Yanda and the Smaller Piece
Written for the prompt "Yotsubato Halloween".
Title: Yanda and the Smaller Piece
Series: Yotsuba to!
Length: 750 words
Genre: Humor
Characters: Yanda, Asagi
Summary: Yanda meets his dream girl at Koiwai's party.
He’d dropped by to return a borrowed book, then managed to look pitiful enough to get invited inside. Yanda made the appropriate sounds of protest, pretended he had an entire night planned, then agreed to come in “just for a second”. To be polite, of course.
It was Saturday night and he had nothing better to do. He could go home, sit alone in his room eating cup ramen and looking for internet porn, or he could crash Koiwai’s neighborhood Halloween party.
Since he wasn’t part of the neighborhood, he stood awkwardly next to the snack table and looked around the room. Many of the decorations had been pasted at knee-level, meaning Yotsuba had helped, or maybe even come up with the whole idea. She was dressed as a sunflower and comparing her bag of trick-or-treat candy with another little girl dressed as a panda.
Man, he’d missed out. Trick-or-treat wasn’t around when he was a kid. No free candy for him.
The cookies on the table would be his compensation for his pathetic childhood and even more pathetic adulthood. They were shaped like pumpkins, brownish with white icing faces, piled on an orange plate.
He bit into one and found that it was soft, spiced like gingerbread. It disappeared quickly, a few crumbs on his collar the only evidence, and he took another one.
“What do you think of our cookies?”
Like a gift from the gods, an apology for the patheticness laid upon him, a beautiful girl had apparated at his side. She was familiar, one of the neighbors, dressed in a frilly maid’s costume with one of those funny ruffled caps. Long, long hair hung in a straight curtain down her back, and there was a twinkle of humor in her eyes.
“They’re delicious,” he answered honestly, swallowing the mouthful and debating licking the icing from his fingers. He decided against it. “I’m impressed. Most girls our age aren’t into the whole domestic thing anymore.”
“Oh, I didn’t make them,” she admitted. “Koiwai-san did. But I drew the faces.”
“Still impressive,” he replied. Crap, his flirting skills needed work. And his vocabulary. “So the maid get-up is ironic?”
“More like a private joke,” the vision of loveliness said, a quick smile ghosting across her face. “Anyway, I’m Asagi. From next door.”
“We’ve met actually.” Disappointment took up residence deep in his soul at her failure to remember him. “Yanda.”
“Right,” she said, friendly but detached, no real hint of recognition. “Yotsuba talks about you all the time.”
His chances were probably sunk then.
“I think it’s nice that you play with her.”
Hope floated once more.
“Boo!” The obnoxious sunflower popped up in front of them. There was some expression about speaking of the devil, so she was clearly dressed wrong. She thrust her orange sack at him, its opening gaping like the leer of the jack-o-lantern printed on its side. “Trick or treat!”
He reached into Yotsuba’s bag and pulled out a piece of candy. Then he held it up like a prize and smirked at her. “Trick!” he said. He tore off the wrapper and let chocolatey goodness melt on his tongue.
Yotsuba kicked his shin, and he yelped, then tried to cover it like it was all cool and he was just playing, because that was what Asagi-sama liked, right? “That’s not how it works!” the little terror cried.
“I’ll show him the proper way,” Asagi said in a gentle coo, and the girl held out her bag once more.
“Trick or treat!”
Asagi… reached into the bag and pulled out a piece of candy. “Trick!” she said with a mischievous grin.
Yotsuba’s eyes narrowed in anger and confusion.
He was confused, too. “You did the same thing I did.”
“Ah, but I got a bigger piece of candy than you did,” Asagi replied. “Rookie mistake.”
Was it too soon to propose?
The doorbell rang, and Koiwai announced, “Pizza’s here!”
“That’s my cue,” Asagi said, stepping away and taking the sun with her. “It was nice meeting you, Yoda.”
Yanda didn’t know which part of that sentence to correct first, so he just smiled weakly at her retreating back.
As Koiwai set the pizza boxes on the table, Asagi brought over a stack of plates, like a co-hostess rather than a guest. Koiwai said something that made her laugh, and her face lit up in an entirely different way than it had when she was playing with him and Yotsuba.
Well.
This was unfortunate.
Title: Yanda and the Smaller Piece
Series: Yotsuba to!
Length: 750 words
Genre: Humor
Characters: Yanda, Asagi
Summary: Yanda meets his dream girl at Koiwai's party.
He’d dropped by to return a borrowed book, then managed to look pitiful enough to get invited inside. Yanda made the appropriate sounds of protest, pretended he had an entire night planned, then agreed to come in “just for a second”. To be polite, of course.
It was Saturday night and he had nothing better to do. He could go home, sit alone in his room eating cup ramen and looking for internet porn, or he could crash Koiwai’s neighborhood Halloween party.
Since he wasn’t part of the neighborhood, he stood awkwardly next to the snack table and looked around the room. Many of the decorations had been pasted at knee-level, meaning Yotsuba had helped, or maybe even come up with the whole idea. She was dressed as a sunflower and comparing her bag of trick-or-treat candy with another little girl dressed as a panda.
Man, he’d missed out. Trick-or-treat wasn’t around when he was a kid. No free candy for him.
The cookies on the table would be his compensation for his pathetic childhood and even more pathetic adulthood. They were shaped like pumpkins, brownish with white icing faces, piled on an orange plate.
He bit into one and found that it was soft, spiced like gingerbread. It disappeared quickly, a few crumbs on his collar the only evidence, and he took another one.
“What do you think of our cookies?”
Like a gift from the gods, an apology for the patheticness laid upon him, a beautiful girl had apparated at his side. She was familiar, one of the neighbors, dressed in a frilly maid’s costume with one of those funny ruffled caps. Long, long hair hung in a straight curtain down her back, and there was a twinkle of humor in her eyes.
“They’re delicious,” he answered honestly, swallowing the mouthful and debating licking the icing from his fingers. He decided against it. “I’m impressed. Most girls our age aren’t into the whole domestic thing anymore.”
“Oh, I didn’t make them,” she admitted. “Koiwai-san did. But I drew the faces.”
“Still impressive,” he replied. Crap, his flirting skills needed work. And his vocabulary. “So the maid get-up is ironic?”
“More like a private joke,” the vision of loveliness said, a quick smile ghosting across her face. “Anyway, I’m Asagi. From next door.”
“We’ve met actually.” Disappointment took up residence deep in his soul at her failure to remember him. “Yanda.”
“Right,” she said, friendly but detached, no real hint of recognition. “Yotsuba talks about you all the time.”
His chances were probably sunk then.
“I think it’s nice that you play with her.”
Hope floated once more.
“Boo!” The obnoxious sunflower popped up in front of them. There was some expression about speaking of the devil, so she was clearly dressed wrong. She thrust her orange sack at him, its opening gaping like the leer of the jack-o-lantern printed on its side. “Trick or treat!”
He reached into Yotsuba’s bag and pulled out a piece of candy. Then he held it up like a prize and smirked at her. “Trick!” he said. He tore off the wrapper and let chocolatey goodness melt on his tongue.
Yotsuba kicked his shin, and he yelped, then tried to cover it like it was all cool and he was just playing, because that was what Asagi-sama liked, right? “That’s not how it works!” the little terror cried.
“I’ll show him the proper way,” Asagi said in a gentle coo, and the girl held out her bag once more.
“Trick or treat!”
Asagi… reached into the bag and pulled out a piece of candy. “Trick!” she said with a mischievous grin.
Yotsuba’s eyes narrowed in anger and confusion.
He was confused, too. “You did the same thing I did.”
“Ah, but I got a bigger piece of candy than you did,” Asagi replied. “Rookie mistake.”
Was it too soon to propose?
The doorbell rang, and Koiwai announced, “Pizza’s here!”
“That’s my cue,” Asagi said, stepping away and taking the sun with her. “It was nice meeting you, Yoda.”
Yanda didn’t know which part of that sentence to correct first, so he just smiled weakly at her retreating back.
As Koiwai set the pizza boxes on the table, Asagi brought over a stack of plates, like a co-hostess rather than a guest. Koiwai said something that made her laugh, and her face lit up in an entirely different way than it had when she was playing with him and Yotsuba.
Well.
This was unfortunate.