/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>45692475
(21)
The cake dominated the table. A large thing, made from hours of hard work in the kitchen. It was a bit much for what was intended to be a small party, but discussion on how Hana deserved something special resulted on what stood before us. As the candles were lit, the song begun. Despite the situation, it was genuine. It was like everyone decided if we sand genuinely enough and gave smiles all around, Yukari would be compelled to leave and let us have this party. But as the last notes of the song dissipated, and the usual tension returned to the air Alice came in to divide the cake. A mouth full of cake is one not lobbing insults, after all.

But any hopes of a confection fueled cease-fire were dashed as Yukari pulled Hana onto her lap, feeding her cake and doting on her like a child. Everyone else had split into different groups to avoid spoiling their appetite by sitting at that display. I found myself in a group with Mima and Mamizou , who were trying to one up each other with different stories. Mima tried to claim how she used to tutor a king known as Solomon a long time ago, while Mamizou told some convoluted story on how she tricked someone by pretending she was tricked, all to tech him a lesson. They were engrossing enough that I only took a few glances over at the table in to see Yukari was still fretting over Hana like a toddler. Hana was way too friendly with Yukari, something was very wrong. While no doubt I was alone in wanting to find out what was going on, the party demanded we all pretend that we didn’t notice. But when Hana excused herself and left the room, the atmosphere instantly changed.

Yuuka was the first to strike. “There’s plenty of cake, despite there being more guests then we intended. Don’t be shy in taking more for yourself when you’ve done feeding Hana”

Yukari just tilted her head a bit, not even moving an inch in her chair. “I’ll consired your kind offer, but I’m fine for now. You can always have more if you want. All that vigorous exercise you’ve been up to must have shed a few pounds. You can sneak in a few more slices”

A sudden metallic ting rang out, followed by the sound of something hitting the opposite wall. Yuuka placed her fork on her plate, now having lost its head. “I apologize, I’ll replace it later” she said in response to Alice annoyed glances. I wondered if a fight broke out over this if the table would save me. Probably not, but it might leave enough of me for a funeral if things didn’t get too ugly.

As if smelling my fear, Yukari waved me towards her. Oh no, not me. Not now. Knowing I had no other choice, I didn’t even bother looking over to the other guests for support. Like a prisoner approaching their execution, I marched forward, reminding myself to keep it together.


“Kosuzu, it’s been too long. How’s the family?” Those deep purple eyes stared at me. Too deep, like the endless void of space where it goes on and on and-
I shook my head and carefully thought of my words “They’re doing good, Daisuke and Fumiko are starting to learn how to do their chores around the store. Kato’s been looking into expanding the Suzunaan so he’s been making some preparations. He wants it to be ready to go by spring”

“That’s lovely to hear they’re doing well. Maybe I’ll stop in sometime when I need more reading material” Those purple pools got a little deeper and darker. Nothing else needed to be said, the message she was sending me was clear.

“So, I also hear you’re offered to do some printing work for us, isn’t that right?” she said, maybe a little too louder. I wince a bit. Even if it was my cover, it still hurt.

“Yes, I did” I say, doing my best to look her in the eyes. Mima jerked her head towards me and floated our way. Just the thing I needed.

“Good. We’re planning a festival for the winter solstice, it’ll need to have pamphlets and flyers distributed, and you’ll be a big help if you could take on some of the duties for us. Can you help?”

I look towards Mima, pleading in my eyes for answer. She glared back at me. “Yes I can” I squeaked out.

“Good, I'll have it all sent over. Thank you for being so understanding, your support means so much” Even if her words were only intended to cause a superficial wound, they still stung.

“So I’ve been wondering about this festival. Will the women draw lots for their turns with Anon, or do you have something more special in store? Maybe some sort of show?” Mima butted in as she studied Yukari for any reaction. I nearly gagged.

Yukari’s face didn’t face “Oh, you wound me so. You'll understand soon what he does and why he's more then some cheap whore you want him to be"

Thankfully Hana entered the room before the conversion could continue