The Princess of Pancakes

Hasu wore one of her more typical outfits on the day she took Darkside by storm. Dressed in grey baggy pants and a well-fitted red t-shirt, the young girl entered the establishment after having been impressed by its artful exterior. Two blue eyes darted about, Hasu scanning the establishment as she nervously walked toward the nearest hostess. Looking up from behind the counter, a dark clad woman smiled down at Hasumi and complimented her hair, asking her if it was natural or not. Hasu opened her mouth to speak but paused for a moment, a brief intrusive thought thundering through her mind and making her unsure if she wanted to laugh or feel revolted. Could her hair even be considered natural, could anything about her?

After a brief pause the short girl gave out a nervous chuckle and squeaked out an answer, informing the hostess that it was natural. Remembering how cheap she had felt returning the compliment when Michiko had mentioned Hasumi's hair, the girl informed the woman that her make up looked really nice and that she wished she knew how to do it in a similar manner. The hostess laughed, then asked Hasumi if she was eating alone or if she was going to be accompanied by her parents or any friends.

The young girl shook her head, saying she had decided to go to the restaurant alone on a whim. The hostess chuckled again, and then politely asked her if she had enough money to pay for a meal. It was a difficult situation for the woman to navigate, as she didn't want to hurt Hasumi's feelings or offend her, but Hasu was young and didn't look like she worked so there was some concern.

Hasu smiled nervously and pulled out a wallet from her pant pockets, the container practically bulging as it had been overstuffed. The young girl carefully opened the zipper just enough to show the woman that it was in fact money within the wallet without having the contents explode out of the container and throughout the restaurant. Satisfied, the hostess found Hasu a booth and seated her with a kind smile and sincere apology for asking about the money. Hasu continued to smile and told the woman it was fine, she understood the concern.

Not long after she was seated Hasu was greeted by a waitress dressed in a similar dark aesthetic, one that was starting to really make an impression on the young girl. The young woman gave Hasu a menu and quickly helped her identify some of the current favorites, giving her a couple of recommendations as well. The artificial girl found herself drawn toward an interesting promotion that the waitress didn't mention, however, and pointed at it asking if she could have that.

"The Pancake Challenge? I'd hate for you to have to wash whipped cream out of your beautiful hair after your first visit here sweetie, maybe we could pick something else?"

"Thanks, but I'd like to give it a try if that's alright. Even if I fail, the pancakes I do manage to eat are free?"

"I think so? If you really aren't that worried about it then I'll start bringing them out after I get this other table. Good luck."

The young girl didn't have to wait long before her first serving of pancakes was brought to her, a stack of 4 that was still steaming as the plate was set in front of Hasumi. Without thinking Hasu began to dig in, using her fork and knife to tear at the stack of pancakes and devour it as quickly as possible. Somehow these things tasted more delicious than the meal she'd had when she first met Michiko! The artificial girl nearly stopped eating in astonishment as the sweet flavor exploded on her taste buds but she persisted, some part of her consciously aware that if she allowed the food she ate time to settle then she would feel full.

As she finished the first plate she looked for her waitress, signaling that she was ready for more. As she came to take the first plate away the waitress noticed the untouched maple syrup and butter that had been provided and chuckled a bit, "You know that's an interesting strategy, I don't know if leaving the butter and maple syrup out really helps though."

As the woman left Hasu glanced over at the maple syrup and butter for the first time, suddenly realizing they were even there. Her brow furrowed slightly as she looked at them, these were supposed to be used on the pancakes to enhance their taste? When the next 6 pancakes were brought over Hasu elected to use the butter and syrup this time, though she ended up absolutely drenching her pancakes and causing the syrup to spill off the plate as she frantically tried to clean it up.

After cleaning up the mess the girl quickly began to work on the pancakes, tearing through them without any finesse as she ravenously consumed each one. Some of the other patrons looked over at the girl with curious looks, wondering how she was managing to eat all of that food at once without getting sick. Truthfully, Hasu really started to feel terrible as she finished the last one. Her diet hadn't exactly been great since her creation and she just ate a bunch of sweet food for the first time, leaving her feeling slightly nauseous and gross as she leaned back against the booth she sat in and grabbed her aching belly.

"Holy shit, you actually pulled it off. Wait here, I'm going to get a camera and your prize money!"

In the end Hasu ended up getting double the prize money, it seemed she was the first person to complete the challenge. The waitress and hostess got into the booth with Hasu, sitting on either side of her, and did a funny pose with her as they had another waitress take a picture. The women told Hasu that they would frame the picture once it was developed and that they hoped she would come back soon to see it! Waving goodbye Hasu left the building and headed toward Junko's home, where she was likely gonna go into a food coma.

[EXIT]

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