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I put on the dress Ashley had loaned me. I’d rock Harajuku in that dress. I could out-princess anyone if I put my mind to it. The girls in the photos she’d shown me had immaculate ringlets, though. That would never happen with my hair so I brushed it then tied a ribbon around my head.
The dress strained over my boobs so that I wondered if I should unbutton it and put a tight t-shirt or something on underneath. That just wouldn’t work with the dress so I just rearranged my boobs as best I could.
The fabric foofed out around me. I spun around. I’d never worn a dress like this before. My five-year-old self would’ve loved it.
I held up the white knee socks Ashley had given me then put them on.
My leg fat bulged over the top, even whiter than the socks. I hoped the dress would cover that. Ashley had also included a hair bow but I wasn’t sure how to attach it and the ribbon would be more than enough.
When I’d finished, I put on a quick coat of makeup, finishing with some lip gloss and mascara. Then I took a few selfies. I’d send them to Ashley as soon as I got internet access sorted out.
There was another map that showed the way to the cafe. I worried I’d be late since Ashley had emphasized how important punctuality was in Japanese culture but I ended up being ten minutes early. That didn’t worry me. The cafe had Wi-Fi. Sweet, beautiful Wi-Fi. If Wi-Fi had a corporeal form, I’d have hugged the shit out of it. Instead, I went online. So much must’ve happened while I’d been away.
I took some photos in the café with the pale wood walls as a backdrop. Then I took one that included the tiny cactus on a table and included the print on the wall behind me.
With enough photos to upload, I sat in an armchair with a low coffee table next to it.
I had twenty emails. Most of them were junk that I deleted straight away. A bunch of Facebook notifications - also, junk. Even my Instagram photos didn’t have that many likes, and my follower count had gone down.
I sighed. My online life sucked but I’d have amazing selfies to post soon, then I looked around. No one in this cafe wore a frou frou Little Bo Peep dress but me. Huh?
I’d been in too much of a rush to notice earlier but I looked totally out of place in this minimalist café. Like a blob of pastel colored gelato dropped from an ice cream cone.
As I checked out the surroundings, I noticed a couple walk in who looked just a little too cool. They made me wilt in my seat.
The guy had shoulder length hair with black ripped jeans, a black t-shirt and biker jacket. He wore more jewelry than I’d ever owned. Just seeing the rings weighing down his fingers made me twist the ring Mum had given me. His black hair flopped down onto his face as he walked through the room with an attitude like he owned the place.
But, if he owned the place, the girl behind him seemed like this cafe was just too distasteful for her to handle. She’d have been almost pretty if her face hadn’t been screwed up like she smelled something bad. And, boy, she had the most perfect winged eyeliner I’d ever seen. Trust me, I’d tried to do that eyeliner and it wasn’t easy. Her black dress barely covered the bits that needed to be covered, and she wore boots made for kicking ass. If I had a pair of boots like that, I’d never wear anything else.
They had to be models or something. They looked so perfect.
The guy stopped and stared at me. He said something to the girl. She sneered and shook her head. The two of them snickered.
He glanced at me again then walked over.
“Molly?” he asked.
I nodded. Then I sat up straight. He knew my name? Were these the people I was supposed to be meeting? Intimidation flooded my body. These weren’t people I could hang out with.
“Stand up,” the girl said with a thick Japanese accent.
I obeyed without question. She covered her mouth but there was no mistaking that laugh. I tried not to redden but that was really rude.
“This is a joke?” she asked. “Is it vintage or just clueless?”
Even with her heavy accent, there was no mistaking her words.
I sat back down without answering. I’d never actually questioned whether Ashley knew what she was talking about or not. She’d be devastated if she found out.
The couple sat down on a sofa opposite me.
“Let’s get this over with quickly,” the girl said. “You’re supposed to join our team. Tell the old man that you’re changed your mind and go back to where you belong.”
Wow, she wouldn’t be winning any congeniality contests.
“Yuki can be a little abrupt,” the guy said. He only had the barest trace of an accent and grinned at me in a reassuring way. “We’ll order a drink and talk. What will you have?”
“A latte is fine,” I said.
He called over the waiter and ordered in Japanese. The whole time the girl just glared.
I could run. This meeting seemed to be a big mistake and I didn’t want to talk to these people, but I needed to find out the whereabouts of the stone. I couldn’t leave without that. This pair didn’t seem like they’d help with that.
“I’m sorry but I know nothing about any of this,” I said. “I don’t know anything about a team, let alone joining one. I’m just here to get some information.”
The girl sighed loudly then flung herself back in her seat.
“Typical of the old guy,” she said. “He likes everything mysterious.”
It took me a moment to figure out that she’d said “mysterious”. Then I just nodded. I had no idea what the guy was like, assuming she meant Yamaguchi.
Our drinks arrived. I sipped my latte. I think they forgot to put the coffee shot in it or maybe it was just really weak.
“I’m Shun, by the way,” the guy said, leaning forward and offering me his hand. I shook it and was about to tell him my name then realized he already knew. There didn’t seem to be any more to say. Yuki typed on her phone and Shun drank his tea. I got out my phone too. Might as well make use of this Wi-Fi. Which reminded me.
“Do you know where I can get a SIM card?” I asked.
The girl huffed. “I knew when they said we’d be getting a foreigner that we’d have to babysit her.”
I huffed back. “I’m just asking a simple question. No need to be rude.”
“You can pick one up at the airport,” Shun said. “Didn’t you do that?”
I shook my head. “The driver rushed me through so fast that I had no chance to do anything.”
It’d taken us forever to drive here. I wasn’t going back all that way just to get a SIM. Surely there had to be somewhere closer.
“I don’t know where else sells them to foreigners,” he said. “If you had a visa, it’d be fine but you’re just a tourist.”
That couldn’t be right. I went online and googled SIM cards in Japan.
Damn shit, he was right. What kind of country was this?
“It doesn’t matter,” Yuki said. “You won’t be sticking around long enough to need it.”
I rolled my eyes. She obviously knew nothing about my online needs.
“What are you, anyway?” she asked. She leaned forward, really inspecting me.
“Huh?” I wasn’t even going to attempt to figure the meaning behind that.
“I’m a baku and she’s a kitsune,” Shun said.
I had a vague idea of what a kitsune was, some kind of fox thing. Looking at Yuki, I could well believe she was some kind of fox creature. She had a fox-like face and I bet she had sharp claws. But baku, that meant nothing to me. I went to Google again. I got up a picture of a baku. It looked nothing like Shun but like some kind of anteater. I showed it to him.
“Yeah, that’s what people think. I might have a pointy nose but I’m nothing like that thing, obviously.”
He smiled and I smiled back. That little dimple that appeared when Shun smiled made him a whole lot less intimidating and more like a cute guy wearing really cutting-edge clothes. His eyes sparkled too. If I’d planned on sticking around, I think Shun and I could be friends. Yuki, never. She didn’t even look up while we talked.
“But I am a dream eater. Well, I do more than eat dreams. I can enter people’s dreams and interact with them.”
“Cool!” My eyes widened. “So, you can get their PIN and rip off their bank accounts or if you were going to a trivia night, you could get a preview of the questions?”
“Not really. It’s like a lucid dream. I can’t find out things people don’t want to talk about but say they have a deep, dark secret that they long to confess, they’ll tell me.”
That still sounded amazing to me. I’d get all kinds of info out of people if I could do that. Then it hit me that only a few days ago I’d have laughed this whole thing off. Kitsune, baku and the like.
“So, what are you?” he asked.
“I’m nothing,” I said.
That sounded really low self-esteemy but I didn’t mean that I was literally nothing, just that I had no powers or anything.
Yuki looked up from her phone and sighed. “The old man insists we work with her. He has a job coming up for us and she’s supposed to help.”
Yuki did nothing to hide her feelings but it wasn’t like I wanted to work with her either. I had no idea what kind of work they did and this whole team had been dumped on me like some kind of nasty surprise.
It’d probably been a mistake. Yamaguchi had given me the wrong paper and I’d straighten it all out when I met with him.
Yuki stood up and gathered her stuff.
“You’ve got to have some kind of powers,” Shun said. “Otherwise Yamaguchi wouldn’t be interested in you.”
“I’m definitely not a kitsune or baku or anything like that,” I said. “If I was, I’d have known by now.”
Yuki flicked her hair and sneered at me. “Baku, more like a baka,” she said.
The sounded kind of impressive. I could be that. Only, I looked up baka on the translator. As Yuki walked out of the cafe, I yelled after her. “I’m not an idiot!”
I wanted to take a photo of Yuki and post it with the hashtag #biggest bitch in the world. That would not be an exaggeration. I’d never met such an unpleasant person in my life.
And I’d learned nothing about the stone, but Yuki returned.
“Shun, you have to go with her to meet Yamaguchi. He’s sending you a message.
Finally, I might get some answers.