shady guys.

Once did, she quietly clicked her tongue.

“…I understand. I will come back tomorrow.”

She then left frustratingly.

Later, Kano came from the kitchen which she just finished washing the dishes.

Moving towards me, she started a conversation.

“Eleven people were missing since last month. I just talked with them.”

“The Elves?”

“Yes, heard they are all living in the city, even the newcomers.”

“That’s intriguing, Elves are very few in the city and highly intelligent. On top of all that, they managed to kidnap them. Those guys, they are really up to something.”

“That’s not quite right, they are actually having headaches too. Three out of eleven are their guys.”

“Basically…. Erm… they are not the one who do the kidnapping?”

“Seems like it.” She nodded.

Doing drug, firearms deal and kidnapping is not something new to the society. The government is doing their best to come out with countermeasure against these activities. However, if the bad things happen only to ‘one’ race, it will be another whole level of deadly situation.

Which possibly lead to. War.

“Wait, when did you talk to those guys?”

“When you were busy kicking out the little lady.”

“Oh right.”

I did not notice that.

“By the way, isn’t that girl is…?”

“Don’t worry, she will come back tomorrow.”

…

Ding-a-ling

The day after, as promised the girl came back at 10:50 p.m. which is before 11.

Curse her.

“As appointed, I’m here now.” She proudly declared her arrival.

“Yes, yes, welcome.” I lazily greeted her while Kano was beside me.

“I came nearly 11, did that trigger you?”

“Yeah, it totally triggered me… But well, I keep my word. You are quite daring to wear school uniform, aren’t you?.... Uh..huh?....I think you had longer hair and.... didn't your breast shrink....?”

“Don't call it shrink....! it was padded and I was wearing wig. I just thought going in casual adult-form is useless based on the treatment I received yesterday.”

You did not even show effort.

“…That unifrom!” Something caught Kano's attention.

“—Isn’t that Tomida High School?!”

“Ah yes, first year Tomida High School girl. Pleased to meet you.”

“Me too, third year Tomida High School girl.”

“Then that makes you my senpai then?”

“Ah senpai…. I don’t know how to feel that. By the way, my name is Kano Kuznetsov and this is Hiroaki Kuznetsov.”

“K-K-Ku—what?”

“It’s a Russian name, just call me Kano.”

“Then, Kano-senpai.”

“—And...This big, incompetent, and tactless brother? What should I call you?”

“…Hey you…. Aren’t your attitude a bit different from yesterday?”

“Yesterday stuff was an act, I deemed it useless here so I dropped it.”

Wow, this sharp-edged mouth, self-proud and overconfident girl really challenges my patience.

“Just call me whatever you want.”

“Big brother then.” She blatantly declared my calling name.

Huh?

“Anyway, I have a request.”

“What would that be? Just so you know, we are not finding missing cats.”

“It is, a search request but not cats. I want you to find my little sister.”

“Haa… I see. So what’s her name? Before that..... what is your name?”

She put up a thinking gesture.

“Epi-cc-center Kreshtein?”

“You are bad at on-the-spot lying.”

Of course it is fake when you had to slip your tongue to say your own name. She even pronounced Kristine as Kreshtein and she's full-fledged Japanese.

“…Uh… well…. Rei Ruiki?”

Pffftt!

“That’s our Author’s name!”

“Both things didn’t go my way ay?”

“We won’t proceed if we don’t have any piece of information.”

“Just call me Hime. My little sister’s name is also Hime… but…”

She rustled her jacket’s pocket.

“—I have her picture.”

Shown, a middle school girl with short hair and a fine face.

“This is going smoothly. How much are you going to pay?”

“I already paid it.”

“Hah?”

Wait…

I know very well who’s doing this…

Sigh…

“—We are not in the same page.”

“I see, then.”

She unwrapped her katana and immediately unsheathed it, pointing the sharp edge towards my face.

“—Let’s have a duel? If I win you will accept the job and if I lose, I will walk away quietly.”

“I refuse.” I quickly denied her offer.

“You leave me no choice.”

She swung her katana horizontally and I swiftly dodged it.

Smashed.

A..ah….AHHHHHH! AhhhhhHHHHH!!!!!!! Five bottles of Riesling wine fell to the ground!!!

She tried to swing vertically and I quickly made a halt gesture.

“STOP.”

She halted.

“--I got it, I will have a duel with you but with conditions. If you refuse and continue this violence, I will not hesitate to call the police and sue you for vandalism.”

Once heard the word ‘police’ she obediently backed off.

“…I-I understand, let’s hear them.”

“First condition, pay back all the damages you’ve caused. Five bottles of Reisling, 15 000 yen each, totaled at 75 000 yen. Second condition, the first condition is applied whether I win or lose.”

She calmly sheathed the katana.

“I must admit that actually cost a lot. Will I have to sell my body to compensate the damage?”

“Depends.”

“I recommend to not make him do so.” Suddenly Kano intervened.

“You… I can’t believe you just watched all of that.” I reprimanded in exhaustion.

“It was interesting.”

“Yeah was… but when you realized this month income will get reduced by 75 000 yen.”

“Oh…...! Well, you just have to tweak it a bit so we can survive next month.”

“So easy for you to say! Anyhow, Kano, you heard the circumstances, get my thing.”

“Yes, yes~”

“And you!” I pointed toward Hime.

“Yes?”

“Wait outside at the field.”

“Oh my, did you lose your cool nerve?”

Anyone will lose it!! Especially when you know you lost a sum of your belongings!

“Just go.”

“Okay~”

Observing my messed up bar, headaches stroke me. I felt like a hundred edges of the katana had stabbed my skull.

Thank god there’s no customer tonight.

I worriedly left the bar and went upstairs toward the living room. There, I met Kano.

She was holding a wrapped huge blade.

“How was she?”

“She’s good to go.”

“I never thought of wielding this thing again for such reason.”

“It’s not your fault, you are just too stupid.”

“What?”

My brain couldn't process that.

“Nothing.”

She gave the sword to me.

“—Are you sure you’re going to do this? Hime will definitely lo—“

“THAT’s how things work.”

“—Things sometimes get interesting when you are oblivious."

As I put on evil smile.