Hisao and the Chocolate Factory Ch 2: Signing in cherry ink

	“Come along, come along, single file everyone. Or don’t, I’m a candy maker not a cop.” Hisao said with a jovial air as he led the girls towards the factory doors. The group ignored the reporters shouting behind them as they went. Before them stood a set of red double doors that had a remarkable sheen to them. They seemed to open automatically as Hisao tapped his cane in front of them, at which point he stood to the side and allowed the group to pass.

	“After you.” He said to Shizune, who walked past briskly without even looking at him. Hisao looked affronted for a moment, but then straightened as recognition hit him. Hanako giggled.

	Rin walked past Hisao, looking towards the doors behind him. “Oh, not these. They’re coated because otherwise bugs and stuff will get all over them. Anything inside though, the factory is seal proofed.” Rin just shrugged, carrying on. It was then that Hanako realized that the doors looked like they were made out of hard candy.

	Emi stopped suddenly, nearly causing Lilly to walk right into her if Hanako hadn’t shot her hand around her friend. Her face formed one of confusion until Emi spoke. “How many different types of candy do you have in here anyways?”

	“We have every candy known to man. And several known only to monkeys.” Hisao said with a prevalent grin.

	He waved Emi forwards as she grumbled. “I hope they’re not banana flavored…”

	He nodded his head to Lilly as she stepped forwards. “Madam, welcome to the factory.”

	“My my, so formal.” Lilly said, holding a hand to her cheek.

	Hisao’s smile faded as he looked her over. “You haven’t brought your cane?” He asked, curiously.

	“No, unfortunately. I forgot it back in my room.” Lilly said, bowing her head slightly. “I only remembered on the… cow ride over.”

	“Well that won’t do at all. Hmmm, I might be able to think of something. For now, will you be alright?”

	“Oh yes.” Lilly said affirmatively. “I’ve navigated without it before by listening to people’s footsteps. I’m sure I’ll be able to navigate along with you through whatever hallways or viewing rooms, although I may not be able to partake in the viewing.” She said with a giggle. Hanako felt a bit bad for her friend, but only for a moment as Hisao continued.

	“Ummmm… You’ve never been to a candy factory, have you?” Hisao asked.

	“N-no?” Lilly replied, tilting her head.

	“Trust me,” he went on, “it’s a much more… ‘interactive experience’ than you might think. Now, if you’d like…” He said. Lilly let out a curious hum, but walked forwards anyways.

	‘Okay Hanako. You can do this. Just think of his note. He said he relied on you. All you need to do is talk to him.’

	“Oh hey Hanako.” He said. Immediately, before she could even manage to open her mouth, he looked past her. “Okay, Misha. I think they’ve gotten enough pictures of your good side.”

	Hanako whirled around to see Misha waving with both hands to all the reporters who were rapidly taking pictures. “Gotta go. Bye now! Buh-bye!” She said, and blew a kiss to the clamoring crowd. Hanako backed silently into the building without a word.

	Misha twirled around and happily hopped over to Hisao, throwing her arms around him and squeezing him. Hisao let out a surprised ‘oomph,’ but returned it enough by patting her back. She separated from him. “Thank you sooooo much for inviting us here, Hicchan!” She exclaimed, throwing her arms wide. “This is amaaazing!” She spun in a circle, looking like she was trying to take it all in.

	Hisao blushed. “It’s my pleasure. Really. Thank you for coming.”

	Misha skipped past him and he followed her in, the doors shutting behind them. Hanako felt her face burn as she stared at them. She wanted to be able to do that. She couldn’t even talk to him, and here Misha was throwing her arms around him. It took Hanako a moment force herself to calm. She then realized that the doors weren’t automatic doors, but seemed to be contorted by some sort of pulling device wrapped around… was that taffy?

	“Welcome to the Nakai factory!” Shouted two young voices. Hanako turned to see that the two teenage girls, Rai and Mikasa, had taken up station behind a receptionist desk. Hanako looked at the desk to discover that it, too, seemed to be made of hard candy, same as the doors, except this was purple.

	“Welcome indeed.” Hisao said, walking to the front of the group. Rai, if I’ve counted correctly, we have six guests. We’ll need six contracts for them.”

	“You got it, boss man!” Said the small girl, the two sisters sketching off a quick salute before ducking behind the desk. The sound of a power tool began. ‘Is that a drill?’

	“Contracts?” Lilly asked.

	“Ah, yes. As you might figure, we’ll be touring through many parts of the factory, and it wouldn’t do of our personal secrets to see the light of day. I mean, what would happen if our competitors were to find out how we made our cream so tasty, or if they found out about the Marshmallow Marsh?”

	The drill silenced and Hanako could swear that she could hear what sounded like a bank vault open, and the ground shook slightly as it thudded beneath them.

	“So,” Hisao continued, ignoring the new noise of a dog barking behind him “we require that our guests sign a contract saying they won’t reveal anything about the things they see, hear, touch, and especially about their tastes.”

	The sound of struggling came from behind the desk as Rai and Mikasa emerged, carry one gigantic packet of pages. The thing was thicker than any novel Hanako had ever read, heck it was bigger than most book series! It slammed down on the table with a satisfying thud, and it’s transporters breathed heavily.

	“Uh, Hisao? Slight issue. There’s only five contracts for the six guests.”

	“Don’t worry!” Misha called out. “Shicchan and I can sign together!” She signed as she spoke as she did so and Shizune seemed to get the message. She tried shooting Misha back a message, but Misha had already stepped forwards. She took a pen with a lollipop shaped top out of a nearby bowl as Mikasa heaved the pages back so that she may get to the final page, and wrote her name in the pen’s red ink. Rai bent down, picking up the next stack, and struggling by the look of her.

	Misha turned, handing the pen to Shizune. As Shizune reached for it, Misha pulled back, ‘ooo’ing at the pen top. “Is this…?” she asked looking over to Hisao.

	“It sure is.” Hisao said with a knowing nod. A thud in the background as Rai dropped the second packet on the desk, and went back for the third.

	Misha licked the topper. Her eyes lit up. “Mmm! It’s a sucker!” She ripped the topper off with a flourish and handed the pen to Shizune. Shizune snapped her fingers to try and get her friend’s attention, but Misha was already skipping to the side as Hisao guided her with his arm.

	Shizune stamped her foot angrily and stalked forwards to Mikasa. She scrawled her name and slammed the pen down on the desk… which was then subsequently crushed as Rai dropped the third packet right on top of it. Shizune shot the panting teenager a glare and then stomped off towards Hisao and Misha.

	“Woof. Temper tantrum~” Emi said in a sing song voice looking after Shizune. She stepped forwards and withdrew another pen from the jar, this one having a sort of green ink. She quickly signed her name as Mikasa heaved the pages back, then walked off to join the crowd, putting the top back on her green pen.

	Neither Mikasa nor Rai made any move to halt the red ink that was pooling beneath the third packet. Then again, they seemed to have enough to do right now.

	After Emi left, Lilly approached the desk. Hanako watched as she did, slowly leading with her foot, careful to not walk into the desk. She found it quickly enough, surprising Hanako. She felt around for her packet, but didn’t need much help as the thud from Mikasa flipping the pages over drew her attention. She stuck her hand right into the red ink. “Oh no…” she said, holding it up. The palm of her hand and all of her fingers were coated in a red resin of the wet ink. Hanako could also see that it was absorbing into the paper. Rai dropped the fourth packet onto the desk and stretched her back. “Can one of you help me find a pen?” Lilly asked. Rai grunted. She stretched sort of like a cat, Hanako noticed. She reached out to the bowl and grabbed a pen, placing it on the paper in front of Lilly and indicated where she should sign. Lilly did as she was instructed, then looked stood up straight as she placed the pen back onto the counter where it promptly rolled off and onto the floor. “Do you have any sort of towel? I’d hate to stain my outfit…” she said, raising up her red hand.

	“Oh, don’t worry, that’s edible ink. Won’t stain nothing, and you can lick it right off.” Mikasa said.

	Hesitantly, Lilly brought her hand up to her nose. She sniffed it, and, after a moment, licked her palm. “Oh, is this cherry?” She said, seemingly to herself.

	“Over here Lilly, I have something for you.” Hisao called.

	She walked off towards the sound of his voice, gently licking her own hand clean.

	“Next?” Mikasa called, prompting Hanako to jump. She hurried forwards as Rai slammed the fifth and final packet down, falling backwards. As Hanako approached, she saw that Rai was laying down on what looked like pillows made of some sort of gummy candy next to what looked to be a metal hole in the ground.

	“Is that comfortable?” Hanako wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer.

	“You have no idea.” Rai said with a content sigh.

	Hanako took a purple pen and signed her name on the line indicated by Mikasa. The taller younger girl smiled at her pleasantly as she did, which for some reason did not exactly make Hanako feel better. Carefully, she topped the pen, and took it along with her as she stepped off to the side. She licked, and was comforted by the grape flavoring. She made to follow the others before freezing as she noticed something. Rin stood last in line, with a bit of a scowl on her face in silent contemplation.

	‘She can’t sign her name.’ Hanako thought to herself. ‘How is she supposed to sign anything without arms?’

	Aloud, she spoke. “R-rin?”

	Rin shook her head, apparently having been spaced out. “Oh. Hello.”

	“H-hi…” Hanako felt really nervous. She knew Rin Tezuka because of a special reason… She was one of the ones who stared. She hated those looks, those stares, but she noticed something in Rin’s eyes now as she looked at her. Her face held no pity, no disgust, just… analytical?

	“Can I help you?” Rin asked Hanako.

	“Uh… I was… wondering i-if you’dlikesomehelp.” Hanako said, forcefully making an effort to push out the last few words. She held her hand up to cover her right side as she winced, as if stricken, shutting her eyes.

	“Okay.” Rin said.

	Hanako opened her eyes to see Rin had raised her leg up towards her. The girl was flexible, holding it up to near Hanako’s chest. “I need my shoe off, please.” Rin said calmly.

	“W-why do you…” Hanako began, but gave up halfway through. It was better to do as instructed, she knew. She reached out and easily slipped off Rin’s brown shoe. The girl wasn’t wearing socks. Balanced on one leg, she stretched her foot out, sighing.

	“Thanks.” She said, dipping her head. On one foot she hopped to the desk, deftly pulled a pink pen from the bowl, and signed her name on the dotted line Mikasa indicated. She then dropped her pen on the table, but Hanako walked up and capped it for her.

	“H-here.” She said, holding it out to Rin. Rin looked at her curiously, but took the pen in her mouth, and nodded as she sucked on it. Together, the two girls walked towards the group, with Hanako mentally cheering herself on, and she managed a small, soft, smile.

	Hisao looked up as the two remaining girls joined the group. “Has you two signed your contracts?”

	“Yes.” Hanako said and Rin mumbled around her sucker. Hanako giggled, looking to Rin, but she didn’t seem to get what was funny and just kept looking ahead.

	“Good, great, grand, wonderful! On we shall go!” He turned, looking to another part of the group. “Lilly, feel free to let me know if that works for you.”

	“I will.” Came her reply. “Thank you, Hisao.” Hanako had to look around the other girls to see that Lilly now seemed to possess a giant candy cane. As Hisao led them through a door, Lilly lagged slightly behind and Hanako approached her.

	“Hello Hanako.” Lilly said. “See what Hisao has given me?” She asked, looking extremely pleased. “It’s a bit heavier than my own, but I should be able to navigate much easier now.”

	“That’s… nice…” Hanako replied. Inside, Hanako felt her levity at helping Rin fall. She was jealous. She felt bad about feeling jealous. She felt a mix of emotions about that. It was a very kind thing for Hisao to do, but that inner part of her just wished it was her receiving such a gift… even if part of her knew it didn’t make sense. Lilly needed a cane to get around. Hanako didn’t.

	“Shall we be along?” Lilly said, snapping Hanako out of her mental gymnastics.

	“Oh… yea. Okay.” Hanako said.

	Together, they followed the group, catching up as Hisao twirled about near the other side. The room they had entered seemed mostly white with back lights. Every few feet, there were holes in the ground and in the ceiling.

	“This, my dear friends, is the fumigation room.” Hisao said. “We take cleanliness very seriously here, and can’t allow for any bugs of any sort to be allowed inside the building. This room will make sure nothing enters that isn’t supposed to come in.”

	“Are these fumes harmful?” Emi asked.

	“Oh, no.” Hisao said, waving his hand. “Not to anything living.”

	“Wait, wha-”

	Hisao tapped his cane on the ground and instantly green gas began pouring through every hole with a prolonged hissing noise. Emi raised her hands to cover her mouth and nose as the gas rose through the room. There was a really weird noise, something Hanako had never heard before, and Shizune jumped and let out a sharp squawk of surprised pain. Lilly looked alarmed as Shizune dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out a cellphone, which sparked in her hand and made Shizune drop it. She quickly began furiously signing at Misha, who translated.

	“What the heck was that? Did that gas break my phone?” Misha asked.

	“See what I mean? We can’t allow any bugs into the factory. No microphones of any sort.”

	“Well what the… uh, heck!?” Misha said loudly, pausing a moment to hurriedly change a word. “Why didn’t you say that?”

	“Obviously you didn’t read your contract.” Hisao said, rolling his eyes. “No cellphones, microphones, abacuses, cameras, video tapes, or hour glasses are allowed in the factory.” Hisao said, ticking them off on his fingers. “All of that could lead to very compromising information.”

	“Hour glasses?” Rin asked. “Why hour glasses?”

	“Would you want your competition to find out that your ‘Hour-long poppers’ only took forty-nine minutes and thirty-four seconds to perfectly pop? There’d be outrage! Scandal! Some mild discomfort too! Most of what you’ll see or taste or hear or touch, my friends, is only for you to see or taste or hear or touch.” He said conspiratorially. The gas was sucked back into the holes.

	“Well I’m going to need a new phone.” Misha translated, her friend stamping her foot and scowling to try and make her point.

	“Oh, trust me, my friends. Upon exiting this factory, you will have something of infinite more value.” He bowed his head, tapping his cane and opening the inner door. The group followed behind him into a hallway that stretched on and on, with large metal doors at the end. On either side of the hallway, there were a variety of wooden doors.

	“Did you hear that, Shicchan? Infinitely more valuable! I hope it’s chocolate!” Misha said as she translated.

	“I hope it’s healthy…” Emi said. “Strike me as skeptical that a gift from a candy man might not be the best for you.”

	“But it could be the tastiest!” Misha said. They walked along behind Hisao, who was humming to himself.

	“I hope it’s chocolate” Misha said dreamily.

	“I hope it’s vanilla.” Lilly said, holding her hand to her face as she imagined.

	“I hope it’s a new phone? Shicchan, there’s so many cooler things! Don’t be so upset!” Misha said, translating.

	“Is it just me, or is this hallway really long?” Rin asked. They’d been walking along, but had seemed to make no progress towards the doors at the end of the hall.

	Emi giggled, punching her friend’s side. “Don’t be so silly. It’s a candy factory.”

	“Indeed it is.” Hisao said, looking around the doors. “But, a candy factory is the perfect place to be silly. Ah, is this…?”

	He stepped off to the side and opened a door with a large golden number one on it.

	“Huh?” Came a familiar voice from inside. “Hisao? What the hell are you wearing? Please don’t tell me that’s your work clothes…”

	“Is that Akira?” Lilly whispered over to Hanako.

	“My mistake, wrong door, sorry!” He closed the door as Hanko tried to look into it, and she could only catch glimpses of boxes.

	“If that’s what you two wear while having-” called the voice, her last words being cut off.

	“Sorry about that folks!” Hisao said, grinning to the crowd embarrassedly. “It gets confusing around her sometimes. Let me try another one.”

	He strode across the hall to a door with a golden number two on it. Opening it, the sudden bustle of noise flooded the room, and the smell of chicken.

	Rai came out of the door, stumbling along with her sister, but something was different about the two girls. Both of the girls seemed taller and better dressed. Rai carried a bucket of fried chicken, and Mikasa was carrying a large stuffed Pikachu. Her hair was a deep blue instead of the brown they’d just seen her with in the lobby.

	“Woah, what the?” Rai exclaimed, keeping from tripping over. She looked around at the group.

	“Huh, so you can cross that. That’s interesting.” Hisao said.

	“Your doll is so cute!” Misha exclaimed to Mikasa. Mikasa looked from her to it, and put a guarded expression on her face as she slowly moved it behind her.

	“Umm, what’s going on?” Rai said, looking very surprised as she looked from face to face.

	“Oh nothing, just another experiment apparently. I’ll need your report as soon as you can.” Hisao said, taking the girl and ushering her and her sister back towards the door. Rai’s eyes locked on a certain person.

	“Lilly?”

	“Here you go, a bonus for your troubles. Make sure to eat every bit!” Hisao said, tossing two candy bars that Hanako had never seen in after them and shutting the door. He walked to another door with a green glowing three on it, and then hesitated. “Ohohoh~, not this time.” He said, wagging a finger at it.

	“What are you doing?” Rin asked.

	“Shhh, Rin. Candy stuff.” Emi whispered, hushed.

	“Just trying to find the right…. Huh, you’re new?” Hisao asked, curiously approaching another wood door. A five, black a night, resonated. Hanako looked at that door and felt fear, real fear.

	“OH! There it is! It’s got a candy four, of course. Duh.” Hisao said, walking, finally, to the end of the hall and a set massive iron doors. They passed another door that had a red six that seemed to be made of scales and surrounded by a circle of fire, but Hanako had had enough of this hallway to not ask questions.

	Hisao approached the iron doors and spun to face his guests. On the door was a chocolate colored number four, decorated with dots of gummy candy. “Righto, sorry about that. Everyone having fun so far?”

	Hanako looked at all the girls, who all seemed to be doing the same except for Lilly. Lilly spoke up. “Well, it’s enjoyable… if confusing, I suppose.”

	“Ah, what is candy, my dear, but confusing? Right?”

	Lilly simply smiled in response, though Hanako could see it was forced.

	“Now this, my friends, is where the real tour begins.” He turned around and tapped his cane against the door, and the heavy doors swung open to reveal a sight which made the group gasp in wonder. Hanako had never seen anything like this except only in her dreams.

	Candy.

	Everywhere.

	An entire landscape of sugary goodness and sweets. Everything seemed to be made of the stuff. Trees that twirled with peppermint stripes, others with what looked to be gummy bears hanging off of them. Bushes that seemed to be made of sticks of colored sugar. Giant lollipops growing right from the ground. Eggs that Hanako was sure were filled to the brim with cream. Lamp posts that seemed to be made entirely of chocolate. And speaking of chocolate, an entire river flowed through the room that looked to be made of pure, rich, creamy chocolate. Pipes were sucking it right out of the river and crisscrossed the ceiling in a web of tubing, taking the stuff to whatever locations it might need to go.

	Hanako felt herself drool at how delicious the entire thing seemed to be.

	“Does it look nice, Hanako?” Lilly asked.

	“It looks wonderful, Lilly.” She replied, breathlessly.

	“Everything here, my friends, was made all for you. Enjoy it, go about it, take it all in. Even now, I need to as well. I’ve been building this place for a very very long time.”

	“Isn’t this your parents’ factory?” Rin asked.

	Hisao did not reply, walking out onto a stairway that led down into the candy field. He then leaned on the rail. With his cane, he gestured from the group, to the candy. “Enjoy.” He said, and then hopped on the rail, sliding down to the bottom.

	Hanako felt herself fall off balance as her body was sucked to occupy the vacuum that Misha left behind as she raced forwards, letting loose a loud laugh as she jumped on the railing after Hisao and slid down it behind him. Shizune resignedly sighed and followed, using the stairs instead. Rin and Emi shrugged at one another and hurried down the steps and into the field, Emi making a beeline for some sort of yellow candy-fruit tree.

	“Shall we?” Lilly asks, offering her arm. Taking it, Hanako walks alongside Lilly slowly down the steps and into a sweeter world.