Things weren't much better the following morning. Masumi and Eiji still wouldn't even look at each other.
"This is bad." Sakura said. "Chief, Black and Silver still won't talk. What are we going to do?"
"Don't worry about them." Akashi said. "They'll work it out in their own time." Then he turned to the others and said, "Listen up, everyone. The museum is unusually full today, so four of us are going to take museum duty. Who's volunteering?"
"I will." Masumi said.
"Me too." Said Souta.
Sakura said, "Chief, I'll go."
"Alright. I'm going too." Akashi said. "Attack!" And with that, they were off, leaving Natsuki and Eiji to themselves.
Eiji read for a few minutes, but he soon got bored and hungry. So he went into the kitchen to find something to eat, only to find Natsuki making something.
"What are you making?" He asked her.
Natsuki looked up. "Popsicles. They're Natsuki's speciality."
He looked at Natsuki's mixture. "What flavor?" He asked.
"Lime. Masumi's favorite. He's been so stressed out lately I thought it would be good for him to have something to enjoy."
"Oh." Eiji said. He opened the refrigerator and started digging. It wasn't long before he unearthed a small glass jar of green liquid.
"What's that?" Natsuki asked.
"This is liquid essence of peas. I've been experimenting with juicing." Eiji smiled. It was his pride and joy, definitely something stupid Masumi couldn't appreciate. All he wanted was his stupid, sugary popsicles. He saw that the lime popsicle mix was the exact same color as his pea extract juice. That gave him an idea. Well, he thought, if I can't convince Masumi to eat peas of his own free will, I'll have to resort to tactics. It will be good for him, good for the team, he reasoned. He screwed the lid off his pea extract juice jar.
"Hey, Natsuki, could you bring me my book?" He asked. "I left it on the couch over there."
"Sure." Natsuki said. She walked over to the couch.
Now's my chance! Eiji poured all of his pea extract juice into Natsuki's popsicle mixture. He quickly hid the empty jar behind his back as Natsuki reappeared.
"Here you go." She said, smiling.
"Thanks." He took the book from her with one hand, and continued to hide the jar behind his back with the others.
"Hmmm. That's odd." Natsuki said.
"What is it?" Eiji asked.
"There's more popsicle mix than usual."
Eiji froze. Oh, no! She noticed!
"I wonder why." Natsuki said. She looked at Eiji thoughtfully, almost suspiciously. He could feel himself withering under her pondering gaze.
Natsuki suddenly broke out into a huge smile. "Oh well! I'll just make a double batch! Then everyone can have two popsicles!"
A cool tide of relief washed over Eiji. She didn't suspect a thing, in fact, Natsuki seemed as happy as ever, all smiling and ending every sentence with an exclamation point. He drew in a shaky breath.
"I'm going for a walk." He said.
"Okay. Bye!" Natsuki said. She poured her popsicle mix into a large mold, then put them in the freezer. Just as Eiji was leaving, Masumi appeared.
"Oh, Masumi. You're back so soon?"
He nodded. "The museum rush died down, so Akashi said I could have the rest of the afternoon off."
"Alright. I'm going to meet up with the others." Natsuki said. And she was off.
Masumi sighed happily. After a long morning's work, he had the base all to himself. He stretched out on the couch. Masumi decided it was nap time.
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Masumi woke with a start. He looked out the window. The sun was setting! How long was I asleep? Masumi wondered. He looked at the clock on the wall. It was seventeen hundred hours. And he'd come up around eleven, so that was . . . Six hours! How could that be? And he was still alone in the base. He figured the others had probably gone out for lunch, then gone shopping or something. Anyway, they should be home for dinner, he reasoned. Masumi realized that he hadn't eaten anything for six hours, and he was really hungry. He went over to the fridge to scavenge. It became apparent to Masumi that they were really low on groceries. He hoped the others had gone shopping. He looked in the freezer, and there he found his all-time favorite food, Natsuki's lime pops! Natsuki was well aware that he loved lime popsicles, Masumi knew. He smiled as he extracted the popsicles from the freezer. It warmed his heart to think that Natsuki had made these just for him.
"Thank you, Natsuki." Masumi said out loud. He took one of the popsicles out of the mold and took a bite. It was perfect, cold and tangy, and just a little slushy, exactly the way he liked it. He ate the rest of the popsicle in one bite. Masumi wondered if he should eat another one. Well, there are eleven left, he reasoned. This time, Masumi took five. He shoved them all into his mouth at once and let the lime goodness ooze onto his tongue as they slowly melted. Oh, rapture! Masumi thought. Suddenly, he heard the elevator coming.
Oh, shit! He thought. He didn't want any of the other Boukengers to see him. But it was too late. The elevator opened and as soon as everyone got out, they saw Masumi, hunched over the table, with five popsicles in his mouth.
Akashi was the first to speak. "Masumi, what are you doing?" He asked, stifling a laugh.
"I . . . uh . . ." Masumi quickly swallowed the frozen, lime-flavored mass in his mouth and said, "I was just having a snack."
Natsuki walked over to Masumi and picked up her empty popsicle tray. "Masumi, you pig!" She said. "You ate six popsicles?!"
Eiji dropped his jaw. Masumi ate six of the pea juice laden popsicles? A diabolical grin spread over his face. His plan had worked out perfectly.
Masumi gave her a longing look. "They were just so good . . . Natsuki, I can never eat just one of your popsicles."
"Awww." Natsuki said, smiling. "Well, Natsuki is glad you enjoyed them. And, there's still enough for everyone to have one."
A collective "Alright!" Came from the Boukengers. Everyone took a popsicle, and Masumi took his seventh.
Eiji's already-huge grin widened even more. Seven popsicles in the hole. This was the best day of his life. Now only one thing left to do.
"Hey, Masumi." He said. "No hard feelings, right?"
Hm? Masumi looked at the dazzling adventurer skeptically. What is he up to? He wondered. Masumi shrugged it off. He was in a good mood, so he figured, what the heck.
"No hard feelings." He smiled at Eiji.
Eiji grinned back broadly. Perfect, he thought.
Natsuki smiled. The whole reason she'd made the popsicles was to ease the tension they'd been having lately. Well, she thought, Natsuki's plan worked.
Maybe not the way she intended . . .