Iced Matcha Latte

“S-Seriously? Is he really going to be okay?”

“Don’t worry about it!” Annika smiled. “He’s definitely alright, you saw him run away earlier, so it’ll be fine. It’s not like I gave him enough volts to send him to the hospital, anyway!”

The way she explains everything with a smile brought shivers down my spine.

“Yeah, I guess, hehe….” I chuckled nervously. “Why do you bring a taser with you anyway?”

“To protect myself, of course! The world isn’t exactly a safe place, so I might as well always be prepared for anything.”

“That makes sense….”

Both of us went quiet after that. We walked along the street for quite a while with neither of us saying a single word. This is a natural thing that happens to most people when they run out of things to say, but the long pause in the conversation’s rhythm seemed to concern Annika, judging from the look on her face as she looked into my eyes.

“Kwan?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Are you okay? You seem like you’ve been spacing out too much.”

“Well, uh,” I scratched my hair. “It’s just Max. I’m worried about him.”

“He’ll understand eventually. If you call yourselves ‘true bros’, then you should at least have some faith in him.”

“Pfft.”

“What’s so funny?” Annika pulled my shirt and pouted.

“The way you said ‘true bros’. It sounded painfully awkward.”

“I’m not one to use that sort of slang, okay? Hmph!” she blushed and looked away.

Shortly right after, she glanced back towards me and let out a slight grin.

“It looks like you’ve cheered up a bit.”

"Ah. I guess so."

"Hmm…" Annika poked her cheek and looked upwards. "That doesn't sound very convincing."

I sighed. It's not exactly something I can brush off so easily anyway.

"Oh! I know!" Annika raised her finger up in the air. "Let's get some matcha coffee at the White Cat's Cafe! I heard they were selling them there!"

"Matcha coffee!" My hairs raised.

Screw Max's feelings, I'm gonna go drink some matcha coffee with Annika!

Annika nodded smugly. "I'll lead the way."

She grabbed my hand and held it tightly.

"W-Wait, why are you holding my hand?" I flinched.

"So you don't get lost again, dummy!"

I followed her as we walked through the vast cityscape, passing along the buildings above towering over the streets. We stopped by a busy sidewalk, where the honking of horns blasted throughout the area.

I instantly felt bored having to wait for the stoplight, so I decided to check my phone. However, Annika grabbed my arm before I could unlock my screen.

"Hey, you shouldn't be using your phone. You might miss the moment the street light goes green."

"I don't have to worry about it, right? You're holding my hand, so I'll be fine," I scoffed.

"Even so! Using your phone on the streets can be pretty dangerous," Annika moved her hands to her hips. "You never know when someone might snatch it, or if you bump into someone or something, or if you-"

"Oh, look. It's go time," I pointed at the traffic light.

Annika squinted her eyes and pulled me forward with a little bit of aggression.

After a couple of minutes of walking, we found ourselves at the front of the cafe. Its entrance stood out as a creamy-white roofed section etched along the brick burgundy walls of a building, with a rectangular sign above displaying the words 'White Cat's Cafe' and the logo of a white cat with a mug at the end of its tail.

"Let's go!" I broke free of Annika's grip and sprinted into the entrance of the cafe and opened the door.

Annika followed right after and sighed. "It wouldn't hurt to slow down, you know."

"But I want the matcha coffee, now!"

"Shhh!" Annika's cheeks flushed red as she looked around. "There's people watching us!"

I surveyed the cafe's interior. Just like its entrance, the walls were painted with a vanilla white, and the floor appeared to be made of a smooth wooden texture. People stared at us from their seats, watching us as we reached the counter. They continued to look for a significant amount of time, but that wasn't because of the noise I made.

"Those two are hot…are they a celebrity couple?" one whispered to their friend.

"An absolute power duo!" a girl giggled with her friends.

"I always thought that pretty girls only dated average-looking guys," a boy said, with his chin resting on his palm.

Annika shifted her head around and tapped my arm. "Look at what you did. You've disturbed everyone. Now they're all looking at us!"

"No, no," I shook my head. "That's not why they're looking at us."

"Why then?"

"They think we're a couple," I let out a smug grin.

"Really?" Annika widened her eyes. "Quit teasing."

I fail to understand how she's oblivious to such things despite being such an observant person.

"I'd like two orders of Iced Matcha Latte please," I said to the barista.

"All right, two orders of Iced Matcha Latte coming right up! What's your name?" She turned her face towards me.

Oh no, she's hot.

The barista's short matcha green hair hung down above her shoulders, curling around the shape of her rosy cheeks. She didn't have a lot of bust, but her body still had well-off proportions that prided itself in the premium medium class. Her eyes had a pretty hazel glow, and she had plump lips ripe for the kissing season.

“Um, sir? Your name,” she repeated.

“You can call me Daddy,” I winked.

“W-Wha?”

The matcha girl was startled by my response and fell into a state of shock, which I found rather cute. A lot of girls tend to get either annoyed or amused whenever I give them that response, so it was nice to see something new for once. Obviously, they wouldn’t be creeped out by me because I got the pretty privilege to use those lines without much harm.

“Youch!” Annika yanked my ear.

“His name is Kwan. Write that one down.”

“O-Ok.”

“S-Sorry! Sorry! I can’t help it! It almost feels like second nature to me!” I cried.

“Then we got to get rid of the habit with a little bit of punishment,” Annika pulled even tighter.

“P-Please stop! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

It all ended fairly peacefully actually. We sat down on the table waiting for our orders like nothing had happened. The red mark on my ear was no big deal!

Annika decided that it was best if she received the orders, lest I end up accidentally flirting with the barista again, but it isn’t exactly the most effective idea. My eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets, moving around and looking at all the pretty women in the coffee shop. I grabbed hold of my face and tried to turn my head away, but the muscles on my neck had become rigid for some reason.

Why the hell are there so many hot chicks in the cafe?! Is this even normal?!

However, as soon as I saw Annika walk straight back with the matcha drinks, I snapped my neck back straight, which created a rather concerning sounding crack.

I’m fine.

“Here you go!” Annika placed the two drinks on the table.

“Yay!” I said.

Annika giggled as she watched me celebrate.

It’s finally time…..

I gawked at the beverage before me. Sniffing its contents, my nose took in its sweet grassy aroma.

Ahh….why drink alcohol when you can have a nice cup of Iced Matcha Latte?

PING!

A notification popped from my phone just before I could take a sip. I decided to take a look and saw a message from another old friend of mine.

Frey? I wonder what he’s up to nowadays.

As soon as I saw the message he had sent me, I shifted my seat backwards and grimaced.

“Kwan? What’s wrong?” Annika asked.

“I’m so sorry,” I stood up from my seat.

“Something came up. I need to go.”

“Wait!”

“I’ll make it up to you some other time!”

I hurriedly moved across the tables and bolted after reaching the exit.

That idiot!