Chapter 2

Dark Secrets

In the kitchen the next day, Honoka is doing some cooking at the shop. As Nyotengu recommended, she is wearing the maid outfit. But...for the pinkette, even though it's her second day here, she feels like an actual maid serving her master.

"Haaaah...Nyo-chan can be really insistent sometimes..." she mutters to herself. "I feel like I'm regretting coming here already..."

"Honoka!" Kasumi calls, who is just standing there watching along with Ayane. "Honoka-chan, Honoka-chan!"

"Yes, what is it?" The pinkette turns toward the two. "I'm very busy right now."

"Your pot's boiling," Ayane says.

"Ehhhhhh!?" Honoka realizes that she's been so busy doing other stuff that she forgot to turn the stove off. She frantically runs over to turn it off, but after she does, she slips and falls flat on her face.

Kasumi and Ayane burst into laughter.

"Mouuu~!" Honoka whines. "You girls could have at least helped turn it off!"

As she stands back up, she hears Nyo's voice from behind her.

"Is it ready yet?" She asks.

"No, it's not," Honoka answers. "Just a bit longer."

"Oh, I can wait on the food," Nyo says. "But I was asking about another fill on my drink~"

Honoka turns and gasps at the outfit Nyo is wearing. She is clad in red lingerie with a transparent cloth over her midriff and red thigh high stockings with garter straps. She shakes her head.

"You drank it all already!?" She says.

Nyo peers closer with a sly smile while waving her glass. "Be a dear and refill my drink, please~?"

Honoka sighs as she takes the glass. "Yes, ma'am."

Nyo looks down at the table and notices a box of miso. "Oh, what is this? Looks delicious." She sticks her finger in and takes a lick.

"Hey, I'm not done with that!" Honoka says.

"Aw, come on. A taste wouldn't hurt."

"If you eat now, you'll ruin your appetite. I mean, if you wait a bit long then you'll...huh?" Honoka catches the tengu looking in the other direction. "What's wrong?"

Nyo smiles her beautiful smile. "Well, well. Seems we got a customer~"

The customer, who is a girl with long violet hair and wearing a scarf comes through the doors. She looks around to see if anyone is anyone is here. Nyo shows up in her usual black kimono and leads her to the main room. Honoka, Kasumi and Ayane are hiding behind the doors next to them to listen.

"Welcome to my shop," Nyo says.

"Sorry, I was suddenly curious about this place," the girl says.

"Your name?" Nyo asks.

"Rei. Rei Kuroki."

"I see," Nyo says. "Well, what I do here is grant wishes.

"Grant wishes?" Rei repeats.

"Yes. Your presence here can only mean you have a wish needs to be fulfilled," Nyo explains.

"Oh..."

"However...it comes with a payment," Nyo says.

Honoka sighs. "Oh, man. This is bothersome..."

"It always comes with a price!" Kasumi and Ayane say in unison.

Nyo turns and points her finger at them. "You three! I can hear you!"

"Now then, why don't you tell me your wish?"

Rei bites her lip and looka down at her knees. "Umm...well...I have these markings on my neck..." She takes off the scarf and it looks like red feathers are printed on her neck. "They say it's a birthmark, but it stings from time to time. And I don't know why."

Nyo examines it. "Might you have something hising from everyone else?"

"No...I don't think I do..." She winces at the sting on her neck.

Honoka gasps as she notices the feathers glowing red, but it's faint. "What...is that?" She says to herself.

Nyo stares closely at the girl. For some reason, this doesn't seem right..for the tengu at least. However, she smiles a little and holds out a white bandage.

"Here," she says. "Use this cover it up."

"Huh?" Rei takes it. "Will it make it better?"

"Do whatever you please. However, one thing to keep in mind: this is a bandage after all...not a cure..."

"I wonder what's wrong..." Honoka says to herself as the guest leaves. She feels that it doesn't make any sense, thus...has no idea what Nyo is trying to do.

At school that afternoon, Honoka is washing her face outside. She starts to feel for a towel when one is handed to her. After wiping it, she gasps at the sight of a petite girl with blonde hair tied in pig tails and wearing the same uniform as her.

"Marie!?" She says.

"That's right," she says.

"What are you doing here?"

"Classes got out, remember?" Marie says, putting a hand on her hip.

"Oh, yeah! You girls were playing soccer!" Honoka says

"You were doing gymnastics," the blonde says. "Everyone applauded for you wehn you made the perfect flip. Actually, it was three flips in a row."

Honoka blushes with a wide smile on her face. Her best friend, Marie Rose, complimented her on her gymnastics skills.

"By the way, there is someone else who is really good," Marie says. "You know that girl with brown hair?"

Honoka thinks for a moment. "Well..."

"Kokomi Shiina? Ring a bell?" Marie says.

"Kokomi-chan? Yeah, I heard of her. I heard she has a girlfriend. A French girl, I believe," Honoka says.

"Chloe Lumiere? Yeah, that's her," Marie says. "By the way, have you joined any clubs?"

"No. Instead I got a part time job." Honoka answers

"Oh, what is it?" Marie asks.

Honoka thinks for a moment. She can't tell her best friend she is working for a winged woman that grants wishes. She'll think it's crazy.

"Well..how do I put this..." Honoka rubs her chin in thought. "I...work at a maid cafe, you see? This young lady hired me."

Marie nods in approval. "Very interesting."

Honoka giggles nervously. "Yeah, there are some pretty interesting people...heh, heh~"

"Well, I have to go now," Marie says. "It was nice talking to you."

"Oh. Yes, see ya." Honoka says as she waves.

"Good luck with work," the blonde says with a smile.

Honoka blushes and nods happily. She starts skipping down the path to the shop, muttering happily to herself about Marie. She has a crush on her since the beginning of high school and she held onto her feelings ever since.

Once she arrives at the shop, Nyo just greet her with a smile. This time, she is wearing a red Chinese dress with high heels.

"In a good mood today, I see?" She asks.

"Oh, yes!" Honoka says excitedly. "I talked wkth my best friend, Marie Rose today!"

"Marie Rose?" Nyo questions.

"She's so cute and my crush~" the pinkette squeals as she puts her hands on her red cheeks. "She is the girl of my dreams!"

Nyo stands up and puts her hand on her cheek with a grin. "Your crush, huh~? Well, you'll never know if your crush returns your feelings."

"What do you mean?"

"She may or may not like someone else. Simple as that." Nyo says.

Honoka pouts. "Mou! How would you know that!?"

Nyo looks the other way with a serious expression. Honoka tilts her head in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Looks like our friend has returned," Nyo says.

Shortly after getting situated, Rei and Nyo sit across each other while Honoka, Kasumi and Ayabe watch from the door.

"Somehow..." Rei says. "I had some feeling I wanted to come back here."

"No worries," the dark haired woman says. "I expected to see you again. Are you wearing that bandage?"

Rei nods.

"That mark isn't glowing anymore..." Honoka says. "Has it worked after all?"

"But you still keep a dark secret," Nyo says. "From everyone else. Isn't that right?"

"I'm...not sure what you're talking about," Rei says.

Nyo reaches over and touches Rei's forehead with two fingers. "It's all in here."

Rei raises an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. But...I don't have a secret...ow!" She winces at the sting at her neck.

"Has anything happened recently?" Nyo asks.

"Ah...now that you mention it, I've been feeling dizzy," Rei says. "And it's been stinging a lot more than usual."

"If you don't do something soon, it'll be too late." Nyo gently touches the bandage.

Honoka gasps at the sight. "It looks...burnt"

"I understand," Rei says.

"Would you like some tea?" Nyo offers.

"No, thanks. I have to be somewhere."

"With whom?"

"Someone important," Rei says. "Let's have tea next time."

"Sure thing," Nyo turns to the two girls. "Kasumi, Ayane, please show her to the door?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

After she leaves, Honoka turns to the tengu. She is very confused on what's happening here and what's happening to Rei.

"I presume we'll never see her again." Nyo says.

"What do you mean?" Honoka asks. "Rei-chan was in serious pain whenever she didn't tell you anything."

"That's right. It's what causes those stings. She's...being difficult to understand."

It is then that Honoka has an idea. "Nyo-chan, would you mind if I ran an errand?"

"An errand?" Nyo repeats. "Are you going to tell her what I've told you? She has to overcome her problem on her own, by her own efforts."

"I'm sorry, but I have to." With that, Honoka leaves.

"Do what you like. And you have the rest of the day off. But you'll be working double shift by tomorrow."

Honoka walks in the streets, looking for Rei. She finds her with a couple other girls and Rei is about to leave. As she says good-bye to her friends, she walks away.

Honoka walks to catch up to her when she hears one of her friends speak.

"Poor Rei-chan," a red haired girl says. "She's just...so lonely."

The blue haired girl nods. "Shr doesn't talk to anybody nor wants to be anywhere. It's strange."

"She never really talks to us either. She's been like this for a long time. And she couldn't even tell us about her pain on her neck."

"I have no idea what that means, but hopefully...she'll be okay."

Honoka continues following the dark haired girl. The pain on her neck worsens and she winces at the intense stings from time to time. Honoka walks faster and faster to catch up to her, but the crowd is separating her from the girl. She gets through after a few minutes and runs after her.

However, she stops when Rei looks up at the sky. A raven flies down as she lifts up her hand and it lands on it.

"A raven?" Honoka questions herself.

It seems that Rei is talking to it for some reason. Then, Honoka realizes something: Rei's dark secret...is her serving a raven. Her master?

Rei is walking on the road and stops whrn the pain on her neck is severe, burning off the bandage. The feathers on her neck are bright red and steaming, burning her like a pizza oven. Honoka notices a truck coming without Rei realizing it. Quickly, the pinkette runs and dives in to save her, letting the raven go and both of them fall to the ground. Honoka looks up and sees nothing but scattered black feathers.

Back at the shop, Honoka and Nyo are in the main room and the pinkette tells her what happened.

"You saved her life, huh?" Nyo says. "And that bad bird is gone thanks to you. That was very kind of you."

"I...don't know what else I could do..." Honoka says. "Rei-chan...I mean...Nyo-chan, why didn't you tell her to not hide her dark secret?"

"People have secrets for their own reasons," Nyo replies while sipping her tea. "Therefore, they can't hide it for long. They will get found out sooner or later."

"So...what you're saying is..." Honoka trails off.

"Rei-chan made that decision on her own," Nyo says. "If she wants to keep it a secret that's fine with her. It's in her power to do so." She leans closer to Honoka. "The same goes for you, Honoka."

"Nyo-chan..." Then, the pinkette decides to pop another question. "Did you actually know what might happen to Rei-chan? That secret she was hiding? And what I was gonna do?"

"If that's what you believe, then yes." Nyo replies. "Remember, Honoka, you're in an unusual world. You may encounter strange places or people that you don't know. That's a fact."

"I...I don't understand what you mean."

"You don't have to understand it yet." The tengu turns to the pinkette. "Now then...what's on tonight's menu~?"

"Ehhhhhh!? You mean, I'm gonna cook you dinner!?" Honoka yells. "I thought I had the rest of the day off!"

"You DID come here on your own, so while you're here, how about dishing up some grub~?" Nyo says happily.

"Awww!" Honoka whines as she drops to her hands and knees. "Why does this happen to meeeee~?"

"Ah, I think I should also call you 'Honoka-chan' Sound good~?"

"Why!?"

"You're so cute I can't resist~!" Nyo says as she puts her hand on her cheek.

"We're not even friends yet!"

"Too late. We are~!"

Honoka sighs as Nyo speaks up again.

"Be sure to whip up the bottle of sake, hm?"

"Yes, ma'am..."

Honoka dresses up in her maid outfit and heads toward the kitchen to make the food.

Meanwhile, Nyo sits on the couch with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad...I found some good help," she says to herself. "She's hardworking, determined and looks after Kasumi and Ayane." She then blushes as she giggles to herself. "Honoka-chan...your world is what you make of it."