CHAPTER 3

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??? POV

"What?!"

Rin exclaims as the doctor told him the news.

"Sorry, but unless you've paid for it, then we will unfortunately have to remove your father from the ward — "

"But I already paid this month's amount!"

"Yes, but there has been some... Changes. You'll now have to pay an additional 50,000 Yen along with your monthly payment of 92,273 Yen — "

"B-But this doesn't make any sense! No one pays 50 grand for just staying in a ward! The 100 thousand Yen already pays for everything!"

Rin argued back with a face of fury as the doctor just sighs, tired of this farce.

"Listen... If you're so broke, then go sell a kidney or something, I don't really care what the hell you do."

The doctor's tone changed from pity to annoyance, causing the boy to look in shock as he pokes Rin's chest, a gesture of mocking.

"But if you don't give me my — the hospital's payment, then say goodbye to your father, and tell him that you were such a bad kid that you'd not even pay his dues."

And with a smug smirk, he walks away with a wave, leaving Rin standing alone in a hallway.

"I'll wait for my payment, Junichiro-san. Remember, you have three weeks until the next payment..."

x x x x x x x x x x

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Pyrrha Nikos POV

Pyrrha Nikos was a well known celebrity, unfortunately. That meant that even going to a simple café must be as discrete as possible, or else her fans would swarm her, something that she wishes that doesn't come with being a four-time Mistralian Champion.

She loves fighting, the thrill of it makes her life so much colorful, but she definitely did not sign up for the fame, even if it makes good money and better treatment.

Walking around Vale with a hood, something that most turn a blind eye since most Huntsmen wear cloaks to cover their scars, she window-shops as she admires the sights of Vale. Haven was more... dull-colored compared to Vale's atmosphere, it was quite relaxing to say the least.

Feeling a bit parched from the walk, she looked around the block before her eyes caught the attention of a café.

"Leblanc?"

"Blanc" was "white" in Ancient Valerian, right? Nowadays, people use the modern Valerian as the inter-kingdom language as a default, but she had studied past languages as a side hobby. It's quite rare for someone to use Ancient Valerian.

Taking a good look, she sees that there weren't any guests or customers either, increasing the odds of her going into this specific shop. After a few seconds of thinking, she settles on just going in and order first before deciding whether to stay.

... And it's not because of the cute barista, alright? Just wanted to make it clear, her final decision was not based on the fact that the barista was so cute frowning his eyebrows thinking of something, nope!

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Entering the store, her eyes wandered around the store as it soon landed on the cute barista. Nervously, she gulped as the barista noticed her.

"Oh, hello. Welcome to Leblanc. What can I get you?"

He said with a very soothing voice as she cleared her throat, he was giving her such a cute smile, it made her cheeks burn slightly.

"H-Hello. May I please have a... Vanilla Frappuccino... And a plate of curry?"

She looked at the menu confused. Curry? In a coffee café? Was she seeing right? Sure, she had 20/20 vision, but sometimes she sees things wrong —

"Ah, the curry is meant to be there, yes."

He cleared her doubts as he chuckled at the misconception before he pulled on his sleeves, revealing quite toned arms, she noted.

"So, a vanilla Frappuccino and a plate of Leblanc's curry for..."

"O-Oh, erm... "

'Quick! Give him a name!'

"S-Scarlet!"

'Ahhhhh! Really, Pyrrha? Scarlet?! Out of all names?!'

Oum, kill her now.

"Mine's Rin. Anyways, give me a second, Ms. Scarlet — "

'He bought it!'

"Oh, I forgot. This will be a takeaway order or a dine in?"

He said, leaning against the counter with a soft smirk that melted ice, causing her to swoon at the bad, bad boy.

"D-Dine in, please."

She looked away in embarrassment as he chuckled.

"Alright, one quick order for a Ms. Scarlet, coming right up."

And soon, he went to work, skillfully moving as he grabbed every ingredient with skill, gently placing them into the blender for it to blend.

While it was blending, he moved to the kitchen area before quickly checking a pot, noting its taste as he multitasked, scooping rice from a rice cooker beforehand.

He moved with such efficiency that everything came together in just two minutes tops. That was how fast he was.

In the blink of an eye, her food was already on her table, and it smelled amazing. Feeling her stomach urging her to eat, she quickly took a spoon and fork from container on the table before digging in.

"Mhhhh!"

It. Was. Amazing!

Forgetting about the barista, she immediately scarfed down the curry before taking a sip on her Frappuccino, moaning in delight at the surprising texture and combination of the two delights.

After a few seconds, her spoon hit the plate, causing her to look at it in confusion. Her eyes widened. The plate was so clean that one would think that someone gave her an empty plate.

'B-But how?! I just started eating?!'

Growllll...

Feeling her stomach crave for the curry, she looks at the barista sheepishly who was looking at a novel, looking so handsome with his head resting on his palm, his beautiful eyes slowly flicking in a line, reading a sentence of the book.

"E-Erm..."

He looked up from the novel before placing it back down.

"Ah, you want seconds?"

She nodded while trying not to look at the boy in embarrassment. How embarrassing! That just made the boy chuckle cutely at her actions before walking over to take her plate.

"No problem, it's free refills on Fridays and the weekends, so you can keep requesting seconds until you're done."

Her eyes widened once again. Free refills? But how about the cost? T-This isn't healthy for a business! But before she even had the chance to retort, he had already walked to the kitchen area with her plate, causing her to stop herself.

... Maybe once she finished her next plate, then she will talk about it.

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She ate 5 plates worth of curry. 5!

She wanted to dig a hole and stay there forever from the amused look of the barista!

Paying the meal and drink — It was only 6 Lien for such fine meals! She earned about 1,000 times of that in a slow month from tournaments, advertisements, and modeling! And he had denied her money for eating so much! —, she had already opened the door and was walking out when the boy voiced something aloud.

"And Ms. Scarlet, you should let your hood down more! You look much more beautiful with red hair and green eyes!"

Her head lashed to his direction so fast that it made a CRACK sound, but the door had already closed, causing her to stare at the door as the boy had disappeared back to the kitchen.

... She was definitely going to come back here more often. MORE often now.

That was what she thought as she walked back home quickly with a huge blush on her face, ignoring the looks of the citizens passing by her.

He was smooth! Too SMOOTH!

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A/N:

Yeah, I gave a whole chapter to Pyrrha. Why, you may ask? I'm a simp, that's why. It's as simple as that. Get used to it, baby.

Anyways, I'll see you guys. Peace!

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