Kojiro was left alone to work the next day as well. Nyasu and Musashi were going to be out all day practicing for their performance scheduled the next day. Kojiro, already in a sour mood, didn't put up much of a fight, as he was handling all the donut truck duties on his own.

Looking out the window longingly as he fried the donuts, he thought about the last conversation he had this morning with Musashi.

"Hey Kojiro, I was thinking" Musashi stated, while pulling her hair up for the day. "That date you have with that girl this weekend..."

Kojiro paused and looked at Musashi, not knowing where she was going with this. "We were supposed to hang out at the festival that day, remember?"

Kojiro cried out in remembrance. "Gah! You're right! We had plans that day! I should just cancel with Melody-"

"It's OK!" Musashi said, puttering her hands up. "We can hang out after your date, right?"

"Yeah..."Kojiro said, disappointed. "I guess we can. It shouldn't take the whole evening, I'm sure."

I was really looking forward to hanging out with Musashi Kojiro thought to himself. We haven't had any quality time while here in this paradise…

Kojiro recalled the last time that he and Musashi had spent any quality time together.

~~ They had been splashing and swimming around in the clear, warm waters of a nearby beach on MeleMele Island. After having a splash fight, Kojiro and Musashi ran back to their towels, pushing and shoving each other playfully, laughing.

After they had caught their breath, they paused to look out to the sunset on the water's horizon. Kojiro reached for Musashi's hand carefully. Unfortunately, the moment didn't last. Musashi stood up, having spotted Satoshi and the other brat children. Pikachu looked like he had gotten separated from the group.

"Come on," Musashi urged Kojiro. "Now's our chance!"

"And there goes mine," Kojiro sighed under his breath, getting up to join his partner~~

Kojiro sighed and poked at some nearby donuts.


The next day, Kojiro didn't even get a chance to see Nyasu or Musashi. They had left early to practice and prepare for their performance later on that day. Kojiro had slept in, exhausted from having manned the donut truck by himself the past few days. When he did wake up, he spent most of the day just pacing around, nervous for his date.

When is the last time I've even been on a date anyway? Kojiro thought. I'm always so busy with work. What do I wear? My civilian clothes? No...no, something nicer.

The time was approaching and Kojiro had finally picked out a pair of khaki shorts and a red, collared button down shirt with short sleeves. The shirt had sewn patterns of pineapples throughout the shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror. I guess this is OK he thought. Not too fancy and not too casual.

He made his way over to the festival's location, hands in his pockets, unsure of his decision to go through with this after all. He looked up as he approached the entrance. There stood Melody in a green dress. It swayed elegantly in the breeze. Kojiro took notice of the flowers in her hair. Wow, he thought. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

Melody smiled widely as she spotted Kojiro. "Hi!" she greeted. "Ready to go in?" Kojiro nodded and offered her his arm, which she eagerly took. Together, the two of them went around all the different midway games, playing and trying to win prizes. Kojiro and Melody laughed, as their tries led to no winnings. Still, Kojiro found Melody to be a great person to be around and found that he was genuinely enjoying himself.

As Kojiro was walking, trying to find the next activity to do, he stopped when he noticed the grand stage. The sudden stop came so sudden, that Melody did not notice. Kojiro spun around quicky to inform Melody of the upcoming performance. She took notice and slowed down the best she could. However, as she skidded to a stop, she leaned forward in her momentum just enough so that her lips crashed into the lower part of Kojiro's neck/collar bone area.

"Oops!" cried Melody, flushing in embarrassment. She pulled away and noticed her lipstick had left her mark on Kojiro. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's OK" Kojiro reassured her, knowing it was his fault for stopping so quickly. He began to head towards a food vendor to get a napkin to wipe off the lipstick when he paused. A voice came over the loudspeakers, announcing the upcoming performances.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Melody!" He turned around to find her. "The performance! My friend Musashi-the one from the truck! She's going to perform! Let's grab a seat!"

Melody gave a look of awe. "You coworker? Really? So cool!" she followed Kojiro to a nearby table with 2 stools. He wanted to be close, but not too close as to be overwhelmed by the crowd.