Before too long, Friday arrived. To Luigi's pleasant - if nervous - surprise, the park was still there and rather pristine despite numerous battles happening near it. To Saitama's amusement, he'd witnessed green energy seizing any debris or attack heading towards the park and sending it flying back into the faces of whatever had sent it that way, even when Tatsumaki was known to be all the way over in C City. Also to Luigi's pleasant surprise, in addition to the initial confirmation message, Tatsumaki had sent a meeting time of 3 PM, which gave him two hours from now to gather everything he needed and get there. He was certain it was plenty of time. He might even get there early and have time to gather his nerves.

An idle thought made him look himself over in the mirror. As much as he loved his green shirt, blue overalls, white gloves, and green cap...here they were his hero outfit. Would wearing them on...on a date...send the wrong message? Then again, did he have anything else to wear?

Still, he thought to himself as he took hold of his cap, I can at least clean my hair up a bit. He lifted the cap off his head...and stared. "M...Mama mia...that's not what it looked like at my last hair cut…"

"Oh yeah, the training has an odd effect on hair like that," Saitama spoke up as he approached. "I was going to warn you, but since you weren't training to completely eliminate fear, I didn't think it'd happen to you-" His voice stopped as he caught sight of Luigi. "...excuse me, I need to go punch something I'll get paid for punching, as opposed to something I'll regret punching." With no more said than that, Saitama leapt out the window and stalked off. Monsters for miles around decided now was a good time to stay home and work on knitting, demonstrating that even the most suicidal amongst them had a survival instinct.

"I wonder what's bothering Sensei?" Genos asked curiously as he stepped into the bathroom. He then blinked at the sight of Luigi. "Getting ready for your date?" he asked curiously. "Do you have anything other than your hero outfit to wear?"

"N-not really…" Luigi admitted, still staring at his scalp as his cap sat limply in his hand.

"Come with me, then," Genos stated with a smile. "There's a tailor in the area who does good work fast, and I know just what to have him make for you."

"But the pasta…" Luigi began uncertaintly.

"We'll hit the market on the way back," Genos replied calmly as he grabbed a couple pots, "and there's a water source in the park that's as pure as what comes out of the pipes here."

Tatsumaki floated nervously as she approached the park. She'd torn her wardrobe - and several clothing boutiques - apart trying to find something other than the dress she wore 'on the job' to wear for her date that would look good, something that would make her look adult as opposed to a little kid playing dress up. As much as she hated to admit it, the Bald Idiot had a valid point with his taunts. She was short and slim-bodied, and no matter what effort she went to would probably look like a Dachshund next to a Great Dane compared to Luigi...or a hobbit next to a cave troll, though probably the most handsome cave troll in existence-

She shook her head to clear it of those thoughts. She was already going to have a hard enough time being taken seriously as an adult without acting like a lovesick schoolgirl...not that she even knew how to act like a lovesick schoolgirl. The only people she knew how to socialize with were her superiors (tolerate and remember that being part of HA was better than not being part of it, considering what had been), other heroes weaker than her (barely concealed contempt and arrogance), civilians (ignore unless it was a press event, then stick to the script), and her sister (try futilely to figure out what caused the argument this time while trying to keep her from whatever she was doing that would ruin her life this week). None of that told her how to interact on a date, let alone on a picnic in the park as a first date. Everything online and in books suggested that would be a second, third, or fourth date, with different guidelines for how to dress, behave, talk, and even eat depending on which date it was...and many of those didn't agree. She'd considered trying to adapt how her sister behaved on dates (she'd had a lot of first dates, but few seconds after the dates learned of her family for some reason), but she'd been forced to admit that she lacked...certain assets her sister had in abundance as far as that, and she would not be able to pull it off without looking ridiculous.

Forced to admit she would look like a little kid acting grown up no matter what she did...she decided to work with what she had. If there was no way to pull off 'mature and sexy', then she would play 'cute and spunky' for all it was worth. That she had the body for, and a wardrobe she could make work. She'd worn a plain gray hoodie to the park to make sure no one would recognize her...and then left it tied around her waist as she looked for Luigi. She was wearing a green video-game themed t-shirt that fit her snugly, the design of concentric circles expanding to one side in green shaping itself over her flat stomach and small but still noticeable bust. The tied hoodie concealed where the shirt left her with a bare midriff, and hung down in back over how the tight shorts she wore fit almost like a second skin over her understated-yet-shapely rear, leaving her shapely legs and delicate feet exposed to the air. That was the one part of her she was proud of as definitely looking adult, and the overall look was one that balanced between 'cute and spunky' and 'tumble flirty', and could easily lean to the latter if the date went exceptionally well just by setting the hoodie aside.

She hoped the look worked well...as she genuinely had no idea how to act here. She'd never been on a date, never had a boyfriend...and as much as she might want to just let Luigi take the lead so she could learn, she had a reputation as 'The Terrible Tempest' to maintain, and the last thing she could afford - for herself or her sister - was to let that fall apart because she'd gotten twitterpated. Whatever Fubuki said, Tatsumaki's reputation was one of the only things keeping someone unsavory from trying to take advantage of Fubuki's relatively weaker esper powers to target her for her far more mature body. Tatsumaki knew far too well what sort those were…

"Maki-chan! Over here!"

Tatsumaki tensed up. While she knew the voice, she also knew she needed to round on him for using a nickname like that without clearing it with her first! Not only did it make her sound childish, it implied things about them that-

Any thought of chiding flew out of Tatsumaki's mind as she caught sight of Luigi. His curly brown hair - having looked rather short under his cap - hung freely down to the small of his back to wave in the breeze, long and luxurious and seeming to capture the sun's light to turn it into a river of bronze. It framed his face, where his blue eyes - now the exact shade of a summer sky after a storm - stared out over his perfectly combed bushy mustache. He was dressed in a short-sleeves button-down white shirt with the top few buttons left undone, showing off the tone of his musculature, and loose black pants that hinted at the tone of his legs without exposing them, and black sneakers. His shoulders were broad without being those of a linebacker or bodybuilder, his muscles firm and toned without being excessively bulky, and the happy smile on his face coupled with the smoothness of his hands as he waved to her showed his gentle kindness.

She used her powers to force her mouth shut as she floated over to him...as much to express irritation over the nickname that she knew she should feel as to keep herself from drooling…

Smiling, Luigi reached down and took her hand - good lord, did he have control of his lightning powers? It felt like white hot lightning had raced up her arm along her pleasure neurons when his fingers touched hers - before kneeling down, kissing just above her fingertips with the edge of his mustache just barely brushing her knuckles. "You're looking absolutely gorgeous today," he offered warmly as he released her hand.

"T-thanks," she managed to stammer out as she struggled to get herself under control. Thankfully, that gave her an opening where she could turn the subject off herself and still continue, and maybe gather her thoughts. "You don't look too bad yourself."

To her surprise, Luigi blushed brightly under his mustache. "You can'a thank Genos for that," he admitted modestly. "I dunno how to make myself look good in anything but my overalls. Didn't even have anything but them before he took me shopping." He then paused. "I...I didn't overstep, calling you Maki-chan...did I?"

Tatsumaki glanced away, wishing she was still wearing her hoodie so she could pull it up to hide her blush. "J-just not where others can hear, okay?" she managed to say. "I've...I have reasons for my rep…"

Luigi nodded in understanding. "I'll remember." Seeing her fidget, he managed a warm smile. "First date jitters?" When that got a slight nod, his smile widened. "Me too."

Tatsumaki stared up at him in surprise...but managed a soft smile. Floating over, she folded her legs under her on the blanket he'd laid out as he moved towards a few containers and a couple of pots. Suddenly...a 'date' didn't seem as intimidating. Maybe, just for once...she didn't have to be, either.