Kokichi arrived at the corner of the street across from the café where he and Celeste stood the evening before. As he passed the alleyway, he didn't notice a vehicle of any sort, but he figured it would come later when he was inside the café. He gazed at the building of the café, preparing himself to go inside. As he took a deep breath, the overcast clouds above began to break, sending a stream of sunlight through. Kokichi smiled his usual cheeky grin and moved forward.
"I've got this," he said to himself. "Don't worry, Himiko. I'm on my way." He entered the building, remembering to take the elevator to the third floor, where Celeste said the café would be. Kokichi followed the pink hallway towards the café's entrance. He looked up at the sign "Lolita Land Café" written in blue, save for the first two letters in the first two words, which were written in pink and decorated with bows. Kokichi stared at the sign. Something about it seemed odd. Why would only those two letters be different from the rest? He didn't have time to think about it, however, because he was pulled out of his thoughts by a pink-haired hostess in a baby blue and pastel pink sweet lolita dress.
"Welcome home, princess!!" she squealed happily.
"Princess?! " Kokichi exclaimed. The hostess blinked in surprise.
"Um...yes, you are a princess returning home from a long journey, remember?" she asked, trying to remain in character. Kokichi remembered he was supposed to act like a girl, and that this was a role-playing café. He let out an annoying, high-pitched giggle.
"Heeheehee...oh, yes! Pardon me!" he said. "Um...take me to my seat, please!"
"Of course! Right this way!" the hostess said. She turned and led Kokichi into the café. Kokichi observed his surroundings for anything out of the ordinary. So focused was he on his surroundings that he nearly jumped out of his skin when the hostess rang a bell. "Everyone, the princess has returned!" she announced. The other hostesses turned to greet Kokichi before turning back to their customers.
What kind of ritualistic shit is this?! Kokichi thought to himself. The hostess brought him to a table and handed him the pink, heart-shaped menu and opened it.
"It's so good to have you home, princess!" the hostess said to Kokichi.
"Home" is not the first word that comes to my mind, you weirdo, Kokichi thought to himself. This is more like a one-way ticket to your worst nightmares. But he kept smiling and nodding at his hostess, despite his horror and disgust. "Thank you! It feels super-duper wonderful to be back!" he said. His hostess squealed happily in response. Kokichi shuddered and felt like puking. He couldn't believe he said something so saccharine in a sickeningly sweet way.
"By the way, princess, my name is Hana, and I will be your hostess this morning!" Hana said.
Yeah, I can see that, Kokichi grumbled in his mind. And if this bitch keeps calling me "princess," I'm going to lose my breakfast before I get a chance to eat it. He cleared his throat and smiled sweetly at her, which hurt his cheeks...and his self-respect. "Well, thank you, Hana. Sooo...what's on the menu?"
"Here, we have our most popular magical drink, the 'Happy-Happy, Wishy-Wishy!'" Hana said. Kokichi stared at her in disbelief.
"The...what...?" he asked.
"The 'Happy-Happy, Wishy-Wishy!'" Hana repeated, her smile slipping a notch. "Um...so, how this drink works is we both get a wand. And in order to send all the world's happy wishes into the drink, we wave our wands and say the spell, 'Cute! Cute! Pingu!'" Kokichi continued to stare at her in disbelief.
I. Am. In. Hell. he thought to himself. "Greeeaaaat," he said as a weak smile slowly grew across his face.
"Yes! Don't you just love cute things like that?!" Hana squealed, clapping her hands. As soon as she said that, a memory suddenly flashed in Kokichi's mind. Something about what Hana just said now triggered something familiar. He had heard those words before, "...love cute things." But, where? He looked closer at Hana. The more he stared at her, the more he realized that he had seen her before, as well.
"Um...yeah..." he mumbled in response to Hana's question. Hana showed him the other items on the menu. Kokichi almost rolled his eyes and groaned in disgust when he heard about the "Pretty, Pretty Parfait."
"So, I will leave you alone so you can decide what to order, princess," Hana said. "And when you are ready, you ring this little bell right here!" She daintily picked up a small bell, and placed it into Kokichi's hand. "I'll be right back!" She waved to Kokichi as she dashed off. Kokichi put the bell back down and brought his finger up to his chin in thought. He closed his eyes in concentration, blocking out the cutesy music and the voices of the other hostesses and customers around him. He thought back to this past week, trying to remember if he had come across anyone other than his fellow classmates. He hadn't recalled doing so. Was it someone from TV, like a celebrity, or something? At the thought of that, he gasped as he suddenly realized something.
"Princess?" Hana said, returning from her other errands.
"WAAAAHHHH!!!" Kokichi screamed, startled by Hana's sudden reappearance.
"Oh! A-hahaha...I'm so sorry, princess," Hana apologized. "I did not mean to frighten you! You were taking a long time to ring your bell. And, I noticed you had fallen asleep." Kokichi shot her a brief look of annoyance before smiling back at her.
"I'm sorry," he replied. "I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Ohhh...I'm so sorry to hear that," Hana said, pressing her hands to her chest.
Don't patronize me, you cotton candy-colored frick! Kokichi thought to himself. He just about had it with this woman and the café. But, he kept Himiko in his mind the whole time. He was doing all of this for her.
"Are you ready to order?" Hana asked.
"Yupsy-dupsy!" Kokichi replied in his disguised girly voice. He ordered the Hello Curry, which he hated because of its design, as well as a caramel hot latte. He wanted to avoid that Wishy-Washy, or whatever it was called, and Pretty Parfait nonsense. Kokichi's order came and he reluctantly ate his food. He sighed, feeling completely bored without Himiko, or at least one other person around. As he ate, an announcer, different from the one the previous day, stood on the stage.
"Attention, everyone! It is time for the creative lolita outfit contest! Yaaaay!" she announced. The customers cheered. Kokichi braced himself. "The winner of the contest today iiiisss...steampunk jester!" The spotlight landed on Kokichi, who looked like a deer in headlights. He stood up and walked awkwardly onto the stage. "Congratulations! What style of lolita outfit is this?"
"Steam Circus Lolita," Kokichi replied, remembering what Celeste said.
"Amazing style!" the announcer said. "And, what is your name?" Kokichi thought of the first name that came to his mind.
"Kirumi Tojo," he replied.
"Yaaaay! Everyone, give a round of applause for Kirumi!" the announcer said. Everyone cheered for and applauded Kokichi. "Kirumi, you get to take a picture with your hostess!" Hana stood next to Kokichi while the announcer snapped a photo of them.
"Yaaaay! Here's your photo!" Hana said, handing Kokichi the photo of him and Hana. "Unfortunately, princess, it is time for you to go."
"Uh...really? Just like that?" Kokichi asked.
"Mm-hmm!" Hana replied, nodding her head with a sweet smile as she showed Kokichi to the exit. "Please, come again, princess!" She waved goodbye to Kokichi. He waved awkwardly in response as he looked back up at the name of the café, "Lolita Land Café." Looking at the four pink letters, it finally clicked. He realized where he had seen Hana before! He hurried out of the building and across the street, still in shock and disbelief. As he approached the alleyway, he braced himself for what he was about to see. He walked by, and saw a white van with the back doors open and facing towards him. He noticed a man washing the truck. He turned to Kokichi, nodding hello to him. Kokichi nodded back and realized that the man looked familiar, as well. He smirked to himself as everything started making more sense. As he finally passed the alleyway, he knew what was going to happen next, and prepared himself. He felt someone sneak up behind him and grab him. Kokichi merely let himself get taken away. What he didn't expect, however, was a quick, sharp jab in his neck right after he got thrown into the truck. His vision became blurry as the man closed the door, locking Kokichi inside.
"Heh, heh...I knew something was...wrong with those two..." he said before everything faded to black, and he passed out.