Puppet Skin [OHSHC]

Chapter 6

"Sensei, do I have to use the molds? Can I mold them by hand?" Iiyo asked her Home Economics teacher. She didn't want to use the cutesy molds for her pancakes. Ever since joining the Black Magic Club, Iiyo had wanted to incorporate it into everything, and that definitely didn't stop her in her cooking class.

"No, these molds are all we have, and frankly, doing the shapes by hand seems too difficult."

For this class, Iiyo added on within her thoughts.

Besides her 'partner' the other classmates seem to be having trouble of their own. There were already two small fires, pungent smells of burnt remains nearly every day, a kid almost puking because something was undercooked, and another student slipped and nearly cracked his head open like an egg last week. Not to mention that someone had just found out he was highly allergic to peanuts on the day they were making peanut-brittle. That all happened within the first two months, and Iiyo doubted that things would get any better by the end of the school year.

I should have asked to be in the sewing class, Iiyo remarked in her head, as she settled for the sakura flower shaped silicone molds.

The arrangement was going well between Iiyo and her partner, even though their teamwork participation grade was halved. During the month, they didn't collide once, and because they worked on opposite sides of the oven (wide ovens with wide stoves at that), there weren't any touching. Her partner was sore from her teamwork percentage was halved, but she eventually got over it. What they were both eager about more than each other were the quarterly exams.

Iiyo was doing fine in all of her classes, especially her writing class, but she wasn't so sure about geometry—her worst subject. In addition, according to Umehito, she had to maintain at least a 65 to be able to remain in the club. Iiyo was barely managing a 53. She had been toying around with an idea for some time, but she was nervous about bringing it up.

By the time Iiyo was done making six small blueberry pancakes, one of which was only slightly burned as a test, and cleaning up her area, the bell rang and Iiyo knew she had to do it. Her access to the Black Magic Club room depended on her doing it.

As expected Umehito came by Iiyo's class just as she got out, and he had a wide smile on his face that Iiyo was slightly cautious about. "I know we don't have a club meeting today—"

"—But we still go everyday anyway," Iiyo interrupted playfully. She had gotten used to Umehito, especially when Umehito had finally had the no touching rule ingrained.

"Right, but I have a special surprise for you."

Her smile vanished. "What's the surprise?" Iiyo asked with greater caution. She hated surprises.

"It won't be a surprise if I tell you, it's in the club room, and I finished it last night. Think of it as an official welcome into the club."

"Joy," Iiyo muttered to herself. Please don't let it have anything to do with him performing a ritual over me. She imagined him taking an aspergillum and sprinkling her with salt water within a chalk circle.

When they arrived at the club room, Umehito started to ramble. "I wasn't sure if it would be OK to give this to you yet since you only seem to be interested in the books, so it would be practically useless, but I decided that I should give it to you anyway because you're a member whether you fully participate or not, and you might be interested in the practice part later." He handed Iiyo a soft folded material, which was hard to identify exactly what it was in the dark. "It's a robe for when we perform rituals and cast spells, but you can wear it to just signify that you are part of the club."

Iiyo had a stubborn lump of awkwardness stuck in her throat. "Thanks, Nekozawa-san."

"Because you're quite short I had to hem it, but it wasn't a problem. "

Was he hinting that he wanted her to wear it like he wore his robe every day? "Wait, you hemmed it? Don't you have someone else who usually does that kind of thing?" Iiyo asked. After a while, she had noticed two more oddballs that seemed to follow Umehito around after school, but at a distance. They looked like a maid and a butler—and creepy ones at that, but she decided that maybe it was best to not know. Ignorance was bliss after all.

"Yes, but I wanted to do it myself as President of the Black Magic Club."

He took his job of presidency way too seriously.

"By the way, what is that?" Umehito asked pointing to the paper bag that Iiyo had placed on the table.

"Oh, they're pancakes I made in class. You can have it if you want, I already had a few."

Umehito's smile widened, sending chills down Iiyo's back. "Yes, thank you. Now I have an offering to the cat deities tonight."

Iiyo didn't even bother asking what he was talking about, and went ahead to the library to try and forget what he said about using her sakura shaped pancakes as offerings. After she was sure Umehito was done with whatever spell he was casting, about an hour later, Iiyo finally gathered enough nerve to ask what she had been meaning to ask before the surprise. "Nekozawa-san, are you done?"

"Yes, is there something you need Fukuda-san?"

Iiyo's scalp tingled, and her spine seemed to vibrate. "I was wondering if you could help me study for our math exam that's coming up. I don't feel ready for it at all, and studying at school doesn't seem to help with my concentration."

"Oh, if that's all you wanted, you could have asked me any time. I'll get started on it right away."

Iiyo held on to the edge of his sleeve to get his attention back. "What do you mean? What will you get started on?"

"Making charms of course. I was going to make you intelligence and a luck charm for the exams." Umehito took note of Iiyo's crestfallen face. "Was that not what you meant?"

"No, it wasn't. As much as charms seem like a hopeful idea, what I need help is studying. I get too nervous asking teachers for help, and to be honest, you're my only friend that I trust." Even if he was a completely insane oddball.

"I see now. I apologize for the misunderstanding. How about we study later on Saturdays after club hours are over, and a few hours every Sunday at my home?"

Iiyo felt buzzing in her gut at the thought of going to his house. "Saturdays and Sundays are fine, but could we study at my house?"