I managed to find the ingredients. Though I had to go quite far from Saki's house. While trying to get back, I realized I was lost. Scratching my head, I tried to find the way home, but I only got more lost.
Discouraged, I decided to look for a phone. After all, I was already near a shopping mall. Having a cell phone would be useful, both for work and to call my girls. And maybe ask them to pick me up.
Phones weren't that expensive, and it wasn't hard to get one. Fortunately, they didn't even ask for any ID, because I didn't have any.
While saving Saki's, Mana's, and Saya's numbers, I bumped into a girl. She was also checking her phone. Seeing me with the cell phone in hand, she got surprised.
"Are you Niku-san?"
I didn't understand what she meant. Did she mistake me for someone? Before I could respond, she spoke again.
"You're bigger than I thought, but the nickname on your Lime account is pretty spot on, Niku-san."
With a cheerful smile, the girl hung onto my arm.
"It's my first time, but I'll do my best."
I still didn't get it. Should I push her away? Explain? Why was she clinging to me?
Everything was too weird.
While I was trying to figure it out, a guy with glasses, pretty fat and short, approached.
He was sweating buckets and looked like he'd run out of breath if he took a few more steps. The closer he got, the stronger a pretty unpleasant smell became.
I considered myself unattractive and didn't care much about my personal image. But this guy was overdoing it.
I at least showered and wore clean clothes. And seeing him, I thought maybe I wasn't that fat.
The guy, panting, tried to speak. Having him close felt disgusting. I didn't want to get splashed by the sweat running down his face and literally dripping onto the ground.
"Ri... Rin-chan, I... I'm Niku-san. Come on, let's go."
While trying to grab the girl by the arm, he kept giving me annoyed and cautious looks.
It seemed strange to me. Since arriving here, no man had looked at me like that. Most treated me like air. And women too. First the woman on the train, and now this girl.
At the hands of the glasses-wearing piglet, the girl, or Rin, clung even closer to me.
What happened? Was it because I lost the camouflage and it was given to Saki?
I guess now I was seen as a man by women and as a threat by other men.
It didn't seem very pleasant to me. I'd never liked being the center of attention. Especially because of my size. That's why I tried to be "invisible." Now, apparently, I couldn't do that anymore.
**
Rin felt disappointed. Was Niku-san the glasses guy?
Seeing him made her stomach turn. Rin didn't consider herself prejudiced, but he looked really bad. Dirty, disheveled clothes, acne on his face. An obvious lack of hygiene. Without a doubt, zero attractiveness. On the contrary, the big guy she'd mistaken him for looked much better.
Showered, clean clothes, well-groomed beard. Though expressionless, he looked way better than the glasses guy. Rin thought that if the big guy lost a few kilos and changed his hairstyle, he'd be pretty handsome. If she had to choose who to have her first time with, between glasses and the big guy, she'd pick the latter without hesitation.
So she clung to him and decided to ignore glasses. She could just pretend she wasn't Rin, right? After all, she'd never sent a photo showing her face.
**
The girl seemed to play dumb. She simply ignored the guy and hugged me, while saying:
"Honey, that creepy guy scares me. Let's go."
The guy seemed pissed. He tried to grab her while yelling that she was a slut for hugging me like that. That he no longer believed she was a virgin.
It surprised me a bit. Piglet seemed to have the same tastes as me. I felt some sympathy for him. But the way he was behaving was wrong. You can't go around yelling or insulting people just because they didn't choose you. You can't deny others' tastes or desires. Though it sounded hypocritical coming from me, the healthiest thing was to respect the other person's wishes. If they chose you, great; if not, no problem.
At least that's how my life was before coming here. I didn't go yelling at the girl I liked just because she chose someone else as her boyfriend. Or for decisions that seemed wrong to me. I couldn't force them to change what they were, wanted, or thought. And I wasn't going to let anyone change me.
The guy started yelling even more and tried to get violent. The situation had nothing to do with me, and it shouldn't matter. But the piglet reminded me of myself, of something I could have been if I wasn't able to reason and think about my actions.
So I just slapped him, sending him rolling.
The people around were a bit surprised, but they left him there and continued with their lives.
I just wanted to find a sink; my hand felt sweaty. And it wasn't my sweat.
I hurried to a bathroom. I wanted to wash my hand. After using enough soap, I felt better. When I came out, I ran into the girl. She seemed to have been waiting for me.
Seeing me, her face lit up as she ran to hug my arm. I dodged her while keeping distance. Though it sounds cruel, I didn't hit the guy to defend her. Simply, the guy annoyed me.
It seemed strange to me that she was trying to cling so much. But I didn't have time to figure it out or interest in doing so. Saki and Mana must be hungry, and it was almost getting dark.
I started walking and managed to call Mana. She teased me a bit after I told her I got lost, but she offered to come pick me up. I was glad she had energy to joke.
After she sent me her location, I used a maps app to orient myself.
I wasn't that far; I'd just walked in the opposite direction. I set off to head back.
While walking, I noticed something.
The girl was following me.