"Today is the day." Hina said to her bears when she awoke Sunday morning. She sang to herself as she got dressed, donning the red blouse, Capri's, and headband that her friends had picked out for her. Asou would be coming by train so once she was ready she headed for the station. She even remembered to lock the door to her house before leaving.
Asou smiled upon seeing her. Hina was practically radiating cheerfulness and, as always, it was contagious. They greeted each other and started walking towards the nearby shopping plaza, allowing themselves to enjoy each other's company in silence for the moment.
"Do you want to walk around for a while?"
"Sure!" Hinata replied, cheering inwardly that they would be hanging out for a longer period of time. Hinata talked excitedly about items they had seen in stores and of other things she thought of, often going on tangents that he usually couldn't trace back to their origins. She also sang to herself a lot, a trait which Asou found quite endearing.
Eventually he saw that it was getting late and they made a quick stop to the hardware store to purchase the alarm system. He chose the best one available that was also user friendly. It wouldn't help if Hinata tripped the alarm by accident or couldn't figure out how to set it.
They arrived at Hina's house around dinner time. As she set about preparing their meal Asou worked on getting the alarm set up. He also answered her many questions regarding just exactly what he was doing.
"Just having an alarm severely reduces the risk of someone breaking in, but it only works if you set it up right."
"Right!"
"Make a note if you have to, but don't forget. Or else I'll call you every night if I have to remind you."
"Okay," she said blushing. She wouldn't mind getting a call from Asou san every night.
He worked diligently and Hinata helped when she could, bringing him tools and the occasional glass of water. When he finally finished he sat back and sighed. "That took longer than I thought. What time is it?"
"It's ten thirty." She replied, not showing any signs of fatigue. Asou, on the other hand, felt tired after the tedious labor.
Before he had a chance to begrudgingly bring up his inevitable departure Hinata said, "You look tired Asou-san. Will you be able to make it back to the train?" He thought about it for a moment and was skeptical, but it wasn't like he had any other options. "You can stay for the night if you want."
He looked at her in surprise, not only at the innocent offer but at the fact that she seemed to be responding to his unspoken thoughts. He knew it wouldn't be right to stay and take advantage of her hospitality but his heavy lids protested the thought of making such an inconvenient trip so late at night. "Why not?" he answered with a sigh.
"Yay! Sleepover with Asou-san!" Hinata cheered as she brought out extra blankets for a second futon. She had school the next day but stayed up late chatting with Asou, who was trying his best not to nod off mid-sentence.
She left for school before Asou had risen and was careful not to wake him. When she arrived at the school gate she was greeted by her friends, who quickly bombarded her with questions.
"How did the date go Hina?" Emi asked before she even had time to greet them.
"It was really nice. I had a lot of fun spending time with Asou-san." She left out the part about him sleeping over since she thought that might make her friends worry and it seemed like the type of thing Asou would tell her to keep secret. She smiled to herself. Our secret.