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A particularly large drop of condensation rolled down the side of Himiko’s untouched wine glass. It soaked into the tablecloth, slowly seeping towards her plate. Though it was an utterly boring sight, it still beat talking to Korekiyo’s parents.
“It’s such a pleasure to meet you, sweetheart!” Their mother’s voice was sickly sweet, but she looked about as bored as Himiko was. “Our Korekiyo’s so tight-lipped, we didn’t even know he was seeing someone until he let it slip last month! Once we knew, we just had to see you for ourselves. Isn’t that right, dear?”
Himiko was more interested in how Korekiyo was holding up than in their mother’s small talk. She reached for their hand under the table and found it, as she expected, clenched. Haltingly, their hand opened until she could intertwine their fingers. She gave them a light squeeze, and their responding squeeze was like a vise.
“You said your last name was Yumeno, right?” Their father ignored his wife’s halfhearted attempts at conversation. “Would that be any relation to the Yumeno who is artistic director at Osaka Municipal?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Himiko frowned. “Ah, my uncle worked as a set designer for some of the early Danganronpa seasons, perhaps you know the name from there?” Their father’s withering glance told her that was unlikely. A chill descended over the dinner table that even their mother’s shaky smile couldn’t thaw. Himiko poked at her steak and watched the blood pool out around her caviar.
“So, Himiko,” their mother ventured, “what is it that you do? Did you two meet at Korekiyo’s internship?” Given what Korekiyo had already mentioned about their parents, she thought it best to avoid mentioning that they had been auditioning for Danganronpa together. She instead opted for a safe, generic lie.
“No, we just bumped into each other on the street and hit it off.” Korekiyo’s hand tightened around her own, squeezing out a warning, but she tried to keep going anyway. “I d-don’t have a job at the moment, but I’ve been taking classes at Ashiya Communit—”
“Whatever happened to that Akamatsu girl I had introduced you to?” Their father was done pretending to care about Himiko, and instead glared at Korekiyo. “Her father’s an executive producer with connections all over the broadcasting industry. There’s a lot of money to be made there, you know.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, father.” Korekiyo’s demeanor was calm behind the mask, but Himiko could feel them trembling. “You were the one who wanted to meet my girlfriend after I mentioned her, so I would appreciate if you could focus on her.”
“Korekiyo!” Their mother’s voice cut in, sheared of its false kindness. “Do not take that tone with your father! He’s merely concerned for your success, how dare you accuse him of not paying attention! Have you forgotten how much we’ve sacrificed for you already? Just last month, we…”
Himiko’s eyes stung. She’d known what she was getting into, of course. Korekiyo had mentioned their feelings on their family before, but she couldn’t have imagined how bad they really were. At least their sister wasn’t here. From what they had mentioned about her, she seemed to have followed in her parents’ footsteps perfectly. The two of them were still yelling about something when Himiko decided she’d had enough. It wasn’t what they said about her—nothing there she hadn’t thought herself. But she couldn’t take their barbs towards Korekiyo.
Himiko fumbled in her pockets, eventually landing on her phone. She clicked through until she got to the ringtones, not caring whether Korekiyo’s parents would believe her excuse or not. Thankfully, the bell tone cut through their haranguing. She put it up to her ear, mimed listening, and tried to look as shocked as possible.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Shinguuji, Mrs. Shinguuji, you’ll have to excuse us!” She jumped to her feet, tugging Korekiyo towards the door by their hand. It wasn’t like she could hurt them physically, but she still tried to do so gently. “Something’s come up at home that I need Korekiyo’s help with!” Their mother was yelling something, but Himiko was past the point of listening. She pushed the door open and practically sprinted out into the night, Korekiyo trailing behind her and fiddling with their coat.
“I’m sorry.” Himiko tentatively wrapped her arms around Korekiyo’s chest from behind and drew them close. “I should’ve listened to you about them.”
Their drive back to the hotel had been silent. Himiko was too focused on the road to talk, and Korekiyo too drained by their dinner experience. Only the hotel shower had managed to restore their energy enough to sit up.
“It’s fine,” they sighed, even though they clearly were not. “It took me fifteen years to figure out just how awful they are. I’m glad you could see through them in less than an hour.”
“Still,” she pressed, “I shouldn’t have asked you to go through with that. I guess I had some silly hope that they would change their minds when they met me.”
“You are a charmer, so I wouldn’t say it’s too silly.” A smile flittered around the edge of their mouth. “The problem is that it would require them to have working minds to change.”
Despite how awful they both felt, Himiko couldn’t help giggling. She pressed a kiss into the back of their neck and tightened her hug.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Korekiyo’s arm stirred. “If you wouldn’t mind loosening your grasp for a second, I’ve got something for you in my coat pocket.” She relented, and they drew out a small ziploc bag full of some murky substance. “I had a suspicion we wouldn’t make it through dinner, so I brought a few bags for takeout. I assume you haven’t had caviar before?”
“Huh?” Himiko gasped. “You snuck that out right in front of them?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not like they clean up their own dishes anyway. They won’t notice that it’s gone, and the servants won’t care.” They held it out to her. “Purists would say that the bag ruins the taste, and that you should only eat it with a mother-of-pearl spoon, but…I don’t think it particularly matters.”
She took the plastic spoon they had left over from lunch and tentatively swallowed a bite. The caviar was, as she had expected, bitterly fishy with too much salt. A little bit disgusting, if she were being honest. But as long as she was eating with Korekiyo, she didn’t mind. She took another spoonful and grinned.