Chapter 3: Unlikely Roommates (Part 3)
"Here we are! Kiss that hunger goodbye!" I announce as I pull us over to WagRonald's. I shouldn't be surprised that they have establishments here in Crypton Mirai City but I did feel like a place such as WagRonald's would be deemed unsophisticated and unsightly for this city. Glad my assumptions are wrong 'cause this fast food joint has a special place in my heart.
"Seriously? You chose here over anywhere else?" Neru asks, expressing her disappointment as I park.
"Hey, we don't talk shit about WagRonald's in my car. You're free to go elsewhere while I get my order but you'll have to drive," I offer her the keys to my car.
"No way! I'm not being held responsible if something magically happens to it so you can blame it on me," she says, refusing to take the keys.
"I don't think an accident is that likely so long as you're following the rules of the road. I mean you didn't get into a crash or anything on your way to our place now did you?" I point out.
"I didn't but—," her stomach loudly growls, interrupting her.
"Damn, girl. You must be hungrier than me if it's that loud," I tease, chuckling.
"S-Shut up! Fine… No more excuses. Let's go inside already. My stomach is killing me," she says, her face completely red from embarrassment.
"Sounds good to me. Only took you forever," I grin. Exiting the car, we walk inside and up to the counter.
"Good evening! Welcome to WagRonald's! What would you like to ord—Oh my gosh! It's you two!" The cashier says, suddenly taken aback. What the hell kinda coincidence is this?!
"A-Aoi?!" Neru and I shout, shocked.
"That's me! Weird meeting again in a different place, isn't it? First time this has happened within the same day though so I wasn't really prepared to see your faces again this soon," Aoi giggles sheepishly. How incredibly surreal. "T-That aside, what can I get you two?"
"That's easy. A large Bacon Big Wag meal, reduced salt on the fries, Caramel Frappe as the drink, and an apple pie please," I order. At the corner of my right eye, I notice Neru side eyeing me. What for? What was wrong with anything I said?
"Gotcha and you?" Aoi shifts her attention to Neru.
"Let's see… one crispy chicken sandwich, one spicy crispy chicken sandwich, and a small size of cold water," Neru says.
"Really? You're hungrier than tha—yeowch!" I howl, having had Neru swiftly stomp down hard on my right foot. Admittedly, I had that one coming.
"I'm sorry. Were you saying something? Perhaps about paying for my food like a gentleman?" She suggests not so subtly.
"I was gonna do that anyway. I've been a gentleman so far today. Why stop now?" I say, grunting through the lingering pain.
"Good. That means you were taught some ounce of common sense and manners at least," she says in a haughty tone. Backhanded compliment much? Only now do I realize Aoi has been giggling to herself.
"Sorry. I couldn't hold it in. Both of you are just silly. Anyway, will that be it?" Aoi asks.
"Add a ten piece WagNuggets, a WagDouble with mayo and no pickles, and two chocolate chip cookies," Neru swiftly says before I can even utter a word. "That should do it," she turns her head towards me, smugly smirking my way. Truly a devilish woman. She's lucky this ain't no fancy restaurant or I would be slamming the breaks on what she can order. Duly noted to be careful if we go out to eat some other time let alone just general shopping. Unenthusiastically rolling my eyes, I silently affirm Neru's order to Aoi.
"Ok. Your total is… 5,892 yen," Aoi says. W-What?!
"Seriously?! That's like double of what I would've paid where I'm from!" I shout with disbelief.
"Oh, so you're completely new to Crypton Mirai City then? WagRonald's and other restaurants are definitely much more pricey around here," she explains. So they're just charging more because they know more rich people live here. Makes too much sense even though I'm not for that. I guess eating out is a habit I'm gonna have to kill until I hit the big time if I wanna stay living here to get to that point.
"No one likes a man who bitches, Murasa. Just use your credit card if it's that crucial," Neru says.
"Trivial for you to say when I'm the one who's paying," I sigh, reluctantly pulling my wallet out. Yanking out my credit card, I tap it against the card receiver to pay for our food.
"Would you like your receipt?" Aoi questions.
"Yes please," I answer.
"Here you go. We'll have your food ready shortly," she says before walking away. Looking around to figure out where to sit, I notice how empty it is in here. It's only just starting to get dark outside so I figured there would be a few people dining in but that's not the case at all. I guess the drive-through and takeout methods are aggressively more utilized here being a very busybody city and all that.
"Looking for the perfect seat or something? Just pick a spot already! There's literally nobody here but us!" Neru impatiently states what is now the obvious, repeatedly poking me in the back.
"Yeah yeah," I sigh, moving to go sit down at one of the booths beside the windows with her sitting across from me. Almost immediately, she whips out her flip phone that's almost identical in color to her bright yellow hair, her finger quickly darting around like she's texting super fast or something. "Whatcha doin' over there?" I inquire, trying to spark a conversation to pass the time.
"Texting a friend," she says plainly, not bothering to break her eyes away from her phone to look at me.
"Bragging about how you have a cool roommate, right?" I ask, clicking my tongue while doing a finger gun.
"Pfft, you wish," she says, a quiet chuckle slipping out. Ah ha! I know how to get in there now!
"About bragging about me or that I'm cool?" I ask for clarification.
"Both of course! Nice try in attempting to trick me up but you still failed," she answers.
"If I'm not cool then what was that kiss earlier hmm?" I tease.
"I-I told you that was just me thanking you! It had nothing to do with being cool or anything of the sort!" She says defensively while starting to blush and even making eye contact with me.
"Whatever you say." I snicker, allowing her to have it her way.
"Hmph!" She blows me off, focusing back on her phone.
"Sorry to keep you two waiting!" Aoi says, approaching us with a massive tray of our food in her hands. "Here's your order!" She places it down on the table. "If there's anything either of you might need, please let me know!" She exclaims with a big smile on her cute face.
"Uh huh," Neru responds, already having put her shields back up.
"Sure thing! Thanks, Aoi!" I reply, returning a big smile right back at her.
"You're welcome… uh. I don't think I ever got your name," Aoi says.
"Murasa and her name is—," I start to say.
"Neru," Neru cuts me off.
"Murasa and Neru. Got it. I'll leave you alone now so your girlfriend doesn't get jealous," Aoi says.
"W-We're roommates!" Neru and I quickly correct her.
"R-Really?! I thought you were dating," Aoi is taken aback.
"H-Hell no! Don't make me vomit!" Neru says with disgust.
"Good to know the feeling's mutual. You're already a handful as it is and it's still only day one. I'll have officially lost my marbles if we were anything more," I add, agreeing with Neru. She sticks her tongue out at me and I do the same. "That being said, we're attempting to make this roommate thing work the best it can."
"We haven't killed each other yet, so good progress," she sighs.
"I-I see. H-Honestly, it sounds insane that you two are even roommates to begin with judging from that display," Aoi stammers, her body awkwardly shifting left and right. "Sorry for my mistake! I'll be going now!" She hastily scurries away.
"A-Aoi…," I call her name but she doesn't stop in her tracks. "Damn it. She probably thinks her assumption made things weird."
"To be fair, she could've kept her comment to herself and she wouldn't have felt like that," Neru bluntly replies.
"You may be right but you didn't have to say it out loud like that," I sigh.
"If you feel so inclined to clear the air, you can do so after you've eaten unless you're just a big fan of cold food. I, however, am not," she states, picking up one of her WagNuggets. I could take the time to say how I was gonna wait until after eating to do exactly as she just said and risk an argument or just let her have it and move on. Yeah, I'd rather take the latter option.
"Mhmm, I hear ya," I simply say, taking a sip from my caramel frappe. "Ah! Goddamn, this is a really killer frappe I must say!"
"Who the hell orders cold coffee with their burger let alone anytime that's not morning anyway?" She asks before munching on a WagNugget. So that must be why she had that weird look earlier! No one can stop me from enjoying my frappe whenever I please!
"I do," I answer, taking another delicious sip. "How about you try it? I bet you would fall in love with it like I have," I place the frappe in the middle of the table and tilt the straw her way. Picking up my burger, I take a huge bite out of it.
"Ew! I-I'm not putting my mouth on your damn straw! Who the hell do you think you are?!" She questions.
"Ame Murasa, your roommate last I checked," I reply smugly after swallowing.
"You think you're funny, don't you?" She inquires, clearly unimpressed.
"I try to be. Very hit or miss though," I respond, shrugging my shoulders and continuing to eat.
"I'll use my own straw. Thank you very much," she takes her straw out of her cup of water and puts it in the frappe. Leaning forward, she takes a sip, her face clearly showing some enjoyment. "It's alright. Nothing special," she tries to downplay how good it is. I knew she wouldn't be outright honest. Fine by me since it's so obvious she loves it. Reaching for it to get another sip, she immediately snatches the frappe off the table and takes another much bigger sip. "It's… really fucking good," she sheepishly admits. Color me surprised. She actually said it.
"See? I told you so. Now let me get a drink," I try to grab it from her hands.
"Nuh-uh. This is mine now," she refuses, continuing to drink it while holding it close to her chest. Okay so she loves it too much. She's lucky that she looks really cute right now with her openly enjoying it like that.
"I'll go and get myself another then. Assure Aoi that stuff is fine while I'm at it to kill two birds with one stone," I get up and stretch a little.
"Uh-huh. You do that," she's probably only half listening now. Going up to the counter again, Aoi notices me and avoids eye contact.
"M-Murasa, i-is something not to your liking?" Aoi's eyes dart around while her hands fidget.
"Everything's fine. I just wanted to order another caramel frappe because as you can see, she kinda stole mine after I let her try it," I explain.
"Oh, s-sure thing. I can make you another one right away," she shakily turns to grab a cup.
"Aoi," I mutter, reaching over the counter to grab one of her soft yet absurdly clammy hands.
"M-Murasa," she says softly, blushing slightly. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't dare do something like this but there's no one here besides the workers in the back so it shouldn't become a big thing.
"We're not mad at you or anything of the sort," I say.
"Y-You're not?" Her eyes finally make contact with mine.
"Not at all so you have nothing to worry about," I assure her. Letting my hand go, she runs around the counter to where I'm at.
"Thank you, Murasa!" She exclaims happily, glomping me and almost knocking me down.
"Y-You're welcome, Aoi," I stutter, feeling her huge chest press into me. I was doing my damndest to ignore how much of a sexy shortstack she truly is but her hug is bringing it to the forefront of my mind and I hate it. Just have to avoid an erection and I'm all good.
"Oh, right! I still have to get your caramel frappe!" She suddenly remembers, pulling away from me to go back behind the counter. Bullet successfully dodged. Watching her expertly make it, she's done in only a few minutes. "Ta-da! Here's your new caramel frappe!" She announces, placing it on the counter.
"Very much appreciated," I place my hand on the cup while I'm starting to pull my credit card out. In an instant, she lays her hand on top of mine and leans in close.
"Don't worry about paying. It's on me," she says in a weirdly sensual whisper. It's like her personality just shifted. What the hell.
"Are you sure? You really don't have to do that," I try to make her reconsider.
"Really. Just take it," she insists. Something tells me she won't back down on this so I'll concede now and save my breath.
"Very well since you're fine with it," I accept her offer, picking up the frappe as she removes her hand.
"I hope you enjoy that one more than the first one," she waves at me with that same smile from before.
"I shall," I respond. As I go back to my seat, I can't shake this uneasiness I'm feeling. Does Aoi recognize my voice and know who I am?!