Well, I'm a bit late for the time I promised that the next chapter would be out, but here you go anyways.
Enjoy.
I always wonder if I ever should try something new on this menu. I used to be addicted to the chicken cutlet for a while until I tried the marinated beef with vegetables, which in my opinion and without a doubt in my mind, is the most delicious thing I've ever had the chance of tasting in this lifetime of mine.
Still though, maybe it wouldn't hurt to try something new? As introverts, we usually get attached to things we become used to but it is most likely healthier for us if we do try new things every now and then.
This time though? Probably go with the usual.
I need something familiar to calm myself a bit. The mere thought that action figures, of characters that I am familiar with and ones that I bought recently all just seem way too weird.
Almost like some bad fan-fiction that someone wrote.
Nevertheless though, for all the content I've been exposed to over the years, it's probably dulled any sort of overly surprised reaction from me.
I'm sure Kyon and me would be in agreement on that. And that's pretty much what I am to this situation, a Kyon to the weirdness happening around me.
Fine with me if you ask.
"One spicy number 4 and one number two, please." I ask to the man at the counter. He nods as he writes down the order while I pull out the cash to pay for the order.
A flash of red catches my eye, to which I look to see where I saw it but it's gone before I could see what it was. Probably a ladybug that got inside, which is weird considering the only insects you could find around here nowadays were either flies or the occasional bee that everyone freaks over when someone spots one, me included.
Grabbing a pair of glasses, filling them up with water and the latest coffee newsletter, we both sit down and wait for our food to be cooked and served to us.
One thing is always for sure though is that no matter how hungry we are, whenever we come to this small restaurant, we always leave with a full stomach.
Always.
"Hah!"
*ting*
"Eyargh!"
*tang*
"Yeh!"
*tung*
The sound of a sword striking a magical protective barrier had been going on for nearly 10 minutes straight and it didn't seem Sayaka was getting tired anytime soon.
"Dammit! Why does she always feel the need to be such a pain in the ass sometimes!" she said, striking yet another undamaging blow towards the barrier. Mami and Homura were keeping some distance, knowing full well the kind of complicated relationship they both shared.
While Madoka tried her best to calm her best friend down, Mami and Homura remained vigilant in trying to decipher a potential way of escaping their current situation, although Mami, having known Kyoko longer than the rest was also mulling over her former-student's actions.
It seemed strange though in that Kyoko was acting as she was. Sure, she had her own philosophical views when it came to regarding things about food but this really just seemed to go too far.
"I have a theory."
Everyone paused in their actions and turned to Homura.
"We may possibly be able to escape if we all concentrate our use of magic to our fingers and each stand at four separate sections of this barrier. It should be enough to weaken the structural integrity of the magic keeping this barrier running." she explained.
Everyone mulled over the option. After a minute or so of silence, it was Sayaka who broke it. "Well, it's not like I'm making any progress now am I?" she said.
"No." was the transfer student's simply reply. "If everyone is in agreement, then we should begin immediately. Please place yourselves into a corner of the structure and follow my commands."
Soon, everyone stood in a neat four cornered zone, facing their respective walls.
"Concentrate your magic into your fingertips. Once I give the signal, I want you all to try digging your fingers into the barrier and rip outwards. Think of it as if you are ripping into the packaging of a wrapped present that was given to you." Homura explained while gathering her own magic into her fingers. The others followed suit, awaiting said signal.
"This has to be perfect so don't mess up." she added on.
"Oh now you tell us-" Sayaka tried to say before...
"NOW!" Homura yelled.
At once, 4 pairs of hands each dug in and with all their strength tried to pull away the barrier that kept them prisoner.
For almost a full minute, hope had seemed to be lost until Mami had noticed a tiny but sure tear in the magic.
"It's working!" she yelled on impulse.
Seconds later, similar confirmations from the other 3 girls sounded off as each of their own tears became larger and larger. Soon enough, they were each holding opening large enough holes for them to pass through.
Something seem wrong though. Something...
"Everybody! Jump! It's falling apart!" Madoka yelled before jumping out of her own tear. The other three followed suit, just making it in time to witness what exactly was happening.
The barrier seemed to pulse with red energy before it started to contract in on itself
Suddenly...
Fresh meat. Fresh vegetables. Pots and pans of different sizes.
All of the above were contributing to the heavenly aroma that was being produced in the small kitchen.
The crowd tonight in the small restaurant was nearly packed, so many different dishes were all being cooked in succession to fill the orders placed.
Kyoko didn't know what to "try" first. Everything looked and smelt so good! After some careful consideration though, she eventually settled on just taking one of the many fried dumplings that was going out with an order of soy sauce.
You could practically hear the cliche Mission Impossible theme beginning to play in a situation like this.
Jumping down to the cooking bench, in and around plates, bowls and cooked dishes, she made her way towards the specific plate. The heat radiating off of it was almost enough to make her re-think doing this but the much more powerful scent of a greatly cooked piece of food was much more alluring.
Hot to the touch, she recoiled back slightly, blew onto her hands for a few moments before grabbing a nearby napkin for use as a cheap retardant and made haste with her new catch of the day.
Of course, nobody noticed her. Nobody ever does in these sorts of situations.
Hiding behind a giant pot in one of the corners of the bench, she unwrapped her prize and examined it. A tanned creamy colour exterior that was just transparent enough so that you could see what was inside of it greeted her eyes. It smelled of spring vegetables, a touch of rice and just-right cooked chicken.
Closer and closer, she made her way onto taking the first bite...
*BOOM*
A loud explosion noise plus the sound of glass shattering was heard, stopping her and most likely everyone in the restaurant in whatever things they were occupying their time with while they waited for their food.
Every cook inside the kitchen also stopped what they were doing and rushed out from their stations into the dining room, leaving Kyoko, a dumpling and half-cooked food on stoves all around her.
She shrugged.
More food for her it seems.
All I could ask myself was: What in the ever loving hell just happened?
One moment, I'm sipping from a glass of water while I read the latest coffee news and the next, this loud noise makes everyone in the restaurant and most likely a lot of people on the street jump out of their bodies in fright before trying to locate the exact source of said disturbance to their daily lives.
The source was found... oh man... not good.
Not good at all.
The entire roof was gone. The doors hung loosely at their connectors. The rubber on the tires half melted and deflated. No glass whatsoever that wasn't scattered around in over 8000 different shapes, pieces and places. The seats were on fire and were giving off a pillar of smoke rising into the sky.
What a goddamn nightmare of a sight to behold.
Within minutes, sirens were blazing. A couple cop cars, firefighter service and an ambulance had all arrived in succession to one another.
The cops helped keep the growing crowd under control while the firefighters put out the burning, soon turned black and smouldering wreckage of the car while paramedics treated any people who were caught in the shrapnel radius of the broken glass.
Honestly, my mind was a blank at this moment. Not even trying to think up questions such as "How could this have happened?" or "Why would somebody do this?" were able to be even formed.
I was probably slightly in shock at the events of that day.
Needless to say, Mom was freaking out pretty badly. Definitely nothing you would really call a spectacle full of frantic shouting full of expletives and crazy movements that put someone on bath salts to shame.
In the end though, what once started out as another boring everyday thing for turned into pure insanity within only a few hours it seemed.
AUTHOR NOTES
Again, sorry for the slight delay in putting this chapter up.
The next chapter should be up either next week or the following week. Just recently, my graphics card has gone kaput, meaning no gaming for a while. I guess because of that I can devote more time to this fic until we get a new one, which really isn't a bad thing. Also, a cookie to whoever gets the hopefully subtle reference to Homura's plan to get them all out.
Until next time then.