“Okay, so this place isn’t high end by any stretch of the imagination, but they do meat good. My treat.” Shiko wears a wide grin as she directs us into a small bar. We did much better than Shiko earlier estimates, there were only a handful of doujin left. Few enough that we could pack them away in our bags for later. Shiko even let some go for pretty cheap near the end.

Oh wow, it smells good here. We grab a table in the back and Claire sets our bags on the seat next to her. I really wasn’t expecting her to buy anything, let alone that much. She bought all of Dungeon Meshi… I should marry her- God I don’t need to sound unhinged in my mind please.

“Everything alright Rei?”

“Oh, yah definitely… so, umm… what did you think? You seemed to enjoy yourself.”

That's what she said. Shut. Up.

Shiko leans her elbows on the table, and rests her chin on the back of her intertwined hands, grinning…

“It was very lovely meeting you Shiko-san finally.”

Shiko winks, “I have to say the same Claire-san.”

Claire smiles, and looks back to me, “It was really lovely, we should do it again when we can properly enjoy it. I should have a better idea of… well everything later too I imagine. I’m still quite new to… well you know, everything .” She chuckles cutely at her joke, thank god Shiko doesn’t know what she was hinting at.

“You're blushing Oohashi.”

“Shut up Shiko” God why do I put up with her.

“So Shiko-san, do you do this sort of thing often?” At least Claire is enjoying this.

“Oh, yah for a few years now. Started in highschool. Small, but I kept ramping up each time and it kept working so yah. I love drawing and I think I’ve gotten pretty good at it.”

“I’ll say, your works are lovely. You have a real talent for it.”

“Thanks, your girlfriend’s a charmer Oohashi.”

She could be quieter about the girlfriend part.

“I look forward to reading them, Bonds looks sinfully delightful I must say.”

“ Ohh, yah that was a fun one, Rei had a bunch of good feedback for that one.”

The bondage one ? “SHIKO!” Are you for real?

“Is something the matter Rei?” Claire asks, “It’s fine Rei, you don’t need to be self conscious about it.”

Shouldn’t I? “We shouldn't be talking about that sort of thing here.”

Claire pouts, “ Fine , I suppose you are right about that. Thank you again Shiko-san for these.”

Shiko grins, and eyes me. You little shit . It doesn’t take too long for the waiter to stop by and take out orders. Even Claire decides to order a meat cutlet. Shiko also gets a beer, but Claire ultimately thinks better of it and we both just get water. It’s probably for the best, even if I like clingy Claire .

Soon rice and meat are served, and god after today, it’s just perfect. Claire and Shiko both look to be enjoying it too. Claire’s meal looks way too big for how delicately she is approaching it. She really does feel like she comes from a different time in these little moments.

“Shiko this is excellent, there is so much good food everywhere. You really were cheating, weren’t you Rei?” Claire grins.

“Huh? Oh… I guess?” Oh no.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shiko asks.

“Oh Rei is just fantastic when it comes to cooking.” Claire beams.

“Really?” Please don't ask Shiko . 

“Sure?” God, just say you're not already, you idiot .

“Oh don’t be so modest.”

Shiko gives me a look, fuck she is going to ask about that later isn’t she?

“So what was Rei like when she was in highschool?”

Oh please, can we stop talking about me already?

Shiko’s look just turns mischievous though and she gives a toothy grin. “What would you like to know?”

“Anything, Everything .” Claire's grin nearly matches Shiko.

“Ah come on, I’m not really that interesting.”

“Hush, you never talk about yourself. You were also friends with Misha?”

“As a consequence of Rei, yah. Yu too I guess because of that. Misha shared a class with Rei. After the whole love square thing Rei got way more into otaku stuff. She didn’t quite hangout at the manga club at school as much but she kept reading a lot more on her own. And she also started playing games a lot, lots of RPGS, even the bad ones.” 

Wow that was judgey. “Oh come on, they weren’t that bad.”

“ Sure , anyways for a while she was either playing at home on a PS4, reading some manga, bonus points if it was a yuri, or walking around playing on her DS. And you can’t forget about your fan fics either.” Shiko smirks at that last addition. Please don't mention the fics.

Claire looks a little caught up on the names, “PS4 and DS are things to play games on, kinda like we do on the laptop, they are just meant mainly for games.”

“Do you still play with those? I haven’t seen you play anything other than when we play Persona.”

“Oh… I’ve just been busy. I have my DS stil, and a Vita, couldn’t afford a Switch right now. And my PS4 is too big to take so it’s at home. And since we have… started dating, y’know. Not much time.” And it's not like I want to cut into my Claire time. 

Claire hums, “I suppose.”

“She was also way in the dumps back then.”

“Shiko!”

She just shrugs, you asshole.  “What? You were. You were really depressed back then. Even if you don’t want to say it. She got better; like I said before, in highschool. But she was still really into all that stuff. You caught Misha reading Dungeon Meshi right?”

“Yah…”

“She was so excited, she told me right away but was too chicken to bring up with Misha for a week.”

“Shiiiiiko!” God stooooop.

Claire starts laughing, at least she is enjoying it.

“No this is my right as your bestie, deal with it . Anyways she eventually broke and gushed to Misha about it. And they became friends. Misha’s not that much of an Otaku, not like us, but she likes the occasional fantasy stuff I think. She’s also been reading Frieren?”

“Yah… I don’t know… it’s fine .”

“Oh boo hoo, I’m sorry it doesn’t have the same gay vibes as Dungeon Meshi.” Shiko reaches over and ouch! She flicked my forehead.

“Don’t glare Rei.” Claire takes a practiced sip from her drink, how does she look so proper?

“You’re taking her side, Claire?”

“I’m always on your side dear.” gaAAahh .

Shiko cackles, then takes a drink from her beer. “So yah, that was highschool. She tragically stayed an otaku.” She sombers a bit, “You told her about Misaki and…?”

Claire casts her eyes down and before I can answer, “Yes, I know what Misaki went through as well.”

That’s coming up soon… I hate that time of the year- oh that’s Claire’s hand. I loosen my hand and let her hold mine. This is always nice.

“That happened. That really sucked. For everyone. We bounced back eventually. Misaki and Kosaki went to a different highschool, and we stayed in touch here and there after, but second year was a shock when we heard.”

Shiko lets the silence hang a bit after that, “Anyways didn’t want to bring down the mood.”

“Oh please don’t worry. I know it must have been hard.” Claire leans gently on me.

If she didn’t know about this… would I have ever believed her?

“That’s next month isn’t it?” Claire asks.

What ?

“Ugh… yah? Did you already ask her to come, Rei?” Shiko asks surprised.

Did I? I didn’t but… Of course. RAE told her.

“Yes?” I look at Claire and hope she just agrees

She nods, “I never miss it.” Her hold on my hand tightens softly.

…Breathe.

“Cool, I’ll let Kosaki know then. Since you're still sorta awkward around her.” She points her chopsticks at me, oh come on, most people would be awkward in my spot.

I’m kinda tired about being talked about, “Well I went to Uni after highschool. Shiko here decided to try to make it as a mangaka.”

“Oh, a manga artist and author, correct? Are you not already doing that?”

“She means professionally, I’m trying to get a deal with a publishing company but most say I don’t have enough experience, well professional experience. So I make do by doing events, commissions online and other things. Today was a good sale. I think I’m good for a while at least. Again, thanks you two, it would have been a mess by myself.”

“You said you've been doing this for a few years… is that not experience?” Claire questions.

Shiko sighs, “They want”, Shiko makes air quotes, “ Real experience,  they want someone who's already published stuff. In a magazine. It's hard to stand out, and yuri is niche . It's not all bad, I think I'm close. Some publishers are actually looking for stuff like mine, and those talks have been better. But it feels like I would need to have a viral hit for some of them to really take me seriously. Blah.” It's been rough for her, but she's been determined to make it work. I wish I had the confidence to do that.

“It’s good that you have been making it work so far, I really do think you have talent for it. Rei, have you thought of doing something like it? Writing, I mean?”

“Huh? What? Why would I try to do that?”

Claire scoffs in turn, “Because your writing is excellent of course.”

What? “No… it’s not.”

“Yes it is, mostly… I thought you said you didn’t read her fics Claire-san?” Shiko interjects and quirks her brow. Wait what?

“Oh, well I haven’t.” Claire gives me a stink eye. Oh come on . “She won’t let me see it, but I have read some of the prose she has written. You are very talented at it, Rei. I’m not just saying it.”

Prose I haven’t written though. Prose Rae wrote. “Look, I just write my stupid stuff. It’s not good.”

“Yes it is!” Claire is just shy of raising her voice.

“Rei, I wouldn’t be reading your stuff this long if I didn’t enjoy it.” Shiko sounds annoyed. 

“Look, just cause it’s fun doesn’t mean it’s good.”

“It is, and I think you would enjoy it if you made it a career like Shiko does with manga.” Claire crosses her arms, are we fighting?

“But… that’s so hard to do, to make a living off… it sounds nice but I don’t think it’s realistic.”

“Realistic? But…” Claire doesn’t finish the thought, instead she glances down and sighs. “Fine, I’m sorry if I’m pushing you too much. I just think you do have a talent for it. I just want you to… to enjoy what you do.”

“It’s a nice thought… but I’m already enrolled in classes. It would be dumb to bail on them and switch into something completely different wouldn’t it? I’d lose my scholarships and I don’t have that kind of money and…”

“I would help.” Claire says, it sounds so vulnerable. Tantalizing. A part of me wants to just say yes.

God what do I say to that. I can’t? I don’t want to disappoint her. But I don’t think I can do this. She has to know I’m not her Rae right? I’m not anything like her. Rae the hero. Rae the master chef. Rae the author. Rae her… wife.

I’m going to fuck this up…

Claire surprises me, she nestles her head into my shoulder. Oh wow. “Just think about it.”

I just nod. That’s easier than saying the wrong thing. Feels like I do that a lot.

“So you enjoy today then Claire-san?” Thank god Shiko. Thank you for taking the heat off of me.

“It was fun honestly. I wish I could help again sometime, but I expect school will be keeping us very busy.” Claire wraps her arm around mine as she really settles into the nook she has carved out.

“Don’t worry about it, it was an emergency and Ami didn’t exactly give me a heads up either… bitch.” Shiko sighs, and scoops up a bit of her leftover food. “I have to say, you two are cute together. Rei you seem too worried-”

“What?”

“-but you two have a good vibe honestly.” Shiko smiles, not one of her grins either. It’s just… genuine.

“Thank you Shiko. It really was good to finally meet you too.” Claire responds, and she just hums softly on my shoulder.