Lily Clairet, Vol. 2 (Light Novel) by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub

Natsumi hid her latest round of expectations behind a wall of indifference, but the way she leaned forwards when asking for my opinion gave it away. It was cute and a bit childish, though I'd never point this out to her. The moment I did, I'd have to find a new way to decipher when she was being earnest with me.

“It's pretty good,” I mouthed after gulping down the latest cub. “Mild, smooth, with slight almond overtones.”

“Hmm . . . not too overpowering?”

“No, just right. Are they all like this? I'm stunned you have the patience to shape and flavour every batch of mochi so consistently. They look and taste like the real thing.”

I offered a model answer. Natsumi accepted it in full.

“The real thing is better,” she said, stepping back from the counter with a satisfied air dancing about her. “This is a five minute counterfeit.”

“I prefer your counterfeits.”

“Because you're too easy to please.”

Looking like she'd decided this was enough as far as mochi making was concerned, Natsumi studied her pristine apron for damage, then unravelled it from behind. In a fluid motion worthy of any seasoned confectionery maker, she wrapped it up as a tiny napkin and closed up shop for the day.

However, while I should now be busy wondering how we were going to shift all this stock, I was instead overcome with a sense of dread as total as it was sudden.

It wasn't even related to the fact that one of us still needed to stuff the mochi with a filling of her choice. Somehow.

No, something else wasn't right.

Without needing any time to dwell on the matter, an abrupt and inescapable conclusion reached me.

I was in peril.

Satiated and now generally able to think, it latched onto me. A premonition of my own ruin too late to stop. It wasn't the feeling of looking back and seeing that I'd walked beneath a ladder, but rather, that I'd stepped onto a patch of leaves only to see the corner of a net peeking out from beneath the foliage. The next sound I'd be hearing would be the snap of my own ensnarement.

Natsumi was being awfully accommodating.

She chose not to lecture me for a failure to bring ice cream, however mundane it was, but she also hadn't quizzed me about what I'd been doing this morning, either. That was unthinkable. The strawberry scented mystery should've been at the forefront of her inquisition. Not only that, but she let yesterday's Freudian slip when I stumbled at Kizuna's name scoot by with only the barest of looks to show for it.

Since when has Natsumi been so lenient, especially know ing I was keeping so poorly a hidden secret?

I knew she was waiting. Leopards didn't change their spots, and if they did, it'd only be to surprise their prey. But what was she waiting for? She had enough ammunition to bug me until the next millennium. What kind of covert operation was she running, exactly?

I looked up at her from the table.

Nothing.

Not a hint of danger.

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