Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ House of Lushes ❯ Vol. Two/ Chap. Ten: Rock Baby ( Chapter 10 )

Rock Baby

*Shoji*

It's about to be summer now. That mean the Perfumed Carp is going to be busy. But first, there's the music festival at school to work through. Kasumi and I are running the dumplings booth. I smiled to myself the whole time.

Maybe I could prove my worth, I thought. My girlfriend smiled at me.

“Let's do our best today,” she said. I gave her a sharp nod.

“Right!” I said. We opened at ten on Saturday. The first hour was slow. Not much went on. The festival had just started. I fanned the roasting dumplings.

“Whew!” I said. “How long are these to cook?”

“Are they golden brown?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“They're ready,” Kasumi said.

“Alright,” I replied. We took the dumplings off the stove and put them out for sell. I looked around at the growing crowd. I blinked confused.

“Kasumi-chan,” I said.

“Yes?” she said.

“These people look so young,” I pointed out. Kasumi nodded.

“Of course,” she said. “We always get junior high kids at the music festival.”

“But…”

“It's okay.”

“But, how?”

“What do you mean?”

“They let in kids with a ticket here.”

I blinked. “They can do that?”

“Yeah,” Kasumi said.

“Oh no!” we heard someone wail. Kasumi and I looked up to see a freshman girl in distress.

“What's wrong?” my girlfriend asked.

“We don't have enough soy sauce,” the freshman said. We looked at her with confused eyes.

“What?” I asked.

“You're kidding, right?” Kasumi asked. The freshman shook her head.

“How did this happen?” my girl asked.

“Mike must have gotten the wrong box this morning!” the freshman cried.

“Shhh,” Kasumi whispered. “Just calm down. What exactly happened and where is the soy sauce now?” The freshman took in a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment.

“Mike and I were getting the boxes of food supplies,” she said. “Then, my phone rang. I went outside to take the call.”

“And then?” I asked. She took in another breath.

“Mike went on without me,” the freshman said. “So…”

“The box is still in the supply shed,” I finished. She nodded.

“Yeah,” she said. I clapped my hands together.

“Okay!” I said. “I'll go get it.” The girls looked on at me.

“Are you sure?” Kasumi asked.

“Yeah!” I said. “I can do it.”

“You know where the supple room is, right?” the freshman asked.

“I'll find it!” I said back. Then, I headed out the back way on my mission. I can't screw this up.

I found the path to the food storage room. I took in confidence with each step. I drew in a deep breath. Here's my chance! My pace quickened at my thoughts. I'm on a mission.

Suddenly, I paused. My eyes shifted around me.

Someone's watching me. I took a good look around.

“Hello?” I asked. “Who's there?” A shuffle ahead of me drew my attention forward. Two young girls stood at the opposite end of the hall from me. I squinted for a better look. The taller girl looked about thirteen of fourteen with short black hair with light blue streaks in it. The shorter one had equally short bright orange hair. They both looked like mini punk lolis. Clothes and frowns included. It took me a minute to recognize them. My eyes shot wide open.

“Iku? Megu?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”

Munch