Sigh.
Tanaka took a deep breath to calm himself down. After finishing admiring Tsukiko's beauty from afar, he was finally able to bring himself to her.
"Kita-san! I'm sorry I'm late!" He clearly wasn't, but as long as she was waiting for him, he would apologize for being "late."
Tsukiko's head jerked towards his voice and quickly responded, "A-Ah! I-It's okay, T-Tanaka-senpai. I-I just g-got here m-myself, and i-it's still e-early."
The wing spiker nodded to her, "Still, I'm sorry for making you wait." He hesitated, "Y-You look…stunning." She was already blushing before, but now her face blew up with red. She quickly tucked her head down to use her bangs as a curtain and then bowed to further hide her face.
"T-Thank you v-very much! M-My mother h-helped a l-lot…" She peeked up at him. "U-Um…y-you look v-very nice t-too…" Now it was Tanaka's turn to blush. "E-Eh? R-Really? You think so? I thought I might've been too plain." He responded, looking up in embarrassment and scratching the side of his jaw with his index finger.
Tsukiko quickly shook her head at him. "I-I don't th-think so! I th-think it s-suits you…e-especially the b-beanie…" He was ecstatic, but due to both of their embarrassment, neither said anything for a bit.
Trying to break the silence, Tanaka began, "W-Well! Let's do some window shopping or something since we're too early for the movie." The shy girl nodded at that and used both hands to clutch the sling of her bag, as if for support before she began walking. Tanaka was momentarily disappointed at that.
Guess there's no chance at holding hands then, huh?
Much of the time they used for window shopping was spent in silence since Tsukiko was too shy to say much and Tanaka couldn't think of something to talk about. Their first conversation after a while was prompted by Tsukiko stopping to look at a mannequin through a shop's window.
She was looking at a simple black and white dress that reached the knees. It was a strapless, straight neckline dress. The top of the dress was fitted to the mannequin, but from the waist down, it flared out somewhat. There was a moderately sized bow pinned to the top left side. It was mostly white with only the top of the neckline, the lace at the ends of the skirt of the dress, and the outline of the bow being black. It was simple, but Tanaka felt that by no means was it plain. Not if it was on her.
"That would look perfect on you…" He blurted out involuntarily. The girl squeaked in shock. Being surprised, himself, Tanaka tried to recover, "I-I mean! Uh – Y-You would look cute in anything, but I just thought this dress would look cute on you!"
Just like that time when he walked her to school, this type of comment didn't help Tsukiko's blush one bit. It still didn't help when they heard two older women comment, "My, my! Young ones sure are bold these days!"
The two "young ones" both jumped at that, glanced at each other, and quickly looked away, the color of their cheeks matching the whole time.
Looking for an excuse to move on, Tanaka called out, "C-Come on! It's time for the movie!" Appreciating the change in topic, Tsukiko quickly followed after him.
When they reached the movie theater, he handed her a ticket. "E-Eh? L-Let me p-pay you b-back!" She reached into her bag to pull out some money, but Tanaka grabbed her hand and placed the ticket into it instead. He reveled in the feeling of touching her hand, missing the chance to do so before when they were window shopping.
She blushed further at that, but didn't pull away. "It's fine! I'm the one that asked you out here in the first place. And what kind of man would I be if I let the girl pay for everything?"
Admiring his resolve, Tsukiko chose not to press further and looked at the ticket, wondering what movie they were going to watch. Realizing it was one of those gooey, romance movies she saw trailers of on television and wanted desperately to watch, she began feeling giddy.
This feeling was soon shadowed, however, by doubt. She didn't think Tanaka was the type to watch such things. If anything, action clearly felt more like his style, and Tsukiko felt bad that he was doing this for her. She asked, "A-Are you s-sure you want t-to see th-this? W-Wouldn't you w-want to w-watch something e-else?"
Tanaka shook his head, but widened his eyes soon after. "Oh no! Do you not want to see this movie? I-I can go exchange the ticket for something else!" Trying to calm him down, Tsukiko quickly denied this, "N-No! I've a-actually wanted t-to see this m-movie for a w-while. I-I just thought m-maybe you w-wanted to w-watch something e-else…" She drifted off, unsure of herself.
Tanaka took a bold move and pat her head, causing her to look up quickly, only to be met with a shining smile. "You just said you wanted to watch this, right? Then it's fine! Come on!"
He continued to rub the top of her head while showing her his closed-eyes smile. As always, Tsukiko blushed, but she didn't look away this time. She looked right up at him, wondering just how far his kindness could go.
She thought that she would have to wait for their meeting time, but he ended up showing two hours early just like her – And he still apologized. He showered her with compliments throughout their time together. Unlike how she usually took compliments with a bit of awkwardness, she took his with the feeling of elation. They made her feel giddy.
He made her feel giddy. Just what was he doing to her?
Realizing she had been staring too long, she bowed and followed him into the theater.
They had seats in the center, but it didn't matter too much since there weren't that many people around them. Most of the other patrons were couples.
Couples.
Just noticing that detail made both of them even more hyper aware of what they were doing out here today. Thankfully, the previews started, distracting them both from these kinds of thoughts.
Unfortunately for Tanaka, while the movie started, he became more aware of the dreaded armrest between them.
To hold her hand, or to not hold her hand? This same dilemma seemed to be coming up a few times today.
After agonizing for some time, the second-year decided to gauge the situation by looking at Tsukiko. She was intently watching the screen, almost leaning forward in her focus. There was a little sparkle in her eyes, coupled with a gentle smile.
So cuuuuuute! Thinking it would be bad to stare so long that she might catch him, Tanaka began paying attention to the movie. Not wanting to disturb her comfort and being satisfied with just admiring her, he let the hand-holding issue go.
The movie turned out to be as good as Tsukiko thought it would be, and the ending was incredibly tear-jerking. The poor girl was trying her hardest to hold in her sobs, for fear that Tanaka would think her childish or something.
Finally calming down somewhat, she turned to the wing spiker but was so stunned at the sight that her tears stopped falling.
*Sniff*
Not only was Tanaka crying as well, but almost his entire sleeve was wet from trying to wipe the tears off. "Th-That ending! He was so manly! I can't believe that happened him…He deserved better!"
Noticing that Tsukiko was staring at him, he started furiously wiping at his eyes with his arm. "S-Sorry! J-Just give me a minute!" He said embarrassingly.
Empathizing with him on a great level, Tsukiko dug into her bag and pulled out two handkerchiefs. She handed one to him and used the other. "H-He really d-did deserve b-better. The e-ending was so s-sad…" She proceeded to cry further.
The two were certainly a sight to see. The only ones in the theater who were not trying to leave immediately, balling their eyes out, and trying desperately to dry their tears.
After the whole debacle, the pair exited the theater, still sniffling slightly. They walked side by side in sniffles with no particular destination. Suddenly, a flutter of giggles interrupted the sniveling. Tanaka paused to look at the girl and asked, "W-What's so funny?"
The shy girl stopped and looked up at him. "I-I was just s-so concerned th-that you might n-not like the m-movie, but w-we both e-ended up c-crying. I-I didn't e-even have to w-worry." She hesitated to say the next words, but resolved herself. "T-Tanaka-senpai is k-kind, after a-all!" She ended with a bright smile.
Tanaka could only stare in awe at her. Just like when he first saw her today, she was glowing. The almost dry tears in her eyes made them shimmer, only adding to her beauty. Her nose matched the red hue of her cheeks because of all the rubbing from crying, but he thought it made her look so cute.
Quickly hiding his stare, he said, "W-Well, the movie was better than I thought! I can't believe I cried…" Seemingly remembering something important, he jolted up, "U-Um! Please don't mention this to anybody…" He blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
Tsukiko slightly giggled again and nodded. It was like the sounds of angels.
Being lunch time, Tanaka brought her to a small café. They enjoyed a nice meal in a cozy establishment, all the while stealing glances at each other.
Normally, Tanaka ate like a pig, almost inhaling his food. This time, however, he knew he would have to walk her home after their meal so he tried prolonging this time for as long as he could.
Unbeknownst to him and even Tsukiko, she was eating slightly slower than usual as well.
The moment came for them to walk home and they were once again met with silence. This was different though. Tanaka didn't feel the need to find a conversation starter and Tsukiko felt the same. They were just enjoying each other's company before they had to separate.
It was a comfortable silence.
When they reached her house, Tanaka had figured out what he wanted to say to her. He couldn't let another opportunity slip him by. He called her name, stopping her in her tracks and gaining her attention.
He held a completely serious face. "I had a lot of fun today…and I want to keep having fun with you like this. I realized today that you're a really special girl to me, Kita-san…" Tsukiko's eyes widened.
He quickly bowed before she could say anything.
"Please go out with me!"