Web of light. Part 1.2 chapter 16

Interlude 9. Part 2. The kitchen of the Amakawa house, a somewhat unexpected selection of characters

I guess I should introduce myself: I'm Rinko, Yuto's neighbor. Kuzaki led the girls into the house. Yuto is currently in extra classes and won't arrive for three hours. So make yourself comfortable! The girls sat down at the kitchen table, Rinko poured a glass of juice.

"Shizuka," the snake introduced itself, and immediately asked with slightly narrowed eyes, "just a neighbor and that's it?"

"I've been helping Yuto around the house since his parents died two years ago. Car crash. It's the anniversary today, and Yuto hasn't celebrated a birthday since."

Everyone fell silent. Rinko was sad, Shizuka was sympathetic, and she could hardly remember how she felt about the day of mourning for her murdered relatives in the early years. Hiroe thoughtfully looked at the kitchen, the products laid out in the cooking process, and nodded:

"Clear. And the dinner you're cooking right now, it's certainly not festive. I would call it an "everyday dinner." From an expensive restaurant. And you're doing great, girlfriend!"

Rinko's cheeks turned slightly red against her will. By tacit agreement with Yuto, they did not bring up the topic of death and celebration, but she was sure that the guy was grateful for her efforts...

"I see," the Goddess of Rivers said now, "I think since we came uninvited (a quick glance at the haircut), we just have to help the hostess. You don't mind?"

"Er-er-em, I thought you'd want to wait for Yuto, but if you want to help, I don't mind at all. Even for!"

It's an amazing thing. They say that there cannot be two housewives in a kitchen, because women secretly consider the kitchen to be their territory. Perhaps that's true, but it's too unusual for representatives of the "weaker sex" to gather at the Amakawa house today. And that's how you look at it. If the kitchen has 45 square meters, and the cutting table above the cabinets stretches for eight meters, then, perhaps, six people can cook! Rinko went back to roasting, leaving the rest to the guests, watching their actions out of the corner of her eye: you never know, they took it upon themselves to help, but they don't know how to cook themselves? However, knowing Hiroe, one could safely assume that the scheming schemer could cook, and very well, and apparently loved it, otherwise she would have found some excuse and would have run away to inspect the house. Rinko found the special attention to subjects and the ability to draw conclusions about people based on these observations quite annoying, but she endured it. Everyone has their own hobby, although she would be ashamed to "get into the heads" of people around her. She was much more annoyed by the short-haired woman's apparent favor for her Yuto. Under the pretext of "talking to an intelligent person," she began to visit their class often during recess and generally showed increased attention. Rinko was a little scared of this — after participating in the "plan" to raise the rating of the journalism club's news, this little girl, without lifting a finger herself, forced the half-naked director to climb a tree at camera sight, and a couple more minor adventures planned by this terrible man, which Rinko herself learned about only through admission into the "inner circle" of the school reporter's hangout. She didn't know what to expect from Hiroe Kaname at all. Right now, her came with a "gift" type bag, and her can't put it out now. However, Kuzaki admitted to herself, she wouldn't have exposed it anyway, because arrogance is arrogance, but it's very difficult to get a grudge against such a person!

On the other side of Rinko, near the sink, Shizuka settled down, who took over the dough for desserts and the preparation of tea. Confident, well-honed movements, spices and sugar measured without looking, even Rinko spoke about yokai's rich experience in cooking dishes. It was a little strange to see the most ordinary girl acting so confidently, she looked to be the same age as Kuzaki herself, but that just doesn't happen in life... unless you can see the thin blue halo around her figure. A spirit can disguise itself, but it can't disguise itself at all, as Yuto once said. Even such a weak "illumination" was enough for the sensors of the map to visualize the presence of the spirit. However, at the same moment, Shizuka finished mixing the pastry ingredients, and furtively looked around, trying to detect the presence of exorcist magicians nearby (yeah, through the walls with absorbing "firmware"!), and lowered her shields slightly. With a single movement of her hand, Mizuchi's magic filling the water became visible in the vision spectrum of the glasses for a moment, and flour and water became the most perfect-looking dough Rinko had ever seen in her life! Damn, it's enviable! And what about the other side? Hiroe was cutting lettuce, and her movements were like a perfectly tuned chopping machine: perfectly even pieces remained on the cutting board, the girl smiled slightly. "This way my dish will be the easiest to taste! — the girl next door broke out in a sweat, — well, never mind, I have all my desire to make the perfect meat for Yuto! Who said that even pieces or magic guarantee an amazing taste?! Let's see who's who!" Rinko stole a glance at her rivals and came across similar looks. "Challenge accepted!"

"Ha ha!" Hiroe thought as she continued chopping vegetables, "this is more interesting than I thought! And if Rinko presented a surprise only in terms of cooking, then the second girl, whom Kuzaki and Amakawa seemed to be waiting for, is very interesting!" She didn't look at the dough trick in as much detail as Rinko, and she didn't cook often enough to consider herself a good cook, but! Only her mother could match her in cutting salads, but the soup... we must try to screw up the first one badly.

Light meditation — and now the movements of the knife acquire the necessary uniformity, and young Kaname could see exactly the size and proportions as well as her mother. Innate! By the way, Hiroe studied meditation with another teacher only because she was female, and her mother wanted to make sure that her daughter's education was as effective as possible. But Kaname's worthy daughter perfectly saw the atypical behavior of the water, which easily rinses the wildly sticky sweet dough from Shizuka's hands, then almost instantly drips off her hands, leaving the latter dry and clean. Yes, and these are the movements of a woman in her forties, the dawn of experience and before the beginning of the sunset of power... In general, Occam's razor insisted on admitting that the third comrade in their team was not a human being. I should give Rinko a hint... Although, considering how carefully she keeps an eye on the guest, she may be aware of it. The mystery! Hiroe hurriedly put a piece of apple in her mouth to lick her lips! By working together, they put the prepared dishes in the oven and on the stove, and the salad in the refrigerator, after which the girls suddenly discovered that they had not said a word to each other during the entire cooking except "please pass me this." There was an awkward silence.

"Ahem",— Rinko cleared her throat, "maybe we should do something while Yuto is gone."

"You come here a lot, don't you?" Hiroe asked innocently.

"Each... quite often!" Rinko was embarrassed and started making excuses. "Since Yuto is alone, I've been helping him with the housework."

"Great!" Kaname was just beaming with "innocence," and Rinko got nervous. What's wrong again?

"So," the schemer continued, "you keep the house in perfect order? Ha, you're the real boss here, everything is tidy and in place. And I appreciated the napkins on the windowsills. Show us the house, since you're keeping order for Yuto-kun."

The snake nodded. Rinko felt that she had been hit. Admitting that she wasn't the one "keeping the house in order" was beyond her. I had to nod and invite the guests to the second floor after me. Hiroe made a victorious and at the same time slightly disappointed face — Yuto would not have been caught in such a banal two-level divorce. Then she caught an appreciative look from Shizuki and realized that she had an intellectual rival for today. This is Yuto's room," Rinko said a little irritably. She vindictively began the tour with the bathroom and the toilet and for 10 minutes listened to the praises of "excellent tiles, warm design" and a bunch of other incomprehensible stuff. One thing was good, these two drunken bitches, no matter what, obediently followed her, which meant there was no chance that they would climb into the basement. Although there is nothing "like that"... but it will raise unnecessary questions anyway. Rinko waved her hand around the room and was about to return to the corridor, but it was not there! The girls wandered around the room as if nothing had happened, examining the spines of books and the computer, Hiroe tried the softness of the bed (and shot a provocative glance at Kuzaki), and Shizuka looked at the shelves of the shelf. And naturally, I came across a blue velvet box with a sticker "for Shizuka". Oops! Ayakashi felt herself blushing! Agree, that's how to discover in someone else's house that you are not just not forgotten, but also a gift has been prepared! It had been a long, long time since she had had anyone to leave a gift... and at home, where this gift could be found. The Goddess of Rivers fled from any attempt to settle in the house, she had been running for more than two hundred years... maybe in vain. The frozen Ayakashi attracted the attention of Rinko and Hiroe, and both looked over her shoulder.

"A gift?" Kaname asked?

"Yes, for Shizuka. Yuto asked me to give them to Shizuka if she came in his absence. Well, don't be shy, open up!"

In the box, as expected, there were two folded satin-blue hair ribbons with Chinese tassels at the ends. Hiroe immediately recognized the expensive accessory that Amakawa-kun had asked for advice about almost two months ago. However, the guest has been waiting for a long time! And Shizuka was completely lost, holding the box in her hands. And no amount of long-term experience has helped. "Yuto did well, as he knew exactly what to choose for someone who, in general, does not really need things and personal items," Rinko thought proudly.

"Yuto did well, such a subtle manipulation! I wonder if I guessed it or figured it out? That scoundrel!" Hiroe thought.

"Do you want me to braid your braid?" To bring Mizuchi out of her stupor, Rinko asked, "And Yuto-kun will love that you took advantage of his gift."

"Can I?" — the snake asked in a kind of childish confusion, uncertainly.

"And even necessary! Hiroe, can you help me?"

"No," she smirked sarcastically, running her fingers through her short boyish crew cut. "It's like I'm from a different camp."

Hiroe was mentally berating herself and her mother in every way! Well, what was it worth to show a child how to make braids? Well, you never know that their hair in the family is so brittle that you can afford a maximum of a short square! It's necessary to make a mistake on what elementary stuff! However, Kaname didn't self-flagellate for a long time while Rinko was flying over Ayakashi's gorgeous hair (and was wildly jealous — she didn't cut her hair short from a good life either!) with blue ribbons, I walked around the room once more and noticed how the corner of the long bedspread was suspiciously protruding, skirting a rather large rectangular object. "And what does Yuto keep under his bed?— the question struggled for a while with the obvious answer of "playboy selections," but surely everything could be expected from Yuto? Moreover, for some reason, I irrationally wanted to annoy "bosom friends who, in a moment, sang along on the basis of their heartfelt feelings for Yuto-kun." So I'm sorry in advance, Yuto, but if there's porn, then your girlfriends are close enough to understand and not knock you over the head too much for "perversion". Besides, I have to figure out which figures Amakawa-kun likes the most. What if they're skinny girls with short hair? One correctly calculated "random" step, and the box, along with its contents, rolls out from under the bed on the smooth floor. Oh, it's not porn. It's quite a "Table poker club". We live!

Under the delicious smells from the stove and oven, the trio sat down at a large dining table and laid out cards, chips, and even spread out a green cloth. There was still at least an hour left before the end of classes and Yuto's arrival, which meant there was time. Rinko finally figured out to text her friend just in case, so that he wouldn't worry about missed calls and a flashpoint from ayakashi right in the house. Kuzaki laid out and distributed the chips (she was assigned to bank) and looked questioningly at the girls.

"It's just not interesting to play like that..." Hiroe handed it over, and after examining the chips, she said. "Let's play for secrets!"

"How's that?"

"Everything is simple. We play five games. Who has how many chips left at the end of the game — we calculate the minimum value and take the same amount from the rest. Whoever has the remaining chips can buy one secret from an opponent for one black (ten red). We have five black chips each, I suggest we skip the blue ones and play big right away. Just don't be silent and don't lie. Do you agree?"

"Hehe",— Hiroe thought, "here you are in my pocket. You're no match for me in math and mindfulness. And obviously no one taught you how to "keep your face" like me! Everything is clear with Rinko, but I can say the same about Shizuka based on the scene in Yuto's room. Let's see what you're capable of, inhuman girl!"

"Rinko, judging by the reactions, is a fairly honest and straightforward person, he won't lie unnecessarily. And if he lies, it will mean something."

the snake reasoned and clarified:

"Tell any secret about something, unless you promised not to reveal it to anyone."

"This house, Yuto... I have more and more questions, and his "neighbor" clearly knows more than she's letting on.", Mizuchi has already discovered that the walls "suck in" magic, subtle flashes of which break out of the collapsed aura, and the magic is consumed nowhere, not even a channel is visible. If the amulet could still be written off as an inheritance, then the artifact house, the very "ideal base" she was looking for in the city, was no longer there.

Rinko shivered slightly, feeling as if the "Ki" was clearly coming from her playing partners, and decided that in any case she had nothing to lose. After all, Yuto-kun warned that perhaps the yokai-water spirit would ask her about him, and Hiroe himself called him "a potential ally with whom sooner or later he would have to have a frank conversation." He allowed Rinko to decide if he had to decide on his own. "If I can't trust you, I can't trust anyone at all. Even for myself." These words, which came back to her memory, were filled with warmth in my chest and determination. Rinko might not have Hiroe's analytical mind or the abilities of Ayakashi Shizuki, but she feels with her heart and the instincts of a tournament fighter that the right moment is coming soon. It hurts to have girls looking at each other and at her with "smart" faces. Great. Let the battle begin!