Yuuko Yoshida gulped.
Something is definitely wrong with this picture.
An hour earlier, she was meeting Momo Chiyoda for what was to be a duel to the death, allowing her to free her family from the $400 per month curse and restore the dark clan to its former glory.
Yet now she found herself sitting across from the pink haired magical girl with 2 plates of pancakes between them.
What was she planning?
Momo smiled at her. "It's very important to get your fill of carbohydrates before any serious physical activity. Imagine losing to me because you ran out of energy 2 minutes in."
"You actually think I would last 2 minutes?" Yuuko gushed, temporarily distracted from the problem at hand by the perceived flattery.
Yuuko had ordered pancakes smothered in berries and whipped cream. Momo had insisted on paying and promised the cost of the food would not be added to Shamiko's debt, easing her concern slightly. The pancakes were soft, fluffy, rich, and seemingly wiped away every memory of her mom's pancakes made with leftover rice.
As she ate, she couldn't lose the feeling of Momo's eyes watching her. Every time Yuuko looked up, she would be looking away, slightly embarrassed, but had yet to actually catch her in the act. She sat up straight after finishing, looking Momo in the eyes and preparing to issue her challenge, but before she could, Momo reached her hand over towards her.
Was this some secret attack invented by the Light Clan specifically for demons? Was she going to die? Yuuko panicked as Momo wiped away a smear of whipped cream from her cheek and licked it off her finger.
"Honestly, you should take really be more careful when you're eating, Shamiko." Momo said, nonchalantly.
Yuuko's head was spinning and her face flushed bright red.
"D-don't think this means you've won." she sputtered out.
As Yuuko got up to leave, Momo grabbed her hand to stop her.
"You can't run away in defeat yet." she said, twirling her hair nervously.
"W-why not?" Yuuko gulped.
"We need to leave together, to find a nice relaxing place to sit tog-I mean for our showdown."
"I-I suppose you're right but I can't help but notice you almost said something else."A short walk later, they stood beneath a bridge, next to the river. The shade from the bridge kept the hot sun from beating down on them, and the sound of the flowing river created a calming atmosphere.
"T-this hardly seems like the ideal place for a battle." Yuuko said nervously.
"Of course it's not, Shamiko. But if you want to stay out of sight of others, why would you go to the first place people would expect you to have a battle?"
"I don't think I follow but I don't know enough about fighting to dispute your claim. Fine then, are you prepared, Magical Girl?"
"How many times to I have to tell you, it's Momo. And no, you really should stretch before a fight. Come here and help me stretch."Yuuko locked arms and stood back to back with Momo. The magical girl leaned forward, lifting Yuuko off her feet and on top of her back. "You're very light, Shamiko, to the point that this isn't actually really helpful to me at all."
"You don't have to be so blunt. Besides. Do you expect me to be able to lift you?"
"Let's just say I believe in you."
Yuuko gathered all her energy and lowered her torso forward with as much might as she could muster, and felt Momo lift 2 inches off the ground before her body couldn't handle the extra weight anymore.
"This is actually not very good for my self esteem, either." Momo said.
"How do you think I feel?" Yuuko retorted, embarrassed at her lack of upper body strength.
"It's fine, now sit down next to me and rest. You seem to have overexerted yourself there."
Momo has sat down on the edge of the river, with her feet dangling down a few inches above the water.
Yuuko wasn't sure she understood the logic, but sat down next to Momo anyway.
A cool breeze swept underneath the bridge and swept the scent of the grass and lilies in the field next to them underneath the bridge they sat under.
"Momo...."
"Yes, Shamiko?"
"This isn't exactly a battle to the death between mortal enemies, is it?"
"I suppose not,"
"Then what are we doing, exactly?"
"If I had to call it something, maybe a...d-uh, I mean, it's not really important what I think. What do you think?" Momo's face had flushed around the cheeks and she averted her eyes.
"A d- a devastating defeat?"
"A date, Shamiko." Momo appeared exasperated and relieved at the same time.
"D-d-d-date? What do you mean d-date?" Yuuko could barely get the words out.
"Well we ate together, and walked to a secluded area to sit next to a picturesque stream together, and now-" Momo said, laying Yuuko down with her head on her lap, being careful not to catch her horns on her clothing. "You're using my lap as a pillow. What else could it be?"
Momo ran her fingers through Yuuko's hair, as Yuuko, in spite of her embarrassment, very faintly let out a "D-don't think this means you've won"
YOU ARE READING
A Date, Or Something To That Effect
HumorShamiko begins to suspect that her duel with Momo is actually a date, but she can't be sure.