2D

"Wow! You really do have an entire restaurant! How did you manage to pay for everything?" Ayame asked as she followed me and toured the place.

I told her that I used money I had made during my travels over the years along with taking out a large loan from the bank. The latter, I was hoping to pay off as soon as possible. 

Ayame was very impressed. I wasn't even 20 yet, and I had achieved my dream. She told me that her father's dream, before his death, was to turn Ichiraku's into its own restaurant. They never got to accomplish that sadly. She wanted to try and complete it in his stead but it never worked out for her. 

"It's ok, Ayame. This restaurant is actually pretty special and I'm sure you'll love being a part of it. This place has a huge surprise that I didn't tell you or Sakura last night. I didn't want to spoil it." I told her. They would have both thought I was crazy if I told them this restaurant could connect to other worlds. The only way for anyone to believe that is to see it themselves. 

She looked very curious. "Oh, What's the secret?"

"Master, I put all the food away in the fridges." Ikaros said as she walked out of the back storage room. I had used some more points to buy some fridges to store ingredients. It wasn't practical to always have to conjure up ingredients from the system whenever customers came in. 

"Who is this?" Ayame asked as Ikaros walked up to us. She was of course still clutching that watermelon to her chest... "I like those fake wings on your back. They are very cute." Ayame complimented Ikaros.

Ikaros smiled at her softly. "Thank you, but my wings are not fake." To prove her point they fluttered cutely behind her.

Ayame gaped at the sight, before she turned to me. "Does she have one of those special ninja bloodlines or something?"

"Nope. She is a genuine Angel…well she calls herself an Angeloid. Ikaros comes from an entirely different world!" I declared.

"...Uh huh, sure." Ayame was looking at me like she had just caught me trying to play a trick on her. "Nice try, but Naruko tried to prank me all the time and I've learned how to spot them."

I spent the next couple of minutes trying to explain to Ayame that my restaurant had the ability to connect to other worlds. And that no, this was not a trick.

Of course, She didn't believe me and continued to think I was still messing with her. 

In order to finally prove it to her, I walked over towards the front door and opened it in the Kukuroo mountains. She stood there Frozen for a second when she realized that we weren't in the village anymore. I opened and shut the door a couple more times flipping between the mountain range and the village to let it finally sink in. 

It took longer than I thought, but she finally believed me. When it finally sunk in that I wasn't lying to her…Ayame promptly fainted from the shock.

Thankfully Ikaros managed to catch her before her head hit the floor… Ikaros picked Ayame up and gently settled her into one of the booths.

I sighed at Ayame's reaction and hoped other people wouldn't start fainting in my restaurant. That would be bad for business!

"Master? What do we do now?" Ikaros asked me while glancing at the other unconscious woman. 

"First, we have breakfast, and then we'll open the restaurant and wait for people to start coming in." I replied. We can't start the day on empty stomachs ourselves after all.

Ayame woke up around a half-hour later after I put a delicious smelling plate of food next to her on the table. "This is so delicious! You're a true master in the kitchen, Akira!" Ayame praised me as she scarfed down her breakfast. "I'm still mad at you for not telling me about this crazy restaurant though! How do you think Sakura is going to react to it?" 

"I honestly have no idea, but I'm sure it'll work itself out," I replied. 

"And what's with this Angel here, is she your new girlfriend? What about Sakura? Weren't you two on a date last night?" She asked while raising an eyebrow at me.

"I rubbed the back of my head. We were on a date last night, and Ikaros here is only my employee. There's nothing going on between the two of us…" I shifted my eyes and looked away from her as I said that last part. There's no need to mention how I made out with my Angel-waitress for a couple minutes last night…

"…Just don't go and break Sakura's heart. If you want to be with multiple girls at once in this Village then you have to tell them!" She said seriously to me. 

"I won't break her heart– wait what!?" I wanted her to elaborate further but I only had already walked into the back kitchen and looked like she didn't want to talk to me anymore right now.

She can't just say something like that and walk away! Was I missing something here? Was dating multiple girls at once a thing in this Village!? 

With no one around to answer my questions, I decided to just open the restaurant for the day. I asked Ikaros to go outside and flip the closed sign open.

About fifteen minutes later, the Hidden Canopy got the first customers of the morning.

XXX

Thanks for reading!!!