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Rated: 13+ · Interactive · Food/Cooking · #2285421
Problems grow when men find themselves where they weren't supposed to stop.
This choice: Wesen effect  •  Go Back...
Chapter #5

The Belly Drum

    by: Dark Dragon Author IconMail Icon
         "Detective Burkhardt." Nick answered his phone. "U-huh. U-huh. Alright. We'll be there soon."
         "Well?" Hank asked as Nick hung the phone up.
         "We got a call. Argument at a restaurant. One called the..." He checked his notes, "Belly Drum. Apparently, a fight broke out at a restaurant over the chef's wife coming in and accusing him of cheating with one of the waitresses and attacked him. Here's the kicker: one of the waiters is saying he's not married."
         "So you thinking this is wesen related?" Hank asked as they drove to the restaurant.
         "Could just be a case of an obsessive lover. Not everything crime is wesen related." Hanks head lulled towards Nick and both eyebrows rose. "Yeah. Your right. Probably is."
         A crowd had formed around the tape outside an open air restaurant. "What you got?" Hank asked as Wu approached.
         "Three injured. One customer, one waiter, and the woman who attacked. She claimed he was her husband and accused the young lady over there of having an affair with him. She's his niece, so I highly doubt there's anything going on there, but according to both of them and the injured waiter, he's unmarried. Though they understand her delusion as he's apparently a god in the kitchen. You remember Raven and Rose? This guy supposedly blows them out of the water."
         "What's his name?" Nick asked.
         Wu pointed at the niece getting her hand bandage, "That's Wakana," at the waiter, "That's Michael," at the woman in the ambulance with handcuffs on her and a bandage on her head, "that's, well, couldn't actually get her name out of her and she didn't have any identification. The other's could only say she was a frequent customer but didn't know her name either. And the chef's name is Manpuku."
         "Thanks Wu." Nick and Hank walked under the tape and approached the chef in the kitchen. Hank whistled as they finally saw the guy. The guy was only around 5 and a half feet tall but had the biggest ball gut either of them had ever seen. His belly kept hitting the pans and counters all over the place.
         "Why did that crazy broad have to come back now? The college kids always show up now and they are my biggest customers. Now I'm going to be out at least a day."
         "Excuse me?" Hank knocked on the door frame.
         "Yes?!" The guy's scowl turned into a broad smile as he turned so fast that his belly knocked three utensils off their hooks.
         "Mr. Manpuku, is it?" The man confirmed. "Can you tell us what happened?"
         "That psycho attacked me. I've tried to tell her I'm not interested. I'm married to my work here and I've told her that. She keeps coming back every day and today she broke into my kitchen and tried to attack me and staff, accusing me of cheating on her. She hit her head when Michael got the knife away from her and that's when your police showed up and got her. Thank you for that though now I've lost my friends for the day."
         "Your... friends?" Hank asks.
         "My customers. I call them my friends. Well, not always, obviously." He scowled at the woman in the ambulance. "I think it's time for a restraining order against her."
         "That probably wouldn't hurt. Um, can you tell us what her name is?"
         Manpuku looked at them blankly for a second. His face became more pointed and covered in brown and white fur in a bullseye pattern. His ears became softly pointed. He shifted back to normal, grinning at Nick. "A Grimm. Fascinating. Are you the one that everyone around here likes to talk about? I've never seen one of you."
         "And you are...?" Nick waved his pen in a circle. Hank shifted to get a better view of the guy as well.
         "I'm a Tanuki. The woman, I think her name was something like Helen. Or maybe Susan. I don't know. She also spoke so fast and made so little sense. Honestly, I was always worried that she might have some problems. I guess we can safely say she does now. Here," he grabbed two Styrofoam containers from under the counter. "You can have these. On the house. Not as gifts. As favors to the Grimm that protects us all and to me. I was going to have to throw them out after that crazy broad chased off the customers that order them. They weren't harmed."
         Nick took one and handed the other to Hank. Opening the container, the smell of beef and peppers wafted to his nose. His mouth immediately watered. "Normally we couldn't take these, but..."
         "They smell so good." Hank agreed, his stomach grumbling.
         Manpuku started rapidly slapping his hands on his gut. A loud thud echoed out with each slap. "Go. Enjoy my food. Come back for more if you want. Bring your friends. The more the merrier." His hands stopped thumping his gut. Nick stumbled for a moment getting a slightly shocked expression from the Tanuki. "Are you alright?"
         Nick nodded. "Yeah. Just a little dizzy all of a sudden."
         The Tanuki raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. "My apologies. My belly drum can do that to some people. Is that everything, or can I go back to straightening up my kitchen? That broad left it a mess and I'm still working on reorganizing it." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder which shifted his gut just enough to bump into the opposite counter and spill a cup that was on it.
         "Um, that's all for now. You can go back to... straightening up your kitchen." Hank mumbled as he glanced at the soda drizzling onto the floor. Manpuku turned back into his kitchen, knocking a pan off the counter and into the sink.
         Hank and Nick headed back outside. "So, you want the handcuffed lady or the workers?" Hank asked.
         "You decide. I'm just going to set these in the car for later." Nick's stomach growled as he took the container from Hank.
         "Just don't eat them yet. I didn't get breakfast."
         "Can't make any promises." Nick chuckled as he went back under the police tape.
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