I Will Always Be By Your Side

Chapter 9

It was almost sunset when Rena arrived in front of a ramen house. "Will she still be mad at me?" She asked herself as she stood in front of the ramen house. Just as she was about to go, the door suddenly opened and a group of customers went out followed by a middle aged woman. "Thank you. Please come again!" She said as she bowed to the customers and when she was about to go inside, she stopped upon noticing Rena standing outside.

"Oh? You were that classmate of Jurina, right?" Jurina's mother said. Rena then bowed at her. "Good afternoon Mrs. Matsui." She greeted. "I told you to just call me auntie. No need to be so formal with me." Jurina's mother said as she hold on to Rena's arm, leading her inside the ramen house. "By the way, Jurina is currently out to deliver some ramen. You can wait for her here." She continued after leading her to an empty table at the corner.

"Excuse me, can I get another order of shoyu ramen?" Says the customer from a nearby table. "Sure! Your order is coming right up." Jurina's mother said with a smile before turning towards Rena. "Sorry, today we are a little busy because of the sudden surge of customers. Just wait here, I'm going your food as well."

"Uhm no need for that... A-auntie." Rena said, making Jurina's mom look at her in confusion. "If it's alright, I would like to help you today, since Jurina isn't around and there are lots of customers." She continued.

"But,"

"Please?"

Jurina's mother looked at her straight to the eyes and she could see the sincerity in Rena's eyes and then she looked at the restaurant and the amount of customers they have. "Alright then. You can help me."

-------

It took some time for Rena to finally be used to working at the ramen house. At first, she was a little bit clumsy especially with carrying the orders as she has never experience working in her entire life given the fact that she is the daughter of a business tycoon, and not just an ordinary business tycoon but one of the most prominent in the entire country. But she eventually get used to it and before she knew it, she find herself enjoying it.

"Mom, I'm ba-" Jurina said as soon as she entered their ramen house but stopped upon seeing Rena who just simply bowed at her as she was busy taking orders from a customer. "Oh Jurina, welcome back. By the way, did Mayu already went home?" Her mother asked as she took the delivery box from Jurina. "Yeah, I walked her to the bus stop after delivering the ramen. By the way, what is Rena-chan doing here?" Jurina asked. "Oh, I saw her standing outside earlier and I let her in. Upon seeing how busy we are today, she asked if she could help so I allowed her." Her mother explained.

"Auntie, three orders of shoyu ramen and two orders of gyoza on table 8." Rena said as she walked towards them. "Alright. Coming up. I'll leave you two first." Jurina's mom said before going in the kitchen to prepare the orders.

"Rena-chan, what are you -"

"Excuse me, can I get more noodles please?" One customer interrupted them. "Ah yes. Just a moment please." Rena said then she turned to Jurina who was still looking at her in confusion. "Just a moment, I'll just give their order." All Jurina could do was nod as she watched Rena walked her way to the kitchen to get the orders of the customer.

------

It's already half hour past seven when the customers lessened.

"Rena-chan, Jurina you two can take a rest now. I can manage it here. You take that corner table and I will serve you dinner. I'm sure Rena-chan is already hungry after serving all those customers." Jurina's mom said with a smile.

Just as they were told, the two of them take the empty table at the corner of the shop and sat on the chairs facing each other. An awkward silence surrounded the two of them. "Uhm," Jurina spoke first, breaking the silence. "Thank you for helping today."

"It's okay. Don't mention it. I'm happy I was able to help today." Rena replied. Just then, Jurina's mom came in with two servings of ramen, like the ones that she served them when Rena first came to the ramen house. "Thank you auntie." Rena said with a smile. "I should be the one thanking you for your help today. Now eat those ramen before it gets cold."

"Itadakimasu!" The two of them said before they started eating.

Jurina watched in astonishment as Rena eats the ramen so fast. "Wah, I've never seen you this hungry. Serving those customers earlier surely took your energy." Jurina said. "It's fine." Rena said in a muffled voice as she continued eating which earned a chuckle from Jurina.

"Don't mind me. Just continue eating." Jurina said with a smile which made Rena pause for a second then she went back eating.

-------

"I'll be going now. Thank you for the food, auntie." Rena said before bowing in front of Jurina's mom. "Don't mention it. It's my way of thanking you for today's help."

"I'll walk you to the bus stop." Jurina said then she turned to her mother. "Is it okay if I accompany her?"

"Of course. Just come back before I close the shop, okay?"

"Okay!"

Rena bid her goodbye to Jurina's mom and the two of them started walking.

"Uhm, Jurina?" Rena said. "Hm?"
"Uhm, about earlier in class, I'm sorry if I went overboard with teasing you." Jurina looked at her, looking surprised. "Eh?" Then she suddenly remembered what happened, making her blush.

"I... It's okay.. I knew you were only teasing me." Jurina replied which made Rena look at her. "I was worried because you suddenly became quiet after that."

"So that's the reason why you came to the shop? I was actually why you came but then it turns out that you came to apologize."

"Uhm yeah. Sort of. I thought you were mad at me." Rena said. Jurina then stood in front of Rena making her stop walking. "Why would I be mad at you? I can never be mad at you." Jurina said with her bright smile. "Huh?"

"Because we're friends." Jurina said. "Friends?" Rena echoed. "Uhn. Isn't that why you came in the first place? Because you're afraid that I'll be mad at you because you think of me as a friend?" Those words made Rena pause. She has never have a friend in her life and it's the first time someone has regarded her as a friend. Even though she has always been with Yuki at the rooftop, she wasn't sure if the two of them can be called as friends. Her train of thoughts stopped when she noticed that Jurina is waving her on her face. "Huh?"

"You're spacing out. Are you okay?" Jurina asked worriedly. "Yeah I'm okay. What were you saying again earlier?" Rena replied. "I said I can never be mad at you because we're friends."

"Ah yeah. Because we're friends." Rena said with a smile.

"Wow, is that dango that I see?" Jurina said as she looked at the stall beside her. Rena look at it too. "Looks like it." Just then Jurina took her hand and dragged her to the stall. "Come on, let's have some. It's my treat." Rena blushed as she looked at her hand in which Jurina was holding as they walked towards the stall. "Two orders of dango please."

------

The two of them reached the bus stop. "You should go back now." Rena said. "I'll stay until you're able to ride the bus." Jurina replied. "I can manage Jurina besides it's pretty dangerous at night. You don't want to run into those thugs again. And besides your mom will be worried."

"But.." Jurina said with her puppy face. Rena ruffled her hair with a reassuring smile. "I'm fine. I can go home on my own. You can go back now. We will see each other again tomorrow."

"Okay then." Jurina said reluctantly. "Bye bye Rena-chan."

"Bye bye."

------

Author's note: hey guys! So how was this story is going so far? I'm actually not that good when it comes to writing romance stories so I would like to hear your thoughts about it..