The Ludicrous Escapade Pt.4

Misgivings

"Diego seems to be doing rather well." Santana took a bite out of his stack of pancakes. They had been positioned to look like a lion. Sliced strawberries made up its mane.

You were both in a cozy little cafe on the outskirts of Morioh.

"Oh, right. You met with the vampires last night, didn't you?" You lifted your mug and took a sip. "How did that go?"

"It was quite fun! Diego was showing me how his Stand worked." The Pillar Man's eyes brightened as he recalled playing with all the tiny dinosaurs. His smile faltered a little. "I was... less happy to see Anasui still in one piece." He still hated the pinkette.

There was a soft ringing sound as someone entered the building. Your eyes locked with the new customer for a moment. You recognized them as the guy you had bumped into several nights back.

"Do you know him?" Asked Santana as he ate a strawberry.

"Not really. We've spoken like two sentences to each other." The guy was still a stranger to you. "I don't even know his name."

"Oh, hey, it's you again!" Tooru walked over to your table, feigning surprise.

"Hi..." You eyed him cautiously, not quite sure yet what is deal was.

"Tooru."

"Hm?"

"That's my name."

"...okay." You ate another bite of food.

He laughed. "This is usually the part where you tell me yours."

"I'd rather not." You continued to focus on the plate in front of you.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. I just like to get to know people in town." He laughed again, though really he was wondering why you were already suspicious of him. "I work part-time at the hospital near here."

You let out a small sigh, wondering if the guy was going to keep bugging you if you didn't say anything. "You can call me (R/N)." You gave him a random name.

His eye twitched ever so slightly. "Well, it was nice to see you again, (R/N)." Tooru scratched the back of his neck. "I guess I'll stop pestering you and..." He acknowledged the Pillar Man's existence for the first time.

"Santana." He watched the dude with narrowed eyes. "I'm her son."

"Ah, okay. See ya!" He gave a quick wave before heading toward the counter to go order some food of his own.

The Pillar Man let out a low hum. "He didn't seem surprised by what I told him. Normally people would react more."

You nodded in agreement. "And I have a feeling he already knows my actual name."

"I don't like him." Decided Santana.

"Yeah..." You started stacking the empty plates. "You're done eating, right? Let's just get out of here." You had paid already.

You and Santana stood up and left the café. With not much really planned for the day, you both decided to go back to the Higashikata house.

To your surprise, Kaato was wearing a bikini and lying in a hammock in the front yard. She was holding a glass of Krug champagne in one hand while using her other hand to paint her toenails. It would appear she had already decided to come back.

She glanced up at you briefly but didn't do much else.

As you entered through the glass doors, Gappy ran over to you, holding a tablet under one arm. "Perfect! You're here." He grabbed you by the hand and led you further into the house. "I wanted to ask Norisuke about you-know-what today. I was gonna ask him myself, but I figured he'd probably listen more if you're there, too."