Standing at the front of the cubic structure, Rohan, Dana, and Ekitai wait patiently for Ekitai’s supposed old friend whom he so desperately desired to meet, inviting both Rohan and Dana to which Dana agreed for the both of them against Rohan’s own wishes. With the day already drawing towards its resolution, such procrastinative activity irritates Rohan, yet ultimately he was given no choice, and has to suffer through horrific torture: social interaction.

Alas after an awkward absence of response from the entrance, a rectangular piece of the wall combusts into a cloud, a piece the size of a door similar to the one in the bar. As the cloud dissipates, a figure appears in the doorway, stepping forth while leaning forwards.

As it does, a soft female voice with a Japanese accent speaks, with a youthful charisma empowered by a gleeful tone, “Ooh, what’s this?”

Leaning out of the doorway, the figure reveals to be a woman with a short stature of about five feet and two inches tall. She has light fair skin and vibrant pink eyes, with light pink eyebrows and long hair with unkempt bangs and divergent strands.

She wears an oversized hoodie that drops down to her legs with the lower half up to the top of her abdomen being a hot pink with vertical lines, reminiscent of a circular wrapper. The rest of her hoodie including the hood is white like icing, with scattered graphics of cartoonish sprinkles on a cupcake, colored green, blue, purple, or pink.

Below is worn white knee socks over white shoes with black stripes and pink tips. Overall however, she has an immensely casual attire, compared to the formal blazer and jackets of the other three.

The woman’s pink eyes gaze at the other two beside Ekitai with an expression containing exaggerated wonder, as while she seems to be a young adult, she has the expressions of a youth.

She speaks again eccentrically, “Ekitai, do you have friends?”

Ekitai lets out a nervous chuckle as Rohan closes his mouth, resigning from the attempted debate, and as Ekitai scratches the back of his head he retorts, “You didn’t need to say it so harshly.”

The woman smiles wide enough that her eyes close innocently, and she responds lightly, “Oh heh, I guess that does sound bad, I’m so sorry!”

She then opens her eyes, and straightens her posture before raising her hand towards Dana, which protrudes from the oversized sleeve that droops down. She introduces, “Hey hey, my name’s Kokei, who may you be?”

Dana smiles widely, appreciating the kind attitude, as she brings her own hand forth to exchange a handshake. As she shakes the woman’s hand, she answers, “My name’s Dana, it’s a pleasure to meet you Kokei!”

“Thank you, you too!” Kokei responds before retracting her hand. She then turns her attention to Rohan, and extends her hand to him the same way she did to Dana, also offering her greetings: “And hey, what may your name be?”

However, rather than innocently interacting with an exchange of hands, Rohan simply stands in silence, his hands still sunk into his pockets as he stares with wide blue eyes at Kokei. His cold expression is rather menacing rather than friendly, and his body stands stiffly.

Kokei tilts her head in perplexion to Rohan’s refusal, her arm extended out with her hand residing in front of Rohan, awaiting his response awkwardly. She lets out a soft giggle, and reiterates, “Uh, hey, who uh, are you?”

Rohan doesn’t move however, for he stands his ground, his hands not budging and his glare not calming. The wind continues to carry his white locks as he stares down on Kokei intensely, his blue eyes staring into her soul, as Kokei’s widened pink eyes stare back, silence raining on the two of them.

Both Ekitai and Dana lean forwards and stare intensely at Rohan, their eyes wide open in perplexity to the unconventional greeting.

Dana chuckles nervously as she returns her attention to Kokei, and she explains with an innocent lightness, “Sorry, his name is Rohan, he’s a bit…shy. Don’t worry, he’s really nice!”

Kokei slowly retracts her arm in defeat as she softly acknowledges, “Okay…well hello Rohan…, pleased to meet you~!”

She then steps back and submerges back into the building, returning to her cheery mood after the awkward introduction as she announces, “Come in come in! A friend of Ekitai is a friend of mine! Make yourselves comfortable!!”

Ekitai smiles and enters through the doorway first, excited for this reunion. For a moment, Dana and Rohan are left outside in the intensely cyan outdoors, where Dana turns to face Rohan, leaning towards him.

“Come on, at least try to be friendly, she seems really nice! Who knows, maybe you’ll make two friends!” Dana smiles, attempting to lighten Rohan’s intense mood. She grabs Rohan’s wrist before entering the building too, dragging Rohan in with her like a mother trying to drag their apprehensive child into a relative’s house. Once they walk in, a silver nanite cloud reappears over the opening, and hardens to cover the entrance and enclose the cube.

The interior of the building is immensely spacious, with a lack of monumental walls that enclose spaces, for it seemed nearly the entire area is visible even from the entrance. Although, there is a wide square wooden platform that hovers above the surface, looming at half the height of the cube, acting as a lower ceiling albeit not as wide as the house’s base, leaving ample space along the slides so as to not entirely entrap the upper region.

Above the platform seems to be a central splitting hallway lit yellow from the rows of fully enclosed rooms with wooden outer walls beside the hall. The walls reach to the peak of the whole interior– the true ceiling–, although the width of the rooms do not extend to the platform’s edges, but rather leaves a space wide enough to use as a safe path. The four enter through a resting area that seems to take the front half of the interior, with a floor that appears to be made of dark wood, and light pink fur rugs that act as carpets.

On the right side of the entrance is a lounge-esc region that has several cushioned white sofas that hover low to the ground, made of a leather-like material, nearly boxing in a hovering rectangular table. Behind the sofas are an array of tall pink flowers similar to a Snapdragon, seeming to be protruding from white vases on the floor. In the farther distance on the right side are other sofas, albeit lined up beside each other linearly with faint curves on the ends, facing a long white table.

Against the left corner is a small hovering personal sofa of pink leather hovering low to the ground, with a little circular table top beside, and a hovering sphere that emanates yellow light beside and above the sofa. The petite region seems like a suitable reading corner, the thickly cushioned seat facing the left wall.

On the left side also seems to be a square of sofas, albeit far larger, and without a central table. The white sofas act as walls of a compact room, and past it is a long white table with more pink flowers in white vases as well as a pile of commodities too small from such distance to make clear of.

Far on the left side seems to be a long rectangular hovering table top seemingly composed of wood surrounded by six hovering seats with white leather cushions, three on each side. Above the table is a floating silver chandelier emanating an intense yellow glow, enough to engulf the table and surrounding radius.

In the center of the house is what appears to be the most defined ‘room’ on the first floor, a square shaped region with white tiled floors and white tabletops creating the border albeit for openings on each side.

Above the tabletops are rows of white cabinets that further add boundaries that wrap around the room, although through the opening between which is multiple feet in height, there seems to be other white machines such as a tall rectangular box similar to a refrigerator beside a long table with a black top.

The room, which is most likely a kitchen, sits between the wooden table on the left side and the row of sofas on the right side, while also acting as a blockade for the back of the house. In fact, the kitchen seems to act as the main source of internal enclosure, as the far right and left sides are slimmer, functioning as their own defined rooms even without distinct hallways to separate them, with the long tables on each side acting as short walls.

Beyond the distant wooden table and table past the sofas seems to be an open area with rows of white tables along the walls, with other furniture seeming to be behind the kitchen.

As Kokei leads the three towards the left side of the house, the soft yellow light that emanates from the walls seems overpowered by intense cyan light projecting from the left wall, as it seems the entire left wall is clear, bringing a view of the colossal city, with the supersun’s sunset visible behind several silver towers.

Ekitai stays beside Kokei while Dana lets go of Rohan’s hand, which lingers as his eyes wander around the house in silence. Dana however speaks up, exclaiming “Woah, this is stunning, this is your home?”

Kokei boasts proudly, “Isn’t it? My little heaven, it’s a bit larger than what I need since I live alone but hey, I guess the more the merrier right?”

Dana chuckles, agreeing “Yeah, more room to run around without anyone to judge you!”

Kokei leads the three guests to the wooden table, her hands by her side before she turns around to face the three, offering “Here, get comfortable, let me go get something real quick!”

Before any of them could respond, she races off through one of the side entrances into the kitchen room, leaving Dana, Ekitai, and Rohan to choose their seats, with Dana and Rohan sitting on the side facing the enormous window, Dana in the center and Rohan on the side closest to the entrance. Ekitai takes the seat opposite from Rohan, and the three wait patiently in silence.

Rohan’s eyes wander around, glancing at the hovering chandelier, waiting awkwardly. Behind him, he can hear the sound of the host grunting as well as the opening and closing whooshes of doors. He keeps his arms to his side while Rohan has his elbows resting on the wooden table, which up close, has a natural design as though it was genuine tree bark unprocessed.

Suddenly, a loud banging sound rings behind Rohan and Dana, as Kokei audibly bellows, “AH MY HEAD!!”

Dana leans back and slightly turns her head, yelling concernedly, “Are you alright there?”

Silence proceeds for a few moments before an assuring shout, “Yeah, sorry, I’m alright!”

Giggling awkwardly from such informalities before facing Rohan, Dana observes, “What an interesting girl.”

Alas, Kokei returns through the kitchen opening, and in her hands is a large metal pan which sizzles softly, denoting intense heat, albeit insufficient to affect her as she holds it firmly without noticeable anguish. On that pan is a substantial batch of light cupcakes with pink wrappers, with rows of them having pink icing and others having white icing.

Each of the cupcakes also has a topper, with some having small brown books with a variety of closed and open ones with exposed white pages, and others have toppers of single papers and pens. The toppers seem highly detailed, and the icing is applied with perfect precision, nearly appearing fake due to their surreal form.

Ekitai raises his head as his yellow eyes light up in joy, “You did make them!”

Kokei giggles softly, “Yes I did, I mean I was planning on binging a season or two of Parfait Friends so I made extra to have with it, but I guess now I have enough for everyone!”

Dana raises her head and watches as Kokei carefully places the pan in the center of the table in front of everyone before then seating beside Ekitai. Dana smiles at Kokei right in front of her before suggesting, “I’m fine not having any, besides I’m guessing Ekitai didn’t tell you ahead of time that there’d be more~.”

Kokei giggles and shakes her head, interjecting “No no please, eat up, I’m overjoyed Ekitai brought you two, and besides I can always make more, I’ve done it so much that it’s like breathing for me!”

Dana nods her head and reaches out to the pan after Ekitai swiftly grabs one, taking one for herself and twirling it in her hand, examining it for a few seconds as she’s encapsulated by its stellar design.

“Woah, this looks great, did you have this automated?”

Kokei shakes her head, answering “Nope, all by hand!”

Dana’s eyes move to Kokei as they widen in astonishment, inquiring, “Really?”

Kokei giggles, stating, “They’re not sculptures, come on, try them! I can always make more too, or do you want to take a picture?”

Dana shakes her head, retorting “No no it’s fine,” before bringing the cupcake to her opening mouth. She takes a large bite of the cupcake, devouring a substantial portion before her green eyes immediately illuminate and widen.

“This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten!” she exclaims joyfully before continuing to take more bites, seeming instantly enamored.

Kokei giggles in pride to see the guest loving the food, to which she turns to the other guest, who seems to stay resigned to his seat, not taking any of the cupcakes for himself. She tilts her head before kindly urging, “You can have some too, there’s enough for everyone!”

Rohan’s eyes widen again upon being spoken to, and he immediately lowers his head instinctually, shattering eye contact. As his blue eyes stare at the floor beneath him, he softly declines, “I’m okay, I uhm…ate before coming here anyways.”

Kokei smiles softly before denoting, “This isn’t a meal, it won’t fill you too much! Come on, at least try one?”

“So Kokei, how long have you known Ekitai?” inquires Dana ponderously, noticing the commotion.

Alleviating Rohan of her attention, Kokei turns to Dana before humming for a few moments in contemplation, lifting her head as she seems to be deeply introspective, her pink eyes faintly closing as she searches for a response.

Her eyes widen upon revelation, and she returns her gaze to Dana before answering, “Actually, me and Ekitai go way back, I met him not too long after grade school!”

Humming inquisitively, Dana prods, “Did you meet him in college?”

Chuckling nervously, Kokei softly bushes while admitting, “Well…hmm…no, I didn’t meet him from school, but then again I sort of took some time before going to college.”

Dana can’t help but to chuckle back from the glaring shame in Kokei’s expression, offering assurance: “Ah well that’s alright, I actually dropped out, but hey in the end it seems we both ended pretty well!”

Ekitai turns to Kokei and snickers before observing, “Heh, see, college is a scam! While you’ve been paying student loans for eternity, I’ve been free without anything holding me back!”

Pouting, Kokei sharply turns to Ekitai before lecturing, “Huh? No no, bad, I got a good job and hey I’m able to afford this place! Besides, have you even gotten one stable job yet?”

Now on the defensive, Ekitai chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his head as he sheepishly admits, “I mean…I worked as a waiter before…but I got fired for getting into a fight with some customers. But in my defense, nothing is more annoying than people who say they’re ready to take their order, and then actually have zero idea what they want and just spend forever trying to decide while I’m just standing there wasting time! They don’t pay me to stand around, you know?”

Huffing with heavy disappointment, Kokei corrects, “Yes they do Ekitai, it’s called an hourly wage, it doesn’t matter how fast you get their orders. Baka, you need to start acting serious about these things or you’re never going to get far here.”

Still rebellious to the genuine advice, Ekitai scoffs and leans back against the chair which tilts in a manner simulative of being rocked, retorting, “Hey, I’m living my best life, don’t worry about me! You can keep your office job, but I like traveling around, and hey I made these friends so that’s something, isn’t it?”

Kokei sighs softly, lowering her head in defeat before admitting, “I guess, I’m proud of you for doing at least that.”

Tilting her head after analyzing the banter, Dana can’t help but to implore curiously, “Wait hey, what are you doing to pay your rent, Kokei?”

Kokei raises and turns her head to Dana before smiling softly and proudly declaring, “I work at Nuclei actually! I’m a programmer but I also manage a group of people, it’s fun!”

Dana’s jaw drops in amazement before complimenting, “Woah nice, programmer!” Dana turns to Rohan before reiterating, “Hey Roh, she’s also a programmer, isn’t that cool?” She then immediately returns her eyes to Kokei, continuing, “And nice, manager, big boss, you get it!”

The sudden praise triggers a giggle from Kokei before she thanks, “You’re too nice! Well what about you, I mean you dress up all fancy, you don’t look like a redistributor!”

Dana chuckles and shakes her head, responding, “Thanks, and no I’m not, although I used to be basically worse. But no, anyways, actually I’m the head honcho of X-Prints!”

Kokei’s eyes explode wide open in total disbelief, moving the cupcake in her head away from her mouth as she’s been struck by such a monumental revelation that left her speechless. Her jaw drops in silence, before the flood finally breaks through the dam, “NO WAY, REALLY? X-PRINTS? YOU’RE RUNNING IT? HOW COULD I NOT HAVE KNOWN???”

Dana chuckles in amusement, calmly explaining, “Well, I mean with all everything running around here so close together, I don’t blame you, honestly it’s too much to keep track of. But yeah I am, I know, a real, breathing human being made of flesh and bone as a CEO. Crazy, isn’t it?”

Kokei giggles before leaning forwards, still awestruck, “I mean yeah heh I guess, I just never thought I’d meet someone like you! That’s amazing, I buy like…everything from you!”

Dana lets out a chuckle, “Well, I just tell a bunch of people what to do, but thanks! Who knows, maybe when I die I’ll have an A.I clone of me around to run things.”

Leaning forwards, Dana speaks quieter, cupping her mouth like she’s passing on a secret, “You know, technically it’s illegal for a business to be run by a nonhuman, but I can assure you a bunch of those flashy guys in blue suits are just there to look pretty while everything is fed from a ghost robot in the shadows. Most laws on businesses aren’t actually followed, it’s sort of what businesses do best. Don’t tell anyone this, but this isn’t my real form, I’m actually a lizard!”

Kokei’s eyes widen again in shock, her jaw dropping once again before uttering in paralyzing shock, “Matte, hontōni? For real??”

Dana suddenly bursts out in laughter, leaning back and rocking in her chair in overwhelming amusement. Immediately upon the reaction, Kokei’s cheeks redden profusely, and she pouts with a lowered head, recalling her bizarre words in embarrassment.

Joining Dana, Ekitai begins laughing profusely as well, finding great humor from the fault of Kokei, laughing loudly as the two laugh together, only further reddening Kokei.

Rohan lets out a soft huff from hearing the discourse beside him, while still abstaining from speaking himself or indulging in the offered desserts.

Dana continues to laugh loudly, finding no end of amusement from the trick, confessing, “I didn’t think you’d actually buy that; that’s amazing, I’m so sorry but that’s amazing!! God imagine if that were the case! Oh I’m going to need a minute!”

Ekitai adds in between cackles, “Kokei, you never cease to amaze me, you poor thing!”

While Dana continues to entertain herself with the recent conversation, a soft ring plays from towards the entrance, the house system alerting to a presence outside.

The ring immediately is recognized by Kokei, who’s head swivels to face the entrance, pushing backwards and standing up from her seat with an apprehensive expression. Rohan too turns to face the entrance, his eyes contracting steadily in concern, although he remains in his seat.

Kokei softly ponders out loud, “Huh, did I order something?” Turning back to Dana and Ekitai, who’s laughter has paused upon noticing the quick movement, Kokei declares, “I’m going to see what that’s about, I’ll be right back!”

With that, Kokei approaches the entrance, allowing Dana and Ekitai to resume their softened chuckles and giggles. As they continue, Rohan returns his gaze to the pan of cupcakes, gazing at the batch which, while reduced heavily, is still large enough for him to be able to take at least one. He hums in deep contemplation, for it appears this simple choice is difficult, his eyes glaring with tighter stares.

In the distance, the voice of Kokei speaks, although her words aren’t clear to Rohan. After she speaks, a deep male voice responds, his words also unclear, but it seems that she’s having a conversation.

Rohan’s right arm slowly begins to raise as his hand ascends above the table top, and he steadily moves his right hand towards the batch, reaching for one of the white cupcakes with his incredibly pale hand. His blue eyes slowly begin to widen as his arm begins shaking, yet he continues to persevere, bringing his hand closer and closer to the cupcake wrapped around nicely in the pink wrapper, with the open book topping.

The distant disclear conversation continues as Rohan’s open hand draws close to the white cupcake, and his wrinkly fingers start to curl around the body, about to grab it.

Suddenly, a great female shriek resonates throughout the house, met by a thunderous pow. Immediately, Dana and Ekitai silence, and along with Rohan, the three turn their heads towards the entrance. Seated on the table, the three of them witness Kokei’s body flying backwards from the entrance, deeper into the house.

Her arms are extended out, her light fingers with painted pink nails open and relaxed, as trailing her white covered body, floating liquid of crimson red follow, dancing in the air above seemingly projecting off her face.

Between the splashes of red, the three guests stare in horror, watching the host drift past their sightlines.

Dana’s green eyes are wide open with her jaw dropped, shaken in horror from the devastating view of the kind host in front of her.

Ekitai’s yellow eyes are too widened with his mouth wide open, petrified from the sudden sight of his old friend bloodied before him.

Rohan’s blue eyes are alert, his lips slightly parted, staggered from the unexpected image of the innocent victim soaring ahead of him.

On his pale face, his faint blue eyes, fully open, watch as his black pupils track her, carefully moving with her injured body.