DDLC: Our Time

Chapter 15: Natsuki Mall Chapter

Alex, I'm not as upset anymore. We'll talk about it later, but for now you can go ahead and do the chapter you had originally intended to do with Natsuki.

Alex made his way down the local mall with his earbuds in his ears and his hands in his jacket pockets. He wandered around aimlessly, nodding his head to his music and looking for a store to catch his eye so that he could go inside...

Natsuki, who just so happened to also be there, was making her way towards a particular store when she saw Alex. He was totally in his own world, not paying attention to anyone around him as he walked into that store. It took her a moment to recognize him because she'd never seen him not wearing his school uniform before.

Since she was probably gonna go into the store anyways, she decided to go in after him. She looked around curiously to see where he was at. She found him behind a couple racks on the right side of the store. She made her way around.

"Yo." Natsuki held her hand up and waved at him. She immediately caught Alex's attention. He looked at her and, upon realizing who it was, removed his earbuds.

"Heyyy. What's up, Natsuki? Good to see you!" He greeted her pleasantly with a smile.

"Good to see you too, Alex. I like your jacket." She said, gesturing to the denim jacket that he had on.

"Oh thanks, haha, I haven't worn this in a long time. Your outfit's cute too, very pink." He commented with a chuckle. Natsuki blushed a little.

"D-Don't call it cute." She protested awkwardly.

"Haha alright, it's cool. How about that?"

"Sure. Um, I just saw you walking in and I was gonna come in here anyways, so..." Natsuki started.

"Oh yeah? This place looked pretty interesting. Looks like they got some nice nerd gear here though!" Alex said with a laugh.

"Yeah, this place carries a lot of merchandise; usually clothes but also buttons, figurines, and odd stuff like water bottles or...I saw a rice cooker once." Natsuki brought up. Alex laughed at this.

"Well that's neat! I'll stick with my normal generic rice cooker, thank you." He joked. Natsuki rolled her eyes and shook her head, cracking a little smile.

"You're a dork."

"Hey there, you two. Can I help you find anything?" One of the employees of the small store approached and asked them. Alex shook his head.

"Nah, just browsing. Thanks." He said.

"Alright. Well, if you need any help, just let me know." The employee waved and left. Natsuki waved without saying anything before turning back to Alex.

"Speaking of which, you see anything you like?" She asked curiously.

"I do like this jersey." Alex said, looking to his left and gesturing to a sleeveless jersey with symbols from a popular superhero anime that Natsuki knew about but had never shown interest in.

"Ohh, why am I not surprised? Of course you'd be into that anime. That's such a boy's anime." Natsuki said with a little cackle.

"Oh whatever, it's not that bad. It's pretty well-rounded in my opinion." He said.

"Is that so?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah. I already know, I already know that if you watched it, you would pick out at least one, no, two, no, three female characters at least that you would love." Alex counted on his fingers.

"Wow," Natsuki chuckled and rolled her eyes again. "That's all fine and good but if I'm not gonna interested, I'm not gonna stick around for the three female characters you think I'd like." She pointed out just to tease him.

"Haha you know what? I think you might be scared that you'll actually like it." He teased her back.

"Ah yes, scared to find something I might enjoy. You're totally right, Alex." Natsuki couldn't help but snicker at this silly argument they were jokingly having.

"Maybe you should keep an open mind to the endless possibilities that this anime could provide to you." Alex said slowly in a humorous way, gesturing to the jersey again.

"Keeping an open mind, huh?" Natsuki repeated. This gave her an idea. She smirked and raised her eyebrow at him again.

"Uh oh, what's that look for?" Alex asked with a chuckle.

"I think that we can come to some kind of agreement here." She started.

"Yeah? Whatchu thinking?"

"I'll watch your anime if you agree to try out reading my favorite manga series." She laid out her terms. Alex tilted his head oddly.

"Manga? You mean that collection you keep in the clubroom?" He asked.

"Yep!" Natsuki smiled widely, looking proud of herself for trapping him into these terms. "Whattaya say? You gonna keep an open mind, huh?" She asked, using his own words against him.

Alex chuckled and shook his head. He was honestly kind of indifferent to her manga, but he could tell by her reaction that she was serious about this offer, and maybe even a little enthusiastic. She was probably hoping that he would say yes.

"Haha alright, sure. I can agree to that." He decided.

"Huh? Really?" Natsuki's eyes widened. She didn't expect him to say yes.

"Haha, what, did you think I was just gonna shoot you down right away?" Alex asked.

"U-Um, yeah." Natsuki scratched her cheek awkwardly, looking away.

"Haha, wow, no faith. Well yeah, I'll give it a shot at the next club meeting. Sound like a deal?" He offered.

"Yeah, sounds good." Natsuki and smiled. It definitely wasn't intentional, but Alex couldn't help but find her expression cute. He chuckled and nodded in return.

"Sounds good...I think this is a good place to stop now." He decided.

"What?" Natsuki asked in confusion.

But it was too late. The chapter had already come to an abrupt end.