Chapter 11: From Grocery Shopping To… Babysitting? (Part FINAL)
Keep your cool, Leon!
Don't freak out and find out what's going on.
"Y-You must be one of Lady Blanc's sisters! An honor to meet you and be graced with your presence! My name is Leon," I exclaim, bowing.
"Indeed I am. I'm Rom and it's nice to meet you but there's no need for such formality in a place like this," she says.
"There you are, Rom. I thought I lost you for a second," a girl says.
Walking up to us, I recognize her as the one who made me tumble over.
"I was making sure this man was okay since you carelessly knocked him down. Please introduce yourself and apologize," Rom says, her soft voice wielding authority.
"M-My name is Ram and sorry for the trouble. I hope you're not hurt or anything," Ram says sheepishly.
Rom must be technically older than Ram because she's definitely giving me that impression.
"It's alright. It's not like I broke anything. Name's Leon by the by," I say.
Today is so strange.
"Anyway, what are you two doing in a store like this?" I ask while I start stacking the cans back up.
"Well, Blanc and our maid had to leave the basilicom for something so I decided it would be the best moment to go on an adventure of my own before the caretaker showed up," she explains.
"I couldn't talk her out of it so I tagged along since it's dangerous to go alone," Rom says.
Damn! Blanc's not here then.
That's heavily disappointing.
"Y'know, it's not my place to say this but won't she be pissed if she finds out both of you are wandering about without supervision?" I question, finished stacking.
Granted, these two and the other CPU Candidates did beat Linda as well as other members of ASIC so they can definitely handle themselves.
"Unfortunately, this is very true," she says.
"I just got the perfect idea! You can chaperone us so that way we won't get in trouble," Ram says.
"What?!" Rom and I exclaim, surprised.
"M-Me? I-I don't think Blanc would like the idea of some random guy watching over her sisters," I say.
"I must agree! Blanc might actually rage out on us if we do that," Rom says.
"Maybe but he's our friend so she'll let it slide," Ram says.
"W-We literally just met!" I say.
"He's right! We can't thro-," Rom says.
"Despite just meeting him, I'm pretty positive he's a great guy and therefore a friend in my book. Do you think he's a friend?" Ram asks, cutting Rom off.
I actually can't tell if Ram is bullshitting or not.
"W-W-Well… I… I do," Rom says hesitantly.
"Do you consider us friends?" Ram asks me.
"S-Sure," I say.
"So as friends, will you help us?" she questions, hands clasped together.
What the hell am I getting wrapped up in?
"I… I guess I will," I sigh.
Ram's eyes light up.
"Yay! Thank you, Leon!" she yells, tackling me with a hug into the cans I just stacked back up.
That hurt just as much as the first time if not even moreso.
"You're… welcome," I say, trying to fight the pain
"Ram, he just restacked those!" Rom says.
"My bad! I didn't think I lunged as hard as I did at him," Ram giggles, big grin on her face while she gets off of me.
"Are you okay, Leon?" Rom questions.
"Just… peachy," I grunt as I slowly stand back up and dust myself off.
Yeah, I'm not putting that shit back up again.
"Well, let's go then. My shopping won't get done just standing here," I say, commandeering my cart.
"Wait, what about the cans?" Rom asks as Ram and I start walking away.
"I already restacked them once. Would you like to be the volunteer this time?" I question, letting her know how annoyed I am about it.
"N-Not particularly," she says.
"Don't fret over it, Rom. It's someone's job to clean things up," Ram says.
"I guess you're right," Rom says, catching up to us.
Walking around, Rom and Ram help me collect the last few things I need.
Finally, I can leave!
Noticing the lines were packed for every checkout counter, we go to self checkout instead.
Surprisingly, no one's over here which is just fine and dandy.
Scanning items and bagging them, Ram tugs on my jacket.
"Hey Leon," she says.
"Mhmm," I say.
"Could you please get this for me?" she asks, holding up a candy bar.
I don't see why not.
It's not like it's expensive.
"Sure thing," I answer, taking the candy bar and scanning it.
"Thank you!" she says.
"You're very welcome. Do you want something too, Rom?" I say.
I noticed she's been eyeing at a shelf.
"O-Oh, I-I mean if it's not too much to ask there's this thing I've been trying get but you don't have to-," she rambles, startled and stammering.
"Just spit it out already," Ram says, interrupting her.
Rom grabs two copies of the same book from the shelf.
Wait, that looks familiar!
"I want these!" Rom exclaims, showing them to me.
N-No wonder it looked familiar!
IT'S ONE OF MY MANGA!
ROM'S A FAN OF MINE?!
Calm down, Leon!
Okay okay okay.
I've got this!
To also clarify, the manga in her hands is volume six of Stir S.
"You're a fan of Ruruichi, Rom?" I ask, surprised.
"Yeah! I just saw one of his books a couple months ago and decided to read it then I found myself hooked," she says.
"Oooh, you want a Ruruichi book. I should've known," Ram says.
"Are you a fan too, Ram?" I question.
"Though I'm not real big on reading, I'll admit that I got onboard when Rom showed me Assault On Giant because she thought I would like it and it turned out I did. The action in it is so good. Do you like Ruruichi, Leon?" she answers.
This is just too much for me to handle.
If Rom and Ram are fans, then is Blanc a fan too by chance?!
No, of course not!
That's silly!
"I… read from time to time when I get the chance so I guess you could say I'm a small fan. What's your favorite series from him so far?" I ask, carefully choosing my words.
"As I just mentioned, it's Assault On Giant," she says.
"One Date Man and the one I'm currently holding, Stir S. The way Ruruichi writes the romance in both of them is so wholesome and sweet. Unfortunately, it's been really hard to find copies of Stir S because his books sell out really fast. That's why I was hoping you could buy me two copies of this volume for me and another… friend of mine," Rom says.
We're getting carried away so I'll wrap this up.
Besides, I have the power to do something greater than buy the book for her.
"Ah, that's understandable. Since I'm watching over you both, I can do something far better for you than just buying that. I'll knock your socks off with my surprise!" I declare.
Rom blushes.
"O-Okay," she says with a big smile on her face, putting my books back on the shelf.
Finished scanning and bagging, I swipe my debit card to pay.
Still can't believe that I've been roped into babysitting two CPU Candidates let alone Blanc's little sisters.
How the hell is this gonna play out?!