Pop Rock Love by Raine Koh, Lorraine Koh Read Free Book Online Page B

don’t even have to do anything. Just sit there and look pretty. You don’t
have to talk to anyone if you don’t want to.”

 
    “So we are going to be drinking
in the middle of the day?” Mimi wondered. Her impression of Japanese dating
rituals may be a little fuzzy but she always thought that a group date in Japan
required an equal number of guys and girls getting to know each other in a pub.

 
    “It’s going to be a little
different this time. We’re just having coffee and it won’t take longer than an
hour. It’s the guys’ lunch break. Anyway I apologise, it’s more like a double
date since there’s only the two of us.” Shina parked the car and helped Mimi
out.   They walked along a pavement
towards the café. It was a lovely day and nothing seemed out of the ordinary
but Mimi couldn’t shake off a nagging feeling.

 
    “Do you feel like someone is
following us?”

 
    Shina turned around and
narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “I don’t see anyone. It’s probably your
imagination,” Shina said airily, although she kept shooting glares behind her
back. They made their way to what Mimi thought wasn’t exactly a romantic venue
for a blind date – Jonathan’s, a 24-hr family restaurant chain. Mimi
pretended not to care but she was feeling nervous inside. She wasn’t even
looking her best nor was she good at making friends with complete strangers.

 
    “Good afternoon,” said Shina,
waving at a pair of guys. Mimi looked in the direction of her gaze and was
faced with a duo of bespectacled men in their mid-twenties. They looked like
each other, had a bowl-shaped hair cut and wore a checkered shirt in a
different colour. Mimi bowed at them and they both quickly got out of their
seats and pulled a chair for her. “Thank you,” Mimi said, feeling awkward but
appreciating the gesture.

 
    “My name is Takeshi,” said the
man in the red checkered shirt.

 
    “And my name is Takashi,
nice...to...to...to meet you,” stuttered the man in the blue checkered shirt.
He was seated opposite Mimi.

 
    “Nice to meet you, my name is
Mimi,” she said.

 
    “I’m Shina, let’s order!” she
said brightly, picking up the menu. Takashi who was also holding on to a menu
kept sneaking glances at Mimi. She started to squirm in her seat and nudged
Shina. Her friend however seemed engrossed in the process of ordering food.

 
    “Mimi do...you...you... like
manga?” asked Takashi, who had started to twiddle his thumbs nervously.

 
    “I do read some of it,” Mimi
answered, scratching her head.

 
    “Really? Do you have a
favourite series?” Mimi noticed his face brighten and he had lost his stutter.

 
    “Beck?” she answered. Beck was
a Japanese comic book series about a bunch of teenagers who formed a rock band
and it had been adapted into an anime series and live-action movie too. “What
about you?” she asked, rather timidly.

 
    “Gundam Suit Destiny,” he
answered solemnly. Takashi suddenly stood up, and with his hand on his heart
while staring into the distance, he added, “It’s not that I want to fight but I
do want to protect this ship... Because of the people on board.”

 
    To Mimi’s horror, Takeshi also
stood up, and with the same posture as his comrade, continued the rather
stirring yet inappropriate speech, “It’s the same for us all. You won’t find
too many people who fight for no reason at all. We fight, because unless we
fight, we cannot protect at all.”

 
    Mimi blinked twice while her
mouth fell open. She continued nudging Shina, who seemed oblivious to the
standing pair and had buried her face in the menu. Takeshi and Takeshi finally
sat down and started talking excitedly. Takeshi looked at Mimi unblinkingly,
“You remind me of Lacus Clyne.”

 
    “Who?” Mimi asked.

 
    “She is the heroine in Mobile
Suit Gundam Seed. She is the daughter of PLANT Supreme Chairman who becomes the
co-leader of the Clyne Faction,” explained