Let's Start Over... Aoi X Umeji

- Getting Used To It -

We eventually got to the Shopping District, and walked into the Mall, after Parking the Bike. I attempted to straighten my hair, since I forgot to put it up before putting the helmet on. "Alright. What store do you wanna hit first?"

He snickered a bit, messing with a bit of my hair that stuck out. "Helmet hair." I socked him in the arm, pouting a bit, and he snickered again, smiling. "Sorry, Sorry..." He stuck his hands in his pockets, looking around a bit. "I mean, anywhere's fine; I haven't really been here in a while."

I nodded, looking around a bit. "Well, we can check a few stores; I kinda wanna pick up some stuff here, too." I crossed my arms, looking sideways. "I need to pick up spray paint to finally customize your helmet." I looked back up at him, grinning a bit. "What colors were you thinking?"

He thought for a few seconds, before looking back to me. "How about yellow and gold?" He scratched the back of his head, looking upwards. "I wasn't gonna go for anything to extravagant, since I'm not exactly artistic, but I had a basic idea of what I wanted to do."

I nodded, crossing my arms. "Alright. We'll grab clothes first, then we'll grab spray paint, and then we'll grab lunch." I thought for a second, looking upwards. I felt like I was forgetting something, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I then felt someone poke my cheek, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked over, seeing Umeji raising an eyebrow, smiling a little, his finger still on my cheek.

"Do you have enough of your meds to make it through the week?" He seemed to cringe at what he said, crossing his arms. "Sorry if that came out weird; I've never had to take meds before, so I dunno the proper term."

I shrugged a bit, smiling. Sure, he'd fumbled it a bit, but he helped me remember that I need to pick up my prescription. "Eh, close enough." I said, laughing a bit. "But you make a valid point; I need to pick up my meds today."

We wandered around the mall for a bit, grabbing a couple outfits for Umeji. As we were picking out shirts, I noticed that we were around the same size. My mind wandered a bit, as I looked at a few of the shirts he picked out. If we really wanted to, we would be able to share hoodies. Isn't that a thing couples do, though?

I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked over, seeing Umeji next to me. He grinned a little, raising an eyebrow. "You spaced out a bit again," he said, laughing a little, "You must have a lot to think about."

I shrugged a bit, attempting to play it off. "Not really," I stated, looking sideways, "Just overthinking stuff, as usual."

         We checked out, carrying the bags out of the store. For a little while, we just wandered around, looking at different displays, sometimes making fun of them.

         We came across a particular display in the store "Forever 27", consisting of something you'd see Musume wear. I poked Umeji, gesturing to it, and he shuddered.

         "Jeez," he snorted a little, smiling a little, "You'd think Musume's dad bought out the company or something."

           I snickered in response, raising an eyebrow. "Don't say that," I muttered, "If she hears you, she'll get ideas."

He nodded a little, still laughing. "Fair point." He looked around a bit, finally pointing to the food court. "Did you wanna grab something to eat? I can probably pay for lunch."

         I looked up at him, crossing my arms. "I'm fine with, like, 90 percent of what you just said." I flicked his forehead, smiling a little. "I'm paying, remember?"

       He gave me a weird look, before smiling a little, sighing in defeat. "Fine, fine," he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Do what you want, Blue."

         I never thought I'd like such a weird Nickname.

         We agreed on a ramen place in the mall, ordering lunch. Hours passed by as we just ate and talked like we'd been friends for years. I noticed that he seemed less cold than he did when we met. He seemed more bright and happy. It was enough to even lift my mood.

           Around two hours later, I paid for Lunch, and we got up to head out of the mall. We'd both silently known what was going to happen after the mall trip for a while, and we didn't need to say it. It wasn't something that needed to be said.

         We got on the motorcycle, and drove off to Umeji's house to grab his belongings.