Chapter 34 - Catch

I took a step back and put both my hands forward as if I was trying to calm her down

"Akatsuki-san, don't do anything hasty. That tomato is a result of a farmer's hard labour. If you throw it, you're basically denying all the effort he put into harvesting it. And don't you know you should never play with food" 

She narrowed her eyes in anger and shouted

"I DON'T CARE! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR THAT DUMB PRANK OF YOURS!"

She then hurled the tomato at my face

She must be thinking that the tomato is going to be smashed on my face, leaving behind a gooey red mess. If it was anything else other than a fruit or vegetable, I would have done nothing and let it hit my face to relieve her anger

But what she was throwing was a fresh tomato. To a man like me who hates wasting food that was a big No-No

I have and will never let any ingredient go to waste before my eyes. It goes against the principles of being a chef. Right now the safety of the fruit flying towards me, is more important than getting hit in the face

So right before the tomato hit me I quickly lifted up my hand and caught it, a few inches away from my face. Akatsuki-san was looking at me with her mouth open in awe

"You caught it!" 

"Well yeah"

"Th-That's gotta be a fluke! There's no way you can catch something coming at you that fast!" 

She took out a onion and potato out from the bag with one in each hand and said

"Lets see if you can catch this"

"Now calm down Akatsuki-san. No one is going to be benefited from throwing vegetables around. None of them are going to hit me even if you try, so let's just stop it here"

She smirked

"We'll see about that!"

She then threw both of them at the same time with a look of victory on her face. But that face was only there for a moment until I caught both of them again. She was completely awestruck. I picked up her bag and put the veggies inside 

"You have got to be kidding me! How can you catch something you can't even see!?"

"Good eyes remember"

She picked up the grocery bag and put it on her lap. She put her hand inside and said

"Fuck you and your eyes! There's no way you can catch them, if all of them are flying at you"

I smiled and said

"Try me"

With a look of irritation on her face she threw a bunch of fruits and vegetables continuously with all her might

But as she threw them I caught all of them, one by one and put them in the bag. I was slowly making my way towards her

"No way! You're catching all of them and even coming closer!" 

"I told you nothing was going to touch me"

By the time she was about to throw the last fruit an apple, I was already in front of her. I caught her hand holding the apple and said

"Checkmate" 

She was looking up at me while she sat on the bench, all frustrated that not one even hit me

"Why did you catch all of them!? Couldn't you have at least let one of them hit you for my satisfaction?" 

"Sorry, they're too precious to me. I can't afford to lose any one of them"

She looked like she realised something

"Then you're saying you'll be sad, if you even lost one of them"

"Yeah"

She smirked and said 

"I got you now"

Suddenly she pulled the apple out of my hand and started gobbling it up at an amazing pace. It didn't even take 6 seconds and all that remained was a stalk and two cheeks full of apples 

The only thing I could do was stand there and be amazed at the sight I saw. I mean that was seriously cool

She could probably eat a whole chicken under 30 seconds without breaking a sweat. With that skill she could even become a professional eater in the future. And not just any normal one but would be the one that reigns over the professional eating world. Her nickname would be "Lightning Mouth" 

After swallowing the apples down, she gave me a smug look as if she had bested me

"What do you say now? I just ate that precious apple of yours before your eyes and you couldn't do anything about it. You must be really frustrated because I won. Can't be helped since-"

I took an apple from the bag I was holding and handed it to her saying

"Do you want another one?" 

"Huh?"

She looked like she didn't understand what I had said

"You're hungry right? You must have been really starved to actually eat that apple like an animal. Which fruit do you want to eat next? I have of oranges and bananas and even-"

"Hold up!"

She looked really confused 

"You're supposed to be frustrated I ate your fruit. Why are you offering another one?"

"I only said I didn't want them to get wasted. I have no problem with you eating them. You can even eat all of them if you want. So which one do you want?"

In frustration she shouted

"I DON'T WANT ANY!"

"But aren't you hungry" 

"SHUT UP!" 

She was pissed her plan didn't work out. She crossed her arms and was looking the other way

Just how childish is she to think that eating an apple was going to make me mad. It's like I'm arguing with a grade schooler who doesn't like to lose

!

I noticed something and pulled out a tissue from pocket and called her 

"Akatsuki-san"

She turned and said

"What!-*mouth being wiped noises*" 

I took my tissue and wiped the bottom of her lips. She closed her eyes as I wiped her. She tried to speak but couldn't since her mouth was covered. I then took the tissue away

"That should do it"

She jumped up with a red flustered face and said 

"WHAT SHOULD DO IT?! WHY DID YOU SUDDENLY WIPE MY MOUTH LIKE THAT?!"

"Ah!"

Oh shit!