Meow-Meow Chocolate

Übel was deeply conflicted.

Today was the Saint Lomiu Festival. She had gotten up early that morning to help her older sister decorate the shop, and had only just finished. Now she had finally come out onto the street to properly experience the festive atmosphere.

She had originally planned to buy some of her usual favorite sweets, but, thinking she ought to do something different for the festival, she found herself walking into another shop she had never even heard of.

The shop specialized in chocolate, and it was even shaped like cats. It was called "Meow-Meow Chocolate."

A little black cat made of dark chocolate lay on a cushion, while a white chocolate cat held its tail high. A calico made of milk chocolate hugged a hazelnut as it gnawed on it. Each one was only half the size of a palm, yet the details were exquisitely crafted.

But no matter how exquisite or pretty they were, combining cats and chocolate was strange any way you looked at it, wasn't it?

Yet the shopkeeper insisted with absolute confidence that the recipe had been passed down from Lady Flamme. He also said that once she had made enough money, she had been determined to open a shop combining a dessert shop with a cat café, and that this had been one of Lady Flamme's wishes during her lifetime.

Wasn't he taking advantage of the fact that a long-dead celebrity couldn't suddenly climb out of her grave, point a finger in his face and say she had never studied cat-shaped chocolate?

But she had to admit, the chocolates did smell wonderful.

The rich scent of cocoa mingled with honey and roasted nuts. Simply standing in front of the counter was enough to make her want a taste.

But cat-shaped chocolate...

In the end, her craving for sweets won out over the strange sense that something was off. Übel looked down at the Meow-Meow Chocolate on the wooden shelf and chose carefully for a while before picking up a black cat lying asleep.

"I'll take this one."

The shopkeeper accepted her money, placed the chocolate in a small paper bag printed with paw prints, and handed it to her.

But Übel didn't leave right away. She took out the chocolate and held the black cat by its body, studying it for a moment.

"What are you looking at, young lady?"

the shopkeeper behind the counter asked.

"I'm thinking about where to start eating."

"You don't need to think that hard about something like that, do you?"

"If I start with the ears, it'll look pitiful."

The shopkeeper nodded in agreement.

It was fairly common for children to find a dessert too cute to eat.

"So I think I should bite its head off first. Then I won't be able to see it."

Suiting action to words, Übel opened wide and bit the chocolate cat's entire head off.

The shopkeeper stared at the headless black cat in her hand, the smile on his face freezing instantly.

Chocolate was made to be eaten, of course, but watching a cat he had painstakingly crafted get beheaded in one bite still left him with mixed feelings... No, that didn't seem to be the point, did it?

Just then, the bell hanging above the shop door suddenly rang.

"Cats and chocolate? What a strange combination. It's like naming a cat Schrödinger."

A black-haired young man entered the shop with a purple-haired girl. On seeing the shop's signature dessert, he immediately said something utterly incomprehensible.

"Who's Schrödinger?"

the little girl beside him asked.

"A very famous scholar."

"Did he like cats?"

"Hard to say."

"What happened to the cat afterward?"

"Nobody knows."

Why did it feel like he'd said a whole lot of nothing?

"Welcome."

The shopkeeper immediately put on a welcoming smile.

"We still have plenty of Meow-Meow Chocolate today. Which kind would you two like?"

But Fern didn't immediately look at the chocolate on the wooden shelf.

Her gaze first fell on Übel, then slowly shifted to the headless black cat in her hand.

"Übel? I didn't expect to see you here."

Lorenzo recognized Übel at a glance and greeted her.

"Mr. Lorenzo, long time no see."

After greeting him, Übel looked at Fern beside him.

"And this is?"

"Her name is Fern. She's my friend's child. We came out to look around the festival together today."

"Hello, my name is Fern."

Fern stepped forward to greet Übel.

"Übel."

Übel gave her name in return.

The two sized each other up for a moment.

Fern was neatly dressed, and her hair had been carefully groomed. Everything about her gave off an air of being well-behaved and sensible. She was a perfect little good girl.

"Speaking of which, I saw a purple mushroom called a 'Puff-shroom' in the forest once. I thought it looked a lot like you."

Übel joked to Fern.

"What? I look like that kind of mushroom?"

Fern seemed to know the mushroom Übel meant, and she looked indignant.

"You look even more like one when you're angry."

"You... you... you..."

Fern struggled for a long while, but couldn't find any cutting words.

"You can call her Scissor Girl."

Lorenzo chimed in from the side, fanning the flames as he enjoyed the spectacle.

"You Scissor Girl!"

Fern immediately put her new knowledge to use.

"Scissor Girl? I'm older than you, you know. By rights, it should be Scissor Sister."

Übel corrected her with perfect seriousness.

"I'm not calling you sister."

"All right, all right, stop arguing, you two. Übel, giving someone a strange nickname the first time you meet them isn't behavior to be encouraged."

Lorenzo finally spoke up to stop them, paying no heed to the nickname he had just given Übel himself. Though this should count as his second meeting with Übel, not his first, so they should count as acquaintances now. Wasn't it perfectly normal for acquaintances to give each other nicknames?

"I just thought she looked like one."

"Even so, you can't do that."

"All right."

Übel agreed readily. She looked at Fern and offered a proper apology:

"Sorry, Fern."

Fern's expression softened a little.

"I accept your apology."

The shopkeeper watched them from behind the counter, his feelings rather mixed for a moment.

Had these people come to buy chocolate, or had they come all the way to his shop to discuss nicknames?

"Would you like to choose your chocolates first?"

He had no choice but to remind them.

"I almost forgot what we came for."

Lorenzo looked at the wooden shelf, and Fern also gave up arguing with Übel for the time being, turning her attention to the cat-shaped chocolates.

Only Übel continued watching her with a smile.

In the end, Lorenzo chose a calico, while Fern picked a white cat curled into a ball around its tail.

"It suits you."

Übel leaned over to Fern and offered her opinion.

"How does it suit me?"

Fern immediately asked, wary.

"The color's cute."

"You don't mean anything else?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Really."

Übel looked innocent.

Fern stared at her for quite a while before reluctantly choosing to believe her.

But even Lorenzo wasn't quite sure how long that trust would last.

After all, judging by the slight upward curve of Übel's lips, she probably hadn't given up on calling Fern "Puff-shroom."