Chapter 10: Gus’s Ice Cream Parlor
“Run!” Sanji shounted, and Rose gave him a crooked, confused look.
He opened his mouth to shout again, but was cut off by a backhand slap from Nyklas, “Shut up.”
That was the wrong thing for him to do. Rose’s voice boomed in the confines of the alley, “Vile fiends, minions of High Commander Ritten how dare you come here and harass my companion. I shall end you where you stand!”
“Thith lookth-” Eva spit out her teeth, “This looks serious, Rose.”
The four Central Gang members had all reduced their speed to a walk and were slowly closing in on Eva and Rose. This time she didn’t have her staff, and the odds were not working for her- plus Eva probably wouldn’t be much help.
Sanji looked at Nyklas, the tall boy was focused on what was happening at the end of the alley; he then looked at his other guard- the only other gang member that stayed with Sanji and Nyklas- and the boy was definitely on the smaller side. Nyklas was thin, and this guard was definitely no Zach or Rett, and Sanji couldn’t let these thugs try to hurt Rose or Eva. So just as commotion broke out at the far end of the alley Sanji let out a scream and leapt toward Nyklas.
The thin gang leader let out a cry of surprise and Sanji crudely shoved him backward. Before the other guy could react Sanji was sprinting down the alley toward where Rose was locked in conflict with all four of the other gang members.
Sanji ran right into the middle of all of them, and for a moment everyone stood still, surprised by his sudden appearance. Then Nyklas shouted from the end of the alley, “Get them!”
“Run!” Sanji shouted not a moment later, dashing forward to take Rose by the hand. Eva was already a distance ahead, standing shocked by the curb. Sanji grabbed her wrist with his other hand, and their strange human chain hurried down the street, the shouting members of the Central Road Gang not far behind.
It was a wonder they weren’t caught immediately, Eva was hobbling and really holding them up, her rear end apparently still sore from the previous night’s fighting. Maybe they weren’t used to their prey escaping, but whatever the reason Sanji and the girls were able to evade capture long enough to run around a corner. Once there Sanji made a beeline for the closest open shop.
It was an ice cream parlor. The bell jingled as they entered the primarily white and pink interior of the shop, and Sanji turned to stare at the door as soon as they had entered. The gang members stopped outside, halted by a stare from the man behind the ice cream counter. They did not enter.
Sanji stood, huffing and out of breath alongside Rose and Eva, as he watched their enemy line up outside. A moment later Nyklas walked up to his line of makeshift troops, then looked at Sanji through the glass door. Nyklas took a step forward and Sanji tensed as the lanky boy entered the ice-cream parlor.
The shop owner knew something was off the moment Sanji entered, and he clearly picked up on the fact that Nyklas was trouble. That shop owner- a jolly looking fat man- called out Nyklas the moment the gang leader entered the store, “Hey!”
Nyklas held up a finger to the old man, “I’ll only be a moment.”
Sanji gulped, tried to think of something to say, failed, and instead listened as Nyklas calmly and quietly said, “You struck me, and you didn’t give me the answers I needed. There will be repercussions.”
Sanji still failed to say anything as Nyklas turned around and left the shop without another word. He and his gang members disappeared down the street, leaving a queasy feeling Sanji and his unlikely companions alone in the ice cream shop. Almost alone. A girl’s voice came from one of the tables, “What was that all about?”
It was Niya, dressed in the same cat ears and revealing outfit as she had been wearing when in Sanji’s apartment that morning. Had that really just been today? It felt like so much longer. Eva answered the cat girl’s question, “Sanji started some gang violence or something.”
“What?” Another voice entered the conversation and Sanji turned to see Rey coming from the counter, holding two ice cream cones. It was such a contrast to all that he had heard about her- was this supposedly sadistic girl sitting down to eat an ice cream cone with her roommate?
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Sanji was too surprised, and still a bit too frazzled from being chased, to supply his own side of the story as Niya said, “These three just got chased in here by a bunch of rough looking dudes. Supposedly it’s gang related.”
Rey walked over and held out one of the cones to Niya. The cat girl took it and made a large show of giving it a long, slow lick. Rey sat down in the same booth as Niya, and from her attitude it looked as if she expected Sanji, Rose, and Eva to join them. With a sigh Sanji moved over to the table, at least glad to get a chance to sit down. His legs were starting to hurt.
It was a small booth, and Sanji settled for pulling up a chair to sit at the end of the table while all of the girls sat in the cushioned benches on either side. Suited businessmen and struggling students passed by in the afternoon sun on the street outside and it took Sanji a moment to realize all four sets of eyes were locked on him. Although Rose appeared to be more staring through rather than at him. Niya was the one to finally press, “Well?”
“What?” Sanji asked, not liking all of the attention.
“Well, what did you do to piss off a gang, and did they just now give you that black eye?”
“Black eye?” Sanji echoed, and then felt his face, “Oh, no, this is from Zach and Rett- those guys from the park. They jumped me at lunch.”
“What?” Eva exclaimed.
“It’s fine, I think they’ll probably leave me alone now,” Sanji said with a shrug.
“Did they send those guys after you too?” Niya ssked, “The ones just now?”
“No, those were guys from a different school, I think they were wondering who attacked Rett and Zach. They might think someone is targeting local gangs or something. It’s fine though.”
“I’m not sure if you should partake in this particular quest line, Sanji,” Rose said to his surprise. There was genuine concern in the girl’s voice. It faded at once back to business as she continued, “And believe me, it’s not just so I can hog all of the EXP for myself.”
“Um, right,” Sanji replied, “I think it’s a bit too late for me to… um, drop the quest.”
“Hmm,” she said with a deeply contemplative nod, holding a hand to her chin in thought.
Rey had been listening silently the whole time, her eyes locked on Sanji. She asked, “What did you tell them?”
“I told them I didn’t know who attacked the others, and then they tried to take hold of Eva and Rose so I pushed the guy by me and we all ran away.”
“Thanks, by the way, Sanji,” Eva said, “A vampire doesn’t have enough strength during the day to deal with those types.”
She then put in her fake teeth and gave him a wide grin. Sanji wasn’t sure how to reply, he was never used to being the center of attention. Fortunately, he was saved by the ice cream shop owner. The large man came over to their table, stood right next to Sanji, and then deposited an enormous platter onto their table. It was piled high with a rainbowed assortment of ice cream scopes and drizzling with caramel and chocolate sauce, all with an armada of cherries on top. The large man then threw down enough spoons for everyone and slapped a hand on Rose’s shoulder, “You finally stop by so I can thank you, Miss Rose!”
“You know Rose?” Eva asked the big man- the nametag on his apron read Gus.
Gus chuckled, “Sort of, we haven’t talked much, but for quite some time she has been chasing the racoons away from my garbage.”
“They give good EXP,” Rose replied and Sanji couldn’t help but picture the girl running through the alley behind the ice cream shop at night, chasing and beating at racoons with her stick-staff.
Gus chuckled, gave her another pat on the shoulder, and said, “Well, this one is on the house. Enjoy, all of you!”
“Thank you,” everyone replied.
Once the man was gone Niya was the first to take a spoon and start to dig into the bountiful desert. Eva protested, “You’ve already got ice cream!”
“Yeah,” Niya said, licking her spoon clean after the first scoop, “But stuff always tastes better if it’s free.”
Eva simply pouted at that and took her own spoonful of ice cream. Sanji noticed that Rose hadn’t so much as moved to take a spoon. “Why aren’t you eating, Rose? He got this for you.”
“It might not be good for my mana,” Rose replied, “I think there’s an issue with the magic system, it never really has worked, but I don’t want to take any chances with strange food.”
That wasn’t right, she should enjoy Gus’s good will as much as the rest of them, especially since she’s the only one to have earned it. Sanji took a spoon and gave it to Rose, “Here, how about you just eat the blue stuff then? That’s a magical color, isn’t it?”
Rose took the spoon, contemplated that for a moment, and then said, “Yes, I suppose so.”
She took a dip into one of the blue scoops of icecream and brought it tentatively to her lips. At once her face lit up, her eyes widened and a wide grin took hold of her features. She gasped, “It’s amazing!”
A pang of sad affection launched through his body. It was nice to see her so happy, but if that’s her first time having had ice cream Sanji had to wonder at what the rest of her life had been like. How long had she been convinced she was in a video game?
“Sanji,” Rey cut in to the moment, her voice was colder than the ice cream and a whole lot less sweet, “What did that last one say to you when he came inside? The tall one.”
Sanji frowned, “He said there might be repercussions for me pushing him.”
“I see,” she replied. “We’ll talk later.”
She then went back to taking on her ice cream cone with quick, precise, licks.
“Hey, don’t touch them!” Eva exclaimed and Sanji looked to see Niya holding up Eva’s plastic vampire teeth. The little vampire girl struggled to get the teeth back, but Niya held them far over her head.
“I don’t get why you would want these things,” Niya said, then cast eyes toward Sanji and gave what might have been a seductive smirk, “Anything that makes it harder to put things in your mouth just seems silly…”
Rey let out a quiet cough. Niya sighed and gave the teeth back to Eva. Sanji had to wonder at what sort of relationship the two roommates had, how could Niya live with a manipulative girl such as Rey?
Sanji glanced down at his phone and was shocked at the time. He stood up, “I have lots of homework to do. I think I’d better go.”
All of the ice cream was essentially gone at that point, so the girls stood up as well. Niya said, “We’re all going to the same place, yeah? And maybe you shouldn’t be out alone any more, Sanji.”
The fact that the worry came from Niya made Sanji a bit concerned. All she seemed to care about was sex, but she thought the gang might be worried about his safety was definitely troubling. He was glad to have their company on the way home.