CHAPTER 53: ICE CREAM

Together they all stepped inside the nearby Ice cream parlor.

As they entered, their eyes swept across the rich expanses of the ice cream parlor, but there wasn’t any customer around.

Looking around, Kurogami gave a nod of approval, "Alright, let’s take our seats."

He walked forward followed by everyone else, as they all arranged themselves around three tables.

Haruma took a seat with Kurogami on his left and Kabuto, Itsuki on his right. Across from them Raya, Jiho, Izaya and Nagisa settled in.

Beaming with excitement, Izaya shot his hand up towards the counter, "Hey! we’d all like to order!"

Kabuto grinning mischievously, casually slipped his arm around Haruma’s shoulder, "So Haruma what’s your favorite flavor?"

Haruma paused, thinking for a moment before replying, "Umm, Vanilla would be good."

Kabuto’s smile grew wider, "Vanilla it is then, I’ll have the same!"

Itsuki’s face lit up with a cheerful smile, "Great, Vanilla for me too"!

Izaya, unable to control his excitement, chimed in eagerly, "I will have matcha with lots of toppings!"

Raya smiles, "For me it’s always chocolate!" He said before turning to Nagisa and gave a playful nudge on his shoulder, "What about you?"

"Vanilla." Nagisa replied softly, appearing slightly sleepy and low on energy.

Raya looks up at Kurogami, "And what about you captain?"

Kurogami let out a thoughtful sigh before speaking, "Umm, I’ll have matcha."

Izaya brimming with excitement turned to Jiho, "Hey, Jiho Jiho! what flavor do you want?"

Turning to him, Jiho casually replied, "Strawberry."

A big silence fell over everyone, as all eyes remained locked on Jiho, before Izaya and Kabuto burst into laughter.

Raya giggles hard, struggling hard not to burst out laughing. While Nagisa quickly covered his face with his hand.

Itsuki and Haruma sat with wide eyes, smiling widely, barely managing to hold back their laughter.

Jiho’s borrow furrowed with clear annoyance, "And what is so funny about that?" he asked with gritted teeths.

Still laughing uncontrollably, holding his stomach, Izaya patted Jiho’s back, "Nah, nothing! strawberry it is!"

Izaya suddenly stood up, "Hey everyone listen up here!" He raised his voice, drawing the attention of other players before speaking up, "Our redhead Jiho will have strawberry!"

All the other players burst into laughter, the parlor echoing with their laughter. Causing Jiho’s fist clench in anger.

"What the hell is so funny about it! shut up!" He snapped, giving the table a light punch, which made everyone laugh even harder.

Still laughing, Izaya teased, "Nah nothing’s wrong, so will our princess be having strawberry with any toppings?"

Jiho, unable to control his anger, lunged forward and grabbed Izaya by his neck with both of his hands, shaking him like a bottle of soda. Izaya’s tongue came out, eyes rolled up into his head, while his head and arms flopped around limply. All while ridiculous choked gurgling noises escaping from his mouth. Making everyone laugh even harder.

"At your service!"

A young female waitress, around their age, stepped up to their table. She had fair skin, light blue eyes, wearing a neatly fitted head cap as a part of her uniform.

Noticing the waitress, Jiho quickly threw Izaya back on his seat who slumped over his seat like a lifeless puppet, eyes closed, tongue hanging out, yet a goofy smile playing on his face.

"Alright boys, what can I get you?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the notepad and pen, ready to scribble.

Just then, Izaya sprang back to life, eyes snapping open before quickly settling himself on his seat. With a teasing smile he pointed straight at Jiho.

"First order is for him, our pretty little baby will have two scoops of strawberry!" He declared before bursting into laughter again.

Waitress smiled politely and wrote down Jiho’s order, who was seething with anger.

Izaya cleared his throat and turned to the waitress with a gleam in her eyes, "And for me." He began "I’ll have four scoops of Matcha with extra whip cream, extra shiratama dango, extra matcha syrup, extra candied chestnuts and lots of strawberries mango cubes yuzu jelly and crispy wafers with extra crunch and lots of matcha biscuit sticks!"

He finishes with a deep exhale, smiling ear to ear.

The waitress biting, her tongue in focus, wrote hurriedly to keep up with Izaya’s order. Finally finishing, too she let out a small breath.

Everyone was staring at Izaya with wide shocked eyes.

Wearing a proud smile, Izaya was looking at the waitress, "You got everything?" he asked politely.

Waitress returned his smile and gave him a thumbs up, "You bet I did!"

Slightly shaking his head, Raya politely began, "I’ll have three scoops of chocolate with extra chocolate beans."

Next to him, Nagisa spoke up in a calm tone, "And I’ll have two scoops of vanilla with no extra toppings."

Kurogami turned to the waitress, "Two scoops of matcha for me with just matcha biscuit sticks."

"Ooh! I’ll have four scoops of Vanilla with just caramel syrup and sprinkles" Itsuki spoke up excitedly

Haruma clears his throat, "Umm... two scoops of Vanilla, with just waffles."

"Make that two," Kabuto added with a smile, his arm still on Haruma’s shoulder.

The waitress finished writing down the last order, then looked up with a bright smile "Done, your order will be served in less than fifteen minutes."

The waitress then moved on to take orders from other tables, while Izaya continued his playfully bunter with Jiho.

About ten minutes later, their order arrived, colorful, towering and perfectly made, making everyone’s faces lit up with pure joy, as they all dived into their ice creams with cheerful chatter and bursts of laughter.

Kurogami and Haruma were enjoying themselves too, smiling and laughing at their jokes, enjoying both the ice cream and the moment.

After finishing their ice creams all the players rose from their seats, ready to leave. Raya stepped forward and paid the bill with a slight nod to the waitress.

As they all were about to move, the waitress caught a clear glimpse of Haruma, causing her eyes to widen with a slight shine in them.

"Hey you!" The waitress called out softly, her voice enough to stop everyone in their tracks.

They all turned to follow her gaze straight at Haruma, who blinked in surprise, clearly caught off guard.

"Me?" Haruma asked with visible confusion.

Her eyes shone brighter with admiration as she pointed at Haruma, "You are the guy who scored that goal in the finals of this year’s All-School Cup?"

Haruma’s eyes widened slightly, startled by sudden recognition.

Behind him, Izaya and Itsuki let out quiet, teasing whistles.

"Yeah, he is!" Itsuki chimed in with a smile, "He is talented, isn’t he?"

The waitress kept her gaze on Haruma "Haruma Kusaka?" she said almost in awe.

Haruma’s eyes widened even further, his heart beat rising as a wave of nervousness washed over him.

Smiling brightly, Raya spoke up, "Yeah correct, you got his right, he is Haruma Kusaka!"

The waitress’s eyes shine brightly, her excitement bubbling over, as she slightly leaned forward at Haruma, "I’m a huge fan of yours! your defending and that goal you scored was brilliant, No... more than brilliant! I’ve never seen a defender scoring like this!" Her voice was trembling with excitement, "Honestly, this is such a big moment for me, getting to meet you as a person!"

Everyone was watching the exchange with their eyes wide with surprise. Only Kurogami was the one who appeared casual, not seeming to have any interest.

Haruma, still a bit stunned, hesitantly began, "Umm I..."

Before he could finish, the waitress looks down and notices the U17 Tokyo Wolves badge imprinted on his hoodie. Her eyes shine even brighter as she looks back up at Haruma.

"Are you going to play for the U17 Tokyo Wolves this year?" She asked with a hopeful excited voice.

Haruma appeared hesitant, clearly at a loss for words, as he began to say something. Jiho suddenly stepped in beside him, pressing his shoulder against Haruma’s, and casually draped an arm around his shoulder.

"Yeah he will," Jiho said proudly, "And so do I, by the way nice to meet you, I’m Jiho, you’ll see me playing alongside him as a center attacking mid."

The waitress excitement and joy grew even more, "That’s great, my name is Shiori, and I’m a big football fan," she said with a cheerful smile before hesitantly turning to Haruma, "If it’s not much of a trouble... would it be okay, if I visit and watch you train?"

Everyone’s eyes widened further at her request, while Kabuto let out another teasing whistle.

Haruma still appearing nervous, started to respond, "Umm, I don’t-"

"Suree!" Raya chimed in with a bright smile, "Ofcourse, why not? By the way I’m Raya, the vice captain of U17 Tokyo Wolves, I’ll talk to our coach he’ll definitely be cool with it!"

Beaming with absolute joy, Shiori added, "Thank you so much I can’t wait to see you all train."

Raya nodded with a warm smile, "Perfect, then visit our academy tomorrow afternoon before lunch. It’s just nearby"

"I’ll definitely be there, Thank you so much!" Shiori said excitedly, reaching out and shaking hands with Raya.

Meanwhile Haruma was still in shock, standing motionless, unable to process what just happened.