Days passed as Sakura stays at Takashi's house. The manager of the Nekotumame cafe hadn't asked her to do any work yet to make up for breaking the glasses, so she often ended up loitering around the cafe aimlessly as Takashi worked.

Sakura's mind drones on about how Takashi had helped her with so much and was so kind to her, and yet all she had done was cause trouble to him. She felt bad about lying to him about the three wishes she would give him in exchange for staying at his house, too. So one night, Sakura decided she would do something for Takashi to make up for everything.

I'll make him a nice breakfast! Sakura thinks excitedly one night as she lays in bed trying to sleep. I could get up early before Takashi and sneak to the kitchen and make him yummy food. I'm sure he'll be happy with that... Her ears perk up happily as she thinks of his reaction when he sees her amazing breakfast.

Well, it definitely wasn't amazing...

Sakura wakes right before the sun has risen, a few hours before Takashi usually gets up. She was tired and her vision was a bit fuzzy, but her excitement bubbles over whatever fatigue she had and her tails swish happily.

She slowly and softly pads across the floor, trying very hard not to disturb Takashi's slumber. It'd be no fun if he found out about the surprise, and she didn't even know if he would let her use his kitchen if he knew.

The moonlight shining in from the window wasn't enough for her to see, and she hadn't much of an idea of where exactly Takashi was sleeping. All she heard were his soft snores. She grins triumphantly as she is pretty sure she got close to the door.

Suddenly, something roughly grabs Sakura's ankles. She gasps and loses her balance, falling over onto something squishy. It makes a oomph sounds as she falls onto it.

Takashi! Did he grab me in his sleep or something?

Sakura is pressed up against his chest in an awkward position. He has his arms wrapped around her, snuggling her and nearly choking her. Her murmurs something in his sleep and lets out another little snore.

Good... That didn't wake him. Cautiously, Sakura prys Takashi's arms off her. He grabs a pillow after she had escaped his grasp, and he squeezes it tightly instead. His mouth was open and he was drooling a bit.

Haha... He looks so dorky when he does that. Sakura thinks with a little smile, and continues her journey to the kitchen. The door makes a loud creaking noise when she opens it, making her jump.

Once she is out of the bedroom, she sighs, relieved and exasperated that she had made it. Sakura really thought Takashi was going to wake up for a minute there. She flips on the light switch like she had seen him do before, and the lights above flicker on, lighting up the kitchen.

Okay... Let's get to work. I don't know how I'm going to do this, but I guess I should just copy what he did when he made breakfast. He mentioned that he has recipe books too, and that they tell you how to make all kinds of food. That is so cool!

Sakura violently throws around pots and pans as she rummages through his cupboards, looking for the cooking book. It was a miracle Takashi hadn't waken yet from all that racket.

She finally finds a thick and new looking cookbook. On the front of the book, there was a huge vanilla cake being featured, and it looked delicious. With pots and pans still laying everywhere, she heads towards the stainless steel fridge, nearly tripping over a pan in the process.

I should probably see what ingredients Takashi already has so I know what I can make. She swings the fridge doors open, and her eyes shine in excitement as she sees the inside of the fridge.

It's like a magical box of ice. I always saw Takashi get his ingredients here, but it looks so cool! Her fluffy white ears twitch as the cold air from the fridge blows into them, rustling fur gently.

Sakura inspects the ingredients, disappointed. "He doesn't have that much... I won't have a large selection of what I'll be able to make." She lets out a big long sigh.

After flipping through the recipe book, she decided on making an omelette, as the book said it was best for beginners.

Well, that didn't work out too well. 10 minutes later and the omelette was being cooked, and Sakura had set the heat too high, and black smoke started to rise off of the omelette, shrouding the room in a thick black smoke. A smoke alarm goes off, and Sakura jumps up, ears wildly twitching from the loud noise.

What is that! It will wake Takashi up! Ah, what's with all this smoke? I thought it smelled good, but now there's all this smoke!

She rushes to the stove, still not being used to the controls on it. After a few seconds, she figures out how to turn the heat off, and the smoke dissipates, stopping the smoke alarm.

Phew. It stopped. I don't know what that loud noise was, but I don't like it!

Suddenly, Takashi's bedroom swings open, creaking at the hinges. Takashi steps out of the bedroom, eyes squinted from the bright light streaming down from the kitchen lights overhead. He yawns and rubs his eyes, hardly awake. "Sakura? Why are you up? What was the alarm for?"

Sakura's ears droop, ashamed. "I was trying to make you breakfast but it started to smoke a lot and that alarm went off... I'm sorry, Takashi..." Her voice trembles a bit, afraid he would be angry at the mess she had made with all the pans lying on the tiles scattered across the kitchen.

Takashi coughs, remnants of the smoke still

in a small shroud in the air. He walks to Sakura, and pats her head. "Well, I appreciate the thought. But make sure to tell me next time incase something like this happens again." Sakura nods, ears and head still downcast and sad. "It's not that bad." He says, trying to make her feel better. "We can clean up all the pots and pans."

Takashi walks to the stove, inspecting the omelette. "I think it can still be saved." He chuckles, his mouth turning up into a smile. He felt kind of special, since she had gone out of her way just to make him breakfast. Sakura looks up at him with a sheepish grin. Well, in her case, a foxish grin.

The two ended up eating burnt omelettes for breakfast, but Sakura was happy her hard work didn't end up going to waste. They didn't taste half bad. It was in the middle of breakfast and the sun was just rising when Takashi received a phone call from the manager of Nekotumame.

"Hello? Yea, it's me." He says into the phone. Sakura can hear the manager's voice from the phone but she couldn't tell what he was saying. "Hmm? You want me and Sakura to go into the shift early today? Ah.. You got the mascot uniform for Sakura. Okay, I'll bring her with. The costume better not be anything weird, you dirty old man." Takashi laughs at something the manager says. "Okay, see you in a bit." Takashi snaps the phone shut. "It's your first day of work, Sakura."

Takashi and Sakura finish eating, get dressed, and head to work. As they walk through the crowded streets to the cafe, Sakura feels extremely strange. Something really wasn't right. It was like her every move was being observed, and she didn't like it.

She sniffs the air suspiciously, her senses attuned. It was hard with all the various scents on the street mingling together and it overpowers her. As she sniffed more, she picked up a familiar scent. It was the scent of Takashi's friend, Kokoro. Her mouth turned down into a frown from just the scent of her. She really didn't like her.

She smells very close... Is she following me and Takashi? Or is it just a coincidence?

Takashi looks over to Sakura, concerned. "What's wrong? You're looking all over like you're scared or something."

Sakura shakes her head back and forth. "It's nothing..." Takashi shrugs, and looks away.

It smells like her scent is coming closer... Where is she? Sakura rapidly darts her eyes from place to place, trying to find Kokoro. There were so many people walking along the street that it made it hard for Sakura to focus on a single person.

Then she sees the trademark extremely long flowing locks of white blonde hair peeking from behind a tree at the park they were passing by. As soon as Sakura sees the hair, the person hides further behind the trees to conceal their hair. But Sakura knew it had to be Kokoro.

Why is she following and watching us? I don't understand... But I don't like it. Maybe I should tell Takashi? But he seems to trust Kokoro, and he might not believe me. Ugh.

"Takashi, what do you think of Kokoro?" Sakura blurts out, and she regrets her words immediately.

He scratches his chin. "Hmm, why do you ask?" She shrugs, feeling awkward. "No reason..."

"Well..." Takashi stares off into the distance, thinking. "Kokoro and I have been friends forever. She can be a little much sometimes, but I still treasure her as a close friend and I trust her." He explains. Sakura nods, thinking it would be like that. Kokoro had been hiding her true self from him her entire life just to impress him. But Sakura knew her true colors.

I definitely don't like Kokoro, but I don't think Takashi would believe me about Kokoro stalking us if I told him. It's not like she would do anything anyways... I'll just have to deal with it.

Minutes pass, and Sakura and Takashi finally reach the Nekotumame Cafe. The sign above the door is lit up, with the outline of a cat in neon lines. They enter the cafe, and are greeted with the delicious aroma of cake and coffee.

"Mm, that smells good!" Sakura grins dreamily as she sniffs the air, her ears twitching beneath her gray hood. Takashi sighs in contempt as the scent reaches his nose too.

The manager literally prances from the kitchen, a large bag in his hand. "Sakura! I've gotten your mascot uniform!" He looked much too happy just to have Sakura wear the costume, whatever it was. He hands the bag out to her.

She hesitantly takes the bag, and opens it up. Inside, a frilly maid uniform awaits. "W-what is this? I have to wear this? It is very strange..." Sakura unfolds the uniform and holds it up, inspecting it like it is a foreign object.

"Yes, I don't think it'd suit you. It's more for someone like... Me!" Someone snatches the maid uniform away from Sakura. She whips around, and sees that Kokoro had made her way in the cafe without any of them noticing. She holds the uniform up, giggling. "Takashi, do you think it would suit me?" Kokoro asks innocently, already rubbing herself on Takashi's arm.

Takashi rolls his eyes, prying her off his arm. "Kokoro, I told you not to come here when I'm working. Now give that back to Sakura, she needs it to work." He speaks to Kokoro like a child, and she pouts up at him before reluctantly handing the maid uniform back to Sakura. "But it was just so cute..." Kokoro murmurs with a sigh.

"Well, we should get you dressed into that, Sakura. I'll show you to the bathroom." Takashi leads Sakura to the bathrooms so she can dress. He motions for her to go in the room, and she does. She enters, and begins to dress. The costume seemed simple at first, but as she steps into it, she wasn't sure exactly how to put it on. After minutes of tangling around with it, she had gotten it on and hidden her tails under the short and frilly flared out skirt Luckily the costume came with a white lacy headdress which concealed her ears when she put it on.

However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't tie the back of the uniform. "Takashi, are you still out there? I need help..."

Takashi couldn't admit it to himself, but he was secretly excited to see Sakura in the maid uniform, so he had stayed around by the door, waiting in case she had any problems. They had arrived early and Takashi's shift hadn't started yet, so he was waiting for her. "Yea... What do you need help with?" He asks.

"I can't tie the back of the the uniform... Can you help me, please?" She was trembling, ashamed she couldn't do it by herself.

Takashi blushes, his voice trembling slightly. "Sure, I can help." Sakura unlocks the door, and he steps inside the bathroom hesitantly. The bright fluorescent lights above them illuminate Sakura's flawless skin. She is standing a few inches from Takashi, her maid uniform only half on. The lacy straps hung off her shoulders, and the back of the uniform was untied, revealing most of her back and making the uniform look like it might slip off of her any moment.

He steps towards her, feeling uncertain and nervous. She was so enchanting, her skin supple and pink. He had a hard time focusing on trying to tie the intricate white laces on the back of the maid uniform. Looking up from tying the back laces for a moment, he sees Sakura's face in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. She was also blushing, her cheeks the color of a pink blossom. Her arms were crossed over her chest from embarrassment, and she looked adorable and huggable.

Now messily fumbling with the laces from being nervous, Takashi gulps, vision blurry. He really wasn't even looking at what he was tieing anymore. He suddenly accidentally messes up with one of the already tied laces, which was keeping the skimpy uniform together. He gasps as Sakura's uniform slips off her shoulders and all the way down her back. He saw a glimpse of the undergarments he had bought her when they went out, light blue and white striped underwear with lace trim. He would have seen more if Sakura's white tails had not blocked some of the underwear and she had not swiftly pulled up the uniform. "Takashi, what was that!" She exclaims, mortified that he had seen so much.

"Sorry! I accidentally touched one of the pre-tied laces and since they were so loose they came right out... I didn't mean to, I swear!" He gets on his knees, a bit scared of Sakura's wrath. She probably thought he did it on purpose and he was a disgusting lecher.

Though secretly he didn't mind seeing at all...

Not that he would ever tell her that, of course

Sakura crosses her arms, puffing out her cheeks in disbelievement. "Sure you didn't... But just finish tying it and don't ever do something like that again! It-it was... Embarrassing..." She turns around, hiding her blush. "Tie it, please."

He gulps, and stands up, beginning to tie the uniform. He steeled his nerves, trying not to shake so that he would mess up again.

"Alright, done tieing." Takashi announces, and Sakura spins around, in a peppy mood. "Alright, let's get going~~!"

He couldn't help but survey the finished uniform. It was very cute, but also rather revealing.

That dirty manager... Takashi thinks, shaking head with a little grin. He definitely didn't mind seeing her so cute, but he didn't want random creeps going after her or thinking about her in weird ways.

Sakura skips off towards the manager to ask about her first job, her skirt fluffing up a bit as she runs. He was surprised no one was had seen her underwear or her tails yet. He guessed in her world they didn't have short skirts so she wasn't sure how to behave in them. Takashi places his hand on her shoulder, and whispers, "I wouldn't jump around too much in that skirt. People will see your tails or underwear..."

Her face warms up as she brushes the skirt down, her slender fingers tracing over the frilly white lace. "Now that I think about it, it is pretty short... I should be more careful." She murmurs, now feeling self conscious of herself.

The manager pops out from the kitchen, already seeming like an overexcited otaku. "Sakura, that looks smashing on you! I've always wanted to have a maid mascot for our cafe" He bounds over to Sakura, words spewing out of him incoherently. "Dear customers, look at our new mascot!" He says excitingly to a few early customers who had just come in.

Sakura's hides her faces with her hands, feeling awkward as the customers eyeballed her. Takashi pats her on the shoulder reassuringly. "Go get em, fox." He says encouragingly as the manager leads her towards the employee room for some basic job training. Not that there was much, really all she had to do was stand outside the cafe and smile and greet people passing by, and occasionally tend to the customers inside the cafe.

Meanwhile, Kokoro had watched the various scenes unfold. Her fingers had curled up into a tight fist as she had watched Takashi pay so much attention to Sakura. Her teeth clenched as he patted her shoulder and looked at her liked she'd never seen him before.

Why does Takashi never look at me like that? Why won't he pay attention to me? It's like I'm not even here! I hate that stupid woman! It's always Sakura, Sakura, Sakura! I wish she would drop dead! Kokoro thinks, her fingernails nearly drawing blood they were digging so hard into her hands.

After about 30 minutes of some basic job training, Sakura is ready for her first day of work. She was really nervous, but the manager said her job would be very easy and she would do fine.

First, the manager asked her to greet customers when they come in and lead them to a table. Her other job was to greet people outside the shop as they walked by. She only should go outside to greet people as they walked if the cafe didn't have many customers inside.

"Alright, I can do this!" Sakura murmurs, determined. The cafe was already filling up, so she assumed she should be leading some of the waiting customers to their tables.

Um... Think... How did the manager say to greet the customers? She thinks to herself as she approaches the first customer by the door. He seemed to be an older college student. Bowing her head and shaking from nervousness, Sakura murmurs, "Welcome back, goshujin-sama."

The man smiles down at her, approving of the new moe moe mascot. "Thank you." He says, continuing to stare at her, tracing his eyes up and down her uniform.

Meanwhile, Takashi watched Sakura greet her first customer from behind the kitchen counter. His eye twitches in annoyance as the college student continues staring at her.

"Take a picture, why won't you. It'll last longer..." He grumbles to himself as he pours a cup of coffee. If the guy actually took a picture of her, though, Takashi would probably wrasse him down.

Sakura leads the college student to a table, her maid uniform skirt swishing behind her. She bows once more as he sits down, just as the manager told her to do so. A waitress heads to the table, taking over.

And so the work day goes on, and Sakura leads various people to their table. All the customers loved the new mascot outfit, some a little too much. Kokoro had been sitting at the same table in the back for some time now, sipping the same cup of coffee she had an hour ago. It bothered her so much that Takashi wanted to talk to Sakura when the cafe quieted down and not her. She wanted to get back at Sakura for stealing all his attention.

Later, as Sakura passes Kokoro's table, she nimbly sticks her foot out in front of her, causing her to trip. Sakura stumbles and falls on the ground, falling right on her butt. "Ow! Sakura exclaims. "What was that for?" She demands, still on the floor. "Oh... Whoops." Kokoro says with a sly smirk. Sakura lets out a little annoyed growl, knowing very well it wasn't an accident that Kokoro had stuck her foot right in front of her.

Takashi rushes out from the kitchen towards Sakura, having seen the event unfold from the kitchen. "Sakura, are you okay?" She nods as he helps her up. Takashi turns to Kokoro, his green eyes narrowed. "Kokoro, why did you do that to Sakura? You should apologize."

Kokoro looks up at Takashi, tears springing to her chocolate brown eyes. "It's... It's her fault! It's always about Sakura! I hate her!" She sobs, as she hastily gets up from her chair, fleeing the cafe. In a matter of seconds she was out of sight, and Takashi and Sakura are left standing in awe at her sudden emotional breakdown.

"What is wrong with her!" Sakura fumes as she rubs her butt where she had fallen on it. "Why are you close with a girl like that!"

He scratches the side of his head, not knowing what to say. "I know Kokoro can be mean and selfish at some times, but she's always been there for me. Once you get to know her she's not so bad. I don't know why she hates you so much, though... But I guess it's because I've never really had friends that were girls before. Maybe that's why."

Little did he know, the girls who wanted to be friends with him were chased off by Kokoro. It angered her so much that she couldn't get rid of Sakura.