Hello, everyone! It's Saturday again, and here I am with another update! This chapter isn't exactly the most important one, but for me it's probably the most nostalgic; some of my best memories with my friends happened either at sushi or at a little Japanese market called Sakura's that I dearly loved. Among the most humorous of those memories are those revolving around the ramune sodas I mention in this chapter. The first time I ever opened one, it exploded violently on me and the friend who had given it to me laughed. I then laughed at every other person I'd ever seen drink one for the first time, including my fiance and my sister, because the results are usually the same. It's almost like a tradition, laughing at someone as they fight with their first ramune, trying to get it open. As such, I had way too much fun writing it in here.
Random note: Ramune has enough sugar in it already. You do not, by any means, need to drop in sugar candies to watch it fizz. It's still fun, though. Just... be ready for the high...
Someone commented in a review that "They're always eating!" Sitting down, I tried to figure out why I'd done that, and the explanation I finally came up with was this: nostalgia. My friends and I all got to know each other pretty well over cards and video games, but it wasn't until we sat down for meals together that we got to know each other really well. Sushi was always the best time to learn and laugh, so I decided to try to get it all out of my system in one go. Hopefully less of the chapters after this will make you guys hungry. But this one... you may need some snacks for. Sorry, guys.
Every chapter of this story amazes me, because re-reading it I always see little pieces of the people I know floating to the surface. It's not just places or things, it's the actions of the people themselves. I know a guy who will eat entire chunks of wasabi straight; it scares me to watch him do it because I keep expecting his head to explode. As such, Sachi has a fondness for it. I know a couple who gets along fabulously, except the girl is always lamenting that her boyfriend pokes her too much. Jin's poking went from a small thing to something I laugh to myself about often. My sister can't use kitchen appliances without them attacking her. We all know where that one went. As I write, and I think this is true for all of us, I can't help but immortalize the little things that make my friends special, and in doing that I can't help but let my readers into my world just a little bit. That's why, once again, I want to thank everyone for the reviews I get, for the hits this story recieves every week, and for all the little notices that one more person is enjoying it. It makes it worthwhile to do all this research and stay up late and work... which reminds me, Nora apparently turned in early last night. Lori, thank you so much for cheering me on in her absense! You guys are the best!
And now, without further ado, the chapter... completed and up on time in spite of the friend who keeps sending me Guild Wars screencaps with people saying and doing really, really awkward things. Don't you love it when gamers read things wrong? Thank you, Azzy!
So let's go!
Six pairs of shoes were sitting by the front door, all of them dripping as their snow coatings melted in the warm air. Six coats were in the dryer, as well as an array of scarves, mittens, socks, sweaters, and other outerwear that had been soaked cleanly through. Six cups of tea were sitting on the table, the warm steam comforting to all. And five pairs of eyes were glaring silently as five people shivered in bundles of blankets and one person sat looking fairly comfortable. Touya shifted slightly under the close scrutiny. "Is something wrong?"
"I know you're supposed to be an ice demon and all," Sachi said with a shiver, "but that's just not fair."
Mana couldn't help but nod her agreement. Her fingers were still half-numb as she reached to pick up the cup in front of her, wincing slightly at the way the warm mug burned her fingertips. That was the big risk of trying to get warm too fast when someone was that cold; it could make things that weren't even hot feel like they burned. She blew at the surface of the liquid carefully before taking a cautious sip. Now that was nice...
"How did I let you guys talk me into that?" Hachi cradled her cup in her hands, practically bathing her face in the steam. "I can't believe I just did that."
"Aw, c'mon, it was fun and ya... ya..." Jin actually broke off mid-sentence to sneeze violently. Mana cringed, resisting the urge to sniffle herself as he finished lamely, "ya know it."
"It was positively juvenile," Suzuka lamented. "For the life of me, I don't see how I even got involved in that."
"Says the ruddy fool who started with the snow in the pants!" Jin scowled and picked up his cup. "I still can't more than half-feel me backside..."
Sachiko scowled. "I didn't need to know that."
Suzuka snorted. "It's better than what I can't feel. I'm no longer sure I even-"
"Finish that thought, I dare you." Sachi's statement was followed by several nods- about four in total, Mana counted. The black-haired girl picked her cup up, wincing slightly as she continued. "I guarantee that between the five of us we can throw you outside on your head."
The room fell silent again and remained that way until Touya broke the silence. "This is very good tea."
"Thank you," Mana replied and then, umable to resist, "Are you sure it's not too hot for you."
The ice apparition raised an eyebrow. "Thank you for your concern, but I assure you I could cool it myself if it was."
"Ahright, this is gettin' on me last nerve! All this back and forth, back and forth, it's enough to make ya crazy!" Jin sat up straight. "There has to be somethin' we can all do without bickerin' at each other."
Hachi shifted. "I have a deck of cards in my bag."
"Well, bring 'em out, then!" Jin was nodding enthusiastically, and Mana cringed as several drops of cold moisture flew off of his hair. Hachi frowned, picking up her handbag and digging through it for a moment before pulling the deck out and looking up at the redhead.
"But what can we all play?"
Jin looked stumped. "Well... wot do we all know how to play?"
Poker was ruled out as soon as Jin started going on about Suzuka cheating. Sevens was turned down because none of the demons actually knew how to play. They were debating on Go Fish when Hachi pulled the cards out of the box and started to play solitaire. She looked up once she realized the room had gone silent. "What?"
Sachi pointed at where her twin was laying the two of spades onto the three of diamonds. "We can't very well play cards if you're using them for that."
"Well we can't play cards if we can't agree on what to play, either, so I might as well enjoy myself while you argue." Hachi shuffled a few cards around. "You guys just let me know when you make a decision. I can play anything my sister can."
They settled on Go Fish. That lasted about ten minutes, which was the time it took for Sachiko to realize that Suzuka had a clear shot of her hand every time he leaned back against the arm of the couch. The game was considered a loss when he refused to give up his spot.
"Maybe cards isn't the best idea right now," Touya suggested as Sachi started making threats involving her teacup and the blonde apparition's pants. Mana shifted away before the liquids could start flying. Suddenly she wasn't as fond of where she was sitting...
And then Jin poked her in the side. "Mana? Are we gonna have lunch soon?"
"I'll fix something." Of course he would wonder about food. Mana stood carefully, working her way through the tangle of legs around the table. "Unless you guys want to order take-out. But I'm not picking it up."
"We could always send him." Sachiko jerked her elbow at Suzuka. Mana rolled her eyes as Hachi elbowed her twin. "Ow..."
"We could always send the both of ya and the rest of us could actually have some time for thinkin'," Jin suggested. Mana wished she were back on the couch; it would have made it easier to smack him on the arm. Touya did it for her. The redhead frowned, rubbing his elbow. "Well, it was a thought. Ya can't blame a guy for tryin'."
Mana realized she really didn't want to cook. "If you're that eager for thinking, you can come with me while I go get something. I don't have anything easy to make for a group this big."
She'd expected him to argue, but Jin actually nodded and got up from the couch. It took a few minutes to change into something a bit warmer and a bit drier, and by the time she was done he was standing behind the couch watching a second attempt at a game of Go Fish. No one, she noted, was sitting anywhere near Suzuka. "I'm ready to go."
They walked in silence for about five minutes before either of them spoke. It was Jin who broke the silence, as he usually did. "Ya feelin' ahright, Mana?"
"I'm fine." Mana picked her way around a high drift of snow- there was usually a small folding sign there for one of the local shops. That was the nice thing about the location of her apartment, she reflected- it was as close to the shopping district as it could be without being a part of it. "Why do you ask?"
"Just wonderin'." The apparition's hands were shoved deep into his pockets. "Ya seem worn out."
The girl pushed her hair back from her eyes, cursing it silently. It always tried to curl in damp weather. She hated that. "Do you have any idea how many years it's been since I was in a snowball fight?"
"Knowin' you, probably a few." A patch of ice made her foot skid slightly; he caught her by the elbow. "Yer not really good at bein' just a girl, are ya?"
She felt herself stiffen. "What does that mean?"
He kept hold of her elbow as they walked. "Yer fourteen, right? But ya act like yer an adult already. I don't see wot it's about."
She shivered lightly, pulling her coat tighter around her. "I live alone. I have to do my own shopping and cooking. I have to make sure I get to school and karate on time. I even have to take care of being sure the utilities are paid on time. Most people would call that being an adult."
"But yer not an adult. Yer a fourteen-year-old girl." Mana pulled her arm away from him and he fell silent, but of course it didn't last. "Ya seemed to be enjoyin' yerself today."
Mana sighed quietly. "Is there a point to this?"
"It was nice to see ya loosen up." Jin reached over and ruffled her hair. "So, wot are we gettin' for lunch?"
The blonde frowned. "I have no idea."
Jin gave her a hopeful look. "Sushi?"
"For six people? You have no idea how expensive that would be." She frowned lightly; his expression had gone from hopeful to rather downcast quickly. "Unless we make it ourselves."
He perked right back up. "Ya can do that?"
"Mmhmm." Mana changed course. "I know a nice market where you can get the fish at a good price. They'll even slice it for you if you ask them to. I can get some of that and fix up the rice myself."
The redhead nodded for a moment before tilting his head to one side. "Wot about the little rolls, can ya make those, too?"
Mana winced. "I have a mat for it, but I'm not very good at keeping them neat because I usually just go out for those..." Oh, great, he was giving her that look again. "Hachi is great at it, though," she said quickly, "I bet she'd help if we asked her to."
Jin nodded eagerly, and Mana resigned herself to having to do some shopping. She was pretty sure she didn't have any of the sushi nori, the seaweed sheets, they would need for the rolls. "Hey, Mana?"
She braced herself. "Yes?"
"Yer a good girl. It probably ain't easy handlin' the likes of us." He reached as though to pat her head again, but lowered his hand quickly when she gave him a harsh look. "I woulda warned ya that I wasn't comin' back alone, but I didn't expect Suzuka to show up. And I didn't expect us to be stuck in that-a-ways. I was almost surprised when ya didn't boot us out first thing this mornin'."
The healer sighed. "And let you run wild against the rest of the world?" She shook her head. "That didn't seem too bright, either." A sudden gust made her chill right through her coat. "I think we'll get some udon noodles while we're out..."
Jin's hand caught her while she was distracted. She scowled lightly as he patted her on the head. "Now, see, that's not so bad. Ya don't always hafta give me dirty looks, ya know. It's not nice of ya."
"You know it's embarrassing when you do that, right?"
"Only 'cause ya let it be!" He ruffled her hair more vigorously. Mana swatted his hands away, trying to smooth it back down. The demon responded by flipping the ends upwards, tossing the locks lightly. "Wot are ya frettin' for? It doesn't have to be perfect."
"Maybe not by your standards," the girl muttered as she checked her reflection in a shop mirror. She could see Jin's reflection as he tilted his head to one side.
"Wot's that supposed to mean? Are ya sayin' there's somethin' wrong with me hair?"
Mana stood there for a moment, studying his image on the glass and trying to think of the proper response. Finally she settled on the honest truth. "Jin, you look like a drowned cat."
The redhead stared at her for several long seconds before she saw his hands move. She yelped as he swept her up in to the air by her waist. "Ahright, then, if ya think there's such a problem, why don't ya do somethin' about it?" The girl's eyes wend wide as he held her up. "Come on, fix it up for me if it's so bad."
He... Ah, no, people were staring now. "Put me down, you big oaf!"
"Are ya sure?" Jin's eyes were shining mischievously. Mana nodded, resisting the urge to take a few smacks at his head; it could throw him off balance and make them both fall. "If yer positive, then!" He set her down with a grin. "But ya just gave up the right to say anythin' about how me hair looks!"
Mana made sure her feet were firmly on the ground before she turned and hit him. "Don't do that to me!"
"But yer fun to pick up! Yer nice and light and easy to hold." Mana struck him again, below the shoulder. "Yer a bit violent, though. A fellow could carry ya around all day if it wasn't for that." Mana turned on her heel... and regretted it immediately as her feet flew under her. Before she even had time to yell, Jin had caught a hold of her. Her cheeks darkening, she turned her face up towards his. He appeared to be trying not to laugh. "And then there's that. Yer only this much a klutz in winter, I'm hopin'."
"Only when I'm not allowed to focus on walking..." Mana started walking again, staring resolutely at the ground. "For example, I don't handle ice well when people are trying to harass me."
"Oh, come on, I wasn't harassin'!" Jin fell into step beside her. "This is wot I was talkin' about earlier. Ya have a hard time lightenin' up. Mana scowled to herself, stopping in front of the door of a small market. Thank goodness it was open...
"Behave," was all she said as she pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Well, that wasn't going to do any good.
Jin frowned, following the little blonde healer inside. He'd somehow managed to work Mana into a right foul mood that time. He watched quietly as the girl reached for a hand basket, snatching it before she could put it over her arm. She gave him a look, but she didn't argue. To his relief, she stopped scowling as she headed into the main area of the store. In fact, after a moment she even spoke. "Have you ever tried ramune before?"
Jin blinked. "Tried what now?"
"It's a kind of soda." Mana picked up a glass bottle with a pinched neck. "Have you ever tried this before?"
"No, can't say that I have." The girl seemed satisfied as she picked up a six pack and dropped it into the basket. The wind master raised an eyebrow; those little bottles weighed more than he would have expected... which was probably why she grabbed a second pack. That would have been what the experts called spite, he decided. "Do we need that many?"
"Two for each of us. Hachi only drinks the strawberry ones." Mana headed down one of the aisles, examining the contents of the low shelves. Some of the items she put into the basket were pretty easy to identify, long noodles and the dark green wrappings for sushi rolls, but a couple of small bottles and a box with a picture of a tube on it made him more than a little curious. He kept his mouth shut, though, until her disposition seemed to have lightened a bit.
"So wot all else have we got here?"
"That's miso for soup and that's wasabi. Sachiko likes to go heavy on the wasabi." Mana picked up a jar of soy sauce and put it in the basket. "I'm assuming you know what that is."
"That one's familiar, it is." He tilted his head as she stopped next to a refrigerated unit. "Wot ya lookin' at there?"
"Stuff." Mana reached in and pulled out a packet of pink and white disks. Jin stared; she caught the look. "These go in udon. They're called kamaboko and they're made of fish. You'll like them, I promise." Mana grabbed a few more things out of the refrigerators, different packets and things, and then headed over to the counter. "Hello, Tsukasa."
The boy behind the counter couldn't have been more than Mana's own age. "Koyama! Hello! It's been a while since we've seen you."
"I've been very busy lately." Mana's tone was soft and polite. Jin stepped back slightly, amused. He'd seen her do this at stores before, becoming so sweet he could hardly believe she was the same girl who threw punches so freely. 'Do you have any fresh fish in?"
"Yeah, we got very lucky. This morning was the first shipment we got in for a few days." The kid glanced over at Jin once as he headed over behind a counter, but his attention turned back to Mana quickly. Obviously return customers came first...
The wind master waited quietly while Mana looked over the selection, instead turning his attention to the shelving right behind him and the multitudes of colorfully-packaged sweets. That was one of the things he liked about humans; they had some really, really good varieties of junk food. Several packages caught his eye; he picked one or two of them up to have a look. He didn't even realize that Mana had made her selections until she tapped him on the arm. "Jin, I need the basket."
"Right, right." He held up the bags. "Wot are these?"
Mana stared for a moment before sighing and pointing at each bag in turn. "Gummy candies. Rock sugar stars. Lychee hard candies. And more gummies." She looked up at him. "And I take it you want to try some, don't you?"
"Mebe just one or two kinds?" Mana stared at him for several long minutes before taking the bag of star-shaped sugar and hard candy and reaching over to the shelves for a bag of little gummy cubes. He put the others back. "Thank you, Mana!"
"I swear, you're like a little kid sometimes." But she was almost smiling as she took the basket, so he wasn't sure he minded the rebuttal. Once they were outside of the store, she even paused to open one of the bags of sweets as she handed him some of the bags. "Here, try this."
Jin stared at the soft little cube she was holding out. It was pale pink and kind of see-through. Peeling off the wrapper, he paused at the sight of a second wrapping underneath it. Try as he might, that one didn't seem to want to peel off. He finally looked back at Mana. "Wot do I do with this?"
Her mouth was twitching. "That's rice paper. You just eat it and it'll dissolve right away."
"Oh..." Feeling a little silly, he popped the cube into his mouth. It was actually pretty good. Mana had popped something into her own mouth by the time he turned back to her. "Ya go there a lot, huh?"
The girl nodded, swallowing before she spoke. "It's a nice little shop. I've always liked the people that work there. It's been family owned for three generations now." Jin nodded, reaching for the bag of sweets. Mana actually batted his hand back. "You focus on what you're carrying, please."
"Ah, come on! That ain't right!" The girl just walked ahead of him, smirking lightly. Grumbling, Jin followed along after her. "Come on, Mana, let me try another!"
"If I do that, before you know it there won't be any left for anyone else." The girl actually tossed her hair back. Jin stared for a moment before he remembered to start walking. That little sass, she was trying to get back at him!
"Yer a brat," he informed her once he'd caught up with her again. Mana's lips twitched.
"Do you realize how many different things you call me in the course of a day, Jin?"
"And they're every one of them true! Yer still a brat!"
Mana glanced back over her shoulder at him, a saucy look on her face. "That's what you get for picking on my poor hair. Drowned cat!"
Jin sighed and shook his head, grinning in spite of himself. Well, if that was her vengeance then he could just live with it. There were worse things she could have done, after all. She was even polite while she asked him to wait outside of a small restaurant as she ran in for something... an agreement he regretted making by the time she came back outside some fifteen or twenty minutes later. "Did ya have to take so long in there?"
"I needed to wait for them to make something." The girl had a new bag with a couple of foam containers in it. "Trust me, it'll be worth it."
By the time they got home, Touya had his nose in a book and Sachiko and Suzuka were engaged in a heated conversation about the proper mechanics of poker. Hachi looked up curiously as they came in. "What took you guys so long?"
"Stocking up." Mana took her bags over to the kitchen counter and flipped on the rice cooker. "Do you mind helping me? You're better at rolling sushi than I am."
Hachi's expression brightened. "Sure!" Mana pulled on her red apron as the girl headed around the divide. "Ooh, you got the works."
"Yep." Reaching into one of the bags, Mana pulled out one of the pop bottles and tossed it towards Jin. He caught it, noting the return of her tiny smirk. "Here, you can try that while you wait."
"Right..." Jin looked down at the small bottle for a moment, wondering why the neck was pinched the way it was. The top was wrapped in plastic; he peeled it away, glancing curiously at the pale green cap under it... the one that slid right off the bottle. The wind master stared down into the mouth of the vessel. "Is that a marble?"
The blonde nodded. "Try punching it down."
He tapped it a few times, and then pressed it hard with one finger. It didn't budge. Frowning, he checked the bottle for instructions, found none, and tried pressing the marble down again. Nothing. He tapped the side of it against the counter a few times, hoping to loosen it, and then tried again. Still nothing. "Ruddy thing won't get in there..."
All three humans were staring at him. Sachi was covering her mouth with one hand. Hachi was covering her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide and alarmed. And Mana... Mana was just standing there with that little look on her face. Jin met her eyes. "Yer enjoyin' this, aren't ya?"
She replied in the same sweet tone she'd used with the store clerk. "Do you need some help?"
"I can figure it out on me own!" He went back to trying to stab the marble into the bottle as Touya picked up the green cap. After a moment, the ice master tapped him on the arm. Jin frowned. "Wot?"
Touya held the cap out. "Try using this."
Inspecting it, Jin realized that the cap had two parts; a ring on the outside, and a cylinder with a round, flat lid on the top. He blinked, taking the piece, and realized that the ring popped off. "Oh."
By the time he'd figured out that just pushing the little cylinder down on the marble wouldn't get it in the bottle, Sachi was snickering at him and Hachi was trying to muffle soft giggles. "Ahright, I give up! Wot's the trick?"
Mana's eyes were laughing at him. "You have to hit it."
He stared. "Hit it?"
The healer nodded. "Set the cap on the marble and strike it. That's the trick."
"Right..." Scowling, he set the cap where she told him to and gave it one good whack. The marble dropped right into the soda... which exploded on him the moment he moved his hand. "Ack! Mana!"
The twins were openly laughing at him. Even the blonde was chuckling softly. "Congratulations. You just opened your first ramune."
"Brat!" Jin stared at the fizzing bottle; at least a quarter of the liquid was gone. "Ya knew it would do that!"
"Well, it was your own fault for not reading the directions." Mana was arranging things to start preparing their meal... it was probably late enough that it would be dinner, now. "They were right there on the plastic, but no, you're the one who tore it off without even looking."
"That was still a mean trick to play!" Jin grumbled to himself before sampling the soda. "Hey, this is good."
Mana raised an eyebrow. "Why do you always sound surprised when you say that?"
"I do not." Jin drank some more of the soda, pausing as the marble very nearly got stuck back in the mouth of the bottle. "Hey..."
"Just tap it with your finger." Hachi had recovered from the giggles first. "Don't worry, you get used to it." She was handing a bottle to Touya. Jin watched, chagrined, as he neatly popped it open, holding his hand in place until the fizzing had stopped. "Don't worry. You can have part of Mana's to make up for what you lost."
"Hey! You guys stood just as quiet as I did!" Mana scowled as Sachi grabbed a bottle, popped the marble in, and took a drink. "I got you stars, by the way."
"Seriously?" The girl's black eyes lit up. "Where?" Mana pulled out the bag of sugar stars. Grinning, Sachi drained a bit more of the bottle and dropped a couple in, clapping her hand over the top hard as the drink fizzed up. "Sweet!"
Hachi was rolling her eyes. "Sis, you're-" But whatever she was about to call her sister was drowned out by Suzuka yelping as his own soda fizzed over on him. Jin couldn't help it; he laughed with the rest of them. Maybe he could forgive the girls a bit of lost drink after all, for a good laugh like this.
By the time lunch was ready, Jin suspected that all three girls, even Mana, were a bit hyped up on all the sugars. He knew he was. He couldn't stop his ears from twitching, even after Sachiko had given one of them a good pull. It wasn't just the candies, though, it was the company. Watching Sachi and Suzuka fight about which cards were wild and which ones weren't was fun, watching Touya try to stay out of the conversation was even more fun. Mana actually sang while she worked in the kitchen, and the song that Hachi hummed along with was cheerful and sweet just like a song sung by a girl her age should be. Jin felt rather giddy by the time they all say around the small table to eat, passing around bowls of noodle soup and arguing over who had more tempura shrimps or fish cakes in theirs. Sachi dropped a few more sugar stars into her second bottle of ramune, grinning when her sister called her names, and Suzuka all but choked on a clump of wasabi cleverly hidden under a piece of tuna; neither Mana nor Hachiko would take credit for that one. It wasn't until later that evening, settling down to sleep, that he realized he'd completely forgotten to count how many times the healer had smiled.
Then again, he decided, that was okay. He had a new goal now, to try and keep her laughing. Glancing down at the figure next to him... they'd pushed the couch up against the door and now all three girls were curled up on the living room floor once it became apparent that Mana's room was still too cold to sleep in... Jin couldn't help reaching down to give the blonde head a little pat. He'd teach her to be friendly yet.
"You are one weird demon."
Jin blinked, trying to work out which twin had spoken. It hardly helped to actually look at them, it wasn't like he could tell them apart in the dark anyway, but he thought it was Hachiko. The girl was watching him with one open eye. "I didn't realize any of ya were still awake over there."
The girl sat up carefully, and by the appraising eyes he knew he was right. "You're very friendly to her. Is it because she healed you?"
Jin thought about it a moment before he answered. "I guess that's a part of it, yeah. Not all of it, though. Ya ever seen how lonely she is?"
The girl nodded solemnly. "She hides it well, but she's just too eager to let us come over when we ask. We tried for three years to convince her to move in with us after her mother died, Mom especially, but it didn't work. She's too independent. She feels like she has to do everything herself."
"I am awake, you know." Jin jumped slightly and saw Hachi cringe as Mana opened her eyes. The girl stared up at him. "Why must you always do that to me?"
"Go to sleep, Mana. We're talking." Mana rolled her eyes, elbowing Hachi lightly as the other girl lay back down. "Okay, fine, be that way. We can have our conversation later."
"I hate you both," the blonde mumbled as she snuggled further under her blankets. Jin chuckled lightly, tucking them around her neck. "I'm going to bite you..."
"So ya say, Mana. So ya say."
Jin waited until the two girls were asleep before he finally settled down himself. He could help a small smile as he drifted off. The day had been a definite success on all grounds...
