Slice of Life
Chapter 2: Fork
"This line is so long," the shorter girl complained as she looked at the seemingly endless line of people in front of her. Her right foot was tapping impatiently but rhythmically.
"You chose this place. Why did you choose it, anyway?" The taller girl, Mio, asked her impatient best friend.
"We eat too much at Max Burgers. And this is your favorite cake shop, isn't it?" Ritsu responded, turning her head towards Mio's direction. Mio nodded and smiled. This was Ritsu. Her best friend could make her cry a river, but she could also make her smile like a sunshine.
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Tainaka Ritsu was undeniably right. The line was so long that the two best friends had to wait for over half an hour just to order a cake.
The two settled on one of the high tables by the cake shop's window. Mio was relishing her chocolate cake while Ritsu watched her. This wasn't Ritsu. On any other day, the chestnut-haired girl would be devouring three different kinds of cake and Mio would have a strawberry tart. The latter could only look across the table and watch at her friend with curious eyes.
"Is there something on my face?" Ritsu asked.
"I should be the one asking that," Mio retorted.
Mio could only make out a small noise coming out of her best friend in response.
"Why didn't you order a dozen cakes?"
"Not hungry."
"Is it that or because you did not have enough money?"
"Fine, I only had enough money to buy you a cake," Ritsu finally gave in. "I bought a new pair of Zildjian maple drumsticks yesterday and I couldn't resist buying a new bass drum beater."
Mio looked at her with a raised left eyebrow. She felt happy of course that Ritsu spared herself – her sweets loving self – just to buy her a chocolate cake. However, it still made her feel bad that she had denied Ritsu a chance of sweets. Unable to think of anything else to make her best friend – and herself – feel better, she offered, "Hey, you can eat some of mine, just go get a fork."
"Really?! And no I'm fine. I don't need a fork!" Ritsu flashed that loopy grin. Mio, on the other hand, was completely befuddled as to how Ritsu would eat some of her cake without the use of a fork.
Before the raven-haired girl knew it, Ritsu had took hold of the fork that was once on her left hand and carved a not too small piece of chocolate cake using the said fork. Ritsu brought the fork to her mouth and ate the chocolate cake off of it, licking the utensil for any icing that may have been left over. Mio had been turning a bright shade of crimson.
"What's wrong with you?" Ritsu innocently asked while handing back Mio her fork. "You look like you're getting sick."
"Y-You just ate with m-my fork," Mio stuttered out.
"And?"
"I-Indirect k-k-k-kiss," the raven-haired girl couldn't believe how she managed to blurt those two words out.
"And?"
"What do you mean and?!"
"So what? We kissed when everyone else was asleep during the past summer camp. Eating off of the same fork – hell, utensil – should be more or less the same right?" Ritsu reasoned.
"T-That kiss was accidental! You idiot tripped on your drumsticks and landed on me! And our lips were dry!"
Ritsu only shrugged. Mio was in disbelief.
"You're overreacting," the shorter girl was standing up now. "I'm fetching you another fork so you don't have to use that one."
Ritsu came back shortly after with a fork in hand. She handed Mio the fork and sat down her high chair. She observed her best friend was much the same before the incident now.
"Why did you have to react like that? Besides, it was I who used the fork after. Unless you licked it while I was gone," Ritsu said.
"Don't say things like that. I. Well. I. I just want my personal space… And it means a lot to me sharing those kinds of things with another person."
It only made sense. The overly romantic Mio would only want a special someone to share her lips, her utensils, her attention, her affection… That someone wasn't Tainaka Ritsu.
I apologize for the late update! The original chapter two of this story was stored in one of my school's computers. And as luck would have it, there's no internet for that computer lab (it's a "testing center") and they disconnected the printer so that it would be used by the other lab next to it. The second revision was just pure... Unreadable. The third one was entirely different which I figured may be used for the third chapter. This is the fourth revision and is most like the original and second revision.
I'll try updating sooner next time!