Kagami's Cake Day 01

Kagami Hiiragi sighed heavily as she exited the office building and stepped onto the bustling sidewalk. The other pedestrians paid her no mind, as if she were nothing more than a lamp post. Kagami felt about that worthless at the moment.

She had failed another interview. She wouldn’t get the official results for at least two-weeks but she could already predict the outcome. She had been able to see it in their faces, the tone of voices they used when wishing her ‘good luck’ when she left the room.

“That’s the third one this month,” she said with a discouraging sigh. “How am I supposed to get a part-time job if I keep failing the interviews like this?”

She wanted to blame the economy like everyone else did but that always sounded like an excuse when it come from her own mouth. She had thought that her good school marks and character references would have let her nail any interview but they never really asked her about her marks and only a few of them had asked her about anything like her personality or work ethic. They all wanted experience, experience she didn’t have yet. But how was she supposed to get experience if nobody would give her a job due to her lack of experience?

“It’s not fair,” she groaned wearily. “Even Konata managed to get a job.”

“Hmmm, talkin’ ‘bout me Kagamin?”

The purplenette jumped and yelped in surprise. She whirled her head around and came face to face with the little blue-haired devil herself. Konata’s smug cat-like grin was like a firm jab to her ego.

“Don’t scare people like that,” she shouted angrily. “What are you doing here anyway?”

Konata laughed like her reaction was no big deal and held up her hands. “Take it easy there Kagami; you’re making a scene.”

Kagami’s face reddened, realizing how many people were staring at her as they walked by. She clenched her fists and forced herself to calm down before repeating her question.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just on my way home from work and I saw you come out. You seemed pretty bummed.” Konata’s smug grin went away, replaced by a look of concern. Kagami wondered if it was genuine or just another one of Konata’s many masks, one to lure her into a false sense of security. Kagami wasn’t sure but still, Konata was her friend and she didn’t mind telling her really.

“I bombed another interview,” she said dejectedly. “Like everyone else, they want someone with experience.”

Konata crossed her arms sagely. “And you can’t get experience if you can’t get a job so you’re stuck in a loop.”

Kagami shrugged, smiling thinly. “That’s about the size of it. Even though my marks got me into a good school it doesn’t seem to be helping me get a job.”

Konata’s grin returned. “Bet I know a way to cheer you up. We can go to that new cake shop not far from here.” She wagged a finger in front of Kagami’s face. “I know how much you love sweets. I’ll even treat you.”

Kagami considered for a moment and then smiled appreciatively. “I appreciate the offer Konata but I don’t want charity right now. I have to force myself, discipline myself to find a job an-.” Konata clapped her hands, cutting Kagami off.

“No, no, no Kagamin. You need to chill out or the stress will get to ya’. If you look stressed during your future interviews you’ll never get a job. You need to let off some steam and unwind a little. C’mon, I just got paid and I hate going to a cake shop by myself.”

‘So you were planning on going anyway?’ Kagami sighed and then made a little shrug. “Sure, thanks. I guess I could use the pick-me-up.”

“Great! Come on, we better get movin’. This is usually the time of day you can get a table without having to wait.”

Half an hour later, Konata and kagami were sitting down at a table in the corner of the new cake shop. It’s size and layout gave it a much more big brand feel than the mom and pop feeling one got from the usual cake shops they visited. Their table was not entirely ideal but it had been the only one left by the time they got there. It was the furthest from the buffet line but it did afford them a nice view of the street outside. Of course, all they could see was traffic.

When the waitress finally arrived and punched their time ticket for an hour, both girls got up and went to the cake buffet line. Konata went for variety, having an array of different cake cubes with different frostings, fillings, and toppings. Kagami restricted herself to her most favorite varieties, loading up her plate until one could barely tell there was a plate underneath all that cake at all. Konata took note of how heavily laden Kagami’s plate was when they returned to their table but elected not to comment on it yet.

“So, how many interviews have you gone for?”

“Eight since we graduated,” Kagami replied glumly. “And three this month. They all tell me the same reason when I ask why I didn’t get the job: lack of experience.”

“Which is the loop we previously discussed,” Konata nodded smiling. “What kind of jobs have you been applying for?”

“You wanted to go into economics, right? So, knowing you, you’ve been applying to places like banks and stuff? That’s kind of a high bar to start off.”

“Tell me about it,” Kagami sighed heavily, stabbing another cake with her fork. “I learned that pretty early and most of them aren’t hiring anyway, so I changed tactics and tried applying for jobs with shipping companies, import/export, things like that. I’ve had better luck there and almost got a job at a trucking company last month but they ended up closing the position down when the stock market dropped”

“Geez, sounds like the world of economics is quite a fickle one.”

“Kagami swallowed her cake. “It’s affected by absolutely everything. The death of some Saudi’s mother-in-law could cause a sharp rise in oil prices or a volcano in Iceland could erupt and cause a massive disruption in supply and distribution and travel. That’s hundreds of millions lost every day.”

Konata frowned. “Was it really that bad?”

“I dunno, I was just giving an example.” Kagami swallowed another cake. “Enough about me, what have you been up to? I know you’ve kept your job at the café but what are you doing the rest of the time?”

Konata shrugged. “Dad said I should probably make use of my knowledge of all things anime and manga to actually try and do something in the industry. I could be like an editor or a talent scout or something. Who knows, I might even make my own anime one day.”

Kagami rolled her eyes. “You were talking about the economy being fickle. The entertainment industry isn’t exactly stable either. It changes with trends.”

Konata wagged her finger, giving Kagami her trademark cat-like grin. “Regardless of the trends, people still need editors and talent still needs to be found. Anyway, I still haven’t figured out what I’ll have to take in college or university to do those things and I’m not exactly set on what I want to do either but I’ve got some good leads I’m looking into.”

“Well I’m glad you’re taking your job search seriously.” Kagami stood up, her empty plate in hand. “I’m going for seconds.”

“Already?” Konata was surprised. Kagami always loved to eat, especially sweets; although the girl would rather die than admit to either. Kagami only shrugged and headed back to the buffet line to refill her plate.

Konata took a respite from her own cake eating and leaned back in her chair, her arms crossed and brows furrowed in deep thought.

Ever since that day a couple years ago when they had been forced to eat cake until bursting to avoid paying a fee for uneaten cake they had always acted more wary of how ambitious they were with their cake eating. Kagami always acted the sensible one so this seemed out of character for her unless she was feeling particularly peckish today. When Kagami returned, her plate was just as heavily laden as it had been before.

“Whoa Kagami, you sure you aren’t being a little bold there? You’ve gotten just as much as last time.” She frowned as she scrutinized the array of cake cubes on the plate. “Same cakes too. Don’t you want some variety?”

“These are my favorite,” Kagami said as she sat back down. “And I missed breakfast today because I was so nervous about my interview. My stomach was churning and everything.”

Konata looked at her disapprovingly, adopting a sage-like expression and posture. “That’s not good Kagami. What would you do if your tummy growled right in the middle of the interview? You’d die of embarrassment. Actually, a tsundere like you would probably go critical.”

Kagami averted her gaze, her cheeks flushed pink. “Don’t call me a tsundere,” she said in a low tone. “But I see your point. I guess I should make sure I go to the interviews with a full belly from now on.” She shoved another cake into her mouth as if to punctuate her statement.

Konata’s cat-like grin returned. “Yeah, but you know Kagamin, you should be careful hich cakes you pick. I’ve heard that they lace the most popular cakes with something that makes you addicted or makes you desire more and more cake.”

Kagami rolled her eyes. “Come on Konata, they say the same thing about buffets. These are my favorite cakes and I’m starving!”

“Clearly,” Konata chuckled. “Just don’t overdo it Kagami or it’ll end up like last time.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Time passed and Konata eventually got up to get her own second helping, albeit one much smaller than the first. Shortly after the half-hour mark, Kagami got up again for an unprecedented third helping, again piling more of her favorite cakes onto the plate.

“Whoa, is someone on a binging spree,” Konata teased.

“Oh leave me alone,” Kagami huffed. “I told you I skipped breakfast didn’t I?”

“But I’ve never seen you eat like this before; not even on your birthday.”

Kagami simply shrugged, as if it were no big deal. “I dunno what it is either but I’m still hungry and you paid for me so I’m getting the most out of it. Maybe they changed the recipes. They don’t seem nearly as filling as they used to be.”

Konata gasped, as if hit by a sudden life-changing revelation. “Yeah, you’re right!” She stabbed on cake cube and held it up to her eyes. “Maybe they changed the recipe to make them lighter and less satisfying, maybe to make people stay longer than just an hour or to make the cakes cheaper to make.”

“I think it’s just to make the cakes cheaper,” Kagami said in a lackadaisical tone. “They wouldn’t make more profit making people eat more and more and stay longer, they need to keep cycling people through. Maybe the length of time a customer stays has less to do with their appetite and how much time they’re willing to stay here. After all, most don’t stay longer than fifteen or twenty minutes right?”

Konata put the cake in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “I dunno, I’m getting lots of different kinds. Maybe just a few of them are the lighter ones but these taste the same as always.”

“Then maybe it’s just the ones I’ve been eating,” Kagami suggested. “They are the most popular so it would make sense for them to be the ones made more cheaply.” She offered her plate towards Konata. “Here, let’s trade a piece and see.” Konata nodded and exchanged one of her cheesecakes with one of Kagami’s chocolate marble cubes.

Keeping the taste, texture, and weight of her previous piece of cake in her mind, Konata placed Kagami’s piece in her mouth, chewing slowly and thoughtfully.

“Hmmm, I dunno. Tastes the same as I remember but I guess it’s been a while since I’ve eaten these. I’m not a big sucker for the mainstream choices.”

Kagami now put Konata’s piece into her own mouth. “Hmmm, well I think this one does taste a little more dense. Dunno’ if it’s enough to make a difference but it must be doing something if I’m able to eat so much.”

“I’m tellin’ ya’ Kagami,” Konata pointed her fork at the other girl. “It’s a conspiracy.”

Kagami rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well in the meantime I’m gonna’ enjoy my cakes.”

Konata chuckled. “Whatever you say.”

So the two ate, the clock ticking by another fifteen minutes before the two were finally finished their plates.

“Wow, I’m stuffed”, Konata patted her stomach. “I’m glad it stopped here or I’d have no room for supper tonight.”

Kagami wordlessly stood, picking up her plate. Konata noticed and stared at her in mild shock. “You’re not?”

Kagami blushed. “Do you have to comment on everything I do?”

“Kagami, you’ve already had three full plates. You can’t possibly eat anymore….”, Konata’s voice trailed off as Kagami huffed and walked away, slightly hunched over. “Eh, I guess I offended her.” Konata waited in her seat, puzzled at Kagami’s peculiar behavior.

Kagami was a bit of a big eater on occasion but she was always really embarrassed about it and the girl fretted constantly about her weight. For her to eat like this, she had to be famished. Was it really just breakfast that she had skipped? Was there more going on than she was telling her?

“I wonder if she’s just angry. She does tend to eat more when she’s angry. Probably pissed about all those failed interviews too.” When Kagami returned, once again with a fully laden plate, Konata wasn’t sure if she should be impressed or horrified.

“Don’t do it Kagami. You’ll explode if you try!”

“Don’t be so overdramatic,” Kagami grumbled, her cheeks warming to a bright pink. “I know I might be overdoing it a little but all I know is that I’m hungry and as long as you paid for an hour anyway, I might as well eat right?”

An uncomfortable silence hung between the two. For a moment, Kagami just stared into Konata’s eyes,but Kagami soon let the subject drop and settled down to eat, forking cake after cake into her mouth in quick succession. She had a time limit, only fifteen minutes before they had to leave and she needed to finish before then

Konata couldn’t stand the silence anymore. She needed to keep some conversation going or Kagami’s mood would continue to sour.

“Uh, oh yeah, Dad did something that annoyed me today. I had to plan a big dinner this evening because Yu-chan is bringing Minami-chan over for dinner. Get this, just as I was leaving work, he called and said he was going to have to skip out on dinner at home because of some event across the city. So now I got more food than we can eat and I was hoping to use up some meat I had stored up for just such an occasion. I don’t want to leave it much longer because it’ll be expired soon.”

“Wow *ulp* that is really annoying.” Kagami was starting to look full now. She was acting like she had to shove the cake in just to get it to go down into her stomach. Konata could only imagine how full she was after eating three times as much cake as normal. “I guess you’ll just have to eat as much as you can and hope there isn’t too much left over.”

Konata sighed. “Problem is that last time this happened Yu-chan felt really guilty so she tried to cram as much food into that tiny tummy of hers as she could. She ended up sick with a tummy ache for the whole weekend.”

Kagami shook her head. “That girl; she’s too considerate sometimes.” She covered her mouth, perhaps to stifle a burp, and then continued eating. Half of her plate was gone and there was nine minutes to go. Konata thought it best not to comment on that and continued the conversation thread.

“Yeah, she can be troublesome at times but she’s a good kid, like a little sister. Knowing Minami, she’ll probably try to do the same and then I’ll have two sick tummies to look after.” She huffed and crossed her arms. “I’m so irritated with Dad right now. He does this kind of thing all the time, so impulsive and nonchalant. It’s normally not a problem since I usually get groceries for dinner on the way hope but tonight I was trying to take care of stuff I already have that’s about to expire.”

Kagami swallowed another bite, gasping lightly for breath. “Okay, so what were you planning on making?”

“Beef stew, emphasis on the beef. I was going to use other stuff to fill the stew with too, makie it nice and thick and filling. Trust me, it would be a meal of champions.”

“And too much for three girls to eat on their own, right?”

“Yeah. We tend to have get togethers pretty often so it wasn’t a problem having so much stock in the fridge but ever since we graduated we haven’t been doing much. You, me, and Tsukasa decided to take a year to work so that we would have spending money for college. We’ve all been doing that so adide from Yu-chan’s friends, nobody’s been coming over and they’ve been really busy too lately.”

“Yeah, I guess it has been a while,” Kagami admitted. She had a quarter of the plate left to go and six minutes remaining.

‘C’mon Kagami, don’t stop now,’ Konata pleaded silently.

“I have missed it but there just hasn’t been enough time.” Kagami shook her head. “Unfortunately, it feels like we’re growing further apart. Tsukasa’s busy working at the daycare, the only one of us to have gotten a steady, full-time job.”

“Nobody thought that would happen,” Konata chuckled. “Seriously, we lost to Tsukasa of all people.” Even Kagami had to laugh a little at that.

“Yeah, I guess he found her calling first. Turns out she likes kids. Only fair I guess; she acts like one of them.”

“So do you sometimes Kagamin. Look at you, stuffing your face with thousands of sweet decadent calories. Is that what a responsible adult would do?”

Kagami’s face darkened. “I’m just making the most of it and you shouldn’t complain since you already paid for it anyway. I’m making your money go as far as I can.” She gobbled up another cake. Four more to go, four more minutes.

“I’m just teasing ya’ Kagami. I’m actually really impressed with how much you’ve been able to eat. I think you might have even set a new record for this place.”

“The record for the biggest cake pig is not an accolade I want,” Kagami groubled sourly. Another cake went down her throat. Three to go, just over three and a half minutes left.

Konata knew she shouldn’t tease her, not when she was so close to finishing, but it had become like a reflex after knowing each other for so many years and having this kind of banter go on for all this time.

“Come on Kagami. You’re so close and you’ve barely anytime left. Scarf it down and don’t let them win.”

Kagami gritted her teeth. “Just who is ‘they’? Can’t you let me eat in peace?”

“Three minutes Kagamin!”

Kagami jolted a bit but soon refocused. Her fork stabbed and then shoved the next cake into her mouth. Konata had to admire that about Kagami. When she had a task in front of her to complete she was driven to accomplish it.

“Just one left and you’ll be a hero!”

“Don’t be so overdramatic!” That was the second time in less than an hour she had said that.

Kagami reached for the last cake, slowly letting her fork tongs sink into the soft spongy treat. Grunting, she brought it to her lips, parting them just enough to let the cake slide inside. A wince as it landed on ehr tongue and her teeth held it in place a she yanked the fork out. Her pink lips closed and the cake’s fate was sealed.

“One minute left! Hurry up and swallow.” Kagami scowled but didn’t try to say anything with her mouth full. She chewed and chewed and then finally, the anxiously awaited lump travelled down her throat and vanished.

“You did it!” Konata leapt from her chair and held one of Kagami’s arms up high. “Kagami Hiiragi, cake eating champion of the day!” Kagami’s face turned beet red as the other patrons stared, wondering what was going on.

“Stop that; you’re embarrassing me!”

Konata laughed and released her arm. “Alright alright but listen, you gotta’ get up now Kagami. They’ll kick us outta’ here any second.” She picked up both their plates. “I’ll return these and come back for you.”

Konata left and deposited the plates on a tray for washing and then came back. Kagami had both hands under the table, probably massaging her poor tummy. No doubt it was packed to capacity.

Grinning, the bluenette leaned over, next to Kagami. The purplenette had a slightly pained expression on her face but not as bad as Konata would have expected. “Finally full?”

“Stuffed,” Kagami replied, and then her face adopted a sheepish look. “But I’m…..”

Konata’s jaw slowly dropped. “You can’t. Impossible; there’s no way.”

“Yeah,” Kagami whispered. “I’m still hungry.”

Konata was beyond disbelief, beyond bewildered. She was so flabbergasted that she couldn’t even come up with any witty comment.

“Um, well, anyway, let’s get you outta’ here before they kick us out.” Konata bent downwards and took Kagami’s left arm, hauling her up to her feet. Kagami hissed gently through her teeth as she rose and Konata could finally see her stomach. It wasn’t merely a stomach anymore.

Kagami’s red button-up dress shirt was being pushed outwards from within, a small bulge displacing the fabric just enough to be noticable. A genuine tummy. Maybe it was stress and Kagami was so stressed out from failing to get a job that she couldn't’ feel full? She had heard of stress or other feelings increasing appetite, at least in anime and manga.

Kagami was able to walk on her own by the time they reached the doors. Upon going through them, the sweet smells of the cake shop were replaced by the acrid smells of the city.

Kagami had one hand on her tummy, the other covering her mouth. Konata couldn’t help but find it adorable somehow and she bet that bloated gut was not agreeing with the waistband of her skirt either.

“I have an idea,” Konata began. “Why don’t you join us for dinner?”

Kagami looked at her, her expression showing confusion and surprise. “Oh no, I couldn't. You’ve already treated me to cake today.”

“And now you can do me a favour by helping put as big a dent in this dinner as we can. You already said you’re still hungry and my place is closer than yours. After eating all that cake you probably don't’ wanna’ walk too far.”

Kagami’s eyes looked to the side as she thought. The corner of her lip moved slowly upwards and then she looked straight at Konata again. “Okay, I might as well. I’d call Tsukasa to help but she’ll be working late.”

Konata chuckled. “Your parents let sweet, innocent, little Tsukasa work so late?”

“Dad goes to pick her up in the car.”

Konata laughed hard. “Just like the kids she’s looking after. They probably think she’s just one of them, except bigger.”

Kagami couldn’t help but laugh too, albeit wincingly. “Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Konata concluded her laugh with a small chuckle. “Well let’s get going. I wanna’ get home before Yu-chan and Minami-chan show up. Don’t worry, if you’re still hungry after this meal, I think you’ll need to see a doctor.”

Kagami smiled in resignation. “I’m counting on you.”

Unknown to either Konata or Kagami, the cakes had indeed been laced with something. The common cakes that Kagami had eaten were laced with a minute amount of appetite enhancement. It was inserted with the intent that after eating the average amount of cake a typical customer consumed during their time at the cake shop, they would start to feel peckish again after leaving, making them more likely to visit one of the confectionary shops and stalls nearby, coincidentally, all owned by the same family conglomerate.

Kagami however, had well over a dozen times that amount of cake squished into her stomach, all of them lightly laced. Already, the appetite enhancer was being squeezed out of the cake as her digestive juices dissolved the cake and her stomach ground it up, pooling the appetite enhancer in the bottom of her stomach in a concentrated amount. From there, it entered the small intestine where it would then be delivered to Kagami’s bloodstream and fulfill its intended purpose, whether Kagami was ready for it or not.