Chapter 10

~ A Day Out with Alisa ~

SW/SW/SW

Kail stretched his body. The school was over and he needed to go home quickly. Agriella must be waiting for him in GeaOnline and he couldn’t just leave her alone. She was a bug, he knew that, but he decided to overlook that abnormality.

For her, he’d do anything.

Now that he thought about it, where did Agriella go once she was no longer needed? Was there something like a ‘Summon Beasts world’, a place where the Summon Beasts wait for a summoning? Or had she been wandering in Dragonis while he was away?

He made a mental note to ask her later.

“Hey, Kail,” a familiar brown-haired girl made her appearance, complete with a charming smile. “Are you free right now?”

He crooked his head to face Alisa, who was standing beside him. Kail looked at her expression closely. It seemed that she wanted to hang out with him. This was bad. He didn’t want to make her sad, but he didn’t want to make Agriella wait either.

“No. Why?” he decided to go with Alisa first. Once they were done, he’d directly go home and play with Agriella.

She gave him a cute grin, “Let’s have some fun in town! I know this place where they serve the most delicious meat dishes!”

“Like… yakiniku or something? I’ve never tried one.”

“Yup, like that Japanese dish! I’m so hungry right now! I’ll eat your table if you’re not hurry!”

Kail scratched his hair. He’d love to, but…

“I’m kinda broke. Why don’t we go somewhere more… affordable?”

“You don’t have to be shy! I’ll pay, so c’mon!” she insisted.

“Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea…” he was happy to eat for free, but to have a girl paid for his bill was kind of… pathetic.

“Why not? It’s my treat! Just be quiet and follow me!” she was now practically dragging him outside, “guys should eat plenty of meat. Just look at you! You’re like a stick!”

“…I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Along the hall, Kail didn’t miss many murderous stares directed at him. It made sense because he was holding hands with (read: being dragged by) Alisa, who was popular with guys. She was beautiful, smart, kind, and rich—what more could a guy ask for?

Countless guys had had proclaimed their undying love to her, but they were all gently rejected. Up to now, Alisa must’ve been a constant target of confessions. She always said that having a boyfriend would surely limit her freedom and ended up friend-zoned them all.

And now that she’d been seen with a random stranger, holding hands at that, Kail knew that he had just awoken vicious monsters called jealousy. But that was okay.

He just needed to explain it to them that Alisa was just a childhood friend.

Nia wasn’t there waiting for him near the school gate. She had a study session with her friends and possibly wouldn’t come home until six.

0000

The restaurant was called Niku-Niku Paradise. In Japanese, niku meant ‘meat’ and how true the name reflected in the restaurant’s menu list. Seventy percent of it consisted of dishes with meat in them—Japanese yakiniku, Japanese takoyaki, hotpot with vegetables and meats, grilled chicken thighs with herbs, hamburger, and many more.

Although their specialty was meat, the restaurant also served sweets, hot chocolates, and salad. They even had sundae. The visitors were mostly males, but there were several girls in the corner of the room.

They sat in a table for two people, facing each other. Kail ordered two hamburgers and a glass of carrot juice while Alisa had a bowl Japanese yakiniku and three bowls of rice.

Kail stared at her in silence. While it was true that running took a lot of energy, it didn’t make sense how her small stomach could manage to digest that much food. He knew that Alisa had a huge appetite, but it never ceased to amaze him how much she could eat.

“So you can use chopsticks?” he asked and took a big bite on his hamburger.

Alisa just nodded as her mouth was full. Kail was used to seeing her wolfing down her meals, but the men around them were not. Some were staring at her in disbelief and some were whispering while giving her occasional glances.

The hamburger was so good and Kail was glad that he ordered two. This place really was the best when it came to meat.

Alisa was on her second bowl and her eating speed hadn’t slowed down a bit. Kail held the urge to laugh. Maybe the girl had worms inside her stomach.

He picked up Alisa’s fork. They served yakiniku with fork and spoon since the majority of people in the city used them, but apparently they had several chopsticks ready as well.

Kail stabbed a slice of meat and stuffed it inside his mouth. Wow, it was heavenly!

“Do you want some rice?” Alisa offered.

Kail opened his mouth to say yes, but then Alisa did something that he’d never forget.

She used her spoon to feed him the rice from her bowl.

“Delicious, isn’t it?” she smiled brightly.

…Kail was speechless until she finished her meal.

0000

They weren’t just eating. Alisa dragged him to the arcade and spent hours playing games. At first he was quite reluctant since he had to play GeaOnline. However, he slowly began to enjoy it and had completely forgotten about Agriella.

Around five in the evening, they left the Arcade and took train to home. The distance between their houses and the city was quite far, taking almost two hours by foot. They didn’t have driving license yet, so they took train.

Alisa had been giving him occasional glance ever since they’d gotten off the train. Getting annoyed and uncomfortable, Kail turned to see her, “What? Is there something on my face?”

She shook her head, chickening out, “N-Nothing…”

Kail frowned. Girls really were confusing. But anyway, he’d had some fun today. He really couldn’t express it aloud, but it seemed like some of his burdens were leaking out. He felt refreshed.

“Alisa,” his call was but a murmur.

“Yes?” she answered.

Slowly, a hand came behind his head and it scratched his hair. He smiled shyly, “…thanks for today. It was fun.”

Suddenly Alisa grabbed both of his hands and jumped happily, “Oh, I’m so happy! You enjoyed it! Are you feeling alright now? Are you happy?”

Blushing, Kail hastily broke the skin contact despite the vehement objections his mind declared. “Wh-What’re you doing? Don’t hold my hands so suddenly!”

“Oh! I’m… I’m sorry… but are you happy?”

“’Course I am.”

She nodded vigorously, “Oh, thank God! I was beginning to think that you hated it! Thank goodness you’re smiling again!”

He frowned, “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’ve been down since this morning and I thought I should cheer you up. I’m glad that the plan worked!”

Never before had Kail felt so speechless twice in a day because of the same person. Alisa… she did this for him. She purposefully dragged him around the town so that he’d lose the sultry look on his face.

Kail felt stupid. He lied to her. He lied to her about the bullying he constantly received. He lied to her about him getting beaten up by Wawan. He lied about everything. He wanted so much to apologize to her, but he had no guts. He was a coward.

He just didn’t want to be saved by a girl. He just… he just needed time to build his strength and finally fight back. He just needed time.

Kail leaped out of his trance and murmurs softly, “…thanks, Alisa. I didn’t know that you’ve been worried about me all this time.”

“Of course I’ll be since you’re so quiet. It’s so unlike you to act like that.”

She was so supportive. She cared about him.

…and Kail wouldn’t let her down. He must be cheerful, just for her.

“Sorry, there’s something on my mind lately, but thanks to you I feel better.”

Alisa smiled ear to ear. “Alright, since you’ve felt better, let’s race to your home!” and she took a sudden leap forward, leaving Kail behind.

Her quick movement surprised him and he ran after her, shouting, “Hey, you cheater! Come back here!”

…and the two ran happily as if they were just little kids.