XXI

“Ugh,” Sachi muttered, staggering from her bed, her head pounding to the beat of her heart in a terrible rhythm. She swayed for a moment before regaining her balance, the over-sized shirt twisted uncomfortably around her body. Several aborted attempts later she managed to get through the door and into the living room, pawing uselessly at her shirt that seemed to have become tangled in her panties somehow while she’d slept. “Coffee.” She mumbled, staggering toward the kitchen, sock clad feet padding lightly on the hardwood floor.

“Hiya, Sacchan!” A voice called from behind her as she waited for the coffee to brew, causing her to scream and spin around, the three years she’d spent studying Karate kicking in as she slipped into a defensive posture, hands held at the ready in front of her.

“Fucking hell, Mari!” Sachi yelled at the smiling girl. “Don’t ever fucking do that again. I swear to fuck!” She turned back toward the coffee, shaking as adrenaline rushed through her. “Fuck! Seriously?” Drowning her coffee in cream and sugar Sachi finally turned to where Mari still stood. “Get your own fucking coffee you creepy bitch.”

“Don’t be mad, Sacchan,” Mari grinned. “By the way, you look like crap this morning and have a terrible language problem, too.”

“Fuck you,” Sachi suggested, scowling suspiciously. Her eyes followed the younger girl as she bustled about the kitchen preparing her coffee.

“What?” Mari asked innocently, sitting down opposite Sachi at the table. “Stroopwaffle?”

“No, I don’t even know what those are. I bought them for Akari when she lived here,” Sachi replied, a pang of misery shooting through her. Hold on, Akari, I’m going to figure whatever the fuck is going on and get you back, she thought to herself fiercely. “What’s wrong with you?”

“It’s like a waffle cookie that gets melty when you put it over a coffee cup,” Mari grinned, unwrapping the pastry and placing it carefully over her steaming cup.”

“Melty?” Sachi’s scowl deepened. “Something is…” Mari tilted her head slightly.

“Nevermind,” Sachi shrugged dismissively.

“Fine,” Mari huffed. “You are Ms. Rudeness in the morning. You know, for someone from such a high class family and top tier schools you are very crude with a total potty mouth!”

“I know,” Sachi wasn’t fazed in the least.

“This is your last chance at the Stroopwaffle!” Mari proffered the cookie to her, wagging it. Sachi shook her head.

“I don’t want your fucking cookie.” Mari burst out laughing and Sachi cocked an eyebrow disapprovingly.

“I don’t get it,” Sachi said in bewilderment.

“It’s a cookie! Get it? Like…cookie?” Mari giggled.

“No, I don’t get it. Have you been eating paint chips or something, Mari?”

“I haven’t been eating anything,” Mari grinned back smugly. Sachi scowled at her but said nothing.

“Good morning!” Yukiko crowed, emerging from the bathroom.

“Yuki, you want my cookie, don’t you?” Mari called to her. Yukiko’s smile broadened noticeably.

“Hell yes I do!” Yukiko giggled, hurrying over to take a bite of the cookie Mari held out to her. “Mmmm! Your cookie is the best cookie I’ve ever tasted!”

“Damn right it is! Don’t you forget it!” Mari cooed.

“Not a chance,” Yukiko grinned.

“What the fuck is wrong with you two? I’m too hung over to deal with this shit, today,” Sachi snapped, shaking her head.

“Oh, I got a text from Hiroto this morning,” Yukiko said, licking her lips suggestively and winking at a blushing Mari. “He wants us to meet him at the office at 1:00. He wouldn’t say what was going on, just that we needed to be there.”

“Fuck that little toad,” Sachi growled, looking at her own phone. She typed for a few long seconds before grunting in approval. “I’ll be there but I’ve got something else to do first.” Sachi drained her coffee and got up from the table.

“I’m going to take a shower and head out but I’ll see you at 1,” She called over her shoulder, waving one hand and readjusting her panties that had ridden up when she un-tucked her shirt with the other. “And don’t fuck in my living room anymore. Use the spare room for that shit, you animals.” Mari and Yukiko looked at each other in shock, mouths agape.