A/N: I'm on Twitter so if you care about getting updates and the like from me on external media outside of this site then follow me at ZuzuSuya. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 4: We're On The Road To The Nation Of Lowee (Part 1)
Finally away from the basilicom, I pull out my phone as I walk on the sidewalk. Scrolling through contacts is such a pain since several ASIC members are in them. Very few of them are friends though and then it doesn't help that my "normal" friends don't know anything about all that so I have to be extra protective of my phone. One of them in particular accuses me that I won't let her see my phone on grounds that I have hentai stored on it. In her defense, she's not… wrong but the woman has about nine damn phones so why does she need to ever see mine to begin with? Who the hell carries NINE PHONES?Small rant aside, I've been hovering my thumb over the person who I need to call for a couple seconds now. Tapping the name, I hold my phone up to my right ear. Please pick up on the first try.
"Hey Dengekiko," I say.
"Mhmm. Got another scoop for me," Dengekiko says.
"I have some more info regarding Ruruichi. I know how much non gaming stuff is a breath of fresh air for you," I say.
"Do tell," she says.
"I was hoping for us to meet in person like the usual," I say.
"It's going to take a few minutes. I haven't even gotten out of bed yet," she yawns.
"You realize it's almost noon," I say.
"Listen, my job can get exhausting sometimes, Leon," she says.
"Riiiiight," I say.
"I assume we're meeting at the same little coffee shop we always go to," she asks.
"Y'know it," I say.
"I'm on my way then," she says.
"See you there," I say.
"See ya," she says. Hanging up, I pocket my phone and make my way to the meetup location. It takes about ten minutes to get there. Upon taking my seat, Dengekiko comes in not long after and sits across from me.
"So how's it going," she asks.
"Pretty good but I would say even better now that you're here," I flirt.
"Oh stop it! I'm not all that," she says, blushing.
"If you weren't then I wouldn't say it. Whoever ends up with you is a lucky person," I say.
"T-Thank you, Leon! I appreciate the compliment," she says.
"You're welcome, Dengekiko," I say, smiling at her. A barista walks up to our booth. Wait! Is that-?
"So what can I get for yo- Leo? Is that you," the barista asks.
Sweet Gamindustri! That is her!
What is she doing here of all places?
"M-Marv? What are you doing working as a barista here," I say in disbelief.
"I needed some quick money so I thought maybe I should take up a small job," MarvelousAQL explains.
"Then why didn't you take up some small time quests instead," I point out.
"I didn't feel like fighting anything," she says.
"That's why we have gathering quests. MarvelousAQL, you know this is my favorite place for coffee and such! You just wanted an excuse to see me," I say, calling her out.
"Anyway, who's this girl sitting with you," she says. Changing subjects to dodge explaining yourself, I see.
"I'm Dengekiko and I'm a reporter. Leon is one of my sources who give me information to help me do my job. Nice to meet you," Dengekiko says.
"It's nice to meet you too! I'm MarvelousAQL but you can call me Marvy for short. Leon is really the only one who says Marv. I'm a kunoichi and I know Leon because we go on quests together from time to time with another friend of ours," Marv says. Good! Marv explained for me. I hope I can save my breath more often.
"You go on quests, Leon? I never figured you were the type for that sort of thing," Dengekiko says, surprised.
"Yeah, it's usually something I do if I'm bored or got time to kill," I explain, rubbing the back of neck.
"So might I ask a question, Dengekiko," Marv asks.
"Sure thing," Dengekiko says. Marv leans in close.
"You two aren't a couple, are you," Marv whispers.
"Nothing like that at all," we shout. What the hell is she trying to do? Don't start this today of all days.
"Yet you two are blushing," Marv giggles.
"We are friends and that's it," Dengekiko says.
"I'll stop teasing now. What can I get you two," Marv says, pulling out a pen and notepad.
"Just a latte please," Dengekiko says.
"Hot sweet tea and pudding please," I say.
"Got it! I'll be right on it," Marv says, having finished writing and takes her leave.
"Switching it up, I see? You usually get that weird caramel frappe with your pudding," Dengekiko points out.
"Don't disrespect my caramel frappe and my pudding now. I've told you before and I'll tell you again to not knock it before you try it. I just wanted something a bit simpler this time," I say defensively.
"I know. I know," she chuckles. Marv comes back with what we ordered.
"One simple latte…," Marv says, placing it in front of Dengekiko.
"And one hot sweet tea with that pudding you love so much," she continues, placing a mug of steaming tea and a small dish carrying the pudding in front of me.
"Thank you," we say.
"You're welcome," Marv says, walking away. I take a sip of my tea. Ahhh, how refreshing. Reminds me of a famous quote from a prosecutor.
"Dark as a sirene sunset, hotter and more sweet than Heaven itself… that is sweet tea."
Or at least that's how I imagine the quote when I drink sweet tea. The prosecutor is a black coffee drinker so I guess it's really not his quote and I just made up a tea version.
Grabbing the spoon, I look at the pudding. The caramel atop the pudding gracefully runs down the sides of the small gelatinous mountain crashing onto the dish. I carve a piece out of its side, firm yet soft and easy to cut through like butter. Placing the carved piece in my mouth, the flavor explodes all over my tastebuds. The vanilla mixes perfectly with the caramel and the way it melts in your mouth! Oh my goddess! I argue that it's on par with the anal sex from last night. Never had a good comparison of the pleasure of eating pudding before so that's what I think as of now. If I continue to describe, I might lose myself.
"It's so delicious," I say, continuing to eat albeit slowly.
"I swear you're about as obsessed with pudding like someone else I know. Both of you would probably be the bestest of friends if you met," Dengekiko says.
"And who would that be," I ask.
"Y'know Neptune of Planeptune," she says. Does she mean Purple Heart? Despite having been in ASIC, I don't know much about Purple Heart and Green Heart compared to Linda and others like Warechu aside from the obvious ones who were present for all that craziness. Being stuck behind the scenes does that to you. I was mostly in Lastation and do I really need to explain how I know much of Lady Blanc? Now that I think about it, Linda used to go on a rant about some Purple Sister as well as other Sisters every time she came home from getting her ass kicked. Those are probably the Candidates which would mean she let kids like Blanc's sisters kick her ass at which I'm not sure whether to pity her or be amused. It's kinda strange I didn't run into Black Sister while at the basilicom. Why am I thinking about this stuff? It doesn't concern me anymore. I'm supposed to be giving out information about my plans to Dengekiko so my fans in Lowee can get super hype and stuff which will surely get Blanc's attention. I gotta wrap this up.
"That's Purple Heart, right," I say.
"Yeah. She's more of a junkie compared to the other CPUs however," she says.
"Very interesting tidbit," I say. I'll probably run into her at some point hopefully on friendly terms. Scooping up some more pudding, I point the spoon at her.
"So let's talk abou-," Dengekiko quickly leans across the table and eats the pudding off the spoon, completely interrupting and surprising me.
"It seems you're right. Pudding is delicious," she says, smiling.
"You did not just do that," I say in disbelief.
"Oh, but I did," she giggles.
"The spoon has been in my mouth," I say. She blushes a bit realizing it's an indirect kiss.
"Yeah so? What are you gonna do about it," she says defensively. Y'know it's not about her mouth or saliva being on my spoon now. I have no problem about that. It's about what I do next that will potentially affect our friendship. Also I can't see Marv right now, but I feel like she's staring me down waiting to see what I do from wherever she is. Why do I keep getting into situations like this?
"What's wrong," she says smugly. I've got it! The perfect solution!
"You're not going to trick me. I've got it all figured out," I say proudly. I eat some pudding with the spoon showing her that I'm not afraid.
"Y-You actually did it," she says. I get up and sit beside her.
"The spoon is both of ours now and so we'll finish it together," I say, scooping up some more pudding.
"L-Leon," she stutters, blushing harder. C'mon and step down so I can take the victory! She actually opens her mouth for me. N-Nani? Well, if she won't step down then I can't either! I feed her the pudding.
Wait a second!
AH SHIT! I didn't figure it out at all! I thought sharing it was the proper solution without any tension but this is far more flirty than just returning the indirect kiss and continuing to eat. I could've simply asked for a new spoon too. I'm such a dumbass to have walked right into that! Seeing my realization crumble my confidence, she smirks and takes the spoon from me.
"One last bite now," she says, holding it towards me. She gently grabs my chin with one hand and slowly feeds me the last bite. I reluctantly swallow. Her hand moves from my chin onto my left cheek.
"D-Dengekiko," I stutter. She looks me in the eyes.
"Leon," she says softly.
She slaps me across the face!
"Owwwww! What was that for," I shout, holding my stinging left cheek.
"You completely fell for it," she says, laughing up a storm.
"Hahaha. Funny joke. You got me," I say sarcastically, getting up and sitting back where I was.
"Oh, don't be a baby. Now onto our important business," she says. At least we're back on track now.
"Fine. I have some details regarding Ruruichi," I say.
"And what are they," she asks, pulling out a pen and paper.
"From what he suggested to me, he appears to be moving out of Lastation," I say.
"Do you happen to know where," she asks.
"My assumption is Lowee. He's often said that he has urgent business there," I say.
"Is that all," she asks.
"Oh, he actually got around to making that new manga series. It's still in the works but he hopes to unveil the first chapter at a big event. That's all I got," I say.
"That's some juicy info right there! Thank you so much," she says. Just for clarification, I'm pretending to be a leaker because it's just a more fun way to advertise and get information out there rather than post cryptic bullshit on Chirper.
"You're welcome but if this is true then that means I'm moving to Lowee," I say.
"What? Why," she says, slamming her hands on the table.
"Ruruichi prefers to talk to people in person rather than the internet so I'll go wherever he goes. Simple as that," I say. She gets up and sits beside me.
"I wish you would've told me that! Now I feel bad for slapping you like that," she says, hugging me.
"Going to miss me," I say jokingly.
"Of course I am," she says.
"Awww, you're melting my icy cold heart," I say sarcastically, hugging her back.
"You wish you could have a cold heart," she chuckles.
"I'll miss you too. There I said it," I say.
"I know you will," she says. A few seconds pass in silence with our arms still around each other.
"Hey Leon. Can I tell you something," she says.
"Shoot," I say. She leans in close to my right ear with a hand firmly on my right thigh.
"If you ever want to… y'know, do something. All you have to do is ask," she whispers nervously.
"Dengekiko," I say softly.
"I'm just putting that out there in case you were interested in a different kind of meetup is all. I've never said these kind of things to someone before," she says shyly. Pulling away from me, she stands up.
"Anyway, I must be going now. I assume you have enough to pay for this," she says normally as if nothing prior to now just happened. Quite a sudden change in the atmosphere.
"I always do. Goodbye for now," I say, waving.
"See you some other time," she says, waving back as she leaves. That took a little longer than I anticipated but no matter. The second Dengekiko is out, Marv immediately runs to my booth. I honestly forgot she was here that quickly. Ughhh, let's get this handled too while I'm at it or I won't hear the end of it.
"Are you absolutely sure she's not your girlfriend," Marv says, taking a seat beside me. The smile that seems to be permanently on her face and seemingly happy voice doesn't match the jealousy that's so subtly hidden in that sentence.
"Dengekiko and I are just really good friends," I say, trying to drill it in her head.
"So how come you don't ever call or hang out with me anymore? I thought we were really close friends, Leo," she says, hugging my right arm. I was going to refrain from commenting on her barista outfit but since her chest is all against my arm now, no point in trying to hide it. Her cleavage is just all out there and it's actually super distracting.
"We are still really close! I told you and IF that I was focusing on doing manga for a bit. IF seems to understand that but you don't," I say, shakily.
"I miss you a lot, Leo! IF does too but she won't admit it. Questing's not as fun without all three of us together," Marv says. She's so sweet and means well but she can't tell that she sounds so clingy, obsessive, and overbearing.
"Marv, you're doing that thing again," I say.
"Am I," she says.
"Y-Yes. Rather more aggressively than the usual too," I say.
"I-I'm sorry, Leo! I wasn't trying to. I just wish we saw each other more often," she says. I pull my arm out of her hug and throw it around her, pulling her close to me.
"I know. I wish the same thing too but I have something to tell you that you're not going to like," I say.
"What is it," she says.
"I'm going to go live in Lowee," I tell her.
"But I came all this way to see you. At least promise me that you will make time for us," she says, nuzzling her face against mine.
"I promise," I say, kissing her cheek. She blushes.
"Oh Leo," she kisses my cheek in return.
Marv and I are like very affectionate siblings. Nothing sexual involved with it. It's just how our friendship works. It would most likely be this way with Linda if she weren't trying to have relations with me and if her love was only strictly that of the familial kind. IF thinks it's weird because she says we look and act like a lovey-dovey couple. While we don't deny it, we are completely comfortable with each other and just shrug it off because we know we won't take it any farther than this brother/sister chemistry we have.
"I gotta go now," I say, putting the appropriate amount of credits on the table.
"Okaaay," she says, getting up so I can get out of the booth. She follows me to the door.
"See ya around," I say, pulling open the door.
"See you later! Don't forget to call," she says, waving goodbye.
"I won't. Oh and Marv," I say, looking back at her.
"Yeees, Leo," she says, swaying her hips.
"Please button up your damn outfit. It's distracting," I say.
"I would do that but this outfit is really tight you see," she says, tugging on the collar of her shirt.
"Then please demand for a bigger size. I don't want people looking at you for the wrong reason," I say. That sounded obsessive. I'm not an obsessive person, I swear! Blanc doesn't count! T-That's completely different!
"Will do," she says.
"Bye," I say, walking out.
"Bye bye," she says.
Okay! Hopefully nothing else will hold me up. My next destination is home so I can start packing. I continue on my road to Lowee! So close yet still so far.