“But you do have to whisk the eggs for a long time,” Takina told her.
Itou smiled apologetically.
“There is a trick to make it easier, though,” Takina continued. “I added a little bit of sugar to the eggs. It helps trap the air in them, speeding up the process a bit.”
That was the purpose of that secret ingredient. Sugar ever so slightly increased the viscosity of the egg mixture, helping to keep the air bubbles in. Strangely enough, adding sugar right at the start made it harder to achieve a foamy texture. The sugar had to be added after the eggs were whisked for a while.
It didn’t take the girls and Itou very long to polish off the fluffy eggs. It wasn’t a very filling meal, so they all felt like they could’ve eaten more…but at the same time, they were aware of the undesirable effects of eating so late, and nobody complained.
Binge-eating at night carried many dangers. Young women were especially wary of them.
“That was delicious! Thank you, Takina!”
“You’re welcome.”
“And thank you, too, Chisato!”
“No probs!”
“…And what did you do to help, Chisato?”
“Let’s not focus on the details! I…I helped by adding good vibes while you were cooking!”
“You were just reading and lazing around in bed.”
Chisato sulked. Itou laughed.
“You two make a good team.”
“Really?”
“Oh yes! People with opposite personalities work surprisingly well together.”
Takina looked at Chisato, who winked at her, trying to be cute. Takina ignored her.
“And thank you for getting me this model gun.”
Itou fetched the rifle from her work desk.
“Did you find it helpful?”
“Of course! Thanks to you, I’m almost finished!”
“That’s good to hear.”
“The crucial scene is pretty much complete now. I just have to fix the rifle in a few other panels…and it’ll be ready to send off!”
“You work fast, Ms. Itou! Congra—”
Bang! The end of the rifle’s barrel erupted. The recoil made Itou drop the gun to the floor. Everyone stared at it in shock. It had gone off—Takina’s ears were still ringing from the blast as she looked around to see where the bullet went… Itou’s tablet fell off the desk, little shards flying. Smoke started coming out of it.
“What…? What was that…? Did the toy gun just…fire…? My tablet… It’s…shattered? How…? The manga… All the data was on that tablet… I don’t understand…”
Chisato wasted no time. She put her left arm around Itou’s back, pushing her gently with her right arm to make her lie down on the floor. She looked at Takina, who understood the unspoken request. Together, they lifted Itou, Takina holding her legs, and Chisato her shoulders. It didn’t take them long to bundle the artist into her bed.
“Chisato… Tell me my manga draft isn’t lost…”
“Listen, Ms. Itou, you’re dreaming. It’s just a dream. Just a dream… You feel better now, right? Everything’s fine. Perfectly fine. Just close your eyes and let yourself drift off…”
Itou was still looking at Chisato, so the girl put her hand over Itou’s eyes and quickly tapped a few points on the woman’s chest with the fingers of her other hand. Itou’s breathing immediately slowed down—she was asleep.
Chisato wiped sweat off her brow.
“Mission complete,” she said.
“What?! It’s a disaster! How could you have forgotten to remove the round in the chamber?!”
“How is this on me? I thought you removed it!”
Takina retraced the events in her head. While Chisato was getting that newspaper to wrap the rifle in, Takina removed the magazine. When Chisato came back, she put the magazine in Chisato’s bag and handed the gun over to her… That was it—Chisato assumed all the bullets had been removed, but Takina hadn’t pulled back the charging handle to empty the chamber after she detached the magazine. She had been in a hurry, but that, of course, was no excuse.
It wasn’t a Lycoris mission, but since it involved a firearm, Takina should’ve still made sure it was safe before handing it over. The safety had been on at least, but still… Itou was an amateur, so they should’ve taken every precaution.
Takina had to admit she’d made a mistake.
“I’m sorry…” The moment it dawned on her that she was at fault, she apologized.
“Um, hey, it’s also partially my fault since I didn’t check the gun after taking it from you! Um… Well, at least nobody got hurt! That’s important! But what do we do now…?”
They tried tapping on the broken tablet. It wouldn’t turn on. The bullet had gone right through it and buried itself in the wall. Some poking with a pen revealed that it was stuck in a steel girder or something like that inside the wall. Fortunately, it didn’t go through to the next apartment, but the girls had another big problem on their hands.
“What should we do, Chisato?”
“You need to ask?”
Chisato whipped out her phone and called someone.
“Hello, hello, hello! I have a job for Café LycoReco’s chief computer specialist! I’ll be coming to get you, so get ready!”