After the Masquerade [Valerie/Komachi]

i am not interested in fulfilling borrowed dreams

❝

Truthfully, Komachi was rather stunned by recent turn of events. She had only spoken to Valerie at length once before, yet here she was on the verge of hanging out with her. And that alone was already calming her down from the sudden blood pressure spike caused by Tobiichi. Komachi took her time eating her French Onion soup, even though she had only fifteen or so minutes to do so. During that time, her phone continued to softly vibrate. Unless it made a sound, Komachi knew she could ignore it.

As the last spoonful of soup was finished, the sound of wind chimes was heard from her phone, and the tailor flipped it over with a smile. Sonohara Yuki, as dutiful and loyal despite all that happened between them, was putting to work Komachi's earlier plan to deal with Tobiichi. It was an odd feeling; as much as she disliked underhanded maneuvers, there was an undeniable feeling of power behind it.

To clear her mind, Komachi asked for the check and swiftly paid the bill. She had timed it such that it was two or three minutes before Valerie's shift would end. Of course, Komachi knew that Valerie still had to change out of her uniform, so it'd still be a few minutes more. And with how impompt the whole arrangement was, Komachi figured that the best place to wait for Valerie was outside the front door.

Summoning the last bit of composure she had, Komachi exited the cafe. Once the door closed behind her, she walked over a few feet to the curb. She took a deep breath in, held it, then sighed heavily. It was a lovely cafe without a doubt, but it was a good reminder of why she tended to stay away. Mentally exhausted, Komachi looked to the sky, as if it had the answer to the nebulous question in her mind. She was nervous, but excited, waiting for Valerie.

Valerie Belrose ● notes: ● 327

MADE BY MIZO

 i am a flower quickly fading 

Valarie had been assigned the butler role for a reason - her attitude towards taking care of people and her apparent stoicism let her fill the role of the lady butler rather well. So it wasn't surprising that Valarie kept her relative excitement, and confusion, under wraps. Whatever the case, Valarie finished her shift, swapped back into her day clothing, and exited the cafe.

"Ikezawa-san," Valarie greeted her, as she exited. Or was she supposed to do the whole 'last name-san' deal at this point. In theory, Valarie understood you only moved to first names when you got to know someone a bit better, but where was the transition line? She supposed it was best to let Komachi indicate first.

"I hope I didn't take too long." she replied with a smile, knowing that her friend had been waiting for her, "Was there anything you wanted to do?" Valerie asked. Komachi probably had time to think about that, and truth be told, Valerie was never the best at figuring out what she really wanted to do for fun, at least outside home.

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ulla

i am not interested in fulfilling borrowed dreams

❝

The sound of footsteps behind her broke Komachi from her trance and the calling of her name caused her to turn around. The melancholy on her face gave way to a small smile of relief as she bowed slightly in greeting. "Ah, Belrose-san. Of all the places that I thought I would meet you, here was not one of them. In any case, I'm...I'm really glad to see you again."

The fact that Valerie was working in such a place never really struck the tailor as anything extraordinary. For Komachi, she believed it was for helping with some expenses or extra pocket money, and found no reason to really pry further. As if to answer Valerie's question, Komachi turned around and looked side to side, wondering if there was anything nearby to see. Failing that she turned around to Valerie again. "Erm...to be quite honest I really didn't have much of a plan. Today I was just wandering the town based on what some of my friends told me. In fact, visiting your cafe was more of a curiousity than anything else."

A soft sigh mixed with Komachi's laugh after her explanation.

"Hey, would you like to wander around with me for a little longer?" Komachi asked, her hand gesturing the offer. "There's a nice candy store my friends told me of which I think is nearby. Other than that, I'm fine with following you around. Honestly, I just needed a familiar face to talk to. I've been in a rotten mood, not entirely sure why, and Tobbichi-san didn't help any. Just...well, I missed chatting with you, you know? With the production going nuts, we haven't had much of a chat."

Valerie Belrose ● notes: ● 296

MADE BY MIZO

 i am a flower quickly fading 

"I suppose I would seem out of place." Valarie replied. People who aspired to management didn't usually take jobs as servants - well, faux-servants. Then again, it was more of an enjoyable job than many would give her credit for. Admittedly though, she'd seen a few particularly unsavory men, mess with some of her co-workers though, though those typically weren't the sort that wanted a female butler instead - something that had, fortunately, spared her from that treatment.

Valerie nodded. She had a bit of cash... she wasn't going to try to ask Valerie to buy her anything. That... would probably set a bad tone. Besides, Valerie needed more friends pretty badly, "That sounds interesting. Honestly, I've never seen a dedicated Japanese candy store." She knew Japanese candy was a bit different from American candy, so her curiosity was struct.

She smiled, "Honestly, I like things busy myself. Perhaps for you it's because things are so hectic right now." Valerie wasn't much on chaos, though she enjoyed making order out of it, and keeping things brisk. Not that she had that kind of power to make those big ordering decisions, but hey, she still liked it busy.

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ulla

i am not interested in fulfilling borrowed dreams

❝

"Mn, busy isn't bad per se, but constant chaos is more frustrating than fun," Komachi replied, gesturing for Valerie to follow as she started to walk down the street. "C'mon, this way, Belrose-san!"

The tailor's voice seemed to have been reinvigorated, as if the last half-hour was far behind her, and the way Komachi was nearly running showed her excitement. Still, she was barely able to hold herself back so that she did not suddenly run away from Valerie. As much as she had to lead the way, Komachi felt it was better to have Valerie beside her for now, if for nothing else of ease of conversation. She didn't mind following someone she trusted or being a leader, but she had a time limit of sorts, and right now, the limit was at zero.

"The place is called Sweetwater Tavern. Apparently, it's supposed to be styled after an <Old West American> store? But...I don't know..." Komachi explained, looking to Valerie nervously. She had switched to English for a moment, holding only a hint of accent in the 'T'. "I only really know this because I have a friend at school whose family runs a candy shop as well. Or rather, a confectionery, as she insists. But...from what she says, or rather, her cousin in America says, it's...flashy but not exactly accurate. Though I hear it has a lot of Western sweets atop of the usual ones, like...<taffy>?" Komachi "Oh! There it is!"

Komachi pointed ahead to the shop. The facade of an Old West General store stood out from the more simple facades of the shops nearby. From a distance, barrels could be seen through the windows where the candy was stored.

Valerie Belrose ● notes: ● 296

MADE BY MIZO

 i am a flower quickly fading 

Valerie nodded, when she saw the facade "To be fair, even in America, anything related Old West is heavily romanticized." Valerie explain. The late colonial era was, of course, the most heavily romanticized, but it was the founding of the nation, "Taffy is good, but it's very chewy. Eat too much at once, and you'll get a jaw ache."

She thought for a moment "If this is an old west store, however, I recommend Peanut <Brittle>, if you want something different. I don't think there's quite a Japanese analogue to it, where as, say, Gummi Bears do and chocolate-covered pretzels do." She settled on translating only brittle to English herself, mostly because there was a Japanese phrase for Peanut, but she didn't know if 'brittle' had a word for it.

She stood by the door, waiting to go in with her friend, "Of course, I'm working off the assumption it basically stocks the sort of snacks you'd see at an old-fashioned restaurant called Cracker Barrel." She wasn't entirely sure what from America was popular in Japan, or at least had an analogue otherwise.

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ulla

i am not interested in fulfilling borrowed dreams

❝

"<Brittle...Cracker Barrel...>" Komachi echoed, walking down the street. This was all rather interesting. Despite having the priviledge to travel to the US several times before, hearing about it from an American felt much more authentic compared to being a tourist. Still, Valerie noted that the facade of the store was likely something exaggerating the aesthetic. Which made some sense to Komachi. In any case, the melacholy that she had in the cafe had all but evaporated, and that cunning grin seemed to have returned.

"Well, one of my friends runs a confectionery, and they had something called, and pardon my poor French. "croquant"? They said it was similar to a <brittle>, but it had almonds, not peanuts..." Komachi said, opening the door for Valerie, letting the green-haired girl in first. "Still, I'll keep my eyes open and I'll get some. You want some too?"

As Komachi held the door open, a medley of sweet smells reached her. It was different from the Satou Confectionery. It felt...rougher, if that made any sense. The sound of her footsteps also changed as Komachi looked around the various barrels filled with sweets. Indeed, as her friend Mashiro said, the entire interior was made with wood, or at least a wood facade. The only thing that seemed to break the immersion was a kindly old man wearing traditional Japanese robes, the store's owner, who warmly greeted the pair.

Komachi bowed respectfully at the owner, seeing as it he was now a friend of the Satou family before something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. At an almost sprint, Komachi ran up to a barrel full of peanut brittle, waving over to Valerie. "Hey! Is...is this it?"

Valerie Belrose ● notes: ● 291

MADE BY MIZO

 i am a flower quickly fading 

The word the heiress used was unfamiliar to her. It sounded like 'Croissant' to her, but there was no way that was actually what she meant - as far as food went, brittle and croissants were about as far as you got from each other, before you started getting to meat.She nodded, "I see. Well, perhaps it'd still be a bit different. Peanut Butter is a bit stronger than the peanut cream you'll see in most stores here." She heard you could still find American-style peanut butter as a specialty here, but at import price. She'd tried both, and peanut cream was no comparison - it was almost like peanut flavored frosting.

The producer took a look at the package. The product had primarily American lettering, though the brand was unfamiliar to her; nonetheless, she nodded, "That looks about right."

Valerie looked to the side, and grabbed a small package of chocolate covered pretzels for herself.

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ulla

i am not interested in fulfilling borrowed dreams

❝

"Alright!"

Komachi chuckled and grinned, pumping her fist in victory as Valerie confirmed that what the tailor found was indeed the 'peanut brittle'. It even said so on the wrapping, albeit in English, once Komachi got to put the bag to her face so that she could read it. Though she know, albeit through Mashiro-chan, that much of the candy in this store was made by the old man at the counter, this one seemed to be...more industrially-produced. And that made sense. Even though a lot of the major grocery stores in Tokyo had peanut butter, the fact that a it was harder to come by in Fukui meant good-quality ingredients for this would be prohibitive to acquire at the small-business level.

As for the bigger question: how many should she get? One for herself for sure. One for Mashiro-chan? Would her shop learn from this? They were ostensibly a European-styled shop, so maybe not. How about for Valerie?

"Mind if I get you one?" Komachi asked, picking up another bag to inspect it further. "So you can try it out too? See if it's like the stuff back overseas?" Komachi looked over to the producer, noticing she had gotten a bag of chocolate pretzels. "My treat, since I dragged you here, and all."

Valerie Belrose ● notes: ● 222

MADE BY MIZO

 i am a flower quickly fading 

Honestly, the old west atmosphere was sort of a breath of fresh air for the young producer, if only because it was something distinctly American. Valerie started to mentally tabulate in her head whether she should get more candy for herself. Valerie was thrifty, bordering on miserly, given how she was raised - or lack of being raised.

Her tabulation was broken by Valerie, who offered to buy her it. Valerie blushed just slightly. Truth be told, the girl wasn't used to being bought for by others, and more importantly, it was a form of care. "Well, um. Please. That would be very kind of you. I mean, don't feel like you owe me anything though, Izekawa-San." Valerie told her, bowing a bit. She quickly recovered from the slight awkwardness though.

136 | @tagged | notes

ulla

i am not interested in fulfilling borrowed dreams

❝

Komachi grinned and chuckled at the sight of Valerie blushing, and it was enough that Komachi had the strong urge to ruffle the other girl's green hair. "Obligation?" the tailor echoed, tossing the bag of peanut brittle into the air like a bandit with a prized purse. "Eh, I wouldn't say like it's obligation per se? Sure, some could say that I dragged you all the way here for my own entertainment, but...yeah." At a loss for words, Komachi's smile faded a little. "It's the least I can do for a friend, you know? Doting on you guys and making you happy makes me happy too. Oh, geez, if Yuki was here she'd be scolding me along the lines of 'happiness through charity is not necessarily altruism' or something..."

As Komachi trailed off, her smile faded more and became a frown, as if she was remembering something. A moment later, the clothier shook her head to get it back on track. "Anyways, anything else you want while we're here?" Komachi asked, noting but not yet pointing out the bag of chocolate pretzels that Valerie had. "No need to be shy."

Valerie Belrose ● notes: ● 198

MADE BY MIZO

 i am a flower quickly fading 

Well, she supposed it wouldn't hurt her finances. It would probably be rude to decline too much. The Japanese did care about how you turned down. She held up her pretzels, "Well, if you wouldn't mind..." she told her, a bit reluctant sounding.

She took a deep breath, and pressed her finger against the bridge of her glasses, faking readjusting them, in order to reassert her dignity by acting dignified. She was getting unwarrantedly paranoid of it, she presumed, "We've not know each other terribly long, Komachi-san. I suppose I simply didn't want you to feel like I was taking advantage of your family money." There was a concerned tone in her words that Valerie believed that was a problem that Valerie faced.

It was evident from that call that Komachi was seen by more than a few ambitious executives as a link to power.  She wouldn't have been at all surprised if the occasional unscrupulous student saw not-so-poor Komachi as a walking piggy bank.

172| @tagged | notes

ulla

i am not interested in fulfilling borrowed dreams

❝

The reluctance of Valerie's voice didn't go unnoticed.

"Oh no, that's not a Guilty conscience talking, is it?" Komachi asked as she took the bag of chocolate pretzels with a smile and a chuckle. "Just joking, of course. Even if we haven't been around each out a lot, I know you better than that, Valerie-san. I told you, I owe you for dragging you hear and covering for me when Junichi called, so relax and enjoy yourself okay?"

Pivoting on her heels, the tailor continued to browse, but kept in close earshot to Valerie, moving for the sake of not staying still more than anything. As Komachi resumed, her voice was a lot lower.

"Though...Valerie-san really sharp. And I do respect that. There is a reason why I do try to keep my family background a secret. Even if it's not for the money, well...people treat me differently when they hear I effectively qualify for Ojou status. Let me tell you, I really don't like being treated like that. You get all these expectations and rules and..." Komachi sighed and shook her head, then looked over to Valerie with another grin, asking, "Though I do wonder. If you didn't know about my family, would you have been so reluctant to treat you like this?"

Komachi waited a moment before waving her hand in dismissal.

"Nah, forget it. If we're good to go, let's pay for this and head home, sound good?"

Valerie Belrose ● notes: ● 000

MADE BY MIZO

 i am a flower quickly fading 

Valerie understood Komachi's plight, although in an ironic way. Being the neglected daughter who acted as her younger sibling's effective mother, the few who'd known had basically treated her with pity, to a degree that admittedly had become fairly tiresome.It was easier to play the upstanding, mature, caring sister than the closest thing the household had to an acting parent. She did blush to the slightest degree when teased, though. She nodded to what her friend told her. She idlely followed her.

"I suppose to an extent, yes. I guessed as much." Valerie explained, blushing slightly, while trying to remove the specifics of the next truth. That someone with lots of money would attract false friends seemed evident to her. "I suppose it's also though I never had many friends back home, but I do I have siblings who look up to me. I suppose I'm just more used to doing for others, rather than have others do for me."

She was about to admit fault though for coming out the other side, and being reluctant to ask because of Komachi's wealth, but the heiress ended the discussion. She concluded simply to pay her back for her kindness later, like was fair for anyone. Probably with something other than money - if she wanted to help someone, Valerie preferred to provide useful help, and Komachi had money already.

She nodded to her, "But yes, that sounds good."

246 | @tagged | notes

ulla

i am not interested in fulfilling borrowed dreams

❝

Komachi continued to grin as Valerie answered the clothier's questions. It had been a long while since she was able to pass time with a friend and the tailor was extremely relaxed now. That blush on the green-haired girl didn't go unnoticed, but for the most part Komachi didn't care enough to push further and simply chuckled and kept her stride.

"Siblings, huh? Must be quite an experience. You gotta tell me how that works," The tailor replied, walking towards the counter. "I'm an only child. A lot of my friends in Tokyo have younger siblings, and they handle them in different ways. Though that's because their younger siblings are all different too." Komachi took out her wallet and used cash to pay for the pretzels and chocolate. The wallet was rather plain and very thin, likely holding very little. With their snacks paid for, Komachi pivoted smartly towards the door, waving at the old man in the counter with gratitude before holding the door open for Valerie, holding out Valerie's bag of chocolate pretzels.

"To be honest, I'm sorta in the same boat as you. Most of my friends are back in Tokyo, though there's like...what. Three cousins of my best friend over here? That's sorta cheating, I suppose and...okay, didn't think that all the way through." Komachi retched in embarrassment as she followed Valerie. As they walked towards the bus stop, Komachi asked, "But hey, do you consider me a friend?"

Valerie Belrose ● notes: ● 000

MADE BY MIZO

 i am a flower quickly fading 

"Well, I certainly had plenty of them: two brothers and a sister, all younger than me. You'd think that would have driven my parents mad, but older siblings usually help raise the younger ones." Valerie explained. She, of course, deliberately omitted exactly how much of the raising she did, considering she did more mothering than her own mother, "It's a lot more responsibility, but also rewarding in its own way."

She briefly watched the wallet with a tinge of guilt, though she fought it back. Komachi had insisted on it, more or less. She supposed there was a point where she could be too uptight. She took the bag of pretzels, and told her "Thank you." giving the appropriate bow, and exiting the door as her friend opened it.

She was then asked a question, "Yes, I would" she explained, "However, do not expect me to let up behind stage." She only wanted the best performance, not that she expected Komachi to slack.

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ulla

i am not interested in fulfilling borrowed dreams

❝

Two brothers and a sister, all of them younger siblings. That the older siblings took care of the younger was something that Komachi was familiar with, again through her friends who were all older siblings as well, but with all the stories that came from just having only one younger sibling who was already well-behaved for the most part, Komachi had to respect Valerie's ability to handle three. No wonder she was so good at herding cats backstage.

Speaking of which, Valerie's comment seemed to have been all too appropriate as Komachi's thoughts were going on tangents, and the tailor had to laugh heartily. "Good grief, it almost sounds like I've been trying to butter you up to get out of trouble." Komachi said, turning her head to grin jokingly at the green-haired girl. Without being too subtle, Komachi had conciously tried to not outpace Valerie so that they could walk side by side until the bus stop.

"Anyways, yeah, it's been quite crazy, but...just gotta keep chipping away at the mountain of work. Or as Yuki-senpai said, 'bit by bit, step by step'." Komachi said. There was wistful smile on her face as she spoke of her friend. "I've giving it my all on my end, in other words.

Valerie Belrose ● notes: ● 000

MADE BY MIZO

 i am a flower quickly fading 

"Perhaps I do, but one could never be too sure." Valerie told her in jest, grinning just a bit, though the tone she communicated it with tended towards subtle, but not hidden by any means, and easy to catch. She continued to walk with Komachi towards the bus stop, keeping pace.

As the bus stop became visible, Valerie nodded, "Quite true. It's the only way to stay sane." Valerie told her. Valerie had always had a seemingly endless pile of work, be it from school or siblings. If she'd looked too far forward, she'd have fallen to despair a long time ago. All she could do was keep her nose to the grindstone.

"I'll see you around." Valerie told her, as she came to a stop, smiling slightly more before raising the treats her friend had bought her, "Perhaps in the gym rather than the stage next time." Quite a few empty calories, but pleasant ones.

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ulla