Breath, just breath Naoto thought to herself as she adjusted her hat in the mirror. Everything will be fine. I can do this easily enough. He is the one who asked me out. He has to at least be interested. I just need to breath. She looked down to check the rest of her outfit. She was wearing her usual light blue shirt with a yellow tie. It was an outfit she wore all the time and yet now it seemed wrong. Is it the hat? She wondered. Maybe I should take of some of the binds on my chest. It's not like my gender is a secret anymore. I might as well. She began to unbutton her shirt and undo some of her binds. Instantly she regretted it and put it back.
"It's what he's accustomed to. I might as well keep it this way," she mumbled as a way of trying to convince herself that her actions did not have selfish reasons behind them. She quickly rebuttoned her shirt and looked at the time. '11:28' it read. She is supposed to be at Aiya's by noon. Great, now what am I supposed to do. She sighed. Oh well, there's no reason for me not to be there early. After one last look in the mirror, she walked to the door to begin her journey to the point of interest.
Deep breaths, man. Come on, you've got this Kanji thought to himself as he fixed his hair in the bathroom. I can't believe that I'm actually doing this. It had taken him almost a full year to ask Naoto out on a date. He probably wouldn't have ever done it if Rise never swooped in and practically forced him to do it. Frankly, Kanji was shocked that she even accepted the offer. Not nearly as shocked as Naoto was to receive the invitation. She stood there for nearly a full minute before finally saying a nearly silent yes. This should be easy, I've got this. The two of them have got to Aiya's together before, but this time was WAY different. Kanji's hand shook as he ran a comb through his hair for the umpteenth time. After finally accepting the fact that he was never going to completely like his hair, he took one last look at his outfit. He was wearing the same outfit he would normally wear on days off; a black tank top with a flaming skull on it. He wondered if he should change. After looking at the clock, he opted against it. it was already 11:52. Knowing Naoto, Kanji assumed that she would probably get there early to insure that she wouldn't be late. He rushed to the door.
"Later ma," He screamed while exiting out the door.
"Wait, where are.." Kanji didn't wait for his mother to finish. He quickly did a half jog to Aiya's where, sure enough, Naoto was already waiting outside.
"Oh," Kanji said, causing Naoto's head to perk up. "I- I didn't keep ya waitin', did I?"
"Oh, no. I only just got here moments ago." If by moments ago you mean fifteen minutes.
"Oh, uh, good. Sh-Should we be goin' in?"
"Yes, that would be wise." Naoto pushed off of the wall she had been leaning against with her foot before moving towards the door. Kanji beat her to it, opening the door for her. "Oh, thanks," She mumble slipping by the much bigger man. He quickly followed inside as she already began to sit down at one of the tables.
"Man, I've, uh, I've been really starving for Chinese lately." Kanji could barely finish the sentence.
"It's probably good that we choose to come here then." Her voice was very close to becoming more of a whisper.
"Yeah, uh." He was struggling to keep the conversation going. "My ma makes some mean Chinese. The only problem is that she serves so much. You'd think I have five brothers. It's like she's tryin' to make my stomach burst." Seconds after he said that, a man in a suit and tie walked in. He originally intended to sit down at a table, but after seeing the punk-looking kid, he stopped.
"Aren't you Kanji Tatsumi? What are you doing here?" He asked, causing Naoto to look up for the first time since they sat down.
"Can't you tell?" Kanji said in a harsh tone.
"I recognize you from the police station. You're a police officer. Why are you interrogating Kanji-kun?" Naoto asked perplexing the man.
"Oh, Shirogane, what are you doing here with him?" he asked in a surprised tone.
"I would think that that would be obvious." Naoto may have sounded calm, be from sitting right next to her Kanji could tell that she was on guard.
"Oh, right." He turned back to Kanji. "Anyway, I was only asking because there's been quite a commotion around here lately."
"Well maybe if you did your job, things'd get quieter, huh?" Kanji spoke with a defensive voice.
"Y-you need to fix that attitude..." The man now seemed scared.
"What made you assume that Kanji-kun was responsible?" Naoto asked in an interrogating manner.
"Well, um, you know how he is."
"I can assure you that he is beginning to change that. Now, if you'll excuse us, we are trying to have a meal." She turned her head away again.
The man sighed. "I'm gonna eat somewhere else." He walked away. Kanji looked back down at Naoto.
"Man, cops're always like that. As soon as they spot me it's 'Whaddaya doin'?' 'You look suspicious' and alla that crap." Kanji's head fell. "Meh, I'm used to it."
"I'll try to put in a good word for you next time I see one," Naoto offered.
"Nah, it won't change any of their minds." Kanji said looking back up. Naoto almost looked guilty. For what? "Hey, it ain't your fault. Just 'cause you're one of 'em doesn't mean you're responsible for 'em."
"Yes, I know. Thanks."
"Sorry for gettin' ya mixed into this, Naoto. I really am a trouble maker. For you..and for ma." He looked sad.
"No, you're..." Kanj cut her off.
"She's always apologizing for me. She's been sprouting more and more white hairs..."
"I'm sure she's thankful that you're starting to give her a lot less things to apologize for." Naoto gave a sympathetic look.
"Yeah, huh." He looked back at the chief. "Hey, food ready?" He asked.
"Huh," he said. "You ordered something, kan-chan?"
"I told you not to call me Kan-chan! And I did order: liver-leek stir fry and pot stickers! Tch, I'm gonna tear your store apart so fast you won't have time to file for insurance!" Naoto grabbed his arm as a way of getting attention and gave him a look. "Oh, uh, well." He quickly struggle to correct himself. "I'm gonna tear it apart and rebuild it twice as good! I'm gonna RENOVATE your ass!"
"...Sounds good to me." The owner walked away. Kanji quickly looked back a Naoto. He got scared when he saw that she was looking away. He was surprised once he noticed that she was laughing.
"You, you okay?" He asked. He'd never seen her like his before.
"What? Oh, um." She looked embarrassed as she began to calm herself down. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"Nah, it's fine." He smiled at her. "I think that's the first time I've heard ya laugh like that." Naoto smiled back.
"Thanks by the way." This comment surprised him.
"For what? I didn't do nothin'."
"No, I mean for correcting yourself. I was right in what I said earlier. You're most certainly improving." Kanji could feel the blood rushing to his face.
"Oh, uh, yeah. R-right." He couldn't get any words out. Luckily for him, he didn't have to.
"Food's ready," the cook said as he handed the two their food.
"Well then, hopefully the rest of our time together will be a bit less eventful." Naoto began to eat what Kanji noticed to be a rather small meal.
"Are ya sure that's gonna be enough? Doesn't look like much." He sounded concerned.
"Oh, Don't worry, it will be. I've never been very good at eating a lot in one sitting."
"Oh, well, if yer sure." Kanji began to eat his food. Guess that explains why she's so god damn skinny.
After a short period of time Naoto finished her meal. Despite the fact that his meal was much bigger, Kanji followed shortly behind. Now that they were both done eating, they were forced to have some sort of conversation. Though it's gotten to the point in their relationship that they can speak to each other with ease, it is still incredibly difficult to get the ball rolling.
"So," Naoto said quite quietly. "Should we go for a walk or something of the sort? I don't know why, but it feels wrong to end our time together right here." Strangely enough, Kanji was thinking the exact same thing.
"Yeah, sure. Why not?" He quickly sat up and began his walk to the door. This time Naoto beat him to it, opening the door for him. He didn't say anything as he walked right past her. Silently, the two walked side by side to the Samegawa Flood Plains.
"So, what's been happenin' with you lately?" Kanji asked, hoping to strike conversation.
"Oh, not much. Inaba's not a very eventful place. There aren't very many big case."
"Are you plannin' on takin' any cases in the city anytime soon."
"As much as I would like to, my grandpa and I both agreed that it would be best for me to focus on my education for now."
"So you're not gonna jump on the next murder mystery you see?"
"I might. If someone offered me a big case of asked for my assistance I would take it, but I'm not going to push myself into anything for a while."
"That's good. We all need a break after that mess."
"Yes." She nodded her head. "That's exactly what my grandpa told me. And he's right. I can't force myself to work all the time."
"Yeah, it ain't healthy."
"So, how the textile shop?"
"Oh, it's good." Naoto looked disappointed.
"Is that all?" She asked.
"Yeah, there ain't much to..."
"Ahhhh!" A feminine scream cut him off. Immediately Naoto sprang into action and turned around. Seconds after she did so, a huge dog attacked her. She fell over in an instant and the dog was on top of her.
"NAOTO!" Kanji screamed as he pushed the dog away. Even though it was quite big, it wasn't nearly as strong a Kanji. It fell over on to the grass and stayed there next to the girl. "You okay." He asked her after it was all over.
"Yeah," She said weakly. Kanji held out his hand to help her up. She gratefully accepted.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry," said the lady whom they heard scream previously. "He just pulled off the leash. I'm sure he didn't mean much harm."
"That's quite alright ma'am. I'm fine. If anything I have a few bruises. I've had much worse," Naoto said. She then smiled at the lady who quickly but the leash back on her dog.
"Once again I am so sorry for this."
"Not a problem."
"Oh, you're so kind." The lady walked away. Seconds after she was gone Naoto let out a small wince of pain. This caught Kanji's attention instantly.
"Whoa, you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. I think a bruise is definitely forming on my stomach region. It should be fine." She smile in order to reassure him. "Perhaps we should take this as a sign that we should part for the day and meet again later when it doesn't seem that fate is out to get us."
"Oh, um, sure. If you wanna. I could walk you home is you like," Kanji offered.
"No, that won't be necessary. Thank you, though."
"Okay, well. Bye then. See ya later." After saying his piece, Kanji walked away with one final thought. Could this have been anymore of a disaster?