Bothersome Romance (MurasakibaraxOC)

Chapter 4

As per his words, Murasakibara and Cassie were planning to walk home together. Cassie stood outside the gym waiting for Murasakibara to show up.

Himuro, however, showed up first.

"I feel a little bad for you." He approached Cassie. "You always have to take such a long time to get home even after a tough day."

Cassie smiled. "Oh, it's not bad. Usually I spend this time relaxing, thinking about other stuff to decompress."

"You're always so positive about everything."

"People always tell me that," Cassie said with a giggle present in her voice.

"How long were we in practice for?" Murasakibara approached the pair.

"It's always the same time. I think you're finally getting used to the regular schedule."

Murasakibara hunched over and covered his mouth as he suddenly yawned.

Cassie spoke up. "Oh, but before we head home, I wanna go by the convenience store."

"You? Isn't that Atsushi's line?" Himuro said.

"I know, but it's a surprise. So I wanna go there."

"Well, we better hurry so Cassie can still get on the train."

"No we don't." Murasakibara began. "She's staying at my house."

Himuro hummed. "Really?"

"Yeah, he wants something sweet so he coaxed me into staying." Cassie playfully frowned.

"Then I guess you two are fine on your own then." Himuro rubbed his wrist. "I'm a little tired today, so I was hoping to head straight home."

"Is your wrist hurting?" Cassie went over to Himuro and observed his hand. "It's not swollen, but I did see you tense after a shot you took."

"I didn't think anyone noticed that," Himuro said, with a laugh, "I'm fine, I just need to stretch it a little more tonight."

"Okay. If it keeps hurting, be sure to put some ice on it."

During their exchange, Murasakibara's once calm expression slowly changed. His brows furrowed and his mouth frowned while they carried on. Eventually, he sighed and started to walk off.

"I don't wanna stand here anymore. I'm going ahead."

"Hey, wait up!" Cassie stepped away from Himuro hurriedly. "Remember what I said, and be sure to tell someone if it gets worse!" Cassie yelled as she got further away from Himuro.

Himuro saw them off before turning to head home.

Cassie caught up with Murasakibara and huffed once getting to his side.

"Two steps and you're already down the street." She joked.

Murasakibara was quiet for a second, but he spoke after. "What were you talking about? With the surprise at the store."

"Oh, well let's go. I promised I'd be there before nine." Cassie started to jog, barely getting in front of Murasakibara as they traveled to the store.

While they walked, Murasakibara started to hear a buzzing sound. Assuming it was an insect, he looked around trying to locate something flying around him. However, upon seeing nothing, he looked to Cassie and found her casually unbothered.

"Hey, aren't you scared of bugs?"

Cassie looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"That buzzing. I think it's some kind of bug."

Cassie's eyes narrowed, then she suddenly looked in her bag and pulled out her phone: the source of the buzzing sound.

"Sorry, I have my phone on vibrate." She looked at it. While it seemed she was going to answer it, she instead stuffed the phone back into her bag and the buzzing grew soft again.

Murasakibara noticed this. "Aren't you gonna answer that?"

"I think we should really get a move on." Cassie started to walk much faster and got a bit away from Murasakibara.

While he thought that was strange, he left it alone for the time being as they reached the store.

Cassie went inside first and Murasakibara joined her a few seconds after.

"Yes, I did receive them. I'll have to open the box, so excuse me for a moment." The store's owner said to Cassie. He went in the back of the store leaving the pair at the counter.

Cassie faced Murasakibara. "You wanna get anything?"

He shrugged and they went to the usual area, the candy section, and looked around for a bit. Murasakibara went for some candy he had been craving and some chips.

 "Oh, I've never seen these before." Cassie reached to get some jelly candy in the back. "Are these good?"

"Yeah," he simply said, "but these are better, the flavor is different." He reached further in the back and got the different flavor.

"Oh, then I'll get those!" She grabbed them, adding onto their collection.

With nothing else to get, they went to go and buy their items. The owner returned to the counter as they did.

"Here you go. I hope this is what you wanted." The owner presented the box to Cassie.

Cassie grabbed the box before Murasakibara could see it.

"This is exactly it! Thank you so much for ordering them."

"No problem. You paid and I delivered."

Cassie smiled as Murasakibara stepped up to the counter and paid for his candy and snacks. The owner happily accepted the money.

"Thank you for shopping with us!"

The pair went to leave and once they were back on the sidewalk, Murasakibara looked at the box Cassie still had partially hidden.

"What's that?"

"It's the surprise!" She presented him with the box. On it was text Murasakibara couldn't read, however he could see the bright red color and the content of the box from the picture and assumed it was ice cream.

"Is that ice cream?"

"Not just any ice cream, but my favorite! I couldn't find this stuff anywhere in Japan, so I asked if Minsu-san could order some. I don't know how he got it, but he did! He said he'd add it to his store's inventory."

Murasakibara watched as Cassie spoke about the ice cream. Her vigor was unmatched and it was almost like she was more happy about the ice cream than anything else he had seen her talk about. It was a strange genuine feeling he hadn't gotten from her until this moment.

"Hmm, can I try it?"

"Of course. I actually got it for you." She looked at him. "You can keep the whole box, but I have a feeling you might eat all of it before tomorrow." She laughed.

"If it's from America, I doubt it. The sizes are always too big."

Cassie shook her head. "I wish, these things have shrunk at least twenty percent since I was a kid. I can eat two and still won't have enough."

The pair's banter carried them on their way home...