/jp/ - Otaku Culture

"One of my inner courtyard conservatories." Miss Yuuka said, taking a seat at the table. "Perfect for a warm and sleepy afternoon." She was already pulling her vest off and loosening her collar, and I could feel myself starting to sweat, so I pulled my coat off and hung it on the back of my chair. "Elly, be a dear and fetch the pastries, as well as some tea, would you?" Elly nodded and returned inside after setting the plates down, This left Yamame and I alone with Miss Yuuka, who steepled her fingers and rested her chin on them, watching us both. "A venue, you said. You wish to marry underneath the peach tree." I nodded slowly. She'd put it together just as quickly as I'd expected. "that was, of course, my intention when I offered the idea. And the tree will post likely be in bloom come spring. I was not quite certain, given its...Size. A celestial would know better."

I had a celestial, but not currently around. I didn't really know what Tenshi got up to on her own time, but it probably involved teasing Marisa, so I decided to just leave her to it. Either way, I trusted that Miss Yuuka knew what she was talking about. "Now, I believe the next question I am to ask is whether or not you have any wedding plans already." She watched us for a moment. "From the blank look on both of your faces, I am going to assume that the answer to that is no."

"We - Er, had a date in mind...?" Yamame said, scratching her head and rearranging her ribbon. "Er, April the fourth, if that's okay with you." Miss Yuuka thought for a moment, rubbing her chin, but before she could answer, I heard noise from inside the kitchen.

"Ouch!" Elly's voice hissed. "Still hot..." She muttered, and a moment later, with two large oven mitts on her hands, she brought out the tray containing all the pastries. "There's, uh, not enough space to put it down, so you might just have to..." She vaguely gestured with her head, nodding toward the pastries and then toward our plates. "Here, I'll just..." She awkwardly crouched slightly and held the tray just above her plate, offering it to us.

Yamame reached out and took one, then looked over at Miss Yuuka, who raised a hand in a gesture that had to mean 'continue'. So, tentatively, Yamame took a second pastry. I only took one, and I wasn't even sure that I would finish it. I hadn't been very hungry since Yamame was making me eat so much, but this seemed like one instance where I could get away with not eating much. Miss Yuuka took two, and Elly took one, leaving a single pastry left on the tray. Yamame stared at it. Miss Yuuka stared at me. I stared at Elly. Elly looked oblivious to the whole thing. Finally, Yamame and I both threw our hands out at the same time, then exclaimed in pain when our hands knocked into each other. Miss Yuuka, watching us, picked up the pastry and gently ran her finger down the middle. Immediately, it split apart, as if it had always been cut in half. I supposed that was a creative application of danmaku, or she was just that good. Then, Miss Yuuka dropped both of the halves on Elly's plate instead. "Uh...?" Elly blankly asked.

"Greedy." Miss Yuugi commented, wagging a finger at Yamame and I. To tell the truth, I hadn't even wanted it, but Miss Yuuka had seemed to be goading me into taking it. I guessed that it was just a teasing thing. "Please, try them while they're still warm." I did, delicately picking my singular one up with two fingers and taking a small bite. Much like the last one I tried, it was a complex taste that I didn't fully understand, but I could tell was good. It was sweet, and savoury, and I'd hit a pocket of what looked to be melted chocolate, hot and sweet. It was delicious and I was suddenly glad that I'd only grabbed one pastry, because I could see these being the sort of thing that were hard to put down.

"O-Oh, these are so good!" Yamame exclaimed. I looked over at her and then muttered for her to finish chewing first. "It's so - Sweet but slightly bitter at the same time. It's like it lingers in your throat - And the pastry is delicious too, since it complements the chocolate...Miss Yuuka, these are amazing." Miss Yuuka smiled widely at the praise before taking a bite of her own.

"Hmm...Elly, remind me to try it with some chocolate that's just slightly less dark." Out of curiosity, I asked Miss Yuuka where she'd got the ingredients for something like this. "That's my secret. Though, I will say that there is a surprisingly large number of things that can be obtained depending on your...sources." I could only assume that she had some sort of way out of the barrier and into the Outside World. Somehow, I doubted that it was any of my business. "Now, while Miss Kurodani here finishes that, I would like to ask you - Since it appears that you are not as hungry as you could have been - some questions about your future plans."