Sweet Treats

I made my way back to the hotel, ready for rest after such a long day of travel.

'It's only my first day in Japan and I'm already so busy,' I thought to myself while stretching and letting a yawn escape my mouth.

I had just entered the grand hotel when I was stopped in my tracks by a moody little figure.

"Pay up," was all the girl said, extending her palm out and analyzing me as if to see if I was hiding something.

"Uh, what?" I asked, clearly irritated.

"You said that as long as I checked us into the hotel and booked our bags in, you would get me the famous '13 flavors of ice cream' from the most famous ice cream shop in Tokyo," screeched the young feline, as if ready to pounce at my response.

"Where's my 13 flavors, Kuzan?"

'Damnit, I knew I had forgotten something. This day was going too well for someone like me,' I thought, while not letting my emotions show on my face.

"Yeah, yeah, Xiao Li, I didn't forget," I lied directly to the little girl's face. "It's just that I found an even better shop and I wanted to take you there myself. Come on, let's go. Let me just go to the bathroom first..."

I didn't wait for the little miscreant, who was now acting a little weird, to respond as I ran off to the hotel's bathroom.

'Phew, what did I tell you about making promises more carefully in the future,' I complained to myself while wiping the cold sweat off my face. 'And now I'm gonna have to find an ice cream spot that's not closed this late. What am I supposed to do?'

"Ah!" I exclaimed out loud. 'I'll just ask Aunt Elizabeth for help. I'm sure she knows her way around Japan, having lived here before marrying Uncle Albert.'

I dialed the number on my cellphone. 'Please pick up, Aunt Elizabeth, please pick up.'

Thankfully, my prayers were answered as I heard my call going through.

"Oh, hi Kuzan! So you finally decided to call, huh? Did you land safely in Japan?"

"Yes, yes, Aunt Elizabeth, I'm safe. I'll tell you all about it and Japan later. You see, I'm currently in a bind," I said.

"Oh, what's wrong, Kuzan?" my Aunt asked in a worried tone. "Do you need me to send someone over?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that. You see, I promised to bring ice cream to Xiao Li today for helping me check into the hotel, but I forgot. Now I've promised to take her out to eat somewhere, and I have no idea if there's any ice cream shop open, and I'll get smacked by her if I bring back ice cream from the supermarket."

"That truly is a bind, huh? Wait! Say that last part again? What did you say?"

"What? That I'll take her out to eat? It'll be easier than having to carry the tubs of ice cream back myself and having to hear her complain about how they melted," I repeated, not knowing why I felt the need to defend my actions.

"Ara, ara, I didn't expect you to move so quickly, my dear nephew. Seems like you've truly grown up—" my aunt's statements were cut off as I heard a shuffling of voices through the phone, one of which I believed to be my sister's.

"Is that Kuzan? How are they doin—" it seemed as if my Aunt had snatched the phone back from the grubby little hands of my sister, as she finally answered my initial question.

"Don't worry, my cinnamon toast crunch. I won't let you down when you need me most," replied my aunt in an oddly honorable tone, as if standing by a knight who was about to march into battle. "I know the perfect place. It's right by the Tokyo Dome. I'll text you the address."

"Good luck, my sweet boy," were my Aunt's last words as she ended the call, thankfully not before sending me the address of the shop.

I walked out of the bathroom and made my way back to the front entrance of the hotel, seeing a surprisingly meek side of Xiao Li who was waiting for my arrival.

"Alright, let's go," I said in a tired voice.

We walked quietly through the streets of Tokyo, currently shrouded in darkness, neither one of us being able to start a conversation.

Thankfully, the awkward atmosphere didn't last long as we arrived at our destination, an extraordinarily busy ice cream parlor despite the late hour.

We were greeted at the entrance by who appeared to be the head manager of the establishment, at least that's what his name tag said.

"Hello, Mr. Kuzan, Ms. Xiao, we've been awaiting your arrival," the man said, leading us to a small circular table at the back of the establishment.

What made up for the crowded seating, however, was the amazing view of the Tokyo Dome from the large glass window in front of me, and behind where Xiao Li was currently seated.

"What can I get you today?" asked the same manager who had just seated us.

"A strawberry ice cream for me," I said, and motioned to Xiao Li to order as well by nodding my head in her direction.

"Uh, I don't really like strawberry. Hmm, I'll get the Rainbow one," she said after finally making up her mind.

We sat in silence, waiting for our orders to arrive.

I just couldn't take my eyes off of her...

_

'The Tokyo Dome.'

The place where I would be competing in just a few hours. 'I can't wait!'

Our orders arrived in a minute, despite the crowdedness of the restaurant.

I had just picked up my bowl of ice cream when our table was smashed into by the body of one of the restaurant's other customers, causing the table to tumble down and Xiao Li's bowl of ice cream to fly up into the air before landing upside down on her head.

"I'm so sorry, Miss," the man apologized, seemingly not aware of the danger he was currently under. "I was playing a game of catch and my friend told me to go long..." The man was making no sense, but I was busy thinking, concerned for his safety.

'Damn it, now how am I supposed to cheer this kid up and stop her from killing everyone here?'

"Xiao Li," I said to the infuriated tiger cub in front of me, who was about to pounce, "here."

I extended out my hand that was holding a spoonful of ice cream. "Try some. You might like it."

She finally stopped her dangerous movements and ate the ice cream that I had so graciously shared with her.

'Sharing is caring, I guess.'

"How's it taste?" I asked her, trying to get a read on her current emotions, deciding whether I still needed to evacuate the restaurant.

"It's good," she whispered, turning her face away.

'Thank God,' I thought to myself, while passing off the rest of my ice cream for Xiao Li to finish.

However, it seemed as if she still didn't like it as much as what she had initially ordered, as after taking a few more bites, she asked for the bill.

After paying for our food, we walked back in silence to the hotel, walking up the staircase, into the same hallway, into the same room...

'Wait,' I caught myself.

"And why are you following me into my room, Xiao Li?" I asked the girl, confused by her behavior. "Did you forget to pack something?"

The girl seemed oddly infuriated at my question. "I'll have you know that's my room that I booked for myself," the girl screeched out in a threatening tone.

"What?! I thought I had asked you to book us two rooms at the hotel?" I questioned her in a harsh tone, tired by all that had occurred today, wanting to just get some good night's sleep.

"Yeah, and what am I supposed to do, build a hotel room for you to check into?" countered the little devil. "Everything's booked, has been for weeks. Go check for yourself at the front lobby."

Instead of continuing to argue with this manifestation of evil, I decided to take her up on her request and went off to complain to the front desk, ready to scream out my frustrations.

What I was met with at the front desk, however, continued to make my day worse.

It was a kid no older than Melissa, standing behind the desk, frightened to the point of having tears in his eyes by my anger and appearance.

"I'm so sorry, sir. My dad's currently out doing something important so he made me stay here in case anyone came," the poor kid whimpered out his sorry situation.

It seemed as if the kid had overheard our argument from the staircase, as before I could even ask a question, the kid responded, "As she said, there's no other rooms in the hotel. I'm very sorry."

The kid sobbed, "We do have a futon that we can give if it helps?"

I was amazed at the situation, somehow having made the kid cry without having done anything.

All the guests of the hotel currently in the front lobby turned to look at the situation, whispering among themselves while drawing their own conclusions about what had just occurred.

"I can't believe it...making a kid cry...poor boy," I continued to pick up the low voices due to my sharp senses.

Only to make matters worse, Xiao Li thought it would be funny to continue adding fuel to the fire.

"Really, Kuzan, making a kid cry? I didn't expect this of you. I'll make sure to tell Melissa about this the next time I see her," let out the young girl, giggling to herself as she said so.

"Whatever," I exclaimed, while putting my hands up into the air, acknowledging my defeat.

I grabbed the futon from the boy's hands, ran into my hotel room, and slammed the door shut to placate my anger.

I quickly drifted off to sleep after lying down on the floor, unable to wait any longer for tomorrow to arrive.