Intermission:
Let There Be Midnight Snacks
THE WEEK FOLLOWING SHIRATAMA’S RETURN FROM her suspension, Yanami and Komari found themselves alone in the club room with her.
Yanami eyed the door while she idly munched on Pretz. “Where’d Nukumizu-kun go?”
“Th-the nurse’s office.” Komari didn’t bother looking up from her phone.
“Ah. Konuki-sensei. No rest for the club president.” Munch. She pushed the end of the pretzel stick into her mouth with her index finger then offered a box to Shiratama. “Want one?”
“Oh, thank you.” She put down the yellowing pages of an old club journal with one of her trademark smiles. She opened the package inside the box before a repressed laugh escaped her lips.
“What’s so funny?” asked Yanami.
“We might have more in common than I thought.”
Shiratama nibbled, her head tilted at the cutest angle possible.
“You a purist too? Plain’s best, huh?”
“That too, but I mostly meant how I’m also always carrying snacks with me.” She pulled out a girly bag of soft, chewy candies.
Yanami was impressed. “I knew you had taste. A girl’s only as good as her snacks, after all. Guys just don’t understand. It’s always ‘you’re still eating?’ this, ‘maybe you should slow down’ that.”
The new girl raised an eyebrow. “Are you talking about the president?”
“What? No,” Yanami refuted flatly. “Who said anything about Nukumizu-kun?”
Shiratama didn’t seem convinced but ultimately chose the path of least resistance. She offered the bag of soft candies. “Have one.”
“You’re the best!”
“Komari-senpai?”
“O-oh,” she grunted. “Th-thanks.”
And so there was peace. For a time.
Yanami chewed her candy with gusto. “Name a more iconic duo than a girl and her food.”
“I know what you mean. I can’t stop eating or I’ll lose weight like nobody’s business.”
“You what?” It was like an ice age in Yanami’s heart.
Shiratama’s, however, was filled with innocence. “You’re the same, right? Three square meals are never enough to stay healthy. That’s why you snack.”
Yanami thought long and hard about her answer. Very long. “Yep.” She had to send a warning glance Komari’s way to keep her quiet before leaning in close. “Hey, so what’s your secret?”
“My secret? I guess I just try to eat whenever I notice I’m not doing anything.”
“That’s how you stay thin?”
“Um, no. The opposite. Isn’t that what we’re talking about?”
Yanami thought long and hard. Perhaps the hardest she ever had.
Shiratama, innocence incarnate, beamed. “I had cake before bed just last night, in fact. I know it’s bad for your skin, but it’s so hard for me to eat dinner. Do you have anything like that you eat when it’s late?”
“I had…cup ramen last night.” With every word, Yanami died a little more inside.
Komari was at a loss.
“Wow!” Shiratama put her hands together gleefully. “I can never finish those. And don’t get me started on the extra-large ones. Who can eat all that if you’re not a boy in a sports club or something, right?”
“Yeah. Totally.”
Like a verbal vampire, Shiratama continued to rave until all that remained was not a girl, but ashes formerly known as Yanami. Little more than the brittle residue of burned incense. Komari, meanwhile, with trembling hands, put in her earbuds and started up her music app.
“But I can actually finish convenience store lunches now, so I think I’m getting better,” Shiratama continued. “What’s your secret, Yanami-senpai? How do you eat so much?”
“Dunno. Y’know all the seasoning and garnishes you put on the noodles at the end? Dump ’em in at the beginning… Maybe that’ll help.”
And then she went still. Never to move again. Komari rose and found a comfortable spot to press her forehead against the wall.
“Um, guys? Is something wrong?”
There was no response, for they were only corpses. So she went back to reading.