AN: Hello and welcome back, dear readers! I've had plans to "revive" this story for a while now, and decided that I'd do it on this year's Valentine's Day, so here we are. From now on, this story will be a collection of oneshots about Karen and Keita's relationship, sweet and fluffy enough to possibly cause diabetes. They'll all be loosely connected, but there probably won't be much of a plot to be found.
In addition to this new chapter, I've made some small revisions and updates to the first one, so be sure to read that as well if you're an old reader and haven't done so yet!
Without any further ado, let's get right into it!
2. Couples Go On Dates
"Uehara-kun, can I… ask you something?"
"Hm? Go ahead, Amano."
"Ah, well… I was wondering… What do you usually do with Aguri-san? Since you're like, you know, together and stuff."
Uehara met my gaze and lifted an eyebrow while munching on his bread. Meanwhile, I was simply idly staring down at my own lunch. Uehara-kun should have more experience with the whole relationship stuff, since he's been with Aguri-san longer than I have been with Karen, so I'm hoping he can give me some advice…
"Hm? Well, we hang out, go on dates and stuff, I guess. Like going to karaoke or the arcade." Uehara replied after he finished swallowing his food. "Why are you asking?"
"Well… I'm still kind of newto this whole… dating thing, so I was wondering what exactly I could – and should – do together with Karen. I… thought that maybe you'd know more about this stuff…" I explained to Uehara, and he suddenly held out a hand to stop me.
"Wait just a second. Did you just… call Tendou by her first name?" Uehara asked while leaning closer to me.
"Eh? Um… well… yes. Karen thought it was appropriate, since we are d-dating now." I replied and leaned away from Uehara slightly, while he quickly turned away. What is he doing..? I tried to lean to the side to see why Uehara had turned around so suddenly, but only saw his clenched fist. Eh? Is he angry? Scary… When Uehara turned back, his expression was normal, but I still flinched in reflex.
"Good!" Uehara said to me in English with a wide smile and a thumbs-up. "It's good to hear you two are going steady, but, yes, it is true that you are both quite new to all this." He then continued while nodding to himself. "But! Don't worry, Amano! There are still a ways to go, but your pal Uehara will be here to help you along it! In order to keep your relationship healthy and your girlfriend happy, you have to spend time together. Going on dates is the best way of doing this, but if you're… feeling bold, you could even go to her place and spend some quality time there, you know?" Uehara nudged me with his elbow, a slight grin on his face.
"Oh, we already did that." I replied to Uehara, and he seemed to flinch in surprise, his eyes widening. "Karen invited me over and we played some games over at her place. She showed me some games I hadn't even heard of before. It was super fun!" I said excitedly, and Uehara seemed to sigh in relief. That was when we started calling each other by our first names as well… It was a bit embarrassing at first, but I've grown used to calling her that now.
"W-well, I guess you're… moving forward at quite a fast pace, huh..? Anyway, dates! They are very important as they'll likely be the main way you spend time together. Over time, you'll come to just naturally spend more and more time together, but at the start, you'll have to always ask about and plan these things." Uehara explained to me, and I nodded along, focused on what he had to tell me. "So… you should ask Tendou out on a date. Since you two are already together, I'm sure she'd accept happily. The arcade would probably be the best bet for you two…" Uehara trailed off and paused for a moment, his eyes widening momentarily as he look off into the distance, before he turned back to me. "In fact, why don't you ask her today?"
"Today? Hmm… Karen might have club, though…" I brought a hand to my chin as I thought, somewhat unsure of what to do. I suppose I could wait until she finishes, if that's the case...
"Yes, today. You have to take every opportunity you can get!" Uehara placed his hands on my shoulders and looked me directly in the eyes. H-he seems more into this than I am…
"A-alright, I'll ask her. But… what should we do exactly? I mean, if we're going to the arcade, I guess we'll be playing the games there, but… I don't want to disappoint her or anything." I then asked, and Uehara let go of my shoulders. I think we'd probably be able to have fun, but the way we enjoy games is sightly different.
"Hmmm… Well, I think Tendou will just be happy to get to spend time with you – and you should be too. If you want to… impress her, though…" Uehara closed his eyes momentarily as he thought, before seemingly getting an idea and speaking again. "Based on her being together with you, Tendou probably likes more timid guys, so you shouldn't have to try too hard. However…" Uehara leaned closer to me again, and I found myself holding my breath as I anticipated his next words. "...It doesn't hurt to be a little assertive and take the lead every now and then either. There will probably be crowds at the arcade, so you can suggest that the two of you should hold hands so you don't get separated. You could even go to one of those photo booths, and use that as excuse to get close to her and embrace her. And while you're so close to each other, you can take the opportunity to…" Uehara moved his hand up and took a hold of my chin, turning my face towards his own. "...Take a hold of her like this and steal a kiss from her." Uehara finished finished explaining, then let go of my chin as he leaned back away. Holding hands… Embracing… Kissing…
"Oh, we've already done all that as well, haha."
A silence fell upon us for a few seconds, neither of us moving. Uehara stared directly into my eyes, and it felt like time had stopped completely, until he blinked once, then twice, and began to laugh.
"Ahahaaa! That was a good joke, Amano!" Uehara said and playfully patted me on the shoulder – repeatedly.
"U-uh, it… wasn't a joke, though." As soon as I spoke, Uehara's hand stopped on my shoulder, and he stared at me in disbelief. "We've, um, held hands and… cuddled and… k-kissed already. I-it's a bit embarrassing to talk about, though…" I looked away from Uehara and rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. A-and doing that sort of thing… in public? No way!
"...You're really serious." I heard Uehara mutter and turned to look at him again, his hand slipping off my shoulder. His face hung low, so I wasn't able to see his expression, and he turned away from me again before I got the chance to look properly. "...I didn't expect this at all… haha… ahaha…" I heard Uehara mutter something to himself and grew slightly concerned.
"Um… Is everything okay, Uehara-kun..?" I asked quietly. What's gotten into him all of a sudden? Was it… that surprising? Karen said that couples do those sorts of things, though, and while I think we may have… gone a little too fast, I don't mind doing those things with her at all. I thought Uehara-kun would have been familiar with all that… Suddenly, Uehara turned back to me again, his expression a mix of emotions I couldn't quite decipher – his eyes showed conviction, but there were also hints of annoyance or frustration.
"Everything is just splendid, Amano! And knowing that you've already gotten so far in your relationship with Tendou means that there's even more reason for you to ask her out on a date with you!" Uehara bolted up to his feet suddenly, paused for a moment, then looked down at me and spoke in a regular tone again. "By the way, if your relationship with Tendou is that close, why are you eating lunch with me and not her?" ...Oh.
"...Is that something that you do as a couple as well?" Uehara sighed and brought a hand to rub his temple in clear exasperation. "A-ah, sorry, I just… didn't think of it. I wanted to get some advice from you, Uehara-kun, so it didn't cross my mind that Karen might want to eat lunch with me…" As the realization hit me, I started to feel a little bad and wondered what Karen must have been thinking right now.
"Then what are you still doing here? Spending time together is key in relationships, like I said before, so get up and get going! You still have time to spend the rest of the lunch break with your girlfriend!" Uehara motioned for me to stand up, so I quickly scrambled to my feet.
"But… you aren't eating with Aguri-san now either, right?" I asked as I packed up what I still had left of my lunch, while Uehara was practically pushing me away.
"Don't sweat the details, Amano. All that matters right now is that you have a girlfriend eating lunch by herself and waiting for you to join her! So, get going! And make sure to ask her to go on date with you to the arcade today after school, alright?" Uehara said as he ushered me away.
"Okay, okay, I'm going." I replied to Uehara with a sigh, but began to hurriedly make my way to Karen's classroom. I hope she's actually there, so I can apologize to her… and ask her out on the date, too.
It didn't take long until I found myself at the door to Class A. My eyes swept across the room and all of the students who had stayed behind to eat their lunch here, until they landed on the familiar locks of blonde hair that my girlfriend sported. Upon seeing her, I internally sighed with relief, then began to make my way over to her desk. On the way, I took notice that several of her classmates were sending glances her way, some curious and others worried, but none approached her – though me doing so also definitely drew some of their gazes my way. Did… something happen..?
"Hey, Karen…" I greeted my girlfriend as I got close, but froze in place once I saw her face. Her dull eyes were vacantly staring down at her desk and her mouth was slightly ajar, almost looking like a lifeless corpse. "Eh? W-what happened? A-are you okay?" I asked in a slightly panicked tone and awkwardly placed a hand on Karen's shoulder, hoping to reassure her, and the gesture caused my girlfriend to turn her face to me.
"Keita..?" Karen said weakly then blinked once as if to make sure it was really me she was looking at. After a moment, life returned to her eyes, and she quickly rubbed the corners of her eyes. "Ah, S-sorry, I'm okay. I was just… feeling a bit down because I failed to get your attention earlier so we could… e-eat lunch together…" Karen explained to me, averting her gaze again, and her words caused guilt to flash through me. So she was waiting for me… And I can't even remember seeing her come by my classroom! I'm just the worst...Knowing what had to be done, I backed away from her desk slightly, before bowing deeply.
"I'm so sorry, Karen! There was something I wanted to talk to Uehara-kun about, so it completely slipped my mind that you wanted to eat lunch with me." I apologized to my girlfriend earnestly, keeping my head low.
"Y-you don't have to bow so deeply! I-it's fine, really!" Karen protested, and I lifted my head again to see her embarrassedly waving her hands in front of her. "It was my bad for not being able to get your attention properly." She then said and glanced around the classroom, prompting me to do the same. Unsurprisingly, the scene we had caused was drawing the attention of the other students around us, and I felt my cheeks reddening slightly from embarrassment. "J-just… take a seat and we can… eat lunch together now. I-if you didn't already eat with Uehara-kun, that is…"
"A-ah, I still have some left, don't worry." I replied and hastily looked around, grabbing the nearest free chair and moving it opposite to Karen's. I could feel every single pair of eyes in the room being focused on the two of us, but I swallowed down my embarrassment and took out my lunch. I-I suppose this is what it means to be dating the most popular girl in school, so I have to get used to it… Dating… Oh! "Um, Karen..?" I tried to speak in a lower tone to hopefully not be overheard by the other students, and my girlfriend met my gaze with a lifted eyebrow. "Could we… um… Go on a d-date today? A-after school, I mean, of course. Like, to the arcade, or something…" Asking the question out loud made me even more embarrassed, and the other students' gazes still being focused on us didn't help either. Meanwhile, my girlfriend stared at me wide-eyed for a few silent moments, before she smiled widely and leaned forward, surprising me as she grabbed me by the hands.
"Yes! I would love to!" Karen exclaimed, loud enough to bring the attention of the students who had moved their focus to something else back to us again. Realizing this, Karen blushed, let go of my hands, then spoke again in a lower tone. "Um, I mean… That's a great idea, Keita. The arcade, you said?" I nodded in response to her question, and Karen smiled again. "Alright, it's settled, then." Keeping her smile, my girlfriend began to eat her lunch while happily humming to herself – I recognized the tune as the theme song of one of the games we played when I visited her – and I couldn't help but smile myself.
Despite the stares of the onlookers, Karen and I quickly managed to settle into enjoying the rest of our lunch break together. While I had been initially filled with nervousness and embarrassment, soon enough my girlfriend's presence helped me calm down, and things started to feel natural. I… think I somewhat get what Uehara-kun was saying about couples spending time together…
I'll definitely be spending more lunch breaks with Karen like this in the future.
"So… we're here."
"That… we are."
The two of us stood silently in front of the main doors of the arcade. I was nervously shifting my balance between my two legs, my feet being glued to the pavement as I was unsure of what to do next. Keita was the one who suggested this, so he should take the lead, right..? I glanced to my left at my boyfriend, seeing him nervously looking between the doors to the arcade, me, and our intertwined hands. It's… quite endearing to see him like this, though… I lost my sense of time for a moment as I found myself simply staring at Keita for who knows how long, until his eyes suddenly met mine. Feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over me as I had been caught staring, I quickly looked away. G-get a hold of yourself, Karen! We're going to end up standing here all day at this rate. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I looked back at Keita and began to speak, seeing that he was about to open his mouth at the same time as well.
"We should-"
"S-shall we-"
We started speaking at the exact same time, but before either of us could finish, we were cut off by the arcade doors suddenly opening as a number of people exited the building. They seemed to be about our age, but judging by their clothing, they didn't go to our school. Keita and I froze in place as the group passed by us, some of the people in it giving us strange looks and raised eyebrows, but ultimately passing by without saying anything. After they were some distance away, both Keita and I released a sigh.
"...Let's head inside." Keita said to me quietly.
"...Yes, let's do that."
Hearing my agreement, Keita began to move, and I followed along as he opened the arcade doors and stepped inside. As soon as we entered the building, our senses were assaulted the sights and sounds of the arcade. The brightly-coloured screens and lights of the arcade machines stood out amongst the otherwise dimly-lit interior, while the various jingles, tunes and other sounds originating from them blended together with upbeat background music that played from the various speakers situated around the arcade. For a newcomer to the arcade all of it might have been overwhelming, but having visited several times in the past already, the familiar sights and atmosphere actually had the opposite effect of calming my nerves. I sent a sideways glance towards Keita to see him eagerly looking around the arcade, and the sight brought a smile to my face.
"What should we start with?" My question seemed to surprise Keita, his head whipping back quickly to look at me again. "You're the one who asked me out on this date, so I'm expecting you to take the lead, Keita." I then teased him a little with a smile, causing Keita to blush slightly as he averted his eyes. Momentarily, he seemed to get lost in thought, his blush darkening, before he quickly shook his head to clear it away. What was that about, I wonder..?
"Ahem. R-right, of course. Then… maybe…" Keita cast his gaze across the arcade, until it landed on a pair of what looked to be university students moving away from an arcade game consisting of a pair of seats situated in front of a wide screen. Said screen displayed what looked to be the results of a race, and the seats had steering wheels in front of them – a racing game for two people. "...That looks like a lot of fun, doesn't it? And we can both play it together." Keita asked from me as he pointed at the racing game.
"Sounds good to me!" I replied enthusiastically with a smile, which Keita returned to me.
Having chosen what to do, the two of us made our way to the racing game. After leaving our bags on the side – though still within line of sight – we took our seats in front of the large cabinet and familiarized ourselves with the controls of the game. The game cabinet had been designed to simulate the feel of actually driving a car, not just featuring the steering wheel but also pedals and a gear stick. Obviously neither Keita or I had driven an actual car before, but we were both familiar with racing games, and the controls seemed easy enough. Still, we decided to first have a practice round to warm ourselves up – though I had no intentions of going easy, feeling my competitive spirit flaring up.
As expected, our practice round was rife with mistakes, both of us underestimating the actual difficulty of the game. I managed to just about beat some of the CPU drivers – though I still didn't come anywhere near the podium – while Keita was dead last. Having gotten a feel for the controls, though, I figured that I could do better, and Keita said much the same – though I wasn't quite convinced. However, Keita insisted that he didn't need any more practice, so we moved onto the real thing. Settling on a best of three, we – or at least I – prepped ourselves mentally and shifted into serious mode. Let it be known today that Tendou Karen does not back away from a challenge related to gaming, and neither does she have any intentions of losing!
Unsurprisingly, our first proper race ended in my win. Keita wasn't quite in last place this time, but it was clear the one practice round wasn't quite enough for him. Still, he didn't let it drag him down, and in fact I'd say that the loss seemed to pump him up even more – something which I wasn't used to seeing from Keita. And true enough, he managed to beat me in the second race, bringing our best of three to a tie. Knowing that my boyfriend wasn't holding back only fuelled the fire inside of me, though, so for our last race, I went all-out. And the results were as expected.
"...Man, that was fun! You really went for it in that last race." Keita said after the results of our third race were displayed on the screen. He had managed to climb to a respectable fourth place, beating all but 2 of the CPU drivers, but the one shining at the top in first place was none other than me. "Congratulations, Karen!"
"Hehee, this much is nothing for me! Though, this chair's a bit stuffy… Haah… I feel sweaty now…" I replied and fanned myself with my left hand, while slightly tugging at my clothes with my right one. I'll definitely have to take a shower after I get home from this date… Noticing that Keita wasn't replying, I looked over to him, and our eyes met as I caught him staring at me. Keita quickly averted his eyes, though, then cleared his throat. What was he..?
"W-well, since you won the challenge, I think you should get to choose what we play next." Keita said to me, his eyes still avoiding me. Why is he so flustered? Was he staring at me… because I said I was sweaty..? I-I didn't think Keita could be so… so… l-lecherous… Feeling my face getting hotter at the thought, I quickly shook my head to clear my thoughts and sprang up from my seated position. T-this is no time for such thoughts!
"O-of course! T-then…" Just like Keita had done before, I scanned the arcade for a suitable game that we could play next. I know Keita is not exactly the competitive type, so maybe something that requires cooperation instead? Usually I would come to the arcade by myself, so I wasn't as familiar with the co-op games, but I did know that there were some games that could be played both solo or with a friend. "Hmm… Ah, I know! Come, I think it was this way…" Suddenly remembering something I had seen on a prior visit, I quickly grabbed my bag, then took Keita's hand after he had grabbed his and pulled him towards the portion of the arcade housing the classic arcade games.
"...These games all look kinda old… N-not that it's a bad thing, of course!" Keita commented as I took him towards one arcade cabinet in particular. "I can appreciate the classics, as without them, games wouldn't be the way they are today."
"Well, I've grown quite fond of some of these classics after being introduced to them by my senpais in the club." I said as we came up to the game cabinet I had thought of. "May I present to you… Final Fight! The club has come to the arcade before on certain occasions, and I saw Nina-senpai playing this once. She managed to get through it all on her own, but you can have up to two players!" I explained to Keita excitedly, while he stared at the arcade cabinet with wide eyes.
"Wow… I think I've heard of this game before, but I didn't know they still had it here." Keita said as he carefully reached towards the cabinet, his hand coming to rest on the joystick as he tested it. "Looks like it's in prime condition as well." I felt myself smiling as I watched Keita appreciate the cabinet, but was momentarily distracted when a sudden flash of pink in the corner of my eyes caught my attention. Hm? Did someone just go behind that cabinet there? Well, whatever.
"So, want to play?" I asked from Keita as I leaned forward to look him in the eyes, and he nodded to me. "Alright! Let's see how far we get together." After inserting some coins and watching as the screen shifted to the character selection screen, Keita and I got comfortable next to each other, hands ready at the controls. "Who do you want to pi-" My question was cut short as I felt Keita's hip bumping against mine, and both of us froze in place.
"S-sorry, I-I didn't mean to… T-there's not much space…" Keita apologized and looked away, shuffling his feet as he began to move away from me slightly. Before I could realize what I was doing, though, I had reached around Keita and pulled him back to me, our shoulders and hips touching. Ah… I did it automatically… To my left, I could see Keita's face reddening, but he didn't protest.
"...I-I want you to… s-stay close…" I managed to say quietly, barely hearing my own words over the frantic beating of my heart. I know we've already… k-kissed and the like before, but… Physical contact with Keita is still making my head spin! I-it's not a bad feeling, though…
"...A-alright…" Keita replied to me quietly after a few silent moments, then cleared his throat and spoke again in a clearer tone. "L-lets start, then. I'll pick… Cody."
"R-right, I'll go with.. Guy, then." With both of us having selected our characters, the screen faded again, before putting us into the game's first level.
Compared to the racing game from before, the controls for Final Fight were quite simple, consisting of just an attack and jump button, alongside the joystick for movement, so both of us were able to quickly grasp them. Putting my focus on the game helped relieve some of the nervousness that naturally came from my close physical proximity to Keita, and the two of us were quickly enough able to find a form of cooperative play that suited us, causing us to breeze through the early levels with ease. However, as was the case with games like this, they only became harder and harder the further you got. Soon enough, Keita begun having troubles with some of the enemies and bosses, but together we managed to make it almost to the end.
The key word being "almost", as the final boss of the fifth – and thereby second-to-last – stage was where our otherwise good run ended. As the infamous "Continue?" screen displaying our chosen characters tied to chairs with a lit dynamite in front of them ticked down the time we had to insert more money, Keita and I decided that it might be best for us to leave it at that. For our first attempt at playing the game together, we had gotten pretty far, and were happy with it. There was always time in the future for us to return on another date and beat the game once and for all.
Continuing on with our date (which I was having the time of my life with), Keita and I lingered in the area designated for classic arcade games for some time, taking the chance to experience the games that revolutionized the industry, such as Space Invaders and Street Fighter II. The simplicity of many of the classics seemed to appeal to Keita, while I enjoyed the ones that had a modicum of difficulty, or allowed us to directly compete in some way. Even so, seeing Keita happy made me happy as well, and I am sure he felt the same. Soon enough, though, we moved back to the more modern arcade games, trying our hands at a dance rhythm game – which neither of us were particularly skilled at, though my athleticism certainly helped out – as well as an aerial combat simulator. While we were playing one of the newer instalments in the Street Fighter franchise, I got the odd feeling that we were being watched, but couldn't figure out where from or why, so I brushed it off. In fact, I'd be surprised if someone like me going to the arcade and playing together with Keita didn't draw attention – I was very aware of my own attractiveness, and how much it would stand out next to a small and average-looking guy like Keita. Not that either of those things were bad, as I loved Keita just the way he was – he wouldn't be Keita any other way.
Before either of us realized it, we had spent over two hours at the arcade and were getting quite hungry. Keita hadn't apparently thought about our date any farther than visiting the arcade, so instead of a cafe or restaurant that the protagonist of a romance Manga or dating sim would take their love interest, we ended up dropping by a convenience store to buy some food. Afterwards, we wound up at the nearby park – the very same one we had visited after the first time we had gone to an arcade together – where we settled down to eat as the sun began to set in the horizon.
"Here you go, Karen."
"Thank you, Keita."
I accepted the drink Keita offered to me, opening it and taking a sip as he sat down next to me and did the same. Releasing a content sigh, I gazed upwards at the sky, which was just about turning orange from the last rays of the sun, though it would still take some time before darkness fell. In the corner of my eye, I saw Keita's eyes directed downwards as he fiddled with the plastic packaging of the sandwich he had bought, the look on his face one of contemplation.
"...I'm sorry." Keita suddenly said, and I turned to him in confusion, urging him to continue with my expression. "I-I mean, this date wasn't really that… romantic or anything, and I didn't even really think it through that well, so…" I interrupted Keita by placing a hand over his, causing him to look up at me.
"Don't say that. I had a wonderful time with you, Keita." I said with a reassuring smile. "I can't think of a better date with you than going to the arcade. I… wouldn't say no to a more… r-romantic date, but you don't need to try too hard. I love spending time with you like this, and I had tons of fun. If anything… I'm the one who should be saying sorry." Now it was Keita's turn to be confused as he looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Keita asked, and I averted my eyes somewhat guiltily.
"Well… I mean… I kept dragging you to all those competitive games, or even challenging you in the singleplayer ones to see who got the higher score, even with knowing that you aren't a very hardcore competitive gamer…" I had realized it even when we were in the arcade, and it kept nagging at me. I know Keita himself has said that he plays to win just as much as the next gamer, but his reasoning for not joining the club… It's always at the back of my mind.
"...You don't have to be sorry about that, Karen. Sure, we may be slightly different when it comes to how we enjoy our games, but we're both still gamers, aren't we?" Keita said with a reassuring smile. "I'm… always up for trying new things, even if I'm not that good at them. And… I'd be happy playing just about anything if I'm… t-together with you, Karen." Keita bashfully averted his eyes and scratched his cheek awkwardly, while my cheeks began to feel hotter. Keita… Feeling my heart hammering in my chest, I set down my drink next to me, then captured Keita in a hug, the action seemingly surprising him. "Eh? K-Karen..?"
"I love you, Keita." I said to him quietly, resting my cheek against his as I felt him hesitantly wrapping his arms around me. We stayed still for several seconds, until I pulled back so I could look Keita in the eyes. "You always know the sweetest things to say at exactly the right moments. Where did you learn to do that from, Golden Memories?" Keita seemed to flinch slightly as I questioned him, and smiled wryly as he averted his eyes… Wait… Seriously? "...Don't tell me you actually did..?"
"I-I mean… Um… M-maybe…" Keita admitted, and I wasn't sure if I should sigh in exasperation, or smile at his endearing silliness. "T-though the sentiment behind those words was genuine! I'd be happy to play any game together with you." Keita met my eyes again and smiled at me, his cheeks now slightly flushed as well. "…A-and I love you too, Karen." Hearing those three words, I smiled, then leaned forward to kiss Keita on the lips.
Keita closed his eyes as our lips touched, and I brought one of my hands up to cup his cheek, caressing it with my fingers gently as I enjoyed the pleasant warmth radiating from his body. We kept up the kiss for a few seconds, before eventually separating, and Keita met my gaze as he opened his eyes again. I felt the urge to connect our lips again rise up in me, but as I began to lean closer to Keita, a sudden sound interrupted us – the loud grumbling of my stomach. Ah… The worst possible timing...With the intimate moment ruined, Keita and I froze in place and simply stared at each other for a few moments, until Keita opened his mouth to speak. However, before he could even get a single syllable out, he, too, was interrupted by a low grumble coming from his stomach.
Hearing it and realizing the absurdity of the sequence of events, I began to laugh uncontrollably, with Keita joining me shortly afterwards.
"...Haah… that is too funny…" I managed to say after my laughter died down, wiping the corners of my eyes. "I can't remember the last time I laughed like that."
"...Same here. Maybe we should… eat the stuff we bought, ahahaa..." Keita said and brought up his sandwich, still confined within its plastic packaging.
"Yes, we probably should." I replied with a giggle, reaching for my own food.
The two of us settled into quietly eating our food, with Keita playing a game on his phone with one hand as he munched on his sandwich. Occasionally we'd chat about something or other – mainly games – but primarily focused on our food. Talking with Keita and the intimate moment we shared had made me forget momentarily how hungry I had been, so I was more than eager to chow down on the convenience store bento I had bought.
After we finished with our meals and disposed of the trash, we returned to the bench we had occupied and sat down to silently observe the sky as it grew ever so darker. Keita seemed to feel a bit awkward at first, as if unsure what to do next (his clear inexperience with dating showing – though it wasn't like I was any better in that department), but after taking a hold of his hand and intertwining our fingers, he seemed to relax. Truth be told, I don't really know what to do now either, but this feels… right. Just the two of us, sitting down comfortably. I leaned my head on Keita's shoulder, the act causing him to jump a little in surprise, before his shoulders relaxed again as he took a deep breath.
"S-so… You had fun today, right?" Keita finally broke the silence between us – perhaps he was still feeling awkward about the situation – and I made a small sound of approval. "That's… good to know. I'll… I-I'll be sure to take you on better dates in the future!" He then said with conviction in his voice and pumped his fist in the air with his free hand. "We'll… go to the movies, and… and… visit c-cafes, and stuff… Um…" Keita's conviction wavered somewhat, and he began to mutter to himself. "...What other places are there that couples go on dates to..? Maybe I should ask Uehara-kun again…" I smiled at Keita, finding him trying so hard endearing.
"Keita." I spoke out to snap Keita out of his mutterings, waiting for him to meet my gaze before I spoke again. "You don't have to think so hard about it. We're… both new to this, so you don't have to try and impress me. I'm... the h-happiest girl on the planet when I'm with you, no matter where we are." My words caused Keita to blush, and I felt myself smiling at the sight.
"...R-right, of course, sorry. I'm… happy when I'm together with you as well, Karen. It… feels like a dream sometimes, hahaa…" Keita awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, but smiled. "It's… getting a bit late, so… should we head home?" I first looked up at the darkening sky, then pulled out my phone to check the time. As much as I would want to just spend the entire evening together with Keita… Well, there's always tomorrow.
"Yeah, we probably should." I replied and – reluctantly – let go of Keita's hand as I stood up, then stretched. "I had lots of fun today, Keita. I hope we can go on more dates like this." I said with a smile as I turned to Keita, and he hurried to his feet.
"O-of course, Karen! I-I would love to as well." Keita replied hastily.
"I'll be looking forward to it, then. I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Picking up my bag from the ground, I waved Keita goodbye, and after he returned the gesture, I began to walk off. It was a surprise when he asked me out on the date today, but… This was a lot of fun. Ah, I feel like I'm recharged enough to take on the toughest boss battle there is! "Karen, wait up!" A sudden shout interrupted my thoughts, and I turned back to see Keita hurriedly making his way to me.
"What is it?" I asked from Keita as he caught up to me, both of us coming to a halt. His cheeks were slightly flushed and his gaze flitted about, not quite meeting my eyes.
"W-well… I thought that… In a situation like this in a d-dating sim, there'd be an option for the protagonist to walk the heroine to her home, s-so…" Keita explained to me, then awkwardly held out his hand.
"O-oh, I… g-guess that's…" I felt my cheeks heating up slightly, but then smiled and took Keita's hand, which finally caused him to look me in the eyes. "...L-let's go, then." Keita smiled and nodded at me, and I continued on my journey home – now with my boyfriend escorting me.
Today truly was great. I hope this is only one of the many dates we'll go on together in the future.
AN: And that's this chapter done. I had the revised version of the first chapter done on Valentine's Day, but wanted to finish this one before I uploaded them both. As it turns out, my Pokemon Legends: Arceus addiction got the better of me, and it took me about two weeks to actually finish this chapter. Oh well, just pretend it's still the 14th of February, and all will be good.
As I said up top, this story will from now on be a collection of oneshots that I'll be updating whenever I feel like it. I've got some ideas for future chapters already, but don't expect anything any time soon. Keep an eye on the story, though!
