"Eh? You can drive that thing?"
"Yup."
Approaching the motorcycle, Brandon turned on the engine.
VROOM—!
This was actually the first ti that Rachel had ever seen this.
While Belle would leave early for school, Rachel would follow her shortly after. Brandon on the other hand would stay a bit behind, and once he's ready for school, he would opt to take his motorcycle.
"Here."
"Ah–Woah."
Brandon tossed her the helt, and Rachel clumsily caught it.
Donning the helt, Rachel approached Brandon.
"Wear it properly."
"...Sorry."
Fixing the helt, Brandon motioned for Rachel to sit.
"Co."
"Okay."
"Hold on tight."
"Huh–Uwaaa!"
VROOM—!
Almost falling off, Rachel imdiately locked her arms around Brandon.
The wind pressure tickled her legs. Looking up, she could see Brandon's flawless face, focusing up ahead.
Truth be told, Rachel was physically exhausted.
After her evolving her affinity, and imdiately using her Elental Assimilation, Rachel's body was quite fatigued.
Though Brandon couldn't see it, there were dark circles under her bags, but she hid it with a concealer.
Her body was quite heavy, and she could feel herself getting sleepy.
But she had to do this.
To cheer Brandon up.
Belle had specifically asked for her to do this. Belle didn't know how Rachel was feeling.
But the sheer fact that she had asked Rachel to take care of her little brother ant that she trusted her.
Though her head was covered in the helt, she inched it close to Brandon's back.
Closing her eyes, she smiled and pursed her lips.
"Cool."
She could admit, Brandon was definitely at his coolest right now.
VROOM—!
***
Inside Victoria Supermall, Raven, Reinhard, Claire, and Amy, stood by the entrance.
They had ford a group chat without Brandon and Rachel, for the sole reason of discussing what they were about to do for the day.
It was all Amy's idea, but everyone was on board.
They knew Brandon was severely depressed, after what happened in Everglade.
While Rachel was out of commission, after suffering the drawbacks of her newfound power.
Which is why the group decided to etup today, to buy gifts for the two.
The first one to have spoken was Amy.
"I know what Rachel likes, but what about Brandon?"
"Now that you ntion it, we know nothing about the guy."
The rest imdiately nodded at Raven's words.
Brandon was a complete enigma to them.
"Should I go ask Rachel what Brandon likes?"
"Don't, it would ruin the surprise."
Reinhard imdiately shot down Amy's suggestion.
"We should have thought of this more before coming here…"
Once again, everyone nodded in defeat at Raven's words.
They were grasping for straws.
Just what kind of gift would a guy like Brandon even like?
From what they knew, Brandon wasn't a materialistic type of person.
From what Claire told them, the Locke company was quite wealthy, and yet it wasn't evident by Brandon's mannerisms.
In fact, it looked like he grew up as a normal boy. The regal just wasn't there.
Sighing, Claire opened her mouth.
"Haaa… Let's just pick Rachel's gift first."
"Good idea."
Reinhard snapped his fingers.
The girls knew what Rachel liked. As long as they had already chosen Rachel's gift, then they would have the whole day to pick one for Brandon's gift.
Just like that, the group beckoned for…
The Bookstore.
*
Entering the bookstore, Amy was quite conflicted.
After all, it was the Asami Bookstore.
And the CEO was none other than her biological father, Rafael Asami.
Her father was actually quite fond of her, but in the end, Amy decided to stay with her mother.
If her mother was left alone, who knew what she would do?
But Amy instantly dismissed her thoughts. Now was not the ti to think about it.
The Asami bookstore staff would be able to recognize her. Just like Rachel, she was allowed to take any book for free.
In other words, they were VIPS.
Which is why Amy decided to don a disguise, a black cap, paired with a couple of shades.
Good thing she had already worn it before the etup, else, Raven would find things suspicious.
After all, Raven was the only one who didn't know about her special relationship with Rachel.
And maybe Brandon didn't know either.
Most likely…
Looking up, books from any genre were neatly assorted.
Business books, educational materials, young adult, fiction, comics, manga, classics, all you can find.
Asami Bookstore had it all.
But for so reason…
"Uh?"
"Where are the staff?"
The staff were nowhere to be seen.
No, they could definitely hear their murmurs. In fact, they were all huddled up on the corner, just up ahead.
It seed like they were peeking at sothing or soone, just in the manga section.
"..."
What sort of…?
Just what was going on that made the staff abandon their posts?
Curious, the group joined in and peeked from a corner as well.
And that was when…
"..."
"Huh?"
"Wha–"
"..."
They were utterly speechless at the sight.
Two familiar figures were currently looking through the manga comics available. In fact, their basket was full.
But what surprised them was who the figures were.
Wearing a maroon turtleneck, her pitch black hair gently cascaded around her shoulders, with a black beret to top it off.
The figure that stood beside her adorned a black shirt, with a similar maroon blazer.
If one were to look properly, then they could basically identify the two as a couple.
Why wouldn't they? The two were practically wearing matching outfits.
Speechless, the first one to break the silence was Amy.
"...This is way too sudden."
"Those two…"
"Are they…"
"Dating?"
The rest finished each other's sentence, while Raven had asked the real question.
Brandon and Rachel…
Were they dating?
Looking to the side, one of the staff had a wide grin.
Listening to their murmurs, it seed like one of the staff was crying.
"Huaaa… Miss Rachel, you're all grown up now!"
"Indeed, the Miss is now a Lady."
"Who is that guy though? Does the Boss know?"
"Who cares? He's handso."
"Agreed, the little Miss has quite the taste."
"..."
The group was flabbergasted.
Whatever the staff was doing…
They had way too much free ti on their hands.
And it seed like Brandon and Rachel didn't even notice the attention they had gathered.
As soon as they turned around, the staff imdiately got back to work, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Fuu~ Fuu~ Fuu~"
While the group imdiately hid.
They could have revealed themselves. But instead they decided to hide.
What was once a etup to buy gifts for Brandon and Rachel, had beco a stalking mission.
To observe and confirm whether Brandon and Rachel really were dating.
Turning around, Claire cursed under her breathe.
"Fuck, they're gone."
"Huh?"
Before they knew it, Brandon and Rachel had already gone off sowhere.
Fast.
Way too fast.
"There!"
Reinhard pointed at the exit, where Brandon and Rachel were seemingly about to leave.
Imdiately, the group inconspicuously followed suit, hiding behind every corner, and turning away each ti Brandon looked back.
Brandon…
His senses were way too sharp.
It wouldn't shock any of them if he had already noticed their presence.
But it seed like he didn't.
Or maybe he decided to let it go.
The thought of Brandon and Rachel together in the mall quite shocked them.
The last ti they saw Brandon, he was definitely down in the dumps.
Sothing must have happened in the past two days.
Like maybe Rachel confessed to him suddenly and the two decided to go out then and there.
Yeah, that wouldn't be too far-fetched.
But Brandon…
He didn't seem like the type to do that.
But as they looked at him now, it was a new side of him.
"Matching outfits, huh?"
"Indeed."
"Matching what now?"
Raven was unsure what Claire and Amy were even talking about. The hell is a matching outfit?
Sighing, Claire turned to look at Amy.
"Haaa…. I feel bad for you."
"H-huh? What are you t-talking about?"
Amy was flustered.
Looking ahead as if he didn't notice, Raven pointed towards a certain direction.
"Guys, they're entering the departnt store."
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