~TOWICL~ Phantom Thief Returns

Chapter 22: First Date??? Part 1

Recap:

"Go wherever you want to," he said "I'll follow you behind."

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Riku went straight to the school and accessory store so that she would be their first customer. Dark was behind her, walking a little bit slower with one of his hands on his pocket. As Riku pick products up, Dark leaned his back on a nearby wall, patiently waiting for to finish.

Even if there was no one else inside the store, Riku took a lot of time. She's a critique and checks every detail of the products she would buy, one by one. According to her, she wouldn't spend her money for something that doesn't have the best quality. She bought cartolinas, brown envelopes, notebook, pad papers, mechanical pencil leads, erasers, sliding folders and clearbooks.

After picking up all the materials, she went to the clerk and paid for it. The clerk gave her a big paper bag with all the products she bought inside of it. Riku carried the paper bag on the counter and approached Dark, who was facing away from her.

"I didn't expect you'd be taking that much time," said Dark as he turned his head to face her.

"Well... " she stared at her wrist watch, only to find out that it was past 11 in the morning.

"You must be some critique, spending that much time at the store." he said sarcastically, "I sure hope that not all girls are like that."

She pouted. "I just wanted to be sure that the product is worth my money."

"And I'm not going to go against your will," He smiled at her.

Riku felt her stomach grumbling. She turned her head around as she try to look for a nearby restaurant, but she found nothing. She asked the clerk, "Do you know where the nearest restaurant is?"

"I'm afraid there are no nearby restaurants," the clerk replied. "They can only be found at the other end of this mall."

"Thanks," said Riku.

"You're welcome," the clerk replied with a smile.

Her face fell as she thought, "How bothersome. This is a mall, restaurants are supposed to be everywhere."

She left the store as she tried to hide her dismay. Dark was behind her and he wore a sad expression, as if pitying her. They started their 'expected to be long journey' to find a restaurant as the mall started getting a bit crowded. Riku went to the nearby directory and remembered how to get to the nearest restaurant as she felt her stomach grumble again.

As they walk together, Riku noticed that he was not helping her carry the paper bag. She spoke bossily as she continued to walk forward, "Isn't a gentle man supposed to help a lady carry her stuffs?"

"Oh, I thought you didn't need any help, so I didn't lend any," he replied nonchalantly.

Her blood began to boil, but she didn't make it obvious. Little did she know that he noticed her like that, and he took back his words with a slightly frightened tone, "That was just a joke. Here, let me carry that." He offered a hand to her.

Instead of just handing the paper bag to him, she threw the bag to him, careful not to mess the things she carefully chose. Dark was surprised by her childishness, though he expected her to be like that, it was rare for her to smile after boiling her blood. He gained back his composure and continued walking.

As they were halfway already, Riku spotted a restaurant behind the crowd. The restaurant didn't look familiar to her, it wasn't famous, and it wasn't even in the directory. There weren't even a customer in there but that didn't matter to her. All she knew was that she was going to starve to death if it take any longer and she's going to take that chance to eat.

She stopped on her track all of a sudden and Dark nearly bumped on her back. "Hey, don't just stop there, keep moving forward!" He ranted, "I thought you're hungry?"

She didn't answer and he figured out why. She was staring at the empty at the empty restaurant across the heavy crowd. "That clerk lied," he thought before he noticed that there was something wrong with that restaurant... no one dared to enter it.

As if he figured out what she wanted to, he voiced out. "I don't think it's a good idea to buy food in ther- WAIT!"

Suddenly, she grabbed his hand and started pulling him along with her as she made their way across the crowd. This time, she was holding him hand-in-hand, and she's unaware of it. He blushed lightly at it, but neither of them noticed it.

As they made it through the crowd, she opened the front door of the restaurant, only to be welcomed by their staffs.

"Good day to you mam and sir," they all said in perfect sync.

"It has been so long since a customer visited us. As a reward for being our very first customer, we have free taste sample for you two," a female staff said as she stepped forward with a plate of garlic bread on her hand.

"Very first...?" Dark hung his head cutely on one side, "Why is that"?

"Well because... " she trailed as she dropped her gaze on her fidgeting foot, trying to hide her blush.

Before she could answer his question, Riku finished the whole bread and she looked like she's about to throw up. Dark noticed her, and made a good excuse, "Thank you for your hospitality but I'm afraid we can't take our orders here."

Dark turned his back to the saddened staff and placed his arm around Riku's shoulder. They walk out of the restaurant with Riku's hands on her mouth. As soon as they made it out, Riku ran to the rest room right next to the restaurant they were at earlier. He leaned his back on the wall and waited for her to come out.

When Riku came out, she looked a lot worse. She must have vomited, and that made him worry. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she wiped her mouth. "Now, I understand why they said we were their very first customer even if we weren't. I shouldn't have eaten that," she regretted.

"Told ya!" he teased.

"Let's just keep moving forward," she said in a monotone with her eyes glinted, trying to show that she wasn't affected by his words.

Riku lazily turned to the wrong direction and started walking.

"Wow, you must really be that hungry," said Dark as he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "The restaurants are on the other direction."

"Yeah, you're right," she laughed sheepishly, attempting to hide her embarrassment.

The crowd had their eyes on her, as if telling her how foolishness she was. Some of the stared dreamily on Dark, while others glare madly on her. Riku shot them all her deadly glare, and the crowd went back to their own businesses.

Riku started marching out as Dark followed her. That was a long way and the moment they made out of the heavy crowd, she looked at her wrist watch and glanced at him. He looked perfectly fine, unlike her, who's halfway down. "It's already 2 in the afternoon and you still look fine," she started "aren't you hungry?"

"A little," he replied. "I'm fine, it can be tolerated."

At the same exact time, he found their destination. "Look!" he said, pointing out to the restaurant. It got her attention as he eyes started to twinkle.

He smiled at her and calmly spoke, "I think we should go there."

Gaining her energy back, he stood straight and spoke with pride, "Listen here. If the taste of their food sucks, I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Yeah, yeah." He replied nonchalantly.

"Then let's go," said Riku excitedly as she grabbed Dark's hand again, hurrying to their destination.

(A/n: Ever wonder why their personalities here are quite different from their personalities in the real story? I have been watching Ouran HS Host Club these part few days, and I guess it had huge effects on my story. Even if it turned out like that, I hope you liked my story. Please comment. J )

iJta2Z~²