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The scorching heat was slowly getting unbearable. Despite having “summer” in her name, Nijika was for sure not a fan of this hot season. As she lain down in cool safety of her room, saved only by the air conditioner, just the thought of having a need to go outside made her growl.
And yet, she knew that she was not the only one suffering from the heat. Dozens of people needed to go outside every single day for their jobs and chores, and if they were brave (or crazy) enough — just hanging out outside. And she felt that Ryo was rubbing off on her because the first thing she thought of was that she could use this.
Not that she was very greedy and ungrateful, but if Seika paid her just a bit more that would’ve been amazing. But since she didn’t, getting some extra cash for her own needs wouldn’t have hurt. With that in mind, Nijika came up with a brilliant plan — open a lemonade stand near STARRY. This way, she could make some extra money during the day and advertise the live house at the same time!
The idea was flawless, so after making a big portion of fresh cold lemonade and constructing a stand using a clip, a wrench, and a “Portable Lemonade Stand”™, she was all set for business.
And as she expected, it went amazing! Almost every person that passed by viewed her like an angel that saved them from their demise, and seeing their satisfied smiles as they drank the life juice that was cold lemonade was enough to make her happy for what she did. Well, and the money did too.
Sitting there, satisfied, sipping on the lemonade to not evaporate from the heat hearself, Nijika noticed one more person approaching her. Someone familiar this time.
“Hey!” Ryo said as she got closer to her, “Got any grapes?”
The question didn’t make any sense to Nijika. The sign above her stand clearly indicated that all she sold was lemonade. But that was Ryo, so…
“No,” she answered, “I just sell lemonade.”
There was no way that Ryo got any money on her, but just in case…
“But it’s cold, and it’s fresh, and it’s all homemade,” she advertised, “So, can I get you a glass?”
Ryo looked at her for a moment and said, “I’ll pass.”
Not understanding what just happened, Nijika watched as Ryo waddled away. ‘Til the very next day.
The next day the heat began slowly dying out, but not enough for it to be comfortable yet, which meant that “Nijika’s Lemonade Stand” was about to see another profitable day. And it went just as stunning as yesterday! And then, yet again, Ryo approached her.
“Hey,” Ryo said, “Got any grapes?”
What a familiar question. It’s almost as if she asked the exact same thing the day before.
“No, like I said yesterday, I just sell lemonade, OK?” Nijika explained, “Why don’t give it a try?” She tried to offer again.
“Goodbye.”
With that said, Ryo waddled away. ‘Til the very next day.
…
This time around, as soon as Nijika saw Ryo approaching her she felt her eye twitching in irritation. She wondered, what could Ryo ask for?
“Hey,” Ryo began, “Got any grapes?”
Riveting.
“Listen, Ryo,” Nijika said, “this is getting old. I mean, lemonade is all I’ve ever sold. Why not give it a go?”
Ryo give it a little thought and said, “How ‘bout, no.”
And then she waddled away. ‘Til the very next day.
…
The heatwave was now over, but just out of curiosity (and pure boredom), Nijika ran the stand once more, to see if Ryo would come around today as well. Plus she still had some occasional customers, which was honestly much more important than the bassist’s shenanigans.
But even if the heat died out mostly, by the end of the day Nijika was exhausted by the harsh weather and rested her head on the stands’ table.
`Ryo didn’t come today huh,` she thought, but the moment she did that, she heard a familiar voice once more.
“Hey,” she heard from above. Of course. “Got any grapes?”
Given the combination of exhaustion, high temperature, and being generally fed up with Ryo's crap, Nijika snapped.
“Okay, THAT’S IT!” She yelled, standing up swiftly, “If you don’t stay away, I’ll glue you to that tree and leave you there all day. So don’t get close!”
Ryo was just a bit surprised to hear that, so she quickly threw “Adios,” and waddled away. ‘Til the very next day.
…
Waking up the next morning, Nijika hoped that the temperature would continue it's trend to drop and this year’s summer suffering will be over. That didn't happen, and as she saw that the air temperature got closer to the Sun’s surface temperature, Nijika, fighting her will to just stay inside, crawled out to help other people who struggled from the heat.
With the surge of heat, her income grew as well, and Nijika was very happy to see that. What she was NOT happy to see was a view of Ryo walking up to her lemonade stand.
“Hey,” Ryo as always began, “got any glue?”
“I sa- What?”
“Got any glue?” Ryo repeated her question.
“No, why would I- Oh.”
Seeing that Nijika did not, in fact, had any glue, Ryo stepped closer to her, going behind the stand.
“So, I’ve got one more question for you,” Ryo said, looking into Nijika’s ruby eyes.
Got
Any
Grapes?
Nijika’s brain stopped. She stared at Ryo with an empty stare… and then started to smile. And soon, the smile transformed into a laugh. She ended up laughing for a while, accompanied by Ryo’s deadpan stare. When she finally calmed down, she looked at Ryo.
“Okay, I give up. Come on, Ryo, let’s go to a convenience store. I’ll buy you some grapes, so you won’t have to ask me anymore.”
With that, Nijika left her stand and went to the nearby convenience store, with Ryo following her close. They entered the store, and after a bit of searching, Nijika bought some grapes. As they paid for the purchase (well, Nijika did), they went outside and Nijika offered a grape to Ryo.
“Hmmmm, no thanks,” Ryo refused. What? Wasn’t she asking for it the entire week?
“But you know what sounds good?” Ryo asked, looking at Nijika with a mischievous smile, “It would make my day. Do you think this store…”
Oh no.
“Do you think this store…”
Don’t you dare, Ryo.
“Do you think this store has any… lemonade?”
Then she waddled away, leaving Nijika alone with her silent fury.