Chapter 4
It was finally the long-awaited on Friday. The day of their first date. Classes had just finished up and Kei sped to her room. The week had been intense. There was the proclamation to the class, which was something she'd never forget. Thanks to Hirata's intervention, the whole thing with Ike had blown over quite nicely. However, there was another smaller thing that had happened of equal importance. Satou had left their friend circle without a word. At first, she avoided Kei, but soon enough she began to avoid their mutual friends. With nobody else left she was alone. Kei would often see her walking straight to the dorms after class and occasionally turning down advances from other guys. She had felt bad but there was bad blood between them.
Now that the emotional week had finally gone by, she could relax. Or so she thought. Picking out her outfit for the date had become a bigger problem than she'd initially thought. Nothing worked. As Kei scrambled through her room littered with clothes to find the right outfit, Ichinose and Kiyotaka were strolling to the mall together.
Ichinose was just passing by when she ran into Ayanokouji. They began chatting when she asked about his weekend plans. She was shocked to hear about his date, but what he said next was incomparable to her earlier shock.
"I can't believe you Ayanokouji-kun! You were really going to go on your first date in that?!" Ichinose rubbed her temples in frustration at Kiyotaka's tasteless choice of clothing, his school uniform.
"Is it really that bad?" He asked looking at his outfit again.
"It's terrible! Ahhh, looks like I'll have to step in, it wouldn't be fair to Kei to leave you as you are. You're getting a makeover." With that Ichinose Honami dragged Kiyotaka into the school mall.
†
"That should do it." Ichinose wiped her brow as she straightened Kiyotaka's collar. "My work here is done, as payment for my services you can get by if you tell me everything that happens."
"Doesn't look like you'll budge on that one huh.
"Nope"
"Alright. Anyway, thanks for your help Ichinose."
"I'd hate myself if I didn't. It was almost mean to Karuizawa. I have other matters to attend to so I'll take off."
Ichinose slapped Kiyotaka on the back.
"I look forward to the details" she ended with a mischievous grin before heading off.
Looking at his clothes again, Kiyotaka couldn't help feeling strange. He was wearing a light pink dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up in tandem with black suspenders and matching black jeans. For shoes, he was wearing some nice khaki flat bottoms. Ichinose's taste was a bit strange but she knew better than he did.
Kei and he had agreed to meet up inside the mall near the arcade on the first floor at six. Due to Ichinose's intervention, he was there ahead of time, almost half an hour early to be precise. With ample time to kill, he did what any teenager would do and messed around on his phone.
20 minutes later…
BOO!
He'd been so absorbed in an article he cut himself from his surroundings. Consequently, the surprise and volume of her voice were greater, in other words, he fell backward.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" She said as she hurriedly knelt beside him.
"Yeah, it's nothing." He said lifting himself up with her aid.
"How do I look?" She did a little spin in place to show off her clothes.
She was dressed rather nicely. Wearing a light blue spaghetti strap, khaki heels, and a matching khaki handbag stood Kei. Her nails were done with clear nail polish and she'd put on light makeup. It wasn't too much nor too little.
"You look...perfect." It was true. He liked everything.
"Thanks." She concealed a blush. "You look really good too." She said admiring his choice in apparel.
"Thanks, I had some help though." Looking at himself and her again, it felt like they were going to a formal event. "We may have gone a bit overboard though don't you think?"
"Yeah, maybe a bit."
"Want to get going?"
"Wait a sec. Before we leave, I want to take a photo while the sun is still setting." Kei quickly took out her phone.
"Come here really quick." Kei ushered him to hurry. Once he was in the camera's frame, Kei quickly took a selfie of the two of them. A few swipes later, she looked up at him with a frown.
"You don't have snapchat, do you?"
"What's that?" He asked with a blank expression.
"Whatever, give me your phone." She took his phone and in a matter of seconds, he had an account, bitmoji and a new lock screen photo.
"Now we both have a picture of our first date." She flashed a cute smile his way.
"Are you ready to go now?" He asked. She nodded, slid her arm around his and they began walking arm in arm.
†
Their destination was a mini-golf park in one of the outdoor parts of the mall complex. The line wasn't very long and it wasn't very busy even on Friday nights. There was also a park connected to it with some beautiful gardens and trees. Kei was glad she'd chosen it but the stares from other students made standing in line a bit awkward. Fortunately for Kei, none of them approached either of the two and they were able to make it to the entrance without trouble.
"How can I help you?" The cashier asked.
"Can we get two clubs and a set of balls?" Kiyotaka answered.
"We have a special going on right now if the two of you are interested. Would you like the couple's package of 2 hours for 1750 points?"
"Yes, we would like the couple's package," Kei said with a grin. They split the cost and entered the facility.
Colorful lights glittered across the park. They walked around the place looking at the different courses. From dragons to clowns, there was a course for every theme imaginable. A few more minutes of looking around later, they settled down. It was a darkly lit but brilliantly colored attraction with a galaxy theme. Various stars and Nebulae blocked the path of the ball from crossing the par 5 course. Kei started off and struck the ball high enough that it passed the trough of asteroids until it bounced off a red giant and rolled safely to level ground.
"Yes!" Kei gave a little fist pump.
"You're next Kiyotaka." Kiyotaka nodded and moved over to the starting location.
After placing the ball on the tee, he lifted his club to swing. Kei stared intently at him.
What's he waiting for? Is he calculating the ball's trajectory to find the best way to swing? No, he's probably aiming to take the hole in one swing.
Seconds passed and the club still hadn't swung.
Any moment now, he's going to swing and it'll land right in the hole.
A whole minute had now passed.
"Kei, would now be a bad time to say I've never played this before?"
What?
Kei stared at him blankly. The student who was the mastermind behind the class couldn't play mini golf. She tried stifling a giggle but she couldn't contain it for long. A burst of laughter came from Kei. Kiyotaka idly stared at her as she laughed for seemingly no reason.
"What's so funny?" Kiyotaka asked.
"You can't play golf?!" She said in between laughs.
"Yeah." He said with a straight look. At this point, Kei had calmed down.
"Don't worry, I'll teach you." She said as she wiped a tear from her eye.
After a drink of water, Kei began her lesson on golf. First, she explained the rules then once he understood that, she showed him how to play. She started off by demonstrating how to swing the club. After a few example swings, Kiyotaka tried copying her.
"No No No. Your posture is all wrong." She moved his legs farther apart then adjusted his grip.
"Try it now." he nodded and swung the club.
"Come on, now the swing is all wrong." Standing behind him, she grasped his hand and swung the club the same way instructors often did with attractive students. Their posture, while confusing to many bystanders ended up being successful in teaching Kiyotaka. Nodding her head in approval and their game of golf began once more.
†
"HOW?!" Kei exclaimed as she tallied their final scoreboards. Kiyotaka, although he had a rocky start, had beat his experienced girlfriend by five points. Kei looked up from the scorecard for some explanation but her boyfriend simply shrugged.
"You must have taught me well." He answered.
Kei's head swung down dejectedly.
"Don't get too down, if your ball hadn't landed in the sandpit on that last hole, you would have easily won." He consoled. Kei let out a sigh then agreed with him. Never again would she try to do a trick shot.
†
The neighboring park was brightly lit exposing the bright petals of the sakura trees. Sitting at the root of one of these pink trees Kei held a smoothie and Kiyotaka the parfait he'd gotten with Kei before they exited the golf course.
Kiyotaka scooped up some of the white and red dessert with his spoon and brought it to his lips. Kei's head quickly bobbed in to encapsulate the spoon. Her sparkling purple eyes met his. She gave a bright smile and bobbed her head back out leaving only an empty spoon.
"Kei?"
"Hmm?" She said with her mouth full.
He moved his parfait towards her. "Do you want some?"
"No." Her answer was quick.
Moving his dessert back toward him he scooped some up once more. Once again mischievous violet eyes met his then jerked away leaving an empty spoon.
"Do you want to try some?" He asked again.
"I can't, my hands are full." She said playfully while holding her smoothie with both hands.
He caught on and scooped for the third time. This time however he brought the spoon to her lips. Kei gleefully smiled and ate his offering.
An ever-rare smile crossed his lips. Alternating between himself and Kei the contents of the parfait quickly depleted. He was a bit hungry but, he was happy that Kei was enjoying every last bit of it.
Once their desserts had been finished, Kiyotaka motioned to gather the trash but stopped when he felt a soft pressure on his shoulder. Kei rested her head on his shoulder and brought his outstretched hand back in. Weaving her fingers between his, she inched closer beside him until she was snug.
"Kei," he called.
"What?" Her eyes met his.
"I...I... love you." The word, still somewhat alien to him, had made its way through his vocal throat. That didn't mean it wasn't true though. He hid it well, but recently, whenever he saw her, he began to feel warm inside. When they kissed, or hugged, or even linked arms, he felt something strange but pleasing inside of him. If this wasn't love then he didn't know what was.
That was the first time he'd, no, anyone had said that they loved her with such emotion. Tears began to form around Kei's eyes but before they could be seen she hugged Kiyotaka, toppling him onto the ground.
"I love you too. I love you so much." She cried happily as she lingered over him.
Kei rolled over to the side and laid her head on his arm so that they were face to face on their sides.
"To be perfectly honest with you all of this feels unreal." Her eyes shifted downwards. "Up until now, I never thought that other people felt anything but hate, or jealousy, or pity for me. I was bullied by my classmates, shunned and even betrayed by those I called friends. I was alone and powerless to do anything without help. Whenever I could find someone to leech off of to protect myself I would, but it didn't change anything. The cold stares didn't go away, they just got worse. I changed schools multiple times only for it to restart." Her eyes began to water, but she quickly wiped them before anything could form. "That's how it had always been until I met you." She looked back at him. "Thanks...for loving me." She said with tender eyes and a quivering voice.
As soon as the words left her lips, Kiyotaka pulled Kei in for a hug.
"You're my girlfriend, of course I'm going to love you. So, don't cry anymore." He said calmly. He brought her back in front of him, she nodded, and he wiped her tears away.
The rest of their date was spent with Kei snugly laying her head on his shoulder as they sat under the tree watching sakura petals dance in the wind.
At ten they decided it was time to head home. Standing up, Kiyotaka offered Kei his hand. Taking it Kei stood up. They linked fingers and arms then headed home.
