French Cup: A Neighborhood Story

Chapter 105: -Gyeong-Wan- Give Me Pizza or Give Me Death

A rallying cry went up in the air as I appeared with five pizzas. Immediately, hands started opening the top box and I braced myself, so glad that I'm so strong. 

"Damn, if the hotel's giving us pizza that must mean we're winning!" Nikki laughed, taking a gooey slice of still hot pepperoni and instantly shoving it into his mouth. 

"How many rooms does the hotel have? We saw quite a few guests leaving with their bags," Miyuki chimed in, happily taking a slice of her own. 

I had a different thought on my mind. "Where is everyone using the bathroom? There's so many people here," I said. It was one of the reasons I'd come outside. With everyone in the hotel now lounging around and waiting, and with so few guests left, maybe it was time to open the hotel to everyone. We had bathrooms upon bathrooms they could use. 

"Oh, here and there," Nikki said cryptically with his mouth full.

"Eww, don't talk about that while we're eating. I don't even want to know," Miyuki made a fake gagging face. 

"HEY, THAT GUY'S HANDING OUT FOOD!" 

"Oh, shit," Nikki chuckled. "Here, put the boxes on top of the car. Hey, who's car is this?"

I just grinned and let him direct my hands towards the roof of it. "I don't know. Isn't the roof really dirty? How many people have stood up here?" Sure enough, there were so many different scuffing, dirty and wet prints up top. Nikki just shrugged. In the distance, the sound of "I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan started up, and a cheer rang through that section of the crowd. 

Nikki indicated to it. "Hey, you're missing it. There's a drag show going on over there."

I grabbed a slice of pizza, too, but it wasn't for me. "I want to see it, but... Where's Kazuya?"

"Around," Nikki said. "Literally walking around. He keeps trying to make sure everybody's okay. It's a noble job. Things can get out of hand, but we seem to have a good group. It honestly feels like Zombie Walk 2.0 out here, and I think that's what everybody really wanted. Isn't that great?" He wagged his fist toward the hotel, which seemed cold and heavy now. "You hear that?! You can't keep us down! We'll have fun no matter what!" His raising his voice made a few people give loud agreements towards the hotel, too.

Just at that moment, we got crowded around. People came from all sides, trying to get pizza. 

"Oh, shit. Miyuki, take what you need now!" Nikki let out a loud laugh. 

"I'm trying to! Hey!" Miyuki called out, suddenly away from us somewhere.

I left them, holding my piece of pizza tenderly and carefully. There'd be no way I'd drop it. This pizza was precious cargo. As I walked around, I found I didn't have to shove. People smiled at me and moved without my having to say anything. They were doing various things. I even saw some people crouched down against the brick wall of Ayane's record store gambling with dice. They were rowdy, having a good racket going on. With no police in sight, anything had to be fair game. It only made me smile more.

Towards Salem's Sister, I saw Colette and Julia outside. They were surrounded by people like them, dressed in goth clothes. Colette was making a speech, just like the snippet of one I'd heard earlier today. Everyone was seriously listening, and I wanted to also. However, I was on a mission.

"The only way that we can find peace is to keep fighting those who oppress us," she was saying. "We are different. Even from people in this crowd, we are different, however so the same. How do we find our sameness? What causes can we fight for, together? How can we help one another?"

I kept going, further down than I often went. I'd only been down here two or three times, when I'd first explored my new neighborhood. My neighborhood. Just those words caused me to feel more warm in this chill of January.