Another World Fluffy Cafe

Chapter 1: The Love for Fluffiness

“Ugh, why am I still here working late again today?!!”

In the eerily silent office, Taichi shouted from the depths of his frustration. The salespeople who had dumped their work on him had long since left, leaving only Taichi and… his colleague sleeping on the floor. He hoped that guy would wake up soon.

Well, working late was nothing new. But that didn’t mean it was something that should be accepted.

“I was supposed to leave on time today and visit the cat cafe on my way home!”

Taichi pounded away at his keyboard, releasing his anger through the furious typing. Of course, if he could really blow off steam this way, it wouldn’t be so bad…

Taichi Arima, a man who pounded his keyboard with incredible force. Having joined the company as a fresh graduate, he had now reached the ripe old age of 28, inching closer to being an old man. He was an ordinary salaryman with black hair and eyes.

The work had been so grueling lately that he sought solace in the cat cafe he visited once a month, trying to escape the stress of his job.

“Ugh, Anko, Tea, Macaron, Matcha… I’m sorry I couldn’t come see you… I’m the worst…”

He called out the names of the cats, his tears wetting the keyboard. Determined to visit the cat cafe the next day, he resolved to finish his work in time to catch the last train.

Despite being exhausted and letting out strange laughs, Taichi kept typing away for the sake of the cat cafe.

A little while later—

Click clack, clunk! A cheerful noise echoed through the room.

“Alright, it’s done! The last train—wait, there’s only ten minutes left! I’m leaving first, okay?!”

Taichi called out to his colleague still sleeping on the floor and dashed out of the office.

When he finally stepped outside, the clock showed 12:30 AM. He had six minutes until the last train.

(If I keep running, I won’t make it, so I’ll take a shortcut!)

The path was quite dark, but cutting through a park would lead him to a wider road. He usually avoided this route, but there was no choice.

As he ran, he soon saw his destination and emerged from the park. Crossing the road, he would reach the subway entrance—when suddenly, a white cat appeared in his field of vision.

“Oh, so cute!”

He instinctively wanted to stop and admire the cat, but he was in the middle of a last-train dash. If he wasted time here, he’d miss the train.

“Damn it, such a fateful encounter with a beauty…”

He wondered if he would see the cat again if he took the same route tomorrow. While lost in thought, the cat unexpectedly wandered toward the road. Its steps were a bit unsteady, so it might be injured.

As someone who loved fluffies, Taichi’s reflexes kicked in.

With trucks blaring their horns and the white cat right in front of them, his body moved almost instinctively.

“Watch out!!”

As Taichi yelled, he heard the screeching of brakes and felt a massive jolt to his body.

Oh no, this is bad.

Before he knew it, Taichi’s consciousness started to fade.

“Mm…?”

Suddenly, Taichi’s consciousness resurfaced, and he blinked several times. The bright light made him squint, but as he looked ahead, his eyes widened in shock.

“What? …Where am I? Not a hospital, and is that a kotatsu?”

Yes, Taichi was lying inside a warm, cozy kotatsu.

He had been trying to save the cat from being run over by a truck and ended up getting hit by the truck himself.

(What’s going on?)

Confused by the incomprehensible situation, Taichi heard a cat’s voice coming from under the kotatsu.

“Eh?”

When he lifted the kotatsu, he found the white cat he had tried to save, snuggled comfortably inside.

Well, cats do love kotatsus and warm places. Noticing Taichi’s somewhat disoriented state, the white cat spoke to him.

In Japanese.

“Whoa!?”

“Yes, thank you for saving me. I appreciate it. Meow.”

The cat spoke in a laid-back tone.

“……”

“Meow.”

“No, no, no, wait! What’s going on? And those halos and wings on your head?”

The cat hadn’t had those when he last saw it. As Taichi stared at the cat, now with those features, the white cat grinned mischievously.

“I’m the Cat God. Meow.”

“Eh, a god!?”

“That’s right, a god. Thank you for saving me from danger. Meow. Although, you did die…”

“……”

Taichi was left speechless by the nonchalant revelation from the white cat—or rather, the god. He couldn’t believe he was face to face with the Cat God.

“Did I… die?”

He had suspected it, but saying it out loud made it all the more surreal.

“Yes, you did. Meow.”

“Wow…”

“Hahaha. Meow. It seems you really loved cats. I’ve heard stories about you from the cats.”

“Eh?”

Taichi was shocked to learn that the cats had talked about him to the god!

“They were always happy when you brought them treats. Meow.”

“Oh, yes…”

It seemed the special treats he bought at the cat cafe were what the cat god was referring to.

“It’s a shame that someone as kind as you lost their life helping me. So, would you like to go to a new world? Meow.”