Shop till you drop

The supermall was pretty... super, Gail had to admit. 8 full stories of shops and restaurants, and a huge theater on the top. There weren't many super pricey stores either, which would good for Gail's poor wallet. Even her huge AFW salary couldn't support her impulsive spending habits forever.

A small group of kiddies ran past, straight for something that looked like an anime-themed arcade. One bumped into her, and their guardian smiled apologetically, Gail just nodded. Mmm... where first? Probably best to get some food before she'd accumulated too many shopping-related trophies.

She spotted a nearby bakery, and was drawn in by the sweet scents. Considerate of them to have English labels beside all the offerings. The cheesecakes looked especially enticing... Hmm. Wouldn't be the end of the world to treat myself once...

Spoiler:

Belinda had been spending her day shopping and relaxing in the large supermall complex which had proven to have many of the joys that the young blond desired. It had culminated in the fact that she now carried around 4 large bags of clothes and other stuff which was good...well not good but at least she had gotten a few things for herself and maybe a gift or two for Akiha...maybe one for Cecilia...just maybe.

The young blond looked around and saw the sprawling amount of people around...it was always kind of odd for her. Belinda had honestly not spent all that much time out of Sweden most of her life and it just came to a shock to her when she first moved to Tokyo how many people there were...it was something that still shocked her to this day.

She figured she could use a bit of a treat, she did rarely treat herself but it was always good when she did. Belinda might not be a cheater in the ring...but when it came to keeping herself to a strict eating schedule she...was a bit of a cheater.

Oh well! You only live once! Belinda decided to go towards a cute little bakery that she spotted...though what she saw on the way there, a person just outside the bakery eying in at the sweets. She recognized that face and would instantly walk up and wrap one of her arms around the girl's shoulders and give her a friendly hug. " Gaaail! How've you been ?!"

"Uwaah...?" Gail nearly jumped in surprise, she'd been a little too intent on the sweets behind the window to notice the blond girl approaching her. "What... Luc-? Oh... Belinda?" She knew two energetic blond girls from her matches, and luckily, it was the one she happened to like. Or at least, not dislike.

"Hey... you surprised me." Gail smiled, half-returning the hug. "I've been fine, I guess... and you?" It had been a while, but she had heard Belinda's name come up now and then. "Here for the cake too? Be careful, ya don't wanna ruin your cute figure."

Belinda's ears perked a bit when she heard what Gail was about to say at first...she sort of wondered who this Luc- person was...but she didn't care right now. Unlike perhaps most people ? Or not, Belinda actually liked Gail a fair bit, they had a fun match in the opinion of the blond and with it she couldn't help but enjoy the girls company and half-tough attitude.

The blond smiled as she was given a hug in return and then hearing more from the lovely brunette. " Oh I've been fine I suppose. Trying to rise the ranks you know. Doing my best to stay relevant." Belinda let out in a modest way with a friendly smile towards her well...friend.

" Ah ? Looks like you caught me. Don't worry! I'll just work it off....I just can't help myself when it comes to sweets." Belinda let out as she'd place fold her arms out and shrug her shoulders. " I wish I could be like my sister. Have all the fat go to my breasts....I mean I dunno if that's how it works for her, but it's gotta be the case right ? Hah...anyways. Join me for a cake ?" Belinda spoke as she'd take a step back and nod her head, kinda gesturing towards the bakery with her head and a guiding smile filled with joy and desire to dig into a lovely strawberry cheesecake.

It was hard to explain, but Belinda just had one of those fuzzy auras that made her so likeable. "Ah, yeah? I'm uh... floating around in the middle, I guess?" Even that was being generous to herself. She'd rather not think about her middling performance thus far, this was a day off dammit!

"Ah? Umm... sure, why not. Company's always nice." Gail smiled, feeling like she was being tugged by an invisible force through the doors. Maybe it was the childlike smile on Belinda's face, or maybe just her desire for sweets. Whatever it was, it got them inside.

The smell inside was even nicer, the mix of all the breads and pastries made for a wonderful aroma. "Mmm..."

Belinda wished she had kept track a bit better of Gail, she did consider the girl a sort of friend and did kind of feel bad that she hadn't been keeping up with how things were going for the brunette. What surprised her a little was the answer she got from the girl...didn't sound so sure of herself or perhaps she was lying ? Hmmm...Belinda would have to poke at that a bit more later.

When Gail finally agree to keep her company the blond would walk into the bakery with Gail and when she got her nostril were bombarded by the wonderful aroma of the bakery! Belinda would sway a bit from side to side before running up to the counter. She spoke in English to the people...which usually didn't work...but this time surprisingly it did. "Two strawberry cheesecakes please~" She let out in a happy tone, handed them the money and then soon enough they were given two plates with a piece of cheese cake on each of them, along with a small desert fork. Belinda took the plates and start to walk over to Gail.

"Where would you like to sit ? "

Gail was holding the door open for her sorta-friend, and the blonde practically burst in, heading right for the cashier before Gail even had a chance to offer to pay for it. And Belinda was back, holding two cute little plates with two cute little cakes.

"Just here's fine, Belinda. Smells a lot nicer inside." Gail pointed out the closest table. The bakery was quite small and cozy - as one would expect, given how expensive it must be to get any space in a mall like this - so there were hardly any other seats anyways.

Soon, they were both seated, and the sweet treat was in front of her. She cut off a very tiny tip of the cake, and placed it in her lips. "Mmm!"

Belinda smiled at Gail as the girl showed them to their seats and the bot of them sat down. Offering Gail her cake after they were seated the blond would stare down upon her lovely cake for a few seconds before she heard the sound of pleasure from eating something delicious come from Gail.

The blond gulped as she was awaiting to get a really tasty treat out of this. She took a small piece at the tip of the cake, making sure to get the strawberry like topping with and then placing it in her mouth. Which practically could have made her sing from just the taste alone. She closed her eyes, a faint blush on her cheeks as her smile grew wider. " Mmm~"

After enjoying the first taste a bit the blond would turn to Gail again and nod. " Haha, guess we made the right choice in cheating on our diets ?" The young Swede spoke out as she'd then take another bite. " So, what's been up lately ?"

"It's just one little cake, it can't hurt!" Gail smiled. Well, this was how all diets failed. "Mmm... well, I've been doing alright. Mostly training these days." That was true... ish. She had been in the gym more often than she had when she'd begun, but that was hardly something to take pride in.

"Still looking for a guy. Or a girl." She added, almost as an afterthought. "How about you? I've been seeing your name in a few promotions now, must be getting pretty popular!" To be more accurate, Gail had seen the name "Northman" all about, and most of them were probably from Belinda's big sister, who EVERYONE knew.

The fork cut through the cake again, taking a slice of strawberry with it. "Guess I'll be paying for lunch then?"

Belinda smiled at her friend and nodded her head as she listened on at Gail, it was good that the girl got in some training at least. Belinda kinda hoped that she and Gail could maybe go a few training spars...but she didn't know if it would be awkward or not to bring up...

The young blond nodded her head as she heard Gail talk about looking for the right guy or girl. " Uuuh ? To train you or...you know~ ?" Belinda let out a little joking question as the Swede would then start to hear about how Gail had noticed her name in a few promotions. " Haha...well most of the time it's Cecilia, though a few of them might have been me. I was in a pretty big match at Avalanche actually. Did pretty well if I might add." Belinda let out, blushing slightly at her boasting...she was pretty proud of herself for how well things were going though.

" Hmm..we'll see who gets to the check first." Belinda let out in a joking manner as she stuck out her tongue as well, before taking a big piece of cake.