A Rich Life

"Please come again!" Mihari held the door open as a couple left the cafe. She gave a deep bow before readjusting her green apron. On such a chilly day, Mihari was glad she could work inside and admire the trees as they changed from light green to a vibrant orange. She turned her gaze up toward the cloudless sky, holding up a hand to shield her eyes. The midday sun helped against the breeze but a light jacket was still necessary for staying outdoors.

Hearing footsteps from a potential customer, Mihari regained her composure and politely held her hands in front of her. However, she dropped her formal posture and smiled brightly as she noticed who it was.

"Good afternoon, Mihari," Asahi raised a hand as he sauntered over to the front door. The smiling boy donned a slick brown coat that complimented his hair. Along with a pair of black jeans and a light gray turtleneck sweater, the completed outfit forced Mihari to hide her face and snicker.

"W-what's so funny?" Asahi acquired, standing in front of her.

"Your clothes," Mihari hid her grin as she pointed, "it's like you're trying to fit in the cafe."

"It's that obvious..?" Asahi's face flushed red as he stared at his own clothes. "I wanted to try something simple but I guess I tried too hard."

"Next time, come to me for any fashion advice," Mihari suggested as she pulled the door open. "I'll save you from embarrassing yourself."

"Yeah yeah..." Asahi sighed while placing a hand on his hip.

"Well," Mihari gently grazed her finger over the crescent necklace he wore, "I like this." She grinned and strolled back into the cafe. Asahi paused before letting out a dumbfounded chuckle and following her inside.

The cafe Mihari owned was nothing too extravagant. It had a few circular wooden tables in the center and black open booths that lined down both sides of the walls from the entrance. Large potted ferns laid in the corners of the building and warm fluorescent lights hunt from the gray ceiling. The polished wooden floor additionally complimented the plank walls where several watercolor paints hung within white frames.

Most of the interior design had been thought of by Mihari herself with Asahi helping with many of the more expensive finances. Rent, supplies, and furniture were all paid with the help of his phone and a bit of physical effort.

Ever since discovering the manifesting ability from chucking his phone, Asahi had escaped his financial woes and debtors. Within a single week, he went from deep in depth to becoming a small entrepreneur. While it started with Asahi just "printing money," he began to sell items online, shipping several goods after generating them from his phone.

But in order to come up with a legitimate reason for dropping out of college, Asahi started his own business online. After learning that his phone could manifest literally any image displayed on the screen, Asahi's website promoted toward engineers and other creative minds to create prototypes and rare parts they needed. While the job wasn't completely duty-free, being able to generate the materials from his phone saved all the hassle of ordering the wrong tools and messing up instructions.

While Asahi usually worked from a newly owned condo in Tokyo, he often traveled to his hometown and stayed during weekends and holidays. Since the trip to Kyoto was only about two hours, there were many times he would surprise Mihari and his friends after they got out of class and would join their hangouts and even study sessions.

When Mihari shared her dream of running a cafe a study session before finals, Asahi had encouraged her to do so after graduation, promising his full support behind her with all their friends agreeing. It wasn't long before Mihari's cafe was open and it became the new spot for locals and tourists alike to visit.

"Asahi-nii, hello!" Seita energetically waved to his brother from the left wall's booth. Asahi made his way over and sat on the black chair across from his younger brother, placing his black backpack next to his seat. On the table between them was an opened silver laptop and a notebook containing Seita's math homework.

"Did you stay a bit late after school?" Asahi asked, noticing Seita's school bag and uniform.

"Ah no. My friends and I came here right after class to study," Seita explained.

"It doesn't seem like you guys got much studying done," Asahi tapped the mostly unfinished problems on a sheet. Seita sheepishly ignored the remark and turned the laptop screen toward his brother.

"Anyway, the site's been doing quite well," he displayed the spreadsheet containing all the requests. "We've been getting more orders than last month! Are we able to keep up?"

"I'll check if we have enough resources in stock when I return," Asahi lied before giving Seita a sharp stare. "Just make sure you're finishing your homework before helping me out."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Seita pursed his lips and glanced away.

"You're great with numbers when you're doing accounting. Why can't you do this well in math?" Asahi sighed.

"Alright, that's enough business talk here," Mihari appeared carrying drinks on a silver tray. Seita moved his stuff to the side as she placed down three glasses before them. "This is a place to relax, not to complain."

"Speaking of which," Asahi rummaged in his bag while Mihari sat down next to him. "Voila!"

Asahi slapped three packaged tickets on the center of the table.

"What are these?" Seita picked one up and examined it.

"One entire week on the most luxurious cruise ships in the world!" Asahi proudly declared with his arms crossed. "Everything's included! From food to events to service! There's nothing missing!"

"There's first-class plane tickets in here too," Mihari gasped.

"That's right!" Asahi beamed. "We'll first fly to Australia on a 10-hour flight before embarking on a cruise ship. From there, the ship will sail the seven seas for a week. During this time, we can do anything we want on board! I got us one of the larger rooms with every amenity you can dream of! It'll be nothing but pure fun!"

"How did you afford this?" Mihari stared at Asahi with a concerned expression. "Just the price for the flight alone is around what an average person makes in a year."

"Let's just say I came up on a few lucky clients thanks to our site," Asahi winked.

"Are you sure you should spend all that money on this one trip alone?" Mihari asked, gently placing down the tickets. "You've already spent so much on this cafe alone..."

"It's not like I'm losing money from this place," Asahi reassured her. "Besides, this amount is just a small dent in my wallet."

"I, for one, am completely on board with this trip!" Seita exclaimed with an excited grin. "This will be perfect after the winter finals!"

Mihari's gaze vacillated between the two brothers multiple times before letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine. Who am I to worry about where you spend your money?" She grabbed her drink, downed it in one gulp, and slammed the glass on the table with a mischievous grin. "Let’s go on this trip of a lifetime!"