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Sachika pressed the play button, music filling HapiHare. She began tidying up and doing her chores around the office; Filing paper work, sweeping the floor, and checking emails. Singing along with the music, she bopped her head to the rhythm. Even threw a few dance moves here and there too.
“Candy blaze, can-can-ca-candy blaze~”
Just as she finished her work, the last notes of the song played before the stereo went silent. Her playlist had ended, but she didn’t move to continue the music. Staring out into nothing, she listened to the silence of HapiHare. It was so quiet, she could even hear her own breathing.
It was so lonely.
Sachika was lonely.
Things weren’t quite the same now that Taorin wasn’t around anymore.
Her shoulders slumped, and she leaned back against her desk chair. She had forgotten how lonely and quiet things were without him around. And despite promising to visit, Shouma never came back. It was just Sachika now at HapiHare.
A tiny creature squeaked, trying to catch the human’s attention. The Hexenheim Gochizo jumped into her lap, trying to remind Sachika that she wasn’t completely alone.
“Thanks for always cheering me up.”
Sachika cupped the gochizo in her hands to bring it up close to her cheek. A smile formed on her lips as she nuzzled the gochizo. She couldn’t let herself taint Taorin’s memories by being sad! He wouldn’t want that for her. HapiHare was a place to make everyone happy, including herself!
The Hexenheim Gochizo squealed, happy to have brought the human comfort.
The pair jumped as there was a loud knock at the door.
“Coming!” Sachika jumped up from her seat. The knock was so loud and powerful, she thought the door might fly off its hinges. The gochizo slid into her pocket, hiding from the customer.
“Hello!” Sachika greeted with a bright friendly smile and a polite bow of the head as she opened the door. “Welcome to Anything Shop HapiHare! I’m Amane Sachika, at your service!”
Standing up straight, Sachika was able to see who was at the door properly. It was a woman, a very intimidating woman dressed in lacy black gothic attire. She was tall, with nine-inch platform stiletto knife heels adding to her height. Vibrant pink eyes were framed by heavy dark makeup. Her face was framed by long black curls and pink highlights. The strange had her arms crossed and looked down at Sachika with a blank expression.
“Is there where I can hire help?” She asked, narrowing her eyes on Sachika.
Undeterred by the other’s standoffish greeting, Sachika nodded her head. “Yup! HapiHare, we’ll do anything to make everyone happy!” Sachika took a step back from the doorway, inviting the woman inside. “Come on in! Would you like a glass of water?”
“I’m fine,” the woman dismiss curtly.
Sachika's newest customer walked inside, her heels clicking on the title floor. Her lips were slightly pursed as she looked around the colorful and eclectic office space. Eyes were slightly squinted, her expression was difficult to read. Did she not like Sachika’s decoration style? Was she having an off day? Was this just her normal facial expression?
Whatever the answer was, Sachika was determine to make this woman happy and smiling by the end of things.
“I’ll cut to the chase,” the customer said with a flip of her long black hair as she turned on her heels to face Sachika. “My family owns a snack company, and my elder brother wants to host a little game to see who can come up with next season’s hit treat. The twins are already working together, and Nyelv has some scientist guy to help him out. I’m the only one of my siblings without a partner.”
Sachika grabbed a pen and paper, hurriedly writing down notes as the other spoke.
“So that’s where you come in Sachika,” the gothic woman said, smiling for the first time since she arrived. Her eyes seemed to glow pink as her smile was vicious and full of teeth. It was intimidating to say the least, but Sachika refused to be scared. “What do you say? Help me discover the next big thing?”
“Sounds great!” Sachika beamed as she finished her notes. “Just one question, what name should I file this request under?”
“Glotta,” the woman finally introduced. “Glotta Stomach.”
Sachika quickly learned that Glotta didn’t really have a taste for snacks in the traditional sense. She leaned towards other flavors: savory, fried, or spicy. Anything sweet like cotton candy, ice cream, or even popcorn was met with indifference. There was nothing wrong with Glotta’s preferences, but Sachika wasn’t sure if ‘the spiciest chicken wing known to mankind’ would be the next season’s hit treat.
Maybe a lawsuit.
“None of these show any potential!” Glotta huffed as she bit down on a stick of pocky. There was a small pout on her face as her eyebrows knitted together in concentration. It was adorable.
Sachika was also learning that despite first impressions, Glotta was actually quite friendly. Blunt and intimidating, but whenever she got excited about something she practically jumped to learn more. Glotta always gave a hundtrd percent in everything she did, and Sachika could appreciate that kind of energy. Sachika figured Glotta must have grown up fairly sheltered. She wasn’t familiar with any of the snacks from the convince store and was a bit awkward around people. Well it was mainly the fact that others didn't know how to interact with her, Glotta didn't seem to mind how she came off to others.
Sachika was finding this job at lot of fun! Even if they didn’t seem any closer to the original goal, she was glad she was able to spend this time hanging out and getting to know Glotta more.
“It needs to be different, something that stands out and can stand the test of time!” Glotta said, using her hands for emphasis.
“Something different, stands out, and stands the test of time…” Sachika repeated as she tapped her chin in thought. “OH!”
Glotta whipped her head around to face Sachika, her curls flowing after her. “What is it?”
Sachika beamed, glad that Glotta seemed just as excited as she was. “Follow me!”
They had been doing research at modern contemporary snack shops. They held commercially successful and common products already seen by the general public time and time again. Plus the seasonal snacks would by ‘last season’ by the time ‘next season’ rolled around. What they needed was to pull from tradition.
Glotta stared at the storefront, squinting her eyes as she read the sign hanging from above. Sachika was beginning to wonder if Glotta was near sighted, and had trouble seeing things. Maybe she had a complex about it. If that was the case, then it was kinda adorable. Was this what people considered a ‘gap moe’?
“Ando Sweets,” Sachika read aloud. “It’s a wagashi store.”
“Wagashi?” Glotta repeated. The look on her face clearly conveyed her ignorance on the subject matter.
“They specialize in traditional Japanese sweets,” Sachika explained. “This store is my favorite!”
“Well if you’re giving them such high praise, I’ll just have to see for myself,” Glotta said as she slammed her fist into her open palm.
“We’re eating, not fighting!” Sachika laughed, finding the other’s antics hilarious.
Glotta rolled her eyes, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “I knew that!”
Sachika had doubts on that.
“Come on.”
A bell’s chime signaled the two women’s entrance into the store.
“Welcome!” the lead chef, Kenji Saito, greeted from behind the counter. “Ah, Sachika!”
“Hi!” Sachia greeted as she waved her hands excitedly. “Table for two pelase!”
Kenji bowed his head, wiping his hands as he helped the two find a seat. “What can I get for you two ladies?”
Glotta had her head turned down, hair curtaining her face as she read over the menu. The number of new and different items seemed to overwhelm her. Sachika came in for the save as she spoke up.
“A little bit of everything please!”
Kenji smiled, bowing his head. “Coming right up.”
Ordering a flight of treats turned out to be a good idea. Glotta’s pink eyes sparkled as she saw the vast array of wagashi the store offered. Each one was a perfect bite sized snack, painted in various colors and coming in different sizes. Both women made sure to take plenty of pictures of the tiny edible works of art before digging in. Glotta held up dango ball up, examing the smoothed colored surface before popping it into her mouth. Closing her eyes, she hummed in approval of the taste.
“What do you think?” Sachika asked, hoping that Glotta enjoyed this place as much as she did.
“I think…” Glotta said as she eyed the other treats. “We’re going to need a lot more! For research purposes of course,” she added the last part with a devilish grin.
Sachika giggled, enjoying the other’s sense of humor. “Of course, for research!”
The two women burst into a fit of laughter. They continued to enjoy the different bite sized snacks, washing it all down with match tea. Time seemed to fly and soon their plate was empty. In the midst of their enjoyment, they completely forgot the original goal they had. It was only when Kenji brought out a completely new and different wagashi that Glott’a jaw dropped. Her eyes became fixated on the new treat.
“Whoa…” Glotta gasped.
“Since you two really enjoyed what we have at the shop, I wanted to show you something I’ve been working on,” Kenji said as he placed a new treat down.
It was a gelatinous jelly cube that was tinged yellow. The way it caught the light made it look like a glittering jewel. Floating inside, there looked to be pieces of fruit, maybe lemon or yuzu?
Glotta didn’t seem interested in taking note of the appearance. She already had her spoon in hand, cutting a piece before bringing it to her lips. When the jelly hit her tongue, she hummed in bliss.
“This!” Glotta jumped up and turned to the shopkeeper. “What is this?”
“It’s a yuzu kanten jelly,” Kenji explained, his hands up and jumping back a step. He seemed to shrink in the presence of Glotta’s intense personality. “D-Do you like it?”
“I love it!” She declared with a wicked smile. “This is exactly what will tip the scales to my advantage. If I win, you will be hearing from my people very soon.”
“Th-that’s a good thing… right?” Kenji asked Sachika with a smile that was more of a grimace.
“It’s a very good thing,” Sachika reassured.
“My siblings have no chance at winning this little family competition now!” Glotta cackled, her eyes wide as she envisioned how she would celebrate her victory. Sitting back down, she took another bite of the jelly.
“That’s great to hear Glo-tan!” Sachika cheered, taking a bite for herself as well.
“Glo-tan?” Glotta repeated, squinting her eyes. She mouthed the words ‘Glo-tan’ to herself repeated, seeing how the taste of the nickname felt on her tongue.
By this point, Sachika knew Glotta well enough to know that she would embrace the name.
“You like?”
She was quickly proven right as Glotta let out a short laugh, mouth open wide as to show off all of her teeth. “I like it!”
Glotta had spent the rest of their time at the wagashi store to integrate Kenji about the kantan jelly. Afterwards, they headed back to HapiHare. While Sachika was sad that their day was ending, she did have a tiny hope that perhaps Glotta would want to come by again. Either as a repeat customer, a friend, or just anything really. Of course, that was just Sachika’s own personal wishes she kept to herself. She couldn’t possibly burden Glotta like that.
“Thank you so much for choosing HapiHare to make you smile,” Sachika said with a bow as Glotta handed her payment for the day.
"No, thank you Sachika,” Glotta said. "With your help, I'll definitely come out on top!"
Sachika laughed, happy that Glotta was so excited about her family's competition. Looking up at the other woman, she was happy to see the smile on Glotta's face. It was moments like this that made her job worth it. Her eyes lingered over Glotta's lips a little bit too long though. The stray thought of what it would be to kiss her skirted across Sachika's mind. Would Glotta be as bold and daring as she was normally? Or maybe she would be shy and timid, adding to her duality. There was only one way to find out.
Sachika blushed, shaking her head. Her imagination was getting the better of her!
“I’ll be sure to give you a call the next time I need help," Glotta said, breaking through Sachika's train of thought.
“I hope you do!”
“Catch’ya later!”
The gothic woman turned towards the door, except it wasn't the front door. It was the backdoor that led to her storage space. Sachika was about to correct Glotta until she saw the other waving her hand in front of the backdoor. There was a flash of light from behind and a laughter echoing after. Glotta opened the door up to reveal and unknown space behind, it was definitely not part of HapiHare.
Sachika’s eyes widen; she had seen this scene before.
“Wait-“
Before Sachika could ask for answers, the door had closed with Glotta behind it. She rushed to reopen the door, but all she could find was the storage closet. She tried opening it again and again, waving her hand to mimic the other, but nothing she did worked.
Shoulders slumping, Sachika sighed as she stared at the door.
“See you around…”
Days turned into weeks, and before she knew it a month had past. Sachika hadn’t heard or seen Glotta since she left through that magical portal door. Sachika continued to try and connect the door to wherever Glotta went to, but had no luck in her results. Perhaps Glotta was just a fever dream. A new companion she dreamt up to cure her loneliness.
Sachika really hoped that wasn’t the case. She wanted to believe that Glotta was real. That she did have a family challenge that led her to HapiHare and that day trying different treats was all real.
Sachika was working on another project for a client when she heard laughter in the air followed by the sounds of stiletto heels echoing. Sachika wiped her head around, almost dropping the paper mache sculpture in her hands. The door to HapiHare opened up, revealing a very intimidating woman dressed in lacy black gothic attire.
“Glo-tan!”
