A "Date" and an Old Friend

A luxurious building stood tall in front of them. A long line of people stretched out the door and along the side of the building. The building's architecture made it stand out from the surrounding buildings. It was built with logs and stone and was about two stories tall. Large windows stretched from the top of the restaurant to the bottom, revealing the customers dining inside.

A hostess with a clipboard greeted the patrons at the front of the line. Fuyumi and Shin walked toward the line. He stopped at the end of the queue but Fuyumi kept walking. She turned around with a smile that pierced his heart and gestured for him to follow her.

"Over here."

Shin was struck by her, but he wondered.

"Was this not the right restaurant?"

However, he didn't verbalize his thoughts as he followed her lead, walking past the line of customers and up to the hostess.

"I have a VIP reservation under the name Fuyumi."

The hostess ran a pen down the clipboard until she found her name.

"Right this way."

The hostess opened the grand glass door, welcoming the two guests into the restaurant. The floors were velvet and the walls were covered in an intricate beige wallpaper. Luminant candle-lit chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Contrary to the blue lights common in Dragonfall, candles and lanterns in the restaurant were the normal orange and yellow hue. Waitstaff moved around, masterfully carrying plates of food on their shoulders and the palms of their hands.

They followed the hostess upstairs and to a corner of the restaurant with a view outside. She pulled out the chairs, prompting Fuyumi and Shin to sit. She placed down two menus, bowed, and took her leave. At the same time, a waiter placed silverware and napkins on the table. All of the staff in the restaurant wore black suits with red accents. Their service was perfect. Shin thought they were NPCs initially but was surprised to find that they were all players.

Shin was taken back by the service as he had never been to such a luxurious restaurant. Fuyumi tiled her head back to Shin, noticing his expression.

"Are you impressed?" She asked, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant like this before. How'd you manage to pull this off? VIP reservation and all." Shin replied as he flipped through the pages of the menu.

"I have certain connections…"

The waiter placed down the last napkin and asked a question.

"Welcome, honored guests, may I start you off with a drink?"

Fuyumi put her hand to her chin and thought. Meanwhile, Shin already made up his mind.

"I'll just have water."

Suddenly, Fuyumi took her hand off her chin and mimicked Shin.

"I'll have water as well."

She contemplated ordering wine but decided that embarrassing herself once was enough for the day.

"As you wish."

The waiter bowed and left.

Shin began fidgeting with his hands under the table. The situation and environment were completely foreign to him. The cuffs on his suit coat began to feel too loose and his collar too tight. He tried to act natural as he adjusted himself.

"You look fine."

Fuyumi's voice was shaky as she reassured him. Shin looked up to find a flustered Fuyumi. He opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by someone calling out to Fuyumi.

"Yu-Fuyumi!"

She turned her attention to the girl in a gilded formal dress and high heels running toward the table. Her long braided black hair bounced as she ran. From Shin's estimates, she was just a little taller than Fuyumi.

"I missed yo-ou-ou wah!"

She tripped and fell over, hitting her nose on the chair before catching herself with Fuyumi's leg.

"Ayaka!? Are you alright?"

Fuyumi's hands hovered over her as she pulled herself up using the edge of the table.

Ayaka flipped her hair aside and grinned ardently.

"I'm great!" She said, stretching her arm out with a thumbs up, as a drop of blood emerged from her nose.

"Ah, your nose… here."

Fuyumi dabbed her nose with a napkin.

"Hehe, thanks." Ayaka replied, scratching the back of her head.

She stood tall with her arms crossed.

"So Fuyumi, who is this charming character? Your date?"

"No!"

"No…"

Fuyumi and Shin turned red as they denied her guess in unison.

"Hmmmm I see…"

Ayaka's smile turned into a devilish grin.

Fuyumi sighed and replied sincerely.

"This is Shin. I've been adventuring with him and a few other party members in Urumel recently."

"Ooo, Urumel. How exciting!"

Shin stuck out his hand.

"Nice to meet you."

Ayaka grabbed his hand and shook it furiously.

"I'm Ayaka! I'm Fuyumi's friend in real-life! We're like best friends! Thanks for taking care of and putting up with her. I know she can be a handful."

Ayaka reinforced her grip with her remaining hand and continued to shake.

"Hey…" Fuyumi whispered, nudging her arm.

Ayaka's red eyes twinkled as they shot open.

"Oh yeah! I'm not much of the adventurer type like you guys since I'm really bad at fighting! So here I am, running a restaurant!"

Shin was taken back.

"This is your restaurant?"

"Yup! My family used to run a restaurant in real life before the pandemic hit so I'm using that experience here. They're leaving it up to me since they're not gonna play Mythos Online."

"Basically, she's a rich girl." Fuyumi said, pointing at her friend.

"Maybe a little bit! But thanks to that, you. Got. To. Stay. With. Me!!"

Ayaka pointed back at Fuyumi, her finger getting closer to Fuyumi's face with each word.

"Yes, yes, I'm very grateful."

Fuyumi dismissed Ayaka, turning her head away. In response, Ayaka got behind her chair, wrapping her arms around her friend. She then leaned in to smother Fuyumi's face with her own.

"Mmmmmmmyaa."

Shin hid his smile and tried not to look, but he could tell from Fuyumi's expression that she was getting flustered. Ayaka popped back up and playfully skipped to the middle of the round table between them.

"I better get back to work now. If you need anything, just let me or my staff know."

Ayaka bowed before walking away gracefully, calling a waiter to their table. Shin was impressed by Ayaka's dramatic shift in tone and posture, in stark contrast to her lively personality.

"Sorry, that must've been weird."

"No, not at all. It's nice to see what your friends are like too since you've been hanging around with Nightingale for a while now."

The waiter from before approached the table, placing down two glasses of water.

"May I take your order?"

The menu contained lots of options from many different cuisines. However, according to the header of the menu, they specialized in French, Italian, and Japanese food. The combination of the three was fairly jarring but it would explain the restaurant's western decor and Ayaka's background.

After a five-minute wait, the waiter returned with their orders. He lifted the cloches, releasing a cloud of steam and revealing the entrees underneath it.

"Enjoy."

The waiter left, carrying away two empty platters.

"These look great!"

"It does, but it's something that I got used to after living under her roof for a couple of years."

"You got to live in a rich house and eat gourmet food?!"

Shin narrowed his eyes in jealousy.

"Hehe…" Fuyumi nervously laughed it off.

"Well, to be fair, you did face some hardships before with the church and all. I assume she took you in after you were by yourself?" Shin asked as he unraveled the silverware.

Fuyumi stared down at her dish in silence. Her white hair drooped down from behind her ear as her bangs covered her eyes.

"Oh, you don't have to answer that. Sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the mood by bringing up painful memories or anything!"

Shin's tone grew panicked as he thought he stepped on a landmine.

"It's not that… I'm really grateful to her, but I also just feel like I can never repay her or her parents for what they did for me." Fuyumi spun the spaghetti around her fork as she spoke.

"After my mom passed away, I was basically left in the streets. I was only seventeen so it was hard to find a normal job…"

Fuyumi's stopped fidgeting with her food and tightly clenched her fist.

"Since I had a huge debt with the church too, I was stuck doing their bidding. At night, I wandered the city streets. People harassed me and tried to force me into doing things. But that was when Ayaka saved me. She stood up for me when no one else did. She grabbed my hand and pulled me off the streets and back to her house."

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that…" Shin replied, looking at Fuyumi but not making eye contact.

"It's in the past now. Let's focus on what's in front of us."

Fuyumi, with teary eyes, somberly smiled at Shin.