I was waiting by the entryway for Yumiella. Apparently, Lady Eleanora had planned a date for us, and we were just going along with it. I didn’t think too much of it, just expected to perhaps visit places that Yumiella would usually avoid, but I might have underestimated Lady Eleanora.
Even though I saw her every day, the Yumiella who appeared before me was so beautiful I was stunned.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you wait long?”
“N-No, I just arrived. Don’t worry about it.” Was I able to hide how flustered I am?
The air around her seemed different from usual as well. I wasn’t sure if I was just imagining that her cheeks were slightly flushed. I became worried about my own cheeks. Was I blushing?
Though Yumiella was behaving as usual, I felt strangely nervous, and our conversation was a bit stilted.
As I tried my best to act normal so she wouldn’t feel that something was off, we arrived at the café that was our first destination, also a location Lady Eleanora had picked out.
“I think this is the place. It looks like the kind of café Lady Eleanora would like.”
“Yeah, it does.”
The interior was quite elegant as well. As soon as we entered the café, I could immediately tell it was a fancy place—in other words, the kind of place Yumiella would usually steer clear of.
Having grown up in the Ashbatten Mark, which valued practicality over other features, I was also surprised by these sorts of values that people held in the city. There were some things I still couldn’t get used to, but Yumiella was even more uncomfortable with this sort of thing.
Yumiella also noticed that we’d come somewhere she wouldn’t like. She gently held my sleeve as she nervously scanned her surroundings.
The Yumiella who would walk into the depths of a dungeon without a care, afraid of nothing, and the current Yumiella who was nervous to be in a type of place she wasn’t used to seemed like two completely different people.
That was one of the reasons I’d become hopelessly in love with her. Yumiella usually thought and acted in a way that lacked normalcy, but every now and then, she would react to things just like other girls her age. That gap was unbearably endearing. Getting to see a rare side of Yumiella was enough to make it worth coming here.
The waitress on standby guided us to our seats. The waitress likely saw her black hair and realized the woman with me was Yumiella, but she didn’t react in the slightest. As we walked to our seats, Yumiella, who’d already let go of my sleeve, whispered into my ear.
“Be careful, Patrick. This might not be a restaurant but a pancake photo studio.”
I had no idea what that meant, but I liked the sound of the phrase “pancake photo studio.” I should ask her what a photo is later, I thought as I sat down at the table for two.
The waitress opened and handed a leather-bound menu to us and pointed at the top line of text.
“Would you be interested in this couples-only drink? We started serving it several months ago, and it’s now a popular item at our establishment.”
“No thank you,” Yumiella said, immediately refusing the couples-only item. “I think she left instructions on what we should order too.” She then looked at Lady Eleanora’s notes. Yumiella seemed to have found the line she was looking for, and her expression clouded over as she ordered. “One couples-only drink please...”
Even after she’d refused it, Yumiella had to ask for it herself. She’d ended up doing something strange and Yumiella-like because she hadn’t checked the notes first. The waitress simply acknowledged the order before walking away.
Once the waitress was out of sight, my girlfriend sitting before me tilted her head curiously.
“What’s a couples-only drink?”
“I wonder. Maybe it’s something that comes as a set of two.”
“I can’t even tell if it’s a hot drink or an iced drink. Which would you prefer? I’d prefer something iced.”
“I think I’d like a hot drink.”
Regardless of what this couples-only beverage was, it was clear that one of us wouldn’t be getting what we wanted.
Yumiella and I had opposite tastes, to the point where we usually wanted exactly the opposite of the other. Considering that we would be together forever, I was a bit worried about that.
Actually, I couldn’t think of many things we had in common. We both were skilled in battle, but our combat styles were completely different. The same went for everything else—it might look like we shared something, but if you looked at the details, we were different. I was starting to feel worried.
With nothing to do, Yumiella had created a square with her hands, and was looking through it. She was like a landscape painter who was trying to come up with a composition.
“I think this angle would be good to photograph a pancake.”
“If you’re feeling hungry, we can add something to our order.”
“It’s not like I want to eat pancakes or anything... Oh, it would add extra flavor to the photo if you were slightly in the shot.”
I had no idea what she was talking about. It was probably something from the world she used to live in, but I’d gotten used to this sort of thing. If it was important, Yumiella would have explained it in a way I would understand, so this was probably an insignificant matter.
Soon after, the waitress appeared. The drink on her tray looked like orange juice. It was quite extravagant with all the ice floating on top. It also had a unique straw.
Seeing the drink, Yumiella whispered, “The fruit on the rim of the glass makes it feel expensive.”
The wedge of orange, which was the same ingredient used to make the juice, probably cost much less than the ice or the straw. I thought about pointing out that her sense of how much things cost was off, but I was fascinated by the drink in front of me.
We’d ordered a drink that was supposed to be for two people, but there was only one glass with two straws. After staring at the entangled straws, I finally realized why this was a couples-only drink. It was simple once looking at the actual item, but the stroke of genius from whoever had come up with this was worthy of respect.
“Enjoy,” the waitress said before taking off.
Yumiella sighed. “So it’s this sort of thing. So cliché.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s my first time seeing the real thing too, but... Let me taste it.”
Yumiella put her mouth on the straw. I’m going to drink this too? The straws pointed towards us just barely stuck outside of the glass. Naturally, our faces would come close—
With a loud and vulgar slurping sound, the peaceful and sweet atmosphere of the café was ruined. The couples-only drink that was supposed to be orange was now left partially translucent due to the glass and ice.
“What a small portion,” Yumiella said upon drinking the entire thing in an instant. She didn’t seem to feel bad at all.
I looked up and saw that the waitress, who hadn’t raised a brow at Yumiella before, was staring with her eyes widened with shock. Yumiella scanned the floor and found the waitress, then raised her hand.
“Excuse me, could we get another one of these?”
Since she’d ordered another, Yumiella must have wanted to give that another shot. I thought of what had just happened and decided to drink the new one with her. I’d reset my mind, but once the second drink arrived, Yumiella broke my heart with her words that followed.
“I’m sorry for drinking it all. This one is yours.”
“You want me to drink it on my own?”
“Oh, were you not thirsty? I’ll finish it if you can’t.”
It seemed that Yumiella was determined to not follow the intent of the creator of the couples-only drink. Yumiella was quite stubborn at times like this. Does she really want me to drink this thing, that’s obviously for two people, by myself...?
Ignoring my disheartened self, Yumiella kept scooping her long black hair behind her ear, as if she were waiting for the right moment to do something. Finally, she nervously brought her mouth up to her straw.
“I’ll be on standby, since I anticipate you won’t finish the drink.” She then placed her mouth on the straw.
The amount of juice in the glass didn’t change. She was really just on standby—just holding the straw in her mouth. This only meant one thing. I felt my face grow hot in an instant.
The cold orange juice was perfect for the rise in temperature, but since I’d said I’d prefer a hot drink, I was going to take my time to drink this...
✦ ✦ ✦
With the way I was coming up with strange reasons and being roundabout about my feelings, perhaps Yumiella and I were more similar than I thought after all. With that in mind, I brought my face closer to the straw.
✦ ✦ ✦
What the heck was up with that place?! What the hell is a couples-only drink?! I should’ve been more on guard since Eleanora picked it out.
Despite the unexpected turn of events, I got away with not going along with the intent of the drink. There was no way I was going to let everything go the way Eleanora wanted it to. All I’d done was chug the first one, then held the straw in my mouth for the second one, standing by for when Patrick couldn’t finish it.
Whatever. Onto the next item. I checked our next destination on the notes. This is... What should I do? I showed the notes to Patrick.
“Visit a store that relates to one of your hobbies *Note: Since this is related to the hobby of your beloved, you must act interested.”
“What should we do about this?”
“We can go to a store you like,” Patrick said.
“Really? Can we go to the Yugimaster Gatheringverse shop?”
“I don’t know what that is, but...I guess it’s a rare opportunity, so I’ll do my best to be interested.”
Yay. I’ve never been to that shop with Patrick. There are a lot of men there, so I’m sure Patrick will become interested.