He stood there, uncomfortable, hand resting on his belly and cold sweat falling from his pores. It was all he could do to stay standing as his guts and innards decided to play a game of twister with the limited hues of human flesh. Then again, Issei Hyoudou could not think so articulately, right now all he could say was that asshole who described first date jitters as "butterflies in your stomach" was a total liar. To the young man, it felt more like torture, what with the waiting in the middle of a busy shopping district and sweating up a swimming pool's worth of salt. More than his stomach pains, Issei Hyoudou was also constantly hyper aware of himself, his clothes, his hygiene, his smell and the state of his clothing. He couldn't stay still at all and had to check on them every five seconds. As for his date plan, he was retracing every step, every second he could spare not smelling his pits or resisting the kneejerk reflex to head for the bathroom. It would be pretty lame for a guy like him to make his date wait after all.
On the topic of his date, Issei's face quickly went into goofy lech mode. All mellow with enlarged nostrils, droopy eyes and a lop-sided grin that left his jaw wide open. It was that kind of face you want to punch, no matter whose face it was. Couldn't blame him though, he was going out on a hot date. A hot first date to be precise.
The girl he was meeting today was cute but shapely. With a height a whole head less than himself, breasts he couldn't hold in one hand, waist so narrow he could hold her in one arm and hips that could spit out kids no problem. She had a cute face to boot. A real knock-out if he ever saw one. As mysoginistic as those descriptions sound, he was honestly praising her. Never before had he been so smitten with a single female. None of the girls he'd seen before could ever compare. She was perfection incarnate with fair peach tanned skin and ebony black hair.
Though all this fantastical outlook of her could likely be a consequence of being the first and only girl to have ever asked him out... Nah.
Working past the pain, the young man clenched his fist and stared hard at the closed fingers. He gathered his determination and strength in them before hitting himself on his left pectoral. A silent roar of self-encouragement cried out in his heart as he did the metaphorical equivalent of injecting confidence in himself. This was his time. He would take a girl out on a date, make her happy and get to third base before the night was over. He would obtain a memento of the day and he would prove to his so-called partners in perversion that his girlfriend wasn't fake in any sense of the word.
Issei remembered the morning he proudly shared news of his relationship to his friends. It was a clear blue sky much like today.
"Hey! Matsuda! Motohama!", Hyoudou called out to his two friends.
The two were marching listlessly. Understandable given how early it was in the morning. The roads on the way to Kuoh were still sparse when the duo were flagged down by the third man of their triad. Matsuda, ever the de-facto leader, took it upon himself to answer for the two of them.
"Yo Issei." The bald teen raised a hand in greeting before using it to cover up the yawn forcing his mouth agape.
Issei paused midstep in his approach when he saw the state the two were in. "What happened to you?", he looked between the two co-perverts of his.
Matsuda was nowhere near as chipper as he should be. He was slouching forward with one hand casually in his pocket. There was a somber air about him that Issei couldn't put his finger on but something really bothered him about that stance. It was too cool! Too suave! Was this person really Matsuda? He was by no means a bishonen, but he was really rocking that aura.
Trailing behind was a worn out Motohama. The glasses wearing teen wasn't nearly as confidence exuding in his walk like Matsuda was but there was a certain way he was hunching. It wasn't like the cool guy hunch that Matsuda had, more like a dead tired walk. In no way was it disturbing or disgusting like the normal though. The way his head was bobbing up instead of dipping down, fighting to stay awake. It wasn't the gait of a slacker but instead the determined walk of a hardworker! He was mumbling under his breath with no attention being spared to neither Issei nor Matsuda. He looked so engrossed in his mumbling that it wasn't far off to guess that he wasn't walking with his bald compatriot but rather walking as his feet remembers the route.
Seeing as Motohama was in no condition to answer, Issei decided to bank on the baldy pervert. Matsuda did not disappoint as he spoke after a lengthy yawn. "Not much, just went through some of my old works last night. Got me sleeping later than I normally do.".
"Whoa." Issei voiced in surprise. Matsuda sleeping later than usual? This is the guy who makes good use of his porn magazines until well unto dawn. And by saying something like old works, he should be referring to... "You were looking back on all your past conquests?" Issei asked with a knowing grin. They were pictures of girls Matsuda had taken since middle school. Issei had been shown a small sample of them and each was in some state of undress one way or the other. Even if they were fully clothed, the angles were always perfect to capture voyeurtastic material.
Matsuda's mouth turned into a thin line before he nodded, "Yeah."
That dropped the smile off Issei's face. The brunette stumbled back, Matsuda had this intense expressin on his face. Like he was thinking real deep or something. It wasn't like the easy-going baldy pervert at all. Hyoudou turned his gaze to the bespectacled Motohama in hopes that he wasn't infected with whatever it was eating at Matsuda. Thankfully for Issei's inner pervert, his fellow lech showed no signs of this odd serious behavior as the one known far and wide as the Three Size Scouter was mumbling measurements under his breath. To be precise, he was mumbling the sacred numbers of a woman's three sizes.
"92-56-78, Akira Mitsumiya. 82-52-80, Sanae Kadowa-" Issei heard Motohama mutter and he realized that the bespectacled young man was reciting the measurements of celebrities. The two he bothered two he recognized precisely as idols who are well late into their teens. But somewhere in there Hyoudou recognized some adult video actresses being mentioned as well.
This wasn't bad like with Matsuda but it was certainly bizarre. What was wrong with their MVP? Most valuable pervert. They needed him to identify which were hits or misses during girl watching! Beyond the capacity to see the exact sizes of girls with that feaed three size scouter, Motohama had the uncanny ability to tell girls with padding and plastic surgery from those who had neither. Though Kuoh in itself had girls born with natural beauty by the dozen, there were still those few who got by purely on make-up. By their standards, that was unacceptable!
"Hey Motohama." Issei tried to break his friend out of the self-induced spell. "You in there buddy?", he raised one hand and waved it in front of the glare blocked lenses of the young man.
The bespectacled boy easily slapped away the hand in a mock dismissive gesture. He rolled his eyes; despite others not being able to see. "Yes Issei, I'm here." came the grouchy response.
A beat of tense silence followed after that rather bitter sounding remark; then laughtererupted between the young men. "Sorry 'bout that Issei. Rought night, seeing as what we dealt with a few hours prior to hitting the hay.", Matsuda reasoned to his friend with that idiot grin you'd normally see on him.
"Ugh. Yeah, that Hamuko.", Motohama rubbed at his belly. The lad probably still felt the phantom pains from that time. "I swear she gets deadlier and deadlier with that broom of hers every time we see her.".
"Tell me about it.", Issei grumbled alongside them. Before the somber mood could settle, Issei remembered the reason why he called out to his friends earlier besides the normal morning commute to school. "Hey guys!" he excitedly called the attention of his friends.
Matsuda saw the hopped up look on Issei's face and proppred up a brow. "What's up?", he asked.
The brunette just laughed, confusing the two before cheekily telling them that they'd be taking a short detour that morning. They asked him why but he just gave them a cryptic, "You'll see..." before leading thm off into a side road. The two saw no reason to object as that route was only slightly out of the way so they followed their friend after a shared glance and simultaneous shrug of shoulders.
There was nothing particularly interesting about the route Issei had forced his friends to take. It was the same middle to upper class residential district that surrounded Kuoh all around. Privately owned stores and establishments dotted the street every now and then but over all there was nothng of particular interest; that is until they reached a bus stop at the corner going back to their regular route.
Right by the rectangular sign stood a girl. Not just any girl, but a really hot girl. She was short, even by a girl's standards she was probably a few centimeters shy of reaching the median. This put her at a clear head's worth of height less than the boys. That wasn't enough to catch their attention though.; what did catch their eye were those insane proportions. For a girl of her size, she was stacked in all the right places. A generous chest, narrow waist that gaveway to child-bearing hips. Good god this girl's body was dynamite. Her face was no less striking with those big doe eyes and ebony hair floating in the wind in intoxicating waves. She was exactly the kind of girl they drooled over all the days of their lives. Cute enough to be a little sister but sexy enough to be a big sis.
Issei's grin grew when the girl recognized their little group and began waving. "Issei-san!", she ran over to them with a skip in her step. Every little bounce in her feet flipping up that sinfully short skirt she wore as part of her school's uniform. It afforded anyone who had the gal to stare for more than a few seconds; a free show of her flush shapely thighs all the way to the rounded cheeks of her rear. The way her blazer hugged her form as if it were about to burst at the chest; did nothing to calm racing hearts either. Said girl reached the trio and quickly wrapped her arms around Issei's free hand. The feel of her soft bossom pressing against his triceps made him grin like an idiot but he just had to see the reaction on his friends' faces; even if he was being open about how much he was being a smug douche.
What Issei saw was not exactly what he was expecting. He expected outrage, incredulity, hormonally charged teen adolescent jealousy. Instead, he found outrage but it was contained. Matsuda had the look of a guy who was as suspicious as he was angry. Motohama was closer to Issei's image as the young man had a jaw open wide enough to encourage the entrance of flies. That jaw-dropped image was completed with jerky shaking hands being raised in the air as if to strangle him.
It wasn't up to his standards of friendly dissing, but it made the smile on his face more dopey all the same. Seriously, his friends always had something over him when it came to pervertedness, Matsuda with his paparazzi powers combined with athletics; Motohama, with that crazy analytic ability of his. But now, Issei had something over them that none of the three had ever achieved before in their history as co-perverts. Hyoudou Issei was the first among them to get a girlfriend and he was going to rub it in their faces.
"Good morning Yuuma-chan. Ready to head for school?", the brunette asked his girlfriend in the sweetest voice he could muster with a kissy face. Issei was really laying it on thick as he put on a show for his friends.
The girl shrank back from the advance and playfully tapped him on the arm, "Oh Issei-san. Stop, the others are watching.".
Issei chuckled good-naturedly as he retracted his lips from her face. "Well don't worry. They aren't strangers, they're my friends."
Yuuma tipped her head cutely to one side. "The ones you were going to introduce me to?", she confirmed the earlier promise to her.
"Yup.", Issei nodded confidently. He raised one arm to gesture towards his friends. "They might not look like much but they're my best friends.", he pointed to Matsuda, "The bald one is Matsuda", he turned his finger to Motohama who had shut his mouth and put his hands down; though he's still shaking, "and this here is Motohama. If you ever see them, don't be afraid to say hi." He leaned in close to Yuuma and whispered, "They're kind of perverts though so don't hesitate to tell me if they do anything weird or make you uncomfortable." Issei raised one arm as if showing off his biceps, "I'll set'em straight for 'ya."
Issei's girlfriend had confused look at first but beamed up at him with a nod, "Thank you Issei-san."
A relatively muscular arm quickly wrapped itself around Issei's neck from behind. Despite the long sleeve covering it, the brunette could feel the tough swell of well developed biceps. "Who are you gonna set straight hmmm?", the haunting voice of Matsuda hung over Issei.
The sudden headlock caused Yuuma to lose her grip on Issei's arm. This made her squeak in alarm and Matsuda let go of his hold on Issei not much long after he started it. He gave the surprised girl a small grin before apologizing and approached to take her hand soothingly. "Ah sorry Yuuma-chan. I was just messing around with Issei here.", he laughed awkwardly before letting go of the sinfully soft skin of the girl. Matsuda caught the brunette in a noogie again to illustrate his point, "This guy gets carried away sometimes so we gotta put him in his place every now and then."
A small mischievous smile appeared on Yuuma's face when she nodded back, "I know what you mean. He tends to get ahead of himself even though we just started going out."
"Riiiight?", Motohama suddenly cut in grabbing the hands of Issei's girlfriend. "He's really scum, so if you ever need a shoulder to cry on because he's being a jerk or a new boyfriend then you can always call me."
Yuuma felt a large drop of sweat roll down the back of her head, "Umm... I don't think it's that bad."
"Oh Yuuma-chan. How misguided you are.", the young bespectacled male shook his head. "Let me educate you on the inner workings of Hyoudou's mind." Motohama turned the shorter girl around and urged her forward by the shoulders. Before pushing her off, Motohama gave Matsuda a meaningful look before chiming, "Now if you would kindly walk this way." as he lead Yuuma away.
Matsuda caught the silent message in Motohama's single glance and nodded. The former athlete's grip on Issei slackened ever so slightly spurring the young man to break out of his grasp. Issei immediately began ranting at Motohama's back to keep his hands off of Yuuma. Matsuda believed this was likely because it was in their nature to feel a girl up given the chance. Not that Issei was wrong but...
Matsuda grabbed Issei by one shoulder and spun him around. On the bald pervert's face was a seriousness the brunette could never associate with the cueball. "Issei.", Matsuda called his friend's attention. "How did you meet that girl?".
The brunette raised a questioning eyebrow; then a few moments later, it turned into a smug grin. "Well,", he drug out the first vowel, "remember how we got beat up by Hamuko a few days ago for peeping in on the kendo team's locker room?".
Matsuda nodded, "Well, yeah. How could I forget? It was my idea." The bald one didn't know where Issei was going with this. They were all at the infirmary for a time and they left the school at different points of the afternoon. That meant they all went home alone that time; which means... No way... "That day!?", Matsuda's face exploded into disbelief.
The smell of victory was sweet for Issei as he rested both knuckles on either side of his waist. "Yes way.", he replied in triumph. "I was going home late into the sunset and just as I was preoccupied with the day of defeat. She swooped in and made my day by confessing to me with her breasts. Nyahahahahahahaha!", Issei laughed rashly.
In the face of this overwhelming celebration, Matsuda's expression could not be seen. He was looking down to the ground and shaking. There was something wrong with this picture. How could a no name clown like Hyoudou get with a girl that hot? Motohama had sensed it, he had sensed it. Could it actually be? But Hyoudou doesn't have any money. "Issei!", the young man screamed as he grabbed his brunette friend by the collar.
"Wh-Wha?", Issei stood shocked by the course of action Matsuda was taking. "What's happening?"
Matsuda looked in the direction Motohama and that girl had taken before turning back to Issei. "Get away from that girl Issei. She's bad news.".
"Wh-what?", Issei repeated his vocabulary flub for the second time, only this time completing the word. "What do you mean Yuuma's bad news?"
"Think Issei. No way is a girl that hot going out with someone like you. There's got to be a catch!", Matsuda shook Issei by the collar.
"It's just my pheromones kicking in. Don't be so jealous.", the brunette joked with a smug grin.
Matsuda gave Issei a flat glare. "Seriously Issei. Why would I be jealous of you?"
Issei' brows knit together in confusion at his friend's unexpected response. "You're not?"
"Ofcourse I am!", Matsuda bellowed. He caught on to the accusing look Issei was giving him before he added on, "but that's beside the point. Even an idiot like me can tell that something's up. If she went home with me I'd think twice about her motives too." Issei's stare turned into a pointed glare. "Okay maybe I wouldn't", Matsuda conceded, "but I'd probably figure out she was bad news sooner or later. Right now it's just easier to tell from the outside looking in."
An angry huff escaped Issei as he deflated his proud chest. He placed one understanding hand on Matsuda's shoulder before saying, "Matsuda. I understand if you're jealous", his grip tightened on the bald young man's shoulder, "but I won't stand for you insulting Yuuma-chan. Saying things like her being a bad person will get you in trouble with me. I'll let it slide because you're my friend though so I-ah-ah-ah!"
Matsuda looked lazily down at Issei as the brunette was positioning his body oddly in order to keep his fingers from breaking. To be precise, fingers that were being bent the wrong way. To be even more precise, the fingers Issei used to grab Matsuda's shoulder being bent by said young man. "You do know in this troop, you might be the bull-headed one but I've always been the muscle right?"
"I just remembered.", Issei squeaked out.
Matsuda let the young man go; and Issei recovered indignantly by blowing on his stinging fingers. He turned back to Matsuda with a sour gaze and asked, "You're my friend Matsuda, so I want to believe you. But Yuuma-chan is so sweet. She doesn't look like she could hurt a fly, much less break hearts." Issei curled his hurting fingers into a tight fist. "Just tell me, what makes you think she's not being truthful about liking me?"
Matsuda considered this for a moment, rolling the thought around in his mind. "If I had to put words to it...", he began and hummed for a few more moments. "I'd say it's a feeling I have."
Flabbergasted, Issei grabbed Matsuda by the front of the uniform and lifted the former athlete up as much as sheer rage could afford in strength. "That's it? A feeling? You insult my girlfriend over something as stupid as a feeling?"
The former athlete smacked away the angry teen's hands and gave his own indignant huff. "I hate to say it Issei, but it's not just any feeling." Matsuda set his lips into an irritated line, "In middle school, I was a photographer. A damn good one if I do say so myself. I've taken pictures of lots of things, lots of people. I've only done perverted pictures just before entering Kuoh and deciding against living on the straight and narrow. Even back then, I've taken pictures of thousands of people smiling-"
"Just get to the point Matsuda."
The bald young man regarded his brunette friend. "Sorry to tell you this Issei. But your girlfriend's smile is fake."
"What?"
"Faker than the smiles that our student council president gives out of politeness."
"No..."
"Faker than Sakaki Miura's boobs."
"You take that back! My favorite AV idol's boobs are 100% real!"
"She admitted they were fake on twitter!"
That last statement stunned Issei into silence. Matsuda watched his friend with an apologetic grimace. "I'm sorry Issei, but that's the truth."
"No.", Issei shook his head, "You're lying. You have to be lying! About both Yuuma and Miura's boobs!"
"Issei..."
"I've heard enough!", Issei looked down at his hands. He turned a heated gaze towards his friend and told him straight out. "I'll prove it to you. I'll go on a date with Yuuma-chan and prove that she's a nice girl and that she's really in love with me."
The bald teen looked away. "Dude, don't be such an idiot." A moment passes before Matsuda heaves a heavy sigh and reluctantly puts an encouraging hand on Issei's shoulder, "Well, if I can't stop you then I hope you can make things work out with her. And if that doesn't work..." Matsuda's face turned into a lecherous grin as he raised a thumbs-up, "you can always cop a feel."
Issei shrugged the hand off, "It won't come to that. Yuuma and I will definitely become a lovey-dovey couple! Though I'll still cop a feel anyway if I can." Issei raised a challenging finger, pointing it at his friend. "As for what you said about my favorite AV idol", the brunette clenched the accusatory digit into a fist. "I will definitely feel them up someday to prove they're real!"
"Dude, give it up. Even I know that's impossible.", Matsuda rolled his eyes.
The brown-haired pervert looked Matsuda straight in the eye and said, "Nothing's impossible when I become the harem king."
A moment passed before Matsuda pulled up his phone with a sigh of his own and held it up so Issei could see the screen. "Before you do any of that oh great harem king. You might want to raise your flag over this first."
On the phone was a picture of some stretched taut blue-striped panties covering the very luscious rear quarters of a girl. Issei stared at it hypnotized and commented, "That is one nice tushy."
"You should think so.", Matsuda commented, "It's your girlfriend's butt."
"What!?", Issei grabbed Matsuda by the collar again. "You took a panty shot of my girlfriend!?"
Matsuda squinted in annoyance, thinking that all this shirt grabbing was bad for his uniform. "I also got other angles." He switched the photo to other pictures from different view points. One of them from a lower front angle, which was amazing since he took these pictures when he was enroute to pulling Issei into a headlock from behind some minutes ago.
"Do you really think I'm so low as to take those perverted photos of my newly minted girlfriend so I can imagine her as the star of my deepest and most depraved sexual fantasies?", the brunette roared to the crisp quiet morning.
Looking bored, Matsuda asked his friend who was still holding him by the collar. "So which pictures do you want?"
"ALL OF THEM! PLEASE!"
In hindsight of that flashback, Issei made a mental note that he really needed to work out and kick Matsuda's ass. If only to prove Sakaki Miura's breasts are real; or at least make him take back that slanderous statement of them being fake.
Snapping back to the present, Issei was highly conscious that the time he and his girlfriend agreed on was almost here, 11 A.M. right ready for lunch. He was completely sure that his outfit and plan were foolproof, there was no way for him to mess them up. Issei'd been checking on them for the last two hours since he arrived a little before nine in the morning. In two to three minute intervals. And in more hindsight, that was probably pretty creepy; but it was all for the sake of a perfect first date for his perfect girl. Never mind the crowd that was avoiding him or that one mother shielding her son's eyes as the child pointed at him.
"Issei-san!", a familiar cute voice called out to the preoccupied young man.
The brunette turned his head the way the voice came from. Lo and behold, there was Yuuma, running towards him in some seriously cute casual wear. A white cardigan over a light carnation camisole top. There were a few black bra straps peeking out, adding a sexiness factor already given by the large swells of the girl's breasts. To balance out all those light colors, her skirt was a dark navy blue. It did well to contrast with those healthy peach hued legs of hers. Her footsteps clopped against the pavement with red strapped white platform sandals. Hair dancing in the wind, falling freely and unstyled.
"Yuuma-chan.", Issei waved back lamely to his date. He was really full of energy and eager to go on this date but the way the crowd was staring at him now was kind of killing the mood. The brunette began to mentally chide himself.
Pull yourself together Hyoudou. You finally get a cute girl to go out on a date with you. Don't mind anyone else. Make sure this girl gets the time of her life and she'll be yours forever! Then you can move on and conquer harem member number 2!
"That's right.", Issei confidently mumbled to himself.
Yuuma's clopping footsteps came to a short halt as she peered up to her boyfriend with worried eyes, "Hmm? Is something wrong? You're mumbling something with such serious look on your face."
A happy grin burst forth from all that sternness on his face and he shook his head to calm her worries, "Don't worry Yuuma-chan. I was just thinking of how this day will be seriously fun."
"Seriously?", Yuuma raised a finely groomed brow with a small quirk to her soft lips. Then she started giggling, "Seriously." She paused then repeated the word, "Seriously." Then those giggles became laughter and her eyes caught Issei's in a stunning glance, "Seriously Issei-san. You're so silly." Yuuma took hold of his hans and gave them a slight squeeze, "We'll definitely have fun today. No matte what."
Issei's intoxicated grin and attraction shocked face sobered up into something a bit more gentle. He gave her an honest smile and nodded, "Yeah." The brunette quickly ran over a list in his head. The first order of business was lunch and he knw just where. He retraced the ideal scenic route where he could by her small trinkets on the way if she wanted in his head. Issei took a dominant hold on their linked hands, "Let's go grab some lunch. I've got a place in mind if the lady would let me."
A mischievous glint lit up in Yuuma's eyes and she tittered back in a mocking snub, "Well sir, this lady does not mind. So long as you can pay for the finest of meats and cheeses."
Issei gave her a puppy dog look, knowing how pricy those things are then threw in, "Why not throw in a bottle of wine why don't ya?"
"Sounds like a splendid idea.", Yuuma beamed back.
A moment passes and the two break out in laughter at their own little mock play. Arm in arm they take down the road. In their own little world, oblivious to the stares of strangers curious about the odd couple.
Issei takes Yuuma to a family restaurant. Nothing fancy but nothing harshly low brow. It's a quiant little establishment that has seen the better days of the young man's wallet. It offers good food, a good view of the shopping district and it provided a destination through a route of stalls Issei wanted Yuuma to see.
Various stalls had littered the streets on the way to the restaurant. Issei made sure to stay away from the main market streets where fish mongers, butchers and fruit vendors were. Instead, he stuck to the side roads where all teens their age hung out. There were various clothing stores, food stall, game stores and even a traditional japanese sweets shop.
As Issei had hoped, Yuuma enjoyed their little detour. She had stopped every now and then to browse the little odds and ends on sale. The two even bought a few as evidenced by the bangles that now adorned Yuuma's right wrist and scrunchy holding her hair up in a high ponytail.
Now sharing a small booth meant for four all to themselves, Issei allowed himself the luxury to appreciate his girlfriend wearing the gifts he bought for her. He listened to the way the bangles jingled as Yuuma turned the page to the menu. Slowly, his eyes drifted over to the base of her slender neck. Its curvature was nothing less than sexy. The way those loose strands of dark hair curled rebelliously over that milky white neck even when held up by the scrunchy. Mix that with the way he eyes were downcast on the menu and she was positively ravishing.
Issei raised his gaze to her face then her red eyes-
Wait, red? Yuuma's eyes were brown colored, kind of like chocolate; but this was red. An abnormal red if Issei had to profess. Where red of a remarkable shade would be a deep hue reminiscent of blood or ripe strawberries, this red was bright. An oddly pinkish red that made Issei think of oranges and maraschino cherries. His gaze fell down to lips set in an easy smile. None of the innocent seductive pouts and naturally kissable puffiness he'd attributed to his girlfriend's lips. Raven hair was replaced with hair the color of intoxicating amber wine tied into a ponytail different from his girlfriend's but one he knew all too well.
Issei nearly leapt back in surprise when he recognized those features as a whole. Constrained by the fixed bench of the family restaurant booth, he only managed to slam his back into the backrest in a comic, almost violent manner. His date, who was fingering through the pages of the menu, put aside the list of foods she was reading to ask if he was alright. She was giving him a curious look with those bright red eyes of hers as she asked, "Is anything wrong Issei-san?"
The male brunette blinked and those pair of bright red eyes were gone along with that easy going smile. The experience was surreal, if not creepy. Even still, he forced a smile through his uneasiness and strove to appease Yuuma, "No problem, I just remembered that we need to try their tempura meal here. It's really good."
"Is that so?", Yuuma smiled back at him before completely closing the menu. "Then let's just have that."
"Yeah.", Issei nodded, "Let's." He flagged down a waiter and placed their order along with a request for some iced water. Though Issei was speaking and working his date on the outside; inside he was jittery and freaking out, wondering why the heck did he imagine her in Yuuma's place of all people. Why couldn't it be someone like Sakaki Miura? At least then he'd have huge boobs to enjoy staring at. That meddling woman was probably around a B cup or a C cup. In his eyes she may as well not have breasts. And yet for all those flaws specific to Issei's standards, a small voice inside him noted that the woman who blocked his every perverted whim wasn't so bad.
As to be expected though, Issei quashed down such thoughts and labeled them treasonous to himself and his date. Seriously, a man who is going to become harem king doesn't need to be thinking of only one girl. Especially not one as insufferable as that one. He had to concentrate on his conquests, like his girlfriend.
A tall fogged glass of iced water appeared before Issei with a clink. He followed the arm that placed it there with his eyes and noted the empty tray in the waiter's hand. Likely the man had already gone to the kitchen to pass on the orders and come back with refreshments. This meant he had been spacing out for the span of at least five minutes. Not something you want to do on a date. But he ignored all that for a second and chugged down the liquid contents of his glass. All that processing of the earlier episode was overheating Issei's brain. Cold water was probably a bad idea in that situation though, because-
"Ah!", Issei raised his hands and grabbed his head.
Brain Freeze
Issei felt a warm hand rest over his left temple, stroking in soothing swirls. The young man opened his eyes to see who it was, and the owner of the hand was Yuuma. Concern was all over her face as she asked, "Are you okay? You shouldn't have drunk too fast."
Issei smiled to himself and nodded, "Yeah." This time he meant it. Seeing Yuuma like this, caring about him. He put his thoughts of pride, being harem king and all on the back burner for real this time. Today was this girl's day so he had to focus on her. "Hey Yuuma-chan."
"What is it Issei-san?", she asked back with a tip of her head.
"I kinda spaced out there on you for a second. Gotta say sorry for that.", the young man professed sheepishly.
Yuuma turned her head from side to side in a slow shake. "I didn't notice at all."
Issei smiled, this girl was really kind. "I feel like I should make it up to you anyway." He reached for his date's hand and held it in between his palms. "How about a movie at the mall later? I hear they have the best 3D and surround sound system."
Smiling wryly, Yuuma let Issei inspect her hand before intoning, "Weren't we planning to see a movie anyway?"
The question made Issei laugh. A movie was indeed part of his plans already but, "How about we make it a double bill?"
Yuuma's eyes lit up at that offer. "Then can we go see Romantic Heart and Red Road?"
Issei laughed at the childish excitement in his date's eyes. "Ofcourse."
"Yay!", Yuuma cheered, pulling away her hand from Issei then wrapping his in her smaller ones. "You're the best.", she told him as she gave a happy little squeeze.
Those words and actions warmed Issei in more ways than one. He was sure his cheeks were reddening but he didn't mind if it was for her. He was about to ask her what kind movies she chose but their food arrived with the announcement of the waiter. Rather than ask about it during the meal, he decided that maybe he'd prefer to be surprised.
So the two had lunch with light banter tossed around, sharing stories about their experiences in their respective schools and their friends along with some funny anecdotes and jokes. Issei did most of the joking. He found that he liked Yuuma's laugh, like really like. It was music to his ears and he did and said pretty much everything he could within the confines of the booth just to make her laugh. Even if the jokes he spoke were lame or fell flat. The slight to his dignity was worth Yuuma's expression of happiness.
Once lunch was over, the two lovebirds hit up the mall for their movie date. The first one available was Romantic Heart then followed by Red River. Issei learned then that his girlfriend was into really opposite sides of the movie genre spectrum. Romantic Heart is about a man with a fiancee but he dies in an accident before they can marry. His heart was transplanted to another man who needed it and the story came full circle when the other man met the first man's fiancee and they fell in love. Red River on the other hand was a horror action flick that belonged to the B-list sheerly from how over the top it was in violence, but the trailer playing in the lobby featured so many good effects that Issei gave it the benefit of the doubt in terms of quality. The synopsis seemed interesting too, what with a small river cruise on a luxury 1800's style steamer turns into a fight for survival when a deranged madman living in the surrounding jungles boards the ship and starts killing everyone on board..
Romantic Heart wasn't set to start for another half hour so Issei pulled Yuuma along to the arcade right beside the theaters. Issei specifically chose this theater not only because it had the best accommodations on the cheap but because it had little things like these arcades to kill time with on the side as well. They played a few games, took a photo-print together, and Yuuma even won Issei a prize. He tried to win Yuuma one on the crane game machines which were stuffed with more than just dolls; but he proved less than adequate so his girlfriend had to step in.
Those thirty minutes passed and the movie went by in a blur. The whole time Issei was enjoying himself as Yuuma held his arm affectionately in an embrace. He enjoyed it mostly for Yuuma's sizable bust rubbing onto his arm. The soft warm sensations entertaining him much more than the movie did. His eyes were more drawn to her luminescent blush as well so he ended up not seeing the movie at all.
Red River came up after a short thirty minutes after Romantic Heart ended; so the couple just restocked on snacks before heading in to claim their seats. With all of Issei's misgivings about the film, he ended up not seeing much of it anyway. Not to be misunderstood, he was in the theater the whole time. Yuuma was enjoying herself but Issei discovered exactly how badly he mixed with horror movies. For all his self spoken bravado and confidence in seeing this flick, it had him wrapping both arms around Yuuma for support while he hid his face in the crook of her neck screaming and bawling. The roles from the last movie had been reversed now, more or less. Yuuma was blushing all the way through the movie out of embarrassment because of the way her boyfriend was acting. It drew the gaze of strangers, mostly those of irritation. It was a miracle they weren't asked to vacate the premises.
After the little marathon, Yuuma poked a bit of fun at how Issei was acting and guilt tripped him into spending the rest of their date shopping with her. The young man was whiny about it but he didn't really resist. He had planned to take her out to do just that anyway. Yuuma didn't actually buy anything so much as window shop. Sh even did some modeling for Issei, though it wasn't the lingerie modeling Issei had heard so much about on dates. Nonetheless he enjoyed what he got.
When the sun began to set, Issei asked Yuuma whether she wanted to head out the mall for some fresh air before they go back home. His girlfriend gave him a questioning glance but nodded anyway. She wasn't averse to staying in the mall, but she admitted that it would be easier to get home outside than in.
Issei took his girlfriend to the last stop on their date, the park. Now he knows it might sound lame but he did his research on dating and poured through volumes of romance novels and shoujo manga. The most romantic place to end the date with minimum cash was always the park. It was a public location; and at the end of the day, light from the setting sun would color the trees in a beautiful haze of gold and crimson. The setting would be silent save the wind and the trees. It also had little foot traffic so privacy was plentiful. The park would be the ultimate spot to get his first kiss and maybe a little wink wink nudge nudge whistle whistle if the brunette could coax it out of her.
The weather was a bit on the warm side as they walked the streets. Issei didn't question it. Summer was just a month away so it wouldn't be weird to feel some of the incoming season's effects. He stole a glance at Yuuma and saw her unruffled by the heat. It must've been sweltering though with all those layers she was wearing. Issei knew that to be the case because he was wearing a jacket coat over his shirt. It was in anticipation of cooler weather but it seemed the lull of coolness from spring would not come this day.
Spotting a convenience store some distance away, Issei shot a glance at Yuuma then made his decision. "Hey Yuuma-chan.", he called out to his girlfriend.
She responded by tipping her head to get a better look at him. "What is it Issei-san?", she asked him, not for the first time that day.
Issei pointed to the convenience store, an establishment with the name of 24/7. "It's a bit warm, want to pick up something to cool off for a bit?"
Yuuma smiled up at his thoughtfulness but shook her heard, "Um... that's not really necessary. I'm plenty cool as I am."
The brunette smiled back to his girl. He found her refusal cute, endearing in the way that it was her own method of being thoughtful to him. But such sentiments were not going to overtake his own so he took her hand kindly, "But I'm pretty thirsty. You wouldn't mind joining me inside for a few minutes wouldn't you?" He clapped his hands together in petition and winked with a whine, "Pleeeeeaaaaase?"
It was a childish display, but it made the smile on the cute raven-haired girl's face grow before it settled into an upwards quirked line. "Fine.", she agreed in mock resignation.
"Thanks babe.", Issei thanked before closing in for a kiss.
Yuuma grabbed his face with one hand, squeezing both cheeks as she forced an unamused laugh, "You shouldn't be so hasty, Issei-san." She released his face after a few more squeezes.
The young man petulantly released his girlfriend's hands and rubbed at his numbed cheeks. "Man," he mumbled, "those guys in American movies make it look so easy."
He stepped into the air-conditioned confines of the 24/7 first before letting his girl friend pass through the automated doors he was keeping open. That was the plan at least. The second the electronic jingle announcing a new customer started playing, a familiar voice greeted him
"Welcome to 24/7, please buy lots."
Yes, a very familiar voice was greeting him into this establishment. Time slowed down for young Issei Hyoudou. His eyes flickered over to the source of the voice then widened in recognition once they confirmed the identity of the voice's owner. Brown almost amber hair, bright red eyes, fine lips set in a welcoming smile. Those were the features he saw replace his girlfriend's. They all added up to describe the one girl who turned his life of tits and tickles into a pervert's equivalent of hell. The girl standing behind the counter, regarding him with a billion watt smile was none other than Minako Arisato.
"Ah, Issei-kun. It's surprising to see you in this part of town at this kind of time and date."
Speaking of dates, a concerned Yuuma stepped out from behind Issei to see what was wrong with her boyfriend. He just kind of froze mid-step and stopped walking. She nearly crashed into his back from how sudden it was.
Seeing the girl, Minako was confused. After some seconds, the proverbial light bulb lit up over her head in realization. Something resembling pride and joy mixed together in the expression she came to wear. She brought her hands together in a delighted clap before scurrying around the counter.
Yuuma was surprised when a brown-haired clerk grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes with a mixture of happiness and approval. The clerk was nodding to herself before looking between the flustered girl and her boyfriend. It almost felt like she was confirming some sort of hunch she was having, by herself to herself. What an odd person.
"Issei-kun! Congratulations!", Minako practically trilled as she threw her hands around Issei in a friendly hug.
That jolted Issei's system. His crashed brain began to reboot and the first thing he could process in that moment was that Minako was really really soft. Counter to his assessment of her lack of boobage, or breasts for his taste, she was really really soft... and warm. The young man barely took that information in when Minako pulled away beaming a toothy smile his way. She looked very proud of him for some reason that he couldn't fathom.
"So you finally got yourself a girlfriend huh?", she turned a sly eye to Yuuma who was standing right beside him. The raven-haired girl seemed a bit miffed considering some random woman just up and hugged a taken man, more so since the taken man was said raven-haired girl's man.
Once Yuuma heard that last statement come from the copper-haired clerk though, she eased up her jealousy guard. The raven-haired girl stepped up with a smile and introduced herself, "Hello, my name is Yuuma Amano, I'm Issei-san's girlfriend." As much as she eased up, there was a certain stiffness that sent not so subtle signals of "Back off, he's mine."
Minako got the message but continued to smile genuinely nonetheless. She took Yuuma's hands in her own and greeted, "It's nice to meet you Yuuma-chan. Thank you for taking care of Issei-kun all the time. He's really a handful back at school."
Minako's sincere gushing had Issei's girlfriend all flustered and she answered back in awkward politeness, even so far as formally bowing, "Oh no not at all! Actually we haven't even been going out for a week." It almost looked like Yuuma was meeting Issei's mother and not a classmate.
"Well, please keep taking care of Issei-kun. God knows I could do with less cleaning up after him." Those words brought a question to Yuuma's mind. The curiosity visible on her face prompted Minako to speak before Yuuma was forced to voice such a rude question. "Don't worry", Minako assuaged Yuuma's worries, "I'm just a classmate of Issei-kun's. I make sure his scores stay in the passing grade and he doesn't step out of line with the girls."
"Out of line with the girls?", Yuuma interjected.
"Oh, didn't you know? Issei-kun is a huge per-"
"Aaaaaahhhh! Okay, that's enough of the girl talk", the near forgotten Issei sprang to life to interrupt and cupped one hand over Minako's mouth. He received a disapproving looks from his girlfriend but he gave her an awkward uneasy smile as he explained, "we have to get going before curfew hits. So maybe we should go Yuuma-chan."
"But it was your idea to come here and get something to drink.", his date pointed out.
"Right, right. Sorry about that.", Issei nodded apologetically. "How about I grab something from the fridge real quick and meet you out at the park gates?"
Yuuma agreed easily to the suggestion but her face showed she was anything but happy with it. "I understand. Will you be taking long?"
"Not much", Issei assured her. "A few minutes at best."
Issei's girlfriend gave one last nod before exiting through the automated glass doors once more. Once she was out of sight, Issei let Minako go and glared at her. "What is wrong with you!?"
Minako was giving Issei a glare of her own. "I should be asking you that. You sent the poor girl out on her own during your date!"
"That's nothing compared to telling a guy's girlfriend about all his raunchy exploits!", Issei hissed back, irritation bubbling up inside.
"The girl has the right to know.", Minako pressed. "If a girl is to get anywhere in a relationship with a guy she has to know him at his best and at his worst."
"That's stupid and you know it Arisato.", Issei half-roared as his irritation overflowing into full-blown anger, "You know as well as I do that half the girls in the world wouldn't date me once they know what I do in my spare time. I want this to work and I don't need your stupid advice to do it, mother."
"I'm not trying to be your mother. I'm being your friend."
"We were never friends!"
…
A moment of silence passed where neither spoke. Issei huffed, Minako looked away. Blood rushed through every vein in Issei's head. A heavy weight pressed against the bottom of his stomach while his head felt light yet pressured from the inside as if it would blow outwards. He shook it off and headed for the refrigeration cabinets. "Let me just get a few sodas so you can ring me up, and I can leave."
Minako nodded mutely, face sullen as she took her place behind the register again. She faintly heard Issei come back with a few clinking cans making his presence known. She passed them by the scanner and mechanically offered to bag them for him. He declined in a monotone manner, dropped some coins in the plastic money basket and left her with the automated door's beeping in the background of humming airconditioners.
From the back of the shop, a door clicked open and closed before someone shuffled in under a pile of boxes. "Hey Minako, could you help me with this stuff?"
The copper-haired clerk looked up to see her co-worker buried under work and she wiped away at tears that unknowingly gathered in her eyes. She put on a chipper smile again before jogging up to her colleague, "Coming Saji."