Chapter 22: Setsubun

On the evening of Setsubun, the third of February, the guests lined up in the lobby with little wooden boxes of roasted beans.

Genji wore a red paper oni mask and a tiger-print apron.

He stood in front of the desk with his arms out.

"Demons out!" the guests shouted. "Luck in!"

The beans rained down on him, rattling off the paper horns.

The head maid threw hers with a perfectly straight face and a very good arm.

Sakura stood at the front of the crowd in her formal kimono, with a tray of tea in both hands.

A small, smooth, warm object was tucked inside her.

She smiled at every guest.

She was not at all sure she could stand up.

It was a little silicone egg the size of a plum.

It was the most dangerous thing she had ever put in her body.

Yuzu had given it to her that morning in the kitchen, with a pink face.

"It's the second toy," she had said. "The remote is in my apron."

"If you say no, I'll throw it in the river. But you looked at the box for three days."

Sakura had said yes before she finished the sentence.

Now Yuzu stood across the lobby in her chef's whites, throwing beans at Genji with her left hand.

Her other hand rested casually in her apron pocket.

She caught Sakura's eye.

Her thumb moved.

The egg woke up inside Sakura with a soft deep buzz.

Sakura's tray rattled on its feet.

"Okami-san?" a guest said kindly. "Are you all right?"

"Perfectly," Sakura said, in a high bright voice. "Please. More tea."

The buzzing rose and fell, rose and fell, unpredictably.

She served eleven cups with her thighs pressed together and her ears burning.

She bowed to an elderly couple, and the egg hit a place inside her that made her see sparks.

She straightened up with the tray in both hands and her smile locked in place, and she did not make a sound.

Across the room Yuzu's eyes glittered.

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