OCWaGH: Chapter 17

As Ed, Usagi, and Zack were heading to Ed's house for snacks, we could see Double D and Ami walking down the sidewalk near the candy store alongside Brooke, who was in front of them.

As they were walking, Ami occasionally glanced over to Double D, who now seemed to have calmed down from the news they heard about earlier. She turned back to Brooke, only to see her looking at the stores and businesses in the area.

That is when Ami began to think about something. The two of them now know that Brooke was their future child, and Ami knew neither Brooke nor Setsuna would have any reason to lie… but it made her question the type of relationship she was going to have in the future. To Ami, there was an unknown gap between now and Crystal Tokyo. She had always focused on her studies so she could become a doctor like her mother; never having the time to focus that much on other things like love. But now… Ami began to wonder.

Did she and Eddward really get married to have Brooke? Did they really fall in love…? Or was it an arranged marriage because they both had similar powers? The two of them had only met yesterday, so it was tough for her to believe… Granted, there was still that big gap between now and Crystal Tokyo forming, so it was possible… but…

"… A penny for your thoughts, Ami?"

Ami widened her eyes as she turned to Double D, who noticed she was being a little quiet.

"It's nothing, really… I was thinking about the enemy," Ami replied with a small smile, "While we know the enemy group is called the Soul Breakers and two of the general's names, we still don't know the leader's identity or where they are currently located in this time…"

"T-That's true…"

The two teens continued to walk down the sidewalk. Ami glanced back over to Double D again as another thought crossed her mind.

"… Say, Eddward. What kind of things do you and your friends do in your spare time?"

Double D whipped his head around to look at Ami; her question took him by complete surprise, "You really wish to know?"

"Of course! While I'm knowledgeable about several other countries, I've never been anywhere outside of Japan. Having someone to help me and my friends adjust to living here would be helpful," Ami replied with a nod, "Oh, and if my friends and I are going to be staying here to work on our mission, it would be good to know everyone's likes and dislikes so we can all get along, don't you think?"

Double D was silent to Ami, trying his best not to lose his composure from her question. Thankfully, it looked like she did not notice his fidgetiness, "Oh, yes! I agree! A-And I would love to help you all with that!" he said with a big smile.

Brooke, who was still walking in front of them, glanced back at the two teens behind her. She could see how nervous Double D was with Ami, 'Father was acting like that earlier at the library and the lake… He's never acted this nervous back home at the castle…'

It took Brooke a second to realize why he was acting so strangely, 'Wait, Mother said she just moved here yesterday. That means they're both still strangers to each other!' she looked ahead so she could see where she was going, 'It's no wonder why he fainted from shock… Now I feel kinda bad. I assumed they were already together.'

"As for your question, there isn't much to do here compared to Atlanta or Savannah," Double D stated, "Peach Creek is a very small town, and my friends and I are lucky to live in a neighborhood that's close to some businesses on the outskirts. We can walk to most of the stores without the use of a car or the town's bus system."

Ami chuckled a little, "Thankfully, I can travel by foot without too much trouble. Tokyo is a very big city and has great transportation services in general, so there's no real need for a car to get to most places, even if there is a lot of walking involved. Do you and your friends have your driver's licenses yet?"

Double D nodded his head, "Yes, all three of us do, but Eddy is the only one of us who owns a car… Well, his parents are helping him pay for some of the costs to it for now. Ed and I usually use our mopeds to make quick detours in town, but we don't use them that often."

"I see," Ami replied, "I've always heard how bad it is to travel around the States compared to Japan, so this doesn't surprise me."

The two teens could see that Brooke had come to a sudden stop, standing in front of the candy store, "Did something catch your attention?" Double D asked Brooke.

"I noticed a cool-looking place up ahead," Brooke replied as she pointed to a building that sat around the corner from the candy store.

It looked like a new business that had just opened in this location; a two-floor café called 'Soulful Bakers.' It looked to be a small coffee shop that had a bakery on the base floor and a resting/hangout area for drinking coffee on the second floor. There were several other floors above the place; it was the owners' apartments and homes when they were not at work. It seemed like this tall building was owned by whoever ran the new coffee shop.

'… That's really strange. I thought that old building was going to be torn down soon,' Double D thought to himself, 'Did this business owner buy the whole building so it would not be torn down? I don't think I've seen this brand of café anywhere in town before.'

The group began to approach the business, peeking inside from the huge glass window to see the inside. The inside of the café was very nice; it had a very sleek and contemporary look to it while feeling cozy at the same time. There were no customers in sight and only two people were currently working behind the counter.

Brooke walked over to the entrance of the café to go inside; Double D and Ami were right behind her. It seemed like the shop was not open now, but they could still come inside. They could see two adults behind the counter for the bakery, a bulky man with blond hair and a slim woman with green hair. The woman looked to be older than the man, but not by much.

The man behind the counter looked up to see the three kids that came in, "Whoa, hey! We're not open for business, kids," the man said before gesturing to the door, "Did you not read the sign on the door?"

"Oh… B-But there wasn't a sign there, sir," Brooke said.

The man was silent before sighing in irritation, "Reed must've not put the sign out there when I asked him to! I swear that kid is so damn lazy!"

"Ignore his ramblings, little dears," the woman said with a chuckle, "But yes, we're not open yet, but our grand opening will be about a week from now. Just in time for the school year!"

"Wow, that's exciting!" Double D stated as he looked around the place, "It seems like the real café is on the floor above this one, correct?"

"You're correct!" the woman replied, "The bakery is on this floor while our coffee is made upstairs where everyone sits and relaxes the day away. Our apartments are above the shop, so please don't go any further than the second floor once we finally open."

"My, that sounds very cozy," Ami said, "It's good to know that this place will be open soon. Our apologies for walking in when you were trying to get things ready."

"Eh, it's no big deal. It's not your fault that the sign wasn't there. Gives me a good excuse to chew out one of my lazy employees," the man said with a hearty laugh, "The name's Jonah, by the way. I'm the owner of this place along with my business partner Cloe."

"We hope to see you again when we open!" the woman named Cloe said with a cheery smile.

"Okay, thank you for the information!" Double D said as he and the other two girls left the shop.

The shop owners made a deep sigh of relief, "Geez, they gave me a heart attack when they came in!" Jonah said before making a frown, "I told Reed to put the closed sign out front so no one can come in!"

"Aww, it's not an awful thing in the long run, dear Jonah," Cloe said, "If anything, it would help us out if more folks learned about this place; advertising this place and spreading the word!"

Cloe made a small smirk, "We need to find the queen as soon as we can for Lord Krishna, you know. So having a business like this is a terrific way to find her while being undercover."

"You're right," Jonah replied, "Thankfully, the barrier that Lord Krishna placed on this building makes it so that folks can't get to the rooftop where our bar is so easy, not to mention masking the presence of it."

Jonah then began to walk away from behind the counter, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find Reed and yell at him for not doing what I asked him to do!"

Cloe made a sigh at Jonah's antics, "Never a dull moment."

Author's Note (August 31st, 2024): Whoa, where the heck have I been? I guess I was having some writer's block on every story I needed to finish... Oops.