Day 63: Tasty Burger (Noon)

[oneman_onekill]

[from here]

Niikura inhaled deeply upon entering the burger joint. There it was, that lovely smell of grease and oil and fat and mmmmmmm he wasn't waiting any longer. He bounded into the line, hand finally releasing Shiina's as he dug through his bag, searching for the appropriate coupon.

"Oh man, I'm so excited. I've been waiting for this all day, you have no idea...!" Thankfully, there wasn't much of a line, so it wasn't long before they were at the register and he was handing over their coupons to a cashier that looked about as old as they did.

Still bouncing up and down a bit, he smiled at Shiina as they waited for their order to be sent out. "So, havin' a good day so far? What do ya think of this town, huh? It's pretty quaint in my opinion...pretty Western and all."

Comments

[requitedfate]

Shiina couldn't help but chuckle. Typical Shou. Though a burger did sound pretty good. And it came with an ice cream! That was more of a treat than Shiina could have hoped for lunch today.

Waiting for their food wouldn't take that long. She stood aside with Shou, hiding her gloved hands in her pockets. "It's... yeah. Cute, I guess."

She hadn't really been much for sight-seeing. Much of the morning had been spent rushing around looking for a doctor's office that seemed non-existent. Taking in the sights had been second priority. "... It's definitely more quiet than home. But maybe that's not a bad thing."

[oneman_onekill]

She seemed so worried that Niikura couldn't help but feel slightly anxious himself. He was trying hard to make small talk and hopefully take her mind off of things for a while, but...he could tell. There was a kind of cloud hanging over her, a kind that not even his usual antics could dissipate. He sighed internally. Couldn't catch a break at all around here, huh?

"Aye, it's quieter." He laughed. "I don't think that's a bad thing either. It's good to get a break after all that...stuff." Niikura paused and added. "I wish it didn't have to be here, though." If this day could last perpetually--if they could just stay in this one day forever, that would suit him just fine. He knew, though, that eventually, they'd return, and he'd have to face all the things that were piling up.

The conversation, at this point, was getting pretty morose, and he was thankfully saved (temporarily) by the cashier shouting their order. Returning a few seconds later with their trays, Niikura gleefully waltzed over to an empty table and set the trays down across from each over before falling into a seat.

"Ah, this looks delicious!" He unwrapped the burger and took an enormous bite. "C'mon, Nagashawah, lesh eat!"

[requitedfate]

"Mn, yeah." Of all the places to wind up alone with Shou, away from all the broken politics and scam-artists that posed as adults, it had to be at Landel's Institute. Hell on Earth. And to think, she had once believed that title had been taken by Japan.

Shiina stared for a minute while Shou tore into his meal. Then, with a bit more care but a smile on her face, Shiina also started in on her food. The burger wasn't bad. And it was bigger than the ones back home. That was kinda nice.

Shiina couldn't find much of an appetite, but she could at least try. Her fever wasn't helping the situation either, and eating with the gloves on was kind of difficult, and definitely getting her some odd looks. But she refused to take them off in plain sight of anyone who happened to walk into this place. Maybe later...

"So, got anything planned for buying today?" Shiina asked between her burger and fries.

[oneman_onekill]

Personally, he didn't think Landel's was that bad. It was awful to get your mind messed with without your permission, sure, but there hadn't really been anything that he'd never sort of dealt with before. And it was a fanboy's dream come true in some ways. And the food was good. And he didn't have to sit around in class.

...well okay, maybe he would take some of that back. They had sprung not-Katsuragi on him. And Shiina...she was more of the reason why he wasn't so chipper about things anymore. It had been relieving, hearing that even without him (with him?), Akumetsu had finished well, but it wasn't so relieving knowing that even though he wasn't affected by much, there was now someone here who was--and that person happened to be someone he cared about much more than he liked to admit to other people.

Niikura swallowed. "Not much," he replied, smiling sheepishly. "I don't know...something silly, maybe." He pointed at her gloves. "Seriously couldn't find any other ones?"

[requitedfate]

Shiina wouldn't have minded things overly much at Landel's either if she hadn't had to go through this possible transformation. And despite her own wish to help Shou, living in a horror movie setting hadn't been on the expected agenda. She was a normal person, despite having been cloned back into existence. She couldn't cope with monsters like they were as mundane as garter snakes.

Something silly sounded about right. "Maybe you should get yourself a megaphone," she teased. She looked up at his hair. "Looks like hair gel isn't necessary."

As for the gloves, Shiina almost felt ashamed wearing them as she ate, but she refused to take them off even now. She shook her head. "The beauty shop here has some accessories, but mostly for hair. No nice gloves, not even woolen mittens."

[oneman_onekill]

Niikura laughed. "That would be funny; think I'd get it confiscated in five seconds." He could just see it: the megaphone would let out just one unearthly screech, and immediately, he'd have five nurses on him demanding that he hand it over. "As for hair gel, well...y'know, I've always prided myself on not needin' it." Yeah, that was right. His hair was just that special.

He paused in the middle of his burger to eat some fries. "That sucks, about the gloves. You'd think they'd have at least one clothing store around here. Guess people shop for that outside of town." The stores in town all seemed to be locally owned, so it could be that it just wasn't anyone's thing. Still, at least one clothing boutique was standard for any shopping area...

"Feelin' any better, by the way?" A "yes" was a hope beyond all hopes, but he could at least try.

[requitedfate]

She giggled, unable to help herself. "Guess that's true. They're pretty lame when it comes to having fun."

"Y-yeah. Sucks." She probably should tell him about her rash. She knew she should, but ruining his appetite (if that was possible) wasn't going to start with her problems.

She stalled his next question by taking another bite of her burger. Shiina hated to lie, but she wasn't going to ruin this now. Not if she had to. She didn't quite meet his eyes as she nodded, grabbing up her soda to continue keeping up her mask. It was difficult, especially for someone like Shiina who was constantly keeping her emotions on her sleeves.

[oneman_onekill]

Part of Akumetsu's strength was derived from his ability to read people and predict what they would do or how they would react. He would dedicate a sizable amount of time to reading up on chosen targets as well as potential obstacles, carefully developing psychological profiles for each person so that he would be able to even control them, to an extent, by shaping scenarios to his advantage and using their mental tics against them. As a result, his knowledge of psychology had become quite impressive.

Niikura didn't need it much, though, to tell that Shiina was lying. The signs were there in the way that she didn't answer him and in the way that her eyes didn't quite meet his. She had always been a bad actor; he who had always been a good one admired that honesty and sincere innocence.

It just sucked because it also meant he could read her like a book.

At that moment, though, he didn't want to ruin their lunch by pressing her, as much as he knew he should. Later--he'd procrastinate. "Good," Niikura said cheerfully, the word sounding hollow even to his own words, as he went back to his burger.

Yeah, he'd just ask her later.