63 - Sushi Date

“You’ll like this place. Trust me,” I said as Bianca drove her two-door beater through Tokyexico’s streets and parked outside No More Mr. Rice Guy Kaiten-Zushi. The building’s obviously fake facade was covered in blown snow, and I had to pull hard to open the door. The moment I did, snow started eddying in the entryway, and Bianca and I hurried inside.

“Yeah. Probably.” Bianca looked more like her normally-nervous self. I chalked it up to the weather; she’d had to drive in it, and it'd be dark and snowing by the time we were done here. The same table I’d sat at with Mom and Dad was open. Actually, most of the seats were empty; no one was out tonight despite it being Friday. Food on the buzzing and clattering conveyor belt passed by as we pulled off our jackets. Neither of us was dolled up like we had been for the theater. I wore a skull T-shirt with some band name across it and jeans, while Bee had opted for fuzzy tan leggings and a gray turtleneck sweater.

She smelled like green apples again. It competed with the smells of soy sauce and fish, a light, snappy scent. We sat down at the table. Bee eyed the clattering, rolling sushi plates dubiously.

“So, here’s how it works.” I explained the rules and scooped a plate with a California Roll off the belt. Bianca grabbed something filled to the brim with reddish fish and green paste. She sniffed at it.

A moment later, Callie bustled over from another table. “Hi, I’m Callie, and I’ll be taking care of you two tonight!”

“Hi, Callie,” I said. She’d been part of the Orientation Episode; I hoped she didn’t still remember me as Toilet Girl. Or that she didn’t remember I’d kind of/sort of ditched her with the SSS. “How are classes?”

“Oh, they’re good. Almost done at TU, then it’s off to the real world. I’m taking a flight to Yorkston and going into marketing after Christmas. I’ve got a paid internship with one of the big ilneat studios. It looks like you two know how Kaiten-Zushi works already, so I’ll be back with some drinks. Want anything?”

We ordered sodas, and Callie disappeared. “Tell me about home?” Bianca choked out after gulping down a bite of sushi. Her face reddened; whatever she’d just eaten was spicy, and the drinks weren’t here yet. She started coughing into her napkin.

“Oh, Mom and Dad are both super-supportive,” I said. Bianca fidgeted as I explained how Dad supported everything I did while Mom was more concerned about me ‘making it’ and doing better than they were. I wasn’t sure how to get into their attitudes toward superhero work without revealing my secret identity to Bianca, and we weren’t at that point in our relationship yet. After talking for a while, I popped my California Roll into my mouth. “Wha’ abou’ oo?”

“Well, I told you my parents wanted me in—“

“Hey, here’s your drinks. Enjoying everything?” Callie set down two dark-brown sodas, and Bee started sucking on her straw. The waitress laughed. “Spicy salmon roll? You’ve gotta respect the heat here.”

“Yeah, I figured that out.” All three of us laughed a little. Callie left, and Bee continued. “So they want me in bioengineering. I’m not sure what I want, though. I thought something in science would be good for me, but there are so many options. They’re in Tortuga West. Mom’s an archivist there, and Dad’s in construction.”

“Oh, did Tortuga West have a MIRACLE program?” I asked.

“Yeah. Dad’s pretty well-off. His company did a bunch of work on the sea walls around the islands. He doesn’t run the company, but construction is…well, you know?”

I knew all too well. Ever since Launch Day, construction, rehabbing buildings, and remodeling were the biggest businesses in North America. I’d done my share of destroying things, and Rocko Productions had always paid the damages, plus extra. Even when the ilneat studios wouldn’t pay or couldn’t pay enough, heroes like Tele-Portal and the Triad sometimes threw money at problems if damages were dire.

“But they both encouraged TU for me. I haven’t gotten into any of the bioengineering classes yet, but the school’s got a good reputation.” Bianca grabbed a couple more dishes off the belt, and I followed up my first California Roll with a plate of fruits. “I’d love to get into some of the work Allegiant Labs is doing on megafauna reversal. For all that Father Thyme got Kudzu-Zilla under control, Allegiant came up with the real solution.”

“Yeah, but their goats rule the Gulf Coast now.”

“Still easier to manage than Kudzu-Zilla.” Bee started eating her new sushi rolls.

I should have expected it, to be honest. Bianca was a fast eater, and her sushi vanished before I’d even started my fruit. She sat there, tapping her foot on the floor and fidgeting with a pair of chopsticks.

“What’s up, Bee?”

“I’m just…sorry, it’s nothing, really.”

“Doesn’t look like nothing.” I ate a bite of something sweet—a mango or papaya or something. “You can talk to me, you know?”

“Yeah. I know.” She hesitated again. “I think we should go. I’m gonna have to drive in this mess, and it’s not gonna get better. I don’t want to deal with driving home in the dark and snow.”

“Awww.” I didn’t want to leave yet. It felt like we’d just gotten here, and I’d been looking forward to a long night out with Bianca. But…there was still hope. “Back to my place, then?”

“Of course!”

We chatted for a bit before I paid for the meal. It was just habit; I’d paid for every meal with Peter after the very first. Still, I felt Bianca’s funny look as I slapped the bills down without even asking. I shrugged and smiled apologetically, but she still seemed annoyed. I’d have to…explain somehow. Later. Once I’d come up with a viable lie about why I paid.

Callie smiled at the tip and waved goodbye, and we headed to the car. The sun hadn’t gone down, but it was way, way colder than it had been, and the flurrying snow was piling up in the parking lot. “You were right, Bee. It’s getting worse.”

“Told you.” She slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine while I pushed snow off the windshield with her scraper brush. When I’d done enough to get a thumbs up, I hurried into the seat next to her, putting my freezing fingers under my armpits.

Bee laughed but got serious as she started driving across the increasingly slick roads. Her brow wrinkled. I winced and grabbed the armrest as the car started sliding, but she corrected and kept moving back toward Walnut—just a little slower than she’d been going. She cleared her throat. “Why didn’t you ask if I wanted to pay?”

“I, uh…” I froze up. Of course this was going to be an issue. Why hadn’t I thought about it before? “My, uh, ex…”

“Peter?”

“Yeah, Peter. He usually didn’t have much money he could spend, so I ended up paying for most things. It was just habit.” I paused. “Do you want to split the bills, then?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” She reached back for her gigantic backpack, steering with one hand. The car started to spin out again as she struggled.

I tensed again, fingers hurting from squeezing the armrest on the door. “How about later?”

“Yeah, later. Listen, you’re my girlfriend, and I wanna spoil you,” she said, grinning stupidly.

I smiled back. Bee was very, very different than Peter. “That’d be nice,” I said.

◄▼►

I awoke to something hot pressed against my back, which was wonderful against the cold late-November chill. I wriggled against Bianca. She kissed the back of my neck, and I shivered, but not from the cold.

Neither of us wore much clothing, but, shockingly, we hadn’t drank anything last night. We hadn’t watched any Man vs. Nature or Power Wars either. We’d just sat around and talked until Bianca…made a move.

After that? I wasn’t going to share that. A girl didn’t kiss and tell, or something.

“Hey,” I said stupidly.

“Hey, you never took my money,” Bee said. She flipped the blanket off us, and I whimpered and curled into a ball as the warmth vanished. She climbed out of bed and covered me up again. She kept talking as she tracked down her clothes and put them on. “Why don’t you just let me make you breakfast instead?”

I nodded, then realized how stupid that was. She’d buried me under the blankets. “Yeah, that’d be nice.” I didn’t have much, but surely Bee could find some eggs or something? Or frozen waffles. I had to have frozen waffles.

Bee finished pulling her clothes on and walked over to the bathroom. I heard the sink running and her muttering over it. “Alright, it’s a good thing I’ve got the car. It’d be a cold, miserable walk of shame this morning.” She splashed the water—maybe against her face.

“Turn on the heater,” I whined.

“You think it’s bad for you? I’m from Tortuga West.” I saw her curly black hair, which looked like it’d be hell to untangle, stick past the doorframe. She stuck her tongue out at me. “Why don’t you get dressed and tell me where you keep your breakfast stuff?”

“Some breakfast in bed this is!” I took a deep breath, trying to psyche myself up. Why wasn’t it hard to crash my windsurfer through a third-floor window or fight a minor-league villain, but I couldn’t handle a little cold? I flipped the blankets off, wrapping my arms around myself, and started my own search for clothes.

“How are your finals looking?” Bee asked.

“Uh, I’m probably going to pass Algebra. Su-Bin’s helping me a ton with it, so even if I don’t get full points on the harder stuff we’re learning right now, I’ll do well enough on the beginning-of-year parts of the test. Same with Biology,” I lied. Comfy sweatpants and a long-sleeve shirt would have to do for now. I started pulling on the pants. “Ilneat Studies should be easy because…uh, I’ve always been curious about them, and obviously Intro to Drama’s fine. I could miss that one and still pass. How about you?”

“Well, I’ve got Fencing and stuff. They’re having a tournament for the final. All you have to do is show up, but I wanna win. That’s the Friday classes end, the same as Intro to Drama. Then, I have a couple of science classes that I’m hopefully gonna be ready for, but we’ll see. Oh, found your pans. You can go back to bed.”

“Shit,” I mumbled. I heard the crashing sound of pots and pans falling out of the cabinet as I flipped the blanket back over me.

Then, something flashed green outside of the window. A bright green, even against the morning light pouring through the shades. I blinked. Bright green. That was…

Another crashing sound filled my ears. Through it, Bianca screamed.

◄▼►