Soma would like to say she had no sense of shame. Well, between her walking to the nearest convenience store for the fifth time this week and her walking to the nearest convenience store for the fifth time this week at 2:27AM, there was little to no room for shame in the midst of being this pathetic. She was seventeen years old, yet she'd never even held a bottle of oil. The stove screamed bloody murder the second she glanced at it, and she didn't even own knives. And the dishwasher? Forget about it. The only time it's been used is the time she didn't feel like dragging herself to the laundromat. There's no use for dishes when everything you eat comes in a plastic container anyway. Though, sometimes they forgot the utensils.
A tiny bell rang behind her as she stepped into the small brightly colored shop. By muscle memory, she sped to the far back of the second aisle and reached down to grab her favorite chips. They were cupcake flavored— and before you tilt your face in disgust Soma would have you know that they saved her the trouble of buying dessert and chips. They were cheap and so was she, so there was no reason for them not to be her favorites. It was chilly outside at this hour, so she decided to get a hot coffee for the walk home and a few waters. On her left read a poorly written sign. It read, "Authentic Dinners, 20% off". A sale in this backwater shop could only mean they were on the verge of becoming a science experiment, but she didn't complain.
Soma went over to the candy aisle to pick out a few chocolates. She took all her items to the counter where she was greeted with the all-too familiar gaze of the 'too old to retire now' shop owner. Mr. Siyu is what they called him, though Soma was certain he had several counts of insurance fraud and thus no reason to disclose his real name. "Hey, Soma, late-night cravings again?", he spoke.
"Early morning grocery trip is more like it". Soma sorted through her wallet to search for her card when a loud thud emerged from the back of the store. Mr. Siyu peeked over the counter in the direction of the sound. "I'll go check it out", she volunteered. She speed-walked to the frozen section of the shop looking towards the ground to see what had fallen. The floor was clear apart from the occasional dust pile here and there.
"I'm not seeing anything, Mr. Siyu". She started back towards the counter. "Oh!", she whisper-shouted, remembering that she had forgotten to pick up condiments. She made her way to the shelf, perusing through packets and bottles. From the corner of her eye a figure shot past her. At least, that's what she thought; she couldn't get a clear read on the subject. 'Strange...' she thought to herself as she continued to search for spicy mayo. Again, a thud was heard, but this time from the opposite side of the room.
"I probably have a rodent". Mr. Siyu put on his glasses and headed towards the break room for his pest repellent. Soma was interested herself and decided to investigate the noise. As she approached, she could hear footsteps attempting to run off, only to be met with another thud and silence. 'Maybe it died?', she thought, still going towards the area. She rounded the corner to the last aisle where she was met with a body clutching its knee. They were wearing black bottoms with a grayish-blue hoodie.
"Hello? Are you alright?"
"Yes!...I mean", the figure cleared its throat and deepened its voice, very clearly. "I'm fine".
Soma raised an eyebrow to this and folded her arms. Her head shook when she realized the situation. "Right, well, Mr. Siyu is on his way to 'exterminate' you. So you should get going. I hope you're not stealing anything. Actually, before you go, empty your pockets".
"I don't have anything", the obviously fake voice stated.
"Oh really? What would the Ms. Kuga Fan Club say if they found out their president was a thief? Land off the coast of Madagascar won't mean much when you're in jail."
"I said I don't have anything!" The voice returned to its normal pitch, letting out a frustrated huff afterwards. "Geez..."
Soma rolled her eyes and extended a hand to help her friend up off the floor. Yayoi grunted as she slowly got up from her position and appeared worn out. Soma stared at her expectedly, tapping her foot with impatience. "Don't look at me like that!", the other yelled.
"I have every right to look at you however I want, considering my 'party' the other day."
Yayoi gave in and began explaining her circumstances. "Before I knew it, my stove had gone up in flames!", she yelled, recounting the events earlier in the week with Chiiya and her mom. In desperation, the stove-less girl forced her pride down and solemnly decided to settle for convenience store meals. She couldn't cook for a while, and her life felt as if it'd lost all meaning, she explained to Soma.
"That's pretty wimpy of you". Soma was annoyed that Yayoi had based her entire livelihood on the condition of a stove and her ability to cook. "I mean seriously, hiding from me because you can't make your homemade snacks?" She looked Yayoi in the eyes. "Is cooking really all you have? You've seen me naked for crying out loud, and you can't confide in me because of what? Pride?" It hurt her just a bit— the fact that Yayoi relied on cooking more than her own friend. Yayoi stayed silent, looking away from Soma's stare.
"That ego of yours is gonna catch up to you someday. I hope you're prepared for that". Soma shook her head and gestured to Yayoi to forget it. The two approached the counter, Soma calling for Mr. Siyu to return to the register. They paid for their goods and left the owner with a tip for the trouble. As the girls stepped out, Soma tapped her friend's shoulder.
"Did you hear? The home economics club is hosting a cooking competition. Thought you and Chiiya might be interested".
A fire seemed to light in Yayoi's eyes. It was the most perfect, no— the most quintessential of opportunities. For once, she could crush Chiiya until her eyes popped out, and legally, at that. Not that her fantasies about completely destroying Chiiya and her hopes of doing anything good for herself weren't legal! They just wouldn't exactly allow her into the pearly white gates, but they were surely 100% law-abiding.
She was now smirking and still hadn't moved a muscle. "Yayoi? Hello?"
"Oh! Sorry, no, I haven't heard about it. Where do I sign up?"
"I'll bring you both tomorrow after world history. And please behave yourself."
"Fine..."
"Mhm. Goodnight, Yayoi." Soma turned in the opposite direction of Yayoi and continued home.
***************
The bell rang to signal the end of class, which happened to be world history for both Chiiya and Soma. After gathering their things, Chiiya grabbed a hold of the other and began dragging her off in some estranged direction. She was a little too excited to sign her name on that form, but she couldn't help it. Yayoi would feel the loss penetrate her soul if it was the last thing Chiiya did.
"You don't even know where you're going. Unhand me."
"Oh. Well! Take me then!"
"We have to get Yayoi." A pout spread across Chiiya's face. They had to find Yayoi, of course. Who else could she possibly go against? She sighed and turned away while rolling her eyes. "Okay, I guess it's time to go. Yippee..." Her hands mockingly waved.
"I should hit you right now."
"Um... I mean! Let's go! Yeah!!" Chiiya sped off to the second floor, releasing as much excitement as she could to get Soma off her case. Shaking her head, Soma followed, albeit at a much slower pace.
The two found Yayoi leaning against a wall seemingly engaged in a conversation, with a boy no less, which was relatively new. Chiiya violently hit Soma's shoulder repeatedly. It was cute when Nakaga did it, but surprisingly the pink-head had the heavy hand of a mother. "Okay! I can see too!" Soma whisper-shouted, holding Chiiya's hand still. They decided to listen in before intruding.
"Yeah...I'm not sure about all that Tanimoto. Maybe just go back to the drawing board."
"But I already have! I've drawn an alien, a flower, a diorama of the bathrooms, and still nothing! What should I do, Yayoi?"
"Tanimoto...how many people have told you to go back to the drawing board?"
"A lot..."
"That's not what they meant."
"Ah! But then, what could it be?!"
"Maybe you should just focus on something you're already good at. Like gardening. That should be fun." They talked for just a bit longer before the boy ran off with a 'thank you'. Chiiya and Soma approached Yayoi, the former with a giant grin pulled across her face.
"Oh? What's this? Yayoi's got game?"
"We're just friends. Or, uh, something of the sort. Classmates, I guess? I don't know, we don't talk much."
Chiiya snickered. "You say that as if that's new".
"Can we go? Or are you two gonna fight in front of the pottery room?" Soma and the others began back up towards the third floor, Soma stuck in between a huffing Yayoi and a restless Chiiya. On arrival, the three were greeted by a representative from home economics. He smiled, handing Chiiya a pen to begin registering. Her eyes widened when she realized the amount of names on the paper.
Two wasn't typically a lot. By no means was it anything to be stunned by. But somehow, it had slipped the minds of both contenders that anyone else could participate in the event. Neither were worried, though. Compared to their individual skill, small fry scraping their way through a half-baked cooking club would be nothing to worry about. For some reason though, that thought triggered a bit of deja vu in Yayoi.
"Ladies! Would you also be interested in joining home economics?" The boy standing behind the table handed a designed form to them, advertising the club.
"No. They might consider it, though." Soma remarked. She was right. Even though the two had secretly denounced the club in their heads, they somehow had conjured up the idea that this would make a nice stepping stone to earn bragging rights about their skills.
"I'll think about it." Yayoi added.
"Likewise."
"Alright! Please think it over. We have a line-up of exquisite members!" He pointed to those in the room behind him. "And uh...he's there too." Their eyes were directed towards a small boy seated in the corner of the room, his entire body white with the color of flour. Really, it just confirmed their earlier thoughts about their opponents. They all left, heading towards the back exit of the school. Soma went her own way after bidding her friends goodbye.
"Hey, Yayoi?"
"What?"
"Don't hate me too much tomorrow, okay?"
"Don't worry about that. I already do, and I will for much, much longer than just tomorrow."
"Is that so?" Chiiya smiled and tilted her head just slightly. "I thought we were getting along just a little."
"You thought wrong. See you later, Chiiya."
"Ha! I knew it!" She jumped in front of Yayoi, pointing directly at her now dumbfounded face. "Before now you wouldn't even say 'bye' to me. And now, you're not saying 'bye', but 'see you later'! You don't hate me that much!"
"What?! No! No, I...I do hate you! A lot! So much! Get out of my way already!" Yayoi gently pushed her to the side. "God, you're so annoying..."
Chiiya laughed contently. "Yeah, yeah, sure!", she paused. "Yayoi."
"Oh my god, what?"
"See you tomorrow." Chiiya left with a wave, the other watching her hair sway behind her in shock.
"Whatever..."
...
"I hate her...right?"
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