Hana sat at the table sipping a thick green tea from a blue speckled gray bowl. Across from her, Touma popped a roasted soybean into his mouth with a ostentatious flourish.
“I’m stuffed!” Touma announced suddenly, falling back onto the floor, his arms sprawling awkwardly.
“Stop it,” Hana giggled, choking on her tea. “You’re so dramatic!”
“I can’t help it, I ate so much!” Touma sighed, rubbing his belly. “I didn’t know food could taste so good.”
“It was wonderful,” Hana agreed, placing the mottled bowl on the table. “But I hope you aren’t too full. We haven’t had dessert yet.”
“Ah!” Touma exclaimed, propping himself up on one elbow. “I almost forgot about dessert, I was so focused on the meal.”
“Well, sit up!” Hana admonished him. “You can’t eat dessert laying on the floor.”
Touma rolled up to his knees in front of the table. “It was quite a feast!” they said in unison.
Immediately, a child-sized android entered the room and silently removed their plates while another small android cheerfully cleaned the low table. When the table was cleared, a third android placed a palm-sized off-white porcelain dessert plate on the table. On the plate, there were two delicate fortune cookies.
“Thank you for this food,” Touma said hungrily, leaving over the table.
“Thank you for this food,” Hana agreed, her hands folded in her lap.
“They make the best fortune cookies here,” Touma said excitedly, reaching across the table for a cookie.
“They really do,” Hana agreed. “I always make sure not to overeat so that when the fortune cookies come, I’ll still be a little hungry. This way, I’ll really be able to savor the flavor.”
“Not me,” Touma laughed, “I eat and eat. No matter how much I eat, I’ll still have room for one of these.” He held the fortune cookie to his face, breathing in the cookie’s intoxicating sesame scent.
“I don’t know how you stay so thin,” Hana chided him. “Someday, you’re going to be so fat that they’ll have to roll you down the street.”
“Maybe,” Touma shrugged, “but for now, I can make my way down the street by myself.”
“For now,” Hana said skeptically. She grabbed the other cookie and examined it. “These really are beautiful. They’re almost too beautiful to eat.”
“Nothing is too beautiful to eat,” Touma laughed, gently cracking open his fortune cookie. Inside, there was a tiny person, about as big as the end of his little finger. The person yawned and stretched languidly. Its long black hair wrapped around its slender, pale body. It looked up at Touma curiously.
“Oh, how cute!” Hana said, looking at oracle in Touma’s cookie. She broke her own fortune cookie in half and let out an excited gasp. “Oh, Touma!” she whispered excitedly, “Look! Look!” She held her hands out so that Touma could see the tiny, golden haired oracle inside her cookie. “It’s beautiful!” Hana smiled.
“It’s nice,” Touma shrugged, tossing his fortune cookie, and the oracle inside it, into his mouth. He chewed noisily, his teeth chomping into the dessert with a jarring crunch. When he was done, he shot Hana a skeptical glance. “Are you going to eat that?”
“Oh, I never eat the oracles,” Hana said, tenderly removing the fortune cookie pieces from around the oracle and eating them one at a time.
“You’re so weird,” Touma sighed. “What do you do with them?”
“I collect them,” Hana said. “You know, it’s not weird. It’s actually really fun, and a lot of people do it. I’m part of a club.”
“It’s weird,” Touma said flatly.
“No it’s not,” Hana said. “And anyway, they’re so cute. I don’t like to eat them.” She put her little finger next to the oracle. It climbed over her finger and then walked onto her palm. “They’re really quite nice, if you play with them every day. And this type is really rare. You hardly see them with hair like this.” She held the oracle out for Touma to see.
“Yeah, I know. They’re supposed to be the most delicious. Let me eat it! It’s a waste not to.”
“No!” Hana said, pulling her hand back.
“How do you even care for them? You probably keep them all cooped up in a mason jar under your bed. It’s cruel! Let me eat it, it’s the humane thing to do.”
Hana looked at the oracle in her palm tenderly. The oracle was completely oblivious to the debate over its fate.
“I have an aquarium,” Hana protested. “It’s not cruel. I feed them rice and sweets. That’s their favorite food.”
“An aquarium?” Touma scoffed. “How many do you have?”
“I have seven,” Hana boasted. “This will be number eight! My lucky little number eight,” she cooed to the oracle. “They really are so cute,” Hana said warmly. “You should see, they all have their own little personality, but they aren’t like us. They never fight or complain. They’re so sweet.”
“Yeah, they’re sweet to eat,” Touma grunted. “Anyway, if you’re not going to let me eat that lucky oracle, then let’s get out of here. I hate to just sit around after a big meal. It settles in my belly and makes me fall asleep.”
“Okay,” Hana said, dropping the oracle into a small pocket on her blouse.
