Chapter Text
“Just wait there,” Mary hummed casually as she tied her apron swiftly, squeezing her way to the cramped kitchen in her small apartment. Ririka had simply nodded obediently as she muttered a small sorry to intrude and took a seat on the chair just by the table.
“I’ll make you dinner,” Mary said again as she opened her fridge, scanning for available ingredients. It was easy enough to spot some leftover potatoes and vegetables, as well as discounted beef she got from the supermarket yesterday.
Mary didn’t know what came over her when she suddenly had the urge to invite the vice president to her home. They had just finished the war game this afternoon with Ririka blowing through Rin’s entire swindling business with unmatched confidence. Maybe Mary did feel proud of her and thought that a handmade dinner was the right way to celebrate a win as well as a newfound friendship.
“Not even Yumeko ever stepped into this place,” Mary chuckled lightly as she peeled the potatoes and dipped it into a bowl full of cold water. It made a splashing sound as it entered the water and Ririka watched them intently with her crystalline eyes as if she was curious about the whole cooking thing.
“Can I help in some way?” She finally spoke and for a moment it made Mary feel relieved that somehow Ririka was still alive after being transported into this humble abode of hers. She was pretty quiet up until this point though it was not something unusual. Mary was purely skeptical because she was sure that Ririka never even stepped into any kitchen before this.
“Well, it depends,” Mary hummed lazily, leaning against the kitchen counter. She reached for the nearest drawer and pulled a knife into Ririka’s view. “Do you even know how to use the knife?”
“I used switchblade before,” Ririka commented softly, her eyes gaze intently to the shining blade just in front of her. It was distant and cold and everything that made Mary shivered like she was standing outside on a cold winter day.
“What for?” Mary raised an eyebrow but Ririka never seemed to be bothered by it. Instead, she came closer and took the knife from Mary’s hand and held it with her hand.
“Intimidate people,” Came the answer from Ririka’s mouth, truly fitting for a Momobami. “Never for cooking though, we have chefs and servants for that.”
“There’s always a first for everything,” Mary shrugged as she dipped her hand into the cold water, fetching the potatoes. “Cut these into squares.”
Ririka nodded meekly and if there was one thing that she was extremely good at it would be following people’s order. She stumbled with the knife for a moment and made several clunky chops. Mary watched with inquisitive eyes but refused to help, cooking is a practical skill and surely Ririka could learn a thing or two by being left to discover things by herself.
Eventually, the girl put two and two together and started chopping rhythmically and Mary knew it was her cue to let her gaze go and focused on other equally important things. She passed some peeled carrots and vegetables to Ririka and signaled her to chop those next.
“Why did you invite me here?”
The smell of simmering broth filled the air in between them, and in their lungs, it stayed as if toying with their apparent hunger. Mary had always loved nikujaga , it’s a comfort food she had been eating for as long as she remembered. Even when she despised her parents, the dish never failed to create the illusion of nostalgia and for her, it was more than enough.
“No particular reason,” Mary said nonchalantly, still busy with her own work of watching the pan. “I just want to make you dinner, that’s all.”
“When you live as a Momobami it is peculiar to have people do something for you for no particular reason .”
“Thankfully, I’m not a Momobami,” Mary sneered, “You did great on the war game earlier, I just thought that maybe I wanted to give you something as a token of appreciation.”
“Is this how people do it?”
“Do what?”
“Show gratitude,” Ririka stopped her tracks, turning around to face the confused blonde. “In the form of making them dinner?”
“Some do,” Mary said again, slightly flustered. When Ririka said it like that it felt like she had an ulterior motive or so. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. “I guess I do now.”
Ririka nodded and that was the last of her questions. Mary didn’t mind though, she was used to hearing the eerie silence that this place offered her. She cooked alone and lived alone most of the time too.
“Why did I…” Mary let out a low groan, taking the time to make sure that Ririka would not catch on that. It might be a mistake to invite her here, to make her a friend amid the ongoing election. Ririka had tricked her once and there was no reason that she wouldn’t do that for the second time or maybe even a third time. Mary recalled the times when she was having a hard time befriending Yumeko before eventually giving in, yet it almost felt so easy with Ririka despite knowing that she was a Momobami.
“Mary,” Ririka called out to her, grounding Mary back to her own reality. Her dimly lit kitchen came to live with a snap of a finger.
“Y-yes,” Mary stuttered for a bit before she realized what Ririka implied by her gesture. Chopped vegetables were lying neatly on the cutting board, ready to be boiled along with the rest of the ingredients. Mary liked them square simply because that’s the way she always had it, but Ririka didn’t have to know about that.
“I really appreciate it,” The blonde smiled meekly and proceeded with the rest of the recipe. It took a while for it to simmer and then boil and for it to be done. Mary tested the taste a few times before giving the final call and served the dish in two small bowls. She pulled chopsticks and spoons from the drawer and put it on the table for them to use.
“Thank you for the meal,” Ririka muttered softly as she picked up her utensil, bringing a spoonful of meat towards her mouth. She looked bewildered for a while and Mary wondered if this was the first time she tasted food that wasn’t made by a Michelin star chef but a home cook instead. How would it taste?
Ririka continued to eat with eyes filled with hunger and pure bliss. She stumbled upon her spoon and her chopstick because there was only one set on the table. Everything else was obviously missing; no tall spoon, no short spoon, no spoon for ice cream nor there’s any for soup. It was the same for chopsticks too, not an artisan one but just a simple, breakable, chopstick that Mary got from the nearest 100-yen shop.
“Is it good?” Mary asked as she took a bite from her own portion, contemplating its taste. The flavor was decent, passable as restaurant-grade, though she regretted not letting the potato to cook for just a little bit longer.
“It is,” Ririka said with a strained face, stopping her train of thought. “I was just… confused.”
“Why?”
“The taste is not something that I’m accustomed to,” She admitted shyly though she was also quick to correct her statement. “I-I’m not saying that it’s bad-”
“But?”
“It’s just different,”
Ririka turned her gaze shyly, an expression so starkly different than what she wore during the war game just hours earlier. The sight alone made Mary shivered, just what in the hell that she had gotten herself into?
It was almost like inviting a wolf into her home willingly.
Mary thought about that possibility countless times that Ririka was a wolf in a sheep’s clothing and Mary was a poor, unsuspecting, shepherd. She had let it walk on her farm and into her home and without any reservation, and on the top of it, Mary did all those willingly. What would she gain once this all over? Mary thought and thought again but she couldn’t provide an answer. Would the president’s seat be worth the betrayal that might eventually befall her?
“How so?” Mary snapped back into reality as quickly as she slipped into her reverie. Her eyes trailed the movement of her dinner partner down to the way she put down her utensil. Ririka flashed an unsure smile before uttering a reply.
“I’ve never had a friend cook for me before,” Ririka nodded shyly and for a moment she didn’t look like she was part of the devourer clan. Her gaze soft and filled with doubt as she struggled to put her feelings into coherent sentences. It was overwhelming for her, Mary suspected as much.
“I guess I need to factor how much effort that they put into a dish,” Ririka added, “Not that the same wouldn’t be true for chefs but it feels more… personal.”
“Do you like it more when it feels personal?”
“I guess I do,” Ririka bit her lips. “I mean this feels nice.”
It was almost if she had no friends, not even the rest of the student council. They’re Kirari’s friends first then Ririka’s. The girl had probably lived under Kirari’s shadow for all her life, sharing the same face and icy gaze with her elusive sister. But that’s precisely why Mary should be cautious of all things, that Ririka was a monster behind her shy and meek attitude.
“Just tell me if you want more of it,” Mary said, her lips betrayed her in the worst possible way. It was supposed to spell resentment and doubt, yet she kept saying things that would make Ririka stay . Even when there was nothing to gain once this was all over, then at least at that time Mary could save Yumeko’s life by diving right in the middle of Ririka’s scheme.
“Will you cook for me again some other time?”
“Yes,” Mary said again, glancing down on her empty bowl. “Do you have any particular food that you like?”
“I don’t know,” Ririka mumbled, racking her brain for an answer. “What’s yours?”
“Mine?” Mary raised her eyebrows in annoyance, she didn’t like it when Ririka was being rather indecisive. “I thought I made it clear that I don’t like when you’re-”
“Please,” Ririka stopped her, “I just want to explore my palate.”
“Well, if that’s the case,” Mary folded her arms as she recalled many kinds of recipes. Living alone as well as having a relatively small allowance had forced her to be creative with her menu these days.
“Maybe ochazuke or simply gyoza would be nice,” She mused quietly, counting how many days had passed since the last time she had those dishes.
“Then,” Ririka flashed her a small smile, “If you feel like inviting me for dinner again, I’d gladly have those.”
Again ? It rang on her mind like a persistent alarm, an itch she couldn’t get rid of. Maybe having a dinner partner wasn’t so bad after all even when it showed how desperate for a human contact Mary was. When the trust was still lingered between them and had not yet been broken, maybe, just maybe, it would be nice to have another dinner together.
Mary sighed eventually and stood from her seat, dragging her feet towards Ririka to collect her bowl. She then brought them all back to the sink and started washing the dishes, signaling her hand to Ririka so that the girl would come and help.
“Say,” Ririka started slowly, her long slender hands covered in suds as she rubbed the bowl with a yellow sponge. “When this election is over, will you still be my friend?”
“Do I really need to answer that?”
Mary had to admit that she had grown accustomed to Ririka following her around, placing herself just beside her mirroring what Igarashi did to the president. It gave her a sense of pride that she had someone that might want to walk with her towards the path of victory, or at least that’s what Mary wanted to believe.
“Would you betray me then?” Mary shot her question eventually because maybe she was also an impatient person just like Yumeko. If Ririka answered yes then what? Would Kirari be somewhere laughing maniacally because Mary had behaved like an utter fool for falling right into their conspiracy?
“I can’t answer that,”
“Right,” Why would she be surprised by that anyway? A monster lurking beneath a joker mask, that was what Ririka probably is. After all, everyone in the devourer families was like that too, even Yumeko. When it was all over and then all the truth and trust were to be lost somewhere, what would the universe have Mary do?
“I’m trying my best to-” Ririka halted her reply as she gently put her wet bowl to dry on the steel rack. “-make our partnership fruitful to both of us.”
“By keeping me in the dark of what’s going on?”
“For some reason, you know and don’t know, yes .”
Her reply echoed the same thing that she had said earlier as if she was trying to emphasize more on the nuance and versatility of such a phrase. It frustrated her to no end and made Mary feel so small. She was not going to be treated as a pawn, not again.
“If you do betray me, and I’m talking hypothetically, ” Mary started slowly, “Then I wonder where it would go once it is lost.”
“What do you mean?”
“My trust, our friendship ,” Mary's eyes lit up with flames that she had nurtured since the first time she stepped inside the academy, wearing her pride on her sleeves. “Will I be able to look at you the same way as before?”
“Does it bother you?” Ririka said again, leaning closer to her side. “Does it bother you the same way it bothers me?”
“Right now I’m trying my best to convince myself that’s not how things would turn out,” Mary said again, her voice losing its vigor the more she let words escape from her lips. “But you- you’re making it difficult for me, Ririka.”
Mary could feel her shoulder tensed up as cold hands found its way around her neck, pulling her close into an embrace. The wolf had her on its grip and there was no escape from its prying gaze. Forehead touched one another as if they were long time lovers, like the president and her beloved secretary.
Time stood still for a couple of seconds as Ririka chose to not utter a single word. Her fangs barred yet she hadn’t devoured the younger girl yet . A tamed wolf in sheep’s clothing through and through.
Maybe it would just return here to her home if that ever happened. Their trust, their friendship, their everything. It would hide here in every corner of the room until Mary would find it again. In between washed dishes and used chopsticks, it would be there. That way it would never be truly lost and the action of dealing with the devil would still make sense.
Mary doubted herself because it almost seemed like she couldn’t really hate Ririka even when everything falls apart. But was that truly the right thing to do?
“If it's any consolation, I want to be with you right now,” Ririka finally spoke in a form of a hushed whisper. Her ears bright red as she uttered her feelings, stripped bare from all her reservations.
“I do too,” Mary admitted, “For some idiotic reason I can’t quite explain.”
Even when Mary had to play make-believe, she would gladly take all the risks Ririka had to offer. She had to if she wanted to have a chance for the president’s seat.
“I want to fight with you on this election.”
“Then we better win it,” Mary let out a toothy grin, letting her insecurities vanish into the thin air. If it came the time then she would act accordingly, but now, it was not the time yet. She knew it would not last forever because nothing ever was.
Ririka’s smile returned to her face as she pulled back, “That’s a promise.”
Pinky promise, such a childish act , Mary thought briefly. But it wouldn’t hurt, would it? They would win this, they had to.
Mary held out her hand, returning the gesture. Maybe , just maybe , it was all that Mary ever needed .