Chapter 3:
Chez Shampoo

	Sayami Hibiki and her mother were working the restaurant alone when the phone
rang.  It was midafternoon, in the slow period that followed the lunch hour,
and there were no customers.  Sayami picked up the phone.  "Cat Café!"
	"Sayami?" came a familiar voice.
	"Mama!" Sayami called.  "Daddy's on the phone!"
	"Aiya!  Lost again?"  Shampoo stormed out of the kitchen and snatched the
receiver from her daughter.  "Don't tell me.  Lost, yes?"  She waved Sayami
back into the kitchen.
	Sayami grinned and retreated.  Daddy's sense of direction was an eternal
vexation to Mama, who frequently (and loudly) wished he would just stay home. 
She always went to fetch him, however, even when it was raining and she ran
the risk of turning feline halfway through the journey.  That didn't mean she
wouldn't give him a hard time first, though.
	"So, where are you?  You don't know?  Of course not, being lost and all.  And
you called to say you'd be late for dinner, yes?  How thoughtful of you. 
That's not why you called?"
	Sayami was eighteen, and had gone to work for Mama full-time right out of
high school.  She had inherited her mother's beautiful hair and something of
her figure, and was widely considered to be the second-most-beautiful girl in
the entire Nerima area.  She was very proud of her hair, and liked to show it
off by brushing it out and fastening it with a pair of Mama's gold clasps just
behind her ears, so it billowed down her back and past her thighs.  From her
father, on the other hand, she had inherited an embarrassing set of eyeteeth
that she thought gave her a predatory look.  Fortunately, she hadn't inherited
Daddy's horrendous sense of direction, although she did have a tendency to get
confused at intersections.
	"Pick you up?  But how can I pick up my beloved husband if he can't tell me
where he is?"  Sayami stifled a giggle, knowing Mama would come back and smack
her if she heard.  Shampoo might laugh at Ryoga, who was merely her husband,
but to the children he was their father and to be accorded respect.  This was
hardest on Sayami, who loved her Daddy but considered him a total doofbag. 
Her sister Seiko, a year younger, didn't even like him much, but Seiko could
dissemble while Sayami's face always gave her away.  The two younger children,
on the other hand, actually looked up to Ryoga.  Sayami had no idea why.
	Mama was finally letting Daddy off the hook.  "Oh, a RED door.  I know that
place."  Of course she did.  Mama had installed a device that gave the address
and phone number of the origin of any incoming call.  She had originally
purchased it to make deliveries easier, but since she was the only one in the
family that could reliably find an address before the food cooled, they
eventually stopped making deliveries altogether and the device became strictly
a Ryoga-finder.  
	Shampoo hung up and went upstairs to change into her riding clothes.  Sayami
finished cleaning the kitchen, then went out into the dining area.  When
Shampoo came back down, Sayami asked if she could keep the restaurant open
until Mama returned.  Shampoo eyed her while pulling on her gloves.  
	"Think you can handle it?  Customers expect good food and good service, not
one or the other.  This is a full-service restaurant, not some okonomiyaki-ya."
	"Oh, yes, Mama," replied Sayami.  "I 've been practicing my cooking and you
know the customers like me.  And I'm sure I can handle both cooking and
waiting the tables.  It's such a *slow* day, Mama."
	Shampoo sighed.  "Yes, slow.  Hard times for everyone."  She looked sadly
around the empty room.  "All right.  When Seiko gets off school, put her to
work.  Tell her 'Mama said.'  In fact, call the house and leave a message, in
case she goes straight home.  Once I've taken your Daddy home, I'll come back here."
	She walked out the front door, and Sayami heard her rev up her cycle and ride
off.  Sayami was running the restaurant.
	By herself.
	Wow.
	She wiped the already-clean counters with a damp cloth, ran into the kitchen
to rearrange the cooking utensils, ran into the ladies' room to brush out her
hair, and posed by the door  to wait for a customer.  No, not by the door. 
People might think she was selling something besides food.  She retreated to a
seat near the kitchen.
	Half an hour later, she was still waiting.  Sayami jumped up as a shadow
appeared at the door, but it was only Seiko.  Belatedly, Sayami remembered the
message she had been supposed to leave.
	"Mama says you're supposed to wait tables.  She had to go fetch Daddy and she
left me in charge."
	Seiko scowled.  "Oh, sweet joy of existence.  Only eighteen years old and
you've already achieved all your goals in life."
	"Shut up.  Change your clothes and get to work."  
	Sayami swept regally back into the kitchen as Seiko slouched in.  The younger
girl removed her pink-framed glasses and wiped irritatedly at her face.  It
looked like she was going to be stuck in the damn restaurant again with her
bubbleheaded big sister and wearing those cutsey-ass little uniforms.  Only
now, instead of getting more than her fair share of tips from orally-fixated
customers,  Sayami would be lording it -- ladying it? -- over her as High
Queen of the Cat Café.   Seiko stomped glumly upstairs.
	After changing into her uniform, Seiko posed in front of a mirror and crooked
a leg at her reflection.  She was taller than her sister, so her legs were
theoretically longer, but Sayami could just bounce a little and get all the
attention.  Bounce, bounce, bounce.  It wasn't fair.  She put her glasses on,
removed them, and put them on again.  Working without her glasses gave her a
headache and made it impossible to study, and she needed to study tonight. 
Not only were her grades the only thing she could beat that stupid cow at, if
she could get into a good college, she could finally get away from this stupid
restaurant.  
	As she came downstairs and turned the corner, she saw Sayami make a beeline
for the door.  Looking toward the door, she saw Kenshiro Tendo standing
outside, near a lightpole.
	"No!" she screamed, and charged after her sister.  When Sayami stopped to
pull open the door, Seiko plowed into her from behind, sending both girls
flying.  Kenshiro, startled, leaped straight into the air and over the girls
as Sayami's forehead struck the lightpole violently, denting it somewhat.  She
clapped her hands to her forehead and screamed.  Seiko backed away and took a
defensive stance as Sayami glared at her, eyes red and swimming.
	"Lemme look at that," said Kenshiro.  Sayami closed her eyes as his cool
fingers probed the afflicted spot.  "I guess it's okay," he said.  "You're not
sleepy at all, are you?"
	"No," said Sayami.  She began to smile softly, enjoying his touch.
	Seiko watched the two angrily, berating herself under her breath.  Thanks to
her clumsiness, Sayami got to play the sweet innocent while she looked like a
bully.  She dropped her fighting stance, uncertain as to what to do next.
	Sayami reached up and gently touched the back of his fingertips.  Kenshiro
pulled away.  "You're fine," he said, sounding annoyed.  Seiko's heart leapt
at the sight.
	She stepped forward and bowed formally.  "I'm very sorry I hurt you.  It was
an accident.  Please forgive me."
	Sayami scowled at her.  "Liar.  You did it on purpose."
	"I'm sorry you think of me that way, but that is not true.  I was clumsy, and
I apologize.  But I was not malicious."
	"Oh, you liar!  Ken-chan, you saw her.  She came up behind me and shoved me
right into the lamppost.  You saw her, right?"
	Kenshiro scratched at the back of his head nervously.  "I dunno.  It looked
like an accident to me."
	"But...."  Sayami looked back and forth between her sister and Kenshiro, then
lasped into silence.  She pouted and rubbed her forehead.
	"Look," said Kenshiro.  "I just came here to talk to your brother.  Have you
seen him?"
	Seiko glanced at Sayami, then shook her head.  "Why don't you come in and
wait for him?  I'm sure Sayami will cook you something."
	"I'm sorry, I have to go."  Kenshiro began to walk away.
	"Please?" Sayami called after him.  "Don't be mad, Ken-chan."
	"Don't call me Ken-chan," he called over his shoulder.  "I'm not a kid
anymore."  
	The sisters watched him until he turned the corner, then glumly filed back
into the restaurant.  "Why can't you just leave us alone?" complained Sayami
bitterly.  Who did you think you were fooling with that Miss Japan 1867 act,
anyway?  He doesn't like you."
	"Oh?  He didn't seem to care for your pawing.  Maybe he wants a girl who can
actually have a conversation with him instead of just pushing her tits at him
all the time."
	"I was not pushing my tits at him.  He was being nice to me and you ruined
it.  You're the one who chased him away."
	"Then why did he take my side?  Huh?  You think those tits of yours make you
special?  Think again, sister."
	"Will you shut up about my tits?  You're obsessed with my tits."
	"Oh, don't flatter yourself!"
	"You are!  I catch you staring at them, you pervert."
	Seiko flushed an angry red.  "I do NOT!"
	"My own sister!"
	"Shut UP!"  Seiko launched herself at her sister, punching and kicking. 
Sayami backed away from the onslaught, then suddenly counterpunched, clipping
her sister on the side of the head.  Seiko backed away and Sayami took a cat
stance, one leg lifted slightly, ready to kick.  Seiko charged and dove,
twisting to avoid the kick, then lashed out at Sayami's legs.  Her sister
toppled onto a table, snapping it in two.  Both girls rolled to their feet,
red-faced and panting.
	The two glared at each other.  Seiko's mouth was twisted into a snarl and her
breath hissed through her teeth.  Her glasses had fallen off and her short
hair stuck to her face.  Sayami was scowling and tears streaked her cheeks. 
Seiko charged again.  Sayami jumped to the side, and, as Seiko's blow shot
past, brought her hand down on the outstretched arm.  Seiko screamed, and
Sayami kicked her in the small of the back, sending her flying into a cluster
of chairs.
	"Hey!" came a voice.  "You're smashing up the place!"
	Sayami spun to see her younger brother and sister standing at the door. 
Ryoshi was sixteen, but so small and frail that he looked younger than the
fourteen-year-old girl who stood beside him.  He was the one who has shouted. 
The girl, Shimi, eyed the room glumly.  "Mom's gonna kill you."
	Sayami was thunderstruck.  Mama had left her alone in charge of the
restaurant for the first time ever, and now she'd never trust Sayami again. 
"It's not my fault," she wailed.  "Seiko did it!"
	"I did what!?"  Sayami turned to see Seiko picking herself out of the
wreckage.  She wiped blood off her lip and glared at Sayami.
	"You did!  You attacked me!"
	"You called me a pervert!"
	"You ARE a pervert!"
	"Shut UP!"  Seiko leaped at Sayami again.
	"C'mon, Ryo-chan, let's get out of here," said Shimi, pulling the door open. 
The two stepped outside as the brawl resumed.
	"I bet Kenshiro was here," muttered Ryoshi.
	"You can't blame him," said Shimi loyally.  "He never encourages them."
	"Don't you start."
  
	
-- David Homerick