Chương 99: Picnic
Being reminded of her yet again really did damper Kouji's mood, but he wasn't going to let that wreak his day with the girls. Right now, they deserved all of his attention.
"You know, maybe we should do something simple for lunch." He said. They had been out for a while and some food was very much welcomed. "I know you guys can easily afford to eat at a nice restaurant, but maybe we can enjoy the outdoors a little more now that things are getting warmer." There was still that cool breeze reminding everyone that it was late Winter, but groundhog day did say it was an early spring.
"You want to have… A picnic?" Yuma asked, which gave the boy exactly the idea he wanted.
"Exactly. That could be a lot of fun, right?" There was a park not far from them that had plenty of open grass to allow them to set one up. The only matter to be worried about was to find food, as well as a blanket for them to sit on the grass with. Thankfully, there was a store that was selling what they'd need to get a basket and blanket. For food, Yuma went off to a nearby deli to see if sandwiches could possible be made there.
"The outdoors really ain't my thing." Waa lazily laid down onto the blanket they collected while the group waited for Yuma to make her return. "It's dirty, cold, and I think bugs are going to get on our food. Inside's different, that's clean."
"Speak for yourself." Teru countered. "I hate being cooped up all the time. How you stay in your room for hours is beyond me." A great day for her would involve falling down some stairs after failing a trick on her skateboard. If there wasn't a cut on her after it, then it wasn't hard enough.
"I think this is very exciting." Anastasia was in glee. "There aren't enough opportunities in Russia to do this where I live. It's usually too cold."
"I hope it's not just a frozen wasteland." Waa quipped. Now don't get her wrong, she didn't hate this girl in any manner. If anything, Anastasia was her favorite girl of the bunch. It's just that right now, her presence was really getting in all of their ways. Which now that she was thinking of it, this was kind of weird. Anastasia was the only one out of this group that was unaware of the whole harem deal. But… Doesn't she like him too?
This is what everyone believed. Waa was sure Kouji knew it too, unless he really was that dense harem protagonist. So how come she continued to not say anything about it? How much did this girl really know?
"I… Have returned." Yuma announced her appearance. In her arms there was a basket full of yummy foods such as sandwiches, sushi, and even some noodles. "Hopefully this… Will be enough."
"It might be too much." Kouji was in awe at the overflowing container. "This wasn't too expensive, right?"
"It was… Cheap." Their definitions of what 'cheap' were might've been pretty different. "I… Made all of this." That was what contributed to the low cost in her eyes. The sheer amount that was created by her hand was impressive to say the least. Also they had the peace of mind that this was going to be tasty indeed.
"This should be good then." Kouji said as the plastic plates were being placed down. "Thanks so much for your hard work."
"It's… Nothing to me." This was child's play compared to some of the bigger catering jobs she had done for her family. "Please, enjoy the food."
"You know what would make this more enjoyable?" That teasing question by Waa didn't inspire any confidence to him. If this girl was making any suggestions, then it was going to be embarrassing for him. "How about we feed each other at least one bite?" Of course that was her plan. He did tell them that they could have fun with trying to show romantic gestures without showing their hands. Especially to Anastasia.
Wait, now this was starting to sound like some weird exhibitionism stunt they were pulling.
"Then… I'll start." Yuma was the first one to begin. She took some chopsticks and picked up one piece of sushi. "Kouji, say ahh…" Her ahh lacked any energy behind it. Which made it sound like she was doing it out of obligation rather than making her move.
This girl was quick to pull off the suggestion towards him. Perhaps it was due to her falling behind the others that prompted such boldness. Though the most likely reason was that she had to be patient since Yuma was unable to do anything with him after joining the harem due to the unfortunate breakup.
"Okay…" He gingerly accepted her gift. Even though this wasn't supposed to be viewed as romantic, doing so in front of so many people made him nervous. Hopefully he didn't look silly as his mouth opened and took in the meal. The girl took back her chopsticks for herself. Her prize being the utensils.
"My turn." Waa did the same thing with some fried noodles that Yuma made. How did she find the things needed to make some of these thing? "Be careful, they're kind of spicy." He did the same thing as with the girl before. All of the food as rather delicious, even if that wasn't on his mind as he tried them out.
"That's all really great." He said as he chewed. "Thank you all so much, but I really shouldn't be the only one to eat."
"Does that mean I cannot give you my gift?" Anastasia had on a sad looking pout in response to his statement. He couldn't resist her charm, even with the others surrounding him.
"If you want…" He was anxious on how the trio would take this as tore a piece of her sandwich for him. She handed it to him, and in his mouth it went.
"I guess that's it." He assumed that Teru would be too embarrassed to do something like this. So he spoke as if that was the end for this little game.
"Yeah, I'm sure little miss tough girl ain't going to give any of us her food." Waa laughed, mocking her.
"You are right, she has not done it yet." Anastasia had the opposite reaction. "If you would like to give him something, then you should." Teru's eyes widened in hearing that. Did this girl know somehow?
"F-fine." She replied. "I'll do it, but only because everyone else is doing it."
"Good thing we didn't jump off a cliff then." Waa quipped.
"Here." She ignored the words and handed him her sandwich. "One bite, then you give it back." Kouji took it and slowly examined it. The girl was so rude that she already took a bite of this before giving it to him. Unless… Her move had to be on purpose. She must've wanted the same thing as those with the chopsticks, but was too worried about giving it away.
"Thanks." He said, taking a bite right where her lips had already been. So this was her saliva? Somehow something that sounded so disgusting got him a little fired up on the inside. All this indirect kissing and teasing was one thing, but he wanted more. They all wanted more. However there was someone stopping them from that goal.
"I… I need to go on a walk." Anastasia got up soon after most of the food had been eaten.
"You are? You want someone to join you?" It seemed to be a very random move coming from her.
"N-no no." She responded. "I'll just be gone for a little bit. That's all."
"She's going to the bathroom." Waa said out loud. "And seeing as we just ate, I'm guessing that it's-"
"I will be going now!" Flustered, the Russian girl immediately made her leave.
"That wasn't very nice." Kouji scolded her now that they were alone.
"Relax, I'm just ribbing on her." She defended herself. "It's only natural."
"So you want me to bring up... that incident?"
"What incident?" Teru asked.
"Okay, I see your point." That was the only thing that he could possibly hold over Waa. "I won't do it again." He believed that to be a lie from her.
"Looks like we're free of her for a little bit." He said. "Sorry that she had to come along, I'm sure that you're all disappointed about it getting in the way."
"I… Don't mind." Yuma responded.
"I agree with her." Teru and Waa felt the same way. The truth was this was more fun anyway. Spending time with the other girls along with him was also nice.
"I'll be even more honest and say I miss Himawari and how she'd get upset anytime I did something stupid." Waa chuckled, reminiscing on the past. "The two of you really need to make up. You know you want to."
"Of course I do." He replied. "But, I'm not certain she wants anything to do with me." There was a part of him that didn't believe his own words, but his reasoning was from something that none of the other girls were aware of outside of him and Himawari.
"It might sound weird coming from me." Teru suggested that he at least try talking with her. She was right, that was weird coming from the girl that refused to properly express her feelings.
"I can try." He hadn't deleted that girl from his contacts, but a call or message most likely would go ignored. Maybe he could ask the girls to help him out by setting something up the next time they studied together in school.
"I am back." Anastasia boldly announced her return. "I did not take long, so I clearly did not use the toilet during this time."
No one believed her.
"And I'll be back." He got up from his spot. "Just going to pay a visit to the restroom myself."
"Or you'll getting some time to think." Waa muttered quietly, but loud enough for him to hear. She had hit the nail on the head.
Shortly after he left, they all chatted among themselves. This was until someone else interrupted their little picnic.
"Hey girls." It was Hasua greeting them. "I got Anastasia's message and wanted to come see you for a little bit. It's been too long."
"That is wonderful to hear." Anastasia giggled that her plan seemed to be falling into place. Surely if they saw each other in public, her two friends would make up. Except there was one problem. "Did you come here alone?"
"Don't worry about Himawari." Hasua was just as into the plan as well. "She just had to make a stop at the little girl's room. It seemed that fateful meeting was going to be happening sooner than anyone anticipated.
Kouji did make a stop at the public bathroom after he left the group. Though he spent longer than he normally would, taking the extra time to wash his face. The boy took one deep breath while observing himself in the mirror. Did he deserve her forgiveness? Did he deserve any of the girls?
"Ugh, public restrooms are just as disgusting as I remember." He heard a voice speak right as he left the men's bathroom. Actually that voice was very familiar to him. That snooty and arrogant tone… It had to be.
"Himawari?" He turned his head to be faced with the only person who he couldn't get out of his head during the last week.
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