Chapter 42: Birthday Bee (Part 1/2)
"I'm so happy that you came to accompany me on my birthday!" Nekuta happily exclaims, three of her four arms hugging my left arm while we're sitting on a bench in a park.
"Well, I did agree to show up just like you asked plus I still owed you those extra daffodils, remember?" I remind her, gesturing to the flowers in her fourth hand. Granted, she did threaten me so I didn't really have a choice.
"And I love them so much! Thank you, Ryuta!" She holds the daffodils up to her face and smells them, her eyes stay locked onto me. She's undeniably super cute but knowing that she has a few screws loose has me on edge… and yet the urge to kick the hornets' nest hasn't dwindled at all since last I saw her.
"You're welcome, Nect—Nekuta!" I accidentally misspeak while planting a kiss on her cheek. I hope she doesn't point out that I almost fumbled her name. Having to pronounce it like that is really twisting my tongue.
"R-R-Ryuta?! W-We're in public!" She stammers, her face exploding with red all over.
"Sorry, but it seemed like you wanted me to," I chuckle.
"I-I did but I didn't think you would actually go for it let alone that quickly!" She hides her face in the flowers.
"You'll find that I'm one to take some risks," I grin.
"R-Risks deserve to be rewarded then. Don't you agree?" she shyly presses her cleavage against my arm.
"Totally!" I affirm. That's as far as I'll push things since I'm sure she'll keep cranking up the heat to match my output. The calm river in front of us starts to become disrupted as bubbles and waves emanate from beside the grassy bank, getting our attention. Suddenly, a guy's head pops out of the water and he's holding onto a pretty big fish with his teeth sunk into it. He's pretty cute too, especially with that sky blue hair. Wait… Is that just Makoto?!
"Mako?!" I call out, surprised. I yank my arm from Nekuta to hurry down to the riverside.
"H-Huh?! M-Ma'am, what are you doing here?!" Makoto stutters, almost dropping his fish but managing to recapture it.
"I could say the same to you. Why are you swimming in the river and catching fish with your mouth?" I inquire, crouching down.
"W-Well, I just… I-It's a long story…," he rambles.
"Whatever the reason, that sounds like fun. How about I lend you a hand for a little bit?" I slowly lift my shirt, feigning to take it off.
"N-No thank you! Not necessary!" He refuses, shaking his head frantically and blushing like crazy. He's so easy to tease!
"Ahem!" Nekuta loudly clears her throat. Barely glancing at her, I can tell she's pouting with her arms crossed. "I believe you're busy with me right now."
"My bad. I just didn't expect to see Makoto here," I apologize, rubbing the back of my head.
"Hey, you're that same bee lady from the mall and the floristry. This is the third time we've met, y'know?" Makoto points out.
"Oh, you again. Go away so I can keep having him to myself," she responds with unsubtle contempt.
"Why are you always so cold to me? What did I do?" He asks.
"Right now you're stealing time away from my perfect birthday!" She answers, grabbing my arm with the same three hands to not drop her precious flowers. "In fact, you can stay and catch your stupid fish. Tell him goodbye because we are leaving," she starts pulling me away.
"Looks like time's up so I'll talk to you later, Mako! Apologies for her hostility!" I wave goodbye.
"B-Bye, I guess?" He waves back.
"So where are we going?" I inquire.
"To dinner, of course," she answers.
"But we've only been here for a couple minutes," I remark.
"A couple minutes was all I needed. Besides, if we stay here longer, then we will barely have anything to talk about over dinner," she reasons.
"If you say so," I concede. Heading to my car, I open the front passenger door and help her get in to avoid her stinger from stabbing the cushioning.
"Thank you very much, Ryuta!" She smiles as I get in and buckle my own seatbelt.
"No problem, Nek—," I pause when she abruptly kisses my cheek. Far from dry too. Her saliva's viscous like honey which is to be expected but still catches me nonetheless.
"I had to get you back," she giggles.
"Y-You certainly succeeded," I blush, pulling out of the parking lot and driving.
"You know, I noticed your little slip up earlier," she calls to attention. Damn it.
"Yeah, I tried my best to not mess up," I admit.
"You can call me Nectar if you want. I only ask to be called Nekuta just so I don't get confused when someone mentions flower nectar which happens more than you think," she explains.
"I figured as much. Nectar it is then. I think it's much cuter anyway," I comment.
"Stop it, Ryuta! You're just saying that," she says, embarrassed.
"You're right. Sexy is a much better descriptor," I tease.
"S-Shut up!" She exclaims, sheepishly buzzing.
"Okay. I'll let up on you," I laugh. Following her directions, it takes roughly 20 minutes before we arrive at a small building that's painted in a very gaudy looking white. Just seems to carry a kinda pretentious energy to it. "We've arrived. Now that I think about it, I don't believe you told me the name of this place. I couldn't really see a logo due to focusing on the road."
"Oh yeah. It's called Bisque's Bistro," she reveals to me. I bite my tongue to prevent myself from gasping. Oh god! Bisque never mentioned owning a food joint! It was already hard enough making sure Polt and the others wouldn't stick their noses in this. If the way Nekuta acts towards Makoto is any clue, then she would get extremely upset about the other women I know. There's only one way to figure out how screwed I am.
"Interesting. Is this like a chain kinda place?" I ask, trying to hide my nerves.
"Nope. This place just opened up a few days ago and it's already got raving reviews all over so I figured it'd be a nice place for us to eat at," she explains. Fuck! "You're starting to sweat. Is everything okay, Ryuta?"
"Uh, I'm just hungry is all! Let's hurry inside!" I respond swiftly.
"You should've had at least a little snack today. Who knows how long we might have to wait," she replies. Exiting the car, she goes back to hugging my arm as we approach the stylized frosted glass door. Maybe Bisque took a day off. She's a hard worker but doesn't strike me as a person that would be that concerned dealing in food service compared to apparel and fashion. Upon walking in with the bell above the door announcing our presence, the very first person my eyes lock with is the Living Doll I want to avoid. A wave of silent shock rushes across her face as she realizes that it's me. Just as quickly, she notices Nectar attached to my person and the subtle shaking of my head to not personally address me, seemingly gulping down the reactionary sentence that was trying to escape her mouth.
"Welcome to Bisque's Bistro, elegantly named after myself! How can we help you two today?" Bisque can't help but have a knowing smile on her face.
