"Excuse me, are either of you ready to order?"
Ryuko looked up at the waiter. "I am. A glass of lemonade, please."
Mako stared at the menu and hummed thoughtfully. Everything listed would be a new experience to her, and they all sounded equally appealing. But there was one thing in particular that she didn't have a clue about.
"Excuse me, um... sir?" She turned the menu towards the waiter. "Why do some of these have 'float' at the end of their name?"
Ryuko braced herself for a freakout.
"That means it has a scoop of ice cream floating in it," he said calmly.
Ryuko's entire body tensed up as her eyes slammed shut. Here it comes…
But the silence continued for considerably longer than she expected. When her eyes slowly opened, she noticed the poor waiter looking rather confused, but her attention was mainly on Mako's face. If it was at all humanly possible to literally grin from ear to ear, then Mako was coming dangerously close, and with each passing moment she only came closer. This was already rather unsettling on its own, but her gradually shrinking pupils certainly weren't helping.
Finally, she leapt into the air like a firework, and for a while she was actually high enough to grab the chandelier above the table. It was during this time that she let out an ear piercing 'holy crap!', and when she finally landed, Ryuko looked at the restaurant's other patrons with a look that clearly said 'I'm going to pretend this didn't happen, and I'd advise doing the same'.
"I mean, um…" Mako frantically thought back to all the etiquette her mother had drilled into her earlier that day. "That would be… ideal?"
The waiter tilted his head. "...which one?"
"Any of them!" She snapped. Upon remembering that she really needed to calm herself, she bowed her head apologetically and said softly, "surprise me."
"Certainly." He nodded hastily and departed, and once he was gone, Mako looked up and noticed Ryuko looking rather disappointed with her.
"I'm sorry," she sighed, her head going back down again. "I overrea… No, that's a lie." She looked Ryuko in the eye. "Let's be honest here, that was the only way I could have reacted! You didn't tell me there were things like that!"
"I didn't know they had them here!" Ryuko said. "If I'd known, I would have…" She stopped herself and sighed.
Mako felt tears coming along, but she held them in, not wanting to create an even bigger scene. "...You're not going to call this thing off, are you?"
Ryuko looked at her and smiled sweetly. "I couldn't do that now," she said. "Then where would you get your float?"
This evening was proving to be very difficult for Mako Mankanshoku. She'd already had one emotional outburst and narrowly avoided a second, but already she had to face that challenge again. Instinct was practically screaming at her to leap across the table and hug Ryuko, but she knew how risky it would be after such a display of generosity. And so, Mako Mankanshoku did the unthinkable: She stayed quiet for an extended period of time.
Moments before the drinks finally arrived, Mako felt just about ready to explode and release every word she'd held in this whole time. But once she'd finally received her order, she managed to calm herself down and settle for three words.
"Thank you… Sir." She bowed her head again.
Ryuko was equally grateful when accepting her drink, and soon the two were alone again. Mako continued her efforts to remain silent while the float - served with cola - triggered fireworks inside her body. Finally, the silence got to Ryuko, who started up a conversation.
"You know what I love about restaurants like this one?" She said. When Mako shook her head, she smiled widely and pointed to something on the edge of her glass. "When you order a glass of lemonade, you get a whole lemon slice with it! It really makes me feel like I'm a VIP here, you know?"
Mako smiled adoringly at her. "Just imagine if you really were a VIP! I bet they'd give you two slices!"
Now it was Ryuko's turn to keep herself under control. She knew how Mako would react upon having a float described to her, but it was only now that she understood perfectly. Two lemon slices. Having one was already a luxury to her, but two was twice as many as that!
"Two slices…" She murmured euphorically. "It's like having one slice… and then having another…" At the moment, most of her self control was focused on her not drooling on the tablecloth. "That's double the luxury…" Unconsciously, she picked the lemon slice off her glass and began to nibble on the edge. From now on, whenever someone suggested that she go to her 'happy place', she'd picture two lemon slices… being offered to her by Mako, who was telling her to 'say ahhhh' in the sweetest voi…
Gah! Ryuko's eyes widened. Where the hell did that come from?!
"Are you okay, Ryuko?" Mako said. "You're blushing…"
Shit! She thought. After everything I've been through with Senketsu, how can I still have enough blood left to blush?
"It looks like you're really stressed about something," Mako said. "Normally, when I'm feeling like that, I close my eyes and go to my happy place."
"That sounds like a good idea," Ryukko said absentmindedly. She closed her eyes, and…
God damn it. …But… She smiled slightly. …as far as happy places go, this isn't so bad… Still pretty awkward though. I wish the waiter would show up and offer us…
At that moment, every activity in the restaurant was cut off by the sound of the front door being kicked open. Ryuko's eyes snapped open as she turned her head towards the source of the commotion, and she was actually glad to find a trio of common thugs barging in, as opposed to Satsuki's goons.
"Listen up, you snobs!" The one in front said. "We were walking by, we got hungry, and now you're going to serve us, and if you even think about charging us for any of that overpriced s…"
"Excuse me, sir."
Ryuko did a quick double take, looking at Mako's place at the table before looking back at the entrance, confirming that the girl was now staring down the gang waiting there.
"I'm on a date here," she continued. "And at the moment, you're in danger of ruining it."
Ryuko's blush returned with a vengeance. This is… a date?
The head thug laughed. "Listen here, Missy," he said. "Your date was ruined the moment you didn't choose me."
Mako felt herself boiling inside. Even after everything she'd been taught about etiquette, she didn't know the proper way of responding to someone who'd just pissed her off.
Or do I…?
She thought back to something she'd once seen on television when walking past the electronics store. A woman in elegant clothing had been similarly offended by what an insensitive brute had said to her, and so she responded by gasping indignantly and slapping him.
Sounds about right. She smirked as she straightened her hand, bringing it back before hitting the thug with full force. Within moments he was on the floor, rubbing his scorching red cheek and glaring at her.
"You… bitch…" He stood up and looked back at his cronies, who nodded and reached behind their backs. The one on the left quickly produced a chain whip, while the one on the right was taking some time, which had Mako slightly worried until she finally saw his weapon of choice.
Oh thank god, she thought, it's just a chainsaw.
Ryuko, Senketsu said. Don't you think you should be intervening right about now?
"Why?" Ryuko said. "It looks like she's got this to me. Her brother's in a gang like this one, chainsaw included, and they're all scared of her. Something tells me she's done something to earn that reputation."
I see, he said. In that case, I'll trust your judgment.
"I don't like to get mad on an empty stomach," the head thug said, reaching into his pockets. "It's kind of like a vicious circle." He removed his hands from his pockets, revealing a pair of brass knuckles. "I'm already cranky enough when I'm hungry, and getting angrier just makes me hungrier, and it just keeps getting worse until…" His stomach rumbled loudly, concluding the point he was trying to make. "So I'll try to make this quick."
Mako's stomach rumbled back as she smiled confidently at him. "You just took the words right out of my mouth! Bon voyage!"
Her first target was the one with the chain whip, who quickly succumbed to her taunting and tried to bring the chain down on her head, only for her to grab it firmly and pull. Like a collapsing tower, he soon came crashing to the ground, and he was quickly held in place when Mako put her foot on his back. Finally, she took the whip from him and tied his hands together with it, allowing her to focus on the other two.
Next on her list was the one with the chainsaw. At first, she was simply dodging and waiting for the right opportunity, but as soon as he swung the weapon horizontally, she knew she had that opportunity. She leapt onto the blade as if there was nothing to it, and with a simple pull, opened and emptied the fuel tank, slowing the mechanism to a halt. After jumping off again, she grabbed the blade and snatched the chainsaw from his hands, hitting him over the head with the handle and knocking him unconscious.
Finally, only their leader was left. He brought his fists together a couple of times, making sure she heard the 'clink' of the brass knuckles he was wearing. But deep down, he knew that she had no reason to be intimidated after what she'd done to the others, and in actuality anything he might supposedly have done in order to threaten her was actually done so he could reassure himself, even if it was just a little. After an attempt to swallow his nervousness away, he brought one fist towards her, which she quickly caught in her bare palm.
The moment he tried to punch her with his other hand, he fell right into her trap. Within moments, she had both of his fists in a firm grip, and that left him unable to block. Without so much as a second thought, she raised her knee and brought it to where she knew was a sensitive area, and upon hearing the pained cry she was hoping for, she let go and allowed him to fall to the ground.
"I guess you got what you came for," she said, "because you just got served!"
A brief silence followed her statement, after which everyone in the restaurant (or at least everyone who actually deserved to be there) cheered for her. Mako laughed modestly as she returned to her seat, where she was treated to the sight of Ryuko smiling proudly at her. Just as she was admiring the sight, the waiter returned to the table with an 'I owe you my life' look.
"You'll be glad to know," he said, "that whatever you order from this restaurant tonight will be given to you free of charge."
Mako struggled not to squeal with delight as she picked up the menu and searched for the most wonderful meal they had to offer. Ryuko, meanwhile, already knew what it was she was ordering.
"I'd like a grilled salmon with lemon, please," she said. "And, um…" Her voice gradually became quieter. "...with extra lemon… if that's okay…"
The waiter smiled politely. "Of course."
Ryuko, like Mako before her, held in the urge to squeal.
When the two finally got home, Mako was easily able to notice that Ryuko was distracted by something, and it seemed likely that that 'something' was something troubling. At first, she suspected that the lemon cheesecake that Ryuko had ordered for dessert wasn't agreeing well with her, but eventually she was able to conclude that the problem wasn't with her body, so she decided the best solution was to just ask.
"Is something wrong, Ryuko?" She frowned. "I didn't cause too much of a commotion, did I?"
"It's not that," she said. "It's… It's what you said to them. You said you were on a date."
Mako's eyes widened. "I did? Seriously?"
Ryuko nodded.
"W-well..." Mako said. "...I guess it could be, if that's what you wanted…"
"Actually," Ryuko said, "I think that should be your call. If you really wanted a date, then you…" She smiled sweetly. "...you earned it."
Mako once again found herself having to ensure that the fireworks going off in her body stayed in her body, and eventually she managed to stay calm enough to reach over and grab Ryuko's hand. With a bright smile, she spoke again.
"A date it is, then!"
Before another word could be spoken, she leaned over and kissed Ryuko, who, after some initial shock, joined in with enthusiasm.
Because Mako never actually spent the money she'd saved up for the restaurant in the first place, and because their visit there was only retroactively considered to be a date, it wasn't long before the two decided to visit again, but when they got to the entrance, they received a big surprise.
"You!" Mako pointed dramatically to the head thug. "What are you doing here? Have you been causing more trouble while we were gone?"
The thug laughed nervously. "Actually… After last time, we heard about how you got a free meal for what you did, and well… We figured that sounded like a good deal, so since then we've been working here as bouncers." He smiled gratefully. "You've really turned our lives around, you know. Things are even looking up at Honnouji Academy now; Mr. Gamagoori's offered us positions in the Disciplinary Committee. If you want, we can put in a good word for you. I'm sure you're better suited for a position there than we are!"
Mako chuckled nervously, still struggling to take in everything she'd just heard. When she'd finally managed to do so, she repeated her chuckle and shook her head.
"I couldn't," she said. "If nothing else, that guy is way too scary. Really, I'm fine with my life as it is… Isn't that right, Ryuko?"
Ryuko smiled back at her. "You and me both."
The former thugs suddenly realized what the two were most likely here for, and so without another word, they opened the door and allowed them inside.
Ryuko thought about lemons, while Mako thought about the various kinds of floats she could try.
A/N: I wanted to wait until the series was over before writing a story with this pairing, but eventually I just couldn't stop myself. With apologies to chainsaw enthusiasts everywhere.