Kotori wondered if anything was wrong with her. Was she being too naïve? Too trusting of someone whom she barely knew? A stranger yesterday yet, she was holding hands intimately with him today. Her face buried in the soft smooth material of his kimono. Their laced fingers did not move an inch and neither were their bodies.

'It's strangely comfortable.'

Kotori's mind simply felt that way. She did not know why. She could not tell why her heart felt at ease with such a person. Did she see him as somebody special? No, as of right now, she did not think she felt like the guy whom they saw confession. She did not have a strong emotional connection to the guy before her just yet.

She did not think she felt that way yet her body was acting differently. She was used to greeting and being nice to male customers when working as Minalinksy. She was used to performing in front of a large crowd while remaining calm and enjoying the moment. She however, felt something different when being so still and calm.

'Why can't my heart slow down? It's beating so fast.'

She could feel it. Her heartbeat was rapidly increased and her cheeks were red. Was her mind denying her of understanding that she may be fond of the person before her? She was unsure. She had heard some parts of him. The date was a faux date yet, wasn't he trying his best to make it a good one? If it was something like simply understanding her, he could have asked her mother or her directly in an office right?

A lot of thoughts went through her head. It could easily be gauged that the amber eyed girl was really different from normal. For one thing, she was more quiet that usual. She would admit that she wasn't as outspoken as her friend, Honoka. Barely saying a word unless needed was more along the lines of how her friend Umi would react.

'What's wrong with me and how long has it been since we've been in this position?'

Kotori was unsure whether the time had passed quickly and it was really late at night or these moments of her overthinking was making time seem so slow.

She felt his fingers moving their linked hands lower. His head peered up to the night sky. She still could not see his expression yet somehow she knew, he had calmed down.

"Heh, the two just now mentioned breathtaking beauty of the moon right? I beg to differ, what's breathtaking is now, this heart racing feeling."

He said that with a slight chuckle and Kotori understood the meaning of it.

It was something she also had never experienced before.

A quick beating in her chest yet despite her flushed cheeks and ever increasing heart rate, she felt calm. She felt that it was right for her to be there.

The tense moment suddenly dropped as both their stomachs grumbled in hunger.

The two burst into laughter. It was such an awkward moment but they had not had anything since lunch other than the crepe, it was only natural for them to get hungry.

"Shall we grab a meal then?"

She nodded to his offer as they made their way to the rental shop to change into their normal clothes.

Kotori did not have a curfew however going home late was something that she would prefer to avoid especially considering she had to work the next day. It was essential that she had her rest, after all seeing the maid Minalinsky having a poor mood would affect morale of the store as a whole.

They walked on to the train station and took the train for several stations. There was total silence the whole time however, one thing was different, the tension between them had eased down.

Kotori noticed they had alighted on the station where she would get off in order to head back home.

"Hmm, Kazuma-kun, thinking of it where do you live?"

She questioned him curious as to know whether he lived in the area as she had never seen him before in neither the shopping district nor the areas nearby.

He scratched his head, Kotori wondered if that meant he was unsure on how to reply or whether she would like his reply. He turned towards her and began to speak.

"I live about 4 stops away from here by train and well my school dormitory at times when I have practice with my teammates."

"Teammates?"

She was surprised at the words. Could 'teammates' have referred to a group of bodyguards he worked with? Apparently her shocked expression was noted as the onyx eyed male began to chuckle.

"Dance practice, dance."

He muttered walking forward as the amber eyed girl began to follow his back.

The walk went on with him explaining details on a group that she had never heard of: World Order.

If he had not had explained that world order was a dance group, she surely would have thought a bunch of men in suits were taking over the world, to her surprise however, it was close to the truth. The main outfit of World Order group was indeed suits and the actual team went all over the world making music videos.

She found it fascinating but what she found more interesting was the various expressions on his face. She could see his expressions change from joy as he mimicked some of the steps to cringing in fear recalling the endless hours of practice without break from his leader as he detailed it all out for her.

They soon reached a small family restaurant. It was a place where she ate quite a lot before considering it was close to her home.

It was a cozy place, sure enough there were children eating their meals with their parents and zooming waiters and waitresses. She saw a child that was dashing across the restaurant falling down and crying. As though on reflex, she dashed off to the child taking out a band-aid from her bag and checking if the child was okay. She assisted the child up and carried the young girl to her parents.

She then took her seat to which Kazuma had sat down while she was helping the child.

"You really are a kind-hearted young woman, Kotori-chan."

Those words that came out of his mouth took her by surprise. Rather than his usual over the top statements that seemed exaggerated, his words seemed to show he no longer felt the need to be so formal with her. He was supposed to be a faux date in the event in the near future thus, it was good to hear the lessening of formality.

"No I'm not, anybody would have done the same, I mean protecting a young child is the way to do things right?"

She questioned back to him, wondering how he would respond however, he simply kept quiet and ordered the meal for them both, once again insisting that he would foot the bill. She wondered why he kept quiet but asking him now would likely not be a wise decision.

She ate her meal of omelette rice and lemon tea in peace. A waitress then passed another plate to her. It was a slice of cheesecake. She did mention earlier that it was her favourite but for Kazuma to pay for all the food must have cost a pretty penny. She felt bad and suggested to pay half but was sternly denied.

'What a stubborn guy.'

She found out yet another trait to the ponytailed teen. He was stubborn as a bull when it came down to something he had willed himself to do. She sighed yet when she took a bite of the cake, she began to squeal in joy. Her mood lightened instantly as the sweet taste of the cheesecake swirled inside her mouth. Her taste buds loved the feeling of the smooth yet sweet cake.

She found a smirk plastered on Kazuma's face as she suddenly woke up from her dazed state.

"Don't mind me, keep flashing that smile."

She blushed as she rushed in eating the rest of the omelette.

"Stop teasing me like that."

"I'm not, I honestly find a smile like that a gem. Somehow whom is able to express themselves like that is something very rare."

She wondered what it was like to live without a mother. She tried to imagine it but it was too sad just to picture, he apparently noticed her expression as he waved a fork at her face.

"What did they add to that cake if you're spacing out so much?"

He chuckled somewhat as he tried to ease her mood. They finished up eating and the duo began walking towards the direction of Kotori's house.

'Is he going to invite himself in?'

She wondered as she walked on up to the gates of her house. Today had been quite a long day, from the tension she had from informing Honoka and Umi on the situation to her finding out about Kazuma not having a mother and his background and even her sudden take over that made them held hands, her mind being in a fluster was not all too much of a surprise. It was a long and eventful day.

She opened the gate and stepped in only for her hand to be held and yanked back as suddenly she was embraced.

"It's kinda unfair if you're the only one who hugged me right? So I'll do the same. Kotori-chan, do you feel the same crazily fast heartbeat I feel?"

She couldn't even stammer. Amongst all the things that have occurred today, this had to be the most intense. Wait, did he just say 'crazily fast heartbeat'? Did he feel this awkward feeling that she had too?

"I'm not sure how I feel, as I said earlier, for now we're no more than strangers on a faux date, but… I do feel my heart racing at times."

She responded honestly, not hugging back yet not pushing him away.

She expected to see a sad face but as his expression came into view there was a smile on it instead.

"Good night then, Kotori-chan, rest well."

Those were his parting words as he slowly let go of his embrace and walked off into the night.