Ice Creams

Soon, they entered the ice cream shop, grateful for the cool air that surrounded them.

The main counter displayed an array of ice cream flavors, and behind it stood a young girl with wavy, dark brown hair adorned with pink highlights on them. Her grey eyes sparkled as she greeted the group.

"What can I get you?" she asked with a warm smile.

"I'll have the salted caramel with lemon," Seiji ordered.

"Just chocolate for me, hehe." Ken said nervously.

"I'll go with the salty vanilla and sakura, please." Rika ordered softly.

After a moment of contemplation, still a bit unsure Hideaki said: "I-I'll have vanilla with chocolate s-sprinkles and m-mango,"

"Alright! I'll get those for you," the girl replied enthusiastically.

After receiving their ice creams, they found a table and sat down. A fan overhead provided a refreshing breeze as they started eating.

Ken, trying to lighten the mood, "Those ice creams were needed for us, don't you think? To cool down the 'heated' atmosphere."

"Mhm!" Rika replied him, smiling softly and licking her Sakura scope.

Hideaki nodded slowly.

"It's good." Seiji replied.

Hearing this, Ken let out a breath of relief.

Seiji watched their interaction with a hint of concern.

'It's good that the topic of ice cream has calmed them down. But Ken is still visibly afraid of Hideaki... And because of that, he's vigiliant… too vigiliant. He probably saw that look in Hideaki's eyes before we entered here. Look that said 'I have dark secrets'. Maybe he'll start to suspect something.'

He analyzed

'I can't let him discover the truth. I have to cover this with normalcy before they start connecting the dots. I have to keep Hideaki afloat — at least while we're in public.

Well. One of us has to use our brains. And apparently, it's me again.'

After taking a few thoughtful licks of his own ice cream, Seiji turned to the group. "So, where should we go once we're done here?"

Rika hummed "How about we check out that little shop down the street? I heard they have cute handmade things."

Ken nodded. "Sounds fun."

"Why not," Seiji agreed. His tone was neutral, but he saw the logic in the plan. It was simple, and it didn't require any unnecessary overthinking.

As they were chatting, Ken happen finishing his ice cream much faster than the rest. Rika gave him a surprised look.

"How did you finish it so quickly?" she asked, a bit incredulous.

Ken shrugged, grinning. "I just had the chocolate. Easy to finish."

"Oh, right..." Rika said, feeling a bit silly for not considering that.

Ken then stood up. "I'll be back. Coffee's catching up with me," he chuckled, making his way to the restroom.

As Ken left, Seiji kept an eye on Hideaki, his expression thoughtful.
'So far he remains calm again, but let's see for how long it will last...'

***

Time passed, and Ken didn't return. Seiji's concern grew, but he kept his composure.

After a few more minutes, Seiji spoke up, "He's been gone too long. I'll check on him." his voice calm but deliberate.

Seiji stood up and headed towards the restroom, his mind already piecing together possibilities.

Something about Ken's prolonged absence felt off, but Seiji wasn't the type to jump to conclusions without evidence. Still, it was best to investigate before things took an unexpected turn.

***

As time passed, Seiji and Ken seemed to vanish without a trace, lost in the bathroom.

The girls were left alone, with Rika engrossed in her phone and Hideaki growing increasingly anxious in his seat.

'She seems interested in her phone, forgetting about the world. I hate awkward silence moments... they always stress me out!'  he thought.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rika caught a glimpse of his tense gaze. Hideaki was scanning the room, seemingly uncertain, but with a touch of suspicion. As if he was deeply afraid of something. Then he discreetly licked his ice cream and seemed to shrink into himself, trying not to draw attention. He did it modestly - too modestly.

'He's acting a little bit weird...'  Rika thought.'I'm not sure if it's just shyness, anxiety or something more. Maybe something happened in his past and that's why he's so silent and closed to others? Or maybe... he's not who he says he is. I don't know why, but with him, it feels like he looks through people, not at them.'

Her eyes flicked back to her phone screen. She quickly scanned today's headlines once more and sighed inwardly.

'Maybe I'm overthinking it. Maybe he's just weird, shy, a little... oversensitive. Kinda like me... But, why do I feel like there's more to it than that?'

After her daily dose of information from the Internet, she looked around. Noticing Hideaki's unwillingness to speak (again), she decided to break the lingering silence.

"So uh... What do you do for work, Hideaki?"

Hideaki was caught off guard. In his face could be seen panic. "W-work? I-I.. um.. I, uh that.." not knowing what to reply her, he started to stutter again.

"Hey, it's okay, Hide. I understand. It's complicated, yes?" she said softy.

"Um.. Y-yes! I mean... uh.. I.. I'm... um.." Hideaki started to mumble.

"Don't worry about it." She kindly smiled at him "Besides... I kinda understand what does it mean about being the one who is always shy and anxious in the group..." She added calmly with a hint of nostalgia in her tone.

Hideaki paused. He was moved a bit by her words but didn't reply anything back.

Suddenly, Rika felt unpleasing feeling in her stomach. She sensed that she had to act quickly. Not wanting to sound rude, she interrupted.
"You know, I should use the restroom too... I'm.. not feeling the best at this moment... Can you watch our seats while we're gone?" She asked calmly,

"S-sure, whatever," Hideaki replied indifferently, trying to not showing his anxiety.

"Thank you. Maybe I'll run into them near the restroom," Rika replied with a slight smile before heading off.

'God, finally she left!'  he thought on the back of his head.

Then he remembered Rika's tone, that lowered gaze as she mentioned about knowing how it is of being the shy and anxious one in the group.

'Was she shy in the past...? At her school...? Like.. me?'  he pondered, and then "Tch!" he shifted his attitude 'Why the hell Seiji and Ken didn't come back from the bathroom?'

Time dragged on inexorably. Rika wasn't back for a long time too. It seemed like one by one, they all vanished, leaving Hideaki alone.

Impatience crept over him as he pondered their sudden disappearance 'Where the hell did they all go? They can't just vanish like that... Did they...?'  he paused, 'Maybe... They decided to completely left me alone here...?'  he muttered to himself in his head.

He glanced at the bowls that once held their ice cream - now a melted pastel-coloured mass of ice.

 With growing unease, he decided to investigate.

He first checked the men's restroom, attracting peculiar looks from others who found it odd for a girl to enter. Unfazed, Hideaki swiftly scanned the entire place and stalls, but there was no sign of Seiji or Ken...
Perplexed, he hurriedly headed to the women's restroom, only to find it also empty.

"What the hell is going on?" he muttered, a sense of foreboding creeping over him.

Then, without warning, a wave of sleepiness washed over him, threatening to pull him into its grasp...