Minene stood outside of the restaurant, waiting for Nishijima. She almost backed out of the idea to meet him there, given it was such a public area, but then she realized it was nearly midnight. People were going to be drunk and not giving a shit about a cop and a woman who might look like Uryuu Minene.

Quite a few people walked past her, either not recognizing her or not glancing her way twice. She couldn't blame them, after all, who'd want to look at her more than once? She was missing one eye, and a hand. Her appearance didn't exactly scream 'wife material'.

Nishijima didn't show up until almost 12:30. He was out of breath when he was caught up to her, and she raised a brow, giving him a look. "You sure took a long time," she told him, crossing her arms.

"Sorry, I told you I'd be late! I just got off work," he explained to an unimpressed Minene.

"Let's just go," she muttered, turning her back to the man.

"How long were you waiting?" he asked her, trying to catch up to her fleeting form.

"Who cares?" she returned.

Once inside the restaurant, Nishijima requested a booth, specifically one located in the back of the building. The waitress gave them a knowing smile, and Minene wanted to yell, 'It's not like that!' but decided against it when Nishijima took her hand in his.

She ripped her hand from his own and shot him a glare as they followed the waitress. Once sitting down and left alone, Minene briefly agreed mentally to the setting- she and the cop were the only ones seated in the back, no one would be able to hear their conversation easily- before turning on Nishijima. "Why did you hold my hand?" she asked as he sat down right beside her. She wanted to question that too, but let it go.

"I thought it would be better if people were under the impression we were dating," he offered an explanation. "No one would think someone like you would find love."

Those last words should have left Minene at a loss for words, but they didn't. She just shrugged, thinking that she also didn't think she'd find love...but then Second World Nishijima came and changed her. He offered a life to someone who didn't deserve it. He took in a broken Minene, with the mindset to fix her and her problems. He'll always be a part of her heart, what's left of it anyway.

"What are you thinking about?" Third World Nishijima interrupts her thoughts.

"I'm thinking I want a drink," she answered. Her words elicited a chuckle from him, as well as wave towards the waitress to signal they were ready to order.

Minene ordered one of the expensive drinks, not really caring what it was called or what was included in the ingredients, Nishijima ordered a beer. Once the waitress left with the orders, Nishijima gave Minene a look. "Why did you order one of the expensive drinks?"

"Because I'm not the one buying," she smirked, bringing to light the words that left his mouth a few nights prior to that evening. He agreed to buying her a drink that night.

"If I remember correctly, you asked me to buy you a beer," he retorted.

"I changed my mind when I saw the pretty colors in the picture," she responded in a voice lighter than she intended to use.

Nishijima gave her a smile that held the right touch of innocence and sweetness, it made her heart tighten and she had to look away. She honestly couldn't remember Second World Nishijima giving her a look like that.

"Are you blushing?" he asked her, giving her a full smile as he leaned towards her a little.

"No, the lights are dimmed, aren't they?" she asked him. "It's just the reflection of that, you idiot."

"Whatever you say," he told her, leaning away to resume his original sitting position.

The waitress returned to their table and set their drinks in front of them. Minene swirled her drink filled with multiple colors using a straw, and watched the liquid mix to form one shade as Nishijima sipped his beer. "You know, it looks like we're on a date," he told her lightly.

"But we're not," she shut him down.

"We could be," he insisted and leaned his cheek on his hand to look at the woman more comfortably.

"Well then," Minene said in a deep, sensual voice, trying to sound like a different woman, "sorry I didn't pretty myself up for the occasion...if I only knew sooner that you wanted to buy me a drink."

"But you are pretty," Nishijima told her matter-of-factly. "You're beautiful!"

Minene's heart thumped quickly in her chest, and she tried to shake his words off by crossing one leg over the other and smirking. "Yes because the trend nowadays is an eyepatch and a missing hand," she told him, setting her incomplete forearm on the table for the first time that evening to back up her sarcastic comment.

"It doesn't matter how you look, Minene," Nishijima told her in a gentle tone, much different than how he spoke to her so far. "I wouldn't look at you any differently if you were-for lack of a better word-whole, that same thing goes for if you were missing more than that. You're you, and you're beautiful."

Minene said nothing to him in return, she only felt heat creep up into her face.

Nishijima observed her uncomfortable state and started another topic. "Shall you continue on with the story, or can I continue making you uncomfortable?"

I hope everyone likes this chapter! Am I writing Minene's and Nishijima's characters correctly? What do you think? Please tell me if I need to improve.