Zaizen Touko hummed to herself as she stared at the clock in the middle of the square. It had been 20 minutes since she had arrived, but her anticipation only grew with each passing minute.

"Sorry for being late!" Sakuma Jirou called, jogging his way over to her.

"Sakuma!" she cheered, waving her hand so he would have no doubt of her location. He slowed down to a stop, panting as though he had just run a marathon.

"I'm really sorry, the train schedules became faulty and you know how they are. Did you wait long?" he asked, full of concern. It amused her how fussy he was over such trivial matters.

"No worries, I should be apologizing for making you come out all the way here!" she responded and Sakuma could only chuckle. However, his face immediately became stern upon seeing her attire.

"You do remember why we're here today, right?" he asked, eyebrow raised in doubt. She nodded her head but he sighed in response. "Then why are you out dressing manlier than me?"

Touko had to survey her own clothing just to understand his words. She was wearing a white shirt with a cream coloured vest over it, and covered them with a royal blue denim blazer. Loose fit jeans covered her legs and she sported leather shoes with low heels that boosted her height. Replacing her usual blue hat was a royal blue newsboy cap instead. In her attempt to add a feminine touch, she adorned a few trinkets around her wrists. "Be glad I didn't come wearing my SP Fixers suit," she retorted. "I even put effort to wear accessories, you don't see many guys wearing these," she said as she jingled the bracelets in front of his face.

"And you don't see many girls going out looking like a preppy college man," Sakuma rebuffed. She frowned and looked for something to nitpick out of his own attire. However, from his orange shirt and white jacket, to his baggy cream pants, she had nothing to say. Even his decorative necklace was coordinated perfectly into the casual selection of clothing.

Touko's peppy mood simply fell, grumpy with herself more than anything. "I can't even coordinate my own clothes properly, and here I am supposed to pick out something for a gala," she rolled her eyes at the thought of being constricted by a dress.

Sakuma pat her head, and she looked up to meet his eyes. "Well, that's why I'm here to help my girl dress up nice, right?" he grinned, and with a wink, a shade of pink tinted Touko's cheeks. She slapped his shoulder playfully, flustered. No matter how many times he would call her that, she could never get used to it.

"I'm going to teach you a lot of new terms today," Sakuma said smugly. "First one is 'window shopping.'"

Touko groaned at the idiotic way he was treating her. "Look, I may not go shopping much but Rika has dragged me out on enough shopping trips that I at least know what window shopping is!"

"Well, color me surprised then. Now lead the way," he chuckled, amused by her sudden outburst. Seeing new sides of her like this was one of the endless things he loved about her. "Let's see what you deem as gala worthy."

They walked by numerous stores, rarely going in because of Touko's almost habitual disinterest in the glamorous dresses up for display. Rather, suits were what piqued her interest and it took a lot of persuading by Sakuma to avoid entering. "Funny one, you are. I've seen girls practically screaming with joy as they get those gorgeous dresses, and yet here you are, hardly batting an eye over them," Sakuma commented as they exited a sportswear store.

"Why do I even have to wear a dress? Can't I just wear a suit as Papa's bodyguard to this stupid gala?" She protested, still upset over this tiny fact.

"The guests are here to see the Prime Minister's daughter, not his bodyguard," he sighed. "Besides, you were the one who insisted on this trip in the first place." He immediately put her in a spot, and she could only pout. A chuckle slipped from Sakuma's lips, though as mean as it was, he loved her pouty face too.

"Then you pick my dress for me," she fumed, absolutely frustrated at that point. "Since I clearly lack the fashion sense!" By the time she calmed down, she realized how childish she was acting and her face turned red with embarrassment. She stormed off, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Hey, don't be like that," he chuckled as he grabbed her shoulder, but she refused to stop there. "Zaizen-saaaan~" he said playfully in hopes of cheering her up but to no avail. "Hey, Touko. Look at me," he held her shoulders, in a calm tone as he tried to turn her around. She stopped walking but she was determined not to meet his eyes. Even as he tried to turn her with his own strength, she didn't budge. Pretending to give up, he let go and sighed. "Aaah, I guess that's it, then. We'll really just have to call it the quits since someone just can't decide—"

"Sakuma!" she cried, finally turning around. With a smirk, he wrapped an arm around her waist, preventing her from turning back.

"You finally faced me, huh?" he smirked.

She sighed in defeat and surrendered to his grip. "It's just, I'll never meet those girlfriend standards you have," she murmured, looking down almost shamefully. "I can't dress cutely, I'd rather watch an action horror film than some chick flick, and I act like a child more than anything whenever we go out. So, why me?" Sakuma felt her body tremble, which was a first.

Sighing, he hugged Touko and pat her head. "Don't cry, don't cry," he hushed, stroking her head.

"I'm not crying!" she retorted, jerking her head up to prove him wrong.

"I know you're not," he grinned. "Glad to see that you're just fine." She pouted, disappointed that she fell for his bait.

"Maybe you are a terrible girlfriend, not squealing over dresses, not wearing a cute dress or even a skirt as we go out, and the absolute worst? Always being more gentlemanly than I am!" Sakuma frowned.

"Wow, gee, that sure cheered me up," Touko rolled her eyes but he hadn't finished.

"But you know what? Even if you don't do those stereotyped girl stuff," he said almost wistfully, tucking away stray hair strands behind her ear, "I fell for the Zaizen Touko who dresses in suits, who sleeps during romance movies, who acts like a child with me." Touko chuckled, hitting his chest playfully.

"So that makes you the best girlfriend already," he grinned, leaving a small peck on her forehead.

"You bully," she giggled, beaming from ear to ear. "I love you too, Sakuma."

Sakuma tilted his head to the side in slight confusion. "Why don't you call me Jirou? I call you Touko just fine."

"You know it's because I don't want my dad's name getting out, everyone calls me Touko anyway," she rolled her eyes, knowing they'd gone over this. "Besides, it's embarrassing."

Sakuma smirked upon hearing her mumble the last few words. To think the brave Touko would be embarrassed by such a thing. Though it was one of the adorable things he loved about her.

"Touko-chan?" he teased, earning a tint of blush on her cheeks. "Don't be shy and call me Jirou, come on."

"Aaaaaaah, I REALLY feel like finding my dress right now, let's go," she ignored, grabbing his arm as she dragged him to find another dress store. "The faster I find a dress, the faster I can shop for suits."

"It's always suits with you," he sighed, as he kept up with her pace. Though he'd hoped she would really did feel enthusiastic about the dress hunting, he knew there was something behind it.

"It's for you, though?"

Sakuma immediately stopped in his tracks, dumbfounded, as Touko slowed her pace, looking at him as if it were the most obvious thing. And he could only ask the most obvious thing.

"Why?"

This time, Touko had a cheeky grin on her face before answering.

"Because you're coming to this gala with me, aren't you, Jirou?"

And for the first time that day, Sakuma had to hide his blush.