Hey everyone, so I might be a bit slow providing updates as my personal laptop screen cracked so I have to use the computer at my office (yes, I am a grown ass woman writing fanfiction like I am still in highschool but what can I say, I have an active imagination and a million stories in my head that I need to get out). I hope that I will be able to keep your interest as I slowly update. But who knows, I may not have any problem updating.
Anyways, onto the story.
"Kotoko, you look amazing!" Satomi beamed as Jinko stood behind her and smiled.
"You don't think that it is a little too much?" Kotoko asked as she at herself in the large stand mirror at the edge of the room. She was wearing a tight red dress and a pair of nude pumps. Something that Kotoko would have never worn in a million years, but Jinko and Satomi were insistent that she wore it.
"Of course not!" Jinko exclaimed.
"You don't think that it is a little bright?" Kotoko started adjusting the tight red fabric, "or a little tight?"
"No, red is the color of love and I know that Yuzan is going to love how that dress just hugs your curves." Satomi said.
"Satomi, I don't really have any curves." Kotoko sighed.
"You're a woman, Kotoko. Of course you have curves." Satomi waved her hand in dismissal.
Kotoko looked at herself up and down again, questioning how she her friends managed to get her into this dress.
"But these shoes, I am going to fall over." Kotoko whined.
"Kotoko! Do you want to go on this date or not?" Jinko exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips.
"...yes." Kotoko sheepishly replied.
"Then put on your big girl panties and stop whining about every little thing. You look great! You will be fine! Yuzan is going to love you! I don't think that the outfit is the problem."
"Yeah, Kotoko," Satomi stepped towards Kotoko and ran her fingers through her hair, "you are going to be fine. Stop worrying and let me do your hair."
An hour later, Kotoko was sitting on the small sofa in Satomi's living room. Kotoko couldn't help but to think that the last time she had really sat in this area of the house this anxious was when she and Naoki had shared their first, although beit forced, kiss. How foolish she was just a few months ago. Thinking that Naoki could ever like her.
Kotoko played with the hem of her dress which sat just above her knees, showing off enough skin but also leaving some to the imagination. Was she crazy accepting this date? She barely knew Yuzan. Was she as stupid as people thought that she was? Was she falling into another situation like the one that she had with Naoki? Kotoko did not want to have her heart broken again.
Kotoko was brought out of her daydream when the sound of the doorbell rang through out the apartment. Kotoko jumped as the doorbell sounded like thunder. Her heart raced as Satomi and Jinko ran into the room.
"What are you waiting for, Kotoko?" Satomi looked at the door. "Go answer it."
"I can't." Kotoko silently replied, her eyes wide and glued to the door.
"Ugh, I will get it. We can't have him thinking that you ditched him." Jinko rolled her eyes as she marched towards the front door.
Kotoko felt herself being choked by the anxiety that this date had brought. She wanted to sink into the sofa and just disappear. Not because there was anything wrong with Yuzan, but because she felt that there was something wrong with her.
"Yoshida-kun, come in." Jinko opened the door to find Yuzan standing at the threshold, his hands in his jean pockets and shoulders hunched. "Are you cold, Yoshida-kun?"
"No," Yuzan straightened up and put on a smile.
"Well, get yourself in here. Kotoko is just inside." Jinko instructed as she held open the door for Yuzan.
Yuzan stepped inside and looked around until his eyes fell upon Kotoko. Yuzan wasted no time in walking to the sofa that Kotoko was sitting on, her body hunched and her face flushed.
"Good evening, Kotoko." Yuzan smiled down at her and extended his hand for her to take.
Kotoko placed her slender hand into Yuzan's and felt herself being pulled up. Wearing heels almost caused her to lose her balance but Yuzan was quick to catch her. Kotoko looked up and blushed.
"Are you alright?" Yuzan asked.
"Y-yes." Kotoko stammered. She looked into his blue-grey eyes and felt herself drown.
"Ahem." a voice cleared from behind them. Kotoko looked away to see that Satomi and Jinko were standing off to the side, giggling.
"I think that we should head out." Yuzan smiled down at Kotoko, noticing Kotoko's embarrassment.
Kotoko nodded before Yuzan turned to walk Kotoko out of the apartment.
"You two have fun!" Satomi shouted as she watched her friend walk out of the door.
"But not too much fun!" Jinko added suggestively, earning her a swift elbow to the side from Satomi. "Ow!"
Kotoko looked back and rolled her eyes before turning back to face Yuzan.
"Well, that was awkward." Yuzan chuckled.
"Yeah, those two can be a bit much at times." Kotoko sighed.
"I wasn't talking about Satomi or Jinko."
"Huh?" Kotoko tilted her head to the side.
"I only held your gaze for three seconds. My average is ten. I think my charm is weakening." Yuzan winked at Kotoko.
"You..." Kotoko narrowed her eyes before giving Yuzan a slap on his arm.
"Ow." Yuzan rubbed his arm.
"Serves you right." Kotoko held up her head.
"Yeah, you're right. But it is just so easy to mess with you, not to mention fun as well." Yuzan smiled as he pinched Kotoko's blushing cheek. "Did I mention how gorgeous you look tonight?"
Kotoko's cheeks turned a bright pink and her eyes looked down at her feet.
"T-thank you." Kotoko timidly said.
"You are very welcome. So," Yuzan faced Kotoko, "where to first?"
"I thought you were supposed to be showing me how to let loose." Kotoko raised an eyebrow.
"I am, Kotoko-chan. Part of letting go is making your own decisions and not care what anyone has to say about it. You spend too much time worrying about others and their opinions. Where is somewhere that you want to go?"
Kotoko pressed her lips together in a thin line while she thought about somewhere that she would like to go.
"I don't know if you-"
"Kotoko, stop. I don't care where we go and if I did, this date is all about you. Just pick somewhere."
"I can't. I am too indecisive." Kotoko sighed.
"That's okay. Pick a number between 1 and 30." Yuzan smiled.
"Why?" Kotoko asked.
"Just do it." Yuzan chuckled.
"Fine. Ummm...11." Kotoko replied.
Yuzan took Kotoko's hand and walked with her to the nearest train station.
"Where are we going?" Kotoko asked as Yuzan pulled her onto the train.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Kotoko exclaimed.
"I played this game a lot when I travelled. I pick a random number and get on a train. I then get off at that number stop. So I guess we will be on the train for a while. So we might as well sit down."
Yuzan sat down and patted the seat next to him, wanting Kotoko to join him.
Kotoko rolled her eyes before sitting down next to Yuzan.
"I don't know why I let you take me out." Kotoko stated sarcastically.
"Because you can't hide the fact that you are madly in love with me." Yuzan tilted his head back and placed his arm around Kotoko's shoulders.
"Am not!" Kotoko exclaimed as she shot a look towards Yuzan.
"I wouldn't blame you, you know. I am quite enticing."
"You are quite annoying, that is what you are." Kotoko crossed her arms.
"Better than being cold and boring." Yuzan smiled.
Kotoko automatically thought of Naoki. Kotoko never really talked about Naoki with Yuzan. Did Haru talk about him?
Ugh, she needed to get him out of her head.
"I know why you wanted to go out with me and I am honestly fine with it." Yuzan said.
"What?"
"I know that you are only going out on this date with me to get over an unrequited love that you had for one of Haru's classmates. And I am fine with that." Yuzan turned to face Kotoko.
"It...it wasn't unrequited." Kotoko stammered quietly.
"Did he tell you that he loved you?"
"Well, yes and no."
"How was it both? He either loved you or he didn't." Yuzan chuckled.
"He said he didn't know what his feelings were towards me."
Yuzan removed his arm from around Kotoko and sat up in his seat, "I see."
Kotoko turned and placed her hands on top of Yuzan's, "And I didn't go on this date to get over some silly boy who didn't know his feelings towards me. I was done with him before I even met you. I went on this date with you because I have been working so hard to prove myself that I think that I lost sight of the things that made me happy. I had become all work and no play, and you helped me realize that. To you, I am good just the way that I am. I want to be successful but I also want to surround myself with people who like me for me."
Yuzan looked up at Kotoko and smiled, "Can I tell you something embarrassing and unlike me at all?"
"Um, sure."
"I was actually really nervous about tonight."
"You?" Kotoko's eyes went big, "Why were you nervous?"
"Well," Yuzan rubbed the back of his neck, "I've never really been on a date before."
"What?"
"I know, I know. How could someone as cool and sexy like me have never been on a date?"
"I wouldn't have put it that way." Kotoko giggled.
"Are you laughing at me when I am trying to lament?"
"Never."
"To answer your flattering question,"
"I didn't ask you that question."
"I could tell you were going to ask that exact question. I could see it in your eyes."
"More or less." Kotoko rolled her eyes.
"You know I am more than just a pretty face."
"I can see why you have never been on a date." Kotoko rolled her eyes, "Are you going to tell me the rest of your sad tale or are you going to keep deflecting?" Kotoko crossed her arms and legs.
"Ouch" Yuzan held a hand to his chest, "you really know where to hit a guy where it hurts."
"Just get on with it."
"As you know, I was Mr. Genius during my time in school. My parents expected the best and so I was told that I had to study and nothing else. I was prisoner-"
"But Haru has a girlfriend." Kotoko interrupted.
"Kotoko, I was monologuing." Yuzan snapped his head towards Kotoko.
"I know, but if your parents are really that bad, then why does Haru get to have a girlfriend?"
"Because they don't know that he has a girlfriend, or friends for that matter. He tells my parents that he is going to a study group. They hear the word 'study' and they don't ask questions. He sweetens the deal by telling them that it is with the top boy whatever his name is. Now, can I get on?"
"Fine."
"ANYWAYS...I was a prisoner in my own home, the voices in my head the only friends-"
"Why didn't you just lie to your parents?"
Yuzan dropped his head dramatically, "Because I am a good boy!"
"Okay okay." Kotoko giggled.
"I WAS A PRISONER IN MY OWN HOME, THE VOICES IN MY HEAD THE ONLY FRiends I had. I was yearning for companionship with the people that were not in my imagination. I went on to graduate the top of my class, perfect marks, and a spot at the top university in the country. I had become the perfect child. To my parents that is. When I attended university, was set to become the greatest engineer that the country had ever known but my parents made a mistake. A mistake that would cost them everything."
Yuzan was sitting up in his chair and Kotoko was trying to do everything from bursting into laughter at Yuzan's dramatics.
"Do you know what that mistake was, Airaha-chan?" Yuzan asked.
"I don't but I feel like you are going to tell me anyways, Yoshida-kun."
"THEY LET ME TAKE AN ART CLASS!"
Kotoko gasped, playing along with Yuzan's enthusiasm.
"I needed the class for a credit and I fell in love. I did not know that I was going to, but love has a funny way of hitting us when we don't expect it. I began to see the beauty in all of the small wonders of this world, even myself. I wanted to take photos of everything and document all of the beauty in this world. I was at a gallery when I was approached by the artist. We began talking and he offered me the opportunity to travel with him and others that shared the same love of art. It wasn't even a question of whether I wanted to go, I was an adult now and I could do whatever I wanted. I joined Leon and I was out travelling the world. Following my passion and not having a care how much it disappointed them. Haru sees me as a monster, abandoning my parent's hopes and dreams. But that is the thing, those dreams were their dreams, not mine."
"So what made you come back? And how does that have anything to do with you being dateless?"
"I was invested in my art and travelling the world meant that the relationships that I built in each city were fleeting. I came back to Japan because it was time for me to come home. I had been nearly everywhere, but I realized that there are so many hidden beauty here that I never discovered."
"Will this be fleeting?" Kotoko asked quietly.
"What?" Yuzan turned to face Kotoko, the dramatics in his voice quickly dimming.
"Will we, us, be fleeting? Should I even be hopeful of this date? I don't want my heart broken again." Kotoko exclaimed.
Yuzan scooped up Kotoko's hands into his, "Not if I can help it. I am back in Japan to finish off the rest of my studies. To earn my degree, this time in art, to make something of myself. I could open a gallery of my own, curate a museum, anything."
Yuzan took a hand and put it on Kotoko's cheek, "And if I were to travel anywhere else again, I know that I would bring the person that I am with with me. That is if she wanted to go with me."
Kotoko blushed, thinking that she could one day travel the world with Yuzan.
"You would take me around the world with you?" Kotoko beamed.
"Um, I never specified who that someone would be. Bold of you to assume it would be you." Yuzan sarcastically replied.
Kotoko furrowed her brow and pursed her lips before giving Yuzan a quick jab to the side.
"Ow!" Yuzan exclaimed. "Of course, I meant you. That is if you still want to go out with me after this date."
"Well, you sure aren't batting a thousand right now."
"Ouch," Yuzan brought his hand to his chest, "again, you really know how to hit a guy where it hurts."
"I'm joking." Kotoko giggled.
"I don't think comedy is in your future." Yuzan chuckled.
"Hey, I'm funny." Kotoko quipped back.
"You sure are, but looks aren't everything."
Kotoko gasped and smacked Yuzan on the shoulder.
"I can feel our love growing stronger." Yuzan winced as he rubbed his arm.
Kotoko couldn't help but to release a small laugh as she looked at Yuzan. Yuzan smiled at Kotoko.
"But in seriousness, you are beautiful. Inside and out."
Kotoko blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The train dinged letting the passengers know that there was a stop approaching.
"It looks like this is our stop." Yuzan smiled towards Kotoko.
Yuzan stood up and held out his hand for Kotoko to grab to help her up. Kotoko took Yuzan's hand and with his help, stood up as the train came to a jolting stop. Kotoko went stumbling forward and landed in Yuzan's arms.
"Woah, there. Are you alright?" Yuzan asked Kotoko.
"Yes, it is these shoes. They are so high and uncomfortable but Jinko and Satomi were insistent that I wear them."
"There you go again, trying to please people even though it causes you discomfort." Yuzan chuckled.
"I just want people to be happy."
"And what about your happiness?" Yuzan asked.
The train dinged again, notifying the passengers that the train doors were about to close.
"We better get off." Yuzan said as he took Kotoko's hand and they walked towards the doors.
The couple took the step onto the platform and looked around. This station was more in the center of town. It was loud and filled with tourists.
"Perfect." Yuzan smiled as he looked around.
"Perfect? It's so loud and crowded." Kotoko scoffed.
"Precisely what makes it perfect."
"Well I don't particularly enjoy it." Kotoko mumbled.
"Where is your sense of adventure?" Yuzan grabbed Kotoko's hand and dragged her through the crowd.
"Every minute I am regretting more and more going out with you." Kotoko panted as she tried to keep up with Yuzan's pace.
"Just wait until you see where we are going." Yuzan looked back and smiled at Kotoko.
Kotoko furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Yuzan skeptically. She had never really been in this part of Tokyo and had no idea what would be entertaining about this part of it other than the stereotypical attractions that bring the tourists out in droves.
Yuzan weaved in and out of the crowd, turning corners and moving his way away from the tourists, Kotoko still in hand. The noise of the crowd started to fade until the once loud sound of shouts seemed like distant whispers. Yuzan abruptly stopped in front of an old building, one that looked more run down than the one that Kotoko used to live in with her father until the earthquake. In fact, this building looked ancient.
"Where are we?" Kotoko looked around and did not see a soul.
"My hideout."
"Excuse me?"
"Come on," Yuzan pulled Kotoko forward and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "for being such a smart girl there is so much that I need to teach you."