Chapter 3 - First Date?

After getting a call from Alicia that her mother had called me to have lunch with them, I quickly drove my car in the direction of Alicia's company.

When I got there, I could already see Alicia standing in the parking lot with a beautiful woman who looked about the same age as my mother.

She was Alicia's mother, Julia Middleton. She had the same eye and hair color appearance as Alicia, blue eyes and silver hair. She was wearing a light blue lace one piece dress and a round hat, Alicia was also wearing a one piece dress almost the same as her.

And it made the two of them look more like a sister than a mother-daughter duo. I don't know what they were talking about, but they looked like they were talking about something. In contrast to her mother's excited face, Alicia's face looked a little annoyed.

I didn't see Melissa, which means she's not coming, huh.

I got out of my car and walked towards them.

Noticing my arrival, Alicia's mother turned her gaze to me and waved her hand.

"Good afternoon, Hiro."

"Good afternoon, Aunt Julia."

Her relaxed and cheerful demeanor was completely in contrast to Alicia.

"Did I keep you waiting?"

"No, we just came down here. By the way...."

Aunt Julia made an ignorant smile before saying.

"I heard from Alice that you guys haven't done it yet, okay?"

Oh.... So they were talking about that, huh? No wonder Alicia had that look on her face. I pretended not to know what she was talking about.

"What do you mean, Aunt Julia?"

Hearing my words, Aunt Julia just smiled and said.

"Sex."

I didn't expect her to say that directly.

"Well, about that.... we've only taken a little step."

"What does that mean?"

I don't know, I don't know what I'm talking about either.

"C'mon, let's hurry up. I'm starving already."

Alicia cut us off and walked straight to the car. Seeing her daughter's attitude like that, Aunt Julia could only smile wryly.

"Looks like you still have a long way to go, Hiro."

"I guess so."

Yep, a very long journey indeed.

After that, we followed her and walked towards the car.

********

About 2 blocks from Alicia's company, we stopped at a restaurant called "Corona Gourmet". It was a restaurant that looked like a restaurant for high class people. Since Aunt Julia had reserved a table before we came here, we didn't have to bother looking for an empty table.

As we passed through the entrance, probably because it was lunchtime, the tables were already filled with many customers.

If Aunt Julia hadn't reserved a table, I'm sure we wouldn't have been able to eat here.

"You two, follow me. Our table is over there."

Aunt Julia led us to an empty table for 4, and we sat there. Aunt Julia sat on the other side and Alicia and I sat side by side.

But wait, four?

"Oh, you guys are so fast. Even though I wanted to arrive earlier."

"Maybe you're too old, Hermia. That's why you're slow."

"Mooo, Julia. That's rude."

"Sorry, just kidding."

Really, I wish she'd stop acting so cute.

Yep, she's my mom. And for some reason I wasn't surprised at all. After my mom sat in the chair next to Aunt Julia, we ordered our food from the digital menu on the table.

I have to admit, it was very convenient. All we had to do was select the food on the projector, and a few minutes later the waiter would bring it to our table.

And their waiter was not a human, but a robot that looked like a walking block with arms and legs. This is why many people choose to work as pilots or mercenaries, it's because a lot of human labor has been replaced by robots.

"Alice, how was work today?"

While waiting for the food to arrive, my mom asked Alicia about it.

"It's going well, instead we've had a lot of orders coming to our company lately."

"I see. Well, that's only natural. Considering the parasyte invasion on Planet Jackka, the requests for bullets and weapons become higher than usual."

"That's enough, stop talking about work when we're about to eat like this. Just talk about something fun."

Aunt Julia interrupted their conversation with a frown.

"You're right, you're right. Well then, how about we just talk about this. You know what? My only son who helps me at the company every day with a gloomy face, suddenly wants to pursue his dreams again."

Oh come on, I didn't even do anything and now look... she dragged me into her conversation.

"Uh, really? You really want to be a pilot again, Hiro?"

"Are you serious?"

Even Alicia asked me with a slightly surprised look on her face, was it really that surprising?

I hope my memory can get better soon so that I can remember how I acted before more clearly.

" I just get a little bored doing the same thing every day."

" Meanie, Hiro said that he's already bored being with me."

My mom said that while puffing out her cheeks.

"No, that's not it mom."

For Godsake! Stop doing that! Remember your age, mom!

I really wish I could say that, but I have to admit, she does look cute.

"Yes, that's good then. I'm sure your father would be happy if he could heard it, right Alice?"

"En."

Alicia just nodded and went back to staring at her smartwatch. I wondered what she was looking at, but if I peeked she would get angry.

Before long, our food arrived.

After that, Alicia and I ate our food quietly while my mom and Aunt Julia were still talking, or rather gossiping.

Given my plans for tonight, I thought it might be a good idea to ask Alicia to come to the Auction House with me. I'm just increasing her affection points for me, you know? My chances are pretty small though.

"Alicia."

"What?"

Alicia stopped eating her food and looked at me.

"I want to go to the Auction House tonight, do you want to come?"

She looked at me with a look that seems to say, "Why are you asking me all of a sudden?"

Have I never asked her out like this before? Damn, my f*cked up memory is really annoying.

She went back to eating her food without answering me. Looks like she rejected it, eh? At least that's what I thought until we finished eating. After we ate at the restaurant, my mom and Aunt Julia decided to leave together and told us to go home first.

On the way back, which I thought would be as quiet as before, Alicia suddenly asked me.

"What time is it?"

"Hmm... what?"

"Auction House, what time do we go?"

Honestly I was a little surprised, I thought she had rejected it and didn't want to go with me.

"7 pm I guess?"

" Fine, I'll go with you."

After saying that, she went quiet again and just stared out the car window. Out of curiosity I asked her.

"Is it okay if we don't pick up Melissa?"

"She still has company business to take care of, she can go home by herself later."

"How?"

"The driver from the company can take her."

"Ooh."

After that we fell silent again.

It looks like my communication skills in this world are pretty bad too. Or maybe it was Alicia who was too difficult to talk to.

I tried to bring up the subject again.

"Want to stop by somewhere?"

"No, I'm pretty tired. I want to go home and take a nap."

"Okay."

Alright, I gave up. After that, we didn't speak again until we got home.

However, right before walking to her room. Alicia spoke to me.

"Hiro."

"Yeah?"

"Are you really serious about becoming a pilot again?"

" Yeah, I've even ordered a pilot suit."

"I see."

Alicia walked straight to her room after saying that, and during that conversation, she didn't look at me at all.

What was that? I don't f*cking get it.

Without thinking about Alicia's words further, I also went into my room to look for information about tonight's auction.

********

It was almost 6 pm, the Auction House would be starting soon. I went to Alicia's room next to mine to tell her to hurry up.

When I arrived at the door of her room, I knocked.

*Knock* Knock*

I immediately heard a voice from inside.

"Come in."

I grabbed the door knob and opened it.

When I entered I could see Alicia's room which looked very elegant, I could also see that there were some cute-looking stuffed animals displayed on the shelves on the wall.

Turns out she likes that kind of thing too, huh? And I think this is the first time I've entered her room since we've been living together.

"What?"

Wow, I think this is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen in this world. No, not even if my old world counts. I think this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Turning towards the direction of the voice, I could see Alicia wearing thin pink pajamas, her long hair looking a little messy, so she really had taken a nap, eh.

"The auction is about to start, we better hurry."

"Alright, I'll take a shower first."

"Yeah, I'll call you back when I'm ready."

Just as I was about to walk out, Alicia stopped me.

"Hey, what about dinner?"

"About that, I think it's better if we just have dinner outside, right?"

"....."

Alicia was silent for a moment. Since she had her back to me, I couldn't see the look on her face.

"Okay."

She only said that before going into the bathroom.

I also went to my room to get ready.

While looking up information about the Auction House just now, I also booked a VIP room that costs 300,000 credits. If it was just me alone going to the Auction House, I probably would have just booked a normal seat. But since I was going with Amelia, I booked an exclusive VIP room that only the person who had booked it could enter. That's because I was sure that Alicia wouldn't like sitting next to someone else.

I also looked at the schedule of items to be auctioned tonight, it seems that the auction for the Mecha will be held only at the end of the event. So I guess it's fine to be a little late.

I put on a long-sleeved shirt, and the black trousers that were in my wardrobe. These were the clothes I usually wore before I remembered the memories of my past life.

After finishing, I headed to Alicia's room to call out to her. However, when I came out of my room, I bumped into Melissa who had just returned.

"Where are you going?"

She asked me with a cynical look.

"Auction House."

"What do you want to do there? No, forget it. I don't have the energy to talk to you."

She walked right past me and went straight into her room next to Alicia's after saying that.

I walked over to Alicia's door, and knocked.

*Knock**Knock*

"Alicia, are you ready?"

" Wait a second, I'll be there soon."

Hearing her answer, I waited for her at the door.

About 3 minutes later, the door to Alicia's room opened.

Her appearance surprised me, because she was much prettier than I expected. Alicia was wearing a light blue A-line dress with small earrings sparkling in her ears. Although she didn't tie her hair up in any style, her loose hair made her look even more beautiful.

"What's wrong?"

Probably because I looked at her for too long, she asked me.

" Nothing. It's just that, you look prettier than I thought."

Ah! I answered her honestly without realizing it.

Alicia flinched slightly, and handed me the fur coat she was holding.

"Let's hurry up and go."

She said that and urged me to start walking.

Was she doing that to cover up her embarrassment? No, that's not possible. Given her cold demeanor there was no way Alicia could be embarrassed that easily.

I also started to catch up and walked beside her. However, as I walked beside Alicia, I noticed that the tips of her ears were slightly reddened.

Now I was really confused, were her ears red from embarrassment, or from the cold. Either way, I don't think I'll be able to figure it out.

*********

Since I was already planning to have dinner out, before I exited the tunnel, I asked Alicia.

"Where would you like to eat?"

"Anywhere is fine."

"At least tell me what you want to eat."

"Anything is fine, I don't care."

She said that in an ignorant tone while looking out the window.

I was at a loss as to what to do. After all, it's the first time I've been out like this with her alone. I tried to recall where a good restaurant was based on my memory, but no matter how hard I tried to remember, I couldn't remember anything clearly.

Ah, right. Come to think of it, something like that happened, right?

I suddenly remembered something, and immediately drove my car there.

About 20 minutes later, I arrived at my destination. And it was a fast food restaurant called Burger Queen. Upon seeing the place, Alicia frowned. She didn't seem to like it, huh? Well, what can I say, she's never eaten food like this before anyway.

But I'm sure she'll like it in a moment, because the Alicia I remember from my past life is the type of person who loves junk food. She hid that from others though.

As I recall, she once tried a burger bought by Melissa and unconsciously ate all of it. If it's based on the timeline of the novel, it will probably happen a year from now. From then on, Alicia started to like junk food, and tried various junk food such as pizza, potato chips, and other junk food. So it's understandable that she would react like that now.

"What's wrong? You said yourself that anything is fine, right?"

I said that with a bit of an evil smile.

"I know."

After saying that in a tone that sounded a little annoyed, she got out of the car and I followed.

We entered and I immediately looked for an empty table. Seeing an empty table, I told Alicia to sit there before I went to order some food. I ordered a large burger for me and a mid-sized one for Alicia, and after receiving my order from the counter, I went straight back to Alicia.

I saw her sitting quietly and looking out the window while supporting her chin with her hand. I have to admit, she was indeed very pretty. Even I could see many customers staring at her.

I sat on the seat opposite her and handed her the burger.

Realizing that I had come, Alicia turned around and looked at me. She then looked at the burger in front of her. She looked hesitant to eat it.

"Try it, it tastes good you know?"

I said that while munching on my burger. Alicia just looked at me with a look that seemed to say "Why did you bring me to a place like this?"

Seeing her reaction, I smiled slightly and tried to hold back my laughter.

In the end, Alicia picked up the burger, and raised it to her mouth with hesitation. She took a small bite.

As she bit into the burger Alicia paused for a moment, then chewed slowly before swallowing it.

"How was it? Delicious, right?"

Alicia immediately gave me a sharp look that made me break out in a cold sweat. Uh, is my memory wrong?

Alicia then averted her eyes before giving me a small nod, she then took another bite of her burger, but this time with a bigger bite.

Thank God, I guess my memory wasn't wrong. I'm glad she liked it.

For some reason, seeing a beautiful woman like her eating a burger like that made me smile unconsciously.

After eating our food, we returned to the car and continued our journey to the Auction Hall.