Rina and Donuts
Guest starring a girl that's totally not Mika
Collab with
@BrokenPromise
Rina held the rock in her hands, slowly turning it over. She had already put the number in her phone, but it still felt a little surreal. Just had to press the dial button. This wasn't gonna be like the ice cream and pizza after the graveyard. No this was more...like an actual date. Aaaargh, what should she wear? What should she even do? She hadn't been on a date in like, since high school. Rina moved over to her closet, quickly shifting through the less than impressive wardrobe she had. Ah, maybe she should have asked Amaryllis for clothing advice. She was fashionable, right?
Okay, calm down Rina. You can do this. Just pick some clothes.
Wait no, before she did that she should actually set up the date otherwise she wouldn't even need the clothes. Walking back over to the bed, she picked up her cellphone. Okay, she could do this, she pressed the dial button. Just a phone call. Nothing to be nervous about. She held the phone up to her ear, waiting for it to dial.
The phone rang, once, twice, three times. Every ring chipped at Rina’s confidence. Did Mika forget that she handed Rina her number? Four, five, six times now. That was past what was acceptable. Had something Happened to Mika? Seven, eight, nine…
“Hello!” Mika said with a chuckle.
“Is that you Rina?”“Mika! You dumb cat, when someone calls you're supposed to pick up the damn phone!” Rina replied harshly, nearly shouting at the phone.
“Jeez, I thought you gave me the wrong number or something...” Okay, okay, calm down Rina this was probably just a harmless prank or something. Mika seemed like the eh, air headed sort. So she might have just lost the phone or something.
“Seriously, next time pick up a little sooner or I'm just gonna go get donuts for myself.” Blinking, Rina cleared her throat in a mildly nervous fashion.
“But uh, yea, this is Rina....err, wanna go get some donuts?”Rina could hear Mika’s voice crack on the other end.
“I-I’m sorry. I dropped the phone in the laundry. I accidentally buried it a-and, and-” She took a deep breath.
“I just need to let Su know I’m going out. Where did you want to meet up?”Ow. Well now she just felt bad.
“...aha, sorry.” Rina nervously chuckled....wait was she deciding on this? She was hoping Mika would be the one to suggest the donuts. She...she didn't really know of any good donut shops. Well, okay, she did know of some but would they be the sort of things Mika would be into? Diners that cops frequented weren't exactly good date locations. Damn it Rina, stop overthinking things.
“Uhh, where are we meeting up huh...” Come on, she had to know of some place that was semi decent, right?
“...there's a place called Donut Palace.” Rina began slowly.
“Uh, real casual but great stuff. Ever heard of it? I can probably give you directions.”“I think I can find it, you don’t have to worry. It might be the place I went to last time. Wait, one second. Hey Lupa?” There was some chatter between Mika and a few other people, but Rina couldn’t make it out. Mika’s phone didn’t have the best clarity. But before long, she came back on.
“Okay! She said yes! I’ll meet you there!” Then the line went dead. A few seconds later Rina got a call from Mika.
“I forgot to say Goodbye! Goodbye Rina!”“Bye, Mika. I'll meet ya in twenty!” She shouted, hopefully getting it through before the cat girl hung up on her again. Rina stared at the phone.
“Seriously that girl...” Well, not like she minded. In fact, it was kind of adorable. Not that she'd be telling anyone. Right, getting dressed. Worry about the details later.
Maybe she'd ask Amaryllis to tag along for a shopping trip for later.
Twenty three minutes later, Rina was dressed in her casual wear standing in front of a small bakery. Big letters overhead read 'Donut Palace'. It looked to be a pretty slow, but cozy place and she could easily smell the baked goods coming from the door every time it was opened. Jeez, how long had it been since she had been here? Since she was a rookie, almost.
Well, that was a different life.
She approached the door, opening it and walking inside. Was Mika already here? She hoped she wasn't too late.But there was another complication. Rina and Mika had never seen each other untransformed before, or had she? This was going to be a bit more difficult than she influentially thought.
While searching for where Mika may or may not be, she spotted that weird girl from a few weeks ago. The one who made a comment about her looking too young to eat out by herself. As soon as she spotted Rina, she stood up and ran over to her. She was wearing jeans and a yellow shirt featuring some kids show.
“Found you!” She stopped running and slid into Rina’s personal space.
“You’re that girl that bought me breakfast a few weeks ago! I thought I’d never see you again!” she hopped up and down.
“This is the best day of my life!”“Geh?!” Rina, had no idea why this little brat was here, but she didn't care.
“You're that twerp who interrupted my pancakes!” She pointed a finger accusingly at hr.
“I didn't buy you anything! you just stole my leftovers.”The twerp stopped hopping up and down.
“Huh?” She tipped her head.
“You didn’t leave them for me?” Her hand slid under her chin.
“I remember you walking away from them. You walked outside.” The girl lowered her head.
“I’m sorry. I never walk out of a place without my food. I thought you left it for me ” She opened her wallet and reached inside.aviding making eye contact with anyone.
“I guess I can pay for it.. What does a meal like that cost?”Rina narrowed her eyes at this girl. Was she really...?
“Tch...don't worry about it twerp.” Rina sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. She wasn't about to take lunch money from some kid. She hadn't done that in years.
“I guess I did just kinda leave in the middle of eating.” Reaching out, Rina patted the girl on the head before walking over to a nearby table and taking a seat.
“Anyways, I'm kinda waiting on a date now, so uh...see ya around I guess? What are you doing here anyways?”The girl sighed before folding up her wallet.
“I’m waiting for a date too actually, but I don’t think they’re going to show.” She walked over to the table Rina was seated at and sat across from her. She propped up her head with her hands, still holding onto her wallet..
“I’ll move to a different table if your date shows up. But in the meantime, did you want to share a few donuts? I can treat.”“Seriously?” Rina blinked in surprise. Small world.
“That's terrible. Whoever this date of yours needs to have their ass kicked. They didn't even let you know they couldn’t make it or anything?” She rubbed the back of her head.
“I don’t know, I’ve been messing up a lot recently...”The magical girl considered her options. Mika wasn't here yet, and it was getting a bit past their time to meet up here...well, knowing the cat girl she might have just gotten distracted with the laundry again.
“Ah, you know what fine.” Rina relented.
“I guess If you want, I don't mind...I'd feel bad if I let you pay for everything though.”“It’s okay, I ate your breakfast, and I’m sure that was more than a few donuts.” She smiled a little bit.
“I’ll be right back, I know all the good ones.” And so she took off to pick from the donuts in the display counter. She darted left, then right, even up and down. The girl weaved around and under the store’s patrons like they were standing still. When they turned to see what had brushed past them she was already gone. In no time at all the girl had returned with a full dozen of donuts in hand.
“There we go! A dozen might have been too much, but it’s the same price as four donuts.” She folded her arms on the table and rested her head.
“Have you been in Penrose long?”This box of donuts look eerily familiar. In fact, the way the girl moved reminded her of...yea, no... it probably wasn’t. Opening the box and gently taking one from inside, Rina bit into it, a look of pure bliss forming on her features. Ahhh, she really did love doughnuts.
“Ahem,” Rina wiped some crumbs off her mouth.
“Uh, been here my whole life.” She replied curtly. Oh right. Now was the small-talk part of things, wasn't it? The thing she was not really good at. Rina leaned back in her seat, throwing an arm over the chair as she took another bite of the donut.
“You?” A little lame to ask the same question that she was just asked, but eh.
“Really?” She picked up her head.
“I’ve only been here a month or so now!” The girl tipped her head.
“You must know all kinds of cool places. I mostly stick around the Golden Trove since that’s where I work.” She picked up a donut with pink frosting and lots of sprinkles.
“Do you have a job yet? Or do you still go to school?”“New in town, huh?” How was she supposed to answer this question. I kill monsters and am a magical girl? That would be totally lame and unbelievable. At the same time, lying was not something she was comfortable with.
“I uh, work. Yea. Work.” She replied slowly. Come on Rina, make this believable. If she could have a non-magical girl friend that would actually be pretty neat.
“Well, intern really. Local police department. I just help with uh, clerical work. Desk job. Boring.” Wait maybe she should...
”...ah, hey, I know. Maybe I could show you around sometime?”“Show me around? I’d love to go around a police department!” She bit into her donut, but that didn’t stop her from talking.
“I bet they (chew) have lots of (munch) doggies (lick) I could (chomp) play with.” She wiped her mouth on her arm.
“But even if there aren’t any dogs, I wouldn’t mind going to where you work. Can’t be any worse than being a maid at a hotel.” She giggled.
“W-well I didn't mean the department.” Rina replied quickly, almost too fast. Anyone with any sense of common sense would realize that was a bit suspicious.
“I meant around the city. I know the area pretty well. I could like, uh, show you some stuff. 'Sides, police departments smell of coffee and sweat. Not exactly a great place to take your friends.” “Oh, hah! I got confused.” The girl had polished off her donut and was reaching for a second one.
Why. Why was she doing this. She was asking for another date from a girl she just met. That's what this was. Wait no, that was a bad way to think of it. Just a friendly showing someone around. Yep. That's all.
“...you're a maid? I don't think I could do that. I'm not a...people person.”“I think you’d be an okay maid. You can also learn a lot about people by cleaning their rooms. If you don’t like your office job, I insist that you try it.” She finally decided on an apple fritter and pulled it out of the bag.
”You haven’t scared me off yet.”“Pfft, ahahaha.” Rina laughed.
“Man, you haven't seen me actually get mad yet.” She glanced out the windows to the place. Jeez, where was she? She was actually a bit worried. Did she get accosted by some rogue magical girl? Or was she just distracted by a laser pointer?
“If you insist. I know some people who are pretty scarry when they get mad.” She slid out of her seat and stood up.
”If you feel like showing me around, why not now? We can swing by the Golden Trove once we’re done. If we have any time left, I’ll show you where I work.”“...well, since my date doesn't seem to be showing up.” Rina frowned. Didn't seem like anything was happening, either, but it'd be just her luck for some horror to show up and interrupt her day to day right about now.
“Sure, why not.”
Rina and Mika had seen quite a bit of the city together. They went to a mall, the park, every place a new resident of Penrose
must see. When they arrived at the Golden Trove, Rina’s date had several shopping bags lining her arms. They were filled with all kinds of cute accessories, food items, and anything else that filled the girl’s mind with wonder.
“This was… The best day… In existence!” She tried to raise her hands over her head, but found her arms trembling under the weight they were trying to lift.
“Whoa, alright.” She turned to face Rina.
“Thanks for showing me around. I can’t wait to do that again next week with all my friends.”“Ahah,” Rina grinned, watching with mild amusement as she tried to lift her arms. Reaching out, she gave her a pat on the head.
“Gotta be honest, I wasn't really expecting much but hey, that wasn't actually half bad. I had fun.” Her wallet was hurting a bit, but eh. This kid looked happy.
“Hey, let me carry some of those for ya.” Rina would attempt to take a few bags from the other girl as she walked alongside her.
“If ya do go again, maybe invite me?”“You bet! I’d love to!” After Rina took a few bags, her date was able to let what was left slide into her hands.
“Oh!” Her brow flew up in surprise.
“I was having so much fun, I never got your name.” But before she could ask for it.
”It’s thunda time!”A boy in black and blue clothes dove into a bush just a few feet away from the two girls. A flash of lightning caused Rina’s date to jump, but she put on a smile afterwards.
“What’s the matter Charlie?” He turned to them.
”There’s a magical presence that Boteg doesn’t recognize.” He pointed towards the hotel with his ax.
”Su wants you inside as soon as possible. It’s probably no cause for alarm, but Charlie’s angels are going to keep you guys safe anyway!”“Thanks Charlie!” She took Rina by the hand and started to walk inside. The bags swung side to side with every step.
“He’s just a cosplayer, no reason to be alarmed.”Everything happened to fast for Rina to process immediately. Cosplayer? Boteg? Magical presence? That sounded suspicious, all things considered. The name 'Su' too. Didn't Mika mention that name? Was Mika around here somewhere?
“E-eh? Hey wait!” Before Rina could say anything, she was being pulled along by Mika into the Golden Trove. Normally in this situation she'd transform and tell this kid to get lost before something bad happened, but she seemed oddly okay with all of this? She was pretty sure that guy was a magical boy.
“Uh...alright, I guess? Is that normal around here? “Not at this hour, no.” The girl kept walking.
“Your name was?” Oh right. Name. It's Katarina.”Rina’s date stopped in her tracks. Absolutely frozen in place. Like someone had paused a video. She lowered her feet to the ground and looked over her shoulder at Rina.
“Katarina? Y-you’re Rina!?” She yanked her hand away from Rina and nearly dropped the bags she was holding.
“You’re the archer girl and the pancake girl!?!” She sunk to her knees, totally unresponsive.
Charlie walked over to them.
”Huh? What’s the matter?” He turned to face Rina.
”Why is Mika looking at you like that?”“E-eh? Mika?” Rina froze. It made too much sense now that she thought about it. She never got Mika's appearance outside of her magical girl state.
“Cat girl that bought me donuts?” Rina simply stood there, processing this information and internally berating herself for being such an oblivious idiot. And she prided herself on her detective work.
“...so uh,” She glanced to Charlie.
“Funny story. I'll tell ya later, but I think her brain's fried.” Ugh, this was embarrassing.
Charlie lifted his finger into the air, but as if thinking better about it, put it back down.
”Well, if you insist.” He turned around.
”Guess I’ll give her some time to reboot then. Stay safe!” He walked away while whistling a tune to himself.
Once Charlie walked away, Mika was able to recover.
“You just went out with a me that was me that you didn’t think was me!” Mika groaned and covered her eyes.
“I guess I did too. I screwed up again. I should have called you.” She looked at Rina over the top of her hands.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you angry. But this is where I work at least.”“No no, I should apologize.” Rina said with a sigh.
“I should have called or texted you too, but I thought maybe you got occupied with something.” Glancing off to the side, Rina fidgeted lightly with the bags in her hand. Trying to do something other than focus on the mildly humorous but awkward situation, Rina shifted subjects.
“...uh, so. Work huh. I guess I'd be that magical presence this 'Boteg' felt, then.”Mika nodded.
“Yea, the hotel gig is sort of a cover for Boteg. It’s a secret, so don’t tell anyone.” Mika stood back up.
“By the way, you’ve gotta work for someone too, right?”“Uh, funny story.” Rina chuckled lightly.
“...I kinda don't have a patron. I sort of worked something out with Beacon here recently, but I dunno how long that's gonna last.” She shrugged dismissively.
“I generally make do with hunting monsters and dealing with stuff where I can.” Smiling a bit, Rina lifted the bags she had.
“...anywhere we can put this stuff?”“Yea! We got a service elevator and stuff. Follow me.” Mika started to walk inside.
“Uhhh…” she turned around to face Rina.
“I just remembered, things are kind of weird today. I can take everything inside.” She took Rina’s hand in her own, ignoring the bags as they bounced together.
“Thanks for taking me out today! It’ll be a lot easier next time now that we know who we are. And if the Beacon thing falls through, maybe you can get a job here! There are desk jobs in the hotel too, so you don’t have to deal with people too much if you don’t want to.”“Weird how?” Rina asked, blushing a bit as Mika took her hand.
“Any trouble or something?” Well, Mika probably would have said if there was a need for help, right?
“Well, you got my number. If you need help or anything just give a shout, alright? I'm generally free most of the time.” She handed over the rest of the bags, feeling a bit like she didn't help at all with that.
Mika shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
“It’s just the fight at the graveyard was a lot harder on some of us. Having a magical visitor over right now might not be good. Boteg will also want to see you, and it’s getting a little late for that.” She set everything on the grond and darted off to grab a large trolley. Once she had it, she rolled it over to the bags.
“I’m never in trouble here. Got lots of people to take care of me. But I won’t forget your number if that changes.” After loading up the Trolley with Rina’s help, she pointed at her.
“And you give Mika a call if you’re ever feeling down!” She grabbed the cart and ran as fast as the wheels would roll.
“Gunna turn some frowns upside down right now!” She said before racing through the front door.
“Will do. See ya around Mika.” Zipping up her jacket, Rina waved bye to Mika. In all, today was pretty good. Well, aside from that whole case of them not recognizing each other. She watched Mika walk inside, making sure she didn't trip or get distracted by something. Once certain she had made it inside without any trouble, Rina turned and headed home.
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