Chocolate Cupcake|A Zane~Chan Story

A Lead

Zane pondered in silence. A maid cafe. Is it still around? What was it called? How can he contact someone who would know about it?

ZANE'S POV

It's been about ten years since her mother died. There's been people in this town who lived here for that long. All I have to do is find one of those people. Maybe Aph's mom knows. I can see her visiting a place like that. Everyone on the street had been in Phoenix drop back then too. So far it seemed like a good start.

I walked up to Garroth and Laurance's porch porch and knocked. A few moments later Garroth answered. "Baby brother!" He hugged me. I stiffened. I'm still not used to this 'touching' thing.

"To what do I owe the pleasure? " Garroth gestured inside for me to come in. He closed the door behind him.

"Hahh, nice to see you too. I wanted to talk. To both you and Laurance. Is he around? " I asked.

A brown haired man suddenly appeared behind Garroth. He smirked.

"Yeeees? " He squinted his eyes.

I sighed, 'This is important. "

"What? Did you loose your eyeliner? Do you need help finding it? " His expression became more serious, "Just joking with ya. Those days are long gone. What's up? "

"It's about Na-I mean, Kawaii~Chan. I was wondering if either of you knew about any maid cafes that were around back in highschool, or before then. "

"Maid cafes? " Garroth gave a confused look.

"Yeah, you see,  her mother owned one before she died. I thought that if I could find someone who was connected to it,  I might find out more about who did this. It has to be someone connected to her, so this is the first step. Plus they took a valuable family item, so it might have to do with her family, " I explained.

" I don't know about any maid cafes. I've only been to that one Kawaii~Chan used to work at. Heh,  I'm sure you'd rather not think about that would ya? " Laurance smiled.

I shivered. I'd almost forgotten about the maid uniform I had to put on.

"What about you Garroth? " I turned to him.

"Sorry baby brother, I don't know of any. "

"That's fine. But one more thing, I was wondering if you could ask your parents," I looked towards Laurance, " And also if anyone else you guys knew that lived here at that time. "

"Sure,  I can do that. Hold on-" Laurance took out his phone and started dialing.

"Hello? Yes, hi mother. I had a question. It's about maid cafes. Do you know of any in Phoenixdrop when you guys lived here? Hm. Can you ask dad?..... Okay, thank you. Oh? Yes,  please do. Nice to talk to you too Cadenza. Yeah, not that one. Thats okay, thank you, " He ended the call.

"They didn't know of any. Cadenza was there taking care of my little brother,  so she was able to answer. All she knew was the one KC worked at too. Sorry. "

"Don't worry about it.  Thank you for trying, " I said.

"You know,  you can try to search it up. I'll call mom and father while you do that, " Garroth picked up his phone and exited the room.

Look it up? I guess I didn't really think if that before.

'Maid cafes in Phoenixdrop'

A list appeared. I saved the page.

'Close down Maid cafes in Phoenixdrop'

Nothing.

I'll have to look some more later.

Garroth entered the room, "Sorry baby bro,  they've got nothing. I also contacted Vlyad. He says he'll help. He has a way with finding things out. It's almost scary sometimes. "

"Thanks, Garroth. I'll be on my way then, " I stood up and went to the door.

"Good luck, " Laurence said as I opened the door.

I nodded and left.

Next, I suppose is Dante and Travis. Ugh, I'm not looking forward to this visit.

* * *
I knocked on the door. A blue-haired man opened the door.

"Why hello,  fancy seeing you here Zane. 'Come for an autograph? We have been taking the online video career by storm, " He leaned on the doorframe, tying to be suave.

I scowled, "Cut the jokes, Dante. "

Travis appeared at the door.  He had a pickle in one hand and a camera in the other. On his head was a miner-like headset.

"Okay,  I'm not even going to ask, " I siezed him up from head to toe. He was covered in soot.

"What brings you here, in the middle of our work? " He tried to mimick how a royal would sound, but his voice just ended up becoming a few octaves higher, with a accent prone to voice cracks.

I sighed, "It's about KC. "

"Ah why didn't you say anything in the first place, " Travis continued with his fake royal accent. What, is he king of the pickles? He led me inside.

"I need to know about maid cafes. Do you guys know of any that were around back in highschool? " I asked.

Dante and Travis looked at each other and grinned.

"That brings back memories, " Dante said.

"Hah, we used to go to those all the time, " Travis laughed.

Okay,  that made sense. But for the heck if it I asked, "Why?"

"Oh ya know, to give away my books and try to pick up some ladies, " Dante smirked.

Of course.

I rolled my eyes, "Nevermind. Just answer the question. "

Travis shrugged, "Welp their weren't that many back then. There's still not a lot today. I know there was the one KC worked at, and Glitter Mitten's Fine Cafery-"

"Glitter Mitten's? 'Cafery'? Is that even a word? "

"Listen, I don't make up these names okay? Anyways, there was also Sweet Sensitivity. I don't know about any others. "

"Any family or other people that might know about them? " I asked.

"Nope. My parents are completely out of the loop with stuff like that. So are Dante's, " Travis said.

"True," Dante nodded, "But if you're looking for someone else, try Lucinda. I remember her saying something about maid cafes."

" Will do, thanks. See ya, " I said,  wanting to get away from their smelly house as fast as possible.

* * *

I stood on the porch of Lucinda's house. Hopefully, she isn't asleep. Her sleep schedule is severely different than the rest of ours. I rang the doorbell. After a few minutes,  Lucinda opened the door.

"Zane? What are you doing here? "

"I have a few questions. It's for Kawaii~Chan's sake. "

"You're lucky you caught me, I was just about to go to sleep. I've been up all day and night studying potions. C'mon in, " She led me to her couch, "So what do you want to know? "

I explained.

Lucinda repositioned herself, "Maid cafes? Oh gosh, my family has a history with those. See, hundreds and hundreds of years ago it was very common that maid cafes used dolls that were brought to life with something called 'spirit magic'. Us people who study witchcraft were rivals in the magic business. My family has been involved in many friendly rivalries with spirit magic users. As for maid cafes, there are a few I know. But most our ones that Travis and Dante can tell you. Those dweebs used to hang out at them almost everyday. There is one in particular that I know though. It was in business before high school, and even before Travis and Dante learned about them. It closed down during our freshman year. My mother had some history with that place. I can't explain in detail, but I can call up my mother. She can tell you about it. "

"What was it called? " I asked.

"Nana's. It was called Nana's.