Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.
Title: Average Date
Word Count: 2,369
Rated: PG
Romance: Honda Hiroto x Kawai Shizuka
Notes: This was written for the fourth season of the Yu-Gi-Oh Pairings Challenge. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.
Summary: Honda and Shizuka have a simple, quiet date that involves goddesses and guns.

Honda Hiroto was the happiest guy in Domino City that warm August evening. Part of the reason for that was his company, which was the lovely Kawai Shizuka, also known as Jounouchi's younger sister. He'd reassured his best friend for two weeks that he had only the most honorable of intentions towards her. Jounouchi wasn't quite as overprotective as some big brothers that he knew, but since this was going to be Shizuka's first ever date, he wanted to be sure nothing went wrong.

And Honda himself felt the same way. This wasn't exactly his own first date, since he'd managed to get one with Miho a few months back, and there had been one or two other girls that he had went to the movies or the zoo with. They were nice and he'd had a lot of fun on them. So, he knew something of what it was like to have a date.

Shizuka reminded him a lot of Miho, being quiet, gentle, and yet with a strength inside that appealed to him. And as a plus, she was interested in dating. So when she came to Domino City again to spend summer vacation, Honda figured that now might be a good time for them to go out for something or other.

She is so pretty. He had noticed that first about her. Her hair came swirling down to her waist in a wave of deep chestnut with highlights of auburn, and as they'd walked, he'd caught a few hints of something fragrant that was probably perfume. Her eyes were a very warm shade of olive-green, and they'd been sparkling and happy all night long. That made him even happier that everything was going well.

Everything had been going well also. He'd shown up at Anzu's place, where Shizuka was staying during her visit, and Jounouchi had, of course, been there.

"You guys be careful and have fun," was all he said, though. He'd already issued all the other warnings for Honda, who wouldn't have done anything he was warned against anyway, and Jounouchi knew it. He was just exercising his right to be a big brother.

"We will, big brother!" Shizuka had reassured him and given him a hug before they'd headed out the door and off to dinner.

Everything about tonight was normal and ordinary, which was just the way Honda liked it. He didn't want any magical spirits or possessing demons or whatever else that tended to crop up whenever he and his friends were together to turn up and try to spoil things. He wanted a nice, normal evening with dinner, a trip to the museum (which wasn't showing anything Egyptian for a change) and then a quiet, normal walk home.

"Look at that!" Shizuka all but squealed in happiness as she motioned to a large part of the exhibit. This month's display was all about ancient Greece. Honda didn't know that much about it, but it didn't have quite the same reputation for ancient magic and such that Egypt did, so he was a lot more interested in it than he might've been otherwise. "It's so pretty!"

The statue she was motioning to was of an elegant goddess reclining on a couch. If she'd been flesh instead of stone, she would've been showing a lot of it. Honda figured that had been the style back then. If a goddess couldn't set the fashions, who could, right?

"She's pretty but you're prettier," Honda decided. "Since you're alive and she's a statute."

Shizuka laughed, a merry, bell-like sound. "Better apologize! I read that those Greek goddesses could get really jealous if someone said something like that about them!"

Honda might've brushed that off if he hadn't had the experiences he had. Gulping a little, thinking of what could happen if he didn't, he turned back to the statue. "Sorry about that. But Shizuka really is pretty."

Since he didn't get hit by lightning and no one wielding a Duel Disk and a set of Greek mythology based cards didn't jump out of nowhere and start challenging him, Honda figured his apology had been accepted.

They moved onward, exploring some of the other aspects of the exhibit. Honda had read a few Greek myths in his day, but he'd forgotten a lot of the gods and goddesses that were being displayed here. One that caught his attention was Nike, the goddess of victory. He grinned some as he looked at the elegant representation of her. "Guess I should say thanks for all the fights I've won," he muttered to himself. "And for tonight being such a winner."

He was almost certain he caught a strange glimpse of amusement in those carved stone lips, then he shook his head. He had really been hanging around with Yuugi too long, if he were going to start thinking everything he ran into was supernatural. Besides, this was Japan. They had their own gods and goddesses. That was who he should be thanking, if anyone.

"I think it's about time to go," he said as they came to the end of the exhibit. "It's getting a little late."

"You're right." Shizuka glanced briefly at the clock before she agreed. "It was a lot of fun coming here, though."

"We can come back tomorrow if you want," Honda suggested. "Or somewhere else. Maybe we could go see a movie. I hear there's a pretty good one opening up tomorrow night." Not that he could remember the title, but he was pretty certain it was one of those sweet romantic ones. Shizuka would love to see that, and so would he.

Not that he'd let anyone else know that he'd want to see it, of course. He had an image to maintain.

"I'd love that." Shizuka replied. They started out of the building, and Honda almost wished there was some kind of nip to the air so he could've offered her his jacket. Well, if they kept on dating, he could do that then.

Honda started to turn down the way that would lead them back to Anzu's the quickest when Shizuka laid a hand on his arm gently. "Why don't we take the long way around?" she suggested. "It would look really pretty going that way, since the moon's almost full."

"Right." Honda could hardly have turned down the pleading look in her eyes, even if he'd wanted to. And he didn't want to at all.

Taking the long way would add about another ten minutes on to the walk, but that was ten more minutes spent in Shizuka's company. It also took them through a slightly more dangerous district, at least by most people's standards. Honda himself didn't think there wasn't anything there that he couldn't handle.

It was a lot prettier than the other route, which had several tall buildings in the way. This one went by a lovely park, open to the air and sky, and the moon had risen enough to cast silver strands of frosty ghost-light. Honda wasn't usually moved too much by the sight of nature, but hearing Shizuka's gasp of pleasure at the sight and seeing the awed look in her eyes (which were amazingly beautiful in the moonlight as well), he decided he'd pay a lot more attention to sights like this from now on.

"Oh, Honda, this is wonderful!" she breathed, running over to the park and sitting on one of the swings. "We can wait a bit to get back, can't we?"

Again, there was nothing that Honda could have said that indicated 'no' in any sort of a way. So he didn't even try. He just sat down on the swing next to her and started to swing a little himself. He peeked at her a little as she swung as well, admiring all over again how the moon caressed her pale skin and reflected in her bright eyes. Shizuka was as beautiful as an angel in this light.

Neither of them went too high as they swung. Honda was glad they were out just late enough so no one else would be able to see them. His reputation was enough so that most people wouldn't say anything if they were seen, and keeping it that way was what he preferred. Besides, this was a quiet, happy moment between himself and Shizuka. No one else needed to intrude.

"I wish you could stay here more often," he said, bringing his swinging to a halt and digging his feet into the sandy ground. This was some kind of kid's park in the daylight, he guessed. He hadn't bothered coming this way in a while. He didn't think he'd want to change that now, either. He'd always be seeing it from now on in moonlight and with Shizuka with him, and seeing it any other way would just detract from the memory.

Shizuka smiled a little at him. "I wish I could too. But Mama doesn't want me to." Her eyes lit up a little as she spoke, though. "But I'm still here until the summer vacation is over with, and we can phone each other and write e-mails."

"Right." Well, she was right about the telephone, anyway. Honda wasn't the best when it came to using too much technology. But maybe Bakura could help him figure out how to send and receive e-mail. For Shizuka, he was more than willing to learn.

He looked around a little more, not really wanting to leave. There was a little pond not that far away, and almost as soon as he spotted it, Shizuka got off of her swing and wandered over there to take a look at it. He followed her, more from curiosity and wanting to be with her than anything else. There were flowers of all kinds around here, some even floating in the pond itself. He didn't know a lot about plants, but these did smell pretty good, even at night.

"Aren't these water lilies beautiful?" Shizuka asked, kneeling down and leaning over to look at them more closely. They looked as if they were closed up for the night to Honda, but he wasn't going to question her about it.

"Yeah, they are." He watched as she held her hair out of the way, leaning even more closely, and then quickly caught her by the shoulder before she overbalanced herself and fell in. "Careful!"

"Oh, sorry." Shizuka blushed a deep red and got back on her feet, brushing a little dirt off of her skirt. "Maybe we should go on back?"

Honda nodded; falling in wouldn't have hurt her, but it was something he was glad not to have to explain to Jounouchi.

Leaving the moon-drenched park, they turned down another street that would lead them to Anzu's apartment. This was the most dangerous part of the walk, and Honda kept himself as alert as he could, talking quietly to Shizuka of what kind of bands they liked to listen to and what movies they liked. He wasn't surprised to find that she was very, very interested in seeing the latest romantic movie, either. He was about to broach the idea of the two of them seeing it together when he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye.

To be accurate, he caught a glimpse of someone.

"Stop, both of you!" The mugger growled, the faint aura of the nearby streetlight glinting off of his gun as he pointed it at them. Honda noticed that it was shaking some, and his eyes narrowed as he moved slightly to be in front of Shizuka. "Hand over your cash! Right now! And anything else valuable you've got!"

Honda slowly grinned as he started to be able to see the mugger a little more clearly. "Are you sure about that, Kinjo?"

Shizuka blinked and stared at him. "You know him, Honda?"

"Oh, yeah. Kinjo here and I go way back." Honda grinned at his old friend, not surprised at all to see him trying this. "So how's that little brother of yours? What was his name again? Hibiki, wasn't it? Is he still going to Rintama or did he actually try to make something out of himself?"

Kinjo swallowed briefly, then started to bring the gun up a little more firmly. Honda didn't even bat an eye. Instead, he started to slowly crack his knuckles. "It's been great seeing you again, Kinjo. Sorry I don't have time to stay and talk." He smiled slowly, and it was not the prettiest of smiles, even for Honda. "Maybe we could meet up again later. When we'd have more time to really catch up."

Again he cracked his knuckles, and the smile was that of death itself. Kinjo eyed him, then the gun vanished, and he offered a weak little smile of his own. "Sure. Um. Only, I don't know if I can. I've got a lot I'm going to be doing. I've got a job interview tomorrow. You know how that goes."

Honda only nodded, and Kinjo kept on babbling excuses until he was out of sight completely. Shizuka could only stare in awe. "That was amazing!"

There are few people who would not have been cheered by that kind of support and Honda wasn't one of them. He grinned down at her. "That was nothing. Kinjo can't hit the broad side of a barn. I know, I've seen him try." It wasn't a lie either; they'd lived near each other for a while when they were younger, and they'd both practiced shooting guns. Kinjo had never gotten any better than hitting the target with one shot out of five. Honda had, with practice, gotten good enough to hit five out of five more than he didn't.

"Let's get on back." Shizuka smiled at him, and he was warmed all through by that. "I want to tell Jounouchi all about how brave you are."

Honda had no objections to that whatsoever, and together they headed on back to Anzu's place. As they went, he breathed a quiet prayer of thankfulness to all of the goddesses of victory, everywhere. This really was the best date that he'd ever had.

The End