Golden Festival Day 47
Therapist: "One more set. You're doing great, Iris. Your arm should almost be back to average strength."
Iris: "Okay."
Halfway through the next repetition, Shoyo's phone buzzed.
He ignored it.
It buzzed again.
He took it out, glanced at the screen, and his expression changed in a way so small most people wouldn't have noticed it. Iris did.
He stood immediately.
Iris: "Something happened?"
Shoyo was already slipping the phone back into his pocket: "Emergency."
The therapist looked over: "Do you need to step out?"
Shoyo: "Yes, I have to go."
Iris: "Will you be back?"
Shoyo reached for his jacket from the chair: "Probably not, I might get held up for a while."
He didn't explain. He didn't need to. Whatever had called him was serious enough that even his usual calm had narrowed into something harder.
Iris: "I can get back on my own."
Shoyo: "You sure?"
Iris nodded: "I'm not made of glass."
Shoyo gave a small nod, satisfied: "Good." Then, after a brief pause, he added, "Don't let anybody weird talk you into anything."
Iris: "I won't..."
He headed toward the door, then stopped just long enough to glance back.
Shoyo: "Have fun."
Iris: "Bye."
And then he was gone.
The therapist clapped her hands lightly: "Alright. Back to work."
Iris stared at where Shoyo had teleported for one more second, then turned back to the mirror: "…Right."
By the time the session ended, the evening had already started to settle over the city. The hospital hallways were less crowded, the light outside softer. Iris stepped out with her bag over one shoulder and a slight ache in her arm, the kind that told her she had done enough for one day.
She adjusted her sleeve as she walked down the street, thinking about going home to relax, eat some delicious food, and read Chainsaw Man.
That plan lasted all of three minutes.
A woman was sitting on the curb ahead, right in the middle of the sidewalk, with the kind of dramatic lack of concern that made other pedestrians instinctively walk around her. She looked young. Older than Iris, but not by much. Maybe early twenties. Her hair was a little messy, her clothes were decent but unbuttoned just enough to suggest she had either stopped caring hours ago or never started, and there was a half-empty can in her hand that answered the question before Iris even had to ask it.
She was drunk.
Iris immediately lowered her gaze and shifted to the side, already planning the safest possible route around the woman without making eye contact.
The woman looked up anyway and smiled. Iris accidentally made eye contact.
Drunk: "Hey, your hair looks so cute! Are you an angel?"
Iris stopped walking for exactly one second, mostly because that sentence was so unexpected it needed processing, then immediately resumed: "No, I'm not. Goodbye."
The woman pushed herself up from the curb with impressive speed for someone visibly drunk and stepped right into Iris's path: "Wait."
Iris blinked: "Wh-What is it?"
The lady got right in her face and pushed up Iris's bangs with her hand: "Are you a model? You can definitely be a model? You should cut these bangs of yours!"
Iris: "I'd rather not…"
Hairene: "If you were to ever trust the words of a stranger, now's the time. You can be a gazillionaire!"
Iris tried to step around her. She swayed one step to match. Iris went the other way. She somehow matched that too.
Iris: "…Excuse me."
The drunk leaned slightly closer, cheerful and far too energetic for someone standing upright on nothing but bad decisions and fermented liquid: "Can you buy me beer?"
Iris blinked twice. Then a third time, just in case reality had changed shape while she wasn't looking: "I'm underage. And even if I wasn't I don't think people would be alcohol for strangers..."
Hairene put a hand over Iris's shoulder: "Then let's become friends."
Iris: "No thank you."
Hairene laughed: "You answered too fast."
Iris looked around for help, or perhaps divine intervention. Neither appeared.
Hairene leaned in again: "Here, I'll give you my ID. You could probably pass of as me. Just say you dyed your hair and put in contacts."
Iris: "Isn't that a crime..."
Hairene: "Only if you get caught."
Iris: "Why can't you buy it yourself?"
Hairene: "I lost my wallet. Teehee. At least I had my ID in my back pocket."
Iris looked over the lady's shoulder: "Um. There's a wallet by the curb over there."
The lady looked back and made an exaggerated gasp: "You found my wallet, you really are an angel!"
Iris closed her eyes briefly.
Shoyo had told her not to let anybody weird talk her into anything, and look at what was happening.
Iris opened her eyes: "I'm going home."
The lady nodded like she understood.
Then she followed.
Iris took three steps.
Hairene took three steps.
Iris stopped.
Hairene stopped.
Iris slowly turned her head: "…Why are you following me?"
Hairene smiled brightly: "I feel a bond."
Iris: 'Maybe the bond of a stalker and someone who doesn't know them…'
The drunk continued to follow her.
That was how the worst part of Iris's day began.
***
There were many ways to escape a conversation.
Iris had tried most of them in her life.
Walking away.
Answering briefly.
Pretending not to hear.
Choosing routes that naturally created distance.
What she had apparently never encountered before was a drunk woman whose entire existence seemed built around defeating all of those methods through sheer enthusiasm.
Iris took a turn down a quieter street.
The drunk followed.
Iris crossed at the light the moment it changed red.
The lady somehow made it across too, waving at a passing car like she was in a parade.
Drunk: "You're fast."
Iris: "Not fast enough…"
Eventually, Iris gave up and sat on a bench at a bus stop: "If you're gonna keep following me, shouldn't you at least tell me your name?"
The lady put a hand on her chest proudly: "Hairene."
Iris repeated it in her head. It suited her in an odd way. There was something in it that sounded softer than her energy, or maybe that was just because "drunk stranger" had set the bar strangely high.
Hairene leaned closer: "What's yours?"
Iris hesitated, which was ridiculous, because by this point the woman had already stolen an unreasonable amount of her time: "Iris."
Hairene's face lit up: "That's elegant."
Iris: "…Thanks."
Hairene nodded with the satisfaction of someone who had solved a puzzle: "Yeah. Iris. That fits."
Then, right on cue, her stomach made a deeply unfortunate noise.
Not loud enough to echo.
But loud enough.
Hairene heard it immediately: "Are you hungry."
Iris: "…No."
Hairene looked at her like she had just witnessed a lie on the level of international espionage: "That was your stomach. Tummies don't lie."
Iris exhaled.
She had skipped a proper meal after therapy, mostly because the session had drained her more than she wanted to admit. She had been planning to eat once she got home.
That home, unfortunately, kept getting farther away.
Hairene perked up: "Let's get sushi."
Iris: "That doesn't sound too bad?"
Hairene spun around and pointed down the street with complete confidence: "There's sushi nearby."
Iris: "I'm surprised you know where you are right now."
Hairene: "This is my hometown. I know it like the back of my foot."
Iris: "You mean hand."
Hairene: "Tomato, tomahto."
Iris followed her partly because she was hungry and partly because she had already accepted that resistance was no longer a meaningful concept.
The sushi place turned out to be small and warm, tucked between a pharmacy and a convenience store. The door slid open softly when they stepped inside, and for a brief moment Iris allowed herself to believe the atmosphere might calm Hairene down.
It did not.
Hairene walked in like a returning champion: "Good evening, fish people!"
The chef looked up slowly and sighed. Looks like this isn't the first time she's done this.
Hairene took a seat like she belonged there and gestured grandly at the menu: "Iris, choose with your soul."
Iris: 'My soul wants to go home."
Hairene leaned her chin into one hand: "Owner, the usual please! And two beers!"
Iris: "I'll have the dragon roll and mixed tempura please. Oh, and a water."
Owner: "Coming right up."
Hairene rested both elbows on the table and looked at Iris with intense, sparkling interest: "So."
Iris immediately disliked that tone: "…So?"
Hairene: "Tell me about you."
Iris hesitated: "There's not much to tell."
Hairene shook her head: "That's never true. People only say that when they don't know which part to start with."
Iris stared at her. That was annoyingly perceptive for someone who had introduced herself by requesting beer from a stranger.
Iris looked down at the table: "Well, I'm doing physical therapy right now."
Hairene's expression softened, though not in a dramatic way. It just became slightly more grounded, as if something in her focus had shifted: "Injuries suck.
Iris nodded.
Hairene glanced at it, but not obviously: "And?"
Iris: "And what?"
Hairene leaned back in her chair, putting her hands behind her head: "And how do you feel about it?"
Iris was quiet. That was not a question most people asked. Usually they asked if it hurt, or if she was getting better, or when she'd be back to normal. Those were easy questions. They let her answer in simple, manageable ways.
This one didn't.
Iris: "…I don't like being behind."
Hairene nodded as if she had expected that exact answer: "Yeah."
Iris looked up.
Iris: "Yeah?"
Hairene folded her arms: "An injury doesn't break you, it forces you to rebuild stronger and smarter."
Iris stared.
That landed a little too cleanly.
Hairene caught her expression and grinned: "See? Now you know I'm wise."
Iris: "That's not what I was thinking."
Hairene gasped: "Cruel."
The food arrived before Iris could answer, and with it came a brief but valuable distraction. Hairene leaned forward immediately, all previous wisdom disappearing behind food-driven excitement.
Hairene: "Time to chow down."
She picked up her chopsticks with surprising grace.
Then she moved.
Iris noticed it instantly.
Hairene's hands were steady. More than steady. Her chopsticks caught a piece cleanly, turned just enough, then lifted with the sort of precision that belonged to someone used to making small movements count.
Iris watched her for a second too long.
Hairene noticed.
Hairene: "What?"
Iris looked away: "Nothing."
Hairene narrowed her eyes: "That was a lie."
Iris sighed: "You're good with chopsticks."
Hairene blinked, then looked at the pair in her hand as if seeing them for the first time: "Oh."
Hairene shrugged: "I'm good at a lot of things."
They ate.
Hairene caught a slipping piece of sushi mid-fall without looking. She popped the rescued piece into her mouth and kept chewing.
By the time Iris finished eating, Hairene had made her 3rd order. Then 4th, then 5th. To finish things off, she got some ice cream. Her bill was over $300.
As they stepped back out into the street, the evening air felt cooler than before. The city had shifted into that softer hour where the daylight was nearly gone but the night still hadn't fully claimed the sky.
Hairene stretched: "Best meal of my life."
Iris: "It sure seemed like it."
As they started walking again, something about the day had changed. The absurdity was still there. The inconvenience too. But beneath it, Iris could feel something else taking shape. She still didn't know who Hairene really was. But she no longer thought she was just some drunk stranger on the street. And that, more than anything, made her curious.
***
Hairene had glued herself back to the sidewalk.
Iris stood there, staring down at her, who had without warning or permission decided that the middle of the sidewalk was the perfect place to take a nap, again. One moment she had been walking, talking about something completely unrelated to anything important, and the next she had simply… laid down.
Not gracefully.
Not carefully.
Just dropped.
Iris: "…Are you serious?"
She was out.
One arm over her face, the other stretched out like she had just completed some dramatic performance and was waiting for applause that would never come.
Iris crouched beside her and lightly shook her shoulder: "Hey."
Nothing. She shook her again, a little harder.
Iris: "Hairene."
Still nothing.
Iris leaned back, staring at the sky for a second.
Iris looked back down at the unconscious woman: "…I should leave."
That would be the logical choice.
The correct choice.
The sane choice.
She stood up.
Took one step.
Stopped.
Iris sighed.
She sat back down beside Hairene.
A few minutes passed.
Then ten.
Then thirty.
Then an hour.
Iris checked her phone to see the message she just got.
Chifuyu: You good? You should've been back by now.
Iris stared at the screen, then glanced at Hairene, who hadn't moved at all except for the occasional soft, suspiciously peaceful breathing.
Iris: I'm fine. I ran into… a situation.
Chifuyu: Sounds fun.
Iris: I'll be back later.
She put her phone away.
Another hour passed.
Iris rested her chin in her hand: "…I should've just poured water on her."
She looked around. People had passed by, glanced, judged silently, and kept walking. No one stopped. No one questioned it. It had become background.
Iris stood up: "Stay here."
Hairene wasn't going anywhere.
Iris walked to a nearby convenience store, grabbed a drink and a small snack, and made her way to the register. The fluorescent lights buzzed softly overhead, the calm inside the store standing in sharp contrast to the ridiculous situation outside. She set her items down.
Cashier: "That'll be—"
A crash echoed from outside.
Then shouting.
Iris turned her head.
She stepped outside.
And saw them.
Vampires.
More than ten.
A group of Hunters had already engaged them, but the formation was loose, messy, and overwhelmed. They were only 4th Rank Hunters.
Iris's expression sharpened immediately.
With no hesitation, she ran to join the fray.
One of the Hunters barely blocked a strike, stumbling back.
Iris slid in beside him: "Let me use your blade."
The Hunter turned, annoyed and tense: "Who do you think you are—"
Another voice cut in.
Hunter #2: "Wait—that's Iris Sakata."
Hunter #3: "Odd Jobs?"
The first Hunter hesitated.
Hunter #2: "You're the weakest one here. Give it to her."
The Hunter clicked his tongue, clearly irritated, but handed over the sword: "…Don't lose it."
Iris took it without another word: 'How would I lose it..?'
She stepped forward.
The first vampire lunged.
Iris moved.
Her body reacted before her thoughts did. She pivoted to the side, letting the attack pass just close enough to feel, then drove the blade upward in a precise arc that caught the vampire across the torso.
It staggered.
She didn't stop.
A second strike followed immediately, faster, cleaner. The vampire dropped.
Hunter #2: "To your left!"
Iris turned just in time to meet another attacker. Their claws scraped against the blade as she blocked, the force pushing her back a step. Her grip tightened. She adjusted to a lower stance. Then she slipped inside the vampire's reach and cut across its center.
Another one fell.
The Hunters began to stabilize.
They moved around her now. One drew attention. Another created an opening. Iris stepped into it, delivering the finishing blows.
One by one, the vampires fell.
The street grew quieter.
Until—
A sound.
Slow and deliberate clapping.
Iris froze.
So did the others.
Two figures stepped into view from the shadows beyond the streetlights.
The first—
A girl.
Short.
Silver hair catching the faint glow of the evening.
She smiled brightly.
?: "Wow~" Her voice was light. Playful. Like she was watching something entertaining. "That was fun to watch."
No one spoke.
The second figure stepped forward beside her and the air changed. He was massive. Easily double her height. His presence alone felt heavy. A long sword rested at his side.
An alter blade.
Iris's grip tightened.
The girl tilted her head, surprised to see a certain individual: "Look who it is." She returned her attention to the group, "You guys did really good." She clasped her hands behind her back, and took a small step closer, "Hi. I'm Lily."
She waved.
Like this was a casual introduction.
Her eyes flicked across them, lingering just a second longer on Iris.
Lily giggled softly: "Those were just appetizers. Let's see if you guys are hungry enough for the main dish."
The larger figure beside her rested a hand on his blade.
The sound of metal shifted slightly.
Enough to be heard.
Lily's voice softened. Almost sweet: "The real chaos…" She leaned forward just a little with gleaming eyes, "is a lot closer than you think."
The street went completely still.
Then the tension snapped.
The Hunters surged forward all at once, their hesitation replaced with urgency. Steel flashed under the dim streetlights as they rushed Lily and the towering figure beside her. Iris moved last, her eyes fixed on the larger threat.
Lily stepped back lightly, almost skipping out of range.
Lily: "Ehh~? Looks like you guys are hungry?"
Her smile widened as she watched them charge.
Beside her, the massive vampire planted his sword into the ground.
A heavy thud echoed twice.
The pavement cracked beneath it.
The Hunters moved in from multiple angles, trying to overwhelm him with numbers, but the vampire Hyudo didn't budge. His blade moved with terrifying precision, sweeping wide arcs that forced them back, then snapping into sharp, controlled counters that punished every opening.
Iris stepped into a gap as one Hunter was pushed aside. She swung, aiming for his flank, but the strike was blocked instantly. The impact traveled up her arm, jarring her grip.
He was strong.
Another Hunter lunged from behind. Hyudo twisted, his blade flashing, forcing both of them to disengage.
Lily watched from the sidelines, hands clasped behind her back, rocking slightly as if she were watching a show: "C'mon~ you can do better than that."
The pressure was relentless. Iris moved again, faster this time. Her footwork adjusted, her stance lowering as she slipped past another wide swing. She struck twice in quick succession, testing his defense. But it was blocked each time.
Her breath steadied.
Her body remembered.
Slowly.
Swing by swing.
Hyudo's blade pulsed. Black veins emerged.
A dark energy spread through the cracks in the ground.
Iris's eyes widened: "Watch out!"
Black spikes erupted upward without warning.
The Hunters scattered, barely avoiding the attack as the street itself turned against them. One Hunter wasn't fast enough. A spike pierced straight through his foot, pinning him in place.
Hunter: "—GHK!"
He tried to get up but couldn't, he couldn't stand on that foot during the fight anymore.
Iris got faster. Her movements sharpened, hesitation fading. Her strikes became cleaner, more precise, her timing returning to what it used to be. Not perfect. Not yet. But close.
Hyudo didn't falter.
It became a standstill.
Skill against endurance.
Neither side giving ground.
Lily tilted her head: "Hm?" Her gaze shifted past the battlefield. "Who's that? Another Hunter?"
Iris glanced back.
Hairene.
She was walking toward them.
Steady.
No sway.
No stumble.
Iris: "Don't come closer! It's dangerous!"
But something was different.
The air around Hairene felt intimidating.
Hairene stopped near the injured Hunter and looked down at him: "Give me your blade."
The Hunter hesitated, still in pain.
Hairene glared at him until he gave up his blade.
Iris: "Hairene… are you a Hunter?"
Hairene: "Hm… Who the hell are you?"
Iris flinched: "Eh? Did you forget me?"
Hairene looked at her for a few seconds: "Oh right. You're the girl who followed me around all day."
Iris's eye twitched: "Are you messing with me?!?"
Hairene: "Eyes forward."
The vampire came crashing down, his blade shattering the ground they stood on.
The Hunters moved again.
Hairene flew past the others.
She crossed the distance in an instant, intercepting Hyudo's next swing with a sharp, controlled clash that rang out across the street. The force of it cracked the ground beneath her feet, but she didn't move.
Hyudo did.
Hairene pressed forward immediately, her blade cutting through the air in tight, efficient arcs. There was no wasted movement. No hesitation. Every strike carried intent, clean, direct, overwhelming.
The Hunters followed her lead.
They didn't need to be told.
The rhythm had changed.
They adjusted around her, supporting where she opened space, reinforcing where she pushed. The battle grew fiercer, faster, more coordinated.
Hyudo retaliated.
His blade roared through the air, forcing two Hunters back, then drove downward in a crushing strike that shattered the pavement.
Hairene sidestepped.
Her counter came instantly.
A diagonal slash that forced him to raise his weapon instead of attack.
Again.
Again.
Again.
She didn't let him breathe.
Iris: "She's… completely different."
There was no trace of the drunk woman from before.
Iris tightened her grip and moved in. Her strikes synced with Hairene's pressure, cutting in from the side, forcing Hyudo to divide his attention. The other Hunters followed through, pushing him further, tighter, faster.
For the first time, he gave ground.
Hairene's pace didn't slow.
Her blade flashed, faster than before, each movement stacking pressure onto the last. Hyudo's defense began to strain under it. His counters grew narrower, his swings less dominant. Her blade carved across his guard, forcing it wide.
An opening.
Hairene's voice cut through the noise of battle: "NOW!"
Iris moved.
She stepped through the opening Hairene created and swung with everything she had.
The blade cut through.
Hyudo's head separated cleanly from his body.
His body collapsed.
The street went still.
Iris exhaled slowly, her arms lowering as the tension drained from her shoulders.
Her heart was racing.
She looked at Hairene.
This wasn't just some drunk woman she had met on the street.
Hyudo's body lay motionless, the weight of the battle settling into the pavement around them. The Hunters breathed heavily, shoulders rising and falling, adrenaline slowly fading into exhaustion.
Then—
Laughter.
Lily: "Ahh~ I'm actually surprised. I've never seen you before latecomer, but you're strong."
Hairene didn't react much. Her grip on the blade was loose, but her posture hadn't relaxed: "Don't be so surprised." She took a small step forward. "Your head comes off next."
Lily: "Ohh… Scary."
One of the Hunters stepped forward, still catching his breath but trying to hold his ground: "You're outnumbered. It's over."
Lily blinked. Then giggled: "Shioto's been changing, you know." She spun slowly in place, arms stretched out like she was feeling the air. "People feel it. The unease." Her smile sharpened. "Every day it gets a little worse."
Hunter: "We'll wipe you out before it gets worse."
Hunter: "Your time here on Shioto is numbered."
Lily: "…You've got it twisted. It's not our time that's limited." She pointed lightly toward them. "It's yours."
The words didn't echo.
They lingered.
Lily stepped back again, her presence light but suffocating in a way that didn't match her size: "With unease…" She tapped her chin, pretending to think, "…comes doubt." Another step back. "With doubt comes madness."
Hairene: "Humanity won't lose to you bloodsuckers."
Lily chuckled: "I've always liked that name."
She began walking away.
Casual.
Unhurried.
As if no one there could stop her.
Hunter: "Don't let her—!"
By the time they reached where she had been standing—
She was gone.
Like she had never been there.
The street felt colder.
***
The aftermath settled in slowly.
One of the Hunters knelt beside the injured one, carefully trying to stabilize his leg while another spoke into a communicator, calling in the situation.
Hunter: "We need the area locked down. One vampire escaped."
The one who had been disarmed earlier sat nearby, still shaken: "…I should've done more."
Hairene: "You didn't die."
Iris: "…You're actually are a Hunter. I'm surprised."
Hairene didn't answer right away.
Hairene just watched the street for a second longer: "Yeah." She looked over at her, "I could say the same to you."
The Hunter finished his call: "They're sealing the area."
Hairene: "Got it."
The tension eased, just slightly.
A few minutes passed as they waited for backup, the sounds of distant sirens beginning to creep closer. The streetlights flickered faintly, casting long shadows across the broken pavement.
When it was finally time to leave, Hairene began to walk away.
Iris: "Hey."
Hairene paused, but didn't turn around.
Iris: "If you want a coffee instead of beer, you should stop by Odd Jobs."
Hairene raised one hand, waving lazily.
Still not turning back as she walked off.
Iris watched her until she disappeared into the city.
And somewhere in the back of her mind—
Lily's words lingered.
With unease… comes madness.
***
Meanwhile, Diego and Beatrice had gone out to dinner. The restaurant was calm, warm, and just upscale enough to make Diego sit a little straighter than usual, though not enough to stop him from stealing food off Beatrice's plate without asking.
Beatrice glanced at him briefly but said nothing.
Beatrice: "You've taken three."
Before Diego could respond, his attention shifted toward another table across the room. His eyes narrowed slightly, then lit up with recognition: "Oh."
Beatrice followed his gaze.
A young girl sat with her parents, mid-conversation, smiling brightly.
Miku.
Diego stood up immediately.
Miku looked up and blinked, then her face lit up: "Diego!"
Diego stopped in front of the table.
And said nothing.
He slowly raised his hands making the rock-paper-scissors sign.
Miku tilted her head.
Diego: "Rock. Paper. Scissors."
Miku: "Oh. Okay!"
They played.
"Rock, paper, scissors—shoot!"
She won.
Diego nodded once, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a cookie, placing it gently in her hand.
Miku's eyes widened: "I get a cookie?"
Diego: "You won it."
Round two.
Miku won again.
Another cookie.
Miku: "This is awesome!"
Diego remained completely serious.
Round three.
Miku lost.
Diego immediately reached forward and took one of the cookies back without hesitation, taking a bite on the spot.
Miku gasped: "Hey!"
Round four.
She lost again.
The second cookie was reclaimed just as mercilessly.
Diego chewed thoughtfully.
Miku stared at him in disbelief: "That's not fair!"
Diego swallowed, then looked at her with absolute calm: "The moral of the story is to never gamble."
Her dad nodded slowly, impressed: "That's actually great advice."
Her mom immediately turned to him: "If it is, maybe you should follow it."
Dad froze.
Beatrice approached the table at that moment, calm as ever.
Miku crossed her arms: "You tricked me."
Diego: "I did no such thing."
Beatrice: "We didn't come over just to psychologically dismantle a child. We actually wanted to invite you."
The parents blinked.
Mom: "Invite us?"
Diego: "To Hanabi Island. We've got extra spots in our invitation."
Miku's eyes lit up instantly: "The Hanabi Island?!"
Her dad leaned forward: "Wait, that's the place you need special tickets for, right?"
Beatrice nodded once: "We have more than enough room."
There was a brief silence as the offer settled in.
Then—
Miku practically bounced in her seat: "Can we go?! Please?!"
Her parents looked at each other.
Then smiled.
Mom: "I think we can make that work."
Dad: "Yeah… I think we can. Just for the weekend.
Diego: "Glad to hear it."
They waved bye and returned to their table.
Mom: "They seem like good people. I see why you visit them so much."
Miku: "Yeah!"
Dad: "I've been wanting to try their drinks. Guess I'll finally go tomorrow."
Back at the table, Diego sat down and reached for more of Beatrice's food.
Beatrice moved the plate just out of reach and smacked his hand: "No."