Chapter 30: A Quick Stop By The Floristry
"Heeey, Ryuta," Lilith says, her voice coming through my phone.
"What's up, Lilith? Something bad happen?" I ask.
"Nah, I was just wondering what was holding you up at the store," she answers.
"I've literally only been gone for half an hour," I chuckle.
"Yeah and I'm lonely, Ryuta! How do you think I felt when you and Polt left me here on my birthday?!" She shouts.
"That was your own fault! Besides, you got an amazing surprise gift as a result. Wonderful things tend to happen when you wait," I say.
"But waiting sucks big time! I know you're getting the groceries for our thing but I know there's something else so tell me!" She demands impatiently.
"Now where's the fun in that?" I question, snickering. "By the way, I know I'm on speakerphone with Polt and Draco listening in."
"Shit! How did he know?!" Draco asks.
"Because you just told me. One of the oldest tricks in the book," I laugh.
"Draco!" Polt and Lilith yell at her.
"H-Hey, how was I supposed to realize he was casting bait?!" Draco questions defensively.
"Anyway, I'll see you three in about an hour or so," I say.
"C'mon, tell us where you're heading to at the very least," Polt says.
"Knowing the location would spoil it so I can't do that," I say.
"I swear if you're going back to that mall after we had that talk, we're gonna have a serious prob—," she starts to warn.
"That's not what I'm doing. It's just a thing for the yukata and that's all. I promise that," I quickly explain, cutting her off.
"Oooh. Something for our yukata, you say? Thank you for spilling a juicy hint!" Lilith chuckles mischievously.
"D-Damn it! Slip of the tongue!" I exclaim.
"I think knowing just that little bit will suffice us. We'll let you get back to it now," Polt says.
"See you later, Sweetheart!" The three shout in unison.
"H-Hold on just a second! You can't just bum a hint off of me then— you three seriously hung up on me?! How rude can you be to your boyfriend/host?!" I yell, upset.
Taking a deep breath, I sigh deeply and place my phone back in my pocket.
Man, the festival is in two days and I couldn't even keep the finishing touch to their outfits secret until then.
Not that big of a deal I guess.
Starting up my car, I pull out of the parking lot and head to my next destination.
Surprisingly, it only takes a handful of minutes to reach it.
Huh, I figured it'd take much longer to get here but I guess not.
Exiting my car, I walk up to the front entrance of this small shop.
I hope these two have what I'm looking for.
Upon entering, a bell above my head rings and I hear someone suddenly move like the wind through the aisles.
"Ryuta! You actually showed up!" A voice exclaims excitedly.
Looking to my left, an all too familiar Honey Bee is sprinting full speed towards me, colliding into my person with a big hug that somehow doesn't knock me down.
That makes her the second person to greet me in that fashion.
"N-Nekuta! It's been a couple days," I say.
"It sure has! I was so worried you wouldn't stop by to see us!" Nekuta's arms squeeze me harder.
"I'm sure but you're gonna snap my spine in half if you don't ease up, y'know?!" I warn.
"Oh, I'm sorry! How careless of me," she apologizes, loosening up her hug.
"Nekuta, I really hope you aren't badgering yet another customer," Honey says, making her way through the aisles to us.
"I'm not. See?" Nekuta says.
"R-Ryuta? It's actually you this time?" Honey inquires, surprised upon seeing my face.
"This time?" I ask.
"Nekuta has been jumping on almost every person she's heard coming into the shop under the impression it was you ever since we met in the mall," she explains.
"I-I was not! H-Honey's just lying to embarrass me!" Nekuta denies defensively.
Nekuta could've just called me if it's eating her that bad.
"No reason to hide the truth from him. Ryuta, she's been so eager to see you again. I told her she could just call you instead of waiting but she kept claiming that it's just not the same. It's ridiculous," Honey teases.
Nevermind then.
"Please don't listen to her," Nekuta begs.
Those flowers really gave her a weirdly strong positive opinion of me it seems. I still don't get that honestly, favorite flower or not.
"Aww, that's cute. I've been wanting to see you too," I smile, patting Nekuta's head while her antennae twitch.
"R-R-Really?!" She asks, blushing.
"Of course," I reply.
"Honey… could we close the store for about half an hour?" She requests hesitantly.
"N-Nekuta, you can't go using our store for stuff like that!" Honey objects.
"It's not gonna cause a problem to shut the store down for just a liiittle bit until Ryuta and I are done," Nekuta says.
"What's going on exactly?" I question, confused.
"We didn't get to have tea together at the mall so since you're here now, I-I figured we could… do that… in the backroom… m-maybe," she replies, becoming more and more quiet.
"I'm sorry, Nekuta but I still don't have the time for that," I apologize.
"C'mon, Ryuta! You're already here. What's the big rush?" She whines.
"Well, I just got groceries from the store and I really don't want the frozen stuff to melt," I explain.
"Maybe you should've stopped by here first then you wouldn't have that problem," she softly remarks with a pouty face.
Nekuta certainly has some level of sass hidden underneath it all.
"You make a good point, Nekuta," I say with subtle sarcasm.
"Glad you see it my way, Ryu—,"
"I guess I'll be going then. I'll be back some other time. Bye Nekuta," I say, pulling out of her embrace and making my way towards the exit.
"H-Huh?! No! Please don't leave, Ryuta! I was just playing around!" She exclaims, grabbing onto my right arm with all four of her hands.
"Relax. I'm not actually gonna leave," I chuckle, turning around.
"You really mean that?" She asks, sniffling.
"Totally," I answer.
"Ryuta!" She cries out, trapping me yet again in her four armed hug while burying her face in my chest.
"There… there," I pet her head as my organs are slowly crushed into a soupy mush.
"This is what I have to put up with, Ryuta," Honey giggles.
"I… can see that," I say, unable to breathe.
"I'm pretty sure he's gonna pass out if you keep it up, Nekuta," she warns.
"Omigosh! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Nekuta questions after letting me free.
"I'm not dead so that's a plus," I reply, getting precious oxygen back into my lungs.
"Now that I think about it, what did you come here for anyway? As amusing as it is for me, I'm certain it's not because you wanted to get wrapped up with my cousin's nonsense," Honey inquires.
"H-Hey! It's not nonsense," Nekuta says defensively.
"I'm glad you finally asked. I'm here because I'm in need of some flowers," I explain.
Honey and Nekuta immediately get excited, their antennae twitching and wings fluttering like crazy.
"You're actually here to buy flowers?! Why didn't you say so sooner?!" They yell.
Nekuta grabs onto my left arm and holds it against her chest.
S-Still not wearing a bra!
"Allow me to show you our current selection," Nekuta says, guiding me.
"T-There's no need for you to hold my arm so close, y'know," I stutter.
"There's certainly no harm in it though, right?" She buries my arm deeper into her cleavage.
"R-Right," I blush.
"I'll go ahead and man the register. I look forward to seeing what you pick out!" Honey says, heading to the counter.
Only a few minutes in, Nekuta has enthusiastically rattled off what feels like over twenty kinds of flowers along with a brief summary of their histories as we pass by them through the aisles.
Feels like I can't even get a word in before she starts talking about the next flower she sees on the shelf.
"And here is the classic romantic flower, the red rose. It's such a beauty to behol—,"
"With all due respect, I acknowledge that you carry a great passion about this and all but could you please crank it back a notch, Nekuta?!" I interject, raising my voice just a little bit over hers.
"O-Oh! Was I overdoing it, Ryuta?" She asks, concerned.
"About just a smidge yeah," I reply.
"M-My bad! I didn't mean to annoy you!" She apologizes, quickly seizing the moment to give me another hug.
"I-It's fine. It's just that I came here knowing what I wanted already," I explain.
"Then why didn't you mention that earlier?" She questions.
"I tried to but you were too busy with your trivia to hear me," I answer.
"W-Well, I'm listening now so tell me what you want and I'll do my best to see if we have it," she says, letting go of me.
"Let's see… I need a purple lily, a cherry blossom, and a sunflower," I say.
The lily is for Lilith as on the nose as that is. Polt gets the cherry blossom and Draco gets the sunflower.
A beautiful flower in their hair paired with their cute yukata is too great an opportunity for me not to seize it for this special occasion.
"Oh wow! Lucky you! We had some of those bloom just a few days ago," she says.
"Seriously?! That's perfect!" I exclaim, surprised.
And here I was prepared for disappointment.
"I'll get them for you and we can bring it to the counter," she says.
"Sounds good," I say.
Approaching Honey with Nekuta and the flowers, I notice Honey's eyes squint at me with great judgement.
"Something wrong, Honey?" Nekuta asks.
"Yeah, your eyes seem kinda scary at the moment," I add.
"You're only gonna buy three individual flowers? C'mon and buy a whole bouquet for each of them instead," Honey says.
"I don't need that many flowers though," I say.
"Yeah you do. You wanna support your friends, don'tcha?" She insists.
I get that this is a small shop but are they really hurting that bad for traffic from the customers they do pull in?
"Actually, I was hoping we could just let him have them for free. He did help us out after all," Nekuta says.
"Free?! Nice gesture or not, that option is never available!" Honey shouts.
I guess that avenue isn't gonna work this time around.
"N-Not even a discount?" Nekuta asks.
"Only if he buys the bouquets. What do you say to that, Ryuta?" Honey says.
"You really want me to pay for bouquets, huh?" I lightly chuckle.
Honey sighs.
"Nekuta, lend me your ear for a second," she says, beckoning her with a finger.
"Okay," Nekuta leans over the counter.
Honey whispers into Nekuta's ear.
"W-What?! I-I can't co-sign on that! I already made my claim!" Nekuta yells, flustered and blushing.
"Just relax, dear cousin. I'll let you take the lead at the very least and I won't intrude any further on your territory after this," Honey smirks.
"…F-Fine, I'll allow it. Only this one time though," Nekuta reluctantly agrees.
"I don't know what you two are scheming but it doesn't sound good," I comment.
"It's an offer too sweet for you to pass up is what it is. You pay bouquet price for those three flowers and there's something much better you get in place of actual bouquets," Honey says.
"Like what exactly?" I inquire.
"Come with us to the backroom and find out," she answers in a low key seductive tone.
If Honey's suggesting what I think she's suggesting then that backroom is a trap just like with Bisque! I'm gonna opt to skip this route… for now at least. Especially when I already told Lilith and them I would be back soon anyway and I know how they get when I don't stick to what I said.
"How about I just pay for the price of a bouquet and we can be done with this instead?" I offer.
"Just outright paying more for less with no incentive?! What are you supposed to gain from that?" She questions.
"Ending this transaction sooner so I can get my groceries home," I answer bluntly.
"…What kinda guy turns down a three—,"
"A-A three person tea party and nothing else! Heh heh heh! Isn't that right, Honey?!" Nekuta quickly cuts in, one of her upper hands firmly covering Honey's mouth.
"Y-Yeah, t-that's right!" Honey stammers after removing Nekuta's hand.
"It's not something I have time for today let alone the rest of this week. I keep saying that for a reason," I say.
"Oh thank god—I mean, that's too bad," Nekuta says, Honey shooting a feisty glance her way.
"…Very well. Give me the money and we'll stop bugging you," Honey sighs.
I… I can't tell if that pun was intended or not.
Handing over the exact amount, they wrap the flowers up and carefully place them in a bag before giving it to me.
"Thank you for your purchase! Please come again, Ryuta," they say, waving goodbye.
"Will do," I say, waving back as I make my exit.
That really shouldn't have taken as much time as it did.
At least Nekuta completely forgot about those extra daffodils I was supposed to bring her because I definitely forgot about them.
"Hold on just a second before you go!" Nekuta shouts, grabbing my right shoulder.
I-I'm almost on my way out the door so how did she move that fast without me hearing her that time?! That's pretty damn scary!
"Something almost slip your mind?" I question.
Please don't mention those daffodils!
"July 31, Ryuta. Don't forget," she says.
Oh, thank the heavens!
"What's that supposed to be?" I ask.
"My birthday of course!" She answers.
"You say that as if I was already supposed to know that," I say.
"My birthday is when we'll have tea together and that's nonnegotiable," she says.
"N-Nonnegotiable?! That's only a couple days after the fireworks festival! What if something comes up for me on that day?!" I shout.
"Then I guess you'll have to take a rain check to make sure you have time for me," she giggles.
"And what happens if I don't show up?" I inquire.
She lays her upper right hand on my cheek.
"I'll cry… and then I'll break… so you can't let that happen," she warns in a serious tone whilst still keeping her cutesy voice intact with her chilling eyes seemingly peering into my soul.
"T-That's a bit ominous. It's nowhere close to Halloween, y'know?" I nervously laugh to try to hide how anxious she just made me with that sentence.
"The worst thing you could do is think I'm joking and not take my words seriously. On my birthday, you will bring me to the park. You will have tea with me and you most certainly will take me to dinner. Do I make myself clear, Ryuta?" She whispers threateningly.
"Y-Yes, ma'am!" I stutter.
"Good to hear. I guess you better get going now," she chuckles, returning to her normal demeanor while she rubs my cheek.
"Y-Yeah," I agree, continuing to take my leave.
"Byeee, Ryuta," she wiggles her fingers on both her right hands at me.
"B-Bye, Nekuta," I quickly exit the store.
Outside, I take several deep breaths to calm my nerves.
That didn't feel anywhere close to Rachnera or those three's femdom talk. Nekuta was probably gonna seriously harm me!
E-Even then… her threats got me really hard and I hope she didn't take notice of that. I almost wanna piss her off on purpose but I know I shouldn't.
It's definitely time for me to return home for the day.
"H-Hey, y-you're the one… who m-made out with me at the mall… r-right?" I know that voice!
At the corner of my vision, I notice a short blue haired guy beside me.
Nah, my mind must be playing tricks on me.
Last thing I need is that flower guy showing up here.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" I feel a sudden jolt of pain on my left arm.
"Ow! Y-You're actually here?! And did you just fuckin' pinch me?!" I yell, rubbing my arm.
"How else was I supposed to get your attention?" He asks.
I need to stop jinxing this shit.
"Flower guy! Isn't this a big coincidence?" My voice casually slips into the mature womanly tone.
"I-I have a name, y'know?!" He exclaims.
"Then let's hear it," I say.
"I-It's… Makoto," he says, looking off to the side.
"Makoto, huh? That's a cute name for a tasty snack," I giggle and lick my lips as I move closer. "Mind if I shorten it to Mako?" I question, whispering seductively in his ear.
Those three will surely forgive my being held up if I use Makoto here as an excuse.
Plus I just gotta mess with him more in this surprise second encounter and to make sure I get his number this time.
"I-I don't mind," he blushes. "May… I know your name?"
"You'll know when I want you to know. You'll address me as Ma'am until then. None of that Mister stuff. Got that?" I reply.
"Yes… Ma'am," he says.
Didn't even try to question it.
"Good. Now whatever reason you came here for, I was actually on my way out so how about you come sit in my car with me for a minute?" I say.
"… Sure," he answers hesitantly.
I grab his hand and firmly hold onto it.
It's adorable how much it's trembling in my grasp.
"Let's go," I say, leading him over to my car.
Opening the right backseat door, I bend over in front of him.
"Forgetful me. There's stuff back here," I wiggle my ass as I move some groceries and put the flowers in the passenger seat, trying to tempt him.
I dare you to do something perverted to me, Mako!
"M-Ma'am, could you please not be so blatant with it?" He stammers.
"Be so blatant about what?" I act clueless.
"Never mind," he says, refusing to address it.
I expected as much for him to not act.
After having cleared out the backseat, I get in and pat my lap.
"No thanks. I'm good," he says.
"What's wrong with my lap, Mako?" I question.
"It's… embarrassing… is what it is," he replies reluctantly.
"C'mon, there's no one around who will see it," I try to coax him.
"Well… no! Please move over," he says.
"Fiiine," I say, letting him have his way.
Sitting down beside me, he shuts the door.
"So what have you been up to?" I gently nudge my shoulder into his.
"N-Nothing much. I just came here on my day off to get some seeds since it just so happened to be closer instead of driving to the mall as well as wanting to see what this shop had to offer. Little did I know I would run into you here," he explains.
"That's funny. I was actually thinking about you when you popped up," I say.
"T-Thinking about me?! For what?!" He questions, surprised.
I lay a hand on his inner left thigh.
"That should be obvious," I chuckle softly, my face close to his.
"We… shouldn't," he says hesitantly.
"Then why did you get in the car with me?" I ask.
"B-Because I-I…,"
I kiss his lips while caressing his thigh.
After a little bit, he gives in and starts kissing back.
Moving my hand to his crotch, he's already rock hard.
I bet he was already hard before I moved onto him.
"You shouldn't be going along and doing lewd stuff with a stranger. Didn't your parents teach you that much?" I tease, eagerly rubbing the tent in his shorts.
"I-I'm not a kid," he mutters.
"Doesn't matter not one bit when you're already involved with me," I say, infiltrating his mouth with my tongue.
Laying against him, he topples over with me on top of him as our tongues tangle together, his hands immediately grabbing at my ass.
I should cut this short before we go too far seeing as I wasn't even planning on kissing him in the first place.
The more sexual tension I give him, the more daring he'll get to try to lose his virginity to me. At least that's how I want it to progress.
Before I end this little session, I definitely want a keepsake of things to come.
Fishing my phone out of my pocket, I turn on the camera and take a selfie of us.
"H-Hey, w-what are you gonna do with that?" He asks.
"No worries. I'll keep it for myself," I answer.
"Fine by me," he says.
Withdrawing my tongue, we both pant.
Mako's got that same desperate look in his eyes.
"Please… Ma'am," he softly begs.
… Fuck it. I'm not gonna make him wait because I really can't either!
Dropping my phone on the floor, I start undoing his shorts.
"It's your lucky day, Mako," I smirk as I'm about to unleash his dick.
An abrupt volley of loud sounds from outside frightens Makoto and I, causing us to quickly sit up.
Looking out the window behind Makoto, Nekuta is standing outside the car and smacking one of her hands on the window.
Are you serious?!
"Is… Is that that quiet Honey Bee from the mall?!" He asks.
"That's Nekuta, yes. Those two Honey Bees happen to own this flower store," I sigh.
"That's kinda a weird coincidence, isn't it? Also, you plan on talking to her, right? She has yet to stop banging on the window," he says.
"Yeah," I sigh harder.
Rolling down the window, Nekuta finally stops.
"About time! Were you planning on ignoring me?!" Nekuta asks, pouting. "Wait, is that the flower guy from the mall? What's he doing in here?"
"My name is Makoto," he clarifies.
"And I don't recall asking for that. I'm talking to Ryuta, not you," she casually retorts, expressing her disinterest in him.
"That's… kinda cold," he mutters.
"Any… good reason why you're attacking my window?" I question, almost forgetting to switch back to my normal voice.
"Because I thought you left but it turns out you're still here. I know you forgot to bring those extra daffodils so make sure you bring them on my birthday, okay?" She says.
Goddamn it! She didn't forget?!
"I got it," I say, giving her a thumbs up.
"Great! I can't wait!" She giggles, walking away back into the store.
"Now where were we?" I ask, biting my lip.
"A-Actually, I should probably get to what I was doing!" He says, quickly buckling his belt back up and fixing his shorts then opening the door.
"You're leaving?! We were just getting to the good part!" I desperately grab his wrist.
"Y-Yeah, I'm just not in the mood anymore. I'm sorry. Please don't take it personally," he apologizes.
"Mako baby, at least exchange numbers with me before you leeeave!" I whine.
"O-Oh, right," he says, remembering he has no way to contact me.
"And there we go," I say, putting my phone away.
"One more thing before I go," he says.
"Hmm? What's tha—," he suddenly kisses my lips before I get to finish.
Good job on catching me with my guard down.
"Mako," I mutter, grabbing his hips.
He does the smart thing and pulls away before I can pull him back into wanting it.
"I'll see you some other time," he says, stepping out of the car.
"See ya later," I say.
As soon as he shuts the car door and goes inside the floristry, I groan loudly in frustration as I crawl into the driver seat.
I was SO close this time! I didn't even get to taste him at the very least.
Nekuta cockblocked me on purpose! I just know it!
Next time I won't fail! I'll make sure of it!
At least my day can only get better now. Teaching the girls how to properly cook should be entertaining and not a complete nightmarish task to accomplish.
A/N: This was originally gonna be a part of what is now the next chapter as this turned out much bigger than anticipated and I've been dying to release something. I'll stop telling myself that I'll make things happen by a specific chapter number because clearly it's a losing battle.