Chapter 24: Asking Her Out
Zero let Kai pull him along, though he had thought for a split second to put Kai in a headlock just to stop him.
The only reason why he didn't do so was because he saw Lianne, and felt that he ought to grit his teeth and bear it. He wanted Lianne to give Kai a try - well, not necessarily Kai, but he's good enough as the first step.
Zero just wanted Lianne to follow her heart once in a while, and since she appeared interested, she should not fear taking that first step.
But …
Zero gritted his teeth as Kai pulled him towards Lily.
Why the heck did Lianne want to make him suffer so?
Lily, who was just minding her own business (well, okay, so she was staring at the Zero from the corner of her eye) was rather shocked to see Kai drag Zero over.
"Here!" Kai said with a flourish as they reached the counter, "Lily, Zero wants to ask you something."
Zero's head whipped over to Kai and he snarled, the tip of his ears slightly red, "Shut up, Kai."
Kai ignored him and he reached out to grab Lily's hand, saying, "Lily, Lily, really. Just say yes."
"Huh?" Lily just stood there, looking utterly dazed as Kai took her hand, "What's going on?"
Kai was trying to pull Lily over, and to put Zero's hand on hers. Zero could guess what Kai was going to do so he stomped on Kai's foot stealthily and in that brief moment of pain that Kai felt, Zero pulled his hand out
"Nothing," Zero said quickly to Lily, putting his hand on Kai's head and pushing him aside.
Kai stumbled a bit and ended up behind Zero, who turned to glare at him briefly and said under his breath, "If you don't get out of the way, I'll not ask."
Zero then turned to face Lily. Kai tiptoed a bit and looked at Lily, mouthing, "Say yes."
He then ran back to the booth, sat down and stared hard at Zero's back.
Lianne just watched their antics and smiled.
Lianne was actually grateful to Kai for giving her this opportunity. She knew very well that Zero would never ask Lily out, and she had been racking her brains to think of all sorts of scenarios in order to get him to do so.
Yet, nothing would come to mind.
Zero's defences were just too high and short of ordering him to go out with her, nothing would work. And ordering him would not have achieved the results she hoped for.
Thus, when Zero had told her about Kai being 'not bad', Lianne's mind started working in overdrive.
It was perfect.
Of course, she wasn't going to sacrifice herself nor use Kai (or give him false hope) just to get Zero a date.
Thus, she had to think carefully first about Kai.
After weighing all the options, and finally feeling that she should give Kai a chance (since both Kyle and Zero were positive about him), she came up with the condition.
When opportunity knocks, one should open the door, right?
"Do you think he'll really do it?" Kai asked nervously.
Lianne shrugged and said, "He has every reason not to."
Kai choked at that but he had to admit, Lianne was right.
He should have asked Lily out himself, and said that Zero was the date. As the thought went into Kai's mind, he was already halfway up when Lianne said, "If you are the one who asks, it won't count."
Kai sat back down.
"Come on, Zero," hissed Kai under his breath.
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"Sorry about that," Zero said softly to Lily as he looked at her puzzled face, "Erm, hi."
"Hi," Lily answered with a smile.
"I'm Zero," he introduced himself.
"Zero," Lily repeated, "Hello, I'm Lily."
Zero cleared his throat, looking rather awkward as he leaned forward a bit on the counter, his voice low, "This is going to sound strange, but could I ask for your help?"
"If it's something within my means, of course," Lily replied, leaning forward as well. She felt like there was some sort of mystery going on.
Seeing Lily up close, Zero noticed how sweet and innocent she looked, especially when it appeared that she was really willing to help.
Zero smiled slightly, not realising he was doing so. He shifted his position a bit to be right in front of her so that he blocked any view Kai may have and he said with a slight jerk of his head towards Kai and Lianne, "It's like this. That doofus over there wants to go out with my sister, but she won't unless it's a double-date."
"Your sister?!" gasped Lily, "You mean, that girl is your sister?"
Zero nodded.
"I thought she was your girlfriend," Lily said in surprise.
"I pretended to be," Zero admitted, "To swat away pesky flies like that doofus."
"So is that why you guys just disappeared the other day?" Lily asked, understanding dawning on her face.
Zero's lips curled up more at that, noting that she was rather quick to catch that, "Yes."
"But why me? I'm sure there are tons of girls out there that would help you out," Lily couldn't help but say.
Zero looked at her weirdly, "No, not at all."
It was Lily's turn to look at Zero weirdly, thinking at first that Zero was fooling around when she realised that he was serious.
She looked around her Cafe quickly and then back at Zero, "You … don't know tons of girls?"
Zero was still looking at her weirdly, but still answered, "No … am I supposed to?"
For some reason, Lily couldn't help but smile brightly, "No, no. Not at all. I just thought … no, nevermind. I'm flattered you are asking me to help. So, yes. Yes, I will."
Zero nodded, "Oh, and the doofus doesn't know that I'm not the boyfriend. So don't let him know."
"You trust me that much?" Lily asked, surprised.
Zero just looked at her and tilted his head, "You've not given me any reason not to. Anyone who bakes like you do, can't be bad."
Lily's face flushed a bit at that and her smile got bigger, "Thank you."
"And you have a very nice smile," Zero said candidly, "I'll call you about the details. Thanks again."
With that, Zero turned to head back to the booth, leaving behind a very red-faced girl who was thinking the same thing about Zero's smile.
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