BXBX NOVEL Chapter 408 - LIVING IN A BUBBLE
Akira picked her glass of wine and was about to take a sip to clean off the taste of the iffy lobster. Hina grabbed it from her with quick hands.
"Hey, give it back." Akira stretched her hands and tried to take the wine back.
"I am going to give you a moment to think about it." Hina looked at her with lifted eyebrows.
"What?" The confusion was a little cute but also infuriating.
"Think about it." Hina took a sip of the wine.
After almost a minute, Akira figured it out, and her eyes widened.
"You think- That's impossible." She denied with a laugh.
Hina looked at Akira. For all her genius, she could be obtuse in some matters. However, her failure to understand this issue was frightening. How had she passed her basic biology and even managed to graduate from the university?
"Have you been doing the deed with your boyfriend?" Hina asked.
Akira rolled her eyes. "You don't have to be so euphemistic. There is no one else here. We do sleep together, but we use protection."
"Every time?" Hina asked suspiciously.
"Of course," Akira answered with confidence. "Oh, cr*p!"
Akira cursed for the first time in a while as she remembered something.
"Is your foggy brain clearing up?" Hina asked, her lips forming a smirk.
"We didn't take any precautions the first time. But that was over two months ago!" Akira exclaimed.
"What?" Hina coughed.
Was it possible that Akira had been pregnant for more than two months, but she did not notice anything? The thought of that made Hina take a huge gulp of the wine. She refilled her glass from the bottle and continued drinking.
"Really? Are you refilling your glass right now? In the middle of the crisis?"
"What? I can drink since you won't be needing it anymore. And you know I can't handle big news well." Hina gulped more wine.
Akira nodded. Hina did not always have the best response to big news or changes. She tended to overreact and make sudden big moves. For instance, she wanted to leave her family and follow Akira after the case with the perverted tutor.
Also, when she found out Akira had completed her pharmaceutical studies and was leaving the city, she almost dropped out. If Akira did not convince with a lot of effort, she would never have managed to finish her research and graduate.
"So, haven't you noticed anything unusual about your body lately?" Hina asked. "You can't have been completely ignorant about your condition."
"First of all, we have not concluded that there is a condition to worry about. Secondly, I have never been regular. I think I strained my body too hard when I was a kid." She said. "Although, I noticed some weight gain. I thought I was eating too much."
Hina rolled her eyes. "So, you ignored everything. You are living in a bubble."
"I am still not convinced that I am pregnant. Let's go to the hospital. We can use the facilities at the research institute." Akira said.
"Are you sure that's the best idea? Your brother is probably at work. I took the day off because I had an epiphany in my research. I am letting the idea percolate. I need a distraction, or I will end up overthinking it and getting stuck again." Hina added.
"So, what do we do?"
"There are always rapid tests."
"Yeah. We can get a bunch of those for home use." Akira nodded.
Hina started eating her seafood paella while drinking the wine. She nodded in appreciation. Even though the food was not as hot as when it was served, it was still quite delicious.
"Seriously?" Akira looked at her flatly.
Hina shrugged. "What? The food is really good. It is not like you can get more or less pregnant."
"That's a good point. Let me order a chicken salad and a jug of lemonade."
It was Hina's turn to look incredulously at Akira. "You are going to get more food?"
"I was promised lunch, and the lobster is not going into my mouth. Plus, I need the lemonade if I am going to use a rapid test." She responded.
"Give me the lobster. I might as well eat it since it is here."
After Akira got her food, they started discussing Hina's progress with the comatose patient research. Even though Akira did not complete the requirements for medical school, she understood the work and was quite knowledgeable concerning relevant drugs. She even offered some insights.
Therefore, despite the situation, the lunch was quite enjoyable.
After they finished the meal, Akira drove to a pharmacy on their way back to the apartment. The car was Hina's, but she managed to finish the bottle of wine. She was not in the best condition to drive.
The two of them entered the pharmacy and walked around before they found the area for pregnancy tests. They stood in front of the packages and looked at them with puzzled eyes. The range of products was overwhelming.
"Should we have disguised ourselves with masks before coming?" Hina asked as she read the back of one of the items.
"Are you a celebrity? Do you think the paparazzi are stalking you?" Akira joked with a jab to her ribs.
"Don't kid around. This city is like a starving monster when it comes to wild gossip. I am telling you. Someone is going to report about our presence here on MR Circle by the time we get home." Hina picked another box.
"I am a grown woman. They can talk if they want. If I want to buy one hundred pregnancy tests, I will buy them." Akira responded.
"I don't think you drank enough lemonade for one hundred tests." Hina giggled. "Let's buy three. No, four. I want to try one."
"Why? You have never gone all the way. I know that because you would have told me about it against my will." Akira said.
"It looks fun. And I drank a lot of wine." Hina responded with a vulgar expression.
"You are disgusting." Akira accepted the packages Hina chose.
"I am not the one doing the nasty every night."
"What nasty? We were making love." Akira tried to sound self-righteous, but her face still turned a little red.
"Nastily making love?"
Akira thought back to her 'love sessions' with Kaito, and her face reddened a little more. Maybe, it was a bit nasty. They were both flexible and athletic. Her lips stretched into a wide smile.
"Eeew! It was nasty." Hina slapped Akira's arm.